Till The End | h.p

the twins

"You did everything you could," Ron notes as the four walk through the courtyard, "No one could win against that old hag."

"Even Dumbledore didn't see this coming," Hermione adds.

"Harry, if it's anyone's fault, it's ours," Sam states.

"Yeah, we talked you into it," Ron confirms.

"Yeah, but I agreed. I tried so hard to help, and all it's done is make things worse. Anyway, that doesn't matter anymore. Because I don't want to play anymore. All it does is make you care too much. The more you care, the more you have to lose. So maybe it's better to..."

"To what?" Sam inquires.

"To go it alone," he concludes.

"What happened to 'till the end'?" Sam pushes.

"I'm not going to risk losing everyone I care about," Harry insists.

Before Sam can retort, they all hear a "Psst."

They turn to look and find Hagrid, hiding behind one of the pullers. He gestures for them to follow and they do. He leads them deep into the Forbidden Forest.

"Any idea where he's taking us?" Ron asks.

"Hagrid, why can't you just tell us?" Harry questions.

They hear the sound of horses nearby getting closer. They all watch as a herd of centaurs run past them without noticing their presence.

"I've never seen the centaurs so riled," Hagrid notes, "And they're dangerous at the best of times. The Ministry restricts their territory much more, they'll have a full uprising on their hands."

"Hagrid, what's going on?" Hermione insists.

"I'm sorry to be so mysterious, you four. I wouldn't be bothering you at all with it, but with Dumbledore gone... I'll likely be getting the sack any day now. And I just couldn't leave without telling someone about him," Hagrid states quite emotionally.

They hear twigs snap and branches of trees rustle as a giant stumbles out of them and stands directly in front of them. Despite his enormous height, he doesn't seem to be any older than a child.

"Grawpy," Hagrid calls.

He seems to be quite distracted by the birds flying around him.

"Down here, you great buffoon," Hagrid shouts up to him.

Grawpy follows the birds and nearly squashes the four of them while trying to catch one.

"Grawpy," Hagrid scolds, "Brought you some company."

The giant finally notices them and smiles wide. They all take big steps back and he reaches down and grabs Sam and Hermione and lifts them into the air. Hermione screams and Harry and Ron panic.

"Grawpy! That is not polite!" Hagrid shouts.

"Hagrid, do something!" Ron yells.

"We talked about this. You do not grab, do you?"

Ron grabs a thick broken branch and smacks Grawpy's leg, but the branch breaks. Harry begins throwing rocks at him.

"Wait!" Sam shouts, "Stop!"

She and Hermione look at Grawpy, who stares back, seemingly confused at all the fuss.

"Grawp, put us down," Sam says sternly.

He gently sets them both back down on the ground. Harry pulls Sam back into him and Ron looks over Hermione, "Are you alright?"

Grawpy looks sad and slightly ashamed. It hurts Sam's heart. She lets go of Harry and walks up to him.

"It's alright, we're not mad, but Hagrid's right. You can't grab people," she informs with a soft voice.

Grawpy turns around, grabs the handlebar of a bicycle and hands it to Hermione, with an anxious smile. Hermione smiles back and rings the small bell to which he gives a satisfied smile. She gives it back to him and he sits, making the ground shake a bit.

"He's my brother," Hagrid admits, "Well, half brother. He's a bit high spirited, is all. He gets his own food and everything... it's company he'll be needing when I'm gone. You will look after him, won't you?"

Ron and Harry nod hesitantly, while Sam and Hermione smile at Grawpy.

The four continue studying for their OWLs, but one night, after one of Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape, he runs into Sam in the hallway. He notices that she's crouching with Fred and George trying to console a first year. Looks like he attended his first detention with Umbridge. He was sobbing.

"What's your name?" George asks.

"Michael."

"Your hand's gonna be fine, Michael," Fred encourages.

"Yeah. It's not as bad as it seems. See?" Sam shows Michael his own hand, "It's fading already."

Harry approaches them.

"You can hardly see ours anymore, and the pain stops after a while," George adds.

They all stand at the sound of Umbridge clearing her throat, "As I told you once before, Mr. Potter, Miss Black, naughty children deserve to be punished."

She smirks in pride at the pain she's inflicted and walks away. Fred and George stand on both sides of Sam and Harry.

"You know, George," Fred starts, "I've always felt our futures lay outside the world of academic achievement."

"Fred, I've been thinking exactly the same thing," George remarks with a smile.

That night, Fred and George come up with a great plan to make Umbridge's life more miserable. Sam hates the idea because it means that Fred and George won't be with her at Hogwarts anymore.

"Look, I'm always down for your pranks, especially if it's against that toad, but I don't want you to go," Sam pleads.

Fred crouches down in front of her as she sits on the couch, "Little S, everything is going to be fine."

"You've still got us," Ron blabbers as if he's chop liver.

She rolls her eyes and laughs, but she pulls the twins to the side, "You guys have always been the ones to make me laugh when I'm at my lowest... what's going to happen when you aren't around?"

Fred pulls her in for a hug, "You see those three idiots over there on the couch?" He nods to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Sam chuckles as George continues for him, "One of them is your brother, who will protect you from every stupid twat that tries to hurt you."

"And the girl, that's your best friend," Fred notes, "she knows everything about everything. She will help you out of your lows."

"Now, the other one," George says seriously, "That boy would rather die than let anything happen to you."

"I'm not saying that I love you two more than them, I'm just saying that I don't know what it's like to not have you both around," Sam acknowledges.

"Trust me," Fred chuckles, "you'll be needing people on the outside too. Plus, you know that we will always come when you call."

She nods and then turns her gaze to her three best friends, "They're pretty amazing, aren't they?"

"No better than us," Fred jokes.

"And don't you forget it," George finishes.