"Okay so basically your sister has a problem with staying alone with people she doesn't know?" Gellert asked, seeming interested, and Albus nodded slowly. "Oh. And it is some kind of PTSD? Like a phobia of some sorts, caused by an event in the past?"
"Well yes actually she…" Albus stopped, and furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean yeah but she doesn't like to talk about it, I don't think I should-"
"She doesn't feel that around people she knows, however? Like someone from your family?" Gellert continued, and Albus blinked slowly.
"Why are you manipulating me to talk by avoiding the question and taking an alternative path instead?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, and the lad stopped, lifting his eyes to meet Albus'. They stayed like that for a moment before the smirk grew on Gellert's face again, making Albus' heart quicken.
"You realized it" he said, in wander, and leaned back against the couch. "You really are smart… do you study psychology?"'
"Um, no, you just made it very obvious" Albus shrugged and crossed his legs, pulling them closer to his body without letting his shoes touch the couch.
"You have no idea how many people told me their entire lives just because they didn't realize I was avoiding the subject" he chuckled, making Albus feel his cheeks heating up again.
His laugh was delighting to hear.
"Well I'm not like those people" Albus replied, not meaning to sound arrogant, but as soon as the words got out of his mouth, he noticed how mean they sounded. "Like, I mean…"
"You really aren't like them" Gellert hummed, and once more, Albus got quiet. "So, what do you do in this small village?"
"I work at the super market sometimes" he explained, making the blond boy furrow his eyebrows. "And I should go back to my shift right now. So again, I am sorry for the misunderstanding, but everything is settled now"
He grabbed his bag and stood up, lifting his hand for a handshake. Gellert looked at him from head to toe, making him slightly uncomfortable, before he stood up and fixed his shirt, taking his time to hold Albus' hand.
However, when he did, he did not shake it. He pulled on it and moved closer to Albus, sliding two of his long fingers under Albus' long sleeved shirt without forcing the shirt up. He froze immediately, hand grabbing the lad's wrist, eyes shifting down to stare right into the brown and grey irises.
"Has anyone ever told you that… your eyes look like blue crystals?" he whispered, and Albus felt his throat tightening and his heart racing, giving a step back and being followed by Gellert.
"I'm… sure someone must have uh, mentioned at some point" he mumbled out, trying his hardest to keep his eyes in the eyes, keep the eyes in the eyes, there was nothing to see there, nothing to see.
"What about how soft your hair looks?" Gellert pushed, leaning even closer and making Albus hold back a whimper. Look into the eyes, look into the eyes.
"I-I… I need… To go…" he mumbled, before he gasped as somehow Gellert had guided him to a chair, making him fall down onto it as he leaned over him, one hand still on his arm while the other held onto the back of the chair.
That was when Albus saw Gellert's drifting down, and he followed them slowly, losing his breath as his eyes met with a pair of lips that he desperately wanted to kiss.
Suddenly, there was a noise outside and both of them stopped, Albus shifting his glance towards the window as Gellert, looked back, finally letting go from his arm. Albus used that moment to stand up, almost pushing the blond away and smiling way too wide to look realistic.
"I have to go! Nice meeting you Gellert, take care!" he said, quickly, and grabbed his bag, rushing outside and running off as soon as he closed the door behind himself.
His heart was racing desperately, and he had to stop eventually to regain his breath.
What the fuck had just happened?
Had he just… he… that guy…
He had nothing! Albus shook his head, leaning back against the tree and taking a deep breath, trying to forget about what had just happened. Because nothing had happened! He shook his head again and groaned, rubbing his eyes.
No. Nothing happened. It had to be just a dream. It wasn't possible that a lad like him… Like Gellert Grindelwald… nephew of Bathilda… that handsome, beautiful, gorgeous…
"Ah!" Albus exclaimed in the middle of the street, grabbing his hair and shaking his head. "No no no not this again, for god's sake!"
"Are you okay son?" a soft voice said suddenly, and Albus jumped, looking back and then relaxing when he saw Bathilda standing behind him, frowning.
"Oh miss Bagshot… you scared me" he chuckled and smiled. "I'm fine! I'm fine, I'm totally fine. I am just… going to my job! Also I'm late! See you later miss Bagshot!" he waved, making his way around the old lady and running towards the kindergarten.
He tried to forget about the encounter, he tried to brush away everything that had happened, but he just couldn't.
Something in that guy just… made his heart burst.
Albus was so distracted that he did everything on automatic. He got into the school, walked to the teacher's office, putting his bag inside his locker and leaving towards the children's room and ending up bumping into someone in the middle of the hall.
Out of reflex he grabbed them by the waist and pulled them closer, using his right foot to keep them balanced.
"Sorry!" he squealed out, looking at whom he was holding, while they held onto his shoulders. When their eyes met, he frowned. "Minerva?"
"Albus!" she complained, quickly going back to her feet and pushing him away as he wiped his clothes back to normal. "You get here late and runs into me?! How nice!"
"Mirv I'm so sorry!" Albus begged, taking her hands and kissing them both. "Please forgive me! I was distracted, and on a rush!"
"yes I can see that" she huffed and smiled, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it Alb. You arrived! Now come here, the kids are waiting" Minerva held his hand and pulled him through the hallway, taking him towards the children's room. "Children! Professor Albus arrived!"
"Professor!" they all squealed together, and Albus walked inside after Minerva, smiling as all the five year olds walked to him, hugging his legs.
"Oh my sweethearts how are you doing?" he asked, kneeling down and ruffling up their hair, hugging all of them one by one. "What did I miss today? Did you have a lot of fun with Minerva?"
"Professor McGonagall let us draw all morning!" one of the girls, called Lily, said contently, showing Albus her drawing of a swan on a lake. Or least, that was what it looked like.
"That's wonderful! And now its time for what?"
"NAP!" they screamed, and rushed to their little blankets, making Albus laugh loudly and Minerva smile fondly at the children.
"Nap time!" he nodded and walked to the centre of the room after grabbing a book from the wall. "Everyone ready for the story?"
"YES!"
"Alright" he chuckled and opened the book. "Once upon a time, there was a pretty princess, that lived…"
Slowly, Albus began to tell the story written in the book, and eventually, Minerva sat next to him, helping him with some voices and some paragraphs. As the story continued, the children began to fall asleep, and the two only stopped when the last child slept, leaving them alone for some time.
Albus groaned as he stood up, feeling his legs complaining at the constant position, and he sighed, putting the book away and walking towards the desk where Minerva worked on some type of paper. He pulled a chair close to her and smiled, poking her shoulder.
"What are you doing?"
"Work. School work" she looked at him and smiled. "Could you tell me what made you so distracted earlier?"
"I… nothing important" he shook his head, shrugging it off. "Just something that happened at home."
"Sure" Minerva chuckled and looked back at her worksheet. "And how was vacation from school? I know you got no vacations from the market"
"I missed it" Albus sighed, looking at the asleep kids. "I missed them Mirv, I can't handle being away from the children"
"I know, I know. You're so in love with them, I bet you would adopt all of them if you could" she winked, making him chuckle.
"Oh no, I have two children at home to take care of" he said, relaxing on the desk. She looked at him, and smiled fondly.
"And how are they? Aberforth? Ariana?"
"They are good, they are good" Albus nodded and laid his head on the desk. "Aberforth is wild as ever, I bet he didn't even want to go back to school this semester. And Ariana is trying her best to get used to the outside world. She said this is her year. She is really willing to try going around…"
"Albus, that is so good! Not for Abe, of course, but for Ari" she said, and he smiled to her. "You… don't look very happy"
"They are growing up" Albus mumbled and sighed, closing his eyes. "Every day it is harder and harder to convince Aberforth to stay in school. And it is hard to allow Ariana to just try and go live her life. I… it is hard to be a parent"
"You're not a parent Albus, you are their brother" Minerva said, frowning, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Albus nodded, sighing, and then moved away from the desk, yawning and stretching before relaxing again and smiling at her.
"yeah yeah, don't worry, I am just venting" he said, shrugging it all off. "So. What about you? How were your vacations?"
"Oh, the same old. My parents travelled, I did a winter program in Spain… same old" she shrugged. "Nothing too special. I missed Godric's Hollow"
"You are the only one that misses this hellhole" he mumbled, and when she turned to him, he yawned again and stood up. "I'm off to the bathroom, come back in a minute"
He left the room with a sigh, feeling the guilt over his shoulders. He shouldn't speak like this. Rubbing his eyes, he walked to the bathroom, hoping to get it empty so he could wash his face and complain a bit to himself.
And maybe let himself think a bit about a certain blond he had just met a few hours ago.