Perhaps it was a good time to begin the journey back through the forest once the sun was beginning to sink into the horizon. y/n found herself on the banks of a quaint stream, perfectly fine listening to the trickling of the water as it continued on its predestined path to the ocean. It was a rather hot day in Ingatestone and so she had spent most of her time wading through the creek and reading a new book that had found its way into her hands after an adventure into her library.

After turning the final page of "Sonnets of a Sorcerer", y/n packed the book into her rucksack and bid the stream farewell, but not before almost trodding on a lime green snake that was slithering by. y/n fell down trying to avoid stepping on the serpent and was preparing to be struck, but the snake just looked at her, dead in the eyes. Not with anger, not with fear, it just, looked at her. y/n couldn't take her eyes of the creature. It had raised its head and the first third of its body to be at the same eye level as y/n. She swallowed nervously and nodded to the serpent, kind of a way of saying "thanks for not biting me". What surprised her even more, was that the snake bowed its head in response, before slithering away into the forest. How peculiar, must be a magical snake. After that little encounter. y/n was ready for a warm cup of tea and some dinner to finish what had been a nice relaxing day. She could only get some peace if she left the manor.

After the events at the end of her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dumbledore saw it fit to send an owl to her grandmother informing her of what happened between her, Harry and Quirrell. Needless to say, there wasn't a minute where she wasn't being fussed over. Her grandmother was constantly checking in on her which would be fine if it wasn't every other minute. So it was understandable that y/n had tried to spend the first week of her Summer out of the house, most of it was spent in the forest. y/n was still very opposed to the "no magic outside school" rule. The fun she could have had with just the wave of her wand! But alas, y/n was practically living like a squib.

It was just about dark when she arrived at the gates to l/n manor. The wrought iron details framed the gate and continued to weave along the fence bordering the property. y/n didn't see the need for such borders, no muggle had ever stumbled across this place, and if they did, there would be no way for them to get through the gate. Her father had supposedly put the charm in place all those years ago before the war, to defend himself and his family. Didn't really do much in the long run though.

y/n found her Grandmother in the sitting room, writing on some parchment, probably a letter, with the fire lit despite the heat of the day. "Oh! y/n! You're finally back!" she cooed happily once she heard y/n walk into the room, "Did you have a nice day? No problems I hope?"

Again with the over protectiveness. "Yeah it was nice, everything was fine," y/n insisted not wanting her grandmother to worry, but also because she wanted to take a cup of tea and write to her friends up in her room. Alone.

"Good, good. Well, supper shall be ready soon, I'll call you down when it's time to eat," Martha said, smiling sweetly. y/n returned a grin and then dashed up to her room, just in case her grandma wasn't finished with conversation. Her tea was brewed, her pyjamas were on, and she was ready for a night of blissful nothing.

------)OOO(------

In the next few hours, y/n got bored of doing nothing so went down to the library. IN the corner of the grand hall, was her writing desk, parchment and quills, seals and envelopes read to go. Nimbus had followed her down and jumped up onto her lap as she sat down, ready to write. He had grown a lot in the year she had had him. He was now too big to hide in her jumper so he would have to ride in a cage, or y/n would take the risk of just bringing him on the train. But he was too cheeky ad restless and would just end up getting lost.

y/n took out a quill and dipped it into some ink , preparing her letter She was about to make contact with the parchment when she realised that she didn't know who she was writing to. She hadn't received any letters all holidays. Not even from Hermione who had sworn she would write the day after school ended. Her minded jumped to the worst case scenario and she just sort of assumed that they didn't want to talk to her anymore. Why else would they ignore the letters she sent?

But y/n being the stubborn girl she was, still persisted and wrote to Harry. She had already written to him 4 times and even invited him to stay at her house. She felt so sorry for the boy, being stuck in a house with those muggles, the Dursleys. Even the name held a sense of disgust. The letter didn;t really say anything important, just a check up. Even if he didn't write back she wanted him to know that she was thinking of him. She was thinking of all of them. Hermione, Ron, Neville even. She also considered writing to Draco Malfoy, but dismissed the idea immediately. He was probably too busy enjoying the rich life to even read a letter anyway.

After signing her name, y/n called for their owl, Hector, to go and deliver it to Harry. She tied the letter to his foot and gave him a stroke before sending him on his way. She watch the bird fly into the night as she leaned out the window of the second floor of the Library. But before she could relax for once, and snapping sound came from below her. Her ears perked up at the sudden noise and looked down at the lower floor cautiously. At first, she thought Nimbus had kicked something over, but that theory was beaten when he jumped up onto the railing next to her.

Slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible, y/n crept down the stairs and looked around for any sounds of intruders, but saw no evidence of anyone but her and Nimbus being there. y/n felt the hairs on her arms prick up, adrenaline pumping through her. She knew she couldn't use it, but she drew her wand, preparing to defend herself in a life threatening situation. But she hoped it wouldn't come to that. Suddenly, the thump of a book hitting the ground echoed from a near by row of books. She walked towards the noise and found the book lying on the ground. y/n put it back in the shelf and continued through the maze of shelves.

She heard the small pitter-patter of feet racing a head of her. She quickly followed it, winding through each row until she ran straight into something. y/n fell down and then looked at what she ran into. A house elf. The elf screamed which made y/n scream. They screamed for a while until they both ran out of breathe and just looked at each other. The small elf had enormous eyes and large bat-like ears. it wore a old pillow case as clothes and was very scared. Just then, y/ns grandma called from downstairs, alarmed by the screaming. "y/n?! Is everything alright?!"

y/n looked at the house elf. Yes they were small but their tiny bodies housed a lot of powerful magic. The house eld put its fingers to its mouth and borught his hands together, begging y/n to not turn him in. y/n saw that he wouldn't harm her so she replied, "I'm fine! Just - just a good book!" lying easily.

"Well, ok then! Just try to keep it down!"

y/n smiled at getting away with it but then remembered the house elf who had some hoe broken into her house. She stood up, now towering over the small creature. He seemed to back away a bit, most likely intimidated by the witch. "Ok, who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she said quickly, angry but also curious.

"Oh yes Miss l/n. My name is Dobby. Dobby the house elf," Said Dobby stooping into a low bow.

"Alright, but what are you - hang on, how do you know who I am ?" y/n asked very confused.

"Dobby has heard y/n l/n's name many times miss. Dobby knows much of Miss l/n's greatness," Dobby replied, fiddling with his hands awkwardly.

"My greatness? Who told you that?"

"Mr Potter, Miss. Harry Potter spoke very highly of you."

y/n's eye widened, "Harry? You've seen Harry? How is he, is he okay? y/n went off speaking at a million miles an hour but grew sombre. Harry probably didn't care enough about her to even spare her a thought. All of her friends had most likely forgotten her.

Dobby looked like he was uncomfortable so y/n invited him to sit down. But the only response sh got was wailed sobs from the House Elf. "Dobby!" she yelled trying to get him to be quiet. Dobby immediatly shut up at her harsh tone and looked y/n with fear swimming in his huge eyes. y/n felt guilty for raising her voice, he hadn't done anything and house elves were known for being emotional at any hint of politeness towards them. "I'm sorry for yelling at you Dobby. Just, come and sit so you can explain it all to me. The house elf nodded, and she thought it only calmed him down because it was more of a request for him to sit rather than an invitation.

Once they had taken a seat in front of the fire, and Dobby had blown his nose on his pillow case rags, he began to speak. "Dobby has heard of your greatness Miss, but never has he been treated like an equal by a pure-blood like yourself."

"Well, most pure-bloods are stuck up pricks aren't they?" y/n said chuckling a bit trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, they are," Dobby replied but his face soon fell and he got up and grabbed a candle stick from the coffee table, "That was a terrible thing to say," he then proceeded to bash the candle stick against his head. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" he yelled over and over again. y/n quickly jumped up and pried the candle stick from his little hands.

"Are you alright?" She aksed, looking at the bruise that was already forming on his forehead.

"Dobby had to punish himself, Miss. Dobby almost spoke ill of his family Miss." He explained, stumbling back to his chair.

"So your family are pure-bloods then?" y/n asked

"Yes, Dobby is bound to serve one family for the rest of his days, Miss. If they ever knew Dobby was here..." Dobby shuddered. y/n knew that if he had bee caught, he would be punished. "But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect y/n l/n and Harry Potter."

"Protect us from what?" y/n asked, concerned know for herself and Harry.

"y/n l/n must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year. There is a plot. A plot to make most terrible things happen."

"A plot? What sort of plot? Who's plotting them?" y/n quickly asked

"Can't say" Dobby manages to choke out. "Don't make me talk." He tried to lunge at a large book but y/n grabs him by his rags and pulls him close to her face.

"Dobby, I don't care what plot is being plotted. Hogwarts is the only place I can be me! The only place I have friends!" She said looking directly into his large marble eyes.

"Friends that don't even care enough to write to y/n l/n?" Dobby said, eyeing y/n carefully. He knew something y/n didn't and y/n hated not knowing. She dropped Dobby to the ground and looked down at him.

"What do you know?" y/n growled and Dobby got to his feet, cowering away.

"y/n l/n mustn't be angry with Dobby." He began. He reached for something behind him in his rags and pulled out a large wad of letters. y/n's letters. "Dobby hoped if y/n l/n thought her friends had forgotten her, she might not want to go back to school, Miss." Dobby was backing away towards the door, but y/n needed those letters.

"Dobby. If you know what's good for you, you'll give me those, now," y/n said in a low voice, holding out her hand for the letters. But Dobby was too determined to keep them.

"NO!" he shouted and darted away into the labyrinth of books. y/n chased after him, but he was too quick to catch. At least, that's what she thought when she, yet again, ran straight into him. y/n quickly caught hold of Dobby's pillowcase and pulled him close.

"Dobby! Why am I in danger? Why can't I go back?" she said

"Dobby is sorry but he cannot say. Please head Dobby's warning and stay home!" AND then with a snap of his fingers, Dobby and y/n's letters were gone.

y/n trudged back to the chairs where they were previously sat and fell into one, defeated. y/n couldn't possibly not return. She now knew that it was just Dobby blocking her letters but why? Why couldn't she go back? y/n felt like the events at the end of last year, were only the beginning of a looming catastrophe.

------)OOO(------

First chapter out and I'm so happy with it! I hope you liked it as well! If so, please vote, add the story to your library so you know when I update and if you're feeling really nice, chuck me a follow! Get keen for this story, it's gonna get intense.

Have a good day loves! ❤

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