"Dobby, it's been nearly a week and even I can see that this is wearing you out. You've got to stop waiting on me, hand and foot. Please!" Harry said, exasperation threading his voice.

"Dobby doesn't understand. Harry Potter called Dobby! Harry Potter asked Dobby for food," the little elf insisted.

"I know! And I am so grateful for your help and the delicious food you brought," Harry paused, wondering what he could say this time to convince Dobby. "It's just… it makes me feel helpless when you do everything for me and I don't like that."

"Harry Potter doesn't like Dobby helping him?" the elf wailed.

"Oh, no, Dobby. That's not what I meant," Harry backpedaled, locating the hunched figure by the sound of his distressed sobs. "Of course, I like your help. It's just that… I need to be able to do things on my own, too. If I show up at Hogwarts in a few weeks and can't even manage to tuck in my own serviette, Dean and Seamus are going to take the mickey out of me and that's not even saying anything about what Malfoy will do."

A warm breeze wafted across his face and Harry turned his head, following it. It had almost felt like the caress of a hand. Dobby's sobs quieted to occasional hiccups and sniffles.

"Dobby wanted Harry Potter to be safe and fed."

"And Harry… I mean, I am. I am safe and fed. You have been a good friend…" Harry paused here because Dobby had started wailing again. "Dobby has taken good care of Harry Potter," Harry ran his hand over Dobby's shuddering back, trying to soothe him. "And Harry wants Dobby to also be well. Please, Dobby. You are too tired and working too hard."

"Dobby is tired," the elf said in a quiet voice and Harry sighed with relief even as the little elf started crying again… this time muttering about Harry's immense kindness. After a bit, they came up with a plan…Harry promised to call Dobby if ever he had need, even the slightest discomfort, and the elf would send food twice a week.

After that, Dobby seemed to be himself again. Constantly attending to Harry while also managing his job at the Center had been exhausting the little elf. Dobby would send a basket of food that would sustain Harry for a week (what with duplication and preservation charms) and then on Sunday evenings, the elf would join Harry for a hot meal that they would share together.

Harry very much looked forward to those evenings and learned a lot about the progress of the Center (it was going to reopen at the beginning of September) as well as other news in the wixen world. He was also learning about house-elf life and culture. With sadness, he learned that Dobby's freedom, while greatly desired, also came with a cost. He was ostracized and mistrusted among house elves. He ached to think that he caused Dobby to suffer the kind of loneliness and isolation he had felt most of his life… he hadn't even asked Dobby if freedom was what he wanted.

In this way, the weeks until the start of term passed. Though there were times when Harry felt alone and far away from his friends, he was able to overcome the feelings of isolation by practicing apparating—he didn't venture far beyond the stone circle… he had to know the destination intimately before he could move to it… so his time on the surface was spent learning new areas he could apparate to. He'd pop to a spot that he already knew—the surface of a stone that he'd run his hands over until he could visualize it—and then explore the area around it until he could jump to it with just the memory of how the earth felt under his feet. There had to be something distinctive about it that set it apart from other areas so that it was firmly set in his mind's-eye. Even though he knew that he had apparated from the Burrow to the Stone Circle, the thought of making such a leap again knowingly was unnerving. He settled his fears by working on the small jumps until he could do them without hesitation.

Another way he was able to escape the pull of loneliness and misery was to write to his friends on his stone tablet. He was getting better at reading and writing braille as a result. With Ron, it was Quidditch updates and joking around… general silliness that made him crack up. He gathered from things Ron said that his frequent notes were the only thing that were keeping Mrs. Weasley from hunting him down herself… that and the assurances that he was getting plenty to eat.

Gemma was the person he confided in the most… their conversations were continuous and so varied. Even Nio wanted to know what Gemma was saying and pestered Harry to keep him updated. He was glad for Nio's presence, though, because even though he felt more surrounded by friends than he ever had in his life, he missed the contact… the touch of Gemma's hands under his as they talked, the roughhousing with Ron and the twins, Mrs. Weasley's embraces.

Nio's smooth scales sliding over and under his fingers and around his neck were a soothing comfort and the little snake was very content living underground with Harry. Hedwig, not so much. She would disappear for days. At first, Harry was worried that she'd been captured, but then she had returned with a note from Hagrid and a small beeswax-infused cloth bag of treacle fudge. It seemed that she preferred to roost in the owlery at Hogwarts to the circuitous tunnels of the underground labyrinth.

Turned out that Dobby absolutely loved Hagrid's treacle fudge… the stickier the better. Harry saved the beeswax bag as it was perfect for storing small amounts of food in his staff.

Harry was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts. He was both excited and nervous about the trip to Diagon Alley the Weasley's were planning to get his school things… especially after the disaster with the Ministry at the Burrow. But the memories of exploring Diagon Alley with Hagrid, the Weasleys, and Hermione were budging the anxiety over and he couldn't stop fantasizing about a Fortescue's treacle tart sundae.

[break]

"Dobby?" Harry asked, pretty sure that the elf was nearby.

"Yes, Harry Potter?"

Harry jumped in surprise, Dobby was a lot closer than he realized.

"Oi! Er. I just was wondering if you know what day it is," Harry turned toward the elf, who had been directly behind him.

"Yes, it is Sunday the twenty-ninth of August," Dobby announced.

"Hmmm. I guess I should probably bathe today as we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow. You're sure you are okay with apparating me there?"

"Yes, Harry Potter should bathe today. Dobby even brought soap and a towel," the elf said as he rummaged around in the basket at his feet. A moment later, he touched Harry's outstretched hand with a fuzzy bundle of towel. Harry felt around it and found a comb next to a bar of lavender-scented soap that put him in mind of the Center.

"What? Right now?" Harry asked, tilting his head.

"Harry Potter has been living in a muddy cave for nearly a month. Harry Potter might need two or three baths," Dobby chortled as he pushed Harry toward the bathing pool.

"You can't even see how dirty I am! I'm wearing the invisibility cloak!" Harry protested.

"Dobby doesn't sees dirt, Dobby smells it!"

Harry picked at the collar of the cloak and sniffed it. Maybe Dobby had a point. He wished he had thought of the bath yesterday when it had been much warmer and the cool waters would have been more of a relief. Shrugging, he followed the tunnel, feeling the rumble of water as it flowed under his feet and listening to the echoing pings and gently lapping of the water ahead in the pool.

As he neared the pool, he flicked his staff out to help him find dressing alcove that he'd recently discovered in his explorations of the cave. He summoned clean clothes from his staff put them on the ledge, then undressed under the invisibility cloak. He set the towel, soap, and comb down close to the pool so that he could reach them and eased into the cool water, the cloak swirling around him with the current of the water. The pool's floor was silty under his toes. He held his breath and crouched down so that his head was submerged, floating until he couldn't hold his breath any longer. He swam around a bit, remembering the strokes he'd learned at the Center and exploring the pool. Finally, he made his way back to where he'd left the bar of soap and lathered up, scrubbing the bubbles through his hair and trying his best to get all the dried mud off his feet and from between his toes. He also washed the invisibility cloak, which he had started to feel as if it were another layer of skin, so scrubbing it with soap was a strange sensation… like trying to hold onto water.

When he clambered out of the pool and reached for his towel, he found Nio had coiled up next to the comb. The snake startled awake, protesting being dripped upon.

"Oi, I didn't know you were there!" Harry said, gently easing his fingers under the snake and lifting him up to hang around his neck while he towelled off and dressed.

"Ouff. You're stinky! You were just starting to smell like a snake," Nio complained.

"Ha! Well, Dobby said I was smelly and that I had to bathe before going to Diagon Alley tomorrow," Harry laughed as he struggled to get a sock on without stepping in water. He hadn't been wearing socks and shoes for a month and his feet missed the contact with the earth. He whipped the sock off and revelled in the feeling of the mud squishing between his toes.

"Sod it. I'll rinse my feet off tomorrow. No one's going to see me anyway… I'll be under the cloak… and wearing trainers."

Harry relished the unique aromas of the tunnels as he walked back to rejoin Dobby for dinner, inhaling deeply and trying to commit them to memory. Though he felt separated from nearly everyone he loved down here, he also felt profoundly safe. A sudden breeze made his cloak wrap around his legs and torso for a moment, almost like an embrace.

[break]

Harry wasn't sure why he thought apparating to Diagon Alley with Dobby would be any easier than the first time when Dobby had jumped them both to the hospital wing right after the confrontation with Malfoy's father. In anticipation of moving suddenly from the dark of the caves to the sunny streets of Diagon Alley, Harry had closed his eyes tight shut. His stomach roiled and he was glad that he had nibbled on the leftover roll from last night's dinner, as Dobby recommended, before they left the sacred caves that morning. It would have been worse on an empty stomach. The cacophony of the bustling city around him was almost more than he could bear… and the feeling of being exposed, even though he knew he was hidden under his invisibility cloak. He took in deep, gulping breaths and tried to focus on the area immediately in front of him. After a second, he realized that he was steadying himself by pressing down on Dobby's bald head, and apologized profusely to the little elf.

"Dobby doesn't mind, truly," he said, tugging on Harry's cloak and pulling him around to face another direction.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, wanting to flick out his staff and swing it in a small arc around his feet, but knowing that he couldn't keep it hidden under his cloak as the cloak was tied to his ankles and wrists.

"Just where Harry Potter asked to be…outside of Gringotts Wizarding Bank," Dobby said sounding distracted. "Ah. Weazie is looking for Harry Potter but can't sees him."

"Can he see you?" Harry asked, swiveling his head around to see if he could hear Ron or the other Weasleys, but he couldn't pick out their voices in the din of the Alley. Beyond Diagon Alley, the rumble of muggle traffic roared in an undercurrent that made the earth shake beneath his feet. Moments before, he had been enveloped in the cool, quiet air of the caves, now he'd been set down in the midst of a sweltering throng. There were definitely more people here this morning than there had been on the day Hermione, Harry, and Mr. Granger had shopped for Harry's adaptation tools.

"House-elves aren't to be seen," Dobby said in a fierce squeak.

"They aren't going to be able to find me," Harry said, fiddling with the ties holding his cloak to his wrist. He was tempted to pull it off, but stopped himself, remembering the last time he took it off.

He drew in a shaky breath.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea afterall, he thought.

"I should just … order my supplies by owl this year…" Harry said quietly.

"Dobby will be right back." The familiar crack of Dobby's apparition rent the air next to Harry before he could protest.

Resisting the urge to twist away, back to the silence of the caves, Harry reached out tentatively with his hand to feel the space around him. He guessed that there was a wall nearby by the way the noises of the alley were bouncing off it. He also felt the difference in temperature as he stepped closer to it and out of the warmth of the sun. He tried opening his eyes, but found it was still too bright to tolerate. He regretted leaving Nio in the caves, even though he knew that apparating was hard on the snake… he could have done with the reassuring squeeze of his smooth scales around his neck at this moment.

He stepped closer to where he thought the wall was and felt for it with his hand, relieved when he found it. He leaned against the cool marble while he listened to all the people passing nearby—their various footsteps giving him hints as to their age and if they came from wixen or muggle households. Those from muggle households were more likely to wear the less noisy trainers that he favored… but he noted that the sharp sounding heels of wixen boots were very much like the tip of his staff and helped him understand the surroundings by the way the sounds bounced off the walls and cobblestones. He wondered if they could be comfortable… he was so used to going without shoes that his feet were already protesting being bound up in his trainers.

A flurry of squeaky, overly-excited voices of what could only be a group of first-year students interrupted his wixen-boot-reverie. They seemed to be debating which store to visit first—caldrons or wands. Then they were seemingly distracted by something… a store display? and their frenetic energy carried them into the alcove where he was hiding. He shrunk against the wall and tried to move quietly into the corner… but instead he knocked into something that made a terrible racket when he fell over it, making metal things bounce across the cobblestones.

The firsties erupted into squalls and ran away, screaming of goblin poltergeists while their parents assured them that it was just a spooked Kneazle.

"Harry, is that you?" Ron's voice reached him over the racket.

"You found me! And I was being so stealthy!" Harry said as his searching hands tried to identify what he'd knocked over. He sent something metal rolling away as his fingers brushed through a mess of feathers.

"About as stealthy as an erumpent in love. Where are you?"

Harry slumped back and then instantly regretted it as his head struck yet another metal thing… a caldron? It was too small and lightweight for a caldron.

"Ow. That hurt. I'm right here," Harry said, sticking his arm above him, waving it in the direction of Ron's voice.

Ron made about as much noise trying to find Harry amidst the bowls as Harry had falling over them, but finally, their searching hands found one another. Harry's flailing feet finally found firm earth and Ron hauled him up.

"What did I trip over?" Harry asked as he stood up.

"Oi! Just a display of quills. Oh, good. Mum's on her way. She can help us set this to rights."

"Harry Potter's been attacked!" Dobby cried out, before the crack of his apparition had faded.

"Hush. No, no, not attacked… just clumsy. I feel over the display," Harry said, sheepishly and gesturing in the direction of the mess, forgetting that no one could see him.

Dobby found him and was patting him around his knees and hips as if to assure himself that Harry was all right as he admonished himself for leaving Harry alone.

"Oh, Harry, dear? Are you hurt? Where are you?" Mrs. Weasley fussed.

"He's right here, mum!" Ron said, impatiently.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley. Just had a blind moment."

Ron snorted.

"Ron, really! And, oh, Harry! I've been so worried about you!" she lamented as she pulled him into a fierce hug. Ron was still sniggering.

"I'm all right, Mrs. Weasley," Harry assured, taking a step back and crushing a quill under his heel.

"Oh, I'd better get this restored before Mr. Ó Cuill comes out!" Mrs. Weasley said, turning away from Harry and starting to mutter charms that made a slight breeze pick up around them and the metal bowls start to clang against each other melodiously.

"Dobby has got to go, Harry Potter," the elf insisted in an urgent whisper while tugging at the invisibility cloak. "Master is coming this way."

"Master? Do you mean Malfoy?" Harry asked, alarmed, but instead of a response all he got was the shock of the elf's magic through his knees… so close was Dobby when he vanished.

Harry drew in a breath and stood up straighter. He turned toward the noises of the street.

"Did Dobby just vanish?" Ron asked in a stage whisper.

"Yep—he said that Malfoy was coming."

"Ugh. I see the git," Ron muttered and grasped Harry's arm to pull him closer to the wall.

Harry did his best not to stumble again, grabbing onto Ron's shoulder to steady himself.

"Aren't I invisible?" Harry asked.

"I just don't want to take any chances," Ron said. "The git is with his git of a dad."

Harry's stomach clenched.

Mrs. Weasley was now engaged in a conversation with the Quill shop owner, from the sound of it. Ron was hissing at her to quiet down, to no avail. Harry was thankful that Dobby was no longer here loudly stating his name… and on the other hand, wished that the elf was nearby to fling Malfoy away if he tried anything vicious again.

"… can't believe that disfigured girl is looking at Firebolts! She can't even hear! Her hands were flying around. And did you see who her dad is? A squib!"

"Yes, it is inconceivable that their kind are being admitted to Hogwarts. I agree. And that's why I've been urging you to consider Durmstrang. They at least have standards."

"…but father! A Firebolt… a Firebolt is the best broom out there… even faster than the Nimbus 2001! The house cup would be ours for sure, if we all had Firebolts!"

"I don't know why you're worrying about Quidditch… with Potter out of the game, you've nothing standing in your way," Mr. Malfoy remarked drolly.

Draco's gleeful laugh in response brought all that Harry had been dreading about returning to Hogwarts back into painful focus.

Ron's hand was still on Harry's arm and he was squeezing it painfully. Harry shook it a bit and Ron muttered a soft, "sorry, mate."

The Malfoys continued to argue about brooms as they ascended the steps to Gringotts and Ron let out a sigh of relief, while Harry was contemplating taking out his staff to take him to Gemma.

She had to be close by.

"Wait—Where are you going?" Ron asked as Harry stepped away. "You can't just take off on your own, mate. Sirius Black, remember? Also, how are we going to find you again?"

"Right. Sorry. Just… I think Gemma's nearby."

Ron groaned. "She won't be able to see you, mate. Just wait until we're back at Hogwarts… and you don't have to wear the cloak anymore. You know that the Ministry is putting us all up at the Leaky Caldron tonight and tomorrow… until we take the train back to Hogwarts, right?"

"What? But I've got to get Nio and Hedwig!" Harry started. "And I don't know. What do you mean the Ministry is putting us up?"

"That's what Dad said. They want to make sure you're safe. Black is still at large and was actually sighted in London yesterday."

"They didn't catch him yet?" Harry asked.

"Nope. Slippery fink," Ron said, heavily.

Harry heard Mrs. Weasley trying to pay the Quill shop owner for the crushed quills and started forward, then remembered that he was invisible.

He grabbed onto Ron, "You can't let your mum pay for the quills… here, give her this." Harry had dug into his pocket for the spare galleons he had and forced them into Ron's palm, then pushed him toward her voice, even as Ron protested.

"Not to worry, not to worry. I've already repaired them… no harm, no foul," the shop owner was insisting.

Mrs. Weasley thanked Mr. Ó Cuill again, then Harry heard her hard-soled boots approaching them.

"Come along, dears," she said. Ron started walking away from Harry and this time Harry let out a yelp, thinking he was being left behind again.

"Whoops! Sorry, mate. Where are you?" Ron asked.

"Right here," Harry said.

Ron groped around for Harry's hand and then shoved the coins back into it. Harry put them in his pocket and then followed Ron's hand up to his elbow and dropped behind Ron as they walked down the street. He wished he could hold his staff in his other hand, using it under his cloak to make sure that Ron didn't run him into anything.

"You remember how to do this, right?" Harry asked.

"No light posts or rubbish bins in Diagon Alley!" Ron said triumphantly.

Harry groaned, and rubbed his elbow which was still sore from tripping over the quill display.

"Where's everyone else?" Harry asked.

"At Flourish and Blotts. We'll meet them there," Ron said as he maneuvered Harry to walk in the gap between his mom and himself, though a little behind them. Harry found a loose bit of fabric from Mrs. Weasley's outfit to hang onto so that he didn't bump into her too much. They were emerging from the alcove created by the stairs to Gringotts and into the bustle of wixen in the street.

A heady aroma enveloped them and Harry coughed.

"What's that?" he asked.

"What's what?" Ron responded in a loud whisper.

"That smell. It's powerful—like tomatoes," Harry said.

"Oh, we're passing the florist—she's put out bouquets of aconite! Careful, Ron, don't touch them. Deadly poison," Mrs. Weasley explained. "Why in Morgana's good graces would Sovann put out bouquets of aconite when the streets are this packed!? Sometimes I think that witch is…" she stopped midsentence as they slowed to a stop.

"Ah, yes, this way, boys!" Mrs. Weasley announced and started forward again. Just in time, Harry realized that they had reached the end of the pavement and there must be a kerb. He pulled back on Ron's arm and felt forward with his toe to find the step, wishing for his staff to give him a hint as to how deep it was. As it was, he just had to put his other foot out there and free fall for a moment until he was jarred by the contact with the street.

On the other side of the street, Mrs. Weasley's fabric between his fingers moved up when she stepped up onto the pavement and Harry stuck his toe out again to find the kerb.

"Hey, Ron. Can you warn me about steps up or down?" Harry asked, as they were buffeted on all sides by hordes of people.

"Oh, right. Sorry, mate," Ron apologized. "We're here, and going through the door. No steps."

"All right, Harry," Mrs. Weasley addressed them once they were inside and had moved out of the entrance down an aisle of shelves (Ron was crowded in next to Harry and Mrs. Weasley was leading the way). "Let's see your list of required textbooks. Oh. My."

"What is it?" Harry asked, mid-summoning the list from his staff that Hedwig had delivered earlier in the summer.

"How are you going to read them?" she sounded alarmed.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley. I've got a few ways to read… my anagnóstis is the best way—reads text to me—and I'm also learning braille… though I don't suppose any of my textbooks are printed in braille," Harry mused.

"Oh, well, that's a relief," Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"Really, mum," Ron complained.

Harry held his list out from underneath the invisibility cloak and Mrs. Weasley and Ron read through it.

"Oi, I thought Professor McGonagall said you were taking Divination with me!" Ron protested.

"I changed my schedule this summer… its too visual. And I met the Divination professor," Harry let his tone convey what he thought of Professor Trewlaney.

"So, Ancient Runes with Hermione? Really?" Ron said heavily.

"We'll still be in loads of other classes together," Harry nudged Ron's shoulder.

"Who are you talking to, Ron?" Seamus asked, from the other side of the bookshelf.

"Er. Myself, just talking to myself," Ron said awkwardly, straightening quickly and taking a step away from Harry. "Just trying to figure out what books I need."

"It sounded like Harry was there… You haven't seen him, have you? Is he going to be at Hogwarts?" Seamus asked. "Is he really blind?"

Harry swallowed a protesting yelp and held his lips tight together to prevent anything else from escaping them.

"Really, Seamus?" Ron asked. "Of course, he's going to be at Hogwarts. As if."

"I found the Potions textbooks you both need," Mrs. Weasley said as she came back down the aisle toward them. "Ron, did you get Harry's Ancient Runes textbook?"

"Aha! I thought Harry was with you!" Seamus hooted with delight.

"Shush! Seamus!" Ron admonished.

"Mum, mum!" Ginny came running toward them. "That Auror is looking for you. She said it was urgent!"