Hermione's Helping Hand

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"Why are you defending him?"

Harry Potter snapped.

"Harry...." Hermione whined, not wanting to hear Harry shout at anyone again over this matter.

"I'm not!"

Emerald countered, her nose flushing green with rising anger.

"Really? 'Cause it doesn't sound like that to me! You should have never been sorted into Slytherin. It's fogged your brain."

"Harry there are two sides to every story! Sweet Oz don't let your self righteous savior complex shroud that from you."

"So what, now you've done a bit of reading on your gram and now you're suddenly some sort of philanthropist?"

"Harry please don't." Hermione persisted.

"I was blinded by my own biases. So you might be as well." Harry glared at her.

"Have you stopped for once to think that maybe Draco isn't as bad as you think he is? Who are you fighting, Harry, your high school nemesis or the Darkest Wizard to exist in the twentieth century?"

He was silent. Emerald had a point.

"If you aren't careful the dark lord will feed off of that hatred and distract you."

She continued. Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"I suppose you have a point." He said and Hermione sighed with relief.

"But he is still a death eater whether we like it or not, he still works for the dark lord. He is to be treated with caution, do you understand?"

"Oh Harry..." Hermione shook her head.

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"Hi harry."

A girl Emerald hadn't met yet sat down with them at the Gryffindor table.

"Ginny,"

Harry greeted her with a smile.

"When do you think Quidditch results will be posted? You are the captain of the team after all."

Emerald perked up.

"Quidditch?" She asked and the redhead turned to face her. She raised brow in confusion as she looked her over.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" "Emerald Thropp." She introduced herself. "Ginny Weasley." Ginny replied.

"I'm assuming you've already met my idiot brother. Well one of them at least."

"Do you mean Ron?" Ginny nodded. "Ah." Emerald said with a nod.

"Are you interested in quidditch?" Ginny asked and Emerald nodded.

"Well the list hasn't been posted yet- why don't you talk to Harry about doing an extra tryout?"

"She wouldn't be on our team." Harry shut her down quickly.

"What do you mean?" Emerald asked. "Yeah Harry, what do you mean?" "Emerald's a Slytherin."

Ginny seemed to recoil.

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"But she's a good Slytherin." Hermione said.

"Perhaps you could talk to Draco about joining their quidditch team." "Fat chance." Harry grumbled.

"Draco isn't playing quidditch this year." He said.

"I wonder what he could be doing in that new found free time... oh wait I know-" "Harry stop it!" Hermione snapped.

"We can't have any conversation with you anymore without you bringing it back to your mad assumptions about Draco Malfoy. Let it go."

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"You'll have to excuse Harry."

Hermione said as she walked with Emerald out of the great hall. It was saturday which meant no classes but it also meant that Harry and Ginny had Quidditch practice.

Emerald wished she could join them, quidditch had always fascinated her but they didn't have a team at her school. Dorothy, funnily enough, was not terribly fond of a sport of witches and wizards on brooms.

So, now instead, She had agreed to join Hermione at the library. She kept "The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" tucked under her arm as they went.

"He has been obsessed with accusing Draco of being a death eater since before school started."

"Why?" Emerald asked. "What proof does he have?"

"We say Draco with a few other notable death eaters in Diagon Alley, a place frequented by dark witches and wizards. We still aren't sure what they were doing there but Harry is convinced it was an initiation of sorts."

She explained as they entered the library.

"But I have to ask," She stopped and turned to her, "Why are you so quick to defend him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Draco isn't exactly liked by most students outside of the Slytherins. He has been known to be a bit of a bully."

Hermione said as she pulled her books from her bag and laid them on an empty table, claiming it for them.

"You must understand, we have known Draco much longer than you have. He is not known for his kindness or understanding." Hermione said.

"But you don't think he's a death eater?"

"I am undecided on that." Hermione said.

"At the end of the day he's just a boy. Just like Harry. But there's no denying that he does come from a long line of death eaters." She opened her text book for defense against the dark arts.

"Now let's get you caught up on some homework."

✮ ⊹₊ 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 𓆏 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊₊ ⊹ ✮

"I think that's enough for today." Hermione said as she closed her book.

Emerald let out a yawn.

"When you hit the books, Hermione you really don't hold back." Hermione smiled.

"What can I say? I am an education enthusiast." "Yeah no kidding." "Miss Thropp."

The girls chatter was cut short as they both turned to see Draco. He was pale and something looked off. He looked... scared.

"I was told to escort you back to the common room." He said.

"But Hermione and I were-" Hermione cleared her throat and put her books away.

"I was just going actually. I will see you at dinner."

she flashed Emerald a smile before scurrying away leaving them both alone in silence in the library.