Hi everyone, looking for a beta. I don't have time to go through all of this by my self so I just post when I am done. Consequently I miss a lot of grammar mistakes and tense stuff. DM me if you are interested

Helena had been slowly becoming aware for a few seconds her limbs were stiff and cold but she could feel the weight of a thick comforter on her, her head was groggy but she was slowly becoming more alert. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up to see a burgundy canopy above her. The blanket on her must have been down because it looked huge on her. The room was simple stone walls with bookcases lining the walls of the square rooms and a sitting chair and a desk with a decorative rug covering the floor. The lighting in the room was warm and slightly dim but she was able to make out the shape of a wooden door beyond her feet at the opposite side of the room.

She tried to lift herself up but fell back as every movement felt like she had been just returned from stone to flesh, everything was stiff and creaking, then she noticed it. Or more the absence of it, the obscurus. It was gone. She felt a hollowed out space in her chest it felt cold or maybe it was just her normal state as the constant push of magic was just hot, either way the thought as she grabbed her chest now I know that this building works.

Then it hit her she was in the building, where there was no magic, in a room with a that she had no idea if it was locked or not she looked down at herself, still dirty and she had her same clothes on, she breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her bag was nowhere. She was completely defenseless with no vow of any kind that she wouldn't be a prisoner. Every thought that passed through her head got worse and worse, everything that could go wrong, everything that already had. She was up shit creek without any paddle in sight. She could feel her heart race increasing and she began to miss the feeling of knowing that there was a power that followed. There was a sense of security with it. That you were not alone. That you could hold your own. But not anymore she was powerless. An option would be to just ask and figure out from interacting, hopefully with Grindelwald, and to be honest, she didn't have the energy to try and escape now, not with her body the way it was. Taking a route that seemed more passive might be a better way to persuade them to eventually let her outside again anyway. She took a few calming breaths counting them out as she released the breaths.

"Hello?" she waited a moment, "I'm awake, is anyone there?"

There were a few seconds of silence before she heard some scuttling outside. There was a slight shuffle followed by a rattling sound and then the door opened slowly. An older woman walked in she looked to be around her fifties or sixties that middle age where you could see her holding on to the last stands of adulthood before old age. Her skin was tight in some and loser in others pulled with a look of being pulled behind the sharp and oddly shaped hat on her head. She had a cart behind her pulling it in then closing the door behind her.

"So you are awake," the woman said, her voice though not harsh had a curtness to it, as though she had more things she was meant to be doing but had to be here first. "Can you move around? Your body seemed to go through a lot. Where most wizards just have a mental reaction I guess things like you have more of a physical one"

Helena didn't really like the lady's tone and slightly pulled the sheets instinctively a little closer, "How long have I been asleep like this?"

"Not long only about 14 hours, or so. Can you move around? I have some clothes for you but you need a shower first, this place feels impossible to keep clean without magic, there is always dust and dirt everywhere."

"Yes ma'am, I can its painful but I can, where are my other things?"

"They should just be in the dresser over there" the woman said nodding over to a dresser next to the tapestry with a large flying lion on the front, "next to it is the entrance to the bathroom, you should go in there and clean yourself off I'll leave some clothes out here for you. Then it is about time for lunch, the food will be brought to you in an hour or so."

"Ah I see, do know when I might see Grindelwald I have somethings that I need to speak to him about."

The woman looked up at her an incredulous look on her face, "Grindelwald is a busy man he doesn't have time to move about this place willy-nilly to appease some girl. He is leading an army." After placing a few items on a desk she packed up her cart and headed to the exit, but before she left she took a small breath and turned back to Helena, "I'm sure he will get to you if he has time." then she left. Behind her, she could hear again the familiar sound of the clanking of keys.

So, she was locked in. Fucking, fantastic. Well, might as well get a shower since i'm here. All i have to do is move. She struggled to sit up. Then was the ordeal of pulling the sheets and large computer off of her. Every time she had to use a muscle she could feel it pulling against bone and felt like she was breaking stone, it hurt, God knows it hurt but it was also definitely manageable. She had been through worse she told herself as she swung her legs over to the side of the bed then when she put her feet on the floor and put some pressure on them she couldn't help but cringe a bit it felt like fifty needles in each foot like they had just woken up after a long period of time and the pain from it made her cringe which was a different pain. This was wonderful, she thought, just how she loved to be woken up in pain and locked in a place where she had no power and with no fucking vow. She felt like a child in pain and helpless again. She was in a position that she had vowed to never be in again.

She decided for better or worse maybe a shower would help then she could at least fae her problems clean. Somehow she made her way to the shower. And began peeling off her clothes, she couldn't remember the last time she had an honest to god shower. She had rinsed off in a freezing creek or two but she had always been too wary to go into someone's house or a lodge, just the paranoia was too much, plus she kinda liked the film of dirt on her it made her feel more like her surrounding which made her feel safe.

Her clothes were so matted with dirt and staying in one position for so long that some were stiff coming off and others were soggy and very smelly, she probably smelled similarly. She turned on the water and the warm water came out in a strong stream and as the water warmed up she got in. She grabbed the shampoo and the watched as some of the dirt drain out. She had to admit it felt really nice to have clean hair she thought as she commed the conditioner through her hair.

Then when she was relishing in the warm water slowly massaging her scalp a flash went through her head. A snapshot of a blond man with hungry blue eyes and cold hands. He was touching her again, then she was back in the shower. She felt her chest hurt her heart was banging against her chest, she had done such a good job of not thinking of him of just thinking of anything but him. Her hands were shaking why now, god why now she was finally relaxing a bit. She took the soap wanting to get out of there but determined to finish what she started, but every part of her body felt like there was a hand on it or like his fingerprints were all over her. She turned the heat, steam began to fill the room and the water began to burn as she scrubbed harder and harder. Sher skin was turning red and finally when she felt like she had covered herself with soap and was finally clean. As she turned off the water she could hear herself breathing heavily. She just stood there in the shower as the steam and heat radiated off of her. She stared at the drain as she watched the remaining water swirl down.

She breathed in and held it for a few moments before letting it out. She did this for a few more minutes until she could feel herself cooling off. At this point, one arm was holding her weight and she was leaning on the shower wall. She took another breath in gaining more awareness of her body, the original pain from moving had lessened significantly, and with another release of breath she got out of the shower and began to dry off with a nearby white fluffy towel. It burned a bit as she looked down at her skin she thought this must have been the cleanest she had been in a long time since she had rubbed herself raw definitely taking off the first layer of skin most of her body was red but it was slowly dying down.

She walked out the room in her towel not really wanting to put her original clothes back on she took a look around. While she had been in the shower there must have been someone who came in to change the sheet because they looked clean and there was a new more normal sized golden white one that replaced the overly heavy darker one that had been there before. She gravitated over to the desk dismissing the untasteful thought that people were just allowed in when she was taking a shower, yet at the same time happy that she wouldn't have to sleep in these dirty sheets again.

She held up the clothes that had been left it was nothing fancy a simple white button-down soft yet sturdy cotton. It fit her well maybe a little tight in the chest but it wasn't gaping too much to be very untasteful. And the skirt was of a thicker wool material, it was a dark shade of blue and went down to above her knees with a line of gold buttons going around the waist of the skirt. It was high waisted and was uncomfortably form fitting but thankfully again not too tight at the top but was pleated out at the end. She felt very uncomfortable in a skirt, she prefered the mobility and general bagginess of pants, they hid her growing figure and made her feel less self-conscious and she thought she looked a bit older in them, but in this skirt she felt there was not enough fabric and she felt she looked younger than she had in a while, definitely more her age at the least.

Having it all on she went back to the bathroom to assess her hair in the mirror, taking it out of the towel she began to come through it letting her mind wander to other things. More specifically one thing, what happened earlier in the shower, she felt uncomfortable thinking about it, but it wasn't something she really ever did think about it was always more something that she felt and then these feelings would bring out the other side of her, oh now what was it called again right an obscurus. The obscurus would come out, it would be strange getting used to her emotions again. Fully feeling again, she had gotten so used to either being numb to her emotions or letting the obscurus go off the rails so she wouldn't have to think about it much after except have an occasional cry.

She concluded that what probably brought it on again was being locked in a room again being powerless and alone in an unfamiliar place, and at that thought, she could hear in the back the door opening and something being wheeled in. she stayed in the bathroom combing through her hair. She needed to have it cut soon it was growing to be almost halfway down her back and even though she either kept it tied or in a braid mostly due to not washing it still had no reason for being that long. But her mom liked it when her hair was long. Her mother loved her honey hair, that's what she called it. It was like her fathers she got her eyes from her mother though, but it was her hair that her mother loved she had always wished her mother would stop going on and on about how she wished that she had hair like her daughters and not the dark brown almost blackish color that her mothers were. But she loved her mother's hair it just made her eyes shine even brighter, they were greener than her own but had the same silver specs in them she always thought her mother's eyes were so much brighter than her own, or well they used to be. In the end, they were dark no spark, not even a shimmer. Helena shook her head made a quick braid of the rest of her still fairly wet hair and went back into the other room.

Tying off the last bit of her braid she was surprised to see a table set up in her room with food and drink on it set for two with candles and nice china. It was probably supposed to convey a relaxed vibe but to Helena it made her feel uncomfortable and it all seemed suspicious or perhaps that was just the man sitting on the other end of the table Grindelwald.

"I heard you have been asking of me, so here i am." he said turning towards her with a smile and a tilt of the head indicating he wanted her to sit with him. "So i thought i would pop by for a spot of lunch."

"Whats going on here, and i mean in general not just with the lunch surprise." Helena said sitting down cautiously looking around as if someone else was going to pop out.

"Nothing out of the ordinary my dear just a simple lunch to help you get your energy back maybe ask a few questions then see if you were ready to start learning as If i recall we both wanted to begin as soon as possible."

'Questions? Oh yes I have a few starting with why i am in a locked room."

"That lock is not to keep you in here as much as it is to keep others out, ot many of my people are happy that I have brought one of your kind into my walls, especially after the little show at the entrance."

"Then why isn't there an unlock or an controle on this side of the door."

"Well that's just down to bad design, we are wizards we are not necessarily accustomed to doing things the muggle way, but if it would make you more comfortable I can arrange it. It might take a few weeks though."

"We never had a chance to make the vow. I want it as soon as possible, preferably after we finish lunch."

"Now there we have a problem. You should start eating your body needs to be replenished after what it went through." he said nodding to the food in front of her a large helping a a meatish looking substance some potatoes and a mix of carrots cabbage and broccoli, he also began eating pouring himself some more water he proceeded talking in between bites. "I don't want you going out side for a while. Going in and out of here can be a toll on the body, but for you it could be more dangerous than I had originally thought the magic of an obscurus is webbed throughout your body practically helping you move in your bones and muscles. Your body practically rejected it from its home when you entered here and to be honest I'm surprised to see you up even this early. It would be best for you to use this time to study and do an intensive course in magic. There are years of information that you need to be caught up with."

"Won't I need to practice with actual magic to learn?"

"Yes, and you shall but we will regulate those for when I am here to help you and get you accustomed to your environment."

"What do you mean when you are here?" she asked while politely cutting the meat into tiny pieces delaying eating it till she could get more of a sense of what it was.

"I have a war to run we are taking ground rapidly and they need me to lead occasionally, it is my war afterall. All of it will be for the greater good of course." he said looking up and giving her a charming smile that made Helena cringe a bit beneath a mask of indifference. "But I wanted to get to know you a bit before we truly began with the lessons."

"What do you need to know? You know my name you know that i'm an obscurus, and you know that if you help me I help you what else is there." she asked giving up on trying to figure out on what type of meat it was and just digging in.

"Well starters I know you name but I don't know how old you are or where you come from other than our similar home land of Germany." He said the last part in german which put the hairs on the back of her hair up making her drink her neck side to side before responding.

"I would prefer we use English after my mother passed I…. I just don't like German much. It's a rough language mean and harsh guttural in tone, and aggressive no matter how one uses it."

Grindelwald noticed her reaction and moved on marking that talking about Germany was a touchy subject he would hold off telling her he named the building after his favorite German city. "My condolences, I assume you would not like to talk about it."

She continued eating and stiffly replied,"you would be correct in assuming so."

Sensing her closing off quickly he went back to his simpler question. " So then again how old are you?"

"12 last November."

Grindelwald was taken aback some, he thought the girl was older, not much older, but definitely older, she was a beautiful girl no doubt about that fact. But he could see that under all the dirt and grime when he first met her it shone through, but she looked worn, as though she had been through so much more than he could imagine. But waar can do that. Only 12 he told himself. She could still be formed. If he played his cards right she might still fully adopt his ways, her mind might still be workable to let him in. But no, now he wanted to get to know her some more. "Well happy belated birthday it was only two months ago did you have a celebration?"

"No."

""Ah I see, well you mentioned your mother, but what of your father"

"Dead, he was a full blooded German too we could trace our family history on his side back to kings and queens of old. We used to have a family tree on one of the walls in our apartment, It took up the whole wall. My father had it specially made with more room at the bottom for future generations. But it's probably gone now. My mother loved it. She didn't talk much of her family except that they hailed from England. I don't even know where in England that's how little she spoke of them."

"A dispute with her family I presume."

"Probably. I always assumed it was because she married my father. I always found the idea romantic. The thought that she left a high standing family to marry a jewish man would have been a very big deal. Because I knew she wasn't jewish when they met, but she converted for my father." she froze for a few seconds, "that's not going to be a problem is it?"

"Im sorry, but will what be a problem?"

"That I'm Jewish," she said with a flat tone

"Oh of course not no one in the wizarding community could care less." He said with a flip of the hand and another smile, "You obviously had a great deal of love for your parents"

"I love my parents them being dead doesn't make me love them any less, nor does it hinder me from knowing they loved me dearly, before you go spotting condolences again."

"I won't argue with you on that point dear." he said sitting back done with his food. "Now for a slight change of topic, your studies you have much to learn and I know we both wish for you to learn as quickly as possible. Now it would be best if i was to be the one teaching you but that will not be the case most of the time unfortunately. But I am lucky to have some very powerful individuals underme who will be able to teach you when I am not available. Also all the books surrounding you have been carefully selected so that they should all be helpful in your studies, some of them rudimentary others highly advanced beyond even a students learning at even a wizarding school." there was a knock at the door and Grindelwald stood opening it and reading a small piece of paper handed to him.

"Places like Hogwarts and Durmstrang?" she said as he was standing reading the note, and demonstrating more of the information she had already absorbed from the first book

"Exactly, and it pleases me that you have already demonstrated a great ability to absorb knowledge, now you will be overloaded. Unfortunately we are having a minor skirmish in France and I am needed to take care of it, It shouldn't take more than a week. When i get back I shall test you to see what you have learned outside. You should be fully healed and ready to go by then." and with that he left her to finish her meal and begin with the daunting task of finding the beginning difficulty from the plethora of books surrounding her.