Chapter 3: New York City, 1925

Hermione is spotted arriving by none other than Gellert posing as Percival Graves. More amused than concerned he covers for her with MACUSA. Later he is quite curious when it shows on her tracker her name with the birth date of September 19, 1979.

Gellert's POV

It was a rare quiet day for Gellert Grindlewald. Posing as Percival Graves for two weeks now, the city rarely was. He was convinced after day one that the Aurors of New York had to be the busiest in the world. No wonder the real Percival was prematurely grey!

Yet the American wizarding side of the world was interesting to observe. Some cities scoffed at the Statute of Secrecy. New Orleans had been an education for him and Mystic Falls… All it did was show him he was right! Yet New York, New York was almost more backwards than Europe!

There was to be no mixing with the muggle world at all here! No interference, no intermarriages. Anything thought to threaten the Statute at all and the sentence was death or the complete removal of any knowledge of magic! It was a disgrace!

Yet he was placed well at the time being. Unknown to Europe, MACUSA had eyes and ears everywhere in the world. Their intelligence gathering advanced and extremely useful for what he meant to do. He imagined he would keep this position for a while.

He was contemplating the need for informants on the magical in this city while nearing its heart, Time Square when something had caught his eye and touched his magic. Curious, he looked up to find the source.

At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. It was an unusually bright, sunny morning after all. But no, there it was, bright, shinning gold dust swirling in a circle, glinting off the light of the sun. Wandlessly he cast a notice me not spell on the growing swirl.

It almost felt like the magic from that spell was calling him, compelling him forward. Quick steps brought him right there when a woman suddenly appeared from the swirl, just three inches away from him! Curious,very curious! He never seen such a way to travel before!

"That was not a port key, was it Miss?" The woman jumped, turning and gasping. "Oh Merlin! You scared me! Bloody warn a girl would you?" She quipped in a crisp British accent, slightly disheveled. A smirk came to his face as he took measure of her.

Honey gold curls, thick singlets, ran down her back with flecks of chestnut. Different from so many women of this time. She did where a fashionable hat with a pen that held back half her mass of curls from her face. And what a lovely face it was! Heart shaped with lovely whiskey colored eyes with flecks of gold and green and full lips.

She was petite, rather thin, maybe 100 lbs soaking wet. She was a curvy little thing, but not to curvey. Bit what held his attention to her the most was her eyes. Brimming with intelligence and a wariness not out of place on his best soldiers. He could practicly hear the wheels turning in her mind for what answer to give to his question.

Her stance would look to the untrained eye as vulnerable and unguarded but they would be wrong. The tenseness in her face and in her shoulders told him that she was ready for about anything. Once she caught her breath her eyes shot to his. "That's a bit forward of a question to someone you haven't met, isn't it?" she asked.

He smiled internally. She was good, but he was better! "As the Director of Magical Security and Head of MACUSA law inforcement, its my job to ask these questions when an unknown witch arrives in my city without a international port key." His face became serious.

He could see her brief moment of panic, a slight widening of the eyes before he could see her flight response threatening to take over. But this was all to curious! Her interesting arrival and quick wit decided it for him. She wasn't going to let her get away so easily. He put his arm around her shoulders causing him to notice their sharpness.

She had known some hard times then. "My name is Percival Graves and I think you and I should take a walk." He showed her his credentials and she nodded, head hung half in defeat, though even that was an act. "Very well, Director Graves. And my name is Hermione Granger." He nodded in response and started walking with her down the street and away from the square.

The name wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him. He had met a Dagworth-Granger once. But she did not bare any resemblance. She was likely a muggleborn, meaning that Britian had mostly been like Hell to her. Backward cows that they all were! All magical were to be welcomed! They were so few now that they should rejoice when someone was born to be added to their dwindling numbers! Another cost they had to pay due to that damned Statute!

"I'm going to level with you Miss Granger. As much as I don't like it, international traveling to and from the US is highly regulated and that display, had I not intervened as quickly as I did would have resulted in the loss of your magic. You have GOT to be more careful! Now you seem like your in some sort of trouble so I will cover for you this once." He stated.

Her shoulders sagged a little, with relief. Once they reached an ally he turned her around though and put two gloved fingers under her chin. "But you must promise me that if you leave again, you come to me first and we do it right." He left no room for disagreement. She gulped but nodded. An act to appear helpless when he could practicly taste the violent, powerful magic that surrounded her.

He felt jolt from his Sight, nothing concrete, he knew that would possibly come later. He knew without a doubt that she would be important to him. Important to the Cause. And so he gave her a kind smile. "I'm not the enemy Miss Granger. Look out for yourself. I'll be seeing you around." He couldn't stop herself from winking at her.

There was a small crack in her well crafted mask when a blush stole up her neck. Giving her color and making her quite the lovely picture. He liked the light he brought to her eyes. Warm and slightly mischievous. He reached in his pocket and gave her his card.

"This is my office address. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate." she took it and he turned to walk away. After a few steps over his shoulder he stated "There is a boarding house on Rockefeller Ave, Madam Blanche runs it. I'll let her know your coming." He stated without looking back.

Later that evening, after confirming with Madam Blanche that Miss Granger was settled in a room, Gellert Grindlewald made an interesting discovery about Miss Granger. Very interesting indeed. All arrivals and local magical were tracked through his office. Its how he was able to cover for her arrival. They gave full names, date of arrival, and date of birth.

Miss Granger's stated September 19, 1979! "Oh yes Miss Granger" he thought to himself as a large smile slowly came across his face. " We are going to be seeing each other again real soon!"