Fic Update: Absolution (Dumbledore)

[reverdybrune]

Title: Absolution
Characters: Albus Dumbledore, cameos by Aberforth, Snape, and Harry
Rating: PG
Length: 2,200 words
Summary: You don’t expect forgiveness. You do the best you can, always, but you of all people know that it will never be enough.
Warnings: DH spoilers, angst

A/N: Everything belongs to JK Rowling, of course. Quotes from canon are

Comments

[reverdybrune]

Thank you so much!

Ever since OotP it's stuck me how sad the relationship between Harry and Dumbledore really is, because it was always going to be a mess for both of them, wasn't it? At least Harry made his peace with his past, but Dumbledore, apparently, never did. Gah. I'm such a sucker for platonic Harry/Dumbledore angst. That bit with Harry shouting at the end of The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" was the most tear-jerking part of DH for me. It just.. it drives me crazy, because if Dumbledore could've stopped blaming himself for five minutes he maybe would have realized that all Harry wanted was to know that he cared. *sigh*

As for Sirius, I heard someone say that Dumbledore kept other people from knowing the truth about Harry because Dumbledore didn't want them to try and stop Harry from sacrificing himself. So naturally I had to put in something about what I think of that. I can just imagine Molly having to decide between her family (and the world) and Harry. Not a choice, IMO, Dumbledore would have wished on anyone, including himself. That line you quoted is one of my favorites, as well.

*is done rambling*

Thanks again. :D

[nekocat17]

Maybe I'm just stupid to not know, but I'm curious why it was going to be a mess for both of them?

[reverdybrune]

Well, that part is more my particular reading of the characters than anything. It's just that Dumbledore and Harry are both people who consider the big picture, and that doesn't exactly make for an easy relationship. I think in some ways it might have been easier for both of them if they hadn't been so close; Harry wouldn't have been so upset in DH if he hadn't expected more from Dumbledore. The same is true in OotP. But then, I don't blame Dumbledore for it either; once he started involving himself in Harry's life, of course both of them got more attached than was probably wise. It seems to me that Dumbledore always expected Harry to be more angry with him than Harry actually was. On Dumbledore's side there's this immense guilt, and on Harry's there's abandonment, and through mutual misunderstanding we have lots of angst in OotP and DH. And I think that it was always going to be that way (messy, angsty, etc.) unless Dumbledore actually had turned out to be a manipulative jerk who didn't give a damn about Harry, or something.

I'm not sure I'm being any more coherent. :-\ Honestly, thinking about Dumbledore too much gives me a headache. I don't really envy him his position. He didn't have any good options that didn't end in either death&destruction or emo!Harry.

[nekocat17]

Ohh, okay I get it now. :) Thanks for taking the time to explain!