The next morning, Hermione awoke to find sapphire blue eyes watching her. Fleur was still in her arms and quietly gazing at her, her expression unreadable.
"You okay?" Hermione murmured, transfixed by the beams of light breaking through the tent and making Fleur's silver-blonde hair shimmer. Fleur edged her face closer to Hermione, her breath brushing across Hermione's lips. Hermione suppressed a shiver.
"I don't know what I would do without you," Fleur murmured, and Hermione could swear she saw a flicker deep in those sapphire eyes. Fleur continued edging closer, her arms tightening around Hermione's waist. Hermione felt her breath hitch in her throat. Was Fleur about to kiss her? Fleur let out a light sigh, pausing, before kissing Hermione softly on the cheek, close to the corner of her mouth.
Harry cleared his throat, strolling into the room while stretching his arms behind his head. "Big day is finally here, ready for breakfast and heading out?" he said, not looking at the pull out couch. Hermione blushed and moved away from Fleur, trying to ignore the intensity of the sapphire blue eyes watching her.
The group got ready in relative silence that morning, the only noise at breakfast being the clink of utensils. The walk through the last of the countryside was similarly silent, none of the group feeling much like talking. Soon they had reached the outer areas of the city, Griphook donning a hooded jacket, a small set of pants and sneakers to look like a Muggle child. He held hands with Ron, selling the child ruse, as they clambered on a train to head to the center of the city.
It was just after lunchtime when they arrived at a shabby alleyway in the middle of London. All of them, even Griphook as he pulled back his hood, were drained of colour.
"So what now?" Ron asked, his voice cracking a little as he shifted from foot to foot.
Harry nervously coughed, scratching the back of his head and pulling his muggle baseball cap further down, "We stick to the plan… wait for some wizarding folk to try to enter this way and assume their identities…" he said, somewhat guiltily. He didn't like having to stun innocent people.
Not even ten minutes had passed before a young couple entered the alleyway, clearly wizards judging by the mismatched effort of dressing like muggles and the barely concealed wand in the wizard's hand. Harry quickly stunned them both, Ron and Fleur dragging their bodies behind a dumpster at the rear of the alleyway. They carefully plucked a hair from the wizard and the witch.
"Okay," Harry said, his voice even more nervous now, "One more and we're ready to take the potions and head out."
They waited for another half hour, Hermione feeling her hands getting increasingly clammy at the prospect of impersonating Bellatrix and pulling off a literal bank heist. Soon, footsteps echoed down the alleyway and their heads all snapped up.
"Merlin…" Harry groaned quietly, before quickly stunning the newcomer. It was an elderly wizard who looked easily seventy years old. Ron laughed, the first laugh of the day, creating a jarring effect. Ron cleared his throat, suddenly serious again. He and Harry dragged the old man behind the dumpster to join the other unconscious victims, plucking a hair from his head.
They quietly turned their backs to each other, changing from their muggle outfits into wizarding clothes. The boys were getting changed by one wall, Fleur and Hermione by another. Hermione's hands shook as she changed into a ragged corseted dress, trademark Bellatrix style. She felt a soft hand take hers and turned to see Fleur looking at her with concern.
"All will be okay, Hermione," Fleur said softly, soothingly, although Hermione wasn't convinced that Fleur believed her own words.
"If it isn't…" Hermione said quietly, her voice trembling a little as she tried to call on her Gryffindor reserves of bravery, "If it isn't okay…"
Fleur looked deeply into Hermione's eyes, her sapphire orbs trying to search Hermione's chocolate brown ones.
"I like you Fleur," Hermione said suddenly, throwing caution to the wind. They were about to embark on a suicide mission, what better time to get things off your chest? "I mean, I really like you Fleur."
Fleur's eyes widened slightly with surprise, but Hermione saw the familiar flicker deep in the sapphire depths. Fleur suddenly dived forward, kissing Hermione softly, quickly, on the lips. Hermione had barely had time to process the incredible velvety softness against her lips when Fleur had pulled away as quickly as she had moved in.
"All will be okay," Fleur repeated, squeezing Hermione's hand.
Hermione let out a long raggedy breath, feeling an uncomfortable surge of every emotion she could think of, turning back to face the others. Harry, Ron and Griphook were only just finishing getting changed, turning to her after a few moments. Hermione looked around the circle of her friends. It was so surreal that their pale and terrified faces looked both child-like and impossibly old at the same time. Hermione reached into her bag, drawing out four tin camping mugs. She distributed them to Fleur, Harry and Ron, keeping one for herself. Next, she pulled out a large flask, pouring a generous helping of polyjuice potion into each mug. They all dropped their respective hairs into their potions before looking up at each other.
"Here goes nothing…" Ron mumbled, knocking back his mug. The others followed suit. Soon the alleyway was occupied by Bellatrix Lestrange, a young couple with dark hair, an elderly wizard, and Griphook. It was an odd looking group, but no stranger than the average grouping of Death Eaters.
Hermione, as Bellatrix, tapped rapidly on the bricks of the alleyway, eager to get going before they all lost their nerve. The group walked through the now yawning gap in the bricks, stepping lightly into Diagon Alley.
As they stalked carefully through the throngs in the Alley, they were immediately hit by the difference in atmosphere. The shop fronts were plastered with wanted posters, many of them featuring the faces of Ron, Hermione and Harry. Others featured various members of the Order whose covers had been blown.
As the group continued along Diagon Alley, they passed Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and Hermione let out an involuntary gasp. The windows had been smashed in and it looked like the parlour had been looted. Graffiti was scrawled crudely across many of the walls. Hermione's eyes picked out several repeated words: "half-breed," "sub-human," "animal." She shuddered involuntarily and Ron grabbed her arm warningly. Bellatrix would never shy from such a scene.
"Fortescue has a great uncle that had children with a giantess," Ron explained under his breath. Hermione clenched her jaw. As they walked further into Diagon Alley, they passed similar hate-crimes and graffiti, many aimed at Muggle-borns or those with non-pureblood lineage.
"Merlin…" Harry let out in his croaky old man voice. The crowds of Diagon Alley flitted around with a type of restlessness and nervousness, understandable given the current climate.
"We're Death Eaters, mate," Ron reminded quietly, and the group all forced smiles as they wandered through the graffiti covered streets.
As they finally entered Gringotts they became aware of the eyes of many Goblins fixed upon them. Hermione took a deep breath, willing herself not to show any weakness. Griphook kept a neutral as he led them across the large marble entranceway. As they reached the front desks, a Goblin at one of the counters waved them over.
"May I ask what you are doing?" the Goblin asked suspiciously.
Griphook reached into his robes and withdrew his identification, flashing it at the desk Goblin.
"Showing Ms. Lestrange to her vault," he said, scowling characteristically. The other Goblin peered at his identification before scowling back at Griphook. They stood there for a few moments, in a silent staring contest as the group held their collective breaths.
"Right then," the Goblin finally said sternly, "I will not keep you, Ms. Lestrange," he said nodding at Hermione. Hermione was silent.
"She doesn't speak to non-humans," Ron said roughly, and the Goblin scowled deeper. However, this seemed to convince him further and he relaxed, waving Griphook towards a door in the corner.
As soon as they made it through the door, Ron silently pumped the air with his fist, "so far so good, guys!" he whispered to the group. Griphook nodded silently and led them to a small cart on railway tracks. They had scarcely clambered in when it jerked off at rapid speed, deep into the bowels of the vaults.
Soon they were in front of a large vault door. Hermione could swear she could hear all of their hearts beating hard against their chests as Griphook approached the door. None of the horcrux retrievals had been straight forward, and they were all tense at what complication could be behind the vault door.
Griphook ran a long finger down the vault door and a loud creaking was heard as the ancient locks twisted behind the doors. There was a deafening scraping as the doors drew open. The group walked inside.
Harry's hair was already darkening from white to black, and Ron's face was breaking out in characteristic Weasley freckles. They didn't have much time. Hermione dropped her bag in the doorway and rushed forward, her eyes keenly scanning the mountain of riches inside the vault. Harry's green eyes flicked around the vault too, his seeker's training aiding him to spot a small cup.
"Helga Hufflepuff's cup—there it is!" he exclaimed, pointing to a pile of jewellery on top of a small hill of galleons.
"Bloody brilliant!" Ron whooped, rushing forward to grab it. However, as soon as his feet hit a tiara on the ground, the piles of riches began to multiply at an enormous rate.
"It's a defensive curse," Fleur explained, as a wild eyed Ron attempted to push through the mounting loot to reach the cup.
"Griphook, what do we do—" Harry started, whirling around to catch the Goblin pulling out the sword of Gryffindor from Hermione's bag.
"Sorry, Potter, we Goblins have to look out for ourselves in these desperate times…" Griphook sneered, before backing into the tunnel and bellowing "Robbery!"
Hermione and Fleur whirled around as the vault doors slammed shut behind Griphook, alarms sounding and the riches in Bellatrix's vault continuing to multiply.
"Shit!" Ron shouted, snatching the cup and wading back through the already waist high valuables, "That bloody traitor! What are we gonna do now?"
The sound of the money and jewels multiplying was creating a deafening pinging sound and clinking as it surged forward and up the group's legs. Ron was making his way back from the deepest area, but it was already halfway up the other's calves over by the vault door.
"We're gonna get crushed alive in here!" Harry shouted, whipping spell after spell at the vault door. Hermione looked in a panic at her friends, by now they had all changed back to their usual appearances, even if they got out they were goners.
"Keep calm," a velvety voice interrupted, and Hermione snapped her head to look at Fleur. She was staring at the vault door, her long silver-blonde hair cascading down her back. Fleur's sudden tone of demand silenced the group and for a while only the pinging and clinking of the surging tide of valuable was heard. It was now up to their knees.
"Not the standard vault curse," Fleur said, half to herself, half to the others, "But breakable all the same…" She raised her wand, tapping carefully on parts of the door before doing an elaborate wand movement, her time as a Gringotts curse-breaker showing in her experienced demeanour.
The vault doors creaked open, the contents of the vault beginning to spill out into the tunnel. Ron let out a loud whoop of relief as they scrambled out and over to the tracks. The cart they had arrived in was predictably gone, Griphook with it.
"You don't happen to know how to get us out of here too, d'you?" Ron asked, warily looking back at the growing pile of jewels and money flowing out of the vault behind them. Fleur smiled confidently, flashing her perfect white teeth, before uttering just one word, "carrum."
At that, a cart suddenly whipped up beside the group and they quickly climbed inside. Hermione squeezed Fleur's hand tightly as the cart began to speed off and back towards the entrance hall of Gringotts.
"Our cover…" Ron said, panicked, as he looked around at the appearances of his friends.
"—was probably blown the moment Griphook raised the alarm that there was a robbery," Hermione replied swiftly, "Either way, we're going to have to fight our way out." She looked over and noticed Harry's knuckles whitening as he gripped his wand tightly. They were ready.
The cart quickly came to a jerky stop in front of the door that led back out to the entrance way. The four of them slowly walked towards the door, raising their wands at the ready. Harry put his hand on the door handle, turning back to face the others, face pale, and nodded. Hermione hadn't even noticed, but she was still holding Fleur's hand tightly. Harry pushed the door open abruptly, and they stepped out through the doorway.
The grand entrance of Gringotts was completely empty, not a Goblin in sight. The group stepped forward, moving in front of the main counters where the tellers usually perched.
"This isn't right…" Ron said, nervously looking around, "Where did all the Goblins go?"
The silence was suddenly pierced by a throaty cackle of a man.
"I smell another Weasley," Fenrir Greyback said, emerging from behind a column. At least ten more Death Eaters joined him from the shadows, "Shall I give you a bite to match your brother's?"
Whatever blood was remaining in Ron's face drained, and his eyes narrowed angrily. More Death Eaters were emerging from the corners of the room.
"Stupefy!" Ron roared, shooting a beam at Fenrir. Fenrir deftly deflected it with a flick of his wand. The Death Eaters surged forward, volleying spells at the small group.
"Protego!" Harry shouted, springing into action. A deflected spell flew upwards and cracked into the ornate ceiling of the bank, causing a large chunk of marble to crash onto the desks behind them. Hermione felt Fleur let go of her hand as she suddenly dodged a spell, flicking off a rapid succession of spells back. Hermione saw three Death Eaters fall. Ron was running towards Fenrir, wand raised, ready to duel. Hermione turned her attention back to the surging crowd of Death Eaters, steeling herself.
The spells were coming thick and fast, Hermione feeling the heat of one brush her cheek as she moved at the last minute. She shot out some stunning spells, knocking a couple of Death Eaters down. No sooner had they fallen, than Hermione had to dive heavily across the room, dodging a heavy onslaught of spell beams.
"Give us the cup!" Hermione heard Fenrir growl angrily, as he slashed the air with wordless curses. Hermione looked up to see Ron ducking spells, shooting his own volley back.
"Sectum Sempra!" Fenrir suddenly roared, slashing violently in the air, and Ron fell to the ground.
"Ron!" Harry shouted, rushing forward to his best friend. Hermione clambered to her feet too, only to be hit by a spell that threw her across the room and heavily into a wall. She slid to the ground, stunned and head spinning, before blearily looking up to see Harry tackled by Fenrir. Fleur was running towards Ron, towards the cup that had fallen out of his robes and was rolling lazily across the marble floor. Her long mane of silver-blonde hair trailing behind her as she athletically leapt over the bodies of fallen Death Eaters. Fenrir was wrestling heavily with Harry, too distracted to see her heading for the cup…
"Fleur!" Hermione yelped out, recognizing a dark figure striding towards the cup too, her ragged black dress trailing along the marble.
With a quick flick, Bellatrix cast the cruciatus curse on Fleur, and she fell heavily to the ground, screaming in pain, mere inches away from the cup. Hermione scrambled to her feet, grabbing her wand and began running across to them, whipping stunning curses to cut down the Death Eaters in her way.
As she reached them, Fleur was breathing heavily on the ground, struggling to pull herself up. Hermione felt a painful jerk in her chest as she heard a whimper of pain from the blonde. Bellatrix leant down swiftly, grabbing a fistful of Fleur's long silver-blonde hair, pulling her roughly up to stand. She pressed her wand hard against Fleur's throat, holding in front of her like a human shield.
"Now, now, Mudblood, you wouldn't want me to have to put down your pet Veela?" Bellatrix sneered, showing her grimy teeth. She yanked hard on Fleur's hair and the blonde winced.
"Let her go," Hermione spat angrily, her arm throbbing at the memory of her last encounter with the Dark witch. Fenrir punched Harry heavily on the ground behind her, and Harry's head hit the marble hard, his eyes flickering shut. Bellatrix smirked.
"Come now, you're the last thing standing between us and the cup, Muddy" Bellatrix said smugly, "Drop the wand and I won't gut this half-breed in front of you." Hermione looked at Fleur's face, pale but steeled. Fleur shook her head slightly.
Hermione lowered her wand slowly, dropping it to the ground, silently cursing that their wandless magic training had not become more advanced before having to attempt the heist.
"Good," Bellatrix purred. Fenrir stepped forward, picking the cup up lightly from the ground, "Now we'll be taking our leave, I'll see you next time, Muddy," Bellatrix cackled, tugging on Fleur's hair again and running her wand down her throat.
"You said you'll let her go!" Hermione cried, realizing too late.
"I never said that" Bellatrix smirked, and with a loud bang her and Fenrir disapparated, Fleur with them. There were several more bangs as the remaining Death Eaters disappeared, leaving their unconscious comrades behind. With a sob, Hermione grabbed her wand and ran to her two best friends lying prone on the floor.
Ron was bleeding heavily, barely conscious. Hermione applied pressure to his wounds, muttering every healing spell she could think of at his shredded torso. She had seen the damage of sectum sempra before, of course, and was struggling to remember how they had healed Malfoy of it at Hogwarts. Her mind was a blind panic and she was finding it harder than ever to call upon her vast knowledge of magic. Eventually, she staunched the bleeding, closing the wounds and healing Ron roughly. He still had angry slashes across his torso, but the main thing was that he was alive. Ron muttered a thank you as he weakly sat up.
Next, Hermione crawled over to the unconscious Harry. He had a black eye already blooming and a split lip, his glasses smashed. Hermione quickly rattled off a reparo to mend his glasses before biting her lip and muttering "rennervate" with all the hope she could muster.
With a gasp, Harry snapped his eyes open, sitting up suddenly and reaching wildly for his wand.
"Greyback!" he exclaimed, confused and on guard.
"They've gone, Harry," Hermione explained squeezing his arm and focusing on healing his face, "And we have to go too, before more people come."
The trio slowly got to their feet, looking around the crumbling and singed entranceway of Gringotts, littered with bodies and pools of blood. Hermione tried to suppress the growing ache of despair and pain in her chest, focusing hard on a location to apparate, before grabbing the arms of her two friends.
