A/N: Week #8 Prompt- A story set during a war.

I've done Siremione during the war-ish. (See Yuanfen. Or Kitten.) I decided to do a *different* war, and ended up choosing Grindelwald/WWII. This kept getting really dark. I've re-written this five times, and ended up just doing this brief snippet.

Durmstrang

April 1933

"Aleksandar," Hermione called as she hurried down the hall.

A tall young man stopped and turned, his cape swirling around his knees. Surprise flickered over his features before a neutral mask slid into place. He glanced down the hall behind her and then looked at her directly.

"Germiona." He acknowledged her with a slight nod. "You are well?"

"No, I'm not," Hermione huffed at him. She glanced around and then moved to an empty classroom. Aleksandar followed her with a small frown.

"It is not seemly for us to be alone," Aleksandar muttered to her as he slipped into the room behind her. "Nadezhda will not like it."

"I would rather your betrothed didn't know about this at all," Hermione retorted. She made a face and wrinkled her nose. "Her family supports Grindelwald."

"Nadezhda is not like that," Aleksandar protested. "She thinks it is wrong, what they are doing."

"Does she?" Hermione asked drily. "Is she willing to help?"

Aleksandar flushed and averted his gaze. "She listens, and she passes on what she hears."

"Has she heard about Dachau?" Hermione demanded.

"Dachau?" Aleksandar repeated the unfamiliar name slowly.

"They've opened a concentration camp," Hermione continued angry spots of color on her cheeks. "In Dachau."

"I hadn't heard," Aleksandar whispered. He swallowed hard. "Muggleborns?"

"Along with different groups of Muggles," she replied. Her face crumpled and her bottom lip trembled.

"The Jews," Aleksandar sighed.

Even in Durmstrang, they had seen the shifts in the political landscape.

"Also the Roma, some religious sect, political enemies, homesexuals… " Hermione added. She rubbed her hands over her face. "Undesirables."

"Baba Yaga's chicken feet," Aleksandar growled.

"We have to do something." Hermione wrung her hands. "We can't just… we have to do something."

"We are doing something," Aleksandar reminded her.

"Not enough," Hermione hissed.

Aleksandar pinched the bridge of his nose. "We will do what we can to help them."

Berlin

September 1936

Frantic pounding on one's door in the middle of the night was never a good thing. Hermione jerked awake with a gasp and lay in her bed with one hand pressed against her racing heart. She slipped out of bed and grabbed her dressing gown which she'd tossed over a chair. Belting it around her waist, Hermione hurried to the door.

Who knew who might be on the other side of the door? Usually, those she helped would slip her a note during the day. Someone would catch her eye and then give a series of hand signals. Or someone would slip her a note with a particular pass phrase. If it were Grindelwald's shock troops or Hitler's brown shirts, well, she could only hope that what she had been able to do in the time she had had would be enough. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she turned the doorknob and pulled the door open.

"Frau Krum?"

The two men standing on her doorstep were unfamiliar. They both looked uncomfortable, but that could be for any number of reasons. She frowned at them.

"Ja?" She cocked her head to the side and waited to see who they were.

"Hermione Krum?" One of them asked with a slight grimace as he said the words.

"Ja. Ich bin Hermione Krum," she agreed cautiously.

"Could we come in?" The other asked in English. Hermione frowned at the both of them and peered down the hall.

"Who are you?" She hissed in English.

The first man sighed and they pushed into her apartment, the one who had spoken in English shutting her door behind him. Hermione squawked indignantly when the first man put his hand over her mouth. She tried to struggle, but the one who had spoken English cleared his throat.

"Look, Hermione," he tried only to stop when the other man yelped when Hermione bit him.

"It's us!" The one who had spoken English hissed furiously.

"Us?" Hermione repeated him and frowned at them. "Us who?"

At that moment, both men began to… ripple as their features changed. Once they were done, Sirius and Remus were standing in front of her. With a cry of surprise and relief, she flung herself into their arms. Grabbing Remus by the lapels of his oversized coat, she pulled him down so that she could kiss him enthusiastically. Remus pulled back to frown at her.

"Krum?" He demanded. "Really?"

"I certainly couldn't use Granger," she whispered and swatted him on the chest. "Keep your voice down. You never know who's listening." She pulled back to stare at them. "How did you get here?"

"Research," Sirius bit out between clenched teeth. He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. "You were missing."

"What the bloody hell have you been doing?" Remus asked with a dark scowl. "You look like shite warmed over."

"Charming," Hermione huffed. "I've been helping."

"Of course you have," Remus sighed. Sirius clapped his hands.

"We can visit once we get her back home. Come on, Hermione, let's go," Sirius said with false cheer.

Hermione pulled back from the both of them with a frown. "I can't leave," she protested.

"Sure you can," Sirius countered. "We did all the research. We figured out how to get you home."

"No, you don't understand," Hermione protested. "I've got a group that I'm sneaking out today. We've already forged papers for them."

"Someone else could lead them," Sirius suggested.

"No," Hermione whispered. She shook her head and looked to Remus. "They've already started the camps you know. They trust me. I can't just turn my back on them."

"Hermione." Remus reached out and brushed a curl back from her forehead. She stared up at him with her wide, brown eyes and he sighed. He never could say no to her.

"This is too dangerous for you," Sirius protested with a worried frown.

"I've been doing this for three years, Sirius," Hermione countered with a shake of her head. "Just… one last time."

"One last time," Remus agreed quietly.

"Fine," Sirius sighed. "One last time."

"Thank you," Hermione said with a small smile.