Chapter 44 - When Plans Go Astray

1 Month Later

Their plan was determined more by timing than anything else: since they needed at least a month to get the polyjuice potion ready, until then it was out of the question for them to go after the Horcrux that they now knew was in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. It was maddening to wait even a day, as far as Harry and Ron were concerned, especially since at any moment the dark witch might choose to move the horcrux if she hadn't done so already, but, as Hermione repeatedly pointed out, they had no choice.

"Besides which, I don't think that she'll be getting into her own vault anytime soon," she assured them, and presented Bellatrix's wand in her possession as proof. Telling them that Draco had given it to her gave Hermione an added satisfaction as well.

Of course, that was nothing compared to Harry's revelation that Draco had given his own wand to him. That was...going above and beyond, and frankly Hermione couldn't understand why Draco hadn't mentioned such an important detail to her at their last parting. Several times during their rare patronus communications, she got close to asking him about it, but in the end decided not to. Calling out his action was clearly something that he himself didn't want to do, and she had to respect that.

In any case, after everything he had done, even Ron had no excuse to distrust Draco any longer, though he was also far from liking him. Unlike Hermione and Harry, who were both only children (no siblings) and whom Ron personally thought of as "too forgiving" (though he himself had benefited from this many a time, especially after abandoning them last year), Ron knew how to hold a grudge, and so even while he no longer spoke out against Draco, he wasn't quick to sing his praises either.

For most of the month, the trio remained at Shell Cottage, though Luna herself announced early on that she would be going back to Hogwarts and to her father. This former option was crazy enough in the opinions of her friends, but as for the latter option...

Well, to an extent of course it was necessary and natural for Luna to return to her father, but the trio couldn't easily forget what Mr. Lovegood had done when turning them in before. He had done it for the right reasons as a father perhaps, but that still didn't change the fact that it was a betrayal and Luna herself might view it as such, given how loyal she was to her friends. However, for once, all three of them agreed: they wouldn't be the ones to tell her what her father had done. That was for him to reveal when and if he chose to. They themselves couldn't be said to forgive him entirely or ever be able to forget it, but at least they understood it.

In many ways, maybe that's just like how we first felt about Draco, Hermione thought, staring into the cauldron of her meticulously brewed polyjuice potion. Of course, Hermione had felt that way only at the beginning, and now it seemed just a distant memory to think that she had ever hated Draco at all. Hated—and now what she felt was just the opposite.

Finally, the day of their plan came to pass, and the trio met outside on the beach in order to say goodbye to Bill, Fleur, and Dobby, who had decided to remain at the cottage with them for now. Luna, by now gone herself, promised to relay any information back to them, as well as try and find out what she could about possible horcruxes at Hogwarts. For, as everyone easily concluded, there definitely had to be at least one there, given how secure a location it was and how important it was to Voldemort's history.

Dressed in disguises—which Hermione herself particularly despised, as she would be masquerading as Bellatrix herself—they drank the polyjuice potion and prepared to head off. Well, at least Ron and Hermione drank the potion, whereas Harry would follow along in secret, hidden by his invisibility cloak. Joining them was Griphook the goblin, who had been contacted by Ollivander earlier on. At an earlier time, he too had been a prisoner at Malfoy Manor, and ultimately had agreed to help the friends break into Gringotts in exchange for the Sword of Gryffindor. In his view, the sword rightfully belonged to the goblins as it was goblin-forged, and as soon as they destroyed the cup with it, he planned to reclaim it for his own.

For all that Hermione knew they were deceiving the goblin and had no intention of ever giving up the sword at least until they had destroyed all the horcruxes—because, after all, no one wanted a repeat of what life had been like with the locket for so many weeks—she understood that it was necessary. It went against her morals, it was true, and yet this time it was all they could do.

It felt almost Slytherin of her to use trickery and deception like this, which of course got her thinking that Draco would probably approve the plan and even applaud it—all the more so when he learned that she had thought it up.

Once everything was in order, they apparated together to Diagon Alley, in what was their first venture publicly into the Wizarding World in months. It felt risky and uncomfortable, even though Harry was of course invisible and Hermione herself practically had immunity disguised as Bellatrix. No one, not even the darkest of wizards, would dare to challenge the mad witch, after all.

Hermione, for all that she usually knew what to say and do, for once she was absolutely silent and had no last-minute advice to give. This was a difficult and dangerous endeavor and there was no getting around it—for her most of all. Even now, she carried Bellatrix's wand with her with, apart from the fact that it felt completely wrong and evil in her hands, was a wand that had been used to torture her, after all. Hermione could still remember how it had drawn her blood when it made its mark—a mark that even now had not fully faded. It was also, now that Hermione thought about it, the wand that had killed Sirius Black, the one that had tortured the Longbottoms until the point of insanity, the wand that...

"Hermione? You ready?" Ron whispered, looking nervous but determined.

Hermione blinked, realizing that she had just been standing there staring into space and brooding. She nodded once, then watched as Ron draped the invisibility cloak over Harry and Griphook. There was no time for stalling now.

Taking a deep breath, she led the way, half-hoping and half-praying that, just once, everyone might go according to plan and they could get out of there with both the horcrux and the sword.

Draco had been informed of the plan, step-by-step, almost as soon as Hermione had thought of it. And much as he'd privately thought of ways to dissuade her, convinced that it was far too dangerous what she had in mind, he also had to acknowledge that it truly was the only way. If the Dark Lord had been looking for a secure place to hide a horcrux, then Gringotts was an excellent choice, and the Lestrange vault perhaps the best location yet. For now, Bellatrix herself didn't have access to it, as she was still in the process of procuring another wand for herself—and seeing as Ollivander had all but disappeared since his rescue (most likely to join the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix in hiding), finding a willing wandmaker had been enough of a challenge—but that wouldn't last for very long. The Dark Lord's forces were on the move every day, and things had never been more dangerous for Harry Potter or anyone associated with him.

Draco himself had procured an unregistered wand from Moribund, once again digging into his family's savings to pay for it. As far as compatibility went, it was more or less similar to his old wand, and therefore good enough for him to use, though he hadn't exactly mastered it. Thank Merlin that more or less all the spells he had to use at school were either spells he didn't want to use, or, at this point, far below his expertise, and therefore it didn't really matter whether the wand worked perfectly for him or not.

He only hoped that Harry was having more luck with his, though he got that feeling that the naturally-talented Boy Who Lived of course wouldn't have any problems.

Just a bit, as a reminder of the old days, Draco couldn't help but feel jealous over that.

And over how much time Harry got to spend with Hermione, as opposed to him, and how...so very much alone he was.

Not that the month back at Hogwarts had been all bad, of course. He and Luna had come to a sort of silent understanding between them, and together worked to relay information to one another in secret. Luna herself didn't have access to send out patronuses or anything past the barrier at Hogwarts, whereas Draco, thanks to the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement, could go in and out at will, and of course his privileges did allow him to send patronuses. That being said, security measures were tightened everywhere, until now it wasn't entirely "safe" to ever do anything without looking over one's shoulder. Even in his own house, Slytherins left and right were reporting their fellow classmates to the Carrows and just waiting for opportunities to prove themselves in some way. At the head of the chain were Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom, though they still deferred to Draco in public and during class times, didn't seek him out as they used to.

Somewhere along the way, they had gotten the message that Draco no longer wanted to associate with them, and so much of the time he was left alone.

This privacy could only account for so much of his time though, and most of that time was spent worrying as the days wore on. Finally, on the day of the break-in itself, Draco made an inconspicuous exit off the school grounds, and got past the barrier without any interference. He didn't want to use the vanishing cabinet seeing as it was so close to home and the Dark Lord spent more than his fair share of time there, but seeing as Severus didn't stop him just walking out, Draco assumed that his godfather had an idea of what he was up to.

Somewhat.

Draco himself didn't know just what he was going to do, to be honest. All he did know was that he couldn't stick around Hogwarts any longer and be left in the dark as to what was happening, because something...something felt off about the plan, and Draco had an impulsive need to go there to check, and never mind the consequences.

Their plan...not entirely foolproof, but their best chance. Carefully planned and reviewed and yet...

...if something should go wrong...

At first, Hermione thought that their entire plan was over almost before it began when they weren't granted access right away. In her guise as Bellatrix, Hermione did her best to act the same way that she thought the witch would—short of hexing anyone, that is—and yet the goblin at the front still seemed dubious about letting her inside. Security measures had obviously changed at Gringotts and now the goblins had more reasons than ever before to distrust wizards—especially ones so close to Voldemort himself—but Hermione felt sure that none would dare to cross Bellatrix Lestrange.

Apparently, she'd been wrong, and it felt like one slight misstep was all it would take for someone to send out an alert to the nearest auror or Death Eater—which, now that the ministry was under Voldemort's control, were more or less the same thing.

But then, so slight that only Hermione, because she'd been paying attention, noticed it, Harry muttered the Imperius curse and the goblin at the front was suddenly all agreeable to letting them in. Morally, as per her A-grade mind, Hermione was completely appalled that Harry had used an unforgivable curse, but since doing so might very well have ensured the success of their mission, she wasn't going to call him out on it ever. In a war, no one played fair, it seemed.

Once inside though, and just when things seemed to be going smoothly for them, suddenly the bank cart halted and they were all thrown off. It was only at the last second that Hermione yelled out a levitation spell to lighten their fall, thereby saving their lives. Then, even though her hour wasn't up, Hermione noticed that she no longer looked like Bellatrix, which Griphook explained was because of an enchantment set up so that no charms could get past a certain point into the bank.

Would have been a good detail to have known earlier, Hermione thought, casting a wary sideways glance at the goblin. Already, that was one lie from him, and though she didn't want to have to consider it, maybe...

"Imperio!"

Hermione turned and saw Ron casting the curse over the bank goblin with them, as the fall had caused him to come to his senses and start accusing them. Griphook grinned gleefully at the result.

"Not far now to the Lestrange vault," he said, glancing back at Hermione.

So, with or without certainty as to how much she could trust the goblin, Hermione had to acknowledge this much: it was too late to go back now.

"Lead on," she said.

Unlike the trio, Draco had no reason to be nervous or hesitant when he arrived at Gringotts. Although there was sufficient hesitation at allowing him inside as well, there was considerably less apprehension than when "Bellatrix Lestrange" had walked in earlier. Besides which, in accounting for many private expenses in the last couple of months, Draco had been a frequent visitor of the bank and by now had enough of a reputation for the goblins to know now to cross him, lest "his father hear about this". It wasn't Draco's preferred excuse as it had been when he was younger, but it was still nevertheless effective.

Swallowing down his self-revulsion, Draco entered the vault and climbed into one of the many bank carts, keeping his wand up his sleeve as a goblin took a seat to drive the cart. His family vault was close enough to the Lestrange vault in one of the highest-security parts of the bank, fortunately, but then...

Getting into the vault was the easy part after that, oddly enough. And though a dragon of all things had been guarding the entrance, Griphook simply rang a bell and the poor thing cowered upon itself. Griphook explained that it was taught to expect pain when hearing the bell, and though Hermione was horrified at that fact, nevertheless she couldn't comment on it now, since it was ultimately just making their task easier.

Once inside the vault, things got hard almost as soon as Harry spotted the horcrux. Knocking down one of the vast golden treasures of the Lestrange vault resulted in a multiplying spell of sorts that soon had the trio and the two goblins nearly swamped. It was only at the very last second that Harry, through determination and speed, managed to grab ahold of the cup, which of course had been set far back in a discreet corner.

In making his way back to them though, the cup was knocked out of his hand and Griphook made a grab for it before Harry had a chance. Glaring up at the goblin, Harry exclaimed, "We had a deal!"

"This is how you keep it, Potter!" Griphook spat back. "The cup for the sword!"

Hermione, who had the sword in her bag, took it out. "Give us the cup first and let us destroy it!" she exclaimed, holding it ready even as golden articles continued piling up around her and throwing her off balance. "Then we'll give you the sword! Please!"

"Lies!" the goblin snarled, stepping back out of reach and leering at them while they couldn't approach him. "Wizards are all liars! You know you never intended to give me the sword, even if I gave you everything you wanted! No! No more! The sword, now!" And he dangled the cup precariously, which, if dropped, would be lost almost beyond retrieval if it too multiplied with many look-alikes.

"Hermione!" Harry called, but she knew what he meant.

Biting her lip and hating everything about the choice of this moment, she threw Griphook the sword and was rewarded with him almost hurling the cup back at her. Fortunately, she was quick enough to catch it, but that relief was short-lived when Griphook next spoke.

"I said I'd get you in—I didn't say anything about getting you out." His grin was as wicked as any Hermione had ever seen, and it was all she could see even as golden blocks, goblets, and countless other pieces were piling up around her, burying her alive.

By this point, Griphook had opened the vault door and stepped outside, with Harry, the closest to him, in hot pursuit.

"Griphook wait!" Hermione heard him call, but it felt useless. They would...

"Levioso!" Hermione yelled, feeling her hand clutch around her wand.

Or...no, not her wand. Bellatrix's wand. A wand that hated her.

She and Ron were both thrown out of the vault at a blinding speed, with Ron landing atop the departing Griphook, knocking the wind out of both of them, and Hermione landing...

...right in front of the dragon that guarded the vault.

And no one was ringing the bell anymore.

"Crucio!"

The spell was aimed at Griphook and had the goblin convulsing in pain as Draco rounded the corner. In reality, he had been aiming at the dragon, anything to keep Hermione safe as she landed in its path. But his new wand, still needing to be disciplined by its master, was almost entirely off and instead had the goblin screaming and bleeding as he lay beneath Ron.

"Bloody hell!" Ron hurriedly got up and tried reaching for the sword, but even in the throes of pain, Griphook kept a tight hold on it.

"Ron, get the sword!" Hermione yelled, ducking out of the way just as the dragon lunged forward and blew flame at her. Instead of finding its target though, the flames engulfed the goblin that had accompanied them, the poor creature still smiling under the effects of the Imperius Curse.

Breathing heavily, Hermione quickly ran towards Ron and Griphook, with Harry close behind.

"Hermione, Draco, duck!" Harry yelled, shooting a spell over their heads.

Turning, Draco was momentarily distracted as security guards, both goblins and wizards, came up behind him in response to the alarm. All of them were blasting spells at the intruders, and none of the spells were strictly of the stunning kind.

The crutiatus curse now wearing off, Griphook jumped up triumphant, and gave a wicked laugh of victory. "You won't get out now, traitorous wizards! You'll all—"

But the goblin never got to finish what he was saying. For, mid-sentence and so unexpectedly that the friends and guards both stopped what they were doing, the dragon lunged forward and swallowed Griphook whole, sword and all.

Draco was the first to react after that, sending several strong hexes out at random, not caring which guard they particularly hit as long as Hermione was safe. Grabbing hold of her hand, he pulled her after him as he climbed the stairs back up the way they had come, Harry and Ron close behind.

"How do we get out of here?!" Ron asked frantically, ducking behind a column a split second before a hex might've taken his head off.

Draco, Harry, and Hermione, all huddled close together, seemed to have no answer to that question, though all were breathing heavily and considering how they might reasonably get out of here with their lives.

"We can't just stand here!" Harry exclaimed, shooting back what spells he could, though at this point whether they hit anyone was uncertain. "Draco, what are you—?"

"No time for questions now, Potter," Draco cut in, shooting another spell back as well. By the loud yell of pain, everyone became aware that he had finally hit someone—and that the hex hadn't been at all pleasant. If Draco was aware of it enough to be guilty though, he didn't show it.

"Hermione?" Ron prompted, and for the first time in a long time, Hermione could hear him and only him as he said: "You're the brilliant one. Haven't you got an idea?"

And that's when Hermione realized that she did, but...

"I have got something, but it's...mad!" she snapped, but no sooner had she said it then she knew that, mad or not, she was going to act on it.

"Follow me!" she yelled, and as she charged forward, it seemed almost like her plan was to take on everyone at once and fight their way out.

"Reducto!"

And even though her plan seemed to be jumping off the balcony in a form of suicide, neither of the three boys doubted her, and they jumped right after.

All of them managed to jump onto some portion of the dragon's back, hanging onto its spikes for dear life. Hermione sent a spell that freed it from its chain, at which point it seemed to go berserk and start shooting fire everywhere.

In no time at all, the dragon, chained unnaturally and tortured for so long, was desperately climbing its way out of the bank, bursting up through the floor of the main lobby and then through the ceiling. As it reached the top, it let out a magnificent roar and then spread its wings and took off, soaring over London and far away, four wizards on its back.

For weeks to come, it was only by a stroke of luck that absolutely no one who had witnessed the escape could pinpoint who the four wizards were.

The Dark Lord knew better, and he knew who it had to be: Potter and his friends.

But what of the fourth wizard—who could it be that was also helping them?!

A/N: Well, happy readers, there you have it: one action-packed chapter out of many! I hope you enjoyed it and will continue to do so for the chapters to come!

Just wanted to start off here by addressing an interesting comment made on the last chapter by a guest reader regarding the status of Harry's "winning" Draco's wand or not, as this does indeed have an impact on the status of the Elder Wand's true master. Now, for story purposes, this detail from canon is way too important to the story as a whole for me to change, so yes, let me clarify now that it is Harry who is the true master of the Elder Wand now, since Draco has given him his wand. Originally, yes, Harry would have had to disarm Draco in order for it to count, as in canon, but since Draco is on their side in this fanfic, I couldn't have him and Harry fight and Harry disarm him that way, now could I? So instead, I tweaked the details a little bit and had Draco give up his wand as well, which I personally think would have the same effect of disarming—sort of like how a knight gives up his sword when he loses a joust or a battle. If some readers take issue with this, I understand, but for the purposes of keeping true to the story and what I feel to be important and perfect already, this is a detail that I will not change in having Harry be master of the Elder Wand.

That being said, I would also like to mention that updates will be much slower now, both because of real life busy-ness reasons as well as story writing reasons. See, now we're getting into the really exciting parts of Deathly Hallows, and writing-wise it's a bit tricky for me to decide what to change and what to keep as canon. In my view, Rowling already made everything absolutely perfect with her conclusion to the HP storyline, and so there's very little that I even want to change. Finding just the right place to incorporate Dramione is going to be trickier now than ever, though I do hope that everyone will stick around to see them through.

And, in case anyone has any questions about this now, yes, the fanfic WILL be continued into post-Hogwarts, as there are several events I'm thinking of writing about with regards to Dramione there. So...yeah, we're far from finished, folks, but at least until we get through the canon details and ending of the war, updates will be a bit slower. Maybe...expect 1-2 updates a month, tops? I hope this isn't off-putting for any readers, though you have all been so great, patient, and understanding that I really appreciate it!

That being said, please to continue to review, follow, and favourite to let me know that you're reading. I read and take into account every comment I receive, so I hope y'all continue to enjoy everything. Until the next update, all the best for everyone! :3