Flawed as Any Man
Harry had grown up in a house of hate, so much so that it cannot even be a home. They had painted the world in shades of gray for him. Nothing consistently good happened to him for the first eleven years of his life, all in the name of the greater good. All because Dumbledore had put him in this dreadful place. He grew up in pain because his relatives were not a family, and he clung to the idea of having one (or a role model at all) when he met Albus.
Albus Dumbledore was a great man, everyone said so. He was kind, and had a twinkle in his eyes. He told you of his weaknesses and you felt as if he trusted you, that it was your job to do the same. He was that kind of man. Harry knew he could never be that great (he doubted anyone could ever be that great again), but he wanted to be that good.
He grew to love that twinkle in his eyes and his grandfatherly smile. He worked so hard to complete the prophecy, to end the great evil in the world that was Voldemort, because he wanted to make Dumbledore proud.
The fact was, Albus had just as many flaws as any other man (because despite popular opinion he was still just that; man). His moral choices were iffy and his eyes twinkled because the old sod was trying to attract you to them just like any other Legilimens would want.
Harry had done these things, risked his very life, because he had really truly believed that Albus would not let anything happen to him. He had allowed Severus Snape (a man who's morals were all over the place as well, but at least he had really tried to do the best for Harry). Dumbledore said his side was good, he was the self proclaimed (and rarely ever denied, when he did it was to save face and show humility), and sometimes Harry was glad that he hadn't been there during the final battle.
Albus had offered Harry the loving adult figure he'd never had, and Harry had taken it.
Harry had allowed himself to be used.
He was Dumbledore's pride and joy, that much was clear, practically the mascot of the entire side of good. He was the face of Voldemort not being invincible. Harry had been groomed to this place, so he supposed of all the people that had died for the man, he was high on the list of those qualified to say the truth about him. After all, Harry had died for the man, and he had almost done so every single year of his magical education.
Sometimes he still wished that it had all been true, that Albus could really take them to some perfect world. Harry didn't want to live in this world if he had to treat people like pawns to get there.
Despite all that he'd done, Albus Dumbledore was still a great man to him (some part of him still looked to him for that familial figure). The man had done what any would do, and still maintained a moral compass (albeit a somewhat loose one) despite his fame and the stress of expectation. A part of him still loved and respected this man, so he gave his son Albus' name and poured that love into him instead. The fact was, Harry could never have his childhood back and replace it with a better one, all he could do was insure that his son was given the best he could possibly have.
A/N: 5 points to whatever house can guess the song I heard right before writing this. ;)
Incase no one has noticed, Albus and I don't quite get along.
-Lucas_Gilbert