It had been a long afternoon, full of emotions as Hermione tried to explain to her parents everything that had happened. It had been difficult, because she wanted to save them the worst details and she had wanted desperately for her parents to approve of her relationship with Gellert. She knew that for him in particular it was vital that her parents approve.
It was the first time she'd really told them anything of what had happened since her third year, when she'd discovered it was easier to just keep them in the dark. They'd threatened to withdraw her from school after Sirius Black had broken in over Halloween, so she'd stopped telling them that anything was wrong. Fortunately Hogwarts didn't seem to see the importance of notifying muggle parents of events, so she could get away with it.
Now, it was truly heart wrenching as they discovered for the first time the danger she had been in and the sacrifices that she'd made. She'd managed to gloss over much of Gellert's past. She'd just mentioned that he was a powerful wizard with a broad knowledge that had helped them with their quest. He'd given her a funny look but allowed her to just brush over the details.
She'd told them about Nurmengard and how Gellert had let them all live there and the position she was soon to take up in the ministry. As it got dark, they took a quick break to get some takeaway, then returned to find Gellert and Richard had taken it upon themselves to break out the board games and a bottle of Whiskey that could only have come from Gellert's collection judging by the date hand written across the faded label.
'Look Jean! Gellert brought an 1870's bottle of whisky! I'm almost afraid to drink it!' her father exclaimed as he poured a tiny amount out for Jean to taste. Grindelwald smiled secretively at Hermione and she shared the sentiment. Gellert had a cellar full of drinks averaging about a century old and Hermione was beginning to suspect that Nurmengard was not his only property. In fact, she had yet to confront him about what she was sure was an honorific German title.
Gellert wandlessly conjured a glass for Hermione and poured her out a tiny portion. He didn't seem to notice her parent's surprise as he corked the bottle and carelessly pushed it into their liquor cabinet with the new, cheaper drinks.
'Hermione tells me you're all fans of skiing?' He asked as he vigorously shook the dice and rolled a pair of twos. He gave a disappointed sigh as his defence of Germany gave way to Richard's advances.
'We are; we used to go on skiing holidays every winter.' Jean said as she took up a position on the board game, dealing out the remaining country cards to herself and Hermione.
'You're welcome to come and visit us at Nurmengard this winter; the mountains would be spectacular for snow sports. The local village is famous for its ice climbing.'
'That would be wonderful! That is, if you have room?' Hermione's mother asked. Hermione gave a light, tinkling laugh that could have been copied from the Narcissa Malfoy handbook.
'Of course we have space. The Malfoys should have moved out by then anyway, so you can stay in the private quarters. It can be quite busy on the lower floors these days, what with the children tearing around at all hours.' Gellert said casually, muttering humorously unsavoury words in German as he was forced to cede another country to her father.
'Children?' Hermione's mother asked sharply, looking between the two of them.
'War orphans, mum. He's talking about the orphans that live on the lower floors until Hogwarts starts up again.' Hermione soothed. Evidently the woman had managed to connect the dots and realised that they were in a relationship.
'Oh, that's very sweet of you to take them in.' Hermione's mum said, melting completely. 'Oh, do you have somewhere to stay for the night?'
Hermione answered no at the same moment Gellert answered yes. They stopped and stared at one another for several long seconds, then Gellert turned to her parents and offered for them to join them at the hotel they would be staying the night at. He promised sincerely that it would be like nothing they had ever seen before.
Both Grangers agreed, somewhat confused by the turn of events and Gellert nodded. He opened his briefcase and buried his head, followed by his arms and torso inside of it, finally emerging to the shocked faces of her parents, triumphantly holding an owl. He used a scrap of paper and a biro (which seemed to puzzle him greatly) to scribble a quick note and sent it off out of the window with his owl before settling back down to their game of Risk.
Half an hour later he was complaining about how there was no possible way a country with the resources of Great Britain could fall to Iceland as his final strong hold was eliminated. Hermione's father stormed his way to victory in the next turn by decimating Hermione's troops in Ukraine and then the game was over.
Hermione's parents then left to pack for the evening as Hermione took the opportunity to explain to Gellert how the microwave worked as she reheated their takeaway curries. He watched in fascination as the dish spun in the oven, then jumped when the machine pinged after a minute.
Her parents rejoined them and Gellert quickly switched off the blender and stepped casually away from the counter.
'Are we ready to go?' He asked politely, picking up his briefcase and drawing his wand. Both of her parents looked at it with trepidation, but he simply cast a featherlight charm on their bags and led the way past them out of the doorway.
They caught a taxi to the crown hotel, then asked for the key to room number nine at the main reception desk. The receptionist looked them over with a lazy eye, then handed a tacky golden card over the desk and drawled the directions to them. Up the staircase, left at the balcony, across the walkway and back down into the second building, third door on the left.
As it was, the directions were nowhere near as simple and it took them almost fifteen minutes to navigate through the packed, complex corridors. The third door on the left was the most conspicuous entrance to the wizarding world that Hermione had ever seen. A large bronze door with "suite 9" emblazoned across it in swirling black letters. Her parents noticed it easily, so there were no anti-muggle defences on it. In fact, the only protection against muggles seemed to be the key card that Hermione had to demonstrate to Gellert how to swipe.
The doors opened with a pleasant ding and the family made their way through into a wizarding shopping mall. A shop selling Snarefin saddles and snorkels was on the left, another shop sold clothing and the next sold extendable tents. The broom shop seemed uninterested in the usual fare of racing brooms, instead focusing on a bewildering array of sunshades, umbrellas, padded seats and hand warmers.
Gellert led them past all this to a cafe called 'The bewitched broomstick'. It was a warm, homely place, modelled around an old cottage with faux stone walls and low ceilings. They didn't stop to order though, instead making their way to the fireplace.
'We're going to the Shipwreck hotel.' He told them, gesturing to the tarnished brass plaque above the fireplace. Then without a backwards glance he stepped into the fireplace and was gone in a roar of purple flames. Jean screamed, then quickly slapped her hand over her mouth, looking around sheepishly.
'I'll go next.' Hermione's dad said bravely, stepping up to the fireplace. He gulped audibly before stepping under the mantel and disappearing with a whoosh. Hermione's mother went next, needing almost a minute to calm herself enough to go in. Then Hermione followed after enough of a gap for her mother to leave the fireplace on the other side.
She emerged into a genuine shipwreck. The fireplace exited into the captain's cabin of an old wooden ship. Water bulged against some variant of the bubble head charm in all the windows, reflections obscuring the view outside. A receptionist sat behind a table, already in discussion with Gellert as her parents looked around in awe. A bell tinkled, and the door behind her opened, a steward in a crisp uniform walking out. He bowed to them and with his eyes carefully averted explained that he was about to perform the charm on them.
Grindelwald went first, the Steward still keeping his eyes averted as he tapped the dark wizard on the head. Then both her parents had their turns, gasping as an unknown sensation accompanied the magic. Hermione was last, the spell suctioning onto her skin like a wetsuit. It felt supremely uncomfortable at first, but the sensation soon faded as they were each given a pair of flippers. Then the steward cast a charm on their bags, politely offering to shrink her mother and fathers.
Once that was done, he opened the other door in the room and stepped through the air bubble. Hermione shared a long look with her parents, despite Gellert's assurances there was still something deeply unsettling about intentionally going out into an unknown depth of water with no scuba diving gear.
It was incredible. Once she plucked up the courage to leave, she found herself swimming between sunken ships. The corals that grew across every surface glowed with a gentle azure light, phosphorescent trails of green bubbles marked the paths of fish which dipped in between the towers of kelp. The sponges seemed a deep purple in the ghostly lighting, small shellfish flitted like black shadows between nuclei of waving fronds. They swam underneath the stern of an old steamer, meandering around huge propellers that loomed out of the darkened water and floated in a current up a hill to where a sailing ship leant against a boulder.
She followed the steward as he swum up the side of the ship and drifted over the railings to the deck. He showed them to the hatch, using the soft red glow of his wand tip to point out the handle. It seemed incredibly light for such a solid piece of wood as he slid it open and pointed to the ladder.
Hermione floated down the ladder, using the rungs to propel herself to the lower decks. She barely had time to take in the immaculately preserved interior before the steward was off again, taking them on a silent tour of the ship – bedrooms, kitchenette, spa, living room, pull this cord for service, please don't feed the sharks.
Then they were finally left to explore the softly glowing decks. She swum with Gellert past rows of tarnished cannons, fronds of gently waving forkweed brushed her fingers as she pushed through into the floor below. This one was darker, fewer of the glowing corals grew here. She considered using her wand but didn't trust the salt water not to damage it. Instead, she stayed close to the windows where the patches of light were thicker. Gellert strayed further, confirming Hermione's theory that he'd enhanced his night vision somehow. Even staying close to the windows there was so much to see. Tables were pushed up against open port holes, plates and cutlery scattered across the floor. A sludgy pile of heavy canvas was folded in the back near the stairway, about half way along the ship was the cause of her sinking. A massive rent where something had hit the side of her, splintered wood still lying across the deck whilst a door had been nailed hastily across half the gap; dropped tools and buckets evidence of the crew's desperate battle to save their ship.
Haunted, Hermione quickly swam back to the stairs. Gellert joined her as she climbed up and they stepped through the bubble into the dry living area. Hermione's parents were already waiting, both exhausted by the evening's events.
'Thank you Gellert, this place is incredible.' Hermione hugged him quickly, the dark wizard hesitated, surprised by the sudden contact before wrapping his arms around her in return. He released her first but she still considered the physical contact to be a victory. He usually only allowed physical contact if it served a purpose.