The Boy I Love -HEDRIC (2)

80.(C) until you arrived

CEDRIC

LXXXI

The plan was very simple.

Skipping tea time, going straight to the kitchen half an hour after the elves finished their afternoon chores, and asking Dobby to join them at the table.

And Winky.

The first part worked wonderfully.

Dobby had served them glasses of juice, one for himself, with muffins and insisted on setting out more plates than they could ever eat. 

Harry tried a bit of each.

Winky, on the other hand, although close by, refused to sit down.

She saw that as inappropriate and couldn't stop criticizing Dobby for it.

"Too much freedom is unfit for a house elf."

Cedric doubted there was such a thing as too much freedom.

Knowing that she wouldn't accept, he asked her, "What has it been like to start working here at Hogwarts, Winky?"

"Winky don't work, sir, but serve in this institution."

"It must have been a big change…"

"One with great regret. Winky wants to return to her old home. Be sure that Mr. Crouch needs my care. How will he manage without Winky?"

"He must be really busy, considering we haven't seen him here in months," Harry commented, munching on a chocolate chip cookie.

Which attracted the elf's full attention.

"What has happened to my Sir? A lot of work! Stress!"

Harry leaned towards her small figure. "There are some rumors…"

"Which?" She was intrigued. "Mr. Crouch is an honest man."

"We are sorry for coming here and asking you, but…"

"Winky will do everything in her power to clear his image as it should be."

Unsure of Harry's methods, Cedric had no others. 

"It's said there that... that Crouch has joined the other side... the dark side."

Winky covered her mouth with her long hand. "Never! Who would dare to believe something like that? And of my Sir, who has lost everything by staying on the right side? Few have given more than him. If you knew, Harry Potter, you yourself would silence anyone who has the nerve to point a finger at him."

LXXXII

"What do you think Winky was referring to…? What could he have lost?"

They were talking in the hallway after leaving the kitchen without certain results, the doubts and clues increasing together.

"She sounded too sure that Crouch is not a dark wizard," Cedric mused. "Dobby once told me that as long as an elf serves a family, he is unable to reveal their secrets. Once free…"

"They have the right to talk as much as they want, but he still prefers not to."

"Winky is no longer under Crouch's command."

"She did sound sure… except we saw his name, Ced, on the map. It's the only explanation. He can't do something like that without having decided to switch sides. Maybe Winky wouldn't have imagined it."

"I think I know who to ask."

Even though his father didn't usually talk about anything work-related with him, it was worth the try.