With Your Hands Up

She sat quietly in the empty bank, her eyes drooping as the clock ticked on. Her pristinely manicured fingernails drummed against the tabletop, creating a steady beat through the echoing office. It was Monday afternoon and they had not had a customer in over an hour. She reached for her phone, swiftly typing a message to her best friend and sending it off. 'Can't we just cancel Mondays? It's not like anyone cares…' She heard the soft 'bloop' of the sent message and clicked off her phone, placing it softly on the counter beside her.

Hermione jumped in her chair as she heard a noise behind her – the clearing of a throat which was more menacing than a growl to the poor girl. She swivelled around, slowly turning to face her Manager, Jeremy Griphook. His glowering eyes studied her, and then jumped to her empty computer and vacant desk. The man took a deep breath, his shoulders shifting back, desperately trying to seem tall than he was. Although he was very much on the 'short side' of the height scale, his position and threatening personality made him seem far taller than he was.

"Working hard, I see?" He drawled, his eyes finally moving back to her face.
"Sorry, Mr Griphook! We were having a slow day and my mind was wandering…" Hermione began explaining, but quickly shut her mouth as he gave her a threatening look. "Sorry, Sir…" she muttered quickly.
"So, you know what you should be doing?"
"Yes, Sir," Hermione mumbled, turning back to her computer, shaking the mouse vigorously to wake the screen. Jeremy seemed satisfied with her terror and walked away, not before giving her and the two girls in the cubicles beside her a warning look. His menacing glance stayed with them long after he left – something (as well as his unusual height) that had earning him the nickname of the 'Gringotts' Goblin'. Hermione remembered the last time someone had said that aloud – they had stupidly done so without checking if the room was clear. Poor Bill had found himself unemployed soon after, scaring the wits out of the rest of the staff.

Shaking her head, Hermione rested her chin in her hands.
"Idiot!" She mumbled to herself and let out a long sigh. Cho, her lovely Chinese co-worker, leaned around the divider between them and smiled.
"You okay?" She asked politely, her ebony hair falling like a curtain behind her. A voice called from the other side:
"You really should have seen that coming!"
"Not helping, Lav!" Cho called, staring down her friend. Lavender Brown was the office princess; beautiful enough to get away with everything.
"Just speaking my mind!" She pursed her lips and went back to her seat. Hermione stood, turning to Lavender, and moved to the small gap between their cubicles where the door to the bank floor was positioned, locked for their 'safety'. She rested her arms on the partition wall, her chin resting lightly on her forearms.
"Lavender. Just because you're the office angel, doesn't mean you can sit all high and mighty over the rest of us because the…" she looked quickly around, "… Goblin never picks on you," she hissed her come-back and smiled with a poisonous sweetness as she made her way back to her seat. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her forehead in exhaustion.

For the second time that day, Hermione was startled by a clearing of a throat; this time coming from behind the glass that separated her from the public.
"Hello, sorry!" She said quickly, her eyes wide as she looked to the customer before her. A tall man with bright red hair was looking at her with a soft smile.
"Hi, I was looking to withdraw some cash?" He spoke softly, but surely. Behind him two elderly women entered – their harsh laughs filling the spacious office with noise.
"Certainly!" Hermione replied to the man, a smile plastered on her face. "Can I have your name and account number?"
"I'm Ronald Weasley," he smiled and slid a few pieces of paper across the desk. She looked them over and found everything she needed.
"Thank you, Mr Weasley! How much would you like to withdraw?" The red-haired man looked nervous as he ran his hand through his hair.
"How much do I have?" He asked softly. Hermione checked the computer, smiling as she took a pen and, with a glance at the woman in the adjacent cubicle, wrote the amount on a paper, sliding it across. A sorrowful expression glassed over the mans' face and he sighed.
"Bloody hell," he muttered, shaking his head. He mirrored her actions, withdrawing a small amount – which made up most of his savings – and sighed. As he did, Hermione noticed, out of the corner of her eye, three men walk in. She caught a small glimpse of platinum blonde hair and a sharp face before there was a loud shout, a bang, and everything went to hell.

[o]

The three men threw masks over their heads, the faces white with strange black markings covering the forehead and cheeks. Suddenly they held guns in the air and everyone hit the ground.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!"

Hermione could not breathe as she ducked behind the counter, her eyes wide and heart racing. She suddenly remembered the man in front of her desk and quickly got to her feet. Keeping her head low, she ducked around her partition and into the small alcove beside her desk. Without thinking, she unlocked the door and poked her head outside.

Just a few feet from her, the man, Ron, sat cowering against the desk, his head down. With a quick glance at the men, who had their guns pointed at a couple other customers, she whispered:
"Hey!"

He looked up.

"Hey!" She hissed again, waving her hand softly. He finally looked in her direction, his eyes full of fear. She waved him over, her breathing hitching as she did. They both kept an eye on the men in the masks as he made his away slowly to the open door. Just as one of the heisters looked in their direction, Hermione closed the door behind Ron, the automatic lock clicking into place. The man was breathing deeply as he looked at her.
"Thanks." She waved off the thanks, and moved back around, trying to get a look. As she peeked over the counter she saw one of the men coming for her and let out a gasp, ducking back under the bench. But then he spoke and he was not above her, but to her right. Lavender.

"Hey, girly! Why don't you open up this bank for us and give us everything you have?" There was no reply for a few seconds until a terrified squeak sounded from her cubicle.
"Did you hear what I said?!" The man yelled, his voice hoarse as he tried to deepen it so he could not be recognised. Hermione took a few soft breaths and moved to help her co-worker. But before she could, she heard a the stronger voice of her customer, Ron Weasley.
"Leave her alone!"
"Ooh, we have a hero… do we?" The heisters' voice came and Hermione looked out to see the red-haired man standing in front of Lavender.
"Y-you should know… the p-police are on their way!" Ron's voice was now less sure, but he moved to completely cover Lavender's body, and Hermione could only assume the man in front of him was now pointing a gun at him.
"Out of the way, swine! Or you're gonna get you're ginger ass shot!"

Hermione looked behind her where the Managers office door had just swung open. Jeremy stood there, his chest heaving as he took in the scene before him.
"Ah now…!" Another of the robbers had stepped up to the counter, his gun waving wildly about him. "And who might you be? The manager?"

The third man, who had not said a word yet, was standing at the back of the bank with his gun clutched lazily in his hand. Both of the other men seemed to glance back to him before they made any decisions – meaning he must be the leader, Hermione thought to herself. She had looked away from Jeremy for only a moment. One moment, and everything changed. She heard the gunshot and the screams that filled the room. Her head snapped back to the side, her eyes moving from the third man to her boss just in time to watch him crumple to the ground.

Everything else moved in slow motion. The man at the back began screaming, telling his friends that they were not supposed to kill anyone. There was so much noise, and people scrambling around the room that no one noticed the police burst in until they had the men surrounded. Guns were pointed at guns until the heisters finally gave up, throwing their weapons to the ground. It did not take long for the medics to evacuate everyone, and Hermione felt her heart start beating properly once she was sitting in the back of an ambulance, a blanket across her shoulders. She looked across to the man with red hair, Ronald. He had his arm around Lavenders' shoulder, his face devoid of emotion until his eyes met Hermione's. A smile formed on his lips, and she mirrored it. He was so brave, she thought, her cheeks flushing with colour.

Hermione's attention was drawn to the police car as the last of the bank robbers was shoved into the back seat. She could not help but chuckle to herself as she thought, "Better luck next time…"

Words – 1,608

Archibald Alderton (Bronze) 'something going wrong.'

Ancient Runes – 'writing about Gringotts…' (400) Prompt – Bank!AU

September Event – 21. (Dialogue) "Can't we just cancel Monday? It's not like anyone cares..."