"Vinda. Larsen. I have a mission for you." Grindelwald tented his fingers together and smirked a little at the followers he'd brought together across his desk. Vinda nodded.
"For ze cause, and for you, Monsieur? Anything."
She seemed downright blissful at the idea of having been summoned into duty again, and Grindelwald knew why. As of late, Vinda had become jealous of Queenie, and with due cause. Queenie had consumed a fair bit of Grindelwald's attentions, after all, and Vinda had been left largely in the dark. But now Vinda had an important role to play. She was going to set a trap for Credence.
"I need you two to go to Hogsmeade in England," Grindelwald said. "The Maledictus Nagini is missing from her Ministry friends, which means she is with Aurelius Dumbledore. He, in turn, will be looking for an opportunity to corner Albus Dumbledore, and I believe he'll find it on the next Hogsmeade visit."
"You think the Obscurial will try to intercept Albus Dumbledore in Hogsmeade village?" asked Vinda curiously. Grindelwald nodded.
"My Legilimens saw the idea of it in his head when last he was here. A fleeting, violent image, but one that he may still be contemplating." Grindelwald nodded. "If nothing else, he and the Maledictus will go to Hogsmeade to scope out chances to target Dumbledore. They will be at Hogsmeade, Now. What I do not want is a big show wherein the Obscurial destroys all of Hogsmeade and kills half the student body. That will do nothing for our cause."
"So, what are we to do?" Asked Vinda, neatly folding her hands over her tailored skirts.
"Trap the Maledictus," said Grindelwald. "Take her two our secondary safe house in London. If my sources are correct, then where she goes, the boy will follow. He will come straight to her. When you have her at the secondary safe house, I will be there, waiting for the boy."
"And what will you do then?" asked Larsen. Grindelwald raised his pale brows and said,
"You leave that bit to me."
"This place is filthy," Queenie noted as a rat scurried by. She half-jokingly asked Grindelwald, "You couldn't have secured a tidier safe house?"
"Its cleanliness is of very little value to me just now," Grindelwald stated, sticking his hands into his pockets and staring out the dirty window. Queenie was about to cast some Scouring charms on the old London flat when Vinda, Larsen, and a passenger came Apparating into the apartment.
"Petrificus Totalus," murmured Grindelwald, and the beautiful Maledictus, Nagini, collapsed rigidly onto the floor. Like a board toppled over, the teetered and then fell. He held his hands up triumphantly and declared, "And now we wait for our Obscurial friend."
Vinda and Larsen looked at one another in concern, and Queenie tried to read their minds through the foreign languages. Finally she deciphered,
"Nagini wasn't alone, but she wasn't with Aurelius Dumbledore."
"What do you mean?" hissed Grindelwald, and Vinda admitted,
"She was with that short-haired brunette Auror we saw in Paris. We snatched her and Disapparated, but -"
"Fools!" yelled Grindelwald, but it was too late. Suddenly, into the safe house appeared Theseus Scamander, Tina Goldstein, Travers, a few other Aurors, and even Newt Scamander.
Grindelwald acted quickly. He began casting flying curses at the Aurors, who duelled him straight back. All of a sudden, Vinda Rosier collapsed and didn't get back up. Queenie whipped her wand out and found herself aiming it right at Tina.
"Don't do this, Queenie," Tina said, shaking her head, but Queenie knew where she stood. She opened her mouth to cast a Curse, but before she could, Tina had snatched at her sleeve and Disapparated.
Everything went black and cold then. For a long, long while, Queenie had no idea where she was or what was happening. She was lost in a black void, until she awakened in a bright white tiled room, sitting at a table, across from Tina, Newt, and Theseus Scamander.
"Tina," Queenie said cautiously, "You gotta let me go."
"You are being held as an enemy of MACUSA and the British Ministry of Magic," said Queenie, "owing to your active support of the criminal Gellert Grindelwald. How do you plead to these accusations?"
"What? I'm not a criminal!" Queenie held her hand to her chest and realised she'd been shackled. She scowled down at her heavy wrists. "Teenie, I'm just fighting for the greater good."
"For the greater good, huh?"
"Jacob?" Queenie looked up to see Jacob walking through the doorway. "Honey, what are you doing here?"
"They brought me here, thought I could talk some sense into you," Jacob said in a disheartened voice. "Sweetheart, how could you be fighting for that… that killer?"
"You all don't understand him!" Queenie shook her head wildly. "You don't understand that he's -"
BANG!
"What was that?" asked Jacob, his eyes going wide, and Newt said,
"If I had to guess, that would be Gellert Grindelwald coming to fetch Queenie."
"Theseus, take her to room six," said Tina quickly, rising to her feet. Theseus Scamander whipped out his wand, but before anyone could do anything further, the door of the white room slammed open and Gellert Grindelwald came stalking in, trailed by blue whipped he fire in front of him, and Theseus, Newt, Jacob, and Tina all skittered backward against its might.
"Come, Queenie," said Grindelwald smoothly. "Time to go."
He held something in his hand, a strange little cube that had his triangular symbol with the circle and line on it on each of its six sides. He held it out, and Queenie rushed through the blue flame and into his arms. The moment she crossed the flame, the bindings on her wrists dissolved. She held fast to Grindelwald and looked back over her shoulder through the blue glow, wondering if this would be the last time she would see Tina and Jacob. Just in case, she whispered,
"Goodbye."
And then she vanished with a whoosh, into the pinching black whirl with Gellert Grindelwald.
An unmitigated disaster. That was what it had been. Vinda Rosier was mangled and had barely escaped with her life. The Maledictus had escaped unharmed. Credence's location was still unknown. And Queenie had been taken hostage by the British Ministry - including by her own sister. They'd even used her old boyfriend against her to try and turn her against Grindelwald.
An unmitigated disaster. Nothing about it had gone according to plan.
"Vinda."
He walked into her rooms to find her still healing up from the Blistering Curse she'd taken. She'd be left with awful scars; her beautiful face would be gone forever. But Vinda hurried to her feet and bowed her head.
"Monsieur."
"I want another large meeting in Vienna planned," Grindelwald nodded. "Another party. It went so well last time, and we need the positivity right now. Begin scoping out locations for a good time. Doesn't have to be a ball, just… a good time."
"I understand. I'll begin planning straight away." Vinda looked dejected where she stood, and so Grindelwald moved over to her and gently kissed each of her cheeks as he murmured,
"Still beautiful."
He turned round and saw Queenie standing in the doorway, looking shocked, and she stammered,
"I was… I was just wondering if anybody wanted dinner."
Grindelwald cleared his throat, glanced from Vinda to Queenie, and said, "Sounds magnificent."
A half hour later they were at a table with food that Queenie had cooked for them, but she was incredibly sour as she sawed into her steak. Grindelwald rolled his eyes.
"She's been burned."
"She'll always be beautiful," Queenie noted. Grindelwald glanced around and finally set down his fork and knife.
"It hasn't ever been like you for me, you understand? When you disappeared out of that safe house, I realised I would have done just about anything to get you back. Do you realise how terrifying that is? Hmm?"
"No, sir." Queenie looked awfully surprised, but he informed her tightly,
"I killed twenty-three people getting you out of that Ministry."
Queenie's stomach sank. Twenty-three people had died so she could escape ministry custody? Twenty-three human beings? How could that be? Now she just felt awful. She blinked a few times and whispered,
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't you ever be jealous of Vinda Rosier again," he snapped. "Do you understand me, Miss Goldstein?"
She was struck through with fear then, but she nodded and murmured, "I understand, sir."
"You'll have to find a way to outdo yourself when it comes to that gold sequin dress," he said, picking up his fork and knife again. "We're having another party. And this time you're walking in on my arm."
Author's Note: I do sincerely apologize for days with no updates. I was rushed by ambulance to the emergency room and have been in the ICU for several days. I am just now well enough to use my computer just a little bit. I apologize for typos as I have a pulsox monitor on my finger and can't wear my glasses. I will do my best to update tomorrow, but I have a head MRI scheduled midday, so it won't be until later.
Sorry for the excuses and thank you for your understanding. I hope you are still enjoying the story and that it's still making sense. I am here with brain issues so please let me know if it isn't making sense and I'll hold off writing. Thank you.