The next chapter! I hope you like it and I would be very happy if you let me know what you think so far.
I don't own the places or characters!
When Albus woke up again, the first thing he did was to look to the left. He had to make sure that he hadn't been dreaming. And to his surprise, there still was someone sitting on the chair next to his bed. But this time, the person wasn't looking at him.
Gellert was asleep and from the way he was lying there motionless, Albus knew that he really needed it. The chair looked different than the first time he had woken up – Gellert must have transformed it into something more comfortable. Albus looked at the features of his friend for some time and couldn't stop himself from smiling. He looked peaceful and relaxed. And somehow, his expression looked happy.
A warm feeling appeared in Albus' stomach. Gellert was still there, he had stayed! He wondered how he managed to convince him, but it didn't matter right now. He's here, that's all that matters. After some time, Albus realized that he was still smiling at his friend. What would he think if he woke up now?
He began to feel uncomfortable and tried to change his position. His body was still hurting – maybe because he had been stupid enough to sit up and get hold of Gellert's wrist for too long – and it wasn't easy to move. He groaned when the pain started to get worse.
There was a movement next to him and before he knew what was happening, Gellert was standing next to his bed, looking down at him. There was this strange expression on his face again which Albus recognized as worry now. "Albus, you're awake again." Gellert said and Albus smiled weakly.
"I thought you were asleep." He said slowly.
At that, Gellert laughed. "I was. But you can't really believe that I would miss it when you wake up again." He frowned at him. "Are you in pain? I'll get a healer." And without waiting for his answer, Gellert left the room.
After a few minutes, he came back with a tall, dark haired woman by his side. She introduced herself as Anne Brown. A strange name for a witch, Albus had thought. She asked Gellert to leave the room – which he reluctantly did – and began to look over his injuries. There weren't many ones that could be seen, just a few bruises. All the other injuries had been caused by magic and even the healers weren't sure what really happened to him. Mostly because Gellert had refused to tell them about the events which brought him here. She asked him what happened as well, but he just shrugged and told her that he couldn't remember it. The suspicious look on Mrs. Browns face told him that she didn't believe his lie. However, she didn't ask more questions about it.
"We thought that you would never wake up." She said when she gave him a potion against the pain. "Your friend was very desperate when you came here. His mood changed from angry to worried and then again to angry in seconds. He refused to leave this room for days. I don't think that he even slept while he was waiting for you to wake up."
Albus didn't know what to say so he just stayed silent. He had seen the look on Gellert's face, but he couldn't have been that worried, could he? His friend was always so calm, even in situations were others would freak out. He was a very strong person. So why should he be this worried about Albus? Especially when he had fought with his brother and knew that someone might get hurt.
As soon as the healer left, Gellert entered the room again. Albus noticed that he was wearing something different and wondered how he had managed to change so fast. "Are you feeling better now?" Gellert asked and sat down again. There was this tension in his shoulders and Albus began to worry. What if he was still going to leave and just promised to stay while Albus was in the hospital?
When Albus didn't reply, Gellert narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong?"
Albus still didn't answer him, he was lost in thoughts. His friend wouldn't leave him, he tried to tell himself. However, the doubts didn't vanish.
"Albus." Gellert's voice took him back to reality and he noticed that his friend looked frustrated. "What's going on? You must talk to me, you know? I can't read minds." He smiled slightly, though it didn't reach his eyes. He was still frowning at Albus.
He sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just…" He hesitated, not sure if he could tell Gellert the truth about his doubts. Sometimes, he got angry very fast.
"You're afraid that I am going to leave you." Gellert said calmly and Albus raised his eyebrows. He knew that he must look very surprised. Gellert let out a loud laugh. "Oh come on, Albus! It's never been difficult to guess what you're thinking. You can't hide your emotions very well form me."
Gellert looked at him for some time, before he leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms. "I promised you that I'll stay." He said simply.
"You promised that you'd still be here when I wake up." Albus corrected him, his doubts coming back. "You kept that promise. You didn't say that you'd stay after that."
Now Gellert's expression changed to an offended one. "Albus Dumbledore." He began seriously. "Do you really think that I could just leave you like that? After everything that you told me?"
Albus wanted to shrug his shoulders, but he stopped himself in the last moment. "I'm still don't sure if that's what you want. Staying with me. With us. You know that my family will be there as well. And since you don't like Aberforth very much… And we still have to figure out so many things because it looks like we don't see everything in the same way-"
"And would that be a problem?" Gellert interrupted him, his tone curious. "That we have to talk about our differences?" He explained when he saw the confused look on Albus' face.
"I already told you that we can figure it out together. There has to be a path that works for both of us." Albus said seriously.
Slowly, the hard look on Gellert's face vanished again. He nodded thoughtfully. "That's good to hear. And if it makes you feel better and erases those stupid thoughts of yours, I'll say it again. I'll stay with you, Albus. As long as you want me by your side." He leaned forward again. "I've never told you this and I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but you mean a lot to me as well. And I don't want to leave."
The strange feeling in Albus' stomach was back. For some time, he just stared at the young man in front of him. Slowly, a cheeky grin appeared on Gellert's lips and that's all it took for Albus to grin as well.
"You really mean that?" He muttered and blushed when Gellert laughed loudly.
"I will stay by your side as long as you want me, I promise." Gellert replied seriously and his eyes were shining. "And now stop asking before I'll think about it again and might hex you!"
The moment those words were spoken, Gellert's eyes widened and he paled. Albus realized the mistake immediately. "It wasn't your fault, Gel." He said softly, but Gellert shook his head.
"It was, Albus." He whispered and Albus thought that there was a pained tone in his voice.
"I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened." Albus said seriously. "I knew what I was doing when I stepped between you. I knew the risks. And I had accepted the fact that I might not make it." At those words, Gellert shook his head violently.
"Don't-" he muttered, but Albus continued without listening to his protests.
"And it wasn't just your fault. Aberforth was playing with fire when he challenged you. And it was my fault as well because I wasn't there to stop you right from the beginning."
"When someone was completely innocent in this whole story it was you, Albus!" Gellert said sharply.
He shook his head. "I knew that you didn't like each other. You can't say that I didn't know the risks of you being in the same house."
"But it doesn't mean that you can't leave us alone." Gellert protested. "We're both old enough to take the responsibility for our actions."
Albus sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
They were silent for some time and Albus thought about the events again. What happened after he passed out? He looked at Gellert and was about to ask him when he noticed the look on his friends' face. He was looking at Albus with an expression on his face Albus couldn't interpret. This time, it didn't seem to be worried. But there was something else. Something he couldn't quite name.
"What are you thinking?" Gellert asked quietly and Albus swallowed. Should he really ask him?
"I wondered if Ariana and Aberforth are alright." He said instead and Gellert nodded.
"Yesterday, an owl arrived. It was a letter from Aberforth. He said that everything is fine and asked if you had woken up yet. Ariana is still very upset and hopes that you'll get better soon. The letter arrived before you woke up so I couldn't tell them any news." An apologetic look appeared on his face, something Albus had never seen before. "I didn't think about informing them that you're awake, I'm afraid."
Albus smiled at Gellert. "It's alright, we can write them later. You were too tired when I woke up, you needed the sleep."
Suddenly, Gellert narrowed his eyes. "And what do you wanted to ask me before you changed the subject?"
Albus raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Before you asked for your siblings. You had this absent-minded look on your face and I know that you've been thinking about something. But you didn't tell me when I asked."
He sighed, an amused grin on his face. "Is there something you don't notice, Gellert?" He joked but became serious again. "I'm not sure-"
"Just spit it out." Gellert said immediately, even if his tone wasn't unfriendly. More impatient.
"What happened when I lost consciousness?" Albus asked without further hesitation.
As he expected, Gellert hesitated and the uneasy look on his face appeared again. "Do you really need to know that, Albus?" He asked slowly. "Isn't it enough to know that everything is alright again?"
Albus hesitated and looked at Gellert's split lip. He really wanted to know what happened, but should he torture his friend by letting him tell the story? When Gellert told him that his curse was responsible for Albus' stay in the hospital, there had been this pained look on his face – something Albus had never seen before. Slowly, Albus shook his head. "Let's talk about something else." He said slowly and Gellert looked relieved.
"I'll tell you some day, I promise." Gellert said and Albus nodded.
"I'll remember that."
The following days, Albus had to stay at St. Mungo's. The healers wanted to see if the curses that hit him had done any damage to his body. However, Albus began to feel better every day and his strength returned fast. After three days, he was able to stand up again. Walking was still exhausting, but he made much progress. It seemed as if nothing bad had happened to him.
In all this time, Gellert only left his room when it was necessary. After Albus had woken up for the second time, they had written a short letter to Aberforth and Ariana, telling them that he was awake and everything was fine. They spent most of their time talking about different things. During their time at Godric's Hollow, they had been so consumed with the Hallows and their ideas for the greater good that they didn't talk about anything else. Now they used the time to catch up. They didn't talk about Hallows or their plans. Instead, Albus told Gellert about his time at Hogwarts. Gellert, on the other hand, told Albus much about his time at school and he even told him more about why he'd been expelled.
One week after Albus had woken up for the first time, the healers told him that he could leave St. Mungo's.
They were standing at the reception desk of the hospital. In the past week, Gellert had made a short trip to Godric's Hollow to get himself and Albus some clothes. He had brought Albus a dark blue shirt he had found somewhere in his wardrobe. Albus didn't even know that he owned it until now and he still wondered why Gellert had chosen it. They were waiting for about ten minutes when Anne Brown walked towards them. She was smiling and when she looked at Albus, she nodded. "You look much better, Mr. Dumbledore. And this colour suits you, it emphasizes your blue eyes." Albus blushed and turned away from her quickly. When he glanced at Gellert next to him, his friend was grinning and nodded. Albus smiled shyly and turned to the healer again, who had already started to explain that Albus shouldn't strain himself too much in the next time. So that's why he chose this shirt… Albus thought when they had left the hospital and took each other's hand to disapparate.
As soon as they appeared in Godric's Hollow, Gellert let go of Albus' hand. He glanced at his friend and started to feel disappointed. Gellert didn't seem to notice it since he was already walking towards the house of the Dumbledores, Albus' bag still in his hands.
When they got closer to the house, he noticed the two figures standing in front of it. Aberforth had his arm wrapped around Ariana's shoulder and she was jumping form one foot to another impatiently.
"Albus!" She called and ran towards him, not caring about Aberforth who told her to be careful. Albus held out his hands and Ariana hugged him tightly, her face hidden at Albus' chest. At her tight grip around him, Albus had to hold back a groan. "You're back." She muttered against his shirt and he smiled, stroking her back softly.
"Of course I'm back. I couldn't let the two of you alone." Albus replied and looked over her head at Gellert, who was still standing next to them. The concerned look on his face told Albus that he had noticed his pained gasp. There was nothing Gellert didn't notice.
"I was scared." Ariana whispered now and looked up at him. "We all thought you were dead. And then Aberforth started to hit Gellert and they were shouting at each other. Then Gellert just disappeared with you and we were alone, not knowing what was going on…" His sister looked like she was going to cry and Albus hugged her tightly.
"I'm fine. Nothing happened and something like that won't happen again, I promise."
"You shouldn't promise things you can't keep, brother." A voice close to his ear whispered and he turned around to see Aberforth standing next to him, a dark look on his face. Albus noticed that he was focusing on Gellert.
"It won't happen again." Albus said sternly and narrowed his eyes at his brother. They were still whispering, afraid that Ariana might hear them. Slowly, his sister let go of him and took a step back. She turned to Gellert.
"Thank you for staying with him, Gel."
Gellert smiled at her – the brilliant smile Albus loved to see – and nodded. "Don't thank me for that."
"Will you come home with us? We've already prepared dinner."
At that, Gellert's eyes stayed on Aberforth for a few seconds whose expression had become even darker. He turned to Ariana again. "Thank you very much, but I think I should go home as well. I haven't seen my aunt in all this time and I want to keep her company. But I'm sure that we'll see each other again soon." Gellert said politely and next to Albus, Aberforth relaxed again.
"Why don't you already go inside? I'll just say goodbye to Gellert and then I'll follow you." Albus suggested and before he knew what was happening, Aberforth had wrapped his arm around Ariana and they started to walk towards their house. Ariana waved at Gellert, who bowed his head. Then they were alone.
"You don't have to stay away from us." Albus said immediately, but Gellert shook his head.
"It's better if you're alone this evening." He insisted. "I don't want to cause any more trouble."
"Gel-" Albus began and he shook his head.
"We can see each other any time, Albus. But I don't want to stand between you and your family." He handed him his bag. "And don't worry, I won't run away. After all, I made a promise." He grinned at Albus and with one last look into his eyes, Gellert turned around and left.
During dinner, Ariana asked him many questions about his time at the hospital. She was sad that she couldn't visit him, but he told her that it had been completely boring. That made her feel a little better again. He didn't tell them anything about his conversations with Gellert, they didn't have to know about that. Instead, Albus asked them about their time at home.
Ariana had taken care of the goats with Aberforth and her eyes were shining when she told him about it. And a cat had appeared in their garden and visited them every day. Albus asked many questions about the cat, how she looked and what she did. Ariana seemed to be happy about his interest in those things and Albus felt guilty for neglecting his siblings for so long.
After dinner, Ariana went into the garden to see if the cat was still there. Albus and Aberforth stood by the window in silence for a long time.
"You're going to see Grindelwald again, right?" Aberforth asked hesitantly and without looking at him, Albus nodded.
"Albus…" Aberforth breathed in deeply. "He's not good for you."
Slowly, he turned around to look at his brother. "You said that many times by now. And I understand why you are concerned." His words seemed to take Aberforth by surprise. He stared at him wide-eyed.
"You do?"
Albus nodded. "Gellert sees a few things different than I do, that's right." He said simply. "But it doesn't mean that I have to stop seeing him. I'm sure that we can talk about those things and figure it out."
Aberforth frowned. "You still want to meet him. Albus… You know that you can't change someone like him."
Albus crossed his arms, a gesture he had taken over form Gellert. "And what does this mean? Someone like him. How are people like him?"
"He uses dark magic. And he enjoys it." His brother said and his expression was unhappy now. "It doesn't matter what he says, something like last week will happen again. And maybe we won't be this lucky then. Someone might get hurt."
"You're wrong. Gellert doesn't enjoy it." Albus replied immediately. "And it won't happen again. I won't repeat myself about this." He hesitated. "You have to trust me with this, Aberforth."
Aberforth didn't look convinced. "You think you can change him. Make him a better person. It's crazy. Yes, I know what you want to say. It might work. But have you considered that he might not want to change? That he wants to have the power he dreams of? Then he wouldn't need someone like you in his life. Or he'll just use you until his plans are fulfilled. You're brilliant, everyone sees that. And maybe Gellert Grindelwald is someone who wants to use that brilliance for his own plans."