"Oh," Dobby exclaimed, slightly surprised. "Dobby will be cleaning, but he has another thing he is wanting…"
"Sure, Dobby," Harry said, noticing the elf's discomfort. "What is it you want?"
Dobby shuffled his feet, continuing to look at the ground.
"Dobby has been looking after Winky at Hogwarts; she was given clothes, and she is being very unhappy…"
"And what would you like me to do?" Harry prompted him to continue.
"Dobby wants to bring Winky here so he can…so he can care for her," Dobby said shyly. "Winky is drinking too much butterbeer," he added in an undertone.
Harry thought for a moment. The last thing he needed right now was a drunken house elf stumbling about, but he owed Dobby a lot and wanted to keep him happy.
"Okay, Dobby," said Harry. "If you bring her here, you'll have to make sure she behaves herself and stays out of the way. Are you sure she can't be tracked here? Is she bound to Hogwarts?"
"Oh, yes, Harry Potter Sir," Dobby nodded eagerly. "Winky will be behaving. And she is not being bound to school; she can leave."
"Alright, then," Harry smiled. "Bring her on over."
Dobby returned a beaming smile and popped away.
Now that Harry was alone in the unfamiliar flat, that feeling of surreal weirdness returned to him. Instead of eating breakfast in Hogwarts' Great Hall and preparing for class, he was in a dingy urban flat owned by a total stranger. None of this felt real to him yet.
Finishing his breakfast, he got up and paced anxiously around the small sitting room. He had spent hours figuring out a way to get safely out of Hogwarts, but he had given little thought to where he would go next. The immediate problem had been how to get out of Dumbledore's clutches. Now that he was free, where could he go?
Dinesh had suggested hiding in the muggle world, but Harry didn't really want to do that. For one thing, he wasn't sure he had the resources to do so. Plus he didn't really like the idea of being alone in the muggle world, friendless and unable to use magic. It appeared that both Dumbledore and Voldemort wanted him dead, and that meant he needed someone—anyone, really—on his side.
No, Harry decided, what he needed was an ally in the wizarding world, someone who wouldn't turn him immediately over to Dumbledore. Someone who could help him gather information. Why did Dumbledore want him dead? Why did he have to die to save the world? And what the bloody hell had the old bastard done to his magic? Harry had no idea what the long term solutions to his problems were—it wasn't as if he could just talk Dumbledore out of sacrificing him—but he did know that the next step was to find help in the wizarding world.
The trouble was where to find that help. Harry wracked his brain, trying to think of people in the wizarding world who might be trustworthy. None of his 'friends' were viable options. The Weasleys were out, for obvious reasons, as were the Hogwarts professors. And there was no telling who had it in for him at the Ministry of Magic.
Harry shook his head in exasperation. Everyone he knew was connected to Dumbledore somehow; the old man had done a thorough job of insulating him from the rest of the world, that was for certain.
He knew that Susan Bones' aunt was head of the DMLE, but didn't know anything else about the woman. Was she connected to Fudge or Dumbledore? Would she immediately take him into 'protective custody?' It was too big a risk to take, considering what was at stake.
Try as he might, Harry could think of only one possible solution to his dilemma: that pink-haired Auror, 'Nymphadora' Tonks.
Harry considered what he knew about her as carefully as he could. She was a member of Dumbledore's Order, but she had saved his life this summer. She technically took her marching orders from the old man, but Harry couldn't envision the irrepressibly cheerful Auror participating in a conspiracy to murder anyone, let alone The-Boy-Who-Lived. But you never dreamed that Hermione would be part of such a thing either, his inner critic chided.
Tonks was connected to the Ministry, but she was sworn to uphold the law. If he could convince her to help him, she might know which of her superiors could help him. And she could just as easily tell her bosses or Dumbledore and set a trap for me, he argued against himself.
What finally settled the matter in Harry's mind was her gift to him. Tonks had given him her old leather wand holster, something that would help him defend himself. If she had wanted him to be defenseless and vulnerable, she would never have given him such a useful gift.
She must not know anything about my situation, thought Harry. She knows she's fighting Voldemort, but the Headmaster hasn't told her what his plans for me are. Harry wondered just how many members of the Order of the Phoenix were aware of their leader's plan to sacrifice Harry to Voldemort. It can't be all of them, can it? he thought worriedly.
Seeing no other alternatives, Harry spent the next three hours carefully penning a letter to Tonks, hoping desperately that she would be willing to meet with him on his terms.
He was still writing when Dinesh returned.
"Well," he asked, "have you figured out what you're going to do?"
Harry sighed and stretched. "I hope so. I can't just go hide in the muggle world. I've got too many people looking for me, and I need some protection. I'm going to try to get in touch with an Auror I met this summer, and pray to Merlin that she doesn't turn me in."
Dinesh was silent for a moment, then said flatly. "That's a terrible plan."
Harry flushed, trying to restrain himself from getting angry at the bluntness of his rescuer. "Well, do you have a better solution? Because I'd love to hear it. I'm doing the best I can here."
Dinesh just shook his head and moved toward his bedroom. "Whatever you do, just don't bring anybody here," he said.
Harry rolled his eyes behind the man's back. "I don't even where 'here' is, and thanks for the advice," he called out sarcastically.
Harry stared at his letter for a few seconds, and finally sighed in resignation. There seemed to be no other options.
"Dobby?"
"Yes, Harry Potter Sir?" he asked, popping into the room.
"Dobby, do you remember that pink-haired Auror who saved me from the dementors this summer?"
"Oh, yes, Harry Potter, Dobby remembers."
"Good. I've got a letter for her that I want you to deliver. Do you think you can find her?"
Dobby paused for a moment to think. "House elves cannot be popping to Ministry, Harry Potter Sir. But Dobby will find her. Dobby promises," he replied, taking the letter from Harry.
A second later he was gone, leaving Harry to wonder whether he'd just made a terrible mistake.
I wonder if that other elf is around here somewhere, he mused distractedly.
.....
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