The life of Serenity

Chapter 6

"Kreature, you must do exactly as I say." A man that resembled my friends godfather spoke. "You must do exactly as your told. Am I clear?"

"Of course, Master. Whatever Master wants, Kreature will serve." The house elf that I had taken a liking to, and had taken a liking to me, spoke lowly in his usual scratchy voice.

As I looked closer, I realized who this was. Regulus Black.
Regulus reached up and scratched at his face, his body swaying in place. He looked tired, and ready to collapse.

"When we leave this house, I want you to keep what has happened to yourself. No matter what happens, I want you to take what we find and hide it here. Only once it's hidden, can you come back for me, not before, only after."

I could see the hesitation in the elf's eyes, concern and worry flashing only briefly, before hardening and nodding his head. "Kreature will follow Masters rules."

Regulus grabbed Kreature hand and apparated away.

I bolted up in bed, sweat lined my body. What was that? My eyes scanned the room I was in, and only then did I realize, I wasn't in my room.
Scanning the room quickly, I saw a small chest set off in a corner with a heavy lock in the front. I must have been out of my mind, because I swear I heard it calling me.

"Kreature." I called out softly, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"Mistress?" The house elf appeared next to my bed, and looked at me rather concerned. "Is mistress alright?"

"Kreature, can you tell me the last thing your Master Regulus did?"

I watched as pure and utter shock and horror raced through his features.
"Kreature can not say. Kreature was ordered not to. Kreature must not say." He muttered, shaking his head in distress.

"Kreature, I need you to tell me what he did. I need to know."

It was almost as if it was physically killing him to try and say anything at all. I knew that feeling all to well. It took some convincing, but he finally spoke up.

"Master Regulus made Kreature take him to a muggle village in America. A small place that no one would think to look for him there. He told me not to tell. Bad Kreature. Bad! Kreature was ordered not to!! Kreature begs Mistress not to tell Master Regulus. Kreature begs." The house elf looked devastated upon betraying his masters orders, but it confirmed my suspicions. Regulus Black was alive.

I knew I wouldn't be able to tell Sirius about Regulus. I knew I wouldn't be able to say anything without risking my own death anyways. So instead, I kept quiet and waited till I could get back into the states to search. Then something occurred to me.

"Kreature," I whispered softly. "How did you know I was calling you? I had only whispered your name."

"Kreature heard mistress call to him. So Kreature appeared." Was all he said, before shuffling away.

When Harry arrived, there was clear tension in the room. He tried to yell at us, and I quickly shut down, letting him get all his anger and frustration out in the open. His accusations were justified, but I could tell he was hurt more than angry. When Fred and George appeared, Fred wrapped his arm around my shoulder, while George ruffled Harry's hair playfully.

Sirius didn't help much, once we were allowed to go down and eat. All of us glaring at Hermione cat in the process of it all. The bloody cat is always causing trouble.

It wasn't until we had boarded the train to Hogwarts, did I have another dream, but this one was more peaceful than anything. It was Fred and I, we were just relaxing next to the Black Lake, enjoying the sun. I could tell I was upset about something, and Fred was comforting me, but there was something deeper between us. I just couldn't figure it out.

"Hermione, can you tell me what you know about House Elves?" I asked, as we sat in the common room after the feast. I was already dreading this year, and it hasn't even started yet.

"What do you want to know?" She asked, slightly surprised by my question.

"Just, when we were at G12, I was in this room and I had whispered Kreatures name to ask him something, and he just appeared. I didn't even call for him. He said he just heard me call his name and appeared. Is it possible for someone outside the family to call out to a house elf?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, they are bound only to family. Even distant family members count, but only to an extent. It just be because your blessed." She whispered softly.
I nodded slowly, but something didn't sit right with what she said.

"Ren, are you alright?" Fred asked as we sat in the Room of Requirement. After Umbridge's detention I needed a place to collect myself. I couldn't use the bathroom like I normally would, people were already in there.

"I fine, Fred." I whispered, hiding my hand deep in my sleeve. "Just tired."

"Hermione said you had detention. You normally don't get detention. What happened?" He pushed gently.

I froze up, my hands begging me to itch, twist, crack, or pinch the other. "She brought up Cedric. She kept claiming that it was all an accident. She kept claiming that no matter what, Voldemort wasn't back. Harry and I called her out on it, says that Harry saw him come back. Cedric was my friend, he looked after me when you guys weren't around. He was one of my first friends, when the older Slytherin got to out of hand. I got so angry and hurt that my hair changed colors. I didn't even know it was a possibility for that to happen. After that, she started in on me. I defended myself, but I still got detention. I just wrote a lot of lines is all."

In one quick motion, Fred had grabbed my and rolled the sleeve back. Exposing the writing on the back. Freaks are meant to be silent, not speak lies. A low growl rumbled through his chest, and he gently traced over the fresh wounds. I winced, and bit my lip to conceal any further pain from him.

"I'll kill her." He hissed, his hand starring at the words with anger in his eyes.

"No you won't." I whispered. "I'm fine, honestly. It could be a lot worse."

"This is not ok, Serenity. This is torture. It's illegal. You need to tell Minnie."

"Since when do you care about legal matters?" I spoke softly with a small grin.

"Since they started hurting you." He whispered, his voice hard and stern.

Only then did I see the true pain that this was causing him. And all I could do was lean forward and lock eyes with him. "I'm gonna be fine, Fred. This will be scarred in the morning. It won't even hurt-"

"So it does hurt." He breathed.

"I'm honestly-"

"If you say fine one more time, I'll kiss you."

I froze and blushed, staring into his eyes before grinning. "Now why would you do such a thing?"

"Because...because...because...oh bloody hell this is hard." He muttered, looking away.

I chuckled and leaned away slightly, before my chin was caught in his soft, yet firm, hand.
I felt my heart beat quicken, as we locked eyes once more. And before I could say, or do anything, he pressed his lips to mine.