Thank you for your continued support and reviews. Please let me know if you're enjoying this, or even if you're not - I really do appreciate all of the feedback I get ❤ Writing Hagrid was hard, I wanted to get his tone right but it was also quite distracting! xxx
Harry, Ron & Hermione travel to Hogwarts to meet Betsy and Hagrid and discuss the mystery elf that appeared on the steps of Hogwarts at the end of the week.
It took some persuading, but Robards eventually agreed to let Harry and Ron accompany Hermione to Hogwarts on "official business". Although if you were to ask him, he would say he gave in to the pair's constant nagging. He was interested to find out where this house-elf had come from; they didn't just pop out of the woodwork and getting the two trainees out into the field would be good for their development.
Hermione had taken this as a good sign. She would need to have the Auror Department on side to finish implementing Dobby's Law and ensure that anyone breaking it would be punished correctly. What Harry and Ron decided not to tell her was that the department was relatively quiet at the moment.
Hagrid had been keen to meet them, so a couple of days after receiving his note; the trio found themselves walking down the long drive towards Hogwarts, arms looped together just like they used to when they were students.
As they got to the entrance, Hermione spotted Betsy hopping excitedly from foot-to-foot.
"Good morning Betsy…" Hermione shivered slightly and drew her robes around her a bit tighter. Although it was already October, she always forgot how much colder it was in Scotland than London. She felt Ron take a step closer to her and she briefly wondered how much warmer he thought he'd be able to make her. Still, she smiled slightly to herself; she liked it when he was trying to be chivalrous.
It had been a rough start to the week for him. He couldn't go anywhere magical without attracting some sort of attention. It was worse than at the end of the war; at least the spotlight had mostly been on Harry, who was sort of used to it, and they could share the load between them. Ron was trying his hardest to keep a low profile at work, gaining permission from Kingsley to apparate directly into his office to avoid being harassed. However, he'd had to move out of his flat temporarily after a particularly creepy owl message had managed to get past the strong security wards he'd put up. There were some very strange and very magical witches out there, and a few wizards too.
Hermione had been trying her best to support him, mostly by being there to listen to his rants and offer to hunt down the witches (and wizards) who were messaging him inappropriate things. She had offered for him to stay at Primrose Cottage with her, but he had turned her down; not wanting to put more pressure on their relationship. After their failed attempt to take a walk through Diagon Alley last night, they'd revisited Hermione's offer to send a note to Witch Weekly whilst she cooked him dinner but they had both agreed it would only make matters worse, not better. Nothing seemed to deter Witch Weekly, no matter how difficult it was making people's lives.
At least Ron had stopped being surly and grumpy with her and Harry, helped by Hermione apologising for retaliating to his mood at the start of the week. It had made things a lot easier to deal with.
"Morning Miss Granger, Mister Potter and Mister Weasley!" The house-elf had decided to wear her Hogwarts uniform with the library emblem on it this morning and was wearing a small, brightly coloured bobble hat on her head to fend off the cold. "Hagrid is without lessons this morning so he says for us to go straight down to his hut to see him. He has baked his rock cakes, but I is warning you they are not very nice. Betsy asked Florence in the kitchens to make other cakes to bring…" She pointed at the small, wrapped tray on the floor at her feet.
"Excellent… I'm starving…" Ron lurched for the tray but pouted as Hermione swatted him away.
"You've just had breakfast!" She picked up the tray with a laugh. "You can at least wait until we get down to Hagrid's…"
They let Betsy lead them down the familiar path through the grounds that they'd tread far too many times to remember. The half-giant was sat outside his hut, Fang lying by his side, and he got to his feet as he saw them approach, excitedly holding his arms out for them.
"Ahh there the three of yer are… I miss yer so much…" He wrapped his long, thick arms around all three of them at the same time, squishing them together in a rib-breaking hug.
Harry laughed; his voice muffled by Hagrid's tangled beard. "My wedding was only a few months ago Hagrid…"
"I know, I know… but I'm used to seein' yer every day at school. The new kids are great, but it's not the same y'know? It's quieter..." He eventually unwrapped his arms from around them and led them into the hut. As the four of them took their seats, he lifted a huge black kettle onto the fire. Fang rested his head in Harry's lap.
The group made small talk as Hagrid prepared the tea, serving it up with the rock cakes proudly. Whilst his back was turned, Hermione slid Florence's cakes on to the plate discreetly, not wanting to hurt his feelings. They ate and drank as they made animated conversation for a few minutes.
Eventually, Hermione transfigured a notebook and quill from seemingly thin air, grinning as Ron looked impressed. "It's so great catching up with you Hagrid, but do you think you're ready to tell me about the stray elf?"
"Yer yer of course…" The half-giant helped himself to a cake and another cup of tea. Hermione waited patiently for him to finish eating and start talking. "So it were a few days ago now. We'd just finished dinner in the Great Hall 'n' I'd been up to ol' Flitwick's office for a few Firewhiskeys, like we normally do, 'n' I was just headin' out to go back to me hut 'n' I almost fell over the poor thing. 'Ee were just a bundle o'rags. Very skinny, looked under fed 'n' covered in cuts 'n' bruises; close to death 'ee was."
"And is he okay now?" Hermione frowned slightly.
"'ee's up in the infirmary. 'ee's been asleep since 'ee got yer. 'Ee's not talked or anything. Betsy 'as been keepin' an eye on 'im when she's back at the castle…"
Hermione smiled briefly at her co-worker before turning her attention back to Hagrid. "Do we have any idea of where he's come from yet?"
Hagrid shook his head. "No idea…"
Hermione sighed. "I had hoped we would be able to find out more. Where he came from, why he chose to come here instead of the Ministry, did he live with anyone else…"
Harry had been listening to quietly to the conversation. "It could be a dead end 'Mione. He could have just escaped from a pure-blood house somewhere…" He frowned in concentration as he spoke.
"Nah, Hermione has all the elves belonging to pure-bloods on her register already. She and Betsy visited all of them to double check. It's hardly likely there's a pure-blood hiding around, looks too suspicious post war…" Ron blushed as Harry, Hermione, Betsy and Hagrid's eyes were on him. "What?!"
Hermione tried to hide her surprise as she regarded Ron closely. She hadn't realised just how much attention he'd been paying to her rants about work and Dobby's Law. She gave him a small appreciative smile and turned her attention back to Hagrid.
"Well exactly Ron. I just think we're not getting the full picture here, that something more sinister is going on. Hagrid, would it be possible to pop up to the infirmary briefly to see him?"
"Yer of course. Come on then…" Hagrid pushed his giant chair back and threw Fang a treat to keep him occupied before leading the group back up to the castle.
They headed quietly into the infirmary and Hagrid made a beeline to the only occupied bed on the ward.
Hermione let out a small gasp as they saw the elf. He was dwarfed by the human-sized bed. He still looked weak, although at least the tufts of grey hair above his ear were clean now and he was wearing clean bed clothes but they did nothing to hide the fading bruises and scars covering his arms.
Hagrid spoke as softly as possible for a half-giant. "'Ee was in such a state when 'ee turned up. Dir'y, took me a full house to bathe 'im clean. I just hope 'ee wakes up soon…"
"Me too…" Hermione watched the sleeping elf sadly for a few moments before letting out a heavy sigh. "I don't think there's anything more we can do here today. Thank you Hagrid for inviting us up. Can you let me know if he wakes up?"
Hagrid nodded, waiting until they were back outside the infirmary before drawing the trio into another tight hug. "I guess I'll be seein' a little more of yer then. It'll be like when we freed Buckbeak!"
Hermione threw Ron and Harry a guilty look. Hagrid's interpretation of what had happened with Buckbeak was very different to their own. They left Hagrid at the doors to the infirmary and started walking with Betsy down to the entrance hall, telling the house-elf all about the rescue of Buckbeak (and the freeing of Sirius Black). They barely noticed the attention they were getting from the students as they passed them in the corridor; too busy reliving their youth.
They stopped in the entrance and Betsy was the first to change the subject. "If it's okay with you Miss Granger, Betsy will stay here today and look after the elf?"
"I think that's a good idea Betsy. Can you keep me updated please? Hagrid is quite forgetful and is likely to pass on the message late…"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Betsy will check in regularly…"
"Thank you!" Hermione watched fondly as Harry and Ron shook hands with the elf then started up the drive with them. "I don't know about you two, but I'm hungry. Do you fancy grabbing lunch at the Three Broomsticks?"
Ron shook his head vehemently. "No way… I cannot handle going in to anywhere magical right now…"
"Sorry, I forgot! How about we apparate back and find somewhere in muggle London then?"
The trio apparated together when they got to the end of the castle's drive and easily found somewhere in muggle London to grab lunch.
After lunch, the trio went back to the Auror department; commandeering one of the many training rooms to map out what they already knew about the situation. Abuse of domesticated magical creatures was still against the basic wizarding laws that already existed, although it was very tricky to prove the abuse was taking place and provide a suitable level of punishments. If they were caught, wizards would just receive a slap on the wrist and maybe a fine, but then they were free to carry on, probably making the elf's life even more difficult because of it. This is why Dobby's Law was so important to Hermione.
Ron and Harry were eager to get involved, not just because of their ties with Hermione and Dobby, but because they were eager to prove themselves as worthy Aurors. In training, they often got teased for only being allowed on the course because of their defeat of Voldemort despite coming top of all their classes.
As the three of them discussed ideas and theories, Ron couldn't help but notice Hermione seemed more subdued than she had been at lunch. They had worked hard all afternoon and Hermione had given them the briefest hug before making her way home by herself.
Ron followed Harry back to their desks to collect their things.
"Tough day…" Harry sighed slightly. "I'm getting the feeling we're wasting our time with this though. I hate to go against Hermione's thoughts on this, but if its a dead end Robards will go nuts AND we'll have to work extra hours to make up for all the training missed!"
"Yeah…" Ron felt a little distracted by Hermione's mood. "I still have faith in Hermione." He threw an accusatory glance at Harry. "She knows what she's doing and she follows her head most of the time. She wouldn't be roping us in if she didn't think it was worth our time…"
"I guess…" Harry shrugged and pulled on his robes. "You ready?"
"Actually, I think I might pop in and check on her on my way to yours. She didn't seem herself this afternoon…"
Harry nodded knowingly, clapping Ron on his shoulder. "Alright, tell her she can come to dinner if she wants…" Harry gave him a smile and left to use to Floo system in the Ministry Atrium. Ron checked he had everything before apparating directly to Primrose Cottage.
The thought that someone, somewhere had happily allowed their house elf to live in such an awful state had really upset Hermione. Of course, she knew that elves were often mistreated by their pure-blood owners; it was what had fuelled her to start the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, but to see in real life the scars and bruises on that poor elf's body had really hit home the importance of her work. She had felt a quiet rage bubbling around her skin all afternoon, despite her outward, sunny appearance.
She had just finished changing into her pyjamas, ready for an evening of going through her notes and trying to find something she or the boys may have missed earlier when she heard the soft pop that indicated someone had apparated into the cottage. Knowing that only a handful of people had access through her wards, she pulled one of Ron's old jumpers over her head and hurried downstairs, surprised to see Ron looking for her.
"Hey you! Did I leave something in work?"
Ron looked up at the sound of her voice and gave her a small smile. "No… I just wanted to check in on you. You seemed a bit quiet this afternoon…."
Hermione smiled slightly and headed over to him. "I'm okay, I guess. Seeing that poor elf made me feel a bit sad though… and angry…"
"I thought so…" Ron wrapped his arms around her as soon as she got to him, pulling her tight to his chest. He stroked her hair softly. "Dobby's law is going to help prevent this sort of thing in the future Hermione, but it's probably going to get a lot harder before it does…"
She nodded against his chest, letting out a soft sigh. "Thank you…" She drew her arms around his waist, sliding one hand under his top to stroke the small of his back. "You didn't have to come here and check up on me…"
"Yeah I did… it's what boyfriends do. I care about you a lot 'Mione and seeing you upset makes me feel upset…" He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Hermione tried to nestle even closer to him, seeking comfort from his warm skin. She sighed as she felt a stubborn tear escape her eye, but she didn't move to wipe it away, not wanting to loosen her grip on him. She stood like this with him for as long as she possibly could.
Eventually, Ron unwrapped one arm carefully from around her, ignoring her moan of complaint. He slid his hand to her cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb before dropping his head to kiss her softly. He felt his heart start to speed up as she returned the kiss eagerly. It didn't matter how much they did this; he just could not get used to kissing her like this again and was surprised at how quickly he was starting to fall for her. Eventually, he pulled away, gazing at her flushed cheeks and swollen lips.
"That helped to cheer me up a bit…" Hermione was breathless when she spoke.
"Well I'm good at something at least…" He rubbed his nose against hers, pressing a final kiss against her lips before letting go of her. "I have to go though. Ginny is cooking dinner and she'll hex me if I'm late. Harry said you're welcome to join us…"
Hermione shook her head. "I'm not feeling very sociable tonight. I think I'll just read over my notes and get an early night…"
"Okay…" Ron understood; like him, Hermione often liked to be left alone when she was feeling down or annoyed at something but he couldn't help but pout still. "I'll see you in work tomorrow though, yeah?" He gave her one of his smiles when she nodded, the kind that always made her feel weak at the knees. He took a handful of floo powder from the pot on her mantlepiece and threw it in, disappearing in a rush of green flames.