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CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Ginny had never been afraid to go to Diagon Alley before. But as she advanced through it now, she found herself looking around at all times, pulling her hood up over her face, afraid that at any moment she would be recognised as the Girl Who Lived, sworn enemy of the man who was now calling himself Minister of Magic, and have the full force of the ministry come down on her.

"We're nearly there,"Harry told her reassuringly. He reached the door of Gringotts first and knocked. A goblin opened it and, with a confidence born of experience, Harry led the way straight in. "I want to speak to the account manager,"he announced.

The four teenagers were shown through into a large hall. A senior goblin, Bagnor, sat in a high chair. "What is it you want?"he demanded.

"I'm Harry Potter, of the House of Potter, and this is my friend Neville Longbottom of the House of Longbottom. We have been granted full access to our families' vaults."

"That is true,"Bagnor conceded. His gaze fell on Ginny and Hermione. "What of the two females?"

Harry put an arm round Ginny. "She is my fiance."

"And she's mine,"Neville added, doing the same with Hermione.

"We have given them both permission to accompany us."

"Very well,"Bagnor said wearily. "Follow me." He led the teenagers to a cart which took them down into the basement vaults. "Where would you like to go first?"he asked as they dismounted.

Ginny gave a quick nod and everyone's wand was in their hand. "Stupefy,"they chorused and Bagnor slumped to the ground.

"Get his keys,"Ginny instructed. Taking her own advice, she searched Bagnor's person until she found a large bunch of keys.

"Now what?"Hermione asked. "It won't be long until someone notices he's gone."

"Now we find the whereabouts of any vault belonging to a Death Eater family,"Ginny replied. "You and Neville go that way, Harry and I will go this. Yell if you find anything."

Voldemort glanced up briefly at the sight of Yaxley entering his office. He was still getting used to the trappings of power and the fact that they included having an office. He was considering having a more elaborate chair installed. Something thronelike. "Well?"he asked.

"Message from Gringotts,"Yaxley replied. "There has been unauthorised access to some of their vaults. All of them belong to your most loyal supporters."

There could have been many different explanations. But somehow Voldemort knew immediately who was responsible. "Weasley."

Bellatrix Lestrange stepped forward, Barty Crouch just behind her. "Let us go, my lord. We will bring her to you and kill anyone else with her."

"See that you do, Bellatrix. I am not in the mood for failure."

Ginny checked the inscription on the next vault they came to. "Lestrange. This looks like a pretty good candidate. You got the keys?"

Harry handed her the bunch. "They're numbered so it must be that one."

Ginny inserted the key he'd indicated and twisted it. The vault door swung open. "Right again." She looked at the contents of the vault. It was piled high with gold and precious metal. "I guess some things really do pay."

"What do you want to do now?"Harry asked.

Ginny stood in the doorway of the vault. "Accio horcrux!" She paused. "Yeah, it was never going to be that easy, was it?"

"Do we start searching?"Harry wondered.

"Probably a good idea." Ginny took a step further in, but the moment her leg touched the first pile of gold she let out a yell of pain. The gold seemed to increase in number and in temperature, hitting her with red hot coins.

"This vault's defended,"Harry realised. "That's serious dark magic, we need to get out of here."

"No, wait." Ginny gestured to a goblet in the distance. "That's Hufflepuff's cup, the one Dumbledore thought was a horcrux. If it's here…" She tried to push her way through the mountains of treasure, only to be left screaming in pain as the burning gold swarmed over her.

"Ginny, hold on!"Harry called. "Levicorpus!" He levitated her out of the gold and over the top of it, towards the cup. Ginny grasped it and Harry reversed the spell, bringing her back to rest alongside him.

"Thanks,"Ginny said, rather embarrassed. "I should have thought of that. Come on, let's find the others."

Neville and Hermione were just checking the inscription on another vault when they heard Ginny's voice drifting down the corridor. "Neville! Hermione! We've got it!"

"Thank goodness for that,"Neville breathed. "Come on.

"Er, Neville." Hermione nodded nervously in the opposite direction to where Ginny and Harry were.

Neville followed her gaze and saw Bellatrix Lestrange and Barty Crouch stalking towards them. "Well, well, well,"said Bellatrix mockingly. "The blood traitor and the mudblood. The master wants Weasley alive but he didn't say anything about you two. Avada Kedavra!"

The two teens dodged and ran in the direction of their friends. Green spells burst from the Death Eaters' wands, hitting the walls around them. In a few moments, Ginny and Harry came in sight. "What's going on?"Ginny demanded.

"It's Bellatrix Lestrange and Bartemus Crouch!"Hermione gasped. "They're trying to kill us."

"Let's get out of here,"Harry decided.

"No, wait, one moment." Ginny helped the cup in one hand and her wand in the other and stood her ground. A moment later, the two Death Eaters came in sight.

"There they are!"Bellatrix shouted. "Avada Kedavra!"

Ginny let go of the cup and used her wand to levitate it into the path of the Killing Curse. The curse struck the cup and there was an eerie screeching noise. A black cloud burst out of the cup and then dissipated. The cup fell to the floor.

"Right, now run,"Ginny concluded.

The four of them hared in the opposite direction. "There must be a floo back there,"Neville realised. "That's how they got in. That's our way out."

"But how do we get to it past them?"Harry asked.

Neville skidded to a halt. "Right through the middle of them,"he decided. He looked at Hermione. "You with me?"

"It could work,"she agreed. A moment later, the two of them were dashing back the way they'd come.

"What are they doing?"Harry asked incredulously.

"I don't know,"Ginny replied. "But we should probably go and check." They ran after their friends.

Neville and Hermione ran back into the path of the two Death Eaters and stopped in between them, standing back to back. "Thought we'd make it easy for you,"Neville explained.

"Are they stupid or what?"Barty asked.

"Time to put them out of their misery,"Bellatrix replied. She raised her wand and Barty did likewise.

"Now!"Hermione shouted as the spells burst from the pair's wands. She and Neville dived in opposite directions. In their rush, the two Death Eaters had forgotten the basic rules of spellcasting. Their spells passed through the spot where their targets had been standing…and struck each other. The Killing Curses killed them instantly.

Ginny and Harry had arrived just in time to see the pair's demise. Ginny looked at them for a moment, but found herself unable to muster any sympathy after all they had done. She and Harry helped their friends to their feet. "Floo back this way, you say?"