Authors note – Sorry for the sucky way they speak. I have trouble thinking of what Dobby and Gollum will say. Also, I know some of it just doesn't make sense. Just go with it.
There was total silence; you could still hear the wind moving the bushes and branches around. The little creature named Dobby just stood there for a few seconds, gazing toward the forest. Gollum just stayed frozen on the ground, staring at Dobby scared and his ribcage moving up and down deeply. Finally, Dobby looked over at Gollum with a weak smile.
"Better get you back to the mansion then. Master wouldn't like it if you stayed out for much longer" he said in a soft voice which sounded sad but as if he was trying to be happy. Once Dobby slowly walked over to Dobby, his feet barley lifting up off the ground, he took the wrist of Gollum with one hand. His hands were very skinny, even thinner then Gollums, something he thought was impossible. He could see all the bruises and cuts on the little creatures' hands and Gollum became both scared for himself and worried about what was happening to Dobby. With his other hand, Dobby snapped his fingers and everything went fuzzy for a few seconds. What was going on? He started to breathe quicker as his eyes jumped around, looking for anything.
Everything then cleared up for Dobby. He was able to see but what he saw was very strange. It looked like he was in a home, but not like one he was used to. Nothing like the homes near the Gladden fields, not the type he was used to. For one thing, everything was clean. The walls were a dark cream and looked shiny. As if there was something on it. The floor that Gollum was lying on wasn't too hard, in fact it was kind of soft. At least, soft to him. There were paintings across the wall, maybe five or six. Each one of them was of a man but unlike the art Gollum had seen, they were moving. Art was very rare in middle earth. Seeing one portrait was hard enough but seeing six which were moving, it was scaring Gollum even more. It wasn't just that which scared him though. Each one of the paintings were looking at him, as if they were inspecting them. He could hear whispers. Where they talking to each other?
"What is that ghastly thing?" one of the potraits said in disgust. It looked like an elderly man; he had white hair and a moustache.
"I think it's an elf" another portrait, a younger man with red hair, muttered quietly as he squinted, trying to get a better look at Gollum.
"He is not an elf master Grojerbark" Dobby stuttered quietly. He had been standing next to Gollum for the few seconds he had been in the unfamiliar place. It made Gollum feel a little bit better but it went back to the way it was when another portrait started talking. This time it came from another older face, wrinkles and no hair.
"Did anyone ask for your opinion?" he snapped, sounding rather angry. Gollums eyes went straight back to Dobby. Even though Gollum was expecting Dobby to jump or at least look surprised, he didn't. Instead, he just quickly shook his head.
"No. No one asked Dobby. Please forgive him. Don't listen to anything he says" Dobby quickly remarked, as if it was rehearsed and he had done it countless times before
"It's alright. You're allowed to make a mistake once in a while" the first moving portrait said but it seemed he was a little angry too. There was a few seconds pause before it spoke again. "Well, what are you doing? Get back to work. Give it the potion too. We don't want it to lounge around all night. Lazy bugger" Dobby just nodded and went over to a cabinet, opening it he took out a small purple bottle. Gollum continued to follow the little house elf, still trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Once Dobby got it, he walked back to Gollum and sat down besides him. Taking the lid of the potion, he lifted Gollums head slightly.
"Promise Dobby you won't have a fit" Dobby whispered, it sort of looked like he was pleading. The look which Gollum gave back was still of fear, he was terrified. Pressing the potion against Gollums thin lips, he tilted it back a little so the green liquid came out of the bottle and into his mouth. It was a cold, icy taste and it had a certain flavour to it which was very strange. Not like anything Gollum had drunk before, then again, the only thing he had been drinking was dirty cave water. Maybe it was what normal, clean and what everyone else drank. Once Gollum was able to feel his body and move around, he shot up and continued to breathe quickly.
"Where is I?" he asked, his head moving around, looking at everything again. He screamed a little, which was very hard for him as he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs but something told him if he did; he would get in a lot of trouble. Jumping up, he moved around. Going up to the paintings, he touched one and didn't feel like there was a person there, just some paper. The man muttered something angrily and turned away,
"You are in masters' house. Master Malfoy" Dobby explained. Gollum was running around the room, but wasn't making too much a sound, which is not what Dobby expected but he did appreciate it. Well, the creature was taking deep breathes but wasn't screaming or anything. "What's your name?" Dobby asked. He didn't like to refer to the creature as the creature. It just stopped and looked at the ground, as if it was trying to remember its own name. Gollum then looked up at Dobby, he could still see the fear and confusion in the creatures eyes.
"Master? I has no master" he muttered, disgusted at the thought of someone owning him. Especially if the Malfoy Dobby was referring to was the elf. "But they call me Gollum these days" he added, turning away. "And I am not an elf" he muttered bitterly. "Why must you believe it so?" he hissed at the moving paintings. "Elves are tall, they are pale. That 'master' is an elf. I is not an elf" he screeched. The paintings raised their eyebrows questionably, making Gollum angrier. He let out a louder scream and jumped at one, only to be stopped by Dobby, who grabbed hold of his arms.
"Please don't Gollum. You'll get Dobby in even more trouble if you hurt them" Dobby managed to get say through Gollums screams. He was trying to fight the restraint but couldn't get out of it, so he was stuck with just kicking his legs around. When he heard that Dobby could get in trouble though, he stopped. He was still glaring at the moving portraits and tried to calm down. "Where you come from must have a different style of elves Gollum" he started. "Here, I'm an elf. A house elf" he explained, making Gollum more curious
"I have never heard of a house elf before" he whispered, looking over at him then chuckled a little. His laugh was kind of disturbing, making Dobby a little more nervous. "You and I look nothing alike. Why must they think I'm a house elf?" he asked, receiving a small shrug from Dobby.
"There are some house elves that look like you. We each look different. Some have ears like yours, skin like yours, that type of things. Master must have thought you were one of them" he explained. Gollum still didn't understand but stopped caring. The master was just a fool, that was what he decided to just believe.
"How do I get out of here?" Gollum asked, looking around for an exit. The paintings laughed again, as if he said a joke. He looked at Dobby again to explain it.
"You can't get out of here" he muttered. "Master thinks you're a house elf, so you are. You belong to him. We can only leave if he gives us clothes"
"Which will never happened" the white haired portrait added, as if it was the most ridiculous idea ever. Dobby nodded slightly.
"So, I am stuck here?" he asked. Dobby nodded again. "What am I expected to do?"
"Well, the dishes need to be washed up right now. You can help Dobby. He could use some company. None of the elves like Dobby very much so he has to do the work by himself" he answered.
"I guess I could help" Gollum stated. He didn't really know what Dobby meant but anything was better then being stuck in the small with the paintings. They really did hurt Gollums feeling and if he was left alone with them, Dobby would have gotten into a lot of trouble and he didn't want that. Dobby was a good elf. It was so weird using the term elf for something different to what Gollum was used to. If Dobby was an elf though, what exactly was "master Malfoy?" He'll just have to wait and see.
