The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

Vault 711

"Muffliato."

Sirius pulled the invisibility cloak off nearly immediately after James had cast the spell and Frank had half-closed the doors to the vault, blocking Tinderwood's view of them. "Bloody hell I thought I was going to be flung from that blasted cart!"

"Part of me wished I would have been," Frank said, still sickened by the trip along the mining cart rails that had brought them so far down below Gringott's floors. "Might have been easier than losing my blasted stomach somewhere along the way."

Sirius shook himself like a dog, and tossed the invisibility cloak over an ancient trunk by the door. He looked around at the contents of the vault. "Wow, decent," he murmured.

The interior of Vault 711 was rather reminiscent of a museum. There were tall shelves that lined the walls, filled with old books and funny brass instruments, as well as a myriad of dark magical objects. There were stacks of gold in great piles toward the back of the vault, coins and raw nuggets of the stuff, glimmering in the flickering light of the sconces around the room. There were loads of house elf heads hanging up on the walls, too. Frank stared at one. "Bloody hell," he whispered.

"Overspill from the hall at home," Sirius said. He squinted into the face of the nearest elf head to him, then looked at Frank. "They get bumped into the vault as each one dies. One day, another will be tossed in here when mother mounts Kreacher's head."

"Touching," James said. "Anyone see the vials?"

They began looking about. There were several moments of silence as they went poking about. James found a stack of books - among them was the Biography of the Honorable Gellert Grindelwald, and A Full and Complete History of the Pureblood Lines. He shook his head. Meanwhile, Sirius was chuckling at a long ivory-colored wedding gown, which hung on the wall from one of the sconces. The dress had a terrible collar that buttoned in the back, overlaid by black lace, and stiff, horrid sleeves that came to a point with a loop of cloth meant to hold them to the fingers. Sirius scowled and jabbed a thumb in the direction of the gown. "Oi, Prongs, what if Lillith returns home with a frock like that next week, eh?"

James looked 'round and spotted the dress and let out a horrified "bugger is that!?" Then looked closer, "Blimey, she better not."

Sirius cackled evilly. "Not even Evans could save that work of shite, huh? You've seen my mum, yeah? Picture her fat arse squashed into that ghastly --"

"FOUND'EM!"

Frank's voice echoed through the vault and James and Sirius hurried to where Frank was standing in the corner of the room, past baskets of rubies and emeralds. Frank was standing by a glass cabinet with large ornate doors. Inside stood what seemed like thousands and thousands of rows of the little vials, though the size of the cabinet seemed too small for such bounty. It clearly had a very clever extendable charm upon it, engorging it so that it could hold far more than it was crafted to do.

Frank started to reach for the handle of the door, but James quickly caught his elbow and stopped him, "Wait - don't, Frank. We can't, remember? Only Sirius can touch it."

"Oh right." Frank's arm dropped to his side, "Close one."

James looked at Sirius, "Alright, Pads, your moment's arrived."

Sirius reached into his pocket and withdrew a pouch, upon which Remus had cast an undetectable extension charm. Sirius shook the pouch open and rolled up his shirt's sleeves, taking a deep breath and stepping up to the cabinet. He reached out a shaking hand.

"Go on," James encouraged him, "You're alright. You're a member of the House of Black, so it's technically your treasure, isn't it? You can touch it. It's just me and Frank that can't."