It had taken a great deal of effort to reach the forests unscathed. While Grindelwald was correct, the area was German controlled, there were insurgents everywhere.
As soon as they had apparated to the outskirts of the forest, they were ambushed.
Bullets flew, whizzing by Harry's ears as she cast blocking charms, dodging and ducking. Grindelwald stood tall and proud, blasting them with curses. The glint in his eyes indicating he was determined to kill all of them. Harry grabbed his free arm and dragged him behind her as they ran into the woods, the thicket increasing as they jumped over roots and fallen branches.
She could hear the insurgents screaming orders, their boots crunching the underbrush as they pursued them.
She felt a bullet whizz past her shoulder, and another blast a tree in front of her. They were getting close. Grindelwald continued to shoot curses, and she could see the dinstinctive green glow from the corner of her eye. Harry closed her eyes, hearing a stream in the distance. Knowing it was a risk, she envisioned it in her mind and lifted her wand.
With a pop, they landed by the side of the stream deep into the forest. The canopy was so dense, it was impossible to tell if it was morning or evening. The last curse shot out of Grindelwald's wand and deep into the expanse of trees.
Harry groaned as she felt a deep gash in her arm. It seemed she had splinched herself badly.
Grindelwald frowned. He took off his jacket and ripped off one of the sleeves of his shirt. He retrieved a small vial from his coat pocket and dipped the fabric in the potion. In a fluid motion, he wrapped the makeshift bandage on Harry's wound, causing her to yelp in pain.
"Quiet, they'll hear you and your little stunt will have been for nothing," Grindelwald whispered. He quickly scanned their surroundings, taking in every sight and sound. "We seem to be quite a ways from where we were. Do you know this part of the forest well?"
"Not at all, I just heard the stream and I imagined its source." Harry replied, wincing in pain.
"Imagined? And you've never been here? I'm surprised we're still in the same forest at all." Grindelwald replied sourly. He raised his wand and it emitted a small blue light. "Yes, we're still in the forest alright. Lucky for you your lack of specificity in your apparition meant we were taken to the point of highest magical resonance."
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"That means this place has the highest level of magical activity. The most available potions ingredients, perhaps some wand trees, and more importantly magical lifeforms. And that doesn't just mean witches and wizards. We're in a veritable ecosystem of magical life." Grindelwald replied respectfully, his inner academic briefly reemerging.
"So the giants?" Harry asked.
"Yes, this is the heart of giant country, we must be careful." Grindelwald raised Harry up with her good hand and helped her regain her balance. Harry knew she could have used the cloak to easily pass through, but the less Grindelwald knew about its existence the better. If she needed to use it as a bargaining chip she would, but only as a last resort.
"Then we best be quick about this," Harry agreed, letting go of his hand. "I'll take the left side of the forest, you take the right. We'll check for any trees with hollows and see if anything is inside."
"Are you sure there will be anything there after all these centuries?" Grindelwald asked skeptically.
"Oh, I know it's here, I'd be willing to wager my soul on it." Harry replied wryly.
Grindelwald frowned. "That's not something to say lightly. Either way, I'm not leaving you. We're finding this blasted thing together or not at all. You can't get away from me so easily."
He grabbed her injured arm tightly, causing her to wince again.
They searched for hours, Harry casting Lumos and looking deep into the trees in vain. It seems most holes were too small for the diadem, but she still looked and stuck her arm inside. Of course she was left with some nasty bites from bowtruckles and a rather peevish marten.
"I don't suppose you're going to help me?" Harry asked in annoyance.
"You seem to be doing well on your own, my dear." The Dark Lord smirked in amusement.
"I'm surprised you're still here, isn't this a waste of your time?" Harry asked, plunging her arm into another tree only to find nothing.
"I wouldn't call it that. You've provided me with what I've been searching for so easily when I had been unable to trace it for decades, and you claim you want nothing to do with me. It's a puzzle, and I aim to solve it."
"As I've said before, it's in out mutual interests. But that doesn't mean by giving you the Stone I'm going to become a Nazi." Harry plunged her arm into another tree and recoiled as she felt a nest of lizards crawling inside.
"I'm not a Nazi," Grindelwald replied indignantly.
Harry laughed. "You most certainly are! Or have I ended up in another universe where the Third Reich never existed?"
"Nazis are Muggles. I'm beneath such political labels." Grindelwald answered.
Harry looked at him in exasperation. "You obviously aren't stupid, or you wouldn't have gotten this far. If you're in bed with the Nazis, you are one. You're letting them use you by entwining your cause with theirs and promising them magic to win the war."
"All empty promises. They can have the idea of a magical partnership, but I have the benefit of controlling them, and their destruction will plant the seeds for a brighter future for us all."
"One where you are in supreme control." Harry concluded. "You care just as much for the magicals as you do for the muggles, you don't need to try your propaganda on me."
Grindelwald's eyes flashed with rage as he pointed the Elder Wand at her. Harry shook in fear, and closed her eyes. Hesitantly, she opened one, and noticed Grindelwald lower his wand.
"I can't seem to kill you," Grindelwald mumbled in half-repressed rage and terror. "It's as if It won't let me." His hand shook as he gripped tightly to the wand. "What have you done?" he hissed.
"Nothing." Harry replied, staring at the wand. It couldn't know she had become the Master of Death, however briefly she held that title. It wasn't as if the Hallows had omniscience.
Grindelwald took note of a herd of chamois drinking at the stream and shot a Killing Curse at the closest animal. Silently, it fell over, its body floating in the water.
"Was that necessary?" Harry asked.
"So it's just you," he muttered. Grindelwald was tense, his muscles tight and contracted, poised and ready to strike
Harry held her breath and waited. Grindelwald snarled, but blasted a nearby tree. Harry screamed as the splinters of wood flew everywhere, piercing her skin and clothes.
Harry opened her eyes, grateful a splinter had not gotten lodged in her cornea. Grindelwald looked a sight covered in floating bits of tree bark. He seemed to have calmed down, but she could tell his rage was simmering.
"Right. I think we'll try one more tree and then…" Harry noticed the glint in the light in the remains of the blasted tree. "It can't be."
She ran over to the base of the shattered tree and grabbed at the reflective object. It was metallic, and as she held it up she knew she had it. "Yes!" Harry shouted.
Grindelwald strode over towards her and grabbed the diadem, examining it carefully. "Well I'll be damned. It really is Ravenclaw's." He caressed the inscription, Orfanc begeondan eln sy mannes heáhlandrícan.
Harry snatched the diadem from his hand. "Now that we've gotten what we've came for let's get out of here."
Grindelwald was about to say something when the ground started to shake violently. Harry grabbed the base of the tree and Grindelwald grabbed onto her, his wand out and ready to attack.
"Is it an earthquake?" Harry shouted.
Suddenly, light burst from the sky as Harry shielded her eyes to the brightness. As she adjusted, she noticed that the trees were gone, pulled apart by their roots.
"Worse." Muttered Grindelwald.
Harry looked up to see three incredibly large giants. Their grey skin shining in the sunlight, their dark matted hair covering their faces. Their mouths red with blood, headless chamois in their massive pudgy hands.
Harry remembered Grawp, and Hagrid was right, he was a runt. They were twice his size, and certainly did not look as friendly.
"Um, Hello." Harry shouted, much to the giant's confusion.
"Are you trying to converse with them?" Grindelwald asked angrily. "They're more likely to pull your head off than understand you!"
"Oh shush," Harry commanded. She frowned. Did giants speak Albanian or their own language? Either way, she didn't know how to speak it. She gave herself a moment to breath, the giants stared at her curiously.
Harry pointed at the headless chamois in their hands. "Food! Me give you food."
The giants looked at her in confusion. Harry sighed. She was going to have to think fast.
She cast her Patronus and as the silver stag galloped into the forest, the giants followed in awe their steps shaking they ground as they hurried towards it.
"Well that could have gone worse." Grindelwald replied, frowning. "We better leave before they realise that wasn't a real stag." He grabbed her hand and dragged her away. "We shouldn't risk apparating until your would heals. Lets get closer to the edge of the forest and set up camp for the night."
They made it towards a clearing at the edge of the forest by nightfall, and they could see a village in the distance.
As they set up camp, Harry started a fire and opened a can of beans and some salt beef. Grindelwald conjured a pot out of a rock and cast Aguamenti. He took out what looked to be a pocket of herbs and placed it inside.
"Making a potion?" Harry asked as she added more kindling.
"Tea." Grindelwald replied simply.
They ate their meal in silence, watching the sun set on a bright pink sky as the lights in the village started to ignite one by one. The embers of their fire were beginning to die, and the glow of their campfire was all that was keeping them warm. In the dim light, Harry thought the Dark Lord looked almost fae, ethereral and otherworldly in his appearance. The fire reflected in his eyes as he stared at it intently, and she would have given anything to know what he was thinking, what were his next plans.
He looked at their camp. "I see you didn't pack a tent."
"I don't need one," Harry replied simply, placing her blanket on the floor.
Grindelwald sighed and took off his outer jacket, transfiguring it into a basic tent. He placed two sticks to support it, and wrapped it with twine he transfigured. "Get in. And don't make some protest over your pride, it's going to get colder once it gets dark. Plus, I'm not keen on getting eaten by a lynx."
Harry looked at the tent hesitantly, and heard the rustling of the woods. Nearby she could hear the screech of an unknown animal. She could sleep by herself unguarded. She was Harry Potter after all, but it would probably be safer with someone else nearby, even if that someone had tried to kill her only hours ago. Harry felt the chill of the night wind across her thin dress and shivered. Slowly, she walked up to the tent and climbed in.
"I see you had some sense after all." He replied. He had taken off his shirt, and he was in his undershirt and pants. His outer clothes were neatly folded by the side of his makeshift bed.
Harry ducked and crawled into the tent by his side, turning her back towards him. "It is sensible to share this tent, but don't get the wrong idea."
"Rest assured, I can be quite the gentleman." He replied, teasing her. He rested his hand on the shoulder of her injured arm, running his fingers over her bandage. "Do you need to change the linen?"
"I think it will be fine until morning," Harry squeaked, unsure of this sudden change in Grindelwald's manner.
He moved his hand up her shoulder and squeezed it, his hand running down her back while his thumb pressed into her shoulder blades, gently massaging them. "Oh come now, Harry. I'm sure we are past these formalities. You shouldn't feel so self-concious around me. I'm sure you aren't comfortable sleeping in that."
"I don't have any night clothes," Harry replied tersely.
"You don't need them," he replied. Harry blushed, causing him to laugh.
"Oh you English are such prudes. However, if you chose to remain in your muddy clothes, it's no concern of mine."
Harry thought about it. If she kept on her dress, Grindelwald was likely to check her pockets and find the cloak. If she kept him distracted, maybe he wouldn't have a chance.
Harry sat up and while still facing away from him, turned her head and smiled seductively. Slowly, she undid the buttons on her dress one by one. Sensually, she slid the dress off her shoulders and let it fall off of her, exposing her bare shoulders and her bra. She pulled the dress of and hastily crumpled it to the side, trying not to give it any importance as she focused her attention on the man in front of her.
He laughed. "Well, I see you've changed your mind."
"I see you've changed yours," Harry replied, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She gently kissed him, squealing as he grabbed her tightly and pushed her down on the floor, kissing her passionately, his hands running down her body, pulling off her underwear.
"You intrigue me. I'm not sure what it is that made the Hallows chose you, but I'm not going to let you go. Also, I'd be remiss to say I don't admire your beauty." As his hands explored inside her, Harry gasped, then moaned in pleasure. He kissed her hungrily before kissing her neck, her stomach, and downward.
Harry had plenty of questions, but she couldn't think of any of them as the evening progressed.