Rosabella's Point of View:
Chaos insued. Remus kept a tight hand on my shoulder as everyone started to panic. People were Disapparating, the protection charms around the Burrow broken. I drew out my wand the same time Remus and Tonks did.
"Protego!" We all yelled in sync as Death Eaters arrived and started shooting spells.
"Fiona, Go! Get back to the Manor! We'll meet you there!" I heard Jason yell.
Order members helped us keep the Death Eaters at bay but there were so many of them.
I looked around and saw Ron running towards Harry and Hermione. Once Ron's hand grabbed Hermione's other hand, I knew what they were about to do. Harry's eyes frantically met mine as Hermione apparated them away.
All I could hope was that I would see them again.
"Remus, you all have to go! We can handle it!" Mr Weasley yelled.
"Arthur, we can't –" Remus started to say.
"Remus, what if Bellatrix is here? Get them out of here! Go!" Mr Weasley yelled.
"Jason, Jacob, Michael!" Remus yelled as I was already near him, fighting alongside Ginny.
"Be careful! I'll see you soon!" I yelled at Ginny.
"We'll be fine, GO!" Ginny yelled.
I could see Jacob arguing with Remus and saw him look desperately at Ginny.
"This isn't up for debate! Let's go!" Remus said.
Remus grabbed Jacob and forced him to Apparate while the rest of us willing Apperated to Black Manor.
"Since when do we run from a fight?" Jacob yelled furiously at Remus when we arrived back in Black Manor.
"I don't like this anymore then you do. But sometimes it's best to live to fight for another day." Remus said calmly.
"We just left them –!" Jacob yelled.
"The Death Eaters aren't after them specifically. Unfortunately, you're marked as wanted by Death Eaters. Bellatrix is getting desperate. I thought you would of grasped how dangerous she is. She's already killed your mother, your father, do you think she'd hesitate to kill your friends?" Remus said starting to get impatient.
Jacob slumped defeatedly into one of the sofas in the living room. Tonks and I sat next to each other, my head resting on her shoulder. Fiona sat on Tonks other side, Roseanna on her lap. Jacob sat next to Jason and Michael was on his other side. Remus remained on his feet. We all sat in silence. Eventually a weasel Patronus landed in front of us.
"We're safe. Do not reply. We're being watched." Mr Weasley's voice said through the weasel.
We all sighed in relief. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.
"Thank Merlin. All of you go pack you things." Remus said.
"Why?" My brothers and I asked.
"Because you're Aunt Andromeda has been trying to convince me that it's best we're all under one roof and after tonight I see her point. Pack as much as you can into your trunks, I don't know how long we'll be gone." Remus said.
We did just that and before we knew it we arrived at Aunt Andromeda's house.
We were shocked to discover that they had been tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. They were okay but incredibly shaken.
Fiona and I slept in a guest room with Roseanna. My brothers shared the room they always used when we stayed at Aunt Andromeda's. Remus and Tonks were in Tonks's old room.
Usually I would stay with Tonks in her room but because her and Remus are married I have no problem staying in the dpard room.
As I lay down in bed, I guessed Harry was most likely in Grimmald Place by now.
Harry's Point Of View:
"Kreacher!" I called.
We had arrived at Grimmald Place last night.
There was a loud crack and the house elf that I had so reluctantly inherited from Sirius appeared out of nowhere in front of the cold and empty fireplace. Tiny, half human - sized, his pale skin hanging off him in folds, white hair sprouting copiously from his batlike ears.
He was still wearing the filthy rag in which we had first met him, and the contemptuous look he bent upon me showed that his attitude to his change of ownership had altered no more than his outfit.
"Master," croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog's voice, and he bowed low.
"back in my Mistress's old house with the blood-traitor Weasley and the Mudblood. I wish young Mistress was here, oh how I miss her." Kreacher muttered to his knees.
"I forbid you to call anyone 'blood traitor' or 'Mudblood,'" I growled.
I would have found Kreacher, with his snoutlike nose and bloodshot eyes, a distinctively unlovable object even if the elf had not betrayed Sirius to Voldemort or kidnap Rosabella mere weeks after her birth.
"I've got a question for you," said Harry, his heart beating rather fast as he looked down at the elf, "and I order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?" I said, my heart beating rather fast aslI looked down at the elf.
"Yes, Master." Kreacher said, bowing low again.
Harry saw his lips moving soundlessly, undoubtedly framing the insults he was now forbidden to utter.
"Two years ago, Rosabella gave you a big gold Locket that was in her Uncle Regulus's room, didn't she?" I said, my heart now hammering against his ribs.
There was a moment's silence, during which Kreacher straightened up to look Harry full in the face.
"Yes." Kreacher said.
"Where is it now?" I asked jubilantly as Ron and Hermione looked gleeful.
Kreacher closed his eyes as though he could not bear to see their reactions to his next word.
"Gone." Kreacher said miserably.
"Gone? What do you mean, it's gone?" I echoed, elation floating out of me.
The elf shivered and swayed.
"Kreacher, I order you – " I said fiercely.
"Mundungus Fletcher. 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 – " Kreacher croaked, his eyes still tight shut.
Kreacher was gulping for air. His hollow chest was rising and falling rapidly, then his eyes flew open and he uttered a bloodcurdling scream.
"– and the locket, Master Regulus's locket. Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!" Kreacher wailed.
I reacted instinctively. As Kreacher lunged for the poker standing in the grate, I launched myself upon the elf, flattening him. Hermione's scream mingled with Kreacher's but I bellowed louder than both of them.
"Kreacher, I order you to stay still!" I bellowed.
I felt the elf freeze and released him. Kreacher lay flat on the cold stone floor, tears gushing from his sagging eyes.
"Harry, let him up!" Hermione whispered.
"So he can beat himself up with the poker?" I snorted, kneeling beside the elf.
"I don't think so. Right. Kreacher, I want the truth. How do you know Mundungus Fletcher stole the locket?" I asked.
"Kreacher saw him!" gasped the elf as tears poured over his snout and into his mouth full of graying teeth. "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 . . ." Kreacher gasped as tears poured over his snout and into his mouth full of graying teeth.
"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!" I said.
The elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face between his knees, and began to rock backward and forward. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but quite distinct in the silent, echoing kitchen.
"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 order. 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 . . .
Mistress Rosabella reminds Kreacher of him. So determined. So kind.
Then one day, a year after he 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." Kreacher said and the old elf rocked faster than ever.
"Voldemort needed an elf?" I repeated looking around at Ron and Hermione, who looked just as puzzled as he did.
"Oh yes, 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 moaned and rocked still faster, his breath coming in sobs.
"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 . . ." Kreacher said.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Kreacher's croaking voice seemed to come to him from across the dark water. I saw what had happened as clearly as though he had been present.
". . . There was a boat . . ." Kreacher croaked.
Of course there had been a boat. I knew the boat, ghostly green and tiny, bewitched so as to carry one wizard and one victim toward the island in the center. This, then, was how Voldemort had tested the defenses surrounding the Horcrux, by borrowing a disposable creature, a house - elf. . .
"There was a b - basin full of potion on the island. The D - Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it. . ." Kreacher said and the elf quaked from head to foot.
"Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible thing . . . Kreacher's insides burned . . . Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his 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. . ." Kreacher finished in his croaking voice.
I could see it happening. I watched Voldemort's white, snakelike face vanishing into darkness, those red eyes fixed pitilessly on the thrashing elf whose death would occur within minutes, whenever he succumbed to the desperate thirst that the burning poison caused its victim . . . But here, my imagination could go no further, for he could not see how Kreacher had escaped.
"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. . ." Kreacher said.
"How did you get away?" I asked, and I was not surprised to hear myself whispering.
Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked at me with his great, bloodshot eyes.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back." Kreacher said.
"I know – but how did you escape the Inferi?" I asked again.
Kreacher did not seem to understand.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back." Kreacher repeated.
"I know, but –" I started to say.
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it, Harry? He Disapparated!" Ron said.
"But . . . you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave, otherwise Dumbledore –" I said.
"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it? I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't." Ron said.
There was a silence as I digested this. How could Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as I thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy.
"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house - elves far beneath his notice . . . It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't." Hermione said icily.
"The house - elf's highest law is his Master's bidding. Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home . . ." Kreacher intoned.
"Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you? You didn't disobey orders at all!" Hermione said kindly.
Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever.
"So what happened when you got back? What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?" I asked.
I honestly was curious. Kreacher had compared Regulus to Rosabella and she was as unpredictable as you could get.
"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 . . ." Kreacher croaked.
And so they had set off. I could visualize them quite clearly, the frightened old elf and the thin, dark Seeker who had so resembled Sirius . . . Kreacher knew how to open the concealed entrance to the underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat. This time it was his beloved Regulus who sailed with him to the island with its basin of poison . . .
"And he made you drink the poison?" I said, disgusted.
But Kreacher shook his head and wept. Hermione's hands leapt to her mouth. She seemed to have understood something.
"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 . . ." Kreacher said, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose.
Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now. I had to concentrate hard to understand him.
"And he order – Kreacher to leave – without him. And he told Kreacher – to go home – and never to 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 . . ."
"Oh, Kreacher!" Hermione wailed, who was crying.
Many thoughts were circling round in my mind but one imperticular stood out and it made my stomach clench.
Rosabella nearly died the same way as her uncle.
Hermione dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug him. At once he was on his feet, cringing away from her, quite obviously repulsed.
"The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?" Kreacher said.
"I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" snarled, but the elf was already punishing himself.
He fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor.
"Stop him – stop him! Oh, don't you see now how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?" Hermione cried.
"Kreacher – stop, stop!" I shouted.
The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snot, a bruise already blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears. Harry had never seen anything so pitiful.
"So you brought the locket home and you tried to destroy it?" I said relentlessly, for I was determined to know the full story.
"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. . ." Kreacher moaned and began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words.
Tears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him again. Even Ron, who was no fan of Kreacher's, looked troubled. I sat back on his heels and shook his head, trying to clear it.
"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 . . ." I said finally.
"Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that. 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, Ro was also kind to him. 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 safest if they kept to the old pure-blood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all and don't forget at this point Sirius and Rosalie would of definitely had Lucas and probably the twins, maybe even Michael. Regulus had nephews to protect." Hermione said and fiercely shut me down when I was about to protest.
"Sirius –" I started to say.
"Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been alone for such a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection Just look at what Ro did. She showed some compassion and Kreacher became incredibly faithful to her. I'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor 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 did Sirius."
"Hermione, Sirius and Voldemort's cases are a bit different! You seem so eager to pass over the fact that Kreacher kidnapped Ro right out of her crib! How did you expect Sirius to be nice to the person that kidnapped his child?" I said angrily.
Hermione had no retort.
As we watched Kreacher sobbing on the floor, I remembered what Dumbledore had said to me, mere hours after Sirius's death. I do not think Sirius ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human's . . .
"Kreacher, when you feel up to it, er . . . please sit up." I said after a while.
It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccupped himself into silence. Then he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small child.
"Kreacher, I am going to ask you to do something." I said.
I glanced at Hermione for assistance. I wanted to give the order kindly, but at the same time, I could not pretend that it was not an order. However, the change in his tone seemed to have gained her approval. Hermione smiled encouragingly.
"Kreacher, I want you, please, to go and find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to find out where the locket – where Master Regulus's locket it. 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." I said.
Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at me.
"Find Mundungus Fletcher?" Kreacher croaked.
"And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place. Do you think you could do that for us?" I said.
As Kreacher nodded and got to his feet, I had a sudden inspiration. I pulled out Hagrid's purse and took out the fake Horcrux, the substitute locket in which Regulus had placed the note to Voldemort.
"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 – " I said pressing the locket into the elf's hand.
"Overkill, mate." Ron said as the elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of shock and misery, and threw himself back onto the ground.
It took us nearly half an hour to calm down Kreacher, who was so overcome to be presented with a Black family heirloom for his very own that he was too weak at the knees to stand properly. When finally he was able to totter a few steps we all accompanied him to his cupboard, watched him tuck up the locket safely in his dirty blankets, and assured him that they would make its protection was our first priority while he was away.
He then made two low bows to Harry and Ron, and even gave a funny little spasm in Hermione's direction that might have been an attempt at a respectful salute, before Disapparating with the usual loud crack.
As we got used to being at Grimmauld Place, I ended up moving into Sirius's old room and while in there I discovered a letter.
Dear Padfoot,
Thank you, thank you, for Harry birthday present! It was his favourite by far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick he looked so pleased with himself, I'm enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises about two feet off the ground, but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course, James and Rosalie thought it was funny, says he's going to be a great Quidditch player, but we've had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don't take our eyes off him when he gets going. It's was even more if nightmare once Rosabella got on hers and they started racing each otherwise! I thought I was going to have a heart attack, the chaos of it all! We had a very pleasant and quiet birthday tea, just us, Rosalie and the kids oh and old Bathilda who has always been sweet to us, and who dotes on Harry. Surprising it was so quiet considering your kids were here. Tired put from chasing Harry on his broom, I expect. We were so sorry you couldn't come, but the Order's got to come first, and Harry's not old enough to know it's his birthday anyway! James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it but I can tell, also Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak so no chance of little excursions. At least seeing Rosalie and the kids cheered him up for a good while but if you could visit, it would cheer him up so much. Wormy was here last weekend, I thought he seemed down, but that was probably the news about the Mckinnon's I cried all evening when I heard. Bathilda drops in most days, she's a fascinating old thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore, I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he knew! I don't know how much to believe, actually, because it seems incredible that Dumbledore
I frantically tore the room apart for the second part of the letter but all I could find was hald of a photo with a laughing baby on a broomstick.