Chapter Ten

It was late one Friday night that the next step of their plan was finally set into motion.

Hermione awoke to the sounds of the front door slamming open and someone entering the hall with a lot of noise. She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and dashed downstairs, not bothering to change out of her nightshirt. By the time she reached the front door the source of disturbance had already moved on, leaving the door open in its wake. She closed it and darted down the stairs into the kitchen.

Snape was just using his wand to tie Bellatrix to the kitchen table when she entered the room. Looking at the scene, she said: 'Isn't it a bit unnecessary to tie her to the table?'

Snape raised an eyebrow. 'She might have toppled a chair over had I tied her to that.'

'I gather it you were able to bring her here without much trouble, then?' she asked, letting her eyes slide over his seemingly unblemished form.

'Relatively,' he said, rubbing over his right arm. 'She did manage to get me with a stinging hex, though. Frankly, I am surprised that she didn't use anything more deadly than that. It's not at all like her.'

'Well, you don't hear me complaining,' she muttered, walking over to the table the unconscious Bellatrix was tied to. 'Have you got her wand? I'll need it.'

'Yes,' he replied, holding the thing up. 'All we need now are some hairs to add to the Polyjuice Potion.' He walked over to the table and without further ado yanked out several of Bellatrix' hairs. Hermione flinched involuntarily.

'That must have hurt.'

'I did not realize you cared about her.'

She sighed exasperatedly. 'I just don't like to inflect unnecessary pain.'

'You will come to regret feeling sorry for her one day,' Snape said gruffly. 'You do not know what she is capable of.'

'I have an idea,' she replied calmly. 'Now what do we do?'

'We wait,' Snape said. He was blindfolding Bellatrix with a cloth that he had conjured out of thin air. 'Gringotts doesn't open until morning. Besides, you do not want to draw attention to yourself by stalking through Diagon Alley at night.' He pulled a chair towards him and sat down. She sat down next to him, trying not to pay attention to the unconscious Death Eater on the table.

The silence between them was not precisely uncomfortable, but she still felt the need to fill it with words.

'Are you ever afraid?' she asked, because she didn't know what else to say.

Snape looked at her calmly. 'Of course I am.' He watched her blink, then said: 'That was not the answer you were expecting.'

'No,' she admitted.

'Fear is a human quality, Hermione. There is not a single soul on this Earth who is not afraid every once in a while.'

'Even Volde-'

'The Dark Lord.'

'Even the Dark Lord?'

Snape stared at a point on the empty wall behind her.

'Especially the Dark Lord.'

They sat in silence until dawn broke, Hermione growing steadily more restless. She was relieved when it was finally time to get ready.

Having ensured that she had Bellatrix' wand on her, Hermione collected some larger sized robes (Bellatrix was quite a bit taller than she was) and then added the hairs to the Polyjuice Potion. The resulting concoction looked horrid, but she forced herself to drink all of it. She only had a moment to note the foulness of its taste before she felt her body morphing into Bellatrix'. She shot up, her hair darkened and her skin became paler. When her body seemed to have stopped changing, she wrestled herself out of her clothes, silently cursing her forgetfulness. Taking the clothes off beforehand would have been a lot easier.

She eventually succeeded in stripping herself off her clothes and put on the larger robes she had brought. She allowed herself a moment to scrutinize her appearance in the floor-length mirror, but just seeing Bellatrix' heavily lidded eyes looking back at her made her want to throw up. She took Bellatrix' wand and hurried back downstairs. She would be using the floo to get into the Leaky Cauldron and then go to Gringotts.

Snape looked up as she entered the kitchen. His eyes passed over her. Then he looked down at the Bellatrix on the table and back up again at the one standing in the door opening.

'Do I look good?' Hermione inquired, smiling at Snape. It felt odd to smile while in Bellatrix' body – the muscles felt stiff and unused, as though Bellatrix never smiled. Well, never smiled in a normal, non-freaky way.

'Looking good is not a term I wish to associate with Bellatrix,' Snape replied, 'but I will say you look exactly like her. Are you ready to go?'

She nodded and walked over to the fireplace. 'I'll try to make it quick,' she said over her shoulder as she took a pinch of floo powder.

'Please do,' Snape answered dryly. 'And remember not to touch the cup with your bare hands should you find it: it will burn you.'

She threw the floo powder into the fireplace and said: 'The Leaky Cauldron' before stepping in. Traveling by floo was never usually a pleasant experience, and it was no different this time. It took all Hermione had not to burst into a coughing fit the moment she stepped into the Leaky Cauldron. Somehow, she didn't think it was something Bellatrix would do. Instead, she contented herself with brushing some ash off her robes.

Tom, the toothless landlord, appeared to have noticed her. 'Madam Lestrange,' he murmured, taking a slight bow. She ignored him, thinking that the real Bellatrix probably would as well. She slipped into the tiny backyard and used Bellatrix' wand to tap a brick in the wall and open the way to Diagon Alley. The wand felt strange in her hand, unfriendly, and just thinking of the things it had been used to do made her feel slightly queasy.

She stepped out into Diagon Alley. Seeing as it was still very early, the street was mostly deserted. She spotted several beggars, but they scurried out of sight whenever she came near. Bellatrix truly was an intimidating person. She walked on, feeling strangely affected by the awful state Diagon Alley was in. Many of the shops had been closed, several well-known ones like Ollivander's and Fortescue's ice salon among them. What made the biggest impression on her, however, were the beggars on the streets. She knew that they had ended up in that position because they were Muggleborn – just like her. That much she had gathered from Snape's reports. She knew life was terrible for Muggleborns all around – but seeing it made it so much more real. Shivering, she decided that she had been cooped up in Grimmauld Place for far too long. She had been away for a couple of months and now the whole world seemed to have changed.

In front of her loomed the tall, white building of Gringotts. Soon she reached the marble steps leading up to the bronze doors. She looked around, slightly surprised at the absence of any additional security. Now that Voldemort had hidden one of his Horcruxes in a Gringotts' vault, she had expected him to at least pull some strings to assure the piece of his soul was as safe as it possibly could be. Deciding not to question the sudden turn of luck on her part, she quickly entered the building.

The marble hall was still as grand and majestic as it had been the first time she had visited Gringotts many years ago. For a moment, she felt the same awe and admiration she had experienced as an eleven year old; then it was gone and she was walking up to one of the goblins that manned the long counter.

'Madam Lestrange,' the goblin said, his voice indifferent. 'How may I help you?'

'I wish to enter my vault.' Her voice was calm, though inside she was one big ball of nerves. Why hadn't she let Snape do this? He was endlessly more familiar with the workings of the wizarding world than she was ...

'Of course. May I see your wand?'

She silently handed over Bellatrix' wand to the goblin, who scrutinized it for a moment and then gave it back to her. He then clapped his hands and a second goblin appeared.

'I shall need the clankers,' he told the second goblin, who immediately darted off and returned moments later with a heavy-looking leather bag. Its contents jingled slightly. 'Good! If you'd please follow me, Madam Lestrange.'

The goblin hopped off his stool and then appeared at the end of the counter. He walked straight on to one of the doors heading off the hall, and Hermione followed quickly. The door took them to a stone passageway that was only scarcely lit with torches. Hermione shivered involuntarily. Never once had she dreamed that she would one day be trying to rob Gringotts – but then, times changed.

The goblin whistled and a cart appeared from the darkness, heading towards them. He climbed into it and she followed his example. The cart took off with a jerk and moments later they were speeding through the underground part of Gringotts. The darkness was thick and pressing, and Hermione felt extremely exposed and uncomfortable.

They passed several stalacites and then, suddenly, a waterfall appeared in front of them. Hermione realized with a start what it was and what it did. The Thief's Downfall washed away all enchantment – she'd read about it in a book. This would be the end of her disguise if she didn't act quickly.

With seconds to spare, she pulled out Bellatrix' wand, pointed it up at the waterfall, and said 'Protego!'

She watched as the Shield Charm broke the flow of the water and they passed underneath it. Unfortunately, her Shield Charm had alerted the goblin who was driving the cart to her less than honourable intentions. He turned around to face her, a look of confusion etched on his face. She pointed the wand at him.

'Confundo.'

The goblin blinked dazedly, clearly confused. 'Madam Lestrange?' he inquired uncertainly.

'What is it?' she snapped in what she thought to be a good imitation of Bellatrix' most indignant manner. 'Must you stare at me so?'

'Forgive me, Madam Lestrange,' the goblin quickly said, inclining his head. Somehow, she felt that Snape would have had a much easier way of overcoming this problem. But she did not much fancy being the one responsible for keeping Bellatrix tied down, either.

The cart had stopped moving and they clambered out of it. The goblin opened the leather bag he had taken with him and took out a pair of small metal instruments. He began shaking them and they made a loud, ringing noise. Hermione stared at them in wonder, not knowing why the goblin was using them.

Their purpose became painfully clear when they rounded the next corner. An enormous dragon was tethered to the ground, guarding the entrance to four or five faults. As soon as the dragon heard the ringing sound, it retreated, trembling. When they got nearer to the dragon, Hermione noticed several scars on the dragon's face – they must have taught him to expect pain when the clankers sounded. She almost made a noise of disapproval, but caught herself just in time.

They had reached the doors and the goblin firmly pressed the palm of his hand to one of them, after which it melted away. They entered the vault and Hermione stared in awe at all the treasure around her. Realizing that she couldn't stay too long without looking suspicious, she began to search the piles of gold for the cup. She didn't touch the gold – she remembered what Snape had said about it burning.

There it was! The cup was sitting atop one of the piles of gold nearest to the door, and Hermione was glad for that. She inconspiciously shook the sleeve of her robes over her left hand and grabbed a hold of the cup. She soon found out that the sleeve didn't fully protect her, however, for the cup was so hot it burned her even through her sleeve. She shrieked and stumbled backwards, knocking over a pile of gold in the process. The coins burned hot and immediately multiplied, and she staggered backwards hurriedly to avoid the heat.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the goblin's eyes widen in realization. He quickly began to move towards the door – no doubt intending to lock her in – but Hermione was faster.

'Confundo,' she said for the second time, and once again his eyes assumed a blank look and he shook his head. Hermione used the momentarily distraction to duplicate the cup and replace the copy on the top of the pile. Then she brusquely pushed the goblin out of the vault, trying to ignore the pain in her hand.

'What is –' the goblin began, looking around in bewilderment.

'I am quite finished,' she said haughtily, though her heart beat quickly in her chest. 'If you would show me out?'

'Madam Lestrange,' the goblin began, looking at her with wide opened eyes. 'But you were –'

She drew herself up to her full height. 'I have already asked you to show me out twice, and I will not do so a third time,' she snapped, making sure impatience was clearly sounding through. 'I am disappointed with the lack of service I have received today, and if it continues in this fashion I may be forced to reconsider storing my valuables here.'

This appeared to have an impact on the goblin, for he immediately stuttered 'Oh no, Madam Lestrange. Please forgive me. I don't know what came over me.'

She was suddenly incredibly glad that Bellatrix possessed such a frightening reputation.

'Well, see to it that it doesn't happen again,' she sniffed. Beside them the dragon began to stir, and the goblin, seeing this, quickly resumed to ring the clankers. They walked back to the cart and the goblin climbed back in. Hermione clambered into the cart as well. It immediately took off and within moments they were soaring through the underground tunnels. All too soon they reached the Thief's Downfall. The flow of the water was still stopped by her Shield Charm, and the goblin looked up confusedly. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she once again pointed the wand at the goblin and said 'Confundo.' Then she quickly lifted the shield charm, so that the water began flowing again behind them. The goblin looked dazed but seemed determined not to anger the person he believed to be Bellatrix any further by remarking upon it. She did not even want to begin imagining the confused state of mind the goblin must be in.

She briefly considered obliviating the goblin, but then, that did seem to be somewhat unnecessary. Perhaps, the goblin would just contribute the daze (and the few undoubtedly incriminating things he had seen) to an off day and tiredness. If no one found out about the break-in, he need never suspect anything.

She surreptitiously slid the cup into the folds of her robes, wincing slightly as her blistered hand caught on the material of her clothes. This was so the last time she was breaking into a wizarding bank.

They had finally arrived at their starting point and Hermione had never been more grateful to climb out of the Gringotts' cart. She followed the goblin back into the marble hall. Then he turned to her.

'Madam Lestrange, I hope you will forgive me my slip-up,' the goblin said, looking up at her. 'The goblins of Gringotts respect you tremendously and your family has had a vault with us for many centuries. The last thing we want is to lose you as a customer.'

The last thing you want is to lose Bellatrix' money, Hermione corrected the goblin in her head. She didn't say this however – instead, she stared down on the goblin indignantly.

'Be sure that it doesn't happen again,' she said.

'Of course, Madam Lestrange,' the goblin said obediently. For all his humbleness, there was something akin to loathing in his eyes. Hermione felt apprehensive at the goblin's carefully shielded dislike. 'Have a good day, Madam Lestrange.'

She turned wordlessly and swept out of the bank, eager to be finally able to leave the place. The cup was still safely concealed beneath her robes – she could feel its warmness against her skin.

She marched through the now somewhat busier Diagon Alley, paying no heed to the people she passed by. She wanted nothing more than to go back to Grimmauld Place, destroy the Horcrux and get this all over with.

Within minutes she reached the passageway to the Leaky Cauldron and passed through it. Tom looked up as she walked into the bar.

'Madam Lestrange!' he exclaimed, staring at her openly. Hermione stared back. 'What happened to your hair?'

For one tiny moment she didn't have any clue what he was talking about – then she noticed the brown strand of hair that was hanging in front of her eyes. Brown.

'Some fool messed up a spell in my vicinity,' she spat at the toothless landlord, hoping to make up for her failing disguise with anger. 'And if you would stop harrassing me with useless questions I would be able to sort it out.'

The man visibly shrunk and Hermione felt bad for him for a moment, but consoled herself with the thought that the plan was much more important than the man's momentary comfort. She strode towards the fireplace, took some floo powder and threw it in.

'Grimmauld Place,' she whispered, not wanting to draw attention to the fact she was going somewhere she shouldn't be going if she was to impersonate Bellatrix convincingly. The flames flared emerald and she stepped into them. Then she spun and moved and travelled through the floo network. Within moments she had arrived at Grimmauld Place. Snape looked up at her entrance.

'I have to admit Bellatrix looks a lot less intimidating with your hair and eyes,' he remarked.

'Shut up and help me sort this out,' she spat, fumbling with her suddenly much too large robes. 'I put the cup somewhere in here.'

Snape stalked over to her and began pulling at her robes. Unfortunately his ministrations only made matters worse and though Snape found the cup, he seemed to have momentarily forgotten that it burned and dropped it within seconds.

'Ah!' he exclaimed, clutching his right hand with his left.

'You have no right to complain,' she snarled, feeling exhausted and drain. 'Look what it did to me!' She pulled back the sleeve from her left hand and showed Snape the burns and blisters on it.

'Very unfortunate,' he said coolly, wrapping part of his cloak around his hand and scooping the cup up. 'Now if you could get out of your miserable stupor for one moment, we have business to attend to.' He turned to the table the real Bellatrix was still tied to. She glared at his back. 'Well?'

Sighing, she made her way over to the table.

'Have you altered her memories yet?' she asked.

'I have,' he confirmed. 'Madam Lestrange is now under the impression that she spent the better part of the night drinking firewhisky and will hopefully contribute the haziness that will no doubt ensue to the influence of the alcohol. Now, if you would kindly give me her wand.'

She raised her eyebrows as she handed over the wand.

'What?' he spat, shoving the wand roughly into one of Bellatrix' pockets.

'That was the best you could come up with?' she queried, a smirk firmly into place on her face. Snape did not look amused. Instead of gracing her with an answer, however, he used his wand to let the ropes that restrained Bella release her.

'I will take her back to the edge of Malfoy Manor,' he said, using his wand to lift her from the table. 'You should change into something better-fitting.'

She scowled. He paid her no heed and left the kitchen, Bellatrix floating out in front of him. Hermione could only hope he remembered to accurately disillusion himself and the unconscious Death Eater. She went upstairs, lifting her robes so as not to trip on her way up. With a lot of effort she managed to wrestle herself free from the oversized robes, happily slid into a pair of jeans and put on her T-shirt. She had just headed down the stairs and into the entrance hall when Snape entered the house again.

'You managed?' she asked, halting.

'Naturally,' he said, his voice silky. 'Otherwise I would not have returned. Now, I believe we have a Horcrux to destroy?'

She nodded resolutely and they headed into the kitchen. The Horcrux was still sitting on the countertop where Snape had left it. He took the sword of Gryffindor from where it was lying on the floor and put the cup in its place.

'Stand back,' he warned, once again bringing up the sword. She did as he had ordered and watched him bring the sword down onto the cup. It gave a tiny howl, but otherwise did not show any outward signs of its death. She had to admit she was greatful the thing did not put up a fight like the locket had done.

'Well,' she said, leaning against the table. 'That was a rather anticlimatic end to an intense day.'

Snape raised an eyebrow. 'Intense? I thought you claimed to have the skills required to bring this to a good end?'

'And I did, didn't I?' she said, rubbing over her eyes. 'Let's see ... I only had to infiltrate Gringotts pretending to be Bellatrix, avoid the Thief's Downfall by casting a last-minute Shield Charm and wade through a sea of burning gold to extract a cup, which, I might add, also burned. Oh, and then there was the small matter that I had to confund a goblin thrice.'

'Thrice? Woman, you must have been extraordinarily clumsy.'

'Well, I could hardly cast that Shield Charm without him noticing, could I?' she snapped back. 'And surely you agree that the gold burning and multiplying at my touch was a slight giveaway? And perhaps –'

Then, suddenly, his lips were on hers and he was kissing her with a unprecedented passion. At first she was much too stunned to do anything, but then, as realization dawned upon her, she gave in and felt herself melt into the kiss. They only broke apart when they needed to catch their breath.

'What was that?' she asked as soon as her breathing was somewhat back to normal. 'Didn't you say you didn't care for me?'

Snape's eyes shone strangely. 'I changed my mind.'

She frowned. 'You changed your mind? Seems like an easy thing to say, after all you told me.'

Snape looked awkwardly at the floor. 'I apologize.'

Hermione hardly thought an apology could erase the painful things he'd said from her mind – but she'd seen the warning in his eyes, and, keen to preserve her newfound happiness, she decided to let the matter slip.