𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, harry potter

˗ˋ 113

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
AND THIRTEEN
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-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH KREACHER'S 
MISSING

. . .

"You're not trying to free more house elves, are you?" Aviana drawled, appearing out of nowhere, having gotten dressed in seemingly record time and managing to catch up with them as Hermione left her room and they were making their way down. "Granger, how many times does someone have to tell you not to do something before it gets through to you that it will not work?"

Ron only glanced at her, deciding it best to withhold other comments. "You know what Sirius said, Kreacher knows too much, we can't set him free." He told her.

"Besides, you want that house elf working in the Hogwarts' kitchens? Let alone anywhere else?" Aviana blinked. "He's been bound to the Black family for years and years, and it's lucky such a house values loyalty, nobody else would take him. Nasty old-"

"It's not clothes." Hermione said pointedly, tucking the neatly wrapped parcel under her arm as she, Ron, Harry and Aviana continued their way downstairs. "Although, if I had my way I'd certainly give him something to wear other than that filthy rag. No, it's a patchwork quilt, I thought it would brighten up his bedroom."

"What bedroom?" Harry asked, forgetting to lower his voice - it was very easy to fail to remember that beneath the sheath of velvet fabric attached to wall was the portrait of Sirius's mother, who was seemingly not in the festive spirit.

"HALF-BREEDS AND BLOOD-"

"Shut up, you ungrateful old bitch!" Aviana snapped, her tone just loud enough to bypass the woman's screeching. "You're lucky I haven't taken you down yet!"

"You can't take her down-" Hermione began.

"I've been planning on cutting her out of the portrait and burning it in the fire place for some time now." Aviana hummed. "Then I'll remove her from the family tree, don't like the sound of that, do you?" She added ruefully, looking up at the portrait and, to Harry's amazement, it seemed to hear her and remained quiet.

"What bedroom?" Harry repeated, in an uneasy whisper. 

"Well, Sirius says it's not so much a bedroom, more of a kind of... den." Hermione's nose wrinkled. "Apparently he sleeps under the boiler in that cupboard off the kitchen. If I had it my way-"

"He'd be sleeping in a four poster bed, I suppose?" Aviana's eyebrows rose. "Granger, he's lucky to have a room at all." 

Hermione, quite wisely, decided not to answer that, and they turned down the short staircase down into the kitchen. Mrs Weasley was the only person in the basement, standing at the stove, sniffling. It sounded as though she had a bad head cold when she wished them a Merry Christmas, and they averted their eyes awkwardly, the woman not even looking up as Aviana placed her new presents down on the long table. 

Upon pulling open the small door into Kreacher's cupboard, they were hit by a smell of damp and something akin to a wardrobe filled with moth-eaten clothes. Majority of the cupboard was taken up by a large and old fashioned boiler, but the foot space beneath it was swathed into blankets that made up some kind of nest. 

In far corners glinted small objects and coins that Kreacher had saved from Sirius's purge of the house - and he had even managed to retrieve the silver-framed family photographs that Sirius had thrown away over the summer. Their glass covering was shattered, but still the black-and-white people within peered haughtily up at them. 

Aviana wasted no time at all in reaching for the photograph at the front of the display, the one which appeared to be Kreacher's favourite; it was shining a bit brighter than the others, and it's glass had been mended clumsily with Spellotape. "See, Granger? Imagine telling him that he's been freed." She hummed, staring down at the people within, who glared back at her. "Hm. Bellatrix and Narcissa - there's Lucius... I suppose Andromeda had already been blasted off the tree by now... yes, you didn't like that, did you?" She asked, as the two remaining sisters grimaced at the sound of the name. 

"Put it down." Hermione murmured, as she bent down to lay the package neatly in the middle of the depression in the rags and blankets. "I think I'll just leave his present here." She said, standing up quite quickly, and closing the door quietly. "He'll find it later, that'll be fine..."

"Come to think of it," Sirius said, as he emerged from the pantry not too far from them and carrying a rather large turkey, "has anyone actually seen Kreacher lately?" 

"I haven't seen him since the night we came back here." Harry said. "I think... yeah, you were ordering him out of the kitchen, Aviana."

"Yeah..." Sirius nodded, although he was grinning at the memory. "You know, I think that's the last time I saw him too... he must be hiding upstairs somewhere."

"He couldn't have left, could he?" Harry asked. Aviana's head shot up, and she looked quite pale. 

"No, no, house-elves can't leave unless they're given clothes, they're tied to their family's house." Sirius replied, eyeing Aviana's reaction. Hermione made some kind of noise that sounded a lot like disappointment.  

"They can leave the house if they really want to," Harry replied. "Dobby did, he left the Malfoys' to give me warnings two years ago. He had to punish himself afterward, but he still managed it." 

Sirius looked slightly disconcerted for a moment, before brushing it off with ease. "I'll look for him later, I expect I'll find him upstairs crying his eyes out over my mother's old bloomers or something... Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died... but I mustn't get my hopes up." 

He placed the turkey down on the top of the broiler oven, just as Fred, George and Ginny joined the fray, getting hungry for breakfast. Sirius turned back to the group, and spotted the pile at the end of the table. "Ah, you opened your presents." He said, looking up with Aviana. She nodded. "So, what do you think?" 

"I like it." Aviana said, although for a moment she looked overtly disgusted at such an obvious display of positivity, yet even managed a smile. Because it was true, she did. "Harry taught me how to use it... you'll have to tell me more about the singers though." 

"Gladly." Sirius nodded, looking pleased with himself. 

"I got you a present too." Aviana said, as Mrs Weasley began to busy herself with making breakfast. The girl glanced up at the clock. "It should be in the drawing room, right about now, if Mundungus is as punctual as he usual is." 

"Blimey, not got me another Hippogriff, have you?" Sirius asked, watching as she scowled. He laughed, and followed her back up the stairs, continuing talking to her along the way. "Some wonderful yelling at my mother earlier, by the way."

And whether it was pure interest, or the air of tension that came from Mrs Weasley's sniffling, but it appeared the rest of them got the same idea, and began to trail upstairs after them. 

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