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The year was 1906 and Albus Dumbledore was currently at an elite pureblood party hosted by the Rosiers. Albus had been invited by Horace Slughorn, the (fairly new) potions master at Hogwarts who (apparently) had many connections.
Albus had initially refused, but Horace had nagged him so many times that he eventually gave in. So here he was sitting in an extravagant ballroom, wearing his nicest purple suit and swirling a glass of red wine, watching as Horace talked animatedly with various members of the Black, Malfoy and Lestrange families.
Albus, so far, had talked to no one. This was not the sort of crowd that he typically hung out with and he was growing increasingly more uncomfortable with every passing minute.
“Professor Dumbledore!” He turned to see one of his old students, Cecily Prewett, bouncing towards him “I never expected to see you of all people here!” she said looking astonished. Albus smiled “Hello Miss Prewett, I confess I never expected to see you, nor any of my other old students, here either.” “I’m no longer a Prewett, Professor” She lifted up her hand, proudly displaying an emerald ring glittering there “As a member of the Malfoy family, it is insisted upon that I go to these events” She said loftily “Why are you here?” “You are correct, it is unusual to see me at such parties however Professor Slughorn invited me, very persistently I might add, and I felt obligated to go” Cecily opened her mouth to say something-
“Albus!” They both flinched slightly as Horace appeared beaming (And looking somewhat drunk) and threw an arm over Albus’ shoulders causing Albus’ wine to tip precariously. “Come! You have to meet the host! I must say I know her quite well!” And he hauled Albus towards a dark haired woman wearing an expensive looking green dress “Albus, this is Miss Vinda Rosier, Miss Rosier this is Albus Dumbledore” Vinda Rosier studied him coldly for a couple of moments as though he were a puzzle she was determined to figure out, finally she spoke “Albus Dumbledore, even in France you are quite well-known” “You are not meaning it to be a compliment.” He stated “Your presumptions are rather arrogant Mr Dumbledore” “On the contrary I’m just good at reading people” said Albus cheerfully, enjoying the look of annoyance that crossed her face. Vinda pursed her lips “Is this how you always act upon meeting new acquaintances?” “Well-” Vinda dear, do tell Albus and I about the special guest this evening!” Slughorn interrupted. Special guest? Even Albus was mildly curious about this. Vinda perked up at this, her eyes gleaming in the way one does when they are speaking about someone they greatly look up to “He is rather mysterious and I do not know a lot about him, but from what I've been told he’s from an ancient pureblood line and he is a very powerful and politically well-spoken man. Even you wouldn't dare turn your nose up at him” She said, fixing a pointed stare at Albus.”When is he arriving dear Vinda?" Asked Horace “He should have been here 8 minutes ago” Well, someone clearly didn't care much about being on time.
Albus wished he could say that the mystery guest arrived just then, as if on cue. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and all three of them stood in tense silence, occasionally making small talk, but mostly just checking the time on their watches impatiently, counting the minutes.
17 minutes after the guest was initially supposed to arrive (at least according to Vinda) did the doors finally open.
Albus craned his neck trying to see who the guest was, much to his dismay however a large crowd had gathered around the doors. Even the musicians hired by the Rosier family started playing a dramatic fanfare to welcome whoever it was.
Vinda had immediately pushed her way through the crowd and was now greeting (Or so Albus assumed- It was extremely hard to hear or see anything through the wall of people) the special guest.
Luckily (for once) Albus had Horace with him. It turned out, Slughorn was very good at parting the ever growing clump of people. Unluckily however, was who the particular guest was.
Shit.
For, Albus now had a clear view of the man and that meant that the man could also see him. Shit.
Their eyes met.
Shit.
Vinda turned to the crowd beaming “Thank you everyone for being here! I would like to introduce our very special guest this evening, Gellert Grindelwald!”
Albus' wine glass slipped from his hand with a crash. Then he turned and ran. He didn't even know where he was planning on going. All he knew was that he had to get far away. But the walls seemed to be closing in around him and a wave of dizziness swept over him causing him to stumble. Air. He needed air. No one in the crowd noticed his panicked state, they were all busy trying to get a closer look at Gellert.
Gellert.
Just as Albus had almost managed to convince himself that he was over him, that he wasn't still the same foolish boy he had been 7 years ago, Gellert was back and Albus could feel his carefully built barriers crumbling into dust.
Albus didn't dare look behind him for fear that Gellert was still watching him.
A hand suddenly closed around his wrist. He panicked expecting to see Gellert, but then the person spoke and it was almost as bad as it would have been if it had been Gellert “Come on Albus, you have to introduce yourself! From what dear Vinda said I feel certain that you two will get along very well” Horace Slughorn. Slughorn seemed oblivious to the state Albus was in as he forced Albus towards the one person he was trying so desperately to run away from. “Mr Grindelwald, I believe I already introduced myself but I have a friend that I’d like you to meet. He, like you, is a very powerful wizard and incredibly intellectual, Mr Grindelwald please allow me to introduce you to Albus Dumbledore”
Summer of 1899
“Albus! You won't believe what I've found!” Albus sat up suddenly and the notebook which he had been lazily doodling the sign of the Deathly Hallows in fell from his lap. His best friend’s eyes gleamed excitedly as he pointed to the book he had been reading, “Dark magic and its uses” by Livius Gaunt, translated by Violet Prince . Albus scooted closer so he could see the passage Gellert had been pointing at ‘and by chance a most extraordinary object has been gifted to me by fate. Wizards, witches and muggles alike will cower before me lest they face its true power. I speak of course of an ancient magical artifact that will bestow me with more dangerous magic than any has ever seen before. It's often spoken of only in legend but it's mine now the power of it is mine and mine alone.’ “The elder wand” breathed Albus “Its next owner will be easy to trace now. All we have to do is look for a biography of Livius’ life! Gellert this is brilliant” Gellert smiled playfully “I would like something in return for my brilliance." "Mhhmm?” Gellert was already leaning towards him “I think such brilliance deserves a kiss don't you agree?” “I do” “I love you Albus” “I love you too Gellert”
(Back to present) Pov Gellert
“Mr Grindelwald, please allow me to introduce you to Albus Dumbledore” The silence felt like an open wound. Snailhead or whatever his name was, was watching them expectantly. Albus was growing visibly paler with every passing second. Gellert cleared his throat awkwardly “It's an honour to meet you Mr Dumbledore “ “The honour is all mine” answered Albus though he looked like he wanted to say the exact opposite. Snailhead smiled widely, oblivious to the obvious tension “I knew you would like each other!” “Um yes. Well, I had better introduce myself to some of the other guests. It would be impolite for Miss Rosier to have specially invited me only for me to not socialize much.” “Nonsense! Vinda specifically said to me that she wanted you two to talk to each other” Gellert highly doubted that Vinda had said anything of the sort. He had met with her quite a number of times; she did not seem the type who approved of friendships, and he was just about to say as much- when the lights dimmed and the musicians abruptly switched from soft jazz to waltz.
Snails face brightened “Oh. Oh! It must be time for the dance. Yes Vinda told me about this part of the evening! Very traditional at pureblood parties, in fact perhaps you two should go in for a dance together” Albus started choking, and Gellert was left frozen for a second. Snailhead for his part, ignored both of them and was now muttering to himself “Oh yes yes I quite like that idea!”
Just when Gellert thought it couldn't get any worse Snail called out loudly to the musicians “Can we get some different music on for these two? I’m thinking maybe a symphony or a soft waltz!” Gellert really wished he could curse Snail in that moment but he had no idea how he could get away with it now. Everyone in the room had stopped dancing or talking or whatever to watch the three of them with interest. Gellert had no idea how to get out of this now without having to obliviate (or murder) over 60 people which would be quite the loss with the amount of followers he could potentially gain that evening, even if the idea of Snailhead's dead body was growing increasingly more appealing.
Perhaps the “Great Albus Dumbledore" had an idea as to how to stop this ridiculousness, but when he turned back towards him Albus was still looking like even the thought of dancing with Gellert was enough to make him vomit. Yep, they were definitely not going to get out of this.
With the eyes of everyone on them, Gellert reluctantly stepped towards Albus and slowly (as if stalling could help) placed his hands on Albus’ waist. Albus immediately flinched as if Gellert's touch had burned him. He did not look at Gellert as his own hands came to rest on Gellert’s shoulders.
Gellert had (unfortunately) had his fair share of dancing in the past, it was expected, being from a renown pureblood family, that he learned dancing at a young age in order to better his chances at “Securing a good marriage” to another rich pureblood family. Gellert had always hated dancing though. A loveless marriage to some snobby girl in the Black family had always been far from his bucket list (Not only because he was attracted to men) so dancing to him was always a useless talent. But this was with Albus, and as they waltzed to the music, Gellert started to think that maybe dancing wasn't so bad after all.
The crowd began to fade away and Gellert found himself drawing closer to Albus. Albus looked at him and Gellert was getting lost in the blue of his eyes. A warm feeling that he hadn't experienced in 7 years began to fill him, and it almost felt like they were back at Godric’s Hollow, just the two of them. Two geniuses with dreams far above the rest of the world. Just how it was supposed to be.
The music faded too quickly for Gellert’s liking. Albus pulled away as soon as the song ended. Taking the warmth with him. He began walking away, away from the people watching, away from the dance, away from Gellert. Not even Snail insisted they dance another dance.
Gellert couldn’t let this happen again. He grabbed Albus’ wrist “Wait!” Albus turned towards him “What do you want?” he asked tiredly “Please Albus just talk to me” Some hint of his desperateness must have shown on his face because Albus considered him for a second before nodding “Fine”
Gellert led Albus away from the party to one of the outdoor balconies (He had been to the Rosier mansion before and knew some of the more private spaces) The night air was cool and the moon cast light onto the courtyard below them. It was much quieter here. “Albus.. I’m sorry” “Are you? And pray tell what exactly are you sorry for, Grindelwald?” Albus’ tone was much sharper now and his eyes were narrowed and cold “For- for everything. For leaving you, for hurting your family, for your sister’s death” “You clearly have no idea of how much you should be sorry for. I cried for weeks after you left, I didn’t even get a letter and the only news I got was when the newspapers started reporting on you killing people. My sister was dead and all you cared about was yourself?” “I was foolish, I wasn’t thinking right!” “Do you even expect me to believe that you didn’t lie to me? That you weren’t playing with my feelings and that you actually did love me? How am I supposed to think that you actually care about anything besides your stupid cause?”
Gellert stared at Albus “How?” he whispered “How can you possibly think that I never loved you?” “Is it that stupid of a conclusion?” “Albus, I did love you. I do love you. I am so sorry for all the pain that I caused you. I only wish I could stand by your side again.” “The only way I could possibly be tempted to accept you is if you drop all of this. Drop the cause, drop the Greater Good, drop the murder and the violence” Gellert closed his eyes. Stop the Greater Good. Stop the cause. How could Albus ask this of him? When he knew how important the cause was to Gellert? But if he said no he would lose any chance he had with Albus. He never thought he’d have to choose between pursuing his dreams or being with the man he loved.
Albus’ voice snapped him out of his thoughts “That’s what I thought you’d choose” his voice was laced with sorrow “Goodbye Gellert” “No wait! I’ll- I’ll stop it all” Gellert hardly recognized the words coming out of his mouth. Albus stared at him in surprise “You- what?” “I’ll stop it. All of it.” Gellert repeated “You aren’t tricking me for your own gain?” “No. I promise you Albus. I’ll even make an unbreakable vow if necessary” “It’s- that won’t be necessary. I trust you to keep your word” Gellert’s heart warmed at those words “Thank you Albus” Albus smiled, the first real smile that Gellert had seen on his face that evening “Well. It was hard enough to resist you for that long” he said lightly. “I love you Albus” “I love you too Gellert”
When they re-entered the party Gellert bowed to Albus and held out his hand “May I have this dance?” “You may”