"The last time you aimed your wand in this direction, you blew up half the mountain," Grindelwald said to Credence. The boy adjusted his grip around his wand and nodded. Grindelwald said, "This time, I want you to isolate one tree - just one - and incant the spell Bombarda. Aim your wand at one single tree, Aurelius."
Credence jutted out his new wand, the one Grindelwald had procured for him, and he stood on the edge of the balcony with his arm extended.
"Bombarda!" he cried, and his spell shot forth from the end of his wand and blasted apart a large pine tree on the distant hill. Grindelwald rubbed at Credence's shoulder reassuringly and told him,
"Well done, my boy. You will continue to learn to focus. Your training continues tomorrow. But now, we celebrate, for it is Christmas. I reckon you've never had a proper Christmas celebration?"
"Mrs Barebone didn't allow for it." Credence lowered his wand and shook his head. "She said that kind of merriment was demonic."
"Ah. Well, you're not in her clutches anymore, are you? You are safe here, with us." Grindelwald massaged Credence's shoulder a bit more and said, "Let's go inside."
The castle's expansive dining room had been set up for a grand feast, and everyone was already waiting, Grindelwald knew. They'd all been seated with name cards, and he'd been certain to ensure that Queenie was placed right beside him. Now he and Credence walked inside and up past the beautiful Christmas tree Queenie had decorated, up the winding stairs and down the corridor to the sound of low murmuring voices.
The moment he walked into the dining room, everyone stood in silent respect. Credence found his place between Carrow and Abernathy and stood there, and Grindelwald took his place at the head of the table. He glanced to where Queenie stood, looking absolutely beautiful in a burgundy velvet dress, smiling peacefully at him. He picked up the glass of red wine that was sitting near his plate, and everyone else reached for their glasses.
"My brothers and sisters," said Grindelwald warmly. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas," murmured everyone around the table. Grindelwald continued,
"Joyeux Noël. Fröhliche Weihnachten! A merry, happy Christmas to you all. Today we are gathered on this most festive and joyful occasion to celebrate together as a family of magical souls. We are gathered to celebrate our future and the year ahead. We have much to do. Soon we will gather in Vienna with our friends in their hundreds, and we have much preparation to do for that to be a success. But I have faith in you all. And I am richly fortunate to have you all here with me today, on Christmas Day, to celebrate all that we have done together and all that we will continue to do... For the Greater Good!"
"For the Greater Good!" cried those around the table, and everyone drank. Grindelwald sat, and as the first course of asparagus with Hollandaise sauce appeared on the plates, he reached for Queenie's left hand. She seemed surprised that he would so brazenly cover her hand with his at the dinner table, but he met her eyes and said meaningfully,
"You look marvelous."
"Thank you." She seemed breathless, and Grindelwald kept his eyes on her as he knew that gazes around the table were watching him hold her hand. He finally released her and ate his chilled asparagus. As the plates cleared and gave way to roast beef with mashed potato, Grindelwald asked,
"Vinda, is that an engagement ring I spy?"
Vinda blushed and smirked at Larsen before she nodded and said, "Oui, Monsieur."
"Congratulations." Grindelwald cut into his beef and then asked thoughtfully, "Under what authority will you be getting married?"
Larsen looked a little nervous, and he admitted,
"We thought perhaps we could sneak it by the Ministry in France, sir, but -"
"I will gladly perform the binding ceremony for you," Grindelwald said lightly, and Vinda gasped. The table went quiet, and Larsen stammered,
"Wh-What an honor. What an unspeakable honor, sir, to have you... my darling Vinda and I would..."
"It is no trouble at all. Let me know a convenient date for you," said Grindelwald smoothly, and Queenie squealed with delight, clapping her hands.
"Oh, Vinda!" she exclaimed. "You're going to be the most beautiful bride in the whole world! Ooh, you just have to let me help you pick something out with Madame Trousseau. Promise?"
Vinda smiled. "I promise, Queenie."
Suddenly Grindelwald imagined Queenie in a gown of white silk and satin, a flowing concoction that would move around her like water. He stared at her golden curls and imagined a white lace veil covering them, imagined her with scarlet lipstick contrasting the white. Then he blinked, and the terrifying vision was gone. He couldn't breathe, all of a sudden. Was that what he wanted? To marry her? No. What a ludicrous, ridiculous idea. Him, a married man. He fucked wizards for sport and kissed witches to get loyalty. That was who Gellert Grindelwald was. Not some romantic pining away after the idea of Queenie Goldstein in a bridal gown.
"Do I have food on my face or something?"
She leaned toward him and whispered the question frantically, and he realised he'd been staring intently at her for quite some time. He shook his head and murmured simply,
"You look marvelous."
"You already said that," Queenie grinned, returning to her beef. Grindelwald cleared his throat and struggled to hold conversations throughout the rest of dinner.
People filtered out slowly after dessert, but Queenie was one of the first to go. She went with Vinda, the two of them chatting about Vinda's wedding gown, whilst Larsen spoke quietly to Credence, who looked shy and uncomfortable. Grindelwald sat at the head of the table and watched the small conversations finish up, and then after awhile he rose and bid everyone a Happy Christmas and a goodnight. He made his way down the corridor, toward the stairs, which he climbed quite slowly. At the top of the stairs, he paused and thought again about the awful idea that had come into his head.
Would it be so terrible, having her permanently his? Could the great Gellert Grindelwald have a bride? Would it endear him even more, make him seem more relatable, to be a married man?
No! Stop this absurd nonsense right this moment! he screamed in his head. He shut his eyes and thought of Albus. He thought of twining his fingers through Albus', holding their bloodstained palms together as they murmured spells to protect themselves from one another. He needed Albus dead now, but he couldn't do it himself. He needed his movement to grow. Queenie was going to play a role in all of that, but what would her role be beside him? He was tempted to go to his Seeing Skull and try for a vision, but he was afraid of what he might see. He didn't actually want to know. Right now, he just wanted her. He just wanted to hold her face and kiss her and whisper to her that she looked marvelous.
He walked down the corridor to her quarters and knocked. He didn't have to knock; her rooms were unlocked and he could walk right in if he wanted to. But he gave her the dignity of knocking. The door swung open, and Queenie answered in her plum-coloured dressing gown. She grinned broadly and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Hi." She stepped aside to let him come in, and she admitted, "I was kind of hoping you might come by to say goodnight. That was a very nice toast you gave."
"I have a gift for you," Grindelwald announced. "A Christmas gift."
"A Christmas gift!" she practically groaned. She whirled as she shut the door. "But I don't have one for you! How was I supposed to buy -"
"I didn't buy it; I made it. This morning." He smirked at her, and she put her hands on her narrow waist.
"Well, that's hardly fair; you're so skilled."
"No one said Christmas was fair." Grindelwald reached into his velvet trench coat and pulled out the small, silver-wrapped box he'd prepared for her. He passed it over, and as they slowly sat on her divan, she marveled,
"You wrapped it and everything." She began to pull at the paper, and when she reached the velvet box inside, he assured her,
"It's just a little trinket."
Queenie's cheeks pinked as she cracked open the box and gasped. She stared down at the platinum necklace he'd carefully Conjured for her - a sturdy chain with a diamond-encrusted pendant in the shape of the Deathly Hallows symbol. Queenie pulled the necklace out of the box and put it on, and she touched at the pendant on her collarbone.
"It's enchanted," Grindelwald told her. "I've put a charm on it, a careful Tracing Charm. If you're ever lost, I'll be able to find you through that necklace."
Her eyes welled heavily then, and she whispered, "Thank you."
"I will never abandon you, Queenie." Grindelwald met her eyes, and Queenie nodded.
"I love you."
In response to that, he took her face in his hands and leaned in, touching his lips very gently to hers. The kiss naturally deepened, and soon enough Grindelwald felt a serious longing for something even he had never done. He wanted to taste her. He'd never put his mouth on a woman, not down there, because it had always seemed like a degrading thing to do, and he was in charge. But he wanted it right now. He wanted to taste her.
"Queenie." He ripped his mouth from hers and slid off of the divan, kneeling on the ground. Queenie gasped as he parted her legs and reached up into her dressing gown to pull her knickers out from under her short nightgown. She slithered out of them but demanded softly,
"What are you doing?"
"I promise you'll like it." He hoped that was true; he was made to understand that witches sincerely enjoyed this sort of thing. He wasn't quite sure why he was craving it right now, but he was, badly, and he licked up the inside of her thigh with a long, slow trail of his tongue. She gasped and gripped his shoulders through his trench coat. He felt oddly overdressed just now, but he couldn't be bothered to strip his clothes off. He pushed aside her dressing gown and groaned as his mouth reached the place between her legs.
Metal. She tasted like metal. Grindelwald pinned her hips to the divan, feeling himself go completely rigid in his trousers. She was sweet now that she was getting wet, he noticed. She tasted like dessert. He moaned against her, his voice buzzing onto her flesh, and his cock ached, straining against its fabric confines. Grindelwald dragged his tongue in flat strokes and then suckled on her clit, an activity which she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. She squeezed his shoulders harder than ever and arched her back up, moaning loudly.
"Yes," she hummed, her hands moving to his blond hair. "Yes, yes, yes. More of that, please."
Grindelwald used his tongue to form letters on her folds then, spelling out Q-U-E-E-N-I-E and smirking a little when she twisted and groaned above him in response. He sucked hard on her clit until she squealed.
"Oh, Merlin's Beard!"
"Queenie." He was going to come in his trousers just like he'd done in the cottage when she'd ridden him in this same dressing gown. He couldn't help it; everything exploded like the bomb he'd foreseen the Muggles detonating. His come leaked into his trousers in spurts as he sucked hard on licked and sucked, licked and sucked. He held fast onto Queenie's hips, and she cried out with what sounded like a blend of pain and bliss. His ears were still ringing and his vision was still blurred when he felt her walls snapping around his lips. He kissed the inside of her thigh and watched her body contract through her climax, listened to her moan through it, and finally he pulled back. There was a very long silence between the two of them in which they both just panted for a while, until at last Queenie mumbled,
"Oh, my goodness. Do you need...?"
"No; I found my satisfaction just fine," Grindelwald assured her. He reached into his trench coat and pulled out the Elder Wand, Siphoning and Scouring up the mess in his trousers and cleaning up his mouth. He picked up Queenie's knickers, which she put back on, and he helped her stand on rickety legs. He admired the glitter of the Deathly Hallows pendant around her neck, and he touched at it as he murmured,
"Happy Christmas, then, Queenie."
"Will you... would you maybe..." She seemed hesitant, but then she licked her lip and asked, "Will you stay the night?"
He curled up half his mouth and nodded. "You know, I think I will."