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Gellért had begun to look like himself once more soon enough. After much help from Madame Pomfrey with nutrition and general health, the wavy locks he had ripped out during his time imprisoned grew back, and the spark in his eyes came back twofold. His hair, last seen by Albus to be blonde with a touch of white, was now snowy in color and a little above his shoulders. Gellért even started growing a beard to braid and bead, joking with Albus that he’s merely following in his footsteps. Severus Snape was instructed to give the Swiss wizard pepper-up potions from time to time, despite Snape pointing out such potions would not be of significant help for the effects of solitary confinement. Gellért thought it would be a nice time to be cheeky and admitted he wasn’t alone all the time.When Albus had handed him a set of his old robes, he did not question where, when, how, or why. It seemed like his partner did not want him to pry too much into it. After fixing up the tears and mess from a long-ago duel, Gellért decided he would continue to wear the knitted shawl Albus had knitted him years ago. It still was rather comfy. They both tried to ignore how big his former dress appeared on him, even with the diet Pomfrey had placed him on.It became obvious to anyone not named Harry Potter. Gellért wasn’t released for the sole, singular purpose of stopping Voldemort. It was so blatant. If a staff meeting was being held, Gellért would be sitting beside Albus with a hand placed on top of Albus’s. He spent most, if not all, of his time by the Headmaster’s side, and he shared his quarters. Staff and students spotted them taking late night strolls around Hogwarts, talking and laughing about who knows what. Hooch had swore up and down she spotted Gellért Grindelwald, the original dark wizard, snuggling up against Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore as she flew around the castle. Not to mention, Fawkes showed immense hostility towards Gellért and had became a puffball of a phoenix after the man showed up. There was a secret bet brewing on how long it would take Fawkes to attack Gellért.In the beginning of the school year, the Ministry of Magic had explicitly stated Gellért Grindelwald should be rarely seen and most definitely never heard. Gellért Grindelwald did not listen to the Ministry of Magic once he had learned about the Divinations class. Sybill Trelawney did not appreciate some washed-up seer strolling into her classes to judge her and her students. Gellért had plucked a quill and parchment out of a particularly fear-stricken student’s grasp, dip the tip of the quill in said’s student ink pot, and began loudly writing about how she was wrong about basically everything. When confronted on this, Dumbledore decided then was a good time to mention Gellért’s ability to see into the future and his tendencies to state possibilities of the future to people. This tendency was not appreciated either. Sybill and Gellért would argue over everything and anything that could happen, and the Weasley twins had decided to put Gellért’s inner eye to the test by continuously trying to get the drop on a former mass murderer.Most Hogwarts students were afraid of Gellért Grindelwald, but the rumor about their precious headmaster dating Grindelwald was far greater than their fear of dark wizards. Well, not a rumor per say. After Dumbledore had announced Grindelwald’s reform during the Start-of-Term Feast, Grindelwald gave Dumbledore a kiss on the cheek once he sat down. For once, Dumbledore was surprised, and he lightly scolded Gellért. Gellért patted his hand with a smile on his face. Minerva had muttered something about that Skeeter woman breaking down the doors.Bathilda Bagshot visited almost immediately after she had gotten word of her nephew’s release. She was a sobbing mess as she ran towards her nephew, and Gellert almost fell from the impact of her bone-crushing hug. He attempted to hug back, only for her to tug on his beard and scold him for everything he’s ever done. Albus watched from the corner. He laughed quietly at his partner’s demise. Bathilda finished her lecture by smiling once more and lightly patting Gellért’s cheek. She then asked Albus when he was going to make an honest man of Gellért. Fawkes threw a tea cup off the desk and screamed in protest.“I would quite like to get married.” Gellért brought up later that night. He placed his folded shawl on the dresser. “We had discussed engagement before, no?”“Almost a century ago, Gellért.” Albus replied from behind his book, “It would be rather difficult to acquire a license from the Ministry now.”Gellért slipped into bed next to him. “And taking me out of prison wasn’t?” He chuckled. His eyes fell at the wooden ring on Albus’s left ring finger. It was oak designed to appear as tiny branches, with opal embedded in the middle. Gellért smiled. “Remember when we made these? You took bark from that giant oak tree we shared our first kiss. Completely surprised me out of nowhere, you did.”“It wasn’t out of nowhere.” Albus said, “You were talking about our fates and how perfect we would be together. It felt like the best timing. I’m actually shocked you didn’t see that coming.”Gellért shrugged, placing his head on Albus’s shoulder and looking at his own matching ring. “I can block my third eye if I want to. It’s nice to not know what happens next sometimes.”Albus closed his book and placed it on the nightstand among others. He turned to Gellért. Gellért looked up. Albus spoke quietly, “Did you know I would need your help?”“I tried not to be hopeful.” Gellért admitted. “Even now, I’m not entirely convinced that I haven’t simply lost my mind.”“I’m sorry.”Gellért sighed again, sinking back into the pillows. He went quiet for a moment before looking back towards Albus. “Is that treehugger still around? Salamander or whatever?”“I can’t believe you’re still on about this-”“I didn’t like the way he looked at you!”
