All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.
Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Mysterious Woman
Hermione Granger – Present Day
April 2, 2001
Hermione woke up slightly dazed with a massive headache. She squinted her eyes trying to see through the darkness, when she heard a male whisper "Lumos."
"Remus?" she asked, recognizing the voice.
"Hello, Hermione," he said gently. "How are you feeling?"
"Horrible," she answered honestly. "Where's Tonks?"
"I've sent her home to rest," Remus told her. "Being pregnant and raising a young child takes a lot of energy."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "And Ron?" she asked.
"Not yet, but soon, I am sure." Hermione rolled her eyes but did not respond. "You should get some more sleep," Remus told her. "There are still a few hours until you have to meet Harry."
"Actually, I would prefer a shower if that's alright."
"Of course."
Remus showed Hermione her way to the bathroom, and she proceeded with a long hot shower. It had been quite some time since she had been able to properly wash, and she allowed herself to thoroughly enjoy it. After what felt like an hour, Hermione returned to the sitting room, where Remus sat waiting. "I am assuming Harry still doesn't know, then?" she asked.
Remus shook his head. "We held an emergency Order meeting to inform everyone of the situation, where we learned that Harry had been staying with Aberforth. He returned back home to tell Harry, but when he arrived, Harry had already left."
"Without saying anything?" Hermione asked, alarmed that something had happened to Harry as well.
"Not to worry, he had left a note behind saying that it was time for him to leave, and thanked Aberforth for his hospitality."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "I suppose I'll have to be the one to tell him at the rendezvous then," she frowned.
"I'm afraid so," Remus responded honestly. Hermione grabbed her cloak and beaded bag and headed towards the exit. "Hermione, it is only a quarter to three, you should wait until it is time to meet Harry before you head out."
"I'm not going to the rendezvous point just yet," she told him.
"Then stay here; you're safe here."
"Remus, I appreciate everything, I really do, but I must be going. I'll be fine; the darkness of the early morning will help keep me hidden." She was grateful that Remus didn't try to stop her, and after a quick goodbye, she headed out the door.
Hermione was unsure where she was headed at first. Her concern of course was Ron, but until she met with Harry and tried to figure out a plan, there was not much she could do. Her anxiety was high in anticipation of meeting with Harry, and so she decided that she needed a distraction until it was time to head to the mountain side to meet him. Hermione arrived at St. Mungo's, and as expected, she found the hospital silent, and luckily, did not run into anyone else. She made her way to the Longbottom's room, perched herself on a chair in the corner, and reached into her beaded bag. It didn't take her long to find her parchment book of notes, and she took out a quill and began observing. It felt like decades ago since Hermione met with Healer Martus and began her research on the Cruciatus Curse. Although there hadn't been much time to work on her research, she vowed to herself that she wouldn't give up.
"Hermione?" came a confused voice.
Hermione turned around quickly, wand raised, but lowered it once she saw who it was. "Neville!" she said, happy to see her friend. "What are you doing here at this hour?"
"I just finished my Order watch on the hospital," he told her, "so I thought I would come by and see my parents. What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Oh, well, I'm sure you heard about Ron…?"
Neville nodded. "We will find him, Hermione."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Everyone keeps saying that to me, but you all seem to forget that I am a fairly clever witch and I know what it means when a wizard goes missing."
"This is different," Neville said. "You still didn't tell me why you're here," he added, before she could retaliate.
"The truth is that I needed to take my mind off of the whole situation, until I met with Harry later today," she told him. "So I thought I would come and work on my research."
"You're still researching them?" he asked her, surprise in his voice.
"I know I haven't lately," she said to him, "but I have no intentions of giving up, no matter how long it takes."
"Thank you," Neville said quietly, taking a seat beside her.
"Of course," she said smiling. "But I'm glad you're here, you can help me."
"With what?"
"Well, you know them best. Have you noticed any changes in their behavior at all?"
"No," Neville answered truthfully. "Dad is asleep, as always," he stated. "And Mum is playing with gum wrappers; she does that a lot."
"Does your Mum ever sleep?"
"Actually, she's usually asleep whenever I visit her at night. During the day though, it's usually the gum wrapper thing."
"She isn't asleep now, though," Hermione said, writing something down.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"Well, she's usually asleep when you visit her at night, but today, someone she doesn't know is here, and so she is awake."
"So?"
"Neville, you're familiar to her which is why she continues to go along with her usual routine when you're around, but I'm a stranger to her, so she senses something is different."
"But she's not alert, she's just playing with wrappers."
"Yes, but she's not sleeping. Her brain has been able to make the connection that something is different. Would you be able to sleep with a stranger in the room?"
"No."
"Exactly!"
"But my Dad is still sleeping."
"Yes well, perhaps he has more brain damage than your Mum."
Neville didn't speak for a while, and Hermione took the moment of silence to jot down her thoughts. "How are you parents?" Neville finally spoke.
Hermione smiled sadly. "Away," she answered.
"Well, do they write to you?"
"Neville, for their safety, I obliviated them; they don't know who I am."
"But I thought Malfoy got their memories back?"
"Well no, that isn't something that's possible, but he was able to convince them of the truth."
Oh, then they do know-"
"-I obliviated them again," she interrupted.
"What, why?"
Hermione shrugged. "I had to keep them safe, Neville. Maybe one day after all this is over, I can find them again. They believed the story once, right?"
Neville put his arm around his friend. "I'm sorry," he told her.
"Thank you," she answered, wiping a tear from her eye. "I know if anyone would understand, it would be you."
"I do," he replied. "It's hard without them; I'll never forget that moment when my Mum comforted me."
"You can remember? But weren't you only a year old?"
"Oh, no, I mean when I found out about Jessica."
"What are you talking about?" she asked him.
"Well, when I found out about Jess, I, uh, came here to talk to them," he said, indicating towards his parents. "It helps."
"Of course," Hermione said, nodding in understanding.
"And well, I, er, was sort of, crying…" Hermione said nothing but allowed her friend to take his time and finish his story. "And then I felt this hand on my shoulder and I looked up and it was my Mum."
Hermione gasped. "Neville! Has this ever happened before?"
"No."
"Have you ever cried in front of her before?" Neville shook his head no. "Oh, Neville, don't you see? She's responding to your emotions! This is huge!"
There was some noise coming from outside of the room, and both Neville and Hermione turned towards it.
"It's shift change," Neville told her. "You should go; a Healer will be in here shortly to do their routine check."
"Okay," Hermione said to him. "But I promise Neville, this isn't over!"
"I know," he said to her, smiling gratefully. "But first we worry about getting Ron back." The two friends gave each other a hug goodbye, and Hermione set off, out of the hospital and on her way to meet Harry at the rendezvous point, where he would be expecting to meet both her and Ron, yet sadly, she would be arriving alone.
Ginny Weasley – Present Day
April 2, 2001
"Professor McGonagall," Ginny said, as she saw her old Professor make her way towards the exit of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. They had just finished an Order of the Phoenix meeting, and everyone was preparing to leave.
"Miss Weasley," responded McGonagall. "I am sorry to hear of your brother, but I am confident that the Order will find him."
"Me too," replied Ginny, "but I actually needed to speak to you about something else, uh, privately if you don't mind." McGonagall gave her an inquiring look but said nothing, and followed her up to the bedroom that Harry and Ginny used when they stayed at Headquarters. "I saw Harry," Ginny finally said, when they were alone. Again, McGonagall said nothing, but allowed Ginny to continue. "And, well, we sort of need your help." Ginny said nothing more but instead handed her the piece of parchment with the mysterious rhyme.
McGonagall read the parchment in silence before speaking. "What three things does this pertain to?" she asked.
"We don't know exactly, but we think it is the Deathly Hallows."
"But that would mean that this person already has one."
"Harry's invisibility cloak is missing."
"I see, and I presume the writer is none other than Grindelwald himself?"
"So we think, but again, we have no way of confirming."
"And what other Hallow does he think you have access to?"
"I have no idea," Ginny answered truthfully. "The only one I knew about was the cloak and that's already gone."
"How did Potter misplace it?"
"Malfoy stole it from our flat. It's a long story," she added, when she saw the look that McGonagall was giving her.
"So, Mister Malfoy is aiding Grindelwald, and they almost have two Hallows in their possession."
"It would seem that way," Ginny responded.
"And what do you need of me?"
"Harry thinks we need to check on the other two Hallows, but it would be dangerous to check on the Elder Wand in case someone is following him."
"I couldn't agree more; the wand is the evilest out of the three."
"So that leaves the stone which is currently hidden in the Forbidden Forest."
"Ah, I see. So you need my permission to search the forest."
Ginny nodded. "Harry knows the rough area where he dropped it, but it is going to be incredibly hard to find as he said that it looks like an ordinary pebble."
"And my guess would be that it is not something that can be magically found, either."
"No, so we are going to need search parties."
"Order members that Mister Potter does not trust."
Ginny smiled at how intuitive McGonagall was. "But he also needs the numbers in order to find it, so he thought it best if we made pairs, and that way each pair is with someone that he does trust."
"I do see the logic in that, Miss Weasley, but I do not see how we can inconspicuously have search parties in the Forbidden Forest."
"I'm sure you can figure out a way," Ginny grinned.
"Leave it with me, then," McGonagall told her. "Once I sort it out, we can notify the rest of the Order. But until such time…"
"Not a word," Ginny agreed.
The Mysterious Woman – Present Day
April 2, 2001
The Mysterious Woman stood in the shadows as she watched Gellert and the Weasley boy. They were still in the shack since Narcissa had dropped him off, but she did not like how opened they were. The shack was known, after all, to the Order of the Phoenix, and although she knew she could get away in a matter of seconds, she was concerned for Gellert. He may have been a powerful wizard, but not even a wizard such as himself could escape around twenty or so wizards at once. She tapped her heel in annoyance, to signal to Gellert that she wanted to be done with this charade.
"I suppose it is time to continue with my plan, then," Gellert said out loud, while watching the Weasley boy that he had tied up in the corner.
"You'll have to kill me because I won't tell you anything!" yelled Ron.
Gellert laughed. "I respect your courage, Ronald Weasley, but my intentions do not involve killing you at this time, nor does it involve talking." He pointed his wand towards Ron. "Abracadabra!" Instantly, Ron fell to the ground, lifeless and silent.
The Mysterious Woman made her way over to Gellert and out of the shadows. "And you're sure this will work, Gellert?"
"Rosa, darling, how can it not? You do understand your part in it, don't you?"
"Of course. I have never been the one to hold up anything in this operation."
"Well then my dear Rose, you must go now and get it done; I want Harry Potter aware of this by tomorrow morning."
The Mysterious Woman nodded and flew off. It didn't take her much time to get to Diagon Alley and she made her way as quickly as possible to her office.
"Ah, there you are," came the voice of a short fat man. "I need you to-"
"Not now, Willy," she said, hurrying past him. "I have a huge story that I need to get out right away." She got to her desk and grabbed the nearest piece of parchment. Sucking on her quick-quotes quill momentarily, she placed it down in front of her and began to speak: "Notorious wizard Harry James Potter…"
After about three quarters of an hour, she put her quick-quotes quill away and read the freshly written article and smiled. "Willy," she called out. The short fat man named Willy appeared at her door. "Take this to the Editor right away; I need this out tomorrow and on the front cover."
"Of course, Madam, whatever you say."
The Mysterious Woman leaned against her desk and smiled. Phase two of the plan was about to begin, and she was confident that Harry Potter and his stupid little friends would not be able to get out of this one. She turned to leave, when she ran into her Editor.
This story," he said to her. "How do you know?"
"You know I have my contacts and you know I won't reveal them," she said smiling.
"And this is true?"
"Of course it's true!"
"Well then, this is quite a story! Chalk it up as another win for the Daily Prophet – this will bring in tons of revenue!"
"I simply report the news," she cackled.
Her Editor smiled. "And nobody reports the news like Rita Skeeter."
Gellert Grindelwald – The Past
May 21, 1998
Gellert woke up with his head pounding, but he did not care. He was out of Nurmengard and he was in what he thought was Germany. He hadn't noticed at first that his savior was standing a few feet away, kneeling beside thousands of shards of glass. He stood up and walked towards her.
"What is that?" he asked.
"What woke you up," she told him.
"And yet it is destroyed."
"I had to destroy it in order for the spell to work."
"But without it, we won't be able to use the Abracadabra spell again!" Gellert said in a panic.
"As legend has it," she began, "there are a total of seven of these. It has been said that four have already been used, and now this one here is the fifth."
"So, there are two left."
"There are two left," she nodded.
"What are we going to have to find then? Another, uh, mirror?"
"This wasn't a mirror; it was an ancient window. When someone is put under the Abracadabra curse, their soul passes through one of these ancient gateways, whichever one is closest. Since I placed you under the spell in Austria, your soul found its way here, to this gateway."
"And does that mean that when you use it, the gateway is destroyed?"
"I was always under the impression that there is a way to preserve it, but I do not know how."
"Well, we will have to figure that out when the time comes," said Grindelwald. "Who is that?" he questioned, noticing a very old man laying a few feet away.
"I do not know," his savior said, frowning. "He wasn't here before."
Grindelwald walked towards the wizard. "He is dead," he said, after a brief examination.
"We best go then," she said, but as she grabbed his arm and made to apparate, she froze. "I never thought of where to take you," she told him truthfully.
"No problem," Grindelwald responded. "During my previous reign, I had several safehouses, the safest being in France." He took charge of the apparition and brought them both to a large hill. "Just beyond there," he told her, as they started to walk towards his favourite safe house.
"You remember our terms," she said to him, as she kept pace with him.
"My dear, you need not worry; your wants are also mine." Grindelwald smiled; he was free, and it was about time to complete what he had started many years ago, for the greater good.
Author's notes: Well, there you have it; the mysterious woman! I was going to keep her identity a secret for a little longer but I thought you all deserved to know!
Quick comment on a review, I promise there are going to be many happy moments, and not just at the end. Right now I am working on bringing in several plots so it doesn't seem like the trio and gang are having any luck, but rest assured that there will be huge happy moments! (I have a HUGE one that I can't wait to reveal, but it won't be revealed for another few "years" in the story... But I seriously cannot wait to share that one with you all!) I can tell you that September the First should be a great day!
Alright, that's all for now, hope you're enjoying! Let me know what you all think about Grindelwald's team member!