AN: Now that we have more backstory to Dumbledore, HBP (and really all the books) suddenly have new dimensions to them…


The pain is absolute and all-consuming. Albus can feel it running down every nerve of his body, wracking his limbs with overwhelming agony. And yet it is nothing compared to the mental anguish, the horror of watching Aberforth, his brother, tortured under the cruciatus curse. It's not even close to the pain of seeing Arianna fall, over and over again, in a flash of light so blinding that he can't be sure which spell hit. Worst of all is seeing, for the first time in years, the handsome face of Gellert, pinched with fury and the sinking realization in Albus' stomach that either one of them could have killed Arianna.

He is one hundred and fifteen years old, but at this moment Albus can do nothing but lay on the hard rock of the cave and sob as these images flash over and over through his mind. He feels nothing but this pain and hears nothing but Arianna's screams and Gellert's laughter and in this moment he truly wants nothing more than to die.

There is a splash nearby, although Albus barely hears it as though it is at a great distance, and he becomes dimly aware of someone else's yells. A boy, he remembers vaguely. He came here with a boy and that boy is in trouble.

It takes monumental effort to pull himself to his feet, and Albus can still barely stand straight, but the concentration required clears his head and in that moment he remembers who he is and why he has come here.

Inflamare! He cries loudly, knowing the spell is too powerful for someone weakened as he is and knowing that it will tax his dwindling reserves of strength. This fight isn't even close to over, but Albus can feel in his bones that his part is coming to an end.

But he won't go without a fight, a final showing. And he won't give in while Harry needs him. He tried inaction before, afraid to take a side and afraid to admit what his own friend – what he himself might have done. This time there can be no inaction. Harry is too important – to the wizarding world, to his friends and perhaps most of all – Albus realizes with a flash of clarity – to himself. This time Albus will put someone else first and he can be the one to sacrifice for the greater good.

This time, he won't stand back and watch as someone he loves is killed.