Renewed Beginnings

Rumors had been buzzing all over the school about Hagrid and the mysterious woman. Having finally gotten caught up with their homework that morning, Harry and Ron had tracked Hermione down. When they eventually found her (in the library, of course), the three had decided to visit Hagrid to find out the truth for themselves.

When they arrived at Hagrid's hut, they could tell he was home by the sounds emanating from within. However, he didn't answer when they knocked, and so Harry knocked again.

"Listen. Do you hear that? What's that sound? It sounds almost like..." Harry broke off, and looked at the other two.

"It sounds like singing," said Hermione.

"Sounds more like a wounded hippogriff if you ask me," Ron said in a low voice. Unfortunately, he didn't say it low enough to escape Hermione's keen hearing.

"Well, nobody did ask you, did they?" she shot back at him, and they were off bickering again. They broke off abruptly as Hagrid finally opened the door.

"Well, now, I was wonderin' when you three'd show up. Well don' jes' stan' there gawkin'! Come on in."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the cottage, and took their usual seats around the large wooden table, unsure, now that they were there, how to begin.

As if sensing their discomfort, Hagrid took the decision out of their hands. "I s'pose yeh've heard by now 'bout my meetin' a lady frien' over in The Three Broomsticks. An', judgin' by the way yer all actin' so fidgety, I 'spect tha's why yer here now. It's a'right. Yeh can ask me anythin' yeh wanna know. I don' have anythin' to hide when it comes to Cath'rine. Tha's her name, by the way. I've known her most o' my life, Professor Dumbledore has already been by to talk to me ' bout her, an' I'm hopin' she'll be aroun' fer a while, or mebbe even longer. So ask what yeh wanna know. I'll answer as best I can."

The three teens looked at each other. They had so many questions, they didn't know what to ask first.

Hermione was the first to speak. "Do you love her, Hagrid?"

The two boys looked at her, shocked. This idea hadn't even entered their minds, and it certainly wasn't what they had expected her first question to be. When they looked back at Hagrid, though, they could see why she had asked it. Hagrid's face, since the mention of the "Catherine" person's name, had softened into an expression they had seen on it only once before: the night Norbert, the baby Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, had hatched.

Hagrid didn't hesitate in his answer. "Yes, Hermione, I do. I love her very much. An', for some reason I can' figure out, she says she loves me, too."

Hermione leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and smiled, as if his answer settled everything. Harry, however, still had more questions. "But what about Madame Maxime? I thought you...she..." he trailed off, confused.

A shadow crossed Hagrid's face at the mention of Madame Maxime. He told them the events of the return trip with Grawp and Maxime. They remained silent for the most part, until he reached the part where she had forced him to choose between her and Grawp. It was at this point that Ron could apparently hold his temper no longer.

"That cow! No respect for family, that one. Maybe she should meet Percy!"

"Ron, hush! Let him finish!" shushed Hermione.

Hagrid just chuckled, and finished retelling the story, adding in the part about Catherine's reaction and her asking to meet Grawp.

When he finished, they were all silent for a moment, and then Harry spoke again. "Hagrid, are you sure she's not a spy for Voldemort?" Everyone shuddered when he said the name, but Harry ignored them and continued. "I mean, she could be under the Imperious Curse to get to you to get information about the Order."

Hagrid shook his head. "No, Harry. I've known Cath'rine since I was nine, and she was five. She'd never go to You-Know-Who by choice, and I'd be able ter tell if she was under the Imperious Curse. By the eyes, yeh know. No, she ain't no spy."

Ron seemed to be still fuming over Madame Maxime's betrayal, so Hermione spoke next. "You said you've known Catherine since you were nine. How did you meet her?"

"We both grew up in Devon. Her parents ran a bookshop fer Muggles there - she runs it now. Anyway, she knew who I was a'ready. Weren' many what didn', I s'pose. Then, one day, I was playin' at a park near both our homes..." Hagrid told the story of their first meeting, of the cruel bullies, of Catherine standing up for him, and of how they had become practically inseparable from that day forward. "Tell yeh what. Cath'rine's comin' fer lunch tomorrow. Why don' you three join us? That way you can meet her, an' see fer yerself."

They agreed, and spent the remainder of their visit talking of other things.

Later, however, on the way back to the castle, it was clear where their thoughts remained. Their conversation quickly turned back to the things they had learned. They didn't seem to all be on the same page, though.

"I'm still not so sure this woman's not some sort of spy. What proof do we have?" said Harry.

"Oh, come off it, Harry!" retorted Hermione. "Hagrid's known her for over fifty years! I should think he'd have got to know her well enough in that amount of time to know if she would become a spy for V-V-Voldemort - Oh, give it a rest, Ron! Will you ever get used to hearing the name? - I, for one think it's fantastic that Hagrid's found someone to love who loves him back, especially someone he's known for so long. Don't you, Ron?"

"Er, yeah, I guess. Anyone's got to be better than that Maxime woman. Imagine her trying to pull a Percy on him like that! He's better off without her, anyway. Big bones, my ---"

Hermione cut him off. "Ron!"

Harry laughed at them as they continued across the lawn and into the castle.