Problems with Puffskeins (Part II)
Title: Problems with Puffskeins
Author: Kerrymdb
Rating and Warning: PG. Warning for really bad, groan producing jokes
Prompts: A Puffskein, Dumbledore's Office, a day of realization, humor (reads more like a parody...but out of LOVE!)
Word Count: 4,250
Summary: Hogwarts, the final frontier. These are the adventures of a man named Lupin. His personal mission: to taste strange new chocolate. To seek out the attention of a sexy, young Auror. To boldly go where no werewolf has gone before.
Author's Notes: When I saw what my prompts were, TOS Star Trek episode ‘The Trouble with Tribbles’ immediately entered my mind. I had no choice but to use that as a guide. This is a tribute to that great episode and Star Trek TOS in general, so please keep an open mind when dealing with bothersome little things like ‘facts.’ : ) Also, I guess this is a two-parter.
~~~~~
Problems with Puffskeins (Part II)
Lupin’s Log: Later that Day
Professor Snape seems content to believe that the House-Elf named Winky is to blame. Tonks disagrees completely. Perhaps only time will tell…
The group first stopped by the storage room that Dobby spoke about. Immediately they heard the ‘bad’ noises. When Remus tried to open the door, it was locked. Tonks and Snape both tried every unlocking spell they knew, which was a lot of unlocking spells, and still the door wouldn’t budge.
“May I help you?” asked a low voice.
Remus looked down and saw an odd looking House-Elf. He was wearing the Hogwarts House-Elf uniform and had included some type of bandana on his head, covering his ears completely.
“We’d like to look inside,” said Tonks eagerly. “Could you open the door for us?”
Two House-Elves walked by and glared angrily at the House-Elf talking to them. “Gobly! Don’t be talking to these nice people!” one yelled out.
Remus desperately tried not to snigger at the House-Elf calling Snape ‘nice.’
“Please don’t mind Gobly,” said the House-Elf. “He’s a bad House-Elf. Badder than Dobby!”
Snape had a quizzical look on his face. “Considering being free is the worst thing to a House-Elf, how can he be worse than Dobby?” he asked.
Both of the House-Elves looked around, as if trying to see if anyone might over hear them. “He’s wants us to…He’s wants us to…”
The other closed his eyes and spoke like he was saying the worst of swear words. “Unionize.”
“Fascinating,” said Snape, raising an eyebrow.
“He wants the House-Elves to unionize?” asked Remus. He then noticed Gobly holding a copy of ‘Unionizing for Fun and Profit’ “Gobly, is this true?”
“Don’t talks to Gobly!” said the House-Elf somewhat angrily.
“Can we helps you, Misses and Misters?” the other House-Elf cried eagerly.
“Can we take a look inside this room?” asked Tonks.
“Of course, Misses,” said the House-Elf happily. Remus noticed Gobly moving quickly down a different corridor.
Remus and Tonks stood in front of the door while Snape stood besides it. The House-Elf circled his hands once and tapped the door, which opened quickly.
Thousands of puffskeins came tumbling out of the door. Remus and Tonks had to turn and run as fast as possible, or they would be engulfed in a pile of puffskeins.
“Faster, Remus!” cried Tonks. She waved her wand and the door of a broom cupboard opened. She jumped inside and Remus immediately followed, closing the door behind him. The cupboard was rocked by the force of the puffskeins, causing Tonks to be launched into Remus’ arms. He held onto her tightly, in case the cupboard tipped over.
“I thought we were going to lose it there for a moment,” said Tonks breathlessly. Her eyes went wide. “What if we can’t get out?”
In the darkness, her pale face seemed to almost glow, surrounded by those beautiful, blue curls. “We’ll make it of here alive,” said Remus seriously, tightening the grip on her waist.
“Promise?” asked Tonks.
“Promise,” said Remus.
“What ever should we do to pass the time until we’re rescued?” asked Tonks flirtatiously.
Not able to help himself, Remus started to lower his head to kiss her. She simply looked so beautiful…
But then the door opened, completely ruining the moment. “The Professor needs your help!” cried a House-Elf.
Remus and Tonks let go of each other immediately. She gave him a pointed look, which Remus realized meant, ‘later.’ Feeling quite pleased with himself, he followed the House-Elf, wading through the puffskeins, which were now thigh-high.
“There!” yelled the House-Elf.
Remus looked and saw that Snape was practically buried in the puffskeins. He could only just make out the top of his greasy head.
“We’ll get you out of there, Snape!” cried Tonks.
“No!” said Snape, his voice muffled through the puffskeins. “It’s too late! You must find out who did this!”
“We can get you out of there!” exclaimed Remus.
“The needs…of the…many…outweigh the needs…of the one…”
“Do you want to die, Snape?” asked Tonks frustratedly. She took her wand and started moving as many puffskeins as she could. Remus quickly joined in. With ten minutes, with the help of some House-Elves, they were able to get Snape out of there. He was very weak.
“Winky!” a voice cried behind them.
Remus turned as quickly as he could to see what the commotion was. Apparently, the House-Elf named Winky was lying on the floor of the room that the avalanche of puffskeins came out of. She was holding two butterbeers, one in each hand.
Tonks looked shocked; Remus almost wanted to put his arm around her to help support her. It looked like Winky might have been their culprit after all.
“We should question her,” said Tonks sadly.
“Snape, do you have any Veritaserum?” asked Remus.
“I have the ingredients, but not the potion,” said Snape weakly. “Nymphadora, please run down to the dungeons and make a quick batch of Veritaserum. Your potion skills are adequate. It will not take you long.”
“Damnit, Snape! I’m an Auror, not a Potions Mistress,” said Tonks rebelliously.
Remus found that his mind was working at a hundred miles an hour. Something just wasn’t adding up. “Hold off for a minute,” said Remus slowly.
“Lupin-“ started Snape, but Remus waved him off.
He picked up a puffskein and casually walked into the kitchens. He saw Gobly standing on a stool, giving a rousing speech. The other House-Elves seemed to just be ignoring him or shooting him angry looks.
“Don’t you see? They don’t care about you here! Your work truly won’t be appreciated until they have to give you Galleons! Who’s with me!” cried Gobly.
Remus narrowed his eyes. House-Elves don’t use proper grammar. Something was very wrong. He walked closer and felt the puffskein he was holding begin to shake. When Remus was only a foot or so away, the puffskein let out a horrific cry.
A flash of fear crossed Gobly’s face and he jumped off the stool and started running towards the door. Luckily, Tonks and Snape were standing there, blocking his path. Gobly tried to skirt pas the two of them but Snape reached down and seemed to grab Gobly’s shoulder. Gobly passed out immediately.
“Did you just kill a House-Elf?” asked Tonks, covering her mouth with her hand.
“He’s only unconscious,” said Snape, sounding bored. “Besides, this is no House-Elf.”
“Let’s just see who you really are,” said Remus, kneeling next to the unconscious House-Elf. He took off Gobly’s bandana and saw that he wasn’t a House-Elf at all. Gobly was a Goblin.
Tonks knelt next to Remus and took out her wand. “Rennervate,” she said quietly.
Gobly’s eyelids fluttered and moment later, he was awake. Tonks quickly put his hands behind his back and bound his wrists with invisible rope.
“Unhand me!” cried Gobly. “I’m on official business with Gringotts!”
“Gringotts?” asked Remus. “What do they want with Hogwarts’ kitchens?”
Gobly was kicking his feet angrily. “We wanted to get them to want wages…to unionize…” Gobly’s eyes glazed over just a bit. “Think of the union dues alone...”
“So you were the ones to bring in all the puffskeins!” accused Tonks.
“We wanted to make them overworked, so they would demand to be paid!” cried Gobly. “And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling wizards!”
“Dobby!” Remus yelled out.
“Yes, sirs?” asked Dobby, at his side in an instant.
“Please escort ‘Mister Gobly,’ from the castle,” said Remus, standing up.
“Very happily, sirs!” said Dobby eagerly, poking Gobly in the back.
“Tonks, Snape, let’s give the Headmaster a report,” said Remus. Together, the group walked slowly to Professor Dumbledore’s office. Slowly, because Snape was still weak from the puffskein avalanche that almost killed him.
Professor Dumbledore was delighted with the news. Just as they were finishing the story, Dobby burst into the office, holding his head up high.
“Sorry to be bothering, sirs,” said Dobby, blushing somewhat. “The House-Elves have put it to a vote!”
“A vote for what?” asked Tonks curiously.
“What to do with the puffskeins!” said Dobby. “We’s decided to send them to Gringotts as a present for tryings to help us!”
Both Remus and Tonks burst out laughing at the very thought. Professor Dumbledore smiled as well as he stood up. “Severus, I’d like to take you to the Hospital Wing so Madam Pomfrey can take a look at you.”
Snape nodded and walked out of the room, accompanied by Dobby. Professor Dumbledore started to follow but stopped at the door. “Remus, that was very good work down there,” said the Headmaster with a twinkle in his eye.
Remus felt himself blushing. “It wasn’t me at all, sir,” said Remus embarrassedly.
“Still unable to accept praise, are we, Remus?” asked Professor Dumbledore.
“Between us, maybe we can get him to change that,” said Tonks mischievously.
Professor Dumbledore held out his hands helplessly. “I’m not a miracle worker, you know.” He shook his head and left the office.
Remus looked at Tonks, and she seemed intent on resuming the conversation that had started in the broom cupboard and Remus was more than willing to let her.
She took a step towards him and promptly tripped on a rug. Remus rushed forward and caught her just before she hit the ground.
“My hero,” she said teasingly and Remus helped her up.
“Glad to be of service,” grinned Remus. His heart seemed to be too big for his chest. He couldn’t quite believe this was happening.
“Just think, Remus,” smiled Tonks as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. “Somehow you managed to both save the day and get the girl!”
A breathtaking realization, indeed.
Problems with Puffskeins (Part I)
Author: Kerrymdb
Rating and Warning: PG. Warning for really bad, groan producing jokes
Prompts: A Puffskein, Dumbledore's Office, a day of realization, humor (reads more like a parody...but out of LOVE!)
Word Count: 4,250
Summary: Hogwarts, the final frontier. These are the adventures of a man named Lupin. His personal mission: to taste strange new chocolate. To seek out the attention of a sexy, young Auror. To boldly go where no werewolf has gone before.
Author's Notes: When I saw what my prompts were, TOS Star Trek episode ‘The Trouble with Tribbles’ immediately entered my mind. I had no choice but to use that as a guide. This is a tribute to that great episode and Star Trek TOS in general, so please keep an open mind when dealing with bothersome little things like ‘facts.’ : ) Also, I guess this is a two-parter.
~~~~~
Problems with Puffskeins (Part II)
Lupin’s Log: Later that Day
Professor Snape seems content to believe that the House-Elf named Winky is to blame. Tonks disagrees completely. Perhaps only time will tell…
The group first stopped by the storage room that Dobby spoke about. Immediately they heard the ‘bad’ noises. When Remus tried to open the door, it was locked. Tonks and Snape both tried every unlocking spell they knew, which was a lot of unlocking spells, and still the door wouldn’t budge.
“May I help you?” asked a low voice.
Remus looked down and saw an odd looking House-Elf. He was wearing the Hogwarts House-Elf uniform and had included some type of bandana on his head, covering his ears completely.
“We’d like to look inside,” said Tonks eagerly. “Could you open the door for us?”
Two House-Elves walked by and glared angrily at the House-Elf talking to them. “Gobly! Don’t be talking to these nice people!” one yelled out.
Remus desperately tried not to snigger at the House-Elf calling Snape ‘nice.’
“Please don’t mind Gobly,” said the House-Elf. “He’s a bad House-Elf. Badder than Dobby!”
Snape had a quizzical look on his face. “Considering being free is the worst thing to a House-Elf, how can he be worse than Dobby?” he asked.
Both of the House-Elves looked around, as if trying to see if anyone might over hear them. “He’s wants us to…He’s wants us to…”
The other closed his eyes and spoke like he was saying the worst of swear words. “Unionize.”
“Fascinating,” said Snape, raising an eyebrow.
“He wants the House-Elves to unionize?” asked Remus. He then noticed Gobly holding a copy of ‘Unionizing for Fun and Profit’ “Gobly, is this true?”
“Don’t talks to Gobly!” said the House-Elf somewhat angrily.
“Can we helps you, Misses and Misters?” the other House-Elf cried eagerly.
“Can we take a look inside this room?” asked Tonks.
“Of course, Misses,” said the House-Elf happily. Remus noticed Gobly moving quickly down a different corridor.
Remus and Tonks stood in front of the door while Snape stood besides it. The House-Elf circled his hands once and tapped the door, which opened quickly.
Thousands of puffskeins came tumbling out of the door. Remus and Tonks had to turn and run as fast as possible, or they would be engulfed in a pile of puffskeins.
“Faster, Remus!” cried Tonks. She waved her wand and the door of a broom cupboard opened. She jumped inside and Remus immediately followed, closing the door behind him. The cupboard was rocked by the force of the puffskeins, causing Tonks to be launched into Remus’ arms. He held onto her tightly, in case the cupboard tipped over.
“I thought we were going to lose it there for a moment,” said Tonks breathlessly. Her eyes went wide. “What if we can’t get out?”
In the darkness, her pale face seemed to almost glow, surrounded by those beautiful, blue curls. “We’ll make it of here alive,” said Remus seriously, tightening the grip on her waist.
“Promise?” asked Tonks.
“Promise,” said Remus.
“What ever should we do to pass the time until we’re rescued?” asked Tonks flirtatiously.
Not able to help himself, Remus started to lower his head to kiss her. She simply looked so beautiful…
But then the door opened, completely ruining the moment. “The Professor needs your help!” cried a House-Elf.
Remus and Tonks let go of each other immediately. She gave him a pointed look, which Remus realized meant, ‘later.’ Feeling quite pleased with himself, he followed the House-Elf, wading through the puffskeins, which were now thigh-high.
“There!” yelled the House-Elf.
Remus looked and saw that Snape was practically buried in the puffskeins. He could only just make out the top of his greasy head.
“We’ll get you out of there, Snape!” cried Tonks.
“No!” said Snape, his voice muffled through the puffskeins. “It’s too late! You must find out who did this!”
“We can get you out of there!” exclaimed Remus.
“The needs…of the…many…outweigh the needs…of the one…”
“Do you want to die, Snape?” asked Tonks frustratedly. She took her wand and started moving as many puffskeins as she could. Remus quickly joined in. With ten minutes, with the help of some House-Elves, they were able to get Snape out of there. He was very weak.
“Winky!” a voice cried behind them.
Remus turned as quickly as he could to see what the commotion was. Apparently, the House-Elf named Winky was lying on the floor of the room that the avalanche of puffskeins came out of. She was holding two butterbeers, one in each hand.
Tonks looked shocked; Remus almost wanted to put his arm around her to help support her. It looked like Winky might have been their culprit after all.
“We should question her,” said Tonks sadly.
“Snape, do you have any Veritaserum?” asked Remus.
“I have the ingredients, but not the potion,” said Snape weakly. “Nymphadora, please run down to the dungeons and make a quick batch of Veritaserum. Your potion skills are adequate. It will not take you long.”
“Damnit, Snape! I’m an Auror, not a Potions Mistress,” said Tonks rebelliously.
Remus found that his mind was working at a hundred miles an hour. Something just wasn’t adding up. “Hold off for a minute,” said Remus slowly.
“Lupin-“ started Snape, but Remus waved him off.
He picked up a puffskein and casually walked into the kitchens. He saw Gobly standing on a stool, giving a rousing speech. The other House-Elves seemed to just be ignoring him or shooting him angry looks.
“Don’t you see? They don’t care about you here! Your work truly won’t be appreciated until they have to give you Galleons! Who’s with me!” cried Gobly.
Remus narrowed his eyes. House-Elves don’t use proper grammar. Something was very wrong. He walked closer and felt the puffskein he was holding begin to shake. When Remus was only a foot or so away, the puffskein let out a horrific cry.
A flash of fear crossed Gobly’s face and he jumped off the stool and started running towards the door. Luckily, Tonks and Snape were standing there, blocking his path. Gobly tried to skirt pas the two of them but Snape reached down and seemed to grab Gobly’s shoulder. Gobly passed out immediately.
“Did you just kill a House-Elf?” asked Tonks, covering her mouth with her hand.
“He’s only unconscious,” said Snape, sounding bored. “Besides, this is no House-Elf.”
“Let’s just see who you really are,” said Remus, kneeling next to the unconscious House-Elf. He took off Gobly’s bandana and saw that he wasn’t a House-Elf at all. Gobly was a Goblin.
Tonks knelt next to Remus and took out her wand. “Rennervate,” she said quietly.
Gobly’s eyelids fluttered and moment later, he was awake. Tonks quickly put his hands behind his back and bound his wrists with invisible rope.
“Unhand me!” cried Gobly. “I’m on official business with Gringotts!”
“Gringotts?” asked Remus. “What do they want with Hogwarts’ kitchens?”
Gobly was kicking his feet angrily. “We wanted to get them to want wages…to unionize…” Gobly’s eyes glazed over just a bit. “Think of the union dues alone...”
“So you were the ones to bring in all the puffskeins!” accused Tonks.
“We wanted to make them overworked, so they would demand to be paid!” cried Gobly. “And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling wizards!”
“Dobby!” Remus yelled out.
“Yes, sirs?” asked Dobby, at his side in an instant.
“Please escort ‘Mister Gobly,’ from the castle,” said Remus, standing up.
“Very happily, sirs!” said Dobby eagerly, poking Gobly in the back.
“Tonks, Snape, let’s give the Headmaster a report,” said Remus. Together, the group walked slowly to Professor Dumbledore’s office. Slowly, because Snape was still weak from the puffskein avalanche that almost killed him.
Professor Dumbledore was delighted with the news. Just as they were finishing the story, Dobby burst into the office, holding his head up high.
“Sorry to be bothering, sirs,” said Dobby, blushing somewhat. “The House-Elves have put it to a vote!”
“A vote for what?” asked Tonks curiously.
“What to do with the puffskeins!” said Dobby. “We’s decided to send them to Gringotts as a present for tryings to help us!”
Both Remus and Tonks burst out laughing at the very thought. Professor Dumbledore smiled as well as he stood up. “Severus, I’d like to take you to the Hospital Wing so Madam Pomfrey can take a look at you.”
Snape nodded and walked out of the room, accompanied by Dobby. Professor Dumbledore started to follow but stopped at the door. “Remus, that was very good work down there,” said the Headmaster with a twinkle in his eye.
Remus felt himself blushing. “It wasn’t me at all, sir,” said Remus embarrassedly.
“Still unable to accept praise, are we, Remus?” asked Professor Dumbledore.
“Between us, maybe we can get him to change that,” said Tonks mischievously.
Professor Dumbledore held out his hands helplessly. “I’m not a miracle worker, you know.” He shook his head and left the office.
Remus looked at Tonks, and she seemed intent on resuming the conversation that had started in the broom cupboard and Remus was more than willing to let her.
She took a step towards him and promptly tripped on a rug. Remus rushed forward and caught her just before she hit the ground.
“My hero,” she said teasingly and Remus helped her up.
“Glad to be of service,” grinned Remus. His heart seemed to be too big for his chest. He couldn’t quite believe this was happening.
“Just think, Remus,” smiled Tonks as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. “Somehow you managed to both save the day and get the girl!”
A breathtaking realization, indeed.
Problems with Puffskeins (Part I)