"Okay!" Hermione said, her voice still fresh with delight. "So...any ideas?"
"'Mione, there's no need for logic here; whatshisname already gave us the bells." Ron pointed out.
"My name is Grumduk!" the goblin exclaimed, extracting another bell from his waistcoat. "And what are you doing here near the Black and Malfoy vaults?!"
"Uh-oh!" Hermione whispered frantically to Ron. "What do we do now?"
"Imperio!" Harry said, flicking his wand casually at Grumduk.
"Harry!" Hermione protested, a look of shock on her face.
"Relax..." Ron said. "How else d'you think he'll cooperate?"
Draco smirked. "For once, I agree with you, Weasley."
Ron flashed a look of loathing at him. "Keep your slimy git-face out of this, Malfoy!"
"Git-face?" Draco asked, his smirk widening with amusement.
"Ronald!" Hermione scolded.
"No, it's alright; I suppose I should have known Weasley's vocabulary would always be stuck in 1st year standards..." Draco retorted calmly.
"Draco!" she reprimanded again, pulling on his arm.
"Since when do you call Malfoy, Draco?!" Ron demanded, rounding on Hermione.
She gaped, flabbergasted, at him. "Ronald Weasley, you're such a-"
"ENOUGH!" Harry bellowed, who had been quietly watching the scene. Time was running out. "Look, I know there's a lot going on at the moment..." he started again. "And we haven't seen you in ages, Hermione..." a short nod of acknowledgement to Hermione. "But, we have to at least get through that chamber, and collect the goblet from Bellatrix's vault; and whatever it is you two came to get." He added, looking meaningfully at Draco in particular.
He took the bell from Hermione, and peered into the chamber cautiously. "Alright. It's tethered to whatever that thing is, and we only have 2 bells." He looked to Grumduk for confirmation. "Okay—Hermione, Draco, and Grumduk; you three go in together; and Ron, Griphook, and I will come in after.
"Oh, that's terrible isn't it!" Hermione cried, Grumduk clanking the bell behind her.
"I know; we could be killed!" Draco whispered.
"No, I was talking about the dragon!" she retorted; looking regretfully at it as they passed it.
Despite Hermione's compassionate efforts to converse in the dragon's effort, Ron seemed absolutely terrified as he passed it. It seemed to be an albino; entirely white except for its grayish spikes located on its back and torso. The dragons grappled wildly with the chains holding it down, and burgundy splotches were located all along its neck—signs of prior disobedience.
"This is abuse!" Hermione called out, only to be silenced by an annoyed Draco, who clenched her arm tighter, and nudged Grumduk forward with his foot. "Shut it!"
They soon faced the Black, Lestrange, and Malfoy family vaults after exiting the chamber, Hermione still muttering S.P.E.W.-like things under her breath, and Ron shuddering after his scarce encounter with the dragon.
"What do we do now?" Harry asked Griphook, who promptly forced Grumduk forward, allowing him to stroke the vault's ornate iron wall, so that it seemed to melt beneath his long, knobby fingers.
"Bloody hell..." said Ron at the sight of the glittering jewels and treasures piled high in the Lestranges's vault. "I reckon we can take a bit more than just that cup!" he grabbed a valuable-looking necklace, and gasped as it singed him; dropping it back on the floor. "It burned me!" he cried out.
"Ron, watch out!" Harry shouted, as the necklace began to multiply at his feet, threatening to burn holes through his shoes. Ron immediately jumped back, giving Draco a warning look as he sniggered beside Hermione. "Alright, I see the goblet up there..." Harry said, pointing to a small, golden spot at the top of all the treasures. "Merlin's beard, that was easier than I thought!" Ron gaped at the goblet. "All we have to do is climb up there and get it!" He ran for the vast pile.
Hermione dragged him back by Bellatrix's draping black dress. "No! Ron, don't you realize that everything touched burns you and then multiplies! I suspect the Geminio and Flagrante charms..."
Ron looked appalled. "Well, how are we supposed to get Hufflepuff's cup from all the way up there?"
"Hufflepuff's cup...?" Draco asked, a blank expression on his face. Hermione nudged him.
"The sword." Harry replied, a look of understanding beginning to form. "We can use the sword to grab on to its handles."
"My sword." Griphook interrupted rudely, snatching Gryffindor's sword from Harry. "In case you've forgotten, we had a deal."
"You'll get it after we get the cup, Griphook!" Harry shot back, grabbing it from him. "Be patient."
"We've been patient for centuries!" demanded Griphook, shaking a fist at Harry, who simply ignored him, and stared at Helga Hufflepuff's cup in the distance. "Ron, you come stand behind me in case we lose the cup. Hermione, Draco; go on to the Malfoy vault; I'm sure we're fine here.
"But Harry!" Hermione protested, only to be dragged along by Draco with one hand, while he had Grumduk in tow with the other.
"Alright, Grimdik...Grumdok...Grinduk...however the hell your name goes...Open the vault." Draco commanded.
Grumduk, clearly unfazed by the butchering of his name, stroked the door, letting it melt at the touch of his fingers, just like the Lestrange vault.
"Let's make this quick." He addressed Hermione, who was gaping at the spectacular, gleaming stack of Galleons; filling the entire vault. He grabbed handfuls of gold at a time and stuffed them in Hermione's coat, and some in his own pockets, until Hermione smacked his hands away and protested indignantly, "Oh for heaven's sake, just put the gold in my bag!" She thrust her beaded pouch at Draco, who shrugged and stuffed gold in that instead.
After about 5 minutes of Hermione's nagging and Draco's grabbing, they finally left the vault, Hermione's beaded bag slightly heavier than it was before.
At that same moment, Harry and Ron also left the Lestrange's, the former's arms and legs singed terribly. "Where's Griphook?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"Never mind him." Harry said absentmindedly, Ron grinning behind him. "We have to go, quickly! I'm sure Vol-...You-Know-You will find out that we stole the cup eventually."
Hermione looked exasperated. "Have you two even made a plan for how you're going to leave here?!"
Harry's face fell, but Ron replied defiantly, "We were going to leave through the main hall—it's not our faults we didn't know about that enchanted stream or whatever that thing was...I reckon you and Malfoy were going to do the same exact thing."
"Speaking of Malfoy..." Harry said as Hermione opened her mouth to argue.
But Draco wasn't listening, his attention was instead directed towards the dragon behind them all. He watched it closely, fire licking the walls of its chamber, and it's great, spiky tail crashing about. His mind flashed back to that night...the silvery ignition blasting the dementors away...Hermione—limp in his arms...and then he turned to the Trio (and Grumduk, who continued to blabber quietly to himself). "The dragon." He said loudly, breaking their conversation. "We can go on the dragon." His voice was hoarse from the memories.
He heard Ron say faintly, "Is he out of his blooming mind?!" He heard Hermione call his name in shock. And he heard Harry call out, "Malfoy, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
But none of them mattered. All he could see was the white dragon in front of him. He didn't even have a bell with him. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. He couldn't think. He just acted on that growing sensation inside of him. That impulse. And when he climbed onto its back, it felt...right. Like he belonged there. He didn't notice Hermione and Harry climb on behind him...He didn't pay attention to Ron, who begrudgingly jumped on its back. He just felt right. And as the wind rushed around them all, soaring tranquilly through the sky...He didn't just feel right...Draco Malfoy felt free.
Author's Note- So...what did you think? I kind of feel the end might be a bit cheesy, but eh...we could all use some cheese ;)