A/N: This is my version of the relationship that went on between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. It starts off during the summer they met and will visit their infamous duel and the last moments of Gellert's life when he is confronted by Voldemort. Contains slash and mild sexual content, so it is a strong T rating. There's some violence as well. Please, please, please review! Feedback will motivate me to write and therefore update more quickly!

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K.R., without whom none of this would be.

For the Greater Good

A tall, lanky boy of barely eighteen, with long auburn hair and bright blue eyes, stood facing another boy of about the same age, slightly shorter and stockier, with curly blonde hair cascading down past his grey eyes. They were being introduced to one another by an older woman, short and stout, with a big smile upon her face as she looked from one boy to the other.

"Gellert Grindelvald," said the blonde boy in a smooth accent as he held out his hand. "Pleased to have made your acquaintance."

They held their hand shake a bit longer than was normal, looking each other in the eyes unfalteringly. They only broke gaze when the older woman spoke.

"Oh boys, I know you'll get on quite well!" she beamed. Addressing Gellert, she said, "Albus is top of his class at Hogwarts! Such a brilliant boy." Gellert cocked an eyebrow at Albus, smirking.

"And Gellert here is quite the thinker himself, quite gifted, always likes to keep his friends intelligent," she went on, now speaking to Albus. "Yes, I'm sure you'll get along just fine while Gellert is here."

She turned and left them alone in the sittingroom of her house. Albus was watching Gellert intently as the latter took a seat on the couch, grinning at Albus, his golden locks falling haphazardly around his face and neck. He motioned for Albus to do the same.

"So, you're a bit of a genius, eh?" said Gellert, cheekily.

"And you're a bit of a delinquent, getting expelled from Durmstrang?" Albus retorted, smirking back at Gellert.

"Ah, that… that vos nothing. The magic I vos experimenting vith vos just beyond those fools' understanding. My brilliance cannot be confined vithin the valls of a school, anyvay," he said cockily. He caught Albus' eye and smirked.

"What do you mean? What kind of magic were you involved with?" Albus asked quickly, sounding both intrigued and amused.

"Ah, that is for me to know, and you to find out." Gellert winked. He leaned back against the couch and flipped his hair out of his face confidently, unwittingly revealing a mark on his neck slightly behind and underneath his left ear. Albus reached out a hand unconsciously and touched it softly, leaning in to properly see it. Gellert stiffened on contact. The symbol was a triangle surrounding a circle, surrounding a line, seemingly burned into his flesh. Gellert turned toward Albus, causing Albus' hand to trace Gellert's neck, resting underneath his chin, their faces now quite close together.

"You know vot it is then?" Gellert asked mysteriously, surprised to see the recognition on Albus' face.

"The Hallows…." said Albus as he slowly lowered his raised arm. "But you can't honestly think they're real?"

"Albus, Albus, Albus, my new friend. Can you honestly think they are not, vith all the history surrounding them, the most obvious of vich is that of the Elder Vand? I can tell, I know you vill appreciate my – unorthodox – beliefs vunce you understand. I can see that you vill be one of the only vons able to understand. If you vould like, I ask you to accompany me now to my room, vere I vill explain myself further," said Gellert with the air of someone about to reveal his greatest secret. Albus was enthralled.

"Please do offer an explanation, Gellert. I would love to hear your theories on such things," Albus said as he rose.

Gellert also rose and led the way up the stair into his bedroom, closing the door behind Albus. He turned to face Albus and began his explanation of the Deathly Hallows and the dark magic that was his reason for being expelled from school. He explained how he had followed the history of the Hallows directly to here, his aunt's place in Godric's Hollow, Godric's Hollow being the home of one brother in the family that was said to have been the initial owners of the Hallows. When they did not emerge from the room for hours, the old woman by the name of Bathilda became excited. She knew that one day these two brilliant boys would make a name for themselves. Little did she know what she had catalyzed.

A week had passed since Albus had first me Gellert, and they had spent every available moment together. Gellert was brilliant, and Albus was entranced by his ideas and by the new magic that Gellert had introduced him to, and that they were now discovering together. Gellert, with his demanding presence and unwavering beliefs had Albus captivated. Albus was afraid of some of the dark magic they were dabbling into, but that also made it more exciting and appealing to him; that and the promise of possessing the Deathly Hallows, a power that would make them unstoppable. The dark magic and ideas for world order that Gellert had presented to Albus, the most controversial of which included wizarding rule over Muggles, seemed less foolish when presented by Gellert.

Albus could not deny that he had thought long and hard about wizards needing to better assert themselves around Muggles. He also could not hide from Gellert the circumstances that had led him to these convictions. Gellert was the first person he had ever spoken to about his damaged sister, about how she was attacked as a small child by Muggle boys who saw her doing magic. How she has never recovered from the trauma and has come to resent her magical abilities, bottling them up until they turn inward on her or explode out of her uncontrollably. How his father was sent to Azkaban years ago for murdering the boys who had attacked her, and how she had had an outburst that had killed their mother just a few months prior to their meeting. This was why Albus was home, fulfilling his responsibility to his siblings when he could be doing great things elsewhere; traveling the world as he had planned, for instance. He trusted Gellert and Gellert seemed to understand his pain, seemed to want to help, and seemed sure that Albus' brilliance would not be wasted. He told him everything would work out, and Albus believed him. Unleashing his brainpower with Gellert gave Albus new purpose. He wanted to be with this boy as much as he could, not wanting to miss any brilliant moment or any brilliant smile, any teasing wink or inquiring raise of an eyebrow.

"Albus, where are you going?" asked an irritated boy, younger than Albus, shorter and stronger looking. This boy also had auburn hair and twinkling blue eyes, but his hair only fell to his shoulders rather than halfway down his back like Albus'.

"Just down to the Bagshot's for a bit," Albus replied hastily as he finished pulling on his shirt and headed for the door.

"Not again, Albus! You've been with that Grindelwald boy every day since he's been here! What about me? What about Ariana?" said the boy, exasperated.

"Listen, I'll be right down the street. You know if you need me I'll be back before you can say 'licorice wand,'" Albus reassured him, though he didn't look convinced. "Ab, she hasn't had an episode in weeks."

"Just go. I can handle her," sighed Aberforth. Albus grinned at his younger brother, went to kiss the blonde girl that was sitting at the kitchen table playing with her cereal on the forehead, and walked out the front door.

He walked quickly down the street on which he lived in Godric's Hollow and up to the front door of the Bagshot residence. He did not have to knock, however, because Gellert was waiting for him on the other side and immediately opened the door.

"Morning, Al," he said nonchalantly, though his mouth twitched into a wide grin.

"No time for pleasantries; we have much to discuss," said Albus immediately, bustling by Gellert and grabbing his hand, pulling him upstairs. To anyone else this urgency would have seemed a bit ridiculous since the boys had not stopped communicating by owl since they last parted the day before, but to them those hours apart were torturous and wasted. Once they were safely in Gellert's bedroom, Albus began talking, Gellert watching him pace with amusement, stilling grinning mischievously.

"I've been thinking, and there is only one way to really do this. We need to have a sort of slogan, something that will represent us positively, because, Gel, the whole Ministry of Magic is going to be after us and people are not going to understand. They are not going to take this lightly. We will be going directly against the International Statute of Secrecy, Gel! They won't understand how beneficial it will be until the movement is completed. They will think we are power-hungry, blood-thirsty tyrants, but we aren't! They'll be thankful for our brilliant guidance later. It's not for our gain, though that's what they'll think. It's for the benefit of everyone, wizards and Muggles alike! It's for… for the greater good!" Albus exclaimed passionately. He stopped pacing and looked at Gellert, who was sitting on his bed gawking at Albus.

"You, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, are utterly perfect," said Gellert, gazing at Albus, awestruck at the enthusiasm now present in his new counterpart. Albus was panting, his hair all a mess from his pacing, and he had a fire blazing behind his blue eyes that was beautifully intimidating. "Perfect," sighed Gellert as he took all of Albus in. He could no longer control himself; his own attraction to Albus coupled with the fact that building Albus' feelings for him would further solidify his loyalty to Gellert made him irresistible. He stood up and walked over to Albus, took a hold of his shoulders and stared him in the eye.

"You're the only von who has ever really understood me, Al, the only von who has ever seen eye to eye vith me," Gellert told him sincerely. "My only equal."

"And you, mine."

Gellert moved the long auburn locks out of Albus' face and put them behind his back, carefully taking every hair off of Albus' chest and moving it out of the way.

"You and I are going to do great things, Albus," he told the boy that was hanging on his every word.

"Together," Albus said intently, with bated breath.

Gellert placed his hands upon Albus' hips and moved their bodies together, looking deeply into his eyes. He leaned in and placed his lips upon the other boy's, sending a tingling sensation through his body, and Albus quietly gasped as Gellert's lips parted his. There was no use in trying to deny it or fight it any longer, Albus thought. He had never experienced anything more delightful. He moved his hands up Gellert's back and grabbed onto the golden curls at the nape of his neck, pulling his head in closer and slipping his tongue into Gellert's mouth at the same time. They were closer than they had ever before been, but that was not close enough for Albus. He didn't know why, but he wanted this boy as close to him as possible, so badly that he ached. He felt that if they broke apart and Gellert's mouth for some reason became detached from his, that he would never be able to speak or use it properly again.

Just as this thought was crossing his mind, though, Gellert pulled back and locked gazes with Albus. Something sinister that he had been trying to ignore was again dancing in Gellert's eyes.

"Our power vill be unmatched; our skills, unfaltering. Vee vill make a difference in this vorld, Al, I felt it the moment I laid eyes on you. You know that, right? You know how much more quickly vee vill be able to affect change like this, following our own guidelines rather than those set in place for us? In order to remodel society, some of society's laws must be undone; it is only logical," said Gellert, sternly and sincerely. He had never met brainpower to match his own before.

"I am well aware of our bylaws, Gellert. I have come to the conclusion that the backbone of our movement must be promising of change, yet convincing of our ultimatum that everyone will one day benefit. We need to put our ideas into motion as one would a political campaign. Our slogan shall be our stability," Albus explained seriously.

"Vell, you said it yourself, Al. Vee vill do votever it takes to affect this change 'For the Greater Good.' Perfect, I told you," Gellert said, smiling again.

"You really think this is for the greater good, Gellert? You really think what we are planning to do is right?" Albus asked him earnestly. He had looked away from Gellert for a few seconds, now returning his gaze to those intense, grey eyes. Gellert looked back at him, though his gaze was harsh and searching this time.

"Of course I do, Albus," he professed as he backed away from the other boy slightly. "It is the only vay. You know the power vithin yourself; you know that it sets you apart from Muggles and even other vizards. Brilliance like ours needs to be put to use. It vould be more of a crime to vaste it. Vee are too good to sit underneath everyone else, taking orders and doing mundane, useless tasks to prove ourselves. Vee shall make the greatest team, Albus, you and I. Look at me, decide now vot it is that you vant," Gellert commanded. There was no debating with him, no reasoning, everything he said was pure fact to Albus, all of Albus' doubts were wiped from his mind and he truly believed that their brilliance could reach no ends together.

"I want you," Albus said, matter-of-factly.

"That," Gellert replied, grinning, "I can give you much sooner than vorld domination."

Albus was lying on his bare back, trembling. Gellert was hovering inches above him, breathing onto his lips.

"Are you ready?" Gellert asked him. Albus nodded, for he could form no words with which to respond.

Gellert smirked, that mischievous smirk of his that made Albus' head rush, and he sat up, looking over Albus' body with determination. Albus' knew he was about to be conquered by this boy, about to completely submit to him, but it did not matter; he would not have been able to stop Gellert now even if he wanted to, which he definitely did not. Gellert lifted Albus' legs and put them on his own shoulders. He got ready and looked down at Albus with a gaze that said, 'Here goes nothing.' He positioned himself and gently pushed himself into Albus. Albus winced at the pain, but it was dulled by the fact that Gellert was inside him. Slowly, so as to not hurt Albus, Gellert thrust. It was excruciatingly pleasant. Thrust. The only thing that Albus had been able to think about for the past week was actually happening; he and Gellert were so close that they were actually taking up the same space. Albus opened his eyes.

"Are you –?" Gellert started.

"Harder."

Grinning, Gellert thrust again and knew that he had met his match. This quiet, brilliant boy with so many burdens was his. They made the perfect match and one day they would have everything together. He had this boy now; he had him in most every sense of the word. Albus' face became more and more jubilant as Gellert's thrusts became harder and more frequent.

In what seemed like no time at all, they exploded. It was done. Albus Dumbledore was taken, and Gellert Grindelwald had given. Given more of himself though than he realized at this point.

Fin! Please let me know what you think of it so far!