Fuck, that’s good

Beautiful

Of *course* Albus hates being adored. Uh huh. And Minerva believes it, having been carefully groomed the way Albus grooms all his past, present, and future tools. What a pity he can't be bothered with anyone from Slytherin-Tom might have been a useful tool, too, if treated like a child and not a future Damien.

This is a very beautiful story, and though I am an avid Dumbledore basher, my heart was deeply touched by this heroic portrayal of him, and gave me new light into his soul. Thank you.

Wow, this is brilliant! You managec to create a convincing charachter study in only one chapter and it makes me long for so much more from this particular universe! The hint about what is to come at the end was brilliant, so maybe another chapter around the time Lily and James died would be great! :D

yeah, man. this is awesome. truly amazing story, and mm/ad to boot!

... this. was. so. great!
I did not expect this, it was so good, a mix of canon and MMADness and it was just perfect! Your writing style made it easy to get into the story and into all the emotions of the characters as well. I like how you made them both suffer (... that sounds kinda wrong) and show that war is only breaking people, but that this is something that drives them while trying to form a better world.
No SPaGs, a wonderful, deep-going writing style and a different side of a MMAD relationship - perfect :)

So glad to see another AD/MM story by you! Just as I'm re-reading some fanfic again after a long time away. Excellent, as always. I do love angst AD/MM and you write some of the best.
"Only Albus could wear the world as a hair-shirt."

"Anything that stops him hurting. Right now, all she can do is hold him."

Moral injury after combat, well-portrayed.

Thank you!

Scary, painful and amazingly glorious!

Totally convincing! Thank you for this take on how they became what we know them to be much later!

I love stories about moral ambiguity, particularly when they involve these two characters.

Your war-broken Minerva is perfect-weary and pragmatic, and wonderfully juxtaposed against the ever-lost Albus.

This piece is so beautifully wrought - and writ -that I want to quote it all back to you, but I'll forbear and single out a few things that I loved especially:
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"What is it, then?" she asks, for his sake rather than for hers. He is the one who needs to catalogue and describe and understand. The one who analyses every step, every choice, to try and make sure there are no more mistakes, no more failures. Minerva doesn't care about whys and hows and wherefores. As an auror she gets enough of those at work. For her it's enough that he is here and she is here and he doesn't think of her as a war hero.

She misses him like a terrible ache, yet is furiously and viciously glad he is dead.

...he just sees her, the terrible, broken truth of her. And he doesn't flinch.

It will break him. But she will be there and she will put him back together again and again, as long as it takes, just as he does for her. Because he needs her, just as she needs him, and she was right when she told him need is stronger than love.
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And, of course, the wonderful, terrible (given the reader's knowledge of what's to come) ending.

Going on my recs list, of course.

Loved it! The foreshadowing to the actual HP series is great! Would be awesome if you wrote another chapter, but set in the time just as HP's kids are going to school :)

Gemini

This is amazing. A bit darker than I usually like, but really amazing. I've always thought that Albus and Minerva belong together. I like that they've found each other here, and are helping each other to survive, and to perhaps even heal.

I've also enjoyed some of your lighter fics with them, and am really glad to see you haven't given up writing.