Cell Mate
They had settled each of the house elves either at Hogwarts or to nice families that they personally interviewed, and then there was Dalis,
"So, how are we going to use him?" asked Aisha,
"Well, we're obviously going to pay him." said Hermione,
"Dalis will only serve his master." said Dalis,
"I order you to follow the orders of these five people as well as me." said Rupert,
"Then Dalis will do it sir." he said,
"Problem solved." said Rupert,
"Dalis," asked Tatyana, "Will you be paid?"
"Dalis works for free, he is here to serve his master and master's friends." said Dalis,
"What about clothes?" asked Breeana; Dalis looked almost scared by the notion,
"No, no, no, Dalis must not wear clothes, for that would mean he be free, and therefore pointless." said Dalis,
"What if we still paid you though?" asked Hermione, "That would mean we want you here despite the slave labour."
"We can buy him a nice new wand." said Aisha,
"That's true," said Freddie, "Since you abolished the wand law Hermione."
"House elves must not use wands." said Dalis,
"But it's legal." Hermioine argued,
"We can start with that." said Tatyana.
"I'll go wand shopping with him." said Breeana,
"I'll bring in some clothes for him tomorrow." said Hermione,
"I'll configure his salary." said Rupert,
"Okay, we can pack it in for a night, meet back here tomorrow?" said Tatyana,
"Agreed." said Hermione.
Hermione walked into the office the next day, she was earlier than the rest of them and sat down behind her desk, soon Tatyana walked in, then Freddie, t6hen Breeana, then Aisha and then Rupert with Dalis at his side,
"Did you get him a wand?" asked Hermione,
"Yes." said Breeana, "Ash, unicorn hair, eight and a quarter inches."
"Dalis has been practicing with his new wand." said Dalis, Hermione pulled a hat, a jumper and some socks that she had knitted the previous night, she handed them to Rupert who handed them to Dalis, she then pulled out the very small trousers and shoes that took her a while to find and handed them to Dalis, Dalis put them on,
"Well he didn't seem hesitant." Aisha observed,
"No he didn't." said Tatyana,
"Well, I convinced him of everything last night, took a while but I finally got through to him" said Rupert,
"Master is very kind." said Dalis,
"Oh yes, and here's your first installment." said Rupert, handing him a small handful of Galleons, Dalis took two and pocketed them but declined the rest,
"Too much." he said,
"There's still progress to be made." Rupert said,
"Never mind that," said Freddie, "Did any of you read the Daily Prophet this morning?" Hermione and the other four of them shook their heads,
"Why, what happened?" asked Breeana,
"Someone blew up the slave trade centre the other night." said Freddie,
"Which night?" asked Tatyana.
"The same night that we were there." Freddie told them, Hermione tried hard to keep a straight face on,
"Oh my God." she said as to cover up the fact that she had blown it up,
"Yeah, it must have been after we had left," said Aisha,
"No, really, because I thought that it happened whilst we were there." said Rupert sarcastically,
"Shut up Rupert." said Freddie,
"Hermione," said Tatyana,
"Yes?" Hermione replied,
"You stayed later than the rest of us, did you see anything?" she asked,
"Um, no." Hermione lied,
"Must have been quite late then." said Rupert,
"Really, because I thought it happened during the day time." said Aisha retaliating for Ruperts earlier statement,
"And the media was shocked to see that no house elves were found in the wreckage." Freddie smiled.
"Well, it shoes that we did our job right." said Tatyana.
"What was the headline?" asked Breeana,
"'Rubble Pile on Slave Trade Land.'" Freddie said, turning the issue of the Daily Prophet around showing them the headline and the photo of the pile of rubble that stood where the slave trade centre had once been,
"Well, whoever this person was, they're a friend of ours." said Tatyana,
"How did they blow it up, anyway?" asked Breeana,
"Tatyana, didn't you say that the boss kept dynamite?" asked Rupert,
"Yes." said Tatyana,
"The culprit must have used that." said Aisha,
"Yes," said Hermione, "Must have."
After the S.P.E.W office workers finally got settled down and started on paperwork, including Dalis who was happy to help, two men entered the office,
"We're here for Hermione Weasley." said one of them,
"Why?" asked Hermione,
"To arrest her." said the other man,
"On what charges?" asked Tatyana,
"Extreme vandalism and terrorism." said the first man,
"Well I made sure that no-one died." said Hermione; they all turned to her,
"Hermione," asked Freddie, "What did you do?"
"I may have, sort of, kind of…blew up the slave trade centre." said Hermione, their jaws dropped,
"Are you going to come quietly or do we have to take you by force?" asked one of the men,
"I'll come quietly." said Hermione, getting up from behind her desk,
"Ah, I like it when they struggle." said the first man, Hermione walked up to the and the dragged her away by her shoulders,
"I'd like a lawyer." she called to the S.P.E.W office workers as they saw her get arrested, they grabbed an oil lamp at the end of the hall and suddenly they had transported, it had been a port key.
"Wait a second." said Hermione, recognizing her surroundings, "This is Azkaban prison, don't I get a trial or a chance to defend myself?" asked Hermione,
"We have three witnesses that say they saw you driving away from the explosion on a motorcycle." said the first man,
'Fair enough," said Hermione, "Do I at least get a trip to the holding cells?" asked Hermione,
"Since the holding cell prisoners got released a few months ago they have been deemed unstable." said the other man,
"Damn myself, I couldn't have just let Vineeta get away." she muttered to herself, they opened a cell and she walked in to it, backwards,
"We'll get back to you with the hearing date." said the first man as the two of them walked away.
"Well, well, well, what've they got you in here for mudblood?" Hermione recognised the voice and turned around to see Katrina Walker,
"If it's any of your business, which is isn't, I blew up a slave trade centre." said Hermione,
"Wow, mudblood, I didn't know that you had it in you." said Katrina,
"I can't believe that they stuck me in here with you, you've tried to kill me at least four times." said Hermione,
"Oh, us and our happy memories." said Katrina sarcastically,
"Well, whatever," said Hermione, "I hope that you've been rotting in here." said Hermione, from the looks of her she had, she looked as she had when Hermione had found her homeless a year previously, tangled hair and an unmade face, she was wearing a dirty prison uniform, a robe of black and grey stripes,
"As a matter of fact I have, but because it's dirty, but because I can't be with my Clemmy." said Katrina longingly, she was referring to Clement Hodge, a man who had kept and tortured house elves illegally and nearly ran married Katrina when the two of them ran off to Vegas together,
"You mean that old git who stole house elves and put shock collars around their necks?{' said Hermione,
"Yes, I do like a man with a good sense of humour." said Katrina,
"I hate you so much, house elves are living breathing creatures with intelligence and they deserve a say in this world." said Hermione,
"Well, yes, they're very intelligent when it comes to scrubbing the floors." said Katrina,
"If you could scrub yourself then maybe you wouldn't be the filthy mongrel you are." said Hermione,
"Uh, you're such a bitch." said Katrina,
"I love you too." said Hermione sarcastically,
"Do you want to go over more chat or should we just get straight into it?" asked Katrina,
"I'm ready to go now." said Hermione, she jumped on top of Katrina and started beating her with her fists, Katrina grabbed Hermione's hair and started pulling it, she used this leverage to become on top of Hermione, Hermione slapped her around the face and she lost grip, Katrina stood up but Hermione grabbed her ankle and pulled, she fell backwards and smacked her head on the hard, stone wall, she spun her legs up and attempted to kick Hermione in the head but Hermione grabbed them and twisted them in an awkward position, Katrina sat up and punched Hermione in the face, Hermione fell backwards and Katrina quickly jumped onto her and started to strangle her, Hermione's legs flailed and Katrina increased the pressure on her neck, Hermione lifted her legs up and Kicked Katrina in her already wounded head, Katrina fell and Hermione smacked her face, the two of them sat up next to each other, now calm,
"I just love it when we exchange pleasantries." said Katrina,
"Yes," said Hermione, "It's our thing."
After a few hours of sitting in silence Kingsley appeared outside of the bars,
"Yes, that's her, release her," he said, a man with keys unlocked the cell and Hermione got up,
"You're free to go." said the man, Hermione stepped out of the cell and Katrina stayed where she was, the cell was shut behind her and Hermione hugged Kingsley,
"How did you get them to release me?" asked Hermione,
'I simply explained that the explosion was a Ministry induced decision and that no-one was harmed and they decided that you should go free." said Kingsley, "I was absolutely horrified when I heard what had happened."
"Well thanks." said Hermione and the two of them grabbed the port key and returned to the Ministry.
Hermione walked back into her office with her five employees staring at her,
"Sorry about the hold up." she said, sitting at her desk with Tatyana, Aisha, Rupert, Freddie and Breeana all staring at her still, looking quizzical.
"No problem." said Freddie, confused,
"Hope there was nothing too difficult." said Breeana,
"No," said Hermione, "I caught up with an old friend."
