"Do you think that maybe we should just ditch our plan?"
"I suppose we could, 'Mione, but there'd still be Horcruxes that need axing." Said Harry, putting down his snitch.
Hermione said nothing, but she conceded Harry's point by looking resignedly back down at her hands. She was restless, and in need of an idea.
"Why do you play with the snitch he gave you so much?"
"I dunno. I guess I just feel like it has something to tell me."
Scooting closer, Hermione said "Yeah, I reckon it does." She stuck her index finger out and brushed it across the little engravings on its glimmery surface. "It's so pretty. I never noticed before."
"Mhmm." Said Harry, who was always inclined to agree with Hermione.
The two of them were sat together on the canvas floor of their tent, at half-past eleven at night. They were tired and defeated, having returned from the cave with nothing but disappointment and a hop back to square one. The fire was crackling away on the easternmost facing wall, and the tent was filled with a warm, orange glow that shone on the grey, stone pillars that held up the kitchen roof.
Hermione looked into Harry's eyes, searching for something to bring her closer to an answer. Harry only smiled.
"Perhaps we're overthinking it." He said.
He did always know just the right thing to say.
Hermione's eyes widened, and she sat up so quickly that she knocked the snitch straight out of Harry's hands.
"'Mione!"
"I've got it!" She exclaimed. "I've got it, I've got it, I've got it! Oh, Harry when I tell you you're not going to believe it!" She practically vibrated with excitement.
"Well, get on with it, then!" He said.
"House-elves!"
"What."
"House. Elves."
"House-el—oh. Oh. Oh no, no Hermione it'll never work." Harry protested, shaking his head, and diving under the bunk bed to retrieve the snitch from where it had fallen. "You're absolutely mad, and this time, I mean it."
"Come on, it's perfect! You-know-who doesn't care about them, he wouldn't even suspect that they'd go anywhere near his Horcruxes! Aside from that whole mess with Regulus Arcturus, he's never even taken them into mind. He'll assume they're useless because they're not wizards, and that'll lead him to assume that they won't pose a threat."
"But I thought Dobby was a rare sort. Isn't that true? They'll not want to be involved."
"But Harry, don't you see? Of course they will!" Said Hermione, and then, like she was sharing a secret, she said, "They'll do it because we asked them to."
"Of course." Said Harry, who had abandoned his hunt for the snitch, and was now bouncing on the balls of his feet. "We're Hogwarts students, the elves will do what we need them to."
"Exactly." Said Hermione. "It will be dangerous for them, but I've thought of that, you see."
"Oh?"
"Yes, I have. It's more dangerous for them in Voldemort's world than it will be in ours. And some things must be done." She said, lowering her tone. She looked just slightly sad, and pensive, but she had a determined sort of set to her mouth.
Hermione looked up at Harry seriously again, and said "Will you call him?"
And Harry said "Dobby!"
OoOoO