As Lucius was getting to leave the house the next day, he paid a quick visit to the kitchens to pick out a house-elf to watch over the Macmillian child. Naturally, all the house elves were terrified that they had done something wrong as Lucius glared above them, but Lucius quickly cleared it up, "I need one of you to do double duty. Do your regular job and watch over a pureblood infant at an address I will give to you. And if one of you doesn't volunteer I will force one of you to do it," All of the house elves looked around apprehensively, none of them wanted double duty but they also feared the Master's temper more than anything else. A full minute had gone by, and Lucius's patience was getting thinner by the second. Just as he was about to release his full fury on the house elves, a small hand was raised from the back, "Dobby will go!"
The room went silent as the house elves backed away from the one who raised his hand, Dobby. Dobby was a house-elf, much shorter than the others, only about 3 and a half feet He had large, tennis-ball-like green eyes, a pencil-like nose, and long, bat-like pointed ears. He seems to be wearing a pillowcase. Dobby was a bit of an oddball, he was the youngest out of the servants and tended to cause problems when he tried to help. Needless to say, no one was expecting Dobby of all house elves to volunteer. Lucius looked down at him with mild surprise, "You will go… Dobby?" Dobby wavered for a moment, he wasn't 100% sure he wanted to do this, but he was so tired of being thought of as less by everyone. He nodded and stepped forward, "Yes. Dobby will go," All the house elves held their breath waiting for Lucius' response, and to their surprise, he smiled, "Good. I'm glad to see one of you knows how to follow orders…" He motioned Dobby to follow him as he turned and walked away, leaving the house elves stunned.
When they were out of earshot of anyone he turned to Dobby and handed him a slip of paper, "Here is the address for the girl. She is about a year old with honey hair and green eyes. Your job is to watch her and make sure the… muggles don't harm her, understood?" Dobby nodded as he looked at the paper, "And stay out of sight. I don't need any bad publicity for breaking the Statute of Secrecy," Dobby nodded and put the paper in his pillowcase, "Dobby understands, sir. Dobby will stay out of sight," Lucius looked at him coldly, "See that you do, Dobby." Dobby went paler as he disapparated away. Lucius looked in the direction of the orphanage, "If those Muggles dare disrespect that pure-blooded girl…" he clenched his fist, "I will know where our next… Visit… will be…" then with a flick of his cape, left the house.
Meanwhile, Dobby was searching the town for the orphanage, "Dobby knows it should be here somewhere…" Eventually, he found the place, it was a moderately sized building with grey walls and a red tile roof. Dobby quickly learned his skill in hiding would become very handy with his task. If he could hide in it, he would. Bushes, closets, cupboards, he used all of these to his advantage while searching. Eventually, he found her, fast asleep, in a small wooden crib. Since there were no Muggles around, he thought it'd be a good time to make sure he found the right girl. He walked up to the cradle and peered through the bars, "Dobby knew the Master sent him to watch a small child, but this one is tiny…" Esme shifted in her sleep, she felt that the room was… different somehow. Dobby ducked beside the crib as Esme woke up in the crib. She looked surprised to be in the unfamiliar room, but her attention was taken by two large ears that were on her left. She crawled over to find a badly hidden Dobby and proceeded to pat him on the head.
Dobby squeaked in surprise and fell backward, while Esme giggled from her crib, "Dobby sees that you are a cheeky little one…" Esme smiled and reached out to pat his head again, "Dob...Bob...Dobby!" she exclaimed, much to Dobby's surprise, "You… can understand Dobby?" She nodded as he stood up, with her sitting in her crib they were now at eye level, "Dobby wants to know your name, small one," Esme looked puzzled then got an idea. She grabbed her necklace and held it towards Dobby, who used his magic to levitate it up over her head then held it gently, "A necklace?" He opened it and saw the words, 'Esme M.' beautifully inscribed, and a picture of her and her family waving to him, "Esme… Dobby thinks it's a nice name… Your family looks nice… Would you mind if I held onto the necklace till you're older?" Esme nodded then sat back down while Dobby smiled and pocketed the necklace in his pillowcase.
Over the next couple of weeks, Dobby would go to the orphanage and check in on Esme, while remaining hidden from the Muggles of course. Every time Dobby came to visit, Esme would get extremely excited to see her friend, which made Dobby smile. She would always be in her crib when he came to visit, so when he visited, that's where he appeared. Dobby was getting used to his new schedule, visiting Esme in the morning before anyone woke up, going back home for a few hours to serve master Lucius, then visiting Esme after dinnertime to make sure she was alright. However, things were about to change. 5 weeks after Dobby first started visiting Esme, happened to overhear a conversation between the orphanage owner and a nanny, apparently, there was a couple that wanted to adopt little Esme. Dobby was so shocked by the news, he almost fell from his hiding place.
He went back to the manor and immediately told Lucius about the situation. At first, Lucius was quiet, which was chilling. Lucius was pondering on what to do, if he let her be adopted by muggles, he was worried she would become corrupted by them. But lately, things have been even worse in the wizarding world. There had told the Dark Lord about a Prophecy he had heard about a baby that would have the power to vanquish him, and they all believed it was talking about the Longbottoms and Potters. They had all been desperately looking for the family for months, and it was now September. Lucius hoped that they would be able to find the families soon, for the safety of him and his family. He eventually made up his mind, "Let it happen," Dobby looked at him confused, "P-Pardon Master Lucius?" Lucius looked at him extremely annoyed, "You will let her be adopted, but you will continue to protect her with your life. Understood?" Dobby nodded, "Y-yes sir…"
When it came time for adoption, things went extremely smoothly, perhaps due to Dobby stacking things in the couple's favor. They were in their mid-20s and lived right outside of Windsor, England in a cozy little cottage, which Dobby was really relieved about. Dobby would have told Lucius about the good news, but Lucius was dealing with a lot at the moment. A few days prior Voldemort had disappeared after going to the Potter's house, and Lucius was trying to make sure that his good name did not get tarnished in the process. Even though Lucius had stopped ordering him to watch over Esme, and her adoptive parents he kept a constant eye on her, and continued to be her guardian house-elf.
