A/G fic, and it's about time
I've only been lurking in Grindeldore for how many months now? It's not that long, but OH WELL. I like it.
Title: Destinations
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald
Rating: Light PG
Summary: After Harry leaves the station, Dumbledore finally embarks on the next great adventure.
Author's Note: It's divided into two parts, because the two parts have different feels to them. Also, I don't know if it's clear, but this fic works under the assumption that Dumbledore's been waiting for Harry in limbo in the body Harry sees him in since he died.
And when Harry had gone, he stepped from the tired shell of memory, free and young and gleaming. Around him, King’s Cross Station faded to a green field dotted with wildflowers, and a bright yellow sun shone directly overhead in the crisp and cloudless sky. He paused, smiled, felt the wind lift his hair from the back of his neck, and strode purposefully towards nowhere at all. He passed many familiar faces; Lily and James and Sirius and Remus and Nymphadora, Fred and Cedric and Collin, Severus. He smiled warmly and nodded to each of them in turn, and carried on. Atop a grassy knoll they stood, all three of them, Kendra and Percival and Ariana, hale and whole as she never was. They had waited, for nearly a century they had waited, and he embraced them all with tears in his eyes. He kissed their cheeks and whispered his thanks before stepping aside, promising to return. To his right, just behind his family, stood a sheepish young man with glossy golden curls. He approached the young man, who looked up cautiously, and wrapped him tightly in his arms. And when they kissed, fiercely and rightly, it was finally enough.
---
“Gellert, my dear…” he murmured gently when they broke apart. “Though happy I am to have you alongside me, I daresay I must-”
Gellert Grindelwald took a step back, his face heavy with the weight of his small sad smile.
“Albus,” he said softly, “I have faced more hells than you can possibly imagine, on this plane and on Earth. I have felt remorse the likes of which I had never dared dream. I have known pain, Albus, and suffering. I have known it in Numengard, and I have known it for so long. So long, Albus, so many years alone in that dreary cell, with naught but my wits for company…”
Albus stepped forward and reached out to touch his cheek.
“Forgive me-” he began, but Gellert held up a hand in protest.
“Forgive you? I thank you. Those dreadful years, they taught me regret, they taught me humility, I… that is, I mean to say that they saved my soul. You saved my soul, Albus, when you locked me away,” he paused, taking a deep breath. “I realize now that my deeds are unpardonable. The guilt that that yet haunts me has manifested itself in… several ways… and I can dwell on it no longer. What is done cannot be undone, and no amount of suffering on my part can make it so.”
He peered up at Albus with bittersweet understanding reflected in his eyes.
“I must continue to exist knowing full well the consequences of my actions. Not a moment goes by where they do not plague my mind. What little peace I possess is both uneasy and fraught with complications. Is this not punishment enough?” His voice cracked slightly on the last syllable.
Albus said nothing, but merely held Gellert to his chest until his breathing steadied and the tension left his body.
“Besides,” he whispered, his lips moving against Albus’s shoulder, “the best part of me has always been with you.”
Title: Destinations
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald
Rating: Light PG
Summary: After Harry leaves the station, Dumbledore finally embarks on the next great adventure.
Author's Note: It's divided into two parts, because the two parts have different feels to them. Also, I don't know if it's clear, but this fic works under the assumption that Dumbledore's been waiting for Harry in limbo in the body Harry sees him in since he died.
And when Harry had gone, he stepped from the tired shell of memory, free and young and gleaming. Around him, King’s Cross Station faded to a green field dotted with wildflowers, and a bright yellow sun shone directly overhead in the crisp and cloudless sky. He paused, smiled, felt the wind lift his hair from the back of his neck, and strode purposefully towards nowhere at all. He passed many familiar faces; Lily and James and Sirius and Remus and Nymphadora, Fred and Cedric and Collin, Severus. He smiled warmly and nodded to each of them in turn, and carried on. Atop a grassy knoll they stood, all three of them, Kendra and Percival and Ariana, hale and whole as she never was. They had waited, for nearly a century they had waited, and he embraced them all with tears in his eyes. He kissed their cheeks and whispered his thanks before stepping aside, promising to return. To his right, just behind his family, stood a sheepish young man with glossy golden curls. He approached the young man, who looked up cautiously, and wrapped him tightly in his arms. And when they kissed, fiercely and rightly, it was finally enough.
---
“Gellert, my dear…” he murmured gently when they broke apart. “Though happy I am to have you alongside me, I daresay I must-”
Gellert Grindelwald took a step back, his face heavy with the weight of his small sad smile.
“Albus,” he said softly, “I have faced more hells than you can possibly imagine, on this plane and on Earth. I have felt remorse the likes of which I had never dared dream. I have known pain, Albus, and suffering. I have known it in Numengard, and I have known it for so long. So long, Albus, so many years alone in that dreary cell, with naught but my wits for company…”
Albus stepped forward and reached out to touch his cheek.
“Forgive me-” he began, but Gellert held up a hand in protest.
“Forgive you? I thank you. Those dreadful years, they taught me regret, they taught me humility, I… that is, I mean to say that they saved my soul. You saved my soul, Albus, when you locked me away,” he paused, taking a deep breath. “I realize now that my deeds are unpardonable. The guilt that that yet haunts me has manifested itself in… several ways… and I can dwell on it no longer. What is done cannot be undone, and no amount of suffering on my part can make it so.”
He peered up at Albus with bittersweet understanding reflected in his eyes.
“I must continue to exist knowing full well the consequences of my actions. Not a moment goes by where they do not plague my mind. What little peace I possess is both uneasy and fraught with complications. Is this not punishment enough?” His voice cracked slightly on the last syllable.
Albus said nothing, but merely held Gellert to his chest until his breathing steadied and the tension left his body.
“Besides,” he whispered, his lips moving against Albus’s shoulder, “the best part of me has always been with you.”