In the days that followed Draco's second message to Harry, Hermione looked into Gringotts and was able to verify that the Lestranges had a family vault. But that was where they ran into another road block, because the Lestrange family vault was one of the old vaults, in the deepest and most heavily guarded part of Gringotts. It would be impossible to get in there, because they had no idea how the vault was guarded. Plus, they had no particular reason to believe Bellatrix had hidden a horcrux inside; they didn't even know for certain that Voldemort had given Bellatrix a horcrux to guard in the first place. So they kept that lead in mind for future references, but for now it led nowhere. The same held for the knowledge that the Malfoy Manor would obey Harry over Voldemort, because until they could find the rest of the horcruxes and a way to destroy them, he couldn't bring the fight to Voldemort's doorstep, no matter how much he wanted to.
Then there was the news of the birth of Harry's twin sons to think about. The second baby's stay in the muggle-hospital and the baby's malformed leg were frequently on Harry's mind. It was all linked and it all came back to Ron hitting Draco; Harry couldn't agree with Draco more when it came to the belief that all these problems were caused by Ron. Ron had deserted them in their horcrux hunt and Ron had almost caused his second son to die three times now and had given the baby a permanent birth defect. If Ron were here, he would hex Ron so bad…he didn't know how bad, but it'd be bad.
Harry's desire to curse Ron didn't even diminish a week later when he heard from Draco for a third time and learned that the second baby was out of the muggle-hospital and safe in Draco's arms. He was extremely relieved to know that his son was safe, breathing on his own, and back under the protection of the fidelius charm. It was like a weight lifting off of his chest, but it was only one weight out of many. He still had so many reasons to be stressed and the fact that he was once again getting the silent treatment from Draco just added to his burden; sure he understood that it'd be safer for Draco and the babies if their contact was limited and Draco had made sure to write him and tell him about the three most important things that had happened, but still there was a constant day to day wondering that ate at him; the not knowing how his family was.
Ron wasn't there to hex, they couldn't get into the Lestrange family vault, it was too soon to storm Malfoy Manor, they didn't have the sword, Draco didn't reply back, his second son still needed treatment for a deformed leg, and it all added up and took its toll on Harry. As the weeks passed, he became increasingly desperate to make some progress and find the next horcrux or the sword. The one place that they hadn't looked that he was certain would be important to Voldemort and Dumbledore was Godric's Hollow. He was sure they needed to check out the place where Voldemort had met his first defeat in an infant and lost his first corporal body and the place where Dumbledore had grown up.
And so Harry and Hermione went to Godric's Hollow and it was a trap. Nagini had been there disguised as Bathilda Bagshot and had attacked them. Hermione had rescued Harry and gotten them away, but they were still without the sword, Harry's wand was broken, and Harry had been bitten by Nagini. Harry mended his wand, but it wasn't functional, so he shoved it into the drawstring pouch that he wore around his neck.
Hagrid had given the bag to Harry and Harry kept all is most important possessions in it; the snitch Dumbledore had given him, his Protean charmed coin and parchment from Draco, and now his wand. He had considered putting the fragment of Sirius' mirror in the pouch way back when he had cleaned out his school trunk, but the shard was useless and dangerous, so he'd thrown it out.
Harry couldn't sleep that night, so he and Hermione packed up the tent and moved to the Forest of Dean in the wee hours of the morning. They set up camp, casting charms as they went, and had a somber breakfast, but Harry was still mourning the loss of his wand and had to get away from Hermione to think, so he offered to keep watch and sent her to bed. He sat outside in the freezing cold wearing every sweater he owned and pulled out his coin, wishing he could talk to Draco.
That morning, instead of sending Draco and his sons a message that he loved them, like he usually did, he sent the message, "I broke my wand." That was it; he didn't ask for help obtaining a new one or ask for advice on how to mend the old one. And well, that really wasn't what he wanted anyway, because what he really wanted was his husband to sit by his side with a sympathetic ear and tell him it would be okay. But he wasn't expecting that or any other reply, because Draco never replied back.
Harry sat there, holding Hermione's borrowed wand, and flipping the coin over and over again as the time passed and he thought about his wand. He had been counting on the twin cores to protect him from Voldemort, as his wand had done twice before. He thought his pouch felt a bit warm and was about to check it, but then he jumped as the coin in his hand burned. He looked down and read the message. "Look at your parchment."
Harry quickly pulled his parchment out of his drawstring bag and read the message. "Where are you? You can borrow mine- it worked for you alright before, didn't it? I have the wand of Lord Malfoy now."
Harry cursed the fact that he didn't have a quill or pot of ink in his drawstring bag; instead he had to go back inside the tent and retrieve the items from Hermione's bag. It took a minute, but then he had them and he was back outside writing, "The Forest of Dean, but how will you get it here? You can't leave the protection of the fidelius for this."
"Father volunteered to deliver it for me. He said he's been meaning to pass the Sword of Gryffindor along to you anyway; he just never knew where you were."
"Your father is with you and the babies!? Why? That's not safe! And how and why does he have the sword?" Harry's anxiety skyrocketed as he realized that Lucius Malfoy, a known Death Eater, was with his family and he wasn't. He had no way to protect them.
"Relax, Father's been here for months and hasn't hurt us. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd freak out, but he's on my side and helped save the second baby's life. I'm really not sure how you didn't figure it out. I had to have had more help than just my mother and elderly grandmother taking care of me. Father took the second baby to the muggles, Mother finished up the delivery, and Grandmother tended to the first baby. Father loves us and wanted to apologize to you months ago, but I advised against it, because your occlumency is shite. Anyway, he stole the sword from my aunt Bellatrix before he left the Manor and replaced it with a forgery, because he thought it was important. She still thinks she has the real one, but the real one has been here for ages. I didn't even know you were looking for it."
Harry had to read through Draco's note multiple times before the words began to sink in and form sentences. The first sentence was all he managed to process during his first read through: Lucius had been with Draco and the babies for months. For whatever reason, Draco and Narcissa had felt confident enough of Lucius' loyalty to the Malfoy family, even when the family's interests were is opposing orientation to the interests of Voldemort, to let Lucius into their protected safe house. Draco and Narcissa were totally vulnerable to Lucius! How did they plan on defending themselves if Lucius had turned on them? What if Lucius was just buying time until the opportune moment to turn on them? What if this was Lucius' trap and now Draco would tell Lucius where Harry and Hermione were and then they'd be captured, the war would be over, and he didn't even know what would happen to Draco and the babies.
The second time Harry read through the letter he got through the part about Lucius' role in saving the second baby's life. Suddenly the events Draco told him about clicked and it became obvious that Draco had had another able bodied adult with him. He seethed with anger at the idea that Lucius had been charged with saving his son's life. But then on the third run through, it occurred to him that Lucius had saved his sons life. Lucius hadn't turn the baby over to Voldemort, but brought the baby back to Draco. Lucius had taken Harry's son to the muggles and begged them for help. Lucius the pureblood muggle hater had in the heat of the moment, when it was a matter of life and death, chosen to save the baby by going to the muggles.
Harry began to think that Lucius must absolutely put his family above all else in the world for Lucius to have done that; no other explanation made sense. Lucius had abandoned Voldemort; Harry had seen Voldemort's fury himself. Lucius hadn't used the baby to lure Harry out of hiding to his death; Harry would've walked right into a trap if it meant the chance to save the baby. Lucius had saved the baby in the first place, when all others would've failed and when there was another baby available for use as a potential weapon against Harry.
Harry read the message one more time and finally the last part sunk in. Lucius had done all that for Draco and the babies and now Lucius was offering up the Sword of Gryffindor to Harry. It was a gesture to show support, prove where his loyalties lie, or make amends for past crimes; it didn't really matter which, just that Lucius wanted to apologize to him months ago? Wow, he had never for a moment thought that would happen and now that is was happening, he wasn't really sure what to think about it.
The one thought Harry did grasp onto was that the Sword of Gryffindor was now within his reach. He had been looking for the Sword, trying to figure out where Dumbledore might leave it for him, for months now. He had risked his life, almost been eaten by a giant snake, and broken his wand, looking for the sword, which was now being handed to him. He couldn't just pass this up; he had to see where this went, if there was even a chance that Lucius had the real sword then he had to see what it would take to get it from Lucius, even if it meant letting the man stay with his family in hiding…well maybe not if it meant that, because he would never agree to that and he also didn't have a choice in the matter. The only thing he had a choice on was how he reacted.
Next Harry began to wonder about how Lucius had gotten the sword. Draco's letter said that Lucius stole it from Bellatrix Lestrange. Well Bellatrix couldn't've had the sword until sometime after Bill and Fleur's wedding on Harry's birthday, when the Minster for Magic had…had not in fact had the sword with him that day. Lucius could've already had the sword even then, he supposed.
Could Bellatrix have gotten the sword in the summer, before Snape was announced as headmaster, back when Harry still thought Professor McGonagall was in charge? Could she have had it when Lucius got out of Azkaban? Could Lucius have made, or had someone else make, a forgery so quickly? Harry thought about it, and it seemed that the answer to all of those questions was yes, because he simply didn't know where and when the sword had been.
Finally Harry thought about whether or not Lucius would take the sword. Draco wouldn't have told Lucius all of the details of the situation before Lucius left Voldemort. He had thought that Draco wouldn't have let Lucius into their safe house while Voldemort was still alive and he had been wrong there, granted, but he was not wrong about this now. Draco was pregnant at the time and absolutely wouldn't have put their unborn babies into harm's way and Draco wouldn't have risked telling his father more than the absolute minimum as long as Lucius was still with Voldemort, when Lucius still had the opportunity to steal the sword from Bellatrix.
So maybe Lucius knew that the Malfoys were switching sides, but nothing more, and certainly nothing about Harry. Given that was the case, would there be any reason for Lucius to take the sword with him? To put his life at risk to get the sword? Harry pondered that question for a minute and then looked back at Draco's message on the parchment, before deciding the answer was yes. If Lucius had known the sword was of value when it came to the war, and surely he did if Bellatrix knew, then Lucius was just the type of sneaky snake to steal the most valuable piece he could find before switching sides. What better way to come out on top than to turn up with the sword and present it to whichever side he decided he ultimately wanted to be on? If Lucius chose to go back to Voldemort, he could present the sword to his Lord and claim he rescued it from Harry. If Lucius ended up siding with his son, as now seemed to be the case, he could offer up the sword as payment for his past crimes.
Yes, Lucius would sneak off with the sword and he just might actually be on Harry's side now. And Harry had already given his location up to Draco, who was living with Lucius and probably had Lucius hovering over his shoulder. The only choice now was whether to stay and see how this played out, or to run into the tent, grab Hermione, and get out of the Forest of Dean before Lucius could get here. He didn't feel like moving again and he really wanted that sword and that was what motivated him as he sat back down, dipped his quill in the ink, and wrote his reply to Draco.
"It could be a trap. How do I know he won't capture me and turn me over to Voldemort?"
"It's not a trap; I promise you my father will not harm you. You don't have to meet him and reveal your position for the exchange. Father will leave the sword and my wand somewhere and send his patronus out, before he disapparates. Be on the lookout for his doe patronus and follow it back to where the items are. Father will be gone before you even get there and the form of his patronus will prove where his loyalties lie; you can't lie with a patronus."
"A doe?" Harry wrote back as he thought about it. He couldn't imagine Lucius with a doe patronus; something just didn't fit with that one.
"It changed when he fell in love with his grandsons. He realized how fully our family's welfare was linked to your survival. Besides, you're a Malfoy now, so the Malfoy name will benefit from your defeat of the Dark Lord; that bit carried a lot of weight with him and I'm glad you agreed to change your name, because it made turning him over to our side so much easier."
"Speaking of names, what did you name our sons? You never told me."
"I did so; Hyperion and Scorpius."
"Yes, but which is which?"
"Hyperion is the first born and Scorpius the second. Give father time to get there; he's never been before, but he says he can be there by tonight. Keep an eye out for the doe."
"I will. I love you and I miss you. Tell our boys I love them?"
"I tell them they should save their crying and fussing for you."
"Why?" Harry wrote back. He waited, but an answer never came. He didn't have anything else to do, so he waited some more. Then he kept right on waiting as he watched the forest for any signs of life.
Harry waited until Hermione woke up. He told her everything and she asked if he was mental and said how very dangerous this was and then asked if Draco was mental and said how very dangerous it was of Draco to let Lucius in. Harry agreed with her, but he didn't have any other viable options and they needed the sword and he wanted the wand. In the end they decided to risk it and stay, but to pack up everything so that they would be able to leave the moment it was over, just in case.
Harry and Hermione were waiting when they saw the doe. Harry ran after the doe and Hermione followed in his invisibility cloak as back up. Harry found Draco's wand by the pond and then saw the sword inside the pond. He went in the pond to get the sword and the locket nearly drowned him, but someone saved him, pulled him up, and cut the horcrux off of him. That someone also retrieved the sword. It was not Hermione. Hermione was alternating between cursing that someone for leaving and thanking him for coming back and saving Harry.
It took Harry several moments to catch his breath and recover before he realized that it was Ron who had saved him. Ron then went on to reveal that he had used Dumbledore's deluminator to find them and that he had been trying to find them again since the day he left. Then it occurred to Harry that they had the sword and the locket and it was time to destroy a horcrux; he had the inexplicable feeling that Ron should do it, so he made Ron do it. It took a while, but then it was done, the horcrux was destroyed, and the three of them went back to their packed campsite to dry off and for Ron and Harry to change out of their wet clothes.
Harry explained to Ron how it was that he and Hermione had come to be running after a doe patronus in the middle of the forest, because Lucius Malfoy was now on their side and had left them the sword and Draco's wand. And while he was at it, he hit Ron with a mucus adnauseam curse, for Scorpius; the first spell he cast with Draco's borrowed wand, which he thought was rather fitting.
"Ow, what wa' blat for?" Ron asked, pulling long, thick strings of mucus from his nose.
"Draco had the babies. That was for my son, who wasn't breathing, because you punched Draco while he was pregnant with him."
"Is 'e dead?" Ron asked, giving up on the mucus for a moment and letting it hang heavily from his nose as he looked to Harry.
"No, Lucius Malfoy saved him by taking him to muggles for help. The muggle hospital had him on some sort of breathing machine for a week, outside the fidelius charm, where Death Eaters could get to him at any moment, except for the fact that Lucius was guarding him the entire time."
"That' grea'! I ne'er bleally figured ol' Lucius for the sort, but that's bleally blilliant tha' he did all tha'. You know Harry, sometimes these things just happen. I remember my mum telling me tha' Charlie wasn't breathing when he was born and the healers had to get him going."
Harry hit Ron with Ginny's famous bat-bogey hex, which Ginny had taught him when he stayed with the Weasley's over the summer. "No, this didn't just happen! You happened. This is the baby you punched. He came out tiny and not breathing and he even has a deformed leg, because of you."
The bat-bogeys on top of the mucus were just too much phlegm blocking Ron's air passages for him to be able to breathe properly, let alone talk. So instead of replying to Harry, he coughed, spat mucus and bat-bogeys to the ground, and pulled slime from his nose. He choked on a particularly bad bogey and began to think Harry had chosen these curses for a reason, to show him what it felt like to not be able to breathe.
Hermione moved to help Ron, seeing that he was choking, but Harry stopped her, because he wanted Ron to suffer through it. And Ron's choking only lasted seconds before Ron coughed up the bogey and pulled out another glob of mucus.
"I'b," cough, splutter, "sorry," Ron said, before going into another coughing fit.
That apology was strangely more satisfying for Harry than the others had been. "See to it that it doesn't happen again. And see to it that you never even touch my husband or my children again. The muggles don't think the baby will be able to walk because of you. Now I have one more reason why I need to bring this war to an end quickly, and that is because the baby needs treatment at St. Mungo's to repair his leg. That's if they can repair it, because at this point, we have no way of knowing if it's repairable," Harry ranted. He suddenly realized that ranting made him feel very good.
Ron continued to cough and blow mucus and bogeys out his nose and Harry ranted some more, but then Hermione said, "Boys, um, this is all very interesting, but I'm getting very cold and we still haven't moved camp sites, so I can't set up the tent."
Harry's thoughts turned to the fact that they had agreed to move again, because they didn't want Lucius to know where they were any longer than necessary. Harry stopped ranting and helped Hermione take down the wards. Then Ron paused in his expulsion of bodily fluids and the three of them apparated away, only to reestablish the wards and set the tent back up. They made Ron keep the first watch, but then Ron had to stay up anyway, because of his phlegm predicament, so he might as well keep the first watch while he was at it.
Harry didn't fully forgive Ron for hurting the baby and Hermione was still mad at Ron for running away, but they did let him back into the fold. There was something so gratifying about having the sword, the real sword as evidenced by the fact that it destroyed the horcrux, and about having destroyed another horcrux. They were finally moving forward. They were getting closer to their ultimate goal; they just had to figure out where the last two horcruxes were. Malfoy Manor and the Lestrange family vault were their best two leads.