Dobby
Holly sat at the kitchen table, playing absently with the table cloth while her Uncle Vernon and her twin brother, Harry, argued over Harry’s pet owl, Hedwig. Holly didn’t much like Hedwig - or any owl, for that matter. But, she did so wish she could write to her friends.
Her best friend, Tracey, had found out her parents were deathly sick at the end of the last school year and she felt absolutely terrible for not being able to write her every week like she’d promised. She knew Harry felt the same about his best friends, Ron and Hermione, too.
“Now,” Uncle Vernon said, finally moving on from yelling at Harry, “we all know today is a very important day.” She eyed Harry - who’s birthday it was - without looking up. She knew Uncle Vernon didn’t think it was important because of Harry. But her brother still looked like he was biting back hope anyway. “This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career.” Holly watched as her brother’s shoulders slumped and his face fell.
Their mean, fat cousin, Duddly, seemed to notice too. Well, that wouldn’t be good.
Not for the first time, Holly’s fingers itched for the wand Vernon had locked away in the cupboard. They weren't allowed to do magick outside of school, but Holly was willing to bet that anything she could do to Duddly would be mild enough that nobody would actually care. Sort of like jaywalking. Are you doing it on a residential street, like Holly, or are you walking slowly across the freeway at midnight?
Holly took Harry’s hand and squeezed it. It was all she could offer at the moment.
“I think we should run through the schedule one more time,” Vernon continued. “We should all be in position at eight o'clock. Petunia, you will be - ?”
“In the lounge,” answered their maternal aunt - a thin, pale woman who hated them about as much as her husband did. “Waiting to welcome them graciously into our home.”
“Good, good.” Vernon nodded along, pleased. “And Dudley?”
“I’ll be waiting to open the door.” Answered their pig of a cousin. He smiled a very wrong looking smile and practiced, “may I take your coats, Mr. And Mrs. Mason?”
“They’ll love him!” Aunt Petunia cried.
“Excellent, Dudley!” Uncle Vernon cooed. Then he rounded on the twins, narrowing his eyes and half sneering, “and you?”
“We’ll be in our room.” Harry said.
“Making no noise.” Added Holly.
“And pretending we aren't there.” Harry finished.
This continued for a length of time that bordered on amusing, before eventually, Uncle Vernon decided it was time he pick up his and Dudley’s dinner dress coats. “Stay out of your aunt's way while she cleans!” He warned, glaring at the twins, before marching out the door.
Harry slipped out the back door, and with nothing to read and nowhere else to go, Holly followed along. “I can’t believe it’s already my birthday and nobody’s written to us all summer!” Harry complained to his feet.
Holly sighed. “It’s probably the Dursleys. They probably spent all year figuring out how to keep our mail from reaching us. I’ll bet when we get back to school, all our friends will be furious with us for not writing them.” Holly said. She really did believe it too.
Harry sighed. “I guess.” He said.
Holly sat down on the grass bellow the bench Harry was sat in and sprawled out. “I know it sucks. Nobody should spend their birthdays like this, but we’ll manage. There's only a month left, and then we’re back to school. We can manage!” She reasoned.
Harry stared blankly at a nearby shrub.
That's when Dudley came waddling out of the house. “I know what day it is!” He said, with a snarl.
Holly rolled her eyes and snorted at him, like a pig. He looked taken-aback at first, then, remembering the pigs tail Hagrid had given him last year that had had to be surgically removed, he looked very afraid. She grinned and snorted again.
Harry laughed a little. It was something.
“You know, Dudley, as exciting as it is that you’ve learned the days of the week at long last, I would be far more concerned with learning how to take a proper mud-bath. You are, after all, meant to look your best this evening, aren't you?”
Dudley went pink.
Holly’s favorite insult was to call Dudley, and classmates who behaved like Dudley, pigs. It had become somewhat of a running joke amongst her and Harry’s friends last year. It was, after all, oh so satisfying to see the shades of pink and red the spoiled brats could turn.
“Whatever freak!” Spat Dudley. “Do either of you even have any friends at that freak school of yours? I’ll bet you’re too weird, even for them! Otherwise they’d have sent you something for your birthday, wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dudley, my birthday is tomorrow.” Holly said simply, because their cousin really wasn’t that bright and she wasn’t sure if he actually knew they had separate birthdays.
Dudley scowled. “What?” He asked. Yeah, he didn’t have a clue.
“You poor thing,” taunted Holly, “it’s not your fault you don’t have enough brain cells. Tut. Tut.”
Harry laughed harder.
“Hey!” Dudley screeched.
Holly smiled serenely. “Yes?”
Harry was doubled over laughing now. Tears in his eyes and everything.
“I’m telling Mum!” Dudley yelled, completely distressed.
“Go ahead, pig-face, and I’ll give you a snout to go with that tail you grew last summer. I’ll bet it would be much harder to remove that, by the way.” Holly had no idea how to do that, not to mention she couldn’t do wandless magic on purpose yet since it wasn’t taught until sixth or seventh year. She would only be going into her second year. But… Dudley didn’t know any of that.
“MUM!” Screamed their cousin.
Holly was still laughing about it hours later, as she painted the lawn bench and trimmed the hedges and washed the car with Harry.
Before she knew it, though, it was eight o’clock and they were being herded into their room by Uncle Vernon. “Rember, you - one sound-!” He looked about as red as a tomato and Holly knew that they’d be dead if they so much as spoke to each other.
Harry split off from Holly to use the bathroom before hiding away in the night, and Holly decided if they were to be silent, she might as well read a muggle book. Aunt Petunia had banned any reading that referenced magick in the house whatsoever, which left an old collection of sherlock holmes, and some math books that Vernon’s sister bought for Dudley that he would never even attempt to read. Holly had finished them all by now. That just left a book of knitting patters that had never once been opened by anyone in the family. Holly had no knitting needles or yarn, but it was something to look at at least.
Poof.
Holly looked up, startled. There was a house elf on the end of her bed, getting her book dirty. “Hey!” She cried, indignantly. “You’ll ruin the pages!”
The elf scrambled off her book, taking a shoe from the floor and subsequently using it to pound his head in. “Dobby is sorry, Miss Potter! Dobby did not mean to step on Miss Potter’s book!” Dobby cried, loudly.
Just then, Harry burst in. He’d managed to go to the bathroom near soundlessly - though, Holly didn’t think his efforts would matter now. He looked frantic. “What is a house elf doing here!” He demanded, in a whispered shout.
“I don’t know! He just appeared there, on the bed and started freaking out!” Holly whisper shouted back.
The House elf, Dobby, stopped smacking his head with the shoe. “Dobby came to warn the Potters!” He said, urgently. “The Potters must not return to Hogwarts this year!”
Harry knelt down so he and the elf were eye-to-eye. “But Dobby, Hogwarts is our home! We *have* to go back. Look at this place! We can’t stay here!”
“Yeah,” Holly added, “we don’t belong here! We belong at school with our friends!”
Dobby shook his head “friends who haven't written to you all summer?” He asked, a tiny bit wickedly.
“Well I imagine- hang on-“
“How would *you* know about that? Did you have something to do with it?” Holly snapped at the elf, leaping to her feet to appear more impressive.
Dobby looked sheepish, as he pulled two bundles of neatly stacked letters from thin air. “Dobby is sorry! Dobby hoped the Potters would not want to go back to Hogwarts if they thought their friends had forgotten about them!” Dobby explained.
“Dobby you-“ Harry reached for the elf to throttle him, but Holly grabbed Dobby first. She sat him on the bed and crossed her arms, glaring at him.
“Dobby we are going back one way or another, so either you tell us what this is about, or I let my brother throttle you.” She said, plainly.
Dobby gulped. “Dobby can’t! Dobby is sorry! Dobby is used to threats! Dobby gets them five times a day at home!” Dobby cried, before hopping off the bed and beginning to bang his head against the door.
“Dobby no! Quiet!” Harry and Holly said at once.
Dobby did not stop.
Soon enough, they heard the lumbering footsteps of their uncle coming up the stairs. Harry took the house elf and shoved him in their wardrobe. Holly scrambled to sit back on her bed and look busy.
“What on earth is going on in here!” Uncle Vernon hissed, still red as a tomato. Steam may as well have blown out his ears.
“N-nothing.” Said Harry, smartly. “It’s hedwig. She’s board! If I could only let her out for - an hour?” He lied.
“Out of the question!” Vernon snapped. “Now keep it down! You interrupted my favorite joke!”
Harry nodded. “Sorry,” he said.
Vernon stormed back out. Harry let Dobby back out of the cupboard. “Dobby, why don’t you want us to go back?” Holly asked.
Dobby looked panicked. “The Potters are in grave danger!” Dobby said, unspecifically.
Harry made a grab for the letters that the elf was still holding, while he was looking at Holly, but Dobby snatched them away and turned to stare defiantly at Harry. “Harry Potter must promise that he and his sister will not return to Hogwarts.” Dobby said.
Harry lunged for the letters again, but Dobby teleported himself a few feet out of reach. “Give them here, Dobby!” Harry said dangerously. Dobby held them up, and ran out of the room. Harry chased after him.
Holly was left in the room caught between following and staying away from her uncle’s wrath. Or, away from the worst of it… he’d punish her too, she was sure.
All she could think to do was make sure Hedwig and PuffPotter were tucked safely out of sight. That way at least, their uncle couldn’t do damage to anything beyond the two of them.
She heard the yell. The stomping. The protests of Harry as he was dragged up the stairs. Then the door burst open again and Harry was thrown into the room. “Wait here.” Vernon growled, slamming the door behind him and going to see his guests out.
“What happened?” Holly whispered.
“That bloody elf dropped a cake on the Mrs. Mason!” Harry hissed, but he flashed her a glimpse of the letters he had gotten from Dobby.