He watched carefully as the gentle hands delicately picked up her cup and raised it to her lips. She didn't look anything like the crazed Azkaban escapee she was in that moment with her eyes closed as she savoured the flavour of the tea she had demanded, and he considered the possibility that this had all been a mistake.

It was possible that he had been too hasty in deciding. It had barely been a month, after all. She could have changed; Azkaban could have changed her. What she had done could have been just a slip up; a memory reminding her of what was normal in this familiar place. It could have just been her slipping into one of her older memories.

But that moment passed, and the pained choking began.

…xXx…

He couldn't remember exactly when he had met her, but he did know that he had been lost to her the first time his eyes danced with her big blue eyes as they were lined up on either side of the hall. Nothing else had mattered in that moment as he watched her eyes crinkle up with the smile that covered her face.

Hers was the smile that set his heart alight and soothed his restless soul. She made him feel like he could face anything as long as she was by his side. He had been absolutely delighted when he found out that they were going to be working together in the future.

She always told him that her first memory of him was him staring at her like a loon. He couldn't find it within himself to mind. She remembered him, after all. There had been many other boys who had tried to catch her attention on that day, so he couldn't complain about how she remembered him.

…xXx…

Barely a week of shocked silence had passed before they had started asking questions. Bellatrix had many enemies, all of whom would have wanted her dead (starting with the Ministry and ending with the useless Longbottom heir) so it would have been difficult to find out who had actually managed to do it. Or it would have been difficult had there not been only a few people who could arrive in Lestrange Manor unannounced.

That narrowed the options down significantly, as there was no damage to the wards. Rodolphus had seen to that after he had calmed down, knowing that there was nothing and no one that could save his wife. Rabastan spent most of his time out of the Manor, the entertainment Bellatrix provided no longer present to keep him within the Manor's walls for long periods of time.

It was clear that they had been betrayed. The only question was: by who? And how?

They had managed to hide from the Ministry for as long as they had, both before the First War and ever since escaping Azkaban. No one they didn't want to get past the wards would pass without significant effort.

…xXx…

He could only watch in silent horror as tears fell from those blue eyes he loved so much. He knew that she had done nothing wrong. It had been his fault; the blame should have fallen on him, but the vitriol continued to spill forth.

"You know, I don't really need you. You can be replaced faster than I can kill you!" Bellatrix screamed. As if suddenly remembering its existence, Bellatrix removed her wand from its holster and pointed it threateningly at the smaller female.

He had been fully prepared to leave his hiding place to stop the crazed witch but wet blue eyes begged him not to, reminding him that all this cruelty would have been for nothing if he was caught. He couldn't understand why she wanted to save him so desperately. He was the one that was supposed to protect her, not the other way around!

But he remained hidden, body shaking as he watched every cut, winced at every bruise, and silently sobbed at every pained cry.

He only left his hiding place when Bellatrix had finally grown bored of her near-dead plaything. No matter how much magic he tried to push into her small body, he already knew it was useless.

She was a beautiful doll broken beyond repair; foolishly brave, she would have been a Gryffindor.

…xXx…

It took them months to finally figure it out. Months of searching and questioning, of Polyjuiced walks around Diagon Alley trying to find out if anyone other than the goblins knew of Bellatrix's death, for them to finally realise they had overlooked perhaps the most obvious suspect of them all: Bellatrix's own playthings.

That didn't mean that any of the house elves made it any easier on the upset wizards. House elf loyalty to their Master or Mistress may be strong, but the loyalty was only strengthened by the loyalty the Master or Mistress showed in return, which was to say none at all from Bellatrix.

Krawler knew that the entire thing was nothing more than an elaborate game of kneazle and rat, but it was amusing if nothing else. He had never seen the wizards so wary of house elves before. It was a feeling he couldn't help but appreciate, especially when both Rabastan and Rodolphus were both trying to be extra nice to all of the house elves.

It would work: house elves were trusting creatures. It was only a matter of time before one of them ratted him out, but Krawler didn't think he cared about being caught. He had already avenged his precious Blinky and getting caught meant that he would only see her sooner.

He would have given himself up had all this bribery from the wizards not benefited the rest of the house elves as much as it did.

So he would hold off despite knowing that his punishment would be worsened (although, was there anything worse than death?) just like Blinky had done for him.

Krawler wouldn't give it more than two more days.

Written for Quidditch League Round 3: Wigtown Wanderers – Chaser 3: House elf

Prompts: [genre] mystery; [song] Born to Die by Lana Del Rey; [dialogue] "You know, I don't really need you."