Chapter Text
"It was a paring knife," Harry stammered.
"I don’t know who you think you’re deceiving, Mr. Potter, but this is not the type of wound one can inflict with the average kitchen implement," Severus Snape said as his eyes darkened with impatience.
"It’s nothing. It’s a tiny poke. Give it a bit of a healing spell, and let’s be done with it," Hagrid said with a grunt of pain.
"Mr. Potter?"
"Yes, sir?" Harry whispered, eyes on the floor.
"Go outside, get the broadswords, and make sure there’s no blood left on them, unless you want Professor McGonagall to go through the roof when she finds out what you two have been about this evening."
Harry gazed fearfully at Professor Snape. His thin hands were spasmodically clutching and releasing the kitchen apron he had used to staunch the flow of blood from the gaping wound in the giant’s side before using a kitchen towel instead. Severus reached forward and carefully took one of Harry’s hands away, pulling the apron from his grip.
"Go get the broadswords," Snape repeated, dropping his voice to a pleasant sound instead of a harsh bark. Harry was frozen to the spot, staring at the floor. "Harry?"
"I’ll get the swords," Hagrid said, moving to stand up from the chair in which he was slumped. Snape gave him a sharp look and stood up instead.
"Wait where you are, or that will start bleeding again. Harry will take me to the swords. Come on."
"Um, no. You’d better not," Hagrid said, rising slowly to his feet. He put a hand on the table for support to right himself. "They’re next to the rain barrel."
"Why is that a problem?"
"You’re going to wonder why the rain barrel is charmed to stay warm."
"Yes, I might wonder why indeed," Snape agreed.
"It’s because my piranhas are in the rain barrel, and if you knew about them, you’d have to report that you saw them," Hagrid grinned. "But since you haven’t seen them, you can’t be sure they’re even there, right?"
"Right," Severus said with a nod.
"I’ll be right back," Hagrid grunted, climbing up to his feet.
Shaking his head in dismay, Snape watched Hagrid wander towards the front door to his hut. Severus leaned against the kitchen table, holding absently onto the apron he had taken from Harry. Potter folded down to his knees. He took the apron from Severus and started wiping up the blood that had spilled onto the wooden floor.
"Harry, let me see if you’re hurt. Did Hagrid nick you? You’ve got blood all over you. Let me have a look at you. HARRY!"
Severus exclaimed Potter’s name as the teen went limp on the floor. Snape dropped beside him, turning him over and lifting his head and shoulders off the bloody wooden planks. Producing a vial from his cloak, he uncorked it with a flick of his thumb, and waved it twice under Harry’s nose. The teen shuddered in response to the vile concoction being waved about. Severus put away the vial and conjured a damp cloth, with which he washed Harry’s clammy face. Finally, Harry’s eyes opened, clouded with confusion.
"You fainted. Not to worry," Severus told him. "Take a couple deep breaths. That’s it. Nice deep breaths."
Hagrid was stumbling back into the hut by this point. He was carrying two broadswords, one stained with blood and the other completely clean. Severus took out his wand and waved it across the mess on the floor. Everything vanished, including those mysterious brown spots that Harry had always mistaken for a pattern on the wood itself. The floor probably hadn’t been so clean in years. Harry rose to his knees and struggled for balance.
"Oh, dear," Hagrid said, dropping woozily into his chair once more. He gave Snape the weapons, keeping the towel pressed tightly over his side. Severus did a quick cleaning spell on the weapons before putting them up on the table between dirty dishes and a bread bowl empty except for crumbs.
"Harry, go in the bathroom and clean up," Snape said, pointing in the direction of what he took to be the bedroom and bathroom. "Hagrid’s going to be fine. You go clean up."
"It’s all right, lad," Hagrid grinned weakly. "Go on now."
Harry climbed unsteadily to his feet and went to the bedroom. Snape waited until he heard the bathroom door close before he pinned Hagrid with an anxious look.
"What the hell happened?" he snapped, taking away the towel and pointing his wand at the gash he had uncovered.
"We were practicing, that’s all."
"Practicing what? Impaling each other?"
"He begged me to show him more about how to use the swords. He’s scared about being able to defend himself."
"He’s barely got enough strength to climb Gryffindor Tower, and you’ve got him swinging these damned things? What’s the matter with you? Did you slip and fall on him? Is that how he cut you?"
"No. I...well...I....I..."
"What?"
"I must have startled him."
"What?"
"I should have known better."
"How did you startle him?"
"I grabbed him ‘bout the waist, picked him up when he wasn’t expecting it, and he–"
"He what?"
"Panicked, I guess. He stabbed me on instinct, realized what he’d done, and he kept blinking at me in shock. It was because of all the blood. I didn’t know if he was fixing to faint or sprout fangs."
"It must have reminded him too much of seeing Lucius Malfoy covered in gore."
"You should have seen his eyes," Hagrid moaned with a crushed expression. Snape wasn’t sure what was hurting the giant more– the hole in his side or the fact he had terrified Harry. It was probably wise that Snape didn’t comment further.
The Potions Master had been in the forest collecting specimens at dusk, and had come running towards the gamekeeper’s hut when he had heard the sharp terrified scream puncturing the twilight. That same scream was the one that haunted his sleep. He was never far from Harry’s side, helping as much as he could as the boy struggled to recover physically and emotionally from Lucius Malfoy’s attack. Severus had been awakened by that tormented scream on more than one occasion. He knew it meant Harry felt in danger.
Snape had dropped what he was doing and raced to the edge of the forest. He arrived there to find Hagrid leaning something shiny against the side of his hut, next to the rain barrel. Hagrid spurted a trail of blood as he dragged Harry into his hut. Snape had followed, naturally curious as anyone might be.
"Better?" Snape asked.
"Oh, better. Much better," Hagrid said, running his hand over the six-inch, red, healed incision in his side. "Stings, but I’ll be fine. That’s fast work. You have quite a talent for healing, you know. Have you ever considered becoming a doctor?"
"You should avoid lifting heavy objects for a week or two. You’ll also need to come up with a clever explanation to give Madam Pomfrey before next year’s physical."
"There’s a squid in the tub," a small voice said. Hagrid and Snape both jumped. Harry was standing at the bedroom door, holding his shirt up in front of his bare chest. His eyes were glued to the floor.
"Squiggles? He’s back?" Hagrid laughed, standing up and going towards Harry. Potter darted aside, hiding in the darkness of the bedroom as Hagrid went into the bathroom. Hagrid stopped for a step to ponder why Harry was staying out of arm’s reach. His large furry face crinkled with sorrow.
"He came out of the overflow when I filled the tub," Harry stammered.
"I thought he had gone to the lake to stay for sure. It’s January. He shouldn’t be up and about," Hagrid said. Harry slipped back into his shirt and continued to hide in the shadows, careful to keep back from the giant.
"If you have piranhas in your rain barrel and a squid in your tub, where do you wash up?" Snape asked, cleaning the towel and folding it on the counter.
"Kitchen sink," Hagrid called. Snape pointed his wand at the apron.
"That explains a lot," he murmured. He walked to the bathroom to see what Hagrid was fussing about. There was a flash of color in the tub– pinkish tentacles were propelling a small, egg-shaped, gray body. The tiny squid swam lazy circles as Hagrid dropped treats into the water from a jar by the side of the tub.
"Isn’t he something?" Hagrid chuckled, reaching into the water to tickle the baby squid. "Harry, would you like to see?"
Harry stood in the far doorway, shaking his head no, eyes on the floor again.
"Is that at all sanitary, keeping him in your tub?" Severus asked.
"I don’t keep him in the tub. He comes to visit when the tub is filled."
"I see. I’m going to take Mr. Potter back to the castle through the Floo, so he can have a bath that doesn’t include a squid. You haven’t got any fire breathing dragons or other dangerous fauna lurking in the fireplace, have you?"
"No, course not," Hagrid laughed awkwardly.
"Good. See you at breakfast."
"Thanks for the healing spell," Hagrid answered.
"You’re welcome."
"And for keeping hush about the swords." Hagrid tested Snape covertly.
"You’re welcome," Snape said through clenched teeth. "The single proviso to my silence is that you will use armor next time."
"Armor? How clever. Wish I’d thought of that," Hagrid muttered, tossing a sprinkle of water Snape’s direction.