And now Harry stood in the headmaster's office yet again. It was nighttime, and Dumbledore sagged sideways in the thronelike chair behind the desk, apparently semiconscious. His right hand dangled over the side, blackened and burned. Snape was muttering incantations, pointing his wand at the wrist of the hand, while with his left hand he tipped a goblet full of thick golden potion down Dumbledore's throat. After a moment or two, Dumbledore's eyelids fluttered and opened.
"Why," said Snape, without preamble, "why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realized that. Why even touch it?"
Marvolo Gaunt's ring lay on the desk before Dumbledore. It was cracked; the sword of Gryffindor lay beside it. Dumbledore grimaced.
"I…was a fool. Sorely tempted…"
"Tempted by what?"
Dumbledore did not answer.
"It is a miracle you managed to return here!" Snape sounded furious. "That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being – "
Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and examined it with the expression of one being shown an interesting curio.
"You have done very well, Severus. How long do you think I have?"
Dumbledore's tone was conversational; he might have been asking for a weather forecast. Snape hesitated, and then said, "I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. It will spread eventually; it is the sort of curse that strengthens overtime."
Dumbledore smiled. The news that he had less than a year to live seemed a matter of little or no concern to him.
"I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus."
"If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!" said Snape furiously. He looked down at the broken ring and the sword. "Did you think that breaking the ring would break the curse?"
"Something like that…I was delirious, no doubt…" said Dumbledore. With an effort he straightened himself in his chair. "Well, really, this makes matters much more straightforward."
Snape looked utterly perplexed. Dumbledore smiled.
Dumbledore stared after the Snape and then walked to his room and burst into tears, he had never imagined to see a lover like Snape. He wiped his tears remembering what his love cost him and raised his blackened hand in grimace and then laid down on the bed staring at the ceiling noting the points he had to do next morning.
"Minerva," Dumbledore said the next morning "How is everything going on?"
Professor McGonagall frowned "He is surly and adamant, I want Tuesdays and Saturdays for Quidditch practice but he always fights for Saturdays in a belief they will get more training. Bah! They will keep losing!" she muttered and Dumbledore smiled politely.
"I haven't seen you in such temper since what Umbridge's reign?" he asked and she scowled "Don't mention her name! In a duel I will not let her plead mercy, I'll kill such insanity"
Dumbledore laughed "Lemon drops?" he offered.
This is what he loved; the sessions with McGonagall always made him feel better except she kept pestering him about his hand. As the sun went down the horizon he bid her farewell and when she left he walked out to the grounds, down the Hogsmeade village, with the ring still on him.
He apparated in front of a building in utter ruins and ducked when a bat flew right above his head. Dumbledore placed his hand on his heart which was beating frantically and his eyes flickered on the small board to the entrance of the building "FOR THE GREATER GOOD" and tears filled his eyes.
He opened the gate magically and walked up to the last hallway to the last room, the door opened with a loud creak. A frail man lay on the hard bed staring at the door with wide eyes. Dumbledore's heart skipped a beat as the man grinned in recognition, showing his broken teeth. This wasn't how he had imagined it to be, the handsome man with golden brown locks, smiling at every joke he cracked, the deep discussions on the articles he wrote.
"Albus, at last we meet again" Gellert Grindelwald said sitting up. "Grindelwald" Dumbledore said.
"United them already?" Grindelwald asked and Dumbledore stared at him. Grindelwald grinned "You don't know how to use the resurrection stone?"
"How are you?" Dumbledore asked. "Just turn it thrice in your hands Albus and yes I'm as fine as you see me"
"Nice seeing you Gellert" Dumbledore said and extracted the latest magazine of Transfiguration today and handed it to Grindelwald. He turned his back to Grindelwald and blinked back tears and opened the door to escape the torture his heart was causing him.
"It was me" Grindelwald whispered and Dumbledore whirled around suddenly. "That's why I fled, because I didn't want a murder on my head, it wasn't any of you, Dumbledore, I killed Ariana"
"Right" Dumbledore said and turned back again "It doesn't make a difference now, I killed her and I will always live with the guilt and I killed Ariana, my ignorance, my stupidity killed her and…" he whispered and ran out of the door, not feeling the Gryffindor in him at all.
OoO
Dumbledore sat in his room staring at the ring in his palm and he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and twirled it in his hand. He gulped and opened his eyes and a wave of shock whizzed inside him as he saw his parents in front of him, younger than him. He touched the air and smiled "Ma" he whispered and they smiled, his heart slashed when he saw Ariana behind his mother.
"I was such a dunderhead, I'm sorry mom, you thought I would excel but I failed, I'm so sorry" he whispered. "You are despicable" his father spat and Dumbledore shouted "Dad wait…mom" and got up suddenly and rubbed the sweat off his forehead "Nightmare, just a nightmare" he soothed himself and glanced at the ring on his table and he knew he was and never will be the right owner to it and he already knew who the owner was and he decided never to use it. He put on the ring as a remembrance to the incident and what it cost him.
A/N : Sorry if it's a little boring, I was in a sleepy mood. Here goes the shameless self promotion, please do check my other fanfictions like The Tarnished Ties and Illusion of Life. See ya and I hope you liked the chapter. Review! I am selfish and need more and more reviews!
