One shot!! Cause I was bored and had written this for a creative assignment some time back :D

Linda was in a bad mood. Her husband had gone off to his uncle's funeral; and while she knew how important this was for him, she was still annoyed that he wasn't home yet. She had a very important meeting in an hour and she was going to be late. Linda was the head of the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and she had to pass a law concerning house elves and their enslavement.

Just then she heard the door bell ring. "Finally!!!" she gasped. She rushed to open the door, all ready to tick off John, her husband when she saw what was standing next to him. " John..

What are you doing with a house elf?"

'Let me in and I'll tell you', he said. After making himself comfortable and sending the house elf to the kitchen he told her how his uncle had left him a great deal of money as well as his old house elf, Timona.

" But we can't enslave a house elf John!!!, Linda screamed. "This goes against everything I'm working for!!! How can I fight against their enslavement and ill treatment when I have a house elf myself??"

"Look Linda", he said, trying to calm her down. "This is only for a little while. We'll release her immediately after all Uncles' assets are settled."

Linda spent the next two days sulking. Whenever Timona would come into the kitchen to work Linda would shoo her out, and whenever Timona disobeyed her and started working, Linda would scream at her for it, little knowing that this would make Timaona punish herself even more!!

Finally she came up with an idea. "What if I act horrible to her? Maybe she'll finally realize that she's being used as a slave and deserves freedom!!"

The next day Linda started her plan. She would assign Timona insane amounts of work and scream at her if she didn't finish it. Maybe that will make her mad enough to want to leave. It went everything Linda believed in… but she hoped that this make Timona understand the value of freedom.

2 weeks later:

Linda was tired. What ever she did… however badly she treated Timona, the elf would just not give up! Timona would never disobey her what ever be her orders!! She was near giving up, especially since the settlement of John's uncle's will was nearly over. Soon Timona would go to a new house… a place where her owners would be mean to her on purpose and her punishment could be life threatening.

Just then she heard a knock on the door. It was rather unexpected because John wasn't supposed to be back from the Ministry till another hour or so. What with Voldermort on the rise Aurors rarely got any free time!! Suddenly the door burst open and two thugs burst in. She knew straight away that they had been sent by Death Eaters and also that they hadn't been expecting anyone to be at home at this time. "This might just give me a slight advantage" she thought. Wand at the ready, she prepared herself for a bloody fight. Even though they were surprised by her presence the two thugs were formidable duelers and she was losing badly. At that moment Timona entered. With a flash of her own distinctive magic she managed to knock out one of the thugs. Unfortunately this left her vulnerable to the second one, who took this as an opportunity to try jinx the elf. If not for Linda's quick thinking Timona would have been dead for sure!!!

"Get out of here Timona", screamed Linda, confident that the elf would never disobey her. So she got the surprise of her life when Timona calmly disobeyed her orders and continued to fight. It was a hard and bloody battle but with a little more team work the second thug was overpowered too!!

Linda and Timona stared at each other. "I don't get you Timona" Linda confessed. "I work you so hard, I mistreat you… yet you're willing to die for me? Why don't you want to be independent?

Timona just stared at her. "You're a member of the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures but you don't understand elves do you? We may not like being mistreated but that doesn't mean we want complete freedom!! Just like you work for a better life, we work because we like it. We don't need schools or wands because our magic is different from that. The only thing we would ever want is to serve a good family, one which will treat us well!!!

After her long tirade Timona fell silent. "Are you mad at me? Will you give me clothes or just send me away?"… she honestly looked terrified.

Linda looked at her in amazement. "You know… I think this is the first time I've understood you!!" She made a quick decision. "Well then… you'll have to stay here with us!!"

Review.. Or then again.. don't....