Chapter 38:

Alicia slept until the sun began to slowly creep over the horizon. Se awoke to find her scars were somewhat healed but she felt weak and shaky still. Fleur was at her bed side.

"'ow do you feel?" she asked

"Tired." she responded "Thank you Fleur." and the silver haired girl nodded. "Where's Harry?"

"'e's outside." she frowned and Alicia looked at her.

"What happened?"

"The elf," Fleur said as she stroked Alicia's forehead and Alicia looked at her before her eyes welled up.

Dobby… he was…

"How?"

"A knife, made it through." Fleur whispered.

"Harry?"

"'e is digging the grave." she said and Alicia took a breath. At that moment the door opened and Hermione walked in.

"Alicia…" she whispered looking sad and worried.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Alicia whispered and the girl nodded.

"Nothing compared to you."

"Rather me than you." Alicia said and Hermione rolled her eyes in a Hermioneish way before Alicia realised she had a bowl in her hands.

"You need to eat something, try and get some strength back." Alicia nodded. The two women helped Alicia to sit up before Hermione gave her the bowl. It took her a while to get used to her arm, it was the left, luckily, that Bellatrix had hacked into the most and therefore her right was available to raise the spoon and consume the soup. It was glorious to have a nice meal such as this, it had been a long time.

"I saw Bellatrix throw her knife." Alicia whispered and Hermione nodded.

"Harry's been digging the grave. Ron and Dean went out to help."

"Did everyone else get out alright?" Alicia asked and Hermione nodded again.

"You, Ollivander and Griphook are the most worse for wear."

"I guess that's good. Will they be alright?" she turned to Fleur.

"Eventually, though Mr Ollivander is very weak." Alicia nodded.

"He's been imprisoned for more than a year, he'll take a while." and the two girls nodded as Hermione went to the window.

"It looks like they're almost finished." she whispered

"Hermione will you help me, I want to go down." Alicia admitted.

Hermione wanted to refuse but Alicia's stubbornness wore out. Hermione was given a coat by Fleur and Alicia a dressing gown to ensure she didn't get cold and worse. Hermione then helped her down the stairs and out into the garden. The boys had dressed Dobby in Harry's coat, Ron's shoes and socks and Dean was handing over a woollen hat which Harry put on the elf's head. Bill, Luna and Fleur had joined Hermione and Alicia at the grave's edge. Alicia was surprised to see Luna, but guessed she'd been imprisoned at the Malfoys.

"We should close his eyes." Luna spoke and Harry turned to them.

Bill was wearing a traveling cloak, Fleur a large white apron, from the pocket of which protruded a bottle of Skele-Gro and Luna was in another of Fleur's coats like Hermione. Alicia moved and kneeled beside Harry who instantly gripped her in a hug, even through his grief for Dobby, and she patted his back before leaning her head on Harry's shoulder. Dobby lay before them, his large tennis ball eyes staring at and reflecting the stars above him, which were slowly fading in the morning light.

Luna crouched down and placed her fingers tenderly upon each of the elf's eyelids, sliding them over his glassy stare.

"There," she said softly. "Now he could be sleeping."

Alicia couldn't help but say, "Remember when we saw those eyes in a hedge? Wasn't that a weird development." Harry cracked the tiniest of smile before Alicia removed her weight from him.

Harry placed the elf into the grave, arranged his tiny limbs so that he might have been resting, then climbed out and gazed for the last time upon the little body. Alicia took his hand as she felt his grief beginning to overwhelm him. And she agreed with his thoughts, Dobby deserved just a grand a funeral as Dumbledore had, with the Minister of Magic and a Marble tomb and thousands of lined chairs.

"I think we ought to say something," piped up Luna. "I'll go first, shall I?"

And as everybody looked at her, she addressed the dead elf at the bottom of the grave.

"Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from that cellar. It's so unfair that you had to die, when you were so good and brave. I'll always remember what you did for us. I hope you're happy now."

She turned and looked expectantly at Ron, who cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, "Yeah… thanks, Dobby."

"Thanks," muttered Dean.

Harry swallowed.

"Good-bye, Dobby," he said.

"Thank you Dobby." Alicia whispered "You helped us more times than we can count. Harry survived the Triwizard Tournament thanks to you, we were able to survive Umbridge for you gave us a way to practice defensive magic, you told us mishappenings within the school last year, and you saved us yet again this year. I don't know how we'd make it without you." Alicia's voice hardly rose, she was both mentally and physically unable to speak much louder, but in the silent morning, everyone had heard her. "We will always remember you."

Bill raised his wand, and the pile of earth beside the grave rose up into the air and fell neatly upon it, a small, reddish mound.

"D'you mind if I stay here a moment?" Harry asked the others.

Everyone murmured replies and Alicia was the only one who didn't move, a few pat him on the back before they moved back to the cottage. Harry said nothing about Alicia's lack of movement, likely unsurprised. He himself however looked around and began to reach for a large white stone. He laid it, pillowlike, over the place where Dobby's head now rested. He then felt in his pocket for a wand. He pulled out two. He had taken one extra from the Malfoy Manor. He selected one, and pointed it at the rock. Murmuring under his breath Harry carved deep cuts into the rocks surface.

When Harry stood up again, the stone read:

HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF.

Harry then turned to Alicia and helped her to her feet. He placed an arm around her and helped her move away from the grave.

"Harry, did you notice?" she asked quietly

"Notice?"

"Bellatrix."

"About us getting into her vault."

"She was terrified at the thought of him finding out we'd gotten in there. Snape gave her something to hide, I think he might have too." Harry nodded beside her.

"A horcrux."

"With her fear it's definitely something valuable. And what many valuables does he have?" she wondered quietly. But a memory came to her.

"Obviously he visited Diagon Alley to get things but, where would you hide something there?"

"Hagrid always said Gringotts was the safest beside Hogwarts." Harry said

"Yes but I doubt Tom Riddle had a bank account. He was an orphan and Hogwarts had funding set up for such students remember, it was in the memory of Dumbledore's when he first met Tom."

"What about a follower?" Ron said

"He doesn't like to rely on them like that, and after Lucius and the diary…" Alicia mumbled frowning "I dunno. And there are so many followers, which vault would we choose? It could be in Snape's vault, or Yaxley's, or Bellatrix's… until we have some sort of hard evidence and a destination we can't really run into Diagon Alley and into Gringotts on a guess. And especially when it's just a guess because Gringotts is a safe place." the two boys sighed as Alicia looked back at her pensieve.

She chuckled.

"We considered Gringotts briefly, remember? Right after we left the Ministry." Harry rose an eyebrow at how she remembered that. "That's so ironic." she whispered. But she had had a point, they now had a solid idea of a horcrux and which vault. They now had a destination.

"We can't go anywhere until you're better."

"I'll be fine in no time." she said

"I heard your responses, you couldn't stop being you could you?"

"Nope." he hugged his sister closer to him, ever so thankful she was still here and was now safe and out of harms way. "I sorry if you felt it all as well by the way."

"I'll live." he responded.

They were all sitting in the living room when the two entered the little hall, their attention focused upon Bill, who was talking. The room was light-coloured, pretty, with a small fire of driftwood burning brightly in the fireplace. Harry was halted for a moment as he debated over moving inside. He didn't want mud on the carpet but Alicia needed to sit. As it happened Hermione, who had spotted them, came to help the girl into a chair. Harry stayed in the doorway listening.

"… lucky that Ginny's on holiday. If she'd been at Hogwarts, they could have taken her before we reached her. Now we know she's safe too."

"What?" Alicia asked softly. She hadn't gained her voice back completely after her screams and shouts at Bellatrix.

He looked at her and then around to see Harry standing there.

"I've been getting them all out of the Burrow," he explained. "Moved them to Muriel's. The Death Eaters know Ron's with you now, they're bound to target the family — don't apologise," he added at the sight of Harry's expression. "It was always a matter of time, Dad's been saying so for months. We're the biggest blood-traitor family there is."

"How are they protected?" asked Harry.

"Fidelius Charm. Dad's Secret-Keeper. And we've done it on this cottage too; I'm Secret-Keeper here. None of us can go to work, but that's hardly the most important thing now. Once Ollivander and Griphook are well enough, we'll move them to Muriel's too. There isn't much room here, but she's got plenty. Griphook's legs are on the mend, Fleur's given him Skele-Gro; we could probably move them in an hour or —"

"No," Harry said, and Bill looked startled. He looked at Alicia, but even in her weakened state there was the same look of importance on her face as was on Harry's. "I need both of them here. I need to talk to them. It's important."

There was authority in Harry's voice, conviction, a sense of purpose. All of their faces were turned toward him, looking puzzled.

"I'm going to wash," Harry told Bill, looking down at his hands, still covered in mud and Dobby's blood. "Then I'll need to see them, straightaway." and he moved to the little kitchen.

"What's he talking about?" Ron asked

"Don't worry." Alicia said "I'll explain later. But we really need them, Ollivander needs to check the wands we took first of all, they may not be all that safe." she admitted

"What have you three been doing? Coming here in this mess?" Bill demanded

"Bill—"

"It's nothing." Alicia said "Harry accidentally said You-Know-Who's name and some snatches found us, we tried to disguise Harry but they worked out who we were and took us to the Malfoys. If not for Dobby we wouldn't he here." she said "Rather simple." she admitted

"You look like you've been tortured Alicia."

"Well, we all know what Bellatrix is like." she mumbled

"Well where have you been?" he asked next.

"Camping. Staying out of sight." she said

"All this time? You've just been hiding?"

"Pretty much. Only venturing out when we have to." Alicia said. Hermione and Ron let her do the talking. "I can't give you more than that Bill." she admitted

"Why not?"

"Because it's imperative no one knows what we're up to. We can't succeed if people know." she confessed "You're going to have to trust us."

Bill sighed. "I feel like I need Fred to get through to you." he said.

Ron and Hermione looked at Alicia worried and Bill looked surprised as her face darkened.

"Please do, then I can kill him." Bill blinked. "Make sure you tell him I got his message and he's in so much trouble."

Bill sighed, he seemed to understand. "Don't be too hard on him." she simply turned her nose away.

"Come on Alicia, we'd better get you upstairs." Hermione said and he helped the girl to her feet and then up the stairs.

As she got Alicia up, Bill and Fleur stood at the bottom of the stairs as Harry left the kitchen.

"I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander," Harry said.

"No," said Fleur. "You will 'ave to wait, 'Arry. Zey are both ill, tired —"

"I'm sorry," he said without heat, "but it can't wait. I need to talk to them now. Privately — and separately. It's urgent."

"Harry, what the hell's going on?" asked Bill. "You turn up here with a dead house-elf and a half-conscious goblin, Alicia says she's been tortured, and Ron's just refused to tell me anything —"

"We can't tell you what we're doing," said Harry flatly. "You're in the Order, Bill, you know Dumbledore left us a mission. We're not supposed to talk about it to anyone else."

Fleur made an impatient noise, but Bill did not look at her; he was staring at Harry. Finally Bill said, "All right. Who do you want to talk to first?"

Harry hesitated. He glanced at his sister who was standing in the doorway of the sitting room, Ron and Hermione hiding behind her.

"Griphook." she said and he looked at her face. He nodded in agreement.

"Griphook," Harry said. "I'll speak to Griphook first."

"Up here, then," said Bill, leading the way.

Harry had walked up several steps before stopping and looking back. Alicia moved to follow, though she moved slower than usual and Harry moved back to help her.

"I need you two as well!" he called to Ron and Hermione, who hadn't moved from where they were skulking, half concealed, in the doorway of the sitting room.

They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved.

"What are we doing now, Harry?" Ron asked.

"You'll see. Come on."

Harry, Alicia Ron, and Hermione followed Bill up the steep stairs onto a small landing. Three doors led off it.

"In here," said Bill, opening the door into his and Fleur's room. It too had a view of the sea, now flecked with gold in the sunrise. Harry moved to the window, releasing Alicia so she could take a seat on the chair beside the dressing table. Hermione sat on the arm beside her and Ron remained standing as Harry moved to the window and turned his back on it.

Bill reappeared, carrying the little goblin, whom he set down carefully upon the bed. Griphook grunted thanks, and Bill left, closing the door upon them all.

"I'm sorry to take you out of bed," said Harry. "How are your legs?"

"Painful," replied the goblin. "But mending."

He was still clutching the sword of Gryffindor, and wore a strange look: half truculent, half intrigued. The goblin had sallow skin, long thin fingers and black eyes. Fleur had removed his shoes: His long feet were dirty. He was larger than a house-elf, but not by much. His domed head was much bigger than a human's.

"You probably don't remember —" Harry began.

"— that I was the goblin who showed you and Alicia to your vaults, the first time you ever visited Gringotts?" said Griphook. "I remember, Harry Potter. Even amongst goblins, you are very famous."

Alicia and Harry shared a look as the Goblin glanced at the two also.

The goblin broke the silence as Harry was debating over his words carefully.

"You buried the elf," he said, sounding unexpectedly rancorous. "I watched you from the window of the bedroom next door."

"Yes," said Harry.

Griphook looked at him out of the corners of his slanting black eyes.

"You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter."

"In what way?" asked Harry, rubbing his scar absently.

"You dug the grave."

"So?"

Griphook did not answer. Dobby's grave however was not the object of this talk and Alicia mentally nudged Harry with this fact.

"Griphook, I need to ask —"

"You also rescued a goblin."

"What?"

"You brought me here. Saved me."

"Well, I take it you're not sorry?" said Harry a little impatiently.

"No, Harry Potter," said Griphook, and with one finger he twisted the thin black beard upon his chin, "but you are a very odd wizard."

"Right," said Harry. "Well, I need some help, Griphook, and you can give it to me."

The goblin made no sign of encouragement, but continued to frown at Harry as though he had never seen anything like him.

"I need to break into a Gringotts vault."

The words had forced themselves out of Harry's mouth and Alicia sighed.

"Way to be tactful." she said.

Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry as though he had gone mad.

"Harry —" said Hermione, but she was cut off by Griphook.

"Break into a Gringotts vault?" repeated the goblin, wincing a little as he shifted his position upon the bed. "It is impossible."

"No, it isn't," Ron contradicted him. "It's been done."

"Yeah," said Harry. "The same day I first met you, Griphook. My birthday, seven years ago."

"The vault in question was empty at the time," snapped the goblin. Even though Griphook had left Gringotts, he was offended at the idea of its defences being breached. "Its protection was minimal."

"That doesn't make it easier to get into." Alicia believed "It's still Gringotts regardless and the person got in and back out again. By themselves no less."

"Well, the vault we need to get into isn't empty, and I'm guessing its protection will be pretty powerful," said Harry. "It belongs to the Lestranges."

He saw Hermione and Ron look at each other, astonished.

"You have no chance," said Griphook flatly. "No chance at all. If you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours—"

"Thief, you have been warned, beware—"

"Of find more than treasure there." Alicia finished

"Yeah, I know, I remember," Harry said "But I'm not trying to get myself any treasure, I'm not trying to take anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?"

The goblin looked slantwise at Harry as Alicia felt the scar on her neck prickle. She ignored it as Harry did.

"If there was a wizard of whom I would believe that they did not seek personal gain," said Griphook finally, "it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and elves are not used to the protection or the respect that you have shown this night. Not from wand-carriers."

"They deserve respect just as much as witches and wizards show one another." Alicia said "None of us could have left you there in that place, especially with what was coming. You would not have survived."

"Wand-carriers," repeated Harry

"The right to carry a wand," said the goblin quietly, "has long been contested between wizards and goblins."

"Well, goblins can do magic without wands," said Ron.

"That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wandlore with other magical beings, they deny us the possibility of extending our powers!"

"Well, goblins won't share any of their magic either," said Ron. "You won't tell us how to make swords and armour the way you do. Goblins know how to work metal in a way wizards have never —"

"It doesn't matter," said Harry, noting Griphook's rising colour as Alicia shot Ron an annoyed look. "This isn't about wizards versus goblins or any other sort of magical creature —"

Griphook gave a nasty laugh.

"But it is, it is about precisely that! As the Dark Lord becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under Wizarding rule, house-elves are slaughtered, and who amongst the wand-carriers protests?"

"We do!" said Hermione. She had sat up straight, her eyes bright. "We protest! And I'm hunted quite as much as any goblin or elf, Griphook! I'm a Mudblood!"

"Don't call yourself —" Ron muttered.

"Why shouldn't I?" said Hermione. "Mudblood, and proud of it! I've got no higher position under this new order than you have, Griphook! And Alicia, a half-blood, a proud wizard, was tortured by the Malfoys, just because of her name." Girphook looked at Alicia and she held his gaze. "Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free?" she asked. "Did you know that we've wanted elves to be freed for years?" Ron fidget uncomfortably from beside Hermione. "You can't want You-Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!"

The goblin gazed at Hermione with the same curiosity he had shown Harry.

"What do you seek within the Lestranges' vault?" he asked abruptly. "The sword that lies inside it is a fake. This is the real one." He looked from one to the other of them. "I think that you already know this. You asked me to lie for you back there."

"But the fake sword isn't the only thing in that vault, is it?" asked Harry. "Perhaps you've seen the other things in there?"

The goblin twisted his beard around his finger again.

"It is against our code to speak of the secrets of Gringotts. We are the guardians of fabulous treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers."

"That's alright." Alicia said as the goblin stroked the sword, and his black eyes roved from Harry to Alicia to Hermione to Ron and then back again. "We don't want you to break that. We just need to end this war, and to do that, we need a look into the Lestranges vault." she explained. He stared at her in the same manor.

"So young," he said finally, "to be fighting so many."

"Will you help us?" said Harry. "We haven't got a hope of breaking in without a goblin's help. You're our one chance."

"I shall… think about it," said Griphook maddeningly.

"But —" Ron started angrily; Hermione nudged him in the ribs.

"Thank you," said Harry.

"That's all we can ask." Alicia nodded.

The goblin bowed his great domed head in acknowledgement, then flexed his short legs.

"I think," he said, settling himself ostentatiously upon Bill and Fleur's bed, "that the Skele-Gro has finished its work. I may be able to sleep at last. Forgive me…"

"Yeah, of course," said Harry, but before leaving the room he leaned forward and took the sword of Gryffindor from beside the goblin. Griphook did not protest, but there seemed a look resentment in the goblin's eyes as Harry closed the door upon him.

"Little git," whispered Ron. "He's enjoying keeping us hanging."

"Harry," whispered Hermione, pulling them both away from the door, into the middle of the still-dark landing as Alicia leaned on the wall, "are you saying what I think you're saying? Are you saying there's a Horcrux in the Lestranges' vault?"

"Yes," chorused the twins. "Bellatrix was terrified when she thought we'd been in there, she was beside herself. Why? What did she think we'd seen, what else did she think we might have taken? Something she was petrified You-Know-Who would find out about."

"It was nothing to do with her or her treasure. Snape hid something there, it must be so well protected, them being such an old family, that You-Know-Who did it too. She is probably one of his most trusted servants too." Alicia believed.

"But I thought we were looking for places You-Know-Who's been, places he's done something important?" said Ron, looking baffled.

"He could break from that pattern." Alicia shrugged "Especially if he has no other hiding place."

"Well was he ever inside the Lestranges' vault?" Ron asked

"I don't know whether he was ever inside Gringotts," said Harry. "He never had gold there when he was younger, because nobody left him anything. He would have seen the bank from the outside, though, the first time he ever went to Diagon Alley."

"And he loved valuable things. Gringotts has that atmosphere." Alicia added

"I think he would have envied anyone who had a key to a Gringotts vault. I think he'd have seen it as a real symbol of belonging to the Wizarding world. And don't forget, he trusted Bellatrix and her husband. Like Alicia said, they were his most devoted servants before he fell, and they went looking for him after he vanished. He said it the night he came back, I heard him."

Harry rubbed his scar.

"I don't think he'd have told Bellatrix it was a Horcrux, though. He never told Lucius Malfoy the truth about the diary. He probably told her it was a treasured possession and asked her to place it in her vault. The safest place in the world for anything you want to hide, Hagrid told me… except for Hogwarts."

When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his head.

"You really understand him." Alicia rolled her lips. It's hard not to when you have a piece of their soul in you.

"Bits of him," said Harry. "Bits… I just wish I'd understood Dumbledore as much. But we'll see. Come on — Ollivander now."

Ron and Hermione looked bewildered but impressed as they followed him and Alicia across the little landing and knocked upon the door opposite Bill and Fleur's. A weak "Come in!" answered them.