The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 37- The House-Elf

Everyone in the death eater ranks seemed to know that Sabrina had succeeded in killing her first man, although no one but Regulus, Voldemort and Severus, knew exactly who she had killed.
The other death eaters looked at her with a new found respect, but this did nothing to improve Sabrina's fragile mental health.
She found herself being sick daily, which she assumed was because of the immense stress and pressure she was under.
Regulus was concerned for her wellbeing, but nothing he said seemed to have any impact on her.
He thought that planning the wedding would make Sabrina feel better. But she made it very clear to him, that she was in no fit state to even think about their wedding yet.

"Now, the next item on the agenda. I need to borrow something from one of you" announced Voldemort, during one of the death eater meetings.
At least half of the death eaters were sat around a large table at the Malfoy Manor, listening to the dark lord's plans.
There was usually a meeting every week, where Voldemort explained his plans and assigned missions to everyone.
"It may seem like an odd request, but I need to borrow a house-elf from one of you" continued Voldemort.

"I have a house-elf you can use, my lord" admitted Regulus immediately.
He played his part as a devoted death eater, very well, to take the pressure off of Sabrina.
"Thank you Regulus. Bring your elf to me after the meeting has finished" instructed Voldemort.
"Yes my lord, Kreacher will assist you to the best of his ability" reassured Regulus.
"Good. Now, moving on to the attack on the McKinnon family. I am going to need my best death eaters on this mission, because I want to wipe them all out. So there can be no room for error".

Sabrina didn't pay much attention during the rest of the meeting, for she kept thinking about why the dark lord needed a house-elf.
She hoped that since Regulus had volunteered Kreacher, they would get to find out what was going on.
Luckily she wasn't given an assignment that week, and neither was Regulus, which eased the sick feeling in her stomach slightly.
Once the meeting was over, the pair disapparated to Grimmauld Place, and headed down to the kitchen to find Kreacher.
"Master Regulus, Miss Sabrina" bowed Kreacher when he saw them coming.
"Hello Kreacher, how are you today?" Asked Regulus.
"I am well, thank you Master" replied Kreacher.

"Good. Now, the dark lord needs a house-elf this evening, and I volunteered you. It is a big honour to be chosen, so you must do whatever the dark lord commands. And once he is finished with you, you are to come to our house, where we will be waiting for you" instructed Regulus.
"The dark lord needs a house-elf?" Questioned Kreacher.
"Yes. We are not sure why. But whatever he needs you for, it must be important. So you must serve him well" replied Regulus.
"Kreacher will gladly serve the dark lord for Master Regulus"
"And don't forget to return to us once your job is done. It is very important that you come to me and Sabrina first, before you return to Grimmauld Place"
"I will do as you command Master Regulus".

Sabrina and Regulus then transported Kreacher to Voldemort, before returning home to their cottage. Where they waited anxiously for the house-elf's return.
"What do you suppose the dark lord is doing with Kreacher?" Asked Sabrina.
"I have absolutely no idea" admitted Regulus.
"He could have stolen a house-elf from anywhere. Why did it have to belong to one of his followers?"
"I guess he wants it to be trustworthy. So he only wants to use an elf that is the servant of one of his followers".

The pair fell silent as they waited for Kreacher to complete his mission and come back to them.
Each minute dragged by, feeling much longer than it actually was.
Eventually they heard a popping sound, and Kreacher appeared on the floor in front of them.
The elf was crying and rocking back forth, as if in considerable pain.
"Kreacher, what's wrong?" Questioned Regulus.
"I'm so thirsty. My throat is burning. I keep seeing things, terrible things" answered Kreacher, as he sobbed loudly.
"You get him some water, and I will fetch my remedy kit" instructed Sabrina.

Regulus nodded and headed into the kitchen to fill a glass of water. While Sabrina entered the study, which contained all her potion books and school equipment.
She grabbed a vial that she knew would ease any pain that Kreacher was in, and returned to the living room, where Regulus was helping Kreacher slowly takes sips of water.
"Here Kreacher, drink this, it will make you feel better" promised Sabrina.
Kreacher accepted the vial from Sabrina, and drank it in one gulp.
"Thank you Mistress" he said quietly.

"Now Kreacher, when you feel ready, I want you tell us exactly what happened when you left with the dark lord" Regulus said softly.
Kreacher nodded his head and began his story.
Voldemort had taken him to a dark cave, and the two had crossed a lake inside the cave, on a small boat.
The dark lord had then forced Kreacher to drink a terrible poison from a large basin.
Once the basin was empty, Voldemort had placed a locket inside, before refilling the basin and exiting the cavern on the boat, leaving Kreacher alone to die.
The elf had attempted to get water from the lake, to quench his thirst, but he had been grabbed by strange skeleton hands, which had pulled him under the water.
He had been forced to apparate back to Regulus and Sabrina, in order to survive.

"Oh Kreacher, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that" said Sabrina, as she placed her arms around the elf and hugged him tight.
She had always felt sorry for the house-elf, who was never treated kindly by anyone but Regulus and her.
Sabrina felt ashamed that she had allowed Kreacher to go with Voldemort, knowing that he was unlikely to be treated well.
Regulus didn't seem to be able to move, as he too, felt guilty about what had happened to his elf, and he also seemed stunned by Kreacher's story.

"I am alright Miss. I am back now. I am safe" Kreacher said quietly, as he extracted himself from Sabrina's arms.
"What did the dark lord's locket look like, Kreacher?" Asked Regulus curiously.
Kreacher reached for the locket that often hung around Regulus's neck.
"It looked like this. Not identical, but very similar" revealed Kreacher.
"Alright Kreacher, you can go home now. But you are not to tell anyone else in the family about any of this" ordered Regulus.
Kreacher nodded his head, before disapparating back to 12 Grimmauld.

"So, the dark lord has a copy of Slytherin's locket as well" sighed Sabrina.
"I don't think he would have gone through all that trouble to hide it, if it was just a copy" admitted Regulus.
"You think he has found the real locket?" Questioned Sabrina.
"I mean, if anyone was going to find Salazar Slytherin's long lost locket, it was going to be him. He is a parselmouth afterall. For all we know he could even be a descendant of Slytherin"
"But if it is the real locket, why isn't he wearing it, and showing it off to everyone? If he has found it, you think he would want to brag about it. So why is he hiding it inside a cave, in the middle of nowhere?".

"I don't know. But the necklace isn't just a pendent, it's a locket. And locket's can be used to hide things in. So perhaps the dark lord has hidden something inside it" suggested Regulus.
"But what has he hidden in it?" Asked Sabrina.
"No idea. But whatever it is, we have to find out. No one else knows about this, so it is up to us to discover the truth. But until we do, we must act normal, because we don't want anyone to get suspicious"
"Don't worry, I'm a professional secret keeper, and portrayer of false identities. If anyone can keep this a secret, it's us".