Lucia: Write about House-elves.

My Only Wish (This Year) - Britney Spears

For the Challenge Yule in Skammdegi, in The Golden Snitch forum

He sits by the front window of the first floor, his forehead resting against the crystal as the minutes go by. He's waiting, patiently and lonely. Will they return soon? Maybe this time they will stay with him and let him cook for them a traditional Yule feast; it's nothing compared to what they deserve for helping Master Regulus, but it's the only gift Kreacher can give them.

They don't return.

Carolers walk past the house, never noticing it behind the ancient charms put in place that are still working as well as the day they were cast. Kreacher fights the will to sing too. The carols the sing are too cheery, though, and he can't stop thinking about how Master Sirius still echoes in the living room, singing.

Last night I took a walk in the snow

Couples holding hands, places to go

Seems like everyone but me is in love.

Master Sirius is lonely too, in Kreacher's memories. He remembers the dull grey eyes of the wizard he never obeyed and compares them to the defiant eyes of the boy's youth. He doesn't know if his Mistress, in death, is glad or ashamed.

"Sirius is a happy wizard, in spite of us," Kreacher remembers his Mistress's words, her contented smile and the mischievous glint in her eyes. "And we're here, hiding from the man who swore to bring us back to the top."

Master Regulus is in that memory, too. He's drinking wine from the bottle, Mistresses Narcissa and Bellatrix clapping around him.

Kreacher can't stand the happiness.

The dining room is finally full of light. Kreacher gets rid of the wallpaper and replaces it with one Mistress Andromeda brings home shortly before running away. It's light and soft; it feels warm like she does, in emerald and jade and charcoal. Kreacher can't think of a time when the young Mistress bears so light a smile.

"We need to prepare the house for Yule, Aunt Walburga!" she barges into the kitchen, where Mistress is helping Kreacher bake cookies for her sons. There are kinds of magic elves can't weave into our food, Kreacher. Move aside.

Mistress Walburga smiles and walks to Andromeda. She hugs her tight, and Kreacher's memory becomes ashes when Mistress is crying because Andromeda, her favorite niece, runs away with a mudblood.

Kreacher is thinking of tearing apart the family tree from the wall. Too many faces are burned out, too much family lost in wars between themselves.

Without care, Kreacher rips it from the wall and sends it to the fireplace. He watches, entranced, as it burns. Then come the repairing of the wooden walls and setting up a new wallpaper done in gray and gold. Master Regulus brings it home one night, and tells Mistress Walburga it will look beautiful because it's done with Acromantula silk and cloth-of-gold. Mistress tells him she'll put it up soon, but then Master Regulus dies and the wallpaper sits, untouched, at the bottom of a chest.

The Little King now watches from the wall as Kreacher keeps his loyalty to the end, even if only now he's learning what that means.

The portrait of his Mistress is heavy. Even with his magic Kreacher can barely lift it up the stairs and into the attic. She looks at him with anger and speaks of curses coming to the house now that she's away from the door. Kreacher tells her everything will be alright.

"It's for the good of the House of Black, Mistress," he says with coarse words. "The Malfoy, and the Potter, and the Lupin. They're Black now and this house belongs to them."

His Mistress shouts and yells and keeps cursing Kreacher and all his ancestors.

Master Draco is the first to come home. The night is dark, but he appears in the fireplace in the middle of green flames that seem to swallow him. He looks around looking for someone, but the house is empty and Kreacher is hiding.

When Master Draco spots him on a corner, he puts a letter on the table.

"Make sure Potter gets it, Kreacher."

The order is given by someone of Black blood, and Kreacher has to obey. As soon as Master Draco is gone, he grabs the letter and disappears from the house.

Master Potter's house is not a home. It's a dishevelled place that reeks of grief, and it reminds Kreacher of Grimmauld Place after Master Sirius ran off.

"Kreacher!" Master Potter says, surprised. Kreacher is sure he hasn't been in his Master thoughts in all this time, and his magic turns off a little. It hurts, because if no one returns to the house soon he will wither and the house with him. His efforts and the last of the Black traditions will fade into nothingness.

"Kreacher has a letter for Master Potter, from Master Draco."

He hands off the letter and is gone within seconds.

A week passes and the house is almost restored. The Hippogriff room is redone with Gryffindor motives that the voice of Master Sirius in Kreacher's head loves.

The month flies and by the end of it, Master Potter comes home. The mudblood and the Weasley are not with him.

"Can you sit down with me, Kreacher?" Master orders and Kreacher sits, obediently, on the couch in front of him. He doesn't voice his welcome because his throat is dry and the heavy magic doesn't let him speak yet.

"I come to ask if it would be alright if I moved in?"

Kreacher narrows his eyes. Master Potter is the Master, and his will is the only one that matters now that Mistress is gone and Master Sirius is dead. He nods once and Master sighs. His magic immediately inundates the house, and Kreacher is surprised because the Black House accepts easily the informal pledge of Master Potter. The House likes Master Potter.

Kreacher is busy. The kitchen is filled with food made by the Weasley woman and for once, Kreacher doesn't mind because he's watching the house come alive with the sounds of laughter and cheering. The Weasleys are there, tainted blood that the House accepts because it's even lonelier than Kreacher. The mudblood is also there, with a foreign wizard that has a hooked nose. Kreacher almost smiles when he sees Mistress Andromeda playing with a toddler that clearly has Black magic, with his ever-changing hair color.

Later at night, Master Draco and Mistress Narcissa come too. At first, there's tension, but Master Potter is a good host and knows how to make them all feel at home.

Kreacher smiles. Master Potter also makes Kreacher feel at home.