Burned Into Glory

Perceptio Loquela

Queenie's heels clicked on the marble floor as she approached the dining room. She was running just a little late; she'd received two new dresses from Madame Trousseau when she'd come for Vinda's bridal gown fitting, and she hadn't been able to decide between the dark blue and the black. She'd finally put the sapphire crushed velvet dress on and made her way to group dinner, and now as she approached the dining room, she smiled to see Grindelwald walking toward her from the other direction. He held his hand out to her, and when she took it, he kissed her knuckles and murmured,

"My, don't you look lovely tonight."

She felt her cheeks go warm, and she grinned broadly at him, whispering,

"You're handsome as ever."

He flicked his eyes up and down her form and teased her, "I'm tempted to skip dinner and go strip that new dress right off of you, Queenie."

"You'd be hungry." She stroked at his waistcoat, and she stepped up close. "I couldn't have you go hungry. You can strip it off me later."

He smirked. She was getting the idea of how he liked to play his games. He put his hands on her waist and bent to kiss her, brushing his lips against hers, and he sucked in air through his nose.

"No; this needs to stop now," he whispered, "or else it'll end with you up against the wall and your knickers shoved aside."

"Gellert!" Queenie giggled and clutched at his waistcoat beneath his trench, but when he kissed her rather deeply, she let him do it and even let him back her up toward the stone wall. She gasped when he pulled away, and she reached on impulse to feel that he'd started to go hard in his trousers. He hissed and lamented,

"Dinner time."

"Yeah." She caressed his growing bulge through his trousers and stared up at his uneven eyes. "Dinner time."

"Cast your Babel Charm now," he commanded her, and she realised that at least part of what had just happened had been to scramble her mind a little and make the spell more of a challenge for her. She huffed a breath and reached to pull out her wand from the pocket in her dress. She blinked a few times, stepped back from Grindelwald, and began to cast the difficult charm. She swirled her wand four times and dragged, then incanted in the direction of the dining room, which was abuzz with conversation,

"Perceptio Loquela!"

"Now hold it throughout dinner." Grindelwald took Queenie's hand in his and shocked her by walking into the dining room with her fingers laced through his. Everyone rose when he walked into the room, and he acknowledged them by bowing, touching his left hand to his chest, and saying in his smooth, slick voice,

"Good evening, brothers and sisters. A delicious meal to all. Please, sit."

He took his place at the head of the table, and Queenie sat to his right, but for a long moment, he didn't let go of her hand. It wasn't until the first course of steamed mussels appeared that he let her go, and then she asked him,

"Do you remember eating mussels with me out on your balcony?"

"Of course I do." He smiled a little wistfully and gave her a meaningful look. "Listen."

She nodded and turned her attention down to eating her own mussels, but as she speared one with a small fork, she fully opened her mind to the thoughts at the table. Some were already in English. Carrow was English, and she was thinking about how jealous she was that Vinda Rosier's burns had healed so well and the witch had become so beautiful again. She was jealous of Queenie, too, because Grindelwald was obviously in love with her. Carrow was thinking about how plain she was, and how she had only one person who had given her attention. Queenie frowned then, because the face that flashed in Carrow's mind was a quick, vivid image of Larsen.