INTERVENTION

Note: Both timelines are now caught up with each other.

X.

Alternative Methods

I.

"WHY ARE WE doing this again?" It was Ron. He was holding a shotgun, pointing it at a mock-up of a target similarly to the ones that were commonly used to train muggles in their firing practice. "The target doesn't shoot back, so there's no point. It's not as if he's going to hurt me, and besides – I have my wand. I don't need a gun."

"Yes, you do," scolded Ellen. "What happens if you drop your wand, Weasley? You're going to need something else. Plus, guns can kill demons. Wands can't. And if you think this is hard, we're going to teach you to do hand to hand training next, so get your act together and stop winging. Hermione seems to be doing it just fine."

Hermione fired the shotgun, but missed the mark. Ellen sighed, looking at Bobby. "Can I have a word?"

"Sure," he said with a sigh.

"We haven't heard from the Winchesters in weeks," Ellen said. "Since we arrived, I mean. They've literally disappeared off the face of the Earth. No word, no contact. Heck, we've got no definitive proof that they're even in England."

"Oh, they're here alright," Bobby replied, and then turned to Hermione. "Sooner or later something big will happen, and I'm talking like catastrophically game changing big. We'll find 'em. And hopefully Potter as well."

"That's what I'm afraid of," admitted Hermione. They still weren't sure as to what to do with Harry now that they knew he was a Horcrux and a seal – they didn't even know if they should tell him. Because if the only way to defeat Voldemort was to unleash the Devil himself, was it really worth it defeating Voldemort? Hermione recalled a saying about the enemy you knew over the one that you didn't. They knew Voldemort. They didn't know Lucifer.

But how could anybody be worse than what Voldemort had already done?

II.

"YO, WAS WONDERING when you would show up!" Dean shouted at Ruby and Harry as they arrived. "What took you so long?"

"We were having hot steamy sex," Ruby said with a smirk, causing a scandalised look on Harry's face. Dean mimed vomiting, and Castiel cast a disapproving look. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, grow up. For the record, kid's not my type. Reckon Sammy would probably get a pissed off. Anyway. What are we waiting for? Let's go open a vault."

Following Ruby, who was still in her Goblin form, the team moved single file down the narrow, one-track path. At the other end, it led out onto a room, and to Harry's horror – a sleeping dragon was waiting for them, "Dude," Dean whispered in the direction of Sam. "Where's Bilbo Baggins when you need him?"

Sam grimaced, and whispered to Ruby, who was standing lower down than him. "Any idea how you get past that thing?"

"There," Castiel pointed, in the direction near a vault exit. Sam, Ruby, Harry and Dean followed his gaze. "We should be able to subdue the dragon by using that object."

"They're called Clankers, Castiel," informed Ruby. "And he's right. It's just the matter of us getting there without awaking the sleeping dragon. Harry, you wouldn't happen to still have that Invisibility Cloak, would you?"

Harry nodded, and pulled it out of his bag, placing it over him. Taking slow steps, the Boy Who Lived edged around the cavern towards the Clankers, and then started to put them to use. As both Castiel and Ruby predicted, the Dragon began to move away from them as they made their attempt to the Vault. "Who's got the key?" Sam broke the verbal silence once they made their way to Lestrange's Vault, observing the giant keyhole above them.

"Shit," Dean said, with a grimace. "You're freaking kidding me. Since when did we forget stuff? None of you knew there was going to be a key here?"

"Actually, I did," Ruby replied. "And you Winchesters are so quick to jump to conclusions; you should know that by now. Anyway... as it happens, certain higher up Goblins can open Vaults without the owner's keys in order to retrieve objects if say... the owner is occupied at the time and is unable to attend. A proof of identity is needed, normally... often involving blood, but I think in this case I can let it slide. But just this once y'know, boys. Can't have me being all scandalous every day of the week."

"No, only Mondays and Wednesdays," Dean put in.

"Actually, it's Wednesdays and Fridays, if you're going to insult me, get your facts right," Ruby responded in a way that Dean couldn't tell whether she was joking or not. Without further delay though, the Goblin opened the vault, and turned to Castiel. "By the way, didn't I tell you? Certain goblins can also grant powers to certain trustworthy Angels. So I believe you can have your power back now, Cas. But only if you say please."

"You mean you could have just let me have my powers the whole time?" Castiel asked, raising an eyebrow at Ruby. "Why prevent me from having them? It would have been much easier to get in and out again."

"Yeah," growled Dean. "Demon Bitch."

"Easy on the insults, Dean-o. Don't want to be using foul language in front of Angels here, do we now?" Ruby said, with a smirk. "Plus, I like having fun with my boys."

"We are not your boys," Castiel warned. "You are overstepping your boundaries here, Demon."

"Yeah, you're dead right about that," Ruby said with a smirk.

"So, what needs to be done to complete the transaction process?" Castiel asked, rising an eyebrow. Ruby walked over to Castiel, and simply tapped him on the shoulder. The Angel shuddered, regaining full control of his powers.

"That feels much better," Castiel commented, and the door was promptly ripped off its hinges seconds later, leaving it against the wall. The dragon was still being distracted by Harry's use of the Clankers (much to the Boy Who Lived's chagrin) so it continued to ignore the group surrounding the door. They were with a Goblin, one of the races who inflict severe pain on it were it to disobey orders, so it stayed still for now.

"Wow," Dean couldn't help let out an awed gasp at seeing Castiel's power in full effect, and then at the gold inside.

"Careful," warned Castiel. "Do not touch anything, the Lestrange woman has added a curse that will replicate the objects that are touched. Search for the Cup and touch it alone."

"Yeah, that's gonna be real easy. Like finding a needle in a haystack," Dean commented. "How you holding up there, kid?"

Dean turned back to Harry, only now just realising that the sound coming from the Clankers had stopped, and Harry was lying face first in the floor several yards away from the dragon. The Winchesters watched in growing disbelief as it roared, louder, spreading its wings, even in chains.

"Shit," Dean couldn't help but exclaim, in awe. "Cas, now would be a good time to use those powers of yours."

As if on cue, Harry vanished from where he was in the blink of an eye, clutching his belongings and appearing standing up inside the Vault. Castiel's next move was to summon the body of Ruby's human host, from where it was in Gringotts above, causing Dean to yelp as the body of a corpse appeared next to them. Within seconds however, it was animated again – the familiar black smoke spiralling out of the Goblin and into the girl's mouth. Coughing and wheezing, Ruby burst into life.

"What was that for?"

"I believe the absence of the Death Eaters above has been discovered. We will have company unless we find the Horcrux now. They found your body and would have located it, and we would be of more use to you in your human guise than in your Goblin one in the real world."

"Aw, thanks. Didn't know you cared."

"I see it!" Harry called out suddenly, pointing to their target – the cup, resting proudly on top of Galleons that was piled almost as high as the ceiling. He was tempted to reach for his broom, but with a wave of his hand, Castiel brought the cup crashing down towards them. Before they could triumph in their victory however, a loud roar could be heard from the dragon outside the vault. It was building steam, and because Castiel had ripped the door off its hinges... it now had a clear target.

"Um, Cas. Get us the hell outtta here. Do your teleport thing."

"Where would be your preferred destination?" Castiel asked, as the first hints of fire began to escape from the demon's mouth.

Harry said the first thing that popped into his head. "The Eiffel Tower, France."

And before he could even blink, they were gone.

III.

"HELLO," SHACKLEBOLT SAID, by way of greeting, once Bill Weasley let him in the front door of Shell Cottage. Without waiting for anymore introduction, having already been introduced to the Hunters in the room on an earlier occasion, said, "I just got news of a sighting of Harry."

"Where?" asked Bobby, reaching for his shotgun. Around the living room, he could see Fleur, Bill, Ellen, Jo and Hermione reaching for their things as well – expecting to follow Kingsley as soon as he left for the door.

"Gringotts Bank," Shacklebolt said. "We have a confirmed sighting of Harry Potter entering Gringotts Bank from a former Hogwarts student. He was Invisible, but apparently he recognised his feet."

"His feet?" Jo asked, surprised.

"Invisibility Cloak," Hermione realised, suddenly. "We would have outgrown it by now. They must be stealing Hufflepuff's Cup! Mr. Shacklebolt, who else knows about this?"

"Just the Order members," Shacklebolt explained. "The Hogwarts student is a member and would prefer not to be named."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ron asked, climbing to his feet. "We need to go and get him before he gets caught."

"Yeah, kid. I'll take your brother and her wife. Ellen and Jo can come along as well. You're not ready yet," Bobby said, noticing that Ellen didn't offer any resistance to bringing her daughter along.

"Not ready yet?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow. "My best friend's in danger. I want to help."

"And that didn't occur to you when you abandoned him in the middle of the night?" Bobby asked, raising his voice. "Don't try to play the friendship card with me, Weasley. After what you did to Potter your apology better be good."

Ron scowled as Bobby turned away, as Bill and Fleur followed him towards the day. Shacklebolt led the rescue party out of the house, and said, "Well, we'd better move quickly. The Death Eaters are swarming over Gringotts at the moment. Safest we can do is stay to the outside."

"Hang on," Ellen interrupted Shacklebolt suddenly, glancing at the oldest Weasley present. Having talked to the group in the weeks that they'd spent there, she knew a lot about them – and Bill's intended career path. "Bill, you wouldn't happen to know any of your contacts in Gringotts Bank, would you?"

"That's a good point," Bill said in response. "I should be able to get in touch with a few Goblins. Whether or not they're going to let us in..."

"I guess there's only one way to find out," Ellen said with a sigh. "Let's get moving then. We've got a Chosen One to save."

FINAL NOTES...

Sorry about the long wait between chapters. I was busy working on other things, finishing my coursework and watching the World Cup. However, Chapter 10 has arrived.

NEXT TIME: Chapter 11 – Public Execution. Bobby, Ellen, Bill, Fleur, Jo and Shacklebolt mount a rescue plan, not knowing that Harry, Dean, Sam, Ruby and Castiel do not need rescuing in the first place. They have the Horcrux and are safe. The same cannot be said about their rescuers however – because they are about to walk right into a trap!