"We should go inside," said Grindelwald to Harry and gestured to Hermione the same. Hermione hesitated, but she followed Harry and Grindelwald inside the house.

"I apologise for what I did," said Grindelwald looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded not sure if she should accept the apology. As they entered the house, Hermione's eyes fell to the death eaters, but she only gave a quick glance and went ahead. Harry sat down on the couch and gestured to Hermione to have a seat. She hesitated for a moment but sat down.

"Tea, Harry? Miss Granger?" asked Grindelwald.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Sure, thanks," replied Hermione.

They both sat on the couch awkwardly. There was silence all around and after a few minutes, Harry spoke up.

"So, you came because you saw the dark mark?" asked Harry.

"Uh.. Yeah," replied Hermione. After a few seconds of silence, she added, "I'm glad you're alive"

"Me too, all thanks to Uncle G," said Harry.

A more awkward silence followed, but there was a look on Hermione's face which was one filled with doubt and confusion. After a few moments, she spoke up.

"Why did the death eaters attack you?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. His eyes brightened up and he continued, "That's a really good question. Why did they attack? They didn't even seem to know us," he said.

"And how do you know about the death eaters? The other day, your Uncle kidnapped me, just because he thought I was one. All the way here, thousands of miles away from England, how do you all know about You-Know-Who?" she asked. Harry was stumped by this question. He knew the answer to the question, but he would not be able to answer it without revealing certain things about himself. Just as he was struggling to come up with an answer, Grindelwald came into the hall, carrying a tray with biscuits and a pot of tea. He poured each of them a cup of tea and handed it to them.

"Miss Granger, You-Know-Who is a powerful dark wizard that has killed a lot of people. The last time he was in power, the whole continent knew who he was. Now that he's back in the ascendancy, people are reminded of the old times," replied Grindelwald. Hermione did not respond to what Grindelwald said. They drank their tea in silence, and as they finished, Hermione decided that it was time for her to leave.

"What about the bodies?" asked Hermione looking at Grindelwald and Harry.

"I'll take care of them," replied Grindelwald.

"Make sure You-Know-Who never finds out," she said. Grindelwald nodded. "Time for me to go," she said.

"I'll see you out," said Harry. Harry and Hermione got up and made their way out of the house.

"I'll be here till Sunday, so, 3 more days," said Hermione.

"Oh! Cool," replied Harry.

"You know, I came all the way here, with my parents, to enjoy whatever time is left, and here I am talking to the survivor of the death eaters," said Hermione, looking dejected.

"Whatever time is left?"

"People are dying every day and people like me are in front of the queue," she replied.

"People like you?" asked Harry.

"Harry! My parents aren't wizards, I'm a muggle-born," she replied. They bid each other goodbye and Harry came back inside.

"She has been through a lot, that girl," said Grindelwald. "Didn't even flinch, seeing the dead bodies," he added. Harry and Grindelwald stayed alert for the entire day, but nothing happened. Harry asked Grindelwald many times, why they were attacked, but Grindelwald did not have any explanation.

"Master Potter, the only thing I can think of, and this is unlikely, but I think perhaps, the Dark Lord's name is a taboo. If I remember correctly, you mentioned his name just before the Death Eaters arrived."

Harry thought long and hard trying to remember the events leading up to the Death Eaters' arrival, but his memory was clouded by what had happened next. The next day, after much deliberation, Harry was allowed to go out.

"Be very careful, Master Potter," said Grindelwald.

"Uncle G, I'll be fine, the Death Eaters are not going to come for me in a crowded place in broad daylight," said Harry reassuringly. Grindelwald knew that daylight and crowds didn't matter to the Death Eaters, but did not protest further.

Harry cycled his way to the lake to meet Magnus and Kristin.

"Hey Harry!" said Magnus the moment Harry reached.

"Magnus! Kristin!" exclaimed Harry as he gave them both a polite hug.

"Where were you yesterday?" asked Kristin as they sat down.

"Yesterday? I was reading a book, lost track of time," lied Harry.

"You and your books," smirked Magnus.

The gang played football with a bunch of other kids that were playing near the lake, then they went for a swim. A few hours passed blissfully for Harry. As much as he loved Magic, and training with Grindelwald, his time with Magnus and Kristin was something he cherished with his whole heart. They were his best friends and whatever they did together, it was always fun and time flew by in the blink of an eye.

"I'm famished," said Kristin.

"Yeah, so am I," said Magnus.

"Let's go and get something to eat," added Harry. The gang made their way from the lake to a small restaurant they knew very well. It had great food and it also gave the gang small discounts as they were regular visitors. The moment they entered the restaurant, Harry's eyes fell on Hermione who was sitting with her parents in the back of the restaurant. As the gang ate their way through the delicious food, Harry kept an eye on Hermione. Both of them had caught the other staring at them at various points during their meal. So, when the gang had done eating, Harry decided that he'd make an excuse to go home and go and talk to Hermione.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," said Magnus yawning.

"Look at this guy, yawning in the middle of the day," teased Kristin.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," said Magnus.

"I think I am going to go home," said Harry.

"Why? Do you have something to do?" asked Magnus, there was a twinkle in his eye.

"No… I uh..." fumbled Harry but Magnus interrupted him.

"Our boy is bad at lying," said Magnus looking at Kristin and they started laughing.

"Why are you two laughing?" asked Harry bemused.

"Harry! If you think we haven't noticed you staring at that girl over there, you are mistaken," said Kristin giggling.

"I wasn't staring at her," said Harry, trying to sound as genuine as possible.

The laughter continued for a few seconds and then Magnus said, "Bye Harry! See you tomorrow"

As Magnus and Kristin left, Harry sat at the table thinking what he should do next. Fortunately for him, Hermione's parents got up after a few minutes and left the restaurant leaving Hermione behind. The moment they left, Harry looked at Hermione to see what she was doing, and to his surprise, she seemed to be doing exactly the same. So, after a few gestures with the hand by both parties, Harry and Hermione came out of the restaurant together.

"Hi Harry!" she said.

"Hi Hermione!" he greeted back.

"Any trouble since yesterday?"

"No, nothing has happened," he replied.

"Nice" replied Hermione. By now, they had started walking. "So, any idea why you guys were attacked?" she asked.

"Not a clue! Uncle G said that perhaps Vold… You-Know-Who has had his name jinxed," he replied.

"Oh! That's possible," she said.

"Tell me about Hogwarts," said Harry suddenly.

"What about it?"

"Anything, what's it like? How are the professors? What all subjects do you have?" asked Harry excitedly. Seeing the excitement in Harry, Hermione decided to tell Harry a bit about Hogwarts. She told him about the various subjects they have, the OWLs and NEWTs, the library, the ghosts amongst other things.

"I dropped out of divination in my 3rd year, it's just random guessing. But I like transfiguration, ancient runes and potions. Snape teaches Potions, but apart from that, the subject is actually interesting. Professor Flitwick is great too, he always answers my doubts properly. Transfiguration is taught by Professor McGonagall..." said Hermione and paused indefinitely. The excited tone of Hermione had now changed to one of sadness. "This year, Transfiguration will be taught by someone else, we're yet to find out," she said.

"What happened to Professor McGonagall?"

"She died 3 months back," replied Hermione.

"What?" asked Harry shocked.

"Yeah, Hogwarts was attacked last year. Some 20 death eaters managed to get inside the castle, no one knew how and attacked the students and professors. The Aurors arrived, but by then a lot of damage was done. We lost 2 Professors, Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. A lot of kids from all the houses lost their lives too," replied Hermione. Harry was shell shocked hearing this. He hadn't known that Hogwarts was attacked. As they walked, there was silence between the 2 which lasted a few minutes.

"Was You-Know-Who there?" asked Harry.

"No, but we know that he was behind the attack. The Death Eaters all but confirmed that he was back. The vast majority of the population is not ready to accept this though," she replied.

"What do you mean? Do people not know that he's back?" asked Harry.

"How do you know that he's back?" asked Hermione in reply.

"I know because Uncle G told me that he was back," replied Harry.

"We were told by Dumbledore at the end of year feast, well not a feast, but you know, last day basically. But the Ministry is not ready to believe Dumbledore. The problem is, none of us actually saw him come back. How Dumbledore knows, I don't know, but we believe him," replied Hermione. The sun was shining brightly, there was a cool breeze flowing and it was a pleasant climate. The two of them had walked a couple of mile by now, but neither of them felt like stopping.

"So, Harry, I presume you are a wizard too?" asked Hermione.

"I am," replied Harry.

"Is there a wizard school in Iceland?" asked Hermione surprised.

"No, there isn't one," replied Harry.

"So, where do you go to school?"

"I go to muggle school," replied Harry.

"Muggle school? What about your wizard training?" asked Hermione shocked.

"Uncle G trains me," replied Harry.

"He trains you? But why not go to a wizard school? You'll get proper training there. And what does he train you in?" asked Hermione.

"He's a great teacher. We mostly train in duelling, a bit of transfiguration now and then," replied Harry.

"But what about other things? Magical creatures, History of Magic, Potions etc?" asked Hermione. But Harry had no response to that. Harry had only ever focused on the books that he got to read apart from the training that Grindelwald gave him. After a few minutes, Hermione spoke again, "You should tell your Uncle to send you to a wizard school, there's so much to learn."

"I will never go to a wizard school," replied Harry quite harshly. Hermione was taken a bit aback by his tone and hence decided not to prod him about it. There was silence between the 2 for a few minutes. Harry spent those few minutes thinking about what he should and shouldn't tell Hermione. Hermione had been the only person in his life, though very briefly, who he could talk to about the magical world, the fact that he lost his parents to a dark wizard, but he was also wary of telling her more than he should. Hermione had been after all known to him for hardly a few days. After much deliberation, he decided to tell her some things about him, but keep others to himself.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to be rude," he said. Hermione nodded and gave him a quick smile. Taking the cue, Harry continued, "It's not that I don't want to go to Hogwarts, I'd love to go to Hogwarts or any other wizard school for that matter," he gave a pause and stopped walking. And then he continued, "I haven't told anyone about this, Uncle G knows of course, but none of my friends does. For the majority of my life, I thought my parents passed away in a car accident. But, they didn't die of any car accident, they were killed by You-Know-Who, all those years ago, when I was a baby," finished Harry.

"Oh! Harry, I'm so sorry," said Hermione and gave him a tight hug. "I didn't know, I mean, I saw you the other day, and I noticed that you didn't live with your parents, but I did not have the heart to ask you about it," she said.

"And that's why I don't live there. Uncle G and… well, it was decided that I grew up here," he said. There was an air of sadness between the 2 and at that particular moment, neither one of them wanted to breathe it. Slowly, the conversation moved on from death and sadness to fun and enjoyment. Hermione told Harry all about Hogsmeade and all the shops in it. She also told Harry about quidditch, and the house cup and how Gryffindor hadn't won one in ages. The Weasley twins too made an appearance in the discussion. Harry on the other hand told Hermione about the fun things kids did in that town. Harry did not have much to say that Hermione didn't already know, but those stories did help in changing the mood considerably. They had just reached a garden when Harry started telling Hermione stories about his childhood, about his muggle school, his best friends Magnus and Kristin and so on. Through these conversations, Harry and Hermione discovered their shared interest in reading. Hermione's interests lied towards education and research, whereas Harry's interests in the books were more knowledge-oriented. And once the discussion moved towards books, Harry was in his element. He was pleasantly surprised by the number of books that Hermione had read. They shared some of the most bizarre and interesting facts with each other. It seemed like time had flown by instantly when they were finally done with the topic of books. As they sat there staring at the beautiful sky, Hermione decided to ask Harry about his parents.

"Do you miss them?" she asked. Harry looked at her confused, so she added, "I mean, you parents, do you miss them?"

"I don't know, sometimes I wish they were here. I guess I just miss the notion of them. I was way too young when they died, and I have very little recollection of them. But Uncle G, he's fantastic. I have rarely had days where I have truly missed my mother or my father, and he's the sole reason for that," replied Harry. Hermione smiled at him and they continued staring at the beautiful sky when Hermione got another question to ask him.

"Why do you call him Uncle G?" asked Hermione.

"That's his name, G is short for Grindelwald. Uncle Grindelwald is too big so Uncle G," replied Harry but he noticed how Hermione's face changed upon hearing his reply. "Hey, what happened?" he asked.

"Grindelwald? Your Uncle's name is Grindelwald?" she asked, looking puzzled and worried.

"Yeah," replied Harry curiously.

"Harry, what is your Uncle's full name?" she asked, getting up from the ground.

"Gellert Grindelwald," replied Harry as he got up too.

"Are you serious? You can't be serious!" said Hermione, there was a tremble in her voice.

"Hermione! What's going on? Yes I'm serious, that's his name," replied Harry.

"Grindelwald was and still is one of the darkest wizards to have ever lived. Before You-Know-Who was around, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in the great wizarding war. How do you not know who Grindelwald is?" asked Hermione. Harry's head was spinning. He had never once come across the name Grindelwald in any of his books. He remembered all the times he had asked Uncle G about his past, and he remembered all of his answers. Surely he couldn't be the same dark wizard that Hermione was talking about. Maybe they just shared the same name. Harry stood rooted for a few minutes before he spoke up.

"I need to go home," said Harry and left without saying another word.