Shell Cottage

Rob and Fleur's cottage stood alone on a cliff that overlooked the sea, its walls embedded with shells and whitewashed.

It was isolated and beautiful all at once.

No matter where he was, inside the tiny cottage or out in its garden, Arthur could hear the constant ebb and flow of the sea, like the breathing of a great, slumbering creature.

Arthur was able to cut his hair to his liking, very short but still messy.

He'd spend the next few days out of the cottage and watch the cliff top view of open sky and wide, empty sea with the cold and salty wind brushing his face.

Arthur was thinking about what Ollivander told him about how wands work with allegiance and ownership.

Voldemort took the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb, so sure that it would serve him.

But he was so wrong.

Arthur realised that he simply stole it, he didn't win its allegiance. Not like when Grindelwald took it from Gregorovitch. He didn't kill Dumbledore, or even disarm him or beat him in a duel, like Dumbledore did to Grindelwald in 1945.

No, someone else had won the Elder Wand's allegiance. It was Draco. He Disarmed Dumbledore that night on the Astronomy Tower and so it answered to him from then on.

But then, and this is where Arthur realised that he just may win against Voldemort because of this, he Disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor.

Arthur is the master of the Elder Wand. This is going to backfire on Voldemort big time.

He didn't tell the others this, as he felt like he had to keep it to himself for now.

Three days after they all arrived at Shell Cottage, all four were out in the garden, sitting under the clear blue sky to take a moment for themselves when Fleur came out, her long silver hair flying in the breeze.

"Arthur, Grip'ook would like to speak to you. 'E eez in ze smallest bedroom, 'e says 'e does not want to be over'eard."

Her dislike of the goblin sending her to deliver messages was evident as she looked irritable when walking back round the house.

As Fleur said, Griphook was waiting for them in the tiniest of the cottage's three bedrooms, which Chrys and Luna sleep in at night. He drew the red cotton curtains against the bright, clear sky.

"I have reached my decision, Arthur Pendergast." The goblin said, sitting cross legged in a low chair, drumming its arms with his spindly fingers. "Though the goblins of Gringotts will consider it base treachery, I have decided to help you, in return, for payment."

After a moment of silence, Arthur replied "Okay. What kind of payment?" Though he did know what Griphook wanted.

"I want the sword. The sword of Godric Gryffindor."

The other three looked at Arthur, expecting him to rage at him for even suggesting he hand his heirloom to him.

But Arthur just stared at him, considering what to do.

Considering that one of the remaining Horcruxes had to be at Hogwarts, they could just go to the Chamber of Secrets and grab a Basilisk fang or two, since its skeleton would still be down there.

And if they ever lose them or are destroyed, or they can't enter the Chamber for whatever reason, they could pull the sword out of the Sorting Hat, since the sword would just disappear from Griphook's grasp and wait for Arthur or a true Gryffindor to pull the sword out from the Hat.

"Okay. If you help us enter Gringotts and into the Lestrange family vault, I'll let you have the sword."

"Arthur! What are you -?"

"Quiet!" Arthur told Chrys with a look that told her, Mike and David that he'll explain later.

"Then shake." The goblin said, holding his hand out with a surprised expression.

Arthur took his hand and shook. Griphook then relinquished him and clapped his hands together, saying "So. We begin!"

"Just let us go get some drinks, this will take a while, after all." Arthur said.

"Of course." Griphook nodded.

Arthur led the others out of the room and headed downstairs into the kitchen.

"Why are you letting him have the sword, Arthur? It's rightfully yours." Mike said as they prepared their drinks.

Arthur explained to them why he's giving the sword to Griphook and also about what Godric wrote in his journal about what happened when he had the sword made by goblins.

"Of course, the goblins would've told their version of the story and it became history and fact when it really isn't." Chrys gritted through her teeth.

"Just imagine how mad he'll be when the sword vanishes." David chuckled.

When they entered back into the small bedroom, it was like planning to break into the Ministry all over again.

They all settled to work in semi-darkness, which was Griphook's preference.

"I have visited the Lestranges' vault only once…" Griphook told them. "...on the occasion I was told to place inside it the false sword. It is one of the most ancient chambers. The oldest wizarding families store their treasures at the deepest level, where the vaults are largest and best protected…."

They remained in the cupboard-like room for hours at a time. Slowly, the days all stretched into weeks. There was problem after problem to deal with, which included the fact that their store of Polyjuice Potion was greatly depleted.

"There's only enough for one of us." Chrys said, tilting the thick mud-like potion against the lamplight.

"That should be enough." Arthur said as he examined Griphook's hand drawn map of the deepest passageways with Mike.

The other inhabitants of Shell Cottage hardly failed to notice that something went on with Arthur, Mike, David and Chrys only emerging for mealtimes.

No one asked questions, though Arthur felt Rob's eyes on the four at the table, looking concerned.

The longer they spent with him, the more Arthur started to not like the goblin. He was pretty bloodthirsty, laughing at the idea of pain in lesser creatures and relished the idea that they might hurt other wizards to reach the Lestranges' vault. Arthur's distaste was shared with Mike, David and Chrys, but they didn't discuss it because they need Griphook.

Griphook grudgingly ate with the rest of them. Even after his legs were mended, he kept requesting trays of food in his room, just like the still frail Ollivander, who actually had a justified reason for having food in his room.

It was only after an angry outburst from Fleur that Rob told him that the arrangement can't continue. Therefore, Griphook joined them at the overcrowded table, though he refused to eat the same food, insisting on lumps of raw meat, roots and various fungi.

Arthur started feeling guilty: it was him that insisted that the goblin remained at Shell Cottage to question him and it was his fault that the whole Merlon family were driven into hiding and that Rob, the twins and Ben can't go to work.

"I'm sorry that you have to deal with all of this." Arthur apologised to Fleur one blustery April evening as he helped her prepare dinner.

She just set some knives to work, chopping steaks for Griphook and Rob, who preferred his meat bloody ever since he was attacked by Greyback.

As the knives sliced away behind her, her somewhat irritable expression softened.

"Arthur, you saved my sister's life, I do not forget."

He didn't have it in his heart to say that Gabrielle wasn't in any real danger.

"Anyway…" She went on, pointing her wand at a pot of sauce on the stove, which began bubbling. "...Mr Ollivander leaves for Edna's zis evening. Zat will make things easier. Ze goblin…" She scowled at the mention of him. "...can move downstairs, and you, Mike, David and Dean can take zat room."

"We don't mind sleeping in the living room." Arthur said, knowing that Griphook would think poorly at the idea of sleeping on the sofa, as keeping him happy was essential to their plans. "We'll be off your hands soon, by the way, me, Mike, David and Chrys. We won't need to be here much longer."

"But what do you mean?" Fleur said with a frown and her wand pointing at the casserole dish that was currently suspended in midair. "Of course, you must not leave, you are safe 'ere!"

Arthur was glad that the back door opened and both Luna and Dean entered, hair damp from the rain outside and arms full of driftwood.

"...and tiny little ears…" Luna was saying. "...a bit like a hippo's, Daddy says, only purple and hairy. And if you want to call them, you have to hum; they prefer a waltz, nothing too fast…."

Looking a bit uncomfortable, Dean shrugged at Arthur as he passed, following Luna into the combined dining and sitting room where Mike, David and Chrys were laying the dinner table.

Seizing this chance to avoid Fleur's questions, Arthur grabbed two jobs of pumpkin juice and followed after them.

"...and if you ever come to our house, I'll be able to show you the horn, Daddy wrote to me about it but I haven't seen it yet, because the Death Eaters took me from the Hogwarts Express and I never got home for Christmas." Luna said as she and Dean relaid the fire.

"Luna, we've already told you." Chrys called over to her. "The horn exploded, destroying your home. It was from an Erumpent, not a Crumple Horned Snorkack -"

"No, it was definitely a Snorkack horn." Luna said serenely. "Daddy told me. It will probably have reformed by now, they mend themselves, you know."

Arthur and Chrys shook their heads as the latter continued laying down forks as Rob showed up, leading Ollivander down the stairs. The wandmaker was still exceptionally frail looking, clinging to Rob's arm as the latter supported him, carrying a large suitcase.

"I'm going to miss you, Mr Ollivander." Luna said, approaching the old man.

"And I you, my dear." Ollivander said, patting her shoulder. "You were an inexpressible comfort to me in that terrible place."

"So, au revoir, Mr Ollivander." Fleur said before kissing his cheeks. "And I wonder whezzer you could oblige me by delivering a package to Rob's Auntie Edna? I never returned 'er tiara/"

"It will be an honour…" Ollivander said with a little bow. "...the very least I can do in return for your generous hospitality."

Fleur drew out a worn velvet case, which she then opened to show the wandmaker. The tiara was glittering and twinkling in the light from the low hanging lamp.

"Moonstones and diamonds." Griphook said, having sidled into the room without Arthur noticing. "Made by goblins, I think?"

"And paid for by wizards." Rob said quietly, making the goblin shoot him a furtive and challenging look.

A strong wind gusted against the cottage windows as Rob and Ollivander set off into the night.

Everyone else squeezed in around the table, all elbow to elbow with barely enough room to move and started eating.

The fire crackled and popped in the grate beside them.

Arthur noticed that Fleur was merely playing with her food, glancing at the window every few minutes for her husband. Rob returned before they could finish their first course, his long hair tangled by the wind.

"It's all fine." He told Fleur. "Ollivander's settled in. Both mum and dad said hello. Mary sends her love. Jack and Kevin are naturally making Edna mad as they're still operating an Owl Order business from her back room. She was cheered up when she saw her tiara back. She thought we'd stolen it."

"Ah, she eez charmante, your aunt." Fleur said crossly, waving her wand to make the dirty plates rise and form a stack in midair. She then caught them and marched out of the room.

"Daddy's made a tiara." Luna piped up. "Well, more of a crown, really."

David caught Arthur's eye and grinned. They remembered that ludicrous headdress they saw on their visit to Xenophilius.

"Yes, he's trying to recreate the lost diadem of Ravenclaw. He thinks he's identified most of the main elements now. Adding the Billywig wings really made a difference -"

There was a bang on the front door.

Everyone looked in the direction of the door.

Fleur ran out from the kitchen, looking frightened.

Rob jumped to his feet with his wand pointed at the door. Arthur, Mike, David and Chrys did the same. Silently, Griphook slipped out of sight beneath the table.

"Who is it?" Rob called.

"It is I, Remus John Lupin!" A voice called over the howling wind. Arthur was worried; what had happened? "I am a werewolf, married to Nymphadora Tonks, and you, the Secret Keeper of Shell Cottage, told me the address and bade me come in an emergency!"

"Lupin." Rob muttered before he ran to the door, wrenching it open.

Lupin fell over the threshold. He was white faced, wrapped in a travelling cloak, his greying hair windswept. He then straightened up, looking around the room to make sure of who else was there before he cried out "It's a boy! We've named him Ted, after Dora's father!"

Chrys shrieked in shock and joy.

"She's had the baby?"

"Yes, yes, she's had the baby!" Lupin shouted. There were cries of delight mingled with sighs of relief. Both Chrys and Fleur squealed "Congratulations!" and David said "Wow!" like he had never heard of one before.

"Yes - yes - a boy." Lupin said again, dazed by his own happiness.

He then strode around the table and hugged Arthur, which surprised him, like what happened at Grimmauld Place never did happen.

"You'll be godfather?" He asked as he released Arthur.

"Me?" He gasped, shocked that he was chosen to be what Sirius was to him.

"You, yes, of course - Dora quite agrees, no one better -"

"Yes, of course, without question." Arthur grinned, feeling so overwhelmed and astonished. Mike even hugged him by the side and kissed him, muttering "Congratulations, uncle Arthur."

Rob went to fetch some wine while Fleur was persuading Lupin to join them for a drink.

"I can't stay long, I must get back." Lupin replied, beaming around at them all, looking years younger than Arthur had ever seen him.

"Thank you, thank you, Rob."

Rob soon filled all of their goblets, standing up and raised them high in a toast.

"To Teddy Remus Lupin." Lupin said. "A great wizard in the making!"

"'Oo does 'e look like?" Fleur enquired.

"I think he looks like Dora, but she thinks he is like me. Not much hair. It looked black when he was born, but I swear it's turned ginger in the hour since. Probably be blonde by the time I get back. Andromeda says Tonks' hair started changing colour the day that she was born." He then drained his goblet. "Oh, go on then, just one more." He added, beaming, as Rob made to fill it again.

The wind buffeted the cottage and the fire leapt and crackled. Rob soon opened another bottle of wine. Lupin' news seemed like it took them out of themselves, removing them for this moment in time from their state of siege: tidings of new life were simply exhilarating.

The only one unaffected by this sudden festive atmosphere was Griphook. Arthur assumed he was the only one to notice that the goblin slunk back to the bedroom that he now occupied alone, but he saw Rob's eyes following the goblin up the stairs.

"No… no… I really must get back." Lupin said as he declined yet another goblet of wine. He got to his feet and pulled his travelling cloak back around himself. "Goodbye, goodbye - I'll try and bring some pictures in a few days' time - they'll all be so glad to know that I've seen you -"

He fastened his cloak and made his farewells, hugging the women and grasping the mens' hands before, still beaming, returning into the wild night.

"Godfather, Arthur!" Rob said as they walked into the kitchen together, helping clear the table. "That's such a huge honour! Congrats!"

As Arthur set the empty goblets that he carried, Rob closed the door behind him, shutting the others' voices, who were still celebrating in Lupin's absence.

"I actually wanted to have a private word with you, Arthur. It hasn't been easy to have one with a cottage full of people like this."

He hesitated before saying "I know you're planning something with Griphook."

Arthur nodded, knowing where this was going.

"Look, I know goblins, having worked for Gringotts since I left Hogwarts. As far as there can be friendship between wizards and goblins, I have goblins that I know well. What do you want from Griphook, and what you promised him in return?"

"Rob, you know I can't tell you." Arthur said.

The kitchen door opened. Fleur was trying to bring through more empty goblets.

"Just a moment." Rob told his wife, who backed out and he closed the door again.

"In that case, if you made a bargain with him, especially if it involves treasure, you must be really careful. The goblins' idea of ownership, payment and repayment are not like the ones humans have."

"How so?" Arthur asked.

"They're a different breed of being." Rob said. "Dealings between wizards and goblins have been fraught for centuries, as you'd know from History of Magic. There's been fault on both sides, and I'd never claim that wizards have been innocent. But there's this belief among some goblins, especially those at Gringotts, that wizards cannot be trusted in matters of gold and treasure, that they have no respect for goblin ownership."

"Well, I do." Arthur said.

"Do you, really?" Rob raised an eyebrow. "No one really understands unless they've been around goblins on a daily basis, like I have. To a goblin, the rightful and true master of any object they make is the maker, not the one who purchases. All goblin-made items are, in their eyes, rightfully theirs."

"And if they're bought?" Arthur asked.

"Then they'd consider it rented by the one who paid the money. They, however, have real difficulty with the idea of goblin-made items being passed from wizard to wizard. You saw how Griphook was when the tiara passed under his eyes. He greatly disapproves. He clearly thinks, like the fiercest of his kind, that it should be returned to the goblins once the original purchaser died. They consider the notion of keeping goblin-made items, passing them from one wizard to another without further payment, to be essentially theft."

Arthur wondered if Rob guessed more than he was letting on.

"I'm just saying…" Rob said as he set his hand on the door back to the sitting room. "...that you need to be careful when you make promises to goblins. All I'll say is that it would be less dangerous to break into Gringotts than to renege on a promise to a goblin."

"Don't worry, I'm actually going to keep my word." Arthur said as Rob opened the door.

He then followed him back to the others. He started thinking about how he'd be a reckless godfather to Teddy Lupin like Sirius Black was to him.

Arthur is genuinely going to keep to his word to Griphook, actually being honourable to him, knowing that the sword won't stay with the goblin, especially with his fate following the films.