Chapter 2:

Meeting their match, a Harry Potter Fanfic Ft, Gellert Grindelwald/Blaise Zabini
This is a perhaps behind the scenes of what could've or should've happened in Harry Potter's 7th year at Hogwarts. It contradicts nothing from the books. The OC characters featured are Wolfgang Adler, Blaise Zabini's parents as they were never named in the books, and Bramble, the Zabini house elf.

in this chapter you will see how the man Voldemort killed wasn't Gellert Grindelwald. This was basically given away in chapter I.

Chapter 2

The day after the meeting, Gellert Grindelwald was being freed from Nurmengard. Blaise was even allowed to help, if from a distance. The one to free him was to be the Zabini house elf Bramble, and Blaise had made the elf a talisman to wear that would unravel any spells in his vicinity long enough for him to side apparate Grindelwald away. The tower like prison had wards placed upon it similar to Hogwarts, and those never gave elves any trouble at all. Foolish wizards never considered elves a threat so they were overlooked.

Bramble was to apparate in with the old man who was to replace Grindelwald in Nurmengard, tell Grindelwald that he was with a friend, and leaving the substitute, apparate Grindelwald away to Wolfgang's manor where he would be filled in on their plan. If he agreed to Wolfgang's terms, he would be given the potion to restore his youth and strength. It would be more difficult for him to be a strong daring fighter against Voldemort, even from behind the scenes, if he remained old and frail from years in prison, after all.

The aim of Wolfgang's group of dark wizards was to do their part to take Voldemort down, or at least deplete him of followers by killing them off. Grindelwald was a wizard to be admired and respected. He had skills that could be utilized and perhaps he would even have ideas that Wolfgang and the others had not considered. This group considered themselves renegades, strong enough to fight dark fire with dark fire where Dumbledore's army and the ministry had failed due to nonsensical moral weakness. As Blaise saw it, Grindelwald should fit right in.

Fortunately Wolfgang was able to find the ingredients to make the potion and Severus had prepared it. Surprisingly it wasn't one of those potions that had to sit for weeks. It was actually shockingly easy. Shockingly easy to take someone's life to gain youth, which is why it was a good thing that knowledge of the potion was so very obscure. Blaise fleetingly wondered if he would be tempted to use it himself when age began to ache his bones.

Eager to meet Grindelwald, yet not wanting to see the chosen Death Eater biting the big one, Blaise decided to distract himself with a bit of book shopping in Knockturn Alley. Because his paranoid parents had forbidden him to go into town alone while Voldemort was ramping things up so, he took Bramble with him. Bramble apparated them, so Blaise did not take himself anywhere. He would never snitch on the elf for helping him, but he considered himself having fully followed his parents orders to the letter, if in a very Slytherin fashion as was befitting a Slytherin. Bramble would apparate away at the appointed time to make the Nurmengard Switch, as their little group had begun to call it, and be back with Blaise in Knockturn Alley in less than 5 minutes.

Blaise was examining a book on the lost art of enchantments when Bramble told him that it was time. Nodding distractedly, Blaise promised to remain in the shop until the elf returned. He had intended to do just that but the shop owner announced that he was closing up for lunch and would reopen in an hour. Blaise sighed, and carried the book he was scanning up to the counter along with one on how to remove the magic from enchanted objects. After buying both he carried them outside to wait. He was leaning against the shop front, his attention moving between both of his new books when the strange feeling gripped him, completely draining him of focus. Something was wrong...very wrong...Only was it with him, or...outside of himself? Was he unwell? The feeling was so foreign, he was having difficulty processing. Then the temperature dropped and Blaise came to the conclusion, that as usual the problem wasn't with him.

With that in mind the sound of panicked screams coming from up the street weren't that much of a surprise. His first instinct was to apparate home, but then Bramble would come here and look for him, perhaps getting himself hurt or worse. Something bad was happening here, that much was obvious. Then inspiration struck. Whipping his wand from the back pocket of his black summer slacks, Blaise murmured a charm that allowed him to write on the brick wall of the outer shop. The letters should remain for half an hour and fade so there would be no bloody stupid charges for befouling property or anything of the sort. Blaise simply wrote.

I went home. Please meet me there.

B

As he wrote the disconcerting feeling grew stronger then they appeared. As Blaise was finishing his note, shadows seemed to fall around him, making it more difficult to see. Cold hands grasped him as he glanced up to see towering forms in tattered hooded robes. These weren't Death Eaters. They were dementors!

Blaise had never seen them but he'd read of them. Idly, through his shock and mild panic, he wondered if dementors were worse than death eaters. Were they less intelligent, perhaps he could trick or defeat them if he managed to avoid being snogged by one of them.

Blaise, being an explorer of magic, and in general was rather sexually open if he found a person interesting. Gender didn't always matter though he preferred girls as a rule, but he was drawing the line at dementors. No sir, no snogging dementors for him!

Amusing himself through the panic seemed to help. The thoughts had flickered through his mind in less than two seconds. Two of the things had just put their hands on his arms and were shaking him. What was it that got rid of these foul monsters? Ah yes a patronus... Glad to still have his wand out from writing Bramble the note, Blaise opened his mouth to cast his patronus when one of them hissed a question into his ear.

"Blaise Zabini! Where is Harry Potter?"

"How in the hell should I know and while we're at asking questions how is it that you know my name?"

Rather than replying with words one of the things swooped down toward his face, hideous gray scabby skin drawing closer to his own. Again Blaise did not plan to snog dementors, and with that thought in mind he cast his patronus in a near shout. The huge black spider leapt from his wand and the dementors released his arms. He apparated away instantly.