Cassia watched as Hermione held up a black, curly hair in front of them.

"Are you sure that's hers?" Ron asked from beside them.

Hermione nodded. "Positive."

The deal was done. The plan was set.

They were giving the sword to Griphook.

Harry had eventually relented, knowing they'd have to find a new way to destroy a horcrux, but also knowing they needed to check out Bellatrix's vault.

As for who would be who, it was decided that Hermione would be Bellatrix. Cassia had been considered, but had said no. She didn't want to be someone evil ever again.

So Cassia and Harry would be under the invisibility cloak with Griphook, making sure everything ran smoothly. Ron, meanwhile, would be disguised and by Hermione's (or Bellatrix's) side, just not with polyjuice.

The day that they left, Cassia was scared.

It wasn't really about breaking into Gringotts, that was fine. It was just the fact that the last time she went against authority, she got hurt. And she really didn't wanna get hurt again.

But she trusted Harry, and she really loved him.

She wasn't losing him again.

The morning they left, they left early. They'd said bye the night prior, but hadn't alluded to the reason for it.

Cassia stood with Harry up on one of the sand dunes, the wind blowing all around them as Griphook and Ron came out, Ron sporting long red hair, a moustache and deep black, billowing robes.

"She's just coming," Ron told them as they approached.

Cassia and Harry nodded, exchanging a look as Hermione, or rather, Bellatrix Lestrange, came out the house, carrying a bag and Bellatrix's actual wand.

She approached them, stopping a few metres away and gesturing to herself. "Well? How do I look?"

"Hideous," Ron replied unblinkingly.

"You can give that to Hermione to hold, alright Griphook?" Harry asked, gesturing to the goblin, who was holding the Sword. He gave it reluctantly to Hermione, who slipped it into her (extended) bag.

Then Hermione walked up to face the other three, extending her hand. Ron and Harry instantly held on, as if this was a rehearsed practice, and Cassia wasn't far behind. Griphook walked over as well, studying them all.

"We're relying on you, Griphook," Harry told the goblin. "If you can get us past the guards and into the vault, the sword's yours."

Griphook added his hand to the group without complaint.

Then Hermione apparated them all away.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

The first thing Cassia was aware of was that they were in an alley, the wind blowing heavily upon her face. Upon further inspection, they were in a small alley just off Diagon Alley, which Hermione soon walked to the fore of.

"Madam Lestrange," a passer by said to her, recognising her immediately.

"Good morning," Hermione sounded timid, and frail. Not at all like Cassia's aunt.

Sure enough, she looked unsure as she stepped into the shadows, looking nervously at the other four.

"Good morning?" Griphook repeated, absolutely disgusted. "Good morning? You're Bellatrix Lestrange, not some dewey-eyed school girl!"

"Hey, easy," Ron said, stepping in front of Hermione.

"If she gives us away," Griphook snarled at him. "Then we might as well use that sword to slit our own throats. Understand?"

Ron faced him down, but Hermione sighed. "No, he's right, I was being stupid."

"Okay," Harry sighed. "Let's do it."

Cassia was holding the cloak, and threw it over her and her boyfriend, who had Griphook on his back, as Ron and Hermione readied themselves.

Underneath the cloak, Harry whispered to Cassia. "You okay?"

She nodded.

They walked on.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

Gringotts was silent, and every step Hermione's - Bellatrix's - boots made on the marble floor echoed all around.

As they walked up the bank entrance, Cassia pressed her palm against Harry's, the hand of whom she was holding tightly, fingers interlocked. As Hermione and Ron passed, goblins looked up from their work at them, and Cassia's whole body was frozen as they approached the end of the room, where you checked in.

Cassia was terrified. If she was discovered now, she knew where she'd get sent. Straight back to the manor, where death surely awaited her. She couldn't let that happen to herself.

(And to Harry).

When they reached the top end of the bank, there was a goblin with a white beard and hair, writing in a logbook.

Hermione cleared her throat, trying to get his attention as Harry, Cassia and Griphook moved round, so they were next to Ron.

When the goblin didn't look up, Hermione snapped. "I wish to enter my vault."

The goblin still didn't look up, but said rather boredly. "Identification?"

Ron inhaled sharply, but Hermione kept her cool. "I hardly think that will be necessary."

The whole bank was so silent it was suffocating-

The goblin finally looked up, straightening when he saw her. "Madam Lestrange."

They stared at each other for a second, before he turned and headed out the booth, into a back room.

"I don't like to be kept waiting," Hermione said rather harshly.

"They know," Griphook hissed to Harry and Cassia under the cloak. "They know she's an imposter. They've been warned."

And then the worst happened. At the other end of the room, one of the guards straightened up, and began walking towards them.

Ron, frozen, hissed. "Harry? What do we do, Harry?"

The goblin returned for Hermione then, and with him was another one.

"Madam Lestrange, would you mind presenting your wand?"

They know, Cassia agreed silently. They know Bellatrix's wand was taken and who by.

They'd thought using the actual wand would be good, but it just made them look so obvious-

"And why should I do that?" Hermione demanded.

"It's the bank's policy. I'm sure you understand, given the current climate-"

"Move," Cassia hissed to Harry, directing him round past Ron and right to the still speaking goblin. From there, she pointed her wand straight at him. "Imperio!"

She knew it was wrong, and risky, but she also knew what was at stake.

And she wasn't letting them get caught.

The curse hit the goblin immediately, and he sort of smiled before sighing. "Very well, Madam Lestrange. If you will follow me."

❦︎❦︎❦︎

So far, so good.

Cassia didn't even scream on the ride down to the vault. She was sat right next to Harry, her body pressed against his as Griphook rode the tiny wagon. Ron and Hermione were on the other side, and Bogrod, the goblin they'd imperioed, was behind them, head lolling slightly.

And then they rode past a heavy flowing waterfall, gushing down the rocks and to the ground.

"What is that, Griphook?" Harry shouted loudly.

And Griphook must have recognised it too, because he was trying to break, but it wasn't working-

And then they came onto the track where the waterfall was flowing on, and they were rushing towards it-

"GRIPHOOK!"

And the sparks were flying at the friction and there was a terrible creeking sound but they still weren't stopping-

WHOOSH!

Cassia yelped loudly at the cold water, but didn't think much of it as they came to a stop after the waterfall.

Then they were all getting thrown from the wagon.

"AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!" She screamed as she went down, unable to think or see or feel-

"Arresto momentum!"

By Hermione's miracle spell working, they all stopped the second before they hit the ground, before collapsing to the rocky surface with loud grunts.

"Well done, Hermione," Harry groaned as he started to get up, going over to Cassia first.

"You okay?" He asked, giving her a hand to help her up.

"Yeah, fine," Cassia shrugged. "I'm used to my body aching at this point, anyway."

"Don't joke about that," Harry said, helping her up and checking she was really fine when she was standing.

Up above them, they watched as the wagon slowly slid back along the rails, making Cassia curse the day she was born.

Then she looked to Ron and Hermione, and realised that that wasn't the worst of their problems.

"Oh no, you look like you again."

And they did. They were still in their other clothes, of course, but Hermione and Ron were both now their normal selves, with no disguise at all.

"The Thief's Downfall," Griphook explained. "Washes away all enchantments. Can be deadly."

"You don't say," Ron snapped sarcastically. "Just out of interest, is there any other way out of here?"

However, Griphook didn't answer, because Bogrod was turning and looking at all five of them, gasping.

"What the devil are all you lot doing down here?" He demanded, turning to Griphook. "Thieves! When you gave up the keys, you-"

"Imperio!" Ron exclaimed, pointing his wand at the goblin who instantly stopped talking.

Silence fell, but not in the whole place. Because not far off, a giant, echoing roar was heard, and Cassia didn't want to imagine what from.

"That doesn't sound good," Ron said after it trailed off.

Cassia nodded. "Yeah, no shit."

Griphook lead them down a small tunnel, where a low growling could be heard. Cassia was very apprehensive, trailing behind the others as they made their way to Bellatrix's vault.

Then they got to this cavern. This cavern with stone pillars all around, and in the centre, was a dragon.

It was huge, and a sort of ivory colour, with bloodshot eyes and spiky horns on its back.

Cassia gasped. She'd only seen dragons once before in her life, and that was during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

"Here," Griphook said, handing Ron a sort of shaker thing. Cassia frowned at it, but jumped when the dragon noticed them, rearing its head and roaring.

Then Griphook started shaking the thing, and it shrank back, almost wailing.

"It's been trained to expect pain when it hears the noise!" Griphook told them.

"That's barbaric," Hermione snapped back.

The goblin didn't reply, instead shaking the thing louder as he lead them round the edge of the cavern and up to where Bellatrix's vault no doubt was. Cassia followed them, watching sadly as the dragon almost cried.

What have they done to it? Cassia wondered, suddenly feeling very sorry for it. It was like her, used and hurt and violated.

When they got up into where the vaults were, Griphook was quick to identify Bellatrix's one, taking Bogrod and pressing his hand to the vault door. Once it was opened, all six of them slipped inside, Cassia being one of the last.

She didn't even really register what was inside the vault, because as soon as they got in, the door clicked shut, and all the locks on it shifted back into place. Cassia jumped slightly as it did. The last time she'd been locked inside a room she'd been left there for six days, and then almost raped.

"Lumos," Cassia muttered, her wand lighting up as she looked round.

It was... mad. There was gold and silver everywhere, more trinkets and gold than she'd ever imagined. Coins and trophies and candelabras. It was crazy.

"Blimey," Ron summed up Cassia's thoughts.

Harry, meanwhile, walked forward slightly, his wand pointing all around as he tried to find the horcrux.

"Accio horcrux," Hermione tried, but to no such avail.

"You're not seriously trying that one again, are you?" Ron sighed.

Griphook added. "That kind of magic won't work in here."

They all then turned to Harry, who was still wandering further into the vault.

"Is it in here, Harry?" Ron asked. "Can you feel anything?"

Harry said nothing, but nodded. Then, he slowly raised his eyes, and his wand, right up to the corner of the room.

And Cassia saw it, too. Up in the corner was a small golden cup, with a badger engraved upon it.

Oh my god, it's Helga Hufflepuff's cup.

And really, it made sense. The cup was another of Hogwarts' relics, it was very important in general, as well as to Voldemort, who had already made Slytherin's locket, another relic, a horcrux.

Clink!

Hermione gasped as her foot touched a gold ring in the corner, knocking it over. However, instead of just rolling, the ring multiplied, bursting into ten copies of itself. Then Hermione touched one of them, and it multiplied again.

"That's it, up there," Harry looked up.

But more trinkets were getting knocked by the growing amount, and Cassia, Ron and Hermione were all trying to avoid them.

"They've added the Gemino curse - everything you touch will multiply!" Griphook said urgently.

"Give me the sword!" Harry shouted, Hermione delving into her bag and immediately seizing the hilt. She drew it out and threw it to Harry, who caught it, trying to get to the cup in the growing mass of gold and silver.

It was filling the vault by now, the floor no longer visible. Harry didn't help anything by diving into the growing pile of trophies and trinkets, trying to climb it to retrieve the horcrux.

Cassia didn't know what drove her forward, but something did as she began to climb it as well, right on Harry's heels in the pool of gold and silver forming.

Cassia was quicker than Harry. She climbed fast and was ahead of him by the time they were halfway. She was desperately hoping they got the cup soon, otherwise they'd get crushed into nothing inside the vault.

"Stop moving!" She heard Hermione yell at Ron, who did, but Harry and Cassia still were, trying to stay afloat in the sea of copies of precious objects.

"Give me the fucking sword!" She screamed at her boyfriend, holding her hand out once she was close enough. Harry chucked it towards her and she caught it, knowing that she couldn't drop it.

As the metal filled the vault up, Cassia extended her whole body towards the cup, trying to hook one of the handles on the sword. She needed to get it-

"Cassia!" Harry yelled. "We can't wait much longer-!"

"Got it!" Cassia said as she snagged the cup with the sword instantly catching it in her hand before she and Harry burst through the pile of gold, heading back down.

Both of them fell into the ground as they got to the bottom, dropping the cup right in front of Griphook. And the goblin, of course, snatched it.

"You fucking bastard, give it back!" She yelled, making to lunge for him in the mass of metal.

"She's right, we had a deal, Griphook!" Harry added, beside Cassia.

"The cup for the sword!" Griphook snarled loudly, looking to Cassia, who was still holding it.

She relented, holding it out and letting the goblin take it before Griphook chucked the cup back at her. She caught it immediately, watching as the absolute fucker told them. "I said I'd get you in. I never said anything about getting you out."

Cassia was too enraged to even scream as both goblins left the vault, leaving the four teenagers to drown in the sea of duplicated trinkets.

They got out, of course, all four of them stumbling over the gold that was spilling out the vault.

As soon as Harry was free, he went sprinting, yelling. "GRIPHOOK!"

Cassia, Ron and Hermione ran after him, going to the small barrier that stood between them and the dragon cavern.

"THIEVES, HELP! THIEVES!" Griphook was yelling, whilst Bogrod just gave them a grinning wave.

"Fuck you!" Cassia screamed at them, her middle finger going up.

"Well, at least we've still got Bogrod," shrugged Ron.

That was just before the dragon set its sights on the imperioed goblin, breathing its fire right onto him.

Ron gasped. "That's unfortunate."

But Cassia didn't get to reply, because about five guards were already running towards them, instantly seeing who they were and shooting spells at them.

Instantly, they ducked into the alleys off the side to dodge the spells. Cassia was opposite Harry, Ron opposite Hermione as they all winced.

"We can't just stand here, who's got an idea?' Hermione yelled.

"Well, I don't know!" Ron yelled.

"I've got something but it's fucking insane!" Cassia shook her head, leaning round the edge of the alley and shooting a spell at the barrier. "Reducto!"

"Wait, Cassia-"

"CASSIA, NO!"

Then, without any guidance from Harry, or Ron or Hermione, Cassia sprinted full pelt off the side of the barrier, dodging spells and jumping straight onto the dragon. She grunted as she landed, holding one of the spikes on the back as she hauled her body upwards and onto the back of the dragon.

Hermione followed not long after, landing just in front of her, and managing to get up without her help.

"Come on, then!" Cassia screamed at the two boys, who were looking at them as if they were insane.

But nevertheless, Harry and Ron ran and jumped, landing on the dragon as well. Harry was just behind Cassia, and Ron behind him.

"Reducto!" Cassia screamed, pointing her wand at the chains holding the dragon down.

As soon as it was free, it let out a humongous roar, sending fire towards the guards who were still shooting spells at them, and raising its head towards the sky.

As they flew up and up, Cassia held on for dear life, closing her eyes as she heard Harry yell behind her.

"That was amazing, Cass!"

❦︎❦︎❦︎

The foyer of Gringotts bank was silent, the only sounds heard being the footsteps on the ground.

Well, that was until a dragon burst through the vent, with four teenage wizards aboard it. Cassia watched, wincing as the dragon spat fire all over the goblins at Gringotts. However, she managed to hold on as he flew upwards, bursting through the glass ceiling.

When they got outside, the cold air hit Cassia hard, making her shiver violently as the dragon shrieked and reared, flying up into the sky.

"That was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Ron raved after they were away from the alley, flying over hills and lakes. Cassia and Hermione didn't reply, but both of them smiled.

It was when they were flying over a lake that Harry shouted. "We're dropping!"

"I say we jump!" Ron added.

"When?" Hermione demanded.

"NOW!" Cassia screamed.

All four of them dropped into the water like boulders. The drop was only about twenty five metres, but it felt like forever as Cassia fell further and further down.

She hit the water hard, a scream tearing from her throat at both its temperature and the impact.

It felt like forever until she started to rise up again, eventually floating above the lake, breathing hard as she tried to calm her shivering body down. She turned to Harry, beside her, but he looked distracted, almost as if he wasn't there. His eyes were unfocused and grunts were escaping his throat.

So she got ahold of him and began dragging him towards the small island they were near, the one Ron and Hermione were embarking now.

Halfway through dragging him, Harry jolted to life, saying. "Cass! Are you okay?"

"I'm doing great," Cassia said with an air of irony. "Come on, let's get on this thing."

They staggered onto the island, meeting Ron and Hermione, who were standing shakily, as they all began walking further onto it.

"He knows," Harry said urgently, still out of breath. "You-Know-Who. He knows we broke into Gringotts, he knows what we took, and he knows we're hunting horcruxes."

"How is it you know?" Hermione demanded.

"I saw it!"

"You let him in?" Hermione gasped. "Harry, you can't do that-"

"Hermione, I can't always help it!" Harry snapped back. "Or maybe I can, I don't know."

"Never mind, what happened?" Ron's voice was rough.

"Well, he's angry, and scared too," Harry said urgently, as they came to a stop. "He knows if we find and destroy all the horcruxes, we'll be able to kill him. I reckon he'll stop at nothing to make sure we don't find the rest."

Hermione knelt down, opening her bag to find clothes for them to change into.

"There's more," Harry told them, unzipping his hoodie with shaking hands. "One of them's at Hogwarts."

"What?!" Cassia demanded.

"You saw it?" Hermione confirmed.

"I saw the castle, and Rowena Ravenclaw, it must be something to do with her!" Harry said desperately. "We have to go there now!"

"Harry, you can't get in," Cassia shook her head. "All the secret passageways have been blocked off, and there's dementors around the castle-"

"Cassia, we have to," Harry said, shaking his head. "We have to get there before he does, because he will, now he knows we're hunting for them."

"Harry, Snape's headmaster now, you can't just walk through the front door!" Ron shook his head.

"Snape's not who you should be worried about, it's the Carrows," Cassia said, shivering slightly as Hermione handed her a clean t-shirt and hoodie, and she set about changing into them. She looked at Harry, her eyes intense. "Harry, if they find us, they'll tie us up and torture us until we go mad-"

"Then we have to take that risk," Harry said, gripping his girlfriend's shaking hand. "Cass, if I'm caught I won't sell you out, I promise."

"No, it's fine," Cassia said, swallowing the huge lump in her throat. "I'd say go to Hogsmeade first. They've stopped visits, so I haven't been there, but I don't think they've got much control over it."

Harry nodded, as Cassia bit her lip.

"And one more thing," she told them, looking at all three of them. "Whatever you're imagining right now, make it a hundred times worse. Hogwarts isn't Hogwarts anymore."