The Houses Competition: Practice Round

House: Slytherin

Class: Herbology

Theme: An original character

Prompt: [Location] Gringotts

Word Count: 1250

Trigger warnings: Anti-werewolf sentiments (I didn't specifically reflect any real world discrimination with it, but I like to tag it anyway); Mild swearing (one or two uses of the H word)

Notes: It AU time! It should be pretty self explanatory, but it's another story in my Auror!Remus AU. Thank you to my wonderful beta!

Suffice it to say Richard Davies was not at all happy with the new partner he had been assigned. He had tried everything he could think of to switch partners, but all that had gotten him was a severe—and thankfully private—dressing down from Auror Moody. His first time being assigned a freshly-out-of-training partner, something that should have been a great sign of trust from the head aurors, and he was stuck with the werewolf! He looked across the main hall of Gringotts to where Lupin was standing, scanning the crowd for their target. How Lupin had managed to get hired in the first place, Richard had no idea. Well… he had some idea. It was probably the pure desperation of the war that had gotten him hired, but the war was over now, and if it was up to Richard, he would have been fired as soon as the department had enough trained aurors again. But Auror Moody seemed to have a soft spot for Lupin, so here Richard was, partners with a werewolf.

Richard went back to scanning the room, and just in time, too. Their target, an up-and-coming thief who called himself Bernard the Bandit was just walking through the door. Up until one week ago, they'd had no idea what Bernard the Bandit looked like, but with the help of a very observant portrait of a painter, they were able to identify him. Richard looked back at Lupin just in time to catch his eyes and nodded towards Bernard the Bandit. The mission was on. They carefully moved away from the places they were standing and began following Bernard the Bandit through the bank. If he was being honest, he was surprised at how well things were going on this mission.

…

He really should have known better than to think the mission was going well. Bernard the Bandit had noticed them not 2 seconds later, and now they were stranded somewhere in the depths of Gringotts with no help and no way of contacting anyone on the outside. Lupin, of course, was of no help, suggesting increasingly implausible ways of getting out. He seemed to think he was an expert on sneaking around places he wasn't supposed to be.

"Alright, if making our own way out isn't going to work, then our only option is to attract the attention of the goblins and…"

"That's not going to work either!" Richard snapped. Didn't Lupin understand anything about how wizarding society worked? "The goblins will think we were trying to break into the bank."

Lupin took a deep breath. "Well, if none of my suggestions are acceptable, then what would you suggest?" he asked, his voice intentionally even as if he was talking to a naughty child.

Richard looked around the dark area lit only by the light of their wands. The long tracks were rather foreboding in the cavernous space. It didn't take long for Richard to realise that he had no suggestions.

"If we attract the goblins' attention, there's a chance we could lie our way out of this," Lupin said.

Richard scoffed. "This is what I don't understand about you, Lupin. You talk as if you know how to lie your way out of trouble, or sneak around without getting caught, but I remember the auror training, and the things you talk about seem impossible even with that training!" He looked at Lupin, who seemed to be holding back laughter.

"I assure you, I have lied my way out of trouble far more than just in training. I was quite the troublemaker at Hogwarts and once convinced Professor Vector that I had a perfectly good reason to be in the teachers' lounge in the middle of the night with itching powder, babbling beverage, and a half-invisible stag. Goblins, I imagine, would be harder to convince, but I have a vault key, so it would be easy enough to say we lost our guide on our way to my vault."

That had to be the least believable story Richard had ever heard. "Your overconfidence gets old, Lupin," he said. "And honestly, after hearing how unconvincing a lie that was, I'm even less inclined to trust you."

Something seemed to shift in Lupin's posture. His light-hearted attitude almost seemed forced, and there was a hint of resignation in his eyes. "In that case," he said, his voice matching the resignation, "our best option is to conjure a cart, follow the tracks up, and hope we don't run into any goblins or other carts."

"I've already said that's a terrible—"

"Yes, it is a terrible idea," Lupin snapped. "But unless you have a better idea, we're stuck down here until you put your prejudices aside and work with me!"

Richard scoffed. Turns out the only thing worse than a werewolf was a werewolf that thought he was better than everyone else.

"Listen, I know you don't like me, and that's fine, but you're going to have to start trusting me or one day it's going to get both of us killed."

Just as Richard was about to snap back that it would be a cold day in hell before he trusted a werewolf, the platform they were standing on was lit up by a blinding light, and a few seconds later, a cart with a goblin and an old-looking wizard jolted to a stop beside them.

"What are you two doing here?" the goblin asked harshly.

Richard began searching his mind for any excuse that was even remotely believable.

"We got separated from our guide on the way back from my vault," Lupin said, stepping forward.

Richard barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Lupin was going to get them in trouble. The goblins hated when aurors worked in the bank, and would hate it even more with him lying about it.

The goblin didn't seem to believe him either. "Key?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

Lupin reached into his robes and pulled out a heavy iron key. He handed it to the goblin confidently.

After what seemed like ages, the goblin finished examining it. "A fee of five hundred galleons will be taken from your vault. Normally, it would be a thousand galleons and you'd be detained and turned over to the ministry, but since the Black family have long been in good standing with Gringotts, and this is a first offense, the fee will be decreased this once. I will warn you, however, that Gringotts won't be so lenient if you're caught wandering around a second time," the goblin said. "Get in, I'll take you to the surface after visiting this man's vault."

Why did Lupin have a key to a Black family vault? Richard watched him closely as they climbed into the cart. Lupin's expression was guarded and aloof. It shouldn't have been that easy for him to convince the Goblin of his story; something more had to be going on here. The Black's were known for being on He Who Must Not Be Named's side in the war, and some goblins had been as well. Richard couldn't help but remember what Sirius Black had said as he was being dragged to the transport to Azkaban. It wasn't me. Just ask Remus, he'll tell you. He'll tell you it wasn't me. Suddenly, Richard was glad he was assigned to work with Lupin. None of the other aurors that had been assigned partners from Lupin's class had heard what Black had said. They say keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, and Richard would be watching Lupin. You can never trust a werewolf.