Second chapter already, the rest won't come as soon as I do have a life…
Thank you so much to the two reviewer that have left reviews so far : ) Glad you both liked the first chapter.
Thank you to everyone else that took the time to read as well.
Well let me know what you think of this chapter.
Elerosse

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Harry sat poking the food, with his fork, absentmindly in the Burrow's warm kitchen.
Mrs Weasley's food was delicious as always but having Ginny seated across the table, eyeing him with sorrowful eyes, had made him loose his appetite.

Hermione and Ron had left for Australia the day before, to try and find her parents, and Harry had been emotionally blackmailed to come over for dinner by a tearful Mrs Weasley.
He had declined Hermione's generous offer of coming with them on their trip, as he would have felt too much like the third wheel now that they were getting serious with their relationship.
But now that he sat in the Burrows kitchen suffering with a tearful Mrs Weasley, teasing from Bill and Charlie and Ginny who wouldn't stop staring at him, he wondered if perhaps he should have joined his friends.

"So Harry, I have been having some problems at work, which involve you." Bill said, making Harry eye the man curiously.
"The goblins are pretty upset about the whole Gringotts break in, they're adamant that you should offer them some sort of compensation or risk losing your account." He continued making Harry scowl.
Yes the goblins had been rather short with him when he'd been over, but they had so far graciously allowed him access to his money, which was ever so kind of them. Harry had felt like sneering at them when they had gone on about being so overseeing about the destruction of their property and stealing. It was not as if he'd saved them from Voldemort or anything…
"I convinced them that it would cause too much negative publicity, should they take The Saviours money from him." Bill said giving Harry a reassuring smile.

"They can't honestly be thinking of taking his gold Bill?" Mrs Weasley protested, eyeing her oldest son in disbelief.

"Course they can, they're vicious, greedy little bastards aren't they?" Charlie asked, shrugging at his mother's sharp look at his language.

"Well as it stands they just want him to come and apologise in person, which I don't recommend you do on your own Harry." Bill said, giving Harry a pointed look.

"I already have, the first time I went there and the time after." Harry muttered, making Bill shake his head.
Harry put his fork down, his appetite completely gone now.
Mrs Weasley pushed a bread roll at him and he took a small bite of it, only to please her.

"Yes, well breaking into one of their vaults, stealing one of their dragons and getting away with it has probably left them somewhat upset." Charlie said, sounding rather amused about the matter. Harry grimaced and slumped in his seat dejectedly, he'd been forced to break in or the war would have ended differently, but the goblins seemed to think that he could have handled it differently.

"Perhaps I should have just brought Voldemort over to the bank and asked the goblins to get rid of him. Ungrateful bug…Sorry Mrs Weasley." Harry muttered.

"Look I wouldn't normally ask, but they are getting somewhat antagonising towards me as they know that we know one another, could you come over and apologise again? I'll be with you the entire time and we'll make sure that it ends there and then." Bill asked, kicking his smirking brother under the table.

Harry shrugged and picked his fork up again, leaving the bread roll for later as it just settled like a stone in his stomach at the moment.
"Sure, when do you want me to come?" He asked, spearing a potato moodily. He'd say he was sorry, but only because he liked Bill.

"Well, the sooner you get it over with the better, goblins are prideful creatures and it's best to stay on their good side, if you can. You'll want to wear nice robes, by the way." Bill answered, getting another nod from Harry, it wasn't as if he had something else to do.
"Although I'm pretty sure that you're stuffed forever in terms of getting on their good list again. Goblins have very long memories, extremely long in fact." Bill added, shrugging at Harry's glare, and making Charlie chuckle.

"Yes I think I got that myself thanks." Harry muttered, rolling his eyes, not really caring what the goblins thought of him.

"You know, I did warn you." Bill said rather evilly, in Harry's opinion and he gave the oldest Weasley son a glare.

"I'm not doing anything tomorrow, do you want some company Harry?" Ginny asked hopefully, perking up across the table at the thought of going out with him.

"I think Harry will be just fine with Bill, Ginny. No need to bring the entire wizarding world and their cat there with him." Mrs Weasley said, making Ginny scowl and Harry silently sigh in relief. Ginny had been pestering him every day about meeting up and he felt rotten about putting her down all the time. The fact was though, that he didn't want to date her anymore and was just too scared to tell her or her brothers.

"But more people would be a good idea in case the Goblins want to cause trouble." Ginny argued, flinging her long hair over her shoulder crossly.

"You're right Gin, I'll accompany Harry and Bill, good idea." Charlie said, appreciatively, ignoring the narrowing of Ginny's eyes.

"There, all sorted." Mrs Weasley sniffed, patting her second-born on the head proudly.
Ginny glared daggers at them all and Harry quickly stuffed a mouthful of food in his mouth before busying himself with loading up the next mouthful on his fork. He slipped one hand down to his pocket in case she decided to hex them.

The Weasley matriarch was being very helpful in keeping him and Ginny apart, she was apparently of the same opinion as Harry, that they were moving too quickly.
When Ginny had floo called him the other day and begged him to let her come and visit, even going as far as hinting that he'd be very happy if he did, her mother had happened to be walking past the room.
Harry's evasive answers had been stopped by an appalled Mrs Weasley, who'd sent Ginny to her room to think of her behaviour, before thanking Harry for being a gentleman. They were far too young for that sort of talk after all, Harry had nodded and quickly made up an excuse for ending the call.

"I was only going to go as moral support." Ginny grumbled, making her mother stare at her until she blushed.
"I don't get what your problem is mum! It's not like I haven't been alone with a boy before you know, I got further with Dean that I ever have with Harry and that's not for lack of trying!" Ginny snapped before pushing away from the table angrily and storming up to her room.
The bang of her bedroom door slamming shut, shook the whole house and Harry swallowed hard.
He was left with an amused Bill and Charlie and an apologetic Mrs Weasley, making him want to sink under the table and disappear forever.

Mrs Weasley excused herself and left the kitchen to have a long overdue chat with Ginny, this behaviour was not going to be tolerated, she was fifteen not twenty-five.
In a way Harry could understand Ginny's anger, he'd been leading her on last year making her think that they had something going on. But it just didn't feel right anymore, he wasn't interested in her or anyone else and felt rotten because of it.

"So this Dean fellow, any idea where I could find him?" Bill asked, after a moment of silence causing Harry to groan. Charlie eyed Harry equally interested in the answer and Harry quickly excused himself and returned to the sanctuary of Grimmauld place after agreeing on a time to meet in Gringotts the next day.

He paced the rooms of the dreary house like a spectre with only Kreacher for company. His whole body was buzzing, almost as if his magic wanted out.
Perhaps a visit to see Madam Pomfrey might be a good idea, just to rule out any diseases.
He feared that he was getting depressed or something, he couldn't sleep for more than a few hours, he wasn't hungry and life just felt so odd.
Indoors he felt trapped and outdoors he didn't feel much better with all the buildings and people about. It was almost as if he'd left a part of himself in the middle world he'd come to after dying, or perhaps as Luna had suggested brought too much back.

Harry sat collapsed in one of the armchairs in the drawing room, pondering the mysteries of life morosely.
"Does master wish for anything?" Kreacher asked, pausing in his dusting long enough to give Harry a fond look. He and the elf lived a life of quiet solitude, which suited them both.
Harry shook his head and listlessly observed as the elf polished yet another family heirloom.

He fell asleep in the armchair and woke up stiff the next day, cursing himself.
Eating breakfast whilst getting ready for his meeting ended up being a bad idea, as he had to change clothes again after getting jam all over the front of his robes.
He left the house in a bad mood and got to Gringotts just in time, spotting the two red heads quickly. He made sure that his invisibility cloak was safely stuffed in his pocket in case of emergency before approaching the two brothers.
He also slid his wand up his sleeve for easy access but hoped that he wouldn't have to use it as the Goblins had been able to restrain themselves thus far from attacking.
Bill and Charlie both seemed to be in good moods and Harry sighed as they made a point of greeting nearly every person in the bank before finally leading Harry further into the building.
He had been here before without anything happening, even though they acted as if it was his first time back.

Harry glanced up at the damaged ceiling and winced again at the sizeable hole the dragon had left, it was a real wonder that the goblins hadn't attacked him yet he thought. Not that he really regretted it, it had been a necessary evil.
"It'll be fine Harry." Bill whispered as they walked past one glaring goblin after another.
Harry snorted quietly, but wisely refrained from making a comment. It was odd how quickly he was back to being treated as a child again, even after having rid the world of the Dark Lord, he thought.

They knocked on a richly carved door and entered the room after getting permission.
"Thank you for bringing Mr Potter here Mr Weasley, you may leave us now." The Goblin said, showing his sharp teeth.

"Actually we'd like to stay, moral support and all that." Bill said politely but firmly, meeting the goblins stare head on.
The creature eyed him for a long time before turning his eyes on Harry.

"So, the destroyer has returned." The Goblin sneered.
Harry sensed that the goblin wasn't talking about the destruction of Voldemort and felt rather irritated with this continued hostility.

"I wanted to offer my deepest apologies again sir." Harry muttered trying to look apologetic, making the goblin wave his long nailed hands in the air derisively.

"Your apology will never be accepted as long as our nation exists, destruction of our business and theft from our vaults is never forgiven." The goblin said harshly.
Charlie fidgeted on Harry's left, whilst Bill kept his cool.

"Then why did you request his presence here Ragnok, if there was no hope of reconciliation?" Bill asked, making the goblin sneer.
Harry felt like rolling his eyes, it was obvious to him that they simply wanted him to suffer for as long as possible.

"He disturbed something, deep in the dark, we do not know what but we demand that he come and set it right." Ragnok said, glaring at Harry who blinked at this new information.

"He will not be going anywhere alone and are you really expecting him to right something that you, yourself don't know how to?" Bill asked, keeping his own against the goblin.

"His name is written on the wall." Ragnok said ominously, glaring again at Harry.
"It reads of a man who lives without dying, in our most ancient script, the boy will have to do it and we will graciously allow him continued use of our services." The goblin added, pointing his finger at Harry, who barely stopped himself from snapping back that he'd just remove all his gold if they were going to continue to make a fuss about it all.

Bill eyed Harry interestedly before turning back to the goblin.
"A foretelling by the ancient script?" He asked, making the goblin nod tersely in response.
"It's up to you Harry, I don't mind coming down with you as I'd love to get a peek at the script. I got a chance to study it a couple of years back and it's really cool." Bill said, sounding rather hopeful to Harry's ears.
Harry gave Charlie a look and received a shrug in return, clearly Charlie was only there as an extra wand holder.

"Sure, as long as I can leave afterwards." Harry muttered, making Charlie nod in agreement.
Bill gave them a reassuring look and nodded at the goblin, who stood and moved for the door.

They travelled through the winding tracks, in a small cart, for what felt like an eternity before finally stopping deep down in the depth of the bank.
Harry eyed the tethered dragon, sleeping on the ground, nervously and shivered from the cool air.
There were also two goblins standing guard behind the dragon, in front of what looked like a dark cave like structure.
Behind the goblins there were some big boulders obstructing their path, which they had to squeeze past to get to the dark corner they were headed for and Harry felt rather certain that the break-in had caused them to be where they now were.

Bill started walking faster as the wall came into view, it did indeed have writing on the wall and Harry blinked at the beautiful artwork alongside the words.
There were delicate flowers and plants, all painstakingly chiselled out on the mountain wall.

"The man who walks through death and onwards…let his…er…feet take flight…" Bill muttered haltingly, as he tried translating the words on the wall.
"…Elf friends of old…pathway to resurrection and hope…er…The Valar, guide…" Bill rubbed the back of his head, staring at the wall intently whilst moving his lips silently.
Harry glanced at Charlie, who was throwing furtive looks back towards the dragon, before stepping closer to Bill.

"What does it say?" Harry finally asked, when the silence got too long, making Bill frown.

"I'm not sure, something about living after death and finding a path or walkway. This is really old scripture, some of it forgotten in time as it was created long before the goblins wrote even half of their history books." Bill answered.
"It's full of magic this language, probably older magic than our own." He added reverently, eyeing the wall with awe, the goblin eyed Bill appreciatively before scowling again.

"And he is the one we think can unlock it!" Ragnok snapped, pointing at Harry with one of his long fingers, clearly unimpressed.
"Touch it with your wand, wizard." He demanded, staring Harry down with his beady eyes.

Harry turned to Bill who shrugged.
"It's probably just a door or something." Bill said touching the wall with his own wand, making Harry feel better when no apparent traps were activated.
Although the talk about living after death sounded a lot like what Luna had been talking about.

Harry brought his wand out and slowly approached the wall causing a shimmering dome to appear behind him, cutting the others off.
Bill and the goblin both rushed forwards but were stopped from coming any closer by the dome and Harry quickly backed away from the wall.
The dome disappeared and Harry felt reassured that he hadn't stepped into a trap, at the dark furious look that appeared on the goblins face.
"I will stand next to you and you will step back as soon as it opens." Ragnok ordered making Harry nod, clearly he wouldn't be trapped somewhere as the goblin seemed eager to enter the room himself.
They approached the wall together and the goblin gave a sound of outrage, as he was pushed back by the dome.
Harry stepped back again, making the dome fall once more.

The goblin waved him on with a furious glare and Harry felt rather smug about being able to piss him off without even trying.

He stepped forwards again, this time ignoring the shimmering light behind him and raised his wand nervously.
He could feel the magic even before his wand made contact with the wall and then there was nothing but darkness and the feeling of free falling.
A sudden blinding light made Harry throw his hands upin fright and he felt his wand jerk out of his grip, as if someone had spelled it from him before it disappeared into the nothingness. Harry tried to summon it wordlessly but nothing happened.
The air grew warm around him and Harry felt his body relax and his eyes close, wondering if this was death that he was experiencing yet again.

Not a moment later, he drew a burning breath of air and blinked ice-cold water from his eyes as he coughed gallons of water out of his lungs.
He paddled in the dark for a moment before spotting something glowing in the distance.
His arms felt heavy as he swam towards what he hoped was landmass and soon managed to pull himself out of the water and collapsed on the cold stone ground.

He lay shivering on the ground for a moment and then cursed the goblin race hoarsely, not caring if they all stood watching. He was taking all his money out of the bank and then never, ever visiting again, he vowed.
He spat out some more water, wondering just how much he'd swallowed before pulling off the heavy wet robe he was wearing.

He shivered violently and pulled the invisibility cloak out from his pocket, thanking death or who ever made it for crafting such a useful item.
The cloak was warm and dry and offered at least a smidgen of warmth even with his wet t-shirt and trousers on.
He'd lost his shoes somewhere in the water but couldn't spot them floating anywhere.

He didn't even bother looking for his wand in the dark hole he'd been dropped into, it was pretty much pitch black and he could feel deep down that the wand was gone.
It was lost forever and wouldn't the goblins be happy for it, Harry thought darkly.

He looked round the dark cave and spotted several strands of silvery stripes, which seemed etched into the walls. He carefully edged closer to them, mindful of where he put his shoeless feet.
It was some sort of rock that shimmered in the dark, he'd never seen anything like it before, It grew brighter the closer he was to it.

He could see now that he was nearer a light source, even if dim, that there was a way out of the cave if he climbed a near vertical wall. He could see more of the silver stripes leading the way upwards and decided that he wasn't staying down in the deep waiting for the goblins to come. As they would no doubt, never come at all.

After slipping and sliding for ages, he finally managed to drag himself up to a small ledge.
His hands were stinging, his knees ached and he was never coming back to Gringotts again.
It became a mantra of sorts as he scaled the stone walls, aiming for higher ground.
"I'm…never…ever...coming…back…again!" He spat furiously as he reached for the next bit of rock to pull himself upwards with.

He wasn't sure how far he'd climbed when he heard the first sound, since arriving, other than his own laboured breaths.
It was a sort of rhythmic sound that made his neck hairs stand at end and as his hair had gotten somewhat long, it was a rather impressive feat.
Calling out seemed to be a bad idea in case the goblins were preparing to use him as a ritualistic sacrifice for defiling their precious bank. No, he was getting out of here on his own and then he'd give them hell.

The cloak had been stuffed in his pocked again by the time Harry reached his third, larger ledge.
He was tired and sweaty and badly in need of a drink of water. He wasn't sure how long he'd been down there now, but surely Bill and Charlie had alerted the ministry and started a search.
Unless they'd been taken captives as well, to stop anyone from asking questions but then Mrs Weasley would sound the alarm.
He'd be found eventually or manage to get out on his own, it wasn't as if it was the first dangerous adventure he'd been on.
But boy, did the trip to Australia sound even more tempting now than ever, Ron and Hermione were sure to give him grief about saying no to it.

The trickling sound of water from higher up, finally urged Harry on and he managed to pull himself through a narrow gap in the rock above his head.
He found himself sitting in a dark, carved out, tunnel and nearly cheered in delight at not having to stop himself from looking down into the deep, endless abyss anymore.

The water he'd heard was trickling down the walls and collecting in a small bowl made from silver metal, stuck to the floor. The bowls shimmered with pale light in the same way as the rock had done down in the cave, making him wonder if they were the same stuff.
Metal could be made from rock, at least he was pretty sure it could be.
He filled his hands and swallowed the cold water down greedily, drenching his parched mouth, water had never tasted this good.

Deciding which direction to go was easy, up meant out in Harry meagre caving experience, it had led him here after all.
The narrow stone tunnel he was in, was as dark as the cave he'd dragged himself up from with a low ceiling causing even him to walk slightly bent.
Luckily there were more of the little water collectors along the tunnel, which offered small glowing beacons to aim for in the dark.

He hobbled along on sore feet, only stopping for sips of water, until his feet could carry him no more and he had to rest.
The hole he'd been dropped down into, must have been very deep as he was sure he'd been walking for hours.
He pulled the cloak out again and covered his damp body with it, only intending to rest for a moment before continuing.

He woke up disorientated hours later and cursed as reality hit him, he was still in hell.
Standing up was a chore as his entire body was protesting any kind of movement, his legs and feet more so than the rest.
He wrapped the cloak closer to his shivering body and slowly started his endless trek for freedom again.
If he came out of this adventure without a cold, he'd be very surprised.

Bleary eyed and walking in near pitch darkness, he failed to see the thing obstructing his path until he lay in a heap on top of it.
He pushed away and then let out a horrified gasp at having touched what felt like a spidery hand. He ever so carefully reach out along the floor until he reached the thing again.
It was a hand, a skeleton hand.

Somebody very dead was on the floor in front of him, left for long enough that his body decayed to leave nothing but bones to show.
Harry pulled his hand back and then tried to edge past the body, so that he could continue. He did not want to end up like that, to be found by some other unfortunate, lost person.

He stubbed his toe on something cold and hard and muttered a swearword at the pain that came from it.
Bending down, he picked the object up and carefully inspected it with his fingers, squinting hard to try and make it out in the dark.
It was a sword, probably stolen as the goblins had left the thief to die alone in the dark.
He hefted it in his hands and shrugged, he was wandless so a sword could come in handy. And at the moment he wasn't above using it against a goblin after what they were putting him through, he thought rather grimly.

The air was getting cooler, he was sure of it as he shivered under the cloak. His clothes were still damp and he barely had any sensation left in his feet from the cold.

He spotted another silver bowl further ahead, slightly higher than the rest had been and he was delighted at finding some stairs by it.
The shimmering bowls brought him not only water but hope too.
Surely he was getting nearer the surface now, perhaps this was the emergency exit tunnel in case the carts failed or something like it.
He walked past two more dusty skeletons as he scaled the stairs before finally entering a large open cavernous space.

Some light entered the large room from somewhere, but he wasn't sure where.
He was dismayed to see a ceiling high above his head as that meant the carts didn't come here and that he had some way to go still.
Pulling the hood over his head, he carefully edged into the open.
His footsteps made little sound as he walked aimlessly for a moment, eyeing the enormous space he'd entered.
He had no idea where to go now, he was lost.

Leaning against one of the tall pillars that supported the ceiling, he took a moment to try and inspect his hands and feet. His glasses were foggy with dirt and everything looked slightly blurry but he gave his body a once over, the best he could.
His hands looked scraped but otherwise fine, whilst his feet were black with dirt and felt freezing to the touch. He'd worn the socks out and now pulled the torn shreds of fabric off, grimacing as they stuck to his skin painfully.

A sound from further in the room, made his head snap up and he saw a light bobbing far in the distance.
He quickly looked around for somewhere to hide even though he was invisible and found a dark doorway not far from where he stood.
He hurried over and held his breath, gripping the sword hard, as he fought his nerves, he kept watch so that he could see if it was a goblin or wizard that was approaching.

He could hear them getting nearer as they talked in an odd language, that had to be Gobbledegook, so no wizards this time only goblins.
But as the creatures came into view, Harry had to keep the gasp that threatened to escape him, by placing his hand over his mouth.

Those were not Goblins! They were hideous creatures of a sort Harry that had never seen or heard about before.
The two creatures argued as they walked across the great room, carrying pointy spears and generally looking far more evil than the goblins ever had. He wiped his robe over the glasses to get a better look and shook his head in dismay as his vision stayed as blurry as before.

A puff of air shifted the cloak around Harry's feet and he carefully turned around, mindful of making any noises.
The air smelt fresher in this tunnel and he gave the disappearing creatures a last look before deciding to follow this new tunnel to wherever it led.
The ground under his feet was slippery and wet, making him slide more often than walk. He stubbed his toes more than ones and hoped that he'd not end up with them broken, it was hard enough walking on them already.
He had to make many small interruptions to his walk so that his feet could rest and wondered about tearing up his t-shirt and using the fabric as bandages.

A light breeze blew on his face all of a sudden and he blinked with blurry eyes at the tree branches that blocked his way out of the tunnel.
He was free!

He pressed the branches to the side and slipped out of the hell hole, feeling such a sense of relief that tears were brought to his eyes.
It was night time and perhaps that was for the best, as his eyes had gotten used to the dark.

He looked around, as well as he could, at the dark forest in disbelief and wondered just how far away from London he'd ended up.
He was aware of some of the different parks in and around London, perhaps he'd somehow ended up in Hampstead which had a more forest like feel to it, he wondered.

Oh, well as long as he didn't have to go back into the depth of Gringotts again, he was happy.

The moon glimmered high up in the sky, larger than ever before and Harry marvelled at its beauty until he stumbled on a root and sprawled headfirst onto the forest floor.

He shouldn't have left the house, he grumbled as he pushed himself up. His glasses which had survived so far, were now in two broken parts and he took a deep fortifying breath to keep from screaming out in frustration. His cheek smarted and he thought he might have scraped it as it felt rather raw.
Could it get any worse, he wondered pulling his cloak tighter against the cool night air.

A creature nearby let out an inhuman screech and he shivered with foreboding.
Perhaps climbing a tree and waiting for the sun to rise was a better choice than stumbling through the forest at night.
He hauled his abused body as high as he could into a sturdy tree and wrapped the cloak securely round himself and then settled down for the night, feeling hopeful that he'd find some sort of civilisation by the next day and then finally get home.

What do you think?
Elerosse