Gellert looked up as someone knocked on his door, then he glanced quickly over at the clock above the fireplace. It was fractionally before curfew, very late for someone to be visiting. He touched his hand to the wand on his desk before calling for the knocker to enter. The door creaked as it opened, something he had been careful to cultivate; doors were only silent during peacetime, and the Grindelwald family had never been at peace.
The young Malfoy was his visitor; a nervous, flighty expression on his face. Gellert had wondered when he would come. The boy's correspondence had been lacking since Voldemort's exposure and although Gellert had ranging theories as to why, he had no definitive answer.
'What may I do for you, Draco.' He asked, giving the boy his full attention and pushing his marking aside. It was part of the trick with both Malfoys, they had to feel important. They were important of course, but they needed to be reminded of that constantly. Hermione however, she knew that just because he was looking at something else, didn't mean he wasn't listening to what she was saying.
'It's my father, Sir.' Draco began and sensing that this would be a long conversation, Gellert conjured a chair for him. The student sat, at ease with the fine piece of furniture where Gellert's Gryffindor friends were not.
'Go on.'
'You see, the Dark Lord holds him responsible for the mission at the ministry. He's torturing my mother.' Draco finally choked out. Gellert leaned back in his chair, nodding that he understood. Draco wanted his mother safe, it was obvious, and to do anything otherwise would lose his support, perhaps that of his father with it. Lucius had only vaguely mentioned his demotion, and had not owled since, Gellert had forgotten him when his usefulness expired. Now however, Hermione's words rang in his mind. Perhaps he would have left the Malfoy family to their fate fifty years ago, but now he had to value every life, win loyalty through love. This would certainly cement the youngest Malfoy's loyalty.
'I can extract both your parents; however they will need to live in a safe house, one unknown to their peers. Your manor is compromised.'
'The Dark Lord has access to all the paperwork for the safehouses.' Draco admitted and Gellert had to fight to keep the disapproval off his face. Perhaps it was time to visit the various Grindelwald safehouses, see which the ICW knew of and which had remained secret.
'I will get something in order. Perhaps not of the standard you are used to. Have you a house elf?' Gellert knew they did, they had three in fact, sans the one Harry had freed. Winky had seen to that knowledge but Draco's confirmation couldn't hurt.
He had also learned that the elves could apparate through the wards at the manor which was an almost laughable flaw, perhaps testament to the arrogance of the Malfoys. He dismissed Draco, telling him that he had things to prepare and to return at the same time the next day. It wasn't a lie.
He left the school using the flu, arriving at Grimmauld place. Sirius Black was waiting for him, perhaps alerted by Kreacher. The escaped prisoner had recovered well since their breakout, regaining his strength and muscle, as per Gellert's instructions. He was still a wanted man but not for much longer, if the strings Gellert was beginning to pull worked and once he did get freed... then Gellert would have cemented the loyalty of the two most influential wizengamot houses.
He paused only to pass on what little news he had of the beginning of term, and shared briefly their adventure down to the chamber of secrets, then left through the front door. He apparated quickly to the continent, his first destination the grandest of his family's safehouses, on the assumption that all the estates had been well documented and would certainly be watched. This one was built into the side of a Norwegian Fjord, carved into the very cliff. It was only visible as a narrow slit in the rock, about half way up the face, and was only accessible by broom.
It hadn't been entered in years, the wards untouched, subtle as ever. The door was almost rusted shut, the protest of the lock echoing down the fjord. The enchanted torches flared to life, lighting the cavernous entry hall. Crimson carpet was thick with dust, the Grindelwald wolf hung on banners from the ceiling, the silver thread glinting in the light. He didn't go any further, having seen all he needed to see. This would do in an emergency but was far too large and valuable to be used by a single family.
His next visit was to one of his favourite, this one reached by swimming through an underwater cave. It was perhaps the best hidden, and although large inside it was severely lacking the creature comforts he would hope for. The Malfoys would not use this one either, Gellert decided, running his hand over a stone seat.
The Spanish safe house had been discovered by the ICW, a variant of the caterwauling charm placed around the inconspicuous villa.
He finally had a win with the longhouse. It was freezing, under several feet of snow despite it being summer. This was one of the few he had actually spent a night at, having utilised it whilst searching for the Russian necromancer that was rumoured to own the stone. The thick log walls kept it wonderfully warm once the fire was lit, furs covering the floor to keep feet warm and blankets piled on the beds. It was reasonably grand in a Nordic, Viking kind of way, perfectly suitable for the Malfoy family so long as he could procure international port keys.
It was late by the time he returned to Hogwarts, the Russian safe house ready for its new inhabitants. He awarded the remaining homeworks on his desk a D, because that seemed to be the average standard of essay writing in the second year class and he couldn't be bothered to read them, then he went to bed.
The next day he forced himself to be attentive in lessons, particularly because this was the first lesson where students would encounter mountain creatures. Of course, the Slytherin group botched the entire assignment completely, having failed to consider working as a team. One Gryffindor fourth year decided to 'sacrifice himself' by distracting a hippogriff and the entire exercise had to be paused whilst his fellows convinced him that his severed arm was actually still intact. As usual he was rather pleased when the relatively competent sixth year class arrived after lunch.
They had a double, so they were the only class to complete the entire scenario, including the undead dragon. Hermione's spectacular magic could only have been learned from the book he gave her before the start of term, and he felt a little glow that she had read it, along with the twinge of nervousness that always came when he realised one more of his secrets was exposed. He doubted it would be long before the runes carved into his back came to her attention.
He asked Draco to stay behind after the lesson to a round of 'oohs' from the class. A quick glare silenced that and the students shuffled from the room, chattering about dragons and zombies. A quick perusal of the rumours confirmed that the next lesson would be on inferi – one person actually though inferi ate brains.
'What are we going to do, Sir.' Malfoy asked, already shedding his school robe for something more inconspicuous. Gellert approved.
'Take this broomstick. We're going to fly to Hogsmeade.' Gellert handed him one of the school brooms, which Draco took without complaint, perhaps recognising that the brooms might have to be left behind. They left through the window in Gellert's office, making a slow but steady pace on the old brooms. Gellert's had a slight vibration when he accelerated, and Draco's whined at high altitude, which was more than a little unnerving but usually was only a sign that the air density charm was failing.
They landed outside The Three Broomsticks but Gellert caught Draco's arm before he could go inside.
'Summon your elves.' He instructed and the Malfoy boy did as he was told. All three pitiful creatures appeared with a pop. The female's ears were bandaged and the youngest bore a nasty, fresh curse scar which was visible through the charred hole in its pillowcase.
'Apparate to this address once you have them. Draco, give them this port key. It will take them to and from that location and the safe house.'
'And what will you do, Sir?' The boy asked, nerves making his voice quaver.
'I will be your distraction.' Gellert grinned savagely, disapparating straight to the gates.
He had scouted the manor already, long before term began, so he knew what to expect. The gate opened at a tap from his wand, recognising ancient blood and the wards tickled him as he went through. His mission was to protect the master of the house, and the house recognised that, the maze of hedges that was perhaps meant to be a last defence straightening so that he could straide straight for the house. An albino peacock peered at him as he passed, but otherwise nobody noticed him.
Then he heard a surprised shout, followed by another. Perhaps he had been lucky enough to intrude upon a meeting. Either way, he blasted the front doors off their hinges with a noise like a thunderclap. Splintered wood and twisted metal sprayed across the entry hall, splinters embedding themselves in ancient panting and smashing priceless vases. Purple and green curses sliced through the opening, missing him by meters and he chucked a potion through the doorway. A bang and a flash, then thick yellow gas poured from the room, an agonised scream letting him know that at least someone had breathed it in. He cast a bubble head charm and plunged into the room, someone moved in the thick smog and a hex zinged his way. He ducked underneath it and sent a volley of curses in the direction it had come from. Someone cast a ventus, clearing the smoke and Gellert rolled into the cover of an ostentatious clawed wardrobe.
Someone burst out of the doorway opposite him, saw him and collapsed, wide eyed as his jelly legs jinx hit him square in the chest (blasted Hogwarts students! That was the first spell to come to mind). He followed up with an inversion curse, just to make up for his sissy jelly legs and the screams of his enemy was the perfect distraction as he blasted someone off the top of the stairs with a bolt of lightning.
He dove from behind the wardrobe as it exploded into flames, dashing through the doorway and jumping over the convulsing victim of his inversion curse. He slipped on the dropped wand, grabbed a gold candelabra as he went down and managed to catch himself on a chair. An oriental style couch took a spell from him, then he lobbed the candelabra, transfiguring it into a three headed snake as it flew. Apparently candelabra weren't venomous, but they were certainly good at biting because the death eater howled as the snake plunged through the eye socket of his mask. He didn't bother to disable that one, just left the golden snake to its job as he turned the gas victim into an inferius and sent it lurching up the stairs towards its fellows. Of course, they knew how to deal with it, a healthy roar of fire disintegrating the undead and ceasing just in time for the caster to get a faceful of blinding hex.
Then a green glowing serpent coiled down the stairs, about the size of the basilisk and Gellert knew Voldemort had joined the duel. He sent a wave of power to disintegrate it, scrambled to deflect a jinx and ducked a crucio. Voldemort sent several telltale green curses in his direction and he leapt into the air, levitating himself up to the high ceiling and balancing precariously on the chandelier.
He cast a nox, plunging the room into darkness and effectively disabling everyone other than himself and the other dark lord. He used a revealing charm to show the other people in the room, cursing the glowing figures into unconsciousness, which completely took them out of action, leaving Gellert alone with Voldemort. Neither dark wizard needed the light, so it wasn't relit as Voldemort sliced through the chain holding Gellert's chandelier aloft. He jumped as it plunged, transfiguring the carpet into a cushion and landing with a muffled flump. The chandelier flew towards him and he jumped to the right, forcing the chandelier to keep flying, hurling it towards Voldemort at the top of the stairs. They traded spells, dark terrible mixed with what could only be called innocuous. A slicing charm missed Gellert by inches, slashing his pillow. He distracted the dark lord with a couple of crucios as he turned feathers into metal and flung them up the stairs. China smashed and more wood splintered.
Voldemort hissed. He'd injured him. Gellert followed up by a flurry of various jinxes and hexes. He banished the floorboards beneath Voldemort's feet, forcing the dark wizard to move sideways. More blood was drawn as he was forced to tread on those metal feathers with his bare feet. Gellert meanwhile fell victim to his first injury, courtesy of one of his own feathers. He melted them out of anger, rewarded by the hiss of Voldemort. The varnish burned off the floors with a toxic smoke, leaving both wizards gasping for air and forcing a brief pause. Gellert didn't need to defeat the other dark wizard though – he wasn't in his position, with the advantage. In fact, it was the complete opposite. Malfoy was long gone, or if he wasn't he would have failed anyway, so Gellert ignited the vapour with a spark, grabbed the hand Winky provided and disappeared with a crack as the air exploded where he had just been.