TAINTED BLOOD!
ominous feelings.

        𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋, right at the edge of a forest of ancient trees, stood a seemingly normal two-story house.

While the few muggles who ventured that far out of the city never thought much of the place, the few wizards that came across the white house couldn't help but feel a shiver run down their spines, for that house belonged to none other than the Grindelwald family.

Years had passed since Gellert Grindelwald had been imprisoned, yet most members of the Wizarding community still felt their stomachs churn whenever someone mentioned the wizard's name.

An impenetrable barrier surrounded the premises, invisible to friends and foes during the day, while at night it could mesmerize even the most cold-hearted wizard in the world. It was a pure turquoise light, almost shimmering as darkness enveloped the grounds; it looked like a beacon of light, quite the opposite of what the name of the family stood for in the past. No one but friends of the family dared to cross the shield, for the consequences were still a mystery to many; no one truly knew what spell could have created such a powerful dome.

The inhabitants of the house had long retired to their respective sleeping quarters and, while all their curtains had been drawn, the warm summer breeze still made it possible for the moon to cast a sheer light inside each room.

Alexandra Grindelwald had gone to bed earlier than usual, for the next day she would leave, along with her twin brother and her best friend, for The Burrow. While sleep had once come easily to the teen, ever since the events that took place towards the end of her third year, the blonde had spent several nights tossing and turning. Come morning, she couldn't remember what plagued her mind, yet she also couldn't shake the overwhelming sense of dread that she'd been experiencing as of late.

As the teen gripped her duvet covers, the same unknown voice spoke to her in her sleep; that unsettling voice, a voice full of authority, one that belonged to a man she'd never met. "You must prepare yourself, child. Ready yourself for what's to come." A silent, strangled scream left Alexandra's lips as she sat up in her bed, wide awake and on full alert as she gripped her wand that she'd left on her bedside table. Her eyes scanned her room, wand pointing forwards as she searched for whoever had spoken to her.

When the blonde noticed her door-knob turning, she immediately took a defensive stance as she readied herself to attack the intruder.

"Alexandra." Relieved to hear the voice of her twin, Aron, Alexandra lowered her wand and sat back down on her four-poster bed. Adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, the same uneasy feeling she woke up with causing her to grip onto the corners of her duvet.

"Come in." Her breathing was ragged, yet her voice didn't waver in the slightest as she replied to her brother's silent request. It wasn't only Aron, but also her best friend Blaise, who snuck inside her room and climbed on top of her bed, both boys sitting cross-legged in front of the blonde girl. Upon noticing the disturbed look on her brother's face, Alexandra reached forward, resting her right hand on top of Aron's as she met his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Alexandra's relationship with her twin wasn't like most; the duo did not share the same connection the Weasley twins did, nor were they inseparable like the Patil girls. Alexandra and Aron were polar opposites, for the blonde girl was rather short-tempered, while her brother was rarely caught in a foul mood. This, however, did not mean that the two didn't share a deep emotional connection or that they wouldn't have done anything for one another.

"Was it a vision?" Blaise, the boy who'd been Alexandra's best friend ever since their first year at Hogwarts, asked. Alexandra raised a brow as she glanced at her friend who simply shook his head in response.

"I am not sure, I don't think so." Aron's voice was nothing but a whisper as he trailed his finger over Alexandra's dark blue duvet cover, eyes cast down as if he were ashamed to share what bothered him enough to seek the two teens' company in the middle of the night. "More of a feeling."

Alexandra's breath hitched in her throat, her mouth as dry as a piece of parchment. "What do you mean by that?" The blonde asked as she started bouncing her leg against the mattress, something she often did when nervous. Blaise must have noticed the shift in Alexandra's behaviour, for she noticed that the dark-skinned boy was now staring at her instead of her brother; he didn't need to speak, his inquisitive look was enough to let the blonde know that her reaction hadn't gone undetected.

The blonde girl watched her twin brother close his eyes as he tried to hide his shaking hands. "Something bad is gonna happen - soon." Aron's voice trembled and Alexandra found her gaze shifting from her twin to her best friend, one of the few people she'd told about her dreams and the mysterious voice.

The Grindelwald girl didn't need to speak in order for Blaise to understand, one single look was all it took for the teen to tell her best friend that her brother wasn't the only one who was plagued by a sense of foreboding.

It made no sense to Alexandra, for she wasn't the seer in the family, that title belonged to her twin brother; a curse that struck almost every male descendant of the Grindelwald line. Alexandra was an animens; her new-found ability to converse, understand and be understood by each and every animal still made her feel like a freak, but her ability did not entail bone-chilling dreams and voices.

Silence reigned sovereign in the room as Alexandra brought her fingers to her temples and started rubbing circles against her skin.

"Merlin's beard, I sound like Trelawney." Gone was Aron's pained look as he stifled a laugh at himself. "I am sure it's nothing; after all the big black dog I saw get near Alexandra never appeared in the first place. When I start cornering Harry and informing him of his possible impending doom do stop me, will you?" While Blaise snorted at her twin brother's comment, Alexandra simply sat there, chills wracking her body as if a Dementor had broken in her room.

None of the boys knew about what truly happened towards the end of their third year; how Alexandra had been dragged by none-other than Harry Potter and his friends to Hagrid's hut in hopes to offer some comfort to the man and his 'soon to be dead' hippogriff. The blonde couldn't exactly share the tale of how she found herself face to face with Sirius Black himself, one of her parents' close friends from back in the days, a man whose animagus form was indeed that of a big black dog. By freeing both man and beast, Alexandra and the 'golden trio' had broken more than a couple of laws. The four of them had promised to one another not to breath a single word of that night; after all Sirius' life was on the line, the life of an innocent man framed by a betrayer who posed as a rat. This was, by far, the biggest secret she'd ever kept from those she loved.

"You should consider dropping divination as an elective." Blaise continued, patting Aron's back ever so lightly when the boy started coughing. "I still don't understand how you can stand sitting in a room filled with fumes."

"I honestly don't mind. Don't forget that it was you and Selina who prompted me to take it in the first place saying it was an easy O." Aron sassed back, a gentle smile gracing his features.

Taking advantage of the sudden change of topic, Alexandra cleared her throat, successfully gaining both boys' attention. "I'm going to head back to sleep now." The blonde turned her attention towards her best friend. "You still have to experience the wrath of Molly Weasley; trust me, when angry, the witch puts every teacher to shame." While Blaise simply scrunched his brows, seemingly confused by her statement, Aron patted his legs once before jumping off the bed. "Wouldn't want to start on the wrong foot by showing up late, would we?" Now it was Alexandra's turn to tilt her head and raise a brow as she smirked at the dark-skinned boy.

"I'd rather clean cauldrons for a week than be the object of Mrs. Weasley's anger." As her brother shuddered at the mere thought, Alexandra had to stop herself from laughing; she knew that Molly would have never faulted them for arriving late at The Burrow, yet she also knew that her brother, being the least confrontational person she'd ever met, would have done anything to avoid the possibility of ruining the witch's mood.

"If you insist." Blaise drawled as he rolled his eyes, his posture still straight and poised due to years of conditioning on behalf of his mother. The dark-skinned teen followed Aron's previous movements, only to stop and straighten his top and smooth his pyjama pants. "I'll see you both in the morning, then." He quickly added as he nodded at Aron, who was already half-way through the door, before sending Alexandra a meaningful glance. The blonde could fool a lot of people by masking her true emotions, but Blaise wasn't one of them.

As soon as her bedroom door closed and the sound of footsteps in the corridor ceased altogether, Alexandra threw herself backwards, her head hitting the fluffy pillows as she sighed.

All Alexandra truly wished for was a calm and normal school year, but she knew that it was nothing but a pipe dream for, ever since she started attending Hogwarts, nothing but mayhem seemed to occur. There was something, however, that she truly looked forward to, and that was the Quidditch World Cup. After all, nothing bad could have happened in a place packed with wizards from all over the world.

And just like that, Alexandra fell deep into slumber as she dreamt about the most exciting Quidditch match she would have ever seen.

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   In true Grindelwald's fashion, the next morning consisted of a rushed breakfast followed by Alene, Alexandra's mother, scolding both Aron and Blaise, for none of the boys had finished packing their school trunks.

While the three teens would have had to buy their supplies along with the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione, everything else had to be ready for school, seeing that they would spend the remaining weeks of summer at their friends' home.

Alexandra and her father, Dominik, were the only two sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace in the living room; the former was clutching her second mug of scorching hot coffee, while the latter was already half-way through the new issue of The Prophet. The blonde's eyes fluttered closed as the smell of coffee reached her nose, the corner of her lips tilting upwards as she brought the mug closer to her mouth once more.

Dominik huffed as he folded the newspaper before turning his attention to Alexandra; the blonde simply raising maybe a brow in response to her father's actions as she continued sipping on the heavenly beverage. "Alexandra, darling." Regardless of what he was about to say, the blonde couldn't help but smile as her father addressed her. "We all know that you guys might hear some unpleasant remarks at the Quidditch World Cup. While your brother still doesn't care about what people say of our family, I know how much it upsets you. I want you to remember that, while we do share his last name, we are nothing like Gellert." Alexandra had to bite her tongue in order to stop herself from screaming at her father, asking him how he could be so sure about something like that, how he could talk about it so easily, as if they didn't share the same blood of a man who could have once destroyed the Wizarding World. Grounding her teeth and clasping her mug harder than before, the teen simply stared at her father. "We might share certain things -" The moment Alexandra found her father staring at her in the eyes, she immediately scoffed before directing her attention elsewhere. She didn't need her father to remind her of the condition they shared with the crazed wizard, something that a healer had once called heterochromia, a fancy word to define Dominik, Alexandra and Aron's white right eyes.

"Dad, I get it. I'll control my temper." The blonde's tone was now void of any emotion whatsoever as she spoke to her father, who squeezed her shoulder in a reassuring way. "But we all know that all it takes is one look at our eyes for some people to think and say the worst about us."

"Don't let them get to you, darling." The older man re-iterated as he brought Alexandra in for a side hug.

It was days like this that the blonde felt like the black sheep of the family; while the rest of her family members didn't care much about what people said, Alexandra's anger skyrocketed whenever she heard snarky comments in regards to her last name. The truth was that the teen feared that what people said could become true; that one day, when she least expected, she would have turned out just like her grandfather and hurt those she loved the most. Anger was safer to control than fear, therefore Alexandra's temper had become something whoever knew her was well aware of.

Alexandra didn't care that she looked different, what really bothered her was the constant reminder of why she looked that way.

A clicking sound managed to snap Alexandra back to reality. Oaksett, the bowtruckle she rescued only a week before, had decided to make an appearance as he stuck his head out of her shirt breast pocket. A chuckle escaped the blonde's lips as the small beast kept on scolding her father for his poor choice of topic of conversation.

"I hope your little friend is not going to make me regret writing to your Headmaster in order to ask for you to be allowed to take him with you." Alexandra shook her head in disbelief when Oaksett crossed his tiny branches to show her father that his comment didn't amuse him in the slightest, causing Dominik to tilt his head back as he cackled, clearly amused by the bowtruckle's sass.

"Don't worry, dad." Alexandra sent her father a reassuring smile before placing her open palm close to the tiny beast, who didn't waste a second to climb on top of it. As the bowtruckle started making clicking sounds once more, his anxiety regarding their trip via floo-network increasing by the minute, the blonde failed to notice how her father was smiling as he observed the scene.

"Albus was right." The man whispered, his smile never faltering. Dominik was one of the few people who called Alexandra's Headmaster by his first name; the man had been raised by the wise wizard ever since he first started attending Hogwarts. It might have started as something the Ministry had asked the wizard to do, to look after Gellert's son and be sure he didn't follow in his father's footsteps, but soon enough the bond between the two morphed into one that resembled more that of a guardian and his kid. "He might actually help you get used to your new - ability." He commented, his voice wavering ever so slightly at the end, having probably picked up on the blonde's aversion towards yet another thing that she had no control over.

"Oh, dear! You haven't even shrunk her trunk, Dominik." Her mother rushed into the living-room, her wand at the ready as she muttered a spell that caused Alexandra's trunk to become the size of her thumb-nail. "Here, here." The brunette woman hastily placed the blonde's trunk in her hand before ushering both Aron and Blaise forward. Knowing her mother loathed tardiness as much as she did, the blonde placed both Oakett and her trunk in her breast-pocket before joining the other two teens in front of the fireplace. "Now, remember; you might be guests, but I expect you to help and tidy after yourself." Alexandra was slightly caught off-guard when her mother hugged her as if it was the first time they'd ever spent time apart; when the brunette woman let go of the blonde, she proceeded to hug both of the boys before stepping back with a proud smile on her face. "You all make me feel so proud."

"Here, love." Alexandra's father, who'd remained seated until then, placed a hand on Alene's shoulder as he offered her a handkerchief to dab away the tears. "I hope this year you'll refrain from landing as many detentions as your previous one." Dominik didn't need to name names, for one simple look in her direction caused the two boys beside her to stifle a laugh. "Owl us if you ever need anything and remember, have fun."

Alexandra was the first to leave the house, seeing that her parents wanted to have a few more minutes with Aron and Blaise, the latter still rather nervous about visiting the Weasleys for the first time in three years of friendship. The blonde took a handful of floo-powder just before turning around and kissing both her parents on the cheek. Once inside the fireplace, she closed her eyes for a brief moment before speaking out loud. "The Burrow!"

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   Now, while slightly uncomfortable at first, Alexandra was now used to the way she felt whenever she travelled through floo-network. Many wizards and witches preferred to keep their eyes shut, yet the blonde didn't mind seeing everything distorted around her, it almost mesmerized her.

The first thing she heard as she stepped out the Weasley's fireplace was chatter coming from the kitchen. It might have been fairly late for the Grindelwald's family, but for many it was still breakfast time.

Alexandra couldn't suppress the smile that tugged on her lips as she neared the busy room; everyone was too busy either eating or bantering to even notice her, that was until Fred raised his head from his plate and stood up without warning, only to rush forward and engulf her in a hug as she laughed.

"Oi, mum! Look who's here!" George spoke up, finally gaining Molly's attention. "Now, now." The other half of the twins continued in a taunting tone as he too neared the blonde who was still hugging Fred back. "What is this? Gred gets all the attention and poor Forge none?"

"Oh, shush, you!" Alexandra exclaimed, shoving Fred back in a playful manner before giving George a quick hug, hoping that her action would be enough to tone down his usual teasing. "I seriously missed you all." She finally addressed the rest of the family as she tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear. However, there was someone at the table she hadn't been expecting to see, as she was supposed to accompany the Weasleys to fetch him from his aunt and uncle. "Harry? What happened? Don't tell me that that dimwit of your uncle tried to lock you away again."

"Oh, no dear." Molly motioned for Alexandra to sit down next to a rather excited Ginny, who the blonde immediately hugged sideways. "Arthur wanted to fetch him along with the boys before he left for work. Didn't you receive Ron's owl?" Half the people sitting at the table tried to mask their amusement, yet the twins didn't seem to care, for they burst into laughter at their mother question. "What now?" The woman queried, clearly exasperated as she threw her arms up in the air.

"Ickle Ronniekins never owls anybody, mum." Ron's ear turned bright red as he glared at Fred.

"Oh, shut up, will you." Ron muttered, head bowed down.

Alexandra's lips curled up in a dimpled smile as she gently kicked Fred's leg underneath the table, earning a playful smirk on behalf of the redhead twin.

Fred Weasley, just like everyone else, had considerably grown up since she last saw him. His boyish looks were long gone; his face was much more structured, red hair almost reaching his shoulders that did indeed show how much he'd played makeshift Quidditch in the back garden. His eyes held the same level of mischief, but also some kind of emotion Alexandra couldn't quite decipher as he looked at her. The boy had always had a weird effect on her, especially ever since last year, one that Alexandra always did her best to bury and avoid as much as possible, for it terrified her.

They must have been looking at one another for quite some time, for when someone cleared their throat on purpose, both their head snapped to the right, only to notice a smirking George with both arms thrown around Blaise and Aron's shoulders. The dark-skinned teen was looking at Alexandra in a rather smug way, his look alone causing Alexandra to shift nervously in her chair.

"As I was saying," Molly started, a certain level of excitement in her tone. "here's your coffee, Alexandra dear." As soon as the woman handed her a mug filled to the brim with the bitter liquid, the blonde thanked her before bringing the mug to her lips and drinking the heavenly beverage.

"How was our Slytherin rebel's summer?" Fred mused once Blaise sat down next to him and beside Aron.

"This was by far the best summer I've ever had." The dark-skinned boy replied just before thanking Molly Weasley one more time for his cup of tea.

"I believe what you did was extremely brave, my dear boy." While everyone else at the table knew that the woman would have absolutely adored the dark-skinned Slytherin, said boy almost did a double-take when the words left Molly's mouth. "You've been there for my Ginny, along with Alexandra and Aron, of course. I want you to know that you are always welcome here." Alexandra's lips twitched up in a sad smile as she noticed her best friend's teary eyes.

Blaise was teased mercilessly due to his friendship with both Alexandra and their other best friend Freya; his bond with the Gryffindors and a few Hufflepuffs only served to fuel the many taunts directed his way. While the dark-skinned boy didn't give his tormentors the time of the day, only reacting when things were bound to get ugly, Alexandra knew that he feared he'd never be truly accepted due to the house he belonged to. The blonde had tried more than once to explain to the boy that, ever since he stood up for Hermione Granger back in their first year, no one ever questioned his morality nor his friendship, yet it seemed like the idea had yet to stick.

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   The rest of the day was spent either helping around the house, playing Quidditch in the back garden, chatting, or catching up on summer homework. It was only after dinner, when Aron had been cornered by an equally Quidditch enthusiast such as Ginny Weasley and Blaise was talking with a rather tired-looking Arthur, that Alexandra managed to approach Harry and Ron without anyone truly noticing.

The three teens had made their way to Ron's room, both boys looking rather perplexed as to why the blonde had asked to talk to them with such urgency. Once Ron had closed the door behind him, Alexandra sat down on what looked to be Aron's bed.

The blonde started talking before either one of the boys could even open their mouth. "When your scar hurts, Harry, do you feel like something bad is going to happen?" Alexandra had gone over what to ask a million times, yet the moment she found herself facing the only person who knew about her dreams and could understand what she experienced, every single plan got tossed aside due to her nerves.

The dark-haired boy scratched his forehead, clearly uncomfortable with the topic of the remainder of how much he had already lost. "Uh - I guess. Yeah." His answer did not reassure Alexandra in the slightest, doing instead quite the opposite as the blonde found herself biting her lower lip while trying to think about what could be the cause of her dreams. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed Harry and Ron sitting before her until Harry's leg bumped with her own, causing her to stiffen almost immediately. "Why? What is going on?" There was worry laced in the boy's tone.

"Do you remember last year? When I had that weird dream where I heard someone, a male voice, tell me that I could 'no longer hide in the shadow of childhood, but face the shadows of the past'?" By now Alexandra's legs were bouncing, her eyes scanning the faces of the two boys sitting in the room with her for any sign of fear, for she couldn't bear to have someone she cared about being afraid of her.

"Yeah. The moment you saw S- Padfoot, you immediately warned both me and Hermione. You said that what the voice told you sounded a lot like a riddle." Alexandra could see the gears turning in Harry's head as he scrunched his brows together. "The voice, you heard it again in a dream, didn't you?"

Not trusting her own voice, Alexandra simply nodded. Hearing voices was never a good sign, no matter what world you came from; but hearing a very singular voice, a chilling and unsettling one on top of it all, one that seemed to be hinting to what was to come? That wasn't something good whatsoever and it was yet another thing, along with her lineage and her ability, that she had no control over.

"What did it say?" Ron had remained quiet the entire time, causing Alexandra to fear the worst, yet it seemed like the boy was about to prove her wrong. "Harry can speak with snakes, you can speak with animals. I mean, a voice that helps? Doesn't sound that bad."

"It said I had to be ready for what was to come, Ronald. Now you tell me that doesn't sound ominous." Alexandra quickly ran her hand through her long blonde hair as she let out a shaky breath. "The voice is unsettling, it's chilling. I just know that I woke up and I felt as if something bad was gonna happen." As much as she wanted to, Alexandra couldn't tell the boys about her twin's 'half-vision', for that wasn't her secret to share, and she would have never betrayed someone's trust.

"My nightmares." Harry's words caused Alexandra to stiffen, while Ron simply turned his head to look at his best friend. "I see Wormtail in my nightmares, but he's not alone and someone dies." Harry shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of those thoughts. "When I wake up, I feel the same thing you do; like something bad is coming."

A dry and strained laugh escaped the blonde's mouth. "Doom and gloom, these should become our nicknames." Ron snorted from beside Harry.

"Who do you think it is, the one who speaks to you?" Ron asked right after having cleared his throat.

"I haven't got the foggiest. But if you ever manage to figure it out, butterbeers are on me."

It was getting late, at least for someone who was used to go to bed early like Alexandra. Knowing that they would have had to wake up at the crack of dawn in order to get to the Quidditch World Cup, the blonde stood up, her abrupt movement causing Oaksett to get out of her breast pocket and climb onto her shoulder.

"Wait until Hagrid sees that." Alexandra rolled her eyes at Ron's poor attempt to whisper something to Harry without her noticing, yet it was Oaksett who seemed to be the one who had something to say about it.

Both boys turned to her once they heard the clicking sounds produced by the small bowtruckle, followed by a snicker that escaped Alexandra's mouth.

"He said you should stop making fun of him." The blonde easily translated on behalf of her companion.

"That is amazing." Harry's eyes never left the small beast; he was in complete awe and Alexandra felt her lips twitch upwards.

"Well, I am off to bed, boys." The blonde had already opened the bedroom door, only halting in the threshold to address the two teens one more time. "Tell the others goodnight from me."

Once she had reached Ginny's room, Alexandra sat down on her fold up bed and started preparing her backpack for the following days, something that took her approximately fifteen minutes, given the fact that she didn't need much at all.

As she got herself ready for bed in the nearby bathroom, the blonde paused in front of the mirror. However much she tried to focus on other features such as her blonde hair and her heart-shaped lips, she always ended up staring at her own eyes; the left one was light blue just like the water of a pond not too far away from her own home, but the right one, the right one was as white as chalk. Her right eye lacked any colour, her iris was so white, both her pupil and limbal ring stood out as they were pitch black. Those eyes were a constant reminder of who she was related to and of who she never wanted to become.

As she finally laid down in bed, a small candle perched right beside it, Oaksett rushed onto her pillow, only to lay down right beside her head. The blonde reached for her bag, her hand rummaging through her belongings until she finally found what she was looking for. Sighing in relief, Alexandra made herself comfortable before opening her copy of 'Agamemnon' written by a muggle writer named Aeschylus.

Just when, half an hour later, the blonde fell into a deep slumber, far away from the warm and modest house Alexandra was in, someone else closed their eyes with the intention of reaching her in the only way they could; through her dreams.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

so - yeah, here's the first chapter of this fic. now, some of my friends can testify to the fact that i am terrified of this being utter trash - because, let's face it; i ain't the best writer on here.

i really hope this story won't flop, because i've been planning it for months - ever since the first trailer of 'fantastic beasts: crimes of grindelwald' dropped - and because harry potter is my main fandom (along with supernatural).

any kind of constructive feedback is always welcome! let me know if you like the chapter, leave a comment, vote, all the shebang!