Chapter 2
Dobby hadn't seen Dumbledore casting a spell on his master, but he had seen him hiding a very powerful, very dangerous, very Dark book under one of the shelves in Flourish and Blotts. He had also seen a blond girl take it before Lucius could get it back. Knowing what this book was, and having heard Young Master Draco raving about Harrison Potter-Black during Yule break, he knew they would be in more danger than anyone else.
He couldn't let the twins go back to Hogwarts, so he started stealing the letters from the friends that weren't staying with them. The white and red owls were furious about this, but he always Disapparated before they could attack him.
But the boys weren't hurt or upset; they were angry and worried, especially since the three Weasleys had just removed several blocks and compulsions and Neville Longbottom was supposedly being abused by his grandmother and great-uncle.
Stealing the letters hadn't deterred the two boys, which meant Dobby had to take a more direct approach.
So, about a week before the Weasley boys would arrive, he appeared in the room the twins were staying in and waited.
Harlequin Potter-Black entered the room first and froze when he saw Dobby, a mask of mischief covering the insanity that had been on his face briefly. "Harrison, we have a tiny visitor," he chirped, bouncing into the room. Dobby noticed that the child kept his hand on his pocket and his eyes on him.
Harrison Potter-Black came through the door, studying Dobby with an unreadable expression. Dobby blinked; his elf magic was screaming that this boy was a Dark Lord.
"Well met, xe wixen," the child said sleekly, a slight note of warning in his otherwise calm tone. "I am Heir Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Prince-Black." Slytherin?! "This is my brother, Heir Gryffindor-Hufflepuff-Peverell-Merlin-Pendragon. What is your name, and what do you require from us?"
Dobby swallowed. "Well meeting, heirs. Dobby's name is being Dobby, Dobby the house-elf. Dobby has come to tell you..." he swallowed. "It is difficult... Dobby wonders where to begin...."
"Why don't we start with who your employers are, and if they know you're here," Harrison said calmly.
"Dobby belongs to the Malfoy family, sir," Dobby responded nervously. "They is not knowing Dobby is here."
Harlequin Potter-Black lit up. "I can go get-"
"No," Harrison interrupted. "Why don't they know you're here?"
Dobby squirmed. Lucius had ordered him not to tell anyone about the diary that didn't already know about it.
"What can you tell us?" Harrison sighed.
"Dobby has come to warn Harrison and Harlequin Potter-Black, sir," Dobby rasped. "They must not be going back to Hogwarts."
"Why not?" Harlequin asked indignantly, as Harrison's eyes narrowed shrewdly.
"If Harrison and Harlequin Potter-Black be returning to Hogwarts, they is being in mortal danger!" Dobby cried.
"How?" Harrison asked sharply.
"There is going to be the most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Wixenry this year," Dobby said anxiously. "Dobby has known about it for months, sir. Do not be going back, sir, Harrison Potter-Black is too important!"
"What terrible things?" asked Harlequin.
"What did Lucius do this time?" Harrison asked in annoyance.
Dobby started. "Harrison Potter-Black is being knowing Master Lucius?"
Harlequin grinned maniacally. "We met at the beginning of the summer! He's helping Moldyshorts with-"
"Shut up," Harrison hissed at his brother.
"Dobby is being knowing about the ritual, sirs," Dobby said quickly. "You is being helping the Dark Lord?"
Harrison studied him. "Yes. Harley brought several of the items needed for the ritual."
"So they is being knowing about the diary!" Dobby said in relief. He didn't have to work around house-elf restraining magic!
"What's happened to the diary?" Harrison asked sharply.
"My masters' Manor was being inspected the day Young Master Draco came here," Dobby began, "and he-" he paused, he couldn't talk about the other Dark objects "-he is being needing to hide Master Dark Lord's diary-" Harlequin choked at the title, and Harrison shot him a warning glare "-so he is being hiding it in Flourish and Blotts, but someone is being finding it and taking it."
"Who?" Harrison demanded.
"Dobby is not knowing -- a girl, perhaps twelve years aging?" Dobby guessed. "I is not knowing her name. I is knowing she is student at Hogwarts, she is mentioning being in Hufflepuff."
"We'll find it, Dobby," Harrison promised, eyes flashing. "Did you tell your master and Tom?"
Dobby nodded. "They is not wanting Madam Zabini or her new husband to being know."
The twins exchanged dark, understanding looks. "Tell Tom that Harley will look for it when we get back," Harrison said bluntly.
"But -- but sirs are being in danger from the monster!" Dobby protested.
"What monster?"
"The monster in the Chamber of Secrets," Dobby whispered.
"The Basilisk will answer to me as well as the diary and whoever it's possessed," Harrison corrected. "I am the Heir of Slytherin, after all. We'll have to go when school starts."
Dobby relaxed a little.
"Dobby," Harrison said, the shrewd look appearing on his face again, "you don't happen to know what's become of our mail, have you?"
Dobby went bright red and made the letters appear. "Dobby is sorry, sir. Dobby thought, if yous friends didn't write you-"
"-that we wouldn't want to go back to Hogwarts," Harrison said dryly. "Since you had good intentions, Dobby, I won't tell Lucius about this. But next time, let Harley and I take care of ourselves."
"Dobby is being doing that," Dobby promised, handing the stack of scrolls and envelopes to the boy. "Dobby will be telling Master Dark Lord and Master Lucius now." He returned to Malfoy Manor as fast as he could.
Ron's summer had been interesting, to say the least.
Since removing all those blocks and the compulsion, a lot of things had changed. Ron managed to finish his summer homework almost immediately, and it didn't take as much to recall information. His magic was much stronger and freer, and since he was in Pureblood house with magical wards, he was able to practice using it. His family's appearances had changed as well: most of them were more lithe, with longer, wavier hair and fiery-red eyes, but Charlie was still incredibly buff, and Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny still had brown eyes. Those who had unlocked their creatures were faster and stronger, and could transform into beings with blood-red skin, huge black, scaly wings, and eyes made of fire. Ron, Ginny, and the twins wouldn't be able to do that until they were fifteen or seventeen, so until then, they were regular humans.
The family of eight had joined the rest of their family for wixen holidays, which Ron found fascinating, and which helped his magic become stronger and easier to control. He was still looking forward to seeing his friends, however, and was relieved when the fifteenth of July came around.
Hermione's summer had been absolutely boring, and lonely.
That wasn't unusual: Hermione was a very clever girl, and had read practically every book in the local library by the time she was eight years old, and re-reading books wasn't exciting. Because of how clever she was (and possibly how bossy she was) no one wanted to be friends with her, and her parents were rarely around. Her nanny, Cordelia Adams, was around a lot, even though she believed Hermione was able to take care of herself, but she was often silent, a book on her lap.
She had finished her summer homework the first day of summer vacation, leaving her with nothing to do. Hermione desperately wanted to raid Flourish and Blotts, but her parents were too busy to take her, and Ms. Adams didn't know about the world of magic. She didn't have an owl, so she couldn't contact her head of House. She had been using Ron's, Neville's, Blaise's, and Draco's owls to talk to her friends (Blaise had told her that someone was stopping the mail between Harrison, Harley, and their friends, which explained why she hadn't seen Hedwig this summer).
Hermione was going stir-crazy. She wasn't sure she could last until the twenty-first.
Finally, her mother's birthday arrived. Her parents always took birthdays and most holidays off, so Hermione was able to spend the whole day with them.
It did startle Hermione when Marchese Zabini and Blaise came through their fireplace the next morning, but luckily, Ms. Adams wasn't home, and Hermione was able to introduce her parents to Blaise's mother.
Neville's summer was miserable.
His grandmother and Great-uncle Algae had mostly left him alone since he'd shown he was a wixen, but that didn't mean there weren't snide remarks about his love of Herbology and how weak he was. He was so glad Harrison, Hermione, and Blaise had helped him with his homework, otherwise they would have snipped about his grades, as well. He spent most of his time alone in his greenhouse, watching Trevor hop among the plants. His garden didn't insult him or try to throw him out the top story window.
He missed his friends.