Last time...

"Blimey, this is heavy." Neville grunted, picking up the egg. "Did you want to open it now?"
"Yeah, let's hear it!"

Several people echoed his sentiment, and Hera couldn't resist. She cracked open the egg, and a high pitched screeching sound echoed through the common room. People started clasping their ears at the sudden shrillness of it, many calling for Hera to close it, but she didn't. Quickly grabbing a notebook and biro Hermione was certain Hera had just conjured up, Hera began writing something down. Merlin's beard, it was a language, but Hermione couldn't think of anything that sounded like that. When Hera managed to shut it, she looked more shaken than before, passing the note to Hermione to read.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching, ponder this:

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour…the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Chapter 25

"Harry Potter!"

"Dobby?"

It had been Draco that had called out, and when Dobby saw Draco he began trying to hit his head against his hands.

"Dobby, stop!" Hera demanded, rushing forward and grabbing a hold of his arms to stop him.

"What is Harry Potter doing with Dark Wizards?!" Dobby wailed in despair, looking around at the children of Slytherin House.

"Okay, first you should know that Dark doesn't always mean evil. Light can not survive without it, after all, and Light itself is not always good." Hera stated, as if she were instructing a small child. He grinned sheepishly. "Secondly, Potter luck TM. I'm the fourth contestant in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and this is the House that can help protect me best, because someone is trying to kill me."

"Someone is trying to kill Harry Potter?" Dobby asked, wide eyed and concerned, straightening up then. "Dobby will protect Harry Potter Miss!"

"I remember how that worked out last time, you know." She teased. "Come, sit down with me. No, no punishing yourself. You know I hate that."

"Potter, how are you familiar with one of my family's former house elves?" Draco asked, clearly confused.

"I sort of…tricked your father into freeing him." Hera admitted impishly. The look Draco gave her was exasperating. "Dobby was trying to save my life, and he hated working for your father. What else was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. He…Dobby was always kind to me, looked after me when I was little, and then Dizzy died, and Dobby got…promoted." Draco replied, though he said promoted dubiously.

"What…what was Dobby's new job…before?" Hera asked, already knowing she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Er…I believe they call it 'whipping boy'." Draco grimaced.

"Well, that settles that then." Hera decided, before turning to Dobby. "Why were you looking for me, Dobby? Was it to visit, or did you need work? I remember what I promised before. Gringotts contract, days off, pay,…tailored clothes. Also, why didn't you visit? I worried about you, you know."

He was very enthusiastic about all his clothes, but he had dressed himself worse than the people at the World Cup.

Ron just looked him over for a moment, before adding. "Nice trainers."

"Harry Potter is too kind, as is her Wheezy, but Dumbledore hired me not long after Dobby was made free. There was no need for yous to be worried." Dobby insisted, patting her hand. "Dobby has come about Winky. She was let go by her Master Crouch, and she is not taking freedom well. Winky is being drinking butterbeer."

"That doesn't have a lot of alcohol in it though." Hermione commented, with a frown.

"To a house elf, tis enough." Dobby lamented. "Will Harry Potter come to the kitchens? Dobby wishes for her to meet Winky."

"You want me…to hire Winky?" Hera realized.

"She will not be wantings pay or clothes, but if you order them she will have to take them." Dobby nodded.

"I…I'll meet her, okay? No promises on anything else. We'll walk down, if you don't mind. I'll have to…" Hera paused. "…explain House Elf views to Hermione."

...

"Okay, Hera, out with it." Hermione demanded, as they walked down the halls as quickly as possible. "Why am I not going to like this?"

"House Elves are a symbiotic species that indentured themselves so that they can have access to a wizarding family's magic like it's food." Hera replied rapidly, not looking at her best friend. "A lot of them get abused, like Dobby, but I've met a lot that like to work, to the point where if you deny them, they break down and hurt themselves if you don't let them do something. There are reports of them trying to throw themselves into fireplaces by those that tried to free them, thinking that they'd dishonoured their Family and their House."

"Hera, that's-" Hermione began.

"I know, Hermione, I know." Hera grimaced. "For some, it's oppression. For others, it's what they live for. It depends on how they're treated. I don't understand quite why they decided to indenture themselves in the first place, something about losing moons, and loss of magical forests to tend. I don't understand how it changed from paying them with magic to binding them with it. They like to cook, and clean, and make things, and they only wear those pillow case looking things unless either ordered to wear something, or they are freed. Freeing a House Elf is the same as killing them if they can't find work elsewhere. It's why I offered to hire Dobby. I wanted him to be free, but I didn't want to kill him. They hit themselves when they think they've shamed their masters, but I don't know if that's ingrained or automatic…like fainting goats or something."

Fred, George, Draco and Blaise came with them, listening to Hera explain what she knew of House Elves, and they themselves gave more details when Hermione asked questions. Ron had decided to head back to Gryffindor, sensing this was going to be a long trip, and he'd been the one to agree to chaperone the younger years. She did not like that there were such few options for House Elf Rights. Dobby had gone ahead to the kitchens, most likely to prepare Winky for visitors. She knew that Dobby had to have been desperate in order to ask for help, but surely there was something better than enslavement? Their arrival to the painting of fruit paused her thoughts, and she watched as the painting swung open when Fred tickled the pear.

"Harry Potter!" Dobby called, pulling her friend's attention to him. "Winky is being here. Please…Please, help her. She is not like Dobby. She is not be taking to freedom well."

A small meek house elf wailed, curled up on the floor.

"Hermione?…I know…I know this is bad…that what she wants amounts to slavery, but…how can I do what she's asking? Look at her." Hera said quietly, her eyes wide and pleading as she turned to her, looking more lost than Hermione ever remembers seeing her. "What do I do, Hermione?…I don't…I don't know what to do."

Hermione took a bracing breath, and looked around her. The house elves of Hogwarts looked happy, even though they weren't free, and well cared for. She didn't understand that, but she was studious, and vowed to do her research. If she couldn't get them to agree that freedom was what was best, she could at least petition for punishment against those that chose not to treat their elves with dignity and respect. Not all revolutions started with a bang, but slowly over time. Maybe this was one of those.

"If she wants, I think you should take her bond." Hermione admitted, surprising Hera. "They didn't go to a Pureblood, Hera, they came to you. Whether that is because you are 'Harry Potter', or because you know what it is like to be so ill treated, they came to you. You will treat her with respect, and dignity, and kindness, and maybe…Maybe those around you need to see that, humans and house elves alike. Maybe that will make them question things better than any violent revolution ever could. In the meantime, I'll research laws and treatment. It'll be good practice for me, since I'll probably be a barrister or something when I get all grown up."

She watched her friend nod mutely like she was in shock, and then go over to Dobby and Winky. Blaise, Fred, and George were being served by the kitchen staff, so she joined them. Most of the time she spent asking the house elves about their lives, their culture, what they wanted, and how they felt about things. The younger ones thought she was insane, but the older ones humoured her with the ease of a patient elder. While the house elves did not seem to care for Dobby, they had understood that he had not known kind treatment for some time, and with Winky they understood her despair over being let go from her family. Occasionally, she would look over to see how her friend was doing, wanting to make sure she would be okay.

"She'll be fine." Draco stated quietly, pulling her out of her thoughts. Hermione glared at him, but didn't say anything, not liking that he could read her so easily. "I get that you hated me. I've not been kind, and you did punch me in third year for calling you a mudblood. Believe me, Professor Snape lit into me for that later."

"What are you trying to say, Malfoy?" She asked, civilly, her ire clearly felt.

"I'm trying to say…While I still don't…understand, I am sorry." Draco admitted, then gestured to Hera still in her 'meeting'. "Dobby used to be like that, used to love us, love me. He took care of me growing up, and then Dizzy died…Father's previous 'whipping boy', and Dobby was reassigned. He was never the same after that, and he could never look at me without fear in his eyes."

"You said you don't understand." Hermione noted, now curious. She had never given Draco a proper chance at friendship, not really, and was curious at this sudden revelation. "What did you mean by that?"

"You're smarter than me, and it's irritating. The only reason why you don't get more points in Potions, is because Uncle Sev hates the hand waving; poor showmanship, he says. I have to study all the time just to keep up, and if you ever tell anyone I said that, I will deny it till I'm blue in the face." Draco rambled, absentmindedly sipping on his tea. "If your blood was really less than mine, why are you smarter than me? By that logic alone, you shouldn't be. The Weasleys are seen as blood traitors, though they are technically pure bloods, and yet…while they are poor, and Ronald has abysmal manners, they have more than me. I mean, look at them. The twins are close, yeah, but the whole family is like that. They don't have to worry about allegiances, or being a disgrace to the family name. They just…love each other."

"Are you saying you don't think your parents-" Hermione tried to say, but failed.

"I know that they love me, but they show it through distant pureblood manners. The Weasleys show it through warmth and ugly sweaters." Draco explained, then gestured to Hera again. "Something else I don't understand. She was raised by Muggles, and not just any Muggles, but the kind that actively hate magic. How is she so nice? It's almost Hufflepuff, how nice she is."

At that, Hermione started laughing, and then had to calm down in order to explain the joke. Hufflepuff had been Hera's cover, after all, in case anyone asked why she wasn't acting Gryffindor enough. Hermione herself had used Ravenclaw as her cover. Everyone had thought it was rather Slytherin of them, and had a good laugh about it. When a burst of bonding magic hit them, they all shivered at the power behind it, and turned to Hera. They see her hugging not just Winky to herself but Dobby as well, leaving all of them to wonder just what kind of conversation they'd just had.

...

"Are you sure, Dobby?" He hears her ask, tears falling down her face as she held them to her, the bonding magic telling her what he'd done. "You loved you freedom so much."

He knew Winky could sense it too, the way she now stared at 'Harry' in awe. There was ancient magic about this most kind of witches. It was born of chaos and mischief, a desire to protect and defend. She had a sort of golden hue about her, if one looked close enough, with only the dark spot on her forehead to blemish it. With the kind of magic she had, it was only a matter of time before she figured out how to deal with it on her own, and then her magic would truly shine.

"Dobby understands." Dobby insisted. "Dobby loves his freedom, yes, but Dobby wishes to protect you more, Harry Potter Miss."

'Harry' let out some kind of choked sob, before nodding, hugging them to her once more.

It had been hard to convince Winky that this is what was best for her, especially with the conditions he knew 'Harry' Potter would have. The witch would want to see them in uniforms, which he had had to promise were not freeing clothes to Winky. He'd had a hard time explaining that more than likely 'Harry' would want to pay them money, if only to buy more cloth for uniforms, and getting her to agree to days off had been a challenge. No self respecting house elf would agree to such a thing, Winky had insisted, but Dobby was just as stubborn. 'Harry' would argue that days off made for better workers.

The conversation had gone about how he thought it would have. With Winky forewarned, he had hoped it would make things easier. However, Winky seemed to take this as knowing the enemy, and used them to try to prove her own points so that she could stay right there and wait for her Mr. Crouch to take her back. 'Harry' hadn't tried to fight her, which had surprised Dobby, only reiterated that she would not treat a house elf any less than she would a witch or wizard. It was this that won Winky over, opening her up to see the magic that now surrounds them both.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Winky whispers as their new master left for her sleeping quarters.

Dobby can only watch after the girl and her friends as he replies reverently. "I didn't know."