Aftermath

Fighters Not Fighting

Hestia sat with a sleeping Draco in the Ministry cafeteria. She promised to wake him in half an hour to give him time to eat and regain more energy for the duels. His hand was shaking and his skin cold as she held onto it until he fell asleep. The girl finished a bowl of porridge when she was approached by a tall red head and brunette with glasses.

"Do you mind?" Harry asked Hestia, referring to pulling her aside for a moment. She hesitated and looked at the peaceful Draco before nodding and walking to the side with them.

"Now, what would infamous Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley want with me?" The girl asked, making the boys uncomfortable with the hypnotic way she spoke.

"Well... we just wanted to compliment you on your talents. I've never seen any magic that compares to yours." Harry said.

"Of course you have, you just didn't understand what you saw. My magic is just as your's. In the end we are all equal in terms of power but most of all of you are too scared to see that."

"What?" Ron asked, his face scrunched in confusion. "Why do you do that?"

This time it was Hestia who was confused. "I'm sorry, do what?"

Ron laughed awkwardly, his face slightly pink. "Talk all weird. Riddle like and such." Harry eyes grew and he elbowed Ron as if warning him to run. They were both surprised as the girl smiled widely.

"I do that often, don't I? My apologies, I've just grown accustomed to it. Never realized it was odd before." She laughed, instantly catching the boys attention again.

"It's no problem. Look we also wanted to talk to you about something else." Harry said, a small smile on his face. "About Draco."

Hestia tilted her head to the side but said nothing.

"We just wanted to warn you about him is all. He's not a bad guy or anything, but I don't believe you should hang out with him. He's not necessarily... erm... trustworthy." Harry said, Ron nodding his head in agreement.

"I have a question for you both. What can you tell me about Draco Malfoy? Something about him himself that you know personally. Not his actions or anything. Can you tell me his favorite color or his middle name? What pets he has or who his best friend is?"

The boys were stumped by these questions. Ron even slumped his head as though he were being lectured by his mother. Harry kept his stance however.

"If you can not answer such simple questions, you can not formulate solid judgments to warn me against him. As a child you and him hated each other, but can you tell me why other than that he was a prat? You can't answer why he was ugly to you as children, so you can not tell me about him." Hestia said calmly.

"What do you know?" Harry countered weakly.

"I know you are blind, Harry Potter. You were blind every year at Hogwarts and you were blind about Voldemort. I don't blame you, fors you were but a child, and everyone else was far more blind than yourself." Hestia stated.

Harry grew furious at these insults, although Hestia hadn't meant them that way. "You know nothing about that!"

"I know that you had to destroy 7 horocruxes in order to kill Voldemort, but it was really 8 since you were one. I knew Lockhart was a scam and Sirius Black was innocent. I also know that Draco was tasked to kill Dumbledore but couldn't do it. So Snape, who was on our side, did if for him because it was a part of Dumbledore's plan." Hestia listed.

"If you knew all that why didn't you do anything?" The boy shouted, stepping forward. They both ignored the eyes on them as they stood face to face, one angry another calm.