Becoming Harry's Favourite Epilogue (Patreon)

“Stay close,” a stout goblin warned the three humans as they stepped out of the cart and onto the even surface of the ground.

Most of the caverns this deep into the mines beneath Gringotts were naturally formed, but the goblins had at least done some of their own work to make traversal easy. At least, easy if you were a goblin. Fleur regularly had to duck her head beneath hanging stalactites and short passageways that the goblin who was with them had no trouble walking beneath. He sneered every time he had to slow his pace for Fleur, Harry, and Hermione to slip through these areas.

“They could have at least done us the courtesy of bringing the Horcrux to us,” Hermione murmured in annoyance to Fleur and Harry.

“That was not part of the deal, human,” the goblin snapped. “Your Ministry laid out the specific terms for this transfer; if you want to blame anyone, blame them, or blame yourself for not being clever enough to ask for this in advance.”

“Careful,” Harry said dangerously. “You wouldn’t want to upset your diplomatic guests, would you?”

The goblin spat on the ground and continued on without another word.

Despite the rude reception, Fleur understood the goblin’s position completely. For the past five years, the British Ministry of Magic had been trying to strike up a deal with the goblins at Gringotts to claim an item from the Lestrange Family Vault. In accordance with the multitude of complex laws that controlled human-goblin relations in Britain, the goblins were expressly forbidden from making such a deal under any circumstances. That had led the Ministry to hash out new laws and terms with the goblins, several of which ended up in the goblins' favour. However, there were those in the magical community who used this as another piece of evidence to enhance their rhetoric that goblins were greedy creatures who’d stab witches and wizards in the back the first chance they had. While that wasn’t totally untrue, it did strain relations further.

Much like most magical minorities, goblins generally wanted to be left alone by witches and wizards, many of whom were ignorant or disrespectful towards their traditions and histories. However, once they learned the reason why Harry wanted into the vault, the Ministry was left with no choice but to pursue the matter vigorously.

And now, finally, they were ready to slay Voldemort once and for all.

They came upon a large iron door built right into the jagged stone walls of a large cavern. It was decorated with fine ironwork in various shapes and designs, creating an intricate, eye-catching pattern. However, it wasn’t the only noticeable thing. Several feet away from the door, a long chain and a massive collar lay abandoned on the ground. From the terms of the agreement, the dragon that had been guarding the vault was not to be here during the transfer. Fleur felt poorly for the terrible creature, who was likely blind and scared down here in this damp, desolate place. It was cruel of the goblins to leave signs of the dragon’s bondage here for them to see, especially knowing that Fleur and Hermione both worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry.

The goblin strode right up to the door and placed his palm flat on it. There was a moment’s pause before an audible click echoed through the cavern and the door swung inward.

The Lestrange Vault was packed full of gold coins and countless treasures. The vault was practically bursting with wealth, and several piles stood nearly 10 metres tall. There was a narrow path that led towards the back of the vault where a recognizable cup with a badger engraved on it sat atop a naturally-formed shelf in the stone wall.

“You have ten minutes,” the goblin reminded them. He gave them a toothy grin. “If you’re not out by then, I get to lock you inside.”

Harry rolled his eyes and ignored the goblin. “Remember,” he said to Hermione and Fleur. “Don’t touch anything.”

He didn’t need to remind them; after all, Hermione had been the one to come up with the plan in the first place. She had been very clear to ensure that the goblins provided the Ministry with a complete overview of all of the protections the vault had placed on it. Almost every object was enchanted with the Geminio and Flagrante curses, meaning that they’d duplicate if they were touched and burn the person’s skin too. Removing all of the enchantments wouldn’t be feasible within the limited ten minute window that the goblins had agreed to, so they’d just have to be careful.

Fleur went in first, as agreed. If anything unexpected arrived and triggered the curses on the objects, she was the one with the best chance to deal with the Flagrante curse. Her affinity with fire-based magics had only grown since the battle in the graveyard all those years ago, and it had served her well under many trying circumstances.

She walked carefully down the narrow passageway as it snaked back and forth through the vault. The gold and jewels and relics all seemed to call out to her as she passed, begging her to pick them up and take them with her. She wouldn’t be surprised if they had a compulsion charm placed on them, even if the goblins didn’t note it in the overview they provided the Ministry. However, it was easy enough for Fleur to ignore the compulsion. She had everything she wanted in her life with her now: Harry, Hermione, and the baby growing in her belly.

“Does anyone else feel that?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah,” Harry replied casually. “Barely.”

“It is weaker than the last one,” Fleur added. She had almost dismissed the sensation as another part of the compulsion charm placed on the enchanted gold and jewels, but she could sense Voldemort’s stain on the magic if she focused on it enough. Its tendril reached out to all three of them, but the seductive nature of the magic was almost nonexistent. Instead, it felt oily and disgusting to the touch.

By the time the three of them reached it, the golden cup was trembling on the shelf, as though it knew that its time was rapidly drawing to a close. Before he passed on, Dumbledore had explained to the three of them that he suspected that the Horcruxes could sense one another but not communicate. This one had likely felt the other Horcruxes dying off one by one over the years until it was all that remained.

“I don’t want you touching it,” Harry told Fleur protectively as his hand gently pressed against her protruding belly. It was cute how protective he’d become ever since Fleur learned that she was pregnant. Hermione had been much the same, but she’d also become unusually feisty in the bedroom as she tried her best to get pregnant too.

“By all means then,” Fleur smiled at him, gesturing to him to take her place in front of the shelf. They had to step carefully around each other to avoid falling into the piles of gold behind them.

Hermione stepped close to Harry, and the two of them drew their wands and began erecting a well-constructed barrier around the Horcrux. It started hopping around in a desperate attempt to flee, but the barrier locked it in place. A weak, black smoke started to emanate out of the cup, but it too was contained.

“All right,” Hermione nodded with a satisfied look on her face. “The barrier’s in place.”

Harry turned back to Fleur with a nervous look on his face. “Are you sure that you feel up to this?”

“Yes,” Fleur assured him for the umpteenth time. They’d been arguing over this for weeks, but she had the best control over fire out of all of them. Besides, she didn’t have to resort to dark magic in order to destroy the Horcrux like they would have to.

“It’s just . . . the baby . . .” Harry grimaced.

“She’s a Veela like me, Harry,” Fleur smiled, placing her hand comfortingly on his cheek. “Fire is a part of her nature. She won’t be hurt by this.”

Harry let out a shuddering breath. “You’re right. Sorry, I’m just nervous.”

“Don’t be,” Fleur told him. “This will all be over soon, and then we’ll go back home.”

Harry stepped back around Fleur to give her space to work.

“You’ve got this,” Hermione smiled. She leaned in and planted a kiss on Fleur’s cheek and then walked back over towards Harry. After the first time they’d done this, they learned to give her a few metres of space to work with unless they wanted all of their clothes to burn up.

Taking in a deep breath, Fleur steadied herself and planted her feet firmly on the ground. She’d done this several times now, so it was easy to repeat the motions. First, she reached inward for the ever-present fire that burned inside of her. Her magic instinctively reacted to her focus and fueled the flames, making them grow inside of her. She felt her baby stir in her belly. “Shh,” Fleur whispered gently. “The fire will not hurt you.”

The flames grew until Fleur could feel them rolling around underneath every inch of her skin. They were seeking an escape, and Fleur was going to give it to them.

As she grabbed her wand, Fleur thought of her family. Harry and Hermione were going to always be by her side, and she’d always be with them. Although the start to their relationship hadn’t been perfect, it had become greater than Fleur could have ever imagined. She loved them both dearly.

The fire inside of her responded to her thoughts and rose to a crescendo. Fleur jabbed her wand forward and the flames spewed violently out of her wand. She faintly heard a scream from the cup as it was engulfed by the fire. Then, it shattered into millions of tiny pieces and was reduced to ash from the fire.

Fleur stopped her magic then, and the fire settled inside of her. As always, she felt exhausted after performing that feat of magic, and Harry and Hermione were immediately at her side to help steady her on her feet.

“You did wonderfully today,” Harry told her happily as he kissed her.

“You really were incredible,” Hermione grinned, squeezing Fleur tightly in a hug.

Fleur kissed Harry back before planting a kiss on Hermione’s forehead. Glowing with pride at her family and the goal they had accomplished, Fleur walked hand in hand with them back out of the vault. They were going home now, and there was no place else Fleur would rather be.