Finishing his lunch Hydrus went to the living room where he was sure everyone was. He settled on the sofa and watched as Remus and Sirius tried to get Harry to say their names correctly. It was amusing.
"Sirius, did you write your letter?" he asked gaining the man's attention.
"Yup, I told her she had two days to vacate Grimmauld Place and move to the cottage in France, because I know she'll hate that, or find a place on her own. Whichever she chooses she has to take that damn house elf with her," Sirius said with a beaming smile. He really loved poking at his mother.
"Hmmm, Kreacher might take that necklace with them. Besides, didn't I tell you how useful he was after I took up residence there?" he chastised gently. Kreacher was a good elf, but Hydrus was having a hard time convincing Sirius of this.
"Oh, I didn't think of that, I forgot how much Kreacher treasured that necklace. Hmmm, I'd better write her back and tell her to leave him there and turn his ownership over to me," the dogman said with a grimace. There was a lot of bad blood between him and that elf, but if Hydrus was right, then that would be overcome.
"Would you, please? Think of it as making your mother angrier," the immortal said with a malicious gleam in his eyes. He hated that woman as much as Sirius did. Mostly for what she did to his cousin.
"Yeah, I'll go and send that out now." And with that he left the room.
"Did you get your toy done?" Remus asked.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about it when I saw the state of the kitchen."
"Sorry about that, Sirius really wanted to cook. Then Harry got fussy and would not go down for his nap. So I guess I forgot," the embarrassed man said. He was never letting Sirius cook unsupervised again.
"Next time call Tippy; it's what I pay her for," he said, shaking his head at that oversight.
"Your house elf is free?" the astonished man asked.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you?"
"No, you did not."
Hydrus waved it away and said it was a story for another time. He called the toy, sat on the floor and rolled it to Harry. The toy was shaped like a ball and right now it was white. Seeing the bright light the toddler squealed and grabbed it. When his little hands rested on the ball, it turned red and said, "Red," slowly and clearly. In a female voice that Hydrus hoped Harry would relate to better.
Harry answered, "ruh-ed."
The ball said, "Correct." And turned blue, causing the toddler to giggle and clap his hands.
It was a stroke of genius that had him make it respond to baby talk, as well as to the voices of adults. Hydrus was thankful it worked. This should keep the tot busy for a while, since every time he said the correct word the color would change and it would start again. If the correct word wasn't said, the ball would repeat three time and then change color. Right now there were only three easy colors on the toy, red, blue, green. Hydrus would add more when Harry got these down.
Sirius came back into the room and the four males played with the new toy, passing it around and saying the colors. That lasted for about a half an hour and, Harry went back to his blocks and the three men did what they usually did until it was time for dinner. They ate some of the pulled beef that Hydrus had for lunch, Harry had baby food. The rest of the night was relaxing and nothing heavy was discussed.
The next two days went much the same. There wasn't much to do with winter setting in. On the evening of the second day Sirius called Kreacher. The other two men were seated, letting Sirius deal with Kreacher, until it was time to cleanse the horcrux. Harry was in his room with Tippy.
The old house elf popped in and bowed to Sirius. "Blood Traitor Master is calling Kreacher. Mistress is so upset that the great house of Black has fallen to the Blood Traitor. She is telling Kreacher he must be answering to Master's calls. Poor Mistress will be lost without Kreacher," the elf rambled on. This was not a happy elf; this elf looked like it was one step away from the grave. His pillowcase was dirty and torn, the usual gangly features were skeletal, and his huge eyes were tired and droopy.
"Shut it, Kreacher. Has my dear old mum departed from Grimmauld Place?" Sirius asked, ignoring the ramblings as best he could, though the thought of his mum without a house elf made him happy.
"Mistress has left the house," Kreacher answered, bowing once again.
"Kreacher, I know that Regulus left a necklace in your care. I know you're supposed to destroy it. I want you to bring it to me, so it can be cleansed," Sirius ordered, trying to be gentle, remembering what Hydrus told him. His daily potions helped.
The old elf looked at his new master in complete shock, and then his eyes started welling with tears. "Master will destroy the Dark item? Kreacher had tried, but nothing Kreacher had done worked."
"I'll take the Darkness out of it and then you can have the necklace when we're done," Sirius said kindly, seeing how distraught the elf was. He was still feeling guilty about his brother's death; it was one of the many things he and his therapist were working through. "Go and get it," he ordered.
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