Hufflepuff boy - Cedric Diggory x male oc x Viktor Krum

71

Hermione sits reading a book by the fire. Cayden is sitting on the opposite side of her, writing in his diary again. The hillside is glorious, overlooking a vast valley.

"You've outdone yourself this time." Harry said.

Hermione turns, finding Harry standing outside the tent, admiring the view. He looks pale, battle-worn.

"The Forest of Dean. I came here once with my mum and dad, years ago. It's just how I remember it. The trees. The river. It's like nothing's changed. Not true, of course. Everything's changed. If I brought my parents here, they wouldn't recognize any of it. Not the trees. Not the river. Not... me." Hermione said.

"Where are they?" Harry asked.

"Wendell and Monica Wilkens now reside happily in Sydney, Australia. They have two dogs, run a small sweet shop, but floss daily. No children." Hermione said, smiling before it fades. "Maybe we should just stay here, Harry. Grow old."

Harry has no words.

Hermione inhales, shaking off her tears. "You wanted to know who was the boy in the photograph was. Well, I know."

Hermione holds up the book in her lap: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. "It was in Bathilda's sitting room. Rita Skeeter had sent it to her. Harry, it doesn't make for very nice reading--"

"Who is he, Hermione? The thief? Did Dumbledore know him?" Harry asked, cutting Hermione's words off.

"Yes." Hermione answered simply.

"Well?" Harry waited.

"For a time." Hermione said.

"Tell me, Hermione. Who is he?" Harry asked again.

"Gellert Grindelwald. He's not very well known in Britain, but there was a time, before You-Know-Who..." Hermione said.

"Hermione, I don't need to have read A History of Magic to know who Gellert Grindelwald is." Harry said.

Hermione nods, handing him the book, open to a photograph of a teenaged Dumbledore laughing with another boy. The caption: For the Greater Good? Dark Days; Dumbledore and Grindelwald. On the opposite page is a photograph of Grindelwald in later days, clad in black, holding a jagged wand -- no longer the carefree lad of youth.

"When Grindelwald was seventeen, he was expelled from Durmstrang. He'd started doing some twisted things at school -- experiments. A few teachers had always protected him, but they couldn't anymore. After he left, he traveled for awhile, then ended up in Godric's Hollow where his great aunt lived, Bathilda Bagshot." Hermione said.

"Get to the hard part, Hermione." Harry said.

"She introduced him to Dumbledore. It made sense. Dumbledore's mother had just died, Grindelwald was troubled and they were both brilliant -- they'd never really had anyone they could talk to on the same level. They did a lot of talking that summer. But they always returned to one particular subject." Hermione said, and Harry looks up. "Wizard rule over Muggles."

"And Dumbledore believed in it?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Hermione said, glancing at Cayden who is still writing in his diary, not looking up. The locket is still with him, he was not kidding when the locket has no effect on him.

Harry nods, looking at the photograph again. "For the Greater Good. What does that mean?"

"It was something Dumbledore came up with. He believed wizards were superior and should rule over Muggles, but gently, for their own good. Grindelwald took a more violent position." Hermione said.