The Fourth Note

It was very, very early in the morning, two days later, when Harry and Ron were woken by ferocious pounding, followed by the crack of disapparition. Their rooms were right above the front door, so, as they discovered, they were the only ones awoken by the racket.

Ron made it downstairs first, to find an inert Hermione lying on the porch, holding the sword of Godric Gryffindor. They frantically picked her up, deposited her on the nearest soft surface (the couch) and ran around trying to find any potions Fleur had around that might help.

Arms full of various vials and bottles, they stood over her trying to decide what to administer first, when she shifted on the couch, snuggling into the throw pillow, and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Draco'. Harry and Ron gaped.

"She's asleep?!"

Their simultaneous cries of astonishment, of course, woke Hermione up.

"Oh, hello boys," she said, lethargically. "Draco said to give this to you." And she pulled a folded piece of parchment from inside her sweater.

"What is it with the notes?" Harry said as he took it from Hermione.

"Draco?" Ron exclaimed, unable to ignore it now that she was awake.

"Well, he did risk his life getting me out from under Bellatrix and V- You Know Who." She self-consciously picked at a piece of lint on her sweater. Ron looked as though someone had told him the Chocolate Frog factory had burned down.

Harry cleared his throat.

"Potter-

Here's your Granger back. May need more blood-replenishing potion-"

Ron grabbed the vial of said potion and shoved it in Hermione's face.

"-but otherwise mostly unharmed."

"Mostly?" Harry narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "What did they do?"

She just shook her head at him and gestured for him to keep reading.

"As you read this, I'll be retrieving the cup from my aunt's vault. You'll find it in the wood behind the moor the Quidditch World Cup was at before fourth year. Look for the tree I was leaning against during our conversation.

-DLM"

"'Our conversation', that's one way of putting it," Ron snorted.

"Actually, I'm fairly certain he was trying to warn us," Hermione said casually.

"I suppose," Harry said, recalling the 'conversation'.

"Bloody twisted way of warning us, that's for sure."

"Did he say his aunt's vault?" Hermione jolted up and grabbed the note from Harry, reading it for herself. "He did, he's stealing something out of Gringotts! That stupid, sneaky…"

"Slytherin?" Ron suggested.

"It is his aunt's vault, he probably already has access to it." Harry pointed out.

"No, no," said Hermione. "It's just that they'll know exactly who took the cup when they notice it's gone. Of course, they might not notice right away, but it's only a matter of time."

"Well," Ron said, awkwardly, "I guess we'll have to get rid of You Know Who before then."