Short Stories: Lover + Deux
Title: Lover
Author/Artist: Julia (hello_ilu/demon_dear)
Rating: PG. Because Gellert is flat-out insane, I swear.
Disclaimer: hahahahaha yes of course I am JKR. :P
Warnings: ....um. none that I can think of.
I watch you coming closer, and I can’t keep myself from staring. I can’t decide whether you’ve changed completely or not at all- you’ve grown a beard (it looks rather strange on you, lover) and your hair is even longer than it was when we were young.
Besides that, though, from what I can see you don’t look like you’ve aged a day. But you get closer still, and I see the lines on your face and I can tell that your eyes are tired, like an old man’s. You’re not old yet, lover, you shouldn’t look it. I suppose that may be my fault, though.
Really... this is not your affair. You should have stayed in England, where you were safe, and not let your nobility run away with you. I know you fear me- whether it is because of what I know or what you feel is the part I do not know. Does it matter? You were staying in England, and I was staying on the Continent, and I think you know why I stayed away from you, lover. It was not because I was scared that you could defeat me (if anyone ever does, I hope it is you. there is no one else in the world that I would allow to take the Elder Wand. I’d see it snapped first).
But.... ah, there you are. Do you want to know a secret? I hope you use Legilimency when we duel. Because then you will see why I haven’t been back to England. Not once, lover, not once since I left you.
---
I don’t know how long I’ve been here. I don’t remember how long ago it was when you left me here to die in my own prison, lover. But I don’t think I’ll be here much longer.
I heard about it, you know, when you died. But that’s not really why I think I’ll die soon. I’ve lived without you for years and years now (eighty between when I left you and when I came here! can you believe it, lover? and then so, so many after that), so knowing you’re that much further away doesn’t hurt as much as I may have once thought.
No, I am simply old now. And old men do die. It wouldn’t be like this if I hadn’t been such a bloody fool when we were young, would it? We might be sitting together instead, talking and laughing just as we would have been doing for so very many years. But I ruined that long ago, and that course is lost forever.
I must look a fright now, lover, because most of my teeth are gone (and here I was thinking that only Muggles would ever have to experience indignities like that!) and my hair... well, I don’t remember the last time I was able to clean it. I won’t think about it long, though. Much better to remember when we were young and beautiful and the most powerful beings in our little world, yes?
Someone is here, lover. It might be that boy I heard of, years ago, the one they say has come back, the one that you told them about (they didn’t believe you, but I did, and I wondered if he would come here, hoped he would). Some excitement at last, for the first time since our duel. I’ve been dying for something to do (will I die for this, now? do I care? I never feared death, not like he does) all these years, and here it is now.
Yes, it is him. Good. Beautiful. I’m lying to him, lover. Because I know you have it (had it), and the way you were when I last saw you (so bravebeautifulnoble that you might as well have glowed) you would never want the Wand to have another master, not again, not him.
I’m lying, and he’s going to kill me, I know it, but death is nothing, he is nothing. We were everything, lover, and he has no clue about anything we learned, not the Hallows and certainly not love, and those are really the only things that have mattered to me since that almost-perfect summer. But did you know that? Probably not. I won’t let him get the Wand, lover, I won’t let him get it, I won’t-
Title: Deux
Author/Artist: Julia (hello_ilu/demon_dear)
Rating: G/PG
Disclaimer: I would hope that JKR has better things to do with her time that write slashy fanfiction about her own characters.
Warnings: None, besides the obvious spoilers for DH.
Author's Note: The Albus-POV companion to Lover.
Eighty years, Gellert, and you are still as gorgeous as you once were. Your expression is colder now, perhaps; your hair barely shorter, but still the same brilliant, amazing, angelic-looking man I loved so many years ago. For a moment I even fancy that I see that old mischief in your eyes as I draw closer, though that must just be the sun’s reflection, or an aging man’s mind playing tricks on him.
Sometimes I wonder if you ever think about that summer- if you think about the nights that the owls almost died from exhaustion caused by our sending them back and forth so many times with heavy letters, even if it was only the scant distance between our windows. I wonder if you think about the other nights, the ones that saw you slipping out my window into the tree between my house and your great-aunt’s at unholy hours, then climbing easily through its branches and into your own bedroom window, grinning back at me before you closed it behind you.
I can’t imagine that you do- you, after all, were never one to let emotions run away with you as much as I. Even for the past five years, while Muggles and wizards alike died on your orders, I put off this duel because I knew the surge of memories it would bring back. And once the death toll mounted much too high to keep ignoring, then I came. And now- well, now I can barely bring myself to face you, old friend, not with that look in your eyes and that daring, teasing smile on your face. But I have to. And the worst part may be that it really is for the greater good.
---
There have been times I wished that you were still with me, old friend, but never as much I do now. I can only picture the chaos if you were here. You would be scolding me for being so foolish as to put on the ring, much as Severus is doing now. You would be asking delightedly about the Stone, if it had worked, what it had done. You would be pondering how to destroy the Horcrux without harming the Hallow.
But none of these are the reason I need you most now. No, the real reason is the curse on the ring. I am almost certain that you would know how to break it, or that you would find some way to do it that no one else would have thought of in a million years. Even if I could somehow get word to you, though, I doubt you would answer. I doubt even more that you would consent to help me if you did answer.
You must hate me by now, Gellert. You always did hate to be kept in one place for too long- I spent far too much time with you that summer not to know that. Almost every waking moment, and, nearer the end, so many sleeping moments as well- how could I not know you? I don’t think you were ever as attached to me as I was to you. You were much too smart for that, too good at thinking ahead to be caught in the trap of loving someone that you had only known for a few months.
No, Severus, I am not unconcious, merely thinking. The curse is contained now, you said it yourself. Stop making that face. I know I am a stupid old man at times, but I am not yet senile, despite the spectacular lack of wits I have shown this evening.
But Gellert, I hope that the news of my death might bring you happiness, since it is not likely that any of my other actions since the night before Ariana died have done so. Because I must die soon, old friend. Without you here to help, this curse will kill me. I refuse to die slowly and without any dignity at all. However I act, it seems that, at heart, I am still the proud boy you used to know.
Author/Artist: Julia (hello_ilu/demon_dear)
Rating: PG. Because Gellert is flat-out insane, I swear.
Disclaimer: hahahahaha yes of course I am JKR. :P
Warnings: ....um. none that I can think of.
I watch you coming closer, and I can’t keep myself from staring. I can’t decide whether you’ve changed completely or not at all- you’ve grown a beard (it looks rather strange on you, lover) and your hair is even longer than it was when we were young.
Besides that, though, from what I can see you don’t look like you’ve aged a day. But you get closer still, and I see the lines on your face and I can tell that your eyes are tired, like an old man’s. You’re not old yet, lover, you shouldn’t look it. I suppose that may be my fault, though.
Really... this is not your affair. You should have stayed in England, where you were safe, and not let your nobility run away with you. I know you fear me- whether it is because of what I know or what you feel is the part I do not know. Does it matter? You were staying in England, and I was staying on the Continent, and I think you know why I stayed away from you, lover. It was not because I was scared that you could defeat me (if anyone ever does, I hope it is you. there is no one else in the world that I would allow to take the Elder Wand. I’d see it snapped first).
But.... ah, there you are. Do you want to know a secret? I hope you use Legilimency when we duel. Because then you will see why I haven’t been back to England. Not once, lover, not once since I left you.
---
I don’t know how long I’ve been here. I don’t remember how long ago it was when you left me here to die in my own prison, lover. But I don’t think I’ll be here much longer.
I heard about it, you know, when you died. But that’s not really why I think I’ll die soon. I’ve lived without you for years and years now (eighty between when I left you and when I came here! can you believe it, lover? and then so, so many after that), so knowing you’re that much further away doesn’t hurt as much as I may have once thought.
No, I am simply old now. And old men do die. It wouldn’t be like this if I hadn’t been such a bloody fool when we were young, would it? We might be sitting together instead, talking and laughing just as we would have been doing for so very many years. But I ruined that long ago, and that course is lost forever.
I must look a fright now, lover, because most of my teeth are gone (and here I was thinking that only Muggles would ever have to experience indignities like that!) and my hair... well, I don’t remember the last time I was able to clean it. I won’t think about it long, though. Much better to remember when we were young and beautiful and the most powerful beings in our little world, yes?
Someone is here, lover. It might be that boy I heard of, years ago, the one they say has come back, the one that you told them about (they didn’t believe you, but I did, and I wondered if he would come here, hoped he would). Some excitement at last, for the first time since our duel. I’ve been dying for something to do (will I die for this, now? do I care? I never feared death, not like he does) all these years, and here it is now.
Yes, it is him. Good. Beautiful. I’m lying to him, lover. Because I know you have it (had it), and the way you were when I last saw you (so bravebeautifulnoble that you might as well have glowed) you would never want the Wand to have another master, not again, not him.
I’m lying, and he’s going to kill me, I know it, but death is nothing, he is nothing. We were everything, lover, and he has no clue about anything we learned, not the Hallows and certainly not love, and those are really the only things that have mattered to me since that almost-perfect summer. But did you know that? Probably not. I won’t let him get the Wand, lover, I won’t let him get it, I won’t-
Title: Deux
Author/Artist: Julia (hello_ilu/demon_dear)
Rating: G/PG
Disclaimer: I would hope that JKR has better things to do with her time that write slashy fanfiction about her own characters.
Warnings: None, besides the obvious spoilers for DH.
Author's Note: The Albus-POV companion to Lover.
Eighty years, Gellert, and you are still as gorgeous as you once were. Your expression is colder now, perhaps; your hair barely shorter, but still the same brilliant, amazing, angelic-looking man I loved so many years ago. For a moment I even fancy that I see that old mischief in your eyes as I draw closer, though that must just be the sun’s reflection, or an aging man’s mind playing tricks on him.
Sometimes I wonder if you ever think about that summer- if you think about the nights that the owls almost died from exhaustion caused by our sending them back and forth so many times with heavy letters, even if it was only the scant distance between our windows. I wonder if you think about the other nights, the ones that saw you slipping out my window into the tree between my house and your great-aunt’s at unholy hours, then climbing easily through its branches and into your own bedroom window, grinning back at me before you closed it behind you.
I can’t imagine that you do- you, after all, were never one to let emotions run away with you as much as I. Even for the past five years, while Muggles and wizards alike died on your orders, I put off this duel because I knew the surge of memories it would bring back. And once the death toll mounted much too high to keep ignoring, then I came. And now- well, now I can barely bring myself to face you, old friend, not with that look in your eyes and that daring, teasing smile on your face. But I have to. And the worst part may be that it really is for the greater good.
---
There have been times I wished that you were still with me, old friend, but never as much I do now. I can only picture the chaos if you were here. You would be scolding me for being so foolish as to put on the ring, much as Severus is doing now. You would be asking delightedly about the Stone, if it had worked, what it had done. You would be pondering how to destroy the Horcrux without harming the Hallow.
But none of these are the reason I need you most now. No, the real reason is the curse on the ring. I am almost certain that you would know how to break it, or that you would find some way to do it that no one else would have thought of in a million years. Even if I could somehow get word to you, though, I doubt you would answer. I doubt even more that you would consent to help me if you did answer.
You must hate me by now, Gellert. You always did hate to be kept in one place for too long- I spent far too much time with you that summer not to know that. Almost every waking moment, and, nearer the end, so many sleeping moments as well- how could I not know you? I don’t think you were ever as attached to me as I was to you. You were much too smart for that, too good at thinking ahead to be caught in the trap of loving someone that you had only known for a few months.
No, Severus, I am not unconcious, merely thinking. The curse is contained now, you said it yourself. Stop making that face. I know I am a stupid old man at times, but I am not yet senile, despite the spectacular lack of wits I have shown this evening.
But Gellert, I hope that the news of my death might bring you happiness, since it is not likely that any of my other actions since the night before Ariana died have done so. Because I must die soon, old friend. Without you here to help, this curse will kill me. I refuse to die slowly and without any dignity at all. However I act, it seems that, at heart, I am still the proud boy you used to know.