Chapter Thirty-Two

Christmas Lilies

They didn't come close to making it through the night. Aurora had cleaned out the attic – somehow, Harry guessed she borrowed a Hogwarts elf to do it – so Harry's stuff had ended up in the sprawling, dimly lit wooden attic. It was a gorgeous space. With a few extra lamps, some lounging chairs and small rugs, it would be a really great hang out place. Harry resolved to pick up some of that furniture from Diagon Alley the following day. But he still felt uneasy, picturing Paradise sleeping alone. He knew she'd been having nightmares. He knew most of Hogwarts had been having nightmares!

Sure enough, not an hour after she first went to bed, Paradise started screaming. Harry was still up reading. He went to go check on her, but Aurora did it instead. Maybe she'd actually be around to help Paradise make it through the night… Harry headed to the attic, leaving the HG Wells book behind. And he couldn't fall asleep. Paradise calmed down a few minutes later, but still, Harry couldn't sleep. He tried reading again; Hermione always suggested it. He had a couple of benefactor journals, but those were hard to focus on, because everyone had awful script. Neville feel asleep reciting facts about plants. Harry tried that with various spells he'd learned, but it didn't help. Sarah had never had problems sleeping; Harry envied her. It just wasn't working! He got up and ran through a few of the stances that the golems had taught him for his pre-sword fighting lessons. That didn't help relax him at all. And he couldn't stay focused long enough for the meditation exercises to work.

His hand itched. He couldn't fathom why Flint and Malfoy had tried to kidnap him. Did they honestly think they'd get away with it? Did they honestly think they could turn him over to Black and no one would find out? Harry sighed. He wanted someone to talk with, but Paradise needed sleep and Aurora probably wouldn't have anything to say. So… long shot. "Sal?"

The elf popped into the attic, almost instantaneously. "Student Harry called? What does Student Harry need?"

Harry propped his hands beneath his chin. "A lesson?"

"Here?" Sal said, looking around the dark attic. "Here?"

"I need something to do!"

Sal coughed. "Student Harry's—"

"Harry."

"—hand is burnt."

Harry looked at his hand. He looked back at the elf. "Yeah. What, what's wrong with it?"

Sal shrugged. "The burn is full of magic. Student Harry can't learn outside of Hogwarts. Student Harry will be detected."

"Really?" Harry groaned. "I thought Dobby had to mask his magical signature to make it seem like mine."

Sal blinked. "Dobby fake Harry's magical signature? Bad Dobby! Bad! Sal has idea." The little elf popped away.

Harry flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. When Able had trouble sleeping, he counted sheep. That didn't work. Cormac said that he never had trouble sleeping. He just snored rather loudly once he fell asleep. Able had had to teach Neville and Harry a silencing charm almost immediately after they moved into the fourth year dorm. Harry again sat up and pulled several pieces of parchment out of his back. He'd just owl ordered a book from one of the novelty book stores that didn't actually have a shop in Diagon Alley: Capturing the Magical and Mystical in 3-Dimensions: Map-Making for Dummies. The book was written by Jill Venys and Linus Pamuer. He'd only had time to read a few chapters, but he'd also read Interdisciplinary, by the same authors. The latter book focused on tying everything one learned and using it as one cohesive unit. But it was told more like a story than an advice book. He'd found at least three other books written by the same authors, but he hadn't managed to read them yet.

And there was the Annaline Addison book – one which spent a single chapter on a significant person in modern history and analyzed their work. He even had a chapter. Hermione, of course, raved about the book and how good it was. She loved Addison as a reporter, as a writer. Hermione was likely Addison's biggest fan. And there was Muriel Prewett. She had written some of the best How-To-Do-This-or-That books that Harry had read. The wizarding world had a lot of authors. Maybe because everyone lived so long, more people found time to write books? Harry pushed his distractions aside and started sketching out the first floor of Hogwarts. He'd almost certainly enlist Sarah to do the final sketch that he turned into the final copy on the map – all seven-ish pieces of parchment that would be necessary for the map to actually function properly. Still, he wanted something to practice the charms on…

Harry found his memory of the first floor was pretty good. He still didn't know how the map would end up capturing the moveable staircases. And he knew he couldn't do this whole project by himself. He'd get Sarah to do the artwork. He could try and rope Hermione into researching various spells or ways to improve upon the Venys and Pamuer method. There were a whole lot of reference materials that those two authors used that Harry really didn't know how to handle. But Hermione, and maybe Su, would be really valuable in researching whatever charms would be needed. And Neville and Able would be in on the project, for sure. But for a complete map, they would need someone in each house. Someone who could move around and take measurements, mostly unheard of. Which means he had to bring a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff girl into things. And a Ravenclaw, but he'd probably use Su. There was always Selene for Slytherin. And maybe he'd ask Sally-Anne. She was the least unassuming. She'd be the most likely to not tell anyone. But she was still a pack member. Pallas Ingraham? She barely ever spoke, and while Artemis would probably end up knowing about… He just wanted to keep this as quiet as he could. So, if he could talk Sal into helping, the people who would need to know about it could be limited to himself, Hermione, Sarah, Neville, Able, Su, Pallas, and Selene. That was eight. Add Artemis and Persephone and the Carmichaels, and that was twelve. It was a good enough number for this project…

He wanted this map to be, in the end, spectacular. He wanted a master map. And then maybe, if all twelve worked together, there endless possibilities.

Sal and Dobby popped into the attic. Harry startled and jerked, smudging his sketch of the first floor. "What are you doing here?"

"Sal had an idea!" "Sal mean!" Sal and Dobby said in unison. "Sally bullied Dobby to come here!" "Tell him!"

Dobby folded his spindly arms over his spindly chest and didn't say anything. Harry blinked. Since when was Dobby quiet?

"Tell him!"

"Dobby has wronged great and powerful Master Harry, and the great, good, wonderful Master Harry only is kind. Dobby owes Master Harry Potter-Moorland-Aragon-Fallus—" he ran through each and every of the thirty-some names that Harry had picked up. All of them. Harry himself didn't even know all of those names! "—King. Dobby owes fantastic, kind Master Harry a house-elf debt."

"And—" Sal prompted.

Dobby snarled. "So, so, Dobby most bond with Lord Potter-Moorland-Aragon—" Thirty-four names. "…King. Or be a bad elf. But Dobby don't want. Dobby wants to be free. Sal has offered to take Dobby's debt. Debt call is stronger than bond to Hogwarts." Dobby pouted.

Harry blinked. "So-?"

Sal bounced on his heels. "Sal takes Dobby's oath and can teach Student Harry elf-magic out of Hogwarts. And… and… other things! Sal can be Student Harry's actual elf!"

Harry blinked. "Really? You're okay with that? You want that?" Both Sal and Dobby nodded, Sal more enthusiastically. "Okay. Let's do it." And before he could blink again, Sal and Dobby were reciting something and Sal and Harry were glowing and then the glowing disappeared and Dobby popped away. It was… odd. "Sal?"

"Master Harry, sir!" The elf was grinning and looked completely and utterly exuberant.

"Sal! Call me Harry."

"Yes Harry," Sal said, still grinning. "Did you know you have other elves? Hereditary elves?"

Harry blinked.

"Me call them," Sal said.

In five seconds, two elves popped into the attic. "YOUNG MASTER POTTER SIR!" One of the elves flung itself at him, wrapping small, spindly arms around Harry's waist. "We is missing you, sir."

"Hi."

The elf pulled away, blushing. "I apologize, Master Potter, sir. Me is only excited."

The other elf had greeted Sal and they were shaking hands and chattering around in a really quick, harsh language. Harry caught one or two words; he'd looked into Elvish to a degree. "Well, please just call me Harry. And you are?"

"Me is Jessie. And this is Carter. Me is the official Potter elf. Well, the daughter of Gem and Ollie, who were the real Potter elves. Carter is my mate. He's not bonded to you, ma-, eh, Harry. Please don't send him away."

"I won't."

Carter and Sal were still talking.

"Me also has child. Me is a bad elf," Jessie said, looking up at Harry.

There was a knock at the trap door that opened into the attic. It was almost certainly Aurora. Harry jumped off the bed and opened the door, looking down at the questioning glance of his guardian. "What's going on, Harry?"

Harry moved back to let her stick her head into the room. Aurora poked her head in and stared at the elves. "Sal? And, um, I don't recognize—"

"This is Jessie," Harry said. The little female waved, her bright blue eyes bouncing with the rest of her. "And this is Carter. They're the Potter elves. And Sal's my elf now too. Jessie, Carter, this is my guardian, Professor Sinistra." The two elves bowed.

Aurora blinked.

"And me child," Jessie said, hanging her head. "If ma—Harry wishes."

Aurora blinked again. "Harry, I've got a headache. Let me know what you end up doing." She retreated from the attic, pulling the door closed behind her. That just left Harry with the elves. And he didn't know what to do.

"Jessie," Harry said, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. It put him at just about the height of the households. "Where's your kid?"

Her ears dropped. "Back home. At the Godric's Hollow house. You want me to call her?"

"Yes please."

Carter and Sal had stopped talking. "Harry," Sal said, "you is not bonded to Carter. Do you want him?"

"Can it hurt?"

All three elves shook their heads. "Then sure," Harry said. And this time, Harry and Carter glowed. He didn't feel any different. He could feel the elf magic. Sal had taught him to at least be sensitive to the elf magic. He knew what it was. He could manipulate the magic to a degree, but he wasn't very good. Harry felt a brief flow of magic before a mini-house elf – no larger than his head – POPPED into the room. It was a much louder pop than the others. And the little elf was adorable. She had sparkly dark blue eyes and wasn't slumped or anything. Just… adorable. "Hi."

The little elf looked at Jessie and Carter and then back at Harry. She cocked her head. "Mwaster?"

"My name's Harry. What's yours?"

"Erm— You need to name her," Sal said. "We elves need masters to name us."

"Really? Okay. Well, Jessie, Carter, what do you want her name to be?"

The four elves stared at him. Jessie shrugged. "We has not considered it, Harry."

Hedwig pushed through a skylight and alighted on her perch. She peered down at the little elves and hooted. "Guys, this is Hedwig. Hedwig, this is Sal, Jessie, Carter, and, oh, what do you want your name to be?"

The little elf shrugged.

Harry bit his lip. "What about Lily? I could name you after my mum. We could call you Lils."

The little elf nodded. "Lils like."

"Okay. Good. So, um." Harry stared at the four elves. He honestly had no idea what to do next. "Now what?"

"We has been caring for the Godric's Hollow house," Carter said. "Would you like us to continue?"

Harry nodded. "I'd like to visit at some point this vacation. Is that okay?" Carter and Jessie nodded.

"Harry," Jessie said, swallowing. "Lils needs training. She can train with Sal, no?"

"Sounds good," Harry said, "but Sal, what are you going to be doing?"

"Training you," Sal said. "I is still going to train you. And I can care for this house. And when you is back at Hogwarts, I shall still work for you, doing what you need. Lils can help." The little elf nodded, eagerly.

"All right. Good. Carter, Jessie, check in with me every other day, okay?" The two elves nodded. "Sal, Lils, what space to do you need to sleep, eat?"

"We is good with a corner," Sal said. "Our magic can set it up."

"Take that corner then," Harry said, pointing to one of the attic corners. "You're good?"

"Yes." All four elves said.

"Okay. Well. Nice meeting you all," Harry said, shrugging. It was a really awkward, staring at those four elves and knowing that they… they… oh geez. He had house elves! Hermione was not going to like this. Neville would probably find it hysterical. "So, um. Yeah. You guys can go now.

The elves went. Carter and Jessie popped away, almost silently. Sal and Lils moved towards the directed corner. Harry went back to bed. And he managed to fall asleep. Huh.

o.o.o.o.o.o

"Hey Mary."

"Hey Harry."

"Hi Natalie."

"Hi Harry!"

"The Alley's packed today."

"It normally is."

"Oh. So what do you normally do during vacations?"

"Wander, mostly. There's not much to do. It's really awkward at home right now."

"Oh?"

"Mum and Dad are still hounding Emma about William."

"So I'm walking into a hornet's nest?"

"Pretty much. It's not like Dad'll refuse you.

"What if he does?"

"Emma elopes, gets disowned, and Mary becomes the MacDonald heir."

"Natalie, please be quiet about this."

"I hate being quiet."

Harry snickered. He'd been wandering around Diagon Alley with Mary and Natalie for a while now. It was interesting. The three of them had eaten lunch in one of the middle priced restaurants in the Alley. Mary had griped and groaned at the time they'd spent in the Quidditch shops. They'd run into many students from Hogwarts, almost all of them from the richer, more powerful families. It was rather odd. Paradise and Aurora had stayed home so that Lily and Vicky could come over for a few days. He needed to find a Christmas present for Paradise… And Aurora had told him that her brother, sister-in-law, Aria and two other Sinistra children would be spending Christmas with them.

So he needed something more significant for Aria and then her two younger siblings. Aurora had said their names were Anthem and Symphony. And that Anthem went primarily by Ant. So. Two girls and a boy. He asked the two MacDonald girls to help him shop, but they didn't know the Sinistra family so they didn't have any ideas. Natalie talked the two older kids into going into a toy store. Ant was about nine. Symphony was seven. Natalie insisted that they get Anthem a set of Quidditch figurines. Neither Harry nor Mary saw anything better so they went with that. For Symphony, Harry bought a simple craft project that Sarah had mentioned enjoying before she really started drawing. But Paradise and Aria were difficult to find something for. There was no way he'd get either girl a book. They weren't particularly studious.

It took two hours before Mary took pity on him and went into a beauty salon with his money and came out with gifts for the two girls. It wasn't what Harry would have liked, but they didn't have anything better. They wandered a bit more, talked to a few people that they knew from Hogwarts. Tonks was on patrol with a few older aurors, so Harry waved, but they didn't stop to talk. In passing, Natalie said she wanted to be an auror. Mary stared at her, obviously horrified. It was kind of funny, watching the sisters banter. At around three, Natalie got engaged in a conversation with a boy who'd be attending Hogwarts the following year. Harry and Mary stayed near her, but moved away a bit. Demelza and Dakota Robbins passed by, but Mary didn't really say hi.

"You okay?" Harry asked, as Mary tensed up.

"No," Mary replied. "There's been talk about Queenie switching dorm rooms with Dakota. It sucks."

"What?"

"You know how the older years aren't allowed to have more than five in a dorm? When there's six or seven in a year, they get split up. And in our second year, all six of us made a conscious decision that we were going to split up our pairings, so that no group was left out. So it was me and Queenie and Demelza in one room with Katie, Eliza and Dakota in the other. But Eliza and Queenie have been spending so much time together, and Katie and Queenie have nearly fallen apart. It's just, all wrong!" Mary snarled. She folded her arms around herself.

"So the groups are changing?"

"Yeah," Mary griped. "And 'cause Katie's spent so much time with Alicia and Angelina – even more than she has in the past – it's not like I've got a best friend anymore. That stupid play."

"Have you told the others about this?"

"No! What, you want me to mess up Eliza and Queenie's new, super close friendship?"

"Of course not, but I think that—"

"Tell them," Harry said. "Eliza and Queenie are good people. They'll understand what you're thinking."

Natalie ran up. "Mare, mum wanted us back by dinner. We should head back to a floo soon."

"Right," Mary said, grumpily. "You coming Harry?"

They walked back to a coffee shop that had a public floo. The two MacDonalds – who'd had been told, by Harry, about the kidnapping – insisted he go first, so he flooed straight back to Ursa-Upon-Heavens. The sight that met his eyes was honestly rather scary. Paradise, Lily and Vicky were petting the two owls, and Lils. And the little elf looked very uncomfortable. Hedwig, though, was loving the attention. Sal hovered at the edge of the group, as if trying to find a way to extract Lils without angering people. Which was sort of funny. "Hi guys," Harry said, plopping down between Paradise and Vicky and moving so that Lils could easily escape to hide behind him. "What'cha doing?"

"I was telling them about Neville's dollhouse," Paradise said.

"Hedwig's beautiful," Lily said, stroking the snowy.

Harry grinned at her. It was the first day of Christmas vacation. And it was good.