Chapter 47 ~ Adalind's Information.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Rose questioned again, standing at the castle exit clutching Jack's hand and addressing Maxine and Stefan, who were shifting impatiently.

Maxine nodded hurriedly. "Quite sure. We're just gonna stay here and..." She faltered as she once again forgot their bad excuse and Stefan leapt in to assist.

"Practice our patronuses." He said swiftly. "You know - we - er - need to improve them."

Rose looked bemused, seeing that they were obviously hiding something. "You have your patronuses perfect, guys. You even managed to make them corporeal."

"Did we?" Asked Maxine innocently, attempting to steer away from the matter.

Rose laughed. "I was there. Stefan's is a Snow Leopard and yours is a Mustang." She looked from Stefan to Maxine and gave in. "Anyway, we'll leave to whatever your doing, though I still don't understand what it is you're actually doing. See ya." She turned, Jack chuckling as they exited and Maxine and Stefan saying quick 'goodbye's and 'have a nice time's before spinning round to face each other, both grinning with excitement in their eyes.

"Operation whatever we're calling it has initiated." Maxine said in a mock military voice, putting on an American accent "Let's go, go, go!"

Alone in the entrance hall and laughing at each other as they ran, they made their way to a small broom cupboard off the nearest corridor and grabbed Stefan's invisibility cloak from it. The main doors were going to be closed any second, and while there were other ways out of the castle, the most direct route to Hogsmeade ran from the entrance. So, throwing the cloak over themselves, Maxine and Stefan hurried as fast as they could back to the main doors, slipping out just in time. Both of them were hyped up at the thought of meeting this woman, who was not only another connection to the Wesen World but also someone who could finally explan what was going on. Plus it was near Christmas, they were sneaking down to Hogsmeade using an invisibility cloak and they were together, as a team. Maxine and Stefan, without mentioning Theon, were closely bonded and like little kids together when they were excited, both triggering energy in each other.

However, it was very difficult to stay invisible, they found - especially when one takes into account they were two fully grown teenagers under a reasonably sized invisibility cloak. Most of the journey was done crouching and trying to avoid treading on each other's feet. There was also the giggling - Maxine was extremely partial to this as Stefan groaned comically in accompaniment to her treading repeatedly on his feet. Whether the groans were intentional of not, they definitely started the giggling in Maxine, who, in an immature and excited mood, didn't seem to be able to stop.

But just the sight of the Hogs Head was enough to sober the , and entering it, both calmed down a little. The dark and dingy building had never hosted a decour to cheer oneself up and Maxine and Stefan, now faced with speaking to the hostile bar attendant again, stopped smiling and put on their politest faces, Maxine braving the man once more.

"Er - hello - we - we're here to meet a woman by the name of Amy Cann?" She enquired in an unitentionally well-bred voice, accompanied by an airy expression.

He grunted and jerked his hand up, gesturing to the room and eyeing them with suspicion again. "You know here to go." He said in a low voice before bringing out two dusty butterbeer bottles. He nodded at them. "You want butterbeer as well?"

"Yes thanks." Said Maxine briskly, taking out her purse and handing the man the money hesitantly. Stefan took the bottles and nodded to the man before they turned away, Maxine letting out a smothered laugh as they did so. But the voice of the bar tender caused them to turn back round again when they were only three steps towards the direction of the back room.

"I don't like you sorts." He eyes Maxine and Stefan was small, dark eyes filled with suspicion. "There's been some strange people round here since you came."

Stefan and Maxine exchanged worried glances before turning back to the man. "What kind of people?" Stefan asked, trying to make his voice light and enquiring.

The man grunted, stil eyeing them as he wiped down the counter with a filth rag. "Them which talk with words that aren't in the dictionary. Them which talk in different languages. Them which aren't from around here." His eyes were still staring at the two of them with hostility. "I tell you, I don't want them in here."

What he expected two fifteen year olds to do, Maxine did not know, and her only reply was a half-muttered apology. "We're umm...we're sorry." Turning,so she and Stefan approached the back room again, exchanging a glance as they went. The Hogs Head didn't seem to be safe anymore.

Both of them entered the room dubiously - neither knew this woman and neither knew what she was going to be like. So there was a second as Stefan closed the door carefully and Maxine waited for him and they both looked up. But boy, were they in for a shock. 

All of a sudden, her entire face changed into that if a hideous monster - a distorted, horrific image of a woman that was half-rotted in places. The jaw was skeletal and held sharp, greying teeth and the eyes pale and small, glaring at them with ferocity. The skin of this woman was a pale shade of grey and the hair a similar colour, bedraggled and hanging limply about the terrifying face. Maxine and Stefan froze for a second, staring at this beast and backing against the door, as far way as they could get from this potential attacker. But then, suddenly, it was is over, and the creature flexed its neck jerkily, knashing its teeth, before turning into a woman, grey hair becoming bright blonde and face becoming human and beautiful. But Stefan was already reaching for the door, aware that this woman was a Wesen and must be an attacker. Nick hadn't said anything about a Wesen messager - this couldn't be right.

But the woman saw what he was doing and came forward in a quick movement, holding her hand up. "No! Wait!" Stefan paused as she plunged her hand into her coat pocket and retrieved an ID, holding it out for them to see. "I'm Adalind. Adalind Schade. Nick Burkhardt sent me."

Maxine, recovering her voice, replied after a pause as Stefan's hand left the door handle and they stopped trying to get out. "But you're....you're Wesen."

Adalind's face dawned in realisation and she looked from one teenaged to the other. "Nick didn't tell you I was Wesen?" She questioned in disbelief.

Stefan shook his head. "We presumed you'd be...well, a Grimm." He took a closer look at her ID. "But you are Adalinde Schade?"

"Yes of course I'm Adalind Schade." She snapped, retreating to sit down on the wooden table. "I can't believe Nick didn't tell you, of all the things."

Maxine stepped forward, a little less dubious now and more curious. The Wesen image of this woman had scared her, admittedly - though now Adalind's appearance was very pleasant; long, straight blonde hair, a refined face and strong-willed blue-grey eyes. But now she wasn't so much scared, instead, intrigued. 

"I'm sorry but...I have to ask - what kind of Wesen are you?" She asked both carefully and politely.

Adalind shifted her gaze onto Maxine, flicking her hair back and looking at girl with clear eyes. "I'm a Hexenbiest. Basically we're witches of the Wesen world." She answered in her pronounced American Accent.

Maxine remembered the Wesen book and recalled the mention of Hexenbiests. She couldn't help but stare stare the woma, and Adalind noticed, meeting Maxine's gaze.

"You've never seen one of me before, have you."

Maxine opened her mouth to answer, but Stefan got there first. "To be honest, we've hardly met any Wesen before." He confessed for both of them.

Adalind inspected the two teenagers, tilting her head to one side. "It must be so difficult for you." She said after a slight pause. "Being locked away in a castle all the time....away from the world you truly belong in." Then she snapped out of it, sitting up straight and starting to talk in a more orderly fashion, moving round to sit in one of the chairs and exhaling before saying briskly; "Anyway - let's get started. I'm Adalind, Schade, partner to Nick Burkhardt-"

"Partner?" Maxine questioned involuntarily as she found herself a seat. 

Adalind looked at her. "We were mortal enemies, became allies, accidentally had a child together through reasons I can't explain in a short space of time and ended up together. It's a long story." She took a breath, turning her head, then returned to where she had left off. "Anyway, as I was saying, I am Adalind Schade, partner to Nick Burkhardt. He has sent me to relay information to you on the reasons of your persecution." Strangely, she seemed to look at both of them as she said it. "To make myself clear, however, you can tell no one else of this information, nor speak of it in public." Her voice was hard and insistent as she said it, looking from Maxine to Stefan. "Got it?"

The two if them nodded and she looked at them hard before continuing. Clearly this wasn't the nice, half-social meeting like the one with Nick and Monroe. Adalind was wholly serious and only there to convey infrmatoon, not to become familiar with the two young Grimms. 

"The first thing I can tell you," She said, leaning forward in her seat ", is that both of you are now being hunted."

She watched as both Maxine and Stefan exchanged shocked, confused glances before turning back to her. "You mean - the royals know about Stefan too?" Maxine questioned, worried for her friend and puzzled as to how they and found out. Adalind nodded and Maxine put the latter to her. "But how? How did they find out about him?"

Adalind shrugged. "They have their ways. Eyes everywhere. It was only a matter of time." It wasn't that she didn't care, it just seemed like she didn't want it to become personal. She let her words sink I and then went on. "The point is, they will do everything in their power to get hold of the two of you."

This time Stefan questioned her. "But why?" He asked in disbelief. "Why do they need us? Our Keys?"

Adalind hesitated, only making Maxine and Stefan more intrigued. "It's not just for your keys." She looked at them honestly, looking at them with an admitting gaze. "You two are...connected...they need you for something that we're not sure of. But ultimately, it does come back to the keys. And what the keys lead to."

"The knight's treasure? But how are we linked to the knight's treasure?" There inky seemed to be questions in the conversation, and Maxine did not hesitate.

"We don't know." Adalind confessed. "It's still very unclear...but what we do know is that they will intermably succeed and kill you if they manage to get hold of you." She saw the fear in their faces but went on; "Which is why, as Nick has told you, you must be extremely careful. Even meeting me here is a danger, though you seem to have taken precautions." She glanced at the invisibility cloak that Stefan had hung in the back of a chair. "The point is, after this, you can't leave the school grounds again."

"But...." Maxine trailed off but Adalind looked expectantly at her so she spoke again. "But - Stefan and I - we're going back to my family's home for Christmas." She felt like a little girl, disappointed and immature.

Adalind looked at her. "You live with the Potters, right?" She questioned. 

Maxine nodded. "Yes."

Adalind leant back and paused. "Well...your father is an auror. And the house secure..." She regained the serious look again, as if discussing business. "It should be ok. But just remember - surround yourself at all times. Never be far from friends or family. Make sure you are never alone."

They nodded and there was another pause before Stefan asked hesitantly: "Have you found anything more about our lineage? Who our fathers were."

Adalind nodded, returning her duties as messager. "Yes. Although not who they are - we only have hints." She looked at Stefan solemnly. "Yours was a member of the Verat - the Royals army - we have been told. And you are related to Nick, although in what way we are not sure." Then she turned to Maxine. "And yours...well, your father is alive. But that is all we know."

Maxine nodded. It wasn't news for her, her father had always been alive in her eyes and never confirmed dead. But Stefan...she looked at him and saw the tightness of his expression and the white hint to his face. His father had worked for the Royals. The same people who were currently trying to kill him. 

But Adalind was not finished. "Maxine - you also...it appears you also have a sister..." 

Maxine jerked her head upwards,mace riddled with confusion. "What?" She questioned in disbelief. "I have a...."

"Sister." Adalind filled in, nodding her head. "We don't know her name, but we know she's older than you. In her early twenties. But records can't trace her and she was taken away when she was a baby. A sister on your Mother's side."

Maxine was aghast. A sister....she had a sister? It couldn't be...

All her life she had been living under the impression that she would never see her father again and her family were deaf - never to see her, never to claim her. But now...she had a sister! Untraceable, yes, but still a living, breathing person who might, some fateful day, show up to claim her. A link to a non-existant family. Not that Maxine had ever dreamed of having one...until how.

There was a pause as she tried to register it, then looked up at Adalind. "Are you sure? Do you know any more?"

"Yes, we're sure." Adalind answered. "But no, we don't know any more about this girl. She can't be found - was never even christened and seems to have been all over; Europe, America, Australia." Adalind looked at Maxine with firm eyes and spoke in a hard voice. "But Maxine, don't expect to find her. Don't expect her to turn up. She was living on the last records, but nothing's definite about her except that she exists - or existed."

Maxine nodded, but was still effected by it, retreating into her mind slightly. Stefan, however, after registering the information himself and checking his friend, had another question.

"Look, something else has also been bothering me." He spoke to Adalind with maturity and earned her attention. "Nick said something about Hitler being Wesen, and as you will have no doubt been informed - I am a descendant of Hitler. So doesn't that mean - even if I am this great great grandson or whatever - that I have Wesen blood as well?" 

There wa a pause as Adadlind looked at him, eyes hesitant. Maxine was interested now as well, though still shaken within. Stefan raised an eyebrow expectantly and Adalind sighed, coming forward again and intriguing the two teenagers with her secretive tones.

"Look, that's the thing. That's why your special. You're not just Grimms with magical blood, you're hybrids of all three races. You two contain Wesen blood, however small a fraction, and apparently, from our information, that's what makes you special." She looked uo and avoided their gazes before continuing with finality. "Not only are you special, but...there's no others like you. The DNA set in shouldn't be possible." She looked up at them, finally meeting their stares. "You're not meant to exist."