All I Have Left

Chapter Fifty Nine

After visiting the house elves yesterday, I had been in a fairly good mood. 

Hermione, Ronald, Harry, and I all went down to the kitchens because Hermione said there was something we needed to see. 

Reluctantly, we all followed after her and went down to the kitchens, being greeted by the many house elves, who seemed ecstatic to work there. 

We saw that Dobby and Winky had found work at Hogwarts, now that they were both free elves. Dobby was being paid for his work now and found that Dumbledore was very nice. 

Winky, however, was not as excited as Dobby was. She sobbed the whole time we were there, going on about how Mr. Crouch needed her and that he was probably struggling without her there to serve him. 

Dobby just shrugged it off and told us that she still needs to adjust to the arrangements, then serving us a cup of tea and scones with jam.

Hermione refused to eat anything, which seemed like an insult to the elves, while the rest of us enjoyed their food. 

Then before we could leave the kitchens, many house elves came up to us at the door and handed us piles worth of snacks and treats. 

They even gave me tons of my favorite, Treacle Tart.

Again, Hermione refused to eat or accept anything, but Harry, Ronald, and I gladly took it with much gratitude towards the elves.

We left with a furious Hermione, who was going on and on about how awful it is that there are house elves here at Hogwarts.

I left with the excuse that I didn't want to wake up with any negative energy on my birthday, which was the next day, and made my departure from the group and walked to the Slytherin common room, which wasn't far from the kitchens.

But when I entered, I didn't make it up to my dorm. I entered the common room and saw Daphne resting her head on Blaise's shoulder, his arm around her shoulders, talking to Malfoy, who was in the armchair next to the couch Daphne and Blaise sat in.

The fire was lit in the fireplace, the crackling sound emitting from it giving the room a homier vibe. There was many pieces of parchment, quills, books, and ink on the table, their bags on the ground next to the table, looking like they were doing homework but just gave up.

When I entered, their heads all turned towards me, the room falling silent and the only noise was the fire, the whistling of the wind and lake water crashing outside, their burning stares making me feel awkward.

But after their invitation, I joined them, clearing off the table and setting the snacks I got from the kitchens on the table instead. 

So that's where I was right now; it was two in the morning, finally my birthday. We had pushed the table farther away and sat in a square on the ground, our legs criss-crossed, snacks in the middle of the circle as we ate them, Athena in my lap, all of us conversing in our conversation. Blaise and Daphne sat next to each other across from me, Malfoy, and Athena, all of us trying to be quiet so we don't wake anyone.

"I'm just saying, Flutterby Bushes are pointless!" Daphne says in between a bite of a Pumpkin Pasty. "Like, when will we ever use them?"

"In Herbology." Blaise replies, taking a bite of Daphne's Pumpkin Pasty, earning a glare from the blonde. "It's not the most useful subject, I guess."

"Then what is?" Malfoy asks. 

"I think Charms." Daphne answers. "I'm not the best at it, I'll admit, but they're very useful. You use spells for everything!"

"Transfigurations, probably." Blaise says. "If you can turn a random object into anything you want, it's got to be the most useful subject to know."