True Love

Grindelwald Starts a Fight

Albus walked into the hall and straight to his seat, doing his best not to turn around and look back at Gellert. He could see his friends already sat down and he wrapped his boyfriend's cloak tighter around himself and breathed in his comforting scent.

Before he could sit down, one of his friends, Nicolas, snapped, "Go back to your own table snake." Albus froze, rooted to the spot as his friend glanced up, sudden surprise colouring his features as he recognized Albus. The surprise quickly twisted into distaste, and he hissed, "Why the hell are you wearing a Slytherin cloak?!"

Albus frowned at him, "Mine got soaked in the snow and I was cold."

Nicolas' face didn't change, "And? Why the hell were you with a Slytherin?"

The conversation had quickly begun to catch the attention of the other Gryffindors, several pairs of accusing eyes on Albus who was no longer feeling comfortable in Gellert's cloak. However, he refused to back down and simply drew the cloak tighter around himself, glancing across to the Slytherin table. He caught Gellert's eye, the Slytherin narrowing his eyes at the unfolding scene but staying still at the flash of panic on Albus' face.

Albus turned back to the Gryffindor table, "So what, I was with a Slytherin."

Gideon glanced between Albus and the other Gryffindors, clearly uncomfortable but not desperate enough to defend Albus against the others.

Over on the Slytherin table, Gellert ignored Cassie's attempts to tease him about the Gryffindor scarf and focused on Albus, ready to jump in and defend his boyfriend if the situation called for it. As if sensing Gellert was not in the mood Cassie fell silent and watched the confrontation along with the rest of the hall.

Nicolas' expression didn't change, lips drawn back into a sneer, "Well, who was it?"

Albus worried his bottom lip with his teeth and shifted slightly on the spot. Nicolas took it as an opportunity to continue, "I bet it was that loathsome Grindelwald. You spend too much time with that snake."

Albus immediately bristled, "Don't you dare speak about him like that!" he snapped.

Nicolas rolled his eyes, "And what are you going to do about it traitor?!"

Most of the Gryffindor table froze. It was one thing to be rude about the other houses, but to call one of their own a traitor was simply too much for a few of them. Several students nodded along with Nicolas, Albus sinking into the cloak as his eyes stung with tears.

Almost immediately Gellert was on his feet, ignoring the desperate attempts of the Slytherins to stop him. He strode over to the Gryffindor table, face thundery. He gathered Albus into a small hug, the Gryffindor gladly snuggling closer to his boyfriend for a moment.

Gellert pulled away and the soft expression on his face quickly dropped away as he regarded the Gryffindor table coldly, "Don't you dare talk to my boyfriend like that ever again!"

Albus tensed beside Gellert for a second at the reveal, before taking a deep breath and grabbing onto the Slytherin's hand. It was time the rest of his house knew anyway.

Nicolas' expression got darker as he spat, "Who gave you the right to speak to one of us?!"

Gellert sneered back, "Gryffindors are bullies. Whoever said they were brave and bold was wrong! All you do is treat everyone like shit and get rewarded for it! Well I'm not going to stand by and let you speak to someone I care about like that. And yeah, I'm wearing a Gryffindor scarf, you lot can suck it."

Nicolas' face twitched, betraying his cold fury, "Half-wit."

Gellert shot back, "Mullish cretin."

"Pansy."