Harry's POV

We had stayed at Grimmauld Place for a while, when Y/N disappeared we didn't think much of it but I knew that it was affecting Ron. He had been extremely unsettled with Y/N's sudden departure and was pretty silent the days following.

We had discovered the room of R.A.B who was Sirius' brother, Regulus Black. The locket wasn't there which meant that I had to do some research.

"KREACHER!" I yelled.

The elf appeared with a loud CRACK!

"Master," croaked Kreacher in his voice, and he bowed low, muttering to his knees, "back in my Mistress' old house with the blood-traitor Weasley and the Mudblood-"

"I forbid you to call anyone 'Blood-traitor' or 'Mudblood." I commanded.

I looked at the elf before continuing. "I've got a question for you and I order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?"

"Yes, Master." said Kreacher, bowing low again.

"Two years ago," I spoke, my heart now hammering against my ribs, "there was a big gold locket in the drawing room upstairs. It was thrown out. Did you steal it back?"

There was a moment's silence, during which Kreacher straightened up tolook me full in the face. Then he said. "Yes."

"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 our reactions to his next word. "Gone."

"Gone?" I echoed, the elation floating out of me. "What do you mean, it's gone?"

The elf shivered and he swayed.

"Kreacher," I said fiercely, "I order you-"

"Mundungus Fletcher," croaked the elf, his eyes still tight shut, "Mundungus Fletcher stole it all; Miss Bella's and Miss Cissy's pictures, my Mistress' gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and-and-"

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' locket. Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed his orders!"

I reacted instinctively, as Kreacher lunged for the poker standing inthe grate, I launched myself upon the elf, flattening him. Hermione's screaming led with Kreacher's but I bellowed louder than both of them.

"Kreacher, I order you to stay still!"

Kreacher froze and I released him, his body falling to the group as tears escaped his saggy 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?"

"Kreacher saw him!" gasped the elf. "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..."

"You called the locket Master Regulus', 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!" I instructed.

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 silence. "Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and brokemy Mistress' 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. And 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..."

The old elf rocked faster than ever. "...he said that the Dark Lord required an elf."

"He needed an elf?" I repeated, looking around at Ron and Hermione, who looked just as puzzled as I did.

"Oh yes," Kreacher continued, "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 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. 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 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 paused as he trembled before he continued his story. "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?" I asked with a quiet whisper.

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back." he said.

"I know, but how did you escape the Inferi?"

Kreacher did not seem to understand. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated.

"I know, but-"

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it, Harry?" said Ron. "He Disapparated!"

"But...you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," I countered, "otherwise Dumbledore-"

"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron. "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."

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."

"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher, "Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home..."

"So what happened when you got back?" I asked. "What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?"

"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher, "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. Andthen ... 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..."

"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," said Kreacher, "and he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockers..." Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; I had to concentrate hard to understand him, "and he ordered 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..."

I watched as Kreacher trembled, cried and wept as he recapped this story. In all honesty, I had never witnessed anything so pitiful.

"So you brought the locket home," I continued relentlessly, for I was determined to know the full story, "and you tried to destroy it?"

"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 ofthe f-f-family what happened in the c-cave..."

Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words. Tears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher. Even Ron, who was no fan of Kreacher's, looked troubled. I sat back on his heels and shook my head, trying to clear it.

"I don't understand you, Kreacher," I said finally, "You-Know-Who tried to kill you, Regulus died to bring him 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..."

"Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that," said Hermione, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand, "he's a slave; house-elves are used to bad, even brutal treatment; what You-Know-Who did to Kreacher wasn't that far out of the commonway. What do wizard wars mean to an elf like Kreacher? He's loyal to people whoare 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," she went on as I began to protest, "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' family were all safest if they kept to the old Pure-blood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all."

I sighed as I couldn't think of a response to Hermione so were merely remained in silence apart from Kreacher's ragged sobs.

After a while, I spoke again. "Kreacher, I am going to ask you to do something," I wanted to give the order kindly, but at the sametime, I could not pretend that it was not an order, "Kreacher, I want you, please, to go and find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to find out where Master Regulus' locket it. It's really important. We want to finish the work Master Regulus started, we want to ensure that he didn't die in vain."

Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at me. "Find Mundungus Fletcher?" he croaked.

"And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place," I continued, "do you think you could dothat for us?"

As Kreacher nodded and got to his feet, I had a sudden inspiration. I 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," he said, pressing the locket into the elf's hand, "this belonged to Regulus and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you-"

Kreacher took one look and burst into tears. Ron gave me a weird look as he frowned slightly.

"Overkill mate..."