She would be an immensely powerful witch, Gellert decided. His first accidental magic had been to set fire to his bedroom, and the force of his spell had been a point of pride to his mother. Accidentally performing international apparition... not to mention somehow bypassing all the wards of the castle. That was a feat that put his to shame.
She was not of superior upbringing. She knew too little for even a language difference to excuse and her expression had been one of indulgence when he showed her his magical zoology book. But that had never been of much concern to his family, they worshipped power and matches were made between the powerful with no consideration for their ancestry. Unlike those foolish 'sacred 28' who weakened their lines and magic with such unimportant selectivity.
So long as she could adapt and was willing to learn the ancient traditions, his mother would be more than happy for them to be companions. In fact, she would probably sponsor the young witch. After all, accidental international apparition before she'd even received her wand was nothing to be scorned.
He tapped his own wand against his desk and refocused on the task at hand before his tutor could notice his distraction. The runic declensions of Seth sat before him, elegantly written by his tutor. His own scratchy calligraphy filled the spaces beside them. A cane cracked into the deck in front of him.
'Time is up.' His tutor purred. 'Fifth declension.'
The sheet was snapped away from his sight and Gellert squinted into space.
'Ichi Seth, Gor Set, Par, Der Sethe...' he paused again, wracking his brain.
'Quickly now. Decline Tehth.'
'Ichi Tehth, Gor Teht, Par, Der Tehthe, Zu Tehto...' the cane snapped across his knuckles.
'No, you were not concentrating. Zu Tehtus, Sine Tehto. Again, Seth.'
Gellert suppressed a groan and recited Seth, then Tehth, then moved on to Crath and Shuth until runic words were flying around his head in abstract patterns and making no sense at all. He had a vague awareness of the meanings of each word, but he couldn't remember if Crath was house or fire and he really hoped the lesson would end soon before he was asked.
'Dismissed.' Finally, 'I will see you at 9 for astronomy.'
Gellert had bowed his way out before the tutor had even finished speaking. Tuesdays were his favourite day; with Astronomy in the evening he got the whole afternoon to spend as he wished. He rushed up to his room to grab a cloak, only just managing to maintain a steady speed the whole way. Just because he couldn't wait to see his Kelpie didn't mean he was willing to risk being caught running in the house.
He dashed to his wardrobe and pulled out his riding cloak and a hat, throwing it over a chair and fingers fumbling to unbutton his shirt. His free hand scooped a darker coloured one from his dresser, and he was about to shrug the item off completely when a shy voice greeted him from across the room.
He jumped and spun to face her, snatching his shirt shut again.
'Hermione... Fräulein Granger...' he stuttered, cheeks flaring pink. She blushed delicately and offered to look away, to which he hastily agreed, diving behind the screen he'd never used to finish changing.
He quickly pulled on riding clothes, emerging a moment later to find her still sitting on his bed, legs crossed beneath one of the strange short skirts she had worn last time. He looked away quickly before he could be caught staring at the pale strip of skin between her tall socks and the hem of her skirt.
'Are you going?' She asked shyly in faltering German. He nodded, and she looked a little crestfallen. So he offered for her to come with him. She jumped up eagerly, brushing her skirt straight - which did nothing to hide her knees - and looked at him expectantly.
'You have a cloak?' He asked vainly. She obviously didn't have anything except what she was wearing. At least, he decided, turning back to his wardrobe, he could give her a full length cloak which would cover that ridiculously short skirt. He dug around for a moment before finally finding one of his old ones. It was rough enough to be worn riding, but not so rough that she would be embarrassed to wear it. He pulled a fur hat out too, it was too warm for one still, but he could hardly expect a young woman to be out with a boy's cap, let alone bare headed.
The witch twirled the cloak around her shoulders with a happy grin and pulled the hat over her head. She looked like a proper German girl with her two thick braids and the fur hat snug on her head.
She loved the walk down to the gardens, gasping at every portrait they passed and stopping to look at suits or armour. He was itching to get outside, but was happy listening to her muttering away in English as she spotted each new wonder. His mother wouldn't catch them, she never deigned to set foot in the children's wing, so they meandered down through the hallways and spiral staircases. He took a secret underground passageway to bypass the gardens - they'd never get away, and with her curiosity would almost certainly run afoul of a Creeping Rose.
The stables themselves were large and he breathed in the scent of fresh hay. The four sleipnir that pulled the carriage stuck their heads over their doors, whuffing their honeyed mead smelling breath across his face. Hermione gaped up at their massive grey heads, then crouched to look beneath the doors at their eight feet.
'Sleipnir.' She whispered, then hurried to the next set of stalls. These held the Granians, his mother's riding horses. They were fast and sleek, dappled with white and silver across their grey coats. His mother perhaps came as close to loving these steeds as she ever had to a living thing, and they had the largest stalls so that they could spread their wings.
He passed the Granians and went straight to the last stall. This one smelled of damp; a small, deep pond that he had conjured himself was the only feature. He picked up a small square of meat from the stasis barrel at the end of the hall and tossed it into the pond. It landed with a small plop and floated, ripples bouncing outwards from it.
Hermione climbed up the door a little so that she could see in, huffing a little at the effort of clinging on.
Gellert drummed his fingers impatiently and forced himself not to toss in another piece. Kelpie would be aware of it and if he started tossing in two pieces... Kelpies were very smart and he would quickly begin to wait for the second before coming if he thought it would happen.
A moment later a glossy black snout rose out of the water and snapped up the square. The witch beside him squeaked and fell off the door.
Silence again.
Gellert was well accustomed to Kelpie's tricks by now, so he ducked behind the door. With a noise like a torrential downpour, water sprayed over the door, arching down and soaking the floor in front of them. A flatter of hooves and a soft nicker, and Kelpie's dripping wet nose was reaching down to nuzzle his hair. He laughed and held out another treat for him; soft lips brushing his Palm as it was taken.
'Hermione, that is Kelpie.' He introduced her to the beast and guided her hand to his face so that she could pat him. She smiled at him and ran her hand up his wet neck and beneath the dripping mane. Kelpie whickered appreciatively.
Gellert pulled his tack off the hooks beside the stall and let himself in. With practiced ease he slipped the bit between snapping fangs and fastened it, then climbed onto the manger to toss the impermeable blanket across his back.
'Stop water.' He told Hermione, gesturing to the thin embroidered blanket that draped over most of Kelpie's body. He led Kelpie out to where Hermione waited.
'I can't ride.' She said in English, shaking her head emphatically. 'No horse.' She managed in German.
Gellert shrugged. She could just sit in front of him then, he could hold her on.
'Up.' He said, gesturing to the set of stairs next to the stall. She paled. One of the Granians poked its head out of the stall to see what was going on.
'Up here.' He patted the spot he wanted her to sit. 'I go here.' He patted further back.
She shakily climbed the stairs then managed to inelegantly wriggle onto the beast's back. He flapped his hands between her knees and the beast, then did the same to her feet.
'Do not kick.' He said, then vaulted up from the stairs and landed softly behind her. He forced Kelpie to walk slowly down the driveway, letting Hermione grow accustomed to the gentle sway of his gait. She was quite a bit shorter than him and her fur hat tickled his nose. She had her hands knotted in Kelpie's mane, but he could tell her legs were loose as he'd told her.
The metallic sentinel dragons withdrew their wings as they approached, allowing them to pass through to the valley. The muggle repelling charm stretched all the way to the bottom of the outcrop the castle was built on, and the young witch gradually relaxed as they meandered down the long driveway. Occasionally he would point out a creature as they went past, then Kelpie would snap at it as if hoping for a snack and they would both laugh.
It was a relaxing afternoon, the sun was warm and the steady pace of his Kelpie made a hypnotic clop clop against the paved driveway. Gnither bugs hummed steadily, their drone a lower pitch than the bees and the occasional flash of bright colour marked fittertits as they gathered fruit to pulp for winter. The trees were still green, but the occasional speck of faun of gold hinted at the change that would come in the next weeks.
'I like this.' Hermione said in German. 'Quickly.' Which seemed a little random, she laughed after a moment and corrected herself to say beautiful. He chuckled with her and brought Kelpie to a halt in front of another set of gates.
Mighty walls towered above their heads, disguised by a thick layer of ivy. The gates themselves were solid iron, rusted and unwelcoming in both directions. He didn't think they could open anymore, it had been so long since the muggles had called the Grindelwald family their rulers and made the trek to the castle to court. This was the boundary of the muggle repelling charm and he dared not go through.
He turned Kelpie's head reluctantly and they began the climb back to the castle. The sun was beginning to edge towards the horizon; it had taken longer than expected to get down the hill at such a sedate pace.
'Fast?' He asked, using the same upwards infection towards the end of the word as she did when she asked a question.
She was looking off into the distance, and glanced up at his words.
'I need to go.' She replied, glancing into the distance again. Then she was gone, her borrowed cloak crumpling in front of him. He snatched the hat before it could roll to the floor, marvelling at how it was still warm.
He glanced up at the castle again, ignoring the pang of loss in his chest.
'Let's go home, Kelpie.' He muttered to his beast, tapping his heels to the flanks beneath the cloth. Kelpie surged forwards, the landscape around them blurring as wind whipped at Gellert's hair and clothes.