A/N: If you like this then check out my spin off, it's called The Night That Started It All and the first chapter is up now!
The morning after the ball found the inhabitants of Gryffindor house running around like headless chickens trying to gather their belongings together. After this flurry of activity, they headed down to breakfast to consume several slices of bacon and a number of sausages. With their first meal of the day munched, they returned to the tower to grab their cloaks before coming back to the entrance hall to wait for the carriages that would take them to Hogsmeade station. Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were returning to Grimmauld Place for the holidays, and Mr and Mrs Granger had been invited to join the Potters, the Weasleys, Lupin and Tonks there. Hermione’s parents would be arriving on Christmas Eve.
The students didn’t have to wait long for the carriages and, as usual, the four of them climbed into a carriage together, along with Neville and Susan Bones. The two of them had gone to the previous night’s ball together. Susan seemed to be quite impressed by the change that had overcome Neville’s frame as well as his attitude. The short chubby boy of Harry’s first year was gone and had been replaced by a tall young man who had thinned somewhat in recent months.
They boarded the train at the station and settled into a compartment together. Luna appeared a few minutes into the journey; she smiled dreamily at them all before she settled in to a corner with the Quibbler and began to hum tunelessly. They saw Remus, Tonks and Ellie at regular intervals; once again they were patrolling the length of the train. Remus was the first to stop by. “Hello, you lot. Mr. Longbottom, Ms. Bones and is that Ms. Lovegood?” he asked. Luna lowered her edition of the Quibbler and smiled languorously at him.
“So, Remus, how are you this morning?” Harry asked with a cheeky grin on his face; Remus flushed scarlet.
“I’m quite all right, thank you,” he replied quietly.
“How about Tonks?” Hermione asked mischievously.
“She’s very well.” A rather embarrassed grin spread across his face.
“I’m not surprised the way you two were kissing last night!” Ron proclaimed.
“Indeed…” Remus stuttered, leaving as quickly as he could.
“He and Tonks were kissing?” Harry raised his eyebrows.
“They left the castle not long after you; we saw them kissing near the edge of the forest,” Hermione answered.
“Good, Good,” he muttered to himself.
Although they had escaped Draco’s wrath at the start-of-term train journey, they weren’t lucky enough to escape it again. “Look what we have here, the ringleaders of the Hogwarts scum all gathered together. You make my work so much easier,” he drawled.
“Go bite yourself, Malfoy,” Ginny snapped at him.
“Manners, Weasel; I might have to take points for that. Five for your rudeness, and five from you for being poor.” He pointed at Ron. “Five from the mudblood because I don’t like her, another five from Longbottom for sucking up to Potter, five from Lovegood for being Loony, five from Bones for hanging out with losers and ten from Potter for being Dumbledore’s favourite boy,” he laughed. He was not impressed when they grinned back at him. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly on either side of him. “What are you grinning at?” he asked, clearly thrown by their attitude. The noise of the compartment door sliding shut made him turn around. Ellie stood there with fury radiating from every pore and a powerful energy surrounding her. A flame was burning brightly in the back of her eyes.
“Well, Mr. Malfoy, let’s see. I’ll have twenty points each from you, Gregory and Vincent, for threatening behaviour. Fifty from you for a misuse of your prefect powers, ten for your use of that foul word, five for each of your insults and a further ten because I don’t like you. Let’s take another ten from each of you because your fathers are Death Eaters,” she said with a look of vindictive pleasure spreading across her face, much like the one Snape wore when he was taking points from Harry. “Tell me, Draco, how does it feel to be victimised?” He just looked at her blankly. “I suggest you leave this compartment, and don’t let me catch you in here again; if I do then you’ll be on the receiving end of a lot more than docked points,” she advanced on him. She was only an inch from his face when she continued. “Be a good little boy and pass a message on to your father and your precious Dark Lord for me. Tell them that I’m waiting.” Draco took one last look at her and left quickly.
“I hate that Malfoy’s so rich, he thinks he owns everything,” Ron grumped.
“Poverty is the schoolmaster of character, Ron, and you have more good character in your little finger than there’s been in several generations of the Malfoy family. You need to remember that you’re just as rich as he is; you could buy him a thousand times over if love and care were galleons. If he comes back give that pendant of yours a whirl, Harry.” She set off back towards the front of the train after shooting one last furtive glance in the direction that Malfoy had departed. Her advice was unnecessary, though, as they didn’t see Malfoy for the rest of the journey.
“Did I mention how much I love your cousin?” Ron breathed dreamily; everyone laughed hysterically at his wistful expression. They continued to laugh about the look on Malfoy’s face. Neville and Susan were completely shell-shocked; they had never seen the professor so menacing. Neville, however, seemed to take her reaction to heart, and you could virtually see his nerve steeling.
At King’s Cross the students lined up in pairs to wait for a signal that it was safe to pass through the barrier on to the main platform of the station. Harry heard Draco muttering furiously several feet behind him, but he promptly shut up as Ellie and Remus passed by. When it was Harry and Ginny’s turn to pass through, Remus went before them and Ellie and Tonks waited until they, Ron and Hermione had emerged before they too departed platform 9 ¾. Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Charlie were waiting for them on the other side so they walked out of the station together and into a waiting car. They drove for about twenty minutes and then stopped abruptly three streets away from Grimmauld Place, where they walked the rest of the way.
Mrs. Weasley made them a sumptuous dinner, and afterwards, everyone sat chatting for a little while before Ellie rose. “Right, I want everyone up to bed now.”
“But it’s only ten o’clock!” Harry protested.
“I do own a watch, so I know that it isn’t that late but I want everyone up bright and early tomorrow to start work on the house. Remus, Charlie and I are going to Diagon Alley first thing tomorrow; when we get back, I want everyone to be up and to have had breakfast so that we can start straightaway. There’s a lot to be done and I want it all finished before Mr and Mrs. Granger get here on Christmas Eve. That doesn’t leave us much time.”
“My mum and dad won’t mind if the place is a bit messy, Professor,” Hermione said gently.
“You don’t have to call me professor while we’re here, Hermione, and I’m sure that they wouldn’t mind, but this will be their first time in a wizard household,
won’t it?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then I want to make a good impression. We’ll try and do something about Sirius’s mum. Goodness only knows what she’d shout about having Muggles in her house.” Ellie glanced apprehensively at the door to the hall. “I might ask my granddad if I can borrow a house-elf or two.” Hermione audibly gasped. “Don’t worry, Hermione, I’ll offer them something in return, payment or time-off or something.” Ellie knew all about SPEW since Hermione had filled her in after one Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. She had bought a badge and even offered a few galleons so that she could drum up some support.
While Ellie was talking things over Harry heard that strange voice in his head again.
‘Got to make sure everything’s right. The first Christmas has to be perfect.’
It puzzled him. It sounded familiar to him but he just couldn’t place it.
“You lot had best get up to bed.” Mrs. Weasley nodded her approval of Ellie’s instructions and hustled them from the room. They complained very loudly all the way up the stairs but, despite their protestations that they weren’t tired; they all fell asleep surprisingly quickly. Ellie hadn’t been joking when she had told them that she wanted them up early. When she woke them at seven it was still dark outside. She, Remus and Charlie were already up and dressed, munching on toast as they rounded up the sleepy teenagers. As they sat at the kitchen table, Tonks, who had also been dragged from the comfort and warmth of her bed and was looking very tired, joined them. Ellie, Remus and Charlie waved as they disappeared into the green flames.
The trio returned almost an hour later with Fred and George in tow to help carry the dozens of bags that they brought with them. After their travel cloaks had been removed, Ellie ordered everyone into the drawing room. She then gave each person a piece of furniture to levitate out of the room. Hermione reminded her that Harry, Ron and Ginny were still underage, but this didn’t seem to bother Ellie too much. Everyone took control of an object; Remus had the dresser, Bill and Charlie took a display cabinet each, Harry and Ron claimed four chairs between them while Hermione conducted the desk. Ginny took care of the Black family tapestry. Ellie tore down the curtains as Molly cleaned the window with some kind of scouring charm. In just a few minutes the room had been emptied, with the furniture and hangings gone the grime that had accumulated over the years could be seen plainly. Ellie had everyone come back into the room and had somehow acquired what looked like a pot of paint.
“I know that some of us know how this works but, to refresh our memories, and for the benefit of our four teens, I’ll run through it all anyway.” She sat the pot of paint on the floor in the middle of the room. “Harry, what colour do you fancy in here?” she asked, examining the walls carefully.
“Why don’t we stick with the colour from the hallway?”
“Crimson?” she supplied.
“I think so,” Harry too was looking around. “What do you think?” he asked Remus.
“Crimson sounds good,” he nodded.
“Very well. Are you all watching carefully?” Clearly slipping out of her role as a teacher was not going to be easy for her. “You open the tin.” She did so to reveal ordinary magnolia paint. “Point your wand at it and call out the colour you wish to use, for example Rutilus!” Harry watched in amazement as the red seeped through the cream, after a few seconds the tin was full of crimson paint. “Once you’ve done that, you point again and say Spargo! Then leave the room as quickly as possible.” She ushered them out in to the hall where it was very cramped because of the furniture. They waited for a few minutes before Ellie opened the door again. The room was now coated in a brilliant red. She pointed her wand at the nearest wall and called out ‘Siccus!’ A gust of air emitted from the end of her wand as she rotated on the spot, pointing her wand at each wall in turn. Harry touched the wall nearest him when she was finished to find that it was bone dry. They brought each piece of furniture back in one at a time; Ellie would look at it for a few minutes and then point to a corner. Mrs. Weasley then used her highly effective scouring charm to clean each piece, and Remus finished off with a polishing charm. Soon all the surfaces were gleaming brightly under the strong winter sun that was now flooding through the clean windows. For the first time, Harry was able to look out to the green square of grass that was in front of the house. Remus disappeared from the room and came back a few seconds later with a bag full of fabric. Ellie waved her wand, and several meters of it began to hang itself around the windows like curtains.
“What do you say to gold curtains?” she asked him.
“Nice,” he replied. She repeated the movement she had used on the paint, and the curtains dyed themselves gold from the top down. She turned to face everyone and found that Ginny was still floating the Black tapestry in front of her.
“Let’s see, the Black family tapestry…” she contemplated. “Put it up over there Ginny,” she said pointing at the long wall opposite the door. Ellie joined Ginny at the tapestry, which outlined the Black family tree. “I believe that there are a few people missing from this.” She traced her finger over the names of Tonks and her parents and muttered ‘Eximo’. The scorch marks that concealed their names from view dissolved and Nymphadora Tonks once again gleamed at them. She did the same thing with Sirius’s name; her fingers lingering over it for several seconds. The tapestry had updated itself and next to his date of birth there was now a date of death. She stood staring at it for a few more minutes before Remus tore her attention away.
“Elizabeth? Where would you like us to start?” He softly placed a hand on her back.
“Um… the kitchen and hallway are fine, so we’ll head upstairs.” They all marched out of the drawing room and up to the first landing. They gathered around in a circle and awaited further instructions; Ellie, however, was still thrown by the tapestry and found it difficult to focus on the task that was in front of her.
“Ok…um…Remus and I did the rounds of the house during the summer and found out that there are twelve bedrooms, six bathrooms, a library, and an attic spread over four floors. On this one we’ve got three bedrooms, a bathroom, and the library. On the next floor there are five bedrooms and two bathrooms, on the third floor there are four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Then on the fourth there is the attic.”
“I never realised just how big this place is,” Harry exclaimed, looking at the walls as though checking to see if she was telling him the truth.
“It’s enormous!” added Ron.
“It is. I want you all to take a look around and grab the bedroom that you like. Molly, you and Arthur can have Mrs. Black’s old room, once we’ve cleared it out, if you want; it’s got its own separate bathroom.”
“Thank you, Elizabeth,” Molly gushed.
“Harry, I want you to come with me.” She beckoned him forward and ascended another two staircases to the third floor. She walked straight towards two mahogany doors at the far end of the passage.
“This was Sirius’s master bedroom; do you want it?” She opened the door an allowed him in.
Torches on the wall lit instantly, revealing the panelled walls and more mahogany furniture. An enormous four-poster bed sat in the middle of one wall with slightly dusty red velvet hangings. It reminded him of his dormitory bed at Hogwarts. There was a vast art deco wardrobe running along another wall. A door to the left of the bed opened into a gigantic bathroom much like the prefects bathroom at school. He looked around for a few minutes before answering her question.
“Why don’t you have it? I’ll take one beside Ron or Ginny,” he smiled at her.
“If you’re sure? I just wanted to give you the first choice.”
“Yeah, it’s ok. You should have it; you have more need for privacy than I do,” he grinned wickedly at her.
“We’ll see. I’ll remember that when I find you and Ginny in a broom cupboard somewhere.”
“Well hopefully giving you your own suite means we won’t have to find you and Charlie in a cupboard in the near future.”
“I don’t know about that. It’s been a while since we had a good snog in a broom cupboard!” she chuckled.
“I don’t need to hear this,” he grimaced. He was beginning to understand how Ron must feel when he listened to Harry and Ginny talking this way. He just didn’t need to hear about his cousin’s kissing habits.
“You’re probably right. Why don’t we go back down and you can see whereabouts your new room is going to be.” She closed the doors behind them as they left the room. They met Charlie on the landing he was surveying the walls with disgust as he waited for them.
“So, what room are you going to have then?” he asked her.
“Sirius’s room,” she smiled.
“In that case I’ll get a room up here. Fred and George have just come back and claimed rooms on the first floor; I want to be as far away from those two as possible,” Charlie said as he glanced through the two open doorways on this floor. The other door, which was closed, was Mrs. Black’s room where Buckbeak was currently being kept. Bill came into view at the top of the stairs.
“Is there a spare room going up here?” he addressed Harry, who was a little taken back, so far all house inquiries had been directed at Ellie.
“Well, Charlie is about to pick one, so that’ll leave another free on this floor. You can fight between the two of you over who gets what,” Harry answered.
“I want this one; it’s closer to Ellie’s room,” Charlie told Bill.
“Fair dues. This one’ll be mine then?” He stepped into the room nodding to himself.
“Poor Tonks has picked the other room down beside the twins; they’ll probably blow her up in the night.” Charlie shook his head solemnly.
“Has everyone picked their rooms?” Ellie asked him as she slid a hand around his waist.
“Yep, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Moony have picked rooms the next floor down. There’s another one down there if you want it, Harry, but I’d be quick before Tonks realises that she doesn’t want to be stuck next to Fred and George and nabs it.” Harry immediately made a dash for the stairs and took them two at a time. When he reached the landing below Ron and Hermione were standing in a door way kissing.
“Which room is free?” he asked them feverishly. They smiled embarrassedly and point at the door opposite them.
“What’s the hurry?” Ron looked at Harry a bit mystified by the urgency of his best friend.
“Tonks has picked a room downstairs with Fred and George and Charlie reckons she’ll be after this one when she realises,” he replied as he drew his wand to write his name on the door, just as Tonks came running up the stairs.
“Dammit!” she cursed. “I take it that’s the last room gone?”
“‘Fraid so,” Harry grinned.
“I hope they don’t end up killing me,” she wailed as she turned and headed back towards the floor below.
“EVERYONE BACK TO THE KITCHEN FOR FIVE MINUTES PLEASE,” Ellie’s voice reverberated around the walls of the house. Everyone traipsed down the staircases back to the kitchen to find that Ellie was already there.
“How did you get down here so quick?” Harry enquired.
“I apparated,” she replied. “So, everyone has a room?” Everyone nodded at her. “Now all you have to do is grab a bag full of fabric and a paint pot and take it to your room. Molly will come round and help everyone with the slightly more complicated spells necessary to make bedcovers and if any one needs any help just give us a shout.” She stood looking at them for a minute or so. “What are you waiting for? Grab your stuff and go!” she called in disbelief. There was a rush for the bags on the table and every one disappeared to their corner of the house to sort themselves out.
Harry stood in the middle of his new room for several minutes, trying to decide what colour to go for. He ran his mind through reds and greens and yellows but just couldn’t find one he liked enough. He had shrunk his bedroom furniture and put it in his pocket and was stood looking at a landscape painting that was hanging on the wall, when a thought came to him. He followed the actions that Ellie had done earlier and left the room so that the paint could spread.
“Hello there, stranger.” Harry looked over his shoulder to find Ginny stood at the closed door opposite him. She too had had shrunk her furniture and stacked it in a neat little pile outside her door.
“Gin, sorry. It’s been a busy morning.”
“It’s ok. Ellie’s got everyone’s nose to the grindstone. She’s taking Mr. and Mrs. Granger’s visit very seriously.”
“I don’t think it’s that. It’s got nothing to do with Hermione’s mum and dad,” he said thoughtfully.
“What is it then?”
“She wants everything to be perfect for our first Christmas as a family.”
“How do you know that?” she gaped at him.
“Do you promise you won’t laugh at me?” he asked quietly.
“Of course I won’t laugh at you,” she answered in a small and hurt voice. All the same she came to stand beside him and took his hand.
“Sometimes I can hear what Ellie’s thinking.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, there have been a couple of times when I’ve been thinking stuff and she’s interrupted me with her thoughts. Does that sound weird?”
“So you know what she’s thinking right now?”
“No, it’s only when she lets me. Like at that last Quidditch match, I kept watching what Malfoy was doing and wasn’t concentrating on the Snitch when I heard this voice in my head that I didn’t recognise telling me to keep my mind on the Snitch. Then again at the ball the other night, I was watching Malfoy as he stared at Ellie and then I heard that voice again telling me not to bother about him and just to have fun. I didn’t recognise it until last night when Ellie was talking about making a good impression then I heard the voice again although this time it was clear. I realised last night that it was Ellie and she was talking to herself about making sure our first
Christmas is right.”
“Does she know that she’s doing it?”
“I don’t think so. I think that I’m doing it too. At the match and the ball it was when I was looking at Malfoy that she suddenly turned around and saw him. At the match I actually saw her shake her head like she was wasn’t sure if she was imagining things.”
“Maybe you should talk to her. How do you know you won’t start exchanging thoughts when you don’t want to?”
“I don’t know. I’ll talk to her once Christmas is past. I’d hate to give her something else to worry about. So what colour did you go for?” He nodded his head in the direction of her door.
“Come and see for yourself,” she pulled him towards her bedroom door and pushed it open to reveal a baby pink room.
“It’s very pink,” he said looking around.
“What about you?” Echoing her, he pulled her towards his room and opened the door to reveal the room was a shade of blue that was reminiscent of the summer sky.
“Why did you choose blue?”
“I spent all those years locked up in Privet Drive not being able to see the sky that I thought it would be nice to wake up to see it every morning.”
“Oh, Harry, you’re so over dramatic,” she giggled at him. She kissed him gently before she went back to dry her bedroom walls.
Several hours later, when Harry was finally finished, he looked at the room before him in astonishment. It was completely unrecognisable as the same room from the morning. At lunchtime Moony had popped in with a plate of sandwiches and showed him a nifty spell that bleached wood. As a result his wardrobe, chest of drawers, desk and bed were now bleached pine. Molly had come by and waved her wand at the remainder of his fabric, which had sheared and sowed itself in to bedcovers. He had coloured these red, white and blue so his room now had the air of a beach house. He quite liked it; it was a nice change from the sometimes claustrophobic conditions of his dormitory and the dreariness of his room at Privet Drive. Ron had turned the room he used to share with Harry into a frightening tangerine tribute to the Chudley Cannons; just about everything that could be orange was. Hermione had settled for lemon yellow, a colour that made her already sizeable room look absolutely enormous.
As he prepared to make his way downstairs, a small green blur launched itself at his middle. “Harry Potter, sir!” Dobby turned his giant orb-like eyes up to him. He was wearing a pair of trousers, which appeared to have been cut off at the knees, a green t-shirt and one blue and one yellow sock.
“Hello, Dobby.” Harry looked down at the small elf that was staring up at him adoringly. “What are you doing here?”
“Harry Potter’s dear Eliza came to Hogwarts with a very special request. She asked if one of the house-elves would volunteer to help her clean the house she shared with the noble Harry Potter. Dobby, as always, would be most proud to serve the great Harry Potter and his Eliza. Ms. Potter has offered Dobby five galleons and a week of holiday for his help. Dobby didn’t want payment to help Harry Potter but Ms. Potter has insisted; she said that Harry Potter’s friend wouldn’t be happy with her if she didn’t pay me fairly.”
“And she’s quite right; I would be very disappointed,” answered Hermione, who had appeared behind Harry along with Ron.
“Alright there, Dobby?” Ron inquired of the elf.
“Yes, thank you. Dobby is honoured that Harry Potter’s Wheezy shows such interest in an unworthy house-elf.”
“You are not unworthy. Look at how many times you’ve helped Harry. Besides, you’re a living being too and deserve respect just as much as anybody else,” Hermione informed him.
“Thank you, kind and gentle Lady,” Dobby stooped into a low bow at Hermione’s feet. “Once again Dobby is amazed by the greatness not only of Harry Potter but also his friends. May Dobby ask how the dear Lady would like Dobby to address her?”
“Call me Hermione.”
“I thank you, Ms. Hermione,” Dobby stooped into yet another bow. As he stood up straight Ginny emerged from her room, which was now finished, and stared at the four of them peculiarly. “Ahh! This is his Lady Wheezy; she must be a magnificent witch to have claimed the affections of the gracious Harry Potter,” Dobby proceeded to bow to Ginny.
“You must be Dobby. Very nice to meet you,” Ginny held a small hand out to him as Dobby gazed at her with astonishment. He took her hand and shook it gently with his eyes full of tears.
“Ms. Wheezy shakes the hand of Dobby, Mr. Wheezy asks how Dobby is and Ms. Hermione compliments Dobby on his aide of Harry Potter. Dobby is truly grateful to serve such kind and generous wizards such as you. It is an honour but Dobby must hurry because Ms. Eliza is expecting Dobby in the attic. Will you permit Dobby to stop and say goodbye before he leaves tonight?”
“Of course you can,” Harry told him.
“Thank you, Harry Potter sir!” Dobby called as he shot up the staircase for the attic.
“He’s really very strange, isn’t he?” Ginny said to Harry.
“Well, that’s what a life of enslavement will do to you. I hope you understand why I started S.P.E.W now.” Hermione glared at them all before she headed down the stairs for dinner.
When they got down to the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley already had dinner stewing away, and Tonks was supposed to be helping her but just seemed to be creating more work for the already over-burdened witch. After twenty minutes Dobby materialized in the kitchen just before Ellie and Remus, and immediately began to scold Mrs. Weasley, “Mrs. Wheezy must sit down and let Dobby cook the food. It is not right for her to be cooking when Dobby is here to help.” Dobby pushed Molly into the seat at the head of the table and finished off cooking the dinner. As soon as the food was on the table he turned his attention to Ellie, “What would Ms. Eliza like Dobby to do now?”
“Why don’t you sit down with us?” She conjured an extra chair at the table for him.
“No, no. Ms. Eliza is paying Dobby to work and work he must. There is something else to be done?”
“Well the only other room that needs clearing is the sitting room…”
“Well Dobby must clean that, and he will come back when everyone has finished.” With that he ran from the room.
“He’s quite charming isn’t he?” said Molly who looked as though she was enjoying her food much more than normal. “You just don’t enjoy dinner as much when you’ve slaved over a hot cauldron for an hour or two.”
After they had all finished, Dobby rushed back into the room and snapped his fingers. The dishes from the table immediately jumped from their positions and piled neatly by the sink and began to wash themselves. “Dobby has finished the sitting room if Ms. Eliza would like to inspect?”
“Absolutely,” Ellie answered, rising from the table. “Harry, would you like to come too?”
“Ok.” He followed his cousin and the house-elf up the half-staircase to the ground floor.
It looked like the whole room was gleaming in the fading sunlight. All the surfaces were polished to an impeccably high standard. Harry could actually see his reflection in the coffee table. The cushions on the comfortable couches had been plumped to twice their normal size. The walls were the same colour as those of the hall and drawing room, a warm fire was roaring in the grate and luxurious gold, and velvet curtains were hanging from the crystal clear windows.
“Dobby, you’ve done a wonderful job; could you pop next door and get Remus for me please?”
“Of course, Dobby is happy to speak to any of Harry Potter’s friends,” he beamed as he skipped out of the room.
“I’ve got an idea, I want to run it past you and Remus first,” Ellie answered his puzzled expression.
“Is something the matter?” Remus asked striding into the room with Dobby at his heel.
“Not at all. Dobby, sorry to bother you again but is there any chance you could pop up to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley’s new bedroom and make sure that everything is all right?”
“Don’t be sorry. Dobby is glad to help.” As soon as he was gone from the room Ellie shooed Remus and Harry on to a couch.
“I’ve been thinking. Dobby has done a fantastic job today; the whole house is virtually finished and there is no way that we could have done it without him.”
“Agreed,” Remus added.
“Well Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny and I go back to school in two weeks. Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Tonks work all the time, which really only leaves you and Molly to take care of this place while everyone is away. This is an enormous house and it’s a lot of work for two people, I was thinking we should get a house-elf.”
“Any particular house-elf in mind?” Remus asked with a massive grin.
“Dobby.”
“I think that’s a brilliant idea,” Harry smiled widely.
“Any objections, Remus?”
“None at all. But be careful how you tell him. He might have a heart attack and die of happiness if he gets to work for ‘the noble Harry Potter’,” Remus chuckled.
“Don’t.” Harry flushed with embarrassment.
“Well that’s settled then.”
The aforementioned house-elf came jogging back into the room.
“Dobby has ensured that Mr. and Mrs. Wheezy’s room is clean.”
“Thank you. Dobby would you sit down for a second?” Ellie patted the space next to her. Dobby slinked across the room and pulled himself up on to the couch. His feet swung a foot or so off the floor and he looked at Ellie with fear in his eyes.
“Is Ms. Eliza unhappy with Dobby’s work?”
“No, no, no. You’ve done a fantastic job today, absolutely brilliant. I don’t know how we would have managed without you.”
“Ms. Eliza is too kind.” If it was possible, Dobby blushed.
“Well, we’ve been thinking very carefully and, as you know, this is a very big house. After Christmas the teenagers and myself go back to Hogwarts, and everyone goes back to work. That only leaves Remus and Molly to take care of the house, and it’s always so busy here with people coming in and out for meetings and so forth. They could really use a set of experienced hands. I believe that you worked for the Malfoys?”
“Yes, Miss, I did. They weren’t as kind to Dobby as the Potters and their Wheezys.”
“No, I don’t expect they were. Anyway, the point is you have a lot of experience in the day“to-day running of a house, and you’ve worked at Hogwarts for two years now so you know your stuff, don’t you?”
“Miss is again too kind but, yes, Dobby has done a lot of work. Last year none of the other house-elves would clean Gryffindor tower because Ms. Hermione was leaving out clothes. Dobby did all the work, though, in the hope that he would see Harry Potter,” Dobby now smiled at Harry.
“Yes, I heard about that. What I want to ask you, Dobby, is how would you like to come and be our house-elf?”
“Be Harry and Eliza Potter’s house-elf?” Dobby squealed with his eyes wide in amazement.
“Well, you would be helping the Weasleys and Remus, too. We’d pay you and you could have holidays, too; would you be interested?”
“Dobby would be privileged to be the house-elf of Harry and Eliza Potter. He would very much like to help the Wheezys and Mr. Lupin, too. When would Miss like Dobby to start?”
“Well, I’ll speak to my granddad and see if you could start tomorrow. Does that sound ok to you?”
“That sounds wonderful! Albus Dumbledore is a great wizard. He told Dobby that he was free to call him a barmy old codger if he liked,” Dobby giggled.
“You can call me what you like as well, Dobby; I won’t insist on absolute loyalty. If you feel you’re being mistreated, then I want you to tell us,” Ellie told him sternly.
“Dobby thinks that Harry Potter’s friends would never treat him badly… but Dobby worries about Winky; she still drinks a great amount, and she might drink more if Dobby isn’t there.”
“Well maybe you could bring Winky here, too. I mean there are an awful lot of us, so I’m sure you could find enough work for the two of you.”
“Ms. Eliza is the kindest witch Dobby ever met. She is as great as her noble cousin and her mighty grandfather. Dobby cannot wait to serve you, Miss.”
“Well, Remus, could you pop upstairs and help Dobby sort himself somewhere to sleep?”
“Of course; come along, Dobby.” Remus ushered Dobby out of the room and up the stairs.
“I don’t think I’ve blushed so much since Charlie told me that I had the prettiest hair he’d ever seen.” Ellie patted her cheeks.
“He said what?” Harry gaped.
“He was eight at the time, Harry.” She dipped her head in embarrassment and left for the kitchen.
A/N: Once again I have to thank my wonderful betas Magical Maeve and Ashley for their marvellous input, it’s very much appreciated!
I hope this chapter was to your liking, next up is… Things That Could Have Been.
If you could review you’d make me a very happy bunny!