A/N: See when I have time I can actually produce. Wish I could say it will continue to be like this but alas we all know it won't but again thanks for sticking with me. Seems as though people are actually pretty into this story so I will do everything I can to push through it at a bit of a faster pace than I have been. No promises though. Thanks as always for reading.

Chapter 22: Every Last Inch

Their successful trip into Gringotts revitalized the duo and they found over the next few days that they were more encouraged than they had been in months. While in actuality they were still no closer to finding the last horcrux or even to destroying the two they currently had the feeling of finally having some level of success meant that they felt they had a reason to keep going. Over the next few days they continued to scour through all of the notes in his parent's house but they seemed to have run dry. Finally on the Tuesday they were to finish Harry announced, "I want to go back to Gringotts. I think there may be something more there. I mean we felt so rushed the other day I'm afraid we missed something."

"Oh but Harry we were so lucky the first time. Do you really think we should risk it again?" Hermione questioned.

"No, I don't think we should, I think I should."

"Harry I'm not leaving you alone."

"Hermione just listen. If I go alone I think I may have an easier time. You can stay here and focus on trying to find where the elder wand might be. I can go alone and search the vaults and if something happens it will be a whole lot easier for me to apparate by myself rather than having two people together."

"Oh you may be right," Hermione said dejectedly. "I hate it when you're right. Just promise me that you'll be back in two hours, if you're not I'm taking polyjuice and coming after you."

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "You just see if you can find that stupid wand."

"Okay, be careful," she said leaning up and giving him a kiss.

Then, after throwing the invisibility cloak over himself, with a crack he was back in the alley. Just as before he snuck into the bank behind another patron and he made his way towards the back of the bank. He found Griphook off by himself again and as he approached him he looked around before ducking and pulling off the cloak. "Aww Mr. Potter, back so soon?"

"I need to go to my vault again," he stated directly.

"Yes I thought you may have left something behind," Griphook mentioned.

Harry looked at the goblin curiously, "No just wanted to look around it a bit more you know, explore my new possessions."

"Aw yes, it is good to know what is really yours," the goblin said as they walked to the cart.

A few minutes later they were in front of the vault again and, after Griphook opened the door Harry turned to him and said, "I may be in there a while, as I'm sure you know it's quite large."

"Yes, and it seems as though it grows each time you enter."

Again Harry looked at the curious creature before heading into the vault. This time he took his time to go over every inch of the vault he could. He dug through piles of gold and silver and strained his neck to look around over and through as many of the jewels as he could. When he reached the back of the vault again he ducked through the hole and did the same process through the Lestrange vault. After reaching the front of the vault he looked down at his watch. It had been an hour and a half since he had left, if he didn't get going soon Hermione would be coming after him and he definitely did not want to put her in that danger so he began to make his way back.

He was about to duck through the hole again when he noticed something. There was another small tunnel next to the one that led back to the Black vault. How did we miss this yesterday? Harry thought to himself. But there was simply no way. While going from the Black vault to the Lestrange vault it may be easy to walk right past as you ducked down to go through this way it was right in front of you. "… it seems as though it grows each time you enter." Harry thought back to what Griphook had told him. What did he know? What was he playing at? Harry ducked down into the new tunnel. This one went straight into the back of the vault but judging by how dark it was it didn't lead anywhere. He pulled out his wand and whispered, "Lumos." Just a few short feet back he reached another wall and he turned to the jut to the left and looked down in astonishment. There just resting against the back most wall of this little tunnel sat the Sword of Gryffindor.

Harry picked it up and examined it. There was the rubies encrusting the hilt and just at the beginning of the blade Godric Gryffindor wan engraved just as clearly as it had been the first time Harry had seen the sword. Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. He quickly scooted back into the vault so he could examine it closer. Everything seemed to check out, he rapped his hand on it, it felt solid, in gleamed in the light of the torches, and it matched the silver of the sickles around him. He pulled out the cloak and slid the sword into it. It was a little awkward but with a bit of wiggling around he was able to slide the sword down his trousers so that it didn't make him have to move too awkwardly.

He looked down at his watch again, only 15 minutes until Hermione would be coming after him and it would take nearly that long to get out of the bank. He set off back through the tunnel and into the Black vault. Then as best he could with the sword down his leg he ran back to the front of the vault. Just before rounding the last pile he slowed and tried to catch his breath before walking around and out the door. "Aw Sir, did you find anything interesting?" Griphook asked examining Harry as he walked out.

"Oh a few things I'll have to come back and check out more," he stated trying to keep his cool.

"You seem to be limping a bit there sir, is everything alright?" Griphook asked.

He was caught and he knew it. The goblin must have put the sword there to see if he was going into the other vault. It was a trap and Harry had fallen right into it. "Um I twisted my ankle jumping down from one of the piles," he lied. He knew he was fooling no one and all he could think about it how he was headed to Azkaban and Hermione was going to be coming after him and there would be nothing she could do and now she would be completely on her own and he had let the whole world down and..

"Aw well I hope the exploration was worth it at least and that you found something useful," Griphook said before closing the door and turning to walk back towards the cart. Harry was perhaps more stunned now than he had been when he found the sword, he was letting him go. He had to know but he was letting him go. Why, why would he do this? He knew Harry had something that didn't belong to him, though Dumbledore had tried to give it to him in his will, but still Goblin's surly wouldn't take any stock in that. "Are you coming Mr. Potter?" Griphook asked from the cart.

Harry shook his head and glanced down at his watch, seven minutes til two hours. "Umm yes of course," he said limping over as fast as he could. The whole ride up to the bank Harry racked his brain trying to decide why Griphook was letting him go and at the same time wishing this cart, which he had always felt was going plenty fast, would somehow hurry up. When they rounded the last corner he looked down at his watch again, two minutes. "Thank you sir," Harry said to the Goblin the second the cart stopped as he jumped out of it awkwardly.

"Ah yes and good luck in all your endeavors sir," Griphook called as Harry stumbled away.

He found a hidden corner and pulled the cloak and sword back out and through the cloak over his head. He broke into a run across the marble floor and escaped out the door. He looked down at his watch again bounded down the stairs, one minute past, Oh please don't be already here, he though as he rounded the corner into the alley.

With a crack he was on the front porch or his parents house and he through open the door and tore off the cloak "Hermione!" he yelled and he saw her standing there wand up.

"Oh Harry," she called just as her face began to bubble.

Harry looked to the table beside her and saw the unmistakable remnants of the green sludge of polyjuice potion. "Oh Hermione I'm sorry," he said walking over to her as her face continued to bubble. "I got held up."

"It's okay," she said as her hair turned blonde. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Who are you turning into?" he asked as she grew an inch or two and her body seemed to be filling out.

"It's a lady I saw a lot of men drooling over at the store the other day," she said as her body finally settled. "I figured it might be easier to get information without raising suspicion if I looked like this."

As much as Harry didn't want to admit it she certainly was quite the looker at the moment. "Well I don't think you realize how much drooling you cause in your own right," he quickly stated.

"Well aren't you just sweet," she replied. "But being as I'm on the Undesirable list I figured this might be better."

"How much did you take?" Harry asked noticing for the first time that the glass was quite large.

"Well I didn't know what I'd be getting into and I've been making more of the potion since we got here so I just took the rest of what we had."

"And how much is that?" he asked.

"Six or seven hours worth," she said blushing.

"Oh my," Harry said choking slightly. "Well then, this will be an interesting evening then."

"Harry Potter are you blushing?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly doing everything he could not to stare.

"Sometimes I wonder how boys ever get anything done. I mean you should have seen the guys at the store looking at this woman. Two of them literally ran into one another."

"Oh come on Hermione it's not like you don't take advantage of your feminine wiles every now and then Miss I'll just drop my under garments through the door," Harry said defensively.

"I'll bet you wish you could see me in my under garments now," she said teasing and shaking her hips. Harry shook his head and blushed more. "By the way Harry, is that a sword in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot…"