Riddle and Grindelwald (book 2)

3. Confrontation

Seeing the photo of herself at Gellert's rally, scared Genevieve. And she half expected a bunch of aurors to break down the door and arrest her in the middle of the night.
She couldn't live not knowing who sent her the photo.
So, the following morning Genevieve informed her boss that she was feeling unwell, so would be unable to make it to work.
She didn't tell Tom what she had planned, for she knew he would try and stop her, or insist that he accompanied her.
Once he was at work, Genevieve apparated to Hogsmeade, and began walking towards Hogwarts.

When Genevieve saw the castle approaching in the distance, she couldn't help but smile, for it was such a welcoming sight.
She knew that she would have to wait until break time to confront Dumbledore, for he would be teaching all day, which is why she chose to walk so slowly.
Genevieve found it strange to open the castle doors, now that she was no longer a student. She also knew that it was rude to turn up at Hogwarts, without an invitation, but since her life was on the line, she knew that she had to talk to Dumbledore.
She heard the break bell ring as she reached the Transfiguration classroom. And once all the students had exited, Genevieve made her way inside the room.

Albus Dumbledore looked up from his desk and frowned when he saw her.
"I must say, that this is a pleasant surprise" admitted Dumbledore.
Genevieve locked the door behind herself, and approached Dumbledore's desk.
"I haven't got time for lies and false pleasantries" informed Genevieve.
"What makes you think I am being false? I believe that manners are always important" replied Dumbledore.
Genevieve rolled her eyes, "I see that you haven't changed".
"It's only been a few months since I saw you last, so I won't have changed very much in such a shory space of time"
"I guess not".

"What can I do for you Genevieve? I know you wouldn't have come all this way unless it was something important. So, what do you need?" Asked Dumbledore.
Instead of answering, Genevieve removed the photo from her pocket and slammed it down onto the desk.
"This arrived at my house yesterday" revealed Genevieve.
Dumbledore picked up the picture and frowned deeply, "This is a picture of you performing magic in front of Muggles".
"It was taken in Stockholm, by a Muggle, on the day my fath- on the day Gellert tried to take over, and you stopped him" explained Genevieve, who couldn't bring herself to admit her relation to Gellert out loud, as she was still having trouble accepting it.
"Why are you showing me this?" Quizzed Dumbledore.

"I came home from work yesterday and found it on my kitchen counter. Since you are the only person I know of, that is aware of my relationship with Gellert, I assumed that you were the one who sent this to me" announced Genevieve.
"Why would I do that?" Asked Dumbledore.
"I don't know, perhaps you wanted to scare me into toeing the line. Maybe now that I'm not at Hogwarts, where you can keep an eye on me, you were worried that you wouldn't be able to control me and keep me good. Perhaps you want to go back on our deal, and you want to reveal my identity to the world" replied Genevieve.

"I promised you when you discovered that Gellert was in fact your father and not your uncle, that I would never tell anyone the truth, no matter what you did. It's true that while you were here, I held that threat over you, to ensure that you behaved and didn't put my other students at risk. But I never intended to actually follow through with that threat. And now that you've left school, I certainly would never reveal your identity to the world, for I want you to make something of yourself. I put your father in prison, and I don't want you to join him there. I'm not really the type to make threats. But, if I were to threaten someone, they would know that the threat came from me. I wouldn't want them to have any doubt in their mind, that it was me they needed to appease. I wouldn't just leave a photo in someone's house without any explanation" admitted Dumbledore.

"Then who sent me this picture?" Demanded Genevieve.
Her fears began to grow, as she came to realise that Dumbledore was not the person she needed to confront.
If someone she didn't know had more photos of her, then she was really in trouble.
"I don't know. But if someone has made the connection between you and the person in this photo, then you should be worried" replied Dumbledore.
"I am, which is why I came here today to confront you. I wanted to sort this out. But since you claim that you didn't send it, I don't know what I'm going to do next... I can't live the rest of my life in fear of my past catching up with me" admitted Genevieve.
"I don't know who sent this to you. But if they were high up in power, the aurors would have already arrested you"
"Unless this person is just waiting to get more evidence against me, before informing the Minister".

"If you want, I could ask questions at the Ministry and see what I can find out" offered Dumbledore.
Genevieve shook her head, "The last thing I need, is you poking around asking questions about me, or any other photographs that were taken that day. I will deal with this myself".
Dumbledore handed the photo back to Genevieve, and she placed it inside her pocket.
"If evidence does come to light, about you being a Grindelwald supporter, I will fight for you, and give a good character witness in your defence" informed Dumbledore.
"Why? I'm not your student anymore, so you have no reason to look out for me" reminded Genevieve.

"I taught you for 7 years, and I was once friends with your father. Which means that I have a connection to you. And since I was the one who placed your only living family member inside Nurmengard prison, I feel somewhat responsible for you" admitted Dumbledore.
"I don't want you to feel guilty. You did the right thing. Gellert had to be locked up in order to protect the world. And I'm not angry at you for doing it" replied Genevieve.
"I'm glad that you do not hate me. But I will always feel guilty, and it's something I am going to have to learn to live with... You're not the only one with skeletons in their closet, and a past that they would rather forget"
"You're talking about your sister, Ariana".

"You know about that?" Asked Dumbledore.
"Yes, Gellert told me that her death was the reason you both fell out, all those years ago. And that you both felt guilty for what happened, since neither of you knew who's spell caused her death" answered Genevieve.
"It's true. I have felt guilty since that day, and my brother has never forgiven me for what happened. But I do not seek his forgiveness, for I do not deserve it" admitted Dumbledore.
"I don't think you should blame yourself. It was all Gellert's fault. He went to Godric's Hollow looking for information on the Peverell's. You two never would have met if he hadn't been obsessed with finding the Hallows. If it weren't for him, your sister would still be alive"
"Maybe, maybe not".

The end of break bell suddenly rang, cutting through the awkward silence.
"I guess that is my cue to go" sighed Genevieve as she began to head towards the door.
"Take care, Genevieve. I really hope for your sake that your identity never gets revealed" replied Dumbledore.
"So do I" mumbled Genevieve, before pushing open the door, and making her way back home.