Harry was going to run out of oxygen with the amount of times her breath was catching.

First it had been when she'd caught the perpetrator intercepting his mail- Dobby was a wrinkly, doe-eyed thing, a house elf with long, bony arms and a sack shirt he kept pulling at nervously. It certainly wasn't an 'Agent of the Dark Lord' like she'd feared.

Then there'd been a lump in her throat when Dobby had described the punishments he'd be subject to by his 'owners' for sneaking away. She guessed Dobby, too, had to cook for his whole family, getting only crumbs of leftovers if any remained. And that he probably had to sweep every room twice over because "you're too clumsy to get it clean the first time, boy." Did Dobby also live in a cupboard closet? A thought made Harry shiver- Maybe Dobby wasn't expressing sympathy because this was NORMAL for him.

And THAT thought made Harry have to close her eyes and clamp her mouth shut from screaming, because- This wasn't normal, was it? Ron and Hermione never complained about their parents shutting them in without food for days at a time. Even Neville, who's grandmother had sent him a Howler, never talked about getting hit for not finishing chores by the evening or coming back home too early and interrupting their nephew's favorite tv show.

Suddenly, Harry's room felt suffocating. And the next moment Dobby called her 'master', Harry snapped- "Don't! Don't call me that!" And Dobby shrunk, eyes wide, and went to the bookcase . Harry immediately recognized he was studying the books for the heaviest to whack himself with. Harry grabbed at Dobby's elbow.

"Wait. I'm sorry, just." His breath came in, and out, a single motion that seemed to take forever. "I'm not a boy. I'm a girl, Dobby. Ok?"

Dobby stared. "Mas… Mistress Harry?" Harry gave a small shiver as she smiled. Dobby continued- "Mistress Harry Potter has transitioned her identity. Mistress… can DO that?"

Harry studied Dobby. The elf's eyes seemed to be even more open now, and his hands were twisted into the other.

Harry smiled and nodded- "My friend Hermione says other wizards and witches have done it, not just Muggles."

Harry's smile left as she stared towards the closed door. Her voice went softer- "My aunt and uncle don't like it. But it isn't going to stop me." Harry looked back down at the elf, who was biting his finger and looked from side to side as if something were about to dose him in gasoline.

Harry knelt down. "Dobby? Have you felt like that, yourself?"

Dobby looked up and gave a small shiver. It looked for a second like they were going to shake their head quite vigorously, but as Harry stayed there, gradually, Dobby looked around one more time and moved in, whispering, "Dobby knows he's a bad elf. But sometimes, he thinks that yes, he would want to wear the kinds of things he sees Mistress Narcissa wearing." Dobby grabbed at her ears- "Dobby can't be thinking such things! Dobby isn't allowed to question who she is." Dobby's hand went to her mouth, realizing what she'd said, and scampered over to the bedside table, where she started to conk her head into the wood. Harry rushed over and cushioned her next collision.

"Please, don't! Dobby… you deserve it. You deserve to have nice things…"

Dobby looked up gradually at Harry, eyes shining, face conflicted, shaking her head only a little.

"I…"

Dobby wiped her tears away. Then her face became more serious.

"Mistress Harry is very nice, and that makes it ALL the more crucial Mistress Harry cannot go to Hogwarts."

And Harry's mind flared in panic as Dobby snapped fingers and became golden dust that trailed out of the bedroom.

"Dobby," Harry hissed, sneaking into the hallway. "Dobby!"

And now, Harry's breath caught again as she watched the cake start to float from the kitchen over towards the living room.

Harry caught Dobby's gaze, the latter leaning against a leg of the kitchen table, temple screwed up in concentration.

"No, Dobby, please," she mouthed, slowly crawling over. Dobby started backing up, so Harry stopped. Her nerves were shot, and she tried desperately not to look like a wild animal.

"Dobby," Harry whispered loudly, sliding just a little closer. "Don't do this, please. I can't stay here."

Dobby whispered sharply back. "Harry Potter must NOT go to Hogwarts this year. Harry Potter is in danger!"

Harry wiped her face and choked down a growl. Her hands fit the ground as fists. "Dobby. I'm in danger HERE. EVERY day. Like you. They treat me like they treat YOU. And any day they'll find out about me being a girl. What do you think will happen?"

Dobby's eyes went wider and a finger went to her cheek, likely imagining what would happen if HER masters found out about her. Dobby shook herself out of it- "But… How… how will I keep Mistress Harry Potter safe, then?"

Dobby gave a meek little shriek when Harry leaned the last few inches in and hugged her, hard, before realizing the witch was simply crying into the elf's sleeve, not trying to stop her, whispering 'please, please' in a strangled sob that caused Dobby's ear to twitch. She hugged back, made soft little 'oh' cooing sounds, because she'd always had to care for someone, but the youngest Malfoy had never required THIS kind of care- Comfort instead of servitude.

"Please," Harry whimpered, "Don't let them keep me here. They'll kill me." Slowly, Dobby wrapped her thin hands around Harry's back, and rubbed circles on her pajama top, the way Dobby did for herself when her bruises were too severe to heal easily.

Harry shook her head. "Come with me and help protect me if you have to. But I can't… I can't…" She choked on her own words and bit down to muffle tears, bridged fingers over their nose to keep from loudly sniffling.

As Dobby leaned into the embrace, she gradually felt the thrum of her defensive magic soften and fade, and

slip

Then there was the sound of screeching and a metal tray bouncing across the floor and Dobby and Harry looked up and peered around the corner to see the cake had stopped levitating and fallen, right onto Vernon's face, who was sputtering and trying to clear it from his head and face while Petunia hovered around on the verge of tears.

Dobby made a tiny squeak and snapped her fingers, loud enough to make Harry jump. Dobby disappeared with a small puff of gold smoke, "sorry" billowing into the air, and Harry was by herself crying onto the linoleum as footsteps approached.