A/N: Because i forgot the disclaimer last time, i'm going to add it here for the whole story.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter or any of the familiar characters or places in this story. while i am flattered to those who think i do own it, this wonderful world is in the rightful ownership of JK Rowling.
Roselyn had to clamp her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming out in surprise, while next to her, Harry inhaled sharply in surprise. The little creature on the bottom bunk was obviously magical because Rose had never heard of it before. It was humanoid with large bat-like ears and humongous green eyes, but he was short and came only to about her waist. The trio stared at each other for a few moments in surprise and it took hearing a knock on the door to snap them out of it.
The little creature slid off the bed and bowed low, his long nose almost brushing the floor as his ears flopped forward before he looked back up with them, reverence shining in his eyes.
"Uh, hello…" Harry spoke nervously, clearly unsure what to say or do. The little creature lit up at the greeting and started to speak in a high-pitched voice that made Rose cringe, just knowing that the voice would probably carry downstairs and if there was a lull in conversation they would hear him.
"Harry and Roselyn Potter! So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir and miss... Such an honor it is . . . ."
"Th-thank you," said Harry, edging along the wall sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who was asleep in her large cage. "Who are you?"
"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," said the creature.
"Oh - really?" said Harry. Roselyn moved so she was standing behind Harry's chair, looking at Dobby with wide, wary eyes. She didn't know why any magical creature would come in their room like this, and she knew nothing about what House-elves could or couldn't do and wasn't sure she trusted an unknown in her room.
"Er, not to be rude or anything, but right now's not really a good time for a visit." Harry told the elf, looking apprehensively at their door where their Aunts high pitched laugh could be heard. The elf's eyes dimmed and he hung his head in disappointment.
"Harry!" Roselyn hissed in his ear, she didn't know who he was and she was wary of him, but she didn't like the idea of hurting his feelings either. "You hurt his feelings!"
"Not that I'm not pleased to meet you," said Harry quickly, "but, er, is there any particular reason you're here?"
"Oh, yes, sir," Dobby said earnestly, perking up at being able to continue, but looking unsure as to what to say. "Dobby has come to tell you, sir ... it is difficult, sir ... Dobby wonders where to begin . . . ."
"Sit down," said Harry politely, pointing at the bed. To their horror, the elf burst into very loud, very dramatic tears.
"S-sit down!" he wailed. "Never ... never ever. . . "
Rose and Harry both cringed away in unison and sent apprehensive looks to the door again as the voices downstairs faltered before Rose moved to kneel next to Dobby and hesitantly put her arm around him to try and sooth him, hopping to calm him down enough to quiet down.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything." Harry whispered frantically, trying to back track.
"Offend Dobby! Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard – like an equal!" he choked out, looking at Harry in completed adoration. Rose had a feeling that Harry had just earned a worshiper for life with the way Dobby was looking at him. As he started to calm down, Rose managed to usher him onto the bed.
"Well, obviously you haven't met many decent wizards." Harry pointed out, trying to cheer him up. Rose thought it had worked when Dobby started to shake his head before he froze, a look of terror crossing his face before he jumped off the bed and onto the desk to start banging his head furiously on the window.
"Bad Dobby! Bad, bad Dobby!" he shouted, causing Hedwig to wake up with a loud, angry screech and started beating her wings widly against the bars of her cage. The siblings moved at the same time, Harry leaping over to grab Dobby, hissing at him to be quiet, while Rose moved to Hedwig, sushing her gently and lightly stroking her feathers to help calm her down.
Once everything was quiet again Rose turned to the duo on the bed and asked Dobby, "What was that for?"
"Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, Miss, so Dobby had to punish himself." He answered, his eyes slightly crossed from the repeated trauma to the head.
"Your family?" Harry asked in confusion, prompting Dobby to explain some more.
"The wizard family Dobby serves… Dobby is a house-elf, bound to serve one house and one family forever, unless Dobby is given clothing. But Dobby's family will not give him clothing…" He trailed off. Rose crossed over to them and sat down cross legged in front of them.
"So, do they know about you being here?" Harry asked. Going by Dobby's shudder, Rose would guess not.
"Oh no, sir, no… Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew…" He trailed off and Rose bristled in anger at the thought of the abuse this poor creature went through.
"But if you shut your ears in the door then they'll notice you did something wrong." Harry said, his eyebrow's furrowing at Dobby.
Dobby shook his head sadly, "Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobbys is always punishing himself for something or another. They lets Dobby get on with it, they even remind Dobby to do extra punishments sometimes."
Rose hissed in anger, furious that anyone would treat another being that way, regardless of if they are human or not.
"That's not fair! You should be able to leave!" she told him. Dobby shook his head again, his big teary eyes looking at her
"A house-elf must be set free, miss. And Dobby's family will never set Dobby free, Dobby will serve Dobby's family until he dies." Rose's eyebrows furrowed while Harry stared at the elf in astonishment.
"You mean the thing with the clothes you said earlier?" She asked. Dobby nodded, plucking at his current outfit that Rose had noticed was an old dirty pillowcase.
"Yes. To free a House-elf, you must give them clothes."
"But you must handle clothes all the time!" Harry pointed out. Dobby nodded,
"Yes, Dobby does do laundry, but Dobby must have the clothes handed to him directly, from masters hands to Dobby's hands." He clarified for the siblings who were staring at him in disbelief.
"Wow, and I thought we had it bad staying here for a few weeks each summer." Harry said, looking around their room. "This makes the Dursleys sound almost human. Cant we help you?"
Immediately Dobby dissolved into wails of gratitude, making Rose wish Harry had kept his mouth shut and just moved off the topic.
"Shhhh, Please be quiet, you'll get us into trouble if the Dursleys hear you!" Harry whispered frantically as Rose hopped up from the floor and ran over to the door to listen for their Uncle.
"Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby… Dobby has heard of Harry Potters greatness, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew…" Rose turned to stare in amusement as her brother blushed a rather impressive shade of red while shaking his head frantically.
"Whatever you've heard is a load of rubbish. I'm not even the smartest in my year, that's Hermione, she –" He cut himself off abruptly though, hurt crossing his face briefly at the thought of his friend that hadn't written to him all summer.
"Harry Potter is humble and modest," said Dobby reverently, once again starring at Harry with adoring eyes. "Harry Potter speaks not of his triumph over He-Who- Must-Not-Be-Named -"
"Voldemort?" said Harry.
Dobby clapped his hands over his floppy ears and moaned, "Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!"
"Sorry" said Harry quickly. "I know lots of people don't like it. My friend Ron -"
He stopped again, another look of hurt crossing his face. Dobby leaned toward Harry, his already wide eyes somehow widening further.
"Dobby heard tell," he said hoarsely, "that Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time just weeks ago ... that Harry Potter escaped yet again. "
"I don't know what you're talking about," He said quickly as Dobby's eyes suddenly shone with tears. Roselyn gave him a sideways glance before looking back at Dobby.
"Ah, sir," he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. "Harry Potter is valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter and his sister, to warn them, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later... Harry Potter and Roselyn Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."
There was a silence broken only by the chink of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice.
"What?" Roselyn finally broke that silence, her heart finally feeling like it was beating again. There was no way she was going to miss out on going to Hogwarts, not if it meant getting out of this house, and not after all Harry had told her about it.
"W-what?" Harry stammered after her. "But I've got to go back - term starts on September first. Roselyn hasn't even been yet. It's all that's keeping us going. You don't know what it's like here. We don't belong here. We belong in your world - at Hogwarts."
"No, no, no," squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. "Harry Potter and Roselyn Potter must stay where they is safe. They is too great, too good, to lose. If Harry Potter or Roselyn Potter goes back to Hogwarts, they will be in mortal danger."
"Why?" said Roselyn in alarm, she did not think that Hogwarts was a dangerous, despite the trouble her brother and his friends got into the previous year, she felt that everyone else who wasn't nosy had been perfectly safe.
"There is a plot, Roselyn Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known it for months, miss. Potters must not put themselves in peril. They is too important, miss!"
"What terrible things?" said Harry at once, being slightly demanding. "Who's plotting them?"
Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head frantically against the wall.
"All right!" cried Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell us. I understand. But why are you warning us?" A sudden, thought seemed to strike him. "Hang on - this hasn't got anything to do with Vol - sorry - with You-Know-Who, has it? You could just shake or nod," he added hastily as Dobby's head tilted worryingly close to the wall again. Slowly, Dobby shook his head.
"Not -not He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir -'
But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry a hint. Roselyn gave a baffled look to Harry, seeing that he was just as lost as she was, before looking back to Dobby.
"He hasn't got a brother, has he?" Harry asked. Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever.
"Well then, I can't think who else would have a chance of making horrible things happen at Hogwarts," said Harry. "I mean, there's Dumbledore, for one thing - you know who Dumbledore is, don't you?"
Dobby bowed his head.
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. Dobby knows it, sir. Dobby has heard Dumbledore's powers rival those of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his strength. But, sir" - Dobby's voice dropped to an urgent whisper - "there are powers Dumbledore doesn't ... powers no decent wizard. . ."
And before Harry or Roselyn could stop him, Dobby bounded off the bed, seized the desk lamp, and started beating himself around the head with earsplitting yelps. A sudden silence fell downstairs.
Two seconds later Roselyn, heart thudding madly, heard Uncle Vernon coming into the hall, calling, "Dudley must have left his television on again, the little tyke!"
"Quick! In the closet!" hissed Harry, stuffing Dobby in, shutting the door, and flinging himself onto the bed while Rose threw herself into the seat at the desk and grabbed her pencil quickly to make it look like she was drawing, just as the door handle turned.
"What - the - devil - are - you – two - doing?" said Uncle Vernon through gritted teeth, stalking over to stand in the middle of both of them, clearly unsure as to which one to punish first, "You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke... One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, you two!" He stomped flat-footed from the room.
Shaking, Harry let Dobby out of the closet as Roselyn walked shakily across the room to listen at the door to make sure Uncle Vernon had indeed left.
"See what it's like here?" Harry said. "See why we've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place we've got - well, I think we've got friends. "
"Friends who don't even write to Roselyn Potter or Harry Potter?" said Dobby slyly.
"I expect they've just been - wait a minute," said Harry, frowning. "How do you know out friends haven't been writing to us?"
Dobby shuffled his feet, causing Rose to look closer at him, seeming to understand where he was going with this.
"Harry Potter and Roselyn Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best - "
"Have you been stopping our letters?" Harry asked angrily.
"Dobby has them here, sir," said the elf. Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Rose could see several different handwritings on many of the letters and could even spot Ginny's quick script in the batch. Dobby blinked anxiously up at the two, obviously looking at the sheer anger that had come over Harry's face, and even Rose's temper was quickly slipping.
"Harry Potter and Roselyn Potter mustn't be angry... Dobby hoped ... if Harry Potter and Roselyn Potter thought their friends had forgotten them... Harry Potter and Roselyn Potter might not want to go back to school, sir... miss…" Harry, as usual when he was mad, wasn't listening. He made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach.
"Harry Potter will have them, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he and Roselyn Potter will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"
"No," said Harry angrily. "Give me our friends' letters!"
"Then Harry Potter and Roselyn Potter leaves Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly.
Before Harry or Rose could move, Dobby had darted to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and sprinted down the stairs. Mouth dry, stomach lurching, and heart racing, Rose sprinted out the door after Harry who had sprang after him, trying not to make a sound. Rose watched anxiously as Harry jumped the last six steps, landing catlike on the hall carpet, looking around for Dobby. Rose hovered uncertainly behind before following the other two, immediately wishing she had stayed in the bedroom because what she saw made her heart stop with terror.
Her Aunt's pudding that she had worked so diligently on all afternoon had been floating towards the ceiling and just as she heard Harry plead with Dobby, it crashed to the floor making Rose feel like she had just been sucker punched in the gut as the dish shattered and the pudding covered the windows and walls and floor while also covering Harry in it.
Rose couldn't tell if the roaring in her ears was from the screams in the dinning room, or from the pounding of her heart that she could feel in her head, but she was struggling to breath, as their Uncle stormed into the room, threatened them with something Rose couldn't comprehend in her terror, before numbly taking a mop from her Aunt.
Just as everything was starting to calm down again and Rose started to calm down, a huge owl swooped in, and dropped a letter on Mrs. Masons lap who ran screaming from the house while her husband angrily asked if this was the Dursleys idea of a joke.
Harry moved to stand shakily in front of Rose, clutching his mop for support as Rose clutched the back of his shirt in fear as their Uncle advanced on them, looking utterly demonic.
"Read it!" he hissed evilly, brandishing the letter the owl had delivered. "Go on - read it!"
Harry took it and Rose just knew they were in trouble. She was proved right when she saw that it said,
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.
Enjoy your holidays!
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
Roselyn looked up and started to back away slowly when she saw her Uncles furious face.
"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside school," said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes.
"Forgot to mention it... Slipped your mind, I daresay..."
He was bearing down on Harry like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you, boy... I'm locking you and that girl up... You're never going back to that school... never... and if you try and magic yourself out - they'll expel you! You'll never even get to see it girl!"
And laughing like a maniac, he dragged Harry and Roselyn back upstairs.
The next day, Harry and Rose watched silently as bars were fit on their windows and a whole row of locks and a cat door was placed on their door. The two were then locked in the room all day, receiving minimal amounts of food through the cat flap, and only being let out to use the bathroom twice a day.
On the second day, Rose asked Harry quietly, "Why did you get into trouble? Couldn't it have been me preforming accidental magic?"
Harry shrugged helplessly, "I dunno Rosie."
Rose swallowed dryly, "Do you think someone will come and get us? When we don't show up at school?" She asked again.
Harry just shrugged again before rolling over on his bunk so that his back was to her, cutting off all conversation.
By the third day, both siblings had taken to laying on their respective bunk and staring at nothing for the day, not speaking to each other, and trying not to move as lethargy from lack of food descended on them. The only movement they made was when their Aunt's hand appeared, pushing two bowls of canned soup into the room. Harry leapt of his bunk and quickly crossed the room to grab them. He gave her one bowl, which she slowly sipped, easily ignoring the foul taste, and watched dully as Harry gulped half of his own down in one go before pouring the rest into Hedwigs food dish.
If she had been feeling any better, Rose would have laughed at the look of utter disgust that Hedwig shot Harry.
"It's no good turning your beak up at it - that's all we've got," said Harry grimly.
Rose silently handed her bowl over to Harry, who put the empty bowls back on the floor next to the cat-flap and climbed up to lay back down on the top bunk.
Rose thought about what would happen in another four weeks, what would happen if she got her Hogwarts letter and the same thing happened to it that happened to Harry's? Would they go through the same process they did with Harry? Would someone eventually come get them? Or would they assume that she had gotten it and was coming? What would happen when they didn't show up to Hogwarts? Would someone come get them? Or would they slowly starve in the next four weeks?
As soon as she heard Harry fell asleep, Rose got up and went to her desk where her art book was and sat down to look at the pictures, she had been very unmotivated since their imprisonment and what she did draw usually came out dark and morbid. She sighed heavily, picking up a pencil to try and draw something, even if it was dark. Suddenly Rose heard the sound of a car engine and looked up curiously. She then had to stifle a scream when she saw a blue car with three red-haired boys in it. She smiled at them when she recognized the youngest.
It seemed that Ron Weasley had come to their rescue.