Chapter 64

"Mr. Potter, Severus." Minerva greeted from where she stood at the top of the stairs leading to the Great Hall.

"Minerva," Severus stated as he walked up the stairs to meet her, only to be pulled in a hug.

"Hello Professor," Harry greeted as well, though a bit awkwardly, as she hadn't been his professor for over eight decades.

"I wasn't sure you would come until the elves announced your arrival."

"Frankly speaking, I wasn't sure we would come either," Severus stated.

"Is he…"

"Here, yes," Minerva answered. "Sane… uhm, Poppy is looking him over."

"Madam Pomfrey is back?" Harry asked with a raised brow. From what he had understood from the Weasleys, she had chosen to travel with them to their aunt Muriel to look after Arthur and Hermione's injuries.

"Poppy returned at my request," Minerva explained. "Hogwarts is home for her as it is for many of us."

"Severus, Harry, before we go to the Hospital wing, there was something that I needed to ask you two about," Minerva whispered as her lips tightened. "Some days ago, a completely blank canvas appeared in the Headmaster's office,"

"Ah, you're asking why Grindelwald's painting turned blank," Harry sported a rather wicked grin.

"Well, yes." Minerva frowned. "As much as I despise the thought of Grindelwald with Albus's visage gracing the walls of this school, he was, in fact, an approved Headmaster appointed by Headmaster Dippet. The castle's magic produces a magical painting when a Headmaster or Headmistress passes."

"Because the castle's magic and wards are linked to that person's magical core, experiences, and possibly soul to produce a believable replica," Harry added. "And considering that I had Death burn Grindelwald's soul to nothing, literally nothing," he emphasised, "Then there wasn't anything for the castle's magic to latch onto to create the magical painting,"

Minerva's brows shot up. "Mr. Potter, I should offer you another biscuit,"

"Another?" Severus frowned.

"Come alone now you two,"

"Minerva, wait, you never offered me even one of your precious biscuits. Minerva!" Severus uttered as he followed McGonagall while Harry snickered.

As the trio neared the Hospital wing, they saw Aberforth leaning against the closed doors with his back to them.

"Abe?" Minerva asked.

Aberfoth looked up to see the trio. He nodded towards Severus and Harry and then turned towards Minerva. "Min, he blames himself for everything. I just- this is not the stubbourn brother I knew."

"It's been years, Abe, don't you remember how shocked he was when we carefully filled him in on the events of the last few decades."

"Still… I need time," Aberforth uttered before marching past the group.

"Why are Dumbledore men just so stubbourn?" Minerva muttered as she turned towards the Hospital wing doors to push them open.

Like usual, the Hospital wing was bathed in a dim, golden light. The rows of pristine beds stretched out under the towering arched windows, but the atmosphere was taut with tension. Madam Pomfrey stood near a bed closest to her office and watched them approach. All was silent as if the castle emulated the unease everyone felt at that moment.

"It is good to see you both," Poppy inclined her head slightly. "We should catch up at a later time. But now I think someone is very eager to meet you two at last."

Severus stood stiffly next to Harry as his normal glower was stained with a twinge of what might be called concern. Both Poppy and Minerva excused themselves. Whatever was said between the three men would be private. Severus's frown deepened. It was odd to think of this man as Albus Dumbledore. Still possessing Grindelwald's body, though much older now, and marred with decades of confinement in Nurmengard. The man looked feeble but graced both Harry and himself with a smile.

"So you must be Severus Snape, Minerva did tell me you'd glower at me for a bit."

"Huh, what?!" Severus blinked as Albus coughed.

"And you must be Harry." Harry blinked but nodded.

"This is awkward, isn't it?" Albus then asked, a wry smile gracing his lips.

"Yes, very much so," Harry answered. "I spent hating you for nearly three decades when you weren't even to blame."

"I started hating you more when I thought you gave me erectile dysfunction," Harry deadpanned, causing Severus to groan, and Albus's brows to shoot upwards.

"I'm sorry, what? Minerva didn't tell me that."

"All water under the bridge," Harry waved it off.

"The reason I asked you here, even though this is technically our first meeting, was to say that I am sorry for all that happened," Albus stated before bringing his hands up to cough once more. He was emaciated, much like Harry had been due to his prolonged stay in a cold cell.

"Why in Merlin's name are you apologizing?" Severus questioned with a frown. "You were literally locked up while Grindelwald was prancing around as you."

"Be that as it may," Albus paused. "I am still to blame for Gellert's actions. Something that the public doesn't know, and I hope they never find out, was that I nearly let Gellert go during that fateful duel."

Severus and Harry stayed silent as Albus explained. "I was foolish in 1932, and I was foolish in 1945. That man could play my heartstrings like a master." Dumbledore's fingers trembled as he recalled the two battles. "With the blood pact broken in 1932, I was free to battle Gellert at any time, but it was only in 1945 that we truly faced off against each other. The duel lasted for more than six hours as we exchanged spells. Both of us were exhausted and wet as it had started to storm. Gellert made a fatal mistake with a spell, which allowed me to counter it and send him flying into the mud. I held his wand with mine and stared down at him. It was his eyes. It was his damn pleading eyes," Albus lamented.

"I should have resisted, but he offered me a truce." Feeble hands gripped the edges of a wool blanket. "I still had hope that he was the Gellert I knew as a boy. Fool be me. I grabbed his hand, intent on pulling him out of the mud. As soon as our skin touched, he activated his spell. It was such a simple Latin phrase to a complex web of magic. When I regained my bearing, I saw… myself, staring down at me with a smirk."

"It was too late when I realized what he had done. As Gellert had knocked me out. When I awoke, I was imprisoned, and he was boasting about taking my place."

"And no one was the wiser?" Severus asked.

"Gellert knew all of me," Albus muttered. "And as you can attest to he kept his secret well,"

"Until I came along and things began to unravel," Harry thought aloud. "He never planned on a second Harry Potter."

"Nor did he plan on our reality's Harry dying," Severus added. "Suddenly, he had to improvise, and that made him sloppy. His house of cards came down."

"Yes, Gellert was a meticulous planner, but when something suddenly happened that wasn't in his careful plan, he usually froze. That was how I got him in our last duel. I took a spell head-on, one he expected me to counter. His shock was enough for me to have an opening to disarm him."

"But I digress," Albus uttered. "I wanted to formally apologize. If I hadn't been so trusting, none of this would have happened." Dumbledore said as if this was some form of penance for him. "Minerva filled me in on what was said during the court hearing. She wouldn't let me see the transcripts, but I knew Gellert. He hurt both of you greatly."

"You really don't need to. He took your legacy from you," Harry countered but Albus shook his head.

"There is a saying in the Muggle world," Albus muttered. "Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any of those is to lose all three. You clearly felt that betrayal, and I lament because I never got to befriend good men like you. Minerva told me how close you were to the Headmaster." This was mostly directed at Severus, who took a deep breath before speaking.

"Then perhaps it is time to start anew," Severus said. "I am curious to meet the real Albus Dumbledore."

AN: Hi, all my dear readers. Sadly, this story is going to be coming to an end soon. Only 2 Epilogies to go.

But I have a fun little idea. You guys get to vote which SNARRY plot is next. As I am on AO3, Wattpad, and FFN, the cumulative number of votes over all three platforms will determine the winner. (No, you cannot vote twice on different platforms *wags finger*). Who knows, some OC's might just appear again.

The choices for the next Snarry plots are:

A: Body-switching Snary
B: Wrong Boy/Girl who lived Snarry
C: Disabled Harry plot
D: Vampire Snarry
First place will be the next fic I will write (in between me finishing my HTTYD fics), second place will be the story after that.

WARNING!: Readers should keep in mind that all 4 mentioned plots will have the tags (on AO3): Author likes to fuck with the audience cause things aren't what they appear and Author likes to torture audience with cliffhangers.