Prodigal Witch

Houses & elves

Marcus flew his broom over Hermione's property in the watery dawn light. He'd woken up slightly before the sun rose, which wasn't entirely unusual for him. Marcus liked to run in the mornings and this morning he felt particularly restless. Rather than running, he dressed in warm flying gear. Marcus' father came into the kitchen while he was drinking a quick cup of tea and eating a light breakfast. He explained where he was going so early and his father offered to join him.

Hermione had bought herself a large piece of land, but Marcus and his father covered all of it. There were basic wards set up around the house, but they weren't complicated, and there was nothing preventing people from crossing into her property. Marcus and his father landed in the back gardens, which were in disrepair like the rest of the place.

"Hermione has a lot of good land here," his father observed, setting down his broom. "The stream is blocked in several places and will need to be cleared. The small lake front could use some attention too, especially if she wants to use the beach."

"I'm sure these gardens are infested with gnomes," Marcus said, looking around. "I saw some substantial Augurey nests too, which isn't really bad, but will be annoying when the rains come and those blasted birds cry. There are probably Bowtruckles, Fairies, and Dugbogs all over as well."

"There's a lot of potential here," his father noted. "It's good land with plenty of space."

Marcus pulled a small bag of scones out of his pocket and offered some to his father. They ate and Marcus told him about Adrian's idea. The four wizards had met up at Malfoy Manor the night before. Theo had gone there, exhausted and quite messy from trying to sort through the explosion, to talk to Draco about the impact of the disaster on their work. Adrian found Marcus and took him over there as well, so they could talk. They all agreed that fixing up the house so Hermione could at least stay there the coming weekend would be the best gift they could get her. Adrian and Draco arranged for pest control and repair wizards to come out to the house. A veritable army of House-elves was also supposed to descend upon the area as well. Just as Marcus was telling his father about the elf invasion, one of the Flint family elves popped into the garden next to them.

"Can Mipsy be getting anything for the Masters?" the little creature asked.

"Mipsy! When did you get here?" Marcus wondered. The elf had startled both of them.

"Mipsy is coming with all the others before the sun was rising up."

"How did you get past the wards?" Marcus' father wondered.

"Elves is not worrying about such things. It was only taking a few seconds to go through. The impressive Mister Nott, his house is taking minutes to get into."

Marcus wondered if Theo's dad had ever talked to their House-elves about wards. The little creatures didn't seem to find them at all daunting.

"How is it going inside?" Marcus wondered. "Will it take long to clean?"

"We will be finished cleaning today, Master. Elves is not lazy. The first floor is being done in the next two hours, upstairs by tea time, and then attics and cellar by dark."

Mipsy looked a little offended at the idea that it may take them some time to get the old house spic and span. Marcus just chuckled and shook his head. He always thought House-elves were a queer lot.

Marcus gave his broom to his father to take home and Apparated directly to Blaise's house. Blaise had sent Theo an owl late last night, letting him know Hermione wouldn't be returning to the castle, so he didn't worry.

Marcus strode into Blaise's dining room, his eyes automatically searching out his witch. She was just sitting down and Marcus glimpsed the tight black leather trousers she wore.