"Where has Aurelius Dumbledore gone?" asked Vinda as she and Queenie walked toward group dinner. "I haven't seen him in several days, since the morning after the party."
"He went to his cottage in the mountains to train in peace," Queenie said. "With the castle so bustling and busy, he gets overwhelmed. Gellert Apparates up there a few times a day to help him train, and Aurelius stays at the cottage. He's happier that way."
"What a strange creature he is," Vinda mused. She paused outside the dining room and whispered, "Will you listen to Klaus Reiner for me tonight? See if he's thinking of me?"
"Vinda, you want me to eavesdrop?" Queenie quirked up half her mouth and one eyebrow, but she drew her wand into four circles and dragged it and then cast her Babel Charm on the entire dining room. Vinda breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.
"Thank you. I just… Before I fall for another man, Queenie, I want to know what I'm getting into."
"I understand." Queenie's eyes went wide, and she whispered, "Are you falling for Klaus?"
"Much too early to be speculating about that, don't you think?" Vinda huffed a breath and said softly, "Let's go eat dinner."
The two witches walked into the dining room, and Vinda seemed shocked to see that her name tag was right beside Klaus Reiner's. Well, Queenie wasn't surprised; it was just like Grindelwald to put Vinda and Reiner together. She smirked a little as she sat down at her place to Grindelwald's right and listened to the thoughts Reiner was having.
Oh, Vinda's sitting beside me. I mustn't make a fool of myself, not before she even has the chance to get to know me. I must keep things together; I must stay cool and collected.
"Good evening, Mademoiselle Rosier," said Reiner gently as Vinda sat, and she smiled at him.
"Hello, Herr Reiner. How are you finding Nurmengard? And your new position? I hear you and I will be working closely together planning rallies and parties."
"Yes; I've been assigned to the preparations squad," Klaus Reiner said happily. "Our next rally will be in Rome, I am told."
"There will be a great deal of planning needed for the Rome rally," nodded Vinda, sipping at her water. "You and Krenn and I will need to meet, the three of us, within the next day or two to lay out a plan just for the preparations."
"Of course. I am fully on board for whatever capacity you need me, Mademoiselle Rosier," said Reiner earnestly. "I long to serve properly. Fully."
"Good." Vinda smiled again at him, and then they went quiet, for Grindelwald came striding into the room. Everyone rose, including Queenie. She was surprised when Grindelwald entered looking tired, bowed his head and murmured,
"Please do sit."
He promptly took his place at the head of the table, and as soon as he slid his chair in, the first course of mixed greens with marinated onion and vinegar appeared. He stabbed rather aggressively at his food, and those around the table ate with caution, as though being cautious not to upset Grindelwald.
"The rally in Rome will take place in the ancient Colosseum," murmured Vinda to Klaus Reiner, and the two of them resumed their quiet conversation. Queenie peered into Reiner's mind and found nothing but determination to serve the cause, nothing but admiration for Vinda. She was pretty, he thought. Beautiful. And she was very intelligent and very capable. He quite liked her. He was looking forward to serving with her. He couldn't care less about Krenn.
Other thoughts crept into Queenie's mind since she'd cast the Babel Charm.
I wonder if something happened with that boy. Grindelwald seems upset.
Something's bothering him. I hope he doesn't take it out on us.
My throat feels like I'm starting to get sick. I hope I don't spread it to everyone at this table.
Queenie tried to shut the thoughts out, using distraction techniques she'd been practising over the last fifteen years of her life in order to avoid listening to people. She finally turned to Grindelwald, who was angrily cutting into his sliced beef in his main course, and she asked softly,
"Is something the matter?"
"Come to my office after dinner," he replied simply, and Queenie felt her cheeks go hot.
"Have I done something wrong? Sir?"
"You will come to my office after dinner," he snapped again, and she just nodded in silence, turning down to her own plate and using her spoon to scoop some mashed potato.
Grindelwald paced quickly down the corridor, having been the first one to storm out of the dining room. His leather boots clicked just a little on the marble as he stalked briskly toward his office, but then he heard quick clacking behind him, the clack-clack-clack of a witch's heels running, and he slowly turned round to see Queenie chasing him.
"Wait, please," she said breathlessly, still trotting down the marble way. She suddenly slipped, tripping and dropping her wand, landing awkwardly on a knee, and Grindelwald rushed over to her.
"Oh, fuck." She used a word he'd never heard escape her lips, a word that shocked him, but he shouldn't have been surprised. Not with the way she'd managed to twist her knee and slam it down into a painful, contorted position. She gripped at her knee and threw her head back in pain, and Grindelwald crouched beside her. He arranged her legs in silence until they were righted, and he pulled out the Elder Wand. He aimed it at her left knee and murmured gently,
"Ferula."
A tight brace materialised and began to wind itself around her knee, which would be healing from the spell. He dragged his wand along the knee and added,
"Allevio. Allevio Trio."
"Thank you. I'm sorry I fell." Queenie let him help her stand, but when she did, she was still unsteady. He picked up her wand and tucked it into her pocket, letting her lean on him as they walked to his office. Queenie asked nervously,
"You've hardly spoken to me all night, and now you're dragging me off to your office. Please, Gellert, I mean… sir… will you please tell me what's going on?"
"I will. In private." Grindelwald's stomach churned, and he felt an enormous weight in the pocket of his velvet trench coat. He chewed his lip carefully guided Queenie toward his office doors, which he threw open with nonverbal magic. He tucked the Elder Wand away once they were inside and he'd shut the doors. Then he pulled out her chair for her and let her sit, casting a few more spells on her knee to take down swelling and to ensure she wasn't in pain. He sat at his desk and folded his hands on it.
"You had eight wizards ask you to dance at the party," he noted, and Queenie's eyes went wide with horror.
"Please tell me you didn't… you didn't… kill them."
"What? No. Queenie." He touched at his forehead and whispered, "You are mine."
"Of course I am," she said softly, but he stared at her and demanded,
"They're meant to be followers of my movement. If they were so very certain you belonged to me in that way, they would not have asked you to dance with them."
"So, what you want me to wear a big sign above my head that says Property of Gellert Grindelwald - Do not touch or proposition?" Queenie was joking, but she seemed a little afraid, too. Grindelwald huffed out a breath and mumbled,
"No; I'd like you to wear this."
He reached into the pocket of his velvet trench coat and pulled out the ring he'd spent the last two days carefully Conjuring and then perfecting through meticulous spellwork. He set it down on the desk and slid it across toward Queenie, lifting his hands off of it as though it were burning him to touch it.
She stared at it for a long moment. Her eyes went round as saucers and her full lips dropped open in shock. She reached for the ring with very shaky fingers and finally dared to pick it up and examine it. She studied the delicate rose gold filigree, which had the Deathly Hallows symbol in the centre on each side with swirls of gold working their way down from the symbols. There was a single round colourless diamond at the top, along with two triangular pink diamonds cradling the centre stone. It was an abjectly feminine piece, one that fit Queenie's personality perfectly in Grindelwald's opinion. He'd worked very hard on making it for her, and as he watched her begin to cry, he knew she liked it. She slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand, and she asked quietly,
"You want me to marry you?"
"Yes, I want you to marry me," Grindelwald replied smoothly, "if you please."
Men were meant to get down on one knee and beg women for their hand in marriage, he knew. That was the custom in both Muggle and wizarding communities. But he was Gellert Grindelwald. He didn't beg anyone for anything, including Queenie Goldstein. He wasn't going to start now. Luckily, she didn't seem upset by his lack of contrition and humility. She just stared at the perfectly-fitting ring on her finger and sobbed. She cried harder than he would have expected her to do, in fact, until at last he asked her softly,
"Queenie, what's the matter?"
"He didn't want to marry me because it was illegal," she hiccoughed, gasping for air, and Grindelwald nodded. Jacob, the No-Maj nincompoop. Queenie continued, "Tina didn't want me to marry him; he refused. I put him under a love spell and brought him to England to marry him because it was legal. Newt Scamander took the spell off and Jacob called me crazy. But all I wanted was to be happy. I just wanted a happy life. And I had no idea back then, Gellert - I didn't know that there was you. I didn't know you were out there waiting for me. I didn't know what real happiness even meant."
She was babbling, but he didn't mind. He just reached for her hand and squeezed a little, and when he met her eyes, he smiled a bit. She choked a little laugh and demanded,
"Are you gonna call me crazy, too?"
"No. You are many things, Queenie Goldstein, but crazy is not one of them." He dragged his thumb over hers and stared deeply into her eyes. "Marry me."
"Yes, sir." She swiped at her eyes with her free hand and nodded vigorously. "Yes. These are orders I will very gladly follow. Oh, yes, I will marry you, Gellert Grindelwald."
"All in white?" he asked softly, and she grinned through her tears, nodding.
"All in white."
Author's Note: Well, we knew after that party that he wasn't going to be able to keep from proposing for too much longer, right? What do you think of her ring? Rose gold with a round diamond and pink triangular diamonds and the Deathly Hallows symbol in filigree? Perfectly Queenie? I was able to get this written during my son's midday nap today, but I almost certainly won't update again until tomorrow since today is my birthday and we have a very busy day in Disney World planned. Thanks for your understanding and thanks for all the birthday wishes so far! Love to all.