Pretending to be extremely pissed off about something, the Potions Master slammed the door shut with a quick flick of his wand. The classroom fell deadly silent when they heard the door alarmingly lock itself shut; there would be no way out. "Today-we're going to create a Levitation Potion," Snape waved his wand at the blackboard so chalked-in words would spill across it. "Four key ingredients are missing from the chalkboard here...Anyone care to tell me what they are?" He raised his eyebrows at the sight of Hermione and Theodore Nott both lifting their hands into the air at the same time, Which one-which one? he thought with a sneer. "Mr. Nott-please answer the question for me," Snape ignored Hermione's glare.
Straightening up in his seat, Nott cleared his voice so there would be no confusion on what he was stating out loud. "Aconite, belladonna, and hellebore are said to be used in the mixture that is spread on broomsticks to make them fly..." He beamed at Hermione and then mouthed: "You can answer the last one-Gryffindor." This was the second time Nott had beaten Hermione at answering questions before she could; it was his new favorite pastime.
It was obvious that the Potions Master knew that Nott had purposely forgotten the final missing ingredient so Hermione could seem important enough to answer the question still. Snape was highly pleased, he had taught his Slytherin students very well on havocking revenge on the students from other houses. Pretending that he had just recently took notice of Hermione's raised hand, Snape called on her with little interest in what else she had to add to Nott's answer.
"A billywig stinger is the final ingredient that is missing, professor. They help provide the extra levitation needed to keep a broomstick afloat for as long as wanted." Hermione shot a rude look at Nott while he just smirked right back at her. Apparently ruffled by this new threat, Hermione stubbornly folded her arms across her chest and snorted disapprovingly at the Slytherin's recognizable sneer.
The Potions Master turned his back on the class to fill in the missing ingredients with another quick flick of his black-as-ash wand. "You all have less than an hour to brew this potion-you may begin."
Like the last Potions class, Neville was the first to complete the Levitation Potion. He kept to himself so the Potions Master wouldn't bother him or try to suspect and accuse the plump boy of receiving help again. The truth was that the Gryffindor had been getting the extra aide he needed from a Potion book Hunter had loaned out to him. Even though the book actually belonged to Hunter's younger brother, Quinn had added cheating notes and shortcuts all over the pages of the book.
When everyone was nearly complete with their potion, Snape ordered the students to bottle up their Levitation Potions and write their names on the glass bottles before handing them in. Once he had collected all of the bottles, the hooked-nose character strode back to the front of the classroom to try out the potions. "Why don't we try Mr. Longbottom's first?" Since you've been doing so well in my class now, he added sourly to himself.
Tugging on the wooden cork lid, Snape began to pour the potion on something he had taken out of his writing desk with his free hand. A high-pitched chirping started to sound off when the liquid hit the creature pinned to the wooden desk. "Maybe if your pet toad flies above your head Mr. Longbottom-you might not lose it as often as you do..." Snape sneered as he stepped out of the way so the students could see Neville's pet toad, Trevor, croaking and chirping with fear.
"Oh no..." Neville was biting his fingernails already as he watched his fat toad just sit on the edge of the Potions Master's desk. He had been searching for Trevor all around the castle this morning-the only place he didn't check was the dungeons. "Poor Trevor," he sighed unhappily as the toad continued to croak loudly.
Fed up with the toad just sitting there, Snape used the back of his hand to knock the pet off the edge of the desk. As the toad fell to the stone floor, something miraculous happened-it started to hover above the ground with its legs sprawled out as it was trying to brace itself for the fall that was suppose to come. It took a few seconds for the toad to realize that it was never going to finish the fall; it glance down at the stone floor below and then chirped happily. Trevor then began to swim through the air as if it was underwater instead of hovering four feet in the air.
The Potions Master snatched the amphibian from the air, poured a new liquid all over Trevor's porous skin, and then tossed the toad back at Neville with an ungrateful sneer on his thin lips. "At least you put enough effort into your potion this time Mr. Longbottom..." Snape strolled back to his writing desk where he had placed the rest of his students' potions.
Like he was tired of the whole thing, Snape went on in a boring manner as he checked the remaining Leviatation Potions. Bloody hell-doesn't anyone mess up in Potions class anymore! Sighing unpleasantly when no one's potion went terribly wrong like he had hoped, he excused the class right when the bell rang.
When everyone was gone, he smiled to himself once more. As strange as it sounded, all the Potions Master wanted to do was see more of the vampire. He had not seen her at breakfast; which made him very gloomy. Even though his mind was telling him to go and check up on her, he knew better not to bother someone when they are depressed from experience. It's almost lunch time anyways Severus...Maybe she'll drop by the Great Hall for a quick snack.
He remembered the dream he had of her last night; he mentally pictured Hunter sinking her fangs into his neck. Shivering at the image, Snape turned his mind away from the vampire's awfully sharp fangs and rubbed the sides of his neck subconsciously. Glancing around his classroom he saw a huge brown speck on the grey stone floor, "What the-" Snape walked closer to it with some caution.
Releasing a loud croak, Trevor hopped towards the Potions Master's shiny black shoes trying to see if he was its owner or not. Somehow, the toad had wriggled free from Neville's robe pocket and had done it without Neville knowing.
"Do you have an escape wish or something?" Snape grumbled as he bent down to snatch the pet from the floor, "Were you an Azkaban prisoner in your former life?" He was beginning to wonder how Trevor could escape its master every single time in the past seven years. Lifting the toad up to his eye level, Trevor blinked at Snape and then chirped cheerfully at him, Very odd pet indeed.
- - - - - - -
"Sister-" Quinn glanced away from the sun rising in the sky from the Dark Arts classroom's window, "The bank will require the payment in two morrows-what are we to do about it?"
Irritated by her brother's persistence about questioning her until he was pleased enough with an answer, Hunter folded her newspaper into a tight round ball and threw it at his head. "Do not bother me when I am thinking, Quinn..." she narrowed her black eyes at him and then returned to formulating plans. Hunter was sitting at her working desk, drumming her fingers on the wood, and staring off into nothing; her brother thought she had gone mad.
Frustrated, Quinn began to pace back and forth in front of her; he had learned this trick from Hunter-it helped ease his nerves. "What to do...what to do..." he bit his lip as he strained his mind to come up with the perfect plan before his sister.
Hunter jumped from her chair when the brilliant plan finally came to her mind, "I think I've got it..." she glanced over to her brother who had finally ceased pacing. "After my classes today, we will both take a little trip to London...how does that sound dear brother?"
As if he knew what she was getting at, Quinn raised a questionable eyebrow back at her, "But you said we were not to st-"
"This isn't going to be some petty damn pure-snatching ordeal Quinn! This is going to be a bloody heist!" Hunter was brimming with energy now, her depression was finally gone. "We'll wipe the bloody bank clean...Just like old times! But first...we'll need some help-"
Frightened by Hunter's sudden asserting attitude, Quinn backed over to the window to make sure no one listening in. "Help...?" he squeaked with his bright blue eyes opened wide with fear. "You mean help from-" the younger vampire swallowed, "-from our old friends...?"
"Go tell Lucius Malfoy to alert the others to meet me outside of the Leaky Cauldron-tonight at nine o'clock...I will retrieve Fletcher myself, understand?" She had a malicious grin on her pale lips, I will finally have my revenge... Hunter beamed proudly as her brother transformed into his Animagus form, "Try to not give them too much information, brother...I want to explain some of it myself," she quickly added as Quinn flapped his way out of the window.
- - - - -
Folding his arms across his chest, an unhappy Death Eater snorted when one of his companions told him what time it was. "What are we standing around here for-someone is bound to see us standing out in front of the Leaky Cauldron for no bloody reason!" He stood in the cobbled street very awkwardly for a moment and then asked his friend what time it was now. "Where the hell is she?" the Death Eater grumbled sourly when it was five minutes past nine. "She is never late..." he added quickly.
"She can be late once, Walden," snapped the friend who had a gold pocket watch in the palm of his hand.
"Easy for you to say Lucius!" Macnair hissed between his yellow teeth, "You were set free from Azkaban for denouncing your allegiance to the Dark Lord-I on the other hand...am still wanted to be hung by the Ministry of Magic! Or did you forget this, Lucius?" he had both of his fists clenched tight. Walden Macnair had changed his appearance since he was still running from the Ministry of Magic. He had darkened his muddy brown hair to a pitch black. For the past few years he was trying to get rid of his heavy Scottish accent and try to sound more British; so far he sounded like he was German.
Clicking his pocket watch shut, Lucius Malfoy sternly glared at Macnair with his nose pointed into the air to show that he was better raised. "Keep your head on-" Malfoy ignored Macnair's rude hand gesture, "No one will find us here..."
Lucius Malfoy was around six feet tall and his platinum blonde hair had been cut back-now it only reached his shoulders. The pureblood had lost his good looks over the two years during his stay in Azkaban. Forced to sell most of his expensive robes and Dark Arts items, Malfoy was reduced to wearing petty black robes that Snape had been kind enough to buy for him. The pureblood was most indebted to Hunter though, she had given him enough money to survive for the year-which had nearly reduced her to shambles also. He had just been divorced; semi-pleased about the entire event still; the moment after he was locked up in Azkaban. Even though he wasn't pleased to know that he was penniless and homeless the moment he was released from the wizard prison, he had somehow managed to find a new woman in his life. This woman was different from Malfoy's old acquired tastes...She worked for the Ministry of Magic, and she didn't have much of an annual income like Malfoy was use to. She was a pureblood though and that fact was good enough for him.
As Macnair muttered more rude comments under his breath, two loud popping sounds suddenly came from right behind them. "Hello boys..." Hunter's voice was smoother than usual, "I see you both haven't killed each other yet-that's always a good sign." She placed both of her pallid hands on Macnair's and Malfoy's shoulders, "We're one short...Where's our cold-blooded killer?"
"Antonin is currently doing something for the Dark Lord," Malfoy snorted when he called Voldemort by his proper title. "I hear that Quinn got himself into quite a bit of trouble a few weeks ago."
The second person who had apparated with Hunter coughed nervously and tried to remain hidden behind the vampire. Removing her hands from the Death Eaters' shoulders, Hunter turned her head to glare at the man cowering behind her. "He wasn't the only one who got himself in trouble," she narrowed her emotionless eyes at Fletcher.
This dirty, weary-eyed man was well-known by everyone in the Wizarding World as a very sneaky thief who would steal from his very friends if he had the chance to. He always wore clothes that made him smell like that last time he had taken a bath was Christmas. Never trustworthy and most likely to stab you in the back, Fletcher had an upbeat personality and lived for fire whiskey.
It was apparent that Macnair had never really taken notice that the dirty thief was with Hunter-he talked about Fletcher as if he wasn't even around. "Let me guess, the brown thing that sounds like a bell?" the Scottish Death Eater was having some fun with Fletcher's first name now. He spotted Malfoy's blank look; sighing, Macnair whispered the word "Dung" into Malfoy's ear.
"That's pretty good Walden," Fletcher piped up from over Hunter's shoulders; he was actually being serious about it too. "I'll have to write that one down later-" he made a stale mental note to himself.
Hunter completely ignored Fletcher just like Macnair was doing; Fletcher had stolen from the both of them and they were still not pleased with him. "Quinn is back at the house, why don't we go there for a drink or two, eh?" the vampire smiled at her fellow Death Eaters for the first time in years. "A change in company is always rewarding Walden," she took note of his frowning brow and his stiff upper lip, "What do you say?"
"Alright, I guess..." Macnair glanced back at the Leaky Cauldron to see if anyone had spotted them, but luckily enough no one had. Reaching for something behind his shoulders, he pulled a hood up and over his face to keep it concealed.
Hunter grabbed Fletcher by the neck robe collar and forced him to apparate with her since he didn't know the way to her house. Which was probably a very good thing too, since he always tried to steal her priceless silver collection.
"Bloody hell, what is Quinn doing now?" Hunter grumbled as she stood in the street right in front of her un-welcoming home. From the street she could see inside their kitchen, where Quinn was wearing a fluffy white chef hat. "Uggh," she moaned when she realized what he was actually cooking, "I despise his spinach puffs..." Turning to see if Malfoy and Macnair had followed her or not, she watched as Fletcher sneakily tried to steal Malfoy's pocket watch.
Malfoy went bright red in the face, slapping Fletcher across the face with the back of his hand, and holding the thief by the scruff of the neck with his other hand. "How dare you try to rob me of my great-grandfather's pocket watch!" Violently shaking Fletcher, the pureblood finally tossed the thief on the paved street once he had retrieved his golden pocket watch back. Looking up to see Macnair's and Hunter's surprised expressions, Malfoy simply shrugged his shoulders at them. "Where's that drink you promised, Avalon?"
Laughing, Hunter signaled for her friends to follow her inside. "And to believe that I actually missed you guys," she smiled brightly as she opened the front door. "Come in when you can stand Dung!"
"Anyone hungry?" Quinn stuck his head out of the kitchen door with his pearly white fangs shining in the light. Frowning suddenly, the vampire only saw two men standing inside the dinning room, "Where's Dung?"
"He's a little shaken up at the moment," Macnair winked at Hunter and Malfoy as he walked around the dinning room. Macnair could remember the last time he had been at the vampires' home, they were counting up money and examining jewels they had just stolen. Something caught his eye though, boxes were filled to the brim with books and clothing. The boxes were neatly stacked next to the dinning room table. "What's happening here-are you leaving us Avalon?" for once in his life Macnair sounded worried about not knowing what was going on.
Following Macnair into the dinning room, Malfoy glanced at the moving boxes with an unhappy look on his darkened face. "The Ministry is moving you out, aren't they?" the pureblood turned to see that Hunter was on the verge of tears. "I thought the Ministry wouldn't take the house away unless-" He fell silent when he recalled what had happened to him when he was sent to the wizard prison. "I guess they can still do that..." Malfoy grumbled sourly as he took another pitiful glance around the dinning room.
"I'll go get us some drinks," she tipped her head in respect to the two Death Eaters before she went into the kitchen to see what her brother was up to. A horrible stench hit her nostrils the moment she entered the kitchen, she began to eye what her brother was cooking on the stove. "What in the world is that smell dear brother?" Hunter's cold black eyes were starting to water from the strong bitter stench.
"Polyjuice Potion," Quinn stuck a wooden spoon into the tiny pewter cauldron, which he had placed on the top of the stove. "You aren't the only one with brilliant plans," he took a whiff of the potion. "Anyways...I believe there are two bottles left in the cupboard over there-"
Somewhat proud of her younger brother, Hunter quickly patted him on the back and snatched the remaining bottles of fire whiskey. Glancing at the bottles, she noticed that one was nearly twenty years old, "Better save this for something to celebrate about." Hunter stuck it back into the cupboard and walked out of the kitchen with only one bottle in her pallid hands. As she poured the drinks, the front door creaked open and Fletcher dared to make his appearance inside the home. "Someone must have smelled the liquor," Hunter teased quietly.
Fletcher went to take a seat next to Malfoy but the pureblood threw a huge fit and forced Fletcher to sit next to Macnair instead. "Don't even think about touching my pocket watch," Malfoy snarled darkly at him, "or I'll cut your hands off..." It was obvious that the threat had succeeded for Fletcher did not come any closer to Malfoy for the rest of the night.
To add to the dreadful effect, Macnair advised Malfoy on how to carry his threat out successfully. "You might need to borrow Avalon's dagger," Macnair hissed to Malfoy from across the dinner table, "It's easier to cut through bone with her knife..."
"You have no sense of being polite at the dinner table do you Walden?" Hunter rolled her eyes at him as she poured herself a drink and then one more for her absent brother. "Once Quinn is done in there-I'll explain..." Pulling out an extra chair out of thin air, she took a seat next to Malfoy and sipped on her fire whiskey silently.
"We were summoned here?" Fletcher asked a little too loudly as he gulped down his first drink in a matter of seconds. Unlike the Death Eaters, Hunter had forced the dirty thief to accompany her to her home since he and her brother were the main cause of her stooping to thievery once more. The only reason Fletcher was still breathing was because Quinn and him are such good friends, Hunter didn't want to lose her brother's trust.
About five minutes of silence passed, only ending when Quinn came out of the kitchen still wearing his white chef hat over his short blonde hair. Surprisingly, Malfoy broke out into laughter when he noticed the charred hole on the very top of Quinn's chef hat and Macnair finally joined in. Feeling embarrassed, Quinn snatched the cooking hat off his head, threw it at Malfoy's laughing face, and then stubbornly took a seat at the head of the table between Fletcher and Malfoy. "Shut up Dung," Quinn snapped at his friend when he heard him chuckling about the chef hat also.
Standing up from her seat, Hunter cleared her throat to grab everyone's full attention so she could begin with the plans. "I know I haven't asked much from you..." she didn't make any eye contact with Fletcher, "but I'm now asking you for your help." Hunter glanced down at the reddish liquid in her half-filled drinking glass for a few seconds, "If this plan works...we'll have enough money that we won't need to be worrying about where we will be sleeping next." Waiting for her words to sink in, the vampire finally raised her glass into the air with a faint smile in her lips. "To one last raid...?" she watched each of their expressions carefully.
Quinn and Malfoy stood up and raised their drinking glasses into the air at the exact same moment, "To one last raid!" They both seemed excited about the proposition of being richer than they had ever dreamed of being, especially Quinn since he had never been wealthy in his entire life.
Nervous at first, Fletcher seemed to be calculating a way of how he could be the richest out of the rest of them. When he believed that there would be a way to steal a little bit more extra cash for himself, he stood up and poured himself another drink before he raised it into the air.
Glancing at all of the people standing up around the dinner table, Macnair did not look too pleased about another heist. The last one he went on with Hunter had nearly ended killing the both of them; they barely managed to escape with their bodies intact. "It will be very difficult to pull this off when we're one short Avalon," he said wearily.
"We're more experience now, Walden..." Quinn reassured his sister's old friend.
When Macnair did not seemed too convinced by the younger vampire's words, Hunter lowered her glass to give her full attention to the Death Eater. "It will be harder without Antonin...you're right about that Walden-" she smiled weakly at him, "Just trust me please..."
Frowning, Macnair finally stood up from his seat with his drink in his hand. They all clanked their glasses together while Macnair said "To one last raid," and finished off their drinks in one quick gulp. Once that was all settled, Quinn ran back into the kitchen to get the spinach puffs he had been secretly cooking since Hunter hated the food.
As they drank a little bit more and chewed on the fluffy spinach puffs, Hunter tried to go over the plan before she was too tipsy to remember what she actually talking about. "Tomorrow we will rob every last galleon from Gringotts Bank," a dark pleasant gleam could be seen lurking in her black eyes.
Malfoy shifted uneasily in his seat, "How are we going to do this? We will be recognized the moment we walk into the bank." The prospect of being sent to Azkaban for the second time in two years frightened the pureblood; he never wanted to go back there.
Her gaze fell upon Quinn, "We have one plan to ensure that no one will recognize us, Lucius…"
"I've been brewing up a Polyjuice Potion for the past few months," the younger vampire explained in a boastful tone of voice. "I've even managed to make the effects of the potion last a little bit longer than usual," he took a sip of his fire whiskey as the rest of the group stared blankly at him. "What? I'm too good-looking to be a potions expert now!" Quinn seemed flustered by their strange looks.
"In the morning I'll go and collect some hair samples from some prime candidates that I have been watching all of this evening. When I return, we'll drink the Polyjuice Potion and be on our way to the Gringotts Bank like we're ordinary customers." Hunter continued in a soft voice.
"Gringotts has raised their security precautions since last year Avalon," Macnair interrupted without any regret for doing it. "They only allow twenty wizards or witches inside the place now... It will be harder to get us all inside the bank without looking suspicious."
"Only three of us are entering the bank," she glanced at Quinn and Malfoy for a split second and then glared at Fletcher when he was eyeing her silverware. "Walden, Dung, and I will stroll into the Gringotts Bank like ordinary customers," she turned her smile back to Macnair. "You and I will enter the bank first, Dung will follow us inside a little bit later to help us carry the rest of the gold-"
"Please don't tell me we're going to try and pull that couples act off again..." Macnair moaned pathetically when he knew where her plan was suddenly going.
"You," Hunter pointed at Macnair, "will go before me to one of the counters and try to withdraw some money from your account..." As if she knew what next he was going to say, she cut him off sweetly, "Don't worry about the account...I'll have the vault keys along with the vault numbers when I get the hairs from the prime candidates. Of course your account will be completely empty...Which you will hotheadedly deny and begin throwing a pissy fit right in the middle of the bank. Once you have everyone's attention, that is when I will go to the next available counter. I will order the goblin to give me everything they have or I'll threaten to blow his head off his neck...Upon receiving the money, I will tell the goblin to give a third of the money bags to you and pretend that everything was just a big mess up. When you end your little temper tantrum and leave the bank without another word, Dung here will come into play." Glaring at the dirty thief, Hunter slammed her glass down on the wooden table to pull his attention away from the silverware. "I will instruct the goblin to give you half of whatever is leftover. You will collect the money bags and follow Walden back outside of the bank. Hopefully, if no one has caught on with what is going on...I will take my exit peacefully from the Gringotts Bank and join the both of you on the steps..."
Hunter turned her attention to Malfoy and Quinn. "As for you two...you will be my scouts..." she noticed their unhappy expressions, "When Walden and Dung get outside...you will be waiting for them on the marble steps right in front of the bank. They will sneak you the money bags just incase there is a problem inside the bank and they have already set off the alarms. You both will be Ministry workers who guard the bank... If the alarm is sounded off-the both of you will then pretend to capture Walden and Dung and apparate them out of there back to my house, alright? If all three of us manage to get outside without any problems-then you can join us and apparate out of there."
- - - - - - -
Worried about where she could be, Snape searched the castle high and low for her on Friday night and Saturday morning. He had checked several times in the Dark Arts classroom for her-including the ceiling just incase she was trying to hide. Finally, he forced himself to knock at Hunter's office door to see if she would answer. Standing awkwardly in front of the office door, he heard a tiny whimper from inside, Snape knocked once more before he reached out to open the office door.
It creaked open the second his hand brushed up against the doorknob. For a second he stood in the doorway wondering why he was stupidly breaking into the vampire's office when she wasn't even around. He head another whimper and glanced down at the stone floor to see Hunter's pet gytrash lying on its back waiting for someone to play with it. Staring down at the dire dog spirit, Snape took a chance by bending down and reaching out to pet the creature.
Growling at first, Brooklyn sniffed Snape's outstretched hand. Realizing that it was a familiar scent, the gytrash began wagging its tail. Brooklyn had been left behind to guard Hunter's office while she was away; it was pretty lonely being locked up in the office for several hours. Snape scratched the gytrash's right ear while it barked at him trying to tell the Potions Master that it had been left alone for nearly two days without anything to chew on. As he continued to scratch, the Potions Master looked around Hunter's office to see if she was hiding from him. "Where's your master?" he asked the white dog with an unhappy look.
"She's gone to London, Severus," said a soft, delicate voice from behind Snape.
Jumping up, he was embarrassed to be found snooping through Hunter's office and playing with her beloved pet. "Headmaster..." Snape coughed uneasily as he faced Dumbledore, "I was just checking to see-"
Luckily, Dumbledore smiled brightly to the Potions Master and raised his right hand to silence him, "No need to explain..." The elderly wizard curiously glanced at the gytrash who was now licking Snape's hand, "I see you have made a new friend Severus..." Dumbledore pretended not to see the Potions Master's blushing red face, "Miss Hunter had to take care of a few things in London...things that she could not put off thanks to the Ministry of Magic. I was just about to have a cup of tea in my office, would you care to join me?" there was a twinkle in the headmaster's warm eyes. "Of course, your new friend is invited to join us also..." Dumbledore smiled at the gytrash while it demanded more loving attention from Snape.
- - - - -
"Be careful with it!" Quinn barked at Fletcher as the dirty thief took a silver goblet from the young vampire's hands and nearly spilled the goblet's contents in the process. "You only need to take a sip of it-" he added when he thought Fletcher was going to chug the entire liquid down all at once.
Pulling off a disgusted-looking face while he drank the potion, Fletcher was glad that he wouldn't have to drink every last drop. "Bloody hell Quinn! It tastes like the shit of the pork!" his face was turning a light shade of green.
"And he should know too," Macnair grumbled as he continued to read the Daily Prophet with a faint smirk on his lips. The Scottish Death Eater sat in a tacky floral-printed lounge chair, which Quinn had stolen from a Muggle home for his sister's birthday, listening to Fletcher's horrid descriptions of the potion's taste.
Watching the scene Fletcher was making from the dinning room table, Malfoy rolled his eyes at the entire thing. "Get a bloody grip," Malfoy snarled as he opened his pocket watch to see the time, "It doesn't taste that awful-" he scowled at the dirty thief.
The front door swung open, Hunter was grinning from ear to ear with several new items in her arms, "Christmas came early boys!" she laughed brightly. Heading to the dinning room table, she placed the items she had stolen neatly on the wooden table. "Everything is here..." Hunter whispered to herself as she examined the vault keys, pieces of hair, and vault numbers which went with the golden keys. "Alright-The blonde hair is mine," she pointed at the slender white hair with some regret, "It belongs to someone named Valerie Star, this is my vault key...and the vault number is five hundred and six," she pocketed the vault key.
Amazed, Malfoy glanced over at Quinn and Macnair with his eyebrows raised with wonder. "How did you manage all of this...?" he hesitated before questioning her any further, "I thought vault keys were pretty tough to steal from wizards..."
"Let's just say-I had to hang the information out of them," Hunter answered smugly. "Walden-" she handed him three items, "Here's your key and vault number...as planned-your vault it completely wiped out. Oh, and your name is William Wordsworth," the vampire handed him a black hair. Turning to Fletcher, Hunter also gave him three items. "You are Graham Wellington, alright Dung?" she waited for him to nod in agreement, "Don't try to steal anything else while we're in Gringotts..." Next, Hunter handed Malfoy and her brother two strings of human hair, "Lucius-you are an Auror named James H. Caliber... and Quinn your Auror's name is Michael Bell...Any questions so far?"
Macnair spoke up, "How many are we permitted to kill this time Avalon?" he asked his question like it was some kind of joke.
"The usual amount, Walden," Hunter examined the blonde hair in the palm of her hand, "Enough to ensure that the job is finished..."
- - - - -
The Gringotts Bank was colossal in size; it towered over the other magical shops in London. Surrounding the bank were seven foot-tall black, speared gates all outlined with gold foil; this was a recent addition to the bank due to the restriction of magical folk in the vaults. The first pair of doors were made of bronze, which were watched by an uniformed goblin and two Aurors. These three made sure that suspicious-looking characters wouldn't enter the bank in the first place.
Unfortunately, the line into the Gringotts Bank was much longer than anyone had planned, but none of the thieves seemed too worried by it. Malfoy and Quinn were standing on the steps of the entrance to the bank, pretending to be the Aurors who always stood in front of the bank for two years now. No one noticed the Aurors' voice change, including the goblin but he was never really fond of humans anyways. The blonde thieves were now brunettes to their greatest dismay, and their robes were royal blue; which Malfoy protested to wear at first.
Flicking her long blonde hair over her shoulders, Hunter smiled sweetly at Macnair with her blue-hued eyes locked onto his face. "How does my dress look, honey?" Hunter could barely keep a straight face.
"Just wonderful sweetheart," Macnair was having trouble not laughing at the loving face she was pulling off so smoothly. He readjusted his robe collar and then his black-rimmed sunglasses with some prestige. "This better work...I feel like a total prat," Macnair snorted under his breath just as Malfoy and Quinn allowed ten more people inside the bank. Noticing the goblin's cold glares in their direction, Macnair glanced at the closed bronze doors and then back at the suspecting goblin. "He better let us in," he growled.
"I'm more worried about the other two that guard the silver doors-they are the ones who decide whether you appear like a thief or not," Hunter whispered to Macnair, she sounded a little worried.
Macnair gave her a weird look, "You're kidding right?" his voice was a little too loud so he quickly added, "That's great that you got the job, sweetheart!" When he thought it was safe again, he lowered his glasses so he could look at her eye-to-eye. "Then what is the point of the Aurors...?" he wasn't happy now.
"The Aurors are trained to spot Death Eaters-that's what they do...Goblins are trained to spot thieves, it's always been this way!" Hunter patted Macnair on the shoulder to show her condolences for him being simple minded; he glared back at her in reply. "I love you too sweety," she sneered loudly at him as Quinn and Malfoy gave them the okay to enter the bank.
The two thieves glided over to the bronze doors and went inside after the uniformed goblin bowed to them respectively. "Nervous?" she asked Macnair as they stood in front of the silver doors that were the actual entrance into the Gringotts Bank.
He noticed the engraved writing on the silver doors, "Now I am…" he whispered back to her. His mind was wondering on possible escapes if something went terribly wrong; he worried about Fletcher messing everything up for them.
The two goblins that guarded the silver doors opened them for the two thieves and bowed as Hunter and Macnair entered an elaborate marble hall. Immediately, she spotted small dark creatures moving around the bank. It was more goblins; all doing their jobs with great speed. Some were leading wizards and witches to their personal vaults, while others were measuring precious stones and jewels of all kinds and sizes.
"See you in a minute sweetie," Hunter said loudly to Macnair as they stood before the marble counters where goblins were sitting and counting their money. Macnair kissed her on the cheek with disgust when a goblin stared directly at them. "Be careful Avalon," he whispered as he pulled his face away from hers and departed to the first available goblin off to his far right. Going to the left, Hunter confidently strolled over to a goblin who was weighing an emerald with some scales.
"Salutations," muttered the goblin as he scribbled down how much the emerald weighed, "Welcome to Gringotts Bank. I personally apologize for the line outside, but precautions must be taken." The goblin's speech sounded unsympathetic and memorized like he had to say this to every customer. "What may I do for you?" he finally asked when he placed the beautiful emerald off to the side of the counter.
Hunter stared at the emerald; the pea green color of the precious stone shined in her eyes as she watched it hungrily. "I would like to deposit this," she unpocketed a fake gold watch and placed it on the white marble counter. "Then I would like to make a withdrawal from my vault…" she stopped herself from giggling with excitement.
"You have a key and a vault number, miss?" asked the goblin. His nose wrinkled as he waited for her to hand him a vault key; he tapped his long fingers on the marble as Hunter searched in her robe pockets.
Glancing over to her right, Hunter saw that Macnair was just about to put on his act as the goblin told him that his vault is empty. "EMPTY!" Macnair boomed at the diminutive creature, "I just put three hundred galleons in there last week! CHECK AGAIN!" he ordered the goblin with an annoyed voice. The plan was working, Macnair was slowly grabbing everyone's attention and soon a small crowd of wizards and witches began to form around him. Once he knew that he had an audience, he began to rant even louder.
"Here it is," Hunter grinned brightly as she slipped the goblin her stolen vault key, "The vault number is five hundred and six…"
The goblin picked up the fake gold watch and began walking away with it to hand it to another goblin; he stopped midway and went back over to Hunter. "You know that this watch really isn't made of gold, don't you?" he whispered to her so he wouldn't embarrass her in public.
She now had him exactly where she wanted him. As Hunter listened silently, she began playing with her right robe sleeve until the goblin finished explaining why her watch was useless to be put away into a vault. "I see…" she whispered. "I guess I'll just make a withdrawal instead then."
He nodded approvingly, "Same vault number as before I presume?" he asked just before he was about to lean away from her and get off his high stool.
Now Hunter could allow herself to laugh out loud, "No…a totally different vault…" she sneered maliciously as a blade slid out from her sleeve that she had been playing with earlier. Somewhat enjoying this, she shined the knife in his face near his exposed throat. "Don't you hate cleaning these things?" she hissed with some joy in her blue eyes as she ran her index finger along the edge of the blade.
The goblin swallowed hard, "I'll just go put this watch away for y-" he was leaning away but Hunter snatched his neck and pulled him back to the position he was in before. He began quivering as Hunter released his throat and made her blade sparkle next to the white marble on the counter.
"I would love to let you do that," she said in his tongue, "but…you are more useful to me right here. I want you to have one of your fellow workers to bring me ten bags containing the total of ten thousand galleons…understand?" The vampire moved her blade to his throat, "I know every word in your language…so don't even try to signal to the others about what I am doing," she threatened him sternly. "I would not try to make any trouble if I were you…my companions will not be pleased if they are found or caught." Hunter hid her blade back into her sleeve as a goblin walked past the marble counter with two money bags in his hands. When the new goblin was gone, Hunter made the blade shine in the direction of the goblin's eyes as he went to grab a fellow goblin to get the money from several unknown vaults.
A few minutes later, he returned with sweat rolling down his forehead. "They are bringing you your money…" he said with distaste. The goblin narrowed his yellow eyes at Hunter, "You know you won't make it out of the silver doors alive…" he commented to her sulkily.
"When the bags get here-I want you to give-" Hunter glanced around the bank to see if Fletcher had made it inside-but he had not, "-half to that man yelling over there..." She pointed with her thumb off in Macnair's direction and then bit her thumb when a witch casually stared in her direction. Worried that something had happened to Fletcher, Hunter was quickly planning a new strategy in the back of her mind.
Two goblins came waddling over to Hunter and her goblin; she hide her knife once again when they drew closer; with their arms filled with money bags. Luckily, since the threat of Voldemort returning from the dead was still going on, it was common for the magical folk to withdraw all of their life savings from Gringotts Bank at once. They left without saying a word or a single care about the unusual amount of money being taken away by one human.
Hunter grinned as the goblin opened the first leather pouch to show her that it was at least one thousand galleons in there, "Excellent…" she beamed as she turned her head slightly to see that the crowd was still observing Macnair's frantic cries of someone stealing his beloved money.
The goblin signaled for another goblin deliverer to take four of the money bags to Macnair and then he pushed the remaining six money bags in front of her. The goblin saw that her cold blue eyes were now green with greed; she grinned to him and then glanced away from the precious stone to him. "How much does it weigh?" she asked with some hunger in her voice.
"Three pounds…" the goblin muttered as Hunter's face lightened. "You want that too?" he snarled in an unpleased voice; he had worked on the emerald for weeks making it as elaborate and as spectacular as possible.
With the snap of her fingers, the emerald disappeared from the marble counter and into one of Hunter's empty pockets, "I'll take it to go…" she smirked with great pleasure. "Thank you for your business," Hunter carried three money bags in each hand. Lightly humming to herself, Hunter could hear Macnair's flamboyant cries of his vault being emptied die down; she guessed that he had finally received his money but she was totally wrong.
There was a sudden scream in the bank; Hunter flipped around and saw the crowd that was around Macnair was now backing away from him. "DEATH EATER!" cried a witch in purple robes at the top of her lungs; "DEATH EATER!" she gasped and others around her began reaching for their wands.
"Ah-shit…" Hunter growled under her breath. She turned back to see her goblin inching his way towards the silver doors, Oh no you don't! Whispering a spell, the goblin froze before he could reach the end of the marble counter. "And stay there too, ungrateful bastard…" she hissed at him with a nasty look.
One stoutly tall wizard with a grey mustache raised his wand at Macnair and was starting a spell that would stop Macnair dead in his tracks. The problem was that the Death Eater was only just realizing what was finally going on, the Polyjuice Potion was wearing off and his exposed wrists clearly showed his Dark Mark. Hunter bit her lip as she stood there; she couldn't understand where Fletcher was-he was suppose to be in the bank by now.
Lifting her blade high, she threw it and the blade embedded itself into the wizard's left shoulder. Instantly, everyone froze as the wizard screamed in pain trying to pull the cursed blade from his shoulder. There were more screams and the crowd around Macnair suddenly thinned because they all had thought that he had harmed the wizard and not Hunter. Macnair took this opportunity and bolted across the marble hall; blocking hexes and jinxes the entire time. He ran towards Hunter with a pallid expression, "I think we've overstayed our welcome!"
Hunter saw that the two goblins were closing the silver doors, trying to lock them both in. "Time to go!" she grabbed his arm and they slipped across the marble hall towards the silver doors spending most of their time fighting off spells.
Macnair yelled out two spells, the goblins crippled to the ground as they tried to push the silver doors shut the entire way. They leaped over the limp goblin bodies and continued to run, "You like surfing?" he asked Hunter as they could see the bronze doors beginning to close far ahead of them.
Pointing his wand at the marble floor, Macnair yelled out a charm which covered the white marble with a thick layer of ice. Slipping and sliding across the frozen layer of ice, they barely squeezed past the bronze doors into the open air where Quinn and Malfoy were waiting for them.
An alarm was sounded and the crowd outside the bank turned to spot Hunter and Macnair standing awkwardly on the marble steps-panting and sweating with the money in their hands. "Um…I think it would be a good time to disappear now…" Hunter whispered in a desperate voice. Quickly tossing some money bags to Quinn and Malfoy to lighten their load, Hunter and Macnair backed up against the bronze doors as the magical folk who were waiting in line for nearly an hour surrounded them. Popping out of thin air, the two fake Aurors successfully made it out of situation.
A flash of light came from the right corner of the top of the stairs; it smacked Hunter directly in the face and she went completely blind. She heard Macnair yell out an unforgivable curse. Suddenly she felt him grab her hand and the loud noises and screams of anger suddenly disappeared.
- - - - -
"We have eight thousand galleons!" Quinn sang happily to himself as he handed Macnair three more leather bags, "Plus some!" he beamed even more with happiness.
Macnair weighed the bags in his hands and then raised a questionable eyebrow towards the younger vampire, "Where did Fletcher run off to?" he asked as he pocketed one of the bags into his robe; Hunter told them they could each keep two bags of money after the heist.
"Ran like a scared dog with his tail in between his legs the second the Minister of Magic showed up at the front of the line demanding to speak with a few of the goblins in charge of the bank..." Malfoy replied. The once-again blonde sat in the tacky lounge chair with his feet resting on a small matching cushion, "Lucky that you both came out when you did...The Minister only had enough time to hex Avalon and not the rest of us."
After a while, Malfoy went into Hunter's bedroom to check on her, "You alright?" he asked her quietly as he took a seat right next to her on the miniature pull-out sofa.
Malfoy could see that her pupils were dilated and the black in her eyes were replaced with white. "At least I can see again…still burns though," she whispered. At that moment she remembered that there was something in her robe, "I got you something," digging deep into her pockets she pulled out the three pound emerald.
Nearly falling over from the sight, Malfoy choked and forgot to breathe. "This is mine?" he squeaked as he finally remembered to inhale and exhale. Hunter nodded in reply and placed the pea green stone into his hands, "Bloody hell-it's heavy!" he lifted it up to his eye level to inspect it more carefully.
"Three pounds," Hunter replied as she watched Malfoy's eyes turn green like hers had done when she first spotted it at the bank. "This should be enough to buy you a new home also," she was shocked to have the Death Eater hug her so tightly.
After a while Hunter finally came downstairs into the dining room to have dinner with her old friends and Quinn. Macnair reenacted his entire speech to the goblin when the creature told him that all of his money was gone from the vault. "I just feel sorry for the next bloke who goes into the bank and pulls the same thing when his vault is actually empty..." Quinn laughed loudly.
"I fell sorry for Dung-the next time I see that bloody coward-" Macnair grumbled sourly as he finished his cup of tea. Everyone steered clear of the fire whiskey this time, they had all gotten a little too tipsy the night before.
Once dinner was over with, Hunter helped the Death Eaters recount the money to see if there would be enough to split it all equally with the four of them. Snoring away in the floral-printed lounge chair was Hunter's brother, his mouth was wide open and his head was touching his left shoulder.
Malfoy caught her watching her brother, "Home sweet home, eh?" he said in a joking voice.
"So how are you feeling lass?" Macnair asked in a very positive voice this time around as Hunter handed him two thousand galleons.
"Much better…" Hunter whispered softly. Murders or not, Macnair and Malfoy were her true friends and would stick by her side as long as they were alive.
- - - - - - -
Slowly nodding off in his office chair, Snape's grip on his drinking goblet loosened as he fell into a deep sleep. The Potions Master had a little too much to drink that Saturday night, but at least he wasn't alone this time. Curled up by his feet was Hunter's pet gytrash, who was pleasingly chewing on a bone Snape had conjured for it.
Howling out loud all of a sudden, Brooklyn leapt to his feet when he heard a familiar whistle from outside. His master was finally back.
Snoring himself awake, Snape found the dire dog spirit scratching his office door and whining enthusiastically. "What? Do you want to go out?" he yawned loudly as he climbed out of his office chair and slowly progressed to the door. He only just realized that his wine goblet was still in his right hand; luckily it was empty before he fell asleep. "Alright, I'll let you out..." the Potions Master grumbled as he swung his office door open.
The goblet hit the stone floor the instant Snape saw who was standing in his doorway, "Avalon..." he nearly choked with fear of being caught with her pet gytrash. "I can explain," Snape blurted out when he could tell that Hunter was angry with him, "I was worried about you, so I went searching for you in your classroom...but you weren't there. Obviously you weren't there because you were in London at that time-but I didn't know that..." He smoothed his long black hair quickly to hide the fact that he had passed out drunk in his office. "Then I went to your office and I knocked-knocked for a while too...then the door suddenly opened. Can you believe it? Bloody hell my head hurts," he rubbed his forehead and tried to focus long enough to continue with his explanation. "I found your dog here and he followed me out so I didn't know what to do but give him a bone and some attention and..." Snape closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them, "What a bloody headache..."
"You broke into my office because you were worried about me!" Hunter knew that he was drunk, so she took care to yell loudly in his face.
"No, no, no..." Snape waved his arms into the air very wildly, "The door opened itself..."
Narrowing her eyes at him, Hunter tapped her fingers impatiently on her folded arms as he tried to explain some more. "By itself?" she snorted.
"Yes..."
"You're bloody drunk, why should I believe what you're saying?" she said in a very skeptical voice.
Snape leaned against the stone wall for some support, "I'm telling you the truth-on my word..." he made several weird hand gestures and then finally gave up.
"What was that...?" she stared at him strangely; Hunter had no idea what hand gesture he was trying to create.
"I've already forgotten," he muttered sourly as Brooklyn barked at him for some attention. "Shut up-don't make my headache any worse!" Snape's head was spinning now and he just wanted to find the nearest toilet.
Sighing, Hunter bent down, snatched his wine goblet, and then placed her free hand around his waist. "You need to go to bed..." she pocketed the goblet in her robe and made him swing his left arm around her shoulders. "Come on...I'll help you pass out in a fairly decent place," she half-joked to him.
Being dragged back into his office, Snape continued to complain about the terrible headache he was having, while the vampire frantically glanced around his office searching for the door to his private chambers. Hunter was beginning to question herself of why she was helping her arch-enemy so much these days.
"I didn't brake into your office-I swearses..." Snape hiccuped quietly.
"I know you swearses," she snickered slightly as she carried him to a blank stone wall in the back of his office. "How do I get in...?" Hunter asked in a small voice as Snape leaned against her even more.
Not really knowing what was going on, the Potions Master reached out and tapped six different stones on the blank wall without even thinking about it that much. The stones suddenly began to rearrange themselves to reveal a large room that was sparkling clean. A fireplace was located to the far right with two lounge chairs near by it, a bed was off near the back of the room, and the walls were lined books, potions, and priceless heirlooms. To the left was a shut door which probably led to the Potions Master's bathroom.
"Why are you drunk in the first place?" she questioned him without expecting him to really answer her.
"Because," he replied hotly, "I'm miserable and I'm lonely..." Snape finally noticed that her hand was around his boney waist, "What are you doing...?" he asked her loudly as if she had somehow violated him.
"I'm helping your sorry ass to your soft bed...hopefully," Hunter made him stumble forward onto his bed. She didn't want to move him anymore so she conjured a blanket for him and draped it across his body. "I'll be back in a minute-I'll bring you something for your headache..." the vampire told him softly as she started to walk away from the side of his bed.
He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could get too far away from him. "I'm sorry for being a prat to you for the past two monthses..." Snape looked very tired and unaware of what was really going on around him.
The vampire said nothing to him; in truth she was still shocked by his new odd behavior he had adapted to in the last few weeks. Hunter walked away from him and went back into his office to grab a few items before returning to his side with a potion in her hands. "I need you to drink this before you pass out or puke on me-alright Severus?" she bent down and gave him the bottle.
"When did you start making potions?" Snape asked just before he swallowed the nasty-smelling liquid in one long gulp; he hiccuped once again when he was done drinking it.
Opening her mouth to reply but Snape was already out cold with the potion bottle still in his hands; she smiled weakly at him. "Sleep well Severus," she patted him on the shoulder as she took the glass bottle away from him. At least I know great sleeping potions...she told herself as she silently left. Hunter whistled to Brooklyn and the two night-time creatures ventured through the dark dungeons without a single care in the world.