Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Precious Mudblood	By : magentasouth Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 79307 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I neither own nor profit from any part of the Harry Potter universe

Chapter List
- 1-Precious Mudblood
- 2-Ch 2
- 3-Ch 3
- 4-Ch 4
- 5-Ch 5
- 6-Ch 6
- 7-Ch 7
- 8-ch 8
- 9-Ch 9
- 10-Ch 10
- 11-Ch 11
- 12-Ch 12
- 13-Ch 13
- 14-Ch 14
- 15-Ch 15
- 16-Ch 16
- 17-Ch 17
- 18-Ch 18
- 19-Ch 19
- 20-Ch 20
- 21-Ch 21
- 22-Ch 22
- 23-Ch 23
- 24-Ch 24
- 25-Ch 25
- 26-Ch 26
- 27-Ch 27
- 28-Ch 28
- 29-Ch 29
- 30-Ch 30
- 31-Ch 31
- 32-Ch 32
- 33-Ch 33
- 34-Ch 34
- 35-Ch 35
- 36-Ch 36
- 37-Ch 37
- 38-Ch 38
- 39-Ch 39
- 40-Ch 40
- 41-Ch 41
- 42-Ch 42 (edited. longer)
- 43-Ch 43
- 44-Ch 44
- 45-Ch 45
- 46-Ch 46
- 47-Ch 47
- 48-Ch 48
- 49-Ch 49
- 50-Ch 50
- 51-Ch 51
- 52-Ch 52
- 53-Ch 53
- 54-Ch 54
- 55-Ch 55
- 56-Ch 56
- 57-Ch 57
- 58-Ch 58
- 59-Ch 59
- 60-Ch 60
- 61-Ch 61
- 62-Ch 62
- 63-Ch 63
- 64-Ch 64
- 65-Ch 65
- 66-Ch 67
- 67-Ch 67
- 68-Ch 68
- 69-Ch 69
- 70-Ch 70
- 71-Ch 71
- 72-Ch 72
- 73-Ch 73
- 74-Ch 74
- 75-Ch 75
- 76-Chapter 76
- 77-Ch 77
- 78-Ch 78
- 79-Ch 79
- 80-Ch 80
- 72
- 73
- 74
The
bathroom was very nice.� Ridiculously,
unnecessarily luxurious, but then what did she really expect in a castle that
looked like it was made of gold and polished sugarcubes..� She had no idea
how the shower worked � there were too many fixtures and buttons and things she
couldn�t identify.�

Fiddling, she managed to persuade water to issue forth from the primary shower
head (as opposed to the ten or twelve smaller heads that were ranged around the
periphery of the shower) and determined that it was warm enough to wash
beneath.�

She was washing her hair with the delicately scented shampoo that she had obtained
from a porcelain and gold dispenser, and had her eyes closed as she massaged
the lather in, when an unexpected touch upon her waist made her yelp and leap
away, blinking painfully at the sharp sting of the shampoo in her eyes and
almost falling over as she slipped on the floor.� She was caught and pulled up to a stable
upright position before the shampoo on her face was scourgified away.�
�GET
OUT!!� What the HELL are you doing in
here?!� I�m bloody showering.. You said I could-!�� She tried to cover up her body with her
arms.�
The
psychopathic German dark wizard stood half under the spray, looking down at her
with clear amusement. �Naked. �She refused to allow her eye to glance down at
his body that was, even in her peripheral vision, unmistakeably that of a grown
man, rather than a youth. �

Even restricting herself to above the shoulder perusal, being faced with him in
such close, not to say intimate,
proximity was a troubling prospect. The ends of his blond curls were damp and
darker than the rest of his light hair, trailing over the tops of his shoulders.� Unlike her own hair, she saw that his did not frizz in the damp.

His blue eyes were sharp and clever, yet seemed to evince an intelligence that
was quite different to the youthful Tom�s � closer to that of Voldemort
perhaps.� Although there was something
calmer.. almost ponderous and
inexorable in Grindelwald�s eyes;� like the inevitable motion of continents or
heavenly bodies.� The blue orbs were
warm, but it was not a kind warmth.. more a subtle merciless, yet genuine amusement with the world, as if it were a living, struggling,
specimen on a table, that he were thoroughly enjoying dissecting, in order to determine
how it was composed.�

He had strong masculine features that were squarer than Tom�s angelic perfection
and Voldemort�s wild monochromatic extremes. Together with the small dark
blonde moustache and goatee that he wore, he was unmistakeably a wizard in his
prime � a man at the peak of his physical strength and capabilities.� And those capabilities were
intimidating.� Not even Voldemort would
control more of the world at the height of his power � Grindelwald
was presently holding most of Europe in his palm and was poised to seize the British
Isles too. �
�I asked
whether you would like to bathe.. I did not say that I
would not join you.�� You are mine now, Maia.� I will see you.. I
will..enjoy you..�
The self
assured smile he wore had an element of challenge to it.� He was waiting for her to fight him.� She could sense it.� If she tried to escape..
if she tried to attack him, he would have the
opportunity to immediately assert his physical dominance.� She would lose all control if that happened.� If she
had any control now.. it was
the kind of control she had had around Lucius � a
tenuous fragile control that was bestowed only through some ephemeral moral behavioural
code the other was temporarily enjoying playing to.
Hermione
wrapped her arms around herself more tightly and tried to think of something
suitably diplomatic to say in order to get him to back off.�

�I�m not ..comfortable..with
you being here ...yet� she tried.� �Its.. so ..soon.. Please give me some time to adjust...�
The dark
wizard tilted his head as if considering this.

�No.� I have waited long enough for you.�

He reached for her and, surprisingly gently, placed his warm hands on her
waist.� Very much against her wishes, he
pulled her forward until she stood inches away, under the spray.�

She shifted her eyes to the wall.�

Tom had recognised the importance of not using legilimency, in light of the
fact that she came from a later point in his own time line, but there was no
reason for Grindelwald to take the same care.�

He didn�t even know she wasn�t from this time and if she told him, he�d probably go through her mind with a fine tooth
comb.� Particularly if he discovered the
memory that Professor Dumbledore would be defeating him in a duel sometime
early next year and bringing to an end his reign of terror.�

If he was a legilimens then she would be in trouble.
�When in
my presence, I wish you to look always at me,
Maia.�
His voice
was low and soft, but there was no mistaking that it was an order.�

She reluctantly slid her eyes back and focussed upon the adam�s apple that was level with her eyes.�

His left hand removed itself from her hip and a finger under her chin tilted
her head backward to look up at him.� Uneasy
she kept her gaze focussed on the point just between his eyes.� It seemed the safest place to look.

His chuckle suggested that he knew what she was doing, but, surprisingly, he
allowed it.�

She flinched a second later as the shower was suddenly filled with sprays of
water coming from all directions.� The
hand that had touched her face had obviously moved to the panel of buttons and
switches to alter their configuration.

It was strange to be showered on all sides at once.� The temperature and water pressure had
increased; she felt she was buffeted by wonderfully hot massaging needles of
water. The steam was fragrant too!.. it complimented the scent of the shampoo she was still
wearing.�
�Much
better� Grindelwald purred and drew her closer
still.� She squirmed as she felt hot wet
skin pressed against her.� Somehow.. this felt like a betrayal of Tom
in a way that even sleeping with Abraxas had not.� She allowed herself to be turned a few
degrees to the left and then the older wizard was leaning her back further
under the main spray.� She didn�t take
her arms away from where they were wrapped around her body protectively, but
neither did she resist as his large hands carefully stroked and combed through
her wet curls, rinsing them of the shampoo.�

Afterward however, he didn�t stop.� He
reached over her shoulder and then a moment later rubbed his hands
together.� She grasped why when he ran them
over her shoulders and down her back, washing her with soapy lather.�� She blushed impotently, uncomfortable on a
host of different levels with where this was going.�
He was
very thorough.

Peeling her arms away from around her body gently he washed first one arm, then
the other, then her underarms.. her
sides before moving to her abdomen, ribs and then her small breasts.�

She couldn�t help looking away again when he cupped them both and she felt her
nipples react automatically pebbling against his palms.

He didn�t tell her to look back this time, he simply devoted more attention to
her breasts, teasing and plucking them lightly until she felt her breath
growing shallower.� Then, with an
expression of satisfaction, he moved on, large hands stroking over her
collarbone.
She
wished she could say that what he was doing felt horrible.�

SHE felt horrible because what he was doing didn�t.� She wanted to hate it..
to resist it.. but it was all
so gentle and matter-of-fact and non-confrontational.� And he�d already said that he�d hurt Tom if
she disobeyed.

Although perhaps Tom would prefer her to disobey right now, she wondered to herself.
When he
started again on the bottom half of her body, beginning with her feet, he did
not kneel before her, he simply stepped back a little, bent and picked up her
foot, forcing her to wiggle unsteadily on the other to keep her balance.� Her knee was bent up against her body
uncomfortably.� She wasn�t that
flexible.�

Thankfully he kept his attentions there restricted to simply washing and not massaging.� His fingers stroked up her calf, to the top
of her thigh before he released her foot and held out a hand for the other one.

The moment dragged on before she relented, lifting her other leg and placing
her heel in his hand.� His pleased smile
made her feel terrible but at least he didn�t say anything.�
When he
had finished her other leg he let her drop it and then stepped close
again.� She felt his hands stroke down
the small of her back and then dip lower, over the cheeks of her ass.� He didn�t delve between them but his hands
did linger there as he moved closer still, obliging her to step back.� This was repeated until she found herself
against the shower wall.� Then his hands
moved from her ass, sliding over her slick skin back to her hips.�

She resisted when his foot tried to nudge her into a wider stance and at that
his eyes darkened slightly.

�You have been such a good girl up till now, Maia� he growled.� �Don�t spoil it..�
She glowered
up at him defiantly.

�I don�t want this�
�That
matters not� he responded, his accent stronger.�
�You belong to me now.�
She moved
to wrap her arms around herself again and he caught her wrists easily.� He did not hurt her at all, nor did he affix
them anywhere, as Tom might have done � he simply looked at her with a low
burning warning in his eyes.� When she
remained unrepentant he remarked lightly �I do not think you want me to punish
the boy for this.. you do not
wish him to learn of this at all, hm?�

At that she hesitated.
No. She
didn�t want Tom to know she had showered with their enemy.� She didn�t want him to know that she had allowed
the dark wizard to touch her like he had.�

She didn�t want to even think of how he might react; how the man currently
before her might enjoy provoking and
then punishing a magically incapacitated Tom.�

The image of him taking apart that boy polyjuiced to
look like Tom was still quite fresh enough in her memory.� She didn�t want to give him any excuse at all to harm Tom.�
Perhaps
if Tom were well.. he might
be able to come up with a plan to free himself even if she couldn�t save him.
When the
blond wizard again nudged her foot gently with his own,
she reluctantly widened her stance to the desired degree.�

He smiled again, as if she were a dog that had performed a trick successfully. ��The hand on her hip moved and she gritted her
teeth, knowing what would come next.�
Really.. after everything, she thought
she should be used to a man simply taking liberties like this, uncaring whether
she wanted it or not, but it grated against her.�

Things had been different recently.�
There was only Tom.. and
she�d had magic..

Now it felt like she was unarmed around a new version of Lucius
Malfoy.�

True, Grindelwald hadn�t hurt her..
and he�d said he didn�t intend to.. but
he did what he wanted, he was unpredictable and dangerous and he wanted to harm
Tom.�

And at present, his fingertips were tracing her folds with the lightest of
touches.� As if she might break, he
stroked, exploring her.� Carefully his
middle finger circled her channel and then dipped inside.

The look on the other man�s face was one of delight.� He was obviously very pleased with the
findings of his exploration.� His thumb
stroked tentatively over her clit and she glared at the wall, trying to ignore
the tugging thrum inside.

It was difficult to remain unaffected, even as clinically and carefully as he
was investigating her.�

Whatever it was that made others attracted to her.. well.. it made her attracted to
others too, she�d noted.� And it was
worse, the more powerful the other wizard was.

Grindelwald was probably the most powerful wizard in
the world at this time.
Well.. except for Albus Dumbledore
perhaps.
Curiously.. she mused again on how her �influence�
hadn�t seemed to include Albus Dumbledore.�
She hadn�t been at ALL attracted to him either.

Was it simply because she�d known him as a rather elderly wizard and the
thought was just ewwww?�

It wasn�t an impossible idea, she decided as she tried to ignore the way her
hips wanted to rock slightly to get just a little bit more pressure on the tiny
bud of nerves that the blonde wizard was teasing frustratingly lightly, with
damnable patience and an expression of quiet scrutiny.

On the other hand.. what if Dumbledore
was just gay?� He�d never been interested
in any witches, as far as she�d ever heard.�
Maybe whatever pull she had, only worked on people who were compatible
in terms of their and her own sexual preferences.�
Grindelwald�s thumb moved just a little faster, the feather-light
sensation an itch that begged to be scratched.. he still wasn�t pressing hard enough to give her what she
needed.� Relenting, she bucked forward
against his hand, trying to help herself. �

At that he withdrew his thumb from her clit, smiling wider at the slight
disappointment she couldn�t quite keep from her face.� His hand delved lower, sliding deeper between
her legs.� She squeaked in protest when
his slightly slicked finger traced around the rosette of her arse and probed it
tentatively without penetrating.� He didn�t
remain there long however and then he was pulling her back under the water and
against his.. admittedly
quite warm.. and firm.. and
large..body. �

One particular part of his anatomy was not as firm as it could be, her eyes
couldn�t help darting down to note.� He
was only half hard.�

She wasn�t sure whether she was relieved or insulted.� �

As if he had recognised where her thoughts were located, he smiled wolfishly,
wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him to stroke her back
again slowly.
�You are
perfect� he purred above.� �and not as opposed to my affection as you would like me to
believe.� But there is no point in ..excitement.. when I do not
intend to have you now.�� He pressed a
brief kiss to her forehead and she scowled.

He was both wrong and an arse.� She was
completely and utterly opposed to his affections and most people didn�t choose
whether they were prepared to be aroused or not
�Can I
see Tom tonight?� she asked, not really hopeful that her request would be
granted.
�No..� he said without a trace of rancour. ��We will dress and take dinner.� Then we will speak with some guests and later
you will come to bed with me.� I have no
interest this evening in listening to your thoughts about the halfblood.�
Swallowing,
she tried to press to the back of her mind the knowledge that she herself was
far lower on the blood purity hierarchy than Tom was.� If Grindelwald
learned she was a muggleborn, there was no telling what he might do.�
The dress
that he gave her was not the beautiful black diamond-encrusted one that she�d
seen long ago when she visited Berlin with Tom, but it was close.� It was a rich indigo blue, shot with tiny
little stones that mimicked the night sky.�
The elf that had helped her into it did not speak to her and remained
several metres away the entire time, but one wiggle of its fingers and her wet
hair dried, glossed and straightened itself to silky waves.
Grindelwald knocked and let himself into the dressing room
seconds after she was finished, pleased gaze drifting down her form. ��She found herself glancing over him in the
mirror she faced.� His robes were set in
a deeper shade than her own and offset on the sleeve
cuffs with a paler, almost muted aquamarine hue.� The style and cut of the robes emphasised his
broad heavy shoulders and tapering waist and their colour transformed his hair
into bright gold and made his blue eyes glow.�

He looked quite dashing, she had to admit.��
If she had seen him on the street once upon a time, she might have
thought he looked handsome.
�Enchanting�
he pronounced, his eye still roving over her appreciatively, and offered his
arm
The shoes
she had been given were rather high stilettos.�
Much higher than she had worn before and she wobbled on them
precariously.� When she tried to walk to
him, he smiled suddenly in genuine amusement and, without warning, caught her
up, lifting her into his arms and holding her.�
�I think
you will break your pretty neck on the hanging stairs if I allow you to walk�
The �hanging
stairs� as he�d referred to them � were exactly that. �Large glassy beams were hung from long tensile
golden wires.� They were very heavy so
they did not swing wildly when pushed but they still moved.� Noticably. ��Nothing was
actually attached to anything else.� �It was horrible.� She felt quite queasy as he carried her down.�

In the memory she�d climbed them using her hands to pull herself
up faster as he moved quickly upstairs toward the bedroom.� In real life they were so much worse.� They swayed when he stepped on them.� And they chimed softly when they knocked
together, as if each stair were a note on a xylophone. �

If the dark wizard noticed her discomfort, he ignored it convincingly.��
When they
reached the foot of the stairs, he still did not place her down.� He continued through the large foyer into a
room to the left, which, she saw was decorated with a more subdued evening note.� The icy white was dominated by dark blues and
misty greys.� There were tall windows
over which thick curtains had already been drawn. �Rich carpets covered the chilly marble floors
and there were many very large and beautiful landscape oils on the walls.� They moved in an unobtrusive manner.� This one depicting a boat floating on the
ocean at night, another a deep dark forest, tips of
trees waving slightly in the unseen breeze.�
There were several other forest themed paintings, she noted.� The single unifying factor about all of the
landscapes, attractive as they were, was that there were neither people nor
animals in any of them.�

Perhaps Grindelwald was paranoid about little painted
eyes watching him?!
She
wondered what the time was.� How long had
she been sleeping before he allowed her to wake?!
In the
centre of the room was a long rectangular formal dining table.�

There were two places set.� One was at
the head of the table and one to the left of the head.�

That was exactly where Tom had placed her at the Slytherin table in the Grand
hall too, she noted.
The meal
was delicious, even if somewhat heavy. �Nevertheless her mood was sombre.

She had no idea what she was eating until he informed her that it was reindeer
with semmelknoedel and a red wine sauce.� The winter vegetables she could identify.� Apparently the strange spongey
white semmelknoedel balls were a favoured dish in the
land of his birth. ��
She ate
and tried to ignore the way he frequently looked to her with a soft thoughtful
expression, or checked that she was enjoying the meal..
� yes thank you - �that the wine was suitable.. � She admitted
that she didn�t actually like wine much so he summoned a house elf and had it
bring elderflower cordial instead.�

It all felt very similar to the way Draco had fussed over her.� She realised suddenly what it meant for him
to have told the truth when he said in the last memory that Dumbledore had
conveyed to her, that he dreamed of her most nights.�

He was eager and nervous.� Like anyone who had long anticipated
something, he was anxious upon finally receiving the object of his desires.
She hoped
to hell that she could twist this to her advantage without fumbling it and
making him incredibly angry.
When she
declined dessert he seemed disappointed but did not insist.� Instead he helped her from the table, taking
her hand on his arm and walking with her slowly
to the far end of the room, and through a dog leg corridor.� Although it was uncomfortable and precarious
to walk in the very high heels, he pretended not to notice her difficulty and
simply ensured that she did not slip or fall.

The room that he led them both to turned out to be a very small library with a
tiny, very nearly ornamental, fire and several comfortable armchairs.�
Someone
was already seated in one of them.�
The chair
was facing away but she could see a hand on the arm of the chair and a leg
slung casually over a knee.

Uneasy, she slowed. ��He did not and she
had to struggle to catch up or be dragged.

She tried to see who it was seated there as they approached, but he was on the
closer side and his body blocked her view as he assisted her to a small sofa opposite
the guest�s chair.�
Hopefully
it was Tom.

But no.� It
wouldn�t be Tom.� Whoever it was, was sitting
very calmly and did not seem to radiate anger at all.� If anything there was a sense of vague
boredom.
Having
helped her to sit, Grindelwald moved away to seat
himself beside her and she finally got a clear view of their �guest� seated in
the chair.
Confusion
was swiftly subsumed by rage � the way that he sat, so calm, collected and,
yes, bored, bespoke that he had been
here before � spoken with this man often.� He had little independent interest in being
here tonight.�

Cygnus was the rat.� He was the nasty
little creep who had told Grindelwald all about her.. all about Tom and the Death
eaters.�

Traitor!!
He didn�t
bother to greet her politely.� At least that. �She was already grinding her teeth in fury at
having to sit and look at him, unable to draw on her magic to strike at him.�
�Now Maia.. Do not look so angry.�
Young Cygnus did not bring you to me as you know.� You came unassisted.� Cygnus has been reporting on events at
Hogwarts for several years now.� Long
before you arrived.�
�You
lying traitorous little creep!� she hissed at the boy opposite who bore a
passing resemblance to a younger version of Harry�s godfather Sirius.�

Cygnus only smiled and sniffed, amused.
�Maia.. Cygnus has told me of many things he has observed since
you have been at Hogwarts, but there is much he did not know.� Too much.� He does not know where you are truly from.. he is not certain of your age or
whether Maia Schiller is your real name.. he does not
know how or when you came to carry Tom Riddle�s mark... He has not found anyone who knows these things.��

Grindelwald trailed off with a meaningful look.
�Good.� She
said simply. �He�s a worm and I wish he didn�t know anything at all about me.
Cygnus
smirked and spoke up now. �I�m not even sure Tom knows.� He�s acted very
strangely when it comes to her.� At one
point he seemed averse to using legilimency on her.� And that�s ignoring the fact that he warned
everyone not to touch her in the beginning and then, unexplainably decided to share her with Abraxas, Septimus and Sorrenson.� For a while I thought Parker might be
involved too..but seems like it was just those
three.�

Tom is not naturally inclined to share anything.� He�d burn to ash something he did not value, before
he�d give it to someone else. ��

The whole school has gone barking mad since she arrived.�� I�m fairly sure she had something to do with
Professor Slughorn ending up in St Mungo�s spell
damage ward and, on the day I brought you Tom, there was a massive shitstorm.. sorry..disturbance.. at
school when at least twenty students from various houses banded together to
attack her and Tom separately.�

I�ve told you about the situation with Tom � but I found out yesterday that the
students who attacked her were trying
to abduct her.� And not for
anyone either.� Apparently they wanted to keep her hidden
away somewhere for use as some kind of whore or something.�
Hermione�s
eyes darted to the face of the blonde man seated next to her.� It had darkened considerably.
�I think
this last information might have been better saved for private discussion
Cygnus� Grindelwald admonished lightly. �But you are
right.� it is
troubling.� I have thought that my own
fascination with her must be due to some enchantment or other.� To have so many affected � it is very nearly
proof.� And yet..
you are not affected it seems, so it must be a
selective enchantment.�
�It�s an aftereffect of a potions accident!� she said quickly,
hoping to avoid legilimency.�

�A kind of low grade amortentia.� I can�t help it.� I haven�t cast any kind of enchantment on
anyone and I told Tom that I shouldn�t
go to Hogwarts.� But by then he wasn�t
willing to listen.�
She took
in the interested questioning faces of the dark wizard and his pet snitch and,
sighing, answered the questions she considered most pertinent before they could
be asked.
�I don�t
know what potions were being brewed � the brewer didn�t survive the
accident.� I think it only affects those
who are naturally attracted to females.� It
is mild attraction until they touch me and then it becomes almost obsession. �

I don�t know of any cure or way to reduce it.�

...I recently discovered.. that
is.. someone else discovered that everyone who is
affected is constantly draining my magic unless I engage in some form of
intimacy with them to reverse the flow.� Since
they�re all in another country now.. I don�t know
whether they�ll continue to sap my magic or whether that will stop.� �It
would be better if you let me go back to Hogwarts � your own magic will
increase the longer you don�t touch me.�
She
thought that was a pretty convincing argument really.� What wizard wants to become weaker?!� Surely if Grindelwald
were so motivated by power he would prefer to just cash in on someone else�s
magic.
He looked
disturbed in fact, which gave her hope.�
But when he spoke, she realised that she was talking to someone with a
rather more psychopathic mindset.
�Indeed
that sounds problematisch - but it is very simple Maia.� I will kill all other wizards affected and
then no more problem. �Cygnus � Bring me a list of all the wizards
affected at Hogwarts.�
�NO!!�
she yelped, realising the implications for Abraxas, Septimus
and Sorrenson.�

Cygnus too, seemed to be considering the prospect of possibly delivering three
of his friends to their deaths.
�Do not
think on it, little flower� the wizard at her side advised.� �It will be soon resolved.�

What else have you to report, Cygnus?�
The boy
sitting casually in the armchair of the most powerful wizard in the hemisphere, brushed aside his hair and addressed all of his
attention to Grindelwald.� Hermione recognised suddenly that he was not
just a loathsome rat � he was a besotted
loathsome rat.� He looked at Grindelwald the same way that Sorrenson
had looked at Abraxas.� With the obvious
difference that Grindelwald was not an oblivious
young fop and he definitely did swing
that way.� She wondered whether there was
anything between them.
�The Aurors have been combing the school since she and Tom
disappeared.� Dippet called off classes
today and tomorrow.� More than half the
school has been questioned but I don�t know what the results are.� The houses have been keeping to themselves
and somehow the contacts I have in Ravenclaw have been
ostracised.� I don�t know whether it is
because of their Slytherin connections or because one of the bright sparks in
that house has worked out that I�m not trustworthy...�

Hermione was amused when the disloyal death eater flinched at Grindelwalds sharp threatening glare.

�I�ll find out!� I�ll fix it.� Don�t worry.�
They won�t find me out!� You know
how good I am at this.� Have I let you
down before!?�

Grindelwald seemed to calm down slightly and Cygnus
shifted in his seat, somewhat ruffled.�

�I started a rumour that Maia and Tom had eloped but it didn�t take.� I suspect Dumbledore killed it.� He has been behaving very strangely.� He called Abraxas to his office this
morning.� When he came out he looked
upset and he wouldn�t tell me why.�
�Stay
away from Albus.� He will discover
you.� It is better if he does not notice
you at all.�
�I don�t
see why he cares that we�re gone..� Hermione grumbled before she could stop herself.

Both pairs of eyes turned to her in surprise.
�Why do
you say that?�� Blonde eyebrows hoisted
themselves questioningly.
She
considered backtracking but then decided that she probably wouldn�t be able to get
away with it anyway and it would just increase the chance that he�d want to
take a look in her mind.� The last thing
she needed was to provoke him to use legilimency.
�Well.. he told me to come to you.. for the greater
good, if you�d believe it.� He showed me
the memory you sent him and tried to guilt me into coming here.�
Cygnus
frowned, confused, but Grindelwald snorted softly,
amused.� �I am glad.� For once Albus� most irritating quality works
in my favour.. that damned
tendency to play the conscience.. that terrible
beseeching patience.� You will never know
how many times I have wished to curse him for it.�
�Well.. its a
bit hypocritical that he�s concerned about me now.� Hermione added unnecessarily, wondering how many times Grindelwald wanted to curse Dumbledore, could have cursed Dumbledore and didn�t.�

�And he�s always hated Tom so
worrying about him is just ridiculous too.�
�Is that
so?� The blonde commented thoughtfully.� �I
do not know if that is true.� Disapproval
and hate are not the same.� Albus has
always disapproved of me also.�� He paused and then seemed to think better of
what he was about to say, waving the matter off with a gesture and turning his
icy blue gaze back upon Cygnus.

�What else have you to tell me?� I have
other appointments planned this evening��
Cygnus
was looking a bit annoyed. �Nothing really.� The holidays are coming up soon though and-�
�No.� I have no need of you at present. Spend them
with one of your friends or remain at Hogwarts. �I shall call upon you when I require your
report.� I do not expect you contacting
me unless the matter is urgent.� Return
tomorrow with the names I require.��
The
horrible, sneaky, traitorous rat sitting opposite nodded angrily, as much to
say �whatever� and stood up, moving to the door without a backward glance at
her.� She had the feeling Grindelwald was
probably sleeping with him.� It sounded
like Cygnus had spent time here in the holidays before and he�d seemed
irritated at the remarks that suggested a less than neutral relation between Dumbledore
and the dark despot he was serving.
When they
were alone, Grindelwald pulled her closer roughly.�
�So many
wizards have touched you?� Twenty, he
said!�
�No!� she
corrected quickly.

�or.. I think one or two might have touched my hand or
something at some point.� No.� I haven�t had anything to do with any of them.�
�And the others?� He
mentioned four wizards within Tom Riddle�s group.
�...� she
wanted to deny it.� ��Grindelwald didn�t
seem to like her silence.� �I have
already heard of your affairs with them.�
Cygnus was thorough.� They will be
brought here and killed.� I will not take
the risk that you are deceitful.�
�No!� Please don�t hurt them!� Please!� She tried,
turning and almost climbing up onto his lap.�
�Please.. please � let
them live!�
�I should
let them continue to drain your magic?!� No.� They will die.�
�But i�ll still grow weaker if you do that!� she protested. �it�ll just be slower.�
The only way for me to grow stronger.. the only way for you to really gain power from me.. is for me to be..um.. is for me to-� She swallowed and pulled herself
together.� �The only way that I�ll grow
strong and, consequently � you�ll �grow strong �
is for me to take more than one wizard to my bed.��
Grindelwald looked aggravated.�

�I will not accept my witch sleeping with other wizards!� he declared
contemptuously.� �I will find a different
way.� There are potions one can take to
replenish one�s magic when depleted.�
This was
news to Hermione. ��And it was of no help
to saving Abraxas, Septimus and Sorrenson.
�but..� she started and found a warm finger placed over her
lips.� �Enough, Maia.� Let us return to
the other questions you have refused to answer�
She felt
the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.�
Great.�
Better and better � three people she cared about were to be killed just
as soon as the bastard could get them in his clutches and now it was time for
the polite interrogation to begin.� No doubt it would cease to be polite when he
began to dispute her answers.
�My name is Maia Schiller.� I�m not sixteen � i�m
eighteen.� Tom made me lie.� I met him in London.� I was placed in the orphanage where he lived
over summer.� The muggle police found me
living on the street and brought me there.�
He
frowned, concerned. �Why were you living on the street?!� Where are your parents?� Family?�
�Dead.� Your soldiers
killed my mother.� Somewhere
in France.� I don�t know where we
were.� I escaped.�
This
seemed to bother him even more than the notion of her living on the
street.� �Why were they killed?� Tell me of your parents.�
She bit
her lip, undecided whether to repeat the halfblood
lie she�d gotten away with at Hogwarts or to try to pretend to be a pureblood
in order to satisfy the german dictator�s
sensibilities about blood purity.
�My
mother was a witch.� She studied
history.� Muggle
history.� She was English.�
�and your father?� he asked, sounding unenthused.
�was...not a
wizard.� He practiced a form of muggle
medicine.� Dentistry.� He came from a town in Germany.� I don�t remember.� I was younger when my mother mentioned
it.� He died when I was young.. I am not sure whether my mother left him before
that.� Its all.. a bit hazy.�
�So you are a halfblood...� Cygnus told me that it was rumoured but I had
hoped it was a lie.. either
yours or his.� He is a foolish boy.� I could easily see him lying about such
things in the hope of convincing me you are unworthy.�

Your blood status is more than unfortunate.. however I have had many weeks to think on it.� It will not matter I think... For the present
it is of no consequence.� I am not
seeking children.� Naturally I cannot
pollute my own line by breeding with you.. but you are very young.�
I do not think you want children so soon either, no?
Hermione
shook her head.� No.� No she didn�t want to have children with Grindelwald.� That
thought sparked a sudden realisation in her mind.�� She needed more birth control potion here.� having no magic
meant having no way to cast a contraceptive charm.� She�d need to take care.�

And that thought led another by the
hand.. potions.. She needed
to brew the blood bond satisfying potion.�
Crap.� She didn�t want to collapse
again and she must be getting quite close to the point she was at last time
when she�d gone down for the count.
�If you
are ever asked, you will say that you lied about your origins out of
shame.� You are a pureblood, Maia.� Your father was a wizard of title who refused
to recognise the shameful birth.� You
will not reveal his identity.�
Her
thoughts snapped back to the moment jarringly and she nodded absently.
�It is a
terrible thing to be a bastard child, but these things happen.� It is more easily forgiven than the stain of
dirty muggle blood.� No one must know
that you are a mudblood!� Do you
understand?� I will ensure that all
necessary papers and magical tests are created to show that your blood is
unspoiled.� We will not speak of it
again.� From this moment you are a pureblood, Maia.�
�But.. I don�t know how to act.. I don�t
know any of the traditions.� No one will believe
it!� What if they
secretly test me somehow?!��

She couldn�t explain it but the thought of pretending to be a pureblood rubbed
her up the wrong way terribly.� It was
like being back in school and admitting that Draco Malfoy was right when he
spouted horrible rubbish about blood purity.

That thought made her smirk though.� Oh
if she could only go to Hogwarts when Draco was fourteen and inform him that Gellert Grindelwald,
the very emblem of blood purity, was going to go to great lengths to undermine
every test of blood purity just so that he could take a muggleborn to his
bed.�

Ha!� And Voldemort hadn�t even bothered with faking her blood
status.� He basically thumbed his absent
nose at his supporters and did what he liked with her.� He�d bound
her.. marked her..

Poor little fourteen year old Draco Malfoy would be so upset if he knew that
the three wizards he probably admired the most � Grindelwald,
Voldemort and his own father, were only paying lip service to the principles
they spouted.
�No one
will question your origins when you are on my arm.� They will not dare to test you..and I will see that you
know how to behave.� Do not worry. ��Now, tell me of this supposed..potions accident�
Hermione
thought for a moment and then began inventing freely.�

�We were visiting a friend of my mother�s � he was a potions master.� I was thirteen.� My mother asked me to go and tell him that
supper was prepared.�

I walked into the laboratory to find him brewing.� He glanced up at me and asked me to hand him
a silver stirrer.� I had only approached,
placed my hand upon the stirrer when the potion exploded.��

He, unfortunately, was destroyed, along with all of his notes and
equipment.� �My own burns were able to be healed.

It was not realised that I had this affect upon others until I was fourteen.� My mother believed at first that I were somehow provoking the attention men gave me.� Flirting with them.�

She managed to manufacture a shiver.

�When she realised, she took me to healers, potions masters, all manner of
experts, to try to heal the condition.�
There was no cure to be found.�
Then she started bundling me up head to toe, as if I had some kind of
disease.� That worked for a couple of
years.� Travelling around, trying to work
where we could.�

After she was killed, I tried to get to England.� It was..difficult to
persuade others to help me without letting them see me.. without
touching their skin..� The policeman who
brought me to the orphanage was a close call.�
He was not a nice man at all.�
The blond
wizard at her side looked somewhat sceptical.�
�And that is all.� That is the
truth? �How is it possible that such an
accident can lead you to exchange magic
with others?!� Are you certain?!�
Hermione
bit her lip.� �That�s all.� Yes.� I
don�t know exactly how it works.. The um.. the others that I was with... it
was because of the obsession..not anything else.� Tom was worried that his servants would turn
against him if he didn�t allow it. �

The finding out about the magic came later.�
A servant of Tom�s observed that my magical potency decreases when I am
not..active..� I
mean.. sexually.� You know.��
And he also observed that the magical potency of the wizards with which
I had been..
um... with..
increases when we are not together.� He guessed that the two effects were somehow related.�

He also found that.. Tom�s magic was decreasing..but more
slowly than mine.�� It decreased whenever
we were intimate.�

So... I absorb magic from my partner..
and I shed it to them whenever we�re apart.� I guess.��

I�m not certain, no.� It just seems the most likely explanation for
the evidence.

It means..that if I am monogamous � you will be
absorbing magic from me constantly, and either we will be intimate too seldom �
in which case i�ll weaken � or too frequently � in which
case you�ll lose power.

Tom wasn�t happy about the...sharing.. thing.. either.� But it was too late.� Others were already affected.� He changed his mind about allowing it and
kept the others away from me.� But we
both lost a lot of power while the others became very strong...Well.. they also became miserable and
obsessed. �

Toward the end I could barely manage a spell. �But..I felt a lot
better when he allowed Abraxas to visit again.�

Then the attack happened.� I think.. if I hadn�t been stronger due to
being with Abraxas, I might not have been able to escape when they surrounded
me in the corridor.�
Grindelwald seemed to think on this quite heavily.� His brow furrowed as if he were considering a
number of weighty alternatives.
�Who else knows of it?!�
Hermione
grimaced.� �I don�t know.� Tom.. Septimus.. maybe
some of the Ravenclaws.�� I think Septimus
said something about them knowing something.�
I don�t remember exactly what he said.�
I�m sorry�
The wizard
brushed it away with a gesture.� �Perhaps
it does not matter.� I shall have them
all brought here.� I will learn what they
know and who they have spoken with and decide what I wish to do.� If they have been studying you more closely
than Cygnus, they may be of use before they die.�

He seemed pensive again for a moment but his expression shifted again suddenly
when he looked back at her.

�How is it that you took this mark?� He reached for her left arm, pulling it
toward him and examining more closely the stormcloud
surrounded dark mark.� The snake on her
arm hissed and snapped at his fingers when they travelled over the skin.
Hermione
sighed, thinking quickly.� She offered a
somewhat embellished version of the truth.

�Tom was..the oldest child at the orphanage.� I could tell immediately that he was a wizard
� you�ve felt how strong his magic is.� He
gave me a lot of attention, as the only non muggle there.� He touched me, possibly innocently.� And then everything developed from
there.�

I told him that I couldn�t go to Hogwarts with him - he threatened someone else
that I considered a friend..so I took his mark.� Then I didn�t have a choice anymore.� I have to obey him.� I can�t not obey him when he gives me an order.�
The dark
wizard nodded as if this was not new information.
�He has
been punished for refusing to remove it from you.� I have learned that it is..difficult..
to remove a mark when the caster lives and is not in
agreement.�

You will therefore take care you do not disappoint me, Maia � it would be
preferable to me to kill Tom Riddle.�
However I see that it will be easier for you to learn to obey in the
beginning if you are worried for him.�
Eventually.. he will
no longer be needed.� You will obey
because you will love me.�
Hermione
felt cold.
�What did
you do to him?!� Please don�t hurt him!� I�m..obeying.. You don�t need to do anything to him.� I�ll be better if you just treat him
well.� I�m telling you what you want to
know.� I�ll do what you want.� Don�t... just don�t..�� She had the horrible image of Tom horribly
injured, alone, wondering where she was and if she was coming for him.�

�Please � can I see him?!� G-Gellert..� please?!..��

His name felt alien on her lips and she had to struggle not to actually reach
out and grip the man�s robes in her desperate need to persuade him to take her
to Tom immediately.
�Perhaps
tomorrow�� The
German answered with sly satisfaction.� �We
shall see how I am feeling toward you in the morning.� If you are very good perhaps.. we
shall visit him.. briefly.� ��
She knew
that she was playing exactly into his hands.�
He would just hold Tom above her from now on, if it worked well.� There would always be the threat of his
suffering.. his death.
But then.. this was the only way.� And..Tom couldn�t really die.� He went on to become Lord Voldemort.� It was how history recorded it!� �She
wouldn�t be here now if he hadn�t!

Professor Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald next
year.� So.. so.. at worst all she had to do was
everything he said for a few months until Dumbledore grew a pair and stepped up
to right things.

And time...couldn�t really change.. Tom didn�t believe it could anyway.

But then.. if that was the
case.. why had he been willing to forgo using
legilimency?!� If he couldn�t change
anything, it wouldn�t matter.
Maybe he
wasn�t sure.

He�d said it was a theory.� He�d reasoned
it out logically.
What if
he was wrong?!

What if she�d already changed time and created a paradox.� What if there was nowhere for her to return to because she�d erased her own
timeline?!�
Grindelwald was looking at her in a way that sent a shiver
down her spine.� �She remained fearfully still while he leaned
close and slid one arm beneath her knees, the other behind her, lifting her
without effort and placing her upon his lap.��
He was so close now.� His hand
stroked down her leg in the dress until he reached her feet, where he slipped
off the high heeled shoe and dropped it with a soft clatter to the floor.�� Its twin followed a second later.�
�Alas.. I had not considered that you are so very young and untutored.� Most of the wardrobe I have bought for you is
full of such shoes.� I am more used to
the demands of witches twice your age.�
...I will have the elves transfigure less dangerous footwear.� I wish you to be able to explore the castle.�
Hermione
realised she was offering him a genuinely thankful smile.�� She felt the atmosphere become heavy and knew that it had been a bad idea to
smile like that.� He was going to kiss
her.. and then he was going
to take her upstairs and probably do what he had done to that glamoured girl in the memory.�

Well.. probably that and more. �
Pale blue
eyes fixed on her own, almost hypnotically, his hand drifted lightly to her
ankles, trailing slowly back up her calves and sliding the elegant dress she
wore up in the process.� Silkily the
dress moved up past her knees.� He was no
longer pushing it higher, instead his hand had slipped
beneath it.� His fingertips were hot as
they stroked her inner thigh in teasing little circles.

And she loathed herself because some small part of her, that obviously had no
morals whatsoever, didn�t mind... Wanted more...
Was completely delighted at the touch of the powerful
wizard.

Her thoughts dissolved as warm unfamiliar lips pressed lightly upon her own,
accompanied by a strange tickle of facial hair.�
She was surprised at the absence of conquering dominance.� She felt his other hand pulling her closer
and didn�t resist even as it wound itself into her hair in a way she knew Tom
liked when he was in a rough mood.�

But the kiss was not deepened.� In fact, Grindelwald pulled back a second later, looking at her
thoughtfully.�
�You are a
wondrous temptation.. but I
will not allow myself to begin what I have not the time to continue.� I will not hurry what I have waited so long
to taste and the evening is not yet finished.�

I had said earlier that we would meet with several guests.� Cygnus arrival was not planned.� The guests I wished to entertain are waiting
still.�
Hermione
looked back at him warily, trying to ignore the slight warmth she was feeling
in her core.

�Are they male?!�
�Some of them.� Do not
be concerned.� They will not touch you.� I will not allow it.�
Hermione
shook her head.� �I didn�t touch those
students who attacked us either.� If they�re
at least slightly attracted to
females then its better if I don�t meet them�
�Maia.. None of the men present tonight would dare to act against my wishes.� It would be their death.� Do you not realise who I
am!?�
It was
useless, she could see.

Inwardly she groaned.� This would end one
of three ways, she was certain.� Either
she�d end up being passed around among his dratted friends, just as she had
with Tom, or one of them would eventually do something stupid and would either
get away with it � in which case she�d find herself in a bad situation � or would
be killed, which Grindelwald would probably resent, since
whoever he wanted to introduce her to was probably either important or important to him.�
�Well.. when this goes wrong, I hope you�ll
remember that I thought it was a bad idea.�
If Tom had just kept me hidden in a room somewhere, none of this would have happened.� But no...�
A finger
and thumb pressed her lips closed firmly.�
She felt idiotic with them caught in a duckface
pout.
�I am
amused because there is no one else alive who would dare to take that tone with
me.� If you use it too often, I will not be amused anymore.� Now.. Get up.� Put your shoes back on.� We will take drinks in the east library with
Lord Von Alms and his wife, Ducat Rozov,� Madame Papillion, Generalleutnant Staffel and Oberst Krauser.�� As you did not like wine with dinner.. I do not think you will enjoy the liqueur we will be
drinking.� But I do not want you to drink
children�s drinks � you are already shamefully young.� I do not want to draw still more attention to
it.�� You will drink slowly..�
Pretend to drink if you do not like it.�

He drew his wand and pointed it at her shoes, transfiguring them to lower, more sturdy, heels.�
They were still pretty high, she thought.

�You will not speak unless you are spoken to.�
You will sit by my side and smile.�
If you are uncertain you will look to me.
Hermione
opened her mouth to ask who the people were she was going to meet and why she
was meeting them but the expression on the dark wizard�s face made it clear
that he was not currently entertaining questions.� She looked down again and took his arm when
he offered it.� He placed his hand upon
her own and stroked her fingers.

�You learn very quickly, Maia.� I think I
will be very happy with you when I have taught you what I expect of you�

She grumbled inwardly, cursing herself for not being impulsive enough to throw
a massive tantrum.� She knew Harry would
probably do something reckless and emotional and he�d probably somehow pull it off anyway.�

She didn�t do reckless and emotional well.�
She was much better with non-confrontational these days. �At least.. in situations where she was dealing with dark wizards and
had no magic and no means of escape.� Non-confrontational
seemed to be the way to go.� It had
worked with Voldemort.� Sort of.� Sometimes.��
Confrontational definitely
hadn�t worked at least.

The echoing
clack clack of her heels on the marble floor was such
a disconsolate sound.� It felt like she
was completely alone.� The way it
reverberated around the high rafters in the foyer was just intimidating.�

�Where is Mencius?� she whispered uneasily, unwilling to raise her voice in the
silence.

Grindelwald chuckled.�
�Oh.. he is here somewhere.� He will not come unless I call him.� He is a well trained familiar, Maia.� And I will not call him now. �Our guests are waiting. �You will see him tomorrow.�

She nodded grimly.� Somehow, seeing the
brightly plumed little bird would have been reassuring.� Everything felt quite ominous right now.
The blond
wizard led her through a large salon-like room to a long corridor in the
back.� She paid attention to the path
they took till they came to the tall narrow doors that were obviously the east
library.�� With a wandflick,
the doors opened quietly and revealed the interior of the room.� The room within was very large and the decor
was extremely masculine.� It was several
stories tall and she could make out the dim outlines of aisles of books in the
darkened upper levels.� On the ground
level, she saw that the area off to the right, some distance away was similarly
occupied with aisles of books.� The east
library was actually a library, �she realised.� It wasn�t a little private affair like the
one in Grimmauld place had been � it was a massive, chock full of books library. �The area before her, the area that should have been her primary focus was
dominated by a huge marble fireplace, the fire within crackling merrily.� Torches hung either side of it threw a
pleasant light over the chairs and sofas curled around the fire. �The assembled guests all looked up from their comfortable conversations and she
could feel their evaluation of her. �Hermione almost wanted to shrink back and hide
behind the man beside her. ��Swallowing
she matched Grindelwald�s stride as he walked across
the soft black carpeted floor to a tall comfortable looking wingback chair that
was conspicuously empty.� A much smaller,
more modest armchair stood beside it.�
The rest of the guests were seated on long sofas and modest armchairs
much like her own.�

There was nothing like emphasising to your guests that you were their superior..

She let herself be seated in the small armchair and Grindelwald
sat down in the wingback shortly thereafter. ��He excused their lateness, explaining that
another matter had intruded unexpectedly.�
Hermione watched two of the men exchange a salacious smirk.� It was clear what they thought their other engagement had been.� She ignored it, looking over the other �guests�
before her.� The youngest was a rather
attractive man with long shiny mahogany brown hair, who seemed to be in his
late twenties and whose narrowed lilac eyes
were examining her as if she had grown a second head.� The oldest was a woman who had to be over one
hundred.� She offered a sympathetic
smile.� Hermione liked her
immediately.�

�Finally, the witch we have heard so much about..� one
of the salacious smirkers exclaimed.� �You are the infamous Maia Schiller?� The witch who almost sank
Britain?�
Hermione
kept her jaw from dropping by sheer will power.�
She turned an uncertain, faintly accusing eye on Grindelwald,
who also looked mildly put out at the man�s comment.
�Staffel!� he snapped. �lass den unsinn.�� Du siehst doch wie
beunruhigt sie ist��
He continued without pause in english.� �This is indeed my Maia.� The most powerful witch I have yet
encountered.� But I am forgetting my
manners.�

He turned to her, all politeness and formality.�
She assumed he did not realise she spoke german.�

�Maia.. the rude fellow is Generalleutnant Asmodeus Staffel.� He is not
quite as foolish as he appears.� He is
very good in siege strategy in fact.� A reason why he has become my second in command.� The other reason being his
ability to convince me over and over again not to kill him.�
The man
in question looked a little older than Grindelwald
himself, although not by much.� He too
had blond hair, although it was straight and of a darker hue than his commander�s
light golden curls.�� Staffel
had a broad chested figure, an alert posture and,
curiously, was a man who seemed to be perpetually grinning, even when he was
not � he reminded Hermione of a fox, somehow.�
In his hand he nursed a shallow tumbler of black liquid which he swirled
absently.� Hermione greeted him politely
and he moved to offer his hand but withdrew it at the faint shake of Grindelwald�s head.��
He looked somewhat confused but hid it passably. ��

By his side, the man that Grindelwald introduced next, was oberst Rolf Krauser � who was described as a wizard with much potential.� Hermione disliked him for no rational reason,
since he smiled quite pleasantly at her and asked her, with a subtle german accent, how she did.�
He had short brown wavy hair, grey eyes and a slender build.� He looked to be in his early thirties.� She glanced at Grindelwald
questioningly but he had already moved on and was introducing Lord Calver Von Alms and his wife Andraea.

Lord Von Alms reminded her of some kind of sickening hybrid of Arthur Weasley
and Lucius Malfoy.�
He himself looked rather unimpressive.�
He was quite short, narrow of frame.�
His eyes were so pale a blue as to appear weak and wraithlike.� His chestnut brown hair was styled short and
the curls brushed his ears. �It didn�t
particularly suit him.� �Yet he was dressed as if he were a
prince.� The cut and composition of his
robes screamed that they had cost several arms and legs, and possibly heads
also.� No doubt one or two species of
small furred animals were slightly more endangered as a result of his taste in
clothing.�� He was looking at her as if
he was estimating the possible cost of purchasing her.�� He did not greet her at all and his eye
flicked quickly back to Grindelwald after its
thorough perusal of her.�
�How old
is the girl, if I may be so bold?�
Hermione
could actually feel the temperature
in the room drop.
�Calver..� the woman beside him
murmured uneasily.�� Andraea
was a rather nervous looking woman, Hermione thought.� Her dark brown hair was wound up in an ornate
plaited style and her ears dripped with diamonds.� Her face made it clear that she had been a
true beauty perhaps ten or fifteen years prior but that age and the overuse of
beauty enhancement spells were taking their toll on her.� The beautiful deep purple crepe dress she
wore hung on her thin shoulders and only served to emphasise how pale she was,
while the faint blur around her eyes suggested to Hermione that she might be
using a glamour to hide dark rings under her
eyes.�
The
chastising look that Lord Von Alms gave his wife caused her to shrink back and
lower her eyes like a beaten child.� She
breathed an apology and �Calver� turned back to Grindelwald as if nothing had happened.
Apalled, Hermione looked at him with as neutral an
expression as she could manage. �She was
surprised to find a warm hand placed over her own as it lay on the arm of the
chair.� She glanced up to find Grindelwald�s pale blue eyes watching her solicitously.
�Maia is
eighteen, Calver� he answered in a low dangerous
voice.� �And she is a more powerful witch than any I have met.� She is more powerful than most who are
present in this room.� Her age is of no importance to me in view of
that fact.�
�How do
you know?� What has she done for you to
declare her so powerful?!�� The peevish voice persisted.� Lord Von Alms� wife looked horrified.
�Oh Von
Alms.. You are so tiresome this evening� the youngest
man in the room yawned irritably and finished his goblet of red wine.� �I do not know why you tolerate him Gellert.� He is
always such a boor.�

Lord Von Alms huffed and turned away, folding his arms.� Obviously he was lower in the pecking order
than the younger man.

Hermione wanted to sing an aria in honour of the strange-eyed fellow who put
Lord �jerk� Von Alms in his place.
�Maia.. may I introduce Ducat Uriel Michaelovich Rozov.�� Grindelwald sounded pleased that the man had intervened
too.
The young
man was looking at her again with lavender eyes narrowed in scrutiny.� �Gellert.. I will require a moment of your time in private� he said,
forbearing to make any greeting whatsoever.
�Perhaps later, Uriel.� Maia.. This.. is a very dear friend of my
mother�s family.� Madame-...�
�No now Gellert!�� The strange young man rose to his feet and
strode off into the darkness of the aisles.�
Grindelwald observed his dramatic exit with visible
irritation and then looked at her uncertainly.�
�I will return quite soon.�� Do
not allow Calver and Asmodeus
to intimidate you.�� He glanced up at the
older woman who was looking mildly alarmed now.�
�Tante Sophie.. perhaps you might like to show Maia the extent of the
Library in my absence.�

He straightened and stalked away, every movement betraying impatience.
She
blinked.

Apparently.. the young man
who had put Lord Von Alms in his place was also
able to dictate to the dark wizard Grindelwald.�

Who the hell was he?!� His name sounded Russian
but he�d had no accent at all.� Or rather
he had an accent, but it wasn�t of
any place she could name.� It sort
of...wandered.. a bit.� Here it was a bit French..
there a bit Spanish.. definitely
british on the vowel and there were other more german and Slavic twists.. but in
general it wasn�t an accent she�d have called Russian.�

Perhaps the Ducat travelled a lot?!�
What was a Ducat anyway?!� Was it
like a Duke?
�I am
pleased to meet you, Miss Schiller� the elderly witch said with a smile.� �Would you like to see the rest of the library?� Or shall we go and have a nice-�
�WAS??!�
The
furious exclamation in German was followed by a loud string of expletives in
the language.� Hermione blushed at a few
of the more creative ones.� They got
louder until Grindelwald reappeared, storming over to
the group with rage in his eyes.
�I must
ask you all to leave.� Another urgent
matter requires my attention.��
Generalleutnant Staffel was the
first to rise.� He looked at his
commander with concerned questioning in his eyes.� A brisk shake informed him that he was not required.� Relieved, Staffel
bowed to Grindelwald and then turned and, to Hermione�s
surprise, offered her a short bow also.�

�I regret that there was not time to speak with you, Miss Schiller.� Perhaps another evening.�� He snapped his fingers and indicated that the
younger man by his side should come to heel.�

The �wizard with potential� looked at Maia suspiciously before he stood and
offered a bow to Grindelwald, departing at the heels
of his commanding officer.

Madame Papillion didn�t even stir.� She
seemed to have determined to remain.�

Lord Von Alms and his wife left rather ungraciously.� The latter seemed anxious to hurry away but
her husband perversely took his time in standing and bidding them all an insincere good evening.�
He took another long pensive look at Hermione before he finally departed
and she had the feeling he was memorising every flaw in order to submit an
itemised list later.� �
The heavy
silence that followed the departure of the four guests felt dangerous.� Hermione took in the fact that Grindelwald was glaring at her.� Peripherally she was aware that Ducat Rozov had returned at some point.� He had glided back so smoothly and quietly
that she had not noticed.�
�At what
point did you think to tell me that you are blood bonded to a vampire?� the
dark wizard looming above her growled.
Hermione
actually did gape now.� �How do you know?!� she sputtered.�

She recovered quickly and her head spun to look at the lilac eyed young man
again more speculatively.� A rough hand
caught her chin and dragged her face back roughly in the blonde wizard�s
direction.

�Who is it?!� Uriel
tells me they are of the clan Gosthemne.� How do you know Albanian vampires?!� Little witch, what else have you been keeping from me?!� Give me your eyes!�
She
lowered them defensively even as she yelped out �I wasn�t keeping it from you � I just didn�t remember to tell you.� I brought the ingredients and the spell for
the potion I need with me when I came
� I would hardly do that if I was keeping it a secret, would I?!.� I would have told
you tomorrow at the latest when I remembered since I need to be brewing it soon..�
�Soon?!� I am told
your health is dire.� Who is the
vampire?!� How did this happen?!�
Hermione
struggled to think of an adequate excuse.�

�I don�t remember.� I was living on the
street in London.� A man attacked
me.� When I realised he was a vampire I
was scared he would kill me.� So I agreed
when he asked�
�lie..�

The soft voice of Ducat Rozov was loud in the
silence.
Grindelwald growled furiously and dropped to his knees
before her, wrenching her face into position in front of his own.�

�It was unwise of me to allow you to avoid this up to this point.� Do not fight me, Maia.� You will surrender your mind now...or I will
bring you Tom Riddle�s heart on a plate...

Author note.
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Precious Mudblood