บท 44: Chapter 44: Another One Bites The Dust
Luna skipped along the corridor towards the inner courtyard; the Grey Lady loved to float around in that part of the castle. Hermione walked along beside Luna, murmuring softly about potential avenues to pursue. Luna had to struggle to stop from chuckling. The Grey Lady had been around for centuries, she'd certainly experienced almost everything that Hermione could come up with to encourage her to talk about her past.
Luna was planning on taking a far different approach. The Ravenclaw ghost most assuredly loved the castle. Getting the woman to speak about her home would undoubtedly be simple enough. They didn't need a whole history lesson after all, simply a direction of available secrets to pursue. Sometimes Hermione and the others aimed for the Sun when the Moon would do just as nicely.
"Hello, Luna, it's a pleasure to see you as always," the Grey Lady said with a smile as the two students walked up. "It was a shame to lose you from my House, but you certainly seem to be flourishing. And Ms. Granger, I don't believe we've spoken often. What can I do for you today?"
Hermione stepped forward smiling. "Hello. Luna and I were wondering if you'd be willing to answer a bit of a debate we've been having. It's about the castle actually. Luna had mentioned that you've resided on the grounds for quite some time so we thought it would be best to seek out one with the knowledge to settle our discussion."
Luna could only smile and nod. She loved being friends with Hermione. The brunette never ceased to amaze her. Without any prompting at all, her friend had immediately chosen the one path that might just convince the Grey Lady to break her habitual silence on anything approaching the past. Hermione really was brilliant!
"Oh? What would the debate happen to concern?" the ghost asked intrigued.
"Layout mostly," Luna commented spreading her arms wide to encompass the entirety of the castle. "Hermione thought that most of the best hidden areas would have been found already, but I've been trying to convince her that there are still superb spaces that have survived through the centuries without being disturbed!"
Hermione sighed theatrically and shook her head. "She's oversimplifying things. The core of our debate focuses specifically on additional rooms that even the House Elves wouldn't be aware of."
"Like the Chamber of Secrets!" Luna chirped happily.
The Grey Lady frowned and crossed her arms. "Salazar really should have told the others about that cave system. My mother could have warded it appropriately had he bothered to tell her there was a basilisk sleeping in it."
Luna saw Hermione's mouth start to open and she pounced before her friend complete wrecked everything. The Grey Lady's identity as Rowena's daughter was not widely known – and Luna was not about to let Hermione to potentially damage their rapport with a question Luna could easily answer afterward. "I thought there might be a secret corner that each of the other Founders formed somewhere that were similarly hidden away. Hermione says that it's highly unlikely."
Hermione sighed though she took the hint to drop her attempted query. "Yes. You see, I've been trying to improve a map of the castle and we thought you might have some insights into whether there were any locations that we missed. The House Elves have been quite helpful, but Luna has made her case well enough that I'm worried and would like to be certain."
"May I see the map?" the Grey Lady asked. Hermione nodded and handed over her Aide. "Hmm, well it seems you've catalogued nearly all of the passages and locations I am aware of…I assume you've asked the Baron as well?"
Hermione sighed. "Two of our friends in Slytherin tried, but he wasn't able to assist. He apparently hasn't paid much attention to his wanderings."
"Well I can tell you for certain that Ravenclaw did not have any hidden locations. She assisted in the creation of this area with the others," the ghost said pointing towards the Room of Requirement. "While I can't speak for certain, I was told that all four considered it their prime achievement, Ravenclaw in particular. The spells and runic components that went into that room were some of the most complicated ever designed that did not end in complete devastation. Were you aware that it can become whatever you wish?"
Luna nodded. "Yes! We've been using it quite extensively actually! It is amazingly accommodating."
The Grey Lady smiled and nodded. "It is indeed. That room can even form new passages to areas adjacent to the grounds if needed in addition to expanding its own dimensions to an impressive degree. I imagine the storage configuration alone has likely grown quite extensive since initial construction."
"Storage configuration…" Hermione muttered. Luna cocked her head as her friend's eyes widened and Hermione gasped. "Ma'am, would the House Elves use the storage configuration?"
The Grey Lady shrugged. "I don't know. Many students and staff have utilized it in the past, but I've never seen one of the elves using that version. Generally they ask for cleaning supplies or something smaller than the original catchall. As far as I know, only two people have regularly used it in the last few decades. Sybill generally hides bottles from her private winery there when Minerva decides it's time for an inspection. The other…" her face took on a look of pure hatred and scorn. "The other perverted my mother's legacy. I was murdered for that hated thing and he tainted it!"
Luna's froze and blinked repeatedly trying to determine if they could really have gotten that lucky. Hermione had apparently reached that conclusion earlier as she grinned triumphantly. "Thank you, Ma'am. I do believe you've settled our debate. We might just be able to give you a bit of closure in a few hours. Come on, Luna, we have a scavenger hunt to progress!"
Waving goodbye to the Ravenclaw ghost, Luna skipped after Hermione. Her friend was just as impressive as always! It was only too bad that Coco wasn't with her to watch the fun about to be had.
Hermione nodded in approval as her troops spread out throughout the aisles. How they had managed to overlook a room that could hide anything you wanted nearly had her beating her head against the nearby armoire. This was Sirius 'Snuffles' Black all over again. They had been too close to the problem. Far too close apparently.
No matter. The Room of Hidden Things was not quite so 'hidden' anymore. It was now filled with over a dozen people all looking through the masses of junk for an elusive Horcrux. Luna was convinced that it was Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem and Hermione was tempted to a agree. After seeing Helena Ravenclaw's reaction – Helena Ravenclaw, the treasure trove of knowledge the Grey Lady must have had had all along – she was certain that, at minimum, this was where Riddle had hidden his Horcrux.
Hermione had wasted no time, in assembling their allies and organizing a search party as soon as she and Luna had inspected the room. The sheer staggering size of the amount of detritus that had been deposited in here was frightening. She was willing to put good money on the House Elves crying when they saw this place. Whether they'd be crying out of joy or sadness she couldn't guess. Even after speaking with Dobby and Winky for so long she still didn't fully understand the thought process those beings went through.
"Hey, Lav, does this match my pink shoes?" Parvati's voice floated from the next row over. Hermione rolled her eyes at her roommates. She couldn't really fault them – she'd grabbed four intriguing novels and one priceless First Edition herself. This room was a goldmine!
"It does, Parv, but try to focus. We find the evil soul thing first then we go shopping."
Hermione couldn't help but chuckle at that. Walking beside her Harry raised his eyebrows. "Lavender really is far more impressive than I initially gave her credit for that's all," Hermione said in reply to his unasked question.
Harry nodded knowingly. "Agreed; it can be rather funny sometimes. Hey what's this…a flute? We've been sitting on this place for years and had no clue…I can't believe some of this stuff that people have thrown away. Mione, look at this broom – it's brand new! It's ancient, but this is in perfect condition!"
"So take it," Hermione said shrugging. "I worry that we're going to be searching in here for hours or days…The search party seemed like a great idea when I rounded us all up, but there's just so much here…"
"Hey you found the room, Mione," Harry said smiling and kissing her cheek. "We're finally making progress. We'll find it. If we have to go item by item we will find it. So calm down! We're doing good!"
Hermione shook her head and smiled. "You're in a good mood today."
"I just love it when a plan comes together," Harry said laughing. He looked at her and squeezed her hand. "Also, you are exceptionally attractive when you're being all smart and stuff."
Hermione blushed and stammered for something endearing to say. Thankfully she was saved by a shout from Millicent further into the depths. "I got a hit! Guys, I got a hit! It's over here! Well…a Horcrux is over here!" Hermione gasped and started to run towards the Slytherin's assigned lane pulling Harry along behind.
"So apparently this spell works, Professor Black. Nice find," Millicent said to Sirius as everyone started rounding the nearest corners and the two came into view.
"I told you people it would work!" Sirius crowed puffing up his chest. "My family may be mostly insane bigots, but they keep darn good notes!"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes they do, Sirius. We are sorry for doubting you. Now let's all concentrate and actually tracking down the location shall we? Miss Bulstrode where was the positive response from?"
Millicent turned and pointed down one of the major throughways of the junk towards a large chest with a bust of a rather unattractive warlock. "Somewhere over there."
"Nice job, Millie!" Angelina said clapped the younger girl on the back as the Weasley twins grabbed both her hands and started vigorously shaking them up and down.
Tonks chuckled and stepped to the front of the group saying over her shoulder, "Gotta find it before celebrating guys. Let's see, let's see…worn panties…"
"Hey, I wondered where those got too! These were my favorite pair, how'd they wind up here?" Lavender mumbled snatching the underwear from Tonks' hand and drawing entertaining glances from everyone else.
"Moving on," Tonks muttered snorting in amusement, "ugly statue thing, faded tiara, old dresser…I don't see anything that might be a Horcrux."
Hermione frowned and took a piece of paper out of her bag. "Can you say that list again please, Tonks?"
"Sure. Lavender's panties, ugly statue head, faded tiara, an old dresser. Why?" Tonks said frowning.
"A diadem looks like a tiara," Hermione murmured. "That's odd."
Sirius smirked and chuckled. "Yeah like that old thing is a Horcrux. Good one, Hermione. Pull the other one, it has bells."
Harry frowned and narrowed his eyes towards the chest with the tiara on it. With an annoyed growl he ramped his Occlumency up to maximum and suddenly the ratty old tiara was far more interesting. "Arse. Guys, we found it. It's just under some sort of misdirection spell or something. If you push your Occlumency you can see through it."
Shiva cursed. "Bloody brilliant. You can't trap something in this school. If someone got lucky and found it then an investigation would be launched."
"Not under Dumbledore," Hermione muttered.
"By having everyone dismiss it though," Shiva said choosing not to comment on Hermione's remark. "Nobody would think twice about a dusty old tiara. Hidden in plain sight indeed."
Harry nodded. "Alright, everyone stand back. Horcrux Number Four coming up." Hermione watched him pull out his Soul Cage and walk towards the tia-priceless Founder artifact. The diadem started to shake as he stopped next to it and a dark stain started to spread across the metal. Harry didn't pause at all, he just pressed the rune against the diadem.
A loud screaming filled the room and Harry smiled as black ichor sprayed across the floor. The screaming stopped and he cast a cleaning charm on the diadem removing the rest of the ichor. "One more down, three to go." A series of whoops and shouts of encouragement resounded throughout the room as Harry turned to hold up the diadem. His grin turned a bit sneaky and he walked back to them. Holding out his hand and getting on one knee Harry said, "My lady, I present to you the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw."
Hermione could only gape at the treasure held in his hand inches from her. "What?" she asked dumbfounded.
"Well you and Luna found it. We can't give it back to the school yet so you might as well try it on for a few minutes," Harry said.
"Go ahead, mon amour, try it," Fleur said chuckling and gently pushing her forward to close the remaining distance.
Hermione blushed again and nodded. "Well…okay, maybe just for a moment." With trembling hands she reached out and plucked the diadem from her partner's hands. Gently she moved it to her head and sat it down amidst her hair. Blinking in surprise she turned to the others.
"Well how does it work? Solved any riddles of the universe yet, Mistress of the Tower?" Fred asked smirking.
"Well…" Hermione said slowly trying to think about something, anything complicated. Bernok's Arithmantic Formula for Entwined Empathic Response came to mind. She could remember reading the very page it had been on. Actually…she could practically reread that page right now… "Well, I seem to have a photographic memory now!"
Luna smiled and nodded. "Yes, that was one aspect of the diadem's powers. A shame its primary function of increasing cognition and cognitive speed doesn't appear to work for you, Hermione."
Hermione gaped at the younger girl and tried to come up with a suitable rebuttal, but after nearly a minute of trying to find something she had to give it up as useless. "I feel cheated…Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem and all it does is let me reread my books without going to go and physically get one…"
Tonks laughed and leaned down to kiss Hermione's nose and gently take the diadem off her head. "Only you Hermione could be completely unaffected by improved thinking and be disappointed that you get a photographic memory instead. You, love, are apparently too smart for Rowena Ravenclaw to have any effect." The group started laughing good naturedly as Hermione simply blushed further, completely at a loss for words.
Several days after the destruction of Voldemort's Horcrux, Remus was sitting in his armchair at home looking through an old photo album. Flipping the page he raised his glass and silently toasted. "You'd be so proud of your son, James. We all certainly are. He's gathered a group of friends that seem set to tumble the entire society we live in and build it back up stronger than it ever was before. We thought we were impressive with our adolescent explorations…none of our exploits hold a candle to theirs!"
Smiling fondly at an old photo Remus shook his head at the direction his life had turned in. Things were progressing and changing. Fudge's vote of No Confidence had finally passed earlier today and the portly man was no longer a thorn in their side. The truly amazing thing was that Amelia seemed to be the favorite for the newly vacated Minister for Magic position! If she received the job…Harry might just succeed in his threats about dragging the Wizarding World into the 20th Century kicking and screaming.
And it would make Sirius Black the boyfriend of the Minister for Magic. Wasn't that a scary thought!
A crash sounded from the front of his property followed immediately by the wards around his home screaming alarms. Remus jumped to his feet all traces of inebriation flung from his system by the adrenaline. His front door flew off its hinges under a rain of bombardment spells and a shout rang through the opening. "Anyone who kills the werewolf gets to play with the Mudblood and the bitch for the whole night! We want to finish this before the Dark Lord is forced to come in personally. No repeats of last time boys!"
Remus growled and his instincts surged. At least some of these Death Eaters were the ones who had killed Kingsley. He'd be outnumbered for certain. But unlike his friend, Remus had an emergency escape route immediately on hand. He was momentarily torn between wanting to stay and fight until the position was untenable or jumping away now. Judging by how quickly his wards had fallen prior to the alarms tripping it was likely that the enemy had arrived inside the range of his Tracekey. His house was small and his wards very close in. The destination would likely lock onto one of the Death Eater's portkeys – had they used any – vice his own priming one from last week. Should Remus utilize it now he might well arrive inside the latest Death Eater stronghold. Unexpectedly arrive inside their stronghold, Remus amended.
With a rueful grin he palmed the rune stone. Tucking the photo album under his coat he allowed himself to remain behind just long enough to sent a piercing hex through the first Death Eater's skull then activated the cluster.
A hook grabbed his arm and yanked upwards. Remus almost laughed. Harry had mentioned adjusting the basic portkey so that it would be slightly more comfortable though he had sounded quite annoyed at not being able to make the ride smooth like he'd hoped.
Abruptly the Tracekey dropped him at his destination and crumbled to dust in his hands with a bright flash of light and smell of ozone. He had just enough time to see a very surprised Macnair staring at him before Remus was leaping forward. Macnair barely even started to raise his wand before Remus reached him. A downward slice of his hand broke the man's arm forcing the wand to fall and a scream of pain to issue forth.
"There are some advantages to being a werewolf you know," Remus said conversationally. "Very strong bones. Quite a bit of extra muscle." He kneed the executioner in the bollocks then stepped back as the giant man fell to the floor whimpering. "One chance to make this easy. Where's the girl?"
"Dungeons…" Macnair wheezed out between gasps for air. "Left door. Second staircase. You'll never get out. We'll kill you all."
"Well, you won't. I did promise easy though…Goodbye and thank you for the assistance." Remus nodded ever so slightly and cast a quick bludgeoning hex into the man's head. Leaving the mess behind, Remus strode towards the indicated door and carefully peered around both sides before stepping through and hurrying out. He vaguely recognized this from when Sirius had dragged the Marauders on the political party rounds that the young Black had been forced into. This setup appeared to be Avery's summer mansion. If he remembered correctly…there was a section of wall in the dungeons that opened onto a tunnel into the cliffs beyond the apparation wards. Sirius had used it to let them escape the party early – and left Walburga spitting mad afterwards.
It would do perfectly.
Hurrying across the empty corridor Remus cast a quick homenum revelio and found two personnel walking down the corridor towards him. He waited until their outlines were almost at the corner before he flipped around it and sent two silenced cutting hexes into their necks. As the two Death Eaters died Remus jumped over them and ran through down the staircase towards the dungeons. He leapt off the stairs and landed right in front of Yaxley. Remus had to hand it to him, this man reacted far quicker than the prior three Death Eaters. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough.
Remus shot off a bludgeoner, a reducto and a severing curse in quick succession batting aside the man's half formed shield and leaving yet another cooling corpse. "Well, the home security seems to be somewhat lacking. I wonder if you were similarly lax in other matters. Accio cell key!" A small iron keyring flew from Yaxley's pocket into his hand and Remus smiled turning to the prisoners. "Hello, I'm here to rescu-Cissa?!" Remus' polite greeting degenerated halfway through into a shout of surprise and rage. Narcissa Black, the woman he had been somewhat dating for several weeks stared back at him in open mouthed shock from the other side of the bars. Behind her was a young woman, slightly younger than Remus curled up on the floor.
"Remy? How did you know I was here?" Narcissa asked blinking away tears.
Remus just shook his head and hurried forward to unlock the doors. "I had no idea. They attacked my home and I hitched a ride back when I heard they had a girl imprisoned. I didn't realize they meant two or that…how did they get you? I thought you were safe in Grimmauld?"
"I left to visit Andi," Narcissa said pulling him into a hug and short kiss. "They were waiting for me as soon as I apparated into the alley. We have to warn her in case they try for her next!"
"First we need to leave. Ma'am," Remus said gently pulled the other woman's arm and rousing her to her feet, "we're getting out. Can you walk?"
She blinked at him dazed before nodding slowly. Suddenly gasping a light seemed to switch on in her eyes. She jumped past Remus and grabbed up Yaxley's wand pointing it up the stairs. "Which way? I'll go first. I want to get these bastards."
"Actually this way," Remus said pushing on the stone that opened the hidden passage. Narcissa looked at him with arched eyebrows and he shrugged. "Sirius liked to leave the mandatory parties as quickly as possible. I know several passages through several different highborn manors. Quickly, I imagine it won't be long before – " he cut off as a deep hissing voice cut through the entire mansion.
"The werewolf is here. Find him and you shall be rewarded. Don't fail me again," Voldemort's proclamation died and the dark haired woman shook.
"He's here," she murmured. "We can't beat that monster, but we can go down fighting."
Narcissa grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the open wall. "Or we can run and live to fight another day. Lead on Remy, I have Davis."
Remus nodded and took off down the secret passage, two sets of running footsteps close behind him. They had been running for about two minutes when shouts rang out down the corridor. He thanked whatever god was watching that there had been enough turns in the passageway to prevent direct spellfire from reaching them. He felt the telltale tingle of passing through the wardline when he heard Bellatrix's mad voice scream out, "Fiendfyre!"
Not stopping to ask permission, Remus turned, grabbed the two women as they stepped past him and twisted. He apparated all three away just as the edges of flame licked around the corner.
Landing in a heap on the floor of Potter Manor, Remus groaned. Both Narcissa and Davis had landed on top of him and he seemed to have left a good deal of his shoe and cloak back at the secret passage in his haste. Well at least none of his body parts had been splinched. And he still could feel the photo album digging into his ribs so it wasn't a total loss.
"My hero," Narcissa murmured shifting enough that she could kiss him. "I'd say this makes things official then?"
Remus chuckled. "If you'll both let me up, I'll agree to that." The women blushed and quickly shifted to stand. The Davis woman froze as she caught sight of the basilisk skeleton which had turned to stare at the three newcomers. Remus' chuckle turned into a full on laugh. "Don't mind, Skelly, she's only there to intimidate people Harry doesn't like. She won't – and can't – hurt you."
Davis' mouth dropped open and she twisted immediately to stare at Remus with wide eyes. "Harry? As in, that's Harry Potter's basilisk skeleton? As in, this is Harry Potter's house?"
"Yes."
Remus had expected several things could happen, but the woman bursting out in side splitting laughter was not one of them. He looked to Narcissa who just shrugged equally nonplussed. "I'm sorry, this is just too ironic," Davis said between her giggles. "Let me guess, you're one of the honorary uncles?" At his nod she giggled harder. "My daughter is saved by Harry Potter from a giant snake monster and Voldemort possession. Now I'm saved by Harry Potter's pseudo-uncle from Voldemort and his gang of monsters only to stare in the face of the snake that almost ate my daughter! You can't make this stuff up if you tried!"
Remus looked at her for another moment before sighing and turning to Narcissa. "Cissa, please get Ms. Davis situated; her home is unlikely to be safe. I'll retrieve Andi and…hello Tonks, Fleur."
"Uh, hi, Remus. Why is Aunt Cissa and…some weird laughing woman in our house?" Tonks asked her hair switching to a bright yellow as Fleur cocked her head to the side.
Remus groaned and rubbed a hand along his forehead. "It's a long story. Short version is I was attacked. The long one will have to wait. I don't think our homes are safe anymore and this is the most secure location I know besides Hogwarts thanks to the goblins and Harry's paranoia. I'm off to collect your mother Tonks before the Death Eaters try to retaliate by attacking her. Would one of you be willing to invite Hermione's parents here? I feel it unwise to leave them in a Muggle neighborhood at this stage."
Tonks paled and nodded. "I got them. Fleur go with Remus. He looks like he's been hit by a lorry and I'd prefer my parents hold their questions until they're here." She summoned her leather jacket from the hall closet and slipped her gloves on in the time it took Remus to extricate himself from Narcissa's arms.
"Well, let's go get our family together. Just in time for Christmas too!" he said smiling.
"You know, mon amour," Fleur said giggling softly, "you are acting rather like 'arry at ze beginning of ze summer. You can't just hide in here and hope ze parents leave before you are forced to come out."
Tonks stuck out her tongue at Fleur and crossed her arms. "What I am supposed to say to them, hon? 'Hi, Richard, Emma, I'm Tonks. I'm shagging your daughter and now we're going to be living together for at least a few months while I keep almost dying trying to kill a psychopath evil wizard.' I've never gotten to the 'meeting parents' stage in my past relationships!"
Fleur laughed harder. "Well I would suggest switching 'shagging' for 'dating', but zat is just me. Perhaps ask zem about zeir work?"
Tonks gasped, her hair switching to pink and she jumped to her feet pulling Fleur into a hug. "Work! Perfect! Great idea, Fleur! Knew I kept you around for a reason."
"So my sexual proficiency has nozing to do wiz it?" Fleur asked her wink and wide grin betraying the attempted innocence.
"Nah, Hermione has some kinky ideas from those books she reads. You're definitely just here for your ideas and that hair."
Fleur laughed and gently took Tonks' arm in her own. "Come on, mon amour. Time to greet ze parents."
Tonks grimaced, but let herself be led down the corridor. They stepped into the already crowded library and Tonks' winced seeing everyone. Tracey Davis' mother was sitting in the corner glaring at her stolen wand while Narcissa stayed in the far corner wrapped around Remus. Her own parents were working on some of her father's latest cases on one of the couches. Richard and Emma Granger were busy perusing the shelves with huge smiles on their faces. "Well at least I can always just direct them to a new book if I screw this up too bad…" Tonks muttered. Fleur chuckled a final time before squeezing her arm and shifting away.
"Hello, again, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Tonks said forcing a smile onto her face.
Richard turned to her and shook his head with an exaggerated sigh. "Tonks, we told you to call us Richard and Emma when you picked us up earlier."
"I know. And I'm working on that, Mr-er-Richard. It's just a little…I don't know, weird?" she said shrugging and using her powers to avoid blushing.
Emma laughed and patted Tonks on the shoulder. "Don't worry, dear, we won't bring up you corrupting our daughter's virtue." Tonks' mouth dropped open and her abilities were nowhere near enough to stop the blush from spreading. She very nearly tossed a stinging hex at Fleur who was leaning against the bookcase nearby and laughing silently.
Richard sighed heavily and said, "Sweetheart, by not bringing it up you brought it up. And besides, it was surely Harry who took her virtue first."
"Well Tonks is ze oldest among us," Fleur commented helpfully. Tonks turned a murderous gaze on her partner.
"True, true," Emma agreed. "And while you seem the most adventurous, Fleur, we know it had to be one of the others. If only because our girl would likely take the lead the first time."
"Hey!" Tonks said after finally regaining the power of speech. "I'm right here! Can we please stop talking about this?!"
Richard laughed and sat down in one of the armchairs grinning like a loon. "Well we were just told we can't go home for a few months thanks to a war we're technically not supposed to see. We have to have a bit of fun somewhere along the way and Hermione isn't around to tease!"
Emma nodded sagely and sat on her husband's lap. "Consider it a sign that you're an accepted part of the family, Tonks."
"An accepted punching bag of the family is more like," Tonks grumbled. She snorted in amusement before attempting to smile at the others. "Well this family member is going to go check on the other guests. Feel free to abuse Fleur while I'm gone. She could do with being taken down a peg or two."
Tonks left the laughter behind as she walked over to speak with Mrs. Davis. "You alright?"
"I've been better," Davis said curtly. She finally tore her gaze from the wand and looked to Tonks. "You're the ex-Auror friend right? Tonks something?"
"Just Tonks."
The woman nodded. "Just Tonks, aye. I'm Marian Davis. My daughter is dating your newest girlfriend."
Tonks grimaced. "Yeah, I know. Small world huh?"
Marian just laughed though there wasn't much humor in the sound. "You can say that again, Tonks. Thanks for opening up your house to us by the way. I'll have to get a new wand at some point I suppose and I can't just hide out here forever. Do you mind if I borrow an owl? I should let my husband know to stay away for a while. He's on a business trip. They waited until he was gone to kidnap me. Hazards of being a Muggleborn married to a pureblood in these days I suppose." She paused and eyed Tonks. "Your man is working to kill all of these bastards right?"
"And to hopefully fix the system so that their kind doesn't start cropping up again another few decades down the road like last time," Tonks said. They were finally starting to make a real difference and she'd be damned if she watched it all backslide by the time her own kids were growing up.
"Good. Tear the weeds out at the root. Now," Marian grinned up at Tonks, "I wonder if you could tell me a bit about my daughter's girlfriend? Tracey is always so guarded about these things and I don't have nearly enough material to tease her with when I see her again!"
Tonks could only groan and slap her hand to her forehead. "What is it with parents? Do you all take lessons in how to embarrass your offspring?"
Fenrir Greyback looked down on the town of Hogsmeade and his lips split into a feral grin. The utter failure at the Avery manor had been rather supremely unpleasant for the Death Eaters. Greyback couldn't be happier about it! He'd been away at the time and had received sufficient warning to avoid returning until Voldemort's anger had cooled; so he'd managed to escape the debacle without any punishment. He'd even come off looking good from the incident when he'd 'casually' mentioned that he'd warned several of the personal present of the potential advantages of working with werewolves – which would have naturally translated to extra protective measures when fighting against one.
Now Greyback was almost assured the honor of going after the wayward wolf himself after this operation was completed. Normally he preferred his prey to be young enough to avoid puberty, but he could make exceptions for hunting down fellow werewolves. They always made entertaining prey and it helped to further cement his position as alpha in the pack.
Greyback licked his lips as he saw the Hogwarts students milling about in the town. Voldemort hadn't specified a preferred date for the attack so he'd taken some liberties with it and made certain that the kiddies would be around. If he was going to be causing mayhem he might as well get some tasty morsels while he was at it. Maybe with some luck the lycanthropy would carry over despite the lack of a Full Moon; it was always a tossup without the Moon. If the curse did take though…well then he'd be able to play with his new converts in the pack afterwards…
"Get ready," Greyback said wiping a bit of drool off his lips and refocusing on the task at hand. "All forces attack on my mark. Five, four, three, two, one…Now!" He leapt up and apparated into the first street with his pack close behind. Two additional wolves stayed with him as an honor guard while others spread out through the town cutting off the exits and going for the high priority targets like the Three Broomsticks, Zonko's and Honeydukes.
Leering in glee, Greyback snapped off a body-bind spell at a nearby long-haired Chinese girl while his pack took shots at the residents. The girl fell to the street while the single spell she had managed to get off took out a chunk of the cobblestones as her arm snapping to her side. He laughed as he stepped towards her. "Nice reflexes. I hope you change, you'd make a great addition to the pack! Slightly too old for me really, but you're a bit flat so I can close my eyes and pretend." He felt himself harden as her eyes spat fire. It was always so much more fun to break the ones with fight in them! "Oh and you have daggers too! I wonder if you know how to use those?"
Greyback heard shouts coming from down the street causing him to sigh in disappointment. He really hated losing the opportunity to play with his food. "Well better to get this over with." Leaning down, Greyback bared his teeth and bit deeply into the meat of her arm. Feeling the warm blood flow down his throat he pulled back grinning at her. "See you on the Full Moon flat one!"
He stood and ran down the street after his pack mates. As he turned the corner, he pulled up short and gaped in surprise. A third of his pack lay dead or dying on the streets with the remaining ones taking cover behind a makeshift barrier in the middle of the road. They were besieged by several townsfolk and – amazingly enough – about twenty students from various years. Only a few third years were utilizing stunners and body-binds while the rest of the town's defenders were busy firing dangerous and potentially lethal spells at the pack.
He snarled as he saw Potter, Granger, Greengrass and Longbottom leading the defenders in their counterattack. Further down the street near Gladrags he spotted Davis and Mini-Busty Bones hunting down several scattered members of the pack while Scrivenshaft's was being covered by the Lovegood bitch and the youngest Weasley. As Greyback watched, he saw two more of the pack drop as spikes of silver shot through their chests from Potter's Merlin-be-damned runes.
Greyback briefly contemplated ordering a retreat but a blur of movement dashing from the shop next to him pushed that concept from his mind. Leaping to the side, he grabbed the cloak of the small girl running towards the dubious safety of her friends. His lips splitting into the wolf's smile again, Greyback held up his prize and shouted, "Stop or the Greengrass bitch dies!"
His pronouncement froze several of the defenders and he watched in satisfaction as Potter, Granger and his prize's sister turned their attention on him. Leering at the students, he pulled the small blonde closer to his lips. "That's better! Now drop your wands and throw some of those rune stones over here."
Instead of following his orders the elder Greengrass leveled her wand at him. "Let go of Astoria and I let you live." Her voice was calm and quiet though it carried across the entire square. The few remaining spells stopped and all eyes turned towards the stalemate.
"Daphne, don't!" his prize shouted. He opened his fingers just enough that she could get the rest out without gasping. It wasn't as good if they couldn't scream a little. "Just get the rest of them! Tell Gabi I would've loved to check out the French guys together!"
Greyback had to suppress chuckles at that. He liked this girl. "I think I may just turn her if you don't drop those wands in five seconds!" he shouted laughing slightly. She had such a good scent. Leaning down to sniff her neck he ran his tongue over his lips and bared his teeth. Shifting his eyes up he spared a final quick glance to see if any of them had complied and spoilt his fun. He'd probably bite her anyway even if they had. His eyes widened as a thin blue light sprang from Granger's wand.
Greyback didn't have any time to move before pain blossomed in his head and the world went dark.
Daphne saw the piercing spell shoot through the space between Fenrir Greyback's eyes and the blood spurt from the back of his skull. The alpha werewolf's grip opened and Astoria pulled free. She sprinted away from him and ran to Daphne. The remaining few werewolves apparated out with pops that Daphne barely heard. She grabbed her sister in a hug muttering, "It's okay, sis, you're okay. He didn't bite you right?"
"No," Astoria murmured. She pulled back and flashed a shaky smile. "I'm fine. I'm going to head inside to check on my friends okay, Daph?"
"Go. It's safer in there." Daphne let her run, watching until the door closed. Once it swung shut, Daphne turned to Hermione and grabbed her head on each side pulling her down into a deep kiss. Hermione made a noise of surprise, stiffening slightly. Daphne pulled back smiling and hugged her friend hard enough to bruise. "You saved my sister. Thank you, Mione."
As Daphne let a blushing and stammering Hermione go, she saw Harry smiling at them both. "Hey, I'm not the only one to play hero for once! Nice shot by the way, Mione. Let's go make sure that everyone else is okay and the rest of the attackers are gone."
Daphne hurriedly nodded and shifted to shadow him as he started to walk down the street, Hermione and Neville following on either side. They had barely even gotten started before the professors joined in the efforts. Sirius, Shiva and Lily made a beeline towards the quartet. "Jeez, you kids can't even go for a simple walk around Hogsmeade without getting into a fight," Sirius said shaking his head. His grin did almost nothing to hide the way his muscles tensed and the white knuckles clenched around his wand.
Lily and Shiva both paled even further as they looked over the bodies in the streets. "How many children were hurt?" Lily asked.
Neville gestured to a small group in the Three Broomsticks. "Not many surprisingly. Daphne's Defense Association rallied a pretty good defense really fast. They weren't prepared for us to actually fight back. The town helped funnel them all here to keep casualties on side streets to a minimum."
Shiva nodded. "I'll help fix up those who need it. Lily, watch this lot. Sirius, sweep the north side. Filius had the east and Minerva was taking the West." She squeezed Harry's shoulder and hurried to the pub waving Madame Pomfrey over to assist.
"Daph!" Tracey shouted running up and embracing her. Daphne melted into her girlfriend's arms letting some of her stress bleed away. "I saw him grab Astoria. Thank Merlin she's okay! First Shacklebolt's killed, then my mother gets kidnapped, now they attack Hogsmeade?!"
"Look on the bright side, Trace," Daphne murmured smiling. "Voldemort has got to be running low on lieutenants by now." That comment brought a low chuckle to her girlfriend's lips.
The group turned back to triage and cleanup. They had been at it for about fifteen minutes when Sirius returned with a furious Su Li in tow, a large bandage wrapped around her arm. "Poppy, we need a test here," Sirius called grimly. Daphne felt her blood chill and she hurried the group forward.
"Su, did they…?" Daphne asked softly trailing off.
"Greyback," the Chinese girl snarled. "And he had the nerve to call me flat! When I find that pedophile bastard I am going to cut his jewels off and feed them to him before I flay him into tiny strips of meat! Bite me. We'll see who gets the last laugh, arsehole! If I turn I'll steal the whole fucking pack from him!"
Hermione grimaced and held up a hand. "Um, Su, he's over there. I already killed him…he had Astoria and…well I saw an opening and…sorry…"
Su followed Hermione's finger and turned back eyeing them all carefully. "You made a pinpoint shot around a hostage?"
Harry nodded. "She did. I'm sorry you were hurt, Su."
"Nice aim, Granger. I knew you could be a bit of a badass when push came to shove, but I admit I didn't think you had it in you to do that," Su said appreciatively. "Just wish I could resurrect him and kill him slowly. And this isn't your fault, Harry, so don't bother feeling guilty about it. Hell I wouldn't have even gotten bitten if I hadn't waited long enough to figure out who popped into the street in front of me. It's my own fault for having sloppy reflexes. I'll have to train harder. You still want those dagger lessons stay behind after the next DA meeting."
Pomfrey finally made her way over and frowned seeing Su. "Damn, not another one. I'm sorry, dear. There's no way to know for sure whether the curse takes hold until the first Full Moon. We have two others who will be waiting for the results. Report to the hospital wing the morning of and we'll be sure to take precautions…just in case."
Su sighed and nodded. "I will, Madame."
Daphne looked around the damaged street. She felt arms wrap around her from behind while a hand found one of her own. She didn't even particularly care just who was comforting her. Everyone around her was a friend and sometimes even the Ice Queen got tired of hiding behind her façade.
"Any word about Su?" Harry asked his friends as he sat down to breakfast with them the Saturday after the attack on Hogsmeade.
Neville nodded. "Yeah, she's okay. Mostly at least. The curse didn't fully take hold thankfully, but apparently there were a few minor side-effects. She was saying that she prefers her meat pretty rare now and I've noticed she's more aggressive than she used to be."
Tracey smirked and brandished her spoon at the Gryffindor. "You sure that's not just because she's still pissed that Hermione stole her kill? That girl was wound tight before this happened."
Neville chuckled. "She was, but yeah I'm sure. She mentioned it too. It was actually pretty funny since she joked about the wolf being too scared of her to manifest properly."
"She should teach Professor Lupin that trick," Hannah said smiling.
"Nah, he's earned his 'badass' cred after rescuing my mother from the lair of the enemy itself," Tracey replied shaking her head. "Thanks again for letting her stay for a while, Harry."
Harry just shrugged blushing a little. "It's a big house might as well use it. I'm sure that Fleur and Tonks were getting a bit lonely anyway."
Hermione snorted. "Yes well I for one feel a bit sorry for them. Sharing a house with my parents?" She shuddered theatrically causing the rest of the table to laugh.
"Hey did anyone hear about Rosmerta?" Susan asked. "I already talked to Ernie and he was in about the same boat as Su. Rosmerta was the last one bitten right?"
Neville sighed and shook his head. "She's not so lucky unfortunately. Full amplification."
"Damn," Harry cursed softly. "At least she owns the shop herself so she can't be fired…If we have to, make sure we all spread the word to keep patronizing the Three Broomsticks, guys."
"Katie was bitten too. Also full amplification," Fred murmured just loud enough for the rest of the group to hear. Suddenly his reserved status this morning made a lot more sense. "She wants to keep it quiet though and only let the DA members know. So please make sure you support her, but don't tell anyone else not in our study group." A series of understanding nods followed that request.
Conversations after that shifted to mundane items, homework questions and the next set of lesson plans for the DA. Daphne was just starting on how she was planning for Harry to introduce spell chains when the morning post arrived. Hedwig swooped down through the rain of owls to land a small rectangular package in front of Harry. Frowning curiously, he reaching out and started to unwrap it before being interrupted by the owl nipping at his fingers. "Ah, sorry, girl, my bad. Here," he said handing her a string of bacon and getting a bark of approval going along with an evil eye. "Hey! You just got me a package I wasn't expecting! I'm curious! You can't blame a guy for being curious."
Hedwig barked again and lashed out a wing to slap his head. "Ow! No need to get mean. I know it's safe otherwise you wouldn't have delivered it, girl." Hedwig puffed up her chest, but still refused to meet his eyes for longer than a second. "I promise, the next time you deliver a surprise package I will remember to praise you and give you your reward before trying to examine it. Deal?" Hedwig cocked her head to the side, considered him for a long moment before bobbing her head once and hopping up on his shoulder.
Hermione stared at the two of them with raised eyebrows. "I know Crookshanks is smart and all, but I don't know if even he is quite that impressive." Hedwig puffed her chest up further and hopped from Harry's shoulder to Hermione's nipping affectionately at the girl's ear.
Harry held his heart in pain. "Betrayed by my own familiar! The shame!" A round of laughter and a satisfied bark were his only replies. "Alright, let's see what's in this thing…" Leaning forward Harry pulled off the brown paper. As his fingers touched the second layer, a light, filmy coating on the surface luminesced briefly before the paper fully unwrapped itself.
Daphne blinked in surprise. "That wasn't a spell. That was some sort of…"
"Alchemy," Harry finished most of the prior levity drained away from his voice. The package contained a single VHS tape with a note on top. The note was simple: Latest antics of an old goat. Thought you might like to watch. Heard about your shopkeeper and Quidditch teammate. Included a recipe for a wolfsbane variant. We just finished the first round of tests. Let us know if it works better than the usual variety. (Yes there are three sample doses, didn't really think we'd leave out your Hunter buddy did you?)
Finishing up the note Harry smiled as he turned to his friends. "Have I mentioned recently how much I love being pen pals with those two? Let's head up to the Room and take a look at this tape. I'll grab the telly from my mum's room."
Barely ten minutes later, the entire group had assembled in the Room of Requirement and Harry was setting up his telly while Lily pored over the formula that the Flamels had sent. "This is absolutely brilliant," she muttered. "I never would have thought of adding in wiggentree bark…It should make the entire mixture unstable, but with the additional tubers here…"
Harry called out in triumph and his device flared to life. "Got it up. Mum, you need another minute?"
"I'm good honey, you can play it. Just trying to figure out whether the Flamels are completely insane or utter geniuses," Lily said waving him off.
Neville smirked and claimed a seat between Hannah and Susan. "Probably both considering what little we actually know about them."
Harry pushed the tape they'd sent him into the machine and sat back with Daphne and Hermione to watch while Luna curled up on Tracey's lap and Shiva leaned over Lily's chair. Sirius had actually made popcorn and was happily snacking away as the screen shifted to a display of the mental ward where Dumbledore was held.
"He's assembled an army!" Dumbledore screamed at the nurse in front of him while an older gentleman swatted at the ceiling fans with a cane behind him. "They're elite units! They repelled a full on werewolf invasion! You have to let me out so I can stop him!"
"Mr. Brian, wouldn't fighting off werewolves be considered a good thing?" the nurse asked innocently.
Dumbledore slammed his hands onto the table and his beard quivered. "Of course pushing back Dark creatures would be a good thing. But a war between two Dark Lords only hurts everyone! Harry Potter has his political support and his army! He has toppled the Ministry and installed a puppet Minister! Now he has shown the might of his forces. We must move now if we are to save anyone!"
Sirius laughed uproariously and spilled half his popcorn. "Oh Amy is going to scream when I tell her Dumbledore called her a puppet!"
"Shh!" several voices hissed. Sirius just kept laughing though he managed to lower the volume slightly.
On the screen they watched two orderlies come down the corridor aiming for Dumbledore. "No, not this time!" the old wizard yelled. "You won't stop me. I will save England!" He quickly turned to leap for the back room and ran smack into the man with the cane causing both to come crashing to the floor as the orderlies finally came up shaking their heads. The screen went black leaving the group chuckling amongst themselves.
Shiva smiled and shook her head as she shifted to sit with Lily. "You know, when they originally told us their plan I never thought I'd be satisfied with it, but I have to admit this is rather poetic justice for the man."
"Agreed. We need to send the Flamels a Christmas card this year," Harry said nodding.
Neville had opened his mouth to reply until he suddenly leaned back into the seat and lapsed into silence, his face relaxing into a slight frown of concentration. "Harry, Hermione…you two remember when we first learned about them?"
"Sure, " Harry said. "We looked them up in the book about savants."
Neville shook his head. "Yeah, but that's not what I meant. I was talking about the Philosopher's Stone."
"What about it?" Hermione asked. She blinked in confusion before gasping and sitting up straight.
Neville smiled. "Where did they hide that fake Stone originally before Hogwarts?"
"Gringotts," Harry said looking between his two friends. He frowned trying to make whatever connection the others had.
"And why is it that Gringotts is famous beyond regular banking?" Neville asked looking like the cat that caught the canary. Hermione started laughing followed shortly after by Daphne and Tracey.
Finally, Harry felt his mouth drop open. "Hagrid…'Ain't no safer place', indeed…"
The original plan for the Christmas hols had been for most of the group to stay in Hogwarts. It had been thought that having Harry and the majority of his family home for the New Year would make too tempting a target for Voldemort to ignore. That the Potter Manor's wards were second only to Hogwarts made little difference. As the school's motto said, it wasn't a good idea to tickle a sleeping dragon.
Now though…now that plan had changed. Now they had a potential lead to the final hidden Horcrux. Now they had to get to Gringotts without seeming suspicious.
What better time to take a trip to the bank then prior to some Christmas shopping?
In the end a compromise was reached. Sirius would join them at Gringotts in his official capacity as Lord Black and kip by for Christmas Eve/morning though officially he would be staying at Hogwarts and have to leave for a few hours on an Auror mission. Neville, Susan and Hannah would go to the Longbottom estate – with improved wards courtesy of Bill, Fleur, Shiva, Harry and Gringotts of course. Tracey would spend the holiday with Luna at her home – also with improved wards – before joining her mother and Daphne at Harry's. The Weasleys were of course going home to the Burrow. Daphne was officially going to the Greengrass estate, but in reality would be taken to Potter Manor as soon as she was in her bedroom with Dobby popping her back whenever Marcus went looking for her – if he did at all that was. Hermione, Shiva and Lily would return straight to Potter Manor with Harry.
Katie would also be stopping by the Manor though she'd only be there for the night of the Full Moon. Remus had offered to help her with the first transformation and the Chaser and had gratefully accepted.
Despite his friends accusing him – somewhat rightfully he was willing to admit – of being paranoid, Harry did think they were somewhat overthinking this. In a moment of temporary insanity he found himself almost hoping that Voldemort tried to attack his home. As long as the Dark Wanker brought his snake and his ring then Harry could kill four birds with one stone this holiday and have nothing to worry about for the rest of the year!
Rolling over slightly he readjusted his head on Daphne's lap on the Hogwarts Express and groaned loudly.
"Something wrong there, oh Great And Mighty Chosen One?" Tracey asked chuckling.
"I was just having a thought that probably signals early insanity. I wonder if whatever made Dumbledore nutters was infectious?" Harry muttered.
Hermione snorted. "Care to share, Harry? I'm sure it can't have been that bad. You aren't raving about magical wars to Muggles after all."
Harry groaned again and shook his head. "Don't want to. You'll hit me."
That comment sent a round of laughter through the cabin. "Oh, poor Harry Potter is scared of a girl," Daphne said smiling at her teasing. Her hand however, never stopped running through his hair so he was willing to let it slide.
"You've seen Mione angry. She's scary." Harry could tease them too if they wanted to play it like that.
An exaggerated sigh rang out above him setting on more giggles. "Well, if I must, I must. Harry, as your right hand I promise to protect you from the danger represented by Hermione Granger."
Harry could practically hear Hermione's eyebrows rise in amusement. "You might be able to take me standing up Greengrass, but do you really think you can get away while the boy wonder is lying sprawled across you?"
"Well his legs are sprawled across you too so I figure we both have even odds," Daphne said nonchalantly.
Hermione chuckled. "Nope. You forgot, dearest Daphne, that I can toss his legs aside without worrying about hurting him while you can't do the same to his head."
"She has you there, Daph!" Tracey tossed in.
Daphne's hands kept up their attentions despite her deep sigh. "Shite, you do have a point…"
"This is all a moot point anyway," Harry said. "My right hand can't defend against my left hand. That'd just be weird."
"Oh so I'm your left hand now?" Hermione asked doing her best to sound affronted and failing miserably. "Do I get a say in this?"
Harry paused to consider. After several long moments he stated, very imperiously, "Nope."
Luna laughed along with the others though as the noise died back down she cocked her head to the side and looked at Harry with a smile. If he didn't know better he'd have called it devious. "That was a quite decent distraction, Harry. What was the thought you had had earlier to prompt all this?"
Harry groaned again. Devious. The girl should've been in Slytherin. Coco giving her little rolling laugh certainly helped make his case for him. "I was just thinking that after we make our withdrawal it might have been nice for the Dark Wanker to show up at my heavily fortified house so I could finish our scavenger hunt and kill him all in one night."
Daphne sighed while the others groaned. "You're right, you do deserve to be hit for that. If he shows up and we kill him that's one thing. But, Harry, don't you know better by now not to tempt Fate with these things?"
"Agreed, mate," Neville chimed in. "You're already cursed, no need to help it along."
"Thanks for the support, Nev," he muttered.
The fellow Gryffindor saluted him. "No problem!"
Harry groaned again. "No love. I get no love. Besides, it's not Halloween or the end of the school year. Those are – " He was forced to cut off as Hermione leaned down and put her hand over his mouth.
"Shush now, love," Hermione said pulling her hand back. "While the sentiment may be correct and the hypothesis upheld through prior observations, there is no need to challenge whichever god or goddess you annoyed and break the pattern. Try not to even finish the thought. Now, I was wondering if anyone had any requests for movies."
A chorus of voices answered the girl and Harry tuned them out, going back to his nap. By the time he woke back up the train had already arrived in London and he and his friends exchanged thoroughly rushed goodbyes before being hurriedly apparated along to their respective abodes.
Rather than returning home though, Harry, Shiva and Lily went straight to Gringotts to get their actual holiday business done first. All play and no work would a Voldemort Britain make. As they walked into the bank together Harry saw Tonks standing next to Sirius rolling comically huge eyes at the man while Sirius smiled innocently. It was unexpected to find his partner here, but he certainly wasn't about to complain about getting to see her early. Less than five minutes after disembarking the train, Harry was striding forward towards the metamorph and wrapping his arms around her. "Hey, Nym," Harry greeted his partner as she let out a surprised huff of air at his embrace. "I didn't think you'd be here too!"
She twisted in his arms until she was facing him and raised her eyebrows before sticking out her far too long tongue at him. "Well you can't really expect me to let my Head of House go to the bank alone can you? Lord only knows what the overgrown child will take from the vault without some supervision!"
"Hey! Amy has firmly proclaimed me a teenager now! I am no longer a man-child," Sirius proudly proclaimed. Even the goblin teller groaned at that comment and waved them along to follow after Griphook. The group was led into Snapfist's office and promptly greeted by the Account Manager.
"What can Gringotts do for you today Warrior Potter? I assume there is a reason for the presence of Lord Black, the future Lady Black and your legal guardians?" Snapfist asked looking thoroughly amused at the extra people invading his space.
Harry nodded. "There is. They are here because we need to look inside Bellatrix Lestrange's vault." Snapfist's expression hardened and Harry hurried on before the goblin truly got angry. "With her husband's death and no children, I'm told that Sirius is recognized as her Head of House again. That should entitle him to inspect her holdings shouldn't it?"
Snapfist narrowed his eyes at Harry looking between all five humans present. "This is an unusual situation. The body of Lestrange would need to be recovered for that to be the case or the Ministry would need to declare him legally deceased. Neither has happened yet. As such, her holdings remain her own."
Shiva scowled and flopped into her chair. "Dammit, Snapfist this is important. Isn't there a loophole or something?"
Snapfist glared at her and lifted a clawed finger in warning. "Gringotts takes the protections of its customers' assets very seriously. The Nation may like you humans, but that only extends so far. If we compromise once, when do we stop compromising? Our enforced neutrality and complete trustworthiness is our greatest defense against any who seek to further undermine our constantly dwindling political capital and rights as a species. Until a formal declaration of war is made by the Nation, we will continue to safeguard all clients equally."
Harry sighed and held out his hand to summon the Sword of Gryffindor. As it materialized he reached over to lay it on his Account Manager's desk. "What if we wished to add an item to her vault?"
Snapfist stopped to consider that for a long moment before shaking his head. "Had you led with that…perhaps. Unfortunately, I cannot in good conscience allow it knowing you seek to inspect the current contents."
Lily placed a hand on her son's shoulder, her lips narrowed into a line. "Perhaps a partial explanation of just what we are looking for then. It affects Gringotts and you would be just as angry as us if it is discovered inside." The goblin turned his gaze on her and waved for her to go on. "Have you heard of a Horcrux?"
Snarling, Snapfist reared back, his lips pulling over his teeth and baring their points to the group. "The insane bigot has made one of those abominations?"
Lily shuddered. "Let us hope not. We believe she may be holding one though for a certain individual."
Snapfist looked between all of them finally settling between Harry and his birth mother. "Warrior Potter, I ask you truthfully on your word of honor: is this all you seek from the Lestrange Vault?"
"It is," Harry said nodding.
"Lady Potter," Snapfist said turning his full gaze on her. "I ask you truthfully on your word of honor: is this all you seek from the Lestrange Vault?"
"It is," Lily replied.
Snapfist stood and nodded at them all. "Wait here." With that he walked out the door leaving the humans to stare at each other.
"Well this isn't going as easy as we'd hoped," Tonks muttered. "Was telling them that much wise?"
Shiva shrugged. "We know he can't make more. We know he knows we know about them in general. Half the kid's class knows about them…what harm is there in the goblins knowing too if it saves us the trouble of trying to stage a break in? They supposedly have dragons down there. Do you want Harry to face a dragon?"
"A chimera was more than enough thank you," Tonks said as her hair flashed to red.
Sirius sighed and clapped his cousin on the shoulder. "I agree with Lily. The Goblin Nation could be a powerful ally. Look what they've done for us when they consider us friends. To a goblin, an ally is even higher up the totem pole."
"Very true, Lord Black," an imperious and amused voice rang out as the doors opened again letting in Ragnok and Snapfist. "The Nation would have to receive quite the request from people we have shown great respect and admiration to in the past to even consider an official alliance. It would be the first time in centuries after all. Though I suppose…it has been the first time that we have named two Warriors not of our blood in centuries as well," he finished chuckling. Harry didn't fail to catch that hint and resolved to come back later with Daphne to see about following through on that thread.
The old goblin Director clasped his hands and inclined his head for them to follow as he headed for another door. "Gringotts will let you inspect the Lestrange Vault for a Horcrux. If found you will have to remove it. Only it. Anything else will be considered theft and punished appropriately. In addition, Lord Black, it is my duty to inform you that if there is a Horcrux inside that vault, fees will be collected from the Lestranges."
Snapfist looked back at them with a cunning smile. "How long do you expect the item was hidden there for?" he asked as they stepped into a minecart that just barely fit them all.
"Probably about fourteen or fifteen years," Sirius yelled over the wind of their journey.
Ragnok laughed though the sound came awfully close to evil cackling. "Back-fees for illegally residing without rent in a Gringotts vault for fifteen years will be quite substantial I am sure. I doubt the Lestrange Vault will have much of any gold left after this!"
"Rent?" Harry exclaimed goggling. The cart started to slow and coasted to a halt. "We could've led with there being a Horcrux and claimed Voldemort and Bellatrix weren't paying rent?!"
Snapfist gave an exaggerated shrug and raised an eyebrow. "Vaults for living souls are separate from vaults for items and documents. To reside in the latter and not the former is unacceptable! Not least of which because there are no facilities in them." He started cackling just like his boss and Harry just groaned.
"Oh. My. God," Tonks muttered. Her hair turned to black and she moved to subtly cover Harry and the rest. "There is an actual dragon here."
Shiva blinked in surprise as the creature turned toward them and huffed out a small flame from its nostrils. "Well would you look at that. It's not just a story…"
"I love Gringotts," Sirius said practically tearing up.
Lily and Harry just nodded. Harry couldn't help but notice the shackles on the poor thing and how it appeared to be blind. None of that would stop it from trying to bite his head off though so his sympathy was somewhat mitigated.
Snapfist pulled out a pair of metal tools, banging them together a few times. The dragon immediately cringed away towards the other side of the large central space allowing the group to move towards a newly revealed vault door. "We've trained it well. It is old and will have to be replaced in a few years, but it used to be much stronger and livelier. No point in having a dragon guard if your guard looks like it's on the verge of death."
Lily opened her mouth to reply twice before finally getting words out. "Even so, I recommend not taking additional family members down here. I can't see Hermione reacting well to this."
"Yeah well Hermione didn't almost get eaten by a basilisk and a chimera," Harry muttered. "She can have her magical creature rights ideals while I maintain a healthy distance from all five X beasties."
"Good plan. I vote for this plan," Tonks said nodding enthusiastically.
Ragnok ignored their banter and reached up running a finger down the door in front of him. A moment later the door melted away. Grinning Sirius stepped forward to cast his spell. Unfortunately he bumped into a plate near the door and as it fell, he clutched his leg, yelling out in pain and the plate bounced onto the floor splitting into two identical copies.
Both goblins growled. "Illegal charms and defensive spells," Snapfist snarled. "More fees. Stand back!" He lifted a hand into the air and swiped it down. Harry felt a wave of magic wash over him and the double of the plate vanished. "The illegal spells have been removed. You may try again, Lord Black."
Sirius glared at the plate that had dared to burn him and stepped – carefully – into the room again. A short muttered spell later and a small goblet near the back of the chamber glowed. "Ah, Bella, good, but not good enough!"
Sirius walked forward and plucked it off the shelf with two fingers wincing in disgust as he dropped it in front of Harry. Harry for his part immediately whipped out his Soul Cage though he hesitated a moment before handing it to Tonks. Tonks just stared at the rune in her hand blinking up at Harry in confusion. "I got the others," he said shrugging. "I killed the locket and that probably should've been Sirius' to destroy since his family got it. You're going to be Lady Black one day and this thing was hidden by your aunt who is hell bent on killing you. You deserve to get to destroy one of these things, Nym."
Flashing a feral grin to him, Tonks turned back to the locket. For one of the few times he could remember, Harry saw Tonks drop all her morphs at once as she leaned over the Horcrux. "Stay the hell away from my family, wanker," she snarled. The cup started to fill with a black sludge, but her hand lashed out with a fully charged Soul Cage.
A loud scream and shooting black ichor signaled the death of yet another of Tom Marvolo Riddle's Horcruxes. All the personnel watching wore identical satisfied grins.
"Well," Ragnok commented appearing quite happy. "I do believe that the fees levied on the Lestrange family will be quite exorbitant."
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