Harry Potter One Shots

The Pain Inside

All rights belong to the author, omnomnivore

"Albus! Wait! Please don't leave me! It was an accident!" Gellert Grindlewald yelled as his lover tried to break up with him.

"No! Don't speak! You had your chance, but she was my sister! My sister! You clouded my thoughts! You kept me from taking care of my family! They need me and you need to leave." Albus Dumbledore dismissed Gellert.

"Please, Albus! I can't do this without you! I need you!" Gellert begged.

"I said leave!" Albus ordered with cold fire in his voice.

"No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen like this! We were supposed to work for the Greater Good! Not this, never this!" Gellert tried to convince Albus one last time.

"Get out of my sight!" Albus roared.

"Can I come to the funeral?" Gellert asked as he left.

"No. I'm sorry; it has to be this way." Albus said as he kissed Gellert on the head before turning his back on him.

As he was walking away, he heard a strangled sob escape his lover's lips and it broke his heart, but he had lost himself while with Gellert and that couldn't happen. He had to provide for his brother who hated him and who blamed him for their sister's death. He had to make it up to Aberforth.

It was years later and the love Albus felt for Gellert was still burning brightly. Every time he would see Gellert's face on the cover of the Daily Prophet, he would get that familiar, painful jolt that told him just how much he missed his old lover. He had been asked to come forward and fight him, but he didn't want to harm Gellert. Albus didn't think he had the will to fight. His thoughts were interrupted as someone knocked on the door. He thought about ignoring it, but he knew that would be rude. When he opened the door, he saw his headmaster standing there.

"Come in, come in." Albus ushered in Armando Dippet.

"Albus, we need to talk." The headmaster said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"About what, sir?" Albus questioned, event though he knew the reason.

"You need to meet Grindlewald in combat! There are thousands, maybe millions, dying by his hand and you sit here doing nothing! You've been called on to fight him and you refuse! You can't ignore what he's doing!" Headmaster Dippet argued.

"What is the point? When the world is shrouded in shadows, all that remains is ashes. There isn't much to fight for anymore. He has already recruited Hitler and the Reich. He has muggle and magic on his side! I refuse to fight him!" Albus argued dispassionately.

"I thought you would say something like that, so I took the liberty of getting the minister to order you to fight. I'm sorry; Albus, but you did bring this upon yourself. They gave you a month before they arrest you and try you for treason." Dippet said as he went to leave.

"They would charge ME with treason! ME! When he is out there slaying whoever crosses his path!" Albus roared in outrage.

"Listen to your own words, Albus! He is slaying people while you sit here! Go do something about it!" Dippet said as he left.

"Oh, Gellert, I really miss you. After all these years I still love you." Albus said to himself as he picked up his wand and turned on the spot, disappearing.

Albus had fought his lover, but he couldn't bring himself to kill him. He put him in jail he had been keeping all of his prisoners. It was quiet ironic, really. Those that had witnessed the battle had been Obliviated, so as they couldn't reveal all they had seen. It couldn't be know that the great Albus Dumbledore had once been the lover of the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindlewald. He hadn't shown just how hurt he was, but Gellert had. He had asked why over and over as Albus had brought him to the prison.

As the years went by, Albus wrote many letters to Gellert, but he never sent them. He didn't want Gellert to know just how bad off he was without him. His every moment was consumed by 'what if'. He got reports back on Gellert, but that only hurt him more. It told him of his insanity and how, as he fell asleep, he would say Albus' name over and over. Nothing eased his pain and no one noticed his pain, he was too good an actor.

After Albus died, the ministry looked through his will. They were suspicious of everything on his will, but nothing shocked and scared them more than the box of love letters addressed to Gellert Grindlewald. The minister erased everyone's mind and his after he delivered. He had read one letter and could not bring himself to look at any other letter.

When Gellert had received Albus' letters, he knew he couldn't deny his lover had died any more. He went through each letter time and again. Each read ripped a new hole in his heart. He could tell just how broke Albus had been without him and he wished he had fought harder on The Day. Every time he thought of the day he and Albus had parted ways, he broke down in sobs. The guards were used to it by now and they had even learned about the relationship between the two. He started to make plans for his death. He knew the new Dark Lord would be knocking on his door any day. He was going to make him kill him. Suicide by murder, it somehow fit in his warped mind.

When the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort came to his cell, he asked for death and the Lord obliged out of shear frustration. Gellert Grindlewald died in peace, peace he hadn't had since the last time Albus had touched him.