Umm yeah, so I know this ship is probably a lot more dead than the last time I was writing about it, but…

Okay so actually, JK Rowling has talked more about Dumbledore and Grindelwald than she originally did when I jumped on the ship, and in fact, just earlier this month, 2014, someone on Twitter attacked her for outing Dumbledore as gay in 2007, and JK Rowling tweeted back a retort, so I guess someone is still thinking about it even though this was 7 years ago. My original ghastly Dumbledore/Grindelwald fic still gets high traffic to this day though, so I leave it up, even though it's horrible.

This isn't really a Dumbledore/Grindelwald fic, but it's… featured. I've tried to stick to canon as much as possible and I haven't seen anything in it that contradicts JK Rowling's masterpiece. Though it looks like JK Rowling actually changed her mind about Grindelwald – she originally said he died in 1945, but we know by book 7, that's no longer the case; he's only imprisoned. I'll just leave you these two quotes from two different interviews here:

JK Rowling: [Grindelwald] was a user and a narcissist and I think someone like that would use it, would use the infatuation (Dumbledore's). I don't think that he would reciprocate in that way, although he would be as dazzled by Dumbledore as Dumbledore was by him, because he would see in Dumbledore, 'My God, I never knew there was someone as brilliant as me, as talented as me, as powerful as me. Together, we are unstoppable!' So I think he would take anything from Dumbledore to have him on his side.

JK Rowling: [I was asked] 'Is it a coincidence that [Grindelwald was defeated] in 1945?' and I said no. It amuses me to make allusions to things that were happening in the Muggle world, so my feeling would be that while there's a global Muggle war going on, there's also a global Wizarding war going on.

Emerson: Does he have any connection to -?

JK Rowling: I have no comment to make on that subject. [laughter]

Melissa: Do they feed each other, the Muggle and Wizarding wars?

JK Rowling: Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Albus Dumbledore woke with a start, as if someone had just drenched him in cold water. He did not know where he was, the time, month, or even the year, but he noticed right away that he felt very weak and sick.

"Calm down," a man said. "You're fine."

Albus looked to his right and saw Aberforth, his brother, sitting in a chair. Albus blinked at him and then he suddenly remembered.

"Where's Grindelwald?" he said suddenly. "Where am -?"

"You're in St. Mungos," Aberforth said with a familiar scowl. "You defeated Grindelwald and almost paid with your life. Do you remember the duel at all?"

"Is he - dead?"

Aberforth grumbled to himself, but managed to not roll his eyes. "No, he's not dead. He's in custody. You both nearly killed one another."

Aberforth then reached under his chair and snatched a copy of the Daily Prophet. He threw it roughly onto Albus' lap. The header had the largest print Albus had ever seen the newspaper use. The headline read DUMBLEDORE DEFEATS GRINDELWALD in bolded, italicized, and all capital letters. Albus didn't know what to say.

"I reckon you could say you're pretty famous as of late," Aberforth said finally.

Albus swallowed as his brain tried to catch up. "How long as I been out?"

Aberforth's mouth twitched and Albus prepared himself for a joke. But instead, Aberforth simply answered with, "Nearly three weeks."

"Three weeks?"

"Yeah. I told you that you both nearly killed each other, didn't I? Grindelwald hit you with a spell that the healers have never seen before. It attacked your nervous system. They thought you were going to die. They were so desperate they even gave you some Muggle medicine… I guess something, either magic or Muggle remedy, worked, or a combination of the two. Notice the twitch in your right hand?"

Albus looked down on his hands that were resting on the newspaper. There was a small, but visible tremor in his wand hand.

"That's where the spell hit you," Aberforth went on. "It was worse, far worse, when they first brought you in. After you were hit, you still somehow hit Grindelwald back, from the ground, they say. You both went down together and that's when the Aurors took over. An even match."

Albus swallowed again and said, "Why are you talking to me?"

"Don't know," Aberforth said, sounding indifferent. "When's the last time we talked?"

Albus knew fully that his brother remembered the last time they had spoken to one another. "It was Ariana's funeral, when you yelled at me and punched me in the face."

Aberforth shrugged. "Thought it was something like that. Four decades then."

Albus did not know what to say. He didn't know if he should apologize for Ariana's death or if that would just create additional tension; he didn't know if he should thank his brother for being here with him or if that would make Aberforth uncomfortable, so he opted for silence instead.

"The war's over," Aberforth said as he shuffled through more newspapers. "Wizarding and Muggle ones. Well, the Muggle one is still going a bit, but everyone's saying the fighting's just about over - they're saying it'll come to a close this year. Hitler's dead, so."

"How did -?"

"He killed himself. I don't know the details of how or why. I guess he just knew he'd lost and he checked out. I have the Muggle papers here," he said as he threw more newspapers on Albus' lap. "I tried reading them, but you know I'm rubbish at it. Maybe you'll understand them, you probably will, you're the brilliant one…. Yep, Hitler lost. And with his mate Grindelwald gone, I guess the bastard just gave up."

Albus sat in silence for several minutes. He then noticed that Aberforth was watching him very intently.

"So, how did you find him – corner him?" Aberforth said finally. "Nobody could find him."

Albus cringed and closed his eyes. "I wrote him a couple of letters."

"Letters," Aberforth echoed.

Albus sighed and reopened his eyes. "Yes, letters. I knew that Grindelwald had the advantage. I knew that if I could get him to trust me again, I might be able to get him while he was looking the other way... I didn't think I would survive a fair fight, but with the lives of millions and immeasurable human suffering resting on the outcome, I was fine with fighting an unfair fight. There would be no honor in it, but he would be imprisoned or dead just the same. I am not exactly proud of it."

"And why," Aberforth said slowly, "do you say Grindelwald had the advantage?"

"He just did," Albus said, not wanting to talk about the Elder wand that had been Grindelwald's. "Where is his wand, by the way?"

"It's in the drawer of your night stand," Aberforth said, still watching him closely. "You beat him – everyone figured you should do what you want with it."

Albus looked to his left and opened the drawer quickly. There it was, the Elder wand that he had somehow beat when he wasn't supposed to.

"Just out in the open?" Albus remarked in alarm. He grabbed it and put it in his pocket as if a random mad person would come to grab it from him.

"Don't change the subject," Aberforth said, evidently not realizing how important and dangerous Grindelwald's former wand was. "What kind of letters did you send him to find him?"

"Oh. Well, I sent him letters saying how sorry I was, and that I quit my job at Hogwarts and wanted to join him, and that…" He closed his eyes and cricked his neck. He could not bring himself to say that four letter word.

Aberforth pulled the same face he used to use on Albus whenever that topic came up (it was always Aberforth who brought it up). "That's fucking disgusting," he said, sounding exactly like the fifteen-year-old version of himself who had called Albus names and broken his nose all those years ago. "And Grindelwald actually believed you were still totally smitten with him?"

"Not exactly," Albus said with his color rising slightly. He could not meet Aberforth's eyes. "Gellert Grindelwald is not – nor has he ever been – unintelligent. He knew there was a good chance – even that it probably was – just a trick to find him and confront him. But Gellert thought it was worth the risk to see if I really did want to join him. He always wanted me – to use me –" Albus interjected when Aberforth pulled the face again, "solely for his own benefit, so he was hoping it was true. He used to say that we would have been unstoppable together. And maybe we might have been. I shudder to think. Gellert also thought that he would win an outright fight, so at worst-case scenario, he thought he would have to kill me. He doesn't..." his voice trailed off and he didn't finish that thought. "In other words, he thought he had nothing to lose and possibly, though a slim chance, could have a very large gain. I don't know how he didn't win. I should have lost. I don't know how Gellert –"

"So he's 'Gellert' again now, is he?"

"It's shorter than 'Grindelwald,'" Albus murmured.

"Right," Aberforth said, rolling his eyes this time. "But you did have to end up outright battling him anyway."

"He had his back turned and he was busy debating with me," Albus said. "He gets feverish when he's debating things, distracted. But he still caught me. There were Aurors watching us, ready for them to take him after I immobilized him. I had planned it so carefully, the location, everything; I had been working up to it for days –"

"Days?" Aberforth said in disbelief. "You had been with Grindelwald for days working up to it?"

"Well, yes. He would have been completely ready if I just showed up, whipped out my wand and tried to hex him, wouldn't he? I tried to earn his trust."

Aberforth seemed tense. "I don't even want to know what happened over those days," he said stiffly.

"I'll take it with me to the grave," Albus mumbled, looking at his right hand.

"Good. Well, I guess ultimately, you did the right thing. It's just a shame…"

That Ariana had to die first, Albus finished in his head. "I know," he said heavily. His brow furrowed and he thought in silence.

"Awake now, are we?" said a woman.

Albus jumped so badly that the newspapers fell onto the floor.

"Sorry," the healer said as she delicately picked them up for him. She was younger than him but not by much and wearing a sweet smile. "Your nervous system may be a bit – er – exaggerated in the coming months. You nearly died. I'm glad you didn't. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir."

Albus shook hands with her. "Call me Albus," he said awkwardly.

She smiled. "Well, Albus. It looks like we were correct. We thought you would be waking up today. We told your brother here this would be the case and he came hurrying to your side. How would you like to try to eat something for the first time in three weeks?"

"Okay," he said hesitantly, even though he was not thrilled at the idea. His mind was too blown away with the knowledge that Aberforth had come "hurrying" to his bedside when they had not spoken since they were teenagers.

After she walked away, Aberforth said in a low voice, "Should I tell her she doesn't have a chance with you because you're –"

"No," Albus said sharply. But then he saw that Aberforth was smiling at him for the first time in almost forty-six years. It was contagious. Albus found himself smiling too.

Questioner: Thank you for your answer about Dumbledore [being gay].

JK Rowling: You needed something to keep you going for the next ten years! Oh, my God, the fanfiction now, eh?