Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter NOR any of his friends NEITHER any of his enemies. It's hard to admit, but when I'm done with them all, I have to return them to Joanne K. Rowling in an original wrapping and unharmed. I make no money, I mean no harm.

Patchwork
The Last Night

Tisha was standing in the Entrance Hall feeling like a fool. Of course Snape would let her deal with her luggage on her own. How stupid of her to take everything along without making sure there would be someone to help her move it in her new rooms.

Or at least somewhere near it.

Or at the very least show her the bloody room.

But he had to show up, didn't he? The Headmistress asked him to show Tisha around and to help her, so he had to comply... somehow.

There was a strange noise and Tisha peered into the dark corridor to find its source. Two lights flashed against her and to her relief, a cat - a common, if a bit old and worn out cat - appeared before her.

"Hello there," Tisha said softly and reached out to pet the animal. It had its own opinion on making friends so late in the evening, and it hissed at her with barred teeth. Tisha drew her hand back hastily and the cat slipped between the pile of her luggage and the wall. Tisha looked around. If she didn't want to spend the night in the hall, she had to find her rooms somehow. She had only spent a week at Hogwarts before, and it had been buzzing with students then. Everything looked different now. Besides, she had been accomodated in one of the towers with regular students of her age - she would hardly sleep in a dormitory with the students she was supposed to teach.

Maybe, if she tried really hard, she could remember how to get to the Headmistress office - provided she kept the same office Dumbledore used - it wasn't that late yet and the Headmistress might have been there. But Tisha had only been there once, with her Grandmother to accompany her, and she had been too interested in the castle itself to pay attention to the route.

"Well, where there's a will, there's a way, and I certainly have a will," she said loudly. And then it occured to her - the place had to be run by some sort of caretakers, and the best caretakers the wizarding world knew were house elves.

"Is there anyone who could help me?" she tried to ask in a calm, loud voice. House elves usually had a way of receiving such messages. The house elves of Hogwarts, however, didn't seem to have heard her. Getting nervous, she started tapping with her foot. Tap, tap, tap-a-tap, tap, tap, tap-a-tap... She realised she was calling to the house elves of Malfoy Manor, who had been instructed to be at her service, and stopped...

"Miss Laeticia!" a high-pitched voice exclaimed and next she knew, her saviour was jumping up and down before her. He was dressed in an unbelievable number of different socks and a long striped shirt and wore at least eight knitted caps at the same time. The caps didn't manage to hide his glowing orbs and flapping ears.

"Dobby?" she asked, disbelieving her eyes. But he was real - the only house elf she had ever met who had behaved like a thinking being rather than a slaving shadow was bouncing happily before her, and she reached out to still him. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Dobby is a Hogwarts employee!" the house elf pronounced proudly. "Dobby is getting real paying and has a real day off and it's all because of Mister Harry Potter, Miss Laeticia." At this, Dobby's big eyes filled with tears and his ears hung down. "Harry Potter gave Dobby his freedom and he talked to Dobby like to an equal and Dobby misses Harry Potter." Tisha wiped a tear off Dobby's face.

"He must have been a real hero," she said, unable to find anything better to say.

"He was. Did you call Dobby?" he inquired.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I did - although I didn't really hope you would hear me." She smiled at the elf and his eyes lit up again. "I'm supposed to start teaching here tomorrow and I have all my things here, but I don't know where my rooms are. Could you help me? In fact, all..." But Dobby was already gone, only to reappear a minute later.

"Dobby knows! Dobby called help to take your things and Dobby will take miss there."

"Er - could we go on foot? I need to learn my way around," Tisha said nervously, remembering clearly all the ways in which house elves could take her around a building.

"Of course! What is you teaching here?" Dobby grabbed her hand in the same manner he used to lead her when she was a child. Tisha didn't mind. She knew how he had been delighted both by this privilege and by the shared secret no-one else had known about.

"Muggle Studies," she answered, trying to remember all the staircases, corridors and turns.

"Oh, you is going to tell the children! You knows everything about Muggles!" Tisha chuckled.

"I don't think I know everything, Dobby - but I know enough." They reached their destination, a mundane-looking door in one of the numerous nameless corridors. There was an armour standing next to the door and when Tisha reached for the knob, it stepped in her way.

"Oh," Tisha exclaimed. "Oh, the password - of course!" She patted her pockets, then remembered she hadn't written the password down, relying on her memory. "What it - I know - Ne dicas reddam malum." The armour stepped back into its original position and Tisha opened the door.

"Does miss want tea?" Dobby asked.

"That would be nice, Dobby - and your company. You must tell me what you've been up to."

"Dobby hasn't done anything bad, miss!" the elf cried out.

"Calm down, Dobby," Tisha smiled. "I'm just joking." She looked around her new living room while Dobby was away preparing tea. There weren't many furnishings, just a cupboard, a table, three comfortable chairs, and empty shelves along one of the walls. The floor was covered with a thick green carpet and there was a small white rug before the fireplace. Tisha peered into a spartan bedroom, a tiny study with a desk, and a considerably large bathroom that looked like having been recently converted from a common student's bathroom.

Tisha returned to the living room and knocked on the table. Good, solid wood. She noticed something lying on the mantelpiece.

It was a pot with Floo powder. Tisha smiled.

Neville was tending to the shrivelfigs and Snape was smiling unpleasantly into the fireplace when the flames turned to green - more venomous than brilliant. Snape's smile immediately turned into a sour scowl.

"Severus," Tisha said pleasantly. "I just wanted to express my gratitude for showing me around when you could have spent your time much more usefully. You've been most helpful - really, I wouldn't feel so welcomed without your help. No, no - don't get up - you need your rest after all you've done for me tonight. I will mention your efforts to the Headmistress - you've overdone yourself - have a nice night." She winked and disappeared.

Neville supressed a chuckle. Snape growled. Neville burst in laughter.

"Good grief, I'm genuinely sorry she won't teach me - what a woman!" he cried out after a while.

"Did you notice who was behind her?" Snape forced through gritted teeth.

"No, I wasn't looking." Neville watched Snape's face curiously. It was changing colours from embarassed red to angry red and back.

"A house elf!" Snape exploded and jumped up. "A bloody nosy slavering creature with no pride at all!"

"Well, she probably concluded you weren't coming, so she went for the next best thing," Neville noted innocently. Snape stared at him mutely for precisely four seconds.

"OUT!" he bellowed, this time acquiring a shade of red that escaped any kind of description. Neville didn't lose a second, grabbed the plant he had been caressing and fled.

Snape turned back, soothed and pleased by this effect, and sat down in his armchair. He rested his head back, savouring the last hours of blessed peace.

Until Neville's other shrivelfig started wailing.

Ginny watched the shadow moving across the bedroom's ceiling. It would reach the further corner soon, and that would mean the night would soon be over.

Ginny turned and looked at the still lump on the other bed. Hermione, for some reason, could sleep through the nights. Ginny mostly lay just thinking, wondering, wishing until dawn, when the tiredness took over and forced her mind to follow body into deep, dreamless sleep.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Ginny fell asleep sooner. But then she dreamed, and none of her dreams were pleasant.

In the morning, she would leave for Hogwarts - Hogwarts without Ron, without Luna, without Hermione, without... She turned abruptly, trying to escape the thought.

Without Harry.

Sometimes, like now, she felt tears trying to find a way out of her eyes. She didn't want to let them. She was afraid she would never stop crying. Sometimes, mostly, she only felt an empty space deep within her heart, a space no-one could fill. She felt as if there were no future whatsoever; but then, there was Blaise.

There was always Blaise.

Closer at Hogwarts, just half an hour in decent weather, maybe even less. But she would have to get out of the castle somehow. She bit her lower lip, eyes fixed on that closet.

Hermione snored and turned.

Ginny slipped out of the bed and crept to the closet, automatically evading all squeaking boards. The closet gave a soft noise of protest when she opened it and she froze, but Hermione remained still. Ginny reached inside and took Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

As quietly as possible Ginny sneaked back in bed, tucked the cloak under her pillow and prepared for the last hour of waiting for sleep. The cloak smelled of Harry and one solitary tear escaped her eye. She wiped it off hastily.

Miles away, in a small house in Hogsmeade, Blaise watched the moon, wishing against all odds for something that would make the next ten months bearable.

A/N: Ne dicas: Reddam malum means roughly in Latin Say not: I will return evil - it's a part of Proverbs: 20:22. Say not: I will return evil: wait for the Lord, and he will deliver thee. I used the translation from