A/N: Thanks to rhmac12 for being wonderful beta...
"You really have to do it Ron?" Bill asked for the umpteenth time. He didn't want Ron to go alone with the goblin. He offered to join but Ron can be very stubborn when he wants to. Bill tried to play the big brother card; he even blackmailed to tell their Mum, but in vain. Ron in return threatened him by saying he will leave Shell cottage immediately. At last Bill had to give up.
"Bloody hell, stop whining Bill. I will be fine. Even if it didn't come early or in the worst case for few days don't go ballistic. I will be safe and before you say anything, no you are not coming with me." Ron said with an exasperated sigh.
They both are sitting in the living room and waiting for Griphook to come down from his room. As they were talking, the Goblin came down looking as grumpy as ever.
"Mr. Griphook, you have taken some time to come down." Bill said with fake cheeriness in his voice. "I was starting to wonder-" Ron cut off Bill before he made any offending comment. He didn't want the goblin to change his mind.
"Bill, we will talk in the evening." Ron said pointedly. "Mr. Griphook, shall we go?" Ron asked the goblin.
"Indeed, Mr. Weasley." Goblin said with a glint in his eye that gave an uncomfortable feeling in Bill's stomach. He didn't want Ron to go with the goblin, especially an overly greedy one like Griphook.
"Ron can I have a word with you?" His big brother instincts once again kicked in.
Ron rolled his eyes but complied. They went far from the hearing range of the goblin, but Bill cast a silencing charm just to be sure they were not being heard.
"Ron, just be careful okay. Don't take any chances- if anything appears off, just apparate straight away. Don't try to be overly smart. Please just keep this in mind." Bill said giving Ron a one arm hug.
"I will be careful Bill, don't worry. Don't tell this to anybody not even to Mum and Dad. If anything happens and I don't come back… then you will tell this only to Harry and Hermione. Tell them I went to look for something important regarding you-know-who… they will understand." Ron said he as he too didn't feel as optimistic as before. But he didn't want to waste anymore time. He had to complete this before the goblin changed his mind again.
"Morning Harry," Hermione greeted cheerfully. She looked very much alive and happy than the past few weeks. Harry couldn't say anything for a few seconds as he just stared at her open mouthed. She looked as beautiful as ever. Her hair was wet and the tiny droplets of water were falling from the edges. She was wearing jeans and a new top in which she looked gorgeous.
"Morning Hermione, you look so happy and ecstatic. You look different, but beautiful. Today isn't your birthday, is it?" Harry asked still unable to take his eyes off her.
"Don't be stupid Harry; you know when my birthday is. Today we are going to see the Weasleys so I just wanted to look good and not as someone on the run and half-starved." Hermione said excitedly trying to ignore Harry's expression, and just like that, Harry came out of his trance as if somebody poured a bucket of cold water on his head.
"Hermione, we already had this discussion. I made myself clear that I am not going to the Weasleys until I complete the mission. If you want, you can go… I will not stop you." Harry said knowing Hermione would never leave him alone in the middle of nowhere.
"I know Harry and I am not going to force you. You will be the only one staying here. I will be back by the end of the evening. I will just go to the Burrow and drag our mutual friend's sorry arse here." Hermione said in a firm voice.
Harry did a double take but quickly covered it. He didn't expect this. If he let Hermione go, then his game would be finished and she would hate him for the rest of her life. He quickly had to do something as he could not lose her.
"No… you can't go. You don't know if it's safe or not. The Death Eaters must be keeping an eye on the Burrow. If you go there you will get caught in no time…it's dangerous Hermione, you are not going there… I forbid you." Harry said trying desperately to convince her.
All of the sudden Hermione's expression changed and raged, "Did you just used the word 'forbid' Harry?"
Harry quickly realized his mistake, "No, no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that Hermione. I am just worried about your safety. You know me; I would never restrict you or anything." Harry back pedaled quickly before he did more damage with his words.
"How can you Harry? I always stood by you since we were 11 and you are trying to keep conditions and restrictions on me." Hermione said with tears in her eyes. Harry felt worse seeing the tears in her eyes. He never made Hermione cry in their entire friendship as it was always Ron who made her cry.
"Hermione please, don't cry. You know I am always grateful for you. You saved my life more times than I can count. I was just stupid- I didn't mean it like that. Tell me what you want me to do. I will do anything… just don't cry. Please." Harry pleaded.
"If you really mean that, then will you come with me to the Burrow?" Hermione asked wiping her tears.
"Yes, yes I will come with you." Harry said quickly before thinking and when he realized what he agreed to, he gasped loudly. Then he saw the slow smile spreading across Hermione's face.
"You… you tricked me. You tricked me to agree with you." Harry said disbelievingly. But Hermione just kept smirking.
"I didn't do any such thing. You agreed to come with me and you are coming. Just get ready fast".
Harry tried to talk but Hermione pushed him into the bathroom and closed the door. Harry just sat there cursing himself for the situation he had gotten himself into.
Ron apparated both himself and the goblin to the dark corner near the Gringott's Bank. He quickly made himself and Griphook invisible. They both were wearing Fred and George's special glasses so that they would be able to see each other, but others wouldn't.
They both stealthily entered the Gringott's Bank and Griphook led him to the head goblin's office in which only a goblin can get access through. Ron waited outside the office whereas Griphook entered the office and turned off the intruder's alarm. Ron entered the office carefully waiting for the alarm to cease. When nothing happened, he let out the breath he had been holding. The head goblin was oblivious to everything happening around him and continued to sign papers.
Ron pointed his wand to the goblin's head and muttered, "Imperio". The head goblin's eyes glossed over as the spell took control of him. Ron silently thanked Bill for all the training he had given him.
"Go to the Lestrange's Vault." Ron commanded the goblin and the goblin started moving in a trance like state followed closely by Ron and Griphook. Luckily for them, nobody noticed the head goblin's strange walking style. They successfully cleared all the security parameters with the help of Griphook, who knew every bit of information about the bank.
The head goblin whistled to summon the cart that came trundling along the tracks towards them out of the darkness. They all waited as the cart approached and then climbed on board.
With a jerk the cart moved off, gathering speed, then the cart began twisting and turning through the labyrinthine passages, sloping downwards. Ron sighed in relief as they were flying deeper into the earth. Everything was going according to plan and if everything went well, he would be back to Shell cottage in no time.
As they zoomed past a curve, they saw a waterfall pounding over the track. Ron heard Griphook shout, "No!" But there was no braking. They zoomed through it. Water filled Ron's eyes and mouth and with a sudden jerk, the cart flipped over and they were thrown out of it. Ron heard the cart smash into pieces against the passage wall as Ron quickly cast the cushioning charm and all three landed painlessly on the rocky floor, but broke the glasses he had been wearing. He got up and looked for the other two and to his horror the delusionment charm wore off. He saw the head goblin shaking his head and coming to his senses.
"The Thief's Downfall!" said Griphook, clambering to his feet and looking back at the deluge onto the tracks, which, Ron knew now, had been more than water.
"It washes away all enchantment, all magical concealment! Now they know there are imposters in Gringott's. Within no time they will come for us." Griphook said looking at the head goblin and taking two clankers with him. "We need him."
Ron didn't bother asking him the need for clankers. "Imperio!" Ron said again. "Let's hurry. They will be here in no time." Ron said and all three hurried further. As they turned a corner, they came face to face with a fire breathing dragon.
Even though the Goblin said the creature was partially blind, Ron was still taken back for a moment seeing the dragon. He quickly took one clanker from Griphook's hand and started shaking it and it made a long ringing noise like hammers on an anvil. Ron could hear the people coming from behind; he quickly casted a shield charm on the path to slow them down.
Griphook dragged the head goblin along with him and placed his hand on the door. The door melted away to reveal a cave like opening crammed from floor to ceiling with gold coins and goblets, silver armor, the skin of strange creatures in jeweled flasks, and a skull still wearing a crown.
Ron quickly started searching for the Horcrux and then he suddenly realized the biggest flaw in his plan: he didn't know what it exactly looked like. He tried 'Accio' in vain. All of his efforts were futile and judging by the outside sounds, he realized that he was going to get captured; also, to make matters worse Griphook started shouting, "Thief, thief" as he ran outside dragging the head goblin along with him as the door reappeared and they rushed out. Ron gave a loud yelp and cursed under his breath before lighting up his wand. He started searching still more frantically for the Horcrux. He pulled out a basilisk flank from his pocket and stabbed a cup near him; to his horror as it hit the ground it started multiplying. He could see that the floor was covered with identical cups rolling in every direction, the original impossible to discern among them. As soon as he touched one of the cups, it burned his fingers causing Ron to shout in surprise.
Ron stood still trying not to touch anything as he waved his wand to see anything resembling Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw house. All of a sudden, the vault door opened revealing the most evil wizard of all time: Lord Voldemort himself.
Harry and Hermione apparated near the Burrow under the invisibility cloak. Harry carefully observed the surroundings before slowly removing the cloak. Hermione took out her wand not taking her eyes off the surroundings and muttered, "Homenum revelio".
"Somebody is here Harry." Hermione muttered urgently. Harry tried to get both of them under the cloak but was late to react. Before they knew it, they heard two voices shouting 'Expelliarmus' and both of their wands went flying through the air.
Harry lunged forward to catch his wand but before he could reach it, two cloaked figures were pointing their wands at their heads.