Double Merry Christmas!

Hermione barely left Grindelwald's room over the next two days. She followed Madam Pomfrey's instructions to the letter, massaging dittany into his hands and scalp every two hours and feeding him a massive array of potions in the mornings and evenings. Whatever ritual kept him young must also affect his rate of healing because Madam Pomfrey couldn't believe how much he had improved when she visited to check up on him. The bruises had almost disappeared across his torso, and those around his face had faded to a mottled yellowish brown. His hair had grown back to a fuzz across his scalp and the injuries on his wrists looked no worse than the scarring already there.

Yet he remained unconscious.

She'd stopped her research, instead trying to figure out how she'd break this to the ICW. She considered letting Harry and Ginny know that he had managed to get back to Nurmengard, then realised that neither of them had the occulumency shields required to keep such a secret.

In the end, the problem was solved for her, and not in the way she'd hoped. Draco had seen her taking her meals into Grindelwald's room and assumed it was her study, so when the ICW had arrived to see if she'd made any progress, he'd shown them in. She had completely missed their owl and so when someone knocked on the door she just assumed it was Madam Pomfrey and called them in.

Fortunately, the warding prevented them from just apparating out with their news and her reflexes had been quickened by Gellert's training enough to disarm them and have them petrified on the floor before they could flee on foot.

A confused Draco helped her levitate the trio onto chairs and conjure ropes. He nodded when she swore him to silence before he left her alone with four unconscious bodies. She renervated the ICW wizards, recognising the German and the Haani but the second witch was unfamiliar. The three of them immediately started struggling when they awoke

'I want you to hear me out.' Hermione demanded, grabbing their attention. The unknown witch looked between her and the unconscious Grindelwald before spitting on the floor and calling her a Dark Witch. Hermione ignored the insult; it was beginning to become almost as unoriginal as "mudblood".

She explained how Grindelwald had appeared in the room and described his injuries. She hypothesised about how she thought he was innocent, earning scoffs from her small audience. Then she described her reasoning – how the attack in Paris just didn't have a purpose and how the break in at Azkaban just didn't fit. She knew that she had convinced the German when he started pointing out other circumstances that just didn't fit but Haani still seemed unsure. The other witch was glaring at her in a way that suggested that she hadn't listened to a word Hermione had just said.

'The ICW vill know, you can't obliffiate them.' The German wizard murmured quietly. The two witches were sleeping soundly under a powerful charm as she discussed how to broach Gellert's innocence with the one she'd managed to fully convince.

'I can't let them take him away again.' She admitted.

'It vould be dangerous. Grindelvald is a valuable veapon to anyvon who vishes to learn the dark arts. Vile he is on our side, it is safest for us all vhen he can defend himself.' The wizard agreed. That hadn't been Hermione's main concern but it did make sense. Grindelwald knew too much and was too powerful to risk him coming under the control of anyone with nefarious purposes.

'You vill have to assert the independence of Lichtenstein.' He said after some consideration.

Hermione looked deeply into the tea leaves at the bottom of her cup. She wished that she had Grindelwald's guidance here; his experience in international politics would be much appreciated. It was legally within her rights to not hand him over, Lichtenstein had no deportation agreements but she didn't doubt that the ICW would have no issues moving on Nurmengard with force to seize an international criminal – they needed to be seen acting on a dark wizard threat after they had so spectacularly ignored Voldemort. Her only hope was to try and persuade them that he was innocent, which was a lost cause, they couldn't admit to such a massive mistake so soon after the last one.

The idea that occurred to her then was nothing short of genius, getting all the pieces into place was another matter entirely. She would need Harry for certain, maybe the Hogwarts professors and she'd certainly need Grindelwald awake and coherent. The Malfoys would have a lot of the contacts that she needed, as would Kingsley if she could get to him in time.

'How long will it take them to move against us?' Hermione asked. The German looked over her appraisingly, almost as if he was reassessing his previous opinion of her.

'A couple of days, a veek at the most.' He replied somberly and Hermione nodded. She did a rough calculation in her head, working out how much time she had. The wards had held for two weeks last time but she had no idea how charged they were this time relative to then, she could accommodate for some leeway in the absence of Dumbledore. Combined with the reaction time of the ICW, she could safely guarantee two weeks. It would be cutting it fine and it would certainly be a large gamble. She would have to consult with the people living at Nurmengard and warn them in advance. Even if they chose to leave, she felt that she owed Grindelwald too much to just hand him back over now.

'Let them know that Gellert apparated here with serious injuries. We have him in custody but he has yet to regain consciousness. I will meet with them once he is medically stable.' She decided. It was a neutral decision, one that gave her time to prepare and more importantly, time for the people that lived in Nurmengard to make their decision. It wouldn't be much time, but it would mean that at least one more set of messages would have to be exchanged before the ICW marched on them in full force.

The German nodded and stood, they shook hands and he promised to do his best to keep her updated on the situation. Then it was time for them to part ways, Hermione stunned him, then rennervated all three at once so that the two witches wouldn't think he had received any special treatment. She informed them that Grindelwald was unconscious and in custody, giving them their message to deliver back to their peers. The German winked at her as she politely but firmly escorted them out.

She watched until they had all disapparated, then shut the portcullis with a massive bang.

She had a lot of letters to write.