Disclaimer: Characters are the amazing J.K. Rowlings.
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-LovelyAlice831-
After Harry told Bill and Fleur not to see us out tomorrow morning, we got ready.
I hardly slept that night. Somehow, knowing that I was going to look like Bellatrix Lestrange, made me cringe. I wouldn't really see myself, but still. I was going to look like her. I shuddered and finally drifted off.
Ron woke me up and we headed to the bathroom so I could get ready.
I put on the black robes, added her hair to the potion, and gulped it down. I made face as it made its way down.
"Ugh. She was disgusting," I said, handing the flask to Ron, who watched as I changed into Bellatrix.
"This is creepy," he said, handing me my bag.
"No kidding. Okay, come on," I said, poking my head out of the bathroom. It was completely silent in the house. I motioned to Ron, who followed closely behind me.
We shut the door quietly behind us and made our way to where Harry and Griphook were standing.
Harry had his back to us, and he was looking at his feet. He turned when he heard us coming.
I pulled a face. "She was disgusting," I said. He smiled.
"Right, Ron, come here," I said, pulling out her wand. And cringed again.
It felt…wrong. This wand felt evil. Like it was part of her. I could almost feel the evil of this wand seeping out onto me. I wanted to throw it, to never touch it again. Ever.
"This feels like her," I said, disgusted. I saw Harry's face twist a little in amusement. No doubt he was thinking about when I said a wand is only as good as a wizard. Okay. Maybe he was right. For once.
I pointed the wand at Ron's face and began to change it.
"I don't want a big nose," he said. I shot him glare.
"Ron, it doesn't matter," I said huffily.
When he was changed, I checked my bag once more, checking to make sure we had everything, and watched as Griphook climbed onto Harry's shoulders. And then they disappeared under the Cloak.
"Right. Let's go." I held out my hands and felt Harry take one and Ron took the other.
I twisted and we were gone.
The usual suffocation, the squeezing of lungs, and then we were in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Hermione, can you see my feet?" I heard Harry ask somewhere beside me. I look in the general direction of the ground and saw nothing.
"No, you're fine."
I heard him sigh in relief.
We started on our way through the little pub when Tom, the bartender, bowed and said, "Morning, Madam Lestrange."
"Good morning," I said to the shock of the bartender.
"You have to be meaner," Harry whispered.
I nodded slightly. Right. Be mean. Oh, this was hard!
"Bellatrix!" I heard a voice call. We all turned and saw Travers, a Death Eater, walking towards us with a broad smile on his face.
"Hello, Travers," I said in as cold a voice as I could manage.
"What are you up to this morning?" he said cheerfully.
"I have to go to Gringotts," I said.
"Ah, alas, so do I," he said, falling into step beside Ron and me. "Who's your friend?"
I told Travers his fake name after we had decided on creating a fictional character.
"He sympathizes with the Dark Lord," I said in Bellatrix's voice. I wanted to cringe, knowing I sounded like her. God, I looked like her! But I held the shudder in and continued to the Wizarding bank.
We were stopped at its doors by security wizards with Probity Probes. They searched Travers and were about to search Ron and I when I saw one of the wizards' eyes go unfocused.
The other was about to search us when I said, in a cold voice, "But you've already done that!"
The wizard with the probe looked confused and the Confunded wizard said, "I already checked them."
"Oh, right," the other wizard said, his eyes narrowed. He didn't trust us.
Ha! He didn't trust us! Why should he? To his eyes, we were Bellatrix Lestrange, a foreigner, and Travers. Two of us were notorious Death Eaters. He didn't trust us…..
I almost laughed aloud as we walked into the large room.
All around us, goblins worked, stamping things, weighing money and jewels. Many of them shot us cruel, cold looks. I kept my eyes averted, hoping they were as afraid of Bellatrix as the rest of the Wizarding world was. As it turns out, they weren't so much.
"I need to get into my vault," I said in a haughty voice to the goblin we chose.
He looked me over and said, in a shaky voice, "May I check your wand?"
I handed her wand over and he took it in shaking hands.
As the goblin looked it over, he suddenly said, "Ah, you've gotten a new wand, I see."
I looked at him in confusion. What?
Travers walked forward to see what appeared to be my new wand.
"Ah, yes," he said. "And do you find it works properly for you?"
"Erm, yes?" What the bloody hell were they talking about? And then it dawned on me: Harry Confunded them! "Yes, it's working quite well, thank you."
Travers nodded. "Right. Well, we need to go."
A goblin walked forward, looking fearful. I instantly sympathized. But hey. At least he didn't look like this wretch of a witch.
We walked to the carts and the goblin walked away. Harry uncovered himself and Griphook, causing me to almost scream in panic at him.
"He's Confunded," Harry said at my worried look. Griphook climbed off Harry's shoulders and climbed into the cart. Travers followed, then Ron, then me, then Harry. And we were off.
We sped along the tracks, going further and further into the depths of the bank. It got chilly the farther down we went. I half expected to see Dementors show up, but none did, for which I was very grateful. And then something bad happened.
As we sped along, a waterfall appeared. Not having enough time to cover ourselves, we were soaked. And then I looked at Ron.
His face was back to being his and he was looking at me in horror. I must look like me again. Relief – oh, so tiny relief – flooded through me as I realized I no longer looked like her. But then we all looked back at Travers, who was shaking his head in confusion. Harry quickly said, "Imperio!" and Travers eyes became unfocused again.
"They know there's an intruder," Griphook said as we sped along.
Really? We had no idea, I thought bitterly. I was so ready to be rid of this horrible little goblin.
Finally, a few minutes later, we stopped. And I almost screamed.
There, standing more than fifty feet tall, was a dragon. A real life dragon. It had a chain leash around its neck and it stared blankly ahead.
It's blind, I realized as we inched passed it.
Travers leaving at a brisk pace caught my eye and I looked at Harry.
"What-?"
"He's hiding himself," Harry said, sounding breathless.
Someone's worried! I almost burst into laughter as I thought this. Oh, stress is going to my head…..
I shook myself mentally and said, "Right. Now let's see what's in here."
Griphook opened the door and we stood back as the vault door slowly opened with a low groan.
Holy mother of Merlin…, I thought, seeing all the gold and other valuables hidden inside.
"Remember," Harry said, looking around the vault carefully, "something of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."
The sounds of footsteps reached my ears and I spun, panicked.
"Harry, I think I hear voices," I said urgently, edging over to him.
We all turned and then I muttered, "Protego" in hopes that it would stop spells that might be sent our way.
"Right, come on," Harry said once more. "We've got to find it."
"Hey, what about – ARGH!" Ron cried out, dropping a jeweled goblet. It immediately erupted into twenty more goblets. Ron had angry welts appearing on his hand and he stepped back, touching the goblets, causing more to appear.
"It's Gemino and Flagrante Curses!" I said, looking around. "Everything we touch will burn and multiply until we're buried in treasure!"
"Come on," Harry urged. "Just…don't touch anything."
At that moment, Ron's foot nudged another fake goblet, causing another twenty to appear.
We looked and kept touching things. If we touched the gold, more would appear and burn us. And then Harry cried out triumphantly.
"I found it!" He pointed towards the ceiling and there, glistening gold, sat a cup with the Hufflepuff emblem on it. "It's there, it's up there!"
"And how the bloody hell are we supposed to get it if we can't touch anything?" Ron demanded, clearly frustrated.
This was ridiculous! There was no way to get this stupid cup without getting buried in stupid treasure!
"Accio cup!" I cried desperately, completely forgetting what Griphook had told us in our planning.
"Hermione, help!" Harry cried as we slowly kept getting buried.
Lifting the wand, I cried out, "Levicorpus!"
Harry was lifted off the ground and, taking the sword out, reached for the cup – and bumped a suit of armor. It erupted over Ron, Griphook, and me. We were beginning to get buried in burning gold. It was up to Ron and mine's neck and Griphook was nowhere to be seen. I looked up in time to see Harry grab the cup.
He cried out as it burned his flesh and erupted into twenty more cups, but he held fast.
"Impervius!" I screeched, hoping that it would keep us from getting burned from all the replicas that kept erupting into being.
And then someone screamed horribly. We were really getting buried. We needed to get out of here!
Reaching down, he pulled Griphook out first, then me, then Ron. But in the process, Harry's grip on the sword slackened and he dropped the sword, the cup still on the tip.
"Get it!" Harry cried. Griphook, who saw it first, reached for it at the same time as Harry. As Griphook had a hold of a hank of Harry's hair, I realized that Griphook never trusted us in the first place. He knew we were never going to give that sword up.
I watched as Harry pocketed the cup just as voices cried, "Thieves! Thieves! Help! Thieves!"
Griphook disappeared and Harry looked up at the dragon.
"Stupefy!" Harry shouted at the oncoming goblins who were brandishing a sword.
"C'mon!" he called to us. "Relashio!" he then yelled, pointing his wand at the chains on the floor that tethered the dragon down.
"This way!" Harry yelled as the cuffs broke open. He was still shooting Stunning Spells over his shoulder as Ron, holding my upper arm, dragged me over to the dragon and Harry. But I was completely bewildered. Why were so close to a dragon?
"Harry, what are you doing?" I cried, really hoping he wasn't thinking what I knew he was. I did not want to ride on a dragons back!
"Get up, climb up! Come on!"
The dragon didn't seem to notice it was free yet as Harry pulled himself up onto the dragons back. I climbed up next, Harry helping me, and then Ron. And then, as soon as Ron was fully on its back, the dragon seemed to realize that it was free.
Terror flooded through me. We were going to get caught. This will all have been for nothing! I thought as the goblins got closer.
With a great swooshing noise, the dragon spread his wings – about forty feet – and we were rising. I clung to Ron as we rose, so afraid of heights as I was.
But even while I utterly terrified at that moment, I knew the dragon was not going to make it through the hole the dragon had began to blast through. I blasted the wall apart so as to help the dragon break free. I ducked to avoid the rubble. And then we were air-borne.
We flew for what seemed like hours over country and city alike.
Just when I was beginning to get chilled, wondering if this dragon was just going to fly forever, it began to descend.
"Is it just me, or is the dragon getting lower?" Ron called over the roar of the wind.
I looked down as we flew over a glassy lake.
"We have to get off," Harry shouted. "We'll jump off into the lake. On three. One – two – three!"
Squeezing my eyes shut, I held my breath as I slid off the dragons back. And free-fell for longer than I thought.
And I then I was plunging into cold. Slimy weeds and algae clung to me as I swam to the bank, where I collapsed next to Ron and Harry.
We were all gasping for breath, lying soaked on the bank. I lifted my head in time to see the dragon land on the other side. It dipped its mouth into the water and drank.
Harry staggered to his feet and, still sputtering and shuddering, he said all the protective enchantments. When he finished, he collapsed next to us where we just laid there, all trying to catch our breath. Then I sat up and dug the Essence of Dittany out of my bag. I dabbed some on my wounds then handed the bottle to Ron, who winced while he dabbed it on his and then it was Harry's turn. After I handed the bottle to Ron, I dug in my bag, grateful we thought of this, for three bottle of pumpkin juice and clean clothes for all of us.
Sometimes, it pays to be smart, I thought as I downed half the bottle of pumpkin juice. Then we changed and drank the rest of the juice.
"Well, on the upside," Ron finally said as he watched the skin on his hands regrow, "we got a Horcrux."
"Yes, but we don't have the sword," I said. I just wanted to collapse right there and sleep. For hours. But I couldn't. Not yet, anyways.
"Yeah. We don't have the sword," Ron said a little angrily. "Treacherous, little, double-crossing bleeder…."
I watched as Harry pulled the cup from his wet jacket pocket. Well, at least we can't wear the stupid thing, I thought as we all stared at it.
Then I remembered the dragon and my gaze was drawn to it on the opposite bank where it was still gulping down the water.
"What do you think will happen to it?' I wondered. "Do you think it'll be alright?"
"You sound like Hagrid, Hermione," Ron said, stretching out his arms. "It's a dragon. It can look after itself. Besides…it's us we need to worry about."
"What do you mean?" I asked him, confused.
"Well, see, I'm not sure if you noticed or not, and I hate to break it to you," Ron said sarcastically, "but we kind of broke into Gringotts and I'm sure they noticed that we did too."
And then suddenly, we all burst into completely uncontrollable laughter. I clutched my stomach, tears of mirth rolling my cheeks. My ribs started to ache and I really couldn't breathe. Beside me, Ron and Harry rolled around, laughing as hysterically as I was.
But then I finally got a hold of myself and, hiccupping, I said, "What are we going to do, though?" I asked them. "He'll know, won't he? You-Know-Who will know we know about his Horcruxes!"
Harry opened his mouth to respond but then he suddenly collapsed and Ron and I exchanged panicked looks.
"What d'you reckon he's seeing?" Ron asked, worry layering his voice.
"I don't know, but he should have stopped these!"I said, panic in my voice.
"Oh, Hermione, lay off it," Ron said. "You know he can't help these. And besides, what if they come in handy now?"
"Come in handy?" I asked in disbelief. "These are not something that can be handy, Ron!"
"But what if they were?" he asked me. "Oh, come on! Think about it, Hermione! Harry has a look inside You-Know-Who's mind and then he says where the Horcruxes are and then – BAM! We got 'em!"
I was about to reply when Harry's eyes flew open and he sat up, his eyes wide.
"He knows," Harry said in a strangely calm voice. "He knows and he's going to go check where the rest are. And the last one," Harry added, getting to his feet, "is at Hogwarts. God, I knew it. I knew it!"
"What?"
Ron was gaping at him. I just stared at him, worried.
"But how do you know, Harry?" I asked. "What did you see?"
"I saw him finding out about the cup, I-I was in his head and he's-he's seriously angry. He's scared too, I think. He wants to check for the rest of them and he's going to find out they're gone. He'll check Hogwarts last, I think, because he thinks it's the safest."
"Did you see where in Hogwarts?" Ron asked, scrambling to his feet. I followed quickly.
"No, he just wanted to warn Snape he was coming."
I bit my lip. I knew what we were going to do and I really didn't think it was a good idea, but we had to. We have to destroy these blasted Horcruxes.
"So we're going, then?" Ron asked, looking from me to Harry. "We're going tonight?"
Harry nodded.
"Alright, then how are we supposed to get in?"I asked Harry.
He smiled grimly. "Hogsmeade."
So this is rather long, isn't it? Yeah...I couldn't get this any shorter than this. And believe me...I tried.
Anyways...let me know what you think. Seriously. I LOVE reviews. Really, I do. So it is COMPLETELY fine to, ya know...review. So...please do.
Thanks!
-LovelyAlice831-