The End's Intent

Chapter 23

Draco was tense from the moment they apparated into Diagon Alley on. Despite the fact that Potter and Weasel were well covered by the invisibility cloak, he was still worried someone would discover them. Hermione was posing as Bellatrix surprisingly well and if Draco didn't remind his wolf it was her every few seconds, he was worried he might try to attack her.

The goblins seemed suspicious, but when did they never? As they demanded her wand, Draco was glad he'd managed to steal it from Bellatrix the day before. Even with it, the goblins were silent as they worked. Sensing something was wrong, Draco stomped on Hermione's foot and muttered the Imperius curse while she cursed him.

"Watch your feet, boy," she sneered, hitting him, but not hard.

Using the Imperius curse, Draco sped up the process and soon enough they were being taken to the cart that would take them to Bellatrix's vault. It was a tight fit with Harry and Ron scrunched in the back, but the Imperiused goblin didn't notice. Beside him, Hermione grabbed his hand as the cart started to roll and they were descending deep into the tunnels of Gringotts.

Draco had long since gotten used to the twists and drops of the track and didn't get sick easily. Hermione looked a little nauseous, however, so he squeezed her hand a little tighter and hoped Potter and Weasel weren't going to vomit.

He saw the waterfall too late even though it was unavoidable. His hold on the Imperius curse was broken as they were drenched in the water and the goblin turned around to face them. His eyes widened as Hermione returned to her normal self and the goblin tried to stop the cart. Before he could, Draco cast another Imperius curse and forced the goblin to keep taking them down.

"You've been Imperiusing him?" Hermione asked. Draco just gave her a look and she nodded.

The cart began to slow down before coming to an abrupt stop outside of a large vault. The goblin got out first and after Hermione told Potter and Weasel the goblin was under a spell, they pulled off the invisibility cloak and jumped out of the cart. The sounds of chains and deep grunts echoed down the cavern and they all shared a glance. Draco didn't need enhanced senses to know they were very close to the Gringotts dragon and losing control of the goblin would be a fatal mistake.

They watched nervously as the goblin opened the vault doors and stepped aside. At the sight of many familiar heirlooms, Draco's attention wavered and he felt the goblin become aware of his spell. He cursed and the Golden Trio looked at him worriedly.

"He knows he's spelled," Draco explained, struggling to keep ahold of the goblin. "Find your Horcrux but don't touch anything else. Bellatrix has it cursed so it multiplies if anyone but her touches it."

The group nodded and hurried deeper into the vault while Draco struggled with the goblin. If the creature broke out of his spell, he would likely be unable to cast it again with any strength.

"Get it!"

Draco turned his attention to inside the vault just in time to see Hermione lunge towards a goblet. Galleons started sprouting out around her and several versions of the goblet sprang around her as the galleon pile began to grow quickly.

In the time he was distracted, the goblin broke out of his spell and Draco was hit with an incredible headache.

"Intruders!" the goblin yelled. Before it could summon the dragon, Draco cast the spell again. It was weak and the goblin fought him the entire time, but it held.

Someone screamed behind him and his head pounded at the control it took not to lose focus on the goblin. The sound of galleons hitting the floor and the dragon grunting down the cavern made his head pound more and he began to feel a little woozy.

"Get Malfoy and let's go!"

Draco looked up at his name to see Hermione stuffing the goblet in her bag and rushing toward him. He slumped against her side and the goblin broke free of his curse for the last time. Without the strength to cast it again, he stumbled down the cavern after Potter and Weasel with Hermione at his side.

"Wait," he exclaimed as they rounded a corner. Potter and Weasel stopped so fast he and Hermione knocked into them. "Dragon," he said unhelpfully as they all stared up at the beast.

Behind them, the goblin was summoning Gringotts' defenses while the dragon roared in front of them.

"I have a crazy idea," Hermione breathed beside him. Draco, Potter, and Weasel all turned to face her. She gestured toward the dragon with a grimace on her face. "It's clearly abused and we've no other way out."

"You want us to ride the dragon?" Weasel yelled. The dragon roared in their direction and they all crouched to avoid its gaze. As a white eye faced them, they all seemed to realise it was blind at the same time.

"I'm with Ron," Potter said, staring at the dragon with wide eyes.

Alarms blared behind them and Draco picked up on the sound of more goblins and aurors heading their way.

"I'm afraid they've already summoned the aurors," Draco told them. They all looked at Hermione who shrugged.

"It can't be that difficult, right?" she asked.

They only hesitated a second longer before racing toward the dragon. Hermione helped Draco onto its back while Weasel and Potter clambered on behind them. Draco was vaguely aware of Hermione shouting a spell four times followed by the sound of chains falling to the ground. The dragon roared again and spun in a full circle to place the sound. Draco clutched the creature tightly as it swung violently.

"It still thinks it's trapped," Potter yelled over the noise.

Draco closed his eyes for a second, trying to think of a way to help. However, when his eyes opened, they were soaring through the caverns and Hermione was clutching him tightly. His head was pounding and his vision was blurry from the strain of casting the Imperius curse three times in a row.

Before Draco could ask how they'd moved so quickly, the dragon broke through the surface and he was momentarily blinded by the light outside. Below them, wizards screamed as the dragon roared. It lept off the roof of Gringotts and soared high into the sky while Draco struggled to hold on. After a few seconds, it flattened out and headed away from Diagon Alley.

"Now what?" Weasel yelled, glancing back at them. "It's too high for us to jump and we can't apparate from this high up."

"We'll have to wait until it lands," Hermione yelled back. Her arm tightened around Draco and he was only vaguely aware of his vision going black before he was rudely awakened by the splash of cold water.

Flailing wildly, he pushed his hair out of his face and looked around. The dragon was rising back up into the sky while Potter, Weasel, Hermione, and he were all floating in a lake. With a shared look, they all swam toward the shore and made quick work of setting up a camp and a fire.

"You got the goblet, right?" Potter asked Hermione. She nodded and patted her bag.

"I'll keep it safe until we can find a way to destroy it," she told him. They both looked up as Weasel broke through the tree line carrying not wood, but a large sword.

"You guys will never believe what I found," he said, holding out the sword with a grin.