Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
The Rogue House-elf
"I'm sorry", I said.
At the same moment, Fred blurted out, "We should stop".
We were standing in an unused classroom not far from the hospital wing. It was the room we had decided on before the Slytherin V. Gryffindor quidditch game. The one George would hopefully bring Dobby to later tonight. This meant before Fred and I could take George's advice and rest up, we had to get it ready. Mostly by soundproofing the room with some silencing charms. It would also be wise if we could do something to prevent Dobby from disapparating. But we didn't know how to do that, so we just had to have faith Dobby wouldn't be too elusive. However, preparing the room also gave us time to speak about what had been left unsaid.
"What?" we both ask at the same time.
"Stop what?" I asked.
"What are you sorry for?" Fred questioned. We were never going to get anywhere at this rate. Fred shook his head as if he was trying to get himself to refocus, and I chose to remain silent. Fred can go first. I owe him much more than that consideration. Fred sighed before locking eyes with me. "I think after we do what we can about the diary, we should stop trying to change things." Fred pressed his lips together and looked away from me as if there was a disagreeable taste on his tongue. "We did good getting Scabbers out of our house and proving Black innocent. M-maybe that's enough. And we can't just- just forget about the diary. Not when we don't know who has it. But after this, we need to stop. Let things happen on their own.
Um….. What? My brain scrambled to make out some sort of logic in Fred's words. If we did nothing moving forward, we ran the risk of Fred dying. Of course, we had already changed a few things…. But were we willing to take that gamble? "Fred, I know it was a stupid plan. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have suggested that George should purposely be injured by that bludger. If I could take it back, I would". I spoke quietly, with my voice unintentionally rising in pitch at the end. My eyes were stinging again, and I started to blink more than usual. Why was I so stupid?
"It's not your fault", Fred said, sounding a bit breathless, like he was holding back air. He looked back up, eyes glistening. "I shouldn't have – have let him do it. Hell, I should have been the one to get hit". When in the initial stages of planning, there had been a discussion about who should get in the middle of the bludger's path. And the final decision had been based on George's argument that the reason we were sticking our necks out and interacting with dark objects was because we wanted to do everything we could do to prevent the war. Because if we prevent the war, there would be no death eater to save Percy from and no collapsing wall to kill Fred. Fred reaching his golden years was our end goal, so it didn't make sense to risk his safety. Though, now as I think about it after the fact, George's argument had been weak. Merlin, why was I so stupid?
"It is my fault". My voice broke and with it the dam that was holding back the waterworks. "We shouldn't be making any plans that take on unnecessary risk", I forced out between sobs as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "Everything is my fault. Every change. Every challenge". If I hadn't told them about the diary... If I hadn't opened my mouth and told them about Jessie's memories, Fred and George would have spent their whole school career free and unburdened to terrorize the staff, make people laugh, and come up with ideas that would later fill their joke shop. At least, until Umbridge made an appearance. And I… I should have done what I could alone. Without involving my loved ones. If I failed, then all I had to do was make sure it was me that pushed Percy out of the way during the final battle at Hogwarts. Holly Weasley wasn't in the books. I was expendable. "I should have never pulled you and George into this… this madness". But I had done so because I was too scared to face the future alone. I wasn't smart enough to find solutions to problems on my own. And because I wanted to believe that I too could have a long and happy life. That I belonged here.
"Merlin, Holls!" Fred exclaimed in hysterics; water streaming down his cheeks too. I guess it was a good thing we had finished putting up those silencing charms before we started talking. "The things you knew", Fred said as he moved into touching distance. "I can't… I don't want you to", Fred tried to express whatever he was thinking. But when his words fell short, Fred reached out with both arms and pulled me into a tight hug; one that restricted movement. His arms wrapped around my shoulders and I ended up with my face being pushed into his shoulder. Fred was still wearing his quidditch robes and he smelled sweaty. But at that moment, I didn't mind. "You had to tell us. You were miserable keeping all that a secret. It was too much for one person".
It was validating to hear Fred say that. But it wasn't enough to absolve me of guilt. Reaching my arms around Fred, I hugged his middle. "I'm sorry!" I sobbed. "I don't know what's the right thing to do."
Fred let out one loud sob of his own; so strong that his body shuddered. "I don't want anyone to die for me", he declared. "Especially not George". His grip tightened. "What if I'm meant to die?" My grip tightened. "What if everything we've done or can do doesn't matter? And I still end up dead, but more people died along the way? People that originally survived". His voice was wet as he listed off names. "Mum, Ron, Lee…. Let's just… Let's just stop".
There was nothing I could say to that. Not when I couldn't assure no one would be caught in the crossfire as we tried to prevent a war and stop an extremely dark wizard from reviving. So, we just stood there, in the middle of an unused dusty old classroom, hugging each other and sobbing our hearts dry.
That is until someone opened the door. "There you two are", a familiar voice said with an exasperated sigh. "I've been looking all over the place". I'm not sure how he found us, or how he thought to look in abandoned classrooms, but I was happy he was here. Fred and I let each other go, and I turned around to look at Percy. He was standing in the doorway of the classroom, adjusting his glasses as is his habit. At the sight of our tear-stained and probably red faces, Percy inhaled and exhaled loudly from his nose. "Now look", he said in a voice that I know he thinks sounds sympathetic. "I know you three hate being separated and any time apart is like the end of the world. Especially when one of you is hurt. But there's really no need for this". Percy waved a hand at us, probably in a gesture to our disheveled, depressing appearances. "Madam Pomfrey said George will be fine and he only has to stay in the hospital wing for-" Percy got caught off when I lunged forward and flung my arms over his shoulders with a small jump. Forced to brace my weight, Percy took a small step backward with an 'oomph' sound as his arms wrapped around my upper back to steady us both. "Holly!" He complained. But when I started crying anew into his chest, Percy decided to change tactics. "Um…." He said, at first weakly. "There, there". Rhythmically, he patted me on the back, in between my shoulder blades. His voice softened; morphed into a tone that he had reserved just for pets and distraught younger siblings. "George is going to be perfectly alright".
And since I couldn't tell Percy what was going on; what we were up to, I wailed, "I hate quidditch".
Fred wasn't far behind. Before Percy could reply to my admission, Fred was engulfing the both of us; forming a Weasley sandwich. I can't remember the last time Percy was a part of a Weasley sandwich. "We need George!" Fred cried. "He's the common-sense part of our brain". Despite Fred's weird wording, that was actually true. George was the only person who could talk us down after Fred and I got carried away by an exciting idea or a strong emotion.
"Merlin, help me", Percy muttered to himself, but he didn't try to pull away from either of us. "Listen to me", he said sternly. "You triplets do not share a brain. And just because something happens to one of you doesn't mean it's going to happen to all of you". I get Percy felt that that needed to be stated. But he was misreading the sentiment.
Once Percy deemed that Fred and I were soothed enough to face the halls of Hogwarts, he dislodged himself from our Weasley sandwich. He made us dry our eyes with his handkerchief as he expressed how unprepared it was of us to not have handkerchiefs of our own. Then Percy led us out of the classroom, through the halls, and into the Gryffindor common room.
Our housemates weren't having the usual quidditch-victory after-party. It wouldn't have been right, not when one of our beaters and our seeker had sustained hospitalizing injuries. Before anyone could approach Fred to talk to him about the match, Percy told the both of us to turn in for an early night. We didn't argue. And Percy didn't comment when I followed Fred up the stairs to the boys' dorms. Which suggests just how concerned Percy was for our emotional states.
Although we knew that we wouldn't be staying in bed, we saw no point in being uncomfortable. Fred went to the bathroom to shower and change, while I found a pair of George's pajamas to change into. I had to roll up the pant legs to make them fit, but this was something I was used to doing. Once Fred was out of the shower, we climbed into his bed and drew the curtains. Sleeping would have been the wise thing to do. But instead, we lay awake, staring up at the ceiling; thinking about everything we had said and waiting for when we would have to go back to the unused classroom by the hospital wing.
After midnight, we snuck downstairs. All other Gryffindors had retired, and we had no problem slipping out of the entrance behind the portrait. The Marauders' map made sure we had no encounters with ghosts, teachers, or Filch as we made our way through the halls. Once we reached the unused classroom, all we had to do was wait. So, we sat down on the cold stone floor; facing the door with our shoulders pressed together. Fred folded the map and put it inside his pajama bottoms' pocket. We wouldn't need it again until we made the trip back to the common room. "After tonight we'll talk to George about stopping?" Fred asked.
I nodded, even though Fred wasn't looking at me. We were both watching the door. "Yeah", I agreed, but I knew I wouldn't be taking Fred's side. "We'll figure something out".
That response wasn't good enough for Fred. "I won't let someone die for me", he said with resolve.
I breathed deeply through my nose. And I'm not going to let you die, I thought. I'm not going to let any Weasley die. "I know", I placated before we fell into silence.
We sat there for probably another fifteen minutes. We couldn't hear anyone approach due to the silencing charms we had placed on the classroom. But we knew we were in business when the door started to creak open. "Dobby is sorry he gave you cause to fear", We heard Dobby say in his high-pitched voice as George started sliding into the room. He was wearing the blue pinstripe pajamas you're given when you stay overnight in the hospital wing. One arm was hanging at his side with the other was holding onto Dobby's upper arm. Dobby came through the door next. "And Dobby wasn't trying to kill Harry Potter. Just seriously maim him so he would have to go home". Fred and I started to stand up, and I pulled out my wand. As soon as the door closed behind them, I would lock it. We weren't foolish enough to believe a locked door would be enough to keep a house-elf contained if he didn't want to be here. Locking the door was more of a way to keep someone from stumbling upon us. Like Percy had done earlier. Except, George and Dobby weren't alone. After the house-elf, a third person entered the classroom. Like George, he was wearing pinstripe pajamas and was holding onto one of Dobby's arms. The other arm was carefully braced in a sling.
"What's Harry doing here?" I asked as Fred and I finished standing up. The door shut behind Harry with a loud snap that only we could hear. It was enough of a surprise that I didn't immediately leap into a panic. But judging how my heartbeat sped up, I wasn't far from that point. Why can't one thing go right in this plan? I asked myself as the door shut behind them. If this wasn't a turn of events, I don't know what is.
"He woke up when I was wrestling with Dobby", George said as he and Harry let go of Dobby's arms. Dobby wrapped his arms around himself and took a step away from the boys with his ears lying limp on top of his head. "I didn't have an excuse about why I was trying to kidnap a house-elf or why there was even a house-elf in the hospital wing to begin with".
I shook my head, cursing our luck as I waved my wand. "Colloportus", I said to magically lock the door.
"So, you brought Harry with you?" Fred asked, voice slightly incredulous. I understood where he was coming from. With all the stunts we pull at the burrow where Mum is always suspicious and Ron and Ginny are always underfoot, Fred and George were masters at coming up with deceptions on the sly.
"What was I supposed to do?" George defended himself. "If I'd stayed any longer, Pucey would have woken up or Pomfrey. That would have been worse". And George was right. I didn't want Adrian anywhere near this mess, and Madam Pomfrey would never have let George or Harry leave the hospital wing while under her care. And that's without considering how George would explain why he was manhandling a house-elf in the middle of the night.
"How much did you tell him?" Fred asked, referring to Harry.
George opened his mouth to respond, but Harry beat him to it. "Nothing", the second-year answered as he studied us with narrowed eyes through the lens of his glasses. Well… That was a relief. "But I want to know what's going on". Harry pointed to Dobby with the hand that wasn't currently regrowing bones. "He said he rigged the bludger to target me. That the school is in danger".
My fellow triplets and I started staring at each other; our eyes flickering back and forth from one another as we tried to silently communicate. What we were asking each other was clear enough, 'what the hell do we do now?' But any answers or suggestions were unreadable. "Great danger", Dobby agreed. "A terrible evil".
Harry nodded along as if to say he agreed with the house-elf. Even though, in context, it didn't make sense for him to agree. "This has something to do with Mr. Filch's cat, doesn't it?" Harry asked. He was scanning us triplets with his eyes. But when we didn't immediately offer any answers, his eyes stopped on me. "You said to take what happened on Halloween night seriously. And you said that we needed to help each other if we're going to make it through the year". I was focusing on Harry. But I could feel Fred and George's accusing looks as my face started to get a little warm. I had said something along those lines. I just never expected the golden boy to throw my words back at me. "I want to help".
I sighed and glanced at each of my brothers; silently asking if they wanted to deal with this or should I. When all I got were vacant stares in response, I looked back at Harry. "What are the odds you'd be willing to forget all this happened, go back to bed, and never tell Ron and Hermione?" Harry didn't reward me with a verbal response as he stared at me with a solid stubborn, unmoving expression. Yeah. I knew there was no chance in hell of that happening. But I had to try. "Okay", I gave in; quickly coming up with a tactic. The best liars tell the truth, right? "That day we went shopping in Diagon Alley, Fred saw Lucius Malfoy slip something into Ginny's cauldron".
"Malfoy's father?" Harry asked for confirmation.
I nodded as Fred took up the mantle, having caught on to what I was willing to give away when I didn't start my explanation by saying you're a fictional character. "It was this old second-hand diary. I took it from Ginny's cauldron without her knowing".
"We didn't know what it was", George lied. "Or why Malfoy Sr. gave it to Ginny". The last part was technically true. We knew Malfoy Sr. wanted to cause havoc at Hogwarts and we know he immensely disliked our family, but we don't know why he slipped it specifically to Ginny.
"We didn't know what to do with it", I said; a half-truth. We knew it needed to be destroyed. We just weren't sure how. "So, we held on to it".
"That's where Dobby comes in", George said, nodding at the house-elf who flinched as all four of us turned our attention to him. "Remember when someone had gone through all of Ron's and Percy's things?"
Fred waited for Harry to nod before continuing. "Since it was only happening to Weasleys, we figured that it had to be about the diary. We set a trap and caught Dobby".
"He told us the diary would make bad things happen at Hogwarts", I said; another half-truth. Dobby had told us the diary would make terrible things happen. I just didn't mention we had already known that. "We told Dobby we wanted to destroy the diary, and we asked for his help".
"But first we need to free him", George said. "That way no Malfoys can get to him if they found out, or force him to stop".
Dobby bowed his head, as if ashamed. "We were trying to come up with a plan to do just that", Fred explained. Dobby was supposed to meet with us on Wednesdays when he could. But he stopped coming".
Dobby hugged himself. "Dobby couldn't do it sirs". The remorse in his voice was great. But it was unclear if he meant he was unable to meet us or something else had happened. After all, he was only here at all because he had rigged the bludger. Something I doubted he would've done if he was still on board with our plan.
"We needed to come up with something else", George said; keeping the ball rolling. No point in lingering too long and giving Harry the chance to poke holes in our story. There was plenty, after all. "But before we could come up with one, Halloween happened. The same night Filch's cat got petrified was the same night that we discovered that we lost the diary".
"The only person who knew we had it was…" I trailed off, gesturing to Dobby with my hand that wasn't holding my wand.
Harry wrinkled his brows. "You need him to tell you where the diary is", he reasoned. But as Harry continued to put two and two together, he came up with two questions that he asked in succession. "But how did you know that he'd show up tonight?" Harry's eyes suddenly widened and his gaze flickered over us triplets. "Did you know about the bludger?"
And here's the part where half-truths wouldn't suffice. "We guessed", Fred answered; using his superb acting skills to give Harry a shrug, like he didn't quite get how everything worked out either. Harry's widened eyes narrowed with disbelief. If I was in his shoes, I wouldn't believe us either.
I shook my head at Fred. Really? That was the best he could do? "What Fred means", I started to say as I looked back at Harry. "Is that we had a hunch. We knew you were important to Dobby because you're Harry Potter and he's a fan. We hoped he'd try something to get you to leave school. But we didn't know how. Today, when we saw the bludger acting off, we guessed Dobby was involved and got lucky". Which is a very ironic lie, because I won't consider anything that happened today as lucky.
Harry took his time as he digested everything we told him. He studied the stone floor, and he stared at Dobby before giving a very typical Harry response. "I want to help".
I pressed my lips together. The last thing we needed was another uncontrolled variable. Dobby already had that role covered. "It would be a big help if you could go back to bed and forget this happened", I tried again.
I was ignored. "Let me help find the diary". Numerous implications ran through my mind. Letting Harry in might not be a terrible idea. For one thing, he attracted trouble like metal to magnets. We could probably do nothing and the diary would somehow find its way to him. Dobby's admiration of Harry could also be a way to motivate Dobby to keep working with us. Or, at least, keep him from taking the diary from us again (if we got it back). And the chamber of secrets had been opened; the basilisk awakened. It wouldn't be a bad thing to have a parselmouth on our side.
But letting Harry help meant letting Ron and Hermione help too. It would make hiding information from them, like Jessie's memories, difficult. And that raised the likelihood that we would have to have an uncomfortable conversation about how we had already made changes to their lives. Not to mention the personal and private information I knew about their pasts and potential futures. I looked over to my brothers to try to gauge what they were thinking. George looked concerned, while Fred looked pained. Of course. If Harry got involved and if we failed to keep my knowledge under wraps, it would be near impossible for us to back out as Fred wanted us to.
Now, I wasn't planning on stopping. I had no purpose in this life other than preventing Fred's death. But, considering that Fred had just told me that he didn't want to meddle with the order of things anymore, I hadn't come up with alternative plans yet. It was like I was driving down a country road at night without any headlights. I couldn't see the twists and turns of the road anymore.
When neither I nor Fred spoke up, George sighed and looked towards the ceiling as he collected himself. Like he had reached a conclusion that the rest of us hadn't. "Alright", he said, voice quiet as he turned his attention back to Harry; ignoring the rest of us. Probably to make sure he didn't lose his nerve because Fred and I were staring at him like he had gone insane. "You can help. But you have to promise that you'll talk to us before you do anything". Smart. I thought as Harry nodded his assent. This way we might be able to prevent any more stupid choices from happening. Like sneaking into the Slytherin common room or visiting giant spiders in the forbidden forest. Plus, it might make Harry tell us when he hears voices coming from the plumbing.
I reached up with my wand free hand and ran it over my face. The hole we've dug just became a tad deeper. "Okay", I said; choosing to not think about possible consequences at the moment. I was tired. Fred and George must be tired as well. We needed this day to end. But it couldn't. Not until we saw my idiotic plan through to the end. "Dobby, we're not mad", I addressed the house-elf. "We still want to help free you, but we need to know. Did you take the diary?"
Dobby started to tug on his ears as he avoided eye contact with everyone. "Yes, miss", he admitted.
At last! Progress. I did what I could to keep my voice calm, but it sounded stressed even to my ears. "What did you do with it?" I asked. Please don't say you wrote in it. Please don't say you wrote in it. Although, I still wasn't sure if Dobby knew how to read, let alone write.
Instead of tugging at his ears, Dobby started twisting them in such a harsh fashion that made me wince out of second-hand pain. "Dobby took the diary to the defeater of all things evil"…. What? Dobby's words weren't making sense, but they sounded vaguely familiar. "Dobby put it on his pillow when he was teaching his classes". Teaching classes? I was nowhere nearer to figuring out who Dobby was talking about, but a lump of dread was growing in my stomach. "It was the only thing Dobby could think to do. You are all in danger! Harry Potter and Dobby's Weasleys. Kind Weasleys, who offered to help Dobby". Open-mouthed, all four humans in the room exchanged looks. Both at the sound of Dobby's increasing guilt and at our own confusion. I mean, when did Dobby start to think of us as his Weasleys?
"Dobby, who are you talking about?" George tried.
Dobby let go of his eyes and looked up at us all, showing us his big and bright eyes. "Dobby had to do it, sir. Yous admitted you didn't know what you were doing. Dobby had to find someone else. Dobby couldn't let Harry Potter or his Weasleys be hurt. Dobby took the diary to the great and conquering hero, Gilderoy Lockhart".
I swear, my heart stopped. Lockhart? Forcing myself to take a breath, I noted when my brothers and Harry became slacked-jawed. Lockhart. My heart started up again; beating faster than before. Gilderoy Lockhart had the diary. Lockhart, the wizard I had threatened to use magic against earlier today had the diary. Lockhart! Who was probably now possessed by the Horcrux and responsible for opening the chamber of secrets. "You gave the diary to Lockhart!" I exclaimed both frantically and shrilly. Whatever look I had on my face must have been a scary one, because Dobby squeaked and stumbled backward to put more distance between us. We were royally screwed.