Hearing the underlying sadness in the house-elf’s voice, Ashley kneeled down and hugged the poor creature. She hoped Sirius hadn’t said anything mean to the house-elf whilst she was away. She would hate to pretend to be mad at the Animagus to teach him a lesson again, though it was a bit funny when he would begin to panic. She’d done it before when he heard Kreacher mutter something about his mother under his breath. Sirius had blown a fuse and shouted at Kreacher. Ashley understood his temper regarding the pain of his past but in no way was it appropriate to take his anger out on someone else.