"Father! Can we go--" Harry ran out into the sitting room, and came skidding to a stop when he saw Mr. Malfoy was still there. The tall man with pale, silvery hair was standing face to face with Father, and neither of them looked happy. Both of them turned to stare at Harry, who stepped back.

"What is it, Harry?" Father asked. His tone was cool, but his eyes weren't angry, like they could be.

"I . . . er . . ."

"What is it? Speak up, boy!" Mr. Malfoy snapped.

The words made Harry feel dizzy, and he shook his head to try and clear it. When the man took a step towards him, his sliver tipped cane flashed in the firelight, and Harry fled, back down the hall to his room.

He was dimly aware of his father calling his name, but his own breaths were coming too loud to hear more than that. In his room, he ducked behind his bed and wormed his way underneath, taking comfort from the small, cramped space. Almost like his cupboard, it was, and no one could get him here.

"Harry?" It was a new voice, and it took him a minute to realize it was Draco, and then, only because he could see Draco's pointed face at the edge of the bed, where he crouched down. "What're you doing under there? I thought we were going to go see a giant."

Shaking his head, Harry curled in on himself, making as small a ball as he could.

"Uncle Sev!" Draco called, and his face disappeared. "Come'ere! Something's wrong with Harry."

"Draco. Lower your voice. Only hooligans shout." Several sets of footsteps entered the small room, but the voice was Mr. Malfoy's, and Harry shivered as the man came closer.

"Yes, Father." Draco paused, then, "But Harry's under the bed, Uncle Sev. Like he's hiding. Is it a game?"

"Yes, Draco. . . . Why don't you and your father wait for us in the sitting room. We will be out shortly."

The footsteps retreated, but one set paused, and Harry could hear Mr. Malfoy say something very softly, and though he couldn't actually hear what was said, the man's threatening tone made him tremble and bite his lip to keep himself quiet. Then that set of footsteps went away, down the hall, too, and it was quiet once more.

Harry drew a shuddering breath, then coughed as he inhaled some dust. His eyes itched and he rubbed at them until he sensed someone nearby. His father knelt beside the bed.

"Harry," Father said, very softly. He was hunched over on the floor, and his bent nose and dark eyes were all Harry could see of him, through the black curtain of his hair. "Come on out, now. No one's going to hurt you."

"C-cane," Harry whispered.

"Mister Malfoy will never, ever use that cane on you. Never. I won't let him. Do you hear me?"

Harry's breath hitched and he nodded. "Yes, sir."

"All right then." Father put out his hand, and after a long moment, Harry took it and let his father pull him out from under the bed. "Good thing you were in play clothes." Father lightly brushed at some of the dust that clung to Harry's shirt.

"Yes, sir," Harry said, staring at his shoes.

"Harry," Father murmured, and Harry chanced a look at him, to see sadness and hurt in his eyes.

"Sorry, sir. I mean, sorry . . . Father."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Remember what I said about not apologizing for things that aren't your fault?"

Harry nodded and rubbed at his itchy eyes again, and startled when Father's long, slender fingers tucked under his chin and lifted his head. He tried to look away, but Father just waited until Harry, lip still firmly in his teeth, met his gaze. Father raised one eyebrow, and Harry mumbled, "Yes, si -- Father. I remember."

"Good. Now. You had a question for me?"

"Yes, Father." He wasn't sure he wanted to ask now, but Father was waiting. His words came out in a rush, "CanmeandDracogodowntoseeHagridagain?"

"Slower, and more distinctly."

"Sorry, sir. Can me and Draco go see Hagrid today?"

"You and Draco may go visit Hagrid, yes. But only with supervision, such as myself, or Nelli. I don't want you running about outside with that hand. Understood?"

"Yes, sir! Thank you!"

Father let go of his chin and put a hand on his shoulder instead, and his face was very serious. "And if you have any trouble . . . any trouble at all, with Draco or your hand, or anything else, you come right back here and I will sort it out."

"I will. Thank you, Father." He bit his lip again, and Father gently tugged it out from between his teeth with the tips of his fingers, making Harry flush with embarrassment. "Can you take us to Hagrid's?"

"Alas, I am busy this afternoon. But you may enquire as to whether Nelli is available." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he patted Harry on the shoulder and steered him toward the door. "Let's go out and say good bye to Mr. Malfoy now, like good hosts."

"Y-y-yes, F-father."

"Straighten up, Harry," Father said, and there was a warning in his eyes. "Don't let him see you afraid. Be brave."

Harry swallowed and nodded, straightened his shoulders and brought his chin up like Draco did. He was still afraid, but his father was with him, now, and Father would keep him safe. He'd promised.

"Good boy. Come on, then."

Despite his attempt to be brave, his steps slowed as they neared the sitting room, where Draco was standing next to the chair Mr. Malfoy was in, but Father's hand was on his shoulder again. Mr. Malfoy rose as they came in, and Harry held his gaze, though he really, really didn't want to. They moved further into the room. "Thank you for bringing Draco, sir," he said, and his voice only wavered a little. "It w-was nice to see you again."

Harry's father squeezed his shoulder, even as Mr. Malfoy smiled tightly. "Likewise. Severus." He nodded to Father, then shot Draco a hard look. "Do let me know if you have any trouble."

"Of course." Father nodded, too, and in the next minute, Mr. Malfoy was gone, and the air suddenly seemed lighter, making it easier to breathe.

As Father moved past them toward his study, Harry turned to Draco. "We have to ask Nelli if she'll take us." Draco gave him a blank look, so he reminded his friend, "To Hagrid's. You know, the giant."

"Oh. Who's Nelli?"

"Our House Elf!"

---

Though mindful of his father's instructions, Harry had to run down the hill towards Hagrid's hut, so he could keep up with Draco. His friend's legs were longer and he seemed keen on showing how fast he could run without falling.

Nelli trotted alongside Harry, half covering her face with her hands and moaning, "Youse going to be in trouble, Master Harry. Youse better not hurt your hand again!"

"I won't," he tried telling her, but she didn't really listen, and then they came over the last rise, and a barking dark blur ran at them like a stirred up nest of fur and gangly limbs and drool. "Fang!" Harry cried happily, and held out his arms. Fang diverted from careening into Draco - barely - and hurtled the last few feet to Harry, bowling him over once again.

Fang snuffled his face and drooled on his head and lapped at his cheeks and ears until Harry was giggling madly and trying to shove the dog away. And then Hagrid was there, shouting a command, and Fang loped away, though he trailed drool after him in a line that stretched from Harry's shirt to his jaws.

"Good ter see ye, Harry!"

Wrinkling his nose as he wiped his face, Harry said, "Hello, Hagrid, sir. This is Draco. He's my friend." He gestured to Draco, who was staring, with wide eyes, at Fang, and then at Hagrid, and back to Fang, seeming to not know which was the bigger threat. "S'okay, Draco," Harry assured him. "Father says Hagrid's genie-all. Means he's kind."

"Nice ter meet ye, Draco . . . you wouldn't be Draco Malfoy, now, would ye?" Hagrid loomed over the boys and though he was smiling, his eyes went a bit narrow.

"Y-yes, sir?"

"And yer a friend o' Harry's here?"

Draco nodded, and Harry saw him swallow hard, and he wondered if Draco was as scared of Hagrid as Harry was of Mr. Malfoy.

"Well, good ‘nuff, then." Hagrid laughed and clapped Draco on the shoulder, nearly sending him sprawling. "Let's have a bit of tea, lads. I've baked a slew of ginger biscuits. Should still be warm. Nuthin' like it, ginger. Good for what ails ye."

Harry grinned at him. "Thanks, Hagrid! And can you tell us a story ‘bout the forest?"

"The fores'? What you want to know ‘bout tha' for? Nuthin' you need to worry ‘bout in there."

"It's forbidden," Harry whispered to Draco as the three of them - including Nelli - followed Hagrid up the steps and into his home. "That means we're not s'posed to go in there."

"I know what forbidden means," Draco hissed back. He gave Fang a wide berth on the stoop, and looked around the small cottage. Harry hoped, suddenly, that his friend wouldn't say anything mean about Hagrid's place. It was small, sure, and certainly not as tidy as Aunt Petunia would have wanted, but it was full of interesting things on the walls, and smelled really weird, too, and Harry liked it.

"Yeah, well, Hagrid's Keeper of Keys and Grounds and the gamekeeper, right, Hagrid? So he knows all the creatures there are, like Streelers and Centaurs and grindylows and crups and all that. My father said so."

Draco rolled his eyes. "There aren't grindylows in the forest. They live in the water."

"Oh. Well, are there grindylows in the lake outside, sir?" Harry asked Hagrid, who was filling his enormous tea kettle.

"Some, yeah, there are some in there. Keep to ‘emselves mostly, stay outta the way of them Merfolk. And the squid." He nodded his chin at the table where a plate of star-shaped biscuits lay waiting. "Help yerself. Still warm, like I said."

"Thanks!" Harry took one and nibbled on the side, although as with the rock cakes, he decided he might want to wait till he had his tea, so he could dunk the biscuit in and let it soften before actually trying to chew it.

He and Draco and Nelli spent the next couple hours with Hagrid, who did tell them stories, about the forest's Centaurs to start with, and who made them gigantic mugs of tea and even convinced Nelli to have some, when she wanted to refuse on general principle. Draco had looked askance at the house-elf, when she first sat down next to Harry, but he seemed to forget about her after a few minutes of trying to eat Hagrid's biscuits without cracking his teeth, and listening to stories. At some point, Fang had decided Draco was drool-worthy, and put his large, soggy head in his lap, much to the other boy's displeasure.

Harry, though, had rarely had such a wonderful afternoon.

It would have been perfect, truly. After they left Hagrid's, the two boys went with Nelli to look at the lake and see if the squid was as playful as Hagrid said, so they could tickle its tentacles. But it wasn't out at all today, and the lake water looked rather cold and dark.

Yes, the afternoon would have been perfect, except that was when Draco suggested they should use their brooms to fly out over the lake, and take a closer look for the squid.