Come Back to Me Chap 12
There was a loud pop a moment later and Dobby stood holding a large glass jug filled to the brim with water.
"I have Harry Potter's water! We were out of cups though" he exclaimed holding the jug up
"Oh!" Dobby exclaimed startled as he noticed Harry and Ginny embraced in a tight hug. Dobby stared at the two for a moment, turning his head to the side, clearly not sure about what to make of the situation.
"I think Harry is feeling better now Dobby" Hermione said as she walked over to the elf who was now an odd shade of red.
"Is this why Mr. Weasley was upset?" Dobby asked a moment later as he placed the glass next to Harry's now abandoned homework.
"Not exactly" Hermione said smiling
"I think Harry Potter will be very good to Miss. Ginny, and Mr. Weasley should be glad!" Dobby declared a moment later
Harry turned away from where he and Ginny now sat on the couch "Thank you Dobby" he said addressing the elf who was smiled broadly at the two
"Dobby thinks Harry Potter and Ginny make a nice couple! " he finally said. Ginny smiled at Dobby and winked at Hermione. While Hermione was glad for her friend she wondered what Ron was about to say before he left the common room, but that would have to wait. Instead she turned her attention to Dobby and the note burning a hole in her back pocket.
"I do have a question for you Dobby" Dobby turned back to look at Hermione, a smile continuing to spread across his face.
"Hermione found the note?" Dobby asked smiling knowingly
"Yes" Hermione said reaching into her pocket and holding up the paper, "It got, um... moved... by accident." she ended lamely, slipping the note back into her pocket. "Anyway, Dobby, I was wondering when did Draco come and talk with you?" Hermione whispered the name aware that Harry was still in the room. Dobby paused for a moment thinking,
"Draco came to see Dobby the same night that Hermione and I looked at the stars, he was very rude at first, but Dobby knocked sense into him!"
"You mean you knocked some sense into him?"
"No! Dobby knocked his head with a goblet!" the little elf said swinging his arm with a giggle. Hermione paused
"Right, ok... um-wait, why a goblet?"
"Draco said mean things about Dobby, and Dobby is a free elf now, so Dobby doesn't have to let the young Malfoy or anyone else treat him badly!" He said pointing to the only sock he wore. It was the one Harry had used to free him three years ago from none other than the Malfoy family. He was smiling at Hermione who felt overwhelmed with a sense of pride in the little elf.
"You're absolutely right Dobby!" She said smiling at the grubby sock
"But Dobby did feel bad" he added a moment later
"Why?"
"Draco seemed to be scared, he seemed unsure of something" Dobby paused, looking down at his feet before he continued quieter "He asked Dobby a lot of strange questions"
"What kinds of strange questions?"
"Draco wanted to know about his father, and his Aunt Bellatrix and a number of other Malfoys that Dobby is glad to be rid of" Dobby shuddered, wringing his hands he continued, "mostly he wanted to know what his father did with... with... with-" Dobby looked around for a moment, panicked.
"With who Dobby?"Hermione asked gently. Dobby looked around the common room before he motioned to Hermione to bend down next to him, she knelt and the elf leaned over
"He-who-must-not-be-named" Dobby whispered in Hermione's ear, barely audible, a moment later. Hermione paused, what did Dobby know about Draco's families entanglement with the Dark Lord? She had never thought to ask him, or share what she knew about them. Granted the Malfoys were not really a group of people that Hermione wanted to talk about, but thinking about the night that she and Dobby sat together she wondered why she never asked him about his experiences as an elf in the Malfoy's home.
"Dobby I don't mean to pry, but do you know things about Mr. Malfoy and he-who-must-not-be-named?" Hermione asked, careful not to use Voldemorts name out of fear of how Dobby would react. Dobby's eyes grew large as he looked up at Hermione. He stood still for a moment, his large tennis ball shaped eyes staring into Hermiones, his lip quivered and his voice wavered as he answered
"Dobby does know things, but Dobby doesn't want to" he squeaked out.
"Oh Dobby of course you didn't," Hermione whispered kindly, she reached out and put her hand on Dobby's shoulder. In a flash Dobby wrapped his small arms around Hermione and choked back a sob. Hermione looked down at the little elf and pulled him in for a hug. Harry and Ginny glanced over as Dobby whimpered,
"What's wro-" Hermione shook her head cutting Harry off 'not now' she mouthed to them, Ginny nodded and took Harry's hand together the two hastily made there way out of the common room. The portrait swung shut behind them as Hermione grabbed her wand out of her pocket "wingardium leveosa" she whispered and the jug of water Dobby had brought Harry flew into her hand.
"Here Dobby sit down" she pulled one of the nearby ottomans over and patted the seat. Dobby said nothing but sat none-the-less. Hermione handed him the water and he took a large gulp before setting the jug next to him.
"I'm sorry Dobby, I know it mustn't have been easy living with the Malfoy's" Hermione said after Dobby had calmed down a bit.
"It was not all bad" he said quietly fidgeting with his shirt
"No?"
"I know other elves who have much worse masters" Hermione doubted any person would be worse for a house elf to serve than Mr. Malfoy, except maybe Voldemort himself.
"You think?" she asked trying to hide her doubt
"Oh yes, he used to be my friend" Dobby said a sad smile forming
"Who?" Hermione asked feeling confused
"If Dobby was lucky sometimes Dobby would get special things. I used to get sweets sometimes" the elf continued with a far away look in his eyes, clearly not seeing or hearing Hermione. "Sometimes he would share a book, of course Dobby can not read but the pictures were so pretty. One time we even shared a toy!" Dobby smiled at the memory, but a moment later frowned again "but then he was caught giving Dobby a snack when Dobby hadn't been allowed to have any food for two days. Dobby had been so hungry, and Dobby's friend had grabbed a pumpkin muffin, because it is Dobby's favorite. But he was followed and when they caught him giving the muffin to Dobby they grabbed him and punished him, the man told the boy that Dobby was a house elf and that he shouldn't feel sorry for Dobby. The boy said that Dobby was his friend, but the man said that he mustn't be friends with anyone who wasn't pureblood. The man then told the boy horrible stories, that if you treated anyone who wasn't pureblood with kindness others would think you were weak, that they would not respect you. The worst story Dobby heard him tell the boy was that being friends with someone who was not a pureblood wizard meant that you would be punished, even tortured by he-who-must-not-be-named. Dobby wanted to tell the boy that it wasn't true, that he was being lied too, but Dobby knew that if he couldn't speak out like that. After that the boy started to tease Dobby and his father would laugh and tell him he was very clever. The boy wanted his father to be proud of him, so he continued to be mean."
"How old was the boy when this happened?" Hermione asked, putting off the question she knew she did not want to ask. Dobby looked up at Hermione sadly,
"He was 5 when his father caught him" Hermione gulped, five? Five years old and being told that being anything other than a pureblood was wrong... That Voldemort would hurt you if you were kind to someone who wasn't pureblood
"Who was your friend Dobby?" Hermione asked, knowing what his answer would be and feeling sick to her stomach about it
"Draco" he whispered.
Dobby disapperated a moment later and Hermione sat back against the side of the sofa, how much did she really know about Draco's past, she thought. After all these years she had just assumed that there had never been any good in Draco. What if there had been, and someone else had stomped out any trace of it.
Dobby reappeared a moment later clutching a fabric bag
"Dobby thinks that Draco had his memories wrong" Dobby said a moment later as he placed the bag in front of Hermione.
"How so?"
"Draco didn't remember any of what Dobby just told you, in fact he didn't even believe Dobby until Dobby showed him this" Dobby opened the bag and pulled out a tattered book. It's pages were worn and loved, and Dobby looked at it fondly before he handed it to Hermione. She looked at the cover, it was a tattered copy of "The Dragon and The Wizard" it was a popular children's book in the wizarding world, she knew for a fact that the Weasleys had the same book on their bookshelf at home. She had never read it though, Slowly she opened the cover and found inside a page like many muggle books "this book belongs to _" she felt a smile tug at her lips as she looked at the messy handwriting of a very young child. She looked at Dobby who had come around to look at the book over her shoulder.
"It says: This book belongs to Draco" Hermione said pointing to each of the words as she read them. Dobby smiled
"Would you like me to read it to you?" Dobby looked up at Hermione, his eyes shining
"Really?" he finally whispered "Draco never read it to me, he was too small to read the words". Hermione nodded. Dobby smiled broadly and sat next to Hermione on the floor. Hermione waited until Dobby had situated himself and then turned the page. She laughed and looked at Dobby,
"Even these pictures move?" she asked surprised to see the oil painted dragon fly across the sky. Dobby nodded enthusiastically
"Dobby likes the pictures because they move, it's a special spell they use in children's books!" he replied pointing to the clouds in the sky and the trees blowing in the wind. Hermione smiled
"Shall I start?" she asked a moment later. Dobby nodded, never taking his eyes off the page.
"Once upon a time there lived a fierce family of dragon's...
MERRY CHRISTMAS! And Happy Holidays to EVERYONE :D I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write! I am currently working on the next chapter, but the holidays may mean it takes a little longer than a week to be finished. I hope to have it posted before the New Year, I have two wonderful people who are so supportive of this story and encouraging me to continue. Special thanks to my 'sushi' Emma, 3 you SO! Have a great holiday! And my wonderful James, thanks for reading this I'm so glad you love it. I love you so much! :D. Both Emma and James write on here as well, they are listed in my favorite authors (Emma: MissEmmy93 and James: Flonkerton1987)! Check out their stories :D
Have a wonderful holiday and a happy healthy New Year! I'll post soon!
~Megan