AN: Pride of Portree
Creature: House-Elf
Optional prompts: (dialogue) "Do you really need to do that?"; (dialogue) "I'll survive. I always do."
House-Elves usually refer to themselves in third person and speak in present tense.
For the Love of Family
Winky had a great life. Mr Crouch was a great master and Master Barty was a well-behaved boy—Winky had been looking after him more often than ever since his mother had become ill. She didn't mind though. Master Barty was lovely, although, he sometimes played with magic that Mr Crouch seemed to dislike. But whenever Mr Crouch got angry at Master Barty, Mrs Crouch would tell him, "He is simply curious, let him explore his magic." Winky did not like all of the shouting that Mr and Mrs Crouch did. Mrs Crouch needed her rest, but Winky kept silent. They were her masters; it was not her place to say anything.
In the afternoon, Winky would make dinner for everybody and take it to the dining room. This afternoon however, Winky was told to create a 'picnic basket' by Mrs Crouch. Immediately, she pulled out cutlery, began slicing bread, and, once she got Mrs Crouch to sit down with a cup of tea, arranged drinks.
After she finished filling the basket, she placed it on the table and turned around to clean up the mess she had made whilst making the food. "Do you really need to do that?" A soft voice said from behind her. Mrs Crouch.
"Yes miss," she squeaked, "Miss needs her rest, so Winky is cleaning."
"I'll help," said Mrs Crouch, lifting herself out of her seat with a grunt. Upon seeing Winky's worried face she laughed and said, "Don't look so worried, Winky. I am perfectly capable of cleaning up."
After everyone came back from the picnic, Mr Crouch came into the kitchen, looking quite flustered. "Ah, there you are, Winky. I need you to take care of Barty whilst I go to work." Winky nodded with a smile and Mr Crouch walked back to the kitchen doors. Just before he left, he turned around and said, "Thank you for the picnic Winky." Winky didn't even have a chance to say thank you as he left the room. Her master had just thanked her. She was sure that neither her mother nor her grandmother had been thanked by Mr Crouch. She wondered whether they would be proud of her.
Winky stood near the dining room door. Her entire focus was on the conversation happening behind it. "Bartemius, that's your son." The hushed voice of Mrs Crouch met her ears. She sounded like she had a dry throat, and Winky was tempted to get her a drink. However, just as she was about to get one, another voice caught her attention.
"If he has done what he is being accused of, then he is no son of mine." Mr Crouch's voice sounded cold. It was almost as if it didn't belong to him. Her thoughts flicked back to a day that seemed as if it was from the distant past but was only a few months ago. It was the day when Mr Crouch had thanked her. Although he had been rushed, his voice had been full of warmth. She was completely unaccustomed to this iciness.
"How can you say that?" She heard a creaking noise. After all her years of service she recognised it as the chair Mr Crouch usually sat in. He had stood up.
"I can say that because I am not blinded by my love for the boy. All of these years you have coddled him and spoiled him; you have never let me have a say. Now do you see where this has gotten us? If only you had disciplined him enough to stay away from the dark arts. But of course you didn't. He was only exploring his magic!" Winky did not need to be standing at the door to hear Mr Crouch. His voice changed from harsh to accusing to sarcastic and finally, to mocking. She heard a sniff and knew that Mrs Crouch was crying. She desperately wanted to comfort her but she knew that Mrs Crouch would only brush her off. The clicking of heels against wood snapped Winky out of her internal conflict and she scrambled away from the door just as Mrs Crouch opened it, and stormed out of the room.
Winky tried her best to cheer up Mr and Mrs Crouch. They didn't speak to each other. They were never in the same room together. Some nights Winky would help Mrs Crouch get ready and they would go out to dinner together. Winky was glad whenever that happened. Her masters didn't go out very often, and when they did, they seldom went out together. Not since Master Barty had gone to prison. She often heard Mr and Mrs Crouch discussing 'image' and 'the press' before they went out. She didn't really understand what they meant but whatever it was, Winky was glad for it. It was what made her masters spend time together.
Ever since Master Barty had gone to prison, Winky had noticed that Mrs Crouch looked a lot more ill. She tried to do her best to comfort her but it was of no use. It seemed like only Master Barty coming home would make her better but Winky knew that his return wasn't possible. She wished she knew of another way to cheer her up.
Winky was cooking dinner when she heard the door opening. Mr and Mrs Crouch had left earlier in the day to visit Master Barty in Azkaban, which was the prison he was in. She hadn't been expecting them to return so early. Nevertheless, she turned down the heat on the stove and hurried out into the hall to take Mr and Mrs Crouch's coats.
However, when she reached the hall, it wasn't Mr and Mrs Crouch that met her eyes. It was Mr Crouch and…Master Barty in a dress! "Master Barty?" she said, stumbling forward to get a closer look. It was him. Mrs Crouch must be so happy! "Is Mrs Crouch outside?" She eyed the closed door with suspicion and jumped when a strangled sound came from what seemed like Mr Crouch.
It took her a moment after he rushed out of the room to realise that it had been a sob.
Something terrible must have happened.
Winky got Master Barty ready like she always did. They were all going to the Quidditch World Cup. It was a very big event for a wizard. Especially for Mr Crouch, who seemed to have invested himself very heavily in it. She smiled sadly at Master Barty as he was covered with the invisibility cloak by his father. "Don't look so worried, Winky. I'll survive. I always do."
The sea of red and green was dizzying and she clutched the fabric of the invisibility cloak Master Barty was under. Mr Crouch was walking a few steps ahead and Winky hurried to catch up, finally managing to just as he reached the stands. Mr Crouch went up first, then Master Barty and finally, Winky.
The stand was high up and it was windy but Winky was sitting securely between Mr Crouch and Master Barty. She didn't know how the wizards could enjoy flying so high up.
The red and green was everywhere. Before it had been dizzying but now it was nauseating. The colours swirled together and then separated. Screams and violent jets of light intensifying the horrible feel of panic and fear. Mr Crouch was nowhere to be seen and Master Barty's cloak had slipped through her fingers. She didn't know where he was; she could only hope that he was nearby.
The clearing was silent. Mr Crouch snatched Master Barty's wand from between her fingertips and looked at it, analysing it carefully. Everyone seemed to be waiting for a verdict of some sort. Mr Crouch opened his mouth and whispered, "Prior Incantato."
The verdict was guilty. She had been freed.
Hogwarts was awful. All she wanted to do was serve Mr Crouch and Master Barty but she had been employed at this castle. So far, her experiences had been less than pleasant. She had hoped that preparing breakfast would make her feel better. It always had in the past. But now, the sheer amount of food she prepared was enough to remind her that she was not serving the family both her mother and grandmother had served. They would have been so ashamed.
The others gave her wary looks; some even gave her outright glares. She would have glared at herself too. But there was one house-elf who was kind to her. He brought her food and tried to cheer her up. He was freed too. But, the difference between her and the other house-elf was that he seemed to be proud of being free. She wasn't. He wore outlandish clothing in garish colours and he tried to force her to take some as well! She would not be celebrating her dismissal.
The evening meals were probably the worst parts of her day. She would remember when Mrs Crouch would come in and sit with her whilst Winky prepared the food and would sometimes, despite Winky's objections, help to prepare the meal. The evening used to be her favourite time of the day. Being able to watch the family she served come together every night was… rewarding. But at Hogwarts it was completely different. She would cook and clean, all whilst staying out of sight. It was the opposite of everything she loved about the evenings.
However, this particular evening, Dobby—who was the odd house-elf that wore bright clothes—decided that he wanted to involve himself in her evening. "How is Winky doing today?" He asked, tilting his head so far to the side that his hat fell off.
"Winky is doing her job." she said, and turned around with a huff to clean the dishes. She did not have time for comics.
"Dobby is wondering if Winky is okay. Winky seems sad today." He blinked owlishly at her and she couldn't help the reluctant smile that wriggled onto her face at his expression. Dobby let out a squeak. "Winky is not sad anymore!"
"Winky is not sad anymore," she said in agreement. Dobby grinned and turned to clean the table behind him.
Winky sighed. She was still sad, but at least she had Dobby now to make her happy.