Chapter 2. A New Life
It took him a few days to put his chaotic thoughts into some resemblance of order. At first it was a whirlwind of impressions, strange feelings, new words, new concepts, new voices leaving an imprint in his mind. The most important voice was categorized immediately: his Master.
Lucius Malfoy was the Master. Their meeting was the first distinct memory in his new life. He saw the tall, proud man and everything fell into place, his panic fear changing into calmness and understanding. This was the Master, he would make it alright, he would care.
He couldn't answer the Master's first question, no words formed in his head. But luckily the Master knew what his problem was right away. He was wise and could be trusted.
"You don't have a master?"
Head shake.
"Strange… Follow me, then"
This was an order, and orders were to be obeyed. He followed the Master, and it was indeed a right thing to do, as the Master brought him to the House. The House was magnificent, an imposing stone castle of light grey colour. As they approached the gates securing the House from other lands, the Master raised his wand and waved it. The gates opened. It proved once again that his Master was a great wizard and he was very lucky to find him.
The Master led him inside the House and snapped his fingers. A creature that looked just like him appeared and stared at the Master expectantly.
"This is…" The Master looked him over, his glance lingering on black spots that covered his yellowish skin. "Spotty. A new one. Arrange him"
The elf's name was Tossy. She hurried away with Spotty as soon as the Master finished his sentence. Spotty was reluctant to leave the Master, but he didn't want to displease anyone. He tripped after his instructor who galloped through the House poking her finger at various objects and muttering comments. Only after exchanging a few phrases Spotty realized that the language they used was not English. This was the language for creatures like him and Tossy. For a human ear it would sound like incoherent babble, but of course humans were not supposed to waste their time listening to it.
Spotty did not understand how he began speaking this language all of a sudden, but he couldn't dwell on it. There were too many things to be learnt.
***
Sometimes Spotty found himself attempting to remember things that were before the House. But all he had were odd flashbacks of green light, strange sense of heat, screaming and fear. These flashbacks were very disturbing and Spotty tried to push them out if his head. This new life was easier, nicer; Spotty didn't want any other. He was happy here.
The first few days revived in his head some other memories, old and vague. A long time ago, there was a place where everything was new, fascinating and unusual, a different life he had to get used to. Spotty couldn't recall what it was all about, but this felt the same way.
The House was huge, with spacious halls, intricate decorations and a lot of light. He loved it from the first sight. It felt as if the House was communicating with him, every room was inviting him in, each object asking for his attention.
His task was to take care of the House, keep Order of things. Every single thing had its own place in the House, if it was misplaced Spotty had to find it, repair if broken, clean if dirty and put back.
The House was perfect. Unless he ruined the perfection himself. And this was one of the worst things that could happen to Spotty. He became distressed even if somebody else upset the balance in the House, but if Spotty were to blame the consequences would be disastrous. Sense of guilt was absolutely heart wrenching.
Once he ran off into the garden to pick fresh flowers (Lady Narcissa herself showed him specifically what orchids he could cut for decorating the table for breakfast), and forgot to wipe his feet before entering the House. He left an ugliest brown imprint of mud on the parquet. Just one imprint because he immediately realized his mistake and froze with the second foot raised in the air, not daring to move. Luckily Daffy, a scrawny house elf with brownish skin, saved him from perpetrating further crimes against the House throwing him a rag to clean his feet. Spotty spent two hours polishing the parquet in attempt to make up for the misdeed he committed against the House and mentally cursing himself. Of course this accident was nothing in comparison with the case when he broke a teacup. Bruises did not fade for two weeks. At first he was horrified with this strange urge to cause pain to his own body after doing something wrong. But there was no choice in this matter; it was obviously a part of his nature. No master could ever punish a house elf harsher than an elf himself.
Order-keeping was one of the tasks of every house elf. The second one, even more important than the previous, was Care for the Master. The Master was the one who ruled the House, the one who made the decisions. His word was a Law. Master had also a Lady and a Sibling. These were not as important as the Master, but were to be worshipped, too. Sometimes others who smelled like Master visited the House. Spotty knew that they were called Relatives. He respected them but not as much as the Master, the Lady and the Sibling.
All of them were superior and house elves' duty was to keep them pleased. The most horrible thing that could ever happen to a house elf was to cause the Master's disapproval. Smallest frown on the face of the Master would result in a burn, scratch or bruise on Spotty's skin. It didn't even depend on whether the Master wanted to punish the elf or not, his mere discomfort was enough to evoke total distress in every house elf, and elvian mental distress normally resulted in physical damage. Of course, the Master was kind and generous and he always stopped his house elves before they killed themselves while indulging in yet another self-inflicted penalty. Spotty noticed that his sense of guilt evaporated momentarily if he received the Master's forgiveness.
A/N: Well, it was probably very boring – but I just wanted to describe the way I see a house elf's life (frankly, I never believed that Dobby was abused by his masters). More action in the next chapter, I promise. It would be nice if you reviewed, by the way. I am planning on completing this fic anyway but I tend to write faster if inspired :) Huge thanks go to Lady of the Dawn, Kathleen (my plot is unique? *furiously blushing*), Fanny chan, Maitiu, Calmardaa…
Oh, and before anyone asks (again!): I promised H/D slash but it is not coming until Harry becomes human! My mind is not *that* perverted.
