Chapter 37: Hagrid...!

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Hagrid looks between all of us. "Oh codswallop you four, what are you even on about? You know Bud here came down here asking me how to make friends with you three again."

I look down as I feel my face heat even further in embarrassment. "Hagrid..."

"No, it needs to be said! Now I don't know your past, but it doesn't matter to me. If you learn nothing else from Albus Dumbledore, well, he believes in second chances. Gave me one when no one else would, he did. Nobody else believed me at all, and he brought me on here." Hagrid takes a moment to wipe the tears from his cheeks, and I note the others looking just as embarrassed as I am. 

Then Hagrid points at me. "And he's the only student that comes down to visit me regularly anymore, and not just when he's come to help get me ready for class. So if anyone deserves a second chance, it's this little guy right here." You have to hand it to the man, he knows how to lay on the guilt trip. He also knows how to accidentally attempt to drive people into the floor like a railroad spike. I hope my shoulder is okay.

We stand in silence for a moment, then suddenly the wind is knocked out of me by a bushy-haired human missile to the gut. "I'm sorry, William! I don't know what I—I mean, I didn't think—I'm sorry! Of course Hagrid's right, can you ever forgive me?"

I manage to wheeze some air into my lungs. "Hermione, I told you I wouldn't hold it against you."

"No William, you never gave us any good reason to mistrust you. I was just...I was just being stupid."

I smile softly. "I don't think you could be stupid if you tried."

"Oh I dunno," Ron says, "I never understood why she ditched you in the first place."

I feel Hermione stiffen, watch as Harry elbows Ron, and I chuckle at the familiar byplay. "It doesn't matter, it's in the past."

"Good," Hagrid booms, clapping his hands. "That's that. Now let me cook up some lunch and we can all enjoy this fine Saturday."

"So what're you getting Harry?" Ron asks with a grin when Hagrid bustles about the kitchen. "You didn't say anything about him."

"Ron..." Harry says in embarrassment.

"I haven't started on his or Luna's stuff yet," I grin back.

"You-you don't have to—" Harry stammers.

I wave his objection away. "We already covered this. I mean it won't be much, obviously..." I shrug.

"If they're half as thoughtful as Neville's, you're underestimating yourself, William." Hermione says.

"What about Neville's?" Ron asks. I chuckle at his complete lack of tact.

"The rune on it is tiwaz, which stands for courage, and there will be a lion head carved on the other side," Hermione says before I can answer. Then she looks at me with the same expression from before. "It's William's way of telling Neville that he belongs in Gryffindor House. You know how unsure of himself Neville is."

Harry and Ron look at me with surprise. "That about covers it," I say. "I don't know if he'll like it that much, though, since I don't think it will actually do anything."

"He will," Hermione says confidently.

I smile at her gratefully. "I've missed you, you know." The words slip out, and my face flushes. "You guys, I mean."

"I missed you," Hermione says. "We did, I mean," she adds, smiling widely.

"Oh great, you guys aren't going to start snogging in front of us again, are you?" Harry says with a grin.

"Oh hush, Harry!"

My smile grows, then fades as I remember what's coming.

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"Harry Potter," Professor Dumbledore calls, half questioningly.

The Hall falls completely silent, and seeing the shock and fear plain on his face I feel incredibly sorry for him. He makes no move to get up.

"I didn't put my name in," he says blankly at Ron and Hermione. "You know I didn't."

Ron and Hermione say nothing, which irks me. "I know you didn't, Harry. This must be some mistake."

"Harry Potter!" the headmaster calls again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione says, giving him a little nudge.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" I whisper angrily when he's out of earshot. "You know he didn't do it!"

"Yeah, and how do you know?" Ron shoots back just as angrily.

"At least one of you was with him all the time for the last day, weren't you?"

"But at night..." Hermione says, biting her lip.

"He sleeps in the same room as both Ron and me," I say.

"He has his cloak, he could have slipped out at any time," Ron says, fuming. "That would be just like him." Ron storms out of the Hall.

I glare at Hermione, and she flinches away. "I-I know he didn't..."

"Then why didn't you say anything? He thinks you both just abandoned him!"

Her face drains of blood. "I-I don't know, I was just surprised that's all. That look on his face..." Her eyes start to fill with tears. "Oh William, he's going to hate me, isn't he? What are we going to do?"

I can't help but chuckle grimly. "No, Hermione, he isn't going to hate you. He needs friends, Hermione, people that stick by him no matter what. He's going to get a lot of grief from the rest of the school. There will be a few Gryffindors that congratulate him, but nobody besides us and maybe a couple professors that actually believe him."

Hermione's face is still blotchy, but she looks galvanized.

"And as for what we're going to do, well, I'm going to help him survive."

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