"That can't be right," Sirius replied. "Look, you only met mum the portrait version but she was even nastier in real life. She can't have been nice to him. And dad wouldn't have given a house elf time of day. Reg, maybe but... But he hated me, you saw him," growled Sirius. "He always hated me. And I didn't do a damn thing or treat him any differently."

If Sirius really thought about it, he would have recalled that his mother had been kind to Kreacher in her own way, rewarding his good behavior and keeping him loyal to her and hence to the family. And Kreacher hadn't begun to dislike him until things had started getting really bad between him and the family. But he never found it easy to think clearly when it came to his family, and it stirred some uncomfortable deeply buried feelings to think that she'd had kindness in her for a house elf but not for him.

"But surely his friends keep him company too?" he asked, changing the subject. "Ron and Hermione are all right, aren't they?"