Blindness

Chapter 18: A Plum Robe

"Kreacher!"

With a swirl of yellow the house-elf appeared inside his room, the pop of transportation muffled to nearly inaudible efficiency.

He had tested that phenomenon the year before. The louder the pop, the farther the elf had traveled. It was practically a gunshot when he had sent Kreacher to France and back. No wonder wizards seldom traveled far by house-elf.

"Yes, Master?"

Harry sighed, refocusing on his current problem.

His closet.

"Can you get me the plum robes? They all bloody look the same to me."

There was a reason he stuck to basic black robes. They worked with everything. Whoever had decided that all Wizengamot members had to wear a specific shade of plum during session was obviously insane.

Hermione theorized it was because that shade of plum had once been devilishly expensive, and it was therefore one more way of keeping the poorer Lords and Ladies from taking their rightful seats.

"Here it is, Master."

Yellow light pressed green fabric gently into his hands. Harry smiled and twisted, shrugging the heavy garment on.

At least it was cold. He could hardly imagine wearing them during the summer. Then again, that's what cooling charms were apparently for.

"Thank you. I'm eating dinner with my family tonight, so you have the House to yourself today." Harry hesitated briefly. "If you could go on vacation, where would you go?"

The was a moment of incredulous silence.

"Vacation?"

"Yeah, for a break. To get away."

The elf sniffed. "Kreacher does not need a break."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I know you don't need one. I'm saying, if you wanted to, where would you go?"

More silence. At least the elf was thinking about it. The last few times Harry had questioned him over topics relating to things he had never had because of his contract, he had been obstinate.

"Kreacher supposes... Kreacher may like to visit a garden. Black Manor used to have gardens, when Kreacher is a young elf. The gardens were... good."

It was more than Harry expected to get. He smiled.

"In that case, go visit a garden if you want today. If you have to have some task, then buy some flowers for Hermione. She loves them."

"Yes, Master Harry, sir."

With another swirl of light the elf left, slightly faster than was polite.

He probably thinks I'm going to force him to take wages next, Harry mused. Which is exactly what is going to happen.

-O-O-

With the letter that had given him the information required to take up his seats had come a portkey that activated an hour before every quarterly meeting, a fact Harry was extremely grateful for.

Actually getting to the Ministry might have been difficult without one, at least while he was wearing what Muggles would no doubt think was a ridiculous nightgown. He hadn't wanted to ask Hermione to apparate him in, either, or she would have had to take a day from her classes.

Of course, portkeys were horrible in their own very nauseous way.

When the wildly swirling colors came to rest, Harry took a deep steadying breath, leaning a bit heavily on his staff for balance.