A House Elf and His Boy

Dobby always knew when he was coming.

Not many people came to visit this secret room in Hogwarts. Few were privy to it in the first place. During the days, the house elves of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry zipped through this room to prepare meals. At night it was empty, as most of the elves went to the prepared areas where they made their homes.

Dobby wasn't most elves. Besides his own responsibilities to Dumbledore and taking care of Winky, Dobby felt another responsibility to The Boy Who Freed. Dobby had never known a wizard who cared for a house elf before Harry Potter. If someone had told him such a thing existed five years ago, he would have doubted them... and then punished himself for such doubt. Harry Potter had given Dobby the world. There was nothing Dobby wouldn't do to give anything to him.

Harry Potter was Dobby's first friend, so Dobby always did his best to help Harry Potter. Dobby was proud to be a free elf, but if he were to have another master, it could only be Harry Potter.

--

Harry pushed the portrait open and entered the House Elf Kitchen. Despite the best efforts of his friends, he rarely appeared for meals. As always, he was surprised to see Dobby there waiting for him.

"Welcome, Harry Potter! Can Dobby fetch you anything?"

Dobby was always an interesting sight. Multiple socks covered his feet and over a dozen hats were precariously balanced upon his head.

"I'm a bit hungry," Harry replied. "Maybe a sandwich and something to drink, if it's not too much trouble..."

Dobby gave Harry a concerned look for a moment and popped out of sight. When he popped back, a table appeared with some roast beef sandwiches and a bottle of butterbeer. A moment later a comfortable chair appeared right in front of the fire. Harry recognized the chair, as it looked much like the cushioned ones found in the Gryffindor common room. He sloughed off his invisibility cloak and slumped into the chair. Harry took a bite of the sandwich and a prolonged swig of the butterbeer before he really noticed Dobby sitting on the mantle of the fireplace, studying him. Dobby had gotten rid of the hats while he was gone.

"What is it, Dobby?" Harry asked.

"Something is wrong with Harry Potter," Dobby replied. "Harry Potter has not been himself lately. Has somebody hurt Harry Potter?"

Harry knew this was the general consensus among everybody around him. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had all noticed this over the summer and as the new school year had begun. Harry found it much harder to recover from the Chamber of Mysteries than he had the year before. The loss of Sirius Black had cut him far deeper than the death of Cedric Diggory. He was lost in these thoughts when Dobby abruptly questioned him again.

"Is it your Wheezys?"

"No," Harry replied. "It isn't Ron or Ginny."

"Is it your Hermy?"

Dobby seemed to have adopted Hermione's unloved nickname from Hagrid's brother, Grawp. Harry's lips curled into a small smile as he momentarily imagined how a conversation between Grawp and Dobby would take place. Dobby was enthused by the first smile he'd seen from Harry in months, but he still hadn't found the answer so he continued on.

"Is it your Loony?" Dobby asked.

Harry almost spit out his butterbeer at that question. "No! It's not Luna. Luna isn't mine, either. She's just... a newer friend. I doubt she'd even want to be mine anyways. I don't know what Luna wants. I will tell you this; she just might be the one thing that isn't wrong!"

Dobby sat and stared. Harry seemed like he was about to burst.

"Everybody wants me to be something different for them. Everybody wants me to be something I'm not. To the Order, I'm a tool. I'm a weapon to defeat Voldemort." Harry took a deep breath and continued, not noticing a popping noise in the background. "To the world at large, I'm some kind of hero because I survived things I didn't have control of. Even Ron and Hermione look at me differently these days! Almost all the students expect me to be some kind of leader! And when I try to lead people, I always fail and someone else pays the price!"

A tear ran quickly down Harry's cheek. "Those who aren't like that hate me. I'm just some sort of freak to them!" Harry continued ranting, not noticing another pop in the background. "I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask to be the hero! I didn't ask to be in that bloody prophecy! I just want to be Harry!"

Dobby popped a clean handkerchief on the table next to the forgotten sandwich. Harry didn't notice. Harry also didn't notice what was happening behind him. The original tear was followed by more, swiftly falling down his face.

"Luna's different, though. Luna's the only person I know who sees me differently from everybody else. She's the only human being that I can act just like Harry around. She isn't like Cho, I'm not nervous around her. She isn't jealous if I walk away from her to somebody else. Sure, she's strange, but around her, I don't have to try to be somebody I'm not. I don't have to be Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. I don't have to be the Destroyer of Voldemort and the Saviour of the Wizarding World. I can just... be."

Dobby nodded, and waited for Harry to continue. Harry had held this in for months, and needed to release it. Harry (He) took off his glasses, and squeezed the bridge of his nose before continuing.

"I don't know what I could give to have that. Just to be a normal wizard whose biggest worry is getting the right amount of lacewings into a potion. I want to be loved, and not for what's expected of me, but just for being me! But anybody who'd love me would be in danger! Voldemort ... Dumbledore ... the Ministry ... they all want something from me! Luna doesn't want anything from me. She doesn't need anything from me! She's happy with what she is and what she has. With the kind of danger she's faced, how could I ask her for something like love? How could I ask her for anything more?"

"You don't have to..." spoke an ethereal voice from behind Harry.

Harry stumbled out of the chair, knocking the small table holding the food, handkerchief, and his glasses to the ground. With a pop, the table was upright and everything was laying on it. Harry was leaning against the wall he'd fallen against. Dobby had disappeared from the mantle as Luna Lovegood slowly drifted towards Harry to crouch in front of him.

"You don't have to ask, because it's something I freely give to you. I believe in you, Harry Potter. Not just the Boy Who Lived, not just the wizard who defeated Voldemort and will defeat him again. I believe in the boy who is all these things and more. I believe in the man he'll become.

"I have and always will give you my love, Harry. And I accept the love you have given me in return, whether you knew you were giving it to me or not." Luna wiped a tear from under Harry's eye. Harry flinched when Luna touched him, but slowly relaxed under her caress.

"I will follow you, Harry, in this world or anywhere else. I will be there, Harry, whenever you have need. I will help lift you when you fall." Luna held out her hand to draw Harry to his feet. "I will be yours if you wish to be mine."

Harry shakily rose to his feet. Luna gently placed his glasses on his face, running her cool hands across the scar on his forehead. Harry collapsed into Luna in an embrace. The passion with which he held her burned into his soul, releasing the rest of the feelings that had built these many months. Despite Luna's cool touch, Harry warmed in her embrace. Luna drew him to the chair, where they sat in silence, holding each other. Both had their answer now. Where before two had stood alone, both were now together as one.

--

Dobby smiled as he closed his cabinet door. Harry Potter now had what he needed. Hope. Winky silently crept up to him. She had popped back into the cupboard after her quick visit to the Ravenclaw dormitory.

"Did Winky do good?" she asked.

"No," Dobby replied. "Winky did great."