True Love

Snow Date

Albus hurried down the corridor, hoping to make it back to the dorm without any mishaps. He made it to the portrait pretty quickly and whispered the password, diving through into the passageway that was revealed as the portrait swung open. Now safely inside the Gryffindor space, he did the short walk into the main common room and collapsed onto one of the large sofas by the fireplace as if he had never left. Everyone sat around turned to look at him, confused by his sudden appearance for the first time in a day. Albus had barely had a chance to relax before a couple of curious first years came bounding over-eager to question the older Gryffindor.

After a few seconds of whispering and pushing, the boldest of the lot asked, "Is it true you were with bad boy Grindelwald last night? When neither of you came to tea we were all very suspicious."
Albus rolled over and frowned at them, "Where would you get that idea from?"
One of Albus friends, Gideon, quickly admitted, "Sorry, it's my fault they think that. I mentioned that you knew him and that he also wasn't at tea and it set them off, even though you obviously weren't with the Slytherin."
Albus sighed and covered his face with his hands, "You can think whatever you want, as long as the teachers don't realise I wasn't here it'll be fine."
Everyone nearby continued to look troubled, clearly still concerned over where he had been during the storm. Albus raised an eyebrow, "What?"
Gideon worried his bottom lip with his teeth, "Our head of house is coming to speak to you shortly about missing tea yesterday." At the look on Albus' face, he quickly continued, "Don't worry, I covered for you. He thinks you were ill yesterday so really he is probably coming to check if you are better."
Albus dropped his head onto the sofa, not moving for a couple of seconds, before nodding tiredly, "Thank you, I'll use that if he does come to see me. I'm gonna go for a nap."
He stood up and walked up the stairs towards the dorms without a backward glance, seeming largely unconcerned with the stares being levied at his back. The other students waited until he was well out of earshot, before quickly discussing what they thought of Albus' and Grindelwald's potential relationship.

--The next day—

Albus startled awake in the pitch-black room, the loud breathing of the other students lying asleep in the dorm. He frowned and sat up, wondering where Gellert was for a second before he realised where he was. Looking around as he stretched, Albus realised his nap must have turned into a full-blown sleep. He chuckled quietly at his own tiredness before quietly pushing back the covers and swinging his legs out of the bed.
He scrambled out of the bed and tiptoed over to the window, pulling back the heavy, red curtain to reveal a thick blanket of untouched snow covering the ground outside. Albus grinned, dropping the curtain and returning to his bed, getting changed as fast as he could in the dark.
Luckily, it was a Saturday and breakfast was later than during the week, his best guess at the time still leaving several hours for his and Gellert's snow date.

Once he was changed, Albus pulled on his winter cloak and scarf, wrapping them tightly around himself as he crept out if the dorm room without disturbing his sleeping friends. He quickly exited the Gryffindor common room and headed straight for the exit out into the courtyard where Gellert would surely meet him.

Across the school, one other student was also wide awake and ready to go out in the snow.

Gellert enjoyed a few more moments in the warmth of his duvet before he too got up, only pausing for a second to check that the snow had stopped falling before he too got changed. Unlike Albus, Gellert cared very little about waking his dorm mates as he crashed around getting ready. Lighting Lumos, Gellert used the spell to find his own winter cloak and slid it on, wrapped up warm to avoid the penetrating winter wind. Once he was ready, something that did not take long as per his eagerness to see Albus again, despite having parted no more than 12 hours prior.
As soon as he was wrapped in his warmest cloak Gellert left his own dorm room, beginning the much more chancy trek from the Slytherin dorms to the courtyard where Albus would be waiting for him.