Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter…. Damn it!

Chapter 13

Dobby

Lily felt horribly bad for James Potter Jr. and while I understood where she was coming from I certainly didn't share her level of sympathy. He was badly injured during his participation in the fiasco in the Department of Mysteries. At first they thought he might loose his arm; thankfully he was able to keep it, however he has no feeling below his elbow. Not only will he have to learn to become left-handed, his quidditch days were officially over.

On top of that, Longbottom had all but isolated himself in his room riddled with guilt and too afraid to face the harsh realities of the world unless forced to. Also the Granger girl has been completely ignoring Potter and the youngest Weasley boy. Apparently her parents told her she had to stay away from them or she would be coming straight home. Not that I blame them, had I been in their shoes and had my daughter nearly died because she decided to run off with those idiots I have no doubt I would have demanded the same thing.

It was obvious to anyone with a brain stem that Potter had a serious crush on the girl, though I can't figure out for the life of me why? She was smart, yes, but she was also a seriously annoying, stuck-up, know-it-all. I can't count the number of times I wasted to hex that skinny little arm out of the air after every single bloody question I ask. He had all but begged Minerva to be put on prefect rotation with her so he could spend at least sometime with her. Utterly pathetic in my mind, tough my wife disagrees and thinks its romantic.

I overheard Potter and the Weasley boy talking about Granger just the other day. The ginger haired brat didn't seem to be nearly as upset about the sudden loss of the girl's friendship.

"If she was a real friend she wouldn't be ditching us like this," He had said one afternoon while walking towards Hagrid's hut. I had been on his way to pick some lavender that grew wild on the edge of the forest, Rosie had requested it, she though it made her room smell nice.

"It's not that simple Ron, her parents threatened to pull her out." Potter had tried to explain.

"So," he said with a shrug, "they're not here, they wouldn't even know." Weasley argued.

Potter didn't continue to argue with his friend, but ended the conversation by changing the subject, unsurprisingly to Quidditch.

XXX

I was finally summoned by the Dark Lord a couple of days before the new term started. He had a question for me.

"I heard Frank Longbottom was going to be teaching Defense this year, is that true?"

I nodded, "Yes, it is." With what happened at the Ministry, Frank was worried for his son's safety and had actually threatened to take Neville out of Hogwarts. So, Dumbledore invited Frank to teach Defense so he could keep a closer eye on his son.

The Dark Lord's brow scrunched, his red-tinted eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Why did you not tell me this sooner?"

"I sent you an owl My Lord, nearly two weeks ago." This was true, I had in fact sent a letter detailing several things Headmaster had agreed to allow me to share. "The owl came back empty handed. I assumed you received my post but had no reply. I apologize if I assumed incorrectly."

I had dinner plans with Lily I really didn't want to spend my evening nursing the after effects of the cruciatious curse, but with his temper, one never did know what to expect.

"Hum…" With the swish of his wrist the door swung open. "Bella! Come here now!" He called out suddenly.

Bellatrix LaStarage waltzed into the room, her dark hair as wild and crazy as her mind. She had never exactly been what one would call stable, but being in Azkaban drove the woman completely over the edge.

"You called for me, Master." She smiled at him almost adoringly as she entered the room, which was so out of her character it was almost unnerving.

"Bella, you are in change of collecting any mail that comes for me when I am not here, correct."

"Yes, Master, you gave me that honor."

"Did a letter come for me a couple of weeks ago from Severus you forgot to inform me about?"

The eldest Black daughter's eyes widened just slightly, it was obvious, at least to me, that she was surprised by the question.

"Not that I recall My Lord."

The Dark Lords red eyes narrowed into near slits as he took several steps closer to her. "I think your lying Bella and you know how I feel about liars."

She swallowed hard and shook her head. "I…I-I'm sorry My Lord. I did not think it was important."

By the angered look in his crimson eyes he was not buying her story. Instead of replying to Bellatrix he turned his gaze back to mine. "Severus, do you have any further information for me?"

Not knowing the next time he would call me I decided it was a good time to tell him about Lily's pregnancy. "Actually, yes. Lily and I found out we are to have another child, he will be due late January."

A thin smile pulled to his pale lips. "Severus, you are truly a faithful servant and you and your wife will be rewarded for your loyalty."

"Thank you My Lord." I had no desire to be rewarded by him in anyway; shape or form and I knew Lily would most likely flat out refuse anything from him.

"Of course, you may go a while I deal with Bella."

I simply nodded and made my way out of the room, closing the door as I left. As I made my way through the halls I could hear Bellatrix's screams echoing off the stonewalls and I wondered if she would live through her punishment at all.

XXX

It was five days later that we received our reward.

"I'm Dobby, sir, Dobby the house elf. I have been given to you as a gift." The little elf explained as he handed me a letter.

"Wonderful," Lily said quite sarcastically with a role of her eyes, "We've been given a slave." She didn't mind Midge helping with the children, as she was "owned" by Hogwarts who took care and treated their house elves fairly, however overall she didn't care for the idea of owning someone else. It was, as many muggleborns see it, a barbaric custom.

Opening the letter I began to read:

Dear Severus,

Last night the Dark Lord came to a several of us and told us of your loyalty and honor to him. I have never known him to be so, dare I say it, proud, of anyone. I know you suffered greatly during your time in Azkaban and Lucius mentioned on several occasions that he will always bare guilt over that, but that day he visited you in your shop…You have no idea how happy he was to see things had turned out so well for you. He has always considered you a great friend, and when The Dark Lord asked us how we thought you should be rewarded, I immediately suggested Dobby. He's a bit eccentric but he is a good worker and will be loyal to you family. I hope he serves your family as well as he has mine.

Your friend,

Nacricca Malfoy

P.S. Please keep an eye on Draco this term. The Dark Lord has given him a task and I am worried it is too difficult for him to accomplish alone.

"Dobby is happy to serve the Snape family." The elf said bouncing excitedly on his toes. "Is there anything you are wanting Dobby to do?"

"Change out of that filthy rag to start." Lily said eyeing it in disgust. "The Hogwarts elf's have uniforms I think that would be much better."

"But Dobby is not a Hogwarts elf," Dobby said, "He is your elf."

"Fine," Lily sighed, "We will make you a Snape family uniform then."

"Dobby would be happy to wear the insignia of the Snape family!" He said pushing out his chest in pride.

Lily shook her head but simply told Dobby to follow her. She never understood the point of making the poor things wear rags all the time. "Muggles don't allow there help to dress in disgusting rags, so why in the world would wizards?"

She had a point. Then again, a lot of things wizard did didn't make a whole lot of sense. I suppose that's part of the reason we were in the mess that we were.

XXX