Chapter 45 - Problems and Solutions

The dragon, despite its many years of imprisonment, was not a weak flier by any means. Captivity had made it desperate so that it flew, and flew, and flew, almost endlessly away from London and Gringotts. It headed north towards the countryside, either unaware or indifferent to the four passengers clinging for dear life to the scales on its back. Seeing that it had no intention of landing anytime soon, it was Ron who made the startling suggestion:

"I think we should jump!"

"Brilliant, Weasley!" Draco yelled. "You go first!"

"No, he's right!" Hermione countered, spotting a large body of water below them. "If we don't, what'll we do when it lands? It's sure to be hungry!"

"Tempting" as the prospect of jumping was to all of them, it was clear they had no choice. On the count of three, they all let go of their hold, crashing down into the lake below them. Fortunately, they were all adept swimmers and made it to the surface with no trouble, after which it was a simple matter for them all to make their way to shore. Hermione quickly used a drying spell on them and then Harry and Ron worked in tangent to set up defenses around their new impromptu campsite. Though for now they had no idea where they were and, as Harry announced, Voldemort was aware of what they had done, moving further away was out of the question. They needed their rest as well as to plan, so they might as well set up their tent here as anywhere.

Draco watched as Hermione took out all their supplies from her seemingly-limitless bag, after which they sat together at the main table with the horcrux between them until Harry and Ron came in.

They had it, they really had it: Hufflepuff's Cup and another part of Voldemort's soul. Draco could still hardly believe that they had snuck into his aunt's vault and stolen what was undoubtedly the most valuable thing inside. Even now, he could only guess at what her reaction and the Dark Lord's reactions might be. For the moment, he wasn't concerned about his own role in anything just yet.

Hermione, for her own part, was concerned about Draco and whether or not he had been seen, but that also was a secondary concern to the primary one that all four of them shared:

Just how, in Merlin's name, were they going to destroy the horcrux, now that the Sword of Gryffindor was gone, eaten by a dragon?

"It's not gone for good just because it's in the dragon's stomach, if that's what you're thinking," Hermione explained, once Ron voiced the question aloud. "The sword has been around for centuries and is likely indestructible by now. Chances are that once the dragon..." But she stopped, leaving it there for everyone to conclude using their imaginations. Maybe they should have hung on until the dragon landed after all?

It was Harry who shook his head though, disagreeing. "I don't think so. Something tells me that the moment that the dragon swallowed Griphook...the sword itself disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Ron echoed.

Harry nodded. "I think that there's a part of it that's connected to the school, or at least to the Sorting Hat. Remember in second year how it appeared to me in the Chamber of Secrets? Dumbledore also mentioned that it worked that way, to be summoned to the aid of a true Gryffindor. How else would it have been in the forest that time as well?"

Ron frowned. "Then why doesn't it appear to us now, then? We bloody well need it, after all!"

Harry shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, Ron! If it did, we would've had the sword in hand the second we got the locket away from Umbridge at the ministry! No...even now, I'm not sure just why the sword appeared to us then in the forest, either..."

It was a question there was no use pondering now though, especially since their problem still remained. Without the sword, they would essentially be stuck with a horcrux once more, likely to bring bad fortune and misery their way just as the locket did. So, unless one of them held on to the cup at all times, they might as well expect snatchers to show up at their campsite any minute.

Finally, after a short period of silence, it was Draco who spoke up. "There are other ways of destroying a horcrux besides the sword though, aren't there?"

Everyone looked up at him, waiting for him to explain.

Draco recounted no less than what they already knew: that besides the locket, until now they had also destroyed Tom Riddle's Diary and Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Granted, Dumbledore had destroyed the ring using the sword as well, but as for the diary...

"With basilisk venom from the Chamber of Secrets," Harry finished. But then he shook his head at how that solution was in many ways even harder than getting back the sword. After all, that would require them to get back to Hogwarts and into the Chamber of Secrets, which in itself was definitely not a possibility now. True, they would have to go back to Hogwarts eventually, but they really should have more horcruxes either in hand or destroyed by then...

Without the sword though, they might have no choice.

Everyone pondered over this for a while, until Draco chanced another question. "Just why was the sword able to destroy horcruxes anyway? I understand that it's Gryffindor's sword, but other than that, what makes it so special apart from any other swords or even spells you could use?"

It was Harry who answered: "The sword itself, now that you mention it, is laced with basilisk venom from when I used it to kill the basilisk. It's a sword that's able to absorb only that which makes it stronger."

"It's also a goblin-forged sword," Hermione pointed out. "That's why Griphook also wanted it in exchange for getting us into the vault."

"Goblin-forged?" Draco echoed, his eyes widening. "So, you mean that any goblin-forged sword would have the same properties as Gryffindor's sword and absorb that which makes it stronger?"

Everyone looked to Hermione for the answer, and she, after thinking it over, slowly nodded. "If it's truly goblin-forged by the old masters, then yes, I think so," she replied.

Draco could help but grin, looking excited and so uncharacteristically unlike himself that even Ron was taken aback. But then when Draco explained, they soon became very excited as well.

"Do you really think—"

"No way! We've never been that lucky!"

"But if it is—...and if it works—!"

"It's only a sheath, not a sword," Draco hastened to explain, "but it is goblin-made and it belonged to the Bloody Baron, so it must be genuine. If I laced that with venom from the basilisk, then you could use it!"

"It would work..." Harry murmured. "And the basilisk's been dead a long time, so all you would have to do is take some from its body."

"How would he get into the Chamber of Secrets though, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Remember, you said the door could only be opened by the heir of Slytherin, or—"

"Someone who speaks Parseltongue," Harry finished, looking equally frustrated. "So we'd still have to go there."

Draco glanced down thoughtfully at his translator ring, which he still wore all the time and yet hadn't had occasion to use just yet. Could it be, perhaps...

"Say something in Parseltongue, Harry," he said.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Harry shrugged and then said something that to Hermione and Ron sounded like a lot of hissing sounds, but to Draco translated perfectly as, "You sure you're not losing it, Draco?"

Sniffing, he replied back, in flawless Parseltongue as well, "I'd watch your mouth, Potter. Never know what others might understand."

Hermione gasped and Ron's jaw dropped, whereas Harry simply stared back in amazement. "How do you..."

"Translator ring, Potter," Draco said with a smirk, unable to help himself from showing off. "One of a kind and works for all languages, Muggle or magical. Reckon the chamber will let me in if I use it?"

Harry shrugged. "I think it's worth trying in any case, but...Merlin, Draco..."

Draco looked towards Hermione to catch her reaction as well, and, as expected, she was absolutely excited and beginning to look full of hope at the prospect. Could things, finally, finally be going their way after all?

Just then though, she got a sense of deja-vu. Was it...wait, hadn't she and Draco already had this conversation before? About him using the sheath and getting the basilisk venom from the Chamber of Secrets? And hadn't she said that it was too late because the basilisk's body would have almost wasted away by this point and there would be nothing left?

Well, before, it had been optional for him to try and go—at least, relatively so, since they weren't in dire circumstances back then.

Now, it was their only chance, unless they had a way of getting the sword back somehow.

So, putting her doubts aside, Hermione decided that even if she didn't know whether it would work or not, for now she had to let Draco try. Besides which, even if it didn't work, the worst case scenario was that they would have to change their plans and go back to Hogwarts earlier, then somehow figure out a way to steal the sword of Gryffindor back.

And in the meantime, start thinking of something else they could do in case this plan failed. It maybe wasn't the most optimistic way of thinking about their plans and future, but for Hermione, recent months had shown her that there was no such thing or use as being optimistic when there was a war going on and all chances were against you.

And Draco, she thought, more than anyone should understand how that worked...

The plan in the end was this: Draco would go to the Chamber of Secrets at the first possible opportunity, and if he managed to get in and if he got the basilisk venom, he would lace the Bloody Baron's sheath with it. Then, at the earliest time he could, he would send Hermione a patronus and she would help him to locate them, and then together they would destroy the horcrux.

So many 'ifs' and 'maybes' was hardly enough to leave off on, but, once again, the friends had no choice.

Hermione left the tent with Draco to escort him away while Harry and Ron talked things over with regards to how they would hold onto the cup until then.

"I don't believe I thanked you for coming to save us today," Hermione mentioned after a few minutes in which they walked in silence, away from the campsite but still within the protective boundaries of their spells.

Draco cast her a sideways glance. "I wasn't trying to save you so much as help you, and I only wish it wasn't necessary for you to be in such a dangerous situation to begin with, but I am glad that I was there before any of you got seriously hurt." He paused, looking thoughtful. "It's my fault that goblin's dead, you know."

Hermione blinked at him, looking surprised. "And you're sorry?" Because Draco, for all that he was far kinder and more considerate towards her, was still a pureblood wizard through and through, and therefore didn't give much credit to other magical creatures that they deserved.

Draco shook his head. "Not for the goblin dying, no. After all, since he was betraying you, I may as well say that he deserved it."

Hermione choked a little. "Draco..."

"What I am sorry for is losing the sword in the process. It makes destroying the cup much more complicated than it should've been, and I know that you're not fully behind this plan with the sheath, either."

Although it shouldn't have, it also surprised Hermione that Draco knew her well enough that he realized that without her having to say anything. Maybe she had looked disappointed back in the tent and Draco had paid attention to that? In any case, she didn't like to send him in on such discouraging thoughts, so...

"Draco—"

"If it's how you really feel, there's no need to lie about it, Hermione," Draco cut in. But he didn't sound cross or frustrated—just resigned.

Hermione was unused to anyone treating her caution and doubting this way—usually, they'd say that she was just being pessimistic or a spoilsport or the like. But Draco looked like he was really taking her opinion into account and, whether he agreed with it or not, was preparing himself for disappointment. Hermione wasn't sure just who it would be worse for though: him or her. Because, in back of all this and beyond wanting to end the war for his own purposes, the truth was that over and over again Draco tried proving himself to them, no doubt in his own mind making up for years of abuse and bullying and hatred between them all. And even though this additional action was not at all necessary to justify him, no doubt Draco felt it as such and therefore the failure for him would be twice as bad.

He would fault himself even if no one else did.

Hermione reached out to hold his hand, stopping both of them in the middle of a small clearing. Though Draco had stopped though, he still didn't look at Hermione, his mind far away and going back to those dark places of his. Hermione stepped into his line of sight before he could go too far from her.

Placing her hands on either side of his face, she forced him to look at her.

"When will you stop, Draco Malfoy?" she asked, keeping her voice soft even as her brow was furrowed in worry.

"What do you mean?" he asked numbly, though he made no move to back off or even look away.

"You know very well what I mean."

Draco stared her down a minute or so before finally sighing, giving in to what they both knew what true—what he was doing, whether he wanted to or not. "I can't afford to fail you in this," he said in a low voice, leaning forward until his forehead was touching hers.

Hermione closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him slowly, just needing to feel him near, and needing him to feel that she was with him, no matter what. "You won't be failing us," she murmured in return.

"No, you, Hermione," Draco groaned, his lips trembling in nervous tension. "I just can't. I already have, in so many ways..."

Hermione knew what he meant: his past, his life at Hogwarts now, everything he had done...

Leaning forward, she placed her lips on his in a gentle kiss. "You're not—" she breathed, but then Draco responded in earnest. His tongue crept into her mouth almost before she was ready, and all it took was a slight response on Hermione's behalf to set him off, his hands touching her wherever he could, drawing her towards him with a desperation that, had it been anyone else, would have turned Hermione off immediately.

With Draco though, all she felt was a desperation of her own.

Merlin, she had not expected this when they had walked out here together...

But who cares, anyway? Hermione thought, gasping as the thrusts of Draco's tongue solicited in her an excitement that felt almost sinful in its essence, here and now. Who bloody cares?

Even when they broke away from the kiss for air, they still didn't let go of each other. Somehow, Hermione had ended up with her back against a tree in all the excitement, Draco's hands on her hips and almost thrusting her towards him. A thought which Hermione didn't mind at all, come to think of it. Damn it all, if only they were in another time and place...

"It's always when we leave," Draco observed, breathing heavily.

Hermione nodded, keeping her eyes on him and communicating as much passion right back at him. "One of these days you've not going to leave anymore," she promised, even while knowing how ridiculous that sounded.

Draco nodded, agreeing even when he too knew that it was a futile wish. Just not, he didn't want to talk about what was to come—not what they had to do, not whether it would work or not, none of it. All he wanted was to be here with Hermione, to never leave and...

And to pretend to himself that his life wasn't what it was.

He finally let go of her, stepping away even as Hermione whimpered in protest for him to come back. More than anything, he wanted to, but right now he couldn't delay. The sooner he went into the chamber, which was the very first thing he intended to do back at Hogwarts, the better.

"Goodbye for now," he said, and then disapparated just as Hermione raised her hand in farewell.

Both felt the emptiness and unfairness of the world around them in equal measure. But one common thought also kept them both going:

Not much longer.

A/N: Badabing badaboom! And there we have our last pre-Hogwarts-return chapter! Yes, we're finally moving into the final war-related arc of the story folks—whoot whoot!

Now, as to the notes of the chapter...

Aha, finally seeing some of Draco's list items come to light now, eh? First we had the unicorn blood, so there's a check on that, and now the sheath that Draco almost lost his life over, check! The only item of the important three that Draco has yet to use is the dragon whistle, but no worries, that'll come to light soon enough! Let's just say that once our trio gets back to Hogwarts at last, it'll be a different Hogwarts than the one that Rowling originally wrote. Not to put too fine a point on it, but..."there be dragons here"!

Ahem, that being said, from the beginning I did intend for the use of the sheath to be Draco going into the Chamber of Secrets with it—why else would I give our Slytherin a translator ring to allow him to speak Parseltongue? ;) However, the reason I had Hermione turn down the idea the first time (back in chapter 20, for anyone who wants to go back and check) was because it was too early and it just wasn't the time to have that happen yet. Harry finding the Sword of Gryffindor in the forest was too important a detail that I had to leave in, so I knew that the Bloody Baron's sheath would only come into play after our trio lost the sword at Gringotts. Now's the time for Draco to really shine, eh? But yeah, I just wanted to justify that decision for what it's worth. :)

Other than that though, how do you folks feel on including Draco in the trio and now making them a foursome planning-and-discussion-wise? It's temporary, and part of me really wishes that I could have him stay with them, but we all know that can't happen given how much he has to do. And, ahem, not to put too fine a point on it, but y'all are mistaken if y'all think that the revelations and twists of the story are done here and now. Oh no, it's far from a straightforward way to the finish!

That being said and mini-spoiler/previews aside, please do review, follow, and favourite until the next update! Hope everyone's enjoying the direction of the story so far!