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“What’s a soulmate?” Albus is surprised to hear one of his first years asking him that question. Most people knew what soulmates were by that time, and about the marks that came with. Most people had small, cute pastel marks, your soul mate had the other half to complete the picture, his parents had pastel blue stars. The bigger and the darker the picture the bigger impact they would have on your life, and when they died, your mark fades to a white outline.
“It’s a… well it’s like a best friend but more.” He answered. Albus remembers the way he and Gellert would laugh, smiling at each other, before they knew they were soulmates. “It’s the one person in the world who knows you better than anyone else” He remembers the hours spent talking and planning. The day they learned they were soulmates. Each had half of a deep burgundy arcane circle, running from their souldier to their hip, the only difference was Albus had a moon on his half, and Gellert had a sun.
“It’s someone who makes you a better person, well actually they don’t make you a better person… you do that yourself– because they inspire you” The long nights spent planning. Albus thinks about the things Gellert told him, how he was brilliant and talented, and how he shouldn’t be afraid or ashamed of that. Moments when it truly seemed they were meant to be forever. “A soulmate is someone who you carry with you forever” Years later when they meet in the streets one day, and the following days when Albus seriously considered joining him, because that’s what soulmates did, they supported each other. Coming back to the present Albus glances over at the students who had gathered around, he smiled sadly, hoping they would never have to go through the same pain he did.
“It’s the person who knew you, and accepted you, and believed in you before anyone else did, or when no one else would” Eventually it all came back to that summer, Albus thinks to himself. Words of love, and support, when everything had fallen apart, or the quiet afternoons by the river, creating a plan for a better future. He thinks of the bitter words Aberforth told him, and the sweet things Gellert told him, the things that made Albus fall for him.
“And no matter what happens… you’ll always love them, and nothing can ever change that” He finishes. Thinking lastly of the man in a cell, thousands of miles away. The man who did awful things, and he thinks of the boy he met all those years ago. Knowing in that moment, he would never stop loving Gellert Grindelwald. Hours later Albus is in his room, his hand drifting towards the mark on his torso, the mark still the exact same shade as it was when he got it when he was 15. He thinks of the connecting piece, on Gellert’s skin, and wonders just how everything could have gone differently.