Hermione's high, loud voice rang through their flat.
"Neville? We have to talk. Did you see that new wedding gift?"
"The Chudley Cannons tickets? Well, they're not my favorite team but it's really nice of him considering, well, him and you. I told you he was still a good mate"
"I was referring to the one this morning"
"The letter from Malfoy? I thought it was funny. 'Loud incompetent kids'. Git hasn't grown up at all"
"That was yesterday. You didn't see today's post" Hermione finally entered the kitchen where her fiancé was cooking potatoes.
"I forgot" he blushed.
"You haven't changed with that." She smirked before her expression turned serious again, "This one is a bit more serious. It's from your uncle Windle."
"I haven't seen him since Enid's birth-" Neville turned off the flame on the range with his wand, only to stop when he saw what was next to Hermione.
"Don't worry, master, Robin is always ready to serve!" The house elf stepped from behind Hermione's robes and bowed before Neville.
"Thank you Robin-WHY DID HE GET US A HOUSE ELF?!" Neville's instinctual thanks were broken by a scream of confusion.
"THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW!" Hermione roared.
"How did he even get the number for the flat?!"
"I've never even met him!"
"Did anyone tell him to get us one?!"
"Doesn't he know about what my job is?!"
"Why didn't Gran tell him?!"
"Who is this person?!"
"I'm terribly sorry because I know so little, Masters. Is there anything Robin can do to comfort his masters?" The House Elf interrupted the panic
"No, thank you Robin. " Neville's reflex knocked him out of his panic.
This finally allowed Hermione to calm down, and she took a deep breath as she stepped backwards to stand against the kitchen counter.
"Oh, we'll have to do this rationally. Neville, could you write a letter to your uncle? Robin, wait here" Hermione was in command of herself again, something that always reassured Neville. He even smiled, stopping his own panic and despair, before digging out a quill and parchment from the shelf as Hermione went to the bedroom.
When Hermione returned, she held a crudely woven yellow yarn cap in her right hand and walked calmly over to the elf
Neville slapped himself. "I can't believe we didn't do that yet"
"Robin, this is for you" With that, the witch placed the cap on top of the stunned house-elfs bald head.
"…Master…..are you freeing Robin?" Robin's huge eyes grew even larger to cover his entire face
"We are. This is a gift from both of us" Hermione said firmly, smiling at the newly freed servant
Robin turned to Neville, as if asking for permission
"That's right. We're freeing you. You're a free elf now. You can do whatever you want"
With baited breath, the couple waited anxiously as the elf closed his eyes and crossed his arms in thought.
"What does a free elf do?"
"Whatever they want. What do you want to do? You can help yourself to some crackers, you can live wherever you want, you can do whatever you want to do. Now when you work, you get money and use that money to buy anything you want. You can read at a library. No wizard can tell you to do things you don't want to do. You can go anywhere in the world. The only rules you follow are those that also apply to wizard. You're a wizard yourself now. You are your own person, and no one can take that from you. You can change the world" Hermione had been waiting to give this speech for a while
"What are your names, once-masters?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is my fiancé Neville Longbottom, and we help house elves"
"Miss Hermione is very kind. Robin has never thought of this before. Robin will tell Windle the news as politely as he can. Thank you, Miss Hermione and Mister Neville; they have changed Robin's life" Tears ran down his cheeks as he tried to take in the news. With a thankful smile, he waved, snapped his fingers, and then was gone.
There was silence for a few seconds after, broken by Neville only quietly.
"I…I didn't think it would work"
"It's always worth a shot. What do you think your uncle will do now?"
"Hermione, that's not important. We freed an elf. You told me never to give up on S.P.E.W. but I thought it would never work. I mean, Ron and Harry just gave up and assumed they would be happy."
"Well, that's why I'm not marrying Ron and Harry. I thought you just joined S.P.E.W. for my sake"
"It was at first, I mean, I wanted to make you happy. I could only hope that it would work. But it's the right thing to do, seeing all that Dobby did after Harry freed him. I can't just let you do it alone if it's important to you." He held her smaller hands in his, one of his thumbs gently rubbing her wrist.
"Neville, I'm glad you're with me on this. If you didn't help me, I...I might have given up. I might have let Ron and Harry talk me out of it"
"Hermione, I'll never talk you out of something you think is this important. I lose a lot of arguments that way. " he chuckled
"You agreeing with me isn't as important as you're not helping me just out of fear or frustration. I'm so happy you genuinely care" her wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest.
" I love you, Hermione" Neville punctuated by kissing the top of her bushy haired head and embracing her in return.
They stood there for a while…until Hermione remembered something.
"Neville, were you cooking supper?"
"Oh Merlin! I forgot!" He jumped backwards to look at the range….and it was cleared of all the ingredients.
"What?...What happened?" Neville gaped at the kitchen, staring in shock at the completely clean top. Even the oven was empty and turned off.
"Did I do this by accident? Did I do a cleaning spell by accident?" his blue eyes widened
Hermione laughed when she saw the dining room.
"Oh Hermione, I'm so sorry. I worked so hard and now I have to do it all over-"
"Neville, look at the dining room"
That's when he saw all those vegetables cut, seasoned, and steaming on a plate, the potatoes boiled and mashed and topped with sour cream and home-grown chives, the leftover chicken looking as if it hadn't been touched at all the last night. The sponge cake wasn't burned or even half-baked-it was already frosted and topped with strawberries. There was even the bottle of wine Neville had forgotten to get out.
"I didn't do this. You didn't do this…." His mind spun
"Looks like Robin gave us his own present." Hermione laughed again
"Think we should thank uncle Windle for that, too?" He smirked
Hermione giggled again.
