Hermione had actually known for some time what Draco was planning.
What she had not expected was for him to move so quickly. She had assumed it would be a while before he did anything, at the very least not until after they graduated from Hogwarts.
After all, even with Dobby helping him, persuading those house-elves, who were stubborn in their own way, was never going to be easy in such a short time.
Just look at her own House-elf Welfare Association. It had produced no visible results at all, and she had already run into no end of difficulties.
And building an intelligence network of their own was an even taller order...
Even though Hermione understood perfectly well how difficult it would be, she had no intention of pointing it out, because she knew Draco could not possibly have missed that himself.
If he was doing this, then he had to be confident.
That only made Hermione all the more curious about what kind of task Draco had given Dobby.
Blinking, she leaned close to Draco's ear. "What are you planning to do? House-elves won't leave Hogwarts, and there's no way you can become their master."
The simplest approach would be to have the house-elves directly acknowledge a master.
But the moment the thought crossed her mind, Hermione found it so absurd that she nearly laughed at herself for even saying it.
Still, she could have spoken normally, yet instead she had deliberately leaned in to whisper by Draco's ear, even going so far as to drape herself over his shoulder with a soft laugh. To Draco, it felt downright provocative, and one of his brows lifted.
Since Hermione had all but delivered herself to him, Draco was not remotely polite about sliding a hand to the girl's slender, supple waist.
Hermione's body went rigid at first. Then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, she softened again.
More surprising still, although Hermione shot him a warning glare, it had very little force behind it. She did not even try to remove his hand.
It was almost as if she had silently permitted it. That coquettish little eye-roll of hers even seemed to be encouraging him to go further…
In any case.
Even through their robes, Draco could still feel the smooth softness beneath his palm. To keep enjoying this rare blessing... ahem, to avoid provoking the tsundere in his arms, he did not push his luck by letting his hand wander any higher.
Besides, this was not the time for that.
At the same time, Draco could not help questioning himself.
As they spent more and more time together, was his self-control getting worse and worse...?
Pretending nothing had happened, Draco gave a light cough. "Ahem. Dobby, you explain."
"Yes, Young Master!"
Dobby looked so excited and tearfully grateful that one would think Draco had bestowed some great honor on him.
Only Hermione and the others, who truly understood what kind of person... or rather, what kind of house-elf Dobby was, could understand just how happy Draco's blunt, unceremonious manner made him.
He was not... well, all right, maybe Dobby was a bit of an M, but in Dobby's eyes, being able to help a friend was more satisfying than anything else.
And besides, the task Draco had arranged really did suit Dobby perfectly...
Placing a hand over his chest, Dobby looked straight at Hermione with his huge eyes. "The kind Young Master found Dobby and his companions a job."
"...A job? Not a task?" At first Hermione thought Dobby had noticed the little things going on between her and Draco, but her attention was quickly pulled away by what he had said.
Curiosity, combined with the secretive intimacy of the moment, made her body feel even softer. For a moment, she forgot the strange heat and awareness brought by the large hand at her waist.
Despite having such big eyes, Dobby somehow failed to notice the pink atmosphere right in front of him. Hearing her question, he straightened up proudly and explained...
"Of course not. Young Master is paying Dobby wages!"
"...Huh?"
Hermione was utterly baffled.
"And there's this too. Dobby signed his name on it."
When Dobby pulled out a sheet of parchment with his name written on it, Hermione's expression turned a little odd.
The letters in "Dobby" were indeed crooked and clumsy, but it was unmistakably his name. Beneath it was Draco's elegant cursive.
And the contents of the parchment looked familiar to Hermione.
"This is... a contract?"
It was called a contract, but it was not quite the same as the magical bindings commonly used in the wizarding world, because Hermione could not sense the slightest trace of magic from it.
Clearly, this contract had no magical effect, and the wizarding world would never acknowledge its existence or enforce it.
But that was exactly how it slipped around the rules imposed on house-elves.
Noticing that Hermione had already caught on, Draco rubbed his chin lightly against the top of her head.
The gesture was practically like petting a cat...
"That's right. If I remember correctly, Muggles use this sort of thing to protect their interests. I think it's called a contract. That was where I got the idea."
"It's called a contract..."
Whenever Hermione heard those words come out of Draco's mouth, she always felt a strange sense of unreality.
At the same time, she was a little surprised that Draco had chosen to cooperate with these house-elves in this way.
After all, Draco was not like her, a witch from a Muggle family.
House-elves are servants. That was the "correct" belief Draco had been taught from childhood.
Even if Draco really was a little rebellious, Hermione still had not thought he could step out of that comfort zone so easily...
She had underestimated the breadth of Draco's mind.
Just like human beings, with all their desires and emotions.
Though constrained by a certain greater will, every house-elf still had different dreams and things they sought.
Take Dobby.
What he longed for was not simply freedom from servitude. More precisely, he wanted his wizard friends to speak to him as an equal.
Or take Kreacher.
He had not said a word, yet Draco could still see in his eyes a determination to take revenge on someone.
As long as those house-elves had desires like these, Draco could use that to draw them to his side and win their help...
In other words.
What Dobby cared about was not how much pay or how many Galleons he could get, but the equal footing in Draco's attitude.
And that was exactly what most wizards could not offer...
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on P@treon.
Also, join as a free member to read free advanced chapters.
[Upto 50 chapters ahead for now]
[email protected]/BlurryDream