In the next day, Albus left off to do everything he did in normal school days. He woke up, changed, and left early to the prefect's rooms, wanting to organize some of the papers he had left the last night over his desk. He did so until it was time for his first class of the day and school year. He had never even thought about taking Astrology until the beginning of that very year, but for some reason, something attracted him to it during his vacations, and now it was the best opportunity he would have to learn how to read the magic signs of nature.
He sat down with the rest of the students for the advanced class of Astrology (since in their third year it was an obligatory subject) which weren't more than 10 students besides himself, and he made sure to seat alone, never really enjoying the company of too many people during his classes.
After he sat and made himself comfortable, a group of girls from Beauxbatons came inside and found themselves a seat. One of them was the girl that had left the headmistress' car with her. Probably the best student in the school. She had black hair, dark skin, and the nicest shade of brown eyes Albus had ever seen. Her skin seemed smooth as a peach, and she seemed to keep attention on everything surrounding herself.
Including Albus, that was.
The rest of the girls were talking loudly to themselves, even including some of the Hogwarts students in their conversation, but the girl seemed to have her eyes fixated upon him. And at a moment when their sights collided, he felt a strange feeling of familiarity, and her eyes glistened gold for a very brief moment.
Albus wondered if it was some type of spell she was casting over him, but he felt nothing, so he simply looked away and decided to distract himself over some paintings on the wall while his embarrassment drifted away.
Lucky for him, the teacher did not take long, and as she entered, she sent textbooks flying in the air, one to each student. Albus grabbed his as it came flying by, and opened at the page she indicated, humming at the title of the section: "The Secrets of Teacups and more". Generalist, but curious. Not exactly the type of title that would catch his eyes, but then again, he was in this class for a reason.
The lesson began and he kept his attention focused on the teacher, doing exactly as she commended and slowly, but surely, getting the hang of how to read teacups. At least, he could read his own. And then, she decided it was time to partner up, and exchange cups, and thus, as fate seemed to command, the Beauxbatons girl came towards him with a certainty that even left Albus uneasy, and sat in front of him, her cup of tea in hand.
The professor waited until everyone had found a partner and instructed for them to ask a few questions to know each other a little better, and only then exchange teacups.
The girl, however, handed him her glass immediately.
"Lets read it first. Then we talk" she said, and her voice was smooth and harmonic to his ears. However, the way she spoke kept making him uneasy and awkward. So he simply nodded and handed her his cup, before taking hers and looking down at his book.
Right. Albus moved his eyes slowly through the pages, looking back at the cup every now and then to compare the formats from the dreg and the pictures. Truly reading dregs in teacups was not as easy as he had initially thought, but eventually he found something that seemed correct.
"I read" he began, still looking towards the book, but by his peripheral vision he could see she had stopped fumbling with his cup "that you will receive an unexpected calling very soon… it will bring you great excitement, and sorrow, but most of all, it will put you into horrible danger…" he said, looking up at her as he finished reading. "Or… uh… I could be wrong"
"Yours told me your destiny is about to change, and that someone in your path will give you great memories but will also hurt you very deeply" she responded almost immediately, handing him his cup and taking her own. "Or I could be wrong"
"Something tells me you know you are not" Albus said, a little taken off by her apathetic voice tone, but she simply put her glass down and lifted her hand for a shake.
"Jeanne. Jeanne Couture" she said, after he hesitantly took her hand. "Seventh year in Beauxbatons"
"Albus… Albus Dumbledore, sixth year in Hogwarts" he said, just like her, as they shook hands. "Do I… know you from somewhere?"
"Did you feel a familiar feeling when you looked at me?" she asked, and he nodded, very slowly. "It is probably because we are alike in some way"
"Do you know what way?" Albus asked, and Jeanne simply let her mouth curl up into a sly smile.
"Perhaps we will find out later" was her response, before she stood up and took her cup, walking away quickly. Albus watched her, confused, and for a moment or two he honestly thought that perhaps that boy, the one from the prior night, had somehow made a Polyjuice potion and was simply talking to him over this girl. But then, he remember that Polyjuice didn't alter voice and simply shook his head, pushing the thought aside.
Even if the boy was the best at Durmstrang, there was no reason for him to do something like this, was there?
The question was left inside Albus' head for later analyses, and he turned back to his book, wanting to check if Jeanne's predictions were correct.
After looking through the book again and analysing the dreg in his teacup, he had to say…
Her analyses seemed extremely punctual.
Which both amazed and scared him.
Just like Gellert had expected, they gave him an average fifth year slytherin as a companion. Not that he did not appreciate the company of a sly and cunning person just like himself, but the problem was that he was average. So average in fact Gellert couldn't remember his name in the first few hours after he had told him his full name. And now that it was almost lunch time, he wasn't going to ask again.
He knew he could very well just go to the prefect and ask them for another companion, or tell them he had chosen one of his own and just go back to the Gryffindor's prefect rooms to get Albus Dumbledore out of there and onto being his companion for the rest of the year, but he had to at least pretend to try first.
And not that Helli (or was it Harry? Henry? Hwelenby?) wasn't a nice guy, it was just that he was stupid. And dumb. And he took the worst classes.
Honestly who in the fifth year of Hogwarts would go to "Magical Creatures and How to Care for them"? That was a second year subject at best. And still worthless considering they studied the usual magical creatures. Not dragons. Not sirens. Not hipogriffs and phoenixes and basilisks. No. Just insects and small animals.
No use to that besides creating potions. And for potions they would die anyway so no need for a class such as that.
By lunch time, Gellert was exhausted of stupidity. His friends seemed to be enjoying themselves, but he was more worried about checking the main hall to see whenever the red haired, blue eyed Gryffindor prefect would show up.
And he did, eventually. Talking to a group of other Gryffindor boys, which honestly didn't please Gellert a bit.
He wanted him alone.
In any case, now was just as good as any time, so he stood up and ignoring his friends, made way towards Albus, fixing his Durmstrang uniform and letting a smile curl up on his face.
As he approached, one of Albus' friends seemed to notice his approach, and poked him on the arm, making the red hair turn to face Gellert, his eyes immediately widening before he smiled and waved.
"Gellert! Come meet my friends" he said, despite of first saying he had no friends to begin. But Gellert wasn't interested. "Lads, this is Gellert Grindelwald, Durmstrang's student. Gellert, these ar-"
"It is a pleasure to meet all of you, but Albus could I talk to you in private?" he asked, smiling to the rest but giving Albus a meaningful look. Albus stopped talking right away and then cleaned his throat, turning to his prefect seriousness.
"of course. I will present you all to each other later on" he said, smiling to his friends and then waving for Gellert to follow him out of the hall. Gellert waved to Albus' friends and rushed behind, both taking a sharp left turn and stopping by a statue. "What is the problem?" Albus asked, now looking concerned. "Something happened?"
"Nothing I didn't think that would" Gellert responded, sighing, and leaned against the wall. "Albus, I hated my companion. As I believed I would"
"I bet you just haven't given them the benefit of the doubt" Albus said, clearly calmer now, and tilted his head. "What happened for you to form an opinion so quickly?"
"He took me to his class. How to care for magical creatures" Gellert huffed, rolling his eyes. "And not even interesting ones. Just bugs and insects and ugh, I hated every second of it. Besides the classes in Hogwarts' fifth year are horrible. So annoying and useless"
"Were you expecting to learn advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts in the fifth year?" Albus chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Hogwarts is not Durmstrang, Gellert"
"I know, but the prefect instructed that in case we wanted or already had another companion during our stay, we could just talk to them" Gellert insisted, getting a step closer to Albus, who seemed to suddenly freeze up at the proximity. That was a curious reaction, and Gellert felt the need to give another step, just to see where it would lead. Albus gave a step back, almost following his movements, and ended up against a wall, with only a step of distance between them.
The silence continued for a little longer than what he had programmed, but the fact that Albus didn't know where to look (Gellert's face, his own hands, the wall) was incredibly amusing.
"What do you mean by that?" Albus broke the silence suddenly, visibly uncomfortable, and Gellert smirked.
"It means I want you as my companion. Please" he whispered, giving a quick glance around to see if they were being watched or not. Albus followed his glance and then sighed deeply, looking back to stare into Gellert's eyes.
"I am extremely busy"
"I don't mind"
"And my classes aren't much more exciting that fifth years classes"
"I am aware"
"Do you really want me as your companion? Are you sure?"
"I'm positive"
Albus sighed again, closing his eyes and leaning further against the wall, before lowering his glance and nodding.
"Alright" he nodded and smiled. "Very well. I can be your companion from now on"
Gellert smiled wide and lifted his hand for a handshake.
"Companions?"
Albus stared at his raised hand for longer than usual before he took a deep breath and took the hand offered.
"Companions"