"I just wish I could help Moony, you know?" Harry asked rhetorically. After Sirius's death, he had begun to devote more attention to Remus, hoping for more of a parental bond, but Remus's fear of his disease led him to be more distant. Which is why Harry was at Grimmauld Place, ranting at Dobby, and otherwise alone. "If only he didn't have his...furry little problem."
"Harry Potter sir, Dobby has works he must be doing," Dobby said uncertainly. "Can Dobby - ?"
"Sure, Dobby, whatever you need." He kept pacing in front of the fireplace.
# # #
"Master Harry Potter sir, Dobby notices the library is missings volumes. Can -"
"Sure, Dobby, whatever. If it makes Hermione happy, it's fine by me. Now where was I...oh yes, woe is me."
# # #
"Harry Potter sir, can Dobby buy a Bubble-Head Charm Bracelet?"
"Bubble-Head Charm..." Harry mused. "That would have come in handy. Never did learn it. I guess it would be good to have one on hand."
"Thank you Master Harry sir."
Pop.
# # #
"Master Harry Potter sir, Dobby always said a bit of fresh paint can brighten a place up. May Dobby -"
"Go ahead, Dobby, but it won't give me a father figure."
# # #
"Can Dobby purchase a rocket, Master Harry Potter sir?"
"More firewhiskey, Dobby."
"If Dobby can has his rocket."
"I don't have a dad, Dobby," Harry slurred. "I had a puppy but I lost him. I want a puppy! But he's a wolf, not a puppy. Bad puppy."
# # #
Morning came far too early - a fact which Harry was quick to remark on.
"'s morning already? 's too early for morning. Ow, my head."
Pop.
"No Master Harry sir, it be two on the clock," Dobby said brightly. "And Dobby has a hangover cure ready, if Dobby can has a rocket."
"My head, Dobby."
"Dobby needs a rocket to gets the hangovers cure," Dobby said sternly.
"Fine, whatever! Just give me the - ow - potion."
"Thank you Master Harry sir." Pop.
Harry stared at the empty space that had just held his house elf and now contained a frothing pink potion. "Fuck it, I don't want to know."
# # #
The next evening, Harry glanced out the window and noticed something strange in the sky. It was a strange green smudge rising in the east. After a few moments of squinting, he dug out his school telescope. Yep, there it was: the Oceanus Procellarum, the Mare Crisium, and all the rest he could never remember.
"Dobby, can you tell me why -"
Pop. Dobby appeared, dragging a protesting Remus Lupin with him. "No, it's not safe! I didn't take Wolfsbane!" he shouted. Then he seemed to notice that he was still human.
"Dobby? Did you paint the entire moon green?"
Dobby gave him a wounded look. "Dobby paints it chartreuse, Master Harry Potter sir."
Harry sighed. "I don't care if it's chartreuse, citron, or a devious shade of puce. Why the devil did you do it, and why did you drag Remus here? Great to see you, by the by."
"It's the full moon," Remus said woodenly. "And I'm...me."
"Master Harry sir wanted his moony puppy, now Master Harry sir has his moony puppy!"
