Welcome to Cinders, people! This story is slightly AU as Hermione's time-travelling has altered the time-line a little bit. A few changes has been taked, I hope you can enjoy the story.

Huge thanks to my beta Cobalt Silver Foster. She's amazing!

Desclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and OOC characters. All belongs to the to the wonderful and amazing JK Rowling

Summary: For Gellert Grindlewald, the future would be...The world in peace, with him guiding humanity to greatness. Everyone looking up to him, basking in his power.

"What about your enemies?" Albus had asked him.

His enemies would join him, he would make them join him. If not, he would eradicate them.

"What about love?"

Love? What a useless subject. No, he did not have time to love.

~ Cinders ~

Prologue

Somewhere, United Kingdom,1926

Thunder stormed, black clouds rolled against the sky, grey, with just a line of white, far away on the very edge on of the horizon. A storm was brewing, it seems there would rain soon. The wind was also blowing up, slightly chilly.

"Everyone, in position." The voice was cold, calm and emotionless.

A woman, shrouded in a long grey cloak. She was hooded, and a black mask covered nearly half of her face, standing in the shadows. Around her, covering nearly every alley way, aurors stood, hidden away, wands at the ready, pointing discretely towards the main street.

The silence was strained, the air laced with anticipation and anxiety. The woman's relaxation and ease was a sharp contrast to the aurors, all of whom were on their highest guards, bracing themselves against the onslaught that would soon occur.

Faint popping of apparition sounded in the street, and in several swirls of robes, more than thirty acolytes of Grindelwald had appeared. Spells were already being fired before they had all arrived, and the silence was shattered as bright beams of red, yellow and sickly green sliced through the air casting bright colours that lit up the muskiness of the day. Two men fell before they even had time to recover from the apparition, tumbling down onto the street, robes pooling around them, dark like blood. Their fellow acolytes spun to where the aurors were hiding, their teeth bared, eyes wild and ferocious. A harsh cry of "Avada..." sounded, and the battle began.

Cries of surprise, roars, screams were heard, all molding into a pitch as the aurors attacked, leaping from their hiding places and surrounding the unexpected squad. It was a good thing that the ministry had already vacated the streets before they arrived.

They were quite equally matched, Grindelwald's acolytes slightly out-numbered the aurors, yet they lacked the training of professionals, though using a variety of dark curses evened things up. Yet the aurors were prepared, trapping the acolytes in a circle, their leader, Ivermhov, in the centre. The air stilled for a moment, as each side eyed the other up, the silence stretching into what seemed like eternity. The woman prior, was nowhere to be seen. Yet the aurors seemed to be holding their own quite well, the acolytes are cornered, desperate.

Then one of the acolytes yelled in fury, casting a cruciatus at one of the aurors, breaking the silence, and the battle renewed.

Ivermhov fought the hardest. Dueling three aurors at a time, he was a ferocious one, teeth bared, he clearly enjoyed what he was doing, casting unforgivable after unforgivable, battering the aurors' weaker defenses with sheer power, they were almost at his mercy. They were losing.

"Flastaf, Weasley, Volkav, back off!" A woman's voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and without a second's hesitation, the three aurors in question cast shield charms, protecting them as they left the battle with Ivermhov, joining the others in battles, and taking their opponents by surprise.

Ivermhov turned to see who the speaker was. A woman, wearing an unbuttoned grey cloak, billowing behind her in the slight winds. Her hood had fallen off, her night-black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a mask covered her features. She didn't have a wand.

"Who are you." Ivermhov gave her a once-over, and laughed mockingly. "You should be in school, lassie, battle-field is for grown wizards, not for ikle school girls like yourself." He lazily tossed a cruciatus at her. "Maybe this shall teach you about messing around." He sneered.

Her lips twisted slightly, sidestepping the spell easily. She didn't reply to his mocking, and he was suddenly caught by surprise as with a flick of her wrist, thick black rope appeared out of nowhere and he was bounded, kneeling before her. Wand-less magic. It had been only mere second and he was defenseless. Powerful. Quick. Fear suddenly seeped into his heart.

"Lesson one, Ivermhov, never underestimate you opponent." She drew out her wand, and fired a non-verbal cruciatus, sending him screaming.

"Lesson two, don't get distracted." She muttered something, and instantly, cuts appeared all over his body, bleeding red blood. His voice was already horse from yelling, and his wand was nowhere to be seen. She stepped toward him, looking down at the man. Despicable, weak. She nudged him with a booted foot, and he groaned pitifully. Worthless.

Just then, Weasley ran over to where the two were. He had a fresh cut on his cheek, and he was slightly bruised, but other than that, he seemed alright. His eyes wandered to the man at her feet, his face paling slightly. He dragged his gaze away.

"My lady, they have all been captured."

"How many." Her wand was still trained on Ivermhov as she asked.

"Thirty-one. A couple ran away, and five were killed."

"How many casualties on our side?"

"Just one, my lady. Suphpec, he was killed dueling Rosier. She was one of those who escaped."

The woman thought for a moment, before waving a hand, dismissing him, "Take the others then, I'll finish this one off."

Weasley was puzzled, "Shouldn't he be kept for questioning?"

She smiled slightly, cold and ruthless. "I'll question him here. He won't lie."

"Question the others one by one under veriteserum if you'd like." she added uncaringly.

Weasley left.

The woman turned to him, her grey eyes were cold and hard as steel. "Sectumsempra."

She tortured him, enjoying it, again and again until he was a shaking puddle at her feet, answering to every question she had for him. He wasn't a hard nut to crack, though the information he gave wasn't very satisfying. It was clear he wasn't one of the inner-circle.

"Lesson three, think twice." There was no emotion in her voice as she said the two words that ended the wizard's life.

"Avada Kedavra." The man lay still.

There would be no use for him.

The woman surveyed the battle-ground, now being repaired by the aurors.

"Tell Minister Fawley that I would be at the ministry tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. I shall receive no visitors until then."

She disappeared in a flurry of robes. Leaving Weasley and the others gaping in her wake.

I hope every one enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave an review, I love to read them and hear about your ideas.

The next chapter will be up soon.

~ Jasmine