A/N- I bought a prompt over on the QLFC Procrastination Thread: Quidditch Supplies, and I'm about to make my galleons back and then some. Below is the prompt I ordered. Please enjoy.

[setting] Durmstrang

(Oh, and if you care, this fic takes place during Chapter 26 of Draco Sirius Black. But if you haven't read my multi-chapter WIP, that's okay. It will still make sense as a one shot.)

Word Count: 2166

It hadn't been Albus's plan to leave Hogwarts during spring holiday. He was fully aware that Tom Riddle, or one of his followers, was trying to get the stone currently hidden behind a number of safeguards somewhere beneath the school. Albus had fully intended to stay close to keep watch over Hogwarts and continue to fortify the Mirror of Erised.

However, a combination of events had Albus rushing to pack his necessities for his first ever trip to the Durmstrang Institute.

First, a letter arrived from Igor Karkaroff on Saturday morning. Albus had sent inquiries out to all the wizarding school headmasters and headmistresses, hoping to meet with a few in regards to an idea he'd had earlier that year. He hadn't expected his former pupil and known death eater traitor to reply to his missive at all, let alone invite him to visit the secluded and unbelievably private Durmstrang Institute. Igor had claimed to be too busy to leave his school for Albus's meeting. "So if you wish to have this meeting, you'll have to come to me," the letter continued. "An international portkey will be waiting at your Ministry until Saturday at 1400 hours. Come or don't. It matters not."

Albus had never rolled his eyes so hard in his life. Igor was still that petulant child who refused to speak English for the first six months he attended Hogwarts. One would think that spending time in Azkaban, turning in those you once called friends in exchange for your freedom, and then fleeing the country to avoid retaliation would humble a man. Unfortunately, Igor Karkaroff was still as arrogant as ever.

Albus glanced at the cuckoo clock on his mantle. He had four hours until the portkey would expire if Karkaroff was to be believed.

"Igor had to make things difficult, didn't he?" the old Headmaster muttered as he stood from his desk.

"What's going on?" asked Brutus Scrimgeour, shaking himself out of a false nap in his portrait frame.

"Oh, just one of my former students," Albus explained distractedly. "He has always been a bit egotistical, but to offer me a trip to Durmstrang with little time to prepare is a new level of self-importance."

"And yet, I see you are packing a bag," Brutus announced, waking some of the neighboring portraits from their slumber, their eyes coming to focus on Albus with curiosity.

"Well, you know my plans and why I reached out to him. I'm hoping to talk to him about beginning a Triwizard tournament. I may not like or agree with the way Igor runs his school, but I do not see why that means I should ignore his students and their potential."

"Do you think it wise to leave the school at this time," asked Phyllida Spore as Albus rummaged through his desk drawer to find Fawkes' food. He was being a little ridiculous considering he probably wouldn't be gone for more than a couple of hours at most.

But he was very excited, his blue eyes twinkling in the reflection of the cupboard mirror.

"It will be fine. I'll explain my absence to Minerva. And I'll have Filch fetch Severus before I leave."

Albus cinched his purple and silver striped robes tighter around his waist and straightened his silly hat in the mirror.

Although he did believe the students at Durmstrang deserved to hear his proposition in some form or another, the true reasons for his quick and abrupt departure were not nearly so wholesome.

The real reason lay in a cursed mirror a number of stories beneath his office. It lay in the hours he'd spent having to look into its reflection, at the way Gellert smiled at him, his grin so young and vibrant and completely unlike the disheveled prisoner Albus visited on an annual basis.

Albus had wanted to visit Durmstrang for almost a century now.

He'd wanted to see where Gellert Grindelwald went to school.

And he was finally going to.

When the portkey led to an abandoned classroom later that afternoon, Albus was met with a hard looking man with light brown hair shorn close to the scalp and piercing blue-gray eyes.

Obviously not Igor.

Albus knew exactly what the man was going to say before he even opened his mouth.

"Mister Dumbledore, the headmaster is busy at present. It will be a moment before he can see you."

Albus smiled at the middle-aged wizard warmly. "Of course. No trouble at all."

He'd expected this kind of greeting, Igor wanting to show off just how important and powerful he was now that he'd become the Durmstrang Headmaster. In fact, Albus had hoped for this kind of greeting. He wanted to look around the castle a bit before he spoke with Karkaroff.

The other wizard quickly stifled his surprise at Albus's easy cadence. "Right—" The wizard cleared his throat. "Well, I will come to fetch you once he's available."

Albus's smile turned rosy and almost sickly sweet. "I will be here."

The other wizard— and it was extremely rude to not have introduced himself— disappeared through the classroom door, closing it swiftly behind him.

Albus glanced around the room taking in the decor. It was surprisingly brighter than he'd expected it to be. It was a silly thought, but he'd always imagined Durmstrang to be dark and gloomy. But the desks and paneled lining of the walls were a deep cherry wood, the stonework light gray with speckles of emerald and amber. The light streaming in from the windows cast everything in a dewy, late afternoon haze.

It was quite lovely.

He was drawn to the bay window on the western side of the classroom. Through the thick paned glass beheld the most gorgeous of views. The fields were green, the small lakes were numerous, and the jagged mountains in the distance jutted out of the earth like Roman statues, their peaks a shining white.

The memory it brought to mind struck Albus like a speeding train.

~October of 1915, The Himalayas~

Albus shuffled into the room he and Gellert had rented since their arrival in India a month ago. It was sparse, with two twin beds on the eastern wall and a single window to the north that looked over the Himalayan Mountains. Gellert headed toward the window as Albus flopped onto the mattress nearby, exhausted by the events of the day.

The last month had been spent hunting an allusive manticore. The two lovers had developed a routine of sorts that they stuck to five days out of the week. They slept during the day and got up at dusk to track the wild beast. The venom was needed for a spell Gellert had found to find the Elder Wand, so they continued their search even if it was starting to prove futile.

Albus was exhausted. He was frustrated. He was loving every minute of this adventure with Gellert Grindelwald.

Twisting his head on the fluffy pillow, Albus glanced at the blond framed against the window panes. Gellert was beautiful, his one silver eye gleaming in the early morning light as he stared out into the vista beyond the glass.

Albus was so in love with this man, he sometimes forgot to breathe. It was terrifying.

Gellert seemed to be considering something, a wistful smile appearing on his face. Reaching into the pocket of his vest, Gellert suddenly pulled out a switch blade and immediately set to work on the window sill, carving something into the pine wood.

"What are you doing?" Albus asked, his words muffled by the way his face was scrunched into the pillow.

"The view. It reminds me of the Institute."

The room was quiet for a moment as Gellert continued to scratch at the wood. Albus snorted. "That's not really what I asked, Gellert."

Gellert glanced up then, his gaze wise beyond words. Albus was struck by Gellert's beauty once more. He would probably be in awe of this man for the rest of his life.

Suddenly, Gellert's face softened and Albus could see humor in his eyes. "No," he said, chuckling softly. "I suppose you didn't. However, in my mind, my statement made perfect sense. I was looking out the window at this gorgeous view and thought of Durmstrang." Gellert glanced out the window again, his smile dimming for a moment when he mentioned the school. Then he returned his gaze to Albus, a shit-eating grin blooming on his face. "And at Durmstrang I remember having the singular goal of carving the Deathly Hallows symbol into every window sill I came across."

Albus laughed. Gellert could make even the most mundane of stories a joy to listen to. He had that way about him. "And did you succeed in your goal?"

Gellert went back to his artwork, the small blade wedging itself into that groove in the wood with an expert hand. He sighed. "Alas, I was caught on count 426."

"426— Gellert!"

Gellert's smile broadened as he finished the symbol and stepped back to admire his work. Then the humor in his eyes vanished. "The professor fixed it immediately and threatened me with expulsion."

Albus sat up a bit in his bed, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Expulsion seems drastic for something so easily fixable."

"Yes, well…"

Gellert's face was suddenly bathed in the early morning light and he looked so terribly sad. Sorrow was usually an ugly emotion, but not on Gellert. If anything, Albus thought the older man looked even more beautiful than normal.

Looking back, Albus wished he hadn't been so caught up in Gellert's handsome face to ask why it showed such despondency. He wondered if it would have made a difference.

Gellert's mouth suddenly twisted into something devilish. "There are probably a few window sill's bearing my mark," he mused aloud. "There's no possibility all my markings were found, even now after all these years."

Albus rolled his eyes. Remembering that he was exhausted after an extremely long night, the younger wizard returned his head to the comfort of his pillow. "Well, if you're done— come to bed."

He heard, rather than saw, Gellert shuffle his way toward the mattress. "You aren't transfiguring the two beds into one?"

Albus snuffled with over-exaggeration. "Too tired," he replied. "Just squeeze in."

Gellert chuckled in good humor and shifted the sheets under Albus until they were both situated beneath them, so close and intertwined together that they could hear each other's heartbeats in the quiet of the room.

Albus winked open an eyelid to find Gellert smiling at him.

"Tonight." The blond whispered that single word like a promise, his breath causing a soft breeze to ghost across Albus's nose and cheeks. The sound of the curtains being spelled closed followed right after, and in the darkness, Gellert shuffled impossibly closer until the two wizards had formed one singular lump under the soft sheets. "Tonight," he repeated, "we will find that manticore… and then I can show you more of this world."

Albus wrapped an arm around the man next to him, and hummed his approval, letting his eyes close once more.

"Good morning, Albus," the blond mumbled into his hair. Albus closed his eyes and melted into the mattress, too warm in Gellert's arms, but not wanting to leave them. Ever.

Gellert might have said "Good morning, Albus," but Albus heard what was unsaid. Albus heard that Gellert thought he was beautiful, too.

~Present~

It seemed like forever ago and like yesterday.

Albus found himself running his fingers along the surface of the window sill, imagining every slight dip or groove to be the Deathly Hallow's signature triangle, circle, and line. He imagined a young Gellert Grindelwald standing right here a century ago, carving his legacy into the cherry wood of this school that never understood his gift. He wondered how things might have been different if Gellert had gone to Hogwarts or Beauxbatons instead.

He wondered if Durmstrang had been the death of Gellert before he'd even gotten a chance to be good.

Albus wondered if Slytherin House was heading in that direction, or had already been heading that way for years, decades, centuries.

"Ahem."

The rude wizard from earlier had returned and Albus took one last moment at the window to say goodbye to that blond boy with the dark and light eyes. He'd never gotten to meet him.

Albus twisted around with a pleasant smile on his face. Albus was curious to find out how long he'd been standing there. He'd meant to explore more of the castle and make his excuses when he wasn't where he said he'd be when the wizard came to fetch him.

But…

He'd seen all he needed to see.

He may not have met the Gellert Grindelwald who attended Durmstrang. But he knew him.

"The Headmaster is available to see you now."

Albus stepped away from the window and waved a hand toward the man. "Lead the way."