"Bryt, wake up!"
Bryt groaned, blinking awake and sitting up, her sleeping bag falling to her lap as she looked around. During the night, her dress had tangled around her and she reached to smooth it down, her first thought going to finally getting out of the thing. She'd slept with it on, too exhausted, too worried about her friends and family, to bother with changing. But now, she wanted out of this dress. Though as she looked up, seeing Hermione still in her dress as well and looking worried, Bryt hurried to her feet, straightening her dress.
"What's wrong?" she asked, looking for her wand.
"Harry's gone!" Hermione said.
"If he's sneaked off, I'll clobber him," Ron grumbled nearby, obviously not liking having been woken up.
Bryt looked to Harry's empty sleeping bag and frowned.
"Would he have left without his things?" she asked, "Maybe he's upstairs somewhere..."
"Oh, I hope so..." Hermione said, "Come on, we should look..."
Bryt nodded as she, Ron, and Hermione split up to search the house. Bryt started going through the bedrooms they once stayed in when they spent holidays in this run-down house, while Ron was searching through the lower levels and Hermione was further upstairs, calling Harry's name loudly.
If Harry had taken off on them...Did nothing they'd done to show him they were ready for this matter? Harry had a bad habit of making decisions for others if he thought it was for their own safety. He seemed to think people would drop dead just for talking to him and tried to distance himself for that. Bryt always thought he was being an idiot. Going off by himself was a sure way to get himself killed. He needed someone to watch his back and he needed to learn that.
"Bryt! Ron!" Hermione's voice came from upstairs, "I found him!"
"Oh thank God," Bryt muttered as Ron yelled back to Hermione, calling Harry a git. Bryt laughed a bit, heading out of the room and back down the stairs. Now that they knew Harry was still here, Bryt was going to get out of this dress finally. She found Hermione's bag and dug out her sneakers, cargo pants, and her tee shirt, then disappeared into a nearby room, changing quickly before heading back and shoving the dress down into the bag where it could be forgotten. She sat there for a second, staring at the bag, wondering if she should pull out her journal...write down everything that'd happened the day before...She'd asked Hermione to keep it in that bag, rather than in Bryt's own rucksack. She just felt safer keeping it there somehow.
"RON! BRYT! GET UP HERE QUICK!"
Bryt immediately snatched her wand from her pocket, taking off up the stairs, Ron soon catching up to her just as they reached a landing and found Hermione and Harry standing about halfway down the hall.
"What's wrong?" Bryt asked as she hurried over. Hermione didn't answer, instead pointing to the door they were at. Bryt followed her gaze, studying the handwritten sign. Somehow, the handwriting looked familiar...
Do Not Enter
Without the Express Permission
Of Regulus Arcturus Black
Regulus Arcturus Black...Somehow, that tugged at Bryt's mind more than the handwriting did...
"That was Sirius's brother, wasn't it?" Ron asked, "Regulus Arcturus...Regulus...R.A.B.!"
Bryt smacked herself in the forehead at that. R.A.B. Of course! Why hadn't that clicked?
"You don't think..." Bryt said, looking at the door.
"Let's find out," Harry said, trying the door, and using a quick spell to unlock it before they went in. Bryt looked around instantly. It seemed Sirius's brother was very, very proud of being a Slytherin. The entire room was decorated in green and silver, with Slytherin banners hung everywhere. Bryt noticed Harry staring at a picture of the Slytherin Quidditch Team from Regulus's days at Hogwarts. Bryt looked past that and noticed the Black family crest and motto were painted above the bed and Hermione was staring at a collection of newspaper clippings nearby.
"They're all about Voldemort," Hermione said, sitting down on the bed with the clippings, "Regulus seems to have been a fan for a few years before he joined the Death Eaters..."
Bryt went over to the desk, starting to sift through everything and checking the drawers, looking for any sign of a locket. There was nothing, however. Just old textbooks and used quills and spilled ink. They even at one point attempted the Summoning spell, but nothing happened and they assumed there were probably charms cast on it to keep it from being summoned. Which left them searching themselves.
"It could be somewhere else in the house," Hermione said after an hour and they still hadn't found it in Regulus's room. They'd given up and headed back downstairs to come up with a new plan, "Whether he'd managed to destroy it or not, he'd want to keep it hidden from Voldemort, wouldn't he? Remember all those awful things we had to get rid of when we were here last time? That clock that shot bolts at everyone and those old robes that tried to strangle Ron; Regulus might have put them there to protect the locket's hiding place, even though we didn't realize it at..." Hermione trailed off, her eyes going wide and unfocused. "At the time..."
"What is it?" Bryt asked.
"There was a locket."
Bryt felt a jolt, realizing Hermione was right. She remembered it now, when they were cleaning the drawing room...
"That one no one could open?" she asked, her heart pounding. They'd threw it out, with everything else...Merlin, that locket could be long-gone by now...
"Kreacher nicked loads of things from us," Harry said hopefully, "He had a whole stash of stuff in his cupboard in the kitchen. C'mon."
Harry hurried down through the house, Bryt, Hermione, and Ron right behind. As they passed through the entry, they ignored Mrs. Black's screaming and hurried on into the kitchen, closing the door behind them. They hurried across the room to the cupboard where Kreacher slept and Harry pulled it open, and as Bryt looked over his shoulder, she saw it was empty.
Bryt sighed and sat back, shaking her head. A small glimmer of hope, and now it was gone.
"It's not over yet," Harry said, then yelling, "Kreacher!"
Bryt winced as the house elf appeared in the kitchen. After the way Kreacher acted towards her, and knowing he was partly responsible for Sirius's death, Bryt wasn't too fond of the house elf anymore.
"Master," Kreacher said distastefully, bowing low and muttering to himself, "Back in my Mistress's old house with the blood-traitor Weasley and the Mudbloods—"
"I forbid you to call anyone blood traitor or Mudblood," Harry snapped. Bryt made a face. She might not like Kreacher, but she didn't agree that Harry should be treating him like he was. He was treating Kreacher like an object rather than a living person.
"I've got a question for you," Harry said sharply, "And I order you to answer truthfully. Understand?"
"Yes, Master," Kreacher said with another low bow.
"Two years ago there was a big gold locket in the drawing room upstairs. We threw it out. Did you steal it back?"
Kreacher slowly straightened up, his face showing his displeasure as he looked at Harry and gave a short "Yes."
"Where is it now?"
"Gone," Kreacher muttered, closing his eyes and tensing, as if he were expecting to receive a beating. Bryt frowned a bit. She might not like Kreacher, but she still felt sorry for him.
"Gone?" Harry asked, "What do you mean, it's gone? Kreacher, I order you—"
"Mundungus Fletcher," Kreacher blurted, still tense, his eyes still shut, "Mundungus Fletcher stole it all: Miss Bella's and Miss Cissy's pictures, my Mistress's gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and—and the locket, Master Regulus's locket, Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed his orders!"
Kreacher darted towards the fire place to grab the poker and Bryt yelped. Harry reacted quickly, grabbing Kreacher and pinning him down.
"Kreacher, I order you to stay still!" Harry snapped, then slowly backed off, Kreacher laying frozen on the floor.
"Harry!" Bryt said, horrified. Couldn't he at least try to treat Kreacher like a living being?
"What? He was trying to beat himself up with a poker," Harry said, "Right, Kreacher, I want the truth: How do you know Mundungus Fletcher stole the locket?"
"Kreacher saw him!" Kreacher managed, seeming to be choking as he cried, frozen to the ground, "Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher's cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher's treasures. Kreacher told the sneak thief to stop, but Mundungus Fletcher laughed and r-ran..."
"You called the locket 'Master Regulus's'," Harry said, "Why? Where did it come from? What did Regulus have to do with it? Kreacher, sit up and tell me everything you know about that locket, and everything Regulus had to do with it!"
Kreacher slowly set up, curling up on himself, rocking on the spot. Bryt couldn't help but be annoyed with Harry and feel sorry for Kreacher, despite how much she hated him. It was horrible and pathetic seeing the elf like this.
"Master Sirius ran way," Kreacher whispered, "Good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke m Mistress's heart with his lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper pride; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggleborns...and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve...
"And one day, a year after he had joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said...he said...he said that the Dark Lord required an elf."
"Voldemort wanted a house elf?" Bryt asked in disbelief. She couldn't really see Voldemort living in a home, needing house elves to clean up after him...
"Oh yes," Kreacher managed, his voice weak, "And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do...and then to c-come home." Kreacher started crying harder at that. "So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake...there was a boat...There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it..."
Bryt glanced at Harry at that. She remembered what Harry had said about his trip to the cave with Dumbledore. Sure, Harry told them about the trip to the cave, but all he mentioned was that the locket there was fake and they had to fight Inferi. He said nothing about a potion.
"Kreacher drank, and he drank, he saw terrible things...Kreacher's insides burned...Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed...He made Kreacher drink all he potion...He dropped a locket into the empty basin...He filled it with more potion. And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island..."
Bryt gripped her hands into fits. To treat a living creature like that...No wonder Kreacher seemed so insane. That potion must have all but destroyed his poor mind...
"Kreacher needed water," Kreacher went on, "he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake...and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface..."
Bryt shuddered, shaking her head.
"How did you get away?" Harry asked in a whisper. Kreacher looked up at him.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back."
"I know—but how did you escape the Inferi?"
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," Kreacher repeated, as if he didn't understand.
"I know, but—"
"He Disapparated," Bryt said simply.
"But...you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," Harry started.
"House elves can do things we can't," Bryt shrugged, "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in Hogwarts when we can't."
"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house elves far beneath his notice," Hermione said bitterly, "Just like all the purebloods who treat them like animals...It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't."
"The house elf's highest law is in his Master's bidding," Kreacher said, "Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home..."
"So you came home," Bryt said with a nod, "Exactly as you were told."
"You didn't disobey orders at all!" Hermione added.
"So what happened when you got back?" Harry asked, "What did Regulus say when you told him what had happened?"
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," Kreacher muttered, "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then...it was a little while later...Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell...And he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher was gone with the Dark Lord..."
"And he made you drink the potion?" Harry asked, sounding disgusted. Kreacher cried harder. Bryt frowned, watching him.
"M-Master Regulus took form his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," Kreacher managed, "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets...And he ordered—Kreacher to leave—without him. And he told Kreacher—to go home—and never tell my Mistress—what he had done—but to destroy—the first locket. And he drank—all the potion—and Kreacher swapped the lockets—and watched...as Master Regulus...was dragged beneath the water...and..."
Bryt clamped her hands over her mouth, shaking her head. No wonder Kreacher was so messed up...to go through all of that...Hermione, crying almost as hard as Kreacher, suddenly moved forward as if she were going to hug Kreacher, but he ducked away.
"The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?"
"I told you not to call her mudblood!" Harry snapped, then as Kreacher started banging his head on the ground, "Kreacher, stop!"
Kreacher froze on the ground again, staring up at Harry, his eyes bloodshot.
"So you brought the locket home," Harry said, "And you tried to destroy it?"
"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," Kreacher said weakly, "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work...So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open...Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his Mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared, and Kreacher could not tell her what happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave..."
"I don't understand you, Kreacher," Harry said, staring at the elf sobbing on the floor. Bryt had started staring at her own lap instead. The poor house elf was just so pitiful...Thinking about everything he went through...Bryt couldn't imagine what it was like.
"Voldemort tried to kill you," Harry went on, "Regulus died to bring Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray Sirius to Voldemort? You were happy to go to Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to Voldemort through them..."
"Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that," Hermione said, weakly, "He's a slave; house elves are used to bad, even brutal treatment; what Voldemort did to Kreacher wasn't that far out of the common way. What do wizard wars mean to an elf like Kreacher? He's loyal to people who are kind to him, and Mrs. Black must have been, and Regulus certainly was, so he served them willingly and parroted their beliefs. I know what you're about to say. That Regulus changed his mind...but he doesn't seem to have explained that to Kreacher, does he? And I think I know why. Kreacher and Regulus's families were all safer if they kept to the old pureblood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all."
"Sirius—"
"You remember how he treated Kreacher," Bryt said, "He was horrible and abusive. You know he was. Sirius hated Kreacher and was never nice to him."
Harry looked away to Kreacher, who was still crying on the floor.
"Kreacher," he finally said, "When you feel up to it, er...Please sit up."
Bryt nodded a little at that. At least he was trying now. She watched as Kreacher slowly calmed down before sitting up, trying to wipe away his tears with the back of his hand.
"Kreacher, I'm going to ask you to do something," Harry said slowly, with a glance over at Hermione before back to Kreacher, "Kreacher, I want you, please, to go find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to find out where the locket—where Master Regulus's locket is. It's really important. We want to finish the work Master Regulus started, we want to—er—ensure that he didn't die in vain."
Kreacher glanced at Harry at that.
"Find Mundungus Fletcher?" he asked.
"And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place," Harry said, "Do you think you could do that for us?"
Kreacher slowly nodded and got to his feet. Bryt watched as Harry suddenly pulled out the fake locket and held it out.
"Kreacher, I'd, er, like you to have this. This belonged to Regulus and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you—"
"Overkill, mate," Ron said and Bryt hit him over the head. Though maybe Ron was right, with the way Kreacher reacted. He started sobbing all over again, clinging to the locket as if it were the most precious thing in the world. It took over half an hour to calm Kreacher down before he finally went and hid the locket in his cupboard before bowing to Ron and Harry, made an odd gesture to Bryt and Hermione, then disappeared. Bryt stared at the spot for a second, Thinking about all they learned. She knew now just why Kreacher seemed so mad...That poor elf went through so much.
"Come on, why don't we try and find something to eat while we wait?" she asked finally, pushing herself to her feet and trying to push back her thoughts, "I'm starving."