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I met Albus Dumbledore one fateful summer in 1899. If I knew then what I know now I would have killed him on sight or, at the very least, run far away. I had always used my good looks in my favor, and in my last year at Durmstrang I had dabbled in the more adult art of seduction. Not that that saved me from expulsion. Still, my charm served me well that summer. Albus might have loved me for my mind but a handsome smile had him eating out of my hand by the end of the month.
It was on a bright afternoon that I faced my first, and most important, challenge for Albus’ affection. We sat on the grass of Godric’s Hollow, books and ledgers spread open around us as we researched the history of the Deathly Hallows. Ariana Dumbledore wandered aimlessly around the yard with her unfocused eyes and empty head. I had little interest in her but Albus refused to abandon her. Therefore, I once again broached the subject of how to fit the retard into our plans. “You should find her a house-elf.” I said whist stacking papers together. That day I purposefully wore my finest shirt with the top two buttons left unfastened ,solely to enjoy the feel of sparkling blue eyes linger on my neck.
“What?” Albus looked up from his reading when I spoke.
“Taking care of Ariana is a lot of work. House elves love work. A slave would be an expensive purchase but a freed elf, if you can find one, would be happy with a few shillings a month.”
“Hogwarts has several free elves.”
“Convenient.”
“I’m not going to poach my old school for an elf.”
“Why not?”
“Aberforth won’t like that.”
“Why in Merlin’s name not? I'm not suggesting we lock her away." At the sighed response, I continued. "What does your fool brother plan to do? Spend every moment of his waking life doting on her? Surely that oaf can't deny an extra pair of hands around the house."
"He's afraid to let others near her, I can understand."
"And how shall he make ends meet with such a burden?"
"She is our sister," Albus glared. A bit of my true bitterness had slipped into my voice.
"Ariana's a darling girl," I quickly backtracked. "But you can't deny she's a burden." Albus looked off to the side with the pinched expression he wears when he knows I'm right but doesn't wish to admit it. "Most house elves are docile creatures and have magic strong enough to prevent her from hurting herself."
Albus had nothing else to say before the girl in question came towards us. She walked with her strange gait as always but was steady on her feet. Albus dropped his parchment to hurry over and help her sit down. Really, the excessive coddling wasn't helping the girl.
"I should read to her," Albus said grimly.
"I'll do it," I volunteered and picked up some of the notes I had gathered.
“That’s hardly a story, Gellert.”
“I’ll make it one.” I sprawled out on the grass in front of the frustrating girl that didn’t bother to look at me. “Once there were three brothers.” I levitated stalks of grass and twisted them into little grass dolls to act out the story for her. “These brothers met Death and each received a reward from him. The first brother asked for a wand more powerful than any other. Such a powerful item, surely other people would want it. But this didn’t occur to the brother, he went to town and boasted. He defeated an old rival in a duel whether or not he killed his opponent isn’t sure. What is certain is that the brother robbed and killed that very night for his wand.” I held up one of my papers, crime reports. “The next morning the owner of the tavern found the brother’s body. He called the aurors of that time to come see. The aurors wrote that the brother’s wand, money, and winter cloak had been taken. What did he want with the cloak, I wonder. Maybe he simply liked the color, hmm?” I made my little illustration of the thief put on a cloak and spin around to admire himself. “The next one to have the wand made of an elder branch was a witch. She took the wand from her husband.” I continued through my research in a happy tone, adding embellishments and making the little grass figures dance along.
When I finished the useless girl was still as listless as ever. I almost frowned but then caught sight of Albus. He rewarded me with a crooked smile and twinkling eyes. That is why I put up with his insufferable family, because for some reason he felt obligated to care for the lout and the retard. A flaw in an otherwise perfect creature, I could forgive him for it.
I hadn’t expected to find anyone worthy, especially not in my aunt’s shit English town, but Albus proved me wrong. Against my will, my dreams of power and knowledge changed to accommodate two. Loath I was to admit it, I couldn’t deny that with Albus at my side I will go farther than I could alone. For this I humored him and his brat siblings.
Albus fixed his sister’s hair and called her attention to a nearby butterfly, this was apparently worthy of her time because she crawled over to watch the insect. Perhaps she could be a pitiable face to rally support, a living example of how dangerous muggles could be. Other than that I had no plans for her. Not like Albus, I had many plans for him.
Ariana’s butterfly had flown away but she was content to pick at weeds. With her entertained I took the opportunity to scoot in close to Albus. He flushed a pretty shade of red that complemented his hair. "Gellert," he sent a nod towards his sister.
"She doesn't mind. Ariana, shall I kiss your charming brother breathless?" The girl barely glanced our way before returning to her clump of grass. I took that as permission to thoroughly enjoy the boy before me. Albus fancied himself proper, upright Englishman but couldn’t resist me. He forgot all sense of propriety to pull me to his lap and lick that delicious tongue into my inviting mouth. He tasted like lemon drops, smelled like old books, and the magic crackling beneath his skin made my own power sing. Albus wanted my love, I wanted his loyalty. Alles ist seinen Preis wert.
Albus leaned back to breathe and to send another look towards his sister. No doubt still embarrassed over yesterday when she had noticed my bruise on his neck. “Ow…” she had pointed which of course made Albus flush. He’d quickly healed himself and had not been amused by my laughter fit. She hadn’t just seen the aftermath however, not that Albus knew. We were debating the uses of dragons between stolen kisses on the couch. Ariana was supposedly asleep but she came into the room briefly. Albus had his back to her and his attention focused on me so he didn’t notice. Not wanting to disturb his good humor I said nothing. The girl gave us an uninterested stare then quietly retrieved the notebook she had come for and left.
In the grass that afternoon, I made myself a distraction, settling into his lap and turning his mind to more important things. How shall we rule the muggles, select out the muggle-borns with magic and train them? Albus was increasingly lenient with his plans. Berated me for being too harsh. Such a fool at times, I argued my points with logic, we needed to rule to invoke change. When he still refused to agree I compromised with a ‘we shall see’. I knew he would come to my way of thinking. I could accommodate his soft-hearted ideals in the short term then win him over once he sees how ineffective his tenderness is. A few setbacks and rebellions early on will be worth his ultimate corporation, no good would come of antagonizing him. Wer Vögel fangen will, darf nicht mit Steinen werfen. At some point over that summer my priorities shifted from ruling the world to ruling one brilliant and beautiful wizard.
“What are you doing?!” a demand from an obnoxious voice and an even more obnoxious boy. I groaned, of course, if it wasn’t one Dumbledore sibling ruining my day it was the other. Albus shoved me to the side as if that might save face in the eyes of his idiot brother. I refused to relinquish my hold on his shoulders and kept him in a more than friendly embrace even as I was pushed to the grass, let the brat see.
“Aberforth,” Albus started to speak but his brother interrupted him.
“You’re supposed to be watching Ariana and you’re…” He glowered at me and I raised a brow, daring him to finish that thought. In the months of our acquaintance he’d called me many things, ‘Durmstrang dropout’ was his favorite.
“We are watching her,” I said when Albus hesitated.
“This isn’t your family. No one wants you here!” He took two steps forwards as if to chase me off. The gross inaccuracy of the statement offended me more than the hostility and I was on my feet to respond.
“I think you’ll find that I was invited.”
“You don’t fool me, you’re disgusting and a liar.” Well, perhaps the fool was a bit perceptive after all.
“Aberforth, please.” Albus also stood and tried to reach for his brother but was shrugged off.
“Don’t be foolish, Albus, he will leave when he has what he wants.” I had considered doing so but dismissed the notion for two reasons, I genuinely enjoyed Albus’ company which had never happened with anyone before and because I was foolish enough to make Albus my enemy. We dueled in sport several times over the past months and always ended in a draw. I could defeat him until one day several weeks ago, when he greeted me with such a look in his eyes that I knew then he had fallen in love with me. Love is a weakness to logical thought, to research, but spells are fueled with our will. If I left Albus now I would only be handing him, heartbreak, revenge, unrequited desire, all the will to fuel his spells that he could ever need. I know my strengths and I grudgingly admit my cold apathy wouldn’t hold against Albus should I truly break his fragile heart. If I had the elder wand perhaps, but I don’t. But as long as I indulged him, kept him enamored with me, I would be the stronger.
“Aberforth,” Albus repeated his brother’s name. I could hear the hurt in his voice. I chose to use this in my favor.
“Disgusting, Dumbledore? Is that why you’ve hated me all summer, because I ‘corrupt’ your brother?” Albus cringed at my implication and looked to Aberforth, waiting for him to deny it. I will never know if Aberforth Dumbledore was simply clueless or truly spiteful towards those of atypical romantic inclinations, either way he played right into my hands.
“I know your plans. I’ve heard you talking, your ideas for ‘The Greater Good’ are mad. You can’t want any of that, Albus.”
“We spoke of a peaceful world and our love,” I had never said such a thing, not even whispered at night, but I did so then in hopes of goading the boy further.
“You wouldn’t recognize love if it bit you,” shouted at me, damning himself in the eyes of his brother. Finally I would have Albus away from these pests.
“That’s enough.” Albus stepped between us, his gaze hard.
My viewing of a righteously angry Albus was cut short by a wail from the girl. As they’d been trained, both brothers hurried towards her.
“You upset her,” Aberforth accused. This was not the first time he had said so, no matter what Albus did, sit with her, take her into town, read for her, it was never good enough for the boy.
“No, this time you did,” I said with spite. “She was happy before you came.” This was the last indignity for the boy it seemed, and he drew his wand.
“No!” Albus ordered ineffectually as his brother sent a spell in my direction. Of course, I was far faster than he and had my wand in hand with shield spell cast before his jinx neared me.
“Wer nicht hören will, muss fühlen.” I said mostly to myself and hurled a curse at the boy. Aberforth turned out to have better reflexes than I anticipated. His spell knowledge was weak but he could guard and return well enough to duel.
Albus had drawn his wand in an attempt to stop us both. All three of us had spells in the air when the girl decided it would be a brilliant idea to get in the middle. Predictably, she started screaming.
“Verdammt!” I cursed the stupid girl. Albus held her close and cast a healing spell on her arms and the counter jinx to fix her paralyzed legs.
“You hurt her!” The dumb brother shouted at me.
“The blame is yours as well, Aberforth!” Albus glared at his brother and I realized I could turn this in my favor after all, I needed only feign concern a while longer.
“You alright, Ariana?” I came closer.
“As if you care!” I didn’t really, the girl could go to rot but Albus wouldn’t ever know that.
“Silence!” Albus quieted us both with an anger that I hadn’t heard before. Fury looked good on him. He rubbed his distressed sister’s shoulders to calm her sobs. “Ariana needs the hospital.” He glared at us both until we aquerested and allowed him to apparate us.
Only after Airana had been checked for further injury by a medical witch did Aberforth refocus his ire upon me.
“This is your fault!” He shouted at me once again.
“Stop it, Aberforth,” Albus said.
“You would choose him over me?” Albus fell silent. Albus’ back was towards me so I sent Aberforth a triumphant smirk. The boy lunged for me but Albus stood between us and held him back. Fed up, the brother spat, “traitorous invert, I hope he’s worth it,” before stalking away. Even with the parting insult Albus made as if to follow so I wrapped my arms around him from behind.
“Let him clam down.”
“We have to put Airana in a home now,” Albus sighed.
“Maybe my aunt will take her. And I still think a house elf is a good idea.”
“I’ll need a job to pay for that and Aberforth’s schooling.” Albus sighed again at the prospect, apparently his mother hadn’t left enough.
“I’m the last of the Grindelwald line, there’s still probably some old funds I could…” I was interrupted by Albus kissing me in thanks. I held in a grin so he wouldn’t feel it. This powerful wizard was mine.
It wouldn’t be until 46 years later that my investment at that time paid off. Verstand kommt mit den Jahren. I loath to admit it but Albus is the greatest wizard of the age. He is stronger than I am, even with the elder wand. Ultimately when my plans failed, I had Albus’ support rather than his hatred.
It would have been easier to abandon him that summer, forgo the headaches that came with appeasing him and his useless siblings. I am now thankful for the sacrifices made then. I wouldn’t wish Albus dead. Especially not after seeing the genius creatures we created together. And although I have yet to truly master Death, my son has. I have little choice but to be content with that.
**************Dumbledore's Point of View*************
In 1945 I enjoyed the best sleep of many years. I had such a restful sleep and such a pleasant morning for the simple reason that my bed was no longer empty. My golden-haired German had returned to me at last. Just over three decades apart and we had finally reconciled.
Gellert apologized for his past violence and for the way the war had turned. He promised to follow my peaceful methods from now on, that he had seen the error of his ways. If I were a wiser man I wouldn’t take him at his word but alas, I was fool in love. Not that I had any intention of letting him out of my sight for many years and he would be paying penance for what he had done.
I sat up in bed to admire my sleeping companion. He was older, the first few wrinkles of age graced his face and strands of white intermixed with the gold curls, neither of which he had when I left. Or, to be more accurate, he left me. We lived together for years traveling, learning, and gaining reputations as powerful wizards until ideologies forced us apart. I could no longer condone Gellert’s use of the dark arts or his treatment of muggles and he grew tired of waiting. After one of our increasingly frequent arguments Gellert gathered his things and left without a goodbye.
It nearly broke my heart to learn of his part in the muggle wars. During his apology, he insisted that most accounts were exaggerated, that tensions were fit to explode without his assistance. Again, I let myself believe him.
The object of my gaze rolled over with a snort that meant he was rejoining the waking realm. Encouraged by the fact that I once again could, I reached over and brushed golden curls away from his face. His hair was thinner but had not yet lost its color. My angel-faced devil blinked away sleep and I couldn’t help but kiss him.
“I’ve missed you.”
“Hm, ja, missed you.” He kissed me on one cheek and raised a hand to the other to stroke my beard. “You’ve gone silver, my noble wizard.” He played with my beard as he loved to do. He’d always had a thing for my hair, encouraged me to keep it long. It was auburn when he left and mostly silver with red streaks the year he returned.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Nien, Schön ist, wer Schönes tut. I’m only sorry I missed the transformation.” Gellert wrapped his arms around me to pull me back into the bed.
“Mm, no,” I reluctantly sat up. “I have an appointment with Nicholas.” Gellert gave a displeased grunt but released my hair. He lay on his stomach to watch me dress.
“You’ve published several papers with this Nicholas Flemel. Should I be concerned?”
“Nicholas is happily married.” I couldn’t help but grin at him, “and far too old for me.”
“Hm, I believe I shall introduce myself regardless.” After years on the continent his accent was as heavy as it had been when we first met.
“What you shall do, is meet with the Ministry at precisely 1:00 as promised,” I said sharply. Gellert groaned angry German into his pillow. “You surrendered,” I reminded him.
“Ja, to you, not to those fools.”
“Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall, Liebe.” My choice of language successfully got him to raise his head.
“You’re no less arrogant than I, Albus. And now you have the wand to back it up.” He eyed the elder wand I placed in my robes, with a lingering bitterness over the fact that I wielded it better than he.
“The way you choose to flash it about, would soon get you killed like its first owner,” I shot him a look. He shrugged in acknowledgement.
“I never had it, I lied to gather support. As I will tell your Ministry at one o’clock.” It warmed my heart to know that he would boast his own achievements despite the risk but humble himself to protect me.
I pulled on my outer cloak and returned to the previous topic. “Nicholas is confident that we will soon find a cure for Ariana.” I despaired at the silence from the bed until a hand touched my shoulder.
“Are you confident, Albus?”
“I’ve learned not to feel hope for my sister.” I said somberly but then turned to my companion and realized he was still naked as the day he was born. “Get dressed, you.”
“Nien,” Gellert gave me his mischievous grin and sat down on the bed, legs purposefully spread wide. “I have no where to be until one.” I looked away from him to cover my blush.
“Fawks,” I addressed the phiniox perched on his nearby stand. Had he stayed there all last night during our coupling? I had been distracted but made note to check later. “Keep him out of trouble.”
Nicholas and I eventually did find a cure for dear Ariana. She stayed with Aberforth for two years as she became acquainted with her new view of the world. She now lives on a thestral preserve and spends her days rescuing injured from muggle traps and nursing them back to health.
I went out of my way to introduce Gellert to young Miss Mcgonagall. This worked against me later when the young witch fell for a muggle farmer. Gellert used her name to push through more lenient laws on muggle relations. The McGregor family went far to prove pure blood theory inncorrect as Minerva and her muggle husband birthed several powerful witches and wizards. Seers prophesized that muggle technology would advance enough by 2010 that it would be almost impossible for us to stay hidden. The Ministry would have preferred to keep this quiet but Gellert had it published.
We don’t rule the muggles as we once fantasized but we have heavy hands in the wizarding world and, fates willing, will live to see the complete integration of muggles and wizards. How our three young protégées will change this world, I can only imagine.