Chapter Text
It was a rainy day in London that day, Albus cursing himself for leaving his umbrella at home that one time. Usually when he would have it, it never rained. It was so ironic, really, groaning as he hid beneath a roof of a building.He guessed he would just have to wait there until the rain would stop. And he would again be late for work. Great. His boss wasn't going to be pleased with that, rubbing his palms together and then he hid them into his pockets. It was cold, no wonder, winter was practically there and he shuddered. He hated winter more than anything. Now was when some magic would come in handy. But it was useless, he couldn't use magic anymore. Not since when he was reborn as a Muggle and he rolled his eyes.
Reincarnation. Funny thing, really. At first he didn't know, but then little by little, memories of his past life started coming back to him. A flash of green light, remembering being thrown back and then blackness. But then there was more, he remembered a bird. Which could turn into fire and be reborn from ashes. A Phoenix. And it had a name, was what Albus could recall. Fawkes. Also, he could remember being a teacher on a magical school. Hogwarts. He was a Headmaster for a long time too. But all of that happened way back when. Albus didn't really recall when all of that took place, but it had been a long time since then. That much he knew.
At first he didn't think of this too much, he thought that it was just imagination as he had quite a vivid imagination since he was a child. However, he didn't grow out of this and the memories started getting more and more vivid, in the end finally coming to the realisation that they were probably memories of his past life. What else could it be? He remembered having another mother, brother and a little sister. He couldn't remember their names though, but he knew that something terrible happened to his little sister when he was still a young man.
Albus shuddered and sneezed, finally snapping back to reality and he huffed under his breath. But why being reborn as a Muggle? That seemed ridiculous and he whined. And carrying this other memories of his past life was a lot; he tried to let it go, but he couldn't. His past life was anything but happy. What he also remembered was longing, yearning for the person he loved. It killed him that he couldn’t remember the man’s name. But at the same time, he didn’t know if he should even remember it. He didn’t know why, but there was heartbreak attached to him. Betrayal. Pain.
Albus puffed his cheeks. All that he could remember were his eyes. They were stunning and beautiful, shuddering just with a little memory of them. His heart became heavy and he shook his head. He should be letting it go, it wasn’t his life anymore. Whatever happened, happened. He got one more chance, another chance to start a happy life. And so far, it had been pretty mundane, nothing special happened. It was boring, his heart yearning for something more. For adventure, magic. But in this new life, where was none of that and a sad smile spread across his face. Yet, still better than heartbreak and betrayal, right?
In the meantime as he was thinking, the weather cleared up a little bit, so Albus realised he should probably get going back to work and he groaned as he started walking towards his office. Slow, heavy steps, turning around in the corner, deciding to take another path to his work. Usually, he didn’t take that one as it took him twice as long to get there. And he was already beyond late, so he didn’t know why… but something was telling him to go there , to take another rout to building he worked in. With his hands tucked in his pockets, Albus was slowly muttering to himself, singing as he walked. Then, suddenly he stopped.
Why?
Albus didn’t know. But he stopped in front of a coffee shop. He had his dose of coffee that day, but his eyes wouldn’t leave the coffee shop, something dragging him inside and he started freaking out, because it was an odd feeling. He should get going, but instead, he just stood there and watched the small coffee shop. There was… something on it that was familiar to him. It was a triangle, with a straight line and a circle around it. He could swear he’d seen it before and again it came with that bittersweet feeling. Love, but also heartbreak and he took in a sharp breath as he didn’t know what to make of it. Maybe it was just a coincidence. But if anything, Albus knew that there were no coincidences.
Nervously, he made his way to the door and then narrowed his eyes. He was feeling nervous, why? It made no sense to him. It was just a normal coffee shop, right? But his heart was beating with the speed of light and he couldn’t contain his breathing as well as he tried to get his emotions under control, but it was no use. He also felt adrenaline washing over him as he grabbed the door knob and the closer he was to stepping inside, the giddier he felt. His hand was shaking terribly as he finally plucked up the courage and stepped inside, the little bell above him going off and he narrowed his eyes as he looked around.
The coffee shop was small, not many people were on the inside and as he looked towards the bar, he narrowed his eyes. There was no one there. That was kind of unusual and as he was about to leave the coffee shop, something caught his attention. The thing that kept him from leaving were little lemon square cakes and he felt his stomach grumbling. Those were his favourite and he bit his lower lip, looking at the clock and then rubbed the back of his neck. He was already late ten minutes, so what were another ten… right? He just hoped that the owner, or whoever was serving that day, would show up soon.
As he stood there by the desserts that they served, he was shocked. All of them were his favourites and he got an eerie feeling that it really wasn’t a coincidence that he stepped inside of the coffee shop that day, his breath shaking and he swallowed thickly as he took in a deep breath and then rubbed his palms together. No, it had to be a coincidence. He then looked towards the coffee menu and decided to get one more caffé latte, as he was going to need it anyway after his boss was going to be done with him.
His boss… she was a feisty woman, reminded him of his old friend he used to know in his previous life. He couldn’t remember her name, but he could recall her personality still; she was a kind soul, but also very strict and firm woman. Never allowed anything to take her down and would always keep on fighting. She used to be his co-worker and remembering her trying to deal with the students was hilarious, it still made him chuckle to this day. And his boss was in a lot of ways like her, just that… they weren’t friends and there were times that Albus found himself wishing to be able to be reunited with his old friend, though he had a feeling that it would be impossible.
Albus then shook his head, snapping himself back to reality again and he started tapping impatiently against the counter with his fingers. The service in the coffee shop was terrible, there still wasn’t anyone there to serve him, rubbing his forehead and he then exhaled. “Hello, anyone in here?” he hollered, in a hope that someone would finally come to his side, but nothing. Ugh.
Albus didn’t remember seeing the coffee shop the last time that he took this path to his work, then again that was months ago. It had to be new and in his humble opinion, it wasn’t going to last long with this type of service. Though it looked quite cosy; there were paintings on walls, was what Albus noticed next. And the more he observed them, the more he was sure that he had seen them before. There was a Phoenix, of which he knew that he owned in his past life. Then, there was a picture of a castle, next to it a painting of a house. It was kind of retro kind of style, the house looked old and he cocked his head to the side, because he knew that he had seen that house somewhere before. Also, the houses in the background reminded him of a… his eyes widened and he quickly looked down.
Then the door from the back room opened and Albus rolled his eyes. Finally someone decided to grace him with their presence and he straightened himself up as the person started coming closer. A man, slightly taller than him. Hair golden, but that wasn’t what caught Albus’ attention. The thing that held him from breathing were his eyes. They… they were exactly like his , the man from Albus’ past life and he had to take a step back and his heart started beating faster, nervous as hell and as the person finally looked at him properly, he froze as well. He had been holding a tray with freshly brewed coffee, but that ended up falling on the floor, startling Albus and he jumped.
What was going on? Why did the person look as shocked as he did? Did… did he know him as well? Albus didn’t know how to react, so he just made a step back and he bit his lower lip, trying to pretend that he was okay, that his heart wasn’t beating like crazy, Albus’ eyes still on the other’s and he was… it was like he was under some kind of a spell, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from his own. He felt his cheeks reddening when an image crossed his mind.
Summer. Old house, like the one in the picture. Laughter. Holding hands.
Albus snapped back and he narrowed his eyes. Was… was that another memory? That was the first time that he had that particular one and he looked back on the painting. That was his… that was his childhood home, from his past life. That struck him right into the core and he bit into his lower lip as he looked again at the man, who was now coming closer to him again and Albus started shivering.
“Albus,” gasped the person and Albus made a step back.
“Albus. With this, we’re bound.”
Another memory.
This same man, but younger. Gasping, calling out his name, kissing him. Gripping his hand.
Albus blinked a few times and then he cleared his throat. What the hell was happening? His head was spinning, he had a splitting headache. He had never had such intense memories and all of those he was experiencing for the first one! Albus swallowed thickly and then tried to stay calm.
“H-how do you k-know my name?” stammered Albus, chewing on his lower lip as he was trying not to look so freaked out, but he couldn’t help himself. This was the man from his memories. The one who he couldn’t remember the name of. Albus was just standing there as the man didn’t even bother picking up the broken cups and the spilled coffee.
As Albus said that, the other seemed a little deflated and terribly disappointed. “Oh,” whispered the man and then looked down, shaking his head. “You,” he said, his voice sad. “You don’t remember,” he then said and Albus was starting to freak out even more. Oh, God, he was shaking like crazy, because this was so bizarre. He had never actually met anyone from his other life and he was shaking.
“I love you.“
“I love you too.”
Albus was breathing hard, headache getting worse and he needed to calm down, but couldn’t. He needed to sit down as he couldn’t focus anymore and he then forced himself to stay composed, but he didn’t. The man could clearly see that his face was pale, his breathing was hard and uneven, struggling to get air into his lungs. It was painful.
“R-remember what?” asked Albus.
Albus could swear that he saw a hint of tears in the other’s eyes. “Never mind,” he whispered and Albus stumbled back. He needed to get the hell out of there. The longer he stayed in there, the worse he felt. The more he remembered, the more desperate he was feeling. He needed… he needed… he didn’t know. A loud hiss left his mouth and he leaned against the wall, the man looking at him worried. “Are you okay, sir?” asked the other as he didn’t want to upset him again. It was useless, if he didn’t remember him then…
“My head,” stammered Albus and the other nodded. “Hurts, oh god it hurts,” he stammered and the man was nervously chewing on his lower lip.
“Take a seat,” he muttered and then took Albus to an empty chair. “I’ll go get you a glass of water,” he said and only then Albus could sense a hint of an accent. German. Albus knew that he was German, he didn’t need to ask how he knew it. He just did and-
“Okay,” stammered Albus and then threw his head forward.
Summer.
Blood pact. Vial. Holding hands. Promising each other forever.
First kiss.
For the greater good.
Albus gasped. He felt sick.
Betrayal. Hurt. Heartbreak. Pain.
Betrayal
Their last fight, Albus winning.
Albus felt tears gathering in his eyes and he gasped as he watched the man coming closer to him. The destruction that he brought, Albus could remember it now. How many people were dead because of him?
Albus crying as he put Gellert behind bars of his own castle.
Years of pain, struggle.
His fault… Ariana… abandoned family.
Walls around his heart, never loving again. Promising everything to do that was in his power to make up from the bad he did. It was never enough.
He brought destruction, Albus blindly followed him. Out of love.
Gellert.
Gellert.
Gellert.
“Stop,” whispered Albus as he was holding his head. This was too much, overwhelming as all of his memories came rushing back at once. “Stop this,” whispered Albus, begging, looking up at Gellert, who was doing completely nothing. Gellert himself was freaked out, he didn’t know what to do to help Albus.
Unlike Albus, he had all of his memories intact ever since he was born. The biggest irony was that he was born a Muggle in this life and well… this was a good learning experience. To see that Muggles were valuable, though, he had remorse for his actions before as well. But now… in this new life, he could properly see just how wrong his ways were and how many innocent lives were lost because of him. But that was in his life before, now he was just an owner of a coffee shop. A nobody. Magic world hidden from him for good and he wasn’t going to go out to seek it.
Gellert moved to Britain just a month ago, started a little coffee shop of his own, enough to get by. He wanted to escape from his past life, he had been running his entire life, that was until Albus stepped inside of his coffee shop that day. He didn’t seem to remember him, which was… heart-breaking, but at the same time, Gellert was happy, thinking that Albus couldn’t remember. Was better off not knowing who he was.
“I’m not doing anything,” whispered Gellert and Albus looked down, eyes wide when he saw that Gellert took his hand into his own. Albus shuddered. He could remember his name. He could remember everything, the good and the bad. But mostly the bad and he wanted to cry. Albus withdrew his hand and Gellert’s heart broke. “I’m sorry,” stammered Gellert as he didn’t know what to do either. Seeing Albus was too much for him as well. He felt terrible, guilt… was clawing at his chest, because knowing what he did to him in their past lives killed him.
Albus loved him, he betrayed him and his love.
“Sorry?” whispered Albus.
“Here, water,” said Gellert instead and handed the glass to Albus.
“T-thank you,” stammered Albus and then closed his eyes, headache finally going down and he was feeling a lot better, but still… he wanted to run, yet he was unable to do so. Maybe it was for the best if he left and they never met again. After what he did… “I need to go,” stammered Albus then and stood up.
Still dizzy, he almost collapsed, but Gellert wrapped his arm around him before he fell and Albus froze. “Watch out,” whispered Gellert and Albus’ heart was beating like crazy and tears were in his eyes, because now he could recall everything.
“Let me go, Gellert,” blurted out Albus and Gellert froze.
“You… you remember me,” whispered Gellert and Albus bit his lower trembling lip.
“…would be better if I didn’t,” he said with a small voice and slowly started walking to the door.
“Al, wait-”
“Don’t,” ordered Albus. “Don’t come looking after me. Forget we met, understood?” he asked and Gellert made a step back, then bowed his head down and nodded. He was in no place to want more than that and he just… nodded. He was the one who hurt Albus so much in the first place, so he should stay put.
“I understand,” said Gellert and Albus stormed out, heading home.
Albus made a promise to himself that he would avoid Gellert at all cost, that it was the first and last time that they met in this life time… but little did he know that destiny had other plans for the two of them.