My beta-readers, fredfred and InquisitorCOC, deserve a huge thank you. They helped a lot.

Chapter 80: The Solution

Black Lake, Scotland, May 18th, 2006

Ron sighed with relief when he entered the shower. Cleaning charms - or grooming charms, as Hermione called them - worked well, but nothing beat an actual shower if you wanted to feel clean. And after two days spent in bed, getting fed and treated like an invalid, being able to take care of himself felt wonderful.

Even if his skin was still looking patchy, what with the newly-grown parts even paler than his normal skin tone. And he still occasionally experienced some odd twitches in his limbs, but those were only happening rarely now.

He turned the shower on, keeping the showerhead pointed away until the water ran hot. Which, this base having been built by the Phoenix Gruppe, didn't take long at all.

He sighed again, closing his eyes, and stepped under the shower. Yes. He stood there for a minute or two, just letting the water run down his body. Then he stepped back, letting the water hit his chest, and grabbed the soap. He had lost some muscle tone, he noticed. Not much, but, apparently, magic hadn't perfectly restored his limbs.

Well, he'd already known that magic wasn't perfect. It was still a wonder to be able to walk around, to be alive, after what he had gone through, even though he wouldn't be fit for the field for some time.

Not that there was anything to do in the field, anyway. Azkaban was gone. The prison had been reduced to louse food. The dungeons were flooded, and, as Hermione had explained, the supports of the tunnels might rot in the water and cause the tunnels to collapse, too, although magic or the temperature of the water might prevent that.

Ron didn't care. The Dementors were gone. Blown up all across the island. The island was just a barren rock now - nothing more. Not even ghosts lingered there, apparently - though no one had found the reason for that.

He finished his shower. According to wizarding Luna, there were no ghosts on Azkaban because there, death came as a relief, and so no prisoner or guard wanted to stay. It was as good an explanation as any other - better, actually, according to Hermione, than the theory that the Dementors consumed the lingering ghosts along with the souls of those they kissed.

He shuddered as he towelled off. Those weren't new theories. To think wizarding Britain had used the prison for centuries…

He closed his eyes again as he used the hairdryer. It was over now, anyway. But the fact that the Ministry hadn't closed down the place before said enough about the country as a whole.

They couldn't be trusted with knowledge of the portal.

Hermione, Sirius and the Lunas were returning from their morning run when he reached the lounge. Ron smiled at Hermione and wrapped his arm around her waist as she tried to walk past him. "Hey!"

She gasped in surprise when he pulled her in for a quick kiss. "Oh, no! I'm all sweaty!"

"So?" He grinned at her pout. She looked hot in her exercise clothes.

"Really, Ron! I need a shower!"

He couldn't argue with that - her top was clinging to her skin; she must have overdone it again. He released her with a smile, nodded at everyone else and ignored Sirius's joke about being a slacker as he grabbed the newspapers already set out on the table, next to breakfast. The one newspaper he was interested in, though, hadn't arrived yet.

He was halfway through the sports section in The Times when Hermione returned, now dressed in slacks and a polo shirt. And she was carrying the Prophet!

"Hedwig?" he asked.

"Who else?" she replied as she sat down.

"Any changes in the coverage?"

She held the front page up for him to see.

Dementors Destroyed? What Dark Ritual Did This?

He groaned.

She nodded. "They claim their information was leaked by one of the Unspeakables."

"Croaker?" He took a sip from his cup, then speared a sausage with his fork. He had missed having a proper breakfast, too, while healing in bed.

"Even if he is behind it, he'll have used an underling, I think," she told him. "Plausible deniability."

"And a possible scapegoat," Ron added after swallowing. "And what do Harry and Ron say?"

She frowned. "They haven't sent any letters. But we'll be meeting them this afternoon."

"Ah." He couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing. But he didn't really care. They had done a good thing. And if others disagreed, well… who cared?

And, a small, selfish voice in the back of his head whispered, the more resentment and suspicion Hermione might face over this, the bigger the chance that she wouldn't decide to remain in Wizarding Britain.

"So...!" Wizarding Ron grimaced as he filled his cup at the table in the briefing room. "Kingsley isn't happy at all. He even had us talk to the editor of the Prophet, to warn them not to print confidential information since it would endanger the investigation."

"Typical!" Hermione muttered.

"Hey!" wizarding Harry cut in. "People are even more scared now. Hogsmeade was bad, but razing Azkaban? And 'taking' the Dementors? The Wizengamot would probably have replaced Kingsley as Minister for Magic if they had found anyone willing to take over in the middle of this crisis."

Hermione huffed. "We destroyed the Dementors! The Department of Mysteries should have officially confirmed that already!"

"They haven't, though," wizarding Ron told her. "They're still investigating the nature of the unknown material that was left behind on the island."

"They're either unable to confirm what the parts are," wizarding Harry added, "or they're dragging their feet because they don't want to admit that someone managed to do what they thought was impossible."

"A stance not entirely uncommon in both the bureaucratic and academic spheres," Dumbledore commented. "Few ambitious people like being shown up or - worse - being proven wrong about something." The old spymaster was sipping from his cup of tea with an expression that suggested - at least to Ron - that they were talking about the weather instead of what sounded like the greatest political crisis in Wizarding Britain since the war.

"They've had enough time to piece together a Dementor from all the parts we left," Hermione muttered.

Ron chuckled. The idea of the Unspeakables putting together an exploded Dementor as if it were a crashed plane… "There might be too many parts for that to be feasible."

"They should at least try!" Hermione said. "And really - it's not as if I can publish what we did without incriminating myself and everyone else. They could reap the fame for the discovery."

"I'm sure Croaker at least suspects it was you," wizarding Harry told her. "As does Kingsley. He hasn't asked us to investigate."

"Yes," Ron's counterpart agreed, "he hasn't even asked us what we think."

"He might not wish to find out for certain where your loyalties lie." Dumbledore smiled. "He suspects, of course, that he wouldn't like the answer. But as long as he doesn't put you on the spot, there's always the chance that things might go his way."

Ron snorted. "I think he just wants to save face."

"That is also possible. Or he doesn't want a potential successor involved in what he must assume might turn out to be an unsuccessful investigation," Dumbledore replied.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Do you think that Shacklebolt wants Harry or Ron to become the next Minister?"

Wizarding Ron laughed. "Percy would kill me. He's been dreaming of becoming Minister since he was a prefect. At least."

"Arthur would be a better choice," wizarding Harry added, shaking his head.

"War heroes are popular choices for such offices," Dumbledore said. "Especially at a time when the population is scared and frightened." With a cynical grin, he added: "Of course, it could also be a manoeuvre to force Dr Granger to decide whether or not she'd let her friends fail instead of 'coming clean'."

Ron frowned. That sounded a little too convoluted.

"That doesn't sound like Shacklebolt," Hermione echoed his thoughts.

"You don't know him like we do," Ron's counterpart pointed out. "That would fit him."

"He's been Minister for seven years," wizarding Harry added, "and before that, he worked with the Prime Minister."

Hermione pressed her lips together. "Well, he better not try anything like that!"

"But we can't exactly let him take the blame for this, either, can we?" wizarding Ron asked. "It's not his fault."

"If he had abolished Azkaban earlier, this wouldn't have been necessary," Hermione retorted.

"But then we'd have had to deal with the Dementors going crazy before we knew how to destroy them," wizarding Harry pointed out. "That could've been ugly. It's not as if there aren't any dark wizards who would make deals with them if they had the opportunity."

Hermione clearly disagreed but changed the subject. "But what can we do? We can't exactly reveal that we did it - that would destroy your careers. At the least."

"And we'd face prison," Ron added. He didn't want to go to prison for Shacklebolt.

"Well, I might have an idea," Dumbledore said, smiling widely. "We can create a dark wizard and frame them for this. Since Minister Shacklebolt already suspects that Dr Granger is behind this incident, I don't think he would investigate the matter too closely."

Ron frowned. Even taking that into account, such a deception would require at least one body to be convincing enough. They couldn't have a living decoy, after all.

And that meant Dumbledore was proposing murder. Judging by the expressions of the others at the table, they had realised that as well.

"You want us to frame an innocent wizard and murder them?" Hermione asked through clenched teeth.

"Not an innocent wizard," Dumbledore corrected her. "But I doubt that I would be wrong were I to assume that Messrs Weasley and Potter know at least one wizard who deserves death."

Ron looked at the two wizards. Judging by their stony expressions, Dumbledore was right. Again.

"It would still be murder," wizarding Harry said. "And framing them for the attack on Azkaban? That's a tall order."

But the wizard was already arguing the difficulty of the task, not its morality any more.

"As I said, I doubt that the Minister will have the matter investigated too thoroughly," Dumbledore replied.

"But others will. We've got good people in the Corps who won't just accept any old fabrication," wizarding Harry retorted.

"And then there are the Unspeakables. They won't be happy if they don't find the victim's notes;" Ron's counterpart added.

"Then we'll have to have them find the dark wizard's notes covering the way to destroy the Dementors." Dumbledore looked smug.

Hermione frowned at him. "And what would've been the dark wizard's motive for destroying them, rather than recruiting them?"

"They planned to decimate them, then recruit the cowed survivors," the old spymaster told her. "Yet they underestimated the number of Dementors and were forced to destroy them."

"And why did they save the Hit-Wizard guarding the prison?" she asked.

"To throw the Ministry off the scent and muddy the water." Dumbledore inclined his head. "A weak explanation, I'm aware, but the key to a successful deception is to avoid making it too perfect. People aren't perfect, and neither are their plans."

"And what's your plan's weakness?" Ron asked.

"That's what we'll have to find out before we implement it, of course." The old man spread his hands. "I don't know enough of the Wizarding World to make perfect plans."

Hermione scoffed. Ron did so as well. Dumbledore knew more than he should, far more.

And wizarding Harry shook his head. "No. It's one thing to cover up an accident. But to kill someone as part of a cover-up? That's going too far."

Wizarding Ron nodded. "That's a line we won't cross. We're not at war any more."

Dumbledore's smile didn't change, but that didn't have to mean anything. "A laudable stance," he praised the two wizards as if he hadn't just suggested that they murder a dark wizard to help keep the Minister in power. "However, if Minister Shacklebolt already knows who is to blame for his current troubles - and you would know best, having worked with him for over seven years - then what are the odds that he will, as the saying goes, try to take everyone down with him?"

"Kingsley wouldn't do that," wizarding Harry replied at once.

"Probably not," his friend added. "I'll have to sound out Dad and Percy - they've worked more closely with him."

"So you would consider there to be a risk?" Dumbledore leaned forward. His smile wasn't showing his teeth, but Ron was still reminded of a shark. A shark that had smelled blood in the water.

"What can he do?" Wizarding Harry shrugged.

"Throw the book at you?" Hermione replied. "Accuse you of corruption? Abuse of power?"

Her friend snorted. "Accuse me of helping to destroy the Dementors? That would backfire on him."

"And even if it came to a trial, the Wizengamot wouldn't dare find us guilty." Wizarding Ron shook his head. "Send the Boy-Who-Lived to prison? And his friends? Who had just done what everyone thought impossible?" He scoffed. "Even if Kingsley's close friends in the Wizengamot and those who owe him voted against us, too many would be scared of the reaction of the public. Or yours," he added with a grin. "If you can kill that which couldn't be killed, what else could you do?"

Hermione, as expected, didn't look happy at the reminder that the rule of law in Wizarding Britain was somewhat compromised.

Dumbledore, though, as Ron noticed out of the corner of his eye, looked quite pleased. Had he expected this outcome? And why?

"So our best outcome is that Shacklebolt gets removed from office for failing to arrest us. If he actually tried to arrest us, we would be acquitted because the Wizengamot is too afraid of us," she said with a frown. "And that would damage both the Ministry and any attempts to reform it. We'd be back to the days when only Dumbledore's morals kept him from dictating Ministry policy."

"In a nutshell, yes," wizarding Ron told her. "And odds are, people will assume you did it anyway - and become afraid."

Hermione's lips formed a thin, white line. "And such fear either compels obedience - even anticipatory obedience - or pre-emptive attacks on me or my family and friends."

Dumbledore nodded.

Ron frowned at the old spymaster. He knew Hermione. She would try to distance herself from the Ministry to avoid either outcome. Which would make her more dependent on Dumbledore.

"What about using a, ah, body, for the deception? Someone already dead?" Hermione asked.

"An unknown dark wizard who was able to invade Azkaban?" Wizarding Harry sounded sceptical. "It's one thing to fake some clues that they were behind the destruction of Azkaban, but faking an entire life?"

"People will investigate them. And dark wizards like that don't appear out of thin air," Ron's counterpart added. "They were taught somewhere. Learned the Dark Arts somewhere. Cursed people. Even if we pick someone supposedly from another country, people will look into them. And if they don't find anything about them…" He shrugged with a grimace.

"I believe the effort needed for such a deception is a little beyond our current means. At least in the Wizarding World," Dumbledore said. "In this world, I could arrange things. But I lack the experience and contacts to arrange such a decoy in your world." He shook his head. "This isn't a viable alternative, I'm afraid."

"I'm not about to have someone murdered just to save my reputation," Hermione said. "Certainly not to hide my own actions."

And that was it. It looked like Shacklebolt was on his own. And Dumbledore, for all his apparent helpfulness, had simply increased his importance in the whole affair.

Black Lake, Scotland, May 20th, 2006

Wizengamot Demands Answers! Minister Unable To Keep Us Safe!

Ron dropped the Daily Prophet on the table - with the headline facing the desk. Hermione might have chosen not to save Shacklebolt, but there was no need to rub the consequences in her face.

"I've already read it," Hermione commented from where she was studying scrolls of parchment. "It's as we expected. They're already speculating on who's going to be his successor."

"Ah." He nodded. "And who's in the running?"

"No one's exposing themselves at this point. They know everyone else will be ready to tear them down. And Shacklebolt might focus on them as well. They'll wait until he's gone for good," she told him.

Not any different from politics at home, then. "Who's the worst Minister we could get?"

"The worst? Miles Travers. He's the leader of the blood bigots. But he won't get elected." She scoffed. "The bigoted purebloods will want someone a little more acceptable, but still from an old pureblood family."

"The Weasleys?"

She laughed at that. "Arthur might actually have a chance, but not thanks to the likes of Travers. Since he's not involved with the DMLE, he should avoid most, if not all, of the blame for the failure to apprehend us, and he's popular amongst most of the population who didn't fight for Voldemort."

"Unless we're exposed," Ron said. Such a scandal would end Mr Weasley's career.

"If Dumbledore is correct about how much we would be feared, perhaps Arthur might be elected despite such a revelation. But for all the wrong reasons." She pursed her lips. "And it's all my fault."

"Our fault," he corrected her. "And it wasn't - we just had bad luck:"

"Blaming bad luck for your mistakes is not a good way to learn from the experience and avoid making further mistakes," she retorted.

"Sometimes, you do everything right and you still fail." He shrugged. "Besides, destroying all of the Dementors is worth a change of government."

"I don't care that much about Shacklebolt. I care about the fear we caused. And the reputation and influence we might acquire as a result." She sighed. "But it's out of our hands now."

"I'm sure Dumbledore will do his best to meddle with the Ministry during this crisis."

"Of course he will," she agreed. But she sounded resigned rather than outraged. The whole affair must have hit her harder than he had thought.

"So… back to researching the wording for the Fidelius Charm?" Ron asked. That would distract her.

"Yes. The sooner we find the best wording, the sooner we can secure the portal. And ourselves."

He nodded and walked over to the table to look at the notes.

Hermione Granger knows how to create a portal to another dimension.

Hermione Granger's research can open portals to other universes.

Hermione Granger works in a secret laboratory to create portals to other worlds.

A portal to another dimension was opened near Hogwarts.

Dimensional travel is possible, and Hermione Granger knows how to do it.

The last one had a scribbled note that it might be too complex.

Hermione, who had glanced at the notes herself, scowled. "It's no use - we can only hide one secret with a Fidelius Charm. And whatever secret we hide leaves us vulnerable in at least one world. If I hide the location of the portal, people will still know I am doing important and valuable research and might come after us in either world - especially if they know we destroyed the Dementors. If I hide the research, they will still know where I'm working. Eventually."

She huffed in obvious frustration. "And if I try to combine the secrets, the spell becomes so difficult to cast, the chance of me managing to do so successfully becomes almost impossible."

"Yes, it's not exactly a solo-friendly quest," Ron joked. Then he blinked. Could it really be so simple? "I have an idea," he said, smiling. "You…" He trailed off. Better safe than sorry. "Can you cast a privacy spell, first?"

She frowned but nodded.

Smiling once more, he went on: "You don't have to hide everything by yourself, do you?"

Hermione blinked. "That's…" She trailed off. "You mean we should spread the secrets out amongst several wizards and witches, each of whom casts a Fidelius Charm?"

"Yes. Is that possible?" It might not work, after all. Magic didn't seem to be very logical with regards to its limits.

"It should… although I don't recall any text mentioning two Fidelius Charms hiding related secrets, and the possible consequences. Since you can't cast the spell twice in your lifetime, few wizards and witches would've volunteered for such an experiment, anyway." She sighed. "And that's why it's not a workable solution - we can't expect other wizards and witches to give up the chance to use the spell for themselves."

"Harry and my counterpart would help you, wouldn't they?"

"I can't ask that of them! What if they later need to protect a crucial secret?" Hermione shook her head, her messy pony-tail swinging back and forth.

"More important than this?" Ron gestured at the rest of the room. "And, speaking from experience, if you never use a limited resource because you might need it for something more important later, you end up never using it." Dozens of RPGs had taught him that. "Also, if anyone comes after you for your research, they'll be in danger as well. And they'll be involved, too, in that case." As would be Ron and his own family and friends, of course. But they couldn't cast the Fidelius Charm.

Hermione bit her lower lip. "That's…" She sighed again.

"...not entirely inaccurate?" He grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes in return. "You might have a point."

Yes.

"But I know that if I ask this of them, they'll agree because they want to protect me." She shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair."

"They would also want to protect their families and friends," he pointed out. "And I think you underestimate yourself." Or, not that he'd tell her this, overestimate herself if she still thought she could do everything alone.

She pressed her lips together.

"You don't have to do everything yourself," he told her after a moment.

"I know," she said. She didn't look like she really believed it, though.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Do you?"

That earned him a glare, and she clenched her teeth instead of replying. He kept looking at her.

After a moment, she sighed. "It's hard."

He nodded. She'd been the only witch in the world for years. Of course she would think she had to do everything herself. "But not as hard as trying to do this by yourself."

"Don't rub it in."

He hid his grin behind his hand as he pretended to scratch the side of his nose.

No 12 Grimmauld Place, London, Britain, Wizarding World, May 22nd, 2006

"You want us to cast the Fidelius Charm?" wizarding Ron blurted out, sliding forward on the armchair in which he was sitting in wizarding Harry's living room. "Blimey!"

"No!" Hermione snapped. "I'm asking if you would consider doing this since the amount of information I need to hide to effectively keep my work and my family safe is too large to be covered by one spell. I've researched the matter, and it shouldn't be dangerous - there was a case when two wizards, father and son, hid two spells, a curse and its counter-curse, at the same time to keep others from copying their work."

"Our families are also involved and need to be kept safe," wizarding Harry said.

"Of course. I didn't mean… I mean, the charms should keep everyone involved safe, but I wouldn't want to…" Hermione trailed off.

"That's not what I mean," the wizard told her. "I meant it's obvious that helping you will also protect our families."

"And even if that weren't the case, we'd do this for you," his friend added. "Honestly, Hermione!"

Ron carefully refrained from saying 'told you so'. But Hermione frowned at him anyway. "I'm sorry. I tried to do it with one spell, so you wouldn't have to do this, but…"

"Hermione." Wizarding Harry leaned forward and put his hand on her knee. "You'd do the same for us."

"Well, yes, but…"

"No buts!" Ron's counterpart cut her off. "We won't let you down, just as you didn't let us down."

"Yes." Wizarding Harry released her knee. "And anyone else you need will help you, too."

"I don't need anyone else," Hermione said quickly. "I've narrowed it down to three spells - three secrets: One to hide the value of my research. One to hide the locations. And one to hide the ritual. That should cover everything important with the fewest number of..."

Ron joined the other two men in chuckling as Hermione pouted at all of them.

"Honestly!" she complained, but that only set off another round of laughter.

"So, if we have three Fidelius Charms, we'll have three Secret Keepers," wizarding Ron said once everyone had calmed down. "Can we use the same note to share the secret?"

"I think we could, but it would be safer to keep them separate," Hermione said. "If anyone managed to get a hold of a note with all three…"

Someone like Dumbledore.

"You mean to keep them physically separated?" wizarding Harry asked.

"Yes." Hermione nodded.

"And we can also limit the knowledge of those involved peripherally," Ron said. "Not everyone who works in the laboratory will have to know the whole truth. They don't know the truth right now, anyway." Or weren't supposed to.

"And once we have cast the spells, we'll have to tell everyone who needs to know the secrets;" Hermione added. "That means we'll know who is aware of the truth."

"And we'll be able to control who Dumbledore recruits. To a limited extent," Ron said. "He'll still be able to recruit agents in both worlds, but we'll know any of them who are aware of the truth." And that would be a nice counter to the old man's influence.

"And what if he wants to inform someone you don't approve of?" wizarding Harry asked.

"Then we'll have to discuss matters," Hermione said. "And find a solution."

"At least, thanks to this, we'll have more leverage on him," Ron added.

"We could skip the notes altogether," wizarding Ron said. "As long as we have to tell them the secret in person, that's an additional layer of security."

Ron nodded. It would be inconvenient but safer. Dumbledore might be able to influence Hermione by making her feel indebted to him, but both her friends?

"But having to gather everyone in person might cause a problem if we need to inform someone as soon as possible," Hermione replied. "And if anyone gets stuck on the wrong side of a portal, we might be unable to get enough help to free them."

That was a good point as well.

"A hidden note for emergencies? Only written when a Secret Keeper goes through a portal? No one would have to know…" wizarding Harry suggested.

"Dumbledore will expect such a ploy," Ron said. "Even if we don't actually do it," he added with a wry grin.

"So we might as well do it," his counterpart suggested. "At least it'll be amusing to see how he reacts when he forgets all about you and us."

"He'll already have taken precautions against Obliviation, so we can't just surprise him with this, or he might trigger them," Hermione pointed out.

"He's the former 'C', the boss of MI6," Ron reminded them. "He's a spymaster. And a former master spy."

"Like Snape was?" his counterpart asked.

"He wasn't just spying on one person, but essentially, yes," Hermione told him. "And he wasn't acerbic like Snape, but very charming. He seduced an enemy spy."

"Grindelwald." Harry shook his head. "But yes, we can't underestimate them. But how will they react to this, ah, shift in power?"

"That's the question," Ron said, sighing. "He's been holding most of the cards until now. And he already knows that we were considering the Fidelius Charm."

"Yes," Hermione agreed.

"So he'll have taken precautions against it?" wizarding Harry asked.

"Without a doubt." Hermione nodded emphatically. "Which is why we need to discuss this with him beforehand. We can't spring this on him."

Indeed. Even if Dumbledore was informed of the secrets quickly, he wouldn't forget that. And Ron was sure that the man could carry a grudge for a long time.

"Great. We'll have to negotiate with Dumbledore," wizarding Ron complained.

"With a version of his who's even more cunning and subtle than the one we knew," wizarding Harry added.

"And without the guilt our Dumbledore felt about what we had to do." Hermione looked grim.

But they weren't wrong.

"But first you'll need to learn how to cast the spell," Hermione told them with a rather toothy smile.

Black Lake, Scotland, May 27th, 2006

"How was the lamb?" Dumbledore asked. "It's not a new recipe, but I don't believe it's been served here before."

"It was excellent," Hermione replied. "My compliments to the chef."

"Our compliments," Ron agreed.

"Yes. Almost as good as Mum's," his counterpart added honestly, if not the most diplomatically.

Wizarding Harry merely nodded.

"Excellent! I would have been very disappointed if we started our discussion without having had a most delicious meal first." Dumbledore smiled at them.

Ron wasn't rattled. Of course the old man had figured out that they hadn't invited him to dinner - if you could invite someone to their own house, serving food cooked by their own chef - just to chat about the weather.

"Yes. It's quite a heavy subject," Hermione said as the waiter cleared the table.

"Then I think starting now would be best - we can take a break with dessert." The old man's smile grew. "Crème brûlée, amongst other delicacies, or so I was led to believe."

"Very well." Hermione took a deep breath. "We've found a way to secure the portal's location as well as the whole project. It's not perfect, of course, but it should deal with the worst threats."

"Using magic, of course," the old man cut in.

"Yes. It's a difficult charm, but very effective at hiding a secret."

"The Fidelius Charm, as you mentioned before?"

"Yes." Hermione didn't even flinch. "Or, to be more precise, three of them."

"Ah."

Had Dumbledore's eyes widened for a fraction of a second? Ron couldn't tell.

"The secret of the portal, and everything around it, is too complex for a single spell," Hermione explained. "Splitting it up into three secrets, however, should be manageable."

"Indeed. An ingenious, if obvious - in hindsight - solution to our problem." Dumbledore nodded. "Although it will complicate running this site." He smiled. "The government won't take well to suddenly 'discovering' that your research isn't as valuable as they thought. I fear that your reputation will suffer - and might not recover. Your research grant at Imperial College will certainly not be renewed, and you might be blacklisted."

"And anyone doing research based on my work might also suffer the same fate. That's a price I'm willing to pay," Hermione replied, meeting the old man's eyes.

It would hurt her pride, though, Ron knew. To be thought a failure by the scientific community - her peers and especially her rivals - would not be easy for her to stomach. Would the challenge and excitement of running a trans-dimensional research project be enough to compensate, if no one but a select few would ever know about it? If everyone, in both her worlds, thought she was a failure or doing unimportant things?

He hoped it would.

"When do you plan to do this?" Dumbledore asked in a deceptively friendly tone. "Healer Rosenberg will have to be informed so he will not suddenly forget about us."

"And a few more of your operatives, I guess," Ron said. He carefully didn't smile.

Dumbledore smiled with just a hint of teeth. "While it pays to have friends in various places, I wouldn't trust many of my acquaintances with this knowledge," he replied.

"But you trust a few," wizarding Harry said. "People who know their way around Wizarding Britain."

"Healer Rosengarten still has a few friends in the country," Dumbledore admitted. "It's rather hard to recruit wizards in this world, as you know."

"But it's not as hard to recruit operatives for the muggle world," Ron pointed out. Who would be able to support Rosengarten - and keep tabs on him, to some extent at least.

"Indeed." Dumbledore beamed at him as if Ron had correctly answered a question in class. "I'm sure you will all get along swimmingly."

Ron doubted that.

"However," the old spymaster went on, "I would suggest taking the current Prime Minister into our confidence."

"Why should we? It won't change my public standing, and making the government aware of magic will cause them to try and research it," Hermione retorted.

"But it would also ensure that the government wouldn't, out of literal ignorance, try to shut down this site." Dumbledore sighed. "Environmental activists have tried to declare the whole area a national reserve before."

"You mean it would save you the time and money needed to convince the government not to do that," Ron said.

"Indeed. As you are no doubt aware, politics is a business that requires a lot of effort, both monetary and personal, to remain on top of things." Dumbledore inclined his head. "I would very much prefer if I didn't have to spend too much time lobbying the government just to maintain the status quo."

"And it would increase your standing with the Prime Minister, wouldn't it?" wizarding Ron said. "People will assume you're involved in all sorts of top secret things."

"And they would be entirely correct," Dumbledore replied with a grin. "But I must confess that such a side effect wouldn't be unwelcome. Gellert keeps accusing me of being just a smidgen too vain."

"You just want to show up your successors," Ron told him.

"My successor's successors," Dumbledore said - but he didn't deny it. "But apart from my vanity, there are valid reasons to inform the Prime Minister. Especially if there should be an incident that we cannot handle without help from the government."

Such as a Russian attack - or an attack from another world.

Hermione pressed her lips together but nodded. "That's a valid point. And it's not as if the Prime Minister would be able to tell anyone our secret."

"Indeed." Dumbledore slowly nodded. "Though I think it would be amusing to see the man try."

Ron wondered if the old man was bearing a grudge for a Prime Minister leaking secrets of his.

"So…" Hermione said once they were back in their room, and she had cast a privacy charm, "that went better than I hoped."

Ron frowned a little. "Provided he doesn't stab us in the back." He stripped off his sweater, then pulled off the holster from the small of his back. "He will have recordings of your ritual."

"I assume so," she replied as she started changing as well. "But that won't help him once the Fidelius Charm has been cast."

"That would be one reason for him to move before you can cast it," Ron pointed out.

"He would have to strike at us, the Lunas, Harry, Ron and the others in my world, before anyone could react. And if he fails…" Her smile was thin-lipped and more than a little grim. "He knows I've taken precautions against such a betrayal."

Notes with her friends. And orders to cast a Fidelius Charm hiding the spell. That would cut off Dumbledore's access to the other world - and leave it open to Hermione's friend to avenge her. Which they would.

Ron nodded, then slipped into his pyjamas. "And what about being thought a scientific and academic failure?" He lay on the bed and watched her.

Hermione tensed, then took a deep breath. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't care. It hurts. To think all those sexist, patronising buffoons will feel vindicated about their dismissal of my work…" She clenched her teeth. "And I can't tell them without endangering everyone and ruining all our hard work to keep everyone safe, even though the few other researchers working in my field will now be facing the same loss of reputation."

He nodded but didn't say anything. Let her work through this herself.

"But," she went on, baring her teeth, "I'll be able to explore new worlds. Discover new wonders. Learn things unknown in both our worlds."

Ah. "You plan to reverse-engineer those?"

"That would be almost like plagiarism. No, I plan to improve on whatever we find."

"But everyone would still think your research is without value."

"Yes. But I'll be able to live with that if it keeps us safe. It'll be annoying, but it's a small price to pay." She sat down on the bed and grinned. "And if any of my 'peers' should gloat about my 'failure', then I think I'll be able to spare some time to show them that they shouldn't anger a witch."

Ron laughed and hugged her. "You can always ask my brothers and their counterparts for help, I guess."

"I'm planning to."

He felt relief - it seemed that Hermione would be able to stomach the future ruin of her academic reputation. Eventually.

Black Lake, Scotland, June 3rd, 2006

It seemed that Dumbledore hadn't hired another wizard or witch, Ron realised as he looked at the operatives the old man had gathered in a recently added - extended - room near the portal room for the casting of the Fidelius Charms. Rosengarten was the only wizard amongst them. Of course, there could be a disguised wizard or witch hiding amongst Dumbledore's muggle agents, but… Polyjuice Potion would've stopped working after an hour, and they knew the men and women working at the laboratory. Dumbledore might've managed to hire one of their counterparts, but that would mean the witch or wizard would have to replace them for the foreseeable future, or the deception would be revealed once the actual muggle operative either disappeared or had to ask to be told the secret.

Of course, Dumbledore might arrange an accident or a similar cover story to explain someone's absence, but he would have to delay that for quite some time, to avoid suspicion, and how many wizards or witches could flawlessly integrate into the workforce here?

And even if Dumbledore managed that - and Ron wouldn't put it past the old man - they would still know the faces of his operatives, muggle or wizarding. Between the cameras in the room and their own memories, they had the half a dozen people - four men, two women, all probably trained like James Bond - pegged.

"So… we'll be starting the casting soon. Please stay in the room and don't leave even if you might feel confused," Hermione announced. "We'll rectify that as soon as possible."

"We already read that on the door," one of the male operatives - he had given his name as 'John Smith' - said.

Ron frowned at the dismissive undertone.

As did Hermione. She smiled toothily at Smith and told him: "Yes, I would hope that you did. However, I'm stressing it again because you will feel confused and you might even feel the urge to leave the building. Which would make tracking you down and fixing things harder, so try not to do that."

"I could just seal up the room," Rosengarten suggested.

"That might lead to violent reactions from certain people," Hermione retorted. "We'll hurry here once we've finished casting."

They could stun them, but… it would be good to see the effect first hand. And they probably wouldn't let themselves be stunned easily.

"I'm certain the situation won't get out of control," Dumbledore said. He was, as usual, smiling, but Ron could see both the guards and the operatives present tense in response. The old man had a formidable reputation. For a reason, of course.

Grindelwald scoffed. "Just get it over with, I've got more important things to do than wait here."

Hermione looked at the old men, then at Ron. He nodded at her and gave her his best confident smile. She returned his nod and left the room.

Ron sighed. He hated waiting. It wouldn't take too long - less time than the portal ritual - but still… to know your mind would be messed with, and just let it happen… He forced himself to relax. There was no need to make the dangerous people in the room more nervous.

"So… you're ex-CI5."

Ron looked at Smith. "Yes." He and Harry had made the news several times, after all, and Smith would know that.

Smith stared at him. "And now you're the doctor's bodyguard. Her companion."

Ron had to chuckle at that. In a way, the man was correct - though Hermione was travelling to other dimensions, not through time. "Pretty much, yeah," he said. "Though we don't have a TARDIS." They had a flying tank, instead.

"But she could make one, right?"

Ron shrugged. "She can't make a time machine or a spaceship." At least as far as he knew, anyway. Or, perhaps, not yet.

Smith looked disappointed. "I would've liked one. Could be useful."

"I think Mr Dumbledore would insist on getting one before you," Ron told him.

"Oh, indeed." Dumbledore smiled at both of them. "Though, as far as I know, even with magic, you cannot create a TARDIS."

"But we could build a spaceship with magic," Grindelwald said. "Beat any other delivery system currently on the market."

"But that would reveal magic, which I doubt would be conducive to our future plans."

"Even a little magic would enhance the efficiency of a rocket, and greatly increase the profitability of our aerospace division."

And Rosengarten could easily cast a few extension charms on fuel tanks and cargo space, so this was probably nothing more than a polite way to hand out advance information about their plans.

Well, that would be neat, but compared to… Ron blinked. Compared to what? What was he doing here? Nothing of importance happened here. He was wasting his time here… but why had he come here in the first place? It wasn't as if…

"Dear Lord, what am I doing here?" Smith exclaimed.

"I believe we should remain calm," Dumbledore said.

The door was opened before anyone could say anything else, and Hermione entered, followed by… twins of Harry and Ron? They were their… counterparts… but…

"My research is very valuable and allows me to open portals to other universes," Hermione said after casting a privacy charm

And Ron remembered. That part at least. But what was he doing here? This was an unimportant location. Why had they come here, to the arse end of Britain?

Then his counterpart told him.

Oh. That was why they were here. But there was still something missing. Something that didn't make sense.

And then Harry's counterpart told him about the existing portal.

Oh. Before he could say anything, though, Hermione and her two wizarding friends disapparated. Right - they had to inform the Lunas as well as the Grangers, his family, Harry and Sirius. That wouldn't take them long, though.

And as expected, they reappeared after less than two minutes had passed - and went straight through the portal.

"That was fast," Grindelwald commented.

"They were all already gathered in one place," Ron explained. "It's a Saturday, after all. Even Ginny managed to take a break with Harry."

Hermione stepped back through the portal. "Finished at The Burrow. Harry and Ron stayed there."

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded. "The operation was a complete success, then."

"Yes," Hermione confirmed. "As far as everyone but a select few are concerned, my research is worthless and this location is completely unimportant."

"But we know better, of course," the old spymaster said. "And now that our families' and our own safety is assured, what will you be doing?"

Hermione smiled and stepped closer to Ron. He slipped his arm around her waist.

"Oh, we've got plans. I think you'll like them," Hermione told him.

Ron nodded and pulled her closer. Their secrets were safe now. Their families were safe. Azkaban was gone.

They had all the time in the world now to work on visiting more universes.

Ron couldn't wait.