Burned Into Glory

Possessive

Queenie stood in Grindelwald's beautiful stone-walled bedroom, which overlooked the mountains below, and she scowled deeply as she muttered,

"I, um... I can't do with you tonight what we did at the townhouse in London."

"No?" Grindelwald pulled off his bow tie and tossed it away, and he stripped off his heavy tuxedo robe. "Why not?"

Queenie's cheeks went very hot, and she thought of the Absorbency Charm she'd cast on herself early this morning, after waking with blood in her knickers. She gulped.

"Um... lady problems?" she said, feeling humiliated. Grindelwald was oddly untroubled by her admission. He shrugged and undid the little black buttons going down his crisp white shirt.

"Another time, then."

Queenie searched his face for anger or disappointment, but all she saw was calm contentment. He was still happy from how well his speech and the ball had gone. Queenie nibbled her lip and muttered,

"Goodnight then, sir. Your speech really was amazing. Thank you."

She turned and started to walk toward the door, but his voice snapped from behind her,

"Where are you going?"

Queenie turned round and shrugged. "I... I can't give you what you wanted. Why you brought me back here."

Grindelwald scoffed and scratched at his hair a bit, shirtless now. He unbuttoned his trousers and informed her,

"I brought you here to sleep in my bed, Queenie. You're not too incapacitated to manage that, are you?"

"N-No." Queenie felt wonder go through her then, and she glanced down as she said, "I'll have to Summon a nightgown from my quarters or something. This gown isn't exactly..."

"Here." Grindelwald opened his wardrobe behind him and pulled out a grey flannel tunic. He tossed it to Queenie, and she stared at it in her hands. Was he really offering her his shirt to sleep in? In his bed?

She stripped off her gold sequin gown and pulled on his comfortable flannel tunic, Scouring her face and teeth, and she turned to see Grindelwald in crisp black pyjamas. He went into his bathroom and shut the door for a few minutes, and when he came out, he smelled more like the ocean than ever. Queenie gulped, and she followed him to the plush bed with its black and grey brocade bedding. His bed was so high that she had to practically jump to get up into it, so she giggled a little. He smirked at her as they settled beneath the blankets.

"Your speech made me tingle from head to toe," Queenie said as she lay on her back and stared at the ceiling. Beneath the blankets, Grindelwald reached for her fingers and wrapped his around hers, and he murmured,

"I disliked seeing you with that German boy."

"Who, that Klaus guy that wouldn't go away?" Queenie laughed a little, but when she turned her face to Grindelwald, she saw how serious he was, and her smile disappeared. She cleared her throat and noted, "You were... jealous?"

"No," he barked. "I was..."

There was a very long pause, and finally he whispered,

"Possessive."

He was possessive of her? In what way? Seeking clarification, Queenie nervously smiled and said,

"Well, yeah. You can be possessive, because I'm yours. Just like Vinda and Abernathy and Larsen and -"

"It's different." Grindelwald shut his eyes and reclined further back against the pillows as he murmured, "Du gehörst mir in einer Weise, die mich quält."