The Turns of Time- James Potter Love Story

Chapter 28- Outwitting the Goblins (which is actually ruddy hard- Padfoot)

"Had to use the back entrance today Griphook?" a goblin with ginger hair snarled at her arrogantly, his lips pulled into a smug smirk. "Elward must be angry with you."

Frannie straightened, changing her voice to a deeper tone. "I had a few wizards at the front who I wanted to avoid," she drawled, pulling at the ends of her waistcoat. "Not that it's any of your business."

The ginger goblin looked highly affronted. "We make it our business to know everything that goes on in these walls, Griphook." He narrowed his beady gaze, making Frannie's insides squirm. "And I have heard that your greed motivates you to even seek the deals of humans."

Frannie looked up as she saw Draco enter the front of the lobby, striding forward coolly. With the hair-lengthening charm Lily had cast, he looked like a mirror image of his father underneath the hood he had pulled over his head. "Perhaps you hold the wrongs of the past too closely," she hissed, turning away from the goblin. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."

She turned her head slightly to the right corner, watching from the peripheral of her eyes as Regulus ducked behind a row of shelves, pulling on the invisibility cloak and disappearing into the space. She had still been shocked James had let the Slytherin use it, although he had said that if he couldn't be the one to break into Gringotts, his cloak should at least be there.

"Good evening," Draco approached the main podium at the end of the lobby, where the same goblin Frannie had dealt with for years in the future scribbled on a stack of parchment furiously.

The goblin looked up, raising a suspicious eyebrow at Draco's black cloak. "I'm afraid we don't deal with those who refuse to reveal themselves. Bad for business, you see," he bared his teeth rather nastily.

"In these times, can you really blame them?" Draco reached up a gloved hand, pulling down his hood to reveal his pale features. The goblin stiffened, his fingers tightening around his quill. "I would suggest inconveniencing me no further," he snapped, tossing a lock of hair behind his shoulder. "I have much more important business to attend to than," he peered over the top of the goblin's desk. "Elward's plan for revenge?" He let out a simpering noise. "How childlike."

Elward turned a rather nasty shade of purple, making a choking noise in his throat as he ripped the parchment away, stuffing it in a drawer. "What can I do for you, Mr. Malfoy," he sneered, his tone icy.

"I would like to enter my vault," Draco raised an eyebrow as his gaze rested on Frannie briefly. "That goblin will do to take me."

Elward leaned forward, his gaze narrowing behind his glasses. "Griphook is not our.. finest of workers." He glared down at Frannie, who shot an equally distrustful look back. "May I suggest someone more reliable?"

"That will not be necessary," Draco snapped, shifting on his feet impatiently as he pulled out a dark wand. "Here is my identification."

Frannie felt a glimmer of satisfaction at the disgruntled look on the goblin's face. She sent a quiet thank you that Sirius and James had managed to snag Lucius's wand from the Slytherin dormitories last night, which according to them was "boringly easy because Malfoy's snoring could bring Binns back to life."

"Very well," Elward dipped his head slightly, although Frannie didn't miss the final glare he sent her. "Griphook, do try not to linger. Mr. Malfoy doesn't want your hands on his things."

Frannie didn't know how to respond, so she simply twisted her features into a scowl and followed Draco towards the mine carts, climbing into the small space extremely nervously. She had only been to her vault a handful of times and even with all the books Remus had given her on guiding the carts, she felt helpless.