Please re-read chapter 16 if you haven't since I fixed the chapter. (Two hours before I posted this.)
I just want to thank everyone for their support and reviews. I don't reply unless there's a question but I still really appreciate them.
They retired to the living room after dinner and Hermione got to relax for the first time in weeks. She leaned back in the chair, then leapt up as something brushed past her hair. Harry laughed uproariously and the snake that had been draping herself over Hermione's chair said something.
'She says she wants girl time.' Harry translated as Hermione sat back down cautiously. The snake draped her head over Hermione's shoulder and settled down as if to read her book with her. She soon realised Nagini actually was reading the tales of Beedle the Bard when she aggressively slammed her tail over the book when Hermione tried to turn the page too soon.
'Nagini and I were talking earlier.' Harry began cautiously.
'We noticed.' Gellert remarked dryly without looking up from Hermione's copy of Animal Farm.
'You see, we're almost ready to face You-Know-Who and end this but nobody has any idea where he is. If I know anything about him, he'll be terrified of you Gellert, maybe even more so than he was of Dumbledore.' Harry seemed to have really thought something out, so Hermione put her book down. Nagini flicked her tongue in Hermione's ear and focused on Harry too. 'When I was in the graveyard, he summoned the death eaters and they all seemed to know exactly where to come. So I wonder if maybe anyone with a dark mark can find him?'
'You want to free Dolohov?' Grindelwald asked, seeming to see where Harry was going with this. Nagini began to hiss enthusiastically.
'He can take Nagini back to Voldemort. We give her a port key and once she knows where he's hiding she can come back and tell us.'
They decided to execute the plan that night. Hermione created a port key for the snake and Gellert found a dark artefact to disguise the sudden lightening of her presence. They didn't know if Voldemort would be able to sense the missing horcrux, so to protect Nagini, Harry asked Hermione to add a parseltongue code word that she could use to activate the port key early.
The snake ate both devices, complaining about the taste of the woollen strand that Hermione used as the portkey and taking several minutes to figure out the best angle of attack to eat the necklace that Grindelwald gave her.
They shut her in a cage down the corridor from Dolohov, Harry complaining loudly enough for the dead to hear that she'd been useless for information and Hermione making a joke that at least Voldemort would miss her. They banged the cage door then left, Harry shouting back at Hermione not to bother warding the door because it was just a snake.
Harry's real stroke of genius was how to get a wand to Dolohov without putting anyone at risk and they'd taken inspiration from muggles to manage it. Hermione put on the jacket she'd borrowed from Grindelwald. It was much too large for her but the thick felt meant that it held its shape, disguising three leather bags full of blood replenishing potion. It was the best they could come up with at short notice, it smelled right and was the right consistency. Hopefully Dolohov wouldn't notice in the blue sconces of the prison that the colour was a little too orange.
Nagini appeared with Dolohov after only a short wait, slithering around the corner to where Hermione sat guard at the doorway. She pretended to be engrossed in a book and that she hadn't noticed the escaping prisoners. At the last minute she pretended to notice, jumping to her feet and whipping out the wand she'd taken from the pile of captured wands in the storage rooms. It worked for her just enough to make it look like she put up a feeble fight, but Nagini was easily able to lunge forwards, nicking the bag in Hermione's left shoulder. Hermione cried out in false agony, then in real agony as Nagini's weight drove her to the floor, cracking her knee caps against the stone.
The snake went for her other shoulder, dragging Hermione down to the floor, then one last lightning fast strike to her side. Hermione moaned and let the borrowed wand roll from her fingers, slipping a Feinting Fancy into her mouth discretely. She blacked out within seconds.
She woke up to see Harry and Grindelwald leaning over her with triumphant expressions.
'It worked, they reached the woods and disapparated a couple of minutes ago.' Harry told her. Hermione sat up slowly, wincing as her bruises made themselves known.
'Are you okay?' Gellert asked, concern laced through his voice. She nodded, shrugging off his coat and handing it back to him. He held it up and inspected the stained holes with pursed lips but she could see he was only pretending to be annoyed. He then gave it back to her to hide her stained t-shirt.
'Yeah, just bruises. Nagini was heavier than I expected. Some bruise paste and I'll be fine.'
They helped her up and she hobbled up the many flights of stairs, through the living quarters to reach their own. It was very quiet at this time of night in the lower 'student floors' of the accommodation. They only met one patrolling prefect, whose badge was now a gold phoenix emblem on a black field. It had been an interesting decision by the general student body to replace the Hogwarts emblem with that of the phoenix, one that the teachers had agreed with once they had explained that this was hardly a Hogwarts education.
The fifth year nodded at them respectfully and let them know that Ron was looking for Hermione. She nodded, wondering what this could possibly be about and they continued. By the time she had climbed up several floors, the blood flow was helping her recover, so she could almost walk normally again.
They stopped at the Weasley floor which they had turned into a single massive living area for the whole family. It was predictably rowdy inside, Mrs. Weasley shouting for Ginny to do her homework and Ginny screamed back that she would find time later. The rest of the family just sat back and let the dramatics unfold. Gellert seemed flabbergasted as the two witches exercised their lungs whilst everyone else just talked over the top of them.
The argument ceased as soon as the trio entered, Mrs. Weasley sweeping them all (including Grindelwald) into a hug. She bustled them over to the couches, everyone pushing up to make space. For the first couple of minutes it seemed like everything was back to normal between her and the Weasleys. Ginny was brilliant, chattering about Dumbledore's Army and her lessons. She explained how she'd found a plaque with a thestral head on it and had been fascinated to finally see one for real, so Hermione told the story of how her and Grindelwald had escaped from Hogwarts.
She was half way through the story when Ron appeared in the doorway. She recognised immediately that he was angry but she was still unprepared when he lashed out.
'And then you avada'd everyone to prove just how brilliantly your apprenticeship as a dark witch was going.' He sneered, cutting her off as she described how they'd blasted their way through the chimney. She opened her mouth to say something defensive, but Grindelwald replied before she could think of something suitable.
'and I told her that anyone who considered an avada to be dark magic really had very little hope at world domination.' He said it so blankly that it was as if he was seriously finishing off Ron's ending. It threw everyone for a couple of seconds before George laughed uproariously and clapped the dark wizard on the back. Ron turned a furious shade of purple as the rest of the room returned to their conversations without paying him any mind.
There was a loud bang and Hermione's shield flashed bright enough to blind everyone in the room. A second, much louder bang silenced the confused shouting. Grindelwald was standing, facing the enraged Weasley across the room. His dark presence seemed to crackle around him, dimming the lights and chilling the air as if he was a dementor.
'Count yourself fortunate that Hermione had a shield. If you'd succeeded in injuring the mistress of the house, the wards wouldn't have left enough of you for your family to bury. If you try it again, I'll make you wish that the wards had had a go at you.' Ron made a show of ignoring his threat, which seemed very brave but to everyone watching was very, very stupid. 'Leave. Before I do something your family won't forgive me for.' The dark wizard growled. When Ron swaggered impertinately forwards, he flicked his wand and the young red head stiffened and his face blanked over. He turned woodenly and marched into the bathroom like a toy soldier. They heard a splash before the toilet flushed.
Grindelwald sent one last glare after him before sitting down and apologising to everyone present. Ron started swearing and banging on the locked bathroom door. Harry cast a muffliato charm in his directions and shifted seats to give Hermione a hug. It was Ginny that broke the silence.
'I don't suppose there's any of those cells free?' She asked Grindelwald with an evil flicker in her eyes. 'It's just I wouldn't want Ron's head to block the toilet.'