Chapter 6 The Weasleys and The Dursleys
AN: Thanks to my betas, poisonivy9675, darrelldeam and alix33, for looking this over. All mistakes are my own.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
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As the weeks passed, Harry started to worry about Dobby. He didn't think the little elf would be gone so long. He wanted to call him back, but decided to let the little guy have one more day to complete his task. He didn't want him to feel like Harry didn't trust him to get the job done.
The first task would be coming up soon and Harry wanted to see how Crouch Jr. would fare, since the man was without a wand and locked in his room this whole time. The idiot Minister wanted the man to be kissed, but was outvoted by the Wizengamot. Seems wizards were a bit bloodthirsty. Now that the news was out that Voldemort was trying to come back was out, there were movements to up the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and train the citizens. The pure-bloods tried to squash this, but the Quibbler ran stories almost every day about what was going on in the wizarding world. The entire questioning of the two Death Eaters, Pettigrew and Crouch Jr., was posted and the magazine was now the number one publication.
The Weasley boys were caught no less than three times trying to get to the prisoner. Ron and the twins were told they could be expelled if they continued. They weren't the only ones, just the most caught.
Harry just shrugged it all off and waited. He was doing well in school and making more friends in all the Houses, so he wasn't going to jeopardize that. He also changed his electives to Runes and Arithmancy. Between Sirius and Lily Snape finally quit picking on him, as well as started being a good teacher. Harry, however, felt this wasn't the end of Snape's punishment, he didn't know why; it was just a feeling.
The dark-haired teen was enjoying his special lessons with the champions and was now far ahead of his peers in DADA. He was getting special vibes from Fleur; at first he shrugged them off as her Veela heritage, but soon came to realize she was flirting with him. His hormones took over and he started flirting back. It was fun.
Hermione toned down her nagging and people were starting to talk with her again. She finally realized that she wasn't listening to others and could be seen with Muggle self-help books on making friends. She had apologized to him and Harry was happy to have his friend back.
It was after dinner and once again Harry was sitting on his favorite boulder. He liked it here, even if it was cold. It was quiet and allowed him to think, which is what he was doing. He thought about how many people were coming up to him and apologizing. Some were sincere and others were just trying to get him to forgive them so they would stop being picked on. Justin tried to get him to take the apology so his House would quit shunning him, but Harry was having none of it. Maybe if the Hufflepuff hadn't made it clear that he really wasn't sorry, Harry might have let him off the hook, but the sneer on the boy's face negated his apology.
It was getting dark and cold and Harry wasn't planning on staying much longer. He was sitting cross-legged looking out at the squid in the lake, wondering how such a giant beast came to live there, when a 'pop' was heard and suddenly Harry was tackled to the ground by a tiny body.
"Harry Potter, sir, Dobby is so glad to be back!" the strangely dressed house elf squeaked.
Harry quickly returned the hug, sat back up and then gently set the excitable elf in front of him. "It's good to see you too, Dobby," he said with a smile. "How are you? The Dursleys didn't see you, did they?"
Dobby's eyes started to water. "Harry Potter was concerned for poor Dobby. Dobby is most grateful to be having Harry Potter as his… friend?" he questioned tentatively, his big eyes looking hopeful.
Harry's eyes softened as they often did around this emotional being. "Of course we're friends, Dobby."
The happy tears fell and Dobby hugged Harry around his knees. After a few minutes the elf collected himself and gave and jaunty salute and took a soldier's stance. "Dobby is doing just what Harry Potter is ordering. Dobby has sad news for Harry Potter, sir," he said gravely, shaking his overly large head.
Harry couldn't tell if his little friend was serious or not, so he decided to play along, "Report, Dobby," he mock ordered.
"It is taking Dobby a day to find Harry Potter's relatives. But Dobby is being finding them. Ah, sir, it is bad news indeed. They is being very poor now," the elf said with a look of sadness on his face, but you could see the humorous glint in his large eyes.
"Just how poor are they?" Harry asked as he leaned forward, eager for information.
"Dobby is listening to them, they is talking about how the fat man was accused of stealing. The horse woman is saying it is being Harry Potter's fault they is now poor. Now the piggy boy can't be going to the pricey school and must be going to the state school. There is being very little food in the house, and Dobby is listening to the family complain they is not making their bills," Dobby said, his head hung as if this was bad news.
"How is Dudley doing?" Harry leaned forward some more and lifted Dobby's head with a finger under his chin. He saw the mischief there and wondered when Dobby had gotten such a sense of humor.
"Ah, sir, yous cousin is not doing well at all. They had to be selling all his toys and he is losing much weight. He is complaining that he is having nothing to play with and not enough to eat. He is wanting his father to go to the school to make the other children stop teasing him," the little elf said.
"Did Uncle Vernon go?" the dark-haired teen asked, wishing he could have been a fly on the wall for that.
Dobby nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, sir, the fat man bes going, but it is doing no good. The piggy boy is still being picked on. The head man at the school said since they is not hitting the piggy boy there is nothing that they can be doing. The piggy boy is being chased all over the school yard, and it being taunted over his large clothes. Since they is being poor, they can't afford to be getting him new ones, so his clothes is being hanging off his frame."
"So what are they doing for money?" Harry asked gleefully, happy that Dudley was being bullied, yet glad it was only with words. No toys, overlarge clothes and being chased were good enough for him.
"The fat man is being working in gardens, but only a few people is being hiring him, since it is being said he stole from his last workplace. So they is not trusting him. The horsey woman is being working as a house elf, only she is being like Dobby and is being paid," Dobby explained.
Harry started laughing. It served them right to have to work at the same chores they put him through.
"What's their flat look like? Dumbledore said it was small," the green-eyed boy inquired with a tilt of his head.
"Oh, yes, sir, it is being very tiny. There is being one bedroom, they is giving it to the piggy boy. They is sleeping on the bed in the couch." The tiny elf started to get excited again; his game of remorse was forgotten.
Harry fell over with gales of laughter, it wasn't quite as bad as a cupboard, but Harry knew his relatives prided themselves on being normal, and sleeping on a hide-a-bed wasn't normal. After he got himself under control he asked one final question.
"Did you find anything out about Aunt Marge?" he asked, a glint of hatred in his eyes. That woman was worse than his relatives in his mind. She was always going on about how he should be dead.
"Ah, sir, the fat lady is being in most dire needs. All her dogs attacked her and chased the neighborhood children until the… police-ies is being called. They is taking all her dogs and closing her house. She came to Harry Potter's relatives for a place to be sleeping and they is telling her there is no place in their house," Dobby once again took up a pretend look of sadness.
This time Harry's laughter echoed across the lake, causing the squid to pause in its play. Justice was wonderful. This time it took five minutes for the teen to get himself settled down. He once again hugged Dobby and then pulled his coin purse from his trousers. "Here you go, Dobby, two Sickles as promised. You did a great job for your first assignment," he said happily, handing over the coins.
Dobby took the money with a smile on his thin lips and hid them in the folds of his jumper. He bounced in place, waiting for his next order.
Harry stopped laughing and when he realized what Dobby was waiting for. He racked his brain for something for his elf to do. The teen remembered his mum talking about Potter Manor and the fact that his dad's portrait was there. "Dobby, can you go to Gringotts and see if there's a deed to Potter Manor? Find out where it is and see if it needs repairs and such," he suggested calmly.
"Dobby can do," the excitable house elf said, and was about to 'pop' out when Harry held up a hand to stop him.
"See if you can find my dad's portrait and tell him I'll be coming to see him this Christmas," he softly ordered. Since he was not a champion he could leave the castle for the break.
"Yes, sir, Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said; after making sure that was all, he popped away.
Harry sighed and was about to get up to go inside, where it was warm, when he heard the rustling of fabric. He turned his head to the side and saw Luna standing there. She was swaying back and forth as if dancing to music only she could hear.
"Hey, Luna, how long have you been there?" Harry asked, a bit embarrassed at being caught enjoying his family's discomfort.
"Oh, long enough, I suppose. I am happy to see you are getting some of your own back. May I sit with you?" she asked vacantly. She didn't wait for an answer, just climbed the rock and sat next to him.
"So what brings you out into the cold?" Harry asked, putting his own cloak around both of them.
"I wanted to tell you something. It might sound strange, but I am getting the feeling you need to talk to some of the Durmstrang students. They might have a solution to your Dark Lord problem," she said, looking him in the eye; her normal dreamy expression was clear and determined.
"Okay, Luna, I'll have Krum introduce me to a few," Harry agreed readily; Luna hadn't steered him wrong yet. In the few weeks he had gotten to know the quirky girl, she had known a few things that he hadn't told anyone. "By the way, congratulations on finding the Crumple-Horned Snorkack," he said sincerely.
"Yes, Daddy was ever so surprised to find it in the backyard. We always thought it was in Sweden." She nodded her head against his shoulder. It was nice to have a friend. Though her House was being nicer to her, and the nargles were stealing their things, she still didn't have a friend within.
They sat quietly until it got close to curfew and then made their way back to the castle. Harry walked her to her dorm and then proceeded to his own.
The next morning was Saturday and Harry and Cedric spent it with the other two champions learning spells not taught at Hogwarts. He hoped he would never need them, but it was better to be prepared.
At lunch came a bit of a surprise when Arthur Weasley came into the Great Hall. He looked bewildered, yet at the same time smug. His four children got up and rushed to him, asking him what he was doing there. He guided them back to the Gryffindor table and started to explain.
"First off, Ron, your winnings will be held in a vault until you are of age. We…" he started to say only to be interrupted by the youngest male Weasley.
"What? You can't do that! It's my money!" the redhead's shouts could be heard all around the Hall and the students broke out in whispers and giggles. They had all had to put up with him bragging about what he was going to buy.
"Yes, but, we're your parents, and you're still a minor," his dad said firmly. "I don't know how you won that sweepstake, but what's done is done. Now you have to follow the laws, and they state that you're not old enough to have that much control of that large of a sum." A look of disappointment crossed his face. He was still under the impression that his youngest son had cheated.
Ron huffed, cried and shouted until his voice was raw. The professors came down to try and quiet the boy, but he just wouldn't listen, no matter what they threatened him with. Finally, after threatening him with summer grounding, he stopped. He gave one final look of anger to his father and stormed out of the Hall, followed by the taunts and laughter of the student body. A few of the pure-blood girls got up to chase after him; he was a pure-blood after all and he had money.
Mr. Weasley then turned to his other children with a big smile on his face. "There is good news. Thanks to a little, weirdly dressed, house elf, I was able to finally pin trying to kill Ginny and endangering the school on Lucius. So we, your mum and I, and the parents of the petrified students, sued him. It was a close thing, he tried to buy his way out again, but we didn't budge. We won the lawsuit yesterday. Malfoy has lost his fortune. He is now as destitute as we once were. There's enough money to keep Draco in school and see to his needs, but that is all. It was part of the deal; we didn't want to hurt his child, so we made sure that clause was added. Now Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy will have to work to keep their Manor," he said, beaming at the looks of shock on the kids' faces.
"A house elf, you say?" Fred asked, getting a thoughtful look, and then his eyes widened and he turned to a humble looking Harry.
"Yes, it was a strange little guy, had on clothes and a tower of hats. Quite excitable too," Arthur said as he tapped his chin, trying to remember the elf's name. "Doby or Bobby or something like that."
The remaining Weasley children turned as one to gaze at the now blushing Harry. Harry held up his hands and started to protest that he had nothing to do with it. They rushed him and started to babble their thanks.
"Honestly, guys, I didn't do it," he hedged, knowing it was kind of his doing. "Dobby did it all on his own. He wasn't even working for me then," he protested loudly.
It was then that Draco came over and sneered at the group. His hair was still mussed and his clothes in disarray. "So, the Weasleys are finally rich? Had to take down a good pure-blood family to do it, worthless blood traitors. I hope you are proud of yourselves, stealing from my family," he taunted, a look of disgust on his face, as if he smelled something foul.
"Ah, yes, young Draco," Arthur said as he quickly made his way over. "I wanted to tell you that we made sure you were taken care of. The vault that was set up for your care needs to have vouchers to be drawn from. Had Ron stuck around I would've informed him that he has a trust vault set up the same way." He shook his head at his son's hot-headedness. "I wanted to let you know, we would never hurt a child. It is sad the same could not be said for your father."
"My father is a good man. You will regret doing this," Draco shouted in the elder man's face.
Arthur just shook his head at the boy's dissolution, and he clapped the blonde on the back and turned him towards the Slytherin table. "You have the right to believe what you will, however, we won the lawsuit, so maybe you should think about that for a while." He gave the young man a gentle push and then turned back to the group of kids. Draco, seeing he would get no support from the Slytherins, turned and stomped out of the Hall.
"Harry," Mr. Weasley said sternly, in a voice only fathers could pull off, "did you have anything to do with that house elf coming to me?"
"I promise you, Mr. Weasley, Dobby acted on his own," Harry said solemnly. He was being completely honest in that he hadn't asked Dobby to do anything. "He read in the paper that I was frustrated about Mr. Malfoy getting away with attempted murder and compromising the school and did what he thought would please me."
"Do you have any idea how the diary wound up back at Malfoy Manor?" Arthur hoped that the young man hadn't broken any laws to help them. Last he had heard of the book Dumbledore had it.
"Honestly, Mr. Weasley, I didn't have anything to do with your lawsuit. Dobby's a free elf; what he does on his own is his business. And he didn't tell me anything until after he talked to you."
"Well, you tell Dobby if he needs any work we'll be happy to hire him on, or any other free elf that he knows," Arthur said, thinking that his wife could use the help and now they could afford it.
"Actually, Mr. Weasley, I do know an elf that is looking for a family. You'll have to convince her to stay free, but she's in bad shape. Do you want to meet her?" Harry asked with hope in his eyes for the female house elf Dobby had told him about. He vaguely remembered Winky from the World Cup, but that night had been a bit chaotic.
"Yes, if it will help then take me to her," Mr. Weasley stated, being the kind man that he was.
So Harry led the redheaded family to the kitchen and soon a deal was made with the drunken house elf. Mr. Weasley was so shocked that a house elf could get in such a state that he hired her on for one Sickle a week and no days off. Winky was a harder negotiator then Dobby was.
As they were making their way to the Entrance Hall they talked about fixing up the Burrow and setting aside vaults for all the kids. The things they talked about doing now that they were well-to-do were humble; the Weasleys prided themselves on hard work and earning their keep. The money they now had would be used for daily expenses and building a better life. The twins were talking to their dad about the Quidditch offer and he told them he would discuss it with Mrs. Weasley and that it depended on their grades.
Harry went to bed that night happy that things were still coming together.
That night, for the first time in weeks, Harry dreamed. He was back in the dark manor and was in the snake once again. The two Dark beings were in the attic of the house. It was creepy. The light was dim with only the moon filtering in from the dusty window, casting shadows on the walls, making everything foreboding. Old furniture was scattered around the room, with boxes and chests, which had old clothes and items spilling out of them. What they could want in that room; Harry didn't know. As far as he knew this was a Muggle house and Voldemort wouldn't need any of this old stuff.
Voldemort was opening boxes, throwing things around the dusty room, seemingly looking for something important. He opened one box and a rat jumped out at him, causing him to jump back and Nagini to lunge, knocking him over. He hit a hat stand, which jammed into an old free standing bookcase, which fell on a support beam, causing the roof to cave in. Dust and debris fell on top of the baby-like being and as it attempted to crawl away, part of the ceiling fell on top of it.
Nagini slithered to her Master, but it was too late— the body was crushed. A dark mist rose from the dead homunculus and hissed in anger.
Harry was tossed back into his own mind and woke up wondering what to do now.
At number twelve Grimmauld Place a necklace melted and a decrepit, old house elf smiled for the first time in years.
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Remember this is a wish verse; things are going to happen for no reason other than magic. Logic need not apply.
