Remorse
Title: Remorse
Author: francesca_blue
Rating: PG
Word count: 620
Prompts: 2: Empire; 43: "Death is not grievous to me, for I shall lay aside my pains by death." - Ovid Metamorphoses (III, 471).
Summary: "They say he showed some remorse, towards the end." Gellert Grindelwald's thoughts between 1945 and 1998.
Author's notes: I'm allowed two, right? I'm afraid the quote I used in my summary is not exact, as I don't have my copy of Deathly Hallows with me; Dumbledore says something to this effect in the King's Cross chapter, though. Again, I hope you enjoy it, and again, comments and concrit will be much appreciated.
Remorse
Albus!
You can’t do this to me, Albus! This is my prison!
I don’t deserve this! They do, but not m- Wait... What are you doing? You can’t let them out, Albus! They’ll ruin everything; they deserve this!
You can’t lock me up here! You can’t! Albus! Don’t leave me! Albus!
Albus!
Albus!
***
I don’t deserve this, Albus. I was trying to do something great! For the Greater Good, remember!
You deserve this. You deserve to be here, you betrayed me, you betrayed everything we worked for. We could have been great, you and I, overlords of the worlds, both magic and muggle, but you lacked the power. Yes... you were weak, Albus, and you couldn’t stand it that I was better than you - that I am better than you - so you did the only thing you could, you took everything away from me, you- you coward!
You are a coward! You didn’t have the guts to go through with it, didn’t have the guts to join me, didn’t have the guts to fight me, and when you finally did, you didn’t even have the guts to kill me, only to lock me up, me, the greatest wizard who ever lived, an intellectual, your better, your friend, your enemy ... You just locked me up! I deserve to die, not to rot away in here!
You are unworthy of the Elder Wand!
***
I don’t understand you, Albus.
You’ve turned down the position for Minister of Magic again. They’re giving you the power that they didn’t give to me, and you’ve turned it down.
Why? What happened to you? You had dreams and ambitions once. Where did you go wrong?
Was it your brother? You always were a family man. Was it something that cretin said to you that changed your mind? Well, that just shows what listening to stupid people will get you, doesn’t it - a mediocre life as a teacher, and a weakened world.
Was it your sister? I’m sorry about her, I didn’t mean to kill her. She just got in the way. She could have been great, if not for those slugs who destroyed her. But I still don’t understand. Why didn’t you want to make sure that no one had to suffer like Ariana did again?
***
I see we were not the only ones to dream such dreams. But the dreams of others are so much more terrible than ours, Albus. This man, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is a monster. You must stop him, Albus. Why have you done nothing?
***
I lost a tooth last night, Albus.
I am getting old. I am rotting away in here, and yes... Yes, I deserve it. I was no better than that creature that the little boy killed. I destroyed hundreds of lives, thinking only of my own ambitions, never of other people. How very selfish of me.
***
You are gone, Albus.
It’s so hard to believe. You, the best of men, are dead and gone. It is too late for me to ask forgiveness, now.
I hope you went down fighting; you’re the owner of the Elder Wand. But you never did do things the same way as everyone else.
***
He is coming for me.
They say he is searching for a better, more powerful wand... Well we both know why he wants our wand, don’t we, Albus.
I suspect he will kill me. I will do my best not to tell him anything, though I fear that he already knows. Still, I will try. It is the least I can do for you, my old friend.
I am not afraid of death anymore. I used to be so afraid. I raged against death. But anything is better than this.
Author: francesca_blue
Rating: PG
Word count: 620
Prompts: 2: Empire; 43: "Death is not grievous to me, for I shall lay aside my pains by death." - Ovid Metamorphoses (III, 471).
Summary: "They say he showed some remorse, towards the end." Gellert Grindelwald's thoughts between 1945 and 1998.
Author's notes: I'm allowed two, right? I'm afraid the quote I used in my summary is not exact, as I don't have my copy of Deathly Hallows with me; Dumbledore says something to this effect in the King's Cross chapter, though. Again, I hope you enjoy it, and again, comments and concrit will be much appreciated.
Remorse
Albus!
You can’t do this to me, Albus! This is my prison!
I don’t deserve this! They do, but not m- Wait... What are you doing? You can’t let them out, Albus! They’ll ruin everything; they deserve this!
You can’t lock me up here! You can’t! Albus! Don’t leave me! Albus!
Albus!
Albus!
***
I don’t deserve this, Albus. I was trying to do something great! For the Greater Good, remember!
You deserve this. You deserve to be here, you betrayed me, you betrayed everything we worked for. We could have been great, you and I, overlords of the worlds, both magic and muggle, but you lacked the power. Yes... you were weak, Albus, and you couldn’t stand it that I was better than you - that I am better than you - so you did the only thing you could, you took everything away from me, you- you coward!
You are a coward! You didn’t have the guts to go through with it, didn’t have the guts to join me, didn’t have the guts to fight me, and when you finally did, you didn’t even have the guts to kill me, only to lock me up, me, the greatest wizard who ever lived, an intellectual, your better, your friend, your enemy ... You just locked me up! I deserve to die, not to rot away in here!
You are unworthy of the Elder Wand!
***
I don’t understand you, Albus.
You’ve turned down the position for Minister of Magic again. They’re giving you the power that they didn’t give to me, and you’ve turned it down.
Why? What happened to you? You had dreams and ambitions once. Where did you go wrong?
Was it your brother? You always were a family man. Was it something that cretin said to you that changed your mind? Well, that just shows what listening to stupid people will get you, doesn’t it - a mediocre life as a teacher, and a weakened world.
Was it your sister? I’m sorry about her, I didn’t mean to kill her. She just got in the way. She could have been great, if not for those slugs who destroyed her. But I still don’t understand. Why didn’t you want to make sure that no one had to suffer like Ariana did again?
***
I see we were not the only ones to dream such dreams. But the dreams of others are so much more terrible than ours, Albus. This man, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is a monster. You must stop him, Albus. Why have you done nothing?
***
I lost a tooth last night, Albus.
I am getting old. I am rotting away in here, and yes... Yes, I deserve it. I was no better than that creature that the little boy killed. I destroyed hundreds of lives, thinking only of my own ambitions, never of other people. How very selfish of me.
***
You are gone, Albus.
It’s so hard to believe. You, the best of men, are dead and gone. It is too late for me to ask forgiveness, now.
I hope you went down fighting; you’re the owner of the Elder Wand. But you never did do things the same way as everyone else.
***
He is coming for me.
They say he is searching for a better, more powerful wand... Well we both know why he wants our wand, don’t we, Albus.
I suspect he will kill me. I will do my best not to tell him anything, though I fear that he already knows. Still, I will try. It is the least I can do for you, my old friend.
I am not afraid of death anymore. I used to be so afraid. I raged against death. But anything is better than this.