Chapter Twenty
**Winky's POV**
Winky was super happy.
Mistress had called Winky a good girl and even hugged Winky and meant it just like her good boy used to do when he was a youngling, and that was worth more than all the gold in Fred's hold put together, which was saying something because Fred had been very busy and the hold was very full.
Winky had done her very best to leave as much as she could fit back into Mistresses tent before returning it, which had taken some clever organizing and three attempts at a stacking charm Winky had seen Mistress use once but had never tried herself.
It worked on the fourth try.
The problem was the tent no longer had quite enough room for all the gold and the gems and the swords and the other miscellaneous treasures that Winky and Fred had collected over the course of the adventure, so some of it had to stay on the ship, but the hold was now only half full which helped Winky out a great deal because Winky had a lot of food to store now with so many hungry boys and girls to feed and hungry people make bad decisions as Winky had learned.
Winky had left everything she could for Mistress and was sure Mistress would be very happy about it.
Then Winky apparated back to the nasty half broken castle to restart the search from the last place she had left off, because that was the sensible thing to do and Winky was very sensible, Mistress has said "you always find what you're looking for in the last place you look." Winky didn't understand exactly what this saying meant but she would at least start at the last place she looked, and Winky was sure she would find answers.
The castle was in a worse state than Winky remembered but that was not Winky's fault if those bad boys and girls had not angered Mistress they would not be blown up.
Winky was just getting her bearings and sniffing at the air the way Winky does, when a very large and extremely smelly wolf lunged out of the shadows at her from behind with absolutely no warning and very bad manners.
Most people underestimate the smelling and hearing of a House Elf.
Winky swiftly turned around and snapped her fingers before the wolf's teeth got anywhere near poor defenseless Winky, and the large smelly she wolf found herself suspended in mid-air with all four paws going in different directions and a very put out expression on her very large face as she snarled and bite at the air trying in vain to free themselves.
"Why did you attack poor defenseless Winky," Winky said with a huff, reaching for the ladle that she kept strapped to her side at all times her new floppy Admirals hat swaying in the breeze. "You bad dog."
She gave the wolf a firm Boop on the head *BOOP*.
The wolf looked genuinely shocked at how much that hurt, which Winky felt was fair, as most people and wolves were surprised the first time.
"What have you done to my brother and his Two Leg partner?" the wolf snapped, still trying uselessly to bite at Winky from her undignified position in the air.
Winky tilted her head and thought about this for only a moment before everything clicked into place, Winky's eyes sparkled knowing the answer to this question.
"Do you mean Winky's new fuzzy friend?" Winky asked, her eyes going wide and happy. "Majestic Super Wolf King Grey Wind?"
The suspended wolf's eyes glazed over for a moment with the particular expression of someone hearing something deeply stupid said with complete sincerity.
"That idiot," the wolf said flatly, "is still trying to make everyone call him some ridiculous title he made up for himself."
Hearing this at first confused Winky, then understanding hit like the Hogwarts express at full charge, Winky's expression changed.
She set her feet, crossed her arms, and looked at the still floating wolf with the expression of indignation; she had just learned her new fuzzy friend lied to Winky this was a significant betrayal.
Then she stomped her foot on the ground in what she felt was a very mighty blow.
"That fuzzy butt wolf LIED to Winky," Winky said, pointing the ladle in a way she hoped conveyed the full depth of her feelings. "He told Winky that all creatures call him that title because he is the King of all Beasties in the whole of the North. Winky thought Winky had made friends with TWO kings, stupid fuzzy butt wolf is going to get a good few bonks next time Winky sees him, yes he is."
The she-wolf blinked at her from mid-air.
There was a short pause.
"You struck Grey Wind with that?" she asked.
"Winky bonked him several times," Winky confirmed with dignity.
Something that might have been respect or vindictive retribution moved across the wolf's very large face Winky was unsure which.
After a few minutes of back and forth in which Winky lowered the wolf back down to the ground so they could have a real chat, and the wolf stopped trying to bite her, Winky asked the wolf her name.
The wolf jumped up standing tall ears point up Rear legs slightly extended front legs in the perfect position as she puffed up her chest, and posed with her head held as high as a human standing, chin up, ears straight up and forward, with the bearing of someone who had been waiting for this exact question.
"I," she said, "was named after a legendary two-legged Warrior Queen, the great and powerful Nymeria."
Winky clapped, very excited to meet someone with such a great name.
She clapped with genuine enthusiasm because that was a very good name and the wolf clearly knew it and deserved to have someone appreciate it properly, and Winky believed in appreciating things properly.
Nymeria looked almost embarrassed by the clapping but also as though she did not entirely dislike it, as her tail started swaying back and forth on its own.
Then Winky noticed that underneath the pride there was something sad sitting in Nymeria's eyes, the kind of sad that she had seen in animals. They carry it differently from people like Witch's and Wizards even House Elves, quieter and more patient but no less deep.
It came out slowly, in the way wolves talk, which is mostly in images and feelings with words dropped in when absolutely necessary.
Nymeria's partner had been leaving, going somewhere on a boat, heading away from the smelly large city with the big red castle, and Nymeria could not follow along the water no matter how far she had run down the shore trying. She had been following from a distance since the girl left the smelly loud city, keeping pace, keeping watch, Nymeria knew her partner had saved her life that day when she pushed her away, she had discovered Lady her sister the next day buried having had taken her place for biting Bad smelling two leg prince.
Now the girl, her partner was just gone, and Nymeria was alone and she had smelled Winky on the air and smelled her brother on Winky and had decided, in the direct way of wolves, to investigate, which summed up to bite first and ask questions after you have dominated them.
Winky listened to all of this very carefully, not interrupting unsure if she should be taking notes like the Mistress or not.
Then Winky made a decision.
"Winky will make Nymeria a deal," Winky said, in her most serious voice. "Nymeria helps Winky find Dragon Prince Jon who is pretending to be Jon Snow, and Winky will ask her Mistress to see if Nymeria's partner is safe and gets the help she needs. "Winky's Mistress is a very good Witch who can fix most things."
Nymeria considered this, she had considered creating her own pack once her partner was completely gone from her sight, but if this strange creature could help her partner and herself in the future maybe she could see her other siblings again and be reunited with her stubborn partnered 2 leg.
She agreed in the end seeing as for the first time she really had nothing else to do.
---
The new partnership got off to a slightly rocky start.
Nymeria did not appreciate being used as a mount.
Winky felt this was an inefficiency she could not afford seeing as Winky's legs were quite short and there was a great deal of ground to cover, and she had explained this very reasonably, but Nymeria had nonetheless required three separate introductions to the ladle before she accepted that Winky sitting on her back was simply going to be how things were, she had wasted enough time.
After that she was actually very good about it, especially after Winky made a little snack for the both of them which just so happened to be a rare steak for Nymeria, seasoned to perfection.
With Nymeria's nose and Winky's magic and Fred sitting on Winky's shoulder being unhelpful but decorative, but the tiny menace had a very happy look on its face as it turned its back on the half broken castle. Information came together faster now that Winky had a direction...
Dragon Prince Jon Targaryen, who was still pretending to be Jon Snow for reasons that Winky supposed made sense to tall people, was at a place called the Wall.
Together with new friend Fuzzy Great name wolf they were off to find White Fuzzy Brother Wolf because he would be with Dragon Prince Jon Targaryen.
Winky made a note in her journal about the Lying Bad wolf Greywind, because Winky had some things she wished to ask him about the Majestic Super Wolf Grey Wind situation and also about lying to small elves who were trying to do important jobs.
The Wall was North and they had a very long journey on foot.
Very North, from the sound of it.
Very, very, North.
Winky looked North.
Winky looked at Nymeria.
Nymeria looked at Winky.
Fred was looking over a few coins he had just "found lying around" from the Twins as he cleaned up both towers of all their treasure.
"Right then," Winky said, taking her place on Nymeria's broad back with the dignity of a small elf who had commanded over a hundred ships and was not going to be intimidated by a long journey North. "Let's go find our Dragon Prince Jon Targaryen, and Fuzzy white brother wolf Ghost."
Nymeria started running.
The wind was cold and sharp and smelled of pine and something older, and Winky held on with both hands and did not tell Nymeria to slow down because Nymeria was running with her whole heart the feeling of true happiness and Winky understood that feeling very well.
But right now, they had a prince to find.
And Winky was not coming back without him, again...Maybe?