Plans, Dobby, and Harry (I)

Dobby seemed to sense that gaze. Its body stiffened slightly. After wiping up the spilled tea, it stepped aside with its head lowered, its long ears drooping and its fingers twisting together, as though it were struggling to restrain something.

Its eyes—those huge, bulging, yellow eyes—darted quickly in their sockets, sweeping over the parchment spread across the long table, over the densely packed writing and maps, before swiftly pulling back to stare at the floor again.

That glance had been so quick that Lucius would never have noticed it if he had not been watching Dobby all along.

The meeting continued. Lucius did not interrupt his explanation or even alter his pace. He merely changed the content of his speech, glossing over the details and turning instead to an analysis of the Pure-Blood Alliance's business plans for the potion market across Europe.

Several representatives raised their heads to look at him in confusion, then quickly glanced at the extra House-Elf in the room. As though they had understood something, none of them objected. Instead, they began discussing matters in earnest, as if this truly were nothing more than a "normal" business meeting among allied pure-blood families.

Little did they know that Lucius's attention was entirely fixed on the small, thin, trembling House-Elf in the corner behind him.

After pouring the tea, Dobby had remained standing in the corner with its head bowed, its long ears hanging down beside its face like curtains that concealed its expression. But its body betrayed it—it was trembling.

It was not trembling from cold or fear, but from something far more complicated, the sort of trembling that came when a fierce struggle raged within.

The meeting finally ended. Lucius rose, his gaze sweeping over those seated at the long table. "Gentlemen, if there are no