A/N: Only 4 more chapters to go! I'm hoping to have it all finished and out before the end of September, but everything hinges on work (September looks to be a nightmare for me, so we'll have to see how it goes). As always, thank you to all those who read/favourite/follow/review. :) And since I haven't done it in a while, nothing you recognize belongs to me. Enjoy chapter 27!

*** 27 – One Final Plan ***

"No, no, absolutely not! I will not allow it!" Hermione was furious, and everyone knew it.

"Look, we need to draw them out, and I can't think of a better way to do it. I hate the idea as much as you do, but I can't see another choice!" Blaise shouted.

"Would you feel the same if it was your daughter being offered up as bait?" Draco countered angrily.

Everyone else started at them with fear in their eyes. This image of the trio was so different from the one they'd seen less than a week ago. Shortly after the Malfoy family reunion, Blaise had returned to Grimmauld with little to report on the search. He was so shocked by the sudden appearance of his dear friends that he'd nearly collapsed on the spot. He'd happily hugged them both, holding Hermione extra tight as they informed him of the return of her memories.

The group that now stood before them was one full of fury and frustration rather than happiness and relief. The Malfoys were a force to be reckoned with on a good day, but when the safety of their family was threatened in any way, no one was safe. Draco and Hermione glared murderously at Blaise who looked tired and sad. He'd come to them the previous day with news that Moore was starting the search for Isabel, and it would be dangerously aggressive. Hermione's parents had been threatened, as well as her family in Canada, and the Weasleys. Blaise also reported that if those threats didn't work, more innocent people would be targeted at random.

"I still don't understand why there's so much fuss over one little girl," Draco said. "Isabel barely knows magic yet. She's only just discovered that she has powers."

Blaise sighed. Once more, he'd tried to save them from the heartache that the full amount of information would give them. "It's because of the prophecy."

Hermione threw her hands up in frustration. "Not another one! We had enough of that back at school with Harry and Voldemort!"

Everyone had snapped to attention at Blaise's admission. "What prophecy?" Ginny asked, placing a protective hand on the small bump on her belly.

"Moore brought in a few Deatheaters to help him start up this project all those years ago. It turns out that one of them was the distant cousin of Sybill Trelawney. He made a prophecy one day, to Moore and a few others, and Moore's believed it ever since."

"What did he predict?" Arthur asked, his curiosity piqued.

"He predicted the birth of a child who could hold the key to the ultimate power. The child would be born to a pureblood and a muggleborn who had once been enemies. He spoke of the mother's disappearance and later reunion with her family, and said that only after the three sides of the triangle had reunited that the child's power would truly begin to grow. They are stronger as a unit."

"Like how Draco and I are magically stronger when we're together?" Hermione inquired.

"Exactly. With you three back together, even if only for a short time, Isabel's power will grow immensely. She will be an extremely powerful witch when she gets older. But with her still being so young, there is a danger."

"What kind of danger?" George asked.

"Isabel's mind is very young and impressionable. If the wrong person got a hold of her, especially with the resources that Moore has – "

"Then her power could be abused greatly," Molly finished.

"Or eliminated completely," Ginny added.

Blaise nodded.

"Moore wants her so that her power can't be harnessed by anyone," Hemione stated. "If someone evil gets her, they'll use her power against Muggles and other wizards. If she stays good, she'll still be able to use those powers. But if Moore gets her and takes away her power, then he's closer to his goal."

"He might also want to use her power to find the rest of the world's magic and destroy it," Harry voiced.

"We can't let that happen!" Neville declared passionately.

"We won't, Nev, but I still don't see what good it will do to use Isabel as bait for Moore," Ron muttered.

"Moore won't stop searching until he finds her, and he's not afraid to use force to get to her," Blaise explained.

"Why not just offer him us?" Draco suggested. "We could at least hold our own against him in the compound."

"Moore doesn't want you anymore. He had hoped to bring back Hermione's memory enough to start her 'treatment', and then use her as bait for Isabel. You were too headstrong for him because you knew about his operation. 'Liz' didn't, and would be somewhat impressionable to it all. Now that Hermione's back full force, and with you, he knows that she's a lost cause. The only thing he'd do with you two is kill you on the spot." Everyone looked at him sadly. "I hate the idea too, but I can't think of any other way."

Draco shook his head. "There's got to be a way. Some way to use Isabel to our advantage, but keep her out of danger."

Hermione was about to turn her anger on her husband for even suggesting that they 'use' their daughter for anything, when a lightbulb went on in her brain. Her eyes flew across the room to meet the surprised, yet knowing, gaze of Tonks. Apparently, they'd had the same idea.

"That's it," they whispered together, earning stares from the rest of the room.

"What's it?" McGonagall asked.

"Do you think you could pull it off?" Hermione asked Tonks, ignoring everyone else.

Tonks nodded, not breaking their look. "They'd never see it coming."

"We'd be right there with you."

"I think this could work."

"Would someone please fill the rest of us in?" Remus demanded of his wife and friend. "What could work?"

Hermione shared a knowing look before turning to face the crowd in front of them. Tonks closed her eyes, and there was a loud pop accompanied with a bright flash of light. When their vision cleared, Isabel was standing in place of Tonks.

"That's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, cluing into the plan.

"I still don't understand completely," Ginny said tiredly.

"If they want Isabel, we'll give them one," Tonks declared in the young girl's voice. Realization dawned on everyone, and they began to chatter animatedly.

Hermione turned to Blaise. He was impressed. "It just might work," he said.

"We need some information from you."

"Name it."

"The exact location of every one of these facilities, and everything you can learn about them."

"Why?"

"This is going to end. I won't allow him to remove magic from the world, or threaten my family. We're going to destroy the compounds and research, and modify the memories of everyone involved."

He nodded solemnly. "It'll take me a few days to find it all, but I will."

The next few days passed with little disturbance. Blaise returned with new information every few hours, and also reported on the search. Apparently Molly's trips to the market, and Arthur, Kingsley, Ron, Harry and Tonks' Ministry work was all being monitored in the hopes of tracing the Malfoys. Blaise assured them that they were safe for the moment, but they knew that it wouldn't last long. Moore would start getting desperate fairly quickly, and would use any means to get what he wanted. They didn't have much time.

Within a week, they had the information they needed, and the final plan came together fairly quickly. Ginny, knowing full well that she couldn't safely help them in the field since she was still early in her pregnancy, offered to stay at Grimmauld with Dobby and Isabel, who had started showing evidence of her powers in the presence of her parents. Once this was all over, they were going to start properly teaching her how to use her talents.

The rest of the group would divide and conquer in the most literal of senses. Kingsley had recruited the Ministry Auror department to aid them with their mission. Blaise had uncovered three facilities in total: the one in Canada, the one in France, and another in China. The Aurors had been divided into three squads, one for each location. Dumbledore and McGonagall would be waiting with a team in Canada, Kingsley and Ron would be waiting in China with their team, and Draco and Remus would be with their team in France. The rest of them would be disguised and in the marketplace, where Molly would bring Tonks (as Isabel) on her daily excursion.

Moore's men would pick up Tonks and transport her to the facility in France. Hermione, under Harry's invisibility cloak, would follow them to see how they moved her (Muggle way or magic). Once everyone in the market was sure that Tonks was in their hands (armed with her wand, of course), they would head for their recon teams. Harry, George and Neville would apparate to Canada, Luna, Molly and Arthur would join Kingsley and Ron in China, and Hermione, would eventually head to France to join Draco, Remus, Blaise and Tonks.

Blaise's research had given them information on the various security features of each compound, which included everything from Dementors in France to several defense charms in Canada, to a dragon in China. But the one similarity was the shifts. Each facility had employee/guard changes at the same times: midnight, eight a.m. and four p.m. On the day of the attack, the teams would modify the memories of all the people coming off shift. The first strike would be at midnight, and then another at eight. They would be quiet and discreet as not to tip anyone off. The group leaving at four would be the ones involved in the destruction of the various buildings. Molly would take Tonks to the market shortly after 3pm, which gave the teams enough time to take care of all memories.

Moore had wizards searching for Isabel, so it was assumed that Tonks would be transported by one of two ways: apparation or portkey. None of the compounds had fireplaces, so the Floo Network was out, and flying would take too long. Each group would be ready to strike the facilities once Tonks was in France with Moore.

They knew that the attacks had to be simultaneous, so there would be no warning. As such, the order for the strike would come from Draco. He'd use his mind to communicate with Harry and Ron, and keep them informed of what was happening. At his word, they'd all attack.

The team at Grimmauld spent two full days going over the plan, working out any kinks that arose. Blaise would join the fight in France once it started, and would wait until the last second to reveal his true allegiances. Everything was carefully planned, and each step went through every person to ensure that they'd thought of everything. The Auror teams were given the security information for each facility, and had come up with plans for dealing with any defenses.

When they weren't planning, Draco and Hermione were with their daughter. The family had a lot of lost time to make up for, and were doing the best they could in the confines of the house. But not even the dark environment of the current mood in Grimmauld Place could bring down their spirits. They relished every second they had together, and watched as Isabel's magic appeared in front of their eyes. Her innocence was enviable, as they often had to remind her that levitating Dobby wasn't a good idea. For the last week, Isabel had slept in Draco's room with him and Hermione, as they never had the chance to do it before.

The evening before the attack, at Draco's request, Ginny took Isabel for a night of fun so that Draco and Hermione could have some time alone together. He surprised his wife with dinner in the backyard garden. She felt like a queen, and thanked him repeatedly for the thoughtful evening. Over dessert, he presented her with a beautiful emerald and silver bracelet that had belonged to his mother. She'd been on cloud nine the entire night, and this just sent her higher up. When they eventually retreated to their room, they made love slowly and passionately, taking time to lavish curves, tease muscles, and generally drive each other mad with desire before falling into a deep sleep for a few hours.

At eleven o'clock, Draco rose from bed to take a shower. He knew that Hermione would stay awake after he'd left for the mission, so he wanted to give her as much time to sleep as he could. But once he was dressed, he knew he couldn't put it off any longer to wake her. He needed one last kiss before apparating to meet Remus and make the first strike at midnight.

"Mi," he whispered gently, running his fingers through her soft curls. She whimpered softly, and slowly opened her eyes.

"Is it time?" she asked innocently.

He smiled at her sleepy tone. "Yeah, it is." Wordlessly, she slipped into the robe he offered her, and followed him downstairs. A quick stop at Isabel's room allowed him to kiss her gently on the forehead, and observe her sleeping innocence. Together, they descended to the darkened living room, where they stood silently for a few moments.

"Are you ok?" he asked her. She nodded, and raised her head to meet his eyes in the dark. She bravely smiled, yet he could see the sadness and worry deep in her irises.

"Be careful," she whispered. It was his turn to nod as he drew her into a tight embrace.

"I promise," he replied softly. He pulled back a bit, and kissed her. The one kiss held promise, hope, passion, and so much more, and she relished every second of it. She didn't want him to go, but she knew that it had to happen. They had to put a stop to all of this, for Isabel if nothing else.

Draco slowly withdrew his lips, and hugged his wife one last time. Sadly, Hermione released him and he headed out the door quickly. She watched at the window as he descended the steps from the porch, and smiled warmly as he turned to look at her once more. She blew him a loving kiss, and he was gone.

Hermione stood at the window for a long time after he left, praying to Merlin that everything would turn out all right. She had a feeling deep inside of her that something was wrong, but she couldn't pinpoint it. About two hours later, frustrated but with an idea in her head, she went back upstairs. Halfway down the hall to the room she shared with her husband, she found a door ajar. Peeking in, she saw the bubblegum-pink hair of her dear friend.

"Can't sleep?" Tonks asked. Hermione shook her head as she entered the room. Sitting on the edge of the bed where Tonks was, she looked at her seriously.

"We need to adjust the plan," she stated simply.