Harry Potter - Fanfiction

Year 4 - Beauxbatons & Durmstrang

The end of the week draws to a close uneventfully, as I sit in the courtyard Sunday afternoon after lunch; finishing up my Charms essay.

Draco and Tracey eventually got to me after the Wednesday incident with Moody and were certainly glad to hear that I am alright. Draco even offered to complain about Moody to his father, but I told him rather not, seeing that he will only be here for a year before leaving again. I had to remind them both that I did ask for it. Which afterwards they were very keen to ask me all sorts of questions on how it felt being placed under the curses.

I sign the bottom of my parchment, finished with the essay. Rolling it up I see Hermione walking over with a box in her hands.

"Hey," she says as she sits down next to me.

"Hi," I answer cautiously, hoping she isn't here for another one of her famous lectures.

"I want to apologize for the other day, you're right it's none of my business who you are friends with, and I had no right sticking my nose into your friendship with Malfoy," she says curtly.

"Alright, apology accepted," I answer, slightly speechless. It certainly is a rare occasion for my sister to apologize and admit she was wrong.

She opens the box she is carrying, taking out a badge and handing it to me. It has a dark purple background with bold green and silver letters: S.P.E.W.

"What's spew?" I ask confused.

"Honestly," she huffs. "Does no one notice the dots making it into an acronym. It's S-P-E-W. It stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Firstly, nowadays acronyms are more pronounced as a word in contrast to an initialism, that's why. And is this because of the incident you told me about that happened at the World Cup?"

She nods. "Yes, partly."

"Hermione, you do know that there are hundreds of house elves working at Hogwarts?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

She clears her throat briefly. "I have recently been made aware of this yes. And that's one of the main reasons why I created this organisation."

"You created it?" I gasp.

"Yes, why?" she answers abruptly.

"No reason." I shake my head slightly. "It's just they are happy working here, are you trying to set them all free?"

"No... Our short-term aims are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulations and Control of Magical Creatures because they're shockingly underrepresented."

"Hermione, the house elves don't want fair wages. I mean they could possibly do less of the beatings some of them receive from their owners... And themselves," I add scrunching up my nose.

"Oh yes, that can fall part of our short-term aims as well. Can't believe I forgot that one," she answers, quickly ravaging through my bag for a pen and parchment.

"Sure, help yourself," I add sarcastically.

Once she is done scribbling down the details, she hands me back my quill. "Will you help recruit more people? I was thinking two Sickles to join, that buys a badge, and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign."

"How many people have joined so far?"

"With you joining, four. I've got Harry and Ron on board as well," she answers.

"I'll see what I can do."

She leans forward and gives me a hug. "Thank you!"

As she stands up, we hear Dumbledore's voice speaking from behind us, "Hermione and Nyx Granger."