"She has absolutely no control over it. I didn't at that age, either.I still don't, really," said Queenie, and Grindelwald sighed heavily.
"What did she say?" he asked. Queenie paced slowly in his office and declared,
"She told me that Uncle Klaus had been thinking about Aunt Vinda without any clothes on. That's she'd seen Aunt Vinda without clothes on in her head. So I Obliviated her, naturally, because I can't have a six-year-old with those images inside her mind, Gellert."
"No, indeed not." Grindelwald pinched his lips tightly. "I'll speak with Klaus. With everyone. Ask them to mind their thoughts as best they can when they're around Clara. It isn't as though she can control her abilities, but it's also a tall order to ask a man not to think of his wife."
"Just promise me one thing, please," Queenie said, and Grindelwald raised his brows. Queenie put her hands on her narrow hips and said, "Just don't shut her away. Don't close her up somewhere like some sort of freak because of this."
"Some sort of freak," Grindelwald repeated, narrowing his eyes and shaking his head. "My wife and my daughter are profoundly gifted. No one is a freak here, Queenie."
"Just don't treat her like one. Promise?" Queenie's pretty caramel eyes watered, and Grindelwald nodded deeply.
"I promise."
He heard a squeal from outside, and when he turned his chair, he saw Clara out in the expanse of snow beneath his window, attempting to build some sort of snow-figure that had crashed down in front of her. He smirked a little to himself, deciding that the Elder Wand could show Clara some wondrous things about snow. He rose from his chair and pulled his heavy winter cloak off of the coat rack in the corner, yanking on leather gloves from a shelf nearby.
"Are you going out there with her?"
"I haven't got another meeting for three hours," Grindelwald said lightly. 'I think I can spare an hour to play with my daughter in the snow."
He pulled out the Elder wand and started to walk out of his office, but Queenie reached for his wrist and pulled him back. He found himself dragged into a deep kiss, and when at last she pulled away, she murmured against his mouth,
"I love you, Gellert Grindelwald."
"Mmm. The feeling is entirely mutual," he smirked, and he made his way out the door.
"What are you building?" Grindelwald called, and Clara whirled around.
"Papa!" She was clad in a stylish sapphire blue wool coat, warm black boots, a black wool beret, and black mittens. She came trudging at him through the snow, her light brown eyes and wispy golden hair shimmering in the sunlight. Grindelwald wrapped an arm around her when she came near, and he suddenly wished for her sake that she lacked the Legilimency abilities she'd inherited from Queenie. As much as they were a gift, they were… a challenge. Especially for a young girl navigating a castle full of adults, the ability to see and hear everything inside everyone's minds without a filter was rather terrifying. All Grindelwald wanted to do was to protect his daughter from the most indecent things she might see and hear inside people's heads, but there was essentially nothing to be done to shield Clara. All he could do was to ask people to mind their thoughts, and how far would that go?
"Clara," he said as the two of them walked back to her toppled snowman, "When you see the things people are thinking, is it very vivid, like a photograph?"
"It's more like… like it's real," said Clara lightly. She bent down and balled up some snow in her black mittens, and Grindelwald felt a pit in his stomach. He cleared his throat.
"You must always come to your mother or me if you see or hear something that makes you uncomfortable," he said. "If you see or hear anything that…"
He wasn't sure how to explain it to her. He shut his eyes and willed her abilities away. That wouldn't work, he knew. He licked his bottom lip and decided that Queenie had handled it entirely correctly. She'd Obliviated Clara's mind of the memory of Vinda nude, which was an inappropriate thought for Clara to have perceived. That would have to be their strategy. Have Clara report anything strange or uncomfortable, then carefully Obliviate away any memories that they couldn't live with Clara having. He let out a long, heavy sigh and aimed his wand at a bank of snow. He began to direct it, constructing carefully until he'd built something that looked like a little fort.
Clara clapped her mittened hands together and squealed with delight, rushing through the snow toward the snow fort. But she clamored inside so quickly and roughly that it immediately came crashing down on her, burying her in an enormous amount of snow. Grindelwald scowled and dashed through the snow toward her, brushing away snow with his gloved hands until he reached Clara, and then yanking her out. He stuck the Elder Wand into his teeth and wrenched Clara up, heaving her out of the pile of snow.
She was completely covered, spluttering and crying a little. He righted her on her feet and set her down, pulling the Elder Wand out of his mouth and aiming it at her. He Scoured the snow from her, and she seemed much relieved after that.
"No more forts, Papa." She rubbed away her tears with a mitten, and he let out a low rumble of a laugh as he reminded her,
"You broke it by charging in too quickly. But you're very right. No more forts. Why don't we go inside for some of your mother's cocoa? It's very cold out here."
"Mmm. Mama's cocoa." Clara grinned at the notion, and Grindelwald held her mittened hand as they walked back to Nurmengard Castle.
Perhaps he couldn't save her from her own Legilimency, he thought, but he could shield her just a little bit. She'd been shielded at birth to the best of Grindelwald's abilities with endless charms and Unbreakable Vows. He was doing everything in his power to protect his daughter's life. Now he would have to do everything in his power to protect his mind. But he wasn't alone. He had Queenie.
And she had cocoa.
And they both had Clara.
Author's Note: As promised, Part I of many little Clara snippets! Thanks for reading; please do review if you can spare the moment.