A/N: Aren't the colours lovely this time of year?! Autumn/fall in the northern hemisphere is so beautiful. I hope you're all enjoying it (and the story of course..) x

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Chapter 4 - The Deathly Hallows

Sirius came running into the room Albus had been sitting in.

"It's Harry!" He said, which explained the look of abject terror in the man's eyes. "They're in trouble!"

Albus got quickly to his feet and drew his wand. "Let's go."

"You can't go!" Sirius cried. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Albus closed his eyes and performed the tricky charm which he had perfected in his early fifties. It would make him totally invisible and, what's more, impossible to bump into too. He was really rather proud of it.

"Where did you go?!" Sirius said, staring at the place he stood in bewilderment.

"I'm here." Albus said. "You lead the way. I will go where you do."

"Right." Sirius said and so, together, they headed off for the ministry of magic.

It was immediately apparent there was something wrong. As they arrived, many workers were fleeing. The ones who did remain were standing in the atrium, staring up at the top of the building in horror, from where there came the sound of shouts and yells as well as flashing lights that indicated spells being cast.

Albus and Sirius made their way up there as just as many ministry workers came hurrying down.

"You want to get out of here!" A harassed looking wizard told Sirius. "It's all going to shit up there, er, if you'll excuse my language."

"Great." Sirius said enthusiastically and, ignoring the puzzled look the wizard gave him, pressed the button in the lift for the top floor.

"This is a message to all staff members. Do not abandon your positions. Stay and do your duty to your ministry. We are under siege and you must stay and fight. Your country needs you."

Albus didn't recognise the voice that spoke, but it was cold and harsh, reverberating around the whole building.

They arrived at the top floor to a scene of utter chaos.

It was an open plan building, meaning the corridor the fight was taking place in had glass ledges as walls and views all around the inside of the ministry.

Albus looked around in dismay to see fighters everywhere. Fortunately he had sent the message to the other Order members so knew there would be more backup soon, but for now there was just Kingsley, Tonks, Arthur and three others he assumed were Ron, Hermione and Harry in disguise.

His eyes caught Thicknesse, huddled on the floor looking utterly terrified. Clearly the imperius curse had been broken. He had no idea what was going on.

Collapsed beside him was Yaxley. Well, they'd managed to take out one death eater at least.

There were still plenty more they hadn't however…

"Expelliarmus!" Sirius, who had joined the fight instantly, yelled and a wizard Albus recognised as Mulciber lost his wand.

"Yes!" Sirius grinned and Albus frowned slightly. He didn't need to be enjoying this quite so much….

Arthur was fighting Lucius Malfoy. Neither of them were bothering with wands, but whether because they'd both been disarmed or had simply decided against it Albus wasn't sure.

Arthur was doing very well and had Lucius Malfoy in a headlock, with the other man yelling "mind my hair, you pillock!"

They were outnumbered significantly. Albus managed to send a few non verbal spells to help with the fight Tonks and a young witch he assumed was Hermione in disguise were having with a group of masked death eaters, but he couldn't do much more than that without revealing himself.

This was all going horribly wrong. They had Thicknesse, but there were still far too many death eaters to fight. They needed a plan. Where was Alastor?

He scanned the surrounding fighters but he couldn't see his right hand man. He couldn't see Severus either, but he assumed his other trusted soldier had the good sense to remain invisible. It would be far too risky to reveal himself.

Think, Albus. He told himself, but no brilliant ideas came to him.

He watched the fight in dismay. He'd never understood what caused men (or women) to fight. He'd only ever had one 'fight' in his life. He'd been in his first year and one of the older Slytherin students had been picking on his friend Elphias for his pockmarked face. He didn't know what happened. The next thing he knew his fist was colliding with the face of the boy. His force was such that he managed to break his nose. It was all rather embarrassing, and he vowed not to get into another situation like it again.

Duelling was different. He would fight in self defence and to protect others, but then, as he looked sadly around at the wizards here, he supposed that's really all they thought they were doing.

He watched as Sirius sent a curse over at a masked death eater that caused them to howl in agony and clutch their face. He frowned again. Of course the members of the Order were on his side, but what did 'sides' matter really? Why did people really have to fight? Didn't they all want the same thing when it all came down to it?

Yes, he was sure of it. The only difference was in their means of getting it, and looking round now at some of the curses his men and women were using, he had to ask himself how much better they were really.

Now was not the time for philosophising (or telling anyone off) however. They needed this battle to be over. They needed the death eaters to be captured. They needed someone competent in charge.

He glanced again over at Thicknesse. He really was their only hope.

He moved over to the shaking wizard and crouched down beside him.

"Pius.." He whispered, and the poor man leapt and stared wildly around him. Of course Albus was invisible.

"Who's there?!" He said frantically.

"It does not matter." Albus said in the same calm voice. "But you need to fight. You need to end this. You are the only one who can. You are the minister for magic. Your government has been taken over. You must stand up and fight."

Thicknesse shook his head. "I… I can't…" He whispered.

Albus put a firm hand on the man's arm, pulling him effectively to his feet. "Yes you can." He said. "Be brave. I know you, Pius. You got an outstanding in your defence against the dark arts NEWT. You are strong. You have power."

Thicknesse's eyes suddenly widened. "Dumbledore?" He said, suddenly looking into the exact space Albus stood.

"If I am strong enough to survive death, you are strong enough to end this. Do it, Pius. Use the sonorus spell. Do it now."

Thicknesse looked frantically around at all the fighters and then seemed to steel himself. He nodded.

"EVERYONE STOP!" He yelled, his voice, as Albus had suggested, magically magnified so it carried throughout the whole of the ministry.

"This is your minister for magic. You are to stop fighting at once." He instructed again, and those who had still been duelling reluctantly lowered their wands and turned to face him.

"I want everyone who does not work here to leave." He continued in an impressively calm and authoritative voice. "Our country is in danger. There have been more dementor and giant attacks than at any time in reported history. Wizarding families are being murdered. There is no law and there is no order. If we cannot even manage this amongst ourselves as politicians, what hope do we have as a country?!" He glared around the gathered wizards and Albus had to admire the man's ability to scold and lecture. Some of the death eaters were even looking away, embarrassed.

"I am your minister for magic and I will lead this country to power. I want there to be no more in-fighting. Anyone who objects will be sent to Azkaban."

He looked around the gathered wizards, none of whom protested or argued with him.

"Well, what am I paying you all for? Get back to work!"

It was a miracle. The death eaters left and the ministry workers dispersed to their various departments.

Thicknesse looked rather pleased with himself.

"Well done, Pius." Kingsley smiled at him. And then, in an undertone, "and welcome back."

/

As the corridor cleared, just a few of them remained. The stunned Yaxley was taken by Kingsley and Tonks for questioning. The other death eaters of course hadn't bothered to check whether he was alright or not.

Thicknesse was still looking a little confused. Albus saw Arthur take him by the shoulder and exchange a few words with him. Albus suspected he was filling him in on what had happened, and who had cast the imperius curse. That was surely enough to warrant Yaxley a long sentence in Azkaban.

"Where is Alastor?" He asked one of the remaining wizards, and the red-haired man, he assumed must be Harry, answered him. Though the words were the last things Albus wanted to hear.

"He's dead."

No. It couldn't be.

"Where?"

Harry pointed towards the end of the corridor. Albus set off at once. He suspected there must be secrecy sensors in the area, but he'd cast his disguise well. Passage was granted to him easily.

He opened the door to the minister for magic's office.

It was very odd little room. There were about a dozen hovering memos in a little cage, all jostling for a position near the front. The chair in front of the desk was vibrating of its own accord and there was a large kneazle purring gently on the hearthrug.

And then his eyes fell on what he'd been dreading seeing.

"No!" He cried and sank to his knees beside his fallen comrade.

His friend and colleague's eyes were closed. He looked peaceful, as if he were simply sleeping. Albus half expected the man to open his eyes and yell 'fooled you!' At any moment.

There came the sound of footsteps behind him and Sirius entered the room.

The look of total devastation and despair on his face mirrored how Albus felt exactly.

"Oh Moody, mate…" The other man said, and he collapsed to his knees before Alastor's body too.

Albus quickly revealed himself. He didn't think it fair to remain hidden while another man shared his grief so rawly.

He reached a hand out and squeezed Sirius' gently.

He didn't think he'd seen the other man cry before. He supposed it was rare that things upset the good humoured wizard quite this much.

"We'll miss him." Albus said, feeling a tear trickle down his own nose as he remained where he knelt before the wizard who had given so much.

He'd been so brave. He'd been a fighter right until the end.

"It's not fair." Sirius said, his voice half choked with tears. "It's not fucking fair!"

Albus said nothing. There was nothing he could say. Alastor was dead. The man who had brought so much character, wit, loyalty and courage to the Order was no more. The hole he left in their lives would never be possible to fill.

"I hate this." Sirius said, bringing a shaky hand to his face now. "I hate this war."

Albus nodded, eyes still on his friend's body. He couldn't blame Sirius for the way he felt. He sometimes wanted out of it all too. It was times like these that it all felt too much. What were they really fighting for? When good men like Moody could be killed, what was really the point…?

He didn't know how long they remained there, but they were interrupted in their grief by the arrival of Arthur Weasley and Pius Thicknesse.

"D-Dumbledore!" Thicknesse said, staring at him like he'd just seen a ghost. "I thought you were dead!"

"A common misconception." Albus said to the younger man, getting to his feet and forcing his face into a smile. "For my part, I thought you were a death eater."

Thicknesse shook his head. "I was acting on their orders. I don't know how it happened. I feel like such a fool…"

"It does not matter." Albus told him. "We cannot spend our lives trying to fix the errors of our past. We can only move forward from where we are now. It is the choices we make that count for the most, Pius."

The minister for magic nodded. "Well I'm sorry to be so blunt, but what the fuck am I supposed to do?"

"Ah. An honest politician." Albus smiled at him. "Well, I'm sure we can help you out there..."

Albus, Arthur and Kingsley of course had several suggestions.

/

Getting Thicknesse back on side was certainly a big win for the Order. As they suggested, Thicknesse passed new legislation and reversed many of the old laws too. All suspected death eaters were now being called in for questioning and Yaxley had been sent to Azkaban alongside Mulciber, the capture of which Sirius took full credit for.

"Yes," Dumbledore said with a frown, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that." In fact, he'd been meaning to talk to all the Order members about this, but as Sirius was there he thought he'd take the opportunity now. "We don't fight because we enjoy it, we fight because we have to. We are seeking peace, Sirius, and peace can never be found in war."

"Oh sorry Albus, I didn't realise you'd joined the hippy movement three decades late. We'll all sit around holding hands next time the death eaters take over the ministry shall we?" The other man retorted.

Well, it would certainly be nice…

"I'm not saying that." Albus replied. "I'm just saying we must not use more force than necessary. We are fighting for a better way. We've already seen what happens when we resort to the death eaters' way of doing things."

"That spell I used I learnt from Sniv-Severus."

Albus sighed as Sirius, true to form, tried to deflect blame onto Snape again. Honestly, these two really did make him feel he was back at Hogwarts again.

"That's irrelevant." He said irritably. "Please don't do it again. It wasn't necessary."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at him but didn't argue the point. He moved off instead to join Harry and the others in the next room.

Albus liked having Harry, Ron and Hermione around for company. Though they were young, they were intelligent and brave, and he had many good conversations with all three of them.

He wasn't sure how it had happened, but somehow they had stumbled upon the quest of the deathly hallows.

That certainly brought him back…

It was painful now to remember the conversations he'd had with Gellert Grindelwald about the hallows. He cringed at their arrogance, looking back on it.

"I'm going to get the elder wand." Gellert said firmly as the two of them discussed the quest for them one night.

They were lying on their backs in a deserted park in Godric's Hollow. Gellert had been staying with his great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot, and the two had been introduced. Albus had fallen in love with the man instantly. He hadn't realised he'd been gay until then. But on seeing this boy it all made sense. This was why he'd turned his back on the girls who had asked him out before now. He'd been waiting for Gellert. And dear Merlin was he worth the wait…

"Which hallow would you choose, Albus?" The boy asked, propping himself up on his elbow to get a better look at his friend.

Albus looked over at him and smiled. In truth he didn't really mind if Gellert had all three of them, but he knew they were partners. They were in this together.

"The resurrection stone." He said quietly, thinking of his mother.

"Yes… that will be useful…" Gellert said, and there was that look in his eye that Albus never liked to admit to seeing.

Had he known then, at the age of eighteen, that Gellert wanted the resurrection stone to create an army of inferi? Of course he had. But he had dismissed it. Why? Because he was in love. The fool's downfall.

And he had been a fool. He'd fallen for Grindelwald. And what's more, he'd fallen for the allure of power. He had wanted to possess the hallows not for the benefit of wizardkind, but for his own personal glory. He was never worthy of uniting them. No one had yet been ever worthy of uniting them. They were a trap. A distraction. It worried him deeply that Harry and the others had discovered them. Although he was not surprised.

"Yes… many wizards become curious as to the deathly hallows." He said, smiling at the three of them. "I'm sure you know Xenophilius Lovegood is a believer."

"Yes, that's how we found out. Luna told Ginny and Ginny told us."

Ah, that would explain how they knew then.

"I have to admit I'm sceptical." Hermione said, and Albus smiled at her. Hermione really was an exceptionally clever young witch.

"But you believe in them don't you, Professor?" Harry asked Albus imploringly.

Albus nodded. Did he dare tell the young wizards that he had two deathly hallows in his possession right now, and Harry had the third?

And then a sudden thrill of excitement suddenly gripped him. They had the deathly hallows! This was it! He hadn't been ready as a young man, but surely he was ready now? Surely he was ready now to unite them…

The excitement faded as quickly as it had ignited. Oh you fool. He scolded himself. This was why he was not ready. The hallows still filled him with yearning. He was clearly not ready, even after all these years he had lived. He still wanted the hallows. He sought them. The true master of the hallows was not foolish enough to seek them. The hallows would reveal themselves to their true master. And it was clearly not Albus Dumbledore.

He put the hallows to the back of his mind, but he didn't discourage Harry and the others discussing them. The hallows quest was, to his mind, an important part of a person's development. Seeing there was something 'out there' that was greater than all of us was healthy and to be encouraged. Within reason, of course.

"He's after it!" Harry told Albus one day. "Voldemort. He's after the elder wand!"

Albus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I've been getting visions again. I've been seeing in his head. He's searching for it…"

"Good luck to him." Albus said, deciding the time was right to reveal the information he had so far kept hidden to Harry. He drew a hand into the pocket of his robes. "I have the elder wand."

Harry stared at him, and Albus wondered if he saw it. Just for a flash, a millisecond. He wondered if he saw that hungry look that had possessed Gellert's eyes, his eyes, all those years ago.

"I won it off Grindelwald in our 1945 duel." He said, pocketing the thing again.

"But then we've got two of the three!" Harry said excitedly. "Professor, Ron and I reckon… my dad's cloak… do you reckon that's a hallow?"

Ah, so he had realised after all.

"I believe so." Albus nodded seriously. "I discovered James' possession of the cloak after his time at Hogwarts. It certainly explained a lot… and I must admit I'd never seen anything like it before. He said it had been his father's, your grandfather's, and it had passed through the generations since Ignotus Peverell."

Harry stared at him. "I'm descended from one of the Peverell brothers?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"But then we're almost there!" Harry said, his excitement palpable. "We've just got the resurrection stone to find and then we'll have united the hallows! Surely we can defeat Voldemort then!"

But Albus couldn't bring himself to share Harry's excitement.

"I don't think so, Harry." He said seriously. "I learned the hard way that power is dangerous. We fight this war the way I believe any war should be fought."

He was quite sure Harry wanted to roll his eyes at this.

"You may call me weak." He said, keen to impress his point upon the young man. "I know Voldemort does not believe in the power of love."

Harry looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I didn't say I didn't believe in that…" he began, but Albus cut him off.

"I know that." He smiled at Harry, remembering how he had, at the age of just eleven, chosen not fame or glory but the desire only for that which would vanquish evil. He really was quite remarkable. "But love is also patient. And, when it comes to the hallows, that is something we must be."

"But we don't have time!" Harry said in anguish. "Voldemort's taking over the world now!"

It certainly wasn't looking good. Thicknesse had been murdered the previous week. The death eaters had clearly realised the imperius curse had been broken and decided the tidiest thing to do would be to just finish him off. Dolores Umbridge had been declared minister for magic in his place. Albus didn't think the woman particularly agreed with all the death eater policies, but clearly the lure of power had been too great for her to resist.

It would indeed be easy for them to panic. It would be easy to, like the death eaters, resort to violence and fear.

Fear was what drove Voldemort and his army, Albus had come to realise. They feared muggles because they feared they were losing their power to them. A wise person once told him that muggles were probably better off in many ways than wizards as they did not have the magical means to avoid death to the degree that wizards did. They lived much shorter lives and so death to them was an inevitable consequence they could much more readily accept.

This was not the case for the death eaters. Voldemort sought immortality because he was terrified of dying. Albus had always believed this to be his greatest weakness. As a man who had lived as long as he had, he'd witnessed many die around him. He experienced a huge amount of grief when it happened, but he didn't mind. He knew grief to be an inevitable consequence of love, and that was a choice he willingly made.

"One more thing you will find about love, Harry." Albus said, turning his attention back to the young wizard. "And this is important." He thought back to the recent conversation he'd had with the boy's godfather.

It was so important that they didn't fight this war with fear or unnecessary violence. Never again would Albus be lured into the trap of doing things for power. Of doing things for himself. For his own selfish survival.

Albus had risked death. He had accepted it even. He had truly meant to die last summer at Severus' hands. He knew it was a sacrifice that must be made for the greater good. He had come a long way since he'd been a teenager. He knew 'the greater good' wasn't something he did for others. It was something that he was part of, and not immune from the consequences of.

Yes, he understood it at last. He knew how to fight Voldemort and he knew how to win. He would always win. Perhaps not him personally, but wizardkind at least. They just needed to be a little more brave…

"Love is fearless." He smiled.