Fate or Coincidence Amortunnel PV Maximillien de Fostoncy

Interacting with @Gellert Schroeder

English | French

Amortunnel was just another nasty little Hogwarts prank which he should have known from the very beginning, but unfortunately he was again tricked. Frankly, it wasn't the tunnel's fault--it looked impeccably romantic under the organisers' hard efforts. Yet still, his inner self was desperately screaming for the desire to go home like a three-year-old child on his first day of kindergarten.

As for why? Ask him.

When his eyes adapted to the dimness and located the other person near the gondola, Maxi's jaw dropped. Hogwarts did have a knack for pairing up blind dates, and no, that wasn't some praise to brag. Honestly? A lovey-dovey ride with Gellert Schroeder, who confessed to him and he rejected and got befuddled but did nothing to make everything clear? He was even avoiding Gellert Grindelwald on History of Magic textbooks for the last few months, thank you very much. Maxi's cheek twitched. "...Schroeder." He mumbled.

For a moment, Maxi stared at his ex-friend (what a word! He supposed that their friendship was over despite they agreed to remain friends; one never avoided their friends on purpose, but he obviously did.) blankly, completely lost for words. It took him seconds to finally retrieve his voice. "Wow." Gosh, that sounded sarcastic, definitely inappropriate. Maxi took a deep breath and squeezed out a smile, trying to look positive and enthusiastic about the situation, hoping that it would help ease his awkwardness. "It's you!" Uh huh. Radiating liveliness as if nothing had happened was what he intended to do, but it sounded pretentious, and no, he could not maintain it for even a second more.

Maxi closed his eyes and sighed, fixing his attention to the violin on the gondola as he reopened them. Gondola, violin, music, Schroeder...a fated reunion? Having literally nothing else to say, he fell back into silence, and oh yes, this felt just right. Silence suited them better. He turned and stepped onto the gondola. There was no chance of turning back and fleeing anyway, right?

by Winnie Harper Outfit/Physical Characteristics Reducio Platinum blonde hair with blue eyes that look like water reflecting the sun, dark blue fitted suit, with light glitter. Languages German English Russian French Thoughts Age 17 Mentioning/Interacting @Maximillien de Fostoncy Location London Quidditch Stadium IC Date Summer Camp 2025 Fate or Coincidence​​​​​ The coincidence was startling. Of all the people that could make their way to this very gondola, to this place that he had chosen to go, despite accepting that love was not in the cards for him. It was Maxi. He was still beautiful, to confess. There was no denying that despite all the time that had passed, Gellert still could develop a crush on Maxi once more. He gasped, and a faint smile that expressed fond amazement developed on his face. He gently expressed, "Maxi, it's you. Merlin, umm... I'm sorry, you probably did not expect a guy to crush on you. I'm sorry, I made you so uncomfortable. I did still want to be friends if you feel okay with that. We could at least enjoy this ride without acting so awkward at least. it is a nice view right? How have you been?" Gellert was slightly perturbed by his own inability to stop himself from wishing it was a date, with how romantic the setting was, but he stopped himself from feeling that out of respect for his hopefully still friend. There is something beautiful about the irony of it all. Gellert always seemed to be getting into those situations. Circumstances that could be confused as fate. He chuckled at that thought in his head. He held out his arms to offer a hug. For the first time, Gellert was flustered, badly.

Interacting with @Gellert Schroeder

English | French

His perfect mask cracked as Gellert pointed out the whole situation straightforwardly. Honestly, he wasn't expecting this, and that gentleness in expression wasn't helping. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I did still want to be friends; we could at least enjoy this ride. Even though it was almost the very same thing in that letter he wrote a few months earlier, Maxi's cheeks were burning as Gellert rambled on, and thank goodness it wouldn't be easy to spot that flush in the darkened tunnel. "...uh, yeah." He nodded, rather mechanically. It took him an extra second to process the second question. "Oh, yes, I'm doing fine. And you?"

Maxi lowered his eyes, feeling that something was busy fluttering in his stomach. For a moment he squeezed his eyes shut, wondering what was happening to him. When the dark grey gaze fell upon the surroundings again, what he could see was Gallert's arms stretched out, and the rest was a blur. "Uh, uh?" Unbelief struck. Was that a...handshake? Or even, a...hug?

Honestly, while he could understand that it's Gellert's way to express friendship, Maxi just couldn't see the point of hugging. It would only make things even more awkward! But still... Maxi hesitated, and slowly, stiffly, held out his arms and tensely accepted the hug. He sat back, totally confused about the whole situation. Why was he returning the hug? He should have declined, and then he would walk away--flee, if that's a better word to describe his unseemly behaviour--and they would just be friends out of contact. Yes, that suited them best. But why did he stay? Why did they hug? Maxi sighed.

"Let's get going. Shall we?" He suggested. For now, all he could think was that a change of surroundings might help. Maybe he could spend his time admiring the decorations and thus avoid conversations...and ease awkwardness, of course. Meeting Gellert in person was not as easy as he once thought. He had to do it now, unfortunately, and he must get it over with.

by Winnie Harper Outfit/Physical Characteristics Reducio Platinum blonde hair with blue eyes that look like water reflecting the sun, dark blue fitted suit, with light glitter. Languages German English Russian French Thoughts Age 17 Mentioning/Interacting @Maximillien de Fostoncy Location London Quidditch Stadium IC Date Summer Camp 2025 Fate or Coincidence​​​​​ There was no reason for the flutters that continued to envelop his stomach, the buzz that felt like electricity in the warmth of the hug. He had melted into Maxi's arms instinctually and if he was less aware of Maxi's inability to like him back, he would let himself stay in that warmth as long as he could. He could lay his head on Maxi's shoulder and let himself smile. There was something about the beauty of Maxi that he had still not gotten over. However, he had to get over Maxi, or else this was getting disrespectful. He shook his head metaphorically and returned back to reality. Gellert could not let himself continue falling for people who could not return the same feelings back. There was no point in torturing himself any longer. "So, how has life been for you? It is quite strange to be at our last summer camp, is it not? There is something ephemeral about all of this that I can never seem to grasp. I switched to dueling from quidditch this year, isn't that hilarious, as if it's not my last year?" Gellert rambled. He hoped the light hearted response and sport talk could come off as friendly, whatever that meant now. Gellert did enjoy sports and dueling after all. If Gellert could exist in the same plane as Len, he could move on from Maxi. "Any girls you are interested in? Is your family pureblooded in that too? They want me to get married and have children to carry on the Schroeder name. Are they as insistent with you?" Gellert asked, jovially. He second guessed himself soon after though. Was that too strange? Did it come off as if I still liked him and was trying too hard?

Interacting with @Gellert Schroeder

English | French

Maxi sat stiffly, only shifting slightly to accommodate himself better when the gondola started to move. The hug prior was like some lasting spell that he still hadn't gotten over. Schroeder's temperature. Schroeder's feeling. Somehow, he shivered. Although he did at first believe that silence suited them better, Maxi was grateful when Gellert broke the awkward stillness. Maybe he'd get back to his normal self if he joined the conversation.

"Right," if Gellert's doing him the favour to communicate in his language, then he might as well no longer stand on ceremony and thus switched to French."I've been doing well, thank you." Putting aside his constant confusion about his relationship with the person sitting on the very same boat as him. "I agree. My first visit to Hogwarts was like yesterday." He nodded, the topic striking a chord with him. Lots of things had changed, hadn't they? And what was truly lasting...? Maxi inhaled, eyes falling on the spring-themed decorations. Refreshing. He thought. "Well, that's rather interesting indeed." He chuckled. "A last time change, huh? I thought you were doing broom racing some years ago. Hoping to grasp a full experience of everything before graduation?" Hilarious, maybe, but very Gellert. "I used to be a duellist when I was in...second year? Switched to broom racing, though, and I think I'm just gonna stick with it until graduation. This summer is my last international race. Are you competing for Durmstrang as a duellist this time?"

He was delighted to find that, after all, he could still do casual talk, and it was a nice signal. Seemed like they could still be friends after all. It's always good to have friends. Maxi coughed when Gellert brought up the topic of romance and marriage. He should have known it. When they got into the tunnel and met, it became an inevitable topic.

"Uh-uh." He stammered, at first. "No. Yes. And...no at the moment?"

There had been quite a few heart-flipping moments and eye-catching young ladies when he was younger, but slowly either they'd gotten over it, or he lost touch with them. So, a decisive no. As for the latter ones--"Father's busy with our business. Mother's made her re-debut and is likewise busy with her painting career--honestly, I don't think she'd mind anyway, you know? My grandfather definitely hopes so, I think." He took a breath. His grandfather would get along with Gellert's family, he thought. If their friendship couldn't work out (he still hoped it could), he might as well introduce Louis to them. "He's not as active as he had been before, though--I used to have a fiancée when I was like, 12? But our families kinda fell out, and that was ages ago, so it doesn't really count. I heard he's planning a journey to the Mediterranean with a couple of old friends these days, so maybe that's why he hadn't brought this up when I was at home."

"I'm an only child and the heir. I thought your situation would have been better." Maxi sighed. Pureblood... Family expectations... He stared at the suspicious glowing pink potion blankly.

by Winnie Harper Outfit/Physical Characteristics Reducio Platinum blonde hair with blue eyes that look like water reflecting the sun, dark blue fitted suit, with light glitter. Languages German English Russian French Thoughts Age 17 Mentioning/Interacting @Maximillien de Fostoncy Location London Quidditch Stadium IC Date Summer Camp 2025 Fate or Coincidence​​​​​ Gellert was a very observant and a romantic fool. He had imagined himself believing in fate’s first kiss and such. In the worst way possible, he had indeed found that in Len, in the cold mountains of Durmstrang as souls knit together. However, Gellert had failed to pursue Len in the fear of losing him. He had moved on in every way that was possible. He should not do it again, but Gellert found himself gambling this time, for love. He saw Maxi shiver, but not in chill or pain, but enjoyment. Perhaps it was chaotic to even think he had a chance again in the face of denial, but Gellert was certain there was a chemistry between them. There was something pulling them back together again and again. Gellert looked into Maxi’s eyes and shocked himself out of the romantic proclivities. Maybe I can just be my platonic flirty self. That would shake me out of these inappropriate feelings that keep coming back every time I see Max. He is my friend. My friend. My super duper friend. “So Maxi, cutie, what’s something you want to experience that you never have before, since you’re asking me if I want to experience everything? Of course, I do. What else is life about? I want to experience the highest of joys and depressing lows. I’m a romantic fool, darling. I guess we’re mirrors of each other.” Gellert was playing up his alternative self, so as to separate his true feelings with this presentation. It was easier this way, because this was all an act, albeit an act he enjoyed. “Ah, the customary betrothal, that is quite true indeed. I have had a different experience of life, perhaps. I have an older brother. He was the heir. But there is something wrong with him, something wrong with his mind, his soul. He has done disgraceful things and people I know have suffered at his hand,” Gellert replied, thinking back to the awful experience that Len had gone through, that Gellert had been unable to prevent, “My parents have named me heir in return, but I cannot bear them natural children nor offer them hope in a wife. There is nothing for me in pureblooded affairs any longer. I have instead joined arms in pouring my life’s dedication to healing. I learned a lot of that field from a peculiar pureblood at Hogwarts. He is a Slytherin, but a strange one at that, perhaps you have met him. His name is Tristan.” Gellert took a pause, overwhelmed with the shaking shame that he often had, not a year prior, of his attraction. Maybe, I could open up. ‘It is strange, but I never had a crush on girls. It never happened. I liked no one for years and years. Then, I met Valentin Schnell and I found someone to whom I breathed and murmured, ‘You are the only one who would cradle me against the pangs of the night and from the cracks of a heartbroken soul.’ I realized, oh, that was what people meant when they fell in love and could not bear to leave their side. Nobody knows, not my parents. Only Len, my brother, the guy who punched me for almost kissing Len and now you.’ Whoah, I am so sorry, that was too much information. Thanks for letting me like you and not being mean about it like some people have been. ” Merlin, Merlin, Merlin, what the frick am I doing?. Maxi felt safe to Gellert, and because of it, all the words came pouring out, as if nothing could stop them. Reducio Imagine: for sassy Gellert, inspo. Eddie Munson, Liam, flirty duo baby

Interacting with @Gellert Schroeder

English | French

He watched Gellert Schroeder turning back to that charming personage he had met last summer right under his eyes. Exactly a year ago, he thought, and time did fly. A year ago, he did love this charming person, as a long-lost friend, someone he could share his feelings with, a doppelganger in the aspect of romanticism. Yet in the end, he was tricked. For a second, he was completely confused, unable to distinguish which Gellert Schroeder it was. Was it the signal that they were now officially back to where they had started? Or was it just a shield, veiling the flipping heart underneath just like last summer?

And then he smiled, rather playfully.

"I like the idea."He said, lightly. "Let me see...playing Quidditch? Becoming an Animagus? Or..." His smile became a wide grin. "Break a school rule? Tell my grandfather everything I lied to him in the past years?" There had always been something rebellious inside him; he knew it, but they had always been small acts. He might, from time to time, wish he had been a little crazier.

Life would be much more interesting in that way, wouldn’t it?

"I’m a romantic fool, darling. I guess we’re mirrors of each other."

"...maybe." He finally replied. "Maybe."

He nodded when Gellert talked about his brother. "I’m sorry to hear that." He mumbled. "...oh." War within the family. He could almost picture it, switching the main villain’s appearance to Louis’ face. He hadn’t really properly thought about marriage and offspring and such; he just knew that he might not reach his family’s—mostly his grandfather’s, he had confidence in his parents now—expectations in various aspects, and he could feel for Gellert.

"Healing. That’s a good cause." He said heartily. It was nice to have a dedication. One would definitely fight for it, no matter how hard it would be or how long it would take. "Unfortunately, no." He shook his head. "I do wholeheartedly love a certain Slytherin, though." Tenderness emerged when he thought of Archer, his brother without consanguinity. "Seems like we are quite similar when making friends."

Then it was beyond his expectations. They'd had conversations, they'd written letters, they'd known each other and their relationship had shifted and shifted. But they had never truly opened up, he guessed, and Gellert's confessions were sincere. He had heard this name several times already, this Len, Valentin, Schnell, or whatever. Maxi lowered his eyes. When he raised them up again and gazed at Gellert, the playfulness prior had already been put aside. Someone even punched him for those feelings. His heart gave a sudden, sharp squeeze. Why couldn't life be easier? Why couldn't everything go as one wished?

"Hey, it's okay." He reassured, gently. "I hope...I hope you were alright, back at that time. And I'm sorry I wasn't around."

"Thanks for letting me like you and not being mean about it like some people have been."

"I’m always here if you want to talk." He had a knack for listening, he guessed. He had always been a listener. "And if you want to know me, I mean, deeper," he added. "I'd be willing."

"I, instead, had quite a few crushes on girls." Maxi smiled a little, idly gazing at the surrounding pink bubbles. "My biggest crush...she encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. When I finally managed to enter the tournament she persuaded me to join, she seemed to have fallen for another pretty young lady." He laughed. "We really liked each other that summer, love or not. When I look back, I guess it didn't work out because it was just too...ordinary. And steady. But just quietly nice isn't enough for her, I think. Maybe also me." He lowered his eyes again.

"I don't really know. Honestly, it took me some time to realise that it really was a crush. I'm always a little slow on the uptake, I guess."

by Winnie Harper Outfit/Physical Characteristics Reducio Platinum blonde hair with blue eyes that look like water reflecting the sun, dark blue fitted suit, with light glitter. Languages German English Russian French Thoughts Age 17 Mentioning/Interacting @Maximillien de Fostoncy Location London Quidditch Stadium IC Date Summer Camp 2025 Fate or Coincidence​​​​​ This flirty side of him, charming, kind, was less a mask, more an attempt to stay platonic. The more he stayed light, charming, and flirty, the less likely it was for him to fall back into the trap of thinking there was a chance. Gellert tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips in thought. He became serious for a moment, "What made you feel you had to lie to your grandfather? Has something terrible happened? No need to explain if you do not feel comfortable, but there is something within me that feels I could empathize with you. " He imagined what a pureblood of that generation would be like and he could understand the tension of the past and the present colliding into each other in the pressures of a family name. His brother was strange and broken, and yet Gellert missed the person he was before all of this happened. There had been peace in the family once, and there would be again. "Archer, I believe Tris has mentioned him before, funnily enough. That is such a small world." Gellert looked at Maxi and saw eyes full of sympathy. He stared on accident and smiled. "You are very sweet, Maxi. You have a beautiful soul. As for being around, I do not know if you would have liked me then. I lived for myself and myself only, with no passion for the care of others. I was obsessed and moody, definitely a bit emo as Tristan says. "Well what is something that you would like me to know about you? Do you want to break a rule with me? Do you want to pretend I am your grandfather and tell me the truth? " Gellert grinned and said jokingly. "I am slow on the uptake on many things as well. Like I said, I have not had a single relationship or anything of the sort. I am too intense, too gothic, too different for most people. It is something I both regret and love at the same time. I think of myself too often as the main character of an epic tragedy."

Interacting with @Gellert Schroeder

English | French

He shrugged. "Nothing serious, really." Indeed, why should it be? Louis didn't care anyway. Maxi do this! Maxi do that! He rarely asked afterwards, and if he did, a few words of completion were sufficient enough. "It's just that...you know, sometimes he'd ask me to make friends with somebody or keep away from somebody or take care of somebody and I'd do the right opposite?" Maxi chuckled, recollecting the times when he acted on his own wishes. "It's okay. He believed in what I reported. And I am an author." Louis didn't know that, did he? That he had spent days and nights writing, and decided to pursue a life accompanied by those dazzling, dazzling letters? "Yes, that's the biggest deceit. He always thought I was going to inherit the vineyard, but I've been wishing to become a...full-time writer." Uncertainty was in his tone. He found that he was starting to seriously consider whether he should really inherit the estate, and that idea made him fret. But...it was a choice. And he didn't repel the thought, surprisingly, and Maxi sincerely hoped that the following year would tell. "I am considering inheriting the business as of recently, though, so yeah...I really don't know. But, you see, it's nothing serious."

"That's nice." Another tender smile on his lips when Archer was mentioned. Friends were nice. Romance was horrible. He thought so, and quickly licked his dried lips due to talking. "Thank you." He said. "I hope you are coping with everything well."

"Honestly, I don't know." He reflected on himself for a while, before replying truthfully. Breaking a rule...well, there was a point in his life when he thought of breaking a rule to make his family disappointed, but he wasn't so sure of it now. A coward. He thought to himself, unhappily. "And...I don't think I'm ready. Now." He quickly added. Maybe there would be a day when he stood up and told Louis everything, but he just couldn't now. Even if the one opposite him was Gellert Schroeder, a nice and trusted friend.

A friend. He thought. Yes, a friend. But then the more Gellert rambled on, the more feelings he got. And finally, finally, he sensed something in his heart. He knew. He just knew.

Maxi accepted the ephemeral feelings pretty well. He did have special feelings for this Durmstrang, now or then, didn't he? Then he was good with it. Yes, that worked out and explained things. He might or might not be interested in a serious relationship--he'd leave it to later; he really needed some time to seriously reflect on it, as he reflected on his potential career path and still did not have a clue. But what he simultaneously knew was where the constant unsettling aura came from. It wasn't that he kept denying his feelings, but he had always been suspecting.

"There's something I've always wanted to ask." He said, looking right into those pair of blue eyes. "Am I a substitute for Schnell, be it friendship or romance?"

He took a deep breath. Knowing that these words certainly hurt--he felt sorry for yet again stepping on that tender heart of Gellert's, but he was curious, which hadn't changed since he was little--Maxi hesitated, but eventually carried on. "I can understand your sorrow, just...people who merely want to get a relationship usually don't end up well. I just showed up at the right time, and that was it. I might not be...the right person."