Chapter Text
Disclaimer: JKR owns it.
.~.
A Different Path
.~.
Bhutan, Magisterial Chamber of Ancient Wizardry, 1932
“The votes have been cast, and you have chosen Gellert Grindelwald to be our new Supreme Mugwump!” The now-former Mugwump Anton Vogel announced as he looked out at the massive crowd.
Gellert gave a slight bow. “You made the right choice, the Qilin cannot lie. And for my first act as Mugwump, I will move to keep our world safe from those who would seek to destroy it. Our war with the muggles begins… today!” Gellert’s amplified voice cried, as the crowd cheered and many of the witches and wizards cast green smoke along with his infamous GG insignia.
Gellert pointed his wand directly at Jacob Kowalski. “This muggle tried to assassinate me. He is the first of many who would threaten our world. We cannot allow that happen, the muggles will exterminate us if we don’t act first.” Gellert’s eyes had a magic glint as he uttered, “Crucio!”
Jacob cried out as his body convulsed and his skin grew pale.
Gellert let out a disgusted sound as he watched Miss Goldstein run to her muggle lover.
“Stop!” A new voice bellowed. “Grindelwald, stand down.”
Gellert turned to find Albus Dumbledore standing before him, and he couldn’t hold back a scowl.
Albus quickly removed the curse and Jacob’s color returned. “Are you alright, Jacob?” Albus asked quietly.
“I’ll live.” Jacob stood up on unsteady legs, with Queenie holding his arm and keeping him upright.
“Look, the Qilin is dying!” Newt Scamander pointed to the baby animal in Vogel’s arms. “It’s been bewitched by Grindelwald.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Gellert tried. “Vogel, tell them.”
But just as Vogel held up the zombie-Qilin for all to see, Newt released the Qilin’s twin.
“This is the true Qilin,” Vogel insisted, as the animal unmistakably died in his arms, causing the crowd to gasp.
“Grindelwald has tricked you,” Newt announced. “He doesn’t want to lead, he only wants you to follow. We must vote again.”
Gellert watched his careful plans fall apart, trying not to panic. “Don’t listen to him, the vote stands.”
“Let the real Qilin pick who is worthy,” Newt insisted. He gently petted the animal’s head before stepping back into the crowd.
Gellert silently fumed as the Qilin approached Dumbledore in the crowd and unmistakably bowed.
Albus blinked with surprise. “You choose me?”
“You can’t be serious,” Gellert muttered under his breath.
Albus smiled and bowed in return. “Thank you, little one. I humbly accept this honor.”
Anton Vogel, Vicência Santos, and Liu Tao stared at each other in confusion, as Albus Dumbledore was definitely not on the ballot.
“We must vote again, now that the true Qilin has chosen,” Vogel declared, casting Gellert a veiled look and Gellert knew his hold on Vogel was no more. “Your choices are Santos, Liu, or Dumbledore. If you wish to vote for Dumbledore, cast…” He whispered to Albus. “What’s your favorite color?”
“It’s purple,” Albus said pleasantly.
“Really?” Vogel looked at him in disbelief.
“Yes. Oddly enough, Grindelwald is apparently fond of it too, as his tie has purple flowers on it,” Albus pointed out. “But he’s not on the ballot anymore.”
Gellert was not amused by Dumbledore’s cutting remark.
“Very well. If you wish to vote for Dumbledore, cast purple smoke into the air,” said Vogel.
Gellert watched as his dreams died, with an overwhelming number of wizarding folk casting purple smoke into the sky.
“The people have spoken. Albus Dumbledore will now be our new Supreme Mugwump,” Vogel announced.
Jealousy coursed through Gellert as he blindly attacked the Obscurial that had failed him. Albus and his bloody brother Aberforth cast spells to protect Aurelius, which had an unexpected effect.
The blood troth that still bound Gellert to Dumbledore shattered as the two master wizards exchanged blows. Angry words were shouted before Gellert disapparated to avoid capture.
.~.
Several days later
Albus watched as Newt Scamander headed back into the bakery to attend Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein’s wedding. Although he’d been invited, Albus didn’t feel much like joining in the celebration. He walked down the snowy street alone, not bothering with a warming charm.
Suddenly, Albus heard a slight crack and he hurried towards the sound. He turned into a dingy alley and saw a dark shape lurking in the shadows.
“Hello, darling,” a low familiar voice purred. “Fancy meeting you here.”
A little smile appeared on Albus’ lips as Gellert stepped out from behind a dumpster. Even after all this time, the sight of Gellert made his heart flutter. “Gellert, where have you been?” Albus accused. “You didn’t contact me yesterday, and I was worried. I thought you might’ve been captured. The least you could’ve done is sent me a message.”
“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Gellert brushed his lips against Albus’. “Do you think they bought it?” Gellert whispered, his lips grazing Albus’ ear, causing him to shiver.
“Oh yes,” Albus breathed. “Newt, Theseus, and Queenie all think I’m devastated about losing you and having to fight you in the future. I was very convincing, you know.”
“Was it really necessary to undermine me in front of everyone?” Gellert complained. “I’d just become Supreme Mugwump before you and your little friends intervened.”
“Gellert, I’ve been hands-off until now,” Albus said sternly. “You told me you once had a vision of Santos winning the election which led to a second world war, so I went to great lengths to keep that from happening.”
“But I had it under control.” Gellert slightly pouted.
Albus sighed and shook his head. “Gellert, your Qilin went limp. It was obvious that you had enchanted it and cheated. A recount was inevitable, and you would’ve lost, likely to Santos. You really should be thanking me.”
“Still, you should’ve told me about your plan ahead of time,” Gellert complained. “It would’ve been helpful.”
Albus chuckled. “That takes all the fun out of it, and you know it. Don’t tell me you weren’t turned on when I outmaneuvered you.”
“Mmm.” Gellert groaned in annoyance, as it was true. “You know me too well. But I have one question. How on Earth did you plan for the Qilin bowing to you?”
“Ah, that was a happy accident,” Albus beamed. “I took it as a sign and accepted the position. This really complicates things for us, love, as I’ll be watched constantly as the Supreme Mugwump. It will be difficult to find time to skive off and privately meet up with you, but we’ll manage.”
“But I wanted the position,” Gellert whined. “I wanted to be the one to rule.”
“Yes, but now you can say that you’re married to the most powerful man in the Wizarding World.” Albus’ eyes twinkled. “How many people can say that?”
“Now I can say that I’m shagging the most powerful man in the Wizarding World,” Gellert corrected. “But how come you get to be the one in power? You promised we’d do this together.”
“Gellert, we’ve been through this,” Albus said patiently. “After I lost my sister, I realized I couldn’t go along with your dark plans. But when you came crawling back to me and begged me to stay with you, I relented, and we came up with a solution that worked for both of us.”
Gellert scoffed. “That’s not how I remember it happening. I came back to Godric’s Hollow after an excruciating day without you and decided to return to patch things up. I seduced you and in the throes of passion, you pledged yourself to me once again.”
“Semantics, my dear,” said Albus. “I let you follow your chosen path, and I forged my own, knowing our paths would inevitably converge someday. Now, in a few years, if you’ve cleaned up your act, we can rule together,” Albus promised. “I humored you and stayed out of the way, but the cheating with necromancy and the torturing muggles look just isn’t going to cut it anymore, Gellert.” Albus narrowed his eyes at his husband. “You tried it your way, and you failed. Spectacularly.”
“It almost worked,” Gellert grumbled.
“Almost doesn’t cut it, Gellert,” Albus said gravely. “I wish you hadn’t killed that baby Qilin. She was an innocent. You went too far.”
“I wasn’t planning on killing it,” Gellert protested. “I thought… never mind.”
Albus laughed as he realized the reason. “You thought it would bow to you.”
“I did not,” Gellert said hotly.
“You cannot lie to me, darling, not after thirty years,” Albus said knowingly. “You honestly thought yourself pure of heart?”
“Fuck no. I was sure that pure of heart thing was bullshit,” Gellert growled. “I thought it only bowed to the next great leader, which clearly should’ve been me. I was hurt, so yes, I went with my usual plan B, necromancy.”
“Ah yes, of course.” Albus chuckled. “That’s so you, dearest.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gellert cried.
“Well…” Albus hesitated, holding up his hands. “It’s just…now don’t get upset, love, but you’re becoming a little bit predictable.”
“I, Gellert Grindelwald, predictable?” Gellert scoffed. “I think not.”
“Go ahead, deny it all you want. But did you have to ‘Crucio’ poor Jacob?” Albus shot him a disapproving look.
Gellert rolled his eyes. “Clearly you’re on a first-name basis with that muggle who tried to assassinate me.”
Albus groaned. “Jacob’s not a threat. He’s a baker, for Merlin’s sake. He makes delicious pastries. And the wand wasn’t even real!”
“You would like him because he makes sweets,” Gellert sulked.
“I like him because he’s pure of heart,” Albus insisted. “I half expected the Qilin to bow to him.”
Gellert shuddered. “That would’ve been terrible.”
“I just wish we hadn’t accidentally broken our troth,” Albus lamented. “Looks like we’ll have to remake it again.”
“Oh, dear. What a shame we’ll have to do the ceremony again,” Gellert smirked.
Albus’ lips twitched. “Gellert, I know how much you got off on that night when we made the troth. The mere memory of it arouses you still. If you wanted to perform another blood ritual with me, you could’ve just asked.”
“If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not great at using my words,” Gellert muttered.
“And yet you still refuse to go to relationship counseling.” Albus gave his husband a pleading look. “It really might help us, darling. We can always gently obliviate the counselor at the end if you don’t trust them to keep our secret.”
“I don’t need counseling,” Gellert insisted, crossing his arms. “We do just fine on our own. Are you unsatisfied with our sex life? Based on your noises when I’m inside of you, I know I’m doing something very right. That and you often scream ‘harder Gellert, harder’.”
Albus blushed. “You know it’s hard for me to resist you. But there’s more to a relationship than a very satisfying sex life. Emotional intimacy is important too, and I’m concerned about the path you’ve chosen. It might help us if we discuss your murderous tendencies and your fondness for the Cruciatus Curse.”
“I don’t have…” Gellert sighed as Albus gave him a knowing look. “You might have a point. Very well, if you make an appointment, I’ll go with you… but oblivation is a must.”
“Good.” Albus gave him a satisfied smile before it turned into a frown. “I have to ask, why did you try to kill poor Aurelius?”
“I was just trying to keep up appearances, and besides, I knew you’d stop me. I just didn’t think Aberforth would leap to his defense!” Gellert narrowed his eyes. “Oh, and by the way, Aberforth is a fucking hypocrite. He was sneaking out to get with some girl while you were sneaking around to be with me. No wonder he wanted you to be home with your sister more.”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” Albus’ lips twitched.
“I might have murderous tendencies, but at least I never abandoned my child,” Gellert pointed out. “I’m not a monster.”
“That’s because you promised yourself to me and last time I checked, I can’t get pregnant,” Albus said wryly.
Gellert smirked. “Well, it’s not for a lack of trying. In fact-”
“Not tonight,” Albus said, shaking his head. “I have a whole new set of responsibilities that I need to take care of. Now that I’m the Supreme Mugwump, I’m going to have to get someone to cover my classes. Headmaster Dippet is going to be so disappointed that I won’t be finishing out the school year. I do feel bad about letting him and the students down.”
“That’s what you’re concerned about right now,” said Gellert.
“I take my responsibilities as a professor very seriously,” Albus said. “And now I’m going to have to spend most of my time stuck with administrative duties and meetings. But I’ll be working toward our Greater Good, and working with the muggle leaders via diplomacy to stop this coming war.”
“That sounds so boring,” said Gellert, rolling his eyes. “If I had my way-”
“You’d just kill anyone who disagrees with you. I keep telling you, you need to work on that, but you don’t seem to listen,” Albus warned. “You keep letting your temper get the best of you.”
“Not true, I let you disagree with me,” Gellert countered.
“Because it turns you on,” said Albus.
“And because I love you,” Gellert purred.
Albus sighed. “Gellert, that’s not going to work. You can’t just say ‘I love you’ and expect me to forgive you for everything.”
“I can’t?” Gellert leaned in and started kissing his way down Albus’ neck. “Are you sure about that?” Gellert’s hand came in between them and palmed Albus’ crotch.
“Ngh.” Albus slightly bucked up into Gellert’s hand before he remembered himself. “Oh no, you don’t. You, my love, are a tease.” He forced himself to pull away.
“Come back with me to Nurmengard,” Gellert begged. “I want to make you pay for your little shenanigans today and for outsmarting me. I didn’t See that coming.”
Albus crossed his arms. “Gellert, you can’t just use sex to distract me from talking about our problems.”
“Why not?” Gellert wondered. “It usually works very well.”
“Not all the time it doesn’t. I can resist temptation if the occasion calls for it. I do have willpower, you know,” Albus said primly.
“You have willpower? Really?” Gellert snorted. “What about when I come home to our quarters after a hard day, I want something sweet to take the edge off, and I can’t find a single piece of chocolate? Not even in the entire castle.”
“I have no idea how that happened.” Albus sounded too innocent for Gellert’s taste.
“Yes, you do, because you ate it all! I’ve had to resort to hiding my personal chocolate stash in an Albus-resistant safe because you can’t restrain yourself,” Gellert griped. “You could at least do me the courtesy of replacing the chocolate if you’ve eaten it all, but do you do that? Nooooo. Abernathy asked me once why all the chocolate had mysteriously gone missing. I glared at him and he backed off because he’s terrified of me, but I can’t have my followers wondering about things like that. It’s inconvenient.”
“I’m sorry I’m such an inconvenience,” Albus muttered, his tone one of slight annoyance. “I have one weakness, Gellert. One, and that’s sweets. You knew that before we made the troth.”
“I beg to differ, darling,” Gellert smirked. “I’m your biggest weakness.”
“Oh, really?” Albus said slyly.
“Yes. You couldn’t live without me,” Gellert said, sounding too smug for Albus’ taste.
“It’s true,” Albus admitted. “But it works both ways – you couldn’t live without me either. Now come on, it’s cold out here. Let’s go home.”
Without a word, both wizards disapparated with a crack.
.~.
Nurmengard Castle
“The fortress looks deserted,” Albus observed as they walked through a secret side entrance. Gellert’s emblem with the triangular Deathly Hallows symbol was emblazoned on the stone wall, one that they’d designed together during that summer all those years ago. “I wonder why?”
Gellert looked glum. “Because all my followers have either left me or they were caught.”
“Ah yes, that would be the reason.” Albus’ blue eyes twinkled as they headed for their quarters. “I’m afraid I saw Vinda Rosier in Auror Scamander’s custody after rather your cowardly exit.”
“Oh no,” Gellert groaned, feeling a slight headache coming on. “Vinda’s girlfriend is going to be pissed! You’ve got to fix this, Albus,” he pleaded. “My followers don’t deserve to be locked up - especially Vinda. She’s been extremely loyal.”
Albus gave him a knowing look as he unlocked the door to their bedroom. “You mean she does whatever you order her to do.”
“Like I said, loyal.” Gellert sighed. “It’s so hard to find good help these days. Surely there’s something you can do. You’re the Supreme Mugwump, for Merlin’s sakes.”
“Yes, and my term starts tomorrow morning,” said Albus. He ushered Gellert inside and began to undress, neatly placing his clothes on the top of their dresser. “I’ll do my best to help your followers, but on one condition.”
Gellert perked up as he started to change into his nightclothes. “Oh? What’s that?”
“You come to work with me from now on – in disguise, as my assistant.” A triumphant smile surfaced on Albus’ face.
“WHAT?” Gellert cried. “Your assistant? Albus, you can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I’m quite serious.” Albus beamed at him as he changed into his crimson and gold pajamas. “Right now, I think it’s best if you lay low. You have a lot to answer for, and you can prove yourself to me by-”
“Doing your bidding?” Gellert narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re no fun, Albus.”
“If you can prove to me that I can trust you with bigger things, I’ll promote you,” Albus said cheerfully before his expression darkened and he slightly shook his finger at his husband. “But you’re skating on thin ice, Gellert.”
“I would never stoop to playing such a subservient role,” said Gellert, scowling in disgust as he crawled under the covers. “Your assistant? Bah! Find someone else to be your lapdog.”
“Pity,” said Albus. He rubbed his chin. “Well, I suppose I could always ask Newt…”
Gellert cut him off. “No, you won’t. I’ll do it!”
Albus chuckled. “I thought you might.”
“I don’t know what you see in that boy,” Gellert muttered.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Albus, his tone light and teasing as he climbed into bed next to Gellert. “His shy, innocent routine is rather endearing.”
“I’m endearing,” Gellert tried.
Albus sighed, rubbing his temples. “You, darling, are a pain in the ass.”
“I’m a pain in your ass,” Gellert corrected. “And on that note-”
“Nice try,” said Albus, batting Gellert’s hand away. “If you think I’m in the mood after what you pulled today, you’re wrong.”
“Very well,” Gellert huffed. “You’ll stay, won’t you?”
Albus smiled as he noted the little hint of vulnerability in Gellert’s mismatched eyes. “I’ll hold you through the night to keep the visions at bay, just like I have for the last thirty years.”
Something horrible occurred to Gellert. “But you haven’t told anyone about that, right? Albus?”
“I don’t have to answer that. Goodnight, love.” Albus curled around Gellert, who stayed up half the night worrying that Albus might’ve shared this tidbit of information that would devastate his reputation as a dark wizard.
.~.
End Chapter 1