AN: Updating a day early because I hate cliffhangers too…and since I'm writing this part as we go, I didn't know exactly what happened either…as a writer, there were two paths I could take to get to the end of the fic the way I wanted to: two paths diverged in a narrow wood…to quote Robert Frost. This is the path that adds complications to the story, which is always the right path to take if you are a writer. (I might mention it also added word count I wasn't expecting, so expect this to run at least 120k). I'll update by Sunday of next week.

Hermione watched Abraxas carry his wife out of the ballroom with deep suspicion.

Her mind was racing with topical and non-magical aids that might help him survive (things she'd researched in her 'spare' time as she waited for results between experiments).

Surely Helga would wait at least until the child was born? She'd have no part in the Malfoy fortune if there was no heir.

Or was the woman going to kill him simply to get out of a marriage that denied her very nature?

Hermione searched her memories for any hint Draco might have dropped in conversation at Hogwarts. Had Helga raised Lucius alone? Had Helena raised him? What had seeded the hate in his heart?

It was ridiculous to be worried over the future of someone who wasn't even born, but Hermione couldn't help it. Lucius Malfoy had been the cause of a great deal of strife in her last childhood. If she could keep him from choosing the dark…she would weaken it considerably. And she told herself firmly that making certain Lucius had Abraxas was the best way to see to that. She couldn't imagine 'Brax raising someone so narrow minded. Well…perhaps before he'd met her…but not now.

She blanched as she realized he didn't know that she was muggleborn. The issue seemed to fall to the wayside, and it was never even mentioned to her face. With all the teasing that Minerva endured as a half-blood and the reaction to Hagrid, it seemed odd.

Then again, she'd sat right down beside the Slytherin prince after her sorting. She and Tom might be 'orphans' but the others acted like ending up in Slytherin was a free pass. Considering his views on blood, she supposed…

But then why would the hat sort her into Slytherin's nest of snakes? Simply because she'd insisted on being with Tom?

Or was it just because the hat had once belonged to Gryffindor? Sorting her into Slytherin was surely a prank worthy of Fred and George Weasley. A wave of mingled sadness and fondness hit her, thinking of those two. They'd loved her, just the way she was, blood status and all. Most days she was well-adjusted to her new life…after all, all of her old friends had passed on well before she had, except for Neville. She'd had time to be used to people in her life being absent before she agreed to this journey. She found that they rested in her mind in a place where they were forever young and laughing…like an idealized version of themselves during their Hogwarts years. Not that any of them would have wanted to go back to those school days once they were over!

She held in a giggle that would have had one of those slightly hysterical edges to it.

Tom touched her arm, somewhat alarmed at the thoughts he could feel under the surface of her 'public' mind. He didn't push through that upper layer of thought (which was brilliantly controlled for any mind magic, much less one performed by a boy not yet fifteen). She looked up to reassure him…

And felt the full force of a well-cast body bind curse hit both of them.

Her eyes flicked to Jean Marie Bassett as the rest of the room watched the exit Abraxas had made, completely distracted. As if it were planned. He levitated them out the door while pretending to gossip about Helga's 'faint'. No one noticed.

Hermione hadn't been quite this annoyed in some time.

HGHGHGHG

Tom fought the body bind while his body was maneuvered out of the ballroom like a human-shaped trunk.

He was helpless as he watched Hermione lifted through the door by that pawn of Grindelwald's. The French man. The dead man. His lily white hands ghosted over Hermione's body, touching her waist, her back. His eyes were bright with triumph.

Tom's mind seethed with rage he'd forgotten somehow.

He tried to wandlessly remove the curse. He battered the magic with his own power, like hitting a steel wall with fists. It reverberated unpleasantly inside his head. Tom ignored the discomfort, and tried to move his face, his mouth…anything. Nothing worked.

Magic swirled inside him, lashing at the other man's spell. It was dangerous, boiling, angry, and fierce. It lifted his senses to a higher level as he felt the adrenalin hit his system.

He felt like he had lightning in his veins as he fought the curse, suddenly not doubting that he would be the victor.

He heard them before he saw them. Snakes. Dozens of them, answering the pull of his magic. Jean-Marie didn't go far into the garden before he stopped to pull out a letter that Tom assumed was spelled to portkey them wherever Grindlewald wanted them to go.

Jean-Marie took hold of Hermione while his doxy man-handled Tom.

The snakes didn't waste time; but their attack was all wrong. They attacked to free Tom, not Hermione.

He tried to guide them with his face or eyes, but they just swarmed the woman. She screamed and began tossing hexes at the snakes, grazing Tom and hitting her accomplice but rarely landing anything on her slithering attackers. The Frenchman tried to stop her, but in the end he simply abandoned her and grabbed Tom by his collar, which was when the snakes finally struck at him.

Jean Marie was better with a wand, but it only took seconds for him to squeal like a girl and snatch at the letter, holding Hermione near his body, clutching Tom with his other hand.

Hermione managed to undo her body bind and kicked viciously at the man, struggling. But she kicked at the arm holding Tom. Tom's horror at her action gave him the power to finally end the body bind spell, and he pulled away, rolling, reaching out an arm to take Hermione.

He was too late.

With a sudden pop, they were gone. He had nothing but a hand full of empty air.

Deranged, he tackled the woman who was still trying to fend off the snakes. He finally found his wand shoved into her reticule.

His eyes were dark as he stupefied her.

"Don't kill" he warned the snakes as they approached. If anyone had been near, they would have seen that his face was inhumanly cold as he surveyed the hexed woman in front of him. "We have to find out what she knows first."

HGHGHG

Hermione had traveled in many more portkeys in her life than young Jean-Marie; with portkeys, the trick was to control the spin. Hermione did, Jean-Marie was sloppy. She had her wand out of his pocket the instant they landed. She smirked as she stupefied him.

Two burly guards were pointing wands at her, while another dozen were patrolling the landing site. Apparently, she was expected.

She thought, 'Merlin, I hope I know what I'm doing.' She put her own wand into the wrist sheath hidden under the sleeve of her gown. Then she turned to the lead guard. "Well? Do I have to stay here all night? Take me to Gellert Grindlewald."

HGHGHG

She marched between two of the over-muscled guards, absently wondering what Grindelwald was feeding them. It wasn't natural for all him men to be so buff. Wizards generally weren't. These wizards reminded her of old photos of soldiers for communist block countries during the cold war, or idealized uber-men from the Natzi ranks…except it was all of them, and that didn't happen in nature.

They led her through the labyrinth-like castle, not once, but twice: either to confuse her or because they missed the turn and didn't know how to find it without going all the way through the blasted thing again. It wasn't hugely massive, but it was still quite the workout. Perhaps their unnatural fitness wasn't entirely due to questionable potions…

Eventually (though it was perhaps fifteen minutes from when she arrived), they came to a dark, wooden door.

The head goon opened it for her and nodded respectfully as he motioned her inside. Grindlewald's eyes widened slightly from his chair. Apparently he was expecting a very different entrance.

"My dear Miss Granger! How lovely that you could join me tonight. You seem to have made an impression my head guard." His glee was clear on his face as he shut his book with a snap. "Gustev is not easily impressed." He made a show of pouring far too much sugar into his cup as Hermione sat in the chair across from him and helped herself to his tea pot. She felt an odd sense of peace. Whatever happened, Tom was safe. He had Abraxas and Dumbledore. His darkness was still there of course, but it was muted.

She beamed at Grindelwald, knowing that in the larger view of things, she was in no danger. "How lovely of you to invite me. You have your guards well-trained to respond to authority. I simply spoke the right language and he gave me the respect due my rank, whatever he seems to think that rank might be. I did think some of your courtesy was lost in the delivery of the invitation to join you tonight. I've dealt with that issue, I think. Perhaps another reason Gustav likes me."

Gellert Grindelwald cocked his head to the side, positively (and quite literally) on the edge of his seat. "Whatever do you mean?"

She made a quasi-concerned face that did nothing to hide her true feelings. "I'm afraid your errand boy was somewhat rougher than he should have been in delivering your summons. Don't worry, he's merely stunned."

Grindlewald looked like a child on Christmas morning. "Really? I apologize. Shall I reprimand him myself?"

"Perhaps another time. Our time tonight is limited."

His eyes narrowed, but he didn't comment. Instead he leaned back in his chair and made a show of looking around. "Where is your young comrade?"

She shrugged. "Tom is with me on all things of course, but should he be examined, his occlumency is not quite where I would like for it to be for this. I intend to tell him everything. He will be fine once I place a charm on him when I return, but I didn't want him to give the game away too soon."

He put his head in his hand like a fascinated child. "You've changed your mind about Dumbledore."

"I have accepted that he is not the ally I wish him to be. Perhaps, in time. I am not ready to give him up just yet, he's really quite brilliant."

"He'll never side with me."

"I have already begun the process of removing the impediment. He will reconcile with his brother, and they will fight again. He'll be left feeling more isolated than ever and I will be there. The girl that gives him hope; takes tea with him. Who better to understand him than his brilliant student? And I do understand him, you know."

She dangled the bait enticingly…champion of the dark he might be, but Grindlewald was as human as any other man, and he'd surrounded himself with lesser men. It grated on his soul and made him feel stymied and irritable.

The man himself was no fool. He knew she was manipulating him. "How I wish I could trust you Miss Granger." He loomed over her, and she did not enjoy the way he was looking at her. He whispered, "What changed your mind about me pet?" He ran his fingers over her hair, but she didn't let the shudder show, not in her body, not in her eyes.

"Let's not start an arms race with nick-names. If you call me pet, I'll counter with Grindle-wobbly, and it will only escalate from there." He gave another delighted chortle. She was amusing him with her cheek. That was good. Now she just had to keep it up.

"I will send you an owl with the dates of the first Hogsmead weekend. I'll try to bring Tom then, but I can tell you of the progress in my Dumbledore project." She finished her tea and stood. "I do need to be 'found' rather quickly. The Malfoys will not call the Aurors before they extract the information from Jean-Marrie's doxy, but it won't take long. Helena is both skilled and ruthless."

Grindlewald smirked. "Much like her mother then. But whatever makes you think you are leaving pet? I have not agreed to that." He tugged at her and she sat close to him on the settee. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "Because Grindle-wobbly, I'm going to tell you exactly where you can find the resurrection stone, as a sign of good faith."

TRTRTR

Tom stood over the stupid, blubbering woman. Helena's presence had kept the questioning mostly painless for her, but the verataserum was working well.

"He was taking you to Grindlewald. He wants both of you. Something about heirs…or an heir…"

Snot was coming out of her nose as her head hung down. Tom grabbed her mussed hair and jerked hard. Abraxas pulled him off.

The other man was about to ask his mother something when his whole face changed. He and his mother exchanged a look. "Mother?"

Helena's eyes were burning with something. "Go. Find out. But be careful. There is no good reason to let her go."

Tom tried to make his mind understand the implications, but the strain on his adrenals left him feeling slow. His rage had burned so hot and so fast that it had seemingly taken his bones as fuel. The rage was still there, dark embers surrounded by ash, only waiting for him to recover so it could had fuel to rise again.

Abraxas, true to form, did not explain. He simply grabbed Tom and seconds later they were at the edge of the property, where Hermione seemed to be leaning against a tree.

Tom was on her instantly, wand drawn. "What was the name of Hermione's friend, the one who died killing the dark wizard?"

Half her face gave him a tired smile. "My friend's name was Harry. He knew quite a bit about Hallows quests."

Tom enveloped her in his arms, loosing balance and they both ended in the light dusting of snow on the ground, little twigs and leaves crunching under the weight of their bodies. Abraxas laughed and pulled them both up and took his embrace in turn. "Merlin woman. We thought we'd lost you."

She looked around. "You didn't call the aurors did you?"

Abraxas shook his head. "No." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. We don't want to raise a fuss. If Jean Marie returns to London, be certain to extend him invitations as usual."

Tom pulled her back into his arms. "I don't think that will be an issue. He's going to be dead."

She patted his arm absently. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Don't worry? Do you know where they were trying to take you Hermione?"

She snorted. "Where they did take me. Grindlewald spoke with me and let me return."

Abraxas took a deep breath. "Why in Salazar's name would he do that?"

"Because he needs something from me. And I told him exactly how he could get it."