When I stepped inside, for a moment nothing happened, but then a shadowy figure sprung up from the floor and I then stared into the face of Albus Dumbledore, surrounded in wisps like a spiritual apparition as he lifted a hand to point at me. "Severus…Severus…what did you do…?"
"I did not kill you, professor." As the apparition had started to sweep towards me, it then burst and vanished, breaking the deterrent spell that Moody had placed on the house to keep Severus Snape from entering. With the boom of sound, there then followed a rush of feet and with a soft exhale, I smiled as the famous trio suddenly appeared from the kitchen, Ron having a bit of egg dribbling down his chin from his haste to abandon his breakfast and rush to see who had entered the house. All three of them had their wands up and pointed at me, so I gently lifted my hands. "It's alright, it's only me here. Harry, you went on a date with Cho Chang on Valentine's Day but it went downhill when you told her you needed to meet up with Hermione and she stormed off on you. Ron, your most embarrassing moment is when you came down in your polka dot pink underwear one morning when you were ten and hadn't realised I was in the kitchen to visit for the week. Hermione, you and I often debate on academic topics, the last one we had was at the Burrow concerning house-elf welfare."
"Oh Mia, it really is you!" Dropping her wand, Hermione rushed forwards in order to embrace me eagerly. "We were so worried, all we heard was a message from Ron's dad, he sent a patronus to tell us that everyone had got away safely."
"That's right, there were no casualties, but we all had to run away. My dear cousin Bellatrix Lestrange was there, and she's as determined to kill my family as ever in order to purify the Black line." Rolling my eyes, I then gave Harry and Ron a smile as I hugged them both in turn. "Dad's fine, Harry, he's gone into hiding for the moment. We want everything to settle down before we decide what it is we're going to do. Ron, I spoke with your mother. She's worried about you, but I promised I'd be keeping an eye so she sends her love."
"How did you know we'd be here?" He asked me, looking rather relieved to have news of his family. Hermione ushered us all into the kitchen where Harry promptly brought me over some food to eat breakfast with them, all of us taking up seats.
"Educated guess." I responded promptly, pouring myself some coffee. "I had a few places in mind to check, Hermione discussed them with me whilst we were all at the Burrow and I assured her that it would be fairly safe to come here. There are new wards up to keep Snape out, and there's been no indication that he's been here or alerted anyone else about the fact that this was the old Headquarters. I expect he's assumed that we abandoned it immediately after…well. You guys are well protected here. If you like, I can try breaking the old Fidelius Charm and putting on a new one with me as Secret Keeper. You'll all be safe as can be."
"We'll get to that later." Harry said impatiently, wanting more news about how everyone was doing, asking about my dad, Remus and the Weasleys so I listed everyone off to tell them everything I knew, assuring them again that no one had been hurt and that Kingsley's warning had given us enough warning for most of the guests to escape. "That's great. I'm glad no one got hurt…but how did they know where to find us?"
"Scrimgeour, I bet. Probably gave you up." Ron answered immediately as I sipped at my coffee, scowling angrily. "He knew you were there, and You-Know-Who probably tortured him a fair bit before killing him to find out what he knew."
"I think that is the case, unfortunately." I agreed, though I felt a little sorry for Scrimgeour being killed off just like that. "But all things aside, I don't think he would have given you up quickly, Harry. I believe he tried to hold out, but you know what it's like to be tortured like that. I can't imagine anyone holding up for long under such constant pain. The man died, so let's try and allow bygones be bygones. We have more important matters at hand. So, what are your plans? Has any progress been made with the Horcruxes? The locket?" Suddenly, Harry's eyes lit up.
"Yeah! We found out who R.A.B is, it's your uncle. Sirius's brother, Regulus Black." My jaw dropped.
"No! Of course, it makes so much sense. Oh I'm so sorry Harry, if I had only realised…never mind that now, I didn't even know my uncle's middle name. Dad doesn't really like to talk about him…so he stole the locket from the cave? He's the one who wrote that letter you found in the other locket? Do you have it?" Harry promptly fished around in a moleskin wallet that Hagrid had given him to pull out the locket and unlocked it, handing me over the letter so that I could read it again.
"We searched the house for it, but it looks like someone's been here before us. Almost every room looks like it's been searched, which is a shame because the house finally looks good after you redecorated, but we couldn't find it. Hermione remembered that we all found a locket a couple of years ago when we first cleaned the house." Ron provided for me as we read. "But we threw that out. Our only hope was that Kreacher had managed to steal it back, but we didn't find it in his den and the house-elf isn't around." Reading through the letter, I then placed it down neatly in front of me on the table, moving my coffee aside and smoothing out the page in order to try and reduce the crumbled lines which covered the parchment.
"No, I sent him to Hogwarts to work in the kitchens with the other house-elves as a kind of punishment for almost getting dad killed. I didn't want him alone in the house whilst I couldn't keep an eye on him and I wanted him to have something to occupy himself with. The other house-elves were more than happy to keep an eye on him for me, they know me well from all the times I visited. They send me updates every now and then. I can summon Kreacher back, and we can ask him what he knows." Looking even more hopeful, Harry quickly asked me to do so, half rising from his chair in his anticipation. "Kreacher." With a pop of noise, Kreacher then joined us in the kitchen, looking around with a rather miserably distasteful expression as he noticed the company I was keeping.
"Mistress has called Kreacher, but why does mistress have such unsavoury guests? Blood-traitors and mudbloods…"
"Kreacher, you know how I feel about those words." I cut him short as I shot him a dark look so he quickly shut up and bowed silently. "I forbid you to use those words ever again. If you cannot bring yourself to accept my friends, then I will settle for you at least being cordial to their faces."
"Of course, mistress. Kreacher will do anything that mistress asks."
"Good. Now Kreacher, I order you to answer these questions honestly, no matter which of us asks them. You are to speak nothing but the truth to all of us, understood?" Nodding his head and promising that he did, I then glanced at Harry, Ron and Hermione before proceeding. "There was a locket in the drawing room cabinet that no one could open. Did you take it before it could be thrown away?" Straightening up, Kreacher's eye narrowed suspiciously at me before he answered.
"Yes." A collective exhale of relief followed between the four of us before Harry then promptly asked with a grin.
"Where is it now?"
"Gone." Kreacher flinched, pressing his eyes shut as the momentary sense of gladness quickly vanished. Harry demanded to know what he meant by 'gone', even ordering Kreacher to answer him as the house-elf started to shake and hug himself whilst his bat-like ears twitched. "Mundungus Fletcher. Mundungus Fletcher stole it all. Miss Bella and Miss Cissy's pictures, my mistress's gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and…and…" I noticed how strange Kreacher was acting, gulping for air as he trembled before all at once, he screamed with a pained wail of agony. "And the locket! Master Regulus's locket! Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!" Harry and I reacted at the same moment, grabbing Kreacher as he'd lunged for the poker standing in the grate by the kitchen fire, wrestling him back as I bellowed.
"Kreacher! I order you to stop! You are forbidden from hurting yourself!" Immediately he went still, the magic which bonded Kreacher to me as his mistress allowing him to go as limp as a dead fish though he continued to cry and wail. Once he was settled, Harry let go but I continued to hold Kreacher, almost cradling him as I rested his head on my lap and even stroked his ears lightly in a bid to comfort him. Having spent seven years infiltrating the Hogwarts kitchens, I'd grown to know the house-elves very well, and they'd told me all about themselves in turn whenever I asked, and they'd all agreed that having their ears stroked was one of the most comforting sensations they could feel. "Now, please tell us. How do you know it was Fletcher?"
"Kreacher saw him!" He sniffed, still crying but now looking at me with those large eyes of his as I gently rubbed his ears. "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…"
"That sneaky little git! Wait until I get hold of him, stealing from my family when we're not even dead yet! I'll have him, I'll string him up by his toes and…" Growling under my breath, I took a deep breath to calm down as Harry then promptly asked Kreacher another question.
"You called the locket Master Regulus's, 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." Under the influence of my previous order, Kreacher had no choice but to answer, though he refused to sit up, merely lay there with his head in my lap as he gradually calmed down enough to talk clearly.
"Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke my 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 muggle-borns…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…that the Dark Lord required an elf."
"Voldemort needed an elf?" Harry sounded as gobsmacked as I felt, all of us quickly looking up and around at one another in shock.
"Oh yes, and Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honour, said Master Regulus, an honour 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 had now taken to hugging his knees and rocking himself, whimpering as the large tears continued to fall down his sagging cheeks. "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 there was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great, black lake…" From the description, I started to get a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"Harry, is that…?"
"Yeah." Biting on my lip, I gently urged Kreacher to continue, needing to know what had happened that day.
"There was a boat…there was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it…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 the 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." My fists tightened in anger, though for a moment I felt it irrational.
I had no real love for Kreacher, especially considering he had almost gotten myself and the rest of us all killed in the Department of Mysteries, but to see him sobbing so, and hearing exactly what Voldemort had done to him so cruelly, I couldn't help but feel a spark of indignant anger, because despite everything, Kreacher was a part of my family. His servitude to House Black was something he clearly took pride in, and I knew he had loved my uncle and grandmother, and all my ancestors, it owed him a degree of acceptance and even respect, in my opinion. Besides. No one touches my family. House-elf or otherwise. "Kreacher needed water, 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…"
"How did you get away?" Harry asked him quietly, everyone else in complete silence in order to listen to Kreacher's every word.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back."
"I know, but how did you escape the Inferi?" Kreacher repeated the same as before, that he had been ordered by my uncle to return home, but Harry didn't understand at first until Ron interrupted, speaking as if it was completely obvious what had happened, Kreacher disapparated.
"But…you couldn't apparate in and out of that cave. Otherwise, Dumbledore…"
"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" Ron reasoned lightly as Hermione was unable to hide the small smile she was turning towards him. "I mean, they can apparate and disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."
"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice, just like all the pure-bloods who treat them like animals…it would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't." Nodding his head, I was pleasantly surprised when Kreacher didn't lash out at Hermione like he usually did, even seeming rather relieved that she understood.
"The house-elf's highest law is his master's bidding. Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home."
"Well then, you did what you were told, didn't you? You didn't disobey orders at all!" Hermione said brightly but Kreacher whimpered again and shook his head, now rocking back and forth faster than ever.
"So what happened when you got back? What did Regulus say when you told him what had happened?"
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried. 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 had gone with the Dark Lord…"
"He asked you to take him there?" I interjected, finding this development rather curious. Kreacher nodded his head at me sadly, still rocking. "But why on earth…? Kreacher, please tell us the rest of the story. Did he make you drink the potion?" Crying out, Kreacher shook his head, his words coming out between his racking sobs.
"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had, 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…"
"That's enough, Kreacher. Thank you." Seeing that this was getting too difficult for him, I allowed Kreacher to fall silent as I then placed my hand on his shoulder. "You've done well." Hermione was clutching her mouth with both hands as I sat there on the kitchen floor for a moment, taking it all in. What am I going to tell dad? For all these years he had thought his brother had been a servant of Voldemort then was killed trying to back out, but it was so much more than that. I'd bet anything that Regulus figured out what Voldemort was doing with the Horcruxes, and had decided to try and stop him himself, sacrificing his life in order to get the locket…this will crush dad.
"So you brought the locket home, and you tried to destroy it?" Harry questioned after a while, pushing forwards gently to try and figure out what happened to the locket.
"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it. 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 had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave…" Flinging himself down upon the floor, Kreacher started to sob with fresh vigour so I left him to it as Harry frowned.
"I don't understand you, Kreacher. Voldemort tried to kill you, 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…Mia almost died fighting Voldemort and all those Death Eaters with us. You almost killed your mistress!" Harry spoke harshly, causing Kreacher to wail and try to lift his head to smack himself on the floor, but my previous order forbidding him to hurt himself kept him from doing anything too drastic, so all he could do was lash and flail about.
"Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that." Hermione tried to explain as she sniffed, probably feeling sorrier for Kreacher than the rest of us combined. "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 going 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 family were all safer if they kept to the old pure-blood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all."
"Toujours Pur." I muttered darkly, glancing up to the big family crest which was situated on the wall above the fire. "Always pure." Harry tried to defend Sirius to Hermione, but she was far too astute and practical to be waylaid, speaking over Harry in order to make him see the truth.
"Sirius is horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been alone for a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favour and told them everything they wanted to know. I've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did…and so nearly did Sirius. Kreacher respects Mia, doesn't he? Because she's always been nice to him. Harry, you can't deny the difference between how Kreacher responds to Sirius and Mia, it's all about the way they treat him."
"It's true, Harry." I agreed. "As much as I hate to say it, my dad has never been as good to Kreacher as he should have been. It's a bad mix of old memories and associations with this house, his parents, just the Black family in general. Dad was never happy here, and being cooped up for so long with Kreacher brought back a lot of bad memories for him. He saw no reason to be kind to Kreacher." This prompted Harry to think for a moment, a slow acceptance gradually appearing on his features so I gave him an understanding smile before then turning to Kreacher, who had been sobbing and weeping heavily all the while. "Kreacher, once you've had a good cry and feel better, I would appreciate it if you would sit up and talk to us a little more."
It took some time for Kreacher to calm down, so long in fact that Harry and the others pulled up chairs from the table where our coffees and breakfast had gone completely cold. Whilst he calmed down, though, I quietly talked with Harry and the others to decide what to do. "Would Kreacher be willing to go find Dung and bring him back here?" Ron asked me as we all leaned in close to confer. "We need to find out what happened to that locket."
"I can order him to do it, but I get the feeling Kreacher wouldn't disagree anyway. Fletcher stole from this house, so I'd like to get everything he took back. Some of it was dangerous stuff, though thankfully most of it is locked upstairs. He wouldn't have been able to get in, I sealed the door shut, but there's plenty of other things he could have taken, but the locket takes precedence." I agreed, all of us confirming that this was the best and fastest way to find Fletcher, though I was going to put Moody and whoever else I could find on the case too.
By the time Kreacher was quiet and sitting upright, we'd all had time to eat some more food and drink more coffee which we all heated up with a wave of our wands, and once I looked around to see Kreacher watching me, I smiled and put down my coffee, getting up in order to kneel in front of him. "Now Kreacher, I have a mission for you and it's very important. You're the only one I can trust to do it quickly and efficiently." I told him and my words made him straighten up, focusing on me intently. "I need you to find Mundungus Fletcher, that thieving scoundrel, and bring him back here to us, and if he still has it, the locket too. The same one Master Regulus took from the basin and gave his life for. You see, my friends here, they're going to destroy it. We're going to finish what my uncle started, and I'm going to restore the Black family's honour. Can you do that, Kreacher? Will you please help us?" By the time I was finished, his eyes were shining at me.
Harry then knelt down as well, holding the fake locket by the chain but took Kreacher's hand in order to drop it into his small palm. "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 put in, making both Hermione and I shoot him a look. Kreacher gasped, starting to tremble again before he looked at me as if to silently ask permission to keep the locket, which I happily gave, assuring him that it was now his. After that, Kreacher proceeded to cry and howl for a further half an hour so we once again left him to it, letting him get it all out of his system until he suddenly leaped to his feet with a firm resolution. We followed him down into the boiler room where his little room had been kept, though it was clearly ransacked from Fletcher's pilfering, and watched him put the locket away in one of his cupboard drawers as Hermione gasped.
"Oh Mia, did you redecorate Kreacher's room too?"
"Of course I did. Kreacher is family." I told her pointedly, loud enough so that Kreacher could hear. He gazed up at me then, even managing to smile as he dried his eyes on a corner of the white, fluffy towel he was wearing before he then secured a promise that we would look after the locket whilst he was away. He then bowed low to me, bumping his nose against the floor which made me chuckle and wish him luck. Kreacher then bowed to Harry, Ron, and even gave a little nod to Hermione which made her beam before with a resounding crack he disappeared, leaving the four of us together in his room.