Where Our Story Began

Gellert's POV, July 10:

Gellert got home at 9:PM, well after dinner time. Gellert was supposed to have gotten home at seven to eat with Tante Bathilda, but he had completely forgotten the time and only now did he realize how hungry he was.

"Gellert, dear." Bathilda said from the kitchen door. She didn't look stern in the least, "You and your researches and books, you always loose track of time. No matter, no matter, I will keep you company over dinner, though the food is now cold."

Gellert made the food warm again with some magic, though it of course wasn't the same thing.

"I met your dearest Albus today." Gellert said casually, even though he knew Bathilda would get over excited.

"Nonsense, you're my dearest- Wait you did what!?" Gellert snorted, "How wonderful! Did you like him?" Gellert sighed.

"Even if I don't like admitting being wrong -- Yes, he seemed more... interesting, than I had thought."

And so he was. After dinner, Gellert took a shower, read from some books, and cleaned his room, all the while thinking about his and Albus' last encounter. They had started debating over Transfiguration matters, but it was the best debate Gellert had ever experienced. Through out his life, he had constantly been used to idiots. Gellert was always the smartest in every context. But now he had debated with someone who brought up significant points, sometimes even Gellert would have to stop and think of a good counterargument.

They had walked for more than two hours without ever getting bored and when they parted (because they realized the sun had gone down), they promised to meet up again tomorrow.

And now Gellert was laying in bed, trying to think of any flaw on Albus' beautiful face, finding none.

***

Gellert's POV, July 11:

"What are you reading?" Gellert looked up to find Albus Dumbledore leaning over Tante Bathilda's garden fence.

An hour ago, Gellert had gotten out to the garden and sat down by a tree branch with a book. He had thought of maybe visiting Albus sometime after dinner, but apparently Albus had lost his patience and gotten to him first. Not that he was sorry.

"Albus! Do you want to sit down with me?" Albus, who had been surveying Gellert, opened the garden gate and bent down beside Gellert. Albus' auburn hair really was beautiful in the sunlight, it looked like it was on fire, and the way Gellert could feel their arms and legs brushing made him feel warmer in the already hot weather, "I'm re-reading this book that goes into detail on the case with Bartholomew Barebone."

"The Muggle leader of the group Scourers?" Albus asked rhetorically, "Yes it's some story isn't it? Is it Twelvetrees Scandal?" Albus now asked curiously.

"Yes, have you read it before?" Albus smiled, and it really adorned him.

"Thrice."

"Of course." Gellert grinned, "What are your thoughts on it?" Albus thought for a while.

"I think the author is bold. In a good way I mean, because this is one of the few books on the case of Bartholomew Barebone where the author dares to put the weight on him. And we should blame Barebone for what he did; He recruited a group designed to kill, just because of fear. Of course some of it was Dorcus Twelvetrees' fault. She was the one who told Barebone of the magical community, which is against the law, so she got a life-sentence in prison. But what did Bartholomew Barebone get for punishment? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, because the Wizarding World isn't 'allowed' to punish Muggles. I'm sorry, but that's rubbish. There are countless of incidents where Muggles have done unforgivable crimes, yet never been punished, because we are not allowed to punish them, and the Muggles can't punish the assailants because they don't even know what happened. They don't know what happened because of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Do you understand how much difficulties occur because of the Statue of Secrecy? But no one has the guts to voice this. Well she did. Author Julianna is brave enough to admit that the Statue of Secrecy isn't all that perfect, but has it's flaws.You agree?"

"Yes, I- I really do." Gellert had gone into a sort of haze while listening to Albus. For what Albus had just said was exactly how Gellert felt about it as well and he had never heard anyone say those intelligent opinions on a book most people hasn't read, let alone three times. Getting the courage to finally speak his opinions without worrying that the other might think badly of him, or worse, don't understand what he's talking about, Gellert excitedly spoke his mind.

"Dorcus Twelvetrees had just fallen in love with Barebone, and it was only natural for her to open up about the Magical World. I can't imagine how difficult it must've been to keep such a huge secret, and I suppose she thought they would get married someday. In that case, what difference would it make if she shared the truth with him before or after the wedding? The law tells her she's only allowed to expose the Magical World after the marriage, but Barebone would've still betrayed Twelvetrees and told the Muggle community about magic even after the wedding. So really, we shouldn't blame Twelvetrees at all. What Barebone did was unforgivable. Not only did he inform Merlin-knows-how-many Newspapers Businesses of the Magical World, but he formed the group Scourers that basically went about murduring as many Wizards and Witches as possible."

After Gellert stopped talking he felt better than he had done in years; His heart was racing in excitement and as though Albus knew exactly what was best for him, he asked the most perfect question to the situation.

"Do you want to duel?"

***

Albus' POV, July 11:

An hour later, Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald bowed to each other simultaneously, excitement shimmering on their faces.

"On three." Gellert said with his wand pointing to the ground of the secluded forest.

"Agreed." Albus said.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!" Albus and Gellert exclaimed at the same time. 

Gellert's first curse made arrows shoot at Albus who quickly transfigured them to cursed golden birds that flew at Gellert at a faster speed than the arrows, but Gellert evaporated them into red smoke that spread over Albus' vision while Gellert apperated and shot another curse at Albus.

Albus was very impressed. He had never had to think this much in a duel, and it had never been this difficult -- he loved it. Albus really couldn't see where Gellert was, so he made himself invisible while he ducked Gellert's curse, then he made the smoke go away so he could see Gellert, and quickly made the water from a nearby lake surround Gellert in a bubble.

Barely was Gellert trapped in the bubble before he was out of it again and forced Albus to be visible. Then Gellert made the leaves on the ground take the form of a dragon that could shoot blue flames.

Albus laughed, "Show off!" he yelled while shielding himself from the fire with a spell assembling white fog, and quickly trapped Gellert in a cage made of excruciating sounds. Should Gellert try to step out of the cage, apparate away, or do any attempts on forcing the cage away with magic, the sounds would only severe. The time Gellert was distracted trying to find a spell that would actually help him instead of turning the volume up was enough for Albus to dissarm Gellert.

"Come on!" Gellert yelled amused, "You're going to dissarm me? Hogwarts really made you soft, I know you can do better than that!"

So Albus cast a curse that he knew would make Gellert's clothes erupt in flames without giving Gellert any burnmarks nor physical pain, when a bird flew and took the curse instead. The bird was now set on fire.

In Albus' confusion, he now saw a horde of birds flying at Albus, two of them taking his' wands. To protect himself, Albus wandlessly made light appear so strong it made all birds flee -- he could've wandlessly killed them all, but he did not want that.

Gellert, now with two wands, had gotten out of the Volume Cage and tossed Albus up in the air. On Albus fall down, he wandlessly made the trees catch him and also shield him from Gellert's next curse. Gellert's curse made the trees shine purple for a short while, and Albus wildly got an impolsive idea:

Albus broke off one of the tree's branches that had been hit by the curse; with the after affects of Gellert's curse, Albus could feel a little magic in the branch. Half believing this would even work, Albus focused all he could in the magic that existed in the branch, and together with his own magic, tried his hardeat to use the branch as a wand and shot Gellert with a spell that could as well end up a failure. But Gellert did not seem to see that coming, and was knocked of his feet. Now Albus' original wand was back at his hand.

With both Albus and Gellert armed with their wands, both of them shot spells at the same time; A black and a golden spell colliding. The forces of those two spells where so equal that neither of the spells overpowered the other.

"Tie?" Albus yelled over the spells.

"Good idea!"

When their eyes met after the duel, both of them erupted in laughter. Albus had never used this much magic at the same time in his life and it felt amazing. How afraid Albus had been of being trapped in this Muggle village, and now he was feeling magic like anything before.

Albus and Gellert were now lying next to each other on the grass, laughing euphorically.

"What was that?" Albus needed to know.

"What was which?" Gellert said out of breath, looking at Albus impressively.

"The birds." Albus got up on his elbows and looked down at Gellert, "It was like the birds listened to you. Like an Imperio, but it definitely wasn't Imperio."

"No, it was... just some Mind Control."

"'Just some Mind Control'?"

"That's what you miss out on by not attending Durmstrang." Albus laughed.

"Believe me, I do not wish I had gotten into Durmstrang."

But was that true? Albus had never wanted to attend Durmstrang, but if it meant he would have known Gellert a long time ago... Maybe. It was strange they had only known each other for two days.

"Pity." Gellert said and excitement flowed through Albus by the thought of Gellert wishing he had known him longer as well.

"Could you teach me?"

Surprisingly, Albus caught up on it very fast. He tested on different sorts of animals and by the end, Albus had succeeded in Mind Controlling eight birds at the same time. Then Gellert asked if he wanted to join him for a dinner in the main village.

"Follow me." Gellert said as he quickly made his way to a horse cart, carrying hay. Gellert then climbed in the cart.

"We're going to get caught!" Albus whispered.

"Not if we make ourselves invisible, which I saw you were capable of during our duel."

And with a wink of his eye, Gellert disappeared from view. Albus quickly made himself invisible while no one was watching, then barely made it up the cart before the Muggle started driving it.

"You're mental." Albus said.

"I think you're the only person I know who can make a Disillusionment Charm that powerful."

"That can't be true," Albus said as they drove over a nice field, "What about your former headmaster? Or your father? He was a powerful wizard wasn't he?" Gellert flinched slightly when Albus mentioned his father.

"And a damn fool as well." Gellert said and a slight silence fell over them.

"You don't like him?"

"Hell no, I don't like him. I despise that man. Why do you think I didn't return to that fucking house after getting expelled? He would have killed me." Albus was close to reaching out for Gellert's hand, but refrained.

"How come you didn't run away from him earlier? Your aunt would have been glad to have you. I think."

"Because he would've found me and forced me home again."

"But-"

"That won't happen now, Albus."

"How can you be sure?"

"Partly because he would've already done so already, but the reason to why he hasn't dragged me back home yet is because he has given up on me. My father has always wanted an heir, not a son. But I haven't been easy on that spectrum; never really listened to his instructions. During parties and at school I always caused drama. Anyways, I think he thought I would cooperate with him some day, if only he kept trying. But he must see it's not going to work now I've been expelled."

"And you're not afraid he might come after you? Seek revenge for ruining his perfect picture of an heir?"

"Not in the least." Gellert said, "I'm sure Bernard Grindelwald won't leave me in peace forever. Someday, he will definitely try and 'come after me'. But I'm not afraid. I am superior to him by power, he won't be able to harm me."

Albus began to smile and though he couldn't see Gellert, was pretty sure he was smiling as well.

"This is us." Gellert said suddenly and jumped out of the cart, so did Albus.

"Gellert, wait, where are we going?" Both of them had now pulled of their Disillusionment Charms, but they where still on the field. Albus thought they would take a trip into town, "We were supposed to eat dinner, weren't we?"

"Indeed."

"Then-"

"Just follow me."

After Gellert had stolen everything he needed in a picknick basket, they started up towards a hilltop. The sun had just gone down and the wind breezed nicely as they sat down on the grass.

"Cheers." Gellert said while clinking their croissants. Albus laughed.

"Poor farmer who won't get his food back." Albus said.

"He'll be fine, you left some money."

After they had eaten, they laid down and watched the stars, quizing each other on astronomy facts.

"And that's Pollux, trapped between the Muggle and the Wizarding world..." Albus said, pointing at a star. They had now gone through a bottle of wine together.

"...Born to Witch Capella and Muggle Eridanus."

"Gellert?"

"Yes?"

"Did you know I'm a Half-blood?"

"No... Albus?"

"Yes?"

"Can I be frank with you?"

"Of course."

"About the Statue of Secrecy. I do not only think that it 'has it's flaws', but I want it abolished. Do you?" Albus looked at Gellert for a while.

"I... It has crossed my mind, but- I don't know. I feel like I could give it some more thought before I give you an answer."

"Of course."

***

Albus' POV, July 12:

Dear Albus-

I hope you are feeling well. I know this must be tough for you, just know I can come back to you whenever you want me to.
Thank you for your latest letter, things are going well here. Well, not entirely. It's hard to find places where you are allowed to study or even use magic; there are so many magical places that has been occupied by Muggles.
It is a pity, really. Just think of how many magical places exist that could be explored, but we're not allowed to because of the Muggles.
Anyway, we are still having it fun. But it would be much more fun if you were here. Send my condolences to your siblings,

Love, Elphias

As Albus read the letter, he knew he was supposed to think of Elphias and his trip. But all he could think of was the part about the Muggles.

Ever since yesterday, Albus had not been able to stop thinking of Gellert and the Statue of Secrecy. His life would have been so much more different had the Statue of Secrecy never been built; In that universe, the Muggles would never have attacked Ariana, because they would have already known of magic, and even if they still had attacked Ariana, they would have been punished. In that case, his father wouldn't have been sent to prison, and Albus would not have to take care of his siblings.

Albus heard a knock on the front door and got down the stairs to open it, finding Gellert.

"Good morning." Gellert smiled. It was quite unusual for someone to invite themselves into someone else's house at breakfast time, but Albus was the opposite of crotchety when he saw him.

"Gellert, hi!" Albus pulled back a string of hair, "Come in! My siblings are having breakfast if you want to meet them."

***

Gellert's POV, July 2:

Gellert did not know Albus had a sister. He had seen Albus' brother occasionally feeding goats and going to the Ivory's house. But when Gellert was lead to the kitchen, there was a pale blond girl, drawing with crayons next to her brother.

"Aberforth, Ariana -- This my friend Gellert Grindelwald. Gellert, my siblings: Aberforth and Ariana."

"Pleasure to meet you." Gellert said.

"Ditto!" The young girl said happily.

"You're that boy that lives with your aunt after fleeing from home, right? What you've got to do to get kicked out from Durmstrang?" Aberforth said with food in his mouth. Gellert spotted five grammatical errors in Aberforth's two spoken sentences and barely managed to withhold his retort. 

Instead, Gellert looked at Albus who was giving his brother a warning look that made Gellert snort.

"There's something I want to show you." Albus said quickly to save Gellert, "We could go to my room- I mean... Not... we don't-"

"That sounds like a good idea." Gellert interrupted with a smile and headed towards the stairs.

"You'll have to excuse my brother." Albus said once they had stepped into his clean yet pretty room, filled with books, "He can be a bit difficult sometimes."

"Not to worry, I'm just thankful not to have any siblings. Hell, they'd probably be dead by now." Albus laughed at what he thought was a joke, but really was the truth and handed him a letter from his drawer.

"What's this?" Gellert asked as he leaned himself against the wall and Albus half-sat on his desk.

"A letter from a friend. I think you will find a part there interesting."

Gellert read the letter, and felt strange when he read the last part; 'Love, Elphias', "Who's Elphias?" Gellert said, as casually as he could muster.

"A friend." Albus repeated, "Originally I was supposed to have joined him on his trip over the world, but then my mom died..."

"You have my condolences." Gellert said after a while and Albus smiled.

"Yes, well, at least I got to meet you. That's one positive outcome for my cancelled trip." The words made Gellert feel good enough to focus on what Albus actually wanted with this conversation.

"So about the part with the Muggles..."

"I've thought about what you said yesterday." Albus started pacing his small room that was the only room in this tacky house that smelled nicely, "About how you wished the Statue of Secrecy demolished."

"That was foolish of me. I can sometimes say things I'll regret later after drinking, I-"

"And I agree with you."

"What?" Albus had stopped walking and looked Gellert in his mismatched eyes.

"Can I tell you something?" Albus said.

"Of course you can."

"I trust you with this, Gellert." Albus took hold of Gellert's wrist to show he was serious.

"I would never tell anyone." Gellert assured and Albus sat down on his bed and looked at Gellert for a few seconds, deciding whether or not to trust him, before putting up a silencing spell.

"When I was ten, three Muggle boys forced themselves on my six year old sister after seing her preform magic tricks. After the traumatizing experience, she started surpressing her magic. She couldn't enjoy when we used our magic. Quite the opposite; it triggered her. And her way of suppressing her magic turned her into an Obscurial -- Yes, you just met my Obscurial, uneducated sister who's barely mentally older than six. My dad went after those Muggles and killed them, which resulted in him being thrown into Azkaban where he spent his last three years of his life before dying of an unknown cause." Albus was crying now and Gellert sat down beside him, "I still don't even know how he died; If it was from a sickness, starvation, or murder -- I don't even know where his body lays, but it sure ain't under a nice tombstone. I'm sure you, with your brilliant mind, can imagine how things would have looked for me if the Statue of Secrecy didn't exist. I graduated with the best grade in every class and what was it all for? So that I could clean and cook in this Muggle home because my sister can't handle magic? I wanted to be something great, Gellert."

Albus stood up now and looked out of his window. How come Albus could still look good while crying? Albus' eyes were of the brightest blue Gellert had ever seen; like blue flames.

"Albus. I am absolutely positive there will become something big of you someday." Albus laughed.

"Didn't you hear me? I'm trapped here."

"No you're not." Gellert insisted, and rose from the bed, "We could cure Ariana, you know. You're the most incredible wizard I have ever met, Albus. And I think we could teach her to find the beauty in magic again. Albus, I have a proposal for you, for us. Would you like to try and unite the Deatly Hallows with me?"

Albus stared, "Gellert, I've always dreamed of becoming the Master of Death someday, but how on earth would we-"

"We could. We could, Albus. I believe in this. I believe in us. We could unite the Hallows and finally put an end to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. And Ariana would be free, what do you say?"

Albus laughed out of shock. And Gellert understood; they had only known each other for three days, but Gellert was ready to rule the world with him.

"I say we give it a try."