Harry Potter The Final Straw

Ginny smiled up at Neville and returned his gesture by kissing his cheek and saying, "Morning, luv. Ron was apologizing to the rug over there instead of to Harry and Hermione." as she pointed at the hearthrug.

Neville looked over at Ron, who was still studying the rug, his voice held a bit of heat as he said, "It's not us, or that blasted rug, that you need to apologize to. It's Harry and Hermione." Standing up, Neville helped Ginny up from her seat and without another word, the two teens left the common room together.

In a historical moment at Hogwarts, Ron Weasley would voluntarily miss a meal while he was deep in thought over his damaged relationship with Harry and Hermione.

Fred and George Weasley had been planning their annual end of the year prank for the past two weeks and they were prepared to set it off during breakfast.

At the Granger's house, Harry and Hermione were getting ready for Dobby to take them back to Hogwarts for their final day of classes to the amusement of the adults.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted up the stairs, "Hurry up, we have to get going!"

Everyone was gathered in the foyer to see the teens off to school when Hermione had dashed upstairs to grab something.

Curious, John asked, "Does she do this often?"

Turning to face his father-in-law, Harry smiled as he said, "Oh, about once a day she will run off to do, or get, something without an explanation."

"Her mother is the same way. Drives me absolutely barmy." John deadpanned.

"John!" Annabelle hissed as she slapped his arm in mock annoyance. She turned to face Harry and said, "It's usually something that I know my forgetful husband is going to need."

John was mock glaring at his wife, Remus, Sirius, and Dora were chuckling, and Andromeda was giving Ted a knowing look that conveyed that she had to do the same thing regularly.

Blushing, Harry decided to play it safe and said, "Right, then."

Hermione came bounding down the steps with Harry's book bag in her hand. When she handed it to him the adults all started laughing aloud. Confused, she turned to a red-faced Harry and asked, "Why is everyone laughing."

Accepting the bag, Harry said, "Thank you. I forgot that Dobby brought all of our stuff here."

His admission only sent the adults into a larger fit of laughter and deepened his blush.

Composing himself, Sirius stepped forward and put his hand on Harry's shoulder before speaking in a warm voice, "Harry, enjoy your last day of school and prank someone. When you two get home, we have some more to tell you about last night's events."

Harry nodded and waved goodbye to everyone before taking Hermione's hand.

Dobby stepped over to the couple and held out his hands to them. When they were all clasping hands, he disappeared from the Grangers London home with a pop.

They reappeared in the infamous third floor corridor from their first year. Dobby smiled up at his master and mistress and happily said, "When you are ready to return home please call for me."

In stereo the two teens chorused, "Thank you, Dobby." When he had gone, Harry and Hermione headed down to the Great Hall to meet up with Ginny and Neville so they could talk a little before they had to head to class.

As soon as Dobby had returned from dropping Harry and Hermione off at Hogwarts, Sirius asked him, "Dobby, do you know if there is a way to ward a house against other house-elves and magical creatures, especially Phoenixes, to prevent them from getting in?"

The Fidelius Charm had a major flaw in it and they were trying to close all of those gaps. Seeing the tiny elf pop over to Hogwarts and back reminded him of the imperfections of that form of protection.

Dobby looked up at Master Sirius and frowned slightly.

Seconds later, Winky entered the room and walked right up to him and asked, "What do you need, Dobby?"

The little elf pondered the situation; there were ways to safeguard the house magically from intrusion by other elves and magical creatures. It was extremely unheard of for a wizard to ask an elf for help with protections of this nature. "We can put up elf spells to prevent other elves and magical creatures from getting into or finding this house." Dobby said sincerely.

Winky looked up at all of the adults in the room in surprise. Wizards never asked for this type of help but she was quickly realizing that the people in front of her were not your typical wizards and witches. In a formal tone, she said, "I would be honored to help protect the houses in any way that I can."

Annabelle was smiling down at her little friends. She knelt down in front of the two elves and smiled at them before saying, "Thank you very much, the both of you. We would all do anything to protect our families and that includes the two of you as well."

The two elves were blushing heavily as they popped away to begin their spell work around the various houses.

Remus turned to Sirius with a smile on his lined face that took years off his visage, "That was brilliant! What made you think of that?"

Everyone was very interested in Sirius' answer.

A little surprised by the scrutiny, Sirius led everyone back into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting back down. Taking a sip of his hot beverage, he said in a low voice just above a whisper, "I've had a lot of time over the years to think about that specific charm. There were too many holes in it to rely solely upon that type of protection. Why Dumbledore didn't add additional wards and protections to James and Lily's house in Godric's Hollow, I'll never know. I can tell you now that I won't ever make that type of mistake again; the lesson was too painful to ever forget."

He was lost in the depths of his mug, thinking about 'what if's' and it was a few moments before he spoke again. This time, his voice was a bit stronger but it still held a haunted edge, "Seeing Dobby pop right into Hogwarts and then through the Fidelius Charm reminded me that there are other ways of getting past it that most wizards overlook. Voldemort is not most wizards and it's not a chance I'm willing to take with any of our lives."

Annabelle had reached out and placed one of her hands on Sirius' forearm in a gesture of support and thanks. She was too choked up to speak but she understood his fears all too well. Being non-magical worried her if someone were able to get into the house that meant them harm.

Helpfully, Remus said, "Most of the additional wards that we have erected are designed to prevent that very thing from happening, but I think that having the elves add their magic to the wards will be a big help."

John and Annabelle knew exactly what wards were on their house having had that conversation with Remus and Sirius when the first moved in.

Andromeda looked over at her cousin and asked, "What other types of wards have you added?"

.....

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