The next chapter! I'm sorry that it took me so long to write it, but I had to do things for the university in the past weeks. I hope you like this and please let me know what you think! And thank you for the reviews I already got, they always make me very happy!
I don't own the characters or places!
Albus was nervous. He couldn't explain why, but the uneasy feeling on his mind didn't vanish. He knew that this was probably stupid. Nevertheless, his heart wouldn't stop racing.
Today, Elphias Doge would come to Godric's Hollow. After many months, Albus would see his best friend again who had just travelled around the world. The world they wanted to see together. Elphias had announced his arrival a few days ago and ever since, Albus was nervous. Of course he was also happy to see him again, he had missed him greatly. However, there was something else now…
Albus meant it when he told Gellert that he wanted him to meet Elphias. And he hoped that they would like each other. Albus still remembered the dark look on Gellert's face when he had told him that his friend would come for a visit… Gellert hadn't looked happy about the fact that Elphias was coming. Albus still tried to figure out why. Elphias had been his best friend for years. They got along very well and at Hogwarts, they had done nearly everything together. Elphias was one of the kindest persons in this world. Everyone liked him. But why did Gellert hesitate to meet him? And he even said that he would leave when he didn't like Elphias.
Albus really hoped that Gellert wouldn't have to leave. In the past weeks, his friend had visited them every day and he and Albus spent most of their time together. They talked about everything and nothing at once. Sometimes, they even just sat next to each other and didn't talk at all. Albus always enjoyed having Gellert around. His friend made him feel complete, he had to admit to himself. He often wondered if Gellert felt the same. Even Aberforth got used to Gellert's visits by now. When they were talking about their researches for hours, his brother juts rolled his eyes. A month ago, Aberforth would have told them to get lost and talk about all this somewhere else where they wouldn't disturb others. And Ariana was always happy to have Gellert around. She liked him very much and to Albus' surprise, Gellert liked his sister as well. Sometimes, he even went with her to the garden to look at her flowers.
Albus didn't want anything to stand between them. Especially not the visit of his best friend.
Elphias would be there soon, so Albus stood up from his chair at the window. He had to stop worrying. That wouldn't make anything better. He had tried to hide it in front of Gellert as good as possible, but of course his friend seemed to suspect that something was bothering him. There was nothing he could hide from Gellert. But maybe Elphias wouldn't notice that Albus was nervous about this meeting. Hopefully, he would just like Gellert and vice versa. Then everything would be alright.
Albus got dressed quickly – he decided to wear a white shirt with a dark blue jacket. Gellert had told him once that this combination emphasised his eyes in a very good way. Then he took his wand from the nightstand and headed downstairs. Ariana and Aberforth were gone with the goats, so they had the house for themselves today. In the kitchen, Albus saw that Ariana had kept him some breakfast. He had to smile at this, his sister always cared for them, even if it wasn't necessary.
Soon after Albus had finished his breakfast and cleaned up, there was a knock on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened and someone walked in. A grin spread out on Albus' lips, he knew exactly who had just entered the house. When he turned around to greet Gellert, his friend was already standing in front of him. Albus was surprised, he didn't hear him coming. Had he been so lost in thoughts?
Gellert was smiling his usual wide smile at him. He was leaning on the doorframe and had his arms crossed in front of his chest. His eyes were shining and he looked from Albus' face to his clothes and back. Albus wasn't used to this attention, Gellert had never looked at him like this before. He knew that his cheeks were probably burning by now and he smiled shyly at Gellert. To be honest, he was looking very handsome right now. His blond locks were framing his face and the blue shirt he was wearing made his eyes shine even brighter.
"Good morning." Albus said slowly, not knowing what else he could say right now.
"Good morning to you, too, Albus." Gellert said softly and took a few steps towards him. Now they were standing right in front of each other, only a few inches separated them. "You look great, do you know that?"
That comment made Albus blush even more. He chuckled nervously. "Maybe someone said that to me some time ago…" He answered vaguely and now Gellert grinned.
"Seems like that someone was very clever. Do I know the person?" Gellert raised his eyebrows slowly and Albus smiled.
"I think you know him." He replied as calm as possible.
"Him?"
Albus nodded and took a deep breath. The butterflies in his stomach were back, as always when Gellert was this close to him. "Yes, he's great. I've known him for some time by now, but it feels like forever. He's very handsome. And smart. He is very important to me." While saying that, he looked deep into Gellert's eyes. He had planned to tell Gellert that he liked him some time ago, but Albus never found the courage to do so. Now he had done it, even if it wasn't in the way he expected. He tried to remain calm and waited for Gellert's reaction.
Gellert was looking at him with wide eyes. The grin on his lips had been replaced by a soft smile and slowly, Gellert reached out to touch Albus' cheek. Then he took a strand of hair between his fingers which had found its way into Albus' face without him noticing it. Carefully, Gellert placed it behind Albus' ear.
"Albus…" Gellert whispered and without thinking about it, Albus leaned closer to him. Gellert was still looking into his eyes when their –
The knock on the door made them jerk back immediately.
They both stood there, still looking into each other's eyes. For a few moments, no one moved. Then Albus reluctantly cleared his throat. Was it already this late and Elphias had arrived? Right now, he wished that his friend wouldn't visit today. "Maybe we should open the door…" He muttered and was about to walk past Gellert when his friend got hold of his arm to stop him. "Gellert, what…?" Albus asked in surprise when Gellert wrapped his arms around him tightly. Before Albus knew what was happening, he was pushed against the doorframe and one of Gellert's hands was on his back. Albus had just time to hug Gellert back, when his friend buried his face in his neck. The hand on Albus' back was moving slowly now and then Gellert's other hand was on his chest.
"Gel…" Albus whispered and closed his eyes. There was still a distance between their bodies and Albus pulled Gellert closer. This made him gasp in surprise and he whispered Albus' name. Now Albus couldn't stop himself from running a hand down Gellert's back as well. Gellert lifted his head from Albus' shoulder and he feared that he had gotten too far, but when he saw the look on Gellert's face, all his doubts vanished. Now Gellert leaned closer to him again and –
There was another knock on the door, louder this time.
"Albus, are you at home?" He heard a voice calling and took a deep breath. Gellert didn't look happy when he took a step back. He ran a hand through his hair and when his eyes found Albus', the soft smile on his lips returned.
"Maybe we should greet your friend." Gellert suggested calmly and Albus nodded. How could Gellert be this calm when Albus' heart was still racing and he probably looked like he was going to pass out any moment?
"That's a good idea." He replied and was surprised by the calm tone of his voice. However, Albus hesitated in the hallway. "Gel…" He began, not sure what to say about the things that just happened.
Gellert seemed to know exactly what he was thinking since he smiled at him widely. "Maybe we should spend the day with your friend and after that, we can carry on where we stopped." He winked at Albus and unfortunately, he blushed again. At that, Gellert chuckled. "No need to be embarrassed, Albus." He whispered which didn't make it any better.
Now something else came back to Albus' mind; something that had bothered him ever since he stood up. "You won't leave, will you?" He asked quietly. "When you don't get along…" He gestured towards the door.
Gellert frowned and Albus already saw his hesitation as a no. Of course Gellert would leave if he didn't like Elphias. "Alright, I'll stay."
"You will?" Albus asked and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Normally, Gellert always left when something was bothering him.
Gellert nodded. "For you." He muttered and Albus smiled widely.
Then there was another knock on the door and Albus opened it quickly.
In the past months, Elphias had changed very much. His usually pale skin was tanned and his dark brown hair was brighter now. He was wearing a dark red travelling cloak, Albus remembered that they had bought it together. In his hand, he carried a large brown bag. He was smiling widely at Albus and he grinned at his friend.
"Albus, it's so good to see you again!" Elphias said and put the bag down to hug him.
"You too, Elphias. Travelling suits you!" He exclaimed and when they let go of each other, Albus took a step back so that his friend could enter the house. Albus was standing next to Gellert now. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that he was looking at Elphias suspiciously. And there was something else in his look that Albus couldn't quite name. It was not happiness, that was obvious.
"Elphias, may I introduce you to Gellert Grindelwald?" Albus asked when Elphias had noticed his friend. Now Gellert was smiling at Elphias politely and Albus was surprised by the sudden change of expression on his face.
"It is good to finally meet you, Elphias. Albus has already told me very much about you." Gellert said when they shook hands and Elphias laughed.
"Hopefully only the good things." He raised his eyebrows at Albus, who held up his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Only the best." He promised and Elphias grinned.
"Good, otherwise he might run away."
Albus shook his head. "I hope he won't." He replied before he could stop the words from leaving him. At that, Elphias looked at Gellert again. This time, his look was more thoughtful than before.
They decided to sit down in the garden. It was a beautiful day at the end of the summer and they just had to use the good weather. "I'll travel to America soon." Elphias told them once they sat down. "And Canada. They say that it gets very cold there in the winter."
Albus smiled at his friend. He was sitting between Gellert and Elphias. Albus had chosen this position carefully after he saw the way Gellert had looked at Elphias. "Now tell me about your adventures." He said. "It must be very exciting to see the world."
Elphias laughed again. "It is. But it would be even better if I wouldn't have to see it alone." He looked at Albus thoughtfully. "I'm surprised. I would have expected you to be unhappy here."
Albus remembered the day he had told Elphias that he couldn't come with him very well. He had been unhappy. Very much, to be honest. And he had complained about the way things had changed very much. "I was." Albus replied and looked at Gellert next to him. He couldn't stop himself from smiling. To his surprise, Gellert smiled back at him.
"And I see that you are not unhappy now." Elphias concluded.
Albus turned to his friend again. "That's true. I was very lucky when I got to know Gellert."
"We both were." Gellert threw in and Elphias looked back and forth between them. There was still this thoughtful look on his face, as if he tried to figure something out.
"Bathilda Bagshot is your aunt." Elphias said to Gellert and it was no question.
Gellert nodded silently. Albus knew that he didn't like to speak of the reasons why he was at Godric's Hollow. And from the look on Elphias' face, he already knew the story about Gellert being expelled from school.
Elphias and Gellert were looking at each other silently and Albus began to feel uneasy. He cleared his throat. "How long will you be staying, Elphias?" He asked and hoped that the question would break the tension.
"I'll head for London this evening." Elphias explained.
"I thought you wanted to leave tomorrow." Albus was surprised, he had expected his friend to stay a little longer.
"I changed my plans just this morning. I got a letter from Evelyne Willow. She's living in London now and invited me once she heard that I was coming back to England for a few days."
Albus chuckled when he heard the name. "The Hufflepuff who always wanted to learn with us?" He asked and Elphias nodded with a grin.
"You mean the Hufflepuff who pretended to learn with us and just stared at you all the time." He corrected him and Albus had to smile when the memories came back to him. However, the last information was new to him.
"She stared at me?" At his surprised tone, Elphias laughed.
"She was head over heels for you, Albus." He turned to Gellert, who had an amused look on his face now. "The girl was in our Transfiguration class. She was very nice, not a very talented witch whatsoever. One day when we were on the grounds to learn she came to us and asked if she could join us. We didn't think about it very much and said yes. I noticed immediately that she was more interested in Albus than in the things he tried to tell her about Transfiguration."
"You didn't notice that she was not there for learning?" Gellert asked and Albus ran a hand through his hair.
"I noticed that she didn't pay much attention. But I just thought that she didn't understand it." He confessed and now Elphias and Gellert laughed.
"She even asked him if he wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her." Elphias continued. "At Valentine's Day."
Now the smile on Gellert's face vanished slowly and he looked from Elphias to Albus.
Albus sighed. "You know very well that I said no immediately."
Elphias nodded. "Nevertheless, she was very nice."
"And not my type." Albus replied firmly.
Elphias chuckled. "There was not a single girl at Hogwarts who was your type." He said simply and Albus shrugged.
"That's right." He glanced at Gellert who was looking at him attentively now. He was smiling slightly.
"It wasn't easy for the girls. They all wanted to talk to him." Elphias said to Gellert, who chuckled.
"It's not hard to imagine." At that, Elphias raised his eyebrows. However, he didn't reply anything. After that, they told Gellert a few more stories about their time at Hogwarts. Albus had already told him a few of them, but with Elphias' comments everything was even more interesting. Especially since there were some things he had never told Gellert. Like the story with the girls. Of course Albus had noticed the attention he had gotten back at Hogwarts, but he had never cared very much. His studies had been more important to him. And too much attention from girls had made him uneasy.
In contrast, Elphias had some girlfriends in their later years at school. The relationships never lasted very long, but that hadn't bothered his friend very much. The girls had always been nice. Evelyne Willow had also been Elphias' girlfriend, a few years after she had tried to learn with them for their Transfiguration class.
After their stories about Hogwarts, Albus was finally able to hear stories about Elphias' adventures in the past months. His friend had been at many places from which China and Egypt were by far the most interesting. Elphias had sent him letters from there, but it was better to hear the stories himself. He told them about the countries he had visited in general, about people he met there and about the magic they performed.
Albus was glad that Elphias and Gellert got along well. First, Gellert had been quiet and there had been this thoughtful look on his face. At the very latest, the stories about their time at Hogwarts – Albus had made it very clearly that they were just friends – made Gellert open up to Elphias. Now he was questioning him about the things he had seen in China and India. Gellert was mostly interested in the magic and Elphias told him as much as possible. A few times, Albus just listened to the two of them without integrating himself into the conversation. It was always fascinating to hear Gellert talk about magic and things he didn't understand quite yet.
Albus also noticed that Elphias just talked about normal, useful magic. Maybe sometimes a few spells that could be good in a fight. However, he didn't talk about the Dark Arts at all. Albus was grateful for that. He didn't talk to Gellert about those things as well. And since the accident where Albus had been injured, Gellert had made no attempt to talk about this anymore. Albus was glad about it and hoped that Gellert would not come back to those things.
The day with Elphias passed rather quickly. In the end, Elphias asked Albus about a few things he had done while he was gone. Albus told his friend that not much had happened – he didn't mention the incident with Gellert and Aberforth or the accident with Ariana. Elphias was still sad that Albus had to stay at Godric's Hollow. However, Albus wasn't too sad about it anymore since Gellert would be there with him.
They promised to write each other as many letters as possible and Elphias wanted to visit Albus again once he was back from his journey in a few months. Just before Elphias wanted to leave, Ariana and Aberforth returned with the goats. They greeted Albus' old friend, even if Aberforth didn't seem very happy about meeting him again. Ariana asked Elphias a few questions about the world and he tried to answer them as good as possible.
When the time of Elphias' departure was there, Albus hugged his friend tightly. "Be careful." He said to him and Elphias grinned.
"I always am." Then he shook Gellert's hand and left the house. Albus and Gellert looked after him when he walked along the path towards the gate. Elphias turned around again, waved at them and with a pop, he disapparated.
"He is very nice." Gellert said. After Elphias had left, Gellert and Albus had decided to go for a walk. Now they were in the forest that surrounded Godric's Hollow.
"I am glad that you like him." Albus admitted and looked at Gellert. He had his hands buried in his pockets and there was a small smile on his lips.
"You were worried." Gellert stated. "That I didn't like him."
Albus nodded slowly. So Gellert had noticed that there was something on his mind the previous days. Next to him, Gellert stopped and leaned against a tree. Albus turned around slowly to look at him. "I'm sorry." He muttered and Gellert shook his head.
"Don't be. If someone has to apologize, then it would be me."
Albus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"It bothered me that he wanted to visit you." Gellert ran a hand through his hair, something he did when he was nervous.
"He is my best friend." Albus took a step closer to Gellert. "Why would it bother you that he wants to visit? At school, we have done nearly everything together. And we wanted to go on this journey together."
Gellert nodded slowly. "I am sorry, Albus. I see know that you're right. He's alright. I see why you got along so well."
"You also like each other." Albus reminded him.
"There were many interesting things he could tell me." Gellert said vaguely.
"And what would that be?" Albus raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.
Gellert smiled slightly. "So you have never been interested in any of the girls at Hogwarts?" He asked slowly.
Albus nodded. "That's true." He admitted simply. "To be honest, I've been never interested in a girl at all."
Gellert's smile grew wider. "And aside from that?"
Now Albus had to smile as well. "There might be someone…" He hesitated and looked at Gellert thoughtfully. "As I said, you might know him…" Suddenly, something else came to his mind. "And you?"
The question seemed to take Gellert by surprise. "Me?"
"Have you ever been interested in someone?" Albus' courage was fading slowly and he wondered if it was a mistake to ask Gellert this.
Gellert ran a hand through his hair again. "Only once." He said then. "It happened all of a sudden. I met the person and… I knew it was right." To Albus' surprise, Gellert's cheeks turned red. He looked beautiful when he blushed.
Albus smiled. "The person must be very lucky." He said slowly. "What happened then?"
Gellert shrugged. "I was too afraid to say something. I didn't think that anyone could like me."
"Why do you think that?"
Gellert laughed dryly. "Come on, Albus. You know how I am. And why I am here in the first place."
"You are not a bad person." Albus said firmly, already knowing what Gellert was thinking.
"You don't know that." Gellert whispered and suddenly, there was a sad expression on his face. Albus took another step towards him. Now he would have been able to touch Gellert if he wanted it.
"I know you, Gel. And you are not a bad person. I will not change my mind about that."
"Someday, you will." Gellert muttered and Albus shook his head.
"I won't." He said. "There is something good in everyone. And bad as well. But it is our own choice what we make of it. And I know that you'll make the right choice, Gel."
At those words, Gellert smiled again. This time more shyly. "You trust me too much."
"No. I trust you. With all of my heart. That can never be too much."
Slowly, Gellert reached out with his hand and touched Albus' cheek. A gesture he had already done this morning. "Do you still want to know what happened with the person I liked?"
Albus nodded silently.
Now the smile on Gellert's lips grew wider again. "Maybe I am not afraid to show him what I feel anymore." And with those words, he leaned in and kissed Albus.