A New Beginning (Harry & Hermione from "Harry Potter")

The Departure

"I want to bury him properly," Harry said, "Without magic."

His hands were shaking while holding the dead elf. He remembered how he had said, "Never try to save my life again," to Dobby during his second year at Hogwarts. And now, Harry was alive thanks to him, and Dobby was lying dead in his arms. At least Luna had closed his eyes. Now, he could be sleeping.

They buried the elf all together. They dug a pit and put the elf in, then covered it with the sand. Then, they put a handmade tomb on it with the writing: "Here lies Dobby, a free elf."

After staying there for almost an hour and bidding farewell to Dobby with Luna's talk, they all went back inside. Harry's eyes caught the "Mudblood" scar on Hermione's arm again and his inside tingled.

"Hermione, are you alright? It all happened simultaneously and I didn't know what to do-"

"It's okay, Harry. I'm fine. Though I will carry a scar with me lifelong," she said, forcing a smile. "But you also know what that's like, don't you?"

Harry forced a smile back. He could feel her agony along with his grief. He touched his forehead. It had hurt a lot in the Malfoy Manor. It was really close.

He remembered that along with the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, Dolores Umbridge had given him a scar of the sentence, "I must not tell lies." on his hand. He realized how this course of his life would always stick with him until the end and now, with Hermione, too.

"Does it hurt?" Harry asked.

"A bit," she answered, looking at the bleeding scar, "But I know it will be worth it."

After they all got inside the house, they saw that Fleur had prepared a really fancy meal for them. Harry felt awful that Bill and Fleur now had to feed them too. They had just been married but now, they had to deal with a lot of people.

"You really didn't need to do this much, Fleur. I'm sorry that you need to deal with us right now," Harry said.

"Arry, you saved my sister's life. Why do you think you are a burden? I'm helping all o' you wit' my 'eart," she replied. He could see her eyes sparkling and a little bit of happiness filled his body.

"How did Dobby know this place?" asked Ron all of a sudden. Harry had almost forgotten all about it.

"Well," Bill began, "He had come to our wedding that night. He had known there was going to be an attack. He didn't tell us where he had learned it. He was looking for you, Harry, to save you. He came to us to ask where you were but we didn't know because you three had already apparated. Then Death Eaters started attacking but Dobby protected us with the spells he did without any wand. So we took him with us when we apparated to this place. We had already decided we were going to have our honeymoon here. And ever since, he was staying with us here. Nobody knows we are here, not even mum Ron. I guess that's why he thought this place was really safe and he brought you here."

After he finished, Harry felt more guilty but grateful than ever. "He was very brave," he said, "And smart. I'm really going to miss him."

"Yeah, we all will," said Hermione. "I will never forget how I wanted to start S.P.E.W., seeing how you cared about Dobby and freed him, Harry. He was the only elf I knew that believed their freedom really mattered." Her eyes had again filled with tears.

"How did he know we were at the Malfoy Manor?" asked Harry. This question had not tampered with his mind until that instant.

"Oh, we don't know it, either. Sometimes, he left the Shell Cottage and went somewhere else but never told us where. I kept asking where he was going because I was also worried about our safety but he insisted on not telling. He just wanted us to trust him, so we did."