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Albus Dumbledore tapped his quill against the parchment. He had to write a statement to the ICW about progress on the search for Grindelwald.

He had nothing to write, exactly as he had last year and the year before.

The aurors had all but given up, any with real potential having transferred to the task forces that actually achieved something. Now though, Fudge was determined to blame every strange occurrence on Grindelwald and that had brought attention to him. Of course, his lack of results in this position were also being used to discredit him; he was called a friend of Grindelwald and accused of trying to divert attention from his ally.

If only they knew how close they were, and Albus did consider himself responsible for the escape of the dark wizard. After all, he was the one who had allowed the trail to go cold as they hunted for the innocent Sirius Black.

The floo roared, and Albus looked up in confusion; he didn't remember inviting anyone.

Too late, his wand soared from his hand and into the waiting one of his visitor. Albus stood quickly, a cold rush of fear flooding through him as he looked at the man opposite him. He was painfully familiar; soft blond hair, turning icy at the tips. Those carved cheekbones and low brows, the eyes that focused intensely and made shivers run down his spine.

'Grindelwald.' Albus' voice cracked, true fear running through him for one of the first times since that duel. He'd begun to think he could understand his friend again but he had been duped so effectively that he no longer knew what to expect.

'Albus.' The other greeted with a disarming grin, conjuring himself a chair infront of the desk and longing back, his wand touching his bottom lip as he regarded the Supreme Mugwump. It was a pose so heart achingly familiar, but that coldly calculating gaze had never been directed at a human whilst they were friends. The dark wizard shifted suddenly as if he had decided his judgement, shifting to inspect the elder wand that he had taken from Albus.

'I'm surprised you retained its loyalty for so long. Oh sit already, you know you'll have no more of a chance standing than sitting.' He finally snapped, flicking his wand and forcing Albus down into his chair.

'How?' Albus finally managed to make his voice work again, rather than gaping like a fish. The dark wizard tilted his head, seeming to ponder the question.

'You and Flamel were so wrapped up in your ethics that you missed the true power of the stone. A little dark magic and a potion that I'm more than a little proud of and I had a temporary body that no longer limited my magic. Of course, when I had the proper ingredients I could create a better potion so that I wouldn't have to constantly drink the elixir like Flamel.' He looked smug as he held up one pristine, unlined hand for Albus' inspection.

But the light wizard had seen the marks that Gellert did not show off – the signs of the ravages of dark magic; funny how dark wizards were always vain yet practiced a magic that leeched them of their natural beauty.

The back of his wand hand was scarred with an ancient dark rune to increase his spell power, his palms a mess of white lines from providing blood for his spells. Looking deeper, Albus could see the shattered and twisted debris of his soul, each part webbed back into the whole by strands of darkness. The same bonds stretched between the dark wizard and the Elder Wand that he'd stolen and grudgingly Albus realised that he had firmly won its allegiance. It would be nearly impossible for him, or anyone for that matter, to win it back now that it seemed Grindelwald had unlocked the secret to true eternal life.

He returned to attention to see that Grindelwald was staring at him with that same calculating expression again. The one that Albus had only ever seen him use when trying to understand a particularly complex problem in a book.

'What do you want?' Albus finally snapped, fed up with this unnerving observation.

'I came to offer my help.' Grindelwald finally admitted, which took a moment to register in Albus mind.

'Help?' he asked stupidly, then winced. Gellert hated fools.

'Yes, help. A friend of mine mentioned that you'd appreciate my help.'

Albus stared at him blankly, confused by the strange offer and puzzled as to who this friend could possibly be. There must be an ulterior motive to all this, Albus struggled to find something, anything that could explain what Gellert had to gain from this and could only conclude that he did honestly want Voldemort dead.

It did make sense when he thought about it, Albus decided. Grindelwald was of course a threat of the younger dark lord and he would be high on the priority list for Voldemort to eliminate. Then again, why would Gellert even bother to come out of hiding? The combined efforts of every ministry in the world had failed to find him, the chances of Voldemort succeeding were small. It wasn't like he'd been living too harsh a lifestyle, Albus noted, seeing the clean and unbroken nails, the slightly tanned skin and his perfectly styled hair.

Either way, he concluded, Grindelwald was nothing if not a powerful wizard and that was something that could only be an advantage in these uncertain times. After all, if the dark wizard had truly intended to hurt him, he wouldn't be sitting here any longer.

'We would appreciate your help.' Albus finally decided and Gellert smiled his disarming grin. To someone who knew him less, it could be misinterpreted as true happiness but Albus knew that his old friend was incapable of such emotion. In fact, the only real difference between him and the dark wizard they both hoped to defeat was that Gellert understood the power of love and positive emotions, even if he was unable to demonstrate them.

A wand came soaring across the table and he caught it reflexively.

'I want to make another bond.' Gellert demanded and Albus flinched at the memory of the one that had previously existed between them. 'This one will not be so easy to break.'

Albus sighed, then paused to consider what he could get Gellert to agree to on his side of the bargain. It would be worth the risk, he eventually decided.

'Cut your hand.' The dark wizard ordered and Albus agreed with a wince. He'd rather hoped this wouldn't be a blood ritual but he shouldn't have been surprised. The scars across his friend's palm were evidence of how much he used this type of magic. Albus fought back the whimper as he sliced into his hand, clasping Grindelwald's own bleeding hand with his own.

'Do you swear not aid any person or government in my imprisonment?' The dark wizard made his first demand and Albus promised not to. A trail of blood wound up his arm and disappeared up his sleeve. He felt the cooling liquid stop over his heart.

'Do you swear to do your best to defeat Voldemort and his allies in aid of the light?' Albus made his own demand, knowing as he did that it was loosely worded and wishing that he'd had more time to prepare for this.

'Do you swear to do your utmost to help me evade capture and punishment?' Grindelwald made his second demand and Albus agreed unhappily, a second trail of blood twining up his arm to rest over his heart.

'Do you swear to make no attempt to overthrow any legitimate government?' Albus made his final demand and Gellert agreed easily. The bloody trails burned against his skin and a moan of pain escaped him as it seared deeper into his soul. Then it was gone as suddenly as it had come and he opened his eyes to see Grindelwald smirking at him.

'You enjoyed that.' Albus accused, inspecting the thin white line that was almost invisible on his palm.

'I did. You've gone soft, Albus.'