Alexa stood in front of Tom. Her smaller body wanted to act as a barrier to protect the boy she loved. By then she had recovered from her initial shock. Her inner beast wanted to break through her surface and attack the humanoid monster who took liberties of calling himself her grand-father.

"Why are we here?" She demanded.

"Arrogant. Determinant. Protective." Grindelwald chuckled. As if the girl had cracked some joke. "Just like your father."

Alexa gritted her teeth. She wasn't in the position to retort. Hell! She could see seven-eight more people had joined this unintended meeting. A big and hopeful part of her knew, that if she could transform then she could give Tom a head start to run and save himself before she sacrificed another life for her selfish wish to live, yet a smaller and more sensible part of her knew that it wouldn't help since they were outnumbered poorly in addition to not having their own wands. Besides, they had a vampire. What were the chances that the bat himself tackled her and the rest followed her boy? Was she ready to lose him? Perhaps it was better if they remained stuck together.

As if reading her mind and coming to the same conclusion, Tom squeezed her shoulder. Assuringly. She turned around to look at him. Their eyes got connected and words were exchanged without being spoken. His silent gesture ensured her that he was there for her just like the way she was there for him. They were going to go through this together. Her violet eyes moistened. Just a bit as she squeezed his hand.

"Why are we here?" She asked. Again.

"Impatient. Fiesty. Lovesick," Grindelwald tutted, "just like your mother."

If the older man was targetting to get under her skin, he was succeeding tremendously. Alexa was losing her patience with him by every passing second. She hated him referring to her parents. He had no right to.

"Why are we here?" Now it was Tom who demanded. He was planning to lay low. Like Alexa, he also knew the chances of them being leaving from here alive was close to none. And with Alexa being the centre of attention, he could foolishly hope to arrange something so that both he and his girl could leave at the first opportunity they got, but he knew he blew it the moment he saw the man annoying her. It was like a switch turned itself on inside him when he saw her getting annoyed by that fool. Tom himself was a fool.

"Why? I just want to talk and get to know my only grand-daughter of course!" Grindelwald spoke in amusement. His eyes stuck on the boy in naked interest.

*After some time*

*Miles away from that barren land in the cosy warmth of Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade*

"Why the sudden call, Professor?" An authoritative voice of a man questioned. Standing at the height of 6 feet 5 inches, the man looked anything but lanky as he towered over all the four people flocking him. His golden locks glistened with the lights of fire torches in the walls as his warm blue eyes settled firmly on his subject. A 45-year-old Auror took away space in the room by his presence alone.

"Antonio, I am glad that you came on such short notice." Albus Dumbledore welcomed his guest. They had worked together in the past, still, a part of him had doubted if he would respond to his urgency.

However, Antonio Avery was paying him attention no more. His lips curved in a tentative smile when his eyes got stuck on his heir. His favourite son reciprocated his greetings with a bit more hesitation before he zeroed the distance between them and hugged his father.

"Papa!" Antonio heard Anthony whispering affectionately when he held him tightly. His nose breathed in the scent of his son's hair in content. He had almost forgotten how he was angry at this boy for breaking up his engagement which was there for years because nothing felt better than having his kids in his hold. He pulled back and stroke his son's black hair lovingly.

"Anthony!" He nodded his head.

Then as if realization dawned upon him, he recalled why he was in the small room of the Three Broomsticks in the first place. It wasn't every day that Dumbledore wrote to come the soonest and bring the people whom he trusts to only the fullest. His shoulders stiffened as he tried to conceal the sudden dread that washed over him. He moved a bit closer to his son. Was something wrong with his son?

"What is it, Albus?" He demanded in urgency.

Dumbledore straightened again. His eyes swept across all the wizards whom Antonio had brought together. He saw that two of them were men and the other two were women. He knew all of them. Drizella Browen and Patrick Browen, the dark-skinned couple had been two of the most trustworthy people Antonio had known. Then there was all-time-serious Gandoyle Cloudwound who had been Antonio's partner in many missions since the start. And lastly, they were joined by Gandoyle's brother-turned-sister Huntilda Cloudwound who had been a real brains from time to time. All of them were excellent duelists.

The oldest wizard took a deep breath as he informed, "two students have been gone missing since this morning. I have enough reason to believe it was done by Grindelwald."

The pin-drop silence that followed in that small room heard a lot of hitches in the breaths. For years, Grindelwald had been involved in the crimes that were coloured more with the blood for the greater good rather than abduction. Hogwarts was still considered one of the safest places and hence it was a shock. 

It was Huntilda's deep voice that broke the passage of silence. "Then why are we here? We should be at the ministry."

As if recovering suddenly, Antonio demanded, "And why my son is here?"

Dumbledore sent a tentative glance in either's direction and then rested his gaze on the younger Avery who looked even more uncomfortable yet nodded his head as if giving permission. "Your son was the one who saw it."

Anthony evaded all of their questioning gazes by turning his eyes to the floor. He knew what was about to come.

"Saw it?" Antonio looked at his son gobsmacked. He thought he had rid of this aspect in his son's life a long time back. 

"Yeah," Dumbledore affirmed, "in his crystal ball he saw Tom Riddle and Alexa Winters being forcefully apparated."

Tom Riddle. Antonio knew this boy had been his son's practical brother since the first year at Hogwarts. And Alexa. The elder Avery hadn't been close to the girl, yet he had let her stay at his home for the previous summer. He knew he should have followed his instincts and did more than just a little research on the girl before letting her stay in his nest. He knew he should have kept his suspicions high before risking his family's safety for an unknown girl. Instead, he had convinced himself that he was too busy at that time and he owed Dumbledore to save his neck from time to time. He didn't love anyone more than his family. What had his son got himself into? And why was he having the visions again? Hadn't the boy promised him that he would stop using crystal ball two years back? Antonio looked at his son utterly betrayed who still kept his eyes stuck to the floor. He was afraid and totally disappointed.

Sensing the meaning behind an older Avery's question on his older son, Gandoyle put his hand on his friend's back. His voice spoke with no malice. "We can't forever suppress what is beneath the surface, Antonio." And then turning his gaze to Anthony, he asked. "What did you see exactly Anthony?"

Anthony avoided looking at his father as he answered. "I saw them being apparated to some land. There were woods around them, yet I could see the burnt grass. From what I could see, it felt a bit different from a normal apparition. It felt darker and unnatural, almost like the one who was involved in the process was no ordinary wizard." Anthony almost trailed back in the end.

"I see no reason why Grindelwald might be involved in this case," Antonio spoke authoritatively. A part of him still denied any possibility of his son being involved in anything that was correlated to that dark wizard. Even remotely.

"Grindelwald is Alexa's maternal grandfather." Dumbledore supplied. Perhaps it was time.

Another passage of silence followed. All of the occupants in the room looked shocked at the Transfiguration master. Including Anthony. As if someone pulled the ground beneath his feet, Antonio widened his eyes. "You knew this, yet you requested me to shelter her in my home?" 

Antonio was shaking with fury. The possibility of what might have happened was filling his body with terror. The blazing, naked fire in his eyes wanted to destroy the old wizard in front of him. Mercilessly. He knew he would do anything for his family. That girl was Grindelwald's family. Who knows what that dark wizard might do for his family? 

"That girl is a key. I say we find the girl, we find that divisive criminal," Drizella Browen added.

"Don't generalize Grindelwald for normal humans, Zella," her husband chided, "his cunningness goes well beneath the surface."

"Did you see something peculiar? Like the reaction of the captives? Anything at all?" Gandoyle took a few steps forward as he asked this to Anthony. He was a leader of the group and hence it was natural for him to revert back to his no-nonsense zone. 

Anthony flinched at the word captive. He hated associating that word with anyone he cared about. Especially Tom, and then Alexa. He shook his head. "Alexa looked horrified. Like she knew the place and didn't expect to see it again."

All of them tried to decipher what that place might be. The first guess didn't require a lot of contemplation. Mr Browen spoke with a lot of hesitation. As if speaking what he was about to, was painful itself. "By any chance, did Alexa ever visit Nurmengard?" He looked questioningly towards his colleagues.

Nurmengard was an infamous yet mysterious castle that was built to hold prisoners by Grindelwald himself. The castle was rumoured to be intractable and nobody but his acolytes knew of its location. The magical community had popularized this idea that nobody could cross the barrier, not even birds, animals or insects, without the approval of the owner. In fact, many people believed that the castle didn't even exist and was just a myth, but those who stood in the room knew better.

"Maybe," Huntilda added, "maybe not. Barren land seems a bit too odd for the castle that big. Besides, I don't think anyone is capable enough to leave the legendary fort ever. I have a feeling that we are dealing with something else here. Something that shares the girl's past. Do you have an inkling professor?"

"I might have." They all turned around when they heard another voice. A voice of fifteen-year-old Logan McLaggen. Joining him were none but two twelve-year-olds Adrian Winters and Ares Avery.

~*~*~

I hope you liked the chapter. Please vote, comment and share the story. It truly makes me happy.

Fact #1: Huntilda Cloudwound is a transgender. The term - transgender - was not that popular back in the 1940s, hence the term brother-turned-sister is used.

Fact #2: Antonio Avery - Ares and Anthony's father - clearly dislikes his son performing visions. Can you guess why?

What do you think of Grindelwald and his cronies? Do I make him annoying and cunning enough? What about this unlikely trio of McLaggen, Winters and the younger Avery? How do you think they came across the secret meeting that was supposed to be secretive? Also, did you like how Tom and Alexa are now able to think the same and communicate without words? Do you like how their relationship has grown so much from being strangers to this stage? Please let me know your theories. I might find an incredible suggestion to improve in your comments.

Thank you all!!