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When he opened his eyes he was truly surprised. He was quite sure he was done for, that his vision was wrong and it was Nagini, not Voldemort who took his life.

But not this time. This time, he opened his eyes and as he moved he could feel all of his muscles scream in agony. He was alive, then. Nagini's venom could have killed a lesser man. Thankfully, Gellert Grindelwald had never been a lesser man.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, he could see that his initial relief was a bit premature. Nagini was still here. Still as a statue, her eyes fixed at him, but she was there. And her cold eyes burned with rage.

He could barely remember her human form. She was just an unimportant companion of Credence, discarded when the boy finally chose Gellert's side. He had seen her a few times after Paris, but never paid her any attention. She was just a Maledictus. Useless in the grand scheme of things.

But then Credence died. He couldn't kill Albus, he was too attached, too hungry for love and acceptance, for family, and he was too close to Ariana's spirit. He let his Obscurus tear him apart instead of Albus. It wasn't in Gellert's plans at all. The boy was supposed to live.

He could now remember that moment, a few minutes before his whole world ended, just before his final duel with Albus, just before his defeat, she was there. There, in the rumbles of Nurmengard courtyard, there stood a young woman who came there to save Credence. The young band of Albus' followers, with his pet-student Scamander and his merry companions was also there, but in that particular moment it was Nagini who drew his attention.

Her small figure shouldn't be visible from where he had been standing then, but her magic danced around her in angry swirls and he had to look. She was seething with rage, her eyes black and focused.

“You killed him. Both of you, you killed him!" Her words were loud but the end of the sentence changed into hissing, making her sound inhuman. Dangerous.

"You used him for your games, you promised him help and now he is dead." Her form started to shift, something between a woman and a snake and Gellert couldn't at the time think of any other instance when he was truly afraid.

"I will make sure neither of you uses another child. Unwanted, abandoned, hurt but powerful, that is your type. This time, I will find such child first. I will protect it and make sure it is safe from you. From your 'care'." Her voice finally gave away to angry hissing and Nagini has lost her human form. Forever, as it seemed. She was then stopped by Scamander and Gellert allowed himself to focus on Albus. After the duel, Nagini was already forgotten.

As he looked at her now, he could imagine her life story. She had indeed found a powerful child. A boy, rejected by Albus Dumbledore because he was too dangerous. Too broken. And the boy could talk to snakes, a miracle in itself! Or fate, Gellert didn't know what Nagini believed in.

Revenge, it seemed. How happy had she been to learn that her beloved companion Tom wanted to destroy one of her own enemies? Did she ask him to kill the one in prison too? Has she told him about Credence?

"You have waited a long time to get me, haven't you?" Gellert asked, hoping that despite her form, she could still understand him. He possessed many talents, but parseltongue was not one of them, and he needed to know.

She nodded her head.

"Why am I not dead, then?"

"Because we have great plans for you." Answered an unfamiliar voice, high and piercing to the ears. Gellert turned to face the source of the voice and was met with a strangest human he has ever seen. If that was, in fact, still a human being.

The figure in front him was tall and lanky, dressed in a black robe. The man, for it seemed to be a man, was ghastly pale and that was already worrying, but his face was worse. It looked as if belonging to a skull - pale, almost hollow, with no nose and with cold red eyes. This was Lord Voldemort, Gellert Grindelwald's successor. He looked exactly as Albus described him. Not that it helped.

Gellert didn't bother to look for his wand. He looked around instead. He was in a small wooden building, a house? Maybe a shed?

"You are not asking about my plans, why?" Voldemort sounded really curious and as long as they kept talking, Gellert was alive, so he decided to indulge the man.

"Because you are either going to tell me, or you are going to kill me for asking." He replied honestly.

Voldemort laughed at that.

"Oh yes, that reminds me why I used to admire you so. The one wizard Dumbledore feared, the one who never surrendered, who did whatever was necessary." That was almost flattering, except for the fact that there was some kind of a manic glint in those red eyes. So Gellert kept quiet and listened as the monologue continued.

"I wanted to write to you many times after I had finished Hogwarts. To seek the counsel of the greatest foe Dumbledore knew. But I grew up and started to see that I didn't need you after all. I've outgrown you." Doubtful.

"And now I am quite sure I was right. The mighty Grindelwald joining the losing side for love. How disappointing." Voldemort finished, walking back and forth in front of his captive.

"That's why they say never to meet your heroes." He replied, still paying more attention to Nagini than to the wreck that once called itself Tom Riddle. She was much more dangerous to him than Voldemort ever could be, if Gellert was to be honest with himself. Her anger, her hatred, it had a meaning, it had so much emotion behind it. Voldemort seemed like a mere beast in comparison.

"How dare you!" The high-pitched voice screamed, and though no incantation filled the shed, Gellert's body suddenly felt as if it was burned alive. Cruciatus. No finesse whatsoever, but effective as hell. As every particle in his body screamed in agony, he tried to concentrate on his memories. He had survived the torture in America. He could withstand it now... There seemed to be no end of pain and Gellert was suddenly reminded that he was no longer a young man. It felt as if he was falling apart.

And then it stopped.

"You and your Muggle-loving Headmaster are the same. Proud and stupid." Voldemort muttered and after Gellert's mind cleared from pain, he could finally figure out what caused such violent reaction. Legilimens. Oh, how Gellert hated those. Especially if they were on the opposite side.

"But it is of no consequence. I had Severus save you with his antidote for one purpose only. The wand." Never before had Gellert concentrated so hard on the floor, allowing his thoughts to dissolve into nothingness. All that matter, all that he could think about, were the cracks and dust on the wooden panels underneath him.

He waited for the question to be asked.

It didn't come.

"Oh, don't worry." Voldemort's voice was amused again, his previous fury long gone.

"I already know who has it, I am not going to ask you. I just need you to stay alive for half an hour."

For half an hour... The ultimatum Voldemort gave Harry Potter flashed in Gellert's mind. Voldemort couldn't mean... Could he?

But if he knew who had the Elder Wand... Suddenly the months of hunting and of Death Eaters not shooting to kill whenever he encountered them started to make sense. He was always going to be used as a bait, because he was one thing Albus Dumbledore seemingly cared about. And now everyone knew.

What they didn't know was that Dumbledore didn't believe in sentiments, not when it mattered.

So that was how he died. Indeed, by the hand of Lord Voldemort himself. But it shouldn't be like this. After all the progress they had made, after all the change Albus was finally letting himself to experience, to put Gellert's death on his conscience... That could break him.

"He won't come." He told Voldemort and the man only chuckled.

"Oh, no, I'm sure he will. He and his speeches about love, his naive belief in it, he has to come."

With a heavy heart, believing with all his might that this was right, Gellert repeated.

"He won't come."

*

Albus Dumbledore. If you wish to see your partner ever again you will bring the Elder Wand to me. I will be waiting in the Forbidden Forest. You have half an hour.

These words entered Albus' mind and almost made him aim his spell at Minerva standing right next to him. Thankfully, he didn't.

The spider they have been battling fell down and Dean Thomas was able to get out from underneath its body. He was bleeding, but otherwise in a good shape.

"Thank you, Professor!" He shouted, but Albus didn't have it in him to answer.

"Did you hear that?" He asked Minerva and her surprised look was answer enough. She didn't.

"What are you talking about?"

He didn't want to say it out loud. That would make it real, that would force him to make a choice. And there was only one choice to make here.

"Voldemort has Grindelwald. And wants me to surrender."

"You can't!" Obviously. Giving Voldemort the Elder Wand would put him at too great advantage. No one would risk anything like that. One person for many. An easy choice.

The greater good.

The fighting around them has subsided a little and Albus could make his way to the grounds, to the place where he had seen Gellert for the last time. Minerva didn't follow him, focusing her attention on the students, but he could feel her worry directed at him. He knew what she wanted to say: Let him go and bear with it.

He had stupefied a few people on his way but there wasn't anything that could distract him from his walk. Or from his thoughts.

In half an hour Gellert would be dead.

And Voldemort would never get the Elder Wand. The Battle of Hogwarts could be won.

A big explosion of light drew his attention to the lake.

He didn't know why, but he was reminded of the Triwizard Tournament. The second task when Harry Potter had shown everyone that he was a true hero. He chose others instead of victory and tried to save people he didn't even know. People, not glory.

It would have been smarter of Harry to take his hostage and swim to the surface and tell somebody else to save the others. He should have cared only about his chances of winning. But he didn't. Harry Potter risked his life in taking impossible odds and making them play out in his favour. And although he had lost many, Cedric, Sirius, to name a few, there were plenty of people Harry had saved. He won against reason.

Suddenly Dumbledore's foot hit something in the grass. When he picked up he realized that it was Gellert's wand - he had seen it in their shared living spaces so often that he could recognize it everywhere.

It hurt to look at it now.

Gellert didn't hope for Albus to save him, that Albus was sure of. If there was one person who knew exactly who Albus Dumbledore truly was, it was Gellert.

Gellert also wanted them to win this war.

So he would forgive.

He would die.

Harry Potter saved people, lost people and lived. He was loved.

Albus Dumbledore played people, used people and won. He was alone.

History would remember them both, no matter what outcome tonight's battle had.

So the question was: what Albus wanted to remember from this night? His valiant sacrifice?

Or doing that one thing he had longed for since 1899 - choosing Gellert Grindelwald?

He hid Gellert's wand in his robe and started walking.

Regret as always walking right behind him.

*

He was moved from the shed to the clearing in the forest by some people he had never seen before, Death Eaters, no doubt.

Voldemort and Nagini stayed behind and while they dragged him up the hill, he could see Severus Snape making his way down to the shed.

He wondered if that was his punishment for trying. To become one of Albus Dumbledore's many regrets. How pathetic. He was supposed to die fighting, like a hero. Not like a hostage.

They didn't talk to him and he too didn't bother to distract himself with small talks.

They forced him to his knees and he stayed that way, allowing them to bind his wrists.

There was nothing he wanted from these people.

After a few minutes, he was pushed to the ground next to Hagrid. He had hardly spoken to the man while he was disguised as Kasprovitch, mostly because Albus was so fond of the half-giant. Now, when faced with death, Gellert could admit to jealousy.

So, more than one regret waiting for Albus tonight.

He could only hope that Harry Potter survived.

A few minutes had passed and the circle of Death Eaters made way for Voldemort himself, accompanied by Nagini, this time in some protective bubble. Severus was nowhere to be seen.

A strange premonition filled Gellert.

He was suddenly sure that he would never see Severus Snape again.

And he felt pity for the man.

"Shouldn't you be the one to do it?" He addressed Nagini as her bubble stopped right above his head. She kept silent, but her eyes were watching him closely, fury evident in the dark pupils." Dumbledore won't come, you know he won't. He is ready to sacrifice anyone for the greater good and you know that the best of all of us. And when the time is up, your Master will kill me. And you will never get your revenge."

 It would be better if he died because of Nagini. It would be some kind of poetic justice and then all would be right in the world. He would die before the time limit was reached, so Albus wouldn't have to take the blame.

But Nagini has not moved.

Minutes passed and nothing changed.

The Death Eaters started to whisper among themselves and irritation appeared on Voldmeort's face.

Of course he believed that Dumbledore would come.

Everybody did because no one really knew who Albus Dumbledore was.

And he was a victor.

A tragic one, but a victor.

There would be no victory in coming here.

The time was up.

"I would have thought he held you in a higher regard." Voldemort told him slowly, his eyes still staring into the forest, as if expecting Dumbledore to come out any minute now.

"You would have been mistaken." Gellert replied, with no bitterness. He would have done the same. He would have never risked a whole war just for one person. He knew that. Albus knew that. They both knew better.

So why was Albus entering the clearing?

"I apologize for my tardiness, Tom. I has some trouble with finding the right spot, "The Forbidden Forest" is not a very specific location." Albus said and the Death Eaters fell quiet. A triumph made its way to Voldemort's face.

"I knew it. I was so sure you would come for him!"

"I didn't come for Gellert, if I'm to be honest." Thanks Albus, next time I'm selling you to the Dark Lord, Gellert thought bitterly and shot a look at Nagini.

"You have missed your chance." He told her and she hissed at him in rage.

"Then why are you here, you old fool?" Suddenly Albus was no longer looking at Voldemort. His piercing blue eyes moved to look into Gellert's mismatched ones.

"I am here to make my choice. To stop running. To stop living in guilt."

Of all the moments Albus could possibly choose to finally voice his love, he obviously chose the worst one. They were going to lose a war because Albus decided to be sentimental in that one moment when he should have been himself. But Gellert didn't have it in him to protest. They have been through so much and this was progress.

 "I love you too." Gellert replied simply and smiled.

All he could do now was smile and greet Death like an old friend except...

"Tom, I brought you the wand. Just like you demanded, so I think it is only just that you should release your captive."

Was Albus really thinking that Voldemort would let them go?

He wouldn't.

Gellert himself would never let two powerful wizards leave his lair alive if he had them captured.

"I don't think so. I am afraid this is the end of the great Albus Dumbledore. Disarm him!"

It was a blonde woman who disarmed Albus and caught his wand. She looked terrified by what she had done, but she handed the Elder Wand to Voldemort nonetheless.

"Thank you, Narcissa. You are becoming much more useful than your husband."

The woman said nothing and just stared at Albus, as if expecting him to do something.

"So I think it is time to say goodbye." Voldemort said, raising his newly-acquired wand.

  "Indeed. Good manners are always welcome. Goodbye, Tom." And with that, Dumbledore took out another wand out from his literal sleeve, swung it swiftly and created an explosion of light around them, throwing the Death Eaters and Voldemort a few meters back.

 Before Gellert could say anything, Albus caught his hand and in a blink of an eye there were somewhere else entirely.

They crashed into a pavement at full speed and for a moment Gellert thought he had broken his arm.

He hadn't but it still hurt as hell.

He turned to his companion, Albus was looking much better than Gellert felt and seemed to be quite cheerful, in fact. They had landed in Hogsmeade and there was no imminent threat in sight.

So when they finally got up Gellert had no reason not to ask:

"Albus, what on Merlin was that?"

*

There were many ways to answer Gellert's questions.

It was a ball of light, a diversion and I have invented the spell myself.

 It was me showing you that you are not the only one who cares.

It was me sacrificing hundreds of people I know and swore to protect just to make sure you won't die.

It was me being selfish.

It was me doing the right thing.

It was me doing the worst thing possible.

 "It was me choosing you." He finally answers, and from Gellert's gaze he judges that the man understood. Gellert understood the magnitude of this statement. After all those months running away from his feelings into his plots and duties, he finally did what no hypocrite before him has ever done - he listened to his own teachings. How could he speak of the magic of love if he denied it every step of the way? How could he condemn Voldemort for not knowing love and underestimating it, and do the same every time? How could he let Gellert grow and change into a good man while he himself willingly stayed the same?

He couldn't.

"I wanted to run." He confessed. "The moment I heard Voldemort's voice in my head, I wanted to run and hide the wand as far as I could. I cursed myself for being stupid, for not seeing far enough, for not anticipating the fact that you have become a liability."

"Why, thank you. Really, Albus, I forgot what a charmer you are." Albus decided to ignore him and press on, his feelings overwhelming him.

"I knew that you wouldn't expect me to come. It was my first instinct, I admit. What was worse, I was sure you would understand. That you would forgive me. And that thought made me sick. That I would end my days exactly the same person I have always been. A coward. So afraid of people telling me I was evil, that I was wrong, so afraid of making a mistake. I am more than hundred years old. How much more time should I take? How much more chances should I waste?"

"Still, everyone would have understood if you had left me there to die. It's what you should have done." Gellert told him as they were making their way back to Hogwarts.

Albus stopped. For a man who seemed to know Albus better than he knew himself some days, Gellert didn't seem to understand all of a sudden.

"But not what I wanted to do. You told me that you saw my death in your vision and that you couldn't live with that. And after all these years, I decided I couldn't watch your death either."

"I..."

"I didn't want to live knowing I sent you to death because I felt I had to win this war myself. " Albus replied and a new idea entered his mind. Something he had felt for so long but didn't want to say:

"Harry is more than capable. I did a terrible thing to him and made sure he was ready. And he is, Gellert. It's exactly as you have told me once. This battle isn't ours, not really. It's theirs. If the future is to be different, it is the young who have to win it. Not us. We can help. But this time again, it is Harry who has to defeat Voldemort. Not me. I have never had such power." Here, Albus allowed himself to look deep into Gellert's eyes, wishing him to see hear everything that was going on inside Albus' head, because he himself couldn't make much sense of it at this point.

Gellert seemed to understand, for he took Albus' cursed hand in his own and brought it to his lips to kiss the ring shining on Albus' ring-finger.

"When this is all over and we both survive, I'm going to give you a real one. And then we are going to leave. To leave Hogwarts, responsibility and guilt. Maybe even leave England. We are going to be free, Albus. And the world will not stop spinning. Because despite everything, we are not gods. Just two very clever, very powerful old men, who have paved the way for the young."

Albus fought back the tears. It wasn't exactly forgiveness, not was it absolution, but it was acceptance.

And Albus Dumbledore needed acceptance.

*

 Before they came back to Hogwarts Albus gave him back his wand.

"What about you? Are you going in defenseless?" Gellert asked, his tone betraying worry he felt. After all this grand speech Albus was not becoming suicidal, was he?

"I am not going in at all. The dawn is breaking. The fight is almost over." Here, Albus pointed at something above them. And there Gellert saw it - Fawkes making triumphant circles around the castle.

They rushed inside the ruins of the Great Hall and saw Voldemort falling on the ground. He was dead.

Harry Potter had won.

"Go talk to him. I will help those I can and I will meet you later. You talk to the boy." Gellert told Albus and was met with a horrified expression on Dumbledore's face.

"I can't talk to him... I would have to explain... To tell him what I have done to him." Albus' voice was quiet and broken and Gellert had quite enough of that.

"Then do it. And stop running away. I'm not promising that he will understand, I'm not saying he will forgive you. But you need to talk to him for your own sake." And thanks Merlin, Albus nodded and left.

Gellert busied himself with medical spells for a while, talking to the students he had recognized and explaining to them why some people addressed their professor Kasprovitch as Grindelwald. It would be almost comical, if it wasn't for the fact that Gellert had recognized more dead faces than he would like. Those were children. His students. Albus' students.

As he left the Great Hall, he saw Neville Longbottom, sitting on the stairs and looking at a big snake.

Oh... Nagini.

"Neville. What happened?"

And Neville told him. Told him how Harry ordered them all to kill the snake because without that Voldemort would never be defeated. How Neville himself decapitated the snake with the sword of Gryffindor. How sad he was to do it.

"I've never thought I'd be able to kill anything." Neville told him, and though there were no tears in his eyes, it was clear how hard the teen was taking it. "And it was ready to kill us all, I know. But it was a living creature controlled by Voldemort and all I can do is think if we shouldn't have tried to save it?"

Gellert allowed himself to put a comforting hand on Neville's arm.

"She wasn't controlled by Voldemort. Her name was Nagini and she came here to kill Albus Dumbledore and me."

"How do you know?"

"I knew her once. Me and Albus had caused her terrible pain. We didn't want to, we didn't plan to, but we did. I was so sure she would kill me today, she had every right to do so. But she didn't, Neville, and that's because of you."

Neville smiled grimly at that.

"So she was an animagus?"

"No. She was cursed. In some way, I think you have finally brought her peace. I wanted to talk to her, to apologize properly, but sometimes there is no redemption and no forgiveness. Some sins we have to live with. But not you, my boy. You are a hero, Neville. Without you we wouldn't be sitting here and chatting."

Neville shot him a look of gratitude and they sat there together for a while, just looking at the snake.

Finally, Neville got up.

"Is it true what they say? You are truly Gellert Grindelwald, professor Kasprovitch?"

"I'm afraid so."

A smile bloomed on Neville's bruised face.

"Then I can tell people that I have saved the life of the Greatest Living Dark Lord of All Times. Wicked!" And with that final remark, Neville left to join his friends in the Great Hall.

 Gellert was left with Nagini's dead body.

"I am sorry. I'm not saying that I'd have done anything differently, but I can imagine what Credence's death meant to you." He told the snake, as he cast a spell to make its body afloat.

"I imagine you were very attached to Tom. You had no taste for violence, from what I remember, so it must have been hard. But you loved Tom, didn't you? So you allowed him to do horrible things and convincing yourself that if you left, he would be much worse. You were probably right."

They made their way outside, an old man talking to a flying corpse, but no one paid any attention. The grief was still too fresh.

"To agree to become a horcrux -  Because that'a what you did, right? That's why they had to kill you first - that was so you could be always with him, even in death? Or were you sure that your body was the safest place and he would never be killed as long as you were alive?" He knew he would not receive any answer, but he pressed on, trying to understand, to honour her death somehow. The kids didn't know, but he and Albus did - Nagini had every right to want them dead, to fight alongside Voldemort. So she deserved some respect.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance. It would have been right. But I'm glad you didn't. We are going to learn from our mistakes. In a way, you have won. We will never harm another child again." He told her as he finished digging a grave that could hold her entire body.

"So sleep in peace."

And with that, he covered the grave with dirt with a flick of his wand, creating a small gravestone with Nagini's name on it.

He didn't even notice when Fawkes appeared on his shoulder, but he appreciated the comfort it gave to him, when the phoenix touched its head to Gellert's cheek.

He instantly felt a bit better.

One ghost from the past has already passed on.

*

Albus didn't have to look for Harry for too long.

It was Harry who found him and asked him to talk. Of course he did.

Albus lead him to the Headmaster's Office, a place he no longer could call his own. He had given up the right to do so when left the school last summer. Nevertheless, it was the most comfortable place to talk.

The two of them sat down and just looked at each other in tense silence. Harry looked awful, to put it frankly. He was bruised, bloodied and dirty, and his eyes held no childlike wonder as they used to. This was not a face of a young man entering adulthood. It was a face of survivor. And it was Albus who made him that way.

 "Harry, I am certain you have plenty of questions, but let me put age before bravery and ask you first: what did you do this year?"

For a moment, Harry seemed to be angered by Albus' words and frankly, Albus understood perfectly. The boy had been put through a war no child should see, not to mention carrying on its shoulders. He was angry, tired and wanted to ask why his former mentor left him to such fate.

But Harry had always been respectful and this time his respect for Albus won with his temper.

So he sighed in defeat and leaned back on the chair in front of the Headmaster's desk and began his tale.

How he, Ron and Hermione were clueless where to start but knew they couldn't risk asking him. How the Order was no help at all because once again, no one knew whom to trust and with two people of interest being on the run, the stakes were too high. How they fought and searched and almost tore themselves apart, hunting down all the vague clues Albus had left them.

He had been prepared to die a year ago. He had set up the signs for them a long time ago, aware that he wouldn't be there to explain anything to them. And although his plans were changed, the fact remained: Harry and his friends had to face this whole ordeal all alone. And Albus allowed himself to stand on the sidelines, because that was more reasonable. Because that was the way to ensure victory. He had never meant to live long enough to look Harry in the eye after all of that.

Harry continued his story, about betrayal, loneliness, friendship and heroism. How Ron defeated the horcrux. How they lost Dobby. How they brought hope everywhere they went, though they had none. How broken they were when they read Rita Skeeter's book. Here, Albus had to look away in shame. Almost everything in the book was true. He had been a monster. He was a monster.

Harry pressed on, telling Albus about Aberforth, Severus, the Pensive and how he learned of what Albus did to him. Before Dumbledore could explain, Harry rushed to tell him everything that happened in the forest.

"And after Voldemort killed me, I woke up in the strange white place. And you were there."

That was a surprise.

"You told me that I was a horcrux. That you've known since the beginning. But you have also told me that I could wake up. Was it really you, Professor?"

Of course not. But how to explain the strange encounter?

This was uncharted territory, this was the one step Albus Dumbledore had never taken in his research. He had never experienced death. Death...?

"What you told me Harry is beyond my knowledge. I cannot tell you exactly what you have seen, but as always, I can make an educated guess."

A spark of relief crossed Harry's face and Albus was suddenly moved by the amount of trust the boy still had in him. Albus didn't deserve that.

"So what was that, Professor?"

"Death, Harry. Death who came to great you like an old friend, you who had mastered all three Hallows."

"But I didn't have the wand then?"

"No, but your counterpart with whom you shared soul had it." It was a wild guess, but it was the first idea that crossed Albus' mind. This was old and very powerful magic and even Albus was lost. But if by contact with Voldemort's soul Ginny Weasley could become the Heir of Slytherin...

"Why you?" Harry asked and Albus felt as if somebody punched him. This was the moment of confession. Of finally admitting to his crime.

"Perhaps because I was the one who arranged this death for you."

Harry's face twisted in hurt. Even though he had seen Severus' memories, he still believed that there had been some kind mistake, that his powerful protector wasn't capable of such cruelty. Youth had the right to be naive.

"And here comes the time when I need to answer some of your questions, I assume. We have all seen your triumph over Voldemort and your mastery over the Elder Wand, so nothing to explain here. Ask away." Albus tried to make his tone more cheerful than he actually felt. He wanted it to feel like one of their previous talks, when Albus was the good teacher and Harry - a precious student. But it was futile. Their relationship was never going to be the same. Harry was lost to him.

The boy himself was quiet for a long time, probably battling with his thoughts. So many questions, so much rage and hurt, so much raw emotion. And yet instead of hitting Albus and leaving, Harry was willing to talk.

"Why?"

He finally managed and for all its brevity, it was the best question of all.

"We need to move back in time for a while, if I am to explain everything properly." Here, Albus waited for Harry's reaction. The boy nodded.

"When I was young, alone and arrogant, I was without peer. My siblings, though dear to me, were never quite on my level. While they played hide-and-seek, I have already finished working on my first draft of new laws of Transfiguration. I was brilliant, Harry, and had no one to challenge me into humility."

Harry nodded, clearly not seeing how this all connected to him.

"So when a young wizard appeared in our neighbourhood, I wasn't interested because he couldn't possibly my equal. Except he was. Grindelwald was intelligent, talented and so charismatic, that I couldn't help but be drawn to him. He listened to me, he got angry at Muggles for Ariana's sake, he helped me whenever I had a fight with my brother. And I listened to him. To his ideas, plans... We have made quite a lot of those together, two brilliant boys at the top of the world, ready to change it."

Here, Albus made a pause and shot a glance at Harry. He was listening intently, his brows furrowed in concentration.

"I've always felt that there was something off about him, some darkness I didn't want to see nor analyze, because I was happy with him. I was happy with myself. And then Ariana died and I had to face everything Grindelwald truly was - a threat. This was the first and the last time I allowed my feelings to blind me."

"I have always believed that with a great talent comes also a huge responsibility - so I took it upon myself to repent for my two months of weakness. I couldn't fight him directly for a long time, but I created a net of people who could and... I see you want to interrupt me, Harry, feel free to."

"Why couldn't you fight him?"

A dreaded question. Lying would me much safer, much more understandable. But Harry of all people deserved the truth.

"To put it simply - because I loved him. We both made an oath, never to fight against each other. And to put it frankly, I was happy we did. I didn't want to see him again."

“Because he might have killed Ariana?" He didn’t. But Albus appreciated the lie.

"That too. But I was more afraid of what he would do to me if we met. I know it sounds impossible to you, but I've missed him every day of my life. He was evil, terrifying and he did awful things, but I still longed to be with him. So I cut myself from him as best as I could. I let the world suffer."

"But you did fight him in the end."

"Yes. Because that was my duty. Because the fate of wizards and Muggles depended on it. So I made necessary sacrifices."

Harry twitched at the word 'sacrifice' and Albus felt a wave of shame. How could he explain himself to the boy?

"I have learnt my lesson then - to do the right thing as soon as possible, so that no one would have to suffer because of me ever again."

Harry raised his head at that, a sudden realization entering his mind, no doubt.

"So after Voldemort died that night in Godric's Hollow..."

Clever boy.

"Yes. I knew he was going to come back, because I had a pretty good guess concerning his ways to immortality. And I also knew that there was only one weapon that I had against him. You."

"So why did you give me to the Dursleys?"

Here Albus sighed, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

"Because I wanted you to have a normal childhood. I didn't want you to learn from the young age that you are famous. I didn't want you to grow up knowing you were destined to die for the greater good. As much as you may not believe me, I wanted you to be happy."

Harry's anger wasn't a surprise.

"But then you knew! You knew what they did to me, how they treated me, you knew and you still let me stay there. I wasn't happy!"

"I know. And I entertained the idea of removing you from under their custody. But then your first weeks at Hogwarts showed how you profited from being under their care."

"Profited?" Harry hissed, jumping out of the chair. He had to take a few calming breaths to sit down again and Albus waited for him to unwind.

"Yes, Harry. You, who knew how it felt to be bullied and hurt for no reason became very empathetic towards those who also experienced it. Your horrible childhood has made you into a hero. And I needed a hero. So I left you there."

"I trusted you."

Albus could feel the tears running down his cheeks.

"I know" He whispered.

"I idolized you! I was loyal to you every step of the way, even though people told me that I shouldn't and what you are saying is that they were right?!" The boy was up again and started pacing this time, clearly too shaken to do anything else.

"That is for you to decide, Harry."

"Oh? There is something I can decide?" Harry spat out venomously.

"Do you regret it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you regret your life, do you regret saving all these people, ending the war, defeating Voldemort? Do you regret those?"

Harry stopped in his tracks.

"I'd love to tell you that I was sorry and that I regretted I had to do it, but I don't. I regret it was you Voldemort had chosen, I regret the fact that I alone wasn't enough to defeat him. But I don't regret ensuring that the one who had to kill him was ready to do it. Would you?"

Albus could only imagine what was going on in Harry's head right now. His heroic instincts were fighting with years of trauma, his reason with anger at injustice of it all.

But Albus truly felt better. To stop lying to this wonderful, brave young man. To finally be free of guilt.

To get closure.

Harry sat down on the chair and hid his head in his hands. From the shaking of his arms Albus could see he was crying. And normally Albus' first instinct would be to go to him and comfort him, but not this time.

They were sitting there, for quite a long time, when Harry finally looked up.

"I wouldn't." Albus wasn't even aware how long he had waited to hear these words. They weren't forgiveness, not exactly, but it was a start.

"I think it must be terrible to be you." Harry continued," to be constantly above others, to see more and know more. To always make decisions."

What was Harry saying?

"I wouldn't want to be you. To be ready to sacrifice everyone I love for the cause. I can't imagine ever doing that. You made sure I couldn't." Harry's voice was suddenly calm.

"Harry, I..."

"I hate it. I hate what you did, Professor. But I hate what Voldemort did more. If I ever really got to know you, and I believe I did a bit, then I can imagine how much the guilt is gnawing at you every moment. "

Albus could only nod, because now he was crying in earnest.

"So although I am still angry and I need some time, I forgive you. That's what you need to hear, that's why you wanted to talk, am I right?"

Harry stood up and put a hand on Dumbledore's cursed one.

"I am going to deal with all of this. I promise I am. So, Professor. Do the same. Heal." And with that, Harry turned to leave the room.

"Oh, and I hope you and Grindelwald are happy. He clearly loves you."

And he was gone.

Albus Dumbledore was left in his former office, for the first time in life, crying in relief.

Gellert had found him there and simply sat with him as long as he needed.

It was the beginning.

*

It wasn't their normal home, but Albus couldn't imagine ever spending his vacation in a different place.

It was Gellert who had found it, the lonely cottage at the one of the least picturesque fjords in Norway. There were some other houses in the vicinity, but no one bothered them and no one paid any attention to spells cast around the house. Norway had very lax attitude towards the secrecy, mostly because trolls travelling around in the mountains were uncontrollable and became a tourist attraction, so soon no one believed they were real.

Albus liked that about Norway. This opportunity to be free.

He was sitting on the grass, looking down at the sea glistening between the fjords and at the small cruise ships making their way to the nearest port.

It was peaceful.

He could hear footsteps on the grass and turned to see Gellert, making his way towards him.

"You look happy." Albus pointed out.

"Indeed. And so should you." And with that, Gellert handed him an elegant envelope with golden lacing around it.

When Albus opened it he was greeted with something he wasn't prepared to see.

"You are cordially invited to the Wedding of Harry Potter and Ginevra Weasley"

Proclaimed the heading and Albus couldn't help, but smile.

He looked at his left hand, already healed and of normal colour and smiled. A golden band was shining on it proudly.

"Maybe we should follow their example." Albus said and Gellert sighed, sitting down next to him on the grass.

"Maybe. We may not live to do that, if we keep on waiting." He teased but he didn't say no.

Albus looked at the wedding invitation.

So he could be happy after all. Who would have thought.