"Here you are, Dobby. Fifteen Sickles." The prom and proper woman, Headmistress McGonagoll as the younger humans called her, handed me my monthly pay. I smiled at the money, glad that about the overwhelming improvement in pay from my previous job (I still shiver when I think about Malfoy Manor).

"Dobby thanks you, Missus!" I exclaimed. I inwardly cringed. My English didn't sound as smooth as the woman's. Elvish is MUCH easier to speak in my opinion. But it wasn't like I could just learn how to speak English properly. Nobody was willing to teach a house elf how to speak properly. We're not anybody's time of day.

Headmistress McGonagall chuckled. "Any time, Dobby. Now, I must be off. Hogwarts only partial runs herself. I must help with the rest!" With that, she turned on her heel and scurried away.

I stuck my coins into my sock. Satisfied, I thought about what I should do next. I could talk with Winky, but she didn't always...appreciate my company. I could try to convince the other house elves we were being robbed, but all they did was cry and glare at me.

And then I came to me: Harry Potter! He was always so nice to me! He saved me from the Malfoy Manor, you know. He was very gracious. I always get a little sad when I think about him. I knew his parents, you know. House elves have longer life spans than wizards and witches. His parents were very pleasant. I only saw them once or twice every year, when the old Mr. Malfoy would visit the school. They were always bickering. But the last year I saw them, they were holding hands; obviously in love. You could just tell by looking at them. It was sad Harry Potter wouldn't ever get a chance to see Lily Evans and James Potter be in love.

As I walked to Harry Potter's living quarters (I didn't much like Apparating in Hogwarts; I only did it when I had to), quite a few portraits I used to clean were abandoned. The halls of Hogwarts seemed...empty without the usual chatter of the portraits. Don't get me wrong; the paintings were often times very rude. They often look down on me, being all proper. I never minded though; they were only doing what they'd been taught.

I was relieved to see the pretty lady in the portrait was still outside Harry Potter's living quarters, even if she did look worse for wear.

"Please let me in, Missus." I asked politely, using my best English.

"I'm not supposed to let you in without a password." I saw her waver a bit. I could work with that.

I widened my eyes, giving her my well practiced look of innocence. "Please, Missus? Harry Potter needs Dobby!"

The pretty lady breathed heavily in defeat. "Alright, I suppose I could make an exception for you," her expression turned grim. "My Gryffindors will need all the help they can get. They've had a hard couple of weeks."

I nodded vigorously. "Yes, ma'am. Dobby thanks the pretty lady." I ended with flattery. She giggled a little bit, before swinging open.

I'm not sure what I expected when the door opened. I think it might've been along the lines of a laughter, smiles, and warmth. Hogwarts was had plenty of all three of those. But what I actually saw? Tears streaks on witches' faces, dark circles under the eyes of countless wizards, and the gloomy feeling that war often brought in its wake. And all these sad faces were staring that me, wondering what a house elf was doing in their presence.

I looked around, more than a little frightened. I didn't like all of them staring at me. Not at all. I scanned the room, looking for the dirty mop of black hair that Harry Potter possessed. When I didn't find that, I looked for the blinding red hair that his male friend, Ron, I think, had. I couldn't find that either. I knew what I had to do. I had to venture into the crowd of weeping humans.

I swallowed a moan as I navigated through the room. I looked to where he had always been in his First and Second year (I suppose it was a little creepy to spy on him back then, but I had to protect him! I mean, I'm sure you would do the same). I made my way over to a couple of love seats in front of a fire. One of the three chairs were occupied. My heart fluttered when I saw who was occupying it: Harry Potter's puffy haired friend, Hermione. She's ever so nice to me. She's kind of like a female version of Harry Potter.

I tapped her on the shoulder gently. She turned her face to look at me, and I saw that she had puffy eyes, bright red tear tracks, and dark circles. She was also deathly thin, and I immediately had the urge to make her enough food to feed millions.

Her face broke into a watery smile. "Oh, hello, Dobby. I'm sorry you have to see me like this." She frantically tried to rub her eyes and nose with her wrist. I shook my head wildly, causing my ears to smack me in the head.

"No, Missus. No need for Her-mi-on-ee to apologise to Dobby. Dobby is grateful Missus is alive and well." I applauded myself on my correct pronunciation of Hermione's name. Did wizards and witches have to make it so hard to learn English?

Hermione's face crumpled, and she started sobbing. Hard. I looked at her fearfully. I must've said something that set her off. Maybe she was not well. Maybe I had forced her to come to terms with the fact that she wasn't well. I felt the familiar bubble of blame arise in my chest. All my fault, all my fault.

I felt tears prickle at the edges of my eyes as Hermione's crying continued. If anything, it rose in volume and intensity. What had I done!?

"Please forgive Dobby! Dobby is a bad house elf! Bad Dobby! Bad, bad, bad! Dobby needs to be punished!" I didn't even bother to try and perfect my English. I wrapped my arms around my neck and squeezed. I was happy when I found I couldn't breathe. There. Now that I was in the process of being punished, Hermione might stop crying.

Hermione let out a shriek when she blinked away enough tears to see me clearly. She jumped up out of the chair and pried my hands from my neck. I silently thanked her; my head had been beginning to hurt. I immediately felt bad about the thought and felt the bubble arise once again. I tried to resist her, but in the end, she was much stronger than me.

I gulped in large amounts of air and held a hand to my pounding head. I hadn't had to punish myself in a while. I had forgotten what it felt like. Hermione squatted and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing slightly. She began to cry on my shoulder. I tried to lift my hands back up to my neck, but she held them down.

"It's not your fault, it's not your fault, it's not your fault..." Hermione kept whispering in my ear. I wasn't sure whether she was saying the words to me or to herself.

Slowly, but surely, her cries began to lessen into small hiccups. She pulled away from my body, but kept her hands planted firmly on my shoulders.

"Dobby, please promise me you won't punish yourself ever again. You're much too good for that, and you don't deserve that kind of punishment. Ever. Please, Dobby. This is the first and last time I'll ask you for anything. Don't. Punish. Yourself." She looked straight into my eyes.

I nodded really fast. "Dobby promises."

She nodded with finality. "Good. Now, I assume you wanted to speak with Harry?" I nodded again. She smiled faintly. "You and everyone else in the world. You can try to talk to him, Dobby, but he's hardly spoken to anyone. I think he's still getting over the war. It's still too fresh, you know?" She settled back into her chair. I sat on the floor, knowing that she wasn't quite done speaking to me.

"I haven't lost as much in this war as some other people. I mean, look at the Weasleys. They lost a son, a brother, and a best friend. And Teddy Lupin! Poor little Teddy Lupin! His parents died before he could walk. Colin's another one. He lost not only his brother, but his partner and apprentice. Everyone was sure they were going to go big with their photography skills. But if I were Colin? I would want to throw away my camera. For good." She stopped for a second, breathing heavily. I scooted a little further forward. I knew she wasn't done. Winky told me sometimes it's just good to talk and let it all out. That was what Hermione was doing. And there was no way she was done without mentioning-

"Harry," Hermione spoke in nothing louder than a whisper. "Harry's lost more than anybody in this entire war. His parents, his godfather, one of his adopted brothers, his adopted grandfather, a father figure, an adopted aunt... I could go on for hours. And I'm sitting here crying, when I'm the one who has almost absolutely no reason to be crying."

"'Almost?'" I asked tentatively.

Hermione chuckled soundlessly. "My parents don't know who I am. I'll have to go hunt them down and try to remind them that they have a seventeen year old daughter."

"That still sounds very hard, Missus." I stated plainly.

Hermione gave me a real smile. I could tell it was real; it reached her tired eyes. "I suppose so. But hey, we all have our own struggles. I shouldn't be comparing mine to other peoples. That's not fair to me or them." A pause. "Thank you for listening, Dobby. I really needed that."

"Anything for a friend, Her-Minnie." I said proudly.

She laughed. "Close enough. Harry is up in his dorm, I believe. He may or may not be sleeping. I'm probably guessing the latter, though; none of us have gotten much sleep. I'm sorry for wasting your time, Dobby."

I shook my head and laid one of my hands on Hermione's wrist. "Missus hasn't wasted my time. Dobby is honoured. Dobby thanks you."

Hermione gave me another real smile. "You always know how to make me smile. Now, off you go. Harry needs you more than I do."

With that I stood up, but not before bowing to Hermione. She sighed loudly. I smiled widely at her before scurrying to Harry Potter.

When I reached the door to Harry Potter's living quarters, I hesitated. Maybe I should think about what Hermione said a little bit more. Harry Potter had hardly spoken to anybody for weeks. What made me think he would talk to a house elf like me? I pushed those thoughts from my mind and knocked on the door.

"H-hello?" I asked very quietly. No answer. I grabbed the door knob and turned it very delicately. It was unlocked. I wasn't sure whether this filled me with delight or dread.

I pushed the door open and peeked inside. The beds were pretty much completely empty. Pretty much. I saw that the farthest bed from the door had something lumpy underneath the covers.

I pushed the door open a little further and looked around again. No one else but that lump in the bed. I completely opened the door, and took a couple of steps into the room. The floor boards creaked slightly as I creeped toward the bed, but other than that it was silent. Before I knew it, I was standing at the bed with the lump in it. I held my breath and leaned my head closer to the lump, listening for breathing.

It was faint breathing, but their was definitely something alive under the covers.

"Harry Potter?" I whispered, afraid to wake him. I wasn't quite sure why I was afraid; didn't I originally want to talk to him? But after seeing the state Hermione was in, I wasn't so sure anymore. "Are you awake?"

"Hard to sleep, actually." I heard his dry voice from the bed.

"Harry Potter is well?" I asked politely.

He was quiet for a moment. "More or less physically. But mentally or emotionally? I'm a wreck, to be honest."

I narrowed my eyes angrily. "Who does this to Harry Potter!? Don't worry Harry Potter, Dobby will make sure they punish themselves!"

A tired chuckle from the blankets. "The one person who could've been responsible is already dead. But a whole lot of other people I loved are now dead, too."

"So, it is dead people's fault?" I was confused. If Harry Potter loved these people so much, why were they causing him such turmoil?

"No, Dobby. It's my fault." Harry Potter murmured. "All my fault."

I sighed, giving up on understanding wizards. I sat down on the floor, knowing that Harry Potter needed to talk. He needed to let it all out like Hermione.

"Dobby thinks that a lot of things are his fault." I started, thinking Harry Potter probably needed a push to get things going. "And many things Dobby messes up are his fault. But Dobby just punishes himself, and has to move on. If Dobby stays and is not well, he will not ever get work or just be Dobby. This is what Dobby tells himself." I looked at the lump, waiting for it to speak. Instead, I saw a hand submerge and yank back the covers, revealing the Wizarding world's saviour.

And I thought Hermione looked unwell.

Harry Potter looked utterly defeat. His normally bright green eyes were dead and dull. His face seemed to sag further and further with every breath he took. The things under his eyes weren't bags; they were more like suitcases. His black hair drooped pitifully, and he was even thinner than Hermione was. I didn't know that was even possible! Although Harry Potter looked like an Inferi, he strangely didn't have any tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Very few things are your fault, Dobby. You take the blame for quite a few things that are out of your control. You punish yourself frequently because you're under the impression that since everything bad is your fault when it's not. It hardly ever is." He scanned my face as he spoke.

I reached over and put my hand on his barely concealed shoulder and looked in deeply in the eyes. "Why is Harry Potter telling me things about himself?" I pulled back and let him think over the words.

His eyes widened considerably. I smiled a little as he came to the realisation that he had been punishing himself like I often times did. He blinked for a little bit before speaking.

"...I...when you put it...oh Merlin..." I laughed as he stuttered.

"Harry Potter won't punish himself? If Harry Potter doesn't, Dobby will not either." I proposed. I didn't tell him that I had already promised Hermione I wouldn't punish myself, but Harry Potter didn't need to know that.

"I-I...deal." He reached over and shook my hand. I watch in shock as the exchange took place. Nobody had ever shaken my hand before. Harry Potter was treating me like an equal!

"Dobby thanks you so much Harry Potter!" I felt tears spring into my eyes.

"Dobby, think nothing of it. And please, it's just Harry."

"You are sure?" I questioned.

"Quite."

"Then Dobby shall call Harry Potter, Harry." I giggled a little bit at the amount of equality Harry Pott- no, Harry, was showing me.

"So, what brings you to my room, Dobby?" Harry leaned back against the headboard of the bed, keeping his head turned in my direction.

"Hogwarts is looking very gloomy. Dobby wanted to know if Harry was also gloomy. Dobby wanted to see if he could help." I looked at Harry uneasily.

He scratched his head. "I don't think there's anything I need."

"Well, then Dobby is here to talk to Harry." I changed my offer a bit.

Harry smiled. "I suppose I do need that. What would you like to talk about?"

I thought hard for a second. "Harry tells Dobby about Harry's Wheezys?" I asked hopefully. Harry's friends with fire for hair were very entertaining.

Harry's face fell. "My 'Wheezy's' aren't doing very well. They lost someone in their war. Fred. He was killed right in front of his twin, George. George isn't taking it very well. Ron and Ginny are sucking up their guilt to help their parents and George, though. From what I've heard, they don't really have time to grieve. And that's all I've been doing. Hardly seems fair, right?"

"Ron is Harry's male Wheezy?" I clarified. Harry nodded. "Who is Genie?"

Harry looked away, so I couldn't see his expression. "Ginny. She's Ron's sister."

I quirked my head to the side in confusion. "Dobby has not heard about Jenny."

"She's a year younger than Ron, Hermione, and me. I'm pretty sure you only know the Wheez- er, Weasley's, up until Ron."

I bobbed my head, thinking of something else that would take Harry's mind off of his previous self-loathing session. "How is Hermy-own?"

"You mean Hermione? I haven't spoken with her in a very long time. In fact, you're probably the first person I've spoken to in at least 48 hours." Harry said wistfully.

I puffed out my chest proudly. Harry Potter wanted to talk to ME above anybody else. "Dobby is honoured, Harry."

Harry chuckled. "I bet Hermione isn't too happy about that. She's always worrying about me. She knows practically everything about me, down to my shirt size. I feel bad about not talking to her, but I think I just needed sometime alone. She's my best friend, though. She's just been so good to me. I would give her anything to pay her back for all the things she's done over the years." Harry looked back at me, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I'm rambling, aren't I? If I were you, I wouldn't want to know all these things about someone I've only met a handful of times."

I didn't answer him. I was too busy thinking over his words in my head. Harry had smiled quite widely while talking about Hermione. He looked very happy when talking about her. Hmm... "Does Harry love Hermione?" I point blank asked.

Harry smiled. "How do you not love someone whose basically one-third of your being?"

The wheels in my head were spinning quickly. Thoughts of James Potter and Lily Evans entered my mind. Could Hermione and Harry be just like Harry's parents? It seemed like Harry might be willing to have tons of mini witches and wizards with Hermione. And Hermione had looked very worried about Harry. Could I be witnessing true love in the making up close?

"Does Hermione love Harry?" I scanned his face. Harry shrugged, smile still planted firmly on his face.

"I sure do hope so."

I could barely contain my excitement. This was the chance to get Harry happy again! Love made everybody happy, right? So what better way to do that then to make Harry fall in love with his soul mate? It was perfect!

I had to get to planning. I needed to know more about the situation before I started matchmaking. This was going to be grand.

"Dobby thanks Harry for his time. But Dobby has things to attend to in Hogwarts; this and that. Dobby must be off. Dobby hopes Harry is well! Goodbye!"

Before Harry could say anything, I was running out the door and my secret Changing Room. I had to get planning. Harry was going to be thrilled when he realised that he was falling in love with Hermione!

My first chapter story on ! yay! Notice how I didn't reveal the pairing on my description. This story is a SURPRISE PARING story (I absolutely hate these typed of stories, but I've always been a bit of a hypocrite). Harry will not be paired with an OC character, I promise. It will also be a girl (I can on,y read slash, I'm crap at writing it). But I'd love to hear who you guys think Dobby will pair Harry up with. R&R plz!