Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the story line . All rights belong to J.K. Rowling. Blantant rip-off from Chumbawumba used without remorse...

Chapter Two: All Things Great and Small

Hermione Granger was in a right state. It was two days before her wedding to the love of her life, and instead of dealing with a hundred small things, she had one large thing to worry about: Harry Potter had taken ill.

She had reluctantly delegated the responsibility of preparing for the wedding to her mother as she labored to keep Harry going. It had started innocently enough a few days before: he had complained of a headache, and his leg was bothering him.

The problem became more pronounced the next day. Harry could barely get out of bed, and when he did so his vision swam. When he couldn't make it to the loo, Hermione knew that there was something seriously wrong. Harry was relegated to his bed now, with a fever that raged within him. She reached down and gently patted his forehead with a cool, damp cloth.

Her mother, of course, wanted to delay the wedding until he was better. Hermione had thought long and hard about it, but if there was any way for them to accomplish this wedding, she was determined to take the chance. She knew in her heart that Harry wanted the same thing. He was just too weak at the moment to say so.

She had spent most of her spare moments brewing potion after potion, but her most involved magical scans refused to show just what was wrong with Harry. Without that knowledge, it was hit or miss with her tries at curing him. It was possible, she supposed, that she could actually do more harm than good with her efforts, and that worried her mightily.

Hermione decided that she had done all that she could without getting more rest, so she took the moment to transfigure her outfit into one more appropriate for bed. She got in next to her love, and as she laid down next to him she placed a soft kiss on his forehead before draping an arm over him and drifting off to sleep.

*0*0*

Jean Granger sat in the chair and watched the young man that she fervently hoped would shortly become her son-in-law. She was almost out of her mind with worry, for Harry was most certainly not getting better. It seemed that whatever it was that he was fighting, it was draining the energy from him. If Hermione didn't find the cure soon, well, Jean despaired of what might happen.

There was a small cracking sound in the corner of the room, and Jean was startled out of her thoughts. She looked over in surprise to see a small creature, almost a little caricature of a man. He was dressed in a small set of robes, and he had a mismatched pair of socks on. His eyes were humongous, reminding Jean of a character from one of those Japanese cartoons that she had seen on the telly once. His ears were almost as disproportionate as well.

"Hello…" Jean said softly. She didn't know why, but she didn't think that there was anything threatening about the little fellow. If anything, he seemed to be staring almost reverently at her daughter and Harry.

"Hello Miss Grangy's Mother, I is Dobby," the little fellow said. "Master Harry Potter is sick, Dobby could feel it! Dobby is stopping his working and is coming to see Master Harry Potter. Would it be alright if Dobby is trying to find out what is wrong with Master Harry Potter?"

"If you think you could, I know that Hermione needs to know what's wrong so that she can help him. Can you really find out what's wrong with him without hurting him?" she asked, trying hard not to get her hopes up.

"Yes, Miss, Dobby can be doing it. House elves can be finding out what's wrong with their masters. House elves have very strong magics, they do," he said while bouncing up and down on his toes.

"Then go right ahead," Jean said softly. If this Dobby could help him, well, that would be a real Godsend…

Dobby hopped up on the bed and placed a hand on Harry's forehead. The young man moaned in his sleep, and Dobby's chin quivered ever so slightly at the sound. His tiny hand began to glow, and soon the glow engulfed Harry. Dobby suddenly let go as if he had been burned and stumbled back on the bed.

At that moment Hermione woke with a little "eep." She looked up sleepily to see Dobby sitting on the bed and she gave the little elf a smile. "Hello Dobby," she said in her whispering voice. "It's good to see you again."

"Miss Grangy!" Dobby cried. "Master Harry Potter is very ill! Very dark magic is at work here! Dobby thinks that he knows what is wrong, but I wants to be talking with you about it before I does anything."

Hermione reached over and grabbed one of his little hands and nodded for him to proceed.

"First, you's must be thinking back to when you two fought the bad snake-man. Master Harry Potter was hurt then, and the bad snake-man hit him with a curse…"

Hermione looked at her Mum's curious expression. She decided that she could take a couple of minutes to describe what had happened.

The fight had been raging for more than an hour now. Harry and Hermione had managed to hold off everything that Voldemort had been able to throw at them, but they hadn't been able to crack his defenses. He was simply too powerful for either of them to get through.

Harry dodged a killing curse that Voldemort had flung his way. He could tell that the dark wizard was getting tired, but so were he and Hermione. Sooner or later one of them would make a mistake, and the fight would end quickly after that.

There was a loud crack behind him and he spun to look, erecting the most powerful shield around himself that he could as he did so. Thankfully, it was only Dobby, having finally found a way around the anti-apparition wards that had been erected. He spun back towards Voldemort to see him cast a dark black curse at Hermione. He screamed out wordlessly and dove in front of the curse. It was easy, just like catching the snitch in Quidditch. He intercepted the curse that had been meant for her. His ears rung from the impact on his shield as he felt the opposing magics war against each other.

Voldemort must have put all he had left into the curse, for Harry's shield splintered like so much kindling. The curse impacted on his chest, throwing him backwards. He felt for a moment like his lungs were on fire, and his vision swam, but somewhere within him he summoned magic from his core and fought for all he was worth. His shield must have weakened the curse, because he could feel the effects dissipating.

Dobby let out a scream. "No-one hurts Harry Potter!" He blasted the Dark Lord right off of his feet. He continued to batter at Voldemort's defenses as Harry staggered to his feet. Harry felt a rage the likes of which he had never before felt. "Solis Flamma!" He shouted and from the tip of his wand there grew a great glowing sphere. It shimmered for a moment, becoming brighter and brighter, and then a beam of coherent light shot forth and ripped right through the Dark Lord.

Voldemort sunk to his knees, but somehow he still managed to keep from toppling over dead from the gaping wound in his torso. He looked up just in time to see Hermione reach up in the air and grab the Sword of Gryffindor that had materialized there. The blade glowed a brilliant blue, and she swung it in a great arc that intercepted the spot just between his head and his shoulders. The most evil dark lord that the world had ever seen departed this plane of existence as his head rolled on the ground, a look of utter surprise in his still open eyes.

"The dark curse that the bad snake-man hit Master Harry Potter with couldn't hurt my master because he is being too strong, but it waited, oh yes it did. It waited and it combined with the cursed magic in Master Harry Potter's leg, and now it has grown too strong for him to fight it." Dobby had tears in his eyes by now, and he saw that Hermione did as well.

"Dobby!" Hermione shrieked. "Is there nothing that can be done for him?" She looked at the little elf, hope fading from her eyes.

"Dobby can be helping , Miss Grangy, but Dobby is being scared too."

Hermione looked down at him and cocked her head to the side. She started considering possibilities, and with a shriek she started shaking her head. "No! I forbid it, Dobby!"

"Miss Grangy, please," the little elf pleaded. "Dobby can be doing this, please let Dobby help Master Harry Potter." He wrung his hands together. "Dobby is being missing his Winky, and Dobby thinks that this way, he can be with his Winky again, and save his master. If Dobby gives his magic to Master Harry Potter, then when his master bonds with Miss Grangy, Dobby and Winky will be a part of that bond. I's being bonded with my Winky in this life and the next…" He looked at Hermione with tears in his eyes…

Before she lost sight of the little elf through the tears, in desperation Hermione nodded at him, giving him her silent permission.

Dobby crawled up next to Harry and knelt beside him. He placed one little hand on Harry's forehead, and one on his heart. A warm red glow began to pass from the elf to the wizard, and Hermione heard Harry let out a small sigh…

Author's Note: Just one more chapter to go on this one, and then we're done. I was going to end it here, but I think that one more would be appropriate.