Professor McGonagall looked down at the sad, filthy house-elf. She turned to the plump, rat-faced house-elf who had showed her where Winky slept and said, "Wake her up."
The rat-faced house-elf leaned over Winky's drunken, snoring form and shook her gently, being careful not to touch her disgusting, stained linens. He shook Winky for almost a full minute, eliciting no more than a protesting grunt. He moved to get a better angle for shaking her, but tripped over the mass of empty butterbeer bottles stacked near Winky's bed. As bottles went rolling away, clinking and clanking, Winky finally stirred. She sat up, rubbed her rheumy eyes and squeaked drunkenly, "Winky didn't do it! Winky is a good elf." As she reached down for a half-full bottle of butterbeer, Professor McGonagall reached into her robes, pulled a small potion bottle from them and surreptitiously tapped a few drops of the potion into the butterbeer.
Winky struggled to get the bottle of butterbeer up to her mouth, but finally made it, spilling a great deal of the fluid in the process. Winky quaffed the butterbeer noisily, draining the half-full bottle. The change in Winky was immediate and noticeable: her eyes brightened up and lost their red, throbbing veins, her ears perked up and her demeanor changed from drunken to hyper-aware.
"You has poisoned Winky," she gulped in terror, eyes widening and limbs shaking, as she backed away from Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall knelt down next to the shaken house-elf and told her, "No, Winky, I've just sobered you up. You need to be sober to hear the news that I'm about to tell you."
"You has a family that wants me?" Winky asked, hope in her voice for the first time in years.
Professor McGonagall, with tears starting to flow from her eyes, reached over and stroked Winky between her dirty ears, then stated in a sympathetic voice, "No, Winky, I'm afraid that I have sad news for you."
As Winky quivered and shook, Professor McGonagall continued to cry gently for a moment, and then spoke, "There's no easy way to tell you this, Dobby has been killed. He was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange. She threw a knife at him as he was rescuing Harry Potter from Malfoy Manor."
"NO!" Winky shrieked in a high piercing tone. "Dobby can't be dead, he can't! Dobby was the only one who cared." As Winky shrieked and cried, she lost control of her magic and butterbeer bottles went flying around the kitchen. The bottles shattered when they struck surfaces, but they were immediately cleaned up by the other house-elves in the kitchen who had come out to hear what Professor McGonagall had to say.
The rat-faced house-elf that had shaken Winky awake turned to Professor McGonagall and asked, "Is this true? Dobby's dead?"
Professor McGonagall stood, straightened her robes, wiped away the tears from her cheeks and repeated, loudly enough to be heard by all the house-elves in the kitchen, "Dobby is dead. He was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange as he helped Harry Potter escape from Malfoy Manor."
A deep voiced house-elf spoke from the back of the kitchen, "Brought it on hisself, he did. Not a proper house-elf at all. Trouble comes of being paid and having days off. We're better off without him."
Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed with an angry fire for a moment, then she addressed the house-elves again, "It's a tragedy when anyone is murdered; a useless waste. You will respect Dobby and honour his death. None of you should speak against Dobby. He died sticking up for what he believed."
Winky stood, her legs atrophied from lack of work and from lying in her blankets constantly drinking. She wobbled through the thronged elves surrounding Professor McGonagall to the cabinet containing the butterbeer. She opened the cabinet, reached in and grabbed a bottle of the foamy beverage. She looked at it raptly as she popped the top and took a swig. She immediately spit it out in a sink and vomited noisily for several minutes. Looking at the butterbeer bottle, she tried again to drink it down, but the scene unfolded just as before. She drained the bottle down the sink and sat sobbing until a kindly, old house-elf came and led her away.
Professor McGonagall left the kitchens, not noticing that the rat-faced house-elf had followed her. The house-elf grabbed Professor McGonagall's robes and asked, "What about Winky, won't she just go back to drinking?"
Professor McGonagall looked at the house-elf sadly for a moment before replying, "Pothos, your job is to keep her busy. Keep piling the work on her, don't let her rest or she'll just sink back into her depression. There's no better cure for depression than hard work, especially if you're a house-elf. If I had known how bad it was, I would have taken steps before now."
Pothos regarded her gravely, then nodded brusquely and returned to the kitchen. Professor McGonagall pulled her robes tighter about herself, then walked slowly back to her office, tears flowing down her cheeks again.
Winky tossed down the bottle of butterbeer in disgust. It tasted just like the cleaning solution the house-elves used to clean the bathrooms. "Winky knows where to find better stuff," she thought. She looked around at the other house-elves working in the kitchen to see if any of them were looking at her. Stealthily, she crept through the kitchen, looking for a good place to Disapparate. She seized the opportunity to Disapparate when a large pot fell off a ceiling hook with a resounding crash. Sure that no one had heard her leave; she appeared in Professor Slughorn's empty office.
"Winky knows he keeps the Firewhiskey here somewhere," she muttered under her breath. Winky opened the largest bottom drawer of Professor Slughorn's desk and searched it thoroughly, sticking her head all the way into it. She jumped and banged her head on the desk, startled by the noise of someone else Apparating into the office.
Pothos hurried over to Winky, not at all fooled by her attempt to leave the kitchen stealthily. He grabbed Winky by the shoulders, and shook her violently for a moment. "You is a bad elf," he said into her ear, "You is going to get caught and thrown out of Hogwarts. You want to be masterless again, like you was when Dobby found you? You is going back to the kitchens and you is gonna make that trifle."
Winky shrieked back at him, "Dobby was a bad elf, a bad elf! Wanting pay, wearing clothes. He should has just let Winky die in shame." Winky dropped down onto the floor and began to blubber loudly, "Why did Dobby care? Why did he save Winky? Winky was a bad elf, betrayed Master Barty." She started to bang her head on the floor, but was stopped by Pothos gentle touch.
Pothos gripped her gently around her shoulders, then Disapparated with her back to the kitchens.
Winky moped around the kitchen despondently. She had finished all the extra cleaning that Pothos had assigned her and had nothing left to do. All the others were asleep. She desperately wanted a butterbeer, but it always tasted bad to her now. Every time she tried to drink it, she could only taste the horrible, astringent taste of cleaning solution, and she thought she could hear Dobby scolding her. Hearing voices from outside the kitchen, she curiously went to the door and looked through the peephole into the hallway. She saw some students she recognised creeping stealthily through the hallway. "That's that Wheezy girl and Longbottom boy," she thought. As she watched, Neville reached out and tickled the pear to let himself and Ginny into the kitchen.
Winky quickly hid herself away as the duo entered the kitchen. Moving with well-practised ease, Neville and Ginny quickly gathered up two large bags of food each and retreated from the quiet kitchen. Her curiosity piqued now, Winky used a Disillusionment Charm on herself and followed the pair. She immediately recognised where they were heading: The Room of Requirement. She crept though the door just as it was closing and hid under a bed.
Neville's voice spoke from in the room, "Have you heard anything more about Ron, Harry, or Hermione?"
Ginny's voice, obviously muffled by eating shot back, "No, we don't know what they're up to. I worry so much about them. Since they escaped from Malfoy Manor, we haven't heard anything more. We don't know if they're dead or alive."
In her hiding place under the bed, Winky cried silently. She would find out whether or not Ron, Harry and Hermione were still alive. She couldn't bear the thought of Dobby's sacrifice going in vain. She made a vow to herself, there and then, that she would do all she could to help defeat the Death Eaters.
Winky approached the rat-faced house-elf, her eyes gleaming with purpose. When she had reached him, she spoke, "Pothos, Winky wants to do the night duty. Winky does better in the evenings away from the other elves."
Pothos looked at her, gratified to see an expression on her face other than sadness. He looked her over, making sure she was healthy and spry before announcing, "Okay, Winky, you can has the night duty from now on."
The night duty generally didn't tax Winky too much, giving her time to explore the castle. She went to the library and researched everything she could on the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters. She even snuck into the Ministry and looked at the files they had on them. The more she researched, the more worried she became about how Harry, Ron and Hermione would overcome the Dark Lord, and avenge Dobby. She didn't see any way that a wizard who wasn't fully trained could defeat the strongest Dark Wizard in recorded history. She worried also about the Lestrange woman. "Bellatrix is too strong; how can they hope to defeat her?" she thought.
As she read more about Bellatrix, she grew to hate her: She had tortured the Longbottom boy's parents until they had gone insane, she had killed Sirius Black who had been falsely imprisoned, she had killed Dobby!
As she read even more about the Death Eaters, she began to understand how Dobby felt about the Malfoys. She put the book she was reading down, lowered her head and thought, "Young Master Barty treated me like that, too. Yelled at me and beat me when I only wanted to serve. I understands now why Dobby wanted paying. He wanted to know he was wanted."
Reluctantly, she realised, "Young Master Barty was an evil, Dark Wizard. He used me, just like the Malfoys used Dobby."
When the morning came around, she left to find Kreacher; she knew that he belonged to Harry Potter now. When she Apparated into 12 Grimmauld Place, she looked around shocked at the mess. Every cabinet had been opened, the contents spilled on the floor, holes had been punched in walls and the place thoroughly ransacked. "Obviously, Kreacher isn't here or he's a bad elf," she thought.
Just as she finished that thought, she felt rough hands grab her around the neck. A guttural human voice asked, "So, you thought you could come back here and help your master, did you?"
Before Winky could answer, she felt the human's hand place a collar around her neck that prevented her from using her innate magic.
"The Dark Lord will pay a pretty price for you, Kreacher," said the voice, as he lifted Winky to face him. Winky finally saw her captor, recoiling from his yellowed teeth and foul breath. He looked her over, and then shook her roughly by the collar. "You're a girl elf. Where's Kreacher?" He shook her harder.
Winky's eyes bulged as he shook and choked her. Suddenly, she heard Kreacher's bullfrog voice yell, "Kreacher's right here, Death Eater."
The Death Eater dropped Winky and turned to face Kreacher's voice, reaching for his wand as he did. At that moment, Kreacher appeared from behind Winky, wielding a heavy cast-iron skillet, Regulus' locket bouncing on his chest. He bashed the Death Eater on the back of the head. The Death Eater fell to the ground, blood oozing from his temple. Kreacher raised the skillet to strike again, but stopped when Winky yelled, "Don't kill him!"
Kreacher reached over to Winky and removed the collar from around her neck. He went to the Death Eater and put the collar around his neck, then cinched it tightly. Kreacher said with satisfaction, "He won't go anywhere now, that collar can't be removed by its wearer. Master Sirius made Kreacher wear one once before."
Looking more closely at Winky, he asked, "What does Winky want? You are a disgraced elf and should not be here."
Winky looked back at him boldly and said, "Winky is here to help Harry Potter. What can Winky do to help?"
Kreacher regarded her now with suspicion, "You worked for Barty Crouch Jr. You are a Death Eater, too." He started to approach her in a menacing fashion.
Winky dropped to the floor and begged, "Please don't hurt Winky, Winky only wants to help Master Harry. Please, Dobby died rescuing him and Winky wants to respect Dobby's memory."
Kreacher stopped walking toward her and whispered, "Dobby's dead? Kreacher did not know. How did Dobby die?"
Winky told him of the events of Dobby's death. As she did, she could see Kreacher's eyes narrow in anger and his breathing quicken. When she was done recounting, Kreacher said, "Can you hide Kreacher in Hogwarts? It is not safe here anymore and there's nothing here left to guard. Death Eaters have stolen everything they thought might be of value."
Winky said, "Winky is sure that Professor McGonagall will welcome you. Let's go."
They took each others hands and Disapparated to Hogwarts, but not before Kreacher whacked the Death Eater, who had just started stirring, one more time with the skillet. "For luck," he said.
They arrived to chaos. Battles raged in the corridors between Death Eaters and students. Giants roamed the grounds outside, flinging boulders at the castle. As they hurried to the kitchens, Kreacher collapsed with a shriek, "Master Harry has died!"
Winky reached down, grabbed Kreacher by his bony shoulders and raised him up onto her shoulders, glad now that hard work had brought back her muscle tone. She cloaked both of them in a Disillusionment Charm as they made their way back to the kitchens. As they were arriving, Kreacher stirred and said, "No, Master Harry is not dead. Something strange is happening. He is coming closer, Kreacher can feel him."
Professor McGonagall's voice spoke, amplified from the kitchen walls, "Attention, all Hogwarts house-elves: the Dark Lord is about to enter the castle. As acting Headmistress, I am freeing all of you. You may flee and avoid the fighting. If Hogwarts still stands after this, I welcome all of you back." As her voice finished speaking, a rain of assorted clothing filled the room, spilling over all of the gathered house-elves.
The house-elves started panicking and rushing to collect their few meagre possessions. Kreacher leapt upon a countertop and shouted, "We must fight. We must fight for Hogwarts; we must fight for Master Harry. How many of you came here after being sacked? How many treated badly by Death Eaters? If the Dark Lord wins, all you can be is slaves! We serve, but we are not slaves!" He reached down onto the counter and grabbed a cleaver as large as his head, brandished it and shouted, "For Master Harry, for Hogwarts!"
The house-elves that had not already Disapparated regarded him with lowered eyes, avoiding making eye contact. Winky climbed up next to him, grabbed a carving knife and shouted, "For Dobby! For Hogwarts!" She made eye contact with Pothos, "You is wanting to work for Death Eaters? You is wanting to be slave? Fight!"
Pothos wavered, indecision showing on his rat face for mere seconds before his features hardened. Grabbing a corkscrew and waving it around, he shouted, "For Hogwarts!"
Pothos actions seemed to be the spark that lit the brushfire. The remaining house-elves armed themselves with whatever they could find in the kitchens and rushed out of the kitchens. They charged madly for the entrance hall, arriving just as the Death Eaters retreated into it, led by the Dark Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange.
The battle flowed from the entrance hall into the Great Hall, the house-elves hacking and slashing at Death Eaters. In the press of bodies, Winky got separated from Kreacher and found herself surrounded by Death Eaters. One of them raised a wand to strike at her, but was stunned from an unseen source. Winky took the opportunity to dive under the fallen Death Eater and hid for a moment.
A sudden shout filled the air as Mrs. Weasley raged at Bellatrix. Knowing that Mrs. Weasley was hopelessly outmatched in a duel, Winky crept forward under the fallen bodies. As they dueled fiercely, Winky crept slowly toward Bellatrix. She reached Bellatrix just as she was laughing madly. With great deliberation, she reached out with her carving knife and sliced Bellatrix on the ankle. Distracted, just for a second, Bellatrix lifted her arm slightly to see what had injured her. Mrs. Weasley's curse scored a hit directly under Bellatrix's raised arm. As Bellatrix fell, Winky collapsed in exhaustion and relief back under the fallen bodies; sure that no one had seen her contribution to the duel.
Suddenly, a great explosion boomed across the hall. As she fell unconscious from the force of the explosion, she thought she heard Harry's voice shout, "Protego!"
One week later, she stood near Dobby's grave at Shell Cottage. Looking at the tombstone that Harry Potter had installed, she whispered, "Winky has avenged you, Dobby. Bellatrix will never hurt anyone again. Harry Potter will be happy; Kreacher and Winky will look out for him." She turned, grabbed Kreacher's hand and told him, "Let's go home to Master Harry."