A/N: Thanks to stella8h8chang for the beta-read and for helping with some of the more awkward parts of sentences and all that. You really do rock in so many ways. And the idea of calling Hufflepuffs "'Puffs" came from my buddy respitechristopher, from his lovely next-gen The Mercury Chronicles stories. Go. Read. Now. (er . . . after you've finished reading my chapter!)
I own nothing. A little bad language here and there. If you haven't read it yet, please check out my Living in Hell series, updated today as well. It focuses on Dumbledore's Army, and each piece is inspired by a song (they aren't songfics, strictly speaking). There are many thematic and characterization similarities between LiH and this work. Thanks.
Chapter 23: Potterwatch and Plans
(Snape has part of a letter written by a "Lily".)
(Why would he have only a piece of torn parchment and not the whole thing?)
(And who is this Lily and what does she have to do with Snape? Were they close? How close were they?)
"Dammit!"
"Seamus," Neville said warningly. "Get focused, mate. We're supposed to be practicing."
Seamus' shouting and Neville's reprimand startled Daphne out of her reveries about the scrap of parchment she had found in Snape's office. She stuffed the parchment on which she had written the words she saw on the letter into her book bag and locked the latches.
"Well, that bastard Snape's done it this time!" Seamus fumed to anyone in the Room of Requirement that would listen to his rants.
Ginny rolled her eyes, while continuing to tune the wireless and muttering several different passwords. "Well, just remember, you did actually make the team, Shay."
Seamus sighed. "Doesn't do me a whole lot of good when that feckin' barse bans the whole season!" Lavender Brown cooed at him, trying to soothe his temper.
"Shay . . . why don't you channel some of that Quidditch frustration toward, oh . . . I don't know . . . practicing defense. So you can say you got a decent amount of spell work in today and then you can Duplicate more of the parchments from the library after Potterwatch ends."
Seamus grumbled in response to Lavender's suggestion, but jogged back out into the center of the room to join Neville and his group.
The D.A. was once again meeting in the Room of Requirement. Ginny had received notice, through a carefully worded letter from Fred and George, that they anticipated their next episode of Potterwatch to be transmitted this evening. Neville asked Daphne and several others to use this time to start work on Duplicating the research from the Hogwarts' library's parchment archive. And a small group were with Neville and Seamus, starting on dueling exercises and protective charms. After Potterwatch finished, the groups would switch duties.
Daphne picked up another sheet, about to charm it, when someone tapped her on her shoulder.
"These were a really good idea."
It was Hannah Abbott. Hannah had gone for her water, taking a quick break from the defensive exercises, as were Ernie Macmillan and Blaise Zabini.
"Er . . . uh, thanks . . . wait, what was a good idea."
Hannah wiped her brow. "The Sedition Act. Daphne, you had all the Badgers laughing but they still listened to us talk about all the stuff with the Blood Researchers, the Sanguigeneticists." She gave Daphne a really bright smile. "They wanted to read more and more, because they were laughing, but they were also learning too. We've started calling You-Know-Who Lord Dung-bomb and Lord Rottencrotch! Making his name a joke seemed to have lessened their fears about him."
"Oh, well, that's what I was going for when I wrote the thing out," she mumbled with a humble shrug. "Something I learned from working with Fred and George this summer." She gave Ginny a wink.
Hannah sighed. "That's something that Professor Lupin taught us, with Boggarts and Riddikulus." She got a very "Luna-esque" expression on her face. "To laugh in the face of our worst fears."
"You and Lupin," Susan Bones rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I will say," she sat up straight and bit her lip, looking like she very much didn't want to laugh, "it may not be my sense of humor. But I can't deny that it feels good to call him those names!"
Daphne grinned in response.
"We should consider making twice as many of the pamphlets then, Daphne."
To her shock, it was Anthony Goldstein, sitting across from her, who had made the suggestion.
"Anthony? A-are . . . uh, you serious?"
He nodded. "I think that the students really seem to be receptive to what you've written," he let himself briefly chortle — once — and he promptly fell back into a more serious demeanor, "or at least how you've chosen to write it."
"Thanks for that ringing endorsement Goldstein."
Anthony stared at her. "I'm doing my best, Daphne."
"Bollocks!" Seamus smacked his hand on the table. All eyes turned towards him. "It just sucks, y'know?" The Irish lad fell back in his chair. "We've got all this shit fallin' apart all around us, and they take away Quidditch, the one thing that could've made us feel like we're normal students. Goin' to a normal school!"
"Well, if that normal school's all magical, then yeah. I agree with you there." Michael nodded from the middle of the room.
Seamus just looked at them and sighed. "I just wanted somethin' to take m' mind off of everything."
Hannah Abbott looked over at him, her jaw tightening. "I understand." She fiddled with her quill. "Doesn't ever feel like we're gonna ever get out of this, does it?"
He shook his head. "Feels like we're stuck. Like muddy sows, rollin' around in a whole buncha dirt and shite."
"I felt the same too," Hannah responded, but quieter this time, "during last year. When I lost my mum."
Neville Longbottom looked over towards the blonde Hufflepuff. "At least you had friends who helped you out, right? Wrote you letters every once in a while . . . letting you know they were here for you?"
Daphne and Ginny both noticed Neville blushing. Their heads ping-ponged back to Hannah, who was smiling a little bit, but whose face was quite red as well.
They both appeared to know something that they weren't telling anyone else.
Daphne noticed Blaise Zabini taking a break from the dueling exercises as well; he took his break, having a very intense conversation with Ernie Macmillan.
"—You haven't seen . . . what was his name?"
"Edward. Edward Macmillan."
Blaise allowed a very small smile to emerge on his face. "Edward's a good name." He looked at Ernie. "You haven't seen Edward in two years?"
The Hufflepuff shook his head. "He's been forbidden to ever step foot in our house, or speak to me, lest they think he'll corrupt me with — oh, what did Mum and Dad say? — 'his perversion and deviancy' . . . just because he wanted to marry another wizard." Ernie snorted contemptuously. Daphne watched as Ernie's face shifted and he struggled with something. "He's my brother, you know? I miss him a lot."
Blaise nodded at the Hufflepuff, making no other gesture or comment.
In the middle of the room, a small commotion was brewing.
"Terry! Dammit," Parvati huffed. "You're pissing me off!"
They all looked over towards the center of the room. Although a few of the dueling group were taking a break from spell work, Terry, Parvati, Michael and Luna were still going at it, practicing dueling spells.
However, the dueling exercises wasn't as productive as they could've been. Terry had decided to focus all of his spell work on Parvati, making sure to hit her with Rictusempra an ungodly number of times. Terry was greatly amused by it, while Parvati was seething . . . after she got over her laughing fit from being ingraciously tickled.
It was making her spell work quite shoddy.
"Oh, come on, Patil! Gryffindor up, girl!" Terry laughed and put his hands on his hips.
Ginny chuckled and winced. She muttered, "Oh no!" as Parvati narrowed her eyes, gritted her teeth and flicked her wand.
"Lubricatus!"
The floor underneath Terry's feet suddenly became shiny.
"Wh-whoa – whoa – who-oooa-aaa!" His feet flew out from under him, and Terry did half-a-back flip, landing smack dab on his buttocks.
"Hah! I win, Terry!" Parvati leaned over to him to gloat and she did a little dance to celebrate her victory. "Ha ha — WHOA!"
It was a mistake of her Gryffindor bravado, because Terry had grasped her around her waist and she slid right onto the spell-slickened spot. Parvati's feet flew up into the air, and she landed directly on his chest.
"Terry Boot!" she puffed out. "You . . . you . . ."
"So much pride," Terry laughed. "So little balance!"
Ginny yelped. "Shut it! Shut it! I've got Potterwatch!" She swirled her hands about, beckoning everyone to gather around the wireless.
"Ginny, what was the password?" Daphne asked, immediately dropping her quill.
Ginny looked up. "It was 'Sirius'." And she gave Daphne a smile and a wink, which the Slytherin girl returned.
The others were filling in just behind them. Parvati kept having to shove Terry Boot, who was using his body to block her from the table.
"Oh Godric! Terry . . . come on! Let me through."
"Sorry. Can't hear you." Terry bent over. "You're too short. My ears can't reach that low."
Parvati made a sound like a tea kettle reaching its boiling point. "I'll Enlarge your ears so you'll be able to hear me yelling at you! All the time. Twenty-four bloody seven!"
Terry just smirked at her. "I've got something you can Enlarge—"
"Quiet! The both of you," Ginny whispered harshly.
Padma just stared at her twin sister and her fellow Ravenclaw. "Children!" she huffed.
Everyone, finally, turned their full attentions to the wireless.
" . . . And so, to our loyal, and, hopefully safe, listeners, allow me to re-introduce myself. My name, for the purposes of this broadcast, is River. For our female listeners, I am also quite the swarthy fellow, muscular, and, presently, single."
Ginny and Daphne chortled and shook their heads.
"What an idiot!" Ginny said.
"Who is that, Ginny?" Susan Bones asked.
"It's Lee Jordan."
The members of Dumbledore's Army laughed and clapped and cheered. So loud were they that Ginny had to shush them, gesturing for them to be quiet with her hands.
"Actually," came an all-too familiar voice over the wireless, "River is stringy, rather goblin-sized, and a bit smelly too . . . mate, did you shower today?"
"It's Fred . . . er, I think," Ginny said, her excitement giving way to a wee bit of confusion.
"Shut it, Rodent!"
Fred groaned audibly. "We're gonna have a little talk about that name later. So, let's introduce our lovely, but somewhat less-attractive staff of contributors. We have Romulus—"
"Hello to all of our listeners."
"Oh my gosh! Professor Lupin!" Hannah exclaimed.
"How can you tell?" Susan Bones asked her.
"Sue, you know he's my favorite professor! I'd know his voice anywhere." Hannah swatted at her friend. "I had such a crush on him. So dreamy!" Hannah said in a faraway manner. Neville choked on his water.
"And, also with us tonight is Royal."
Out came Kingsley Shacklebolt's booming voice. "Once again, I wish a big hello and best wishes for the safety of all Muggle-borns out there."
"Ginny . . . is that—?"
Ginny nodded. "That's gotta be Shacklebolt." Daphne nodded and gave a "thumbs up".
"We also have with us, Roar."
"Hello, and I want to make sure to tell all my loved ones everywhere, whether they be on the European mainland, in Britain, or in Scottish castles, that we're safe and we love all of them."
Daphne grasped Ginny's hand. "That's Bill! Ginny . . . it's Bill."
Ginny pressed her fingers to her mouth, trying to stop herself from crying.
"And last, and, well . . . actually, the least, we have Radish."
There was another groan. "Well, at least it's not Rodent!"
"Wait, was that George?" Ginny took hold of the wireless. Daphne leaned in. So did about five other DA members all standing just behind them.
"I prefer Rodent to a root vegetable!" Fred said.
"Y'know what, why don't you take your rodent, and shove—"
"Okay!" Lee's voice interrupted, "we should get started. So, now we begin with a quick update, starting the show as we do every time we broadcast Potterwatch, with news of the war."
All movement in the room seemed to stop.
"W-what do they start with first? The casualties?"
Ginny nodded solemnly at Susan's question. "Unfortunately, they do."
Susan gave a sniffle; Ernie approached her side and wrapped and arm around her shoulder. Everyone held their breaths, knowing, and expecting it to come—
"Since our last broadcast, there are several updates regarding the refugee status of several at-large witches and wizards. First, we can confirm that Jonathan and Sarah Corner—"
"Oh Godric . . ." whispered Michael, who paled and swooned. Daphne stood and put her arms around him and Terry and Anthony came over and placed hands on his shoulders.
"—have been found safe and sound and have been transported to one of our safe-houses. As have Richard and Dorothy Boot. And they want to send their love to their sons and that they hope they're staying safe."
"Oh-hhh damn . . . damndamndamn." Terry reached around Michael and the wizards gave themselves a relieved one-armed hug. Anthony and Daphne led the whole room in thankful claps and whoops, everyone — including the usually taciturn Blaise Zabini — joining in.
"I wasn't expecting to hear about them." Michael wiped his face and shook his head trying to regain his composure. Terry did the same.
The cheering masked the other names being read off the wireless of the other refugees who had been transported to safer locations. Once the din died down, the students turned back to the contraption.
"In other news . . ."
Lee's voice cut through the air. "We now continue our series, called Muggle-borns and the Ministry of Magic — LIES! For new listeners, in this segment, we literally Avada Kedavra, we take a Bludgeoning Hex, we smite, destroy and annihilate the theories that Muggle-borns do not — I repeat DO NOT — steal magic, wands, or anything else.
"As always, we must credit this research to the Healers, the Magical Researchers, and the Sanguigeneticists that did the experiments to prove whatever current theories the Ministry's putting out there today are one-hundred and ninety-nine percent—"
"Troll bollocks, right? That's what you were going to say, right River?"
"I was going to be a bit more eloquent, Rodent, but yes, that gets the sentiments across." Lee sighed. "And we must also give credit to the person who compiled all this information for us. It's through their hard work and efforts that this information was even made known to us in the first place."
"Yeah, Daphne!" Ginny hollered.
"Whoo-hoo!" Michael smacked his hands on the table and whistled, and the rest of the room cheered for her as well. Daphne stood up just a bit from her seat, with a smug smile, and bowed before her adoring audience. Blaise merely sat back and rolled his eyes at her, but a small grin peeked through his face.
"And so," Lee said, his voice building up and growing louder, "to this person, whom we hope is listening . . . we say—"
"THANK YOU!" Lee, George and Fred all shouted in unison, "TO LITTLE ROTTEN EGG!"
Daphne's face disintegrated from smugness to absolute, horrified shock . . . and then to anger.
(Those . . . THOSE . . .)
The rest of the DA simply watched her, stifling their laughter, more than half of them shoving their fists into their mouths, so as not to taunt the now enraged Slytherin.
It was Blaise who broke the silence. He simply couldn't hold it back any longer.
"Bwah-ha-ha! Haaaah! HAH-HAAAA!"
Daphne stared daggers at him.
"Et tu, Zabini?" she spat out with gritted teeth.
"I'm sending those blokes Christmas cards this year!" Blaise wiped his teary eyes. "Oh, Daphne, come off it. They've endeared you to our society. You're famous now!"
"They're calling me Rotten Egg!"
Ginny shrugged, and though she tried to remain nonchalant, Daphne could see the hysterics so desperate to explode from her. "They c-could've gone with R-rectum!"
She then promptly lost it.
Daphne smacked her forehead as the rest of the room, including Michael (bloody traitor!) Corner, dissolved into fits of riotous laughter.
When he went for an embrace, just a few minutes later, in order to apologize, Daphne allowed him to embrace her, but she did not put her own arms around him.
Instead, she kept her arms crossed, going stiff and hard every time Michael tried to pry them open.
"I'm protesting your participation in insulting me," she pouted. He could only chuckle.
"Whatever you say, my little Rotten Egg!"
She hated the Dark Arts classes.
She despised Amycus Carrow.
Every single day that he wasn't dead already was one more day that sucked.
Ginny dragged her bag up the staircase to her dormitory, hoping desperately the blood on her other arm wasn't dripping on the steps.
It was the right side of her body that hurt at the moment. She had made the . . .
(What was it that Carrow called it?)
(Oh, that's right! An "ignorant and unfortunate lapse in judgment" . . . )
. . .'mistake' in refusing to hex Cosima Ramsay, her friend and dorm-mate. Carrow had chosen Cosi specially for the demonstration of the semi-Unforgivable Bone Shattering Curses because her father was a Muggle.
And Carrow hated witches and wizards who had Muggle blood in them.
"Oh, don't worry, Miss Weasley," he had hissed coldly, "you can fix whatever you break inside of her after class."
Ginny had narrowed her eyes at him. "I won't be breaking anything!"
Cosi, as well as the other Gryffindors, had watched and screamed in horror as Carrow then sliced Ginny's wand arm open, using Sectumsempra. When he finished, he told Slytherin's fifth year prefect, Adney Harper, to escort Ginny straight to her common room entrance — "to make sure she not bother the Hospital Wing with punishments."
"Take her away, Harper. Mind," Carrow had sneered, "the floor with your blood, little traitor bitch!"
Harper was clearly on Carrow's side; he had aimed his wand at Ginny and kept taunting her about her wounds in a despicable mocking tone.
Ginny would've sent him the worst Bogey Hex she could've mustered . . . but her wand arm hurt so much, and she didn't want to risk losing anymore blood.
She had and entered the portrait hole and found that the common room was empty. She had made a quick trip to the girl's bathroom, and staunched as much of the wound as she could. And then she made her way up her stairs, trudging along as if in syrupy thick treacle.
"Eyyurgh!" Ginny grunted as she heaved her book bag to the foot of her bed, and continued to press her wand arm close to her body. She bit her lip, the pain stinging her and causing her eyes to water as if she were crying.
(Don't give in!)
(Cry, and that bastard wins!)
Ginny sat, taking in deliberate, big breaths through her nose, and she shut her eyes to work through the pain.
(Oh Godric! I wish my mum were here.)
She could hear footsteps stampeding up the dormitory steps.
The door burst wide open—
"Ginny!" Cosima Ramsay flew over to her. She knelt in front of Ginny and tried to look at the damage. Just behind her stood Susanne Lasenby and Ursula Beckham, two of Ginny's other dorm-mates. They were wringing their hands and looked fearfully upon Ginny's face.
"W-we . . . I'm so . . . Ginny—"
"Don't . . ." she sucked in a breath, "apologize, Cosi. It's fine, all right?"
"Ginny," Ursula spoke up, "we went straight to McGonagall after class. Told her what had happened, and she's sending Pomfrey here. She should be here—"
"Right now, as a matter of fact!"
The girls all stood away as Madam Promfrey pushed herself roughly towards Ginny.
"Spell?"
"Sectumsempra." It was all Ginny could manage.
"That all?" Pomfrey had taken out her wand and started the incantation for the Quick Blood-Clotting Spell. With her other hand, she prepped cloths to keep the wound closed and clean.
Ginny nodded weakly, feeling her head swoon.
"You couldn't get to my office?" Pomfrey was blunt and direct with her tone; it wasn't accusatory as much as it was asking for information.
"N-no, I c- . . . coul-llldnot."
Ginny watched as Pomfrey started applying blood-replenishing solutions, her nostrils flaring. And as she stared at the older woman, Ginny thought that she looked far more frazzled, excessively more tired and shaken than ever before.
Of course, there were now two of her, and both Pomfreys seemed doubly tired . . .
"School year's barely started and it feels like students' injuries have jumped up almost one-hundred and fifty percent. And ninety percent of those are due to the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies classes!" Pomfrey looked at Ginny with total shock and disbelief. "I mean, Muggle Studies? That should be the least harmful class to anyone's health!"
Ginny was shocked; however, she figured all her face was showing was delirium from quite a bit of blood loss.
"The solution's effect will be instantaneous," Madam Pomfrey explained, "however, you won't really feel it for another half-hour."
Ginny nodded and felt herself getting drowsier and drowsier.
"It's important that you do not sleep while the solution's working; if anything goes wrong and you're not conscious, you will suffer for it!" She pushed the stopper back on the bottle and slapped Ginny a couple of times to keep her awake.
"Now, will you three girls be able to stay here with Miss Weasley while the solution takes effect?"
Cosi and Susanne nodded. "I don't think either of us has classes today until after lunch," Susanne said.
Ursula checked her watch. "I've got advanced Herbology next." She looked over at Ginny. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
Ginny loopily shook her head; it came out more like spinning circles.
"Miss Beckham," Pomfrey turned to her, "Professor Sprout has several plants that can speed up the healing process. The Velieris Blossom, do you know what that is?"
"Yes. It's the active ingredient in Skin Regrowing Solutions!"
Pomfrey nodded brusquely. "Sprout should have several that are blooming right now. Miss Weasley could do with three of them. Ask Professor Sprout to dry up one blossom, mash it with hot water at the beginning of class to allow it to steep, and bring the mixture up here after you're dismissed. One of you make sure she puts it on her arm, directly on the wound. Miss Weasley should have one blossom every twelve hours over the next couple of days. Help that skin grow back quicker!"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Very good." Pomfrey gathered her solutions with a quick Accio and rechecked the wrappings around Ginny's arm.
She turned back to Ginny, who sat, upper body swirling to and fro.
"Miss Ramsay, Miss Lasenby, sit next to her on either side, and brace her so she doesn't fall over. She will start to feel the effects in twenty minutes." Pomfrey walked quickly toward the door. "The best thing to do would be to keep her talking, any subject, any matter . . . anything! Keep her brain going, you two. It's going to get worse before it gets better!" The school matron snapped her fingers. "Come, Miss Beckham. Get to your class sooner rather than later!"
Ursula jumped up and quickly grabbed her book bag.
"I'll be back," she said softly to the three girls. Susanne and Cosi simply waved at her and sat down next to Ginny. Ginny could feel them pressing against her, holding her by her arms, Cosi making sure that she wasn't touching the injury.
"C-cos-si?" she slurred.
"Y-yes, Gin?"
"I l-lurv-vve yer diary . . . write . . . initall . . . the . . . time."
"Whoa!" Susanne grabbed her as Ginny almost fell over straight into Cosi's lap. "Easy there, tiger. Er, Ginny, are . . . um . . . what's going on with the older Gryffindors? Any updates? Like when to expect the next edition of that newsletter?"
"Ay . . . er- . . . din'tya know abou'it?"
Cosi laughed, but even though she was next to Ginny's head, it sounded like it came from far away.
"Well, no, but . . . we've sort of been meaning to ask you, both Susanne and I, and I think we can speak for Ursula too, that if there's anything we can help with, we'd want to do it."
Ginny grinned like she had just drunk an entire bottle of firewhiskey in the last half-hour. She reached with her good arm and gave Cosi two pats on her cheek.
"Wh-hhee jus' meet on seventh flll-ooar-rr . . ."
Cosi and Susanne looked at each other, frowning. "Where, though?" Cosi said, shrugging.
"Evur . . . heard . . . ofroomofreequierrrrrmut . . ."
"Huh?" Susanne was confused.
"Yah know," Ginny gazed as her, completely loopy. "Room . . .er . . . Requirrr-munt. Yah . . . not heard 'bout it." And she smiled and smacked her lips slowly, as if her mouth was made out of cotton.
"Room of Requirement. Okay, but," Cosi said. "What's that all about?"
Ginny slapped at her leg with her good hand. "Oh, Cosi! It's the room we used in fourth year-rrrrr!" She again smacked her lips and ran her hand through her hair. "Dobby showed it to Harry and H-Harry sh-hhowed us . . ."
"Who's Dobby?"
Ginny shoved at Cosi, albeit very weakly. "Y'know . . . house-elf . . . effin' Dobby!"
Suddenly, a loud CRACK, like someone Apparating, reverberated inside the dormitory room. Cosi and Susanne nearly fell back onto Ginny's bed in shocked surprise.
"Whoa! WHOA!" Ginny lamely flailed her legs to try to stop her fall. Instinctively, she threw her injured wand arm out, trying to catch herself—
And she stopped in mid-air.
"Wha—?"
Ginny looked up, and she saw two identical-looking house-elves standing in front of her, their skinny little arms extended in front of them.
"Dobby is not letting Miss Wheezy fall! Dobby is wanting Miss Wheezy to not hurt herself, because Dobby looks out for the great Harry Potter's friends!"
"D-Dob- . . . Dobby?"
The dual Dobbys nodded in sync. "Miss Wheezy did call for Dobby? Dobby never messes up when the great Harry Potter's friends needs help!"
Ginny shook her head quickly and ferociously. She was still hovering in mid air, but she touched her head with her good hand. Looking back in front of her, Ginny now only saw one Dobby. The solution, apparently, had kicked in, or, at least, she was just now feeling the effects of it. Her head was finally clear.
"Dobby!" Ginny exclaimed with a smile.
Dobby grinned. "Dobby is most happy that Miss Wheezy is doing well!" Dobby turned his tennis-ball sized eyes to Susanne and Cosi. "Are these friends of Miss Wheezy's?"
Ginny turned her head — and realized that she was still in mid-air. "Er . . . Dobby, could you put me back onto my bed?"
"Oh yes, Miss Wheezy! Dobby would be happy to do so!" And, with a grin, Dobby flexed his hand, and Ginny felt her body float back up. Her bottom touched the plush mattress of her bed.
Turning her head left and right, Ginny held back a snicker as she saw Cosi and Susanne staring at Dobby, gobsmacked expressions plastered on their faces.
"Um . . . Dobby, these are my friends, Cosi and Susanne," Ginny said, giving the girls a proper introduction. She had to stifle a giggle as they just sat on the edge of her bed, gaping at the new visitor.
Dobby was quite a sight, now that Ginny had hers back and could focus on his appearance. He was wearing a tea cozy covered in badges, under which were a couple of knitted hats that Ginny noticed, with a pang, had been the ones Hermione knitted for the house-elves during her fourth year.
And, with a greater thud in her chest, Ginny — once again — felt tears welling up in her eyes as she noticed an oversized Weasley jumper covering him, practically drowning him in its massive size.
And, of course, as always, socks . . . so very many, many socks covered his small and skinny feet.
"Did Dobby do something to make Miss Wheezy sad?"
Ginny shook her head rapidly. "N-no, Dobby." She sniffled. "How are you doing?"
Dobby got an unusually dark look on his elvish face. "Things are not good, Miss Wheezy. Not good at all! Dobby is very concerned about the headmaster of the school." Dobby swooned a bit, but regained his composure. "Oh! That is the first time Dobby has said anything bad about the Headmaster, and Dobby is not needing to hit his head!"
"Of course not. You're a free house-elf!" Ginny exclaimed. "You should speak your mind."
"Well then, Dobby thinks the Headmaster's evil and a bad man! Dobby does not like the Carrows either!" It was the first time Ginny had ever seen Dobby look angry. "Dobby thinks they are bad and evil men and they do bad and evil things to the students!" At that moment, Dobby noticed the bandages on Ginny's arm. "Miss Wheezy! Y- . . . your arm is hurt?"
Ginny held up her wand arm, and nodded.
Dobby grew even angrier, more furious. So much so that Ginny felt herself quell at the little elf's expression. "Who?! Who caused pain to the great Harry Potter's friend?"
Ginny sighed. "It was Amycus Carrow."
Dobby hissed — actually hissed — catching Ginny off-guard. "Does Miss Wheezy want Dobby to do something about him?"
"No! Er . . . no, Dobby. I don't want getting more people involv—" Ginny stopped, and pulled at her lip, deep in thought.
"Um, Ginny?" Cosi said, after a couple of moments. "You all right?"
Ginny shook her head rapidly. "Dobby, do you have a lot of freedom to move about the castle?"
The house-elf's huge eyes popped out and he looked at Ginny with the happiest expression. "Dobby is a free elf! The great Harry Potter, the most wonderful and kindest wizard that Dobby as ever known, freed Dobby with socks!" He stuck out a sock-covered leg. "Socks have been Dobby's most favorite thing ever since! Because Dobby is a free elf and was getting paid for his services here at Hogwarts by Dumbledore—"
"Wait a minute!" Ginny looked at Dobby with a furious and disbelieving expression. "Snape's not paying you?"
"Oh no! Snape is not paying Dobby, Miss! But the great Professor McGonagall is giving Dobby socks and paying for work. We is not telling the evil Headmaster, Miss."
Ginny ran her fingers across her lips. "Your secret is safe with us, right?" She turned towards Cosi and Susanne, who both vigorously nodded in agreement.
"Since Dobby is a free elf, Dobby has vowed to aid the great Harry Potter and all of Harry Potter's friends! Is Miss Wheezy needing Dobby's help?"
Ginny nodded, and knelt on the floor in front of him. "It's nothing specific, okay? But I just want to know, generally speaking, can you move around the castle? Would you be able to help people that are injured, and stay out of the way of the Carrows and Snape? Could you bring them to the Hospital Wing if necessary, or bring Madam Pomfrey to them?"
Dobby nodded vigorously; his many hats bobbed right along with his head. "Yes, Miss Wheezy! Oh, Dobby will do that!"
She then remembered something that had been brought up in their last meeting of Dumbledore's Army, almost as a passing joke, once the latest episode of Potterwatch had wrapped up. "Could you be a lookout for us, too? If, oh, say somebody who supported Harry put something on a wall that said 'Long Live Harry Potter!' or "Support Harry Potter!'? Or wanted to do other things supporting Harry, but didn't want to draw attention to themselves?"
He just stared at her, his great big eyes watering, and he trembled with near-reverent emotion. "Dobby will do anything to aid Harry Potter and all of Harry Potter's friends!"
"Dobby, the next time I call for you, you'll come, right?"
He nodded vigorously.
"And will you come if Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Daphne Greengrass call for you?"
"Dobby will come for any of the great Harry Potter's friends! Dobby loves them as much as Harry Potter himself!"
Ginny smiled, and she continued to smile, as she walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer.
Walking back over to the little house-elf, Ginny once again dropped to her knees in front of him, wincing as a small shot of pain coursed through her. She held out her hand.
In them was a pair of hand-knitted red-and-yellow striped socks.
"Dobby, let me give these to you. My mum made them, and . . ." she smiled through tears that were increasing the more she looked at what Dobby was wearing, "they'll go with your jumper."
He promptly burst into tears and hugged Ginny violently around her waist.
"Miss Wheezy! So kind to Dobby! So pretty and sweet and smart and loyal!"
"Er . . . yeah, Dobby," she said, patting him on the back and smiling at the little fellow the entire time.
