Harry, Ron, Hermione, Alice and Draco all gathered around the kitchen, looking at what Hermione was holding up in her slightly shaky hand. It was one of Bellatrix's hairs, which Hermione planned to add to a polyjuice potion in order to become Bellatrix and enter her vault. The hair had been taken when Bellatrix was interrogating her back at Malfoy Manor, since Hermione was always a few steps ahead and knew it could come in handy.
"Are you sure that's hers?" Ron asked, leaning forwards to inspect the dark, curly hair.
"Positive." Hermione replied, not looking as though the idea of becoming Bellatrix really appealed to her, but knowing that it had to be done.
Alice had already put some makeup on Ron, as well as used a spell to change his face shape slightly and make his hair brown, disguising the recognisable ginger. As well as that, she had put facial hair on him to further disguise him. Although, if someone knew Ron really well, it might be possible to tell who it is, it was very unlikely that he would be recognised.
"Are you going to change anything, Alice?" Harry asked, he was going under the invisibility cloak with Griphook, so he didn't need to change his appearance. Alice shook her head.
"My face isn't well known like you guys, I don't really think I'll need to." She explained, aware that her face wasn't half as well-known as the golden trio's.
It wasn't as though she had made no effort, she was dressed in long, black robes with dark makeup around her eyes, she certainly looked the part of a death eater.
Obviously, Draco didn't need to change anything about his appearance. If anything, it was good that he was there, since it would make Hermione's version of Bellatrix more believable.
"So, just to go over the plan again, Hermione will take the polyjuice potion to become Bellatrix, and she can use Bellatrix's real wand that Alice took from the Manor." Harry began relaying the plan, just to make sure no one forgot what they were meant to be doing. "Hermione will ask to see her- well, Bellatrix's- vault, and they don't have any reason to say no."
As Harry was speaking, Hermione was adding Bellatrix's hair to the polyjuice potion. The potion bubbled and spat, turning a horrible grey colour, which looked less than appetising.
"What am I meant to do?" Ron, who didn't really look like Ron, asked.
"Just look intimidating, try to be scary." Harry suggested, making Draco scoff loudly.
"I'd be more intimidated by a puppy." Draco murmured, receiving an angry glare from Ron.
"Malfoy-" Ron warned, being cut off by Alice.
"Yes! Look like that! Real angry." She joked, diffusing the tension between the two. Hermione picked the polyjuice potion up, preparing to take a swig of it. Clothes similar to what Bellatrix would wear were already hung over the back of a nearby chair, so Hermione simply had to take the potion and change.
"No offence, Granger, but there's a million things I'd rather see then you transform in to my aunt. I'm waiting outside." Draco spoke, kissing Alice's cheek before heading out the front door.
"I've got to change, so you two can leave, too." Hermione spoke to Ron and Harry, who nodded and left the house. "Not you, Alice, there's no way I can get that dress on by myself." She added, nodding to the dress that was hung over the back of the chair. Once the boys had left the house, Hermione drunk the potion.
The change began instantly, Alice watching with morbid fascination as the Hermione she knew and loved disappeared and was replaced with a woman who she wanted to strangle. Hermione's face twisted with discomfort as she changed, it only took a minute before she had fully transformed in to Bellatrix.
"This is weird." Alice stated, looking at the fully transformed Hermione, who grimaced.
"Thanks for pointing that out." Hermione mumbled, trudging over to the chair and beginning to get undressed in order to put the clothes that were more like Bellatrix's on. It was almost funny to see Bellatrix stomping around, mumbling and grumbling, but whenever Alice thought that she was reminded that it was Bellatrix who left Draco with only half an ear, and her amusement was replaced with rage. "Zip it up?" Hermione asked, having pulled on the dress.
Alice did as she was asked, placing Bellatrix's wand on the kitchen counter and helping Hermione zip up the dress before holding up her now long and curly hair in order for her to put on a cloak. It was strange to be so close to someone who looked exactly like Bellatrix, it was making Alice mad despite knowing that it was Hermione in disguise.
Once Hermione was properly dressed, looking like Bellatrix in every way, the two set out the house. Alice had gone and gotten Griphook while Hermione was adding the finishing touches to her look, so the goblin was carrying the sword of Gryffindor while following the girls as they headed outside, seeing the boys stood nearby.
"Well?" Hermione asked once they had approached, the three boys turning to look at her. Draco looked instantly uncomfortable, so Alice made her way over to him, taking his hand. It wasn't like anyone could blame him, after seven months of being tortured every day, he had a right to be terrified of his aunt.
"You look hideous." Ron commented, which is maybe the only time where that was actually a compliment.
"You can give that to Hermione to hold, alright Griphook?" Harry ordered. Hermione took her bottomless bag off of where it was attached to her hip, opening it in front of the goblin, who dropped the sword in.
Ron held out his hand, Harry placed his on top, then Alice, followed by Hermione, but Draco hesitated. It was Hermione's hand on top, and he seemed reluctant to touch what looked exactly like his aunts hand. Alice noticed this, and moved her hand to be on the top of the pile, meaning that he only had to touch hers.
"Thanks." Draco whispered, placing his hand on top of hers. Despite the fact that he and Alice had been together for so long, it still made his heart flutter that she noticed things so subtle.
"We're relying on you, Griphook." Harry spoke as the goblin approached the group, raising his small hand to place on top of theirs. "If you get us past the guards and in to the vault, the sword is yours."
Griphook nodded, placing his shaky hand on Draco's, causing the group to disapperate.
They reappeared seconds later, but this time there were stood in a dark tunnel in Diagon Alley.
Diagon Alley was absolutely nothing like how Alice remembered it. The cheery buzz of Wizards talking as they made their way out of the Leaky Cauldron, the children dragging their parents from shop to shop to collect things for Hogwarts and the teenagers laughing as they caught up with friends was all gone. Any semblance of happiness was replaced with empty, lonesome streets, only inhabited by the occasional death eater who passed. Most of the shops that Alice had once been in were boarded shut, some with the windows smashed or without a door, burn marks visible on the doorframes.
Hermione peered out of the small tunnel, gasping when someone saw her.
"'Ello, Miss Lestrange." The man spoke with a gravelly voice, sounding somewhat scared, but clearly not wishing to get on Bellatrix's bad side.
"Good morning." Hermione squeaked, sounding far more like herself than like Bellatrix. As the Wizard walked off, Griphook scoffed.
"Good morning?" He asked, as though it was the most ridiculous thing that he had ever heard. "Good morning? You're Bellatrix Lestrange, not some dewy-eyed schoolgirl." The goblin snapped, surprisingly angry for such a small creature.
"Hey, easy." Ron warned, taking a step towards Griphook, which didn't seem to faze the goblin at all despite the fact he only came up to Ron's waist.
"If she gives us away, we might as well use that sword to slit our own throats." Griphook replied seriously, glaring up at Ron, who was at least double his height. Ron looked as though he was going to continue to have a go at the goblin, but was cut off by Hermione.
"No, he's right. I was being stupid." She admitted, frowning. Alice nudged her shoulder against Hermione's, giving her friend a reassuring smile.
"Let's do this." Harry whispered, bending down so that Griphook could climb on to his back. Once they were in place, Alice threw the invisibility cloak over the two of them, causing them to disappear from sight.
Draco took Alice's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and smiling down at her. He gave her a quick kiss before they began walking.
"What was that for?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow at Draco.
"A 'good luck' kiss."
"Are you sure this won't make anyone suspicious?" Alice asked, nodding down to their intertwined hands as they followed Hermione in to Gringotts, the Wizarding bank.
"Well, you're playing the role of my girlfriend, sweetheart. There's no way I'm not holding your hand." He replied quietly, just as they entered the doors of the bank, with Alice making sure to hold the door open for a moment longer than necessary so that Harry and Griphook could slip in under the invisibility cloak undetected.
The inside of Gringotts looked pretty similar to how Alice remembered it, a rather long room, lined each side with tall desks that goblins sat behind, looking down their long noses in a disapproving manner at those who entered. It was an extremely grand and lavish room, Alice could tell that the golden details on the floor and the golden lamps were real. The huge, crystal chandelier that hung in the centre of the room was placed perfectly in between the rows of tall, marble pillars, all of which were also sporting gold at both the top and the bottom. Right at the end of the room, there was a single desk in the centre, almost looking more like a podium, where an elderly looking goblin sat.
The group began to made their way through the room to this desk. Hermione looked to Ron for reassurance before beginning to lead the group down the room, everyone staying a few feet behind her for good measure. There was hardly any Wizard who would dare to walk next to Bellatrix, and in order to sell the illusion that Hermione was the psychotic Witch, everyone else stayed behind her.
Stumbling slightly on the tall shoes she was wearing, Hermione quickly regained her composure, despite the fact that it felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest.
Somehow, the magnitude of what they were trying to pull of hadn't hit Alice until that very moment. They were breaking in to the most highly guarded banks in the world and, to top that off, stealing from Bellatrix Lestrange. Suddenly, the thought of what they were about to do caused Alice to feel rather sick. She tightened her grip on Draco's hand, who began subtly rubbing circles on her hand with his thumb to calm her down.
"You have to act like a death eater, darling. Look more intimidating." He whispered quietly as they followed Hermione, who Alice could see was practically shaking with fear. Alice nodded subtly, and attempted to mask her fear with a calm façade.
After a walk which took less than twenty seconds, but felt like it took a whole hour, Hermione reached the front desk, everyone else waiting a few steps behind.
The goblin who sat behind the desk- which was rather high up, meaning that the goblin was looking down upon them over his large nose- was writing in a book, and didn't notice the four stood at the desk. Alice's hand gripped Draco's even tighter when one of the security guards looked her way, so Draco sent the man a killer glare, causing the guard to look the other direction.
After a few moments of being ignored, Hermione did a small cough in an attempt to get the goblins attention. It didn't work, and the goblin kept writing, not looking up to those stood in front of him.
"I wish to enter my vault." Hermione stated, crossing her arms over her chest. What she had said would've come across as demanding if her voice hadn't been shaking slightly.
"Identification?" The goblin asked, still not looking up.
"I hardly think that will be necessary." Hermione replied, finally getting the goblins attention. When he looked up, it was clear that fear had entered his eyes.
"Madame Lestrange!" He exclaimed, before turning and making his way away from the desk. Alice glanced up to Draco to see that, in all honesty, he was awfully good at looking intimidating. If she hadn't been holding his hand, she probably would've been scared, too.
"I don't like to be kept waiting." Hermione called after the retreating goblin. Clearly taking her threat seriously, he returned a moment later with another goblin at his side.
"Madame Lestrange," The second goblin spoke, this one balancing half-moon glasses on his crooked nose. "Who have you brought with you today?"
"Why do you want to know?" Hermione snapped, glaring at the goblin.
"Well, it's bank policy to only have two people accompany someone to their vault. It seems you're one over." The goblin explained, looking to Alice as he did so with a rather rude undertone in his voice.
"You dare to talk to my girlfriend like that?" Draco growled, his eyes full of rage. Alice was actually rather sure that Draco wasn't acting in the slightest, his jaw tense as he glared at the goblin, practically daring the creature to talk back.
"Ah, well," The goblin stuttered, Draco clearly having scared him. "Exceptions c-can be made, I s-suppose." After taking a moment to compose himself, the goblin spoke again. "Would you mind presenting your wand?" This was the question that made both Hermione and Alice's hearts drop.
They had left Bellatrix's wand on the counter in the kitchen.
"And why should I do that?" Hermione asked indignantly, though in her head she was cursing herself for forgetting such a thing. Alice glanced over her shoulder to see one of the bank's many security guards making their way towards them, making her heart beat double in speed.
"It's the banks policy! I'm sure you understand, given the current climate." The goblin explained, his suspicion now clear on his face.
"No, I most certainly do not understand!" Hermione replied, worry seeping in to her voice despite her best efforts to hold it back.
"I'm afraid I must insist." The goblin spoke, a lisp becoming clear when he said 'insist'. Draco was still glaring at the goblin who had spoken to Alice, unaware of the security guard approaching.
Alice looked up to the goblin, his stern expression worrying her even further, but in what seemed like no time at all the creatures expression changed. The goblin suddenly took a deep breath, a smile instantly replacing the sneer that had been there mere moments ago. Alice managed to see Harry's hand and wand disappear back under the invisibility cloak, and she knew that he had cast something on the goblin to make him compliant.
"Very well, Madame Lestrange." The goblin said happily, the smile not dropping from his face. A complete change from his behaviour mere moments beforehand. "If you would follow me?"
The security guard that was approaching turned away, causing Alice to breathe a breath of relief. They had managed to get in to Gringotts.
Sadly, something told Alice that they weren't in the clear just yet.