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Chapter 1, Those Were The Days

First of all, I should probably thank Blaise Zabini and Gellert Grindelwald for allowing me to write my story down in their memoirs collection. I'm not as great a story teller as they are, but Blaise says I have a voice that should be heard, so here we go.

Ever live through a really shit time, then look back later and miss it so much it hurts because you realize that looking back, perhaps it wasn't so shit after all? Yeah it wasn't like that, though. It was total shit. The sort of total shit where you never get a break from the storm of shit.

I was living on my own when Gellert Grindelwald found me. Hiding in back alleys somewhere in Japan. Yes I remember where. I just don't want to tell you mainly because I don't feel like it and when I can, I humor myself. So I was hiding out to avoid being put back in the orphanage I'd run away from. They locked me in a stone room and drugged me when they discovered I had the Obscurious. I got it from watching my parents die by accident.

I mean their deaths were by accident, not my watching. I was around seven or eight when it happened, or perhaps I was five. It's hazy, that bit of my life. Anyway, I was watching my parents doing some spell and they just went to ashes right in front of my eyes.

I guess the spell didn't go right. They were all focused on it and bickering to one another about how it went. I do remember that. So they weren't like expecting to die or anything. They didn't even know to be careful I guess.

I don't even know what spell it was! And that made it even worse. I had no idea what not to do, what they could've done differently. So I was afraid of magic...terrified is more like it. I'd seen first hand that it could kill me. It had killed them. So that's how I became an Obscurial. Pretty cut and dry as Gellert said when I told him the story.

I told him when he found me. I was really frightened when he tracked me down in a back alley because I could tell from the way he hemmed me in on all sides with a spell that kept me confused and immobile at once that he was a force not to be underestimated.

He'd caught me without breaking a sweat or even mussing those blond curls of his. Though he was skilled enough to be terrifying, he wasn't unkind so I was admittedly confused. He said he'd had a vision of me and that was how he knew how and where to find me. That was admittedly impressive!

Come on, you know that's impressive stuff right there. He said he wanted to help me. Said he knew I was an Obscurial, and that he could help me learn to safely reincorporate my magic so that I could use it and not be a danger to myself or anyone or anything else. I'd never heard of anyone who could help an Obscurial. Later I was to learn that this was because no one else could. He is a Genius, and there's no two ways about it.

I told him I didn't want magic and then I explained why. He promised that he could keep me from dying like my parents had, and in exchange I could do something great. I could help him raise we wizards and witches back to our proper rightful place in the world before Muggles ruined it.

For some reason that sort of sounded good. I mean there was nothing better going on and I knew that the Obscurious could eventually kill me if other wizards and witches didn't eventually do the job out of seeing me as a threat.

Though I didn't want to die, I didn't want to hurt others so if there was someone who could actually help, I had no choice but to take him up on it. And what he wanted in return was more than reasonable. He was more than reasonable, no matter what the lying news papers always said about him, but if you don't know how the media lies and twists things, you really should open your eyes.

He was more than reasonable, but I didn't always see it that way as a teenager. When he found me I was fourteen and I wanted to be a kid sometimes. I wanted to wander off and dress shop or pick flowers or bounce a ball around with other kids if I saw them playing, and he rarely allowed it, always keeping me close. He became a big brother to me over time, but this probably made both of us more of a pain in the ass for each other. Isn't that the way with siblings?

At the time I didn't understand that he kept me close to keep me safe. He never told me that others were hunting me down, most likely with the intention of killing me for posing such a danger. Especially in his hands, they feared what my Obscurious could do, for he used it to make several necessary statements during the earlier stages of the Wizard VS Muggle war.

And here's where I'll continue to be honest even though I doubt it will win me points with most of you. I didn't mind, because all of those same people would quite probably kill me if they could. The Muggles out of fear, and the wizards and witches for the same reason. They would finally have something in common, all wanting me dead for various reasons.

It felt good doing something good with my magical problem, though. Due to how Gellert had tracked me down, tracing the magical signature as he called it, he learned where to place me if my Obscurius might blow so that it did so precisely where he wanted the damage to be. We were all safe, and our statements of war were made. All was well at the end of the day...at least for us in the Alliance.

They were all sort of like a big extended family, but the sort that you keep at a distance, and don't tell all your personal shit to if you get my meaning. Gellert and I were like immediate family, though, and we knew one another well enough to say exactly how we felt when we were alone and it was safe.

I'm Atsuko Fuji, and my claim to fame is being the first Obscurial Gellert Grindelwald fixed. It wasn't easy for either of us on many days, and it didn't help that it was being done during the beginning of a war, but it isn't like inconvenient things are ever particularly accommodating and at least I was able to use my Obscurious to help. That psychologically allowed me to stand it and I think that matters a lot. Once you can stand it, you've won half the battle with whatever you're fighting.

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Those early days were exciting in their way, I must admit. Watching the alliance grow as we met and talked to people and word spread when those people talked to more of their trusted family, friends and associates. There were a lot more wizards on our side of things than the papers want you to think. I mean come on! Let's keep it real. Who would want to hide like rats in the gutter when you could walk proud and powerful instead? With a powerful genius leader and enough wizards behind him, it actually seemed possible. So we grew and grew.

The process of growing the alliance involved a lot of travel, as how else would word spread? As we grew, we also had to take action against the Muggles, and those wizards who stood against their own by supporting them. That, in part, is where I came in. My Obscurious at any rate. Here's another way Gellert's genius plays an admirable role.

At the same time that he used my Obscurious as a weapon, he assisted me in incorporating it. This was done by teaching me to meditate, as through meditation, my mind would begin to gain self control. So while I learned to meditate, Gellert would go into the relaxation exercises with me, only instead of using his to connect to himself as I was doing, he connected to my Obscurious.

He's a healer, you know. It's one of his many talents. He used that particular ability to trace the thread of my Obscurious, not just to locate me in the beginning but to locate it when it was away from me.

I never felt when he used it as a battering ram of sorts against our enemies, though. He traced the thread of it from me to wherever it was, and then directed it to whatever building or street corner he wished to demolish.

As I said, I never felt a thing. I actually enjoyed quite relaxing meditation sessions during such times. I want to reiterate this because when activists like Aberforth Dumbledore tell it, Gellert was using and exploiting me, which was not the case. I knew in advance about everything he planned to use my obscurious for before he did it. I understood his rational and gave my permission. Through using my obscurious to attack our enemies, he ensured it wouldn't involuntarily do harm to innocents, so I saw this as a good thing.

Not to mention each time he helped me to meditate and relax enough for him to trace the obscurious, I was one step closer to regaining my magic. In the early days, at times I'd entertain the fear that he'd have no use for me once I no longer had wild magic that he could weponize.

Once when I was in a teenage temper about something, I expressed my concern, and was pleased when he was actually offended and angry. He said we were family, and if anyone walked away, it wouldn't be him. He said he'd still need my help, and the fact I could control my own magic and would no longer be an obscurial, just meant I'd live to fight, which suited him fine. Yes I saw why people loved Gellert. He was passionate about what he felt to be right, and he knew how to convey that to others in a way they understood. He was great with words, because he believed them.

The meditations had a more mundane use for the both of us as well. With the schedule of travel and networking so constant and strenuous, the hour or so at a time of deep relaxation through meditation allowed us both a bit of necessary inner calm. Relaxing on a soft surface, any where we could find be it outside in thick grass or on a large sofa in an abandoned library, it didn't matter so long as we could relax. Gellert's hand on my arm, forming the tangible link for him to use to trace my obscurius served as a grounding and reassuring presence while I closed my eyes and breathed deep, focusing on the color patterns he'd taught me for mental imagery so I'd be mentally out of his way while he worked. The pattern of colors was red then blue, then light blue, then green, then dark blue, then yellow, then orange, then dark green in a repeating cycle.

For his part, Gellert said that the mental focus it took to trace my obscurial and use it to explode buildings or streets, aka attack our enemies, was equally relaxing. It allowed a release of harmless aggression, harmless for us only of course, and as his mind had to be still to do such work, he remained relaxed. Over the months and even the next few years, it became easier and easier to perform simple magic, then more complex spells. Gellert taught me on our down time, and I enjoyed the lessons spent away from the clamor of everyone else.

Those were the good times, but there were trials as well. Any time we were networking in public, like at a street fair, if I wanted to look at jewelry or pretty dresses, Gellert would make himself difficult literally every time. Back then Gellert said he didn't want me to get lost in the throngs of people and become separated from him. I understood this to a degree, but it seemed a bit much. All teenagers feel that way about the annoying weird way their elders think, and I was certainly one of those teenagers who wanted a bit of freedom. I was tired of being kept close all the time, and wanted to explore things on my own, even for an hour or two, but Gellert was having none of it.

Only far later did I learn that there was an even better reason for this than most adults have. There were far darker things going on under the surface than I was aware of, due to Gellert protecting me because of my tender age. He didn't want me too frightened or unsettled when he needed me calm and centered to reintegrate my obscurial, or even to use my obscurious successfully. If I became too frightened or agitated, I would be harder to control both inside and out, not only for him, but for me as well. Adding an inner danger to those unseen outer ones of which I was currently unaware would not have gone well, and I know this. With that in mind, I am glad I didn't notice when he became even more vigilant when it came to me.

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Chapter 3: Dumbledore

I first encountered Aberforth Dumbledore when a few of us in the Alliance, Gellert included, went to scope out London. British wizards were often too reluctant or stuffy to properly stand up for themselves, so the U.K wasn't one of Gellert's first points of interest when building his earlier foundations. We'd made enough connections elsewhere to feel confident at least checking it out and trying to extend our web of reach into a few corners though.

The alliance was big enough for Gellert to be taken seriously by that point. There was a little notch of London carved out called Diagon Alley where all or most of the wizards and witches lived. It was quaint enough but not entirely impressive. To be fair, though, a certain Gellert who never allowed me out of his sight didn't permit me to look around much.

I got the famously annoying 'we'll see,' when I asked if we could go shopping before we left. Gellert was, of course, more interested in the social aspect for making connections so we headed to the large wizarding inn or whatever, called The Three Broomsticks.

We planned to sit down, have a meal, and have a listen to the conversation around us in order to scope the place out before deciding to talk to anyone. We didn't quite expect to get the ear vomit that we ended up with, though. As we sat at a table in the corner of the large room, our attention was drawn to a red haired youngish man at the bar. He looked to be around Gellert's age, but not nearly as striking or dashing if we're being honest...which we are. He was talking loudly and angrily, gesturing around with wild motions of his arms as he spoke.

"He's dangerous, I tell you. He must be stopped. If the Aurors can't do it, we citizens owe it to wizard kind and the safety of our way of life to do it bloody for them," he was shouting.

Gellert's piercing blue gaze turned in his direction, studying with cold, watchful intensity. My gaze followed and I listened. He was probably on about the Alliance for some reason, though we'd done nothing to him to gain such animosity.

"I read tell he got tossed out of Durmstrang for hurtin' animals."

Gellert's mouth tightened. "I was attempting to improve them," he muttered darkly, one hand straying to his wand.

"I remember," I said with a sigh as the other few who'd come with us politely pretended not to hear.

He'd bitched a couple times about the unfairness of his expulsion at Durmstrang, opining over how it was purely political, something about family rivalries that had gone on for centuries. If it sounds as if I know little, it's because he actually knew little on the matter either so the bitching was usually circular and limited to a few facts.

"And it gets worse," the red haired man continued stridently. "I heard tell he's got an Obscurial that he's using to tear up France and Spain! My baby sister was an Obscurial, and I know how dangerous they are first hand! I also know how vulnerable they are and exactly how out of control. He's using and exploiting a child for his own sick gains, and he must be stopped."

I squirmed indignantly in my chair, frowning over at Gellert. I so was not out of control! "I should go kick him right onto his bottom," I suggested eagerly "It isn't as if he'd be able to help me...or the wizarding world either for that matter."

"Though it would be quite entertaining, I'd rather not have you mobbed by an angry crowd intent on saving you from yourself as well as from me," Gellert pointed out dryly.

As he spoke my blood ran cold. I remembered what people did to Obscurials...why I'd hidden for so long on my own. My hands were tight fists in my skirts as I sat stiffly staring at the red haired man, the first true human threat I'd ever fully registered.

"Who is he anyway," I demanded resentfully.

Gellert gave a careless shrug. "An idiot redhead."

"Have you ever seen him before," I asked, and he hesitated.

"Only in papers. His name is Aberforth Dumbledore. He keeps goats for some reason and has an Obscurial obsession because of his stupid sister."

"All that was in the papers? Why goats?"

"Yes and who the hell knows," Gellert said peevishly. He tossed his blonde hair back and glanced at the door. "I don't think today will be the day to feel out the place. He's already ruined the mood," he grumbled. "We may check somewhere else before we leave town, though. There has to be more than one restaurant in this little hole."

I nodded. That sounded logical.

Gellert stood, his long duster jacket flowing out behind him in a gray cloud as he did. Gesturing to those three or so others from the Alliance that we'd brought along, he headed for the door.

"Wait," the red haired man bellowed incredulously. "Is that him? Stop him!"

I turned to glare, and he met my eyes. His seemed... I don't know a little crazy? Angry? Determined and unwilling to budge mainly, though with maybe a bit of stubborn bull in there. I didn't like him one bit.

"That's probably the girl there with him! Save her!"

My heart leapt in pure panic! I knew his version of saving... It would likely get me killed or locked away in some hospital and drugged forever. No thanks!

I kicked out hard at anyone who came near me, and punched others. "He's helping me. Leave us alone," I shouted at Aberforth as Gellert's familiar slender hand wrapped around my wrist, dragging me away as his other hand came up, wand flashing. The room filled with a blinding light, effectively throwing everyone off as we escaped.

In an instant we'd rejoined the others of the Alliance where we had rooms in a posh Muggle hotel just out side of London. Though Gellert detested all things Muggle, he'd allowed Rosier to talk him into using Muggle facilities when wizarding ones may present too much danger in those areas where we had fewer supporters. I hate to admit that I was shaking all over, but though we'd played what some would call a few dangerous games in the past, this was the first time that I felt physically threatened. He must have seen the strain on my face, for Gellert ordered Rosier to make me some hot tea.

"It's alright now," he assured. He pulled me close with one arm and rubbed my back until I closed my eyes and relaxed against him.

As it happened, I never got to go shopping in Diagon Alley or even Hogsmeade, though we did visit there with better success when it came to gaining support.

I'd like to say that was the last time we encountered Aberforth Dumbledore, but this was sadly not the case. At times he even tracked us down in order to promote lies and fear propaganda against the goals of the Alliance. The more the alliance grew, the easier we were to locate, and Aberforth Dumbledore seemed to thrive on causing disruption for us in any way possible.

Gellert was certain that this was only because of my Obscurious. Even though Gellert had helped me, fixed it, Aberforth didn't seem to believe that. Gellert even once told him and I told him, and he called us liars. He provoked Gellert to attack him in our defense more than once, yet in Dumbledore's eyes he alone was always the one trying to do what was right.

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After we'd spent a limited time locating what supporters we could in the U.K without attracting too much notice, we retreated back to Gellert's home turf where he spent a few months constructing Nurmengard.

I'm certain he had plans to house Aberforth Dumbledore there some day, a thing to which I did not object in the least. I would personally feel far safer when he was behind bars and unable to threaten my well being with his insane, ignorant hostility. Once the magnificent castle was constructed, by magical means of course, we had a home for the first time. It was grand, and made all of us feel grand to live there. Like we would accomplish great things, and the grand castle was there as a constant reminder of this.

It wasn't just a home for the Alliance, though. It was also to serve as a prison for anyone who posed a threat to our goals. Unlike Voldemort, Gellert didn't relish killing outright unless there was no choice. People like black and white, good and bad, and they find anyone who stands against them to be on the wrong end of that always, but sometimes, people, things are gray because we can't all see and understand things the same way. The world is so full of color, how can our minds not be the same?

Gellert was never a bad or evil man. He was one who dared to do what most wanted to do yet feared to do were they being even a little honest. He was a man who did not see the world functioning in favor of wizards, the true power, so he was man enough to stand up and try to do something about it, a thing for which I shall always fiercely respect him no matter what any of the mad Aberforth Dumbledores of the world say to the contrary out of their own fear and hatred.

Anyway, back to Nurmengard! Gellert took several weeks to put many, many defenses in place. Defenses that ensured no one could get in or out without his expressed leave to do so.

By defenses I don't just mean wards and such, though there were plenty of those. Gellert also summoned elemental beings and various dark creatures to serve as guards. That was one of the many times his creativity and magical prowess impressed the hell out of me. He never bragged, though. He just, as they say these days, did his thing with amazing ease like it wasn't that hard. For him I guess it wasn't. Isn't that what makes people genius's, after all?

With Nurmengard completed, we were ready to continue on our quest to find more supporters. Our next stop in the goal to create an alliance of enough wizards to change the world was the United States of America!

Gellert had high hopes for America, considering it was a country that called itself the land of the free and the home of the brave. Our goal was to be free from Muggle tyranny, and it would take brave wizards to accomplish this, after all.

America felt more brazen than thrilling if I'm being honest, which I always am. Gellert agreed with me on that. There was always some strange shock around every corner, and the melting pot that the place definitely was seemed to us to drain culture rather than add to it. To each their own, I suppose.

America was definitely unfiltered, even in the nineteen-twenties, I'll tell you that. Many of the women wore scandalous clothes and cut their hair short like a man's! They called themselves flappers.

Does anyone else think flapper sounds like a bird with a hurt wing or something? I mean it doesn't sound particularly glamorous. Either way you won't catch me in one of those strange tasseled, overshort dresses and there is no way I am cutting off all my hair! What's wrong with a nice, soft, comfortable, flowing kimono I ask you? Nothing at all.

Things were rather dull when we first arrived in the States due to the fact we had to scope things out and do a lot of boring research before we made our move. It was astonishingly easy to learn all we needed to, and there were many ready supporters to be had. As Gellert had hoped, it galled many witches and wizards to live in a country known for it's freedom, while having to hide and not feel in the least free.

Macusa, America's Ministry, was the obvious place to convert into our base of operations. As the head of defense had nearly as much power as the Minister without quite the amount of responsibility, Gellert decided to take his place. Also I'm sure because he didn't want to pose as a girl, and currently a girl was running things at Macusa. Graves was rather simple to capture and that fascinating little truth potion made learning all his secrets just as simple. Gellert even remembered to command Graves to inform him of anything of use that he may have neglected to ask, which effectively covered all our bases.

Gellert kept me close as usual by making me Graves' assistant. This ensured I always had a ton of insanely dull paper work to keep me busy. In the end, to our disappointment, American witches and wizards did not hunger enough for freedom, instead valuing the traditions of safety.

We were hoping the Salem witch trials, even though mostly perpetrated by stupid frightened Muggles on one another alone, would serve as proof that we were unsafe. We discovered that fear was stronger than rationality and self preservation, however. Worst, these fearful witches and wizards who were not in the least free or brave, actually believed their own hiding game was the way to safety!

This isn't to say that we didn't gain many, many followers for our cause, though. It just meant that things wouldn't happen as quickly as we'd all hoped. Gellert left some in America to keep tabs on any changes there, and took some along with us. The more numbers we could show, the more wizards and witches who were hesitant would be swayed, gaining the required confidence by those numbers. Gellert left those behind with families and took those along who were single and free to travel without strong responsibilities to hold them back. Abernathy was one of those to come along, and he became a friend to me of sorts because of his generally affable nature.

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And because I grow bored of rehashing the past, let's get to one of the bits I know you want me to talk about the most. Gellert's imprisonment was an unexpected shock for us all, and effectively ended everything for the Alliance. And you know what, it really hurt because we were winning!

The cowardly Ministries who brought us down will never admit that we were winning, but we were. We were winning because more and more wizards were becoming brave enough to stand with us as a result of Gellert's own bravery and passion for the cause of magical freedom! He had supporters from America to Japan, and from Italy to England to India. Some stood with us while others helped secretly where they could so as not to put their families at risk. Either way Gellert was more than willing to take what he could get and we were winning!

We were winning so hard until we weren't. Like all piece of shit days, it was just another day until it went sideways in the worst and most unpredictable of ways. For some reason, Gellert's visions didn't warn him of this one either, a thing we never understood.

By then I was a full fledged witch, no longer an Obscurial, and in my bloody forties though I never looked it. Though he was my big brother from another mother, Gellert, like me, never looked his age either. Though not being Japanese, it's my secret to youth, I'm not sure how he managed it. Wizards always look younger than Muggles, though, so that helps. It's just one thing that makes us better and more if we're being honest, which we always should be because it keeps things from becoming far too complicated.

So the day that everything was lost we were all on a mission to take over the Muggle Ministry in London. We were going to Imperio the Muggle Minister to publicly announce the existence of witches and wizards then give over to us. Gellert was afraid that the Muggles would destroy the world with their nuclear war, and World War two needed to be stopped. He planned to do this with wizarding might.

When a Muggle leader handed the power over to wizards, the world would be safe once again. It was in reach. It was going to happen that day! As this would be a rather big deal, Gellert brought along most of the inner circle of the Alliance.

With the Muggle Minister, (Prime Minister isn't it called?) giving over to magic users, it would serve best to have a lot of us on hand, after all. So we were walking down one of the halls of the Muggle Ministry, bold as brass, when it happened. I was suddenly so very dizzy. I remember reaching out a hand to grasp Gellert's arm and trying to speak. I wanted to say that we needed to stop for a second because I didn't feel well for some reason, but then I was falling in what felt like slow motion. Even stranger than that, Gellert was falling at my side. I just had enough time to wonder what in the great big world was bloody happening before everything went black!

When I woke up, I was bound tightly in hex lock curses, and quite unable to move. I remember the bindings were so tight that it hurt even though solid ropes weren't in use. I wasn't alone either. Everyone in the inner circle of the Alliance who'd come along was with me. Everyone except for Gellert. It wasn't just the British magicals holding us either! Stupid Picquery from Macusa was there, though I know she wasn't their president or whatever any longer by then. Some of the officials from France who we'd pissed off good were there to gloat as well. I cursed them and screamed for Gellert until one of them struck me hard enough across the face to daze me. I don't like being hit. It makes one feel powerless in a way that's difficult to describe. I'd never been hit before, so it only served to add to the shit day that was only growing shittier by the moment.

They told us that we were done, then explained just how. Now I'll explain it to you, though it's still difficult to grasp even today after so much has changed for good and ill.

They felled us, knocked us out thoroughly enough to break all our defensive and protective wards to capture us using...wait for it...

wait for it...

Muggle chloroform. In case you're like I was at the time and have no idea what that is, it's a muggle sleep gas. It puts people out for surgeries or kidnappings I suppose. I don't think they use it anymore because it was hurting some people's hearts or something, but fortunately it didn't hurt any of ours. And yes I completely understand how bloody maddeningly ironic it is that we were knocked out with a bloody Muggle invention!

I think that bit hurts most of all. Those lesser wizards couldn't take us down, so had to turn to Muggle means to do it. Yes we should've been aware rather than scathing of Muggle progress. I get that now...I do.

So don't mention it or rub it in because it still stings like a motherfudger after all these bloody years! It really does! Because we were winning! We were winning until we weren't. Winning until we were knocked out by a stupid Muggle sleep gas! It certainly wasn't something we ever saw coming, though, that's for sure. They questioned us about any other plans Gellert had in place, but we all refused to talk. Then they poured nearly a cup of Veritaserum down each of our throats.

It only takes a few drops to force the truth from a person, and by that I mean they'll tell you the truth about what you ask, and with an extra drop or two the truth about everything you don't want to know either. Their childhood fears, all the tests they cheated on, how they masturbate in the coat closet at work when things get too stressful...And no, I do not have a dirty mind, thank you very much! We actually did accidentally ring that choice confession from a government official in France back in the mid twenties when we gave him that extra drop for just in case he had any mental shields up against the potions effects.

They were really impressed with Gellert's skills and by proxy ours, because they went for nearly a cup instead of a few extra drops. Any plans we had in place spilled out as well as how we felt about everyone holding us, which in my case won me another slap from the same asshole who'd struck me earlier.

Because I still had the truth, I screamed at him how Gellert would kill him for that and he laughed in my face, saying that Gellert wouldn't be doing anything of the sort because he was locked away in a prison of his own making. They'd put him in Nurmengard, because no wards they could construct would ever hold him and they bloody knew it. They had to use his own, twisting them to work against him, which was all they could manage. It made me sick. They made me sick.

Later they actually told the lot of us that Albus Dumbledore had beaten him in a duel and that was why we were all captured. They said that no one would ever believe us about the Muggle sleep gas, and they may have been right. Either way it hardly mattered, because they made it perfectly clear while they were ever-so-kindly explaining things, that anyone attempting to rescue Gellert would be killed for direct treason to the wizarding world at large. That didn't stop me from trying five years later when I hoped they'd gotten lax, but that's another story, probably for the next chapter.

And yes, I did say Albus Dumbledore and not Aberforth. I even thought they meant Aberforth and when my truth potion influenced self attempted to correct the error, they explained that Albus was Aberforth's older and more accomplished brother. I'd never heard of him, so had no idea in what way he was accomplished, but I planned to find out.

They held us all for several months, then released us when they were certain it was safe to do so. This meant that they'd terrorized most everyone into agreeing to leave off without Gellert to lead us. Those they thought may still be a threat, they threatened their families to ensure our attempt to free wizarding society was over.

What I still don't understand is why anyone actually believed the Dumbledore vs Grindelwald duel even took place! First of all, Gellert had an entire army at his back. If anyone wanted to stand against him, there was no reason to risk everything we worked for on the outcome of a duel when several of us with Gellert in the lead could merely end anyone who posed a direct challenge.

Gellert did love to show off, but he could've just won a duel without risking our cause as the outcome! It was never his way. Not when he believed in what he...in what The Alliance stood for so much. He would never. The fact anyone believed it was beyond me and still is, but those people didn't know him well, and too many people believe what they hear in the news as utter and complete truth. It never occurs to them that there are reasons for those who report the news to lie. I don't understand why people are so stupid, but my lack of understanding certainly won't make them smarter.

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They released us after several days. Once they'd squeezed every drop of information from us, we were useless to them. With Gellert in prison, we were a threat to no one. The truth potion had shown them clearly that none of us planned to take the mantle of leader up which they'd literally forced Gellert to drop, so we were free to live our lives so long as that never changed. The Alliance was effectively broken, though some of us kept in touch...Because we were family of sorts.

Gellert was my true family, and I'd screamed as much when under the effects of that literal cup of truth potion they'd forced on all of us. I had no one else and felt free in the worst of ways, listless and completely disconnected.

Yes there were those members of the Alliance I was close to, Abernathy was one, but odd as it may sound, being around them just hurt more without Gellert there. It served as a painful illustration that Gellert wasn't there and the reason for that was so damned sad.

He was locked up in a literal prison of his own making while all our enemies had been set free. Gellert didn't deserve that and neither did we. Not for only trying to free the wizarding world from the insane grip of Muggle fear. Muggles were starting world wars using weapons that could ruin the entire world, after all, not wizards. There was no justice, and we all knew it.

Being around others in the Alliance was just too hard, considering when in their presence, it was impossible to keep such thoughts from surfacing nearly constantly. Being alone and adrift was unpleasant, but it was easier than that.

I returned to Japan, not knowing what else to do. I had my family home and a little money from my parents settlement, so I lived off that, basically withdrawing from society. I lost myself in the books Gellert insisted I read some day, but there had somehow never been time for with our crazy life. Though I complained about it often when it was taking place, I missed it so bad after. I missed knowing what we'd do every day and being too busy to read, though at the time I'd wished for roots and time to read.

What had once felt to me like a life of slight instability, now felt like all the stability in the world. Constant travel had been tiring, but without it I realized that goals were more stabilizing than a constant homelife.

Where I'd thought home and time to explore life would be stabilizing for me, now it felt like nothing but a necessary distraction. I'd believed that Gellert needed the same stability that I'd wanted, and had always assumed we'd share it together someday as siblings do. I never thought I'd be alone. When he'd rescued me from the streets when I was a teenager, Gellert promised me that I'd never be alone again. It wasn't his fault that he was forced to break that promise...In fact I saw the various wizarding governments as having broken his promise for him, and I still hate them for that even though most of them are dead by now or will be soon, by natural causes, of course.

Of course Nurmengard had been our home, but that only made the concept of home for which I'd once longed to have more constantly in my life, even more painful to recall. The home he'd built so proudly for us was now a prison...a trap to hold him in forever.

His beautiful smile and wild laugh that never failed to lift my spirits was forever shuttered, and that hurt so much. The inner fire he'd used to wake the wizarding world and restore it to its rightful glory was locked behind walls for always. Worse than that, he was alone. I begged them when they had all of us captured to allow me to be with him. "Just please lock me up with him!"

In part so he'd not be alone and in part so I'd not be alone, pathetic as that might sound. They refused, though, and yes I know exactly why. The more people around him, the more chances he'd find a way to use them to escape somehow. They didn't even use real guards. Instead animated armor or trained creatures brought Gellert his food and water and anything else they deemed to be necessary. This they freely admitted to us during that time we of the Alliance were held prisoner ourselves while being interrogated. Any humans were farther out, never to have direct contact with Gellert.

This meant he was to never have human contact. Never to have a conversation! I feared he'd go mad. That was such a horrific punishment, and far, far more than he deserved. How I hated them for that and thanks to the cup of truth potion I told them so with true venom in my voice. They shamed all of us by forcing any thoughts and personal opinions from us with that entire cup of truth potion.

We had no rights during those several days we were captured. I can't describe how invasive that was, but I am certain they intended it to serve as a punishment. You may feel it was a light one, but you are wrong. You can't imagine what that much forced truth can do. Of course they wanted to be certain they knew of any plans Gellert may have had brewing, but there were other ways to learn that without delving into every corner of who we all were.

That's probably why I needed so much alone time in my childhood home in Japan. After all that, retreating from the world felt necessary. Being captured then invaded mentally so, forced to tell everything, was traumatic. One could think returning there where my parents had died before my eyes would've added bad to bad, but in all honesty, by then that felt so far removed and the death of my life goals combined with the forced separation from Gellert was worse and far fresher. Raw. It was so raw and numb all at once.

Eventually I began to think again. I was always thinking, but numbly repeating everything in my mind in useless circles. After around five years, I started thinking in a progressive pattern as if building mental stairs out of my funk. I lost interest in losing myself in books and itched to take action. Dumbledore became a relevant part of my thoughts. Not Aberforth...the other one. Albus. The one who supposedly defeated Gellert while the rest of us...did I have no idea what. That part of the rubbish lie was never covered, and I wondered if they'd even bothered to explain that bit or address it to the stupid masses of wizarding sheep.

I left Japan for England to do a bit of up close and personal research. Simply asking around Diagon Alley gave me information far quicker than I could've expected. Apparently Albus was some famous genius that I'd somehow never heard of.

Probably because the various things for which he was famous had nothing to do with anything the Alliance was doing. Currently Albus Dumbledore worked at Hogwarts, the name of the British wizarding school. Dumb name if you ask me. No dignity in that what so ever, but I digress.

I applied for a job at Hogwarts in order to learn more of the man. Having learned extensively from Gellert, I felt qualified to apply for Defense Against The Dark Arts. I did so under a fake name, because my real one had been plastered all over the papers back when Aberforth Dumbledore was having his Gellert was exploiting a poor Obscurial fits. I got the job, of course, because I was very qualified. I had nine months to get to know Albus Dumbledore. I didn't question him at once about the duel, not wanting to gain attention. When I did, he lied to me. He was vague, and uncomfortable, feigning modesty and embarrassment.

He claimed Gellert was an old friend whom he'd trapped then defeated. I knew this was rubbish but pretended to believe him, though I could not find it within me to compliment him for his 'achievement. I nearly said that I couldn't see how the two would get along, though, because it was true.

I managed to keep this opinion to myself, and left at the end of the year, claiming a need to return to Japan. Instead I went to Nurmengard. Teaching was dull and I'd spent my time at Hogwarts studying unraveling charms from the little charms master who was also a dueling champion. I liked Flitwick, and he was always willing and eager to answer my questions. He enjoyed my interest in complex charms, as unraveling heavy defenses got really complicated. I made a worthy student, and he and I spent several hours a week together after classes and on weekends as I studied with him. He was the only person I ever missed from Hogwarts.

I approached Nurmengard on foot, wearing a cloak of invisibility that I'd spent most of my Hogwarts wages on in Knockturn Alley before I left the U.K. With each step I unraveled wards. My heart was pounding with the glee of my success and my hands were shaking. I couldn't believe it was working. Using a simple sticking charm on my hands and feet, I literally climbed up the side of a wall. My goal was Gellert's bedroom window. I supposed they might be holding him there, mainly because it would be cruel and uncreative, which they were as a rule. It was like their pattern!

I made it half way up before I was caught. I'd unraveled the charms on the armor that came at me first, actually climbing the wall just as I did, but the wizards that followed outnumbered me. I screamed with frustrated rage and fought them. They'd already promised to kill anyone who tried this, so I intended to hurt them before they took me out. I kicked balls, clawed eyes, cursed profoundly, and was not killed!

I screamed out to Gellert that I'd tried to come for him, and they didn't even stop me. I knew then that whatever wards were up around Gellert even kept him from hearing anything outside of his own holding room. They let me go and warned me not to return, threatening death again. As I was still alive from that current attempt, I wasn't impressed.

Perhaps you'll think I should've wondered why they hadn't killed me, but I felt it was obvious. Thanks to my cup of truth, they knew I was the closest person to Gellert. If he ever escaped, they knew he'd come for me, so leaving me alive gave them a perfect way to track him just in case there was ever a need to do so.

The incident left me hollow and angry all at once. Trust me that's a very bad way to be, with no real foundation or inner stability. It taught me that I could never go home again. Nurmengard wasn't home anymore and it never would be. Not for me, and not for the Alliance, and most certainly not for Gellert.

Chapter Text

Just as I had when everything was originally lost, I returned to Japan. This time, rather than living secluded and shut away in my family's home, I ventured out more, actually getting to know my country as an adult. Reacquainting myself with my own culture and its people was wondrous and beautiful. Of course there was always the underlying sadness, for I couldn't help but imagine how much nicer it would've been with Gellert at my side in a world where we'd won. How different that could've been, but I had what I had instead, which was Japan recovering from World War II.

Muggles being Muggles had caused all this, so it made the loss of the Alliance and our goals even more of a difficult pill to swallow. I managed, though, bit by bit, day by day. Because there was no other choice. As Japan recovered from the second Muggle world war, I recovered as much as I ever could from the loss of Gellert and the Alliance.

My recent failure presented a new blow for my hopes of rescuing him had been high. The feeling of unraveling those wards as I climbed up the side of Nurmengard castle had been amazing! Like some high, and I'd never felt so powerful. Certainly not when Gellert used the raw power of my Obscurious, for I never felt that during our peaceful meditations.

The attempt to rescue Gellert had been all me, my power and I could feel it working! I could feel success so close before I was hindered again by the same assholes who'd taken us down. While climbing up the side of the castle, I could practically see his face in my mind's eye, surprised then laughing with gladness when I rescued him, but that was never to come to be.

No matter how much it hurt, and believe me it hurt, I was being forced to come to terms with the fact that I couldn't ever rescue Gellert. I just had to hope that he'd manage another of his old tricks again and find me instead.

I took to reading in tea houses just to get out of my own house. I liked the charming ambiance, and the atmosphere provided a soothing inner calm that I deeply needed. As I'd read all the books I had during my self induced five year shut in, I often went out shopping for new books.

That's how I met the man who was to become my husband and closest friend. He also had a love of books, though where I enjoyed history and literature, he enjoyed mythological creatures, spirits and gods. Our interests met on rare curses and wards, though. His name is Yajiro Tanaka, and he has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. He says we are twin souls and that when I look into his eyes I see my own. I never see that depth of perception in my eyes, but I'll take his word for it.

He and I are both small and slender of build, both quick movers who are light on our feet. We both have black silky hair, though his is far shorter than mine. His face is more heart shaped where mine is oval. His eyes are large with long lashes, and I could look into them for ages and ages. I don't find my more ordinary eyes to be nearly as remarkable, but he seems to enjoy them so I consider myself fortunate.

He asked me out for a dance the first day we met, assuring me that many other wizards and witches would be present. He was a perfect gentleman, and I found him interesting so I accepted. He and I are similar in that we're both high energy, lively, expressive, opinionated, and intelligent. We both enjoy studying those topics we find of particular interest and we feel very strongly about the things or people we love. He made me feel alive for the first time in nearly six years. Because of Yajiro, I found myself looking forward to life again.

I found that I liked dancing, and being out and interacting with interesting people. Being busy in ways I'd never had time for while with the Alliance was what I needed and slowly it made me feel more normal and less miserable.

When I confessed to Yajiro that I'd been a part of the Alliance, and even as close as a sister to Gellert Grindelwald, he was impressed. That told me all I needed to know, and I was able to completely open up to him. He treated me well and respected me, so I felt safe in his presence.

Equally importantly, he respected and admired Gellert, not only for what he'd tried to do for wizarding society all over the world, but for what he'd done for me as an Obscurial. He said that without Gellert I'd not be here with him now, and he admired and honored Gellert for that. He promised to make prayers at some of the oldest temples, begging luck for Gellert, and that moved me to tears. His open sincerity on the matter was just what I needed. I needed someone else to care about Gellert too.

Sure I could've found that a plenty if I'd kept in contact with the Alliance, but not only was it too painful, it was too stressful as well. They watched us, and we all knew it. They kept tabs on us and were we together for too long, they would suspect that we were up to freeing Gellert. As we had no idea of how this could be managed, none of us being good enough to get around Gellert's wards, because no one was, we had no plans.

If THEY suspected that we did, though, I feared that things could somehow get worse for Gellert and I couldn't have that. It seemed everyone else agreed, because the few times I wrote Abernathy or any of the others, each said the same thing. That they'd not heard much from anyone else, and that we were all better off that way, but to keep in touch.

Yajiro and I saw one another nearly every day, and it was comfortable. It was the stability that I needed and when he asked me to marry him, yes was the obvious answer. I cried at my wedding because Gellert wasn't there to know Yajiro or to perform the proper roles of family as I know he would want to do. Yajiro's family is wealthy so rather than a traditional career, he was able to pursue his interest in tracking down those creatures that most believed to be only mythical.

When we met, Yajiro was pursuing a local Jorogumo, a spider yokai with control over bodies of water. The yokai could transform into a beautiful woman at will. But that was not what Yajiro was looking for. Where most Jorogumo had spiritual powers and control over the Fire element and its lesser beings, the water Jorogumo was exceedingly rare and knew where certain treasures were buried.

In particular the scroll left behind by the Sages, a strange map, and most importantly, lots of diamonds gathered by generations of the Tengu. The thing about the Jorogumo, at least the water one, was that Yajiro did not even have to be stronger or smarter than it. All that was required to secure its loyalty was to find out its hiding place, and then to keep its secret for three days.{If he failed to keep the secret, for any reason, he would go insane according to the legend, but he did not believe it to be likely}.

I would like to say that he tracked down his Yokai by now, some six decades later as I write this account, but though he has found several leads, this pursuit of his is still a work in progress. I think it has become somewhat of a personal challenge for him, considering he feels he has come very close several times.

He becomes very animated when he talks about it, and the more frustrated he grows, the more charming I find his antics. He is adorable, my husband, and always keeps me entertained. He believes in these creatures he seeks the way we once believed in...a better world, so I support him. He is generally not a dreamer. He has a good head on his shoulders, my Yajiro, and if he thinks these things are real, I believe him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Rumor Has It

Six decades we were married when I got the shock of my life, and no, it wasn't one of Yajiro's creatures! You may think six decades is a bit of a time jump, but save for travel and Yajiro's creature hunts, not much happened to be honest, which you know I always am. Plus this story is basically about Gellert. You know that by now, so we skip ahead until this time of which I speak now.

Yajiro had just come in from setting another trap for the water Jorogumo in the small ornamental pond he'd had built in our back garden when the daily post arrived. He took the letters and scanned through them with a distracted expression on his face that let me know he was still thinking about his latest pursuit. Idly I watched him scanning through the mail. The last item was the newspaper, a thing in which I'd lost interest in decades ago.

Gellert had always hated the papers for blatantly spreading lies about him to dissuade witches and wizards from joining the Alliance. Journalists turned him into a monster, misrepresenting or outright lying about anything he did. It got to a point even seeing a paper could have him furious...or very triggered as they say today. Yajiro's distracted expression didn't waver as he flipped through the newspaper until he suddenly froze, all color draining from his face as he dropped the paper to the floor.

"What is it," I asked, leaping to my feet.

He shook his head wordlessly for several seconds, then reached to draw me into his arms. "Oh my love, my love," he murmured, rocking me gently.

"What is it," I snapped, feeling my anxiety rising without even knowing why. His reaction was really getting to me, though, that was for sure. He wasn't one for extreme platitudes even if he was a gentle soul, and his actions were suddenly stressful, because I couldn't for the life of me imagine what could possibly be behind them.

"The paper says...that that Voldemort killed him." His words stammered out full of shock and horror and regret.

It would've been touching that he cared if I'd believed it. If such a thing could've ever possibly happened, but such wasn't at all possible. No one could take Gellert. No one! If Voldemort had tried, Gellert would've taken him out and become a national hero and they'd have had to free him! If Voldemort had gotten as close as I had, They'd have caught him as they caught me, so no it wasn't true! It couldn't be.

"It's alright," I told him. "They're lying again. They're always lying about Gellert," I added angrily.

I kicked disdainfully at the newspaper that he'd dropped onto the floor with the toe of my slipper, but when he didn't speak I looked up. He only shook his head gently, giving me a look of sympathy that infuriated me. "You don't know Gellert," I snapped, frustrated.

I wasn't some fool in denial. I knew Gellert and Voldemort would not have taken him down! He was too good and that was that. Besides, why would Voldemort bother? Why not take Gellert's help instead? The story just made no sense at all.

I knew little of Voldemort, so had no idea if Gellert would help him or not. Voldemort had no idea either, though, and who wouldn't want Gellert Grindelwald's help if he could get it instead of killing him?

"I'd know it if he were dead," I declared firmly, truly believing this in my heart.

Somehow that he understood where he had doubted my earlier words of disbelief. Giving me a slight smile, he nodded, gaze somber and grave as his eyes met mine.

Just as he believed in his creatures, I believed that the Voldemort killing Gellert rubbish was bullshit. We supported one another's beliefs in turn, not being certain if we believed completely in the others beliefs, but not needing to be. I knew Gellert was out there somewhere, alive and fooling them all.

That or they were using the Voldemort killing him line in some attempt to draw Voldemort out, to goad him into attacking Gellert so that Gellert could take him down for them. That would not surprise me in the least. Now that the British wizarding government at last appeared to be taking the Voldemort situation infecting its country seriously, it would be just like them to leave a greater wizard to handle it.

In the way they'd used Gellert's own prison against him, I could totally see them using Gellert himself to take down their problem for them. If so, though, they'd better give him credit for it and let him go, calling it even. When word reached Japan a year or so later that Voldemort was finally dead, I waited eagerly for Gellert to reemerge, but this did not happen. That must mean that he'd escaped instead of being used to kill Voldemort.

Perhaps when Voldemort had attempted to kill him, Gellert used the opportunity to escape. Voldemort would surely be embarrassed that he'd failed, so would lie and say he had killed Gellert to save face, leaving Gellert to safely vanish.

He would have to be cautious in order to avoid getting caught, so of course he could not approach directly when he sought me out. When Yajiro asked how I supposed Gellert would find me with my last name now being Tanaka, I reminded him that Gellert is a seer. He'd get a vision of me and track me down eventually. I waited, and waited, and then became mildly confused, but still waited, holding out hope, because it's Gellert, Bitch!

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Viva La Vida

My next shock was to come twenty years later, also in the mail. Don't complain that I am time skipping too much, because trust me, I am doing you a favor! Nothing remarkable happened during any of the time I skipped. Jiro kept at the hunting and studying of his creatures and I read a lot. I spent much time studying and practicing various forms of magic native specifically to Japan, because I'd missed out on my own culture while with Gellert though it couldn't be helped. My current studies involved the patterns that magic seemed to take, which truly made things far easier to understand. Life is all made up of patterns and life is magic, after all.

It was the second time that a large shock came to me through the mail. I mention this because it's a pattern of the sort I was studying. Similar things repeat in our lives for a reason. It can be a message or a spell or a hex, depending and it's all very fascinating. Back to my letter, though.

"One for you... From France," Yajiro said, arching his thin brows as he passed me the letter.

It had his attention now, and mine as well. As I was just as curious about the letter, I put my book down and hastily tore it open.

Though the Alliance always came to mind first when I thought of France, I didn't really keep in touch with anyone from there. Abernathy was the only person I hadn't lost contact with in truth, but I'd never really had much to say to anyone from France. I just never felt comfortable around them. They just never seemed that warm.

The women always wanted more from Gellert than he was going to give them which just ended up causing me to feel uncomfortable in their presence. Whether or not it was true, I always felt they believed I was in the way, a child who stood between them and their Gellert who was never theirs. He'd sleep with one or the other if we needed a place to crash that they owned or could procure, doling out favors of his time and attention, but he always looked distracted even when giving them attention so I was always amused.

When a teenager and in a temper because Gellert wouldn't allow me to date this boy or shop at that bazar for some reason or other I'd demand he stay with me and teach me magic rather than spending time with any of his women. He always agreed readily, a clear indication that his heart was never in it with them. Back then, I'd hoped I was depriving him of something great, as I felt he did to me, but it was never the case. He gave in too easily to mind in the slightest.

All of this ran through my mind in an instant as I tore the letter open, wondering who in the hell could be writing me from France and why. My gaze dropped to the bottom of the parchment, scanning for the signature, as that would get me quickly to the heart of the matter. My eyes widened in shock at the name Rosier/Black.

Had Vinda finally gotten over Gellert and married someone? Well good for her, but why write me about it? If there was a wedding, I certainly didn't care enough to go. And how old was she by now? Then I caught the first name, Druella. The entire name read Druella, Rosier/Black. Okay not Vinda, so some relation. But why was she writing me and how had she gotten my bloody address?

"What's it about, Suko," Yajiro asked, leaning toward me, curiosity stamped all over his face.

"I'm getting to it, I'm getting to it," I grumbled, raising my eyes to the top of the parchment to at last begin reading the letter properly.

/ To Atsuko Tanaka,

I hope this letter finds you well, and I write in the name of Gellert Grindelwald. I have offered to help him to reunite with those former followers who were closest to him, and I was giving your information via a Mr. Abernathy. /

I knew it! Gellert was alive! I knew it! Only why? Why had it taken so long for him to find me? My hands went numb with the shock of it, and the parchment fell from my fingers to whisper across the floor. I must have cried out, because Yajiro started as he bent to retrieve the letter. I stared, still processing my shock, as he hastily scanned it.

"How wonderful," he said, embracing me, the parchment crinkling between us.

Laughing I returned his embrace, then took the letter back in order to finish reading it.

/ He is eager to reconnect with all of you again, and has given me permission to bring you to him in London where we all reside. I am the mother of Bellatrix Lestrange, a close associate of his. If you reply in the affirmative, I shall send my family elf, Onyx, to fetch you tomorrow evening, and you will join the rest in reuniting with Gellert. Please do not speak of this to anyone. Times are still dark all over the world even if the defeat of Delphini has been achieved, so Mr. Grindelwald still needs all the help and support he can get. Please reply ASAP!

Sincerely,

Druella, Rosier/Black /

Wait, I knew the name Lestrange from somewhere...it was familiar...hadn't we had dealings with a Lestrange...or killed one or something back in the days? And Delphini...should I know that name? The way this Druella spoke of her, it was someone she expected me to be aware of at least.

Snatching up a quill that I had tucked in-between the pages of a magic book I was currently reading, I hastily scrawled a confirmation on the other side of the parchment.

\ Dear Mrs. Black,

YES YES YES! I very much wish to reconnect with Mr. Grindelwald. Count me in please, please! I will be ready tomorrow evening early!

Very sincerely,

Atsuko Tanaka \

As soon as I'd removed the quill from the parchment, it vanished from my hand. A fancy bit of spell work! I was impressed. Yajiro was as well, for he made a small sound in the back of his throat as he studied my empty hands.

"They're being careful," I said. "That's good."

He nodded.

I was so excited...beyond excited! Excited really isn't the word, but there was a lot of shock and eager heart pounding involved in whatever I was feeling, and I was very near tears for the rest of that night and all during the next day. Yajiro gave me a sleep tonic, insisting I would never get to sleep without it, and I knew he was right.

When the elf arrived for me the next evening, Yajiro announced that he was coming along. He wanted to make sure that it was safe, and that these people were truly on Gellert's side. He feared a set up, though I didn't after all this time. Perhaps I was being careless due to my eagerness to believe, but I couldn't help it. Besides, a set up for what? I'd done nothing wrong. I'd stayed away from Nurmengard, and waited.

Though the elf gave him a dubious look, Yajiro was nonetheless apparated along with us. I clung to his hand excitedly as I peered around the ornate and definitely British looking library in which I found myself. Abernathy was the first person I saw and I rushed to throw myself fondly into his arms.

"You've aged well," I crowed tactlessly as I gave him a pleased squeeze.

Though his hair had white in it, there was still quite a bit of the brown as well, and he had kept in shape, not allowing himself to go to fat.

Laughing, he returned my embrace. "Your face is still as smooth as a girl's, Atsuko," he complimented.

I merely nodded modestly, because I knew he was right. It was all a credit to my beautiful Japanese genetics of which I was proud.

"My daughter is having Gellert to dinner at her manor, so I will take you all there as soon as everyone has arrived." The light French accented voice came from a slender blonde woman wearing a dark blue dress who stood in the corner of the library near the fireplace.

"Thank you," I said, hearing the tremor in my own voice.

"I shall wait here, if that is alright," Yajiro said, bowing to our hostess. "I am Atsuko's husband, and merely did not wish for her to come into a new place alone...just in case there could be trouble. I do not wish to intrude on her private meeting with Gellert, however, and my truth detection spells tell me that you are speaking honestly."

The blonde nodded, giving him a regal smile. "It is no trouble at all. You are a good husband. I will have you some tea served, and don't hesitate to ask Onyx for anything that you may require. Atsuko and I shall return here when the meeting is over."

He bowed again. "Thank you, Lady."

As the elf, Onyx, came and went arriving with other aging members of the Alliance, I chatted with my husband and Abernathy. The others I greeted, but didn't have as much to say to. I was just eager to get to Gellert, and not interested in much else. When at last Druella announced that we would be going, I could hardly breathe, I was so ready. When Onyx apparated us just outside of a stately manor, I at last had my moment of truth. The one I'd waited decades for. I was at last to come face to face once again with the man who was at once brother and savior to me.

The door opened upon Druella's knock and we entered, ushered inside by an elf wearing, of all things, a mask that looked like the sort I'd seen plague doctors wearing in old alchemy texts. Normally I would've been more curious about that, but right now I could only focus on Gellert. Where was he?

Before I could ask, a group approached from down a long hallway. A woman with long dark hair in flowing black walked at the side of a large blocky man in black robes. A younger dark haired woman in an orange dress brought up the rear with a thin dark haired man at her side. The four walked surrounding two other men.

One was dark skinned, Italian perhaps. He was tall and lanky, nearly too thin with an almost painfully handsome yet haughty face. The masked elf led us into a large room and I twisted around as we walked to see the group following. The man walking at the side of the pretty Italian was also slender, only slightly shorter, yet far fairer of skin with long blond curls and lively blue eyes in a sharply expressive face. He looked so young! How did he look so young? Nearly as if Nurmengard had had some sort of preservation spell on it, but that was impossible, wasn't it?

As soon as we were all inside the room I turned and with a cry, threw myself into Gellert's arms. I clung and finally felt my body completely relax as I sagged against his chest. His arms came around me, holding me tight. He was saying something...he was saying something...He sounded just the same! I was crying...crying so much, and I couldn't stop. I'd forgotten that anyone else was there, and I couldn't even be embarrassed. I suppose that just isn't my way.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: Make New Friends, and Keep The Old, Sometimes Both Are Gold

Eventually I started to process words through the roaring in my ears. Gellert's voice was so familiar even after all this time. It sounded just as I remembered it. Through the years often I'd imagine it in my mind, talking to me, saying whatever I pictured him saying about whatever situation I was in at any given time that he came to mind.

"Is it truly you," he managed, voice coming out incredulous and a little breathless...though perhaps the breathless part was a result of my squeezing him so hard.

I couldn't help it though. I'd longed to see him for so long, and now here he was! FINALLY here he was, proving that I'd been right all along.

"I don't know," I snarked dryly, then drew back and slammed him hard in the chest with my small, perhaps ineffective fist.

Frowning in alarm, the tall, dark, thin, and handsome pretty boy who'd come in at Gellert's side took a step closer as if ready to protect Gellert. As if Gellert couldn't protect himself? I didn't care, and just ignored him, continuing with my long overdue fit.

"I thought you were dead," I shouted angrily. I glared up into Gellert's face, tears still streaming unchecked down my own. "But you weren't dead and you didn't even come to find me!"

Gellert shook his head, tears standing in his eyes now as well. I felt a stab of guilt at that, for I'd never seen him cry, and perhaps I'd just gone and made him do it. He was my family, though, and it appeared he'd just been able to move on without me. I was hurt, and I was going to be mad if I wanted to, and I wanted to so there! Also how did he get so young?

"I did," Gellert said. "I looked all over for you and came up with nothing. I believed they'd killed you because of me... I had to carry that, so whatever you feel I've done, I've paid for it."

At that my tears flowed harder. I was entirely guilt ridden, and felt like a total heel. "I didn't want you to pay," I sobbed, pressing my face into his chest.

Just like that I was a girl again, or may as well have been. In a blink, the years fell away, and I realized I'd never truly changed emotionally. Eternally young, my Tanaka family called me, and they said the same of Yajiro. They insisted that was why we made such a great couple and were so good for one another. I just thought of it as a thing older wiser people said, like every other strange and mildly baffling thing older and wiser people said, but now I understood it.

"I wanted to be with you! That's all I wanted! Once, five or so years after they locked you up in your own prison, I even tried to scale the wall, but the bastards caught me half way up. I tried everything... I didn't forget that you took care of me and I tried to take care of you... I tried." My words gave way to sobs as I simply clung to him. Perhaps I should've been embarrassed that so many people saw me fall apart like that, but I just couldn't find it within me to care. Considering the era I come from, (I don't look it but I'm old) that wasn't very Japanese of me, but whatever.

Gellert stroked my hair, rocking me gently as if I were a child. "It is well now, little sister. All well now," he crooned.

We clung to one another for several seconds and I believed him. It was all well now. Sighing against his shoulder, I nodded my agreement that it was all well.

"This is Atsuko," Gellert said.

I peered up to see that he was directing his words to a still frowning tall, dark, thin and handsome pretty boy.

"She is the first Obscurial I ever trained."

"Saved... He saved me," I managed to correct him firmly through my slowly drying tears. Raising my head from Gellert's chest, I drew in a shuddering breath. "I got married. That's why you couldn't find me. My last name changed," I explained to Gellert. "My husband...he's great. I know you'll like him." I couldn't help smiling at mention of Yajiro.

Gellert grinned. "Same here... His name is Blaise, and he's a great deal like me, so I am certain you shall like him as well." Turning, he gave the tall, dark and handsome wizard a quick smile. As he did, his blue eyes sparkled, lighting with a warmth that I'd not seen in them before. Not precisely like that.

Had Gellert just announced in front of everyone that he was...WITH a man? Times had certainly changed, and this was quite the sign of that. Once same sex relationships were illegal or something, you know. So now Gellert was with a man. Well then. That was a new one.

Granted, he'd never truly seemed romantically attached to those female followers he'd shagged, but a man? Really? I'd never seen an indication of such so, yes, it was a bit of a shock. Okay more than a bit. Not that it really matters, but when you think you know a person, it's...like weird for a minute, you know?

"Blaise, this is Atsuko. The closest thing I ever had to a pain in the ass little sister before Kereston."

At once I wondered who Kereston was, but I'd have to ask that later when there wasn't so much going on. Yep I'd ask that right after asking how Gellert looked so bloody young! This Blaise and I blinked at one another in obvious shared shock.

After several seconds, Blaise was the first to speak. "He really did believe you were dead, and it hurt him more than you can know." His proper British voice was deep, resonant, and admittedly pleasing to the ear, I decided grudgingly.

I wiped at my eyes for a final time, considered for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. The man on man thing is going to be a little hard to get used to, but if you really are a lot like him, I can work with it."

Blaise nodded, then flashed a quick grin, ice blue eyes momentarily dancing with dry amusement. "That's precisely what my Mum said."

I couldn't help it. I laughed.

At that, the nearly imperceptible strain faded from Gellert's SOMEHOW youthful features, and he was relaxed. This seemed to relax everyone else. With a chuckle, Gellert turned to the other nine witches and wizards of the Alliance who'd been invited to this meeting along with me.

"Well now that the hard part is over..." Smiling widely, he opened his arms to all of them. Laughing they stood and moved in to embrace him.

Gellert and the inner circle of his former Alliance exchanged warm greetings and hasty explanations. We heard how Blaise and some of his friends helped him escape Nurmengard in exchange for assistance against Voldemort were it required.

"I knew he didn't kill you," I crowed, then at once felt stupid, because...obviously he hadn't. Gellert was standing right here, after all, though the youth thing still very much needed explaining.

"He killed the old German with dementia whom my friends and I paid to take Gellert's place," Blaise explained. "Obviously the man preferred a quick death even at the hands of Voldemort, to a slow one at the hands of unraveling dementia."

Now that made sense. I nodded. "But what was the point of paying him," I wanted to know. "Being in prison, he couldn't enjoy it, after all."

"The gold went to his family, who believed he died and left it to them," Blaise explained, and I nodded again, because that, also, made sense.

No family would agree with their old relative being locked up in prison to die, of course. At least not a decent family, I silently amended.

"But how did you get past the wards on Nurmengard," I demanded, nearly glaring at Blaise. "I studied for over a year the process of unraveling wards before making my attempt, and I was doing so well until the bastards caught me half way up the side of the castle!"

I saw Gellert's face twist at my explanation. His expression was one of pained pride. Proud of me for my efforts and pained at what we'd all suffered, likely as not. I forced a smile for him, and patted his arm to let him know it was alright.

"Just before my friend Wolfgang put the idea to me of freeing Gellert, I'd been working on talismans, bits of jewelry, that when worn unravel any magic in a meter or so radius around the wearer," Blaise explained. "It does the job faster than any witch or wizard doing it on their own."

Well hell... I nodded, impressed.

Gellert smiled proudly at Blaise, then turned to me. "Do you see how brilliant he is? I told you he is like me," he said smugly.

My lips twisted as I tried to avoid a smile. "Is he as modest as you are as well?"

Gellert grinned, nodding. "He is precisely as modest as am I, my dear."

I groaned.

With Gellert's escape clarified, it was then the turn of the members of the Alliance to explain how they were under close surveillance for decades after his imprisonment lest they attempt to free him.

"I never believed Voldemort killed you for a moment, though. I kept waiting for you to resurface like you always do, you sly fox," Abernathy gushed.

I grinned, because it was so heart-warmingly obvious how very happy everyone was to see Gellert again. Everyone who knew him well couldn't help but love him. He was brave enough to stand up for a cause that far too many less brave witches and wizards had allowed to grow old and dusty on a shelf while we dwindled, giving way to Muggles.

Gellert laughed in evident pleasure at the compliment and in Abernathy's confidence in him. "You were always a wise man, Abernathy."

Turning he glanced around, and it took me a moment to realize that he was obviously searching for Blaise, who, for some reason, stood quietly beside me near the far wall. I'd never seen Gellert look around for a person before, unless it was me when he was after stopping me from having any fun as a teenager. His look when his gaze found Blaise, though, was one of relief, as if the other man's presence gave him something unlike anything else could. "Baby! Get over here! I need you to meet everyone."

Blaise's eyes widened in horror as his dark skinned features turned scarlet. I happily snickered, then belatedly clapped a hand to my mouth in an attempt to hide my glee.

Abernathy grinned, waving expansively at Blaise. "Hi there, Baby! It's nice to meet you."

I could tell they were going to be great friends!

At that, a laugh burst from one of the dark haired women who'd entered with Gellert. Unlike me, she didn't bother attempting to hold it in. Gellert gave her an amused grin.

"And these are my Lestranges, everyone! I finally got some good ones. As you can see there are four of them," Gellert said proudly as he gestured the Lestranges forward. "This is Bellatrix," he said, nodding at the slender, elegant dark haired witch who was still chuckling. "Her husband Rodolphus, his brother Rabastan, and, last but not least, Lyra, Bellatrix and Rodolphus's daughter."

Everyone greeted the four politely. The daughter did look far younger than the rest, but otherwise had similar features. The four seemed rather fond of Gellert and a bit protective as well, so I approved.

"Ah it was your Mum who wrote us," I recalled, nodding to Bellatrix.

Druella had mentioned that in the letter and I'd nearly forgotten.

Bellatrix nodded. "Yes."

I decided to like her, because we were apparently amused by the same things.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: The Future, The Past

"I know who you are," Abernathy said, giving the Lestranges a suddenly shocked look that told me plainer than words that they were important. Remember, I tended to avoid newspapers, so I did not know who they were in the slightest.

"We served Voldemort, and for ages Bella was supposed to be dead, but only one out of two is true, obviously," the one Gellert introduced as Rabastan spoke up. "It's a long story, and not what you're here for today, but the Voldemort thing was a mistake, and we all learned that the hard way a bit too far in."

Abernathy nodded. "Good enough."

Now I was curious, but as Rabastan Lestrange said, that wasn't what we were there for. There was plenty of time to learn of Gellert's friends, but now it was he we wanted answers from.

The small gathering of the Alliance remained in the Lestrange library late into the night. Thankfully the Lestranges themselves didn't seem to mind. The four sat with their plague masked house elf and Druella on a long sofa near the door, watching Gellert's reunion with open interest and at times participating in the conversation.

It was clear that the Lestranges were more like friends to Gellert than followers. He treated Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan with the teasing, open familiarity with which he treated me. His expansive happy nature garnered bemused glances from the others of the Alliance, but this was no surprise. I knew well that the others had only seen a far more serious and determined if charismatic Gellert. Waging a war for wizarding freedoms wasn't exactly a laughing matter, after all.

I sat close to him on one side with Blaise on the other, and he held one of our hands possessively in each of his as if he didn't ever wish to lose sight of either of us. I must confess that suited me fine. I kept glancing at him to convince myself that he was truly real. He looked and sounded just as I remembered, and it was amazing! It was nearly like a dream save for the surprising bits. I know I wouldn't have dreamed up an elf wearing a plague doctor mask or Gellert being involved with a man, so I knew it was all real.

I noticed Gellert frequently looking to the Lestranges and Blaise while interacting with his old followers. When someone from the old days spoke of a time they'd all shared, he'd usually glance to his man or the Lestranges, adding in a detail they may find particularly interesting to know.

This effectively kept them included and a part of the conversation. Currently the old group was taking turns sharing the telling of a story of this one time they'd slipped Veritaserum to some high ranking Muggle nazis in the early nineteen-forties in order to disable their plans.

"They told us things we'd never want to know," a gray haired...(Was that Carrow?) wearing a frilly silver dress robe cackled happily.

Damn but she looked old and that made me feel young!

"Things that had nothing what so ever to do with the war," she went on, and I grinned at the memory, for it was a good one. "Things their grandmothers would've tanned their hides for ten times over! And we just wanted information about their next moves in the war!"

We all laughed until our sides hurt. Though they laughed along with everyone else, I noticed Rodolphus, Bellatrix and Rabastan Lestrange exchanging a glance of envy tinged with sadness. I itched to tell them it hadn't been all roses, but I kept silent for several reasons. I didn't know them well, for one, and for another, hadn't I missed those days when they were taken from me?

It was Abernathy who spoke into the silence everyone was using to allow their aching ribs to recover before anything made them laugh again. "There's just one thing none of us have been able to understand to this day," he told Gellert.

Gellert nodded, but waited for Abernathy to speak, though his expression said he suspected what the question was going to be.

Good, I thought. He was going to ask about how Gellert was so young! I'd intended to but other topics kept coming up.

"How did they capture you? Though the duel with Albus Dumbledore is the story everyone was fed, it makes no sense! For one none of us remember it. We woke up captured with no idea what happened. The duel was the story they were feeding us along with everyone else. But it's rubbish! It doesn't fit. Why would you duel one on one, agreeing to throw away everything we worked for if you lost? It just didn't sound like you, and we never believed it."

Gellert nodded. "Of course you didn't," he said, tone at once gentle and proud. "Like you, I woke captured. No duel. They loosed a Muggle sleep gas called Chloroform into that building we were breaking into. It knocked us all out and they used our incapacitation to capture us. They made up the story of the duel because they didn't want wizards to know they'd utilized Muggle means to bring down their strongest opposition.

They didn't want other wizards to know to use such methods, nor did they wish to admit to using them themselves. Dumbledore actually had nothing to do with it unless you count not correcting the story, which they basically bribed him to do by promising to leave him and his precious school alone...which if you ask me they should've always done regardless," Gellert concluded with a look of fleeting disgust that he didn't bother to hide.

"Yes they admitted the Muggle gas bit," Abernathy said. "I suppose they knew we'd never believe they could've taken us all that quickly without some surprise factor."

I was actually shocked they'd told us the truth about anything.

"You knew Dumbledore, then," I asked and Gellert shook his head.

"I only met him when Blaise and his friends Wolfgang, Millicent and Severus along with some others freed me," he replied. "When I asked him what really happened, he had no idea. I didn't even know about the chloroform until far later myself."

"Chloroform, though," Abernathy exclaimed. "The damnedest thing!" He gave his head a baffled shake, running fingers through his brown and white hair. "I'd say we all should've paid far more attention in Muggle studies, but they never taught us the useful stuff!"

"That's so true," Rodolphus Lestrange agreed. "Why the three of us learned more about bloody Muggles working Black Ops than we ever did in any capacity before that!"

Abernathy turned toward the group of Lestranges with open interest in his brown eyes. "Wait... You work for Black Ops?"

"Bitch, we basically were Black Ops for twenty years," Rabastan said with a grin.

He was far thinner than his brother, with a lively energetic way of moving to which I could relate.

"Ooh! I bet you've got yourselves some good stories too," I enthused, bouncing excitedly in my seat before leaning forward in open interest.

Honestly I preferred to hear about their adventures in Black Ops than to continue reminiscing about what had for me been the bad old days. Where people like Abernathy had reveled in the thrill of always being three steps ahead of various wizarding governments and causing them to trip over their own robes nine times out of ten, I often felt lonely as a Obscurial. Sure I'd enjoyed the game at times, but I'd also just wanted to be a teenager, which never got to happen.

Even when Gellert found me and took me in, things didn't fully improve. Our life of constant travel and action didn't sit well with a young teen girl. I had to constantly practice calming exercises while struggling to learn my magic as Gellert used meditation and healing arts to incorporate my Obscurius. Yes I just said I'd missed those days as well, but a mixed bag garners mixed feelings. Black Ops seemed far more exciting, because I knew so little about it likely as not.

"Well it's a little bit of everything," Rabastan said expansively. "You get your spying, your under cover, that one often gets me laid, and your torturing for information and good old fashioned killing. Everything a human needs to remain mentally balanced throughout the week, you know."

I grinned at Rabastan, taking his words for half serious. "But did you ever get to hunt for lost rare items?" If so Yajiro would definitely want to hear about it.

"Actually yeah, a few times," Rabastan said, and I leaned forward in eager interest. "Those dangerous magical objects, be they old or newly crafted, that have particular uses that could be considered risky would be assigned to us to procure if they're believed to be in the wrong hands."

"Sometimes such items are guarded by very dangerous people or even creatures, so that's where our Black Ops skills come in," Rodolphus added. "When less dangerously guarded objects are being hunted, that sort of thing usually goes to treasure finders, and the really good ones are most frequently goblins."

Gellert smiled in what I knew to be a triumphant satisfaction as he glanced around the group. "Speaking of goblins... Or as I fondly call them, Gob-Gobs, I have many who would gladly stand at my side were trouble to raise its head again. Their talents are extremely useful, and would've been extremely useful when we fought our war. I value them highly and I believe you would all enjoy working with them."

He paused, straightening where he sat between Blaise and me. His usually laughing expression was serious as he regarded the elderly witches and wizards who had gathered to reunite with him. It was evident that he was about to say something important. As it turned out, though, it was more like asking than saying. "My question is, have you just come to say hello and compare notes on what happened in the past, or have you come to join me in future endeavors?"

"Join you in... Are we waging war against the Muggles again? Because if we were, that would certainly make me feel young...a thing to which I would not object," Abernathy said.

Speaking of young, I really had to ask as soon as there was the slightest opening in the bloody conversation, how Gellert looked so unchanged!

"We've all rather missed the purpose you gave us to be honest," Abernathy continued.

The near pleading in his eyes made me uncomfortable, and I dropped my own gaze. I was uncertain of what I wanted, other than remaining a part of Gellert's life, of course.

Everyone else in the Alliance gave short embarrassed nods.

I supposed I wasn't the only one not to go off and do great things without Gellert.

Gellert paused, and drew in a slow, deep breath before speaking.

All of us waited with bated breath for him to answer. Well everyone but Blaise and the Lestranges. They all appeared relaxed if still interested in the outcome of this conversation. This was an indication that they knew something we did not which was no surprise.

"We aren't waging war, but if others do, we will make them regret it...because we must. In a sense we still fight for the same thing...for magical rights, but not in the same way as in the past. Not against Muggles, or at least not as we once did. Granted they still pose a problem and always will, but there are far more of them than they once were to an astonishing and yes alarming degree. As if that isn't enough, their weapons have grown far more complex and dangerous than chloroform. We must always be as ready as we can for anything, though, and the past years have proven that."

"The past years," I asked. I really wanted to know about how he wasn't old but things kept coming up!

"Yeah, with Delphini," Rabastan chimed in.

"What's Delphini," I asked. Glancing around the room at the astounded expressions on everyone's faces, I could tell that perhaps I was the only one who was still avoiding the newspapers.

"Thanks to Gellert, dead," Bellatrix replied.

Okay so it was a person.

"She was Voldemort's daughter," Gellert explained.

"Claimed to be mine as well, but obviously that was untrue," Bellatrix interjected.

I had no idea about any of it so merely nodded.

"He had a Maledictus follower who was her mother, so Delphini inherited her mother's curse," Gellert continued, his gaze resting on me considering I was the only one who had no clue. "The girl knew she was working with borrowed time when it came to life as she knew it so was attempting to make her mark."

"Of course she was wiping the floor with the Ministry, so Gell was asked to step in," Blaise chimed in. He was rather quiet, speaking rarely, so when he did people listened. "They put her away and she got out. After that, some of us decided that the Ministry itself required revamping."

At that those in the Alliance sat up straighter, looking interested. Good. Apparently that hadn't been in the papers, so I was no longer the only one not in the bloody know.

"I suppose this won't have anything to do with how young you look," I asked Gellert at last.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Afraid not. I was given my youth upon being broken out of Nurmengard."

"Given," Abernathy stressed the word, obviously interested as well as incredulous.

"Via means of a very dark potion that takes it from someone else," Gellert explained. "For all intents and purposes, I am posing as my own son. It saves people asking too many questions."

"Okay but I intend to ask some, because I want to be young," I declared.

Gellert nodded, giving my hand a squeeze. "That can be arranged."

Really? I took a moment to process that. I could be young again? Just like that? Seriously? Well why not? I bet he'd help to do the same for Yajiro as well, so I had nothing to lose and a lot to gain! I planned to squeal and dance around about it later, but at the moment I was...just processing and taking it all in.

"So you and your people overthrew the Ministry and killed Delphini, so what's the trouble now," Abernathy asked.

Gellert chuckled. "There were a bit more people involved on both sides than that, but yes, basically that's what happened. The trouble is that though Delphini is dead, we still work to clean up her followers as well as the Muggles she brainwashed and utilized as they could all still pose a danger."

"Well hell! We missed all the fun. I'm still glad to stand with you for the clean up, though," Abernathy proclaimed and everyone else from the Alliance nodded.

"I tried to find everyone earlier, but tracking you lot down was tricky, even considering one of you is my aunt," Druella said, glancing across at Vinda, who I hardly recognized, she looked so gray.

"I'd lost everyone's contact information the last time I moved," Vinda said, flushing in embarrassment as she frowned at her niece.

"Well you obviously found it eventually and that's all that matters," Gellert assured. "And here you all are now to help."

"I'm so ready," I said, bouncing a little in my seat with the energy of everything that was happening. "I need something exciting to do for sure! And my husband will love to be involved as well, I am certain! Perhaps some of his strange creature spirit things can help." I grinned at Gellert's sudden look of interest.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: My Future's So Bright, I've Gotta Wear Shades!

It was nearly three in the morning when people began to yawn and the meeting broke up with everyone agreeing to meet Gellert at the British Ministry in two days. It gave everyone in the Alliance time to finish any current projects before beginning whatever assignments Gellert wanted them to take on.

When I made to leave as well, embracing Gellert and promising to see him soon, he clung to my waist as he shook his head. "Oh no you don't. You can't leave me yet! Not when I just found you again."

I sighed, but I was flattered and hugged him back.

"You can stay at my and Blaise's," he added firmly. "It's a large manor and there is plenty of room."

From a castle to a large manor, I thought, my lips twisting into a smile. He'd adapted well. A manor would do. "Okay then. I just need to write Yajiro so he won't worry. We can go get him tomorrow, yes?"

Gellert nodded. "Of course. I can't wait to hear about his creatures. Do tell him that," he insisted, an eager glint to his laughing blue eyes.

"I will take him your note," Druella Black said and it was then that I recalled he was waiting at hers.

"Oh...yes," I nodded, flushing as Bellatrix passed me a quill and a piece of parchment. I hastily scribbled a note that Gellert was insisting that I stay with him and that we'd pick him up at home tomorrow because Gellert had projects he needed help with and was interested in his creatures. I signed with a smiley face and a heart to indicate that I was happy and that I loved him, then passed the parchment to Druella. "Thank you."

She nodded. "Of course." She smiled at Gellert, obviously pleased to have pleased him with my presence. It was nice to know that people still admired Gellert for his accomplishments as was only proper.

"Now you shall meet my family," Gellert told me excitedly as he took my hand. "Thank you all again," he said, turning to the Lestranges and giving them a quick smile.

"Of course," Rodolphus said expansively. "It was fun, and most definitely interesting."

Gellert chuckled and we apparated. It was dark so I couldn't make out much detail about the large manor as Gellert's wand flicked out to unlock the door. It swung open, and dim light from the hall spilled out into the night. Blaise led the way inside and we were greeted by a house elf, yawning sleepily and rubbing at his eyes with small fists. He wore a tunic covered in a spider web design, but no plague mask.

"Remember the Obscurial that I trained," Gellert asked him happily.

The elf nodded. "Gellert said that she died. Yes, Bramble recalls."

"I believed so, but she is here, and as you can see quite alive!" He scooped me up and spun me around with a laugh. This made me laugh too and the elf stared, then gave a slow blink.

"Well... That is nice to know," he said at last.

"Indeed," Gellert agreed. "I have asked her to stay with us for a bit. Would you mind showing her to a guest room?"

The elf scowled and I wanted to squirm.

"Then, once she is arranged you can show her to our room," Gellert continued, apparently accustom to the elf's scowl. "We still have much catching up to do."

"Follow Bramble please," the elf told me.

"Oh yes, this is Bramble, and Bramble, this is Atsuko. Like Kereston, she is as a sister to me."

"Who is Kereston," I had to ask.

"She's a friend I went to school with, but now she's also the Minister for Magic," Blaise explained. "She was in Slytherin. This means she isn't soft, and the government shall be run far better as a result."

A Minister who was like a sister to Gellert... So he'd definitely have an easier time of it politically were he ever to...need to handle the Muggles. Nice. My gaze slid to him and the knowing look in his blue eyes said that he had read my face. My face was very readable... He'd always said that one could clearly see my thoughts there.

Bramble nodded then led me from the room.

"I am sorry to have disturbed your sleep," I babbled as we headed up a long flight of stairs carpeted in black and green web patterns. The elf made a hmmm-ing sound that could've meant anything, so I continued. "I wasn't expecting to come here so I have nothing with me."

"Will Miss Atsuko require a tooth brush then?"

I nodded. "If you have a spare, that would be nice. Otherwise I can just use a cleaning charm."

"We always keep a few spares for guests in case," Bramble commented. He paused to open a small door on the right wall, revealing a shelf in the dim light that bathed the hall. He took a new tooth brush out, passing it to me. "Miss Atsuko may keep it."

I nodded hastily. "Yes, returning it after would be nasty."

The elf snickered almost reluctantly and I felt my shoulders beginning to relax.

Bramble took me to a room and opened the door. "Bramble shall bring Miss Atsuko clean towels and such. Her bathing chamber is just beyond the bed chamber. Blaise and Gellert's room is four doors down on the right."

I smiled warmly at him. "Thank you, Bramble." I entered the room as he continued down the hall, presumably for the bath towels and such. The bed was large and covered in a silver spread that shimmered beautifully. The windows were large and their silver curtains matched the bed cover. The thick carpet was the same shimmering silver.

Bramble was back nearly at once, his arms full of towels and a bathing cloth as well as a white dressing gown and a soft gray bath robe. He placed everything on the bed and I gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you so much, Bramble. You are very kind."

The elf shrugged, looking uncomfortable, yet something told me he'd be annoyed if he weren't thanked. The thought made me grin and he grinned back.

"Well as I have nothing to put away, I suppose I'll go to Gellert and Blaise's room now to catch up," I said. "Do you want to come along?"

He considered then shook his head, yawning again. "Bramble believes he will return to bed and everyone can catch him up tomorrow. Master Geo and Mistress Sabra will be asking questions so Bramble will hear it all then he is sure."

"Geo and Sabra? Who are they?"

"Master Blaise's parents," he explained. "Gellert's too, actually. They rather adopted him."

I nodded. "I do recall him mentioning family. The thought of him having actual parents is strange but...nice too..." I swallowed, feeling a little sad and uncertain as to exactly why. Everyone needed parents, even the Great Gellert. Yajiro's parents were very kind to me, and they had become family, of course, but I would've liked it if mine had lived.

Bramble cleared his throat and scowled. "Gellert is five. He shall always be five, so he very much requires parents." His eyes twinkled with dry amusement as he spoke, though, and I could see the fondness for Gellert there.

I snickered. "I think we're going to be friends. In fact, I insist upon it."

I wished Bramble a good night then headed to Blaise and Gellert's room, knocking softly. Gellert opened the door and ushered me inside, pointing to a chair beside a large desk.

Though the desk was neat, the bed was sprinkled in books. Blaise sat with his back propped against the headboard, long legs crossed and a heavy tome open across his lap. Once he'd shut the door behind me, Gellert joined him on the bed, arranging himself in a similar pose. I took the desk chair.

"So your friend who is the Minister... She was part of those who overthrew the old government to take down Delphini, right," I asked. "Delphini...That's the name right?"

"Yes and Yes," Gellert said.

"Kereston thought the Ministry was far too soft and slow over the Voldemort thing so she has wanted to be Minister from her sixth year in school or something," Blaise recalled, managing to sound bored.

I nodded before turning to look directly at him, studying his face for a trace of what would cause Gellert to decide to start shagging a man! For such a shift of preference, there had to be an amazingly good reason, and I wanted to see it. Gellert would never give of himself for power or other material gains, so there had to be more. Blaise didn't miss my staring and returned the gaze with a slight smirk curving his full lips.

"We have much clean up to do as I said earlier," Gellert said.

It was unclear as to if he noticed me staring at his man. Gellert didn't miss much, but he had no cause to be on high alert around the two of us, and currently he was leaned back against the heavy oak headboard of the bed, blue gaze flicking from me to the ceiling and back again intermittently. I studied him for a few seconds before returning my gaze to Blaise.

"We don't know how many countries Delphini has influenced, so I was hoping for your assistance in our investigation of Japan. You and your husband both, of course. I assume the two of you are a team as much as Blaise and I are?"

I nodded. "What do you want done?"

"I need the Muggles there observed, and you could work as ambassadors from our Ministry to yours in my name. Remember I'm Gellert Grindelwald JR. now."

"So who's your Mum? Rosier," I asked, giving a derisive laugh.

"No one cares who my mother is. I'm the important bit," Gellert said with a haughty toss of his blonde curls.

I saw Blaise stiffen at my mention of Rosier, a tense expression crossing his sculpted features as the skin around his eyes tightened with annoyance.

"Jealous," I asked with another laugh.

"Of course not," he said. "Gell and I just...get a little crazy sometimes when it comes to each other." He gave an embarrassed shrug, glancing away. "Hell we went guy on guy for one another, so it isn't logical but there it is."

"A need to fully possess even in the past," Gellert murmured, gaze flicking to me as he idly turned a page of the book in his lap. His gaze held some embarrassment as well, but not as much as Blaise's. Gellert was generally unapologetic about his feelings.

"I think that's sort of cute," I said with a chuckle. "Also weird."

Then to Blaise I added, "And he was never that into Rosier or anyone really. In the old days, I could easily throw a fit and get him to call off plans with any of his women and stay with me for the evening any time I wanted. I'd be angry when he didn't allow me to date as a teenager, so felt he shouldn't either."

I grinned shamelessly and it was Blaise's turn to chuckle. "Good girl."

I liked him. Before any of us could say more the bedroom door sprang open and a slender blond woman stood in the doorway, blinking in at us with icy blue eyes much like Blaise's. She wore a silver silk night robe and her long hair was tousled. "I thought I heard a girl in here. What's going on?"

She called me a girl! I liked her too, whoever she was.

Blaise snorted. "Bet you never thought that would happen," he said dryly. "But note we're all still dressed."

"Blaise never brought the few girls he shagged before me home, you see," Gellert told me conversationally. Then glancing to the woman in the doorway he said, "Apologies if we woke you, Mum. This is my Obscurial, Atsuko. I trained her back into her magic when she was a girl and she helped me to...make political statements with her Obscurious for as long as she still had it. I believed they killed her during my capture but thanks to Bellatrix's mother, we have found one another again."

Blaise...and Gellert's mum blinked, taking it all in, then nodded.

"I wanted to spend a bit more time with her before she started working with us on aftermath clean up so I invited her to stay. I hope you and Daddio won't mind."

"Of course not," Sabra said, giving him a doting smile.

Daddio? I couldn't help the incredulous look that crossed my face. Granted it was nice that Gellert had parental figures but it was also weird, because it was. I could tell from the way he regarded...his Mum that he cared very much for her, though.

She must have earned that, and for this I liked her almost as much as I did for calling me a girl. Gellert hadn't deserved to be tossed in prison for fifty years just for attempting to give wizarding kind the world they deserved. It wasn't right that we live in hiding, even if the Muggles and their vast technologies made it impossible to do otherwise these days. They'd misstep eventually, though. Muggles always did, and when that happened, we'd be there with Gellert leading us. Until then he deserved a new start, and I liked the people who'd given it to him.

I also liked the fact that I was now here to be a part of Gellert's new start and whatever else he planned to do. I may have missed some things, but I was going to be here for the rest. Like him, I'd even get to be young again, so I didn't even have to be jealous about that!

If you'd like to read of Gellert's release from Nurmengard as well as all the spicy tea about he and his man and how everyone believed he and Albus Dumbledore had a duel...or a relationship for that matter, do check out Gellert and Blaise's memoirs.

They're also uploaded here and they're called In The Dark, by Blaisegellert. And if you want to see me some more, I'm in the Lestrange's story, Bad Romance as well as Pureblood Squared, The Heirs Of House Black. That's where you'll see more of the upcoming clean up in which Yajiro and I shall participate. Until then, sayounara.