Chapter 27

Harry was at a loss as to what to do. Thankfully, Hermione was not. Shooing a disgruntled Crookshanks off her lap, she hurried over from the opposite couch and sat on the other side of the crying girl, before quickly wrapping her in her arms. Daphne buried her face in Hermione's shoulder, and cried her eyes out.

Crookshanks decided to return to 'his' seat on the armchair.

Not knowing whether to stay where he was, or go back and sit on the other couch, Harry thought it might be best to stay until one of the two of them told him otherwise.

He looked over Daphne's head at Hermione with such a look of confusion, Hermione smiled at him and gestured for him to stay. All the while, she was making calming noises for Daphne.

Once the girl had calmed down a bit, Hermione softly said to Harry, "Could you go and... wait a minute."

Utterly confused, Harry just looked back while Hermione got that look that told Harry she thought she'd been stupid about something.

She turned her head a little to the side and called, "Dobby!"

Just as Harry's own eyes widened in surprise of his own stupidity, the little elf popped in and asked, "Does the great Harry Potter sir's Grangy need Dobby?"

"Yes; thank you, Dobby," Hermione said to the little fellow. "Can you get me a cool moist flannel and a calming draught?"

"Certainly, Miss Grangy," replied Dobby. He popped away and was back a few moments later with a small clean white towel, damp with chilled water; and the required draught.

Accepting them, Hermione said, "Thank you, Dobby. Now, I think Harry needs to ask you something." Then she gave Harry a very pointed look before she gave the potion to Daphne to drink, as she used the small towel to wipe the girl's face and the back of her neck.

Dobby turned to Harry with a curious expression on his face. "What does the great Harry Potter Sir need to be asking Dobby?"

Giving himself a bit of mental smack in the head for not thinking of it earlier, Harry asked the loyal little elf, "Dobby, would you like to bond with me as my house elf?"

It was as if all of the little creature's Christmases had come at once. The elf practically glowed with joy. "Yes!" he practically cried, before diving forward and hugging Harry around his knees.

There was a glow as an elf-bond formed between the two and Dobby backed off. With a bow and downcast face, the little elf asked, "How may Dobby be helping Master next?"

"Alright," said Harry. "First things first. I order you in perpetuity to call me 'Harry' in private or if I'm only with Hermione or Daphne. Second; I do not believe you should be wearing that disgusting old pillowcase. I'd like to see you in something far more utilitarian and befitting the position of house elf to Harry Potter."

Harry thought about a couple of different ideas as Dobby stared back at him, eye-to-eye.

Suddenly, with a grin, Dobby broke the connection and snapped his fingers. With a flash of magic he was wearing what, to Harry, appeared to be what the United States or Canadian military called urban battle dress fatigues, or something. He wore cargo-style pants with matching long-sleeved jacket and cap in a mottled pattern made of black, dark greys, lighter greys and minimal white, over soft black boots. Instead of a country's flag on his shoulder, he wore a family crest. When Harry looked closer at it, he realised it said 'Potter' on a small banner directly below it.

"I have a house crest,' he numbly thought. "And, I didn't even know!'

Gathering his thoughts, again, he asked the little elf, "Are you happy to wear this, Dobby?"

"Oh; yes, Master Harry!" Dobby replied. "All the other elveses will be so jealous!"

"Errr... well, as long as you're happy with it," said Harry. "Because, I like it too."

Dobby then popped away, and was back a few moments later with three goblets of pumpkin juice. Before anyone could say anything, he was gone again.

Turning back to the two girls he saw Hermione look back with amusement, and Daphne looking back at him with confused shock.

"Harry," Daphne asked, "How is it you bonded with the little elf, and then had him wearing clothes, but didn't immediately sever the bond again?"

"I didn't sever the bond because I didn't give Dobby clothes," said Harry. "I gave him my impressions of what sort of things I want him to wear, and then let him dress himself that way. I never actually offered him any clothing."

With a bit of a snort that made a bit of a mess, Daphne quickly brought her ever-ready handkerchief out and blew her nose, wiped it and tucked the cloth away again. "Sorry," she murmured to Hermione.

"Whatever for?" asked Hermione.

"I made a mess on you," Daphne replied, gesturing with her hand at the front of Hermione's robes.

Hermione looked down and gave her own amused snort before drawing her wand. A quick swish and muttered 'Evanesco' and the mess was gone.

Hesitating a few moments, the other two knew Daphne still needed to say something; so, gave her the time to gather her thoughts.

"W-we're bonded," sniffled Daphne.

"Yes, we are," said Harry.

"But, it's not complete," she said.

"Daphne," Harry sighed. "You were brave enough to tell us what... happened... just before you died. I'm a bloke; but, even I know that's got to have been a pretty traumatic experience for you.

"A few days ago, relatively speaking, Hermione was eighteen and we were both seventeen. However, now Hermione's almost fifteen and we've just turned fourteen. It's going to take the three of us quite some time to come to terms with that. We don't need to go adding to the difficulties of that with worrying about s-sex."

"You really don't know, do you?" she asked, glancing at him for a moment before turning her eyes downcast once more and answering her own question. "Of course, you don't. You haven't read the book yet. And, I keep forgetting both of you were muggle-raised."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in confusion, but didn't interrupt; knowing she had more to say.

"W-we only initiated the bond, on the train," she went on. "For the bond to... become permanent... requires s-sexual intimacy; the... full sexual intimacy sort."

"You mean sexual intercourse," said Hermione. "Coitus."

"Yeah, I got that," said Harry. "But, we don't need to go there. We've got the protections we needed, now."

"You don't understand," she sobbed a little. "Yes, we do! However... thankfully... we don't have to... go there... straight away. But, it's best if there's some sort of intimate contact for some time before the time is ready for the bond to become permanent."

Still not looking up she then asked, "Did you not wonder why bonded couples have the right to an apartment?"

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