The ICW were holding Grindelwald in their head office in Brussels. Once the sheer number of British ministry officials under the imperius curse was documented and sent to the ICW, they were only too happy to do everything they could to brush the unfortunate false accusation under the carpet. Their favours included allowing the War Heroine to visit Grindelwald, although they were less willing to release him to the custody of an 18 year old.
She had sent an owl two days after that fateful battle requesting a visit and on the third day had received her positive reply and a port key.
Nagini had picked out her outfit in what Harry had called girl time. She'd confided in the snake about Kingsley's offer, and the Maledictus had then leaked the information to Harry. In retaliation, Hermione had tried to wear jeans to her visit with Grindelwald. Then when she was in the shower, the snake had soundlessly slithered through the opening in the door and removed the casual clothing.
With no choice, Hermione wore the robes that Nagini had chosen, surprised at how mature she looked in the formal, deep green robes. She swore the snake looked smug, lounging on her bed as Hermione brushed her hair and picked up her wand. The silver of Grindelwald's vision hung conspicuously against the dark fabric and after spending several minutes looking for it, Hermione had to admit that Nagini had hidden her beaded bag too well for it to be found before the port key left.
The entrance must have been high up in some manor or castle because she was afforded a spectacular view of gothic stone architecture on the opposite tower. Heavy purple drapes were pulled back from every window, tied by gold ropes with golden tassels brushing the polished stone floor. A wizard was waiting for her in front of a misty doorway and Hermione strode down the hall with false confidence, the heeled boots that Nagini had picked out clicking on the stone.
He checked her wand, identifying her by age and description, then performed a whole host of detection charms on her. Once it was established that she was free of any disguises or curses, the wizard beckoned and stepped through the arch. She followed uncertainly, hating not being able to see her destination.
They emerged into a three-cell dungeon. The stone walls dividing the cells held the only two sconces which lit the room. Sunlight reflected down a small tunnel, highlighting a semicircle of grey stone. Everywhere else disappeared into flickering shadows and damp corners. The wizard wrinkled his nose at her as he directed her to the end cell and disappeared back through the doorway, leaving her alone.
'Hermione?' Grindelwald's voice drifted from the darkness at the back of his cell. She lit her wand, holding it up to illuminate the small room. The dark wizard was sitting against the back wall and he shielded his eyes when the light flared across the room.
'Gellert!' She exclaimed happily, flicking her wand so that the light soared up to the ceiling and conjuring a blanket so that she didn't dirty her elegant robes as she sat on the ground in front of the cell. The prisoner lowered his arm, blinking rapidly as he acclimatised to the sudden brightness. A smile spread across his face as he saw her sitting there and he pushed himself up, sitting back down closer so that they could talk.
He was wearing the same shirt and trousers that he'd been arrested in; although the usually crisp white shirt had browned slightly with grime from the dirty walls. He was unshaven, which struck her as strange because even after the time he'd spent in Nurmengard he'd not grown a beard. It stood to reason though that he shaved wandlessly then, an action now prohibited by the silver bracelets on each wrist.
'I didn't expect you to come. Is everything progressing well?' He asked and she frowned.
'The Wizengamot easily proved our innocence, Kingsley is temporary Minister for Magic, the laws have changed and muggleborns are coming out of hiding.' She summarised the state of the government briefly and he nodded.
'So you've won.' He finalised, looking downcast despite his statement being one that should be happy.
'Yes, there's about thirty people that have asked to stay in Nurmengard; about ten of whom are war orphans and underage. Lavender volunteered to look after them and Neville has them hard at work cultivating the grounds already. Arthur and Molly Weasley will stay for as long as it takes them to rebuild the Burrow, then they'll move on.' Grindelwald seemed interested, so she nattered on for a bit longer, sharing everyone's plans as they petered out of the castle and returned to their lives.
'What about you?' He asked her seriously and she hesitated nervously. This was one of the main reasons that she had visited him so early.
'Kingsley has offered me the post of Deputy Minister for Magic.' She said uncertainly. One of the things she liked most about Grindelwald was that he was intelligent enough to understand exactly her hesitations and he took the time to think his answers through.
'You'll find very few magically weak wizards are successful leaders, simply because we are hardwired to follow those stronger than us. You will have very little trouble with the demands of the position, the publicity will follow you anyway, particularly when it becomes common knowledge that you duelled Bellatrix and took on Malfoy Manor and Hogwarts with just me for backup. The difficulty will come because of your bloodline, because you don't have the backing of an old family. You'd be successful either way, but you'd become unstoppable if you could win the support of an ancient family.' He finally offered, almost seeming to think aloud.
'There's not many ancient families that are in a position to give support, let alone willing.' She pointed out and he considered for a second or two.
'The Malfoys.' He finally decided, 'It would be reasonably easy to argue to keep them out of Azkaban and they'd be indebted to you. Not to mention that all their houses on British soil have been destroyed.'
'Unlikely. They hate me.'
'Desperation can easily change people's minds and the Malfoys will be very desperate indeed.'
'If I could get Malfoy backing?'
'The wizarding world would be your playground. There's very little that can stop a powerful, muggle born war heroine with the backing of an ancient house. Of course, everything belonging to house Grindelwald is already yours which should help persuade them.'
Hermione considered; several different ideas and plans running through her head. The Malfoys were currently being held in Azkaban and she was fairly sure she could get them released. With their full backing, she should be able to find the evidence she needed to free Grindelwald easily, then she could leave the position once the wizarding world was settled and devote her time to researching advanced magic. Finally she nodded.
'We are of course working on getting you released to Nurmengard. We hope it won't be too long before we can get you out of here.' She added, forgetting the most important bit of news she had. 'They want to inspect the warding on the tower and insist on several ICW guards. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to do away with those bracelets just yet but hopefully we can look at a good behaviour agreement.'
She stopped, realising the Grindelwald was just gaping at her.
'You do want that right?' She suddenly asked, nervous that he'd be upset.
'Of course I do... it's just you've got nothing to gain, I can't understand why you're doing this.' He admitted and she laughed lightly.
'It's because you're my friend, of course I'd fight for you.' Then, deciding that they'd had enough of serious subjects and remembering his complaints over how bored he'd been in Nurmengard without anything to exercise his brain, she pulled out and resized the runes text books that she had tucked inside her robes.
She'd been enrolled in newts and scheduled to sit the exam in autumn; the arithmancy and runes were simple after what they'd accomplished over the summer but she'd misjudged the tedium of working through so many simple translations. She figured a prisoner with nothing else to do would at least appreciate the task. The transfiguration was likewise easy – Grindelwald had taught her far beyond what was required for newts but she was miles behind in astronomy and potions.
She then pulled out an assignment, opened a pot of ink and balanced a clean sheet of parchment on a book. He watched with interest as she straightened the quill that must have ended up under the ink bottle and dipped it in the ink.
'I was wondering if you could help me with a history of magic essay.' She finally explained and he suddenly looked wary.
'I know very little of anything beyond the path of the elder wand through history.' He informed her and she laughed.
'You'll be able to help with this one, trust me.' She said as she held the assignment up to her ball of conjured light. 'Describe in detail the influence of the goblin rebellions on The Dark Wizard Grindelwald.' She read out the first essay question and the wizard opposite her choked.
'None.' He managed to splutter between coughs. 'I didn't take history of magic in school.'
'Wrong, your motto was inspired by the similar motto of the goblin leader Earhawk the Cruel. You also used his escape from custody to help plan your own escape in 1927.' She corrected and he snorted in indignation. Then she read out the next question, 'Evaluate the motivation behind the attempted burning of Paris by Gellert Grindelwald in 1927.' She grinned at the wizard opposite her as he shook his head.
'Why do I suspect my answer will be marked as incorrect?' He muttered and both of them laughed. 'The Lestrange woman ruined my favourite way of sharing visions.' He grumbled, which she scratched down on the paper.
'Actually Gellert, you'll find your real motivations were to demonstrate your power and to officially declare war against the ICW.' She corrected. They laughed their way down her list of questions until the guard came to fetch Hermione. She hugged him through the bars before leaving him with her runes assignment to complete whilst she was away.