Elves

~~~~~

As I enter the kitchen I hear a shrill yell.

"Mistress!"

I stagger as a small bony something collides with me and wraps its arms around my leg.

"Dobby?" I am no less pleased to see the elf as he seems to be to see me, but Malfoys do not yell. I may hate my father but I will not refuse the name he gave me.

The house elves give Dobby sideways looks as they move forward to give me a more sedate greeting. Already they have their instructions from the headmaster. Dobby pulls back from me and I kneel to hug him. The elves surround me, all strange faces save for the one closest, but suddenly I feel like I've come home. These creatures are not my kind, but I have seen such knobbly joints and bulging eyes all my life, and they have been kinder than any being of my own blood.

"Welcome miss Leila," the words are murmured all around me, over and over. Dobby corrects his earlier mistake, and he uses my name. I am no longer his Mistress.

"Miss Leila. Dobby is pleased to see you."

"I'm pleased to see you too Dobby." Such small words that don't sum up what I'm feeling.

From a world of darkness I have been thrown into a world of brightness and goodness. It threatens to overwhelm me.

But I'm a Malfoy. And Malfoys never cry.

~~~~~

Once again, I'm standing at a sink, doing the washing up. A tiny elf - even for an elf he is small - is beside me, drying the dishes as fast as I can wash them.

Pan smiles toothily.

"Miss Leila is new to cleaning."

"Yes," I sigh, plunging my hands back into the almost too hot water. Pan flicks his towel and with a word from him it is dry again. He lifts the next plate. Elf magic never ceases to amaze me. Magic of any kind never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps it's my distinctly non-magical nature that makes me notice these magical things more.

Dobby is in the next room, preparing lunch for the staff. The school year has not yet begun, and Dobby has promised me that he will show me around the castle and its grounds, once the cleaning up from lunch is finished. House elves think first and foremost of their work, all the tasks that must be done. Only when everything is in its place will an elf stop working. I find them admirable, if a little masochistic.

The elves talk amongst themselves while they clean. As Pan dries each dish another elf takes it from him and scurries to put it away. Quick, neat, efficient. I feel horribly clumsy here.

Pan chats to a girl elf, Cellie. They're comparing stories of the biggest mistakes they ever made, and what they did to punish themselves. The best Pan has invented so far was spilling pumpkin juice on a student's dress robes, which resulted in him slamming his foot in a door. Cellie's best is knocking over a suit of armour that fell down eight flights of stairs and almost hurt Mrs Norris, whoever she is. Cellie's punishment was sprinkling ground pepper in her own eyes.

I cannot wait until after lunch. The elves are nice enough but this 'idle chatter' is worrying me a little.

~~~~~

We're on the Quidditch field. I have decided this is my favourite place in the world.

Dobby tells me of how he hexed a Bludger to follow a boy throughout the game, so the boy would be hurt and then leave Hogwarts. But it didn't work. When Dobby begins to explain how he had to iron his hands afterwards I ask him to instead explain how Quidditch is played.

You're still here shadow? Oh good.

I look up at the stands around this huge field, imagining what Dobby describes. Six figures fly with a single intent, following the red leather ball. Four more bearing clubs, somehow controlling their brooms while swinging at the two leather cannonballs that threaten every player. Two keepers, guarding their hoops.

And two last players, one in red, one in green. High above the world they wait and watch. One of them is my brother. He glares at the other, hating everything about him from his glasses to his scar. Then there is movement, a golden sparkle, and both of them turn and fly with the wind in their hair, both reaching for the Snitch.

I breathe deeply, tasting the freshness and the green in the air. And for one of the first times in my life I wish that I could be like everyone else. I want to be here when school begins in another week, I want to be on my feet in the stands, cheering for my brother as he grabs that tiny golden sparkle from the air, I want to be surrounded by girls and boys of my own age and kind.

Actually, what I really want is to fly.

~~~~~

These chapters are very short, but hopefully that means they'll come sooner. Someone asked about Leila's mother - I have to say that she doesn't come into the picture as much as her father does. But Narcissa didn't want to give up her daughter.