─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"You look... terrifying, Hermione."

"You'd better take a long look in a mirror, then," said Hermione, her eyes traveling down Cassie's Polyjuiced body, "because you're not much better."

Cassie spun to face the mirror behind her. She had already spent a couple minutes staring into it, at her new reflection, with a look of shock sitting upon her unfamiliar features. Now, she gazed into it, attempting to perfect Narcissa Malfoy's signature disgusted sneer.

Her eyes were the same colour, at the very least, but the shape and glare of them was entirely different. Her whole face was much sharper than she was used to. Her skin—already pale, usually—was white as snow and not touched by a single wrinkle.

Probably Narcissa Malfoy was not one prone to laughter or grins.

"Don't try to kiss me when you look like that, Cass," said Harry, walking down the stairs with Ron, Griphook, and Atticus in tow. Ron had been the first of the group to be Glamoured — his hair was now long and wavy; he had a thick brown beard and matching mustache, no freckles, a broad nose, and heavy eyebrows.

"What, you don't like it?" Cassie asked Harry, puffing out her lower lip. "I think it's quite pretty. Perhaps I'll change my hair to permanently look like this, yeah?"

"You'd look like a skunk," Atticus pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "Though, judging by the podgy look that's always on Narcissa's face, I'd assume it's a real skunk on her head..."

As the others laughed, Harry took Cassie's hand and led her toward the kitchen. He shut the door behind them and turned to face her, which evidently was a difficult feat whilst she looked like Narcissa Malfoy.

"You don't have to come," Harry said, "if you really don't want to."

"I want to," she said, nodding. "I really do, Harry. I don't want you three to do this by yourselves. Plus, I think Atticus could use the alone time — he's been through a lot. If he won't talk to me about it, I suppose there's nothing I can do except wait, yeah?"

Harry nodded his agreement, though pursed his lips and ducked his head as they swept from the kitchen. The others looked to them expectantly; Bill, Fleur, Dean, and Luna had now joined them.

"We've got to get going," said Hermione, glancing to the clock sitting on the wall opposite the stairs. "We only have an hour, and we've used up about four minutes of it."

"Right," said Cassie, rubbing her palms on her formal black dress and pulling from her robes Narcissa's wand. "Are you lot ready?"

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Griphook nodded their approval. Waving goodbye to the other inhabitants of Shell Cottage (Cassie pressed a kiss to Atticus's cheek and squeezed Luna's hand on the way out), the five of them swept out the door and away from the cottage in order to break past the Apparation barriers.

Once they decided they had gone far enough, they took each other's hands one by one, and with a turn over their shoulders, they Disapparated from Shell Cottage and were, in the blink of an eye, staring up at the face of Gringotts.

Griphook, safely situated on Harry's back and both of them beneath the Invisibility Cloak, whispered one last bit of advice to Harry that Cassie caught the tail end of but could not quite make out. And anyway, she was rather busy with glaring around at everybody that passed by with a revolted sneer.

The group had barely stepped foot up the steps leading to Gringotts when a loud voice from behind called to Bellatrix, and, in turn, caused both Cassie and Hermione to freeze in their tracks. They spun to see a man with a crown of bushy grey hair and a slight limp in his left leg wobbling toward them.

"Travers," said Cassie coolly before Hermione could allow the insult past her lips that she had so obviously been planning on delivering — she clearly did not know that this man was one of Bellatrix's fellow Death Eaters, but Cassie recognized him from somewhere; perhaps a vision?

Travers glanced over Cassie's form, his upper lip twitching at the corner. "Narcissa, how lovely to see you," he said, and gave her a thin-lipped smile. He turned back to Bellatrix. "I confess I am surprised to see you both out and about."

"Really?" asked Hermione. "Why?"

"Well," Travers coughed, "I heard that the inhabitants of Malfoy Manor were confined to the house, after the... ah, escape."

Cassie blinked slowly, caught unawares, but thankfully, Travers still had his eyes on Bellatrix. Cassie only hoped Hermione could think faster on the spot than she herself could — and then she remembered this was Hermione, and Hermione was quite literally one of the brightest witches Cassie had ever met.

"The Dark Lord forgives those who have served him most faithfully in the past," said Hermione in a brilliant imitation of Bellatrix's contemptuous tone. "Perhaps your credit is not as good with him as mine is, Travers."

"Who is your friend?" Travers asked, changing the subject after looking somewhat offended (but also, thankfully, less suspicious). "I do not recognize him."

"This is Dragomir Despard," said Cassie, her eyes flickering over Ron's Glamoured form. "He speaks very little English, but he is in sympathy with the Dark Lord's aims. He has traveled all the way from Transylvania to see our new regime."

"Indeed?" asked Travers. "How do you do, Dragomir?"

"'ow you?" said Ron gruffly, holding out his hand.

Travers, extending two fingers and shaking Ron's hand as though afraid of dirtying himself, said, "So what brings you two and your friend to Diagon Alley this early?"

"I need to visit Gringotts," said Hermione.

"Alas, I also," said Travers. "Gold, filthy gold... We cannot live without it, yet I confess I deplore the necessity of consorting with our long-fingered friends."

His eyes danced between Hermione and Cassie before landing on the latter. He cleared his throat and, looking quite scornful, said, "I'm sure you know better than anyone, Narcissa, what gold does to a respectable wizard."

Cassie arched an eyebrow. "Surely you are not insinuating anything, Travers?"

"Oh no," he said, shaking his head fervently and humbly, "I would never dream of such a thing, Mrs. Malfoy.. although, it's no secret your husband has—"

"What my husband 'has' is no business of yours, Travers," said Cassie forcefully, lifting her chin. "I would appreciate it — as would my husband, I can safely say — if you do not attempt to meddle in our home life anymore."

Travers, looking as though he had been put in his place, muttered, "Shall we?" to Hermione.

"We shall," both Hermione and Cassie answered in sync.

Travers led Hermione and Cassie up the steps to the entrance of Gringotts, Cassie exchanging a subtle, nervous glance with Ron. A guardian Death Eater was the very last thing they needed.

As they reached the top step, Travers sighed, "Ah, Probity Probes. So crude, but effective!"

He nodded left and right to the guard wizards, who raised two golden rods and passed them up and down his body. Cassie recognized the probes — from some book, probably; they detected hidden magical objects and spells of concealment. She cast a glance sideways to where she assumed Harry and Griphook were climbing the steps next to her; a faint whisper from her right, and the two guards gave a little start as the Confundus Charms hit them.

Cassie and Hermione continued up the steps without pausing for the Probity Probes.

"Oh, one moment, madams," said the guard on the left, raising his probe.

"But you've just done that!" said Hermione in Bellatrix's commanding voice. Travers, a few paces ahead, looked around, eyebrows raised. The guards were visibly confused. They stared down to their golden probes and then shared a look between the two of them.

"Yeah," said the one on the right. "You've just checked them, Marius."

Hermione and Ron swept forward, Cassie falling into line behind them; as she passed the guard on the left, she pat his shoulder condescendingly, then made a show of wiping her hand on her skirt as if to rid it of his filth.

They passed rows and rows of goblins sitting behind tills, a few serving the first customers of the day. Hermione pretended to explain features of the hall to Ron, allowing Travers to go ahead of them. Cassie stayed somewhat behind, eyeing a few of the customers with what she hoped was a menacing stare.

"Madam Lestrange, Mrs. Malfoy!" said the goblin which Hermione had stopped in front of. "Dear me! How — how may I help you today?"

"I wish to enter my vault," said Hermione.

The old goblin seemed to recoil a little. Cassie discreetly glanced around. Not only was Travers hanging back, watching, but several other goblins had looked up from their work to stare at Hermione.

Something was wrong. She could feel it.

"You have identification?" asked the goblin.

"I have never been asked for identification before," said Hermione forcefully.

"Your wand will do, madam," said the goblin, though Cassie had just barely caught Griphook hissing something along the lines of "They know!" into Harry's ear.

Cassie stared up at the goblin, taking a step forward to stand directly next to Hermione's Polyjuiced form. From the goblin's perspective, Narcissa placed a settling hand on Bellatrix's shoulder — but it was really Cassie subtly pulling Hermione's shoulder back so Harry could get a clear shot at the teller goblin.

And a clear shot, he had: Cassie just barely heard the faint, telling whoosh coming from behind. As Hermione handed the goblin Bellatrix's wand, he took it into his hands with a surprised, airy expression, and said, "Ah, you have had a new wand made, Madam Lestrange!"

Hermione, looking lost, shook her head and made to argue against it, but Cassie squeezed her shoulder and instead turned to Travers, who stepped forward again.

"A new wand?" he asked. "But how could you have done, which wandmaker did you use?"

There came a slight pause, then Travers's eyes gleamed just as the goblin's did. "Oh yes, I see," he said, looking down at Bellatrix's wand. "Very handsome. Is it working well?"

Hermione merely nodded, thankfully turning back without another word to the banker.

"So, if you will follow me, Madam Lestrange," said the old goblin, hopping down off his stool and disappearing behind the counter, "I shall take you to your vault. Mrs. Malfoy, will you be coming along?"

Cassie gave a curt nod and fell into place behind Hermione as they followed the goblin into an empty stone passageway.

The door had just shut behind them when Harry appeared just behind Cassie, tucking the Invisibility Cloak away. Griphook jumped off of his shoulders. Neither Travers not the Imperiused goblin showed even a bit of surprise at Harry's sudden appearance. "They're Imperiused," he told Hermione, Ron, and Cassie — though Cassie had already connected the dots.

"We're in trouble," Harry said. "They suspect."

"What do we do?" asked Ron. "Should we get out, while we can?"

"If we can," Hermione corrected, gazing at the door from which they had just come. "Heaven knows what's happening right now, if they know we're fakes."

"We've got this far, I say we go on," said Harry.

"I didn't Polyjuice into my bitch of an aunt just to turn around now," Cassie added, earning a hmph of agreement from Hermione.

"Yes," Griphook said, nodding. "We need Bogrod to control the cart; I no longer have the authority. But there will not be room for the... wizard." He was looking at Travers.

Harry pointed his wand to the Death Eater and, without a moment of hesitation, said, "Imperio!" and Travers turned and set off along the dark track at a quick pace.

"What are you making him do?" Cassie asked curiously.

"Hide," Harry replied as he now pointed his wand to the goblin, who whistled to summon a little cart that came soaring down the track with surprising speed. As they climbed into it, Cassie was positive she could hear shouting coming from the main hall.

"We haven't got much time," she said pointlessly, clambering into the cart behind Harry.

"So let's get this done with," he said, just as the cart gave a large jerk and soared off down the track from which it had come.

Cassie was not usually one prone to motion sickness, but this ride was a whole different story — the cart flew across the tracks with horrifying speed, and the only noise Cassie could perceive over her own screams was the roaring of the cart's wheels against the tracks. Harry kept glancing over his shoulder nervously, causing Cassie to do the same.

She had just glanced behind herself when suddenly Griphook shouted "No!" and a waterfall seemed to come from nowhere. Without warning, they zoomed through it. Water filled Cassie's vision; she could barely see and could not breathe whatsoever. Then, with an awful lurch, the cart flipped over and they were thrown from it painfully.

As they all stood, groaning and grunting in pain, Hermione was the first to notice it: "Cassie!" she cried, pointing at her. "You're you!"

hey..... hey... how yall doin.......... 🙂