Grindeldore oneshots

10

Happy Christmas, Albus

AlbusGellertAlways

Summary:

It's 1918 at Hogwarts with Christmas rapidly approaching. Gellert has a wonderful present to give Albus if he can just pull Albus' attention away from grading papers. Can de-ageing himself back to age sixteen when Gellert first met Albus do the trick?

Story:

Hogwarts Castle, 1918

Albus sat at his desk, absentmindedly rolling his quill in his right hand as he read a student's mediocre essay on patronuses. A tall Christmas tree twinkled in the corner of his office, a reminder that he should probably be doing something more festive to celebrate the holiday season. A dusting of snow had fallen outside, not nearly enough to halt the Hogwarts Express. Albus was leaving Hogwarts tomorrow to visit Aberforth and Ariana, who still lived in the old Dumbledore home in Godric's Hollow. Aberforth was bringing his fiancé home to meet Albus for the first time. Albus imagined that once they married, Ariana would have the house to herself.

After graduating Hogwarts at twenty-one, Ariana started a new life for herself as a gardener. Connecting with nature seemed to reduce her still lingering anxiety. She had a greenhouse in the backyard and had made a successful business out of selling flowers, plants, and herbal home remedies. Albus could almost imagine his childhood home filled with crimson and white poinsettias, which thrived under Ariana's care. It would be good to see both of his siblings, who he kept in touch with weekly by owl. Albus didn't understand those people who claimed it was so difficult to stay in touch with family. To him it came quite naturally. Family was the most important thing that had mattered to Albus until one fateful day when he finally met his match.

Although Albus had vowed to finish grading these papers by tonight, he allowed his memory to drift to the distant past. He recalled that fateful day at Flourish and Blotts, one that would change his life for the better. Then Albus remembered what happened directly after he met that beautiful blonde boy all those years ago. Albus had felt an unexplainable pull towards him, which transcended all rational thought. They'd apparated into Bathilda's home, stripped down, kissed, and then...

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore," a low voice spoke into Albus' left ear. Albus felt someone's hot breath on the back of his neck, which caused him to both jump and shiver. Then Albus let out a sigh of relief when he saw who it was.

Blue and grey eyes gleamed in the darkness, the familiar sight calming Albus' racing heart. "Merlin's beard, Gellert," Albus scolded, but his voice was tinged with affection. "Don't scare me like that."

"It's Professor Grindelwald now," Gellert reminded him with a wink, conjuring a floating blue light to shine overhead. He pulled up a chair to sit next to Albus, the blue rays illuminating his chiseled cheekbones.

Albus smiled. "So it is. I'm glad I persuaded you to work here. It's much more convenient than when you worked for the Ministry, as we can share quarters here."

"I enjoyed being an auror but having to take down Lord Mordred really soured my opinion of the job." Gellert winced. "I'd never felt such powerful dark magic."

"It took both of us and an army of aurors to bring him down," said Albus with a shudder.

"I know you wished that we could've imprisoned him, but when he cast the killing curse towards you, I reflected it on instinct," said Gellert. "It was dumb luck that it took him off guard. Thank Merlin that Lord Mordred's death was a catalyst for the end of the muggle war in November."