FicWad

Chapter Twenty Seven: Two Sides of the Same Coin

"So why are we going down to the kitchen in the dead of night again?" asked Harry in an irritable voice a slightly irritable voice.

"Because there less than a chance of being caught in the night then during the day," said Hailey before rolling her eyes at her brother.

"I still think we really shouldn't be doing this, what if you get caught?" asked Harry. "You really don't need to get any more detentions than you have recently. I think you may have broken a couple of records for the most detentions given by one teacher with all the trouble you have caused in Snape's class."

"Come on, Harry, where's your Marauder spirit?" asked Hailey.

"I sold it for three magical beans sometime during my second year," said Harry in a dull, dead pan yet sarcastic voice. "No seriously, just be careful. The only reason I'm coming along is to make sure you don't attempt to break into Snape's office and get in trouble again."

"We're here," said Hailey before reaching forward and tickling the pear on the painting before it opened.

"I won't even ask you how you knew how to do that," said Harry, shaking his head.

"Fine, don't then," said Hailey. "I want to see if we can rope one of these house elves into pranking Malfoy. I was looking that Potions book of yours the other day Harry and..."

"So that's where it when, you swiped it from me when I wasn't looking," said Harry. "I've been looking for that for weeks"

"I didn't swipe it, I'm merely borrowing it," said Hailey rolling her eyes.

"You took it without my permission, so yes you did swipe it," said Harry as they walked into the kitchen, seeing hundreds of house elves busying themselves.

"Anyway, if I can drop this Potion in Malfoy's drink, I can turn him into the animal he most closely resembles," said Hailey. "Which is either a jackass or judging by that one class you had with Moody, a ferret."

"There's just one small problem with you pulling this prank on Malfoy," said Harry. "The fact being you can't make a potion to save your life."

Argh, don't remind me, I’m completely dense in the area of Potions I admit that," said Hailey. "Of course, not as dense as you were until this afternoon about your feelings for Ginny so..."

"That was a low blow, the cheapest of all cheap shots, rubbing that up in my face," said Harry in a quiet tone of voice. Harry was still mentally smacking himself about the fact that he took so long to realize Ginny was the one he wanted to ask to the Yule Ball. "I did in fact come around. Granted it took a long time but..."

"I think these house elves are looking around like something is strange," said Hailey. "I think we need to take off the Invisibility cloak before we freak them all out or something. Even through that would be a pretty entertaining prank."

Harry pulled off the cloak and it wasn't off a few seconds when he heard a familiar, excited voice.

"Harry Potter, sir, Dobby has been waiting so long but Harry Potter has finally come to visit Dobby," said the voice.

Harry spun around seeing the house elf he had tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing. Dobby was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, a pair of soccer shorts, and two very odd, mismatched socks.

"Hello Dobby, I must say it's nice to see you again," said Harry.

"No, sir, the pleasure is all Dobby's, sir," said Dobby. "Harry Potter, Dobby must say that Dobby had been scouring the country, looking for work since Harry Potter, sir is be freeing Dobby. Unfortunately, no wizard wanted to hire Dobby because Dobby is being free and wanting to be paid now."

"Why shouldn't you be paid, Dobby?" asked Hailey as all of the house elves cringed as if Hailey had mortally offended them. "Effin' cheapskate humans, always thinking they can get a free ride."

"Well miss, Dobby wouldn't really put it that way but..." said Dobby with a grin before trailing off. "Anyways, Dobby came to visit his friend Winky but Dobby be informed that Winky had been freed too. So Dobby be thinking where could two free elves be finding work. The answer is of course, Harry Potter, sir, Hogwarts."

"Winky's working here too," said Harry before dropping his voice to low. "I heard that she didn't take it too well when Mr. Crouch fired her."

"No, Harry Potter, sir, Winky still not taking it well but she is here, to get work," said Dobby. "Anyway, we's be coming to Professor Dumbledore about work. He said if Dobby and Winky be wanting payment than Dobby and Winky be getting paying."

"Dumbledore hired you, eh, that's mighty sporting of him," said Harry, but his Slytherin paranoia sense was wondering if the Headmaster had an ulterior motive in hiring the two house elves. "Exactly how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you Dobby?"

"Oh, Harry Potter, sir, how generous of you to be asking about Dobby's well being!" exclaimed Dobby, his face gushing over with pride. "To be answering your question sir, Dobby is being paid one Galleon a month and a day off. Originally, Harry Potter, sir, Professor Dumbledore be offering Dobby weekends off and ten Galleons a month."

Dobby shuddered at the prospect of such riches.

"But that is being too much for Dobby to handle, Harry Potter sir," said Dobby.

"So what about Winky and where is she?" asked Harry, looking interested.

"Over there by the fire, sir," said Dobby in a whisper. "Like Dobby be saying, Winky isn't really holding up all too well."

Harry looked over. Winky had reasonable clothes on, nothing like the mismatch clothes that were worn by Dobby. Still it was stained and she was sitting on a stool, drinking a butterbeer.

"Harry Potter sir, such an honor to meet you," slurred Winky. "Winky is sorry sir that you's be having to see such a pathetic disgrace for a house elf. Winky is nothing but a failure to Mr. Crouch, her beloved master, and she let, she let, Winky can't be saying but she failed Mr. Crouch."

"Now, Winky, Mr. Crouch was the one who fired you, you didn't do anything to be considered a failure," reprimanded Harry but this was the wrong thing to say as Winky began to wail madly.

"Winky is be knowing the truth Harry Potter, sir and she knows that Harry Potter, sir is trying to be nice, he doesn't like to put anyone down and Winky has heard tales of your greatness from Dobby," said Winky. "Winky being dismal failure to her Master and now she is being punished accordingly. Winky just be hoping that Master can manage..."

"I'm sure most people manage just find without house elves, after all it's not Muggles have ever used them," said Hailey.

"Not just house work and not just taking care of Mr. Crouch, he not being managing without Winky," slurred Winky. "Winky being protecting something that could get Master into loads of trouble. Master ordered Winky to tell none no matter what..."

"What did Mr. Crouch not order you to tell Winky?" asked Harry his curiosity getting the better of him as it peaked to an all time high, as he wondered what a rule abiding person like Crouch could possibly be hiding.

"Yes do tell," said Hailey in an attempt to help her brother to get Winky to spill the beans.

"No, with all do respect, you be nosing, you be attempting pry just like that nosy Jorkins women," said Winky before her eyes going wide. "Bad Winky, Winky shouldn't have been telling you that. Winky is disgraced, Winky is..."

Without another word, Winky slid off the stool, passing out due to consuming too much butterbeer and going to sleep. The other house elves looked at Winky with disgust as if she was some kind of liability.

"We is being really sorry you's be seeing that, sir and miss," said one of the house elves in a squeaky voice. "We's being assuring you that we are not like Winky and hope you will not judge us all."

"Come on, I think we've seen enough here," said Harry.

"But Harry, I haven't had a chance to steal any food..." whined Hailey.

"Do it another night," said Harry in a very Splinter-esq. tone of voice that left no room for argument whatsoever.

"Fine," said Hailey, crossing her arms and frowning as she got back underneath the invisibility cloak with her brother.

"So I wonder what Crouch was doing that Winky was forbidden to tell," said Harry. "Still, the name Jorkins sounds vaguely familiar, I just can't place it."

"I can, it's the name of that Ministry worker that went missing in Albania," said Hailey frowning. "You don't think..."

"I'm not sure, but I really can't see Crouch or anyone related to him connected to Voldemort," said Harry. "Still, unless Crouch decides to tell us what he has been up to or Winky let's something else slip, we have little chance of finding out what's been going on."

"I suppose you may be right, Harry," said Hailey sleepily.

Lily Potter was extremely frustrated. She was on the last library on the list of magical libraries in North America and she hadn't found anything on reversing the rituals for Horcruxes except for that book that Voldemort had his hands on years and years ago.

Lily shivered from the cold; the last library was in an extremely cold region of Northern Canada. She knew they placed these magical libraries in such desolate regions so Muggles couldn't accidentally come upon them. Still, she didn't care for the cold climate of Canada all too much.

She arrived to see a sinister looking sign which was written in French. A quick translation spell revealed the following text:

Beware foolish mortals. All who enter this dwelling shall perish at the fangs of the French Canadian Vampire legions and become one with us.

She had heard of this particular group of vampires. They were among some of the most fanatical Voldemort supporters in all of Canada during the first war. Still as Lily looked around, it appeared to be safe and no one had been here for years so she ignored the warnings as she stepped inside looking around on the shelves, using a scanning spell of her own creation to scan for anything that might contain the word "Horcrux". After a few minutes, she pulled a very dusty looking, brown book off the shelf, looking through the book. Finally, something went right as there were detailed instructions on how to reverse the Horcrux rituals and return the soul fragments back towards the original soul.

"I found it," said Lily in triumph. "About time I caught a lucky break..."

"Human, you have dared enter the scared domain of the French Canadian Vampire Legion so you will perish at our fangs," said a sinister voice with a bit of a French accent.

Lily turned around and it should be very apparent which parent Harry gets his extremely bad luck from. A group of very pissed of vampires looking ready to rip out her throat for taking that book. They had extremely pale skin that made Lucius Malfoy look like he was tan, white blond hair, and bloodshot eyes that were filled with rage.

"Return what is stolen human," said the vampire coldly.

"No, I can sense this one is extremely powerful, we shall turn her to our cause," said another vampire.

"Yes, human, there is nothing you can do to stop us, we will make you one of us," said a third vampire, baring his fangs which were tinged with blood.

Thankfully, Lily was all too used to keeping her head in a crisis and recalled a spell that she had learned during her time as an Unspeakable that was useful in neutralizing these vampires.

"Sol Solis!" yelled Lily, sending a jet of light that was nearly comparable to the sun in intensity.

The vampires wilted underneath the light, extremely weakened. Lily slipped out the door, she knew the effects of the spell would only last a few minutes and it was an extremely draining spell to cast. Only a precious few could ever hope to cast it.

"Attempt to shrug off the effects my brothers," said one of the vampires. "We must not lose her or that tome; we were keeping it safe for the one known as Voldemort, so he could acquire it along with the other one which he found."

Lily wasn't going to make it easy; she set a jet of green fire right by the front entrance of the library before running as fast as she could outside of the anti-apparation wards. She slipped outside and disapparated to safety with a crack. As she had what she had came for, Lily felt it wasn't such a good idea to stick around to incur the wrath of these vampires any further than she absolutely had to.

The next few weeks went by rather quickly, as all anyone could talk about was the Yule Ball. It amused Harry how all anyone could talk about is speculating who everyone else's dates were for the Yule Ball. Of course, Harry didn't pay anyone too much mind about who was going with whom to the dance as he felt in his mind that no one could get a more perfect date then he could.

"Harry, I need to ask you something," said Ginny in the hallway one day less than a week before the Yule Ball.

"What Ginny?" asked Harry curiously.

"Can you think of anyone who might want to go with Ron, because he came up to me yesterday, practically begging me to find him a date for the Yule Ball?" asked Ginny. "It would be kind of amusing if he didn't look so horrified that everyone in his dormitory has dates but him."

"Really," said Harry frowning, attempting to rack his brain for a suitable date for his friend's brother before pulling his two way mirror out of his pocket. "Hailey, are you there?"

A minute later, Hailey's confused face appeared in the mirror.

"Yeah, Harry, what is it?" asked Hailey.

"Hailey, I need you to do me a big, big favor," said Harry. "I kind of hate to ask you this, but Ron Weasley was practically begging Ginny to find him a date for the Yule Ball and..."

"Harry, I can't," said Hailey. "Someone's already asked me."

"Wait someone already asked you," said Harry coolly, slipping in his overprotective older brother mode. "Mind if I ask who?"

"Why do you want to know?" asked Hailey frowning. She had visions of her brother chasing her date around with a katana in her head.

"Harry, it's not anyone that you'd want to kill on principle," said Ginny. "I mean, it's not Malfoy or anyone."

"Well, as long it's not Malfoy," said Harry. "Who is it Hailey?"

"Neville Longbottom," said Hailey calmly, but bracing herself for the worst.

"Oh good, I thought for a minute it would be someone that I'd have to kill on principle," said Harry.

"You mean you're okay with this," said Hailey.

"It is your business after all, I'm just being concerned," said Harry before dropping his voice so only Harry, Ginny, and himself could here. "After all Mum did make me promise to look after you and I gave her my word of honor that I would. Still, I do wonder how this came about?"

"Well, we were in Detention together, three guesses which teacher that was for and the first two don't count," said Hailey. "He kind of came up to me, really nervous but it was really cute that he drummed up the courage to ask me. Of course, I was only his second choice but I'll kindly overlook that as I wouldn't be able to go to the Yule Ball otherwise. Of course, most of the boys in this school could be afraid that you'd break their legs Harry for merely thinking about asking me but I'm really not one to make groundless accusations."

"I'm not that intimidating, am I?" asked Harry.

"Let's see, you've survived Voldemort countless times, you slayed a Basilisk, you've held your own against a hundred Dementors," said Hailey. "So yes, I'd say people may be a little bit intimidated with you."

"Back to Ron, I’m open to suggestions," said Ginny.

"I've got it," said Harry. "Maybe if we ask Hermione really, really nicely, she might grit her teeth and go to the Yule Ball with Ron. It's a potential suicide mission and she might throw a fit for even suggesting it to her due to the fact she thinks Ron is the most immature boy on earth but it's worth a shot."

"Can't Harry," said Ginny. "Hermione kind of does have a date for the ball."

"Yeah, she was Neville's first choice to ask to the Yule Ball but she turned him down on grounds that she had a date," said Hailey.

"How come I wasn't informed of this?" asked Harry. "You two know everything. I knew Daphne and Theodore were going to the Yule Ball together..."

"Yes, it was kind of an accident that I found out and she swore me to secrecy," said Ginny. "All, I'm going to say is I really couldn't believe she was going with him, if I didn't see it with my own eyes."

"Okay, back to the matter at hand," said Harry. "Ron, the one who decides to the last minute to get a date and then begs his sister to do so. I'm kind of at a loss."

"Problem Harry," said a dreamy voice behind Harry and Ginny.

"Luna, I'd really wish you'd keep sneaking up on us like that," said Harry. "I'd also wish I knew how you sneak up behind us."

"I wish I knew how I snuck up behind you too, Harry, it is quite a vexing mystery and would make an excellent article for the Quibbler if we could ever decipher what was happening," said Luna. "Anyway, it seems to me that you have a problem."

"Yes, unfortunately," said Ginny sighing. "My brother didn't want to drum up the courage to ask a date to the Yule Ball and then he panicked when everyone else in his dormitory had a date to the Yule Ball."

"I would be correction in the assumption that you'd be talking about Ronald," said Luna in an indifferent tone of voice.

"Of course," said Ginny. "Do any of my other brother's look like they have the maturity of a newborn baboon?"

"Well no, although a study should be run on that before we pinpoint that fact down for sure," said Luna. "Still, I do have a similar problem of my own. A boy has yet to ask me to the Yule Ball. A cruel person might think because I'm considered a bit, loony, but I can't say for sure. So perhaps we could in turn solve each others problems."

"So you'd go to the ball with Ron, Luna," said Harry, hoping he interpreted the slightly eccentric girl right.

"Sure, why not," said Luna. "It could be an interesting educational experience to be in close contact with a less evolved member of the opposite sex in a public event."

Harry nodded; it was best just to agree with Luna.

"Thank you Luna, you're a lifesaver," said Ginny breathing a sigh of relief.

"So tell Ronald that I'll be meeting him outside the Gryffindor Common Room at seven o' clock in the evening on the night of the Yule Ball," said Luna before wandering off.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other with relief, that problem was solved by excellent teamwork between the two. This event served as a perfect example of how well Ginny and Harry worked together to solve a problem. They were like two sides of a coin. If one side was missing, a coin would be completely useless.

Without each other, Harry and Ginny couldn't hope to accomplish as much as they did when they were together. The world would come to realize that all too soon how much these two could achieve together.