A/N: I apologize for the lack of updates. I will not bore you with excuses as to why I didn't update. From here on out, I'll do all that I can to update as often as possible. The story is coming to an end and I have a few more chapters left. I don't know how many more but I promise that there will be more.
"What do we have to do?" Harry asked.
"Right now, nothing," Ella responded.
"What do you mean, nothing?" Ron asked. "Didn't we just make a plan?"
"Yes, we just made a plan, it's the timing that's a concern," Ella patiently explained. "Right now, Harry is Undesirable Number 1." She brought out a newspaper from her bag and showed it to them. "So as you can see there's nothing much that he can do."
"But Ron and I can do something," Hermione suggested.
"And what happens if you're captured?" Ella inquired.
"They'll torture you just to find me," Harry said.
"Exactly, they'll keep you hostage just to draw him out. He needs both of you at his side," she explained to both of them.
"What can we do, then?" Hermione asked.
"Right now, Edward is scouting ahead and looking ahead to see if there's any solution for the three of you to go to the Ministry of Magic and grab the locket from Umbridge."
"How will he find us?" Harry questioned.
"Edward and I are magically connected," Ella vaguely explained. "We did a spell that allows us to stay connected, so that we will know where we are at all times."
"How?" Hermione inquired.
"I wish I could tell you but I can't. The less you know the better for the sake of all your lives," Ella described. "I will say this… let me and Edward work out a plan. Once we have something, I'll come back and help you get ready."
"But we can't go in looking like ourselves," Ron commented.
"You're right," Ella agreed. "That's where you come in, Hermione. I know that you brewed it before and you'll need to brew it again. I'll come back every day with ingredients, so that you can get started on making it. Also, the three of you need to be prepared on dialogue in case some things come up. When I am here, I'll give you information on a daily basis, so that you'll know what to do." The three of them nodded, knowing that it'll help them sound plausible as whoever they're going as.
"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.
"I hear Edward calling me to meet up, but right now, come up with plans on how to get the locket from Umbridge. I suspect that she'll be hiding it in plain sight," Ella suggested. The three of them nodded. "As much as I dislike leaving you alone, I need to leave and meet with Edward. Please do take care of yourselves in my absence. I will do everything I can to come back tonight." She looked at them one last time and disapparated. The three of them felt better knowing that they had something to do while they waited for Ella to come back. Hermione immediately got a parchment and a pencil as the three of them sat down at the kitchen table and began brainstorming ideas of how to get the locket from Umbridge without her noticing it.
The moment she had left, she was immediately bombarded by various images of Edward being attacked and kidnapped. She instantaneously went back inside the house and into the kitchen. The trio looked up and was shocked to see Ella back, they didn't expect to see her until that night. Before anyone could ask a question, Ella was on the phone talking to Carlisle. "Carlisle? Where is he? I was just leaving and then I got bombarded with someone attacking and kidnapping him. Carlisle… what do I do? Yes, I'm with them now but they don't have everything they need to make it. Could you give me 5 minutes alone with them, so that I can explain what I know? All right, see you soon." She hung up the phone and looked down. Her dead heart was breaking because she couldn't be out there to look and save Edward.
"Ella, what's going on?" Harry asked.
"Edward's been attacked. Somehow between the time he called me until just a moment ago, he was attacked and kidnapped. He wouldn't dare to use his powers because he knew what would happen had he did," she explained. "Right now, Carlisle is on his way with Jasper to make sure that we're safe. The three of us will be traveling with you for some time to ensure your safety."
"But what happens now?" Ron asked, "especially now that we've lost access to the Ministry?"
"That's the reason why both Carlisle and Jasper are coming," Ella said.
"I thought they were coming because of what happened to Edward," Harry commented.
"That, too," Ella said. Then instantaneously, the four of them broke into laughter. Just as the laughter died down, they heard a knock, Harry, Ron and Hermione had their wands in hand and Ella was in front of the group as they walked towards the main entrance. They were ready for anything, especially now that the danger has increased. "Who is it?" she said, speaking in a low voice but in vampire speed. She immediately opened the door, two figures had rushed in and she immediately closed it before any human being could figure out that there was a door that just opened. Carlisle and Jasper both stood by the wall, trying to not scare the trio. Ella noticed that Carlisle was holding a bag but not his typical medical bag, "Carlisle, what are you holding?"
"With Alice's help, we've gathered a majority of the ingredients for the Polyjuice potion. However, there might be a few materials that may be missing," Carlisle explained.
"Hermione, why don't you look inside and see what's missing? Hopefully, Sirius has those missing components in the kitchen," Ella said as Hermione took the bag and looked through it as they all went into the kitchen. On the table, she carefully placed all of the contents in the bag and noted what was missing.
"Harry, grab my purse, will you?" Hermione asked. Harry immediately found it near her sleeping bag. He picked it up and brought it to the table. She opened it and with the use of her wand, the spell book immediately flew out of her bag and into her hands. She opened the book to where the recipe was located. After a few moments of mumbling, she looked up and said, "We only need knotgrass and skin of boomslang."
"Right, let's look for them here and see if we can find it," Ron said.
"Look, while the three of you are working on this, the three of us will need to meet privately to discuss some things on our end before merging our plans together," Ella explained. The three of them nodded as they went about the kitchen. Ella directed them to a room on the second floor. Once she did, she put a silencer charm around the room. "What news?"
"Alice has been watching the Volturi's decisions as of late, mostly focusing on Aro's," Jasper started. "We suspect that he's allowing someone else to make vampires."
"How do you know?" Ella inquired.
"No one recognizes the vampires scents that abducted Edward," Carlisle informed. If Ella could cry, she would have at that moment. It's one thing to mess with one vampire but to mess with his or her mate is another. "I know you're hurting, Ella but we need to stay on target here."
"I know but it still doesn't help the fact that the Volturi and Voldemort are working together on this," Ella confessed. "I miss him."
"I know you do and we are going to do everything we can to bring him back and help Harry find the Horcruxes," Jasper said. His words comforted her.
"What else?" Ella questioned.
"Right now, all of our allies are doing what they can to break the lines that Volturi have been trying to establish. So far, we've been breaking some of them and others, not so lucky," Jasper explained.
"Then we need to focus on those more," Ella said.
"Yes, but we don't have the artillery to break through their defenses," Jasper said.
"Is that why you're here? To break into the Ministry and see if we can use anything to break through?" Ella probed.
Jasper smiled knowingly, "Didn't I tell you that she would catch on fast."
Carlisle laughed at this. "Not surprising since she does need to be quick on her feet to fight against both Volturi and Voldemort."
"All right, we need to come up with a plan where we don't get recognized from the people at the Ministry. There are bound to be vampires there and will do what they can to capture us. Plus the Polyjuice Potion won't work on us."
"You're right about that," Jasper agreed. "So we came up with this." After an hour of going back and forth between the three of them of the plan and Ella questioning every aspect of the plan, she was content with the plan and was ready to get that plan into action. She removed the silencer charm from the room and they went back downstairs just in time to see Hermione to the first part of the Polyjuice Potion aside to work on the second part of it.
"How are you doing with the Potion, Hermione?" Ella asked.
"It's better this time around, since I know what to do but I dislike having to wait since it takes a long time to brew," she said.
"Well, patience is a virtue and before you know it, the three of you will get what you need," Ella replied, encouragingly. Hermione didn't reply to that because she knew how true that was, especially now, when the three of them were out looking for the horcruxes. It was important to be patient and see what came their way and how to make use of it. Once Hermione got the ingredients for the second part together, she left it to simmer while the six of them discussed plans and what to do when the day came to put it into action.
The day came much sooner than any one of them had suspected but they knew that the longer they waited, the less chance they had in finding the horcruxes. Hermione, Harry and Ron were standing in an alleyway, looking upon where muggles, witches and wizards were walking into a building. Hermione turned around and looked at Harry and Ron, "Right, remember what we said. Don't speak to anyone unless absolutely necessary. Just try and act normal. Do what everybody else is doing. If we do that, then with a bit of luck, we'll get inside. And then—"
"It gets really tricky," Harry replied.
"Correct," Hermione said.
"Yeah. This is completely mental," Harry commented.
"Completely," she agreed.
"The world's mental," Ron added. The three of them hid themselves in previous places that Ella and Jasper had picked out. The two of them also had picked up the hairs of the three people who the trio would look like. Now the three of them had to knock the original people out, so there wouldn't be a big mess in the Ministry. Once they've accomplished that, plucked a piece of hair and put it in the potion and drank from it. Once they transformed themselves into whoever they chose, they walked into the building, hoping against hope. Harry and Ron both walked into the men's bathroom, waiting for their turns to go into the stalls. Once they did and stood on top of the toilet seat, Ron spoke up, "We flush ourselves in. That's bloody disgusting." Once they got into the atrium part of the Ministry, they saw a huge statue in the middle of the lobby.
"Are those-?" Harry started to ask but couldn't fully say it.
"Muggles… in their rightful place," Hermione finished off.
"Gotta tell you, I'm starting to freak out a bit," Ron said.
"How long did you say this batch of Polyjuice Potion will last, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I didn't," she replied.
"Cattermole," Yaxley called out as he stopped Ron from getting into the elevator, "It's still raining inside my office. That's two days now."
"Have you tried an umbrella?" he asked.
"You do realize that I'm going downstairs, don't you, Cattermole?"
"Downstairs?" he questioned.
"To interrogate your wife. Now if my wife's blood status were in doubt and the head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement needed a job doing. I think I might just make that a priority. You have one hour," Yaxley threatened.
"Oh, my God. What am I going to do? My wife's all alone downstairs," Ron ranted.
"Ron, you don't have a wife," Harry informed him.
"Oh, right. But how do I stop it raining?" Ron sobered up.
"Try 'Finite Incantatem,'" Hermione said.
"Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Improper Use of Magic Department," a female voice said on the PA system.
"This is you, Ron," Hermione said as he she pushed him off the elevator.
"Finite Incantatem. Okay. And if that doesn't work…?" The elevator closed and left before he could finish his question.
"If we don't locate Umbridge within the hour, we go find Ron and come back another day. Deal?" Harry confirmed with Hermione during the ride.
"Yes," she replied as the doors opened in time for them to see Umbridge standing before them, holding a clipboard.
She looked up and saw who was standing there, "Ah, Mafalda. Travers sent you, did he? Good, we'll go straight down. Albert, aren't you getting out?" Harry and Hermione looked at each other as Harry got out of the elevator, stiffly. When it closed and left, he looked around him once more and walked towards the long hallway. He tried to act as naturally as possible in the Ministry without setting anyone off. He looked at one of the doors and saw name plate on it and looked across the open room to see a room full of people doing menial paperwork. He knew that he had to get into the office without anyone noticing but nothing came to mind. Until he remembered what he had in his pocket, he reached for it and held his hands behind his back and made it look like he accidentally dropped it. The ball dropped down to the floor and created its own feet then started to move towards the open room, all the while multiplying itself across the room. Within seconds of doing so, it blew up black smoke and created chaos in the room, which allowed Harry to slip into the office unnoticed. He looked around quickly and didn't find what he was looking for. When he couldn't find what he was looking for in the tight timeframe, he left back to where he came from and got into the elevator.
He looked to his right and saw that it was Ron, "Ron, it's me," Harry whispered.
"Harry, Blimey, forgot what you looked like," he said softly. He looked around briefly and asked, "Where's Hermione?"
"She's gone down to the courtrooms, with Umbridge," he replied and they both went down to the courtrooms.
"Bloody cold down here," Ron commented as they left the elevator and into the courtrooms. From the little illumination that they could see, they saw a woman sitting in the middle of the room, begging for her life.
"I'm a half-blood. My father was a wizard. William Alderton. He worked here for 30 years. Perhaps you know him. Always wore his jacket inside out. No, there's been a mistake. I'm a half-blood, you see. We must go back. I'm half-blood," she informed the woman in front of her.
"Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" Umbridge asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Of 27 Chislehurst Gardens. Great Tolling, Evesham?"
"Yes."
"It's here," he replied softly as he looked at the locket that was around Umbridge's neck.
"Mother to Maisie, Ellie and Alfred? Wife to Reginald?" she asked.
Mary looked behind her and saw that it was her husband, "Reg?"
Umbridge looked up and saw that Albert was walking behind her husband, "Thank you, Albert. Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?"
"Yes?"
"A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the Ministry today. Is this that wand? Would you please tell the court from which witch or wizard you took this wand?"
"I didn't take it. I got it in Diagon Alley, at Ollivander's when I was 11. It chose me"
"You're lying. Wands only choose witches and you are not a witch."
"But I am. Tell them, Reg. Tell them what I am. Reg, tell them what I am," she said as she looked at her husband to do something.
Umbridge looked at Albert and saw that he was walking towards her like some kind of crazed psycho, "What on are you are you doing, Albert?"
"You're lying Dolores, and one mustn't tell lies!" he said, he could feel his face changing.
"It's Harry Potter. It is, isn't it? This'll be one to tell the kids."
Harry lifted up his wand and pointed it at Umbridge who in turn had her wand at ready, "Expecto Patronum!" With that said, three figures opened their outer garments that they used as a make-shift wraps and immediately launched themselves towards Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hermione immediately grabbed the locket from Umbrige's neck and ran.
"Mary, go home. Get the kids. I'll meet you there. We have to get out of the country, understand? Mary, do as I say," Ron said, pretending that he was her husband.
"Mary? Who's that?" Reginald asked as he approached his wife.
"Long story. Nice meeting you," he said as he turned back into himself.
Immediately, one man recognized that it was Harry Potter and started calling after him. The Guards immediately running after them. Ella, Jasper and Carlisle immediately started to knock the guards off their feet as well as fight off the vampires. They expected rogue vampires to be around. There was scuffling around as they tried to pack the separate body parts into 3 different bags. "Ellla!" Ella, Jasper and Carlisle looked up at him and saw that they had to move fast since more guards had come.
"Go!" Ella called out. "We'll distract them! Go!" Ella could tell that he wanted her to go with them. "I found you once and I'll find you again. Go!" Hermione and Ron were holding hands in mid-air, waiting for Harry to join them. Ella, Jasper and Carlisle were around them, warding off anyone who dare to come near them. She looked at Harry once more, "Never forget that I love you, Harry and I'm proud of you. Go!" Harry immediately grabbed his best friends' links hands and disapparated.
All three of them ended up on the ground in a forest. Ron was the first to speak up, "Oh, my God."
They all managed to sit up properly and looked around, "What happened? I thought we meant to go back to Grimmauld Place," Harry asked.
"We were. We were but this was a back up plan, in case things went havoc at the Ministry. This was something that Ella and I discussed," Hermione informed them. Harry nodded, knowing that they did this to protect themselves. He noticed Hermione stand up and got her wand out of her pocket and said, "Protego Totalum. Salvio Hevia."
"What are you doing?" Harry inquired.
"Protective enchantments. I don't fancy another visit like the one we had in Shaftesbury Avenue, do you?" Hermione answered. Harry agreed with that and left it at that. "You can get going on the tent," Hermione spoke up. She knew that he needed something to do while Hermione was casting the protection charms around them.
"Tent?" Harry was puzzled.
"Protego Totalum."
"Where am I supposed to find a tent?" Harry asked dumbfounded. It took him several moments to realize that Hermione would have something ready in her bag. He brought it out and with Ron's lack of help, he managed to set it up.
"Repello Muggletum. Muffliato," she finished up the last of the protective enchantments and looked over to where Harry was and saw that he was struggling with the tent and Ron trying to help out. She went over to them and with a simple twist of her wrist, the tent erected itself up correctly. Harry and Ron looked over at her, ashamed that they couldn't manage to do something as simple as setting up a tent. They went inside and unpacked. Once things had settled, the trio were sitting at the main table with the locket there. None of them wanted to touch it but they knew that this was a task that they needed to focus on. Hermione spoke up, "So what do we do next?"
"Well, Dumbledore had a theory that the Horcruxes wouldn't be made out of random objects. And they wouldn't be hidden randomly, either. We know of three so far. Uh… the ring, which according to Dumbledore, belonged to Tom's grandfather. The diary, which obviously belonged to Tom himself. And then this, which again, according to Dumbledore, belonged to Tom's mother," Harry explained.
"It scares me a bit, that. Thinking it's a piece of—" Hermione started off.
"No," Run interrupted, "Don't. Don't say it. It's taboo, You-Know-Who's name. That's how they track people now."
"How do you know that?" Harry asked.
"I overheard some bloke at the Ministry talking," Ron apprised them.
Hermione stood up and asked, "Tea?" Both of them nodded as she whipped up the kettle for tea.
"Is that it?" Ron asked, looking at the locket.
"Yeah. I know I felt that too. It ticking or something. Like it's got a heart," Harry observed.
"Like it's alive," Ron confirmed. Hermione poured tea into three individual cups.
"I hate it. It's like he's here with us," Hermione stated.
"And that's why we're gonna kill it," Harry said as he picked it up and brought it outside the tent. He tossed it a few yards in front of them. He knew that the other two were following him.
"You first," Hermione suggested.
"Dissendum," Harry said and nothing happened.
"Incendio," Hermione tried but again nothing.
"Expulso. Diffindo. Reducto," Harry spoke but whatever he said and tried, nothing happened. The locket remained intact. He picked it up and put it around his neck.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
"We keep it safe until we find out how to destroy it," Harry replied.
"Seems strange, mate. Dumbledore sends you off to find all these Horcruxes, but doesn't tell you how to destroy them. Doesn't that bother you?" he inquired. Harry couldn't answer that because he was thinking the same thing. All in all, he was hoping that Ella was there to help out somehow. He always felt stronger when she was around. For the rest of the afternoon, Hermione and Ron was inside resting while Harry was outside on guard. In the tent, he could hear the radio blasting. He despised listening to that radio but it was the only connection that he had to the world that he and his best friends had created for themselves. It wasn't until after dinner, Hermione came outside to relieve Harry from his duties. He went inside and immediately fell asleep. About half an hour into his sleep, his nightmares came plaguing him and wasn't sure as to what to make of it. Hermione heard his whimpers and moans and went inside and woke him up.
"I thought it had stopped," she said as she knew that he was fully awake. "You can't keep letting him in, Harry."
"You-Know-Who has found Gregorovitch," he told her.
"The wandmaker?" she asked as they both went outside the tent.
"He wants something that Gregorovitch used to have but I don't know what. But he wants it desperately. I mean, it's as if his life depends on it," Harry said. The radio was on again and it was getting on his nerves and was just about to go inside and shout at Ron to turn it off.
Hermione saw this and interfered, "Don't. It comforts him."
"It sets my teeth on edge. What's he expecting to hear, good news?" Harry demanded.
"I think he just hopes he doesn't hear bad news," Hermione said.
"How long before he can travel?" Harry questioned as he did all that he could do to ignore the radio.
"I'm doing everything I can," Hermione said, she was just as nerve-wrecked as the other two but she didn't show it.
"You're not doing enough!" Harry accused her.
For the life of Hermione, she couldn't figure out what was causing him to react this way. It took her a moment to realize that the locket may have been what's causing this outburst. "Take it off," she said as she put her hand out in front of him. He was confused as to what she was talking about. "I said, take it off now." Harry knew better than to butt heads with her, especially after she asked for something twice. He took off the locket and he felt the weight of the world off his shoulders, "Better?" she asked as she saw the Harry she knew.
"Loads," he answered honestly.
"We'll take it in turns, okay?" Hermione compromised. Harry nodded. That was something that he could do.