1930, August 24th. Xantha Manor, Devon.

Marcel watched as the sun hit the horizon. Another day without news from the ministry or anyone involved in the war. Another day without knowing if his brother and sister were still alive. Of course, he wasn't allowed to officially worry about Henri who had chosen Grindelwald's side in the conflict. That would just be asking for trouble. Victor had done that in the beginning and almost lost his job over it, before Henri had showed up on his doorstep a rainy night and talked some sense into his younger brother. Marcel smiled sadly at the thought of his oldest brother, the heir to the French branch of the Xantha family. If he closed his eyes could he still remember the day he found out what Henri had done despite multiple decades passing since.

"Henri! Please tell me it isn't true!" Marcel could hear his mother's voice all the way from the floo room on the ground floor to the library on the second floor where he was sitting in an armchair playing wizarding chess with his brother Henri. Said brother was losing rather badly at the moment.

"That what isn't true ma mère?" Henri asked as their mother entered the room. Roselle Xantha was a short woman with petite features, nut-brown hair and brown eyes. "People are talking. They say that you joined Grindelwald! That the auror saw you last month in Austria!" Roselle's voice was nothing more than a high pitched scream at the end of the sentence.

Marcel looked at his brother as Henri's facial expression changed from happiness to worry to sadness. "Maman" he said before Roselle interrupted him. "Oh Henri, how could you? How could you? Do you hate us that much? And your sister, what about Line?"

The mention of their sister who worked as an auror was when Roselle crossed the line. Henri rose from his seat and looked his mother in the eyes while Marcel remained seated. He had suspected something for a long time.

"Explain yourself" Marcel said, looking at his older brother. "What is there to explain?" Henri asked. "I want to be able to marry Marguerite without having to worry about hiding who I truly am. I don't want to live with the knowledge that my children will grow up either having to keep secrets about themself from their grandparents or be left out when their cousins are celebrating holidays. Grindelwald will keep that from happening. Besides that, have you seen what le non–magique been doing lately? They are creating weapons of mass destruction and we can't let that happen. I'm sorry but this is the path I have chosen. I can promise you that if I ever run into Line will I do everything to keep her safe. But for now, it's au revoir".

And with that did he give them both a hug and disapparated away before either of them could say anything else.

Marcel was brought back to the present by the sound of the door behind him being opened. His wife Angélique walked in. She was holding an envelope. "We got an owl cherie. It is from your brother", she said as she handed him the letter. Marcel smiled as he recognised Henri's flowing handwriting. He quickly opened the envelope and read the letter.

"Henri is wondering if it would be possible to meet up at Christmas. We would get to pick location and a place where we can meet up and make sure that he, Marguerite and the children aren't affected by any spells and that they aren't tracked by anyone", he said after finishing reading.

Angélique looked surprised. She had only met her brother-in-law a few times since he had already been involved with Grindelwald by the time she and Marcel became a couple. She had of course seen him at school but the fact that he was six years older than her and Marcel meant that her memories from back then were those of a child.

"Do you think it is safe?" she asked. Marcel nodded. "I do. Henri might be fighting for the other side of this war but he doesn't wish us any harm. He even saved Line's life during the mess in Paris", he said. "Then I will trust your judgement mon amour" Angélique said, planting a kiss on Marcel's cheek."I'll write a response immediately", he said before leaving the room and walking to his office.

War was a weird thing. Marcel thought as he sat down behind his desk with parchment, quill and ink in front of him. Henri fought for the opposing side and was thus supposed to be evil but the only thing he wanted was to be able to live a life without worrying about who knew what about his family. That seemed to be the case with many people in Grindelwald's army if Henri's letters were true. There were of course the true fanatics who wanted to rule the world but most were normal people. Line had once said at a dinner conversation that she would rather put away some of the people she was teamed up with than those she was tasked with catching. The whole thing was a mess, he thought as he finished his response to Henri.

AN: I hope you enjoyed the story. More stories about the Xantha family and those related to them will come in the future.