Ch. 37

Hearing that voice causes Harry to freeze in place and ask "DAD? What was THAT?"

"Stay here Harry and let me go check that out." Sirius replies pulling his wand from his shirt. Stepping out into the hall he checks for signs of someone else being in the house. Listening and walking quietly he walks down the hall into the main room. As soon as he enters the room he hears the voice again "Blood traitor! You dare to come here!"

"Show yourself! I won't talk to things I do not see!" Sirius commands.

A popping noise behind him has him whirling around. "What are you doing in this house? I was under the impression you were to be at Grimmauld Place. This is not your domain. Again I ask What are you doing here?"

"Any home of my Lady is where myself will be. You are the one out of place. How dare you ask Kreacher why. Myself belongs to my Lady not you, traitor."

"Dad? Who is that? What does he mean when he says you are a traitor?"

"Harry! I thought I told you to wait in the family room for me! Why didn't you?"

"I did wait but you didn't come back so I came to find you. " Harry answers turning to the small creature. "Hello, my name is Harry, who are you?"

"A child? You bring a child to this place of dark magic?"

"This is my son, Harry. Harry, this is the former Black family house elf. He calls himself Kreacher. I know him as Nuisance Elf."

"Hello Sir. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Will you be our house elf now? We don't have one and could use some help here."

"Thank you young master for your graciousness. Are you really the son of the bossy one? If so Kreacher belongs to you too. Kreacher will obey you but not HIM."

"Really? You'll do what I tell you to do?" Harry asks liking this idea immensely.

"Excuse me, but I am the adult in charge here. If you two will stop discussing this as if I'm not in the room I'd appreciate it. Harry, Kreacher is not obligated to do anything you or I say. He is going to be a free elf. Kreacher, I apologize for the way I treated you as a child. If you would like to stay on here at the Manor we would accept your help. I will pay you wages or if you don't want that we can arrange something else. As I said though, as far as Harry and I are concerned you are a free elf to do as you please."

"Madam asked Kreacher to come and stay." The elf suddenly throws himself down on the floor weeping loudly.

"Um Kreacher? What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?" Harry asks concerned for his new friend.

"Young master wishes to know if Kreacher is hurt!" The elf sobs louder at this statement.

"Kreacher! Hear and Obey. STOP the squalling and rise!" Sirius commands forcefully while ignoring Harry's scowl.

"Dad, shouldn't you be nicer to him?" Harry whispers.

"OBEY my command Kreacher." Sirius says as the elf continues to wail.

"Kreacher? Please stop crying and get up off the floor. The floor is dirty and now you are also." Harry says rubbing the elf's head.

Rising to his feet, Kreacher sniffs as he says "Kreacher accepts offer of position with payment being a home. My Lady took ill and became a portrait and cannot travel ." With those words he disappears with a POP.

"Where did he go Dad? Is he coming back?"

"I think he just agreed to be our house elf as long as we allowed him to live here. I don't know where he went but I believe he'll come if we need something." Sirius answers while thinking about Kreacher's announcement. Sirius decides to ask the elf later about what he meant by "My lady took ill and became a portrait."

"Dad? Who does he mean when he says My Lady? Does he mean the Queen or a Princess?"

"That would be my Mother, Harry. She is Kreacher's owner. That is why he does not respond to my commands."

"People shouldn't own people or in this case elves, Dad. That's just wrong. I'm glad you told him he was a free elf."

"Yes, well I don't know how well he'll respond to that. He was used to being ordered around. He does seem to like you though. Having said that though, I want you to hear me, I don't want to hear of you ordering him about. We aren't going to treat him that way. I only did it to try to get him to stop caterwauling. If we continue to be kind and allow him to help us perhaps he will accept our ways of taking care of things. I don't do things the way my parents did and that is going to be quite a shock to him I believe." Sirius answers.

"Dad, can I go up to my room? I'd really like to get it cleaned up and put my school things away. I want to write to Draco and Ron too. Do you need me to do anything down here right now?"

"No, I don't need any help at the moment. You go ahead and write to your friends. You are an unusual child Pup. Most children need to be reminded and prodded into cleaning and straightening up. You want to do it." Sirius teases, smiling at his boy.

"I like to keep things neat and clean Dad. I'm not like Ron. He never wants to clean up anything. His side of the room is always a mess at school. Maybe I can teach him to like to clean up when he comes to visit this summer. See you later Dad." Harry says as he heads upstairs.

"Remember son, the doors with the black marks are marking the rooms with dangerous objects. Do not try to enter any of those rooms. Think back to what happened with the twins at Christmas."

"Don't worry Dad. I don't want to go into any of those rooms. I don't like having things screaming or shrieking at me. I'm not going to be in those rooms."

Up in his room, Harry decides to try to get Kreacher to come back to him. Not knowing how to go about this he decides to just ask him to come. "Um, hello Kreacher? It's Harry Potter Black at Black Manor. I was wondering if you could come to my room and we could talk. If you're not really busy that is." Harry says feeling silly for just talking out loud to no one.

Not getting a response, Harry sighs and begins to unpack his school books. "I wish Dad hadn't insisted I bring all these books. Summer is supposed to be a time away from schoolwork. I guess when you have a professor for a Dad you get to go to school all the time. He's already said something about summer assignments!" He thinks as he puts the books on the shelves by his desk.

"When my term report comes, I'm probably going to be doing much work up here. I know I didn't do very well in that muggle math class. I just hate math. Then there's Potions. Professor Snape stayed on me all year. I didn't do well in the last several labs we had to do. I sure hope I made acceptables or I'm going to need Kreacher to find me a permanent pillow for my backside!"

After putting away his clothes and books, Harry pulls out parchment and a quill. I'm getting better at using quills now that Dad has helped me practice. I still like regular muggle pens better though. Let's see I think I'll write Draco first.

Hi Draco,

We made it to the manor and I didn't wind up in the wrong fireplace this time. I probably would have if Dad hadn't held my arm and apparated us to the manor. I don't like apparating at all. I felt like my stomach was pulled up through my throat and out my ears! I just don't like traveling by floo either. I either wind up in the wrong fireplace or fall flat on my face when I do get where I'm going. Dad says I'll get better when I do it more.

Guess what? We have an elf living here! He says he belongs to Dad's Mum but he is going to live here. What do house elves do anyway? I've never been around one before and he's a nutty little fellow. Don't let on I said that though. It might hurt his feelings!

Are you and your Dad settling in? When can you make it for a visit? I miss having someone my age to talk to. Write soon,

Harry

Okay that one is done, now let's write to Ron. Harry tells Hedwig as she sits on her perch. Pulling out a new piece of parchment, Harry writes:

Ron,

You'll never guess what happened! When we got here there was this dreadful voice screaming about invaders and to get off the property. It scared me but Dad wasn't a bit scared. He's never scared of anything. He just went out to confront whatever was screaming! He told me to stay in the room but you know I couldn't do that. I followed him and guess what was screaming?

Give up? It was an elf. His name is Kreacher and he says he belongs to the Black family. He's going to live here with us. Maybe he'll play with me some. I miss having someone to play with and talk to. Yes, I've got Dad but he's busy and doesn't have the time to play when I want to. It's not the same as having someone your own age to play with. When can you come for a visit? Are the twins behaving? Tell Charlie hi for me.

Harry

Rolling up both letters and closing them with a tie around each, he fastens them to Hedwig's legs. "Okay girl the yellow tie is for Ron and the blue is for Draco. Thanks girl for delivering the letters for me. Ron is at the Burrow and Draco is with Professor Snape at Spinner's End. I guess you knew that though didn't you." Harry says as Hedwig flies out the window.

Feeling sleepy after the excitement of coming back to the Manor and finding an elf, Harry stretches out on top of his bed covers to rest for a few minutes. After what seems just a few minutes he opens his eyes to find the daylight fading and himself covered with a light blanket. Hedwig is back and dozing on her perch with her head tucked under a wing. Attached to her legs are two notes each tied with black ribbon.

Getting up and putting on his glasses, Harry unties the notes. They are from Draco and Ron. He reads Draco's first.

Harry,

For gracious sakes, don't let your Dad see this note. Okay, now listen: BLOODY HELL, what do you mean you want to play with a house elf. House elves are to be servants not friends! You tell them what to do and they go do it! Tell that elf to do your chores, fix you snacks and whatever else you want done and he better do it. If he doesn't do as you say you smack him around. They can get defiant so you have to show them who is Boss. If you need help send word. We had house elves at my old house.

I don't know yet when I can come. Dad says I have to be" in residence" with him for a few weeks. It has something to do with setting up the adoption I think. We've been here a week and it's not much fun yet. He hasn't even let me go down to the beach. I have to stay inside or in the yard. Boring! I can't fly either 'cause Muggles live all around. Bloody hell! Can you come visit? I need company. Ask your Dad if you can come stay a few days next week. He can bring you. We ought to be able to have some fun when you're here.

Draco

P.s. Remember to tear this up. If my Dad found out I wrote swear words I'd be in trouble! I slipped up and said B. H. yesterday and he punished me. I had to sit in my room on my bed fo thirty minutes! He said if I used those words again, he'd spank me. Bloody Hell is such a brilliant thing to 8say too!

D.

Giggling to himself at the outrageousness of Draco's letter, Harry reads the one from Ron.

Hey there my best mate,

So you found a house elf at the manor. I'm not surprised as the Black Family is one of the aristocrat families. Didn't you know that? Your Dad is from one of the TOP families in the wizarding world according to Charlie. I don't know any house elves so I don't know what to tell you about them.

Charlie says they are only for pure blood and wealthy families. I guess Sirius qualifies there. You have the Black fortune and the Potter fortune as well. You are RICH my friend. ( I get all this from Charlie.)

Charlie stirred up a bee hive here at home yesterday. He announced he wanted to train to work at the Dragon Reserve in Romania. Mum immediately said "no son of mine will work with dangerous beasts." Charlie told her "You can't keep me from doing what job I want! As soon as I reach seventeen I'm a legal adult and can do what I want. That's only two and a half years away! Get used to it Mum! It's Going To Happen!" I couldn't believe he actually said that or rather yelled it. Mum burst out crying and Dad took Charlie out to the toolshed. I heard later that Dad whipped him with his belt for being so disrespectful! Charlie didn't come down for supper last night or breakfast today.

I don't know what Dad would say if I asked to go to your house. He's mad at Charlie and snapping at the rest of us. He nearly spanked me after breakfast. I was kidding around with Percy and said something about him bein' adopted since he has red blond hair and the rest of us are darker redheads. Dad really scolded me and made me apologize. Percy and the rest of us have always teased each other that way. Parents are hard to deal with. How's Sirius with you lately? Asking for blood adoption musta made him proud enough to stop punishing you.

Ron

Ps. I'm writing in a hurry so it is going to be hard to read I bet.

Harry tore up both letters and put them in the bottom of Hedwig's cage. It wouldn't be good if his Dad saw either of them. Dragon handling sounded exciting. Maybe when he got old enough, Charlie could teach him how to do it. Thinking on the possibility, Harry is startled by a POP and seeing Kreacher in his bedroom.

"Young master, I came earlier but you were resting. I removed your shoes and covered you with a blanket. Now you are up. What may Kreacher do for you?"

"Uh, well I could use something to eat and drink. Would you make me a sandwich please? We don't have our evening meal until later and I missed lunch with my nap."

"Right away, young master. Chicken salad, Ham salad or Tuna salad? Pumpkin juice or a cup of Tea? Chocolate, ginger or cinnamon biscuits? Toast or crumpets? Would you like…."

"KREACHER, please stop." Harry says aghast.

"Yes young master. What may I assist you with?"

"I can't make all those decisions! Please just bring me anything to eat and drink. Thank you."

"AHH! Please and Thank you to a mere lowly elf! Oh, what a great wizard you will be. So polite to a lowly elf he is. Kreacher is lucky to find such." He screeches. Then with a POP he's gone.

Two minutes later he pops back in with a tray loaded with food. "Young Master could not choose so Kreacher brought it all. Three kinds of sandwich makings, four kinds of biscuits, tea, pumpkin juice, orange juice, milk and coffee also. Would young master like some fruit with this? I can pop in oranges, apples, pears, bananas, kiwi, merlinas, mangos, …."

"Kreacher stop! You're doing it again. I can't make a choice out of all those. I don't want any fruit right now anyway. Thanks though."

"AHH the Thank you again. Is too much for a lowly elf! Kreacher wishes to please." The elf screeches.

"SHHH! You're going to make my Dad come in here. He might….." Harry doesn't get to finish as the door suddenly opens and Sirius is standing there.

"Just what is going on in here? I keep hearing screeching! " Then taking in the feast set out on the child's bed table he asks "Harry? Did you summon all of this?"

"No sir! You told me I couldn't use magic without permission. Kreacher brought me all of this."

"You made Kreacher go get all of this food? Young Man, I told you not to be ordering Kreacher around. I'm disappointed in you Harry! You have better manners than this! You are grounded to your room for the rest of the day. I will bring you a tray with your supper. While you are here you think about the way you treated Kreacher and how you would want to be treated. Tomorrow you may apologize to him for your actions."

"But Dad I didn't .. You need to …"

"You are very close to being over my knee right now, Harry. I wouldn't be trying to tell me what to do. If I were you, I would stop and just accept the punishment." Sirius says as he closes the door.

Falling face down on the bed, Harry feels the tears begin to run. "Why wouldn't he listen? He should know me better than to think I would order someone to do something. I didn't! I wouldn't! He wouldn't even let me explain! Why? He's always let me explain myself! Ron's right. Parents are hard to deal with. Maybe I ought to go down there and tell him I don't want that bloody blood adoption after all! That would teach him. I don't think he wants me as his real child anymore."

Hearing another POP he lifts up enough to see Kreacher beside the bed wringing his hands. "Oh, my young master is crying! What did I not do? Tell me and I'll be doing it I will! I will iron my ears tonight as punishment for it I will! What is it?"

"You didn't do anything Kreacher. My Dad thinks I ordered you and forced you to bring me all of that food. He wouldn't even let me explain and he is making me stay in my room until tomorrow. I didn't do anything wrong and I'm being punished. He almost spanked me too! I can't even go down to talk to him or I will get a spanking. He's never acted so mean before." Harry says wiping the tears running down his face. "Kreacher, I don't like my Dad when he acts this way. I don't know why he is since he's always let me explain even when I get punished."

"Please don't cry young master. Kreacher will fix it. Please young one wipe the tears. Kreacher will cry too if you don't. Kreacher will talk to Black and explain. You can be freed from your room. Come, we both go and meet him." Kreacher says reaching for Harry's hand.

"Kreacher! NO! I can't! I'll get a spanking for leaving the room! Kreacher!" Harry tries to stop the elf but it's too late. Before he can say anything else, he is pulled out of the room. Before he can blink, he's standing outside of Sirius's study.

"Kreacher LISTEN TO ME!" Harry whispers frantically. "We CANNOT go in there right now. If we do I'm going to get spanked! Is that what you want to happen? I'm not allowed out of my room during a grounding unless I am going to the loo! PLEASE! Just let this go. I can talk to him tomorrow and explain it all then. Okay Kreacher?"

"Young master was crying and hurt by Black. Kreacher does not let his young master be hurt by Black. Black is going to apologize to young master for hurting his feelings. Kreacher is responsible for young master now. My Lady has said so. Black may be young master's father but he isn't going to be cruel! We go in now young master. Don't let go of my hand."

Harry feels himself grabbed by the hand and then hears a POP. He opens his eyes to find himself in his Dad's study standing just inside the door. Sirius, sitting in his overstuffed chair turns his head to see who or what just popped in.

"HARRY?! What ARE you doing? You know you are NOT to leave your room when you are grounded! Why did you bring Kreacher along?' Sirius asks, his voice very stern.