A/N: Good God... The last chapter. For a while there we honestly didn't think we'd get this far, but we have, and it only took us, what, half a year?

Disclaimer: It's J.K.'s, all of it.

14. – The plots that work… And the plots that don't

In which we are given the reason for why the ministry ups their security

Ron and Hermione swooped into the cave, nearly grazing the low ceiling, and for a moment all the fighting stopped and dozens of pairs of beady black eyes were directed upwards. Ron surveyed the scene for the barest of moments. Harry and Ginny were surrounded, but for the split second during which the goblins were distracted they managed to get a couple of hits in.

"I can't carry you anymore," said Hermione, and let go of him.

Ron landed gracelessly next to his sister, but got to his feet very quickly, wand drawn.

"Good, you're here," Ginny said. "Look, we have to keep them occupied. They had this weird force field around us, but they can't get it back up unless-"

She didn't have time to speak anymore. Goblins were attacking from all sides. Even though the wizards had stronger magic, the goblins were tough and resistant. Ron soon realized that there was no way they could overpower their assailants, and that they had to escape through the mouth of the cave. Unfortunately, the cave had apparently been designed to prevent this. Both the bottleneck entrance and the sloping ground made it almost impossible for them fight their way out. Also, it was quite hard for them to push their way to the entrance, when they had to constantly deflect crossbow bolts and keep the force field from forming again.

Ron couldn't see very well how the others were doing, but once or twice he cast a glance around. Hermione was doing very well. She moved faster than would be possible for a normal human being, and was probably the only thing keeping Harry and Ginny from being overwhelmed. Ron tried to make his way over to help them, but was stopped by a goblin which dropped unexpectedly from the ceiling, clung to his back and sank its sharp teeth into his neck. He almost lost his balance, and lost sight of Harry and Ginny completely as he tried to fend it off.

As another goblin fell on top of his head at the same time as he felt one biting his leg, Ron knew that unless someone did something drastic, all would be over.

He fell to his knees. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ginny, waving her wand.

"Incendio!"

She missed. So why were all the goblins stopping in their tracks, turning around?

Before he had time to register anything else, someone grabbed a hold of his arm, and pulled him backwards. He was lifted from the ground, at the same time as Ginny's spell hit one of the crates - and then everything seemed to go in slow motion. The crate exploded. Bits of wood sailed through the air, and one after another, the rest of the wooden boxes caught fire, and they too exploded... goblins threw themselves to the ground, covering their faces…

The four of them, carried in a super-human effort by Hermione, cleared the cave mouth, just as, with a deafening bang, several wooden crates exploded simultaneously. The force of the blast propelled them another few feet away, but then Hermione's strength gave out, and they plummeted down. Ron had one last glimpse of the fire, the smoke and the splinters that were billowing out of the cave mouth, before he hit the water with a splash!

He spluttered his way up to the surface. The first thing he noticed, as he pushed his sopping wet fringe out of his eyes, was that though Harry and Ginny were struggling to keep afloat next to him, Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

He looked around, searching the waters frantically, beginning to feel the edges of panic.

Then, to his intense relief, her head broke the surface. She was clutching a board which had undoubtedly come from one of the crates.

"I thought you'd drowned," he said, while splashing his way over to her.

"Don't be silly, Ron," she snapped. "I'm already dead."

She seemed to have trouble even holding on to the board. Ron realized that the last of her strength must have gone into getting them out of the cave.

He was barelystaying afloat himself. His waterlogged clothes were pulling him down, and the chill was not helping. They had to get to shore before they froze to death.

"Over here!" shouted Ginny. She was close to an outcropping in the cliff, far ahead of them. Harry was nearer to Ron, and it looked as if he was having a difficult time staying above the surface. Ron suddenly remembered that his friend wasn't good at swimming. How were they ever going to make it?

In the end, Ginny rescued Harry while Ron supported Hermione as they, coughing and gasping, swam to the rock.

Their clothes were soggy, clammy and heavy, so they each muttered a drying spell. When they no longer were in any immediate danger of catching pneumonia, they sank down onto the cold, hard rock. Hermione had the presence of mind to light them a fire first.

The periwinkle blue flames danced merrily, and in the distance, various sounds could be heard from the cave which they had left in such haste.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Harry asked.

Hermione sat up, and glanced around at the others, a small smile forming on her weary face.

"Don't you know?"

"Know what?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"Haven't you realized what this was? What we've been a part of?"

"Hermione, what are you on about?" Ron said.

Hermione slapped her forehead in mock frustration. Then she laughed. For a moment she looked exactly like herself, and Ron felt a surge of hope. Although it sounded hoarse and strained, it was undeniably Hermione's laugh, which he hadn't heard for such a long time.

"Well, if any of you had stayed awake at all in History of Magic… I mean, just for one moment… you would know about the failed plot to blow up the Ministry of Magic!"

"Wait," said Ron, slowly. "I remember something about that."

"It was in one of our exams, wasn't it?" said Harry. "One of those goblin rebellions…"

"Yes. Don't you see that if it hadn't been for us, the ministry would be rubble?"

Harry cursed loudly.

"Harry!" said Ginny, hitting him lightly on the arm. "Don't do that. But Hermione, am I completely off, or was that gunpowder in those crates?"

"Yes. You see, back in the sixteen hundreds - I mean now, the ministry had no spells to protect against muggle weapons. When they realized what had almost happened they added some, of course. But the plan would have worked, most likely."

"Pity we ruined it," said Harry sourly.

"I wonder what happened to the goblins," said Ginny. "I'd hate to think..."

"Oh, they survived," said Hermione. "And in a little while, the ministry will come to investigate that explosion."

"I wonder if Malfoy had something to do with it," said Harry. "He said he was helping the goblins. It sounds like something he'd come up with."

"Who knows?" said Ron sleepily.

"I don't suppose we'll ever find out," said Hermione. "We're all together now, so we really should be getting back quickly."

"What? Without your potion?" said Ginny, sitting up suddenly.

"Yes. We broke the agreement, so he won't give it to us willingly. And I don't want any more trouble."

"I never made an agreement," Ginny retorted.

"But if we go back he'll lock us all up, if he lets us in at all!"

"We can get out! I can get us out," said Ron. "That house can't keep me."

"Look, if it's your will against his-"

"I don't want to have gone through all this for nothing," Harry cut in. "We have been stuck in a dungeon for two weeks. I've nearly starved to death, nearly frozen to death, nearly gotten killed by goblins and nearly been blown to pieces in that explosion, and you're not telling me that after all that we're just going to give up and go home because some Malfoy makes you nervous!"

Hermione opened her mouth as if to argue, but was interrupted.

"He broke the agreement first," Ginny said angrily. "That goblin thing was a trap! Harry wasn't supposed to make it back, and even if he had, he would have been killed anyway. You would never have known what had happened to him, and Malfoy would probably never have given you that potion. You know it's true."

"But-"

"There's no way you can win this, Hermione," said Ron.

Hermione sighed. She couldn't deny it. Their eyes were all ablaze with that trademark Gryffindor spirit, which meant that they were all about to embark on a courageous, reckless, stupid venture without a plan in sight. She might as well resign herself to it.

"Alright, well," she said. "I suppose I'll tag along. You won't make it without someone who can actually think."

"Right," said Ron. "I knew you'd come around."

"I think, that the first thing we should do is to get off this rock," said Harry,

"And then rest for a bit," said Ginny.

"And get something to eat," said Ron.

"Yes, yes," said Hermione tiredly. She had to regain her strength, if she was to be of any use to anybody. Anyway, the night was young.

-

One arduous climb later, the four of them went rabbit hunting. It took them a little while, what with them being worn out and all, but finally they had their conies, and retreated into a small thicket.

Hermione lit another fire with her wand.

"Well then," she said crisply. "We need a plan."

"You need your rabbits, first of all," said Harry, tossing her one. "But you're right, we have to think something up. We can't just walk in there, can we? Can we?"

"Why not?" said Ron. "I think we could pull it off."

"I don't," said Ginny. "He's got no reason for helping us. He'll probably happily lock us all up, or murder us on the spot. Unless…" and she looked pensively at Hermione.

"What do mean?"

"I mean, if – if the worst should come to the worst… and there was no other way, you could…"

"What?"

"You could kill him, couldn't you?"

"What? No. No, I won't do that."

"I'm only saying-"

"It's out of the question," said Hermione, rising to her feet. "I can't and I won't. That's that."

"Well, of course you don't want to, but it could be all of our lives at stake! And it would be as a last resort."

"We'll have to think up a better plan than that. I will not do it. Ever."

"Okay, okay," said Ginny hastily. "Sorry!"

"It's not your fault," Hermione muttered, sitting down again. "It's just… I keep thinking about killing people and drinking blood. It's because I'm a vampire."

"I didn't know that," said Harry, taken aback.

"I didn't want to make you worried. Anyway, I've managed to keep it under control, but killing a human being would only make it stronger, and besides… I don't really want to kill him. Even if he's despicable and insane-"

"- You feel sorry for him," Harry finished. She nodded.

"Well, anyone have a better plan?" said Ginny, sounding miffed.

"We could threaten him," said Ron. "You could bluff. You know, pretend you're about to bite him."

"That won't work," said Hermione immediately. "First of all, if I'm going to threaten him I have to be prepared to carry it out. Secondly, I don't think he's afraid of becoming a vampire."

"Then what is he afraid of?" Harry asked.

"I think he's afraid of dying, but we can't attack him inside the house, so what's the point?"

"But if we could lure him out of the house," Ron said.

"Yes," said Ginny. "He doesn't know about me and Ron, and he probably thinks Harry's dead. We'd be able to ambush him."

"But there's no way we'll make him come out of there," said Harry.

"Well," said Hermione. "We could use a bait."

Everyone looked at her.

-

"Malfoy… Malfoy…"

Hermione stumbled up to the garden gate, and clutched at the bars in order to stay upright.

"Let me in, Malfoy..."

She fell to her knees, still holding tightly to the ironwork.

Harry could see the proceedings very well from his vantage point, nestled in the branches of a yew. They had rehearsed it many times, and when it came to portraying a famished vampire, Hermione was in her element. She was now slumped against the gates, rattling them weakly and begging to be let in. Then she went into a coughing fit.

Soon the door to the manor opened, and Crinkly the house elf poked her nose out. Harry could hear her shrill voice, saying,

"Yes, she is out there, master… Must I, master? I is frightened of her, master… Yes, master."

This was a development they hadn't considered. Harry gritted his teeth, Ginny shifted beside him and Ron whispered;

"Could we accio her or something?"

"Wait," Harry breathed. "Wait. We'll see what happens first."

If they had to, they could always take Crinkly hostage, but then the element of surprise would be gone.

Crinkly hesitantly made her way towards where Hermione was lying, just outside of the garden. The elf trembled violently, and her eyes were wider than Harry would have thought possible. Hermione looked up, baring her fangs and snarling viciously.

"I need blood," she hissed.

Crinkly let out a shriek, but didn't step back. She was forced to obey her master's will, and even in her terror she knew it.

"Yes, come closer," Hermione murmured in a singsong voice. "I'm hungry."

Harry shuddered. She sounded frighteningly sincere.

Although she seemed to have trouble moving, since her legs were shaking so badly, Crinkly took another step forward, and another. Harry glanced towards the house and saw that the Malfoy was standing in the doorway, watching.

Harry knew Hermione must be feeling upset on the elf's behalf, but if she was, it didn't show. From where he sat he could see her in profile, and she still had that crazed look on her face. Either she had suddenly grown really good at acting - or she wasn't acting at all.

Crinkly had reached the gate. She stood rooted to the spot for a moment, staring at Hermione, before slowly reaching for the lock.

"All right. No need," said Malfoy abruptly. He started hobbling down the path, using his walking stick.

Crinkly turned to him.

"Yes, that is quite alright. You can go," he said, gesturing towards the manor. "Run along, run along."

"Oh, thank you master," she cried, and fled back to safety.

Malfoy turned back to Hermione, only to find that she appeared to have fainted. With a sigh and a muttered expletive, he brusquely pushed open the gate and stepped outside the boundaries of his garden.

Before he had time to react, a voice from a nearby yew cried,

"Expelliarmus!"

His wand shot up into the tree and he himself was knocked to the ground. Hermione clambered to her feet and closed the gate as Harry, Ron and Ginny jumped down and surrounded the old man. Ron went and stood next to Hermione, protecting the gate, and Harry pointed his own and the Malfoy's wand at the Malfoy.

"Well," said he, slowly standing up. "You survived, I see."

"I did. We want the potion."

"Yes, well, you may remember that our agreement included miss – the lady here – staying put."

"Our agreement also included the rescue of a hostage which was already long dead, and it did not include me getting killed by a bunch of goblins. You set us up."

"I am disappointed that you did not expect as much. That you did not plan for such an occurrence was quite – how shall I put it? – stupid."

"Well, I did expect it, but what else could I do? I had to try and help Hermione."

"Altruism will get you nowhere in life, my friend," said the Malfoy gently.

"Look here, I'm sick of listening to this. Will you give us the potion?" Ginny cut in.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Now, now, try to put yourself in my position. I have something you want very badly, but you have nothing to give me in return. You are no friends of mine, you are very selfish and not particularly polite, and you are wizarding folk, which I despise. Give me one good reason why I should give it to you."

"We'll kill you if you don't," said Ron.

"Oh, I doubt that, stranger. I would guess you have never killed a man in your life."

"I have," said Harry, trying to keep his voice steady.

"That may be so. But I do not fear death, not really. I do not have much of a life left to live."

For a moment, all that could be heard was the wind rustling through the leaves. Was it a bluff? What if it wasn't?

Then Hermione spoke up.

"I think… what if we could… I mean," she said, looking as if she was struggling hard to get the words out. "I have something you want. Don't I?"

The Malfoy fixed his eyes on her.

"Yes, you do. Would you give it to me?"

"Hermione, what are you-" Ron began, but she shushed him.

Harry thought he knew what she was talking about, but kept his mouth shut. She seemed cloven, but she had to make this decision on her own.

"Yes," she said finally. "If you tell Crinkly to get the potion first."

"Crinkly," the Malfoy called. Crinkly instantly appeared on the front step. "Fetch me the vial in the drawing room cabinet, please."

Crinkly scurried away, and the Malfoy turned back to Hermione.

"You should be aware, my dear, that after this, you may no longer want to drink that potion."

"My friends will force me to if that happens," she said.

"You are denying yourself a great gift."

"I will be denying myself an even greater one if I don't drink it."

"Well then, if you are sure. Here is Crinkly now. Shall we?"

"In the garden. Not in the manor. And I will bring a wand. I don't trust you."

"That is wise. We will be back shortly," he said, motioning for Crinkly to hand Harry the small vial.

"Are you sure about this?" Harry whispered, as he gave Hermione the Malfoy's wand. She shook her head and shrugged, before following the Malfoy into the garden.

A tense silence reigned, as everyone waited with bated breath. Ron held the gate open, and stared fixedly into the dark garden for any sign of Hermione. She and the Malfoy had disappeared from view.

Harry had no idea how long they waited. It felt like an age before they saw her sprinting back across the lawn.

"Give it to me!" she shrieked, and snatched the vial from his hand.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and drank down about half of the potion. Then she almost dropped the small container, as she began to tremble violently. They all rushed to her to help her. Ginny took the vial, as Ron eased her onto the ground. She was shaking all over and gasping for air, and her eyes rolled. After a while she stiffened, every muscle in her body going taut. For a few seconds she was as rigid as a board, before she went limp, collapsing against Ron. Harry could see that she was breathing normally.

"Hermione?" said Ginny, bending down. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," she said hoarsely. She looked around at them with bleary eyes.

"Oh, really?" said Harry. "You could have fooled me..."

"No, nothing's wrong. This is very nice."

She climbed laboriously to her feet.

"We ought to get away from here though, because he will be feeding soon."

"What?" said Ron.

"The Malfoy. I made him a vampire again. That's what he wanted. Come on."

And so, with Ron supporting Hermione, who declared she was gaining new strength with every step, they headed towards the cliff, without looking back.

-

The sun was rising over the sea, turning the wispy clouds rosy pink. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione sat on the grass, a safe distance away from the cliff's edge, watching the scene.

"He gave me my wand back," Hermione explained. "And said I could take credit for discovering the potion. This will help lots of people."

"I bet there are plenty of vampires who won't want to be helped though," said Harry. "Like him. I wonder if he'll still be around when we get back?"

"Who knows?" said Ginny. "I wish I had brought more sandwiches."

"Yes, I'm empty," said Hermione. "I haven't eaten at all for two weeks."

"That depends on how you define eating," Harry muttered. Hermione threw some grass at him.

"There are a few things we still have to clear up," said Ron. "Look at this."

He held up Hermione's engagement ring. Hermione looked between it and the one on her finger for a moment, in puzzlement.

"Where did you get that?"

"Yeah, see, it's a paradox. I found it in an antique shop together with your broken time-turner, but I have no idea how it got there. I mean, you still have yours…"

"Oh," said Hermione.

"I wonder what would happen if you just kept both of them? We'd have a matching set!"

"No, we can't do that, it's very dangerous! It would mess with the time-space continuum something awful. Who knows how many alternate universes it would create? The future we'd come home to would be completely different from the one we left! There's clearly only one thing to be done."

With that, she jumped up, strode over to the edge, removed the ring from her finger and tossed it as far out into the sea as she could.

"So much for that paradox," Ginny said, grinning.

Hermione plunked herself back down next to Ron, who immediately took hold of her hand and, with a flourish, presented her with the remaining ring.

"Four hundred years older, and it still looks brand new," he said, slipping it onto her finger. "That's quality spell work for you. Look, you can still read the inscription. Do you want me to change it?"

"No. I think I can appreciate it better now," she said, and they kissed.

Ginny raised an eyebrow, before launching herself at Harry.

"I know a good restaurant in Porthleven," said Ron, after regretfully pulling apart from Hermione. "The future Porthleven I mean."

"Time to go back, is it?" asked Ginny.

"Yes. Let's get some breakfast."

Finis

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