Chapter 21 - Mini `Mione
The first week of term seemed to drag. Everyone was still talking about the attack on the train. The Professors, McGonagall in particular didn't allow that to interfere with their classes.
Neville and Luna returned to Hogwarts fully healed within a few days Hermione and Draco had healed enough that the St. Mungo's healers allowed them to be moved back to the Hogwarts infirmary. "How's your shoulder, Hermione?" Ginny asked from the seat she had taken next to Draco's bed during the first weekend that they had been allowed to visit.
"Sore," Hermione said. "It wouldn't have been so bad had she not partially collapsed my lung."
"What were you hit with, Draco?" Luna asked curiously.
"It was a variation of a spell my father used to use as punishment when I was younger," Draco said. "This one could have been lethal had it hit me properly."
"I can't believe that attack was as big as it was," Neville sighed.
"Well," Ron smirked, "One good thing came out of it."
"What's that?" Hermione frowned.
"Harry got himself a new girlfriend," he chuckled.
The four who hadn't been at the castle that first night looked at Harry quizzically. Harry was about to explain himself when the infirmary doors were pushed open. Lavender Brown entered and glanced around cautiously before her eyes rested on the small group, "There you are, Harry." Hermione's eyes bulged in reaction to the simple misunderstanding.
"You were looking for me, Lavender?" Harry asked casually, watching Hermione out of the corner of his eye.
"Oh, I wasn't the one looking for you," She said shaking her head.
Harry tried not to laugh and Hermione's visible relief, "Alright, then who was?"
Lavender's dark eyes scanned the room before landing on a little girl who was watching Harry from behind her. She sidestepped, "She said she was looking for you but didn't know where the infirmary was, so I brought her."
Emily smiled shyly as she walked forward and climbed wordlessly into Harry's lap, he moved his arms out of her way. "Hello, Harry," the girl smiled.
Harry couldn't help the smile that crossed over his face, "Hey Em. How come you're not with your friends?"
"I was," Emily said. "But they were boring and I wanted to see you. So I asked other sixth years where you were and Lavender and Parvati were the only ones who would help me. They brought me to find you."
Harry glanced up at his friends, just realizing that they were watching the interaction quite closely. "Emily this is Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Draco. Guys, this is Emily." He said, introducing them all.
Emily looked up when she heard the name 'Hermione'. "You're the one the evil lady hurt!"
A look of amusement and understanding crossed Hermione's face as she glanced up at Harry and nodded, "That's right."
"I was the one that held that cloth over your shoulder, remember?" Emily continued.
"Oh, was that you?" Hermione asked. "I don't remember who it was, only that it hurt."
The girl nodded, "Then when the older wizard...Remus?" She glanced up at Harry for confirmation when he nodded she continued, "When Remus got there he took care of you, but your blood wouldn't go away! Harry had to use a spell to make it disappear!"
"Did he?" Hermione said glancing up at Harry again with a small smile.
Emily's eyes were wide as she nodded. Through her story, she'd been squirming trying to use hand motions to prove her point, though it was a bit uncomfortable for the lap she was sitting on. "Em. If you're going to sit on my lap, you're going to have to sit still," Harry said calmly.
She glanced up and nodded, "Alright," she said as she let her eyes scan the other occupants of the room. "You were hurt from the duel too?" She asked as her gaze landed on the blonde wizard in a bed similar to Hermione's.
Draco nodded slightly, "Just a little bit."
Emily was silent for a moment as she looked over the wizard, "You're not a Gryffindor, are you?"
"No, I'm not." Draco answered.
"What house are you in?" She pressed.
"I'm a Slytherin."
Her eyes widened, "But aren't Slytherins like that evil woman?" She asked looking up at Harry in confusion.
"Not all of them, Em." Harry said gently. "Draco is a friend."
"But aren't You-Know-Who's people Slytherins?" She asked.
Ginny took over this question, "Most are. Tom Riddle, himself, was a Slytherin. But not all Slytherins have the same hate capacity as the Death Eaters."
Emily frowned, her confusion deepened. "Who's Tom Riddle?"
"That's Voldemort's birth name," Hermione replied.
Emily gasped, "You said his name," sounding half in awe of the other witch.
"It's alright Em. It's just a name," Harry said. He glanced up at Hermione with a smile, "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."
The little girl nodded and fell silent for a moment. Then, "But if V-Voldemort himself was a Slytherin, doesn't that mean...."
"Not exactly," Harry said shaking his head. "I personally know at least one former Gryffindor who is among Voldemort's Death Eaters."
"Really? Who?" Emily gasped.
"His name is Peter Pettigrew," Harry said, his jaw clenching. "He was sorted into Gryffindor. He ended up betraying his friends, two of them- my mother and father-to their deaths, and joined the Death Eaters."
"I always knew a rat was an awfully suspicious choice for an animagus," said a masculine voice from the infirmary entrance, "but I suppose it fits."
The group turned toward the door to see Sirius grinning at them.
"Sirius!" Harry said as he quickly set Emily to her feet and walked over to his godfather. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, seeing as no one volunteered for the DADA position this year, Dumbledore requested that Remus and myself take it over," Sirius shrugged.
"That's great, Sirius," Ginny smiled.
"Personally, I think they should have just left the job to Moony," Sirius said.
"Dumbledore will have his reasons for wanting you both here," Hermione said sternly.
"In that case, we may never know the real reason," he said. His eyes scanned over the group and came to rest on a small figure hiding behind his godson. "Who do we have here?" he asked as he knelt down to the girl's eyelevel.
"Oh, Sirius, this is Emily, she's a first year this year," Harry said, "Emily, this is my godfather, Sirius Black."
Emily came out from behind Harry and smiled at the older man. "Nice to meet you, Sirius," She said quietly.
Sirius grinned, "And you Miss Emily. How did your first week at Hogwarts go?"
"Oh it was fun!" The girl beamed. "I'm really good at all my classes, I read my books as much as possible before I came here. Charms is my favorite so far I managed to make my feather fly before anyone else! Transfiguration is fun too. I got my match to turn into a needle on my first try! McGonagall said I did really well. History of Magic isn't that bad, but I'm the only one who can stay awake long enough to take decent notes." The girl paused long enough to take a breath before continuing. "I really like potions but I don't thing Professor Snape likes me too much, but the second years I talked to said it's because he doesn't like Gryffindors, but that can be true. He's a teacher. Teacher's want all their students to learn!"
Emily looked up at the other faces only to see them looking from Hermione to her and back before bursting out laughing. Ron had fallen out of his chair he was laughing so hard, Sirius was covering his laughter with a hand but his eyes showed his amusement clearly enough. Only Luna had kept quiet though she showed slight amusement as well.
"Bloody hell, Hermione," Ron gasped. "She's a miniature you!"
After a few moments the laughter died down and Harry explained to Emily about their first year and Hermione. Sirius glanced around, "Hey Emy, you said you were good at Transfiguration, right?"
The little girl nodded excitedly, "I earned 10 whole points for being able to turn my match into a needle on my first try!"
Sirius smiled, "You want me to show you a trick I learned in Transfiguration in my fifth year?"
Her eyes widened as she nodded, "Oh yes! Please show me!"
Sirius quickly transformed into Padfoot and barked at Emily.
She gasped and giggled, "You can turn into a puppy!"
Harry sat himself down next to Hermione's bed again and they exchanged amused glances, "She is a lot like you, you know."
Hermione shook her head, "No, she's got enough smarts to know that there's more than books."
"You heard her description of Hogwarts so far," Harry smiled, "Her defense of Snape sounds familiar. As did her description of Charms and Transfiguration."
Hermione smiled, "Plus the fact that she latched on to you first chance she got."
Harry returned the smile and glanced up. The rest of the group was occupied with watching Sirius and Emily. He stood up and sat himself next to Hermione on her bed and took her hand in his. "I'm really sorry Hermione."
"What are you sorry for?" She asked, puzzled.
"That spell should have hit me," he said rubbing his thumb lightly over her knuckles. "You're a great girl, Hermione. Now I've got two girls in my life to be my conscience during this war. Thank you for being here, 'Mione."
Hermione smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "I wouldn't be anywhere else."
Across the room Padfoot had noticed his godson's move and smiled to himself. He knew it had been coming. It took this little charm of a girl to show Harry the truth. Sirius pranced lightly around Emily who was still trying to chase the 'puppy'.
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