∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆
It was late afternoon, a few weeks after Easter.
Shell Cottage stood alone on the cliff by the sea, busy as ever.
Mr Ollivander had been sent to Ron's Auntie Muriel's with the rest of the Weasley family, while the Quartet, Griphook, and Luna remained at Shell Cottage.
If Fleur and Bill were uncomfortable by their presence in any way, they were hiding it very well.
In fact, Fleur constantly reminded Y/N that their home was the safest place they could be right now.
Y/N smiled thankfully every time, but she knew they couldn't stay there forever.
The four hung out by the cliff every now and then, where they were unheard by the others, brewing their plan of breaking into Bellatrix's Gringotts vault.
Earlier that day, Griphook had called them to his room to explain the basics of the bank's security system.
Y/N never took rules seriously, that was plainly obvious- but breaking the law intentionally? That was a whole different story.
"I know what you're thinking," Harry nudged her lightly on the arm with his elbow.
He and Y/N were assigned to help Fleur make dinner that day.
It had just started to pour outside, out of nowhere, so Fleur had gone out to call Ron and Hermione in.
"Are you positively sure this is a good idea?" Y/N said quietly, as she stirred the pot of soup that didn't need any stirring.
Her voice was barely audible, blending in with the sound of the rain against the roof.
"Not exactly," Harry grimaced, pulling up the sleeves of his flannel so he could rinse the dishes. "I'm negatively sure it's a bad idea,"
"I thought so," Y/N smiled, watching him as he turned on the faucet. "As long as your gut says the... you-know-what is there, it's worth trying."
Harry froze for a moment, hesitated slightly, and glanced up at her with the corner of his eye. His expression was hard to read.
"Yes?" Y/N raised her eyebrows.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked, turning back to the dishes to avoid her gaze.
"We've talked about this," Y/N frowned, ceasing her stirring.
"I know, and I won't stop you if you're sure you want to come along," Harry quickly said. "but you don't have to, just because it's my idea."
"I appreciate you're concern, I really do," Y/N said coolly. Harry wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not. "but I know my own capabilities- I can do this."
"Trust me, I know," Harry laughed hollowly and turned off the tap. He wiped his hands briefly and turned around so he was facing Y/N. "You're probably even more capable of this than I am. But please, just think about-"
"Shh, try this," Y/N cut him off, shoving the soup-brimming ladle under his nose. Harry gave her a bitter look before trying it. "How is it?"
"Hmm... are you sure it's supposed to taste like this?" Harry frowned thoughtfully. "I dunno, maybe you confused the salt with the-"
"What?" Y/N's eyes widened in panic. She dashed to the jars of spice. "No, no, I'm pretty sure I added the right ingredients..."
Her last words were drowned by Harry's laughter.
She whirled around to find Harry chuckling mischievously, his eyes lingering with cheek.
Y/N glared at him as his laughter echoed the tiny kitchen.
He fell quiet as soon as Y/N folded her arms.
"I'm just nagging," He admitted, grinning.
"I know."
"It's perfect."
"I know that, too," Y/N's lips curled into a smile.
"Really? Because you seemed really worried, just now," Harry pointed out.
"You know, I just might accidentally throw you to the dragons of Gringotts while we're there-"
Y/N's words were cut off by a high-pitched shriek from the living room, down the hall. It was loud and clear despite the rain.
Y/N wasn't sure if it was a shriek of delight or grave danger. Her stomach twisted.
She looked up at Harry, who shared the same 'oh shit' look like herself.
They put down everything in their hands and whipped out their wands.
Y/N felt the blood in her face drain out as she and Harry made their way to the living room silently but swiftly.
She tried to make up some positive possibilities of why someone would be so startled. Nothing came to mind.
When she arrived in the living room, however, the sight in front of her left her speechless and rigid. She froze completely and Harry almost crashed into her.
Everyone in the room was standing. All around the room echoed cries of delight, sighs of relief. Hermione and Ron stood in front of the fireplace and looked shocked but gleeful.
Bill was grinning and Fleur had a hand around her mouth. But it was the people standing in front of the doorway, dripping rainwater all over the stone floor that made Y/N go still.
Remus was looking at her like she was his most prized possession. His hair was drenched, as well as his coat, and his face looked tired.
Rolf was in the middle of embracing Luna, his dirty blonde hair plastered against his head. He looked up, over Luna's shoulder, and let out a laugh of delight as he saw his sister.
Luna seemed to realized Y/N had entered and relinquished herself from Rolf's arms, making way for him and Remus. Her face was pink and she was beaming and glowing with joy.
Y/N wasn't sure when, exactly, Remus and Rolf came across the room and sandwich-hugged her. She wasn't sure if they were laughing or crying, wasn't sure how long they held her.
"It's a boy, Y/N!" cried Remus, when they finally let go of her. "We've named him Ted, after Tonks' father!"
"What?" Y/N exclaimed. She understood, now, why Hermione had shrieked. "Tonks- Tonks had the baby?"
"Yes, yes, she's had the baby!" shouted Remus. Y/N squealed and covered her mouth consciously.
"Congratulations!" said Harry, grinning.
"Blimey, a baby!" said Ron, as if he had never heard of such a thing before.
"Yes- yes- a boy," said Lupin again, who seemed dazed by his own happiness. He strode around the table and hugged everyone else.
"You'll be godfather?" he said as he released Harry.
"M-me?" stammered Harry.
"Don't think for a second he didn't ask me, first," Rolf quickly cut in, his arm draped around Luna's shoulders. "I just don't trust myself with a mini Remadora,"
"Yes, yes, we know, Rolfard," Remus rolled his eyes, as everyone laughed. "And Y/N, you'll be his godmother, yes? No one better for the job."
"Hey-"
"We know, Rolf," Y/N half laughed half scoffed, as she reached out and ruffled her brother's hair like how he used to do to her.
"So, you agree?" Remus asked with hopeful eyes, as though there was any way in hell they'd say no.
"Of course, Remus!" said Y/N, honored.
"I- yeah- blimey-" Harry felt overwhelmed, astonished, delighted.
As everyone in the room cheered and, for a second, forgot about anything else beyond the walls, Remus looked at Y/N and smiled, and put a firm hand on his goddaughter's shoulder.
Y/N let out a shaky breath, suddenly finding herself blinking away warm tears.
"Thank you, for being alright," He said quietly, so only Y/N could hear him. Y/N wasn't sure if he was referring to her being alright with being Teddy's godmother or being unharmed. "I'm proud of you, Y/N. We all are."
And Y/N pulled him into a hug again, laughing and smiling, proud to have Remus Lupin as her second father.
Bill was now hurrying to fetch wine, and Fleur was persuading Remus and Rolf to join them for a drink.
"One drink- but I can't stay long, I must get back," said Remus, beaming around at them all. He looked years younger than Y/N had ever seen him.
"And you, Rolf?" Bill asked the older Scamander. "Please stay, if you don't have any other priorities."
"Oh, I don't have any priorities other than- well... the fuel of my life," He smiled down at Luna, who rolled her eyes playfully, something Y/N thought she would never see her do. "and my troublesome sister,"
He looked straight at Y/N, who raised her eyebrows, surprised he even mentioned her.
Bill smiled and soon filled all of their goblets and handed them out. They all stood and raised their glasses high in a toast.
"To Teddy Remus Lupin," said Remus, "a great wizard in the making!"
"Who does he look like?" Fleur inquired.
"I think he looks like Tonks," Remus shrugged. "but she thinks he is like me."
"I think he looks like Remus, but with Tonks' hair," Rolf commented.
"Well, he doesn't have much hair," Remus shrugged.
"But I swear his black hair turned ginger when we were about to leave!"
"Aha! Another Gifted one in the house," beamed Y/N, and Remus drained his goblet.
"You'll have to come to see him soon, Y/N," he said, giving her a warm smile. "Oh, alright- go on then, just one more..." he added, as Bill filled his goblet again.
∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆
Rolf stayed at Shell Cottage for the next three nights, before deciding to transfer Luna and himself to Lupin Cottage the following day.
They'd decided that it was best for Luna not to go back to Hogwarts. After all, the school was basically ruled by Death Eaters.
"You could stay for longer, Rolf," Fleur offered, as Rolf helped Luna put on her coat. "We have space for one more."
"Thanks, Fleur," Rolf said sincerely, "but we shouldn't all be piled in one safe house. And the only way I won't worry about her safety is if she's with me."
Fleur gave an impatient but understanding nod and proceeded to embrace Luna and handed her a packed suitcase.
"Remind me again why you'll be leaving this perfectly safe place?" Rolf turned to Y/N, annoyance echoing in his voice.
Y/N had had no choice but to tell Bill, Fleur, and Rolf that she, Harry, Hermione, and Ron would be leaving for a mission and would not be returning.
"Because it's a perfectly safe place," said Y/N. "and we'll get nothing out of staying nurtured and silent."
"Right, more heroic bullshit," Rolf rolled his eyes and pulled his sister into a one-armed embrace. "I'm only letting you go because you're just too stubborn."
"You're only letting me go because I'm a grown woman," Y/N muttered but hugged him back anyway. "Now go home and be safe."
For the rest of the day, Y/N felt a little hole in her heart. She couldn't wipe away the look Rolf possessed before he and Luna left.
He knew just how much danger his sister was putting herself in. But at the end of the day, he let her go.
Y/N grew to notice how the ones protective of her started trusting her. While still caring for her, they let her have a mind of her own...
The Quartet made sure to tell Bill and Fleur not to send them off on the morning they were leaving because Hermione would need to transform into Bellatrix before they left.
The plan was plain and simple; pretend to be someone you're not.
They had the advantage of owning Bellatrix's wand and some of her hair strands.
Y/N and Hermione had a mini quarrel on who would be drinking the Bellatrix Polyjuice Potion.
As terrifying as the idea of being in the body of a person who's tortured her, Y/N was still willing to volunteer.
However, after eleven rounds of rock-paper-scissors, Hermione got the role, fair and square.
"And who would I be, may I ask?" Y/N asked in frustration.
"You will be an overly energetic foreign teenager that has no idea about British wizard banks," Hermione said cheerfully, "I'll transform your features to a certain level. Y/N Scamander is supposed to be dead, so they won't suspect a thing."
The morning of their depart came in a blink and was, in a way, bittersweet.
As promised, Bill and Fleur, if they were even awake, did not come out of their room to say goodbye.
Y/N wrote Fleur a short thank you and take care letter and slipped it under her favourite coffee mug, knowing she'd find it, first thing when she woke up.
The four gathered in Y/N and Hermione's bedroom and cleaned the house of all their belongings.
The door of the bedroom opened and Griphook entered.
Harry reached instinctively for the hilt of the sword of Gryffindor and drew it close to himself, but regretted his action at once.
He could tell that the goblin had noticed.
"We've just been checking the last-minute stuff, Griphook." he quickly said.
And just about five minutes before sunrise, they closed the bedroom door behind them and crept out of the house.
It was time to go.
∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆
"Well," Hermione cleared her throat as she approached them at the windy cliff. "how do I look?"
Y/N almost jumped out of her boots when she turned to face an exact clone of Bellatrix Lestrange. Scary.
"Beautiful," she piped, swallowing hard.
The hair, the clothes, the teeth, the hollow cheeks... it sent a chill down Y/N's spine.
"Bloody hell," Ron echoed, gaping at the Hermione Bellatrix. "you look hideous."
"Now, you can give that sword for Y/N to carry, Griphook," said Harry. He was staring at the Goblin, who had the sword hugged close to his chest.
Griphook glared at him briefly, before handing the sword to Y/N.
"Can we get rid of this beard?" Ron complained, scratching his chin.
Hermione had transformed his features pretty impressively. Ron now had long and wavy hair, a thick brown beard and mustache, no freckles, a short, broad nose, and heavy eyebrows.
"Oh, stop it," Hermione snapped. Her words were kind of scary, coming from Bellatrix's mouth, in Bellatrix's voice. "Y/N's not complaining,"
"Well, she looks alright!" Ron protested, pointing his finger at Y/N's face.
Hermione made Y/N's hair silver (Y/N had requested Tonks' bubblegum pink but Hermione had refused, saying she'd stand out too much).
And turned Y/N's original features into features similar to Fleur's (Fleur's was the only face she could recollect clearly, apart from Y/N's and her own).
"If it makes you feel any better, the hair makes me look like I'm eighty," said Y/N grimly.
"Let's go, the sun's starting to rise," said Harry, for Ron had opened his mouth to speak again.
Harry was under the Invisibility cloak with Griphook on his back, so his voice made them all jump a little.
The four wizards and the Goblin gathered in a circle and held onto each other's hands.
"We're relying on you, Griphook," whispered Harry, "If you get us safely into the vault, the sword is yours."
And they Disapparated into the morning.
Diagon Alley- bright, colorful, people-crowded Diagon Alley- was almost as unrecognizable as Ron in his new beard.
All the shops were shut down, including Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and some had left behind nothing but ashes.
The streets were not necessarily empty, but eerie, and the grey clouds just made everything even more unsettling.
A number of tired and hungry-looking people sat huddled in the doorways of the abandoned buildings. One man had a bloody bandage over his eye.
As the Quartet and Griphook set off along the street, the beggars glimpsed Hermione. In Bellatrix's form.
Hermione looked after them curiously, until the man with the bloodied bandage came staggering right across her path.
"My children," he bellowed, pointing at her. "Where are my children? What has he done with them? You know- you know!"
"I- I really-" stammered Hermione.
The man lunged at her, reaching for her throat.
Then, with a bang and a burst of red light, he was thrown backward onto the ground, unconscious.
Y/N gasped and wheeled at Ron, who just stood there, his wand still outstretched and a look of shock visible behind his beard.
"Come on, Ron," Y/N whispered, tugging Ron's sleeve, for he seemed like he couldn't move.
They continued to walk, as quickly but normally as possible, finally spotting, from afar, the tallest building in the alley. Gringotts bank.
"I'll stop here," Y/N told the others, looking around warily, "They'd suspect me if I went ahead with you all."
The plan was for Y/N to distract the guards and Goblins if they started to question if Hermione was the authentic Bellatrix or not.
She'd cause a big enough scene to draw their attention away from the others.
Sure, Y/N could picture herself ending up getting arrested and sent to Azkaban, but her friends didn't have to know that.
"I'll be very subtle," She said, catching Hermione's concerned look. "Trust me with it. And good luck."
Hermione nodded, her eyes still filled with worry, but she didn't dare do or say anything else.
Y/N smiled ahead weakly as the group (that appeared to others as only a pair) headed down the lane, towards Gringotts.
She would have to wait back for at least five minutes.
Y/N took a deep breath and steadied herself. She pretended to look around at the building frames, examining the remaining signs.
Walking around with a straight face and in pure black robes, she could just be another nosy Death Eater.
But she wanted to curl up and hide when the beggars flinched away from her, shutting their eyes, clearly ready for the impact of an Unforgivable Curse.
So many things could go wrong.
∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆
Y/N didn't know what had gotten her to that point, but there she was- inhaling deeply in front of Gringotts bank.
She fiddled with her new silver hair and adjusted her robes.
The two wizard guards were looking at her oddly. She noticed them noticing her and smiled sweetly.
"Hi, hello there," Y/N managed out, still grinning like it was the best day of her life. The guards grunted in return. "Sorry to bother you two, but is this, by any chance, Magots Bank?"
The guards glanced at each other in confusion, before turning back to the beaming Y/N.
"Yes, this is Gringott's Bank," The one on the left replied in an unamused voice.
"Oh! Thank you very much," Y/N reached out and shook each of their hands enthusiastically, "I'm not from here, you see, but I've come to collect my family's-"
"Ma'am," The same guard cut her off, his thick eyebrows knitted in annoyance. "Service is inside."
"Yes, yes, I'll be going," Y/N chuckled, waving him off, "have an amazing day!"
Y/N suspected they were probably wondering what a girl like her was doing there, at this time.
Y/N stepped inside and wondered if it was too late to back off. And yes, it was.
The room was incredibly tall and made of pure marble.
There was an unnecessarily huge chandelier hanging from above. It reminded Y/N of a hotel lobby.
Apart from the sounds of quill on parchment and the clinks of coins, the Goblins were absolutely silent.
Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Griphook were nowhere to be seen.
She tried to walk confidently and smiled around at the workers that peered up at her sourly behind their desks.
One thing she noticed right away, as she walked through the hall, was a group of Goblins and guards muttering to each other in a serious tone.
"-we do not know, for sure!" A goblin with square glasses hissed at a guard.
"She has her wand, sir," The guard muttered back calmly.
"That is her old wand, Waldwin! We were informed that Bellatrix Lestrange was crafted a new wand, a few days ago."
"Hey! I'm Pipette!" Y/N said, in a voice a lot louder than she'd intended.
Her voice echoed the room and about everyone stopped and glared up at her. The group of muttering Goblins and guards frowned.
"I am here to retrieve my family's heirlooms," Y/N tried to explain as casually as possible. "May you point me to the direction of my vault, please?"
They all continued to look at her as if she was an undiscovered creature.
"Pretty please?" Y/N asked sweetly, grinning as innocently as she could. "Take me to my vault, would you?"
"Do you have any kind of identification, Miss?"
"Er- no, why would I need that for? I just want my sapphire necklaces. Now. Take me, will you?"
"Our system does not work like that, Miss," said the goblin with square-framed glasses.
"Ohh, right, you want my full name," said Y/N, rolling her eyes. "My mother told me you guys ask for people's last names, around here. It's kind of creepy, to be honest. No offense."
"Miss," One of the wizard guards said warningly.
"Right, right! My name is Pipette Widows," Y/N cleared her throat, flattening the front of her robes. "May you please guide me to my family's vault?"
"We are busy here, Miss Widows," said a Golbin, practically spitting out her name. "I'm afraid you'll have to talk to one of our many free staff-"
"Hold on, hold on," Y/N laughed, holding up her hand in front of the group of six. "You're telling me, after all that advertisement of Magots Bank's-"
"Gringotts, Miss,"
"-all that nonsense about being there for your customers, and you can't even help me get to my own vault?" Y/N raised her voice slightly in the end to cause tension.
It clearly worked and she hated herself for it.
The Goblin closest to her narrowed his all-black eyes at her in suspicion.
"Look, I don't mean to be rude," Y/N scoffed, crossing her arms. "But if none of you-" she pointed around at the lot of them. "-help me get to might vault, something very bad just might happen to you."
The blonde guard in the back was frowning so intensely, Y/N thought he might be having stomach problems.
Before any of them could say anything further, however, two other wizard guards came running from the back of the bank, towards the group in front of Y/N.
"There's a disturbance from below," Y/N heard one of them whisper urgently. She froze in her spot.
"What is it, Joslyn?" Snapped the Golbin with glasses.
"The alarm was triggered, sir," said one of the recently arrived guards. "Just now,"
"I told you!" Y/N laughed loudly and triumphantly. The attention was returned to her, once again. "I told you something very bad was to happen if any of you losers don't help a member of the Widows family."
"Who is this?" The new guard frowned.
"Pipette Widows, who are you?" Y/N glared at him deeply. She wouldn't be surprised if they threw her out. She'd throw herself out, too.
"Miss, are you saying you made the alarms go off?" The new guard asked through gritted teeth.
"What? N-No... of course not!" at least she had no problem pretending to be suspicious. "Of course I didn't use a simple homenum revelio charm to trigger your alarms, kind sirs... that would be cruel of me."
She had read, somewhere, that the homenum revelio spell triggered simple alarms.
She just hoped the alarms they were talking about were simple.
They all stared at her in great disgust and annoyance.
"Are you aware that it is against the law to mess with our security system, Miss Widows?" One of the Goblins asked. Y/N could sense the frustration in his voice.
"Well, no one was helping me!" Y/N cried in her most excruciating voice, trying to imitate Rolf's ten-year-old self. "Sorry!" She added. At the end of the day, she'd prefer not to be arrested.
The group of guards and Goblins looked exasperated but relieved.
"Follow me, Miss Widows," One of the Goblins barked, breaking free from the group and heading back to his desk.
The others looked hesitantly at each other, before deciding, also, to go back to their jobs.
A wave of relief washed over Y/N. She just hoped there weren't any other guards, or at least ones in suspicion, down below.
"OK!" She beamed happily and practically skipped after the Goblin. "People can be incredibly complicated sometimes, you know,"
"Luckily, I'm not 'people'," The Golbin muttered grimly.
"Of course, you're not," Y/N said with a warm smile, as she stopped in front of the Goblin's desk. "Thank you for volunteering to help me. What's your name?"
"Winstoff," The Goblin grumbled, clearly not enjoying the conversation as much as Pipette Widows was.
"Well, Winstoff, it's your lucky day!" said Y/N, slamming her hands enthusiastically on Winstoff's desk. Man, was she going to kill Hermione for giving her this role. "You get to take me to my vault!"
"Your identification, please," The Goblin growled. "Your wand will work,"
"Wand?" Y/N snorted, slapping her hand onto her mouth dramatically. "If I had my wand, I wouldn't be coming here to retrieve my family's heirlooms to buy a new one, wouldn't I?"
"That is understandable," said the Goblin, though his tone said otherwise. "Then your key would be fine."
"Key? What key?" Y/N looked around questioningly. "Pfft- alright. Just a heads up, though, it's the key to my grandmother's pantry... I have no clue why you would want-"
"The key to your- vault- Miss Widows," The Goblin was now visibly infuriated.
"Well, I don't have that either!" Y/N exclaimed hysterically. She wondered what was taking Harry, Ron, and Hermione so long. "You can- you can except this, surely-!"
Y/N pulled out Ron's tin canteen that was labeled 'R.W.' He had carved his initials onto it the third time Harry accidentally drank from it.
"An antique from my dear sweet Nanna, Rosaline Widows." Y/N pretended to sigh with adoration as she gazed at the canteen in her hand.
At this point, she was sure the Goblin was starting to think she might not be so good in the head.
"That will not be acceptable," he said coolly. "I'm afraid, if you do not have identification, your vault cannot be accessed."
"Wait!" Y/N exclaimed, scrambling with her pockets. "I think I might have something- it might be hidden- somewhere 'round the corner-"
"Miss Widows, you are not being helpful," The elf snapped, "You will be escorted outside-"
"For what?" Y/N glared up at him. "You're gonna throw me out for trying to find my identification?"
Poor Winstoff had to contain himself for actually doing so. He took a moment to breathe and forced out a polite smile.
"Of course not," he said, "take all the time you need. I insist."
"That's more like it," Y/N beamed, snapping her fingers. "Now, let me just check my front pockets..."
She went on for minutes, checking with no effort to hurry, the pockets of her robes, her bag, her hair, offering her fingerprint, trying to make conversation...
Until she finally heard a roar.
The next minute happened too fast and Y/N had zero seconds to think things through.
The first thing she heard was a deafening crash from behind her and felt the marble floor under her boots rumble.
Winstoff yelled in horror as he stared over Y/N's shoulder and jumped backward.
Y/N whipped her head around immediately and she was almost sure she would faint.
A gigantic dragon was tethered to the ground in front of her, its scales pale and flaky, and its eyes were milkily pink.
Y/N stood rooted to her spot as the dragon let out another deafening roar, and Goblins and wizards shrieked and ran for cover.
What shocked her, even more, was the people on the dragon, holding onto its rough skin for dear life.
"Y/N, come on!" Hermione shrieked, as she spotted Y/N's paralyzed self, standing still in the middle of panicking Goblins and rubble. She and Ron had turned back into themselves and Harry was visible.
It looked like they had blasted their way out of the passage into the marble hallway.
"Y/N, it's going to take off!" Ron shouted, and finished his warning with a horrified yell, for the dragon had made the rest of its way up from the hole in the floor.
Realizing she really had no other choice, Y/N got her legs to work and dashed towards the dragon.
It was terrifying. It could grill her to ashes with a single huff.
Y/N sprinted for dear life towards it and redirected a stream of fire shot from the dragon's mouth with her wand.
Harry and Hermione extended their hands to help her, their faces pale and partly burnt.
Y/N jumped with all her might and was able to cling onto one of the dragon's gigantic spikes.
Harry and Hermione pulled her up the rest of the way, just as the dragon pushed itself through the roof, shattering the chandelier and bringing more shrieks from the Goblins.
"WERE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?" Y/N roared, hugging the dragon's back with her eyes shut tight as if her life depended on it. It did depend on it.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione yelled out inaudible responses. They had a lot of explaining to do, later.
At this point, the dragon poked its head through the hole in the ceiling it had created to receive the cool outside air.
With Y/N, Harry, Ron, and Hermione still clinging to its back, the dragon roared so loudly, it disturbed the still air, before launching itself into the sky.
∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆
It took Y/N five minutes to actually stop panting.
She was sandwiched between Harry and Hermione and was holding onto Harry's torso m as if she was a child holding onto her stuff animal in the dark.
Hermione, on the other hand, was practically digging her nails into Y/N's shoulders. Y/N barely noticed, thanks to the adrenaline pumping through her body.
The dragon had been climbing steadily since its takeoff and was now flying through wisps of chilly cloud.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron were silent, as the minutes flew by. Y/N could imagine how shocked and terrified they all were.
She decided to break the not-so-silence with the question in priority.
"Did you get it?" She had to yell through the loud wind that was screaming into both her ears. "The Horcrux? Did you get it?"
"We did!" replied Hermione, her voice merely a squeak.
"Oh, why don't you sound happy?" Y/N asked with a groan.
"Oh, maybe because now they all know we broke into a Gringotts vault?" Ron shouted, from somewhere behind her.
"And because we lost the sword," Harry added.
"Tell me you're lying," Y/N heaved out a heavy sigh.
"Yeah, that little traitor stole the sword and trapped us inside," Ron said furiously.
"And how, may I ask, do we destroy a Horcrux without something to destroy it with?" Y/N questioned.
"We'll find another way!" assured Harry. Always so optimistic. "You did a great job, Y/N!"
"Surely, not," Y/N couldn't help but laugh.
"You kept them away from us," said Hermione, "Unfortunately, there were guards already positioned down at the vaults!"
Y/N couldn't believe their luck.
On and on they flew, over the countryside, over roads and rivers winding through the landscape like strips of glossy ribbon.
They were flying for so long, so far away, that the sun slipped lower in the sky, which was turning indigo.
Every part of Y/N ached with the effort of holding on to Harry.
She felt bad for clinging onto him so tightly, even after Harry assured her he didn't mind at all, and was even enjoying it.
"Don't get so comfortable, Hummingbird," Y/N said in response, "I'm only holding onto you because I'd fall to my death- hey, no smirking!"
"Hey... guys- is it my imagination," shouted Ron, "or are we losing height?"
Y/N peered down and saw deep green mountains and lakes.
The landscape seemed to grow larger and larger as she squinted over the side of the dragon.
Lower and lower the dragon flew, in great spiraling circles, upon one of the smaller lakes.
"I say we jump when it gets low enough!" Harry called back to the others. "Straight into the water before it realizes we're here!"
"Wait, wait!" Y/N exclaimed. "What do you mean, jump? We can't just-"
"NOW!"
Harry slithered over the side of the dragon and threw himself off the back of the dragon.
Without something to hold onto, Y/N, too, slipped off the dragon's back, plummeting at full speed toward the surface of the lake.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Y/N screeched in fury, as she fell, for a longer distance than she had estimated, before hitting the water hard, plunging like a stone into a freezing, green, seaweed-filled lake.
∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆
A/N ~ Hope you all enjoyed the chapter ! Sorry it's taking me longer than usual to update. I can tell you, though, that everything will be finished before December.
Have a wonderful week, ily all 3000 <3
-ScribblingQuills