The unintentional Crimes of Grindelwald

Epilogue - Love is all we have now

The epilogue takes place in 1945, when the legendary duel of Gellert Grindelwald and Albus (insert all his names) Dumbledore was fought.

Love, Leviosa

He didn't want to do this, but he had avoided him for too long, he couldn't hesitate any longer. If Albus Dumbledore would wait any longer, more and more people would die and again, it would be only his fault. Newt had fought for too long, but he was here, ready to fight, to fight even it would cost his life. Even though the odds were against him and his brain told him that this was a mistake, his heart still believed. One of Newt Scamanders biggest mistakes in his whole life was being too loyal. Dumbledore saw that Grindelwald was ready to kill anyone in his way. His way to a better world, a way full of blood and sacrifices and lies, so many lies. "You can't win against me, Newt", Gellert whispered. "Umm... My philosophy is that there is no wall high enough and no challenge hard enough, if you try to do it, if you believe in yourself, then you have a chance of doing it. And even if I fail, I will have tried, which is more than anyone else did" Grindelwald almost laughed, but it was a sad laugh. "He said, and died the death of a hero. His loyalties broke him, but they all knew that he did more than anyone else ever dared to do: he dared to challenge me to a duel", he said, "There is always a way to stop this. I don't want to kill you, you are too bright to be killed. But it is your decision, and we all have to live with our decisions, even though I'd prefer not to fight against you, Mr. Scamander" Dumbledore couldn't watch from the shadows any longer. "Newt, there are more important things to do right now. Help Tina, she will probably just get a huge scar on her right arm, but you should be there for her. I'll deal with Grindelwald", he said to Newt. Newt lifted one eyebrow as a protest, but left faster than he would have thought. Why was it them every time? Why did it have to end like this? He didn't want to fight against Grindelwald, but he had to. He had to do it for Newt, for the next generation. "And I thought we were on a first name basis", Gellert smiled sadly, he looked away, as if something would happen, when he looked into Albus eyes. His intuition told him that this was more than just a possibility. "We both don't want to do this, do we?", Gellert Grindelwald said, and this time Dumbledore was more than sure that it was sadness, was what he heard out of his voice. But there was no time to pity Grindelwald. "You said that no one ever dared to challenge you to a duel. That's a lie. Are you so willing to give up your past? Is everything you say a lie? Everything you ever told me? Believe me, I just want to know. The truth, for once in my life", Dumbledore didn't speak that loud, but it still felt as if he was screaming his words into the wind. He was surprised by the bitterness in his voice, the tears in his eyes, the memories in his head and he was surprised that he could still feel the broken pieces of his heart hurting. He would never forget and even if he could, he would not want to. Because even after all, even though he tried to tell himself he just imagined something,, he still knew the good outweighed the bad, and he could not hide that it hurt even more because he knew that they could have had everything, that he had truly loved Gellert. Grindelwald looked up and for a second, he saw into his eyes. And what Dumbledore saw was worse than hate, it was regret. "Albus... I never... I never lied to you" "Yes, you did, Gellert. Stupefy!", he said and as he said it, he regretted casting the first spell. It wasn't Grindelwald who forced him to do it. It had been his idea. With a wink of his hand, Gellert made a shield around him and the spell didn't even touch the sand under his feet. "You manipulated me. The whole time, again and again. You used me for your own cause. For your greater good. And I regret having trusted you", Dumbledore said. He didn't have to look at Gellert, they both knew that he was lying. "It is all my fault, Albus. It is and there is nothing that is wrong with hating me from your point of few. You can hate me because of Ariana, because of Aberforth. But remember that I tried to save her and that I wrote you a letter after he had broken your nose. I take the blame, I take it all, because I deserve to be punished for wanting to rule the world in the wrong way.", he stared directly into Albus eyes and for a second, they both didn't move. Grindelwald took a deep breath, looked away and began to speak again. "You can hate me, Albus, because of what I have done to the world and to your family. You can hate me because I am who I am, but, I beg you, don't hate me, because you believe that I manipulated you" Was he imagining this? He had to, it wasn't possible that tears stood in Gellerts eyes. It was strange, that he had attacked him, that the dark wizard did not defend himself. Grindelwald should fight against him, he should be the brutal ruler, the world thought him to be. But instead he made it seem as if he didn't even want to fight. Then, Albus casted a spell. He didn't even really know why he did it. Expelliarmus. But Gellert Grindelwald didn't even try to pick up his wand. He just began to speak again. "Why does it have to be this way? Why does everyone think that I manipulated you? Why does no one say you manipulated me? Because that is what you did to me. I knew it. You would destroy my life. You would win. And you don't believe me when I say that. But look at you: here I stand, I should be the one attacking you. I should be the one, ready to do everything to kill you, so I become the ruler of the greater world. I don't. From every person in this world, why did I have to fight against you? The only person I am not ready to sacrifice for the greater good. My brain tells me that this is the biggest mistake of my life. But my heart says that it is the only way to peace I have. I knew it, I knew it since the day I first met you. You are the only person I love more than myself. A love great enough to move the world. You make me do this, Albus. I shouldn't say this, because it is stupid and no one would want to hear this, because it's too cheesy. I would give up everything for you. You know, I would sacrifice myself to save you. Didn't I tell you? I live or I die, it's your decision. You make me give up everything. Even the greater good. I shouldn't feel this way, no one should feel a love this great, that it breaks everything around it, all the rules, everything I ever believed in. You did it, you made me good, you made me give up everything. I shouldn't love you this way but I do, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. And now call the aurors, I have some friends around here, they will tell them from our duel. You know, just the greatest duel in the history of magic. Take the elder wand, you don't even need it, but you are its best master. But I feel better now, now that you know, I love you", Grindelwald smiled, a real smile, a smile full of happiness. It was the smile of the good Gellert, the one Albus had fallen in love with. He really had won, Gellert really chose him over every one. Even over himself and all the things he had wanted to achieve. In the end, their love had been great enough to change the world. Their story was over now, but the memories would stay. And this time, Albus wanted to remember.