It took an agonizing amount of time, but Albus and Dumbledore were able to reach the sweet yet insidious place of their childhood, where they had listened with bated breath to Gellert's psychotic drivel, coated in sugar and honey. Those spices represent nothing more than his lingering, tentative touches, his radiant smiles, his declarations of brotherhood, of Albus being the only one who truly understood him.
How could he have been so naïve, so thoroughly naïve?
The feeling of dread was ever-present yet Dumbledore seemed to not have lost all of his boldness, if anything he was a strange combination of melancholy and humor at one's own expanse.
Ah, self-flagellation, was it called?
Gallery used to fancy himself a cure, the antibody wizardkind desperately needed against the no-maji, who in his twisted vision, were the pathogenic agents themselves. He was more like mind poison.
'How many Gallert Grindelwalds does it take to poison Albus Dumbledore? Just one, but the 'cure' must be increased in dosage.' Albus thought bitterly.
And to think he was risking exposure to Gallert again...
"Lemon drop?" he offered his younger double, who stared at him incredulously.
"There won't be any left once Gellert gets here" Dumbledore told him mournfully.
"There won't be any Gellert left if he attempted that" Albus answered curtly.
"Albus, I thought I had told you to come alone?" a suave voice said from behind.
Albus turned wearily while Dumbledore turned fastly, almost elegantly with a cunning smile on his face.
"Grindelwald!" Albus acknowledged him at the same time Dumbledore said "Gellert".
"I find it disconcerting that a stranger uses my first name instead of my dear old friend, Albus," he said with steel in his voice.
"I find it disconcerting that a 'dear friend' wouldn't recognize me," Dumbledore responded humorously.
"Pardon, old fossil? Am I supposed to know you? Albus, of all the people you could have brought to protect you..."
"I thought this was a social call, like you told me, Gellert. Besides, I didn't bring anyone but myself," Albus announced, a bit smug.
"Either you have lost the capacity to do easy mathematics or...come closer old man, I vow not to harm you tonight."
Dumbledore walked all the way to where Grindelwald stood, Albus, following him like a shadow.
Upon seeing Dumbledore up close, the dark wizard exclaimed "Mein Gott, you old fox, you were telling the truth, you only brought yourself tonight. Only you would use such clever words to disorient the enemy, my Albus"
"I don't belong to you," Dumbledore and Albus told him vehemently at the same time.
"I doubt you would have left your little school to become an unspeakable, which must have been the only way you would have been authorized to use such an advanced time-turner. Stealing forbidden magical items, liebling? I'm so proud" Gellert cooed, not caring for Albus's previously spoken words.
"You would know anything about pride," Albus told him, irked.
"Come now, don't be like that. You have come all the way here, it must have been for an important reason. Did I win, Albus?" he asked looking a bit mad and straight at Dumbledore "Is that the reason you had to bend the space-time continuum to get me. I'm flattered. However, if you couldn't defeat me then, what makes you think you can defeat me now? Join me, we should be as we've always been..."
Albus snorts "You always thought too much of yourself, Gellert"
"Oh but if it's not me then what could have possibly motivated you to time travel so far into the past? The boring scenery? The same neanderthals for ministers of magic? The childhood memories, perhaps? No, you were never one to obsess over reminiscing. And I suppose if you could have traveled into the past you would have chosen another moment, the moment where everything fell apart, my Albus when Arianna..."
"Do not speak of her! Do not dare even utter her name!" Albus said incensed.
"Why have you come?" Gellert demanded.
"You asked for us to be here," Dumbledore answered flatly and Albus chortled.
"Don't get cute, liebling, you know what I'm talking about. Why did you time travel?" Gellert asked menacingly.
"I'm afraid that is strictly confidential" Dumbledore answered.
Gellert sighed yet nodded, knowing how Albus got when someone pushed him too far.
Silence reigned until Gellert said "I have brought Butterkutchen"
They started talking like old times, Grindelwald kept interrupting every reminiscing story with remarks like "Those were the glory days", "We can still be just as great Albus! Albus, are you ignoring me?"
"Gellert, I came here to warn you," Dumbledore interrupted him.
"You have lost the war in the future. Give up being a dark lord, I don't want to defeat you again, but I will do it to protect those that I love."
The air grew unsettling, a chill ran past Albus's back. Gellert's lips curved, and he was lifting an eyebrow. A mocking gesture.
"I've seen the future Albus."
"If you're here to tell me about how dangerous the no-maji are..." Albus said with a sight.
"I saw a boy," Albus's eyes widened exponentially "Chocolate hair, blue eyes, rosy lips, being hugged by you."
There was no point in denying it, Gellert always believed his visions.
"If you dare even think of hurting him...!"
"At first I thought he was one of your students but now I wonder, could he be more? Could he be linked with the reason you traveled so far here? Personally, I would have time-traveled to a lovely tropical island, but you, you decided to play nursemaid, didn't you?"
"Raising children is honorable, Gellert, they are gifts," Dumbledore lectured him.
"I don't remember you being attracted to any women to create said gift, old friend, and the boy looks nothing like you, so he couldn't be your son via a drunken fumbling. As much of a bleeding heart as you are, you wouldn't adopt just any child from the street, no, the boy must be special."
"Any parent believes their child is special, Gellert," Dumbledore answered.
"Yes, but not every child can actually be considered a diamond in the rough, Albus, otherwise no one would be special, the boy must be important, important to the future. Since we're brothers, perhaps his dear uncle Gellert should pay him a visit," Grindelwald said with a grin.
Albus was fuming while Dumbledore said "Let us put it on schedule. How about between never and in your dreams, Gellert?"
Grindelwald laughed, sprinted forward, and hugged Albus who was trying very hard to extricate himself from Gellert's hold, cheeks aflame.
Once separated, Grindelwald bid Albus goodbye, looking melancholic and a bit longing. Loneliness must have gotten to him.
Meanwhile, at home, Tom was staring at the window, lost in thought.
'What if Dumbledore hasn't returned yet because he didn't want him anymore?'
"Mate, that's impossible. He still wants you." Harry answered, while the other inhabitants started looking at him. He must have been talking aloud again.
"Why, because I will cause trouble in the future?" Tom seethed.
"You don't need a specific timeline to cause trouble, Mr. Riddle, believe me" Severus joked "Nevertheless that is not the reason why Dumbledore will return to us"
"Oh? Did he forget his endless supply of lemon drops here?" Tom asked exasperated.
" Don't be a dunderhead. Dumbledore may have an endless supply of lemon drops, but he has only one adopted son"
"And you're more precious to him than all his lemon drops, Tom" Newt added while smiling.
"So, what you're telling me is, I'm more important than sugar addiction?"
Everyone nodded.
"Well so are elephants, so are birds, so is phytoplankton" Tom enumerated.
"Phytoplankton?" Harry asked while laughing.
"It produces around 2/3 of the world's atmospheric oxygen" the Riddle boy answered as if he were being quizzed.
"You don't see him adopting phytoplankton, now do you?" Severus asked humorously, a quirky smile on his lips.
"I bet he wanted to adopt the stupid plant instead!" Tom muttered, a bit sad.
"Are you feeling threatened by a plant?" Harry asked, enjoying the situation tremendously "Voldemort's new arch-nemesis, ladies and gents, phytoplankton, as known as Plankty"
Tom got mad, so mad that he started screaming and trying to hit Harry, who looked at Riddle as if an angry toddler was trying to hurt him. Harry had learned self-defense years ago, and a few martial arts, but did not want to hurt the child version of his arch-nemesis, therefore he just avoided or blocked his sloppy punches.
Tom had always seen kids at the orphanage fight over the stupidest of things, and while he did not want to copy them, he felt insulted and angry and mentally exhausted. He used to get into fights too, back when he couldn't use magic to ward off the bullies. He was known for hitting under the belt, literally, and for biting his assailants. He did not want a repeat of his childhood misadventures because he concluded, he might catch silliness if he bit Harry.
The adults tried to separate the children. It was at that moment when Albus and Dumbledore walked in.
"What in the world is going on!" Albus shouted, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Tom thought it would be fun if I taught him some karate moves," Harry told him while grinning.
"That's not what happened, you little-" Tom started to say but was interrupted by Harry.
"Fret not, young padawan, I will release you from the anger which is clouding your success, or my name is not Larry Otter," Harry said while laughing.
"Release this!" Tom said while trying to hit Harry, only to be physically dragged back by Albus who was looking at Tom with a disappointed frown on his face.
"What started the fight?" Dumbledore asked while looking intently at his adopted son.
Severus started to say "Mr. Riddle here thought you would not come back to him, ergo 'You must not love him anymore'. We tried to reason with him and tell him that he is more important to you than your infernal lemon drops however he started listing off a series of other animals and plants that are also more important than your sugar addiction. I never thought I'd see the day he would think of himself in such a depreciating manner. When we pointed out the obvious, that you did not adopt a plant instead-"
"Phytoplankton" Harry interrupted.
"That's the moment when Mr. Riddle used imagined scenarios, claiming that 'You would have much preferred a plant over him'. After that Harry said some...unsuitable jokes then your darling adopted son tried to hit my adopted son, Albus. He, he..."
"Threw a tantrum" Newt answered.
"Yes," Severus said.
"I see," Dumbledore said while sighing, "First of all, Tom, you need not worry, my boy, I will never replace you with anyone or anything in this world. I will always love you."
He enveloped Tom into a warm embrace, the young teenager felt secure and cherished. For some unknown reason to him, he started crying but hid his face so that no one would see what he considered to be weakness.
It seemed like eons until Tom hugged him back.
"As for how you acted, little boy, I believe you owe me a set of lines, a standing in the corner and no dessert, for three days" Albus said, trying to be the disciplinarian.
Tom looked at Dumbledore who nodded.
"What shall I write?" Tom asked with a sigh.
"I will not dare injure any member of this house, I will reign in my temper, three hundred lines, Tom," Albus told him.
Tom nodded, and at that moment Severus said "I believe it would be beneficial if you were to write some lines too, Harry. I will not make unsuitable jokes at someone's expanse when they are feeling vulnerable, three hundred lines, child"
Harry smiled, put his hand, briefly on Tom's shoulder, and said while extending his other hand" I'm sorry I laughed at you. Peace?"
Tom wanted to refuse the boy, after all, if you asked Tom, it's because of Harry that he will not get any dessert for three days yet there was something sincere in his voice as if he wanted to truly make amends, no, more than that, as if he wanted to become close, to forge a friendship. Tom had never had friends, too freaky to be considered companionable, but that did mean he did not secretly yearn for some. And Harry was funny and kind...
"Peace" Tom responded while shaking Harry's hand.
Albus smiled.
The next morning (after Newt had gone to his home), Tom woke up in high spirits until he remembered...he was technically grounded. He decided then and there that instead of letting it ruin his good mood, he will act as if he weren't truly grounded, he will find a way to adapt, like a chameleon, to the bleak circumstances.
It was for that reason that, when he first began writing his lines, with Albus looming next to him, arms crossed, he imagined he was merely exercising his penmanship by writing the most asinine of things. Oh please, as if his temper needed to be reigned in, he was one with calmness, he was very zen, as Amy Benson used to say.
"Tom, why are you smiling during your punishment?" Albus inquired feeling suspicious.
"I am finding my inner zen, professor," Tom told him expressionlessly.
"Inner zen? Is that a form of black magic?" Albus asked worriedly.
Tom started grinning.
"What if I said that it was, and the only way to stop it, is if you were to cut down on my punishment," Tom asked feeling hopeful.
"I'd say you must still be dreaming, son" his professor answered humorously.
'I had to try' Tom thought before that single, special word, registered in his mind...son.
He's never been called that before, he liked it.
"Tom! Tom!" Albus said while shaking him gently "Are you daydreaming? The lines won't write themselves"
The boy decided to make his professor as happy and shocked as he was by responding "They would if we had a special quill...d-dad"
"You called me...?"
"Yes. Are you angry?"
"No!" Albus reassured him hurriedly while embracing him and really, Tom didn't mind writing lines anymore...
He spent his afternoon looking through various ancient tomes, most of them were about potions and 'borrowed' from Severus.
One of them told the story of a courageous potion master, who sought to neutralize the effects of a poisonous plant growing everywhere near his village and the solution had been discovered by accident. It was interesting.
He had been so absorbed into the book, he did not notice Harry tiptoeing behind him.
"Boo!"
"Don't be ridiculous. Your infantile attempt to scare me won't work," Tom told him while flipping a page.
"Really? How about this? Severus threatens everyone who burrows his books without asking because of 'the potential, lethal, unstoppable urge' to recreate some of the most dangerous recipes."
"I'm not afraid of him," Tom reassured himself.
"He might use you for potion ingredients," Harry told him while smiling.
"Father would never let him!" Tom yelled before he could think of saying something else to hide how he was feeling.
Harry's eyes widened then he started smiling.
"I'm glad you're getting along better with Dumbledore, Tom," he said.
Tom was feeling conflicted, he liked the boy and wanted him as his friend but he could be really annoying at times. Maybe if he knew a bit more about the boy...?
"How did you meet Severus?" Tom asked curiously.
"He broke down my relative's door, rescued me from my cupboard, and offered to adopt me," Harry answered nonchalantly.
"He broke down your door? Had the man never heard of knocking?" Tom asked.
"He did knock, a thousand times, but the telly was on at the highest volume, courtesy of Dudley. I wonder how he's doing these days..."
"Dudley?"
"My older cousin."
"I remember you told me your relatives were abhorrent. Why weren't you sent somewhere else?" Tom asked.
Harry went silent all of a sudden, gave him a sad smile then exited the room.
'Was it something I said?' Tom wondered.
In order to find out the truth about the situation, to solve this unexpected quandary, Tom went to Dumbledore.
"Father? Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, my boy" Dumbledore said while beaming at him for being called father.
"Why did Harry have to stay with a pack of heartless wolves for relatives? Were his parents dead?"
Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes turned sad.
"Voldemort, that is to say, your future version, killed his parents, Tom. He had to stay with the Dursleys because of blood wards" Dumbledore explained and Tom started to feel horrible.
'How could the other boy stand to be in his presence?' he thought, feeling sick to his stomach.
But why would he attack Harry's parents? Why become a dark lord? He wanted to become the most powerful sorcerer in the whole world and to be immortal. Nowhere in that job description, did it say you had to murder innocent souls.
Dumbledore noticed Tom was feeling sad therefore he hugged him and said "Don't worry, my boy. We're here to change your errors"
Tom closed his eyes and tried to believe him.
It was later that day when Dumbledore and Albus sat in the living room and told them how his meeting with Grindelwald unfolded.
"It must have been frightening," Tom said aloud.
"Well..." Albus started to say.
"It's not like he brought Butterkuchen to sway you to his side. Did he try to Crucio you?" Tom continued, in his eyes, you could find worry and fascination.
"Gellert and I only talked, Tom. There was no secret duel you had missed, I assure you," Dumbledore told him mirthfully" He did try to sway me to his side, using threats and emotional manipulation but of course, his attempts were unsuccessful. However, he realized that I time traveled and I found out that he had a vision..."
"Grindelwald has visions?" Harry and Tom asked, looking at each other.
"He saw you and me hugging, Tom, and then he made a threat of paying you a visit," Albus told them seething.
Tom started to worry.
'What did that non compos mentis (out of his mind) dark lord want with him? Capture him to manipulate his father?'
"Because of these circumstances, next time you go outside and at Hogwarts, you will have to be guarded by myself, Harry, or Severus," Dumbledore told him in a no-nonsense tone.
'Guarded? Like a princess in distress? Fat chance of that happening' Tom thought.
It was a grueling affair. Tom noticed straight away how much the news Dumbledore had told them last night affected the rest of his cohabitants. Harry was following him around like a lost puppy, Severus kept looking at him as if to make sure he was still there, although he pretended to be unaffected lest he be caught in the act of caring for other persons not named Harry, and his kidnapper turned father was always looking for an occasion to have discussions with him.
At first, Tom had dreaded those talks, afraid he would be subjected to the horror talk that started like this "When men and women love each other very much..." and ended like "So use protection and make responsible choices".
He had looked into an anatomy book the year after he turned thirteen, he knew, in a way, how these...mechanics of conception worked. He just didn't think that, in the future, he would be able to lay his guard down enough to be involved in the perpetuation of the species...not that he didn't want someone like him around, 'and of course', Tom thought, 'his children would be the most superior witches or wizards who walked the earth.'
Although he doubted he'll have any children in the future, what with being followed around permanently.
"Shoo! Go away! I'm at the toilet, Harry, you're not allowed to follow me in here!"
"What if you just pretend to use the toilet, then get out of the house when I'm not looking and one of Grindelwald's men catches you then..."
"I'm sorry, do you wish for a written declaration that I'm using the facilities instead of escaping house arrest? An unbreakable vow perhaps? Or will mere parchment be enough for you? Shall I sign in blood, Harry?" Tom asked while smiling.
"Sorry, I just want to protect you, it's all. Dumbledore has always been like a grandfather for me and now that you're his son" Harry said while sighing.
"So this is what motivates you, loyalty to Dumbledore?" Tom inquired.
"And our friendship," Harry pointed out.
"We're not friends, we're...peaceful cohabitants," Tom corrected him.
"Would a peaceful cohabitant sneak you dessert while you're still grounded?" Hary asked and Tom, after washing his hands, opened the door ajar and asked "Where are the goods?"
Harry smiled and handed him a chocolate bar, Tom ate it slowly savoring the strange yet satisfying combination of caramel, chocolate, and peanuts.