Diabetic Dumbledore

[Tartan Tabby]

Response to AltraPalantir's challenge:

Dumbledore develops diabetes, and because it is a muggle disease, the healers at St. Mungo's cannot cure him. How will he cope with his new sugar-free diet? blood sugar testing? medication and/or insulin shots?

And how will Minerva help him?



“Come on, Albus. This is just a preventive medical check-up; everyone has to it some time,” Minerva said exasperated, trying to drag the Head-master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry into the room where the Healer was already waiting.

“Everyone thinks you are so brave, but they’re all wrong. I don't know how you ended up in Gryffindor.” And with this she turned away.

“Hey, I'm not a coward!” Albus exclaimed, offended.

“Hrmpf.” She still wasn't looking at him.

“I'm going in there.”

“Whatever.”

“You'll see!” Albus turned, straightened his back and walked through the door. The moment it closed behind him, he realized she had gotten him again! But what worried him most was that she was right; he was terribly afraid of Healers and didn't even know why.

“Good morning, Mr Dumbledore. May I ask you to take of your robes?”

Albus obeyed, shivering slightly. The Healer started casting various Diagnostic Spells at him. When he was finally finished he told Albus that he needed to examine his blood. He paled. How he hated injections of any kind! But it had to be done so he tried with all his might to concentrate on something different as the Healer took some of his blood.

‘They need to find a magical method to do this.’ He thought as he put his robes back on.

“You'll get the results of the test in half an hour. You might want to go the cafeteria and eat something, you look rather pale,” the Healer suggested.

Albus sniffed, left the room and went to the cafeteria where he met Mi-nerva.

“Hello, Albus. Well, was it that bad?” she teased.

“It was. My blood needed to be tested and you know that I hate it.”

“I know. At least it's over now. When do you get the results?”

“30 minutes. I need something to eat. Is there any chocolate?”

30 minutes and ten chocolate frogs later Albus was ready to hear the re-sults.

“Yes…well, Mr Dumbledore…have you been feeling dizzy lately?” the Healer started.

“Um…yesterday evening,” Albus replied nervously. Questions were never a good sign.

“I guess you ate something sweet before?” the Healer inquired. Albus nodded wondering what was wrong.

“That's not surprising. Mr Dumbledore you have diabetes.”

Albus just sat there trying to understand what the healer had said. Diabe-tes? Him? He was shaken from his reverie as the healer who spoke again.

“There is one more thing. We cannot heal this illness because it's a Muggle illness and we don't know much about it. I'm sorry.” The healer paused, then handed him a leaflet.

“In here is everything you need to know about the illness. You must come here every 4-5 month for regular tests. And remember: no sweets.”

Albus left the room, feeling as if it was a horrible nightmare and he would wake up soon. Unfortunately, he didn't. No sweets!!! How would he sur-vive?

Minerva was waiting for him in the entrance hall.

“Diabetes,” Albus whispered at her questioning look. “I have diabetes.”

****************

[Tartan Tabby]

“Albus, I understand that it is hard for you, but there are lots of people who suffer from diabetes and they learn to live with it and you will learn it, too,” Minerva tried to cheer Albus up. They were at Hogwarts again. Albus was sitting behind his desk, his head in his hands.

“You know, Albus, all you have to do is eat less sweets. They are not good for your health anyway.”

Albus suddenly looked up. He seemed to be very angry.

“You don't understand a thing, Minerva! I love sweets! I need sweets! It's not as easy as you think you don't know what you're talking about, so shut up!!!” he yelled getting to his feet and them turning his back to her, looking out of the window.

Minerva sighed. Of course she felt bad for him, but he began to get on her nerves. He had to accept the illness; there was no other way. She was de-termined to help him, but he was so stubborn.

“Albus, why don't you just do what the leaflet says? Maybe your diabetes isn't that bad and when you don't eat too much sugar it might disappear,” she attempted to comfort him.

“It won't disappear!!! And I'm not going to stop eating sweets!!! You better stop thinking you can make me feel better, because you can't! You have no idea how I am feeling! Get out of my office!” Albus face was now a dark red and his hands were shaking.

“Fine,” she snapped. “But don't come running to me if you need help, you won't get it!” She turned and stormed out of the office.

She ran to her rooms, slamming the door behind her. How dare this old fool to treat her like this? She only wanted to help. Why didn't he under-stand?

She felt tears in her eyes. Why did she have to cry? He was just some crazy old man. But he was her best friend and he had hurt her so much. He probably didn't care, though.

Crying hard she sank onto the couch, curling up in a ball.

****************

Albus was pacing his office. He couldn't accept this illness. And Minerva thought she knew everything. At the thought of her, his anger boiled up again. How dare she to tell him what to do? But maybe there was a very tiny chance that she was right.

As he thought about it, he realized how unfair he had been. He had yelled at her and suddenly he felt even worse. She wanted to help him so much and all he did was shouting at her and behaving like a spoiled child.

Albus sighed. He would go to see her and apologize.

****************

“Minerva?” he softly called as he stood before the door to her chambers. “May I come in?”

The door opened slowly and Albus was shocked that he didn’t see anger but tears in her eyes.

“Oh, Minerva, I'm so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you but I feel so helpless I know that's a poor excuse and I understand, if you…”

“It's okay, Albus. Maybe I overreacted a bit. I know it's hard for you and I will always be there if you need me.”

“I really appreciate your help, Minerva. Thank you for everything you do for me.”

Albus gently placed his arms around her waist and pulled her close. It was a strange but wonderful sensation to be so close to her.

Smiling slightly, Minerva wound her arms around Albus’ neck and rested her head on his chest. Her heart was pounding and she didn't know why. This man had been her friend for forty years. How could being near to him suddenly feel so different?

As Minerva looked up into his eyes she realized that their faces were only centimetres apart. Just as their lips were about to touch a loud ringing sound echoed through the room. Hastily, they let go of each other, blush-ing furiously.

“What was that?” Albus asked bewildered, looking around.

“Oh, that was just my fireplace, someone must be trying to contact me via the Floonetwork. I don't like people bursting into my room without warn-ing.” Minerva explained while rushing to the fireplace.

“I'll go then and get some work done. Perhaps we can see each other later?” he asked hopefully.

“I would like that, Albus,” Minerva replied smiling and an equally happy Albus left the room.

Humming he walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, thinking back to what had happened mere moments ago. It had felt so good and so right to hold Minerva close and he had to admit that he was disappointed that someone interrupted them. He caught himself thinking about how her lips might feel on his.

‘Stop it, Albus. She's been your best friend for decades. What would she think if she knew your thoughts?’

In his office he tried to answer some letters from the Ministry but some-how he wasn't able to concentrate. His mind kept wandering to Minerva and to his lemon drops in the drawer. But he had to be strong and he forced his thoughts back on the letters.

****************

Meanwhile in her rooms, Minerva was talking to her mother. She had just told her that Albus suffered from diabetes and how hard it was for him.

“What shall I do, mum? I want to help him but I have no idea how. The Wizarding World knows so little about this illness.” Minerva sighed, putting her head in her hands but looked up again when her mother spoke.

“You could consult a Muggle doctor, maybe the one you went to when you were little. It looks like it wasn't bad that your father insisted that you go to this Muggle. He seemed to be quite competent, don’t you think?”

“It's a possibility, but Albus will never go there.”

“I'm sure he will, just persuade him, he doesn't have a chance,” her mother answered, grinning broadly.

Some minutes later they said goodbye and Minerva went to search the mobile phone her brother bought her for her last birthday. It was charmed to work in Hogwarts. She had only used it twice, but thankfully remem-bered how it worked.

She called the doctor and to her great surprise he told her to come at 5pm. Now all she had to do was to persuade Albus.

****************

Five minutes later she knocked at Albus office door.

“Come in.” He sounded tired.

Minerva opened the door and saw him sitting behind his desk. He looked tired, too.

“Albus, my mother had a wonderful idea. You should go to a Muggle doc-tor, he surely knows more about diabetes and could give you some advice how to deal with that illness,” Minerva started.

“A Muggle doctor? I don't know…” Albus broke of, looking at the floor.

“But it could be worth a try, don't you think? Albus, please, I already have an appointment for you at 5pm.”

“You have what? Why did you do that without asking me?” He was out-raged.

“Because if I told you, you would have said no,” Minerva answered, look-ing pleadingly at him.

“Fine. I'll go. But only when you come with me and help me now with the letters.”

Minerva agreed and they worked together for several hours, the incident in Minerva's rooms forgotten for the moment.

****************


“Let's see, Mr Dumbledore,” the doctor started as he surveyed the docu-ments the healer from St. Mungo’s gave to Albus this morning. “Your diabetes isn't that bad. I see you are slightly overweigh.”

Albus opened his mouth to complain but the doctor continued, “Have you been put under stress recently?”

Albus nodded silently, wondering where this conversation was going.

“It's no real problem. When you are put under stress your blood sugar rises; the overweigh adds to it. You probably eat too much sweets and too little fruits and vegetables and don't do any sports. Am I correct?”

Albus nodded again.

“You know what to do. Eat less sweets, this doesn't mean you aren't al-lowed to eat any, eat more vegetables and fruits, do more sports and try to relax. This will solve the problem. But don't stop doing these things af-ter a few weeks, right?”

“Yes, thank you very much.” Albus stood up.

The doctor extended his hand. “Goodbye, Mr Dumbledore. I will make some health tests in six month. If there are any problems in the mean-time, just call.”

Smiling, Albus said goodbye and left the surgery.

****************

[Tartan Tabby]

Minerva was relieved when Albus told her about his meeting with the doc-tor and together they changed an empty dungeon so that it now contained a swimming pool where Albus could do some sports. The rest of the staff was enthusiastic, because many of them needed some exercise after a long day. A small whirlpool was added for relaxation.

The house-elves were instructed to send more fruits and vegetables to Albus’ place at meal times and Minerva made sure he didn’t eat too many lemon drops and didn’t overwork himself. She also agreed to swim with him every evening for an hour.

One evening, Minerva and Albus had just finished swimming and were now sitting in the small whirlpool.

“Minerva, I don’t know how to thank you. You have done so much for me,” Albus said, looking intently at her.

Minerva turned her head to him, smiling softly.

“It was the least I could do. You have always been there for me and now I could help you. Now we’re even.”

“You are the most amazing woman, I’ve ever met,” Albus replied, brush-ing a lose stand of wet hair out of her face. His hand lingered on her cheek.

Blushing, Minerva tried to look away but Albus turned her face back to him and looked deeply into her eyes.

“You really are,” he whispered.

They were very close, their lips almost touching. Minerva closed her eyes as they both slowly moved closer to each other.

BANG!

They jumped apart as the door slammed open and Rolanda Hooch stormed in. She threw her towel onto a chair and jumped into the pool.

“Well, I still have some things to do. Good night, Minerva.” Albus hastily got out of the whirlpool and left the room.

Minerva laid her head back. Her heat was pounding. What had happened? They had been friends for so long now but somehow her feelings for him had changed. She sighed. Forty years of friendship and suddenly she fell in love with him. How could that be possible? With another sigh Minerva climbed out of the whirlpool and made her way for the door.

“Hey, Min! What’s up with the headmaster? Why did he leave so abruptly?” Rolanda asked curiously.

Minerva turned head to look at her best friend. She wasn't in the mood to tell her what she had interrupted and let Rolanda tease her.

“Because you have a horrible timing,” Minerva answered and left.

****************

Some days later Minerva and Albus sat in Albus’ office, going over some lesson plans. It was late and Albus looked extremely tired.

“I think it's enough for today, Albus. We both should go to bed,” Minerva said and got up, gathering her things.

Albus stood up to, but winced and clutched his back. Minerva was imme-diately by his side and helped him to straighten his back.

“Maybe a massage would help,” Minerva suggested and dragged him into his living room where she pushed him onto the sofa.

Albus closed his eyes as she started to knead his tense muscles. He en-joyed her touch even if it was through his thick robes. After 15 minutes Minerva was done and he felt wonderfully relaxed.

“Thank you, Minerva. Would you like some tea and cookies?” Albus asked. “Don’t worry, I’ve hardly eaten any sweets this week, I think I deserve them,” he added as he saw Minerva's concerned look.

With a flick of his wand tea and cookies appeared on the table but as he reached for the tea he knocked the plate with the cookies over and they spilled onto the floor. Minerva and Albus bent down to pick them up at the same time and as they straightened up again they looked directly into each other’s eyes. Minerva’s breath caught in her throat as they both leaned forward.

This time there was no interruption. Their lips met in a gentle kiss. Mi-nerva put one arm around his neck while the other lay against Albus’ chest. Albus placed both his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer to him.

Eventually they broke apart, both breathing heavily.

“I know that we have been friends for a long time, Minerva, but maybe we can be more, like…lovers?” Albus asked hopefully.

“Nothing in the world would make me happier,” Minerva whispered while stroking Albus’ beard lightly.

Albus smiled happily.

“You know, diabetes isn't such a bad illness after all,” he said before claiming her lips again.


~THE END~

A/N: So, do you like it? This is my first fanfic, so any ideas to improve my work are appreciated.

[Jaya]

I think your first fic is really cute! With Albus' love of sweets the diabetes is a great idea and showing that it can be controlled with diet and exercise was a nice touch.

Jaya

[tayryn]

Tartan said:

Response to AltraPalantir's challenge:

When he was finally finished he told Albus that he needed to examine his blood. He paled. How he hated injections of any kind! But it had to be done so he tried with all his might to concentrate on something different as the Healer took some of his blood.

‘They need to find a magical method to do this.’ He thought as he put his robes back on.

oh... i SO totally agree with Albus here!! there has got to be a better way! *shudders at thought of needles*

nicely done! and a first fic too!! looking forward to seeing more from you.

[Hogwarts Duo]

Having been diagnosed with Diabetes last year, I can honestly relate to Albus' feelings of anger. It seems everyone around you has an idea of what you SHOULD do and even eat. For me the worst part wasn't reducing my sweets intake...it was the potatoes! And I'm happy to see that you have him controlling it with diet/exercise. That's what I'm doing and while it's not the easiest thing in the world, it's a lot better than needles and medicine!

Great story and thanks for writing it!
Ang.

[DumbledoresKitten]

First fic. this is great.
i loved how min and albus kept getting interupted. and it was great how you got albus to control his diabetis with excerise and healthier choices.
totally agree with min's frustration over trying to get someone you love to take better care of themselves.
can't wait to hear more from you.
Cat

[Lady Lavendar]

Was this really your first fic? It was really great! Hope to see more of these wonderful fics from you soon! ;D

LL

[Kamdra]

I think this is a very good idea for a story. I am diabetic and have been since I was a child so I have to let you know that fruit is treated in the same manner as sweets as your body doesn't know the difference between simple and complex sugars. I was happy to see Minerva willing to help him through his ordeal. Kammie

[QuillofMinerva]

That was a great first time fic!

I loved how Minerva was able to trick Albus into seeing the Healer at the beginning of the story. Inspired!!!

Clayre

[Catwoman99]

For a first fic, that was very good. A few typos, but they didn't take away from the story. (Sorry, I can be a bit nitpicky about typos at times.) I thought it was a good response to the challenge. I've had to follow the same sort of diet/exercise program these last few weeks ever since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (diabetes only when your pregnant). Like Albus, I miss my sweets!! The way you always had Albus and Minerva being interrupted was a good way to build suspense. Bravo!

- April :-)

[griseldalafey]

Poor Albus and Minerva... being interupted like that all the time

Nice story, I liked it

[TheGryffindorSeeker]

Wow! "Laughs" great peice...i find it hard to imagine Dumbledore being diabetic...no sherbet lemons...No Hot Choc...he would feel as there's no will to live to more lol....well he's always got Minerva

[childminerva]

A very 'sweet' way of getting them together! I think this was an excellent start to your fanfiction career.

[Mellypoo622]

I'm so with Albus on hating going to the Doctors and such. This was a great story! Very creative!

[JKMcGonagall]

No sherbet lemons, no hot chocolate, poor Albus. Thank goodness Minerva wants to help him through it.
Very good fic.

Kay

[TheEmeraldRose]

No sweets for Albus Dumbledore? Wow...I feel bad for him!

I hate going to the doctor's, too...

[zoeteproet]

tayryn said:

Tartan said:

Response to AltraPalantir's challenge:

When he was finally finished he told Albus that he needed to examine his blood. He paled. How he hated injections of any kind! But it had to be done so he tried with all his might to concentrate on something different as the Healer took some of his blood.

‘They need to find a magical method to do this.’ He thought as he put his robes back on.

oh... i SO totally agree with Albus here!! there has got to be a better way! *shudders at thought of needles*

nicely done! and a first fic too!! looking forward to seeing more from you.

I also hate needles! Everytime the 'Healer' takes my blood I faint =D

[mcgonagallrocks]

That is so cute.

[nemi]

That was excellent! I would never have guessed it was a first fic. It was very good and written well; and the plot was brilliant - I especially loved the way they were interrupted every time they tried to kiss!

The part in which Albus and Minerva had a fight and she started crying was really sweet; the swimming pool added an interesting touch too! I also loved the part when Albus said, "You really are." 'Twas adorable!

Great first fanfic - write more like it!

[ismaco]

Perfect fluffy fanfic!!
I loved it! Thanks
Isabel

[cazstar]

i like the fact that you took a common disease to make people more aware of what it is.

[beMMADfabulous]

Aww, that was adorable! I loved Rolanda's horrible timing there. Nice touch. ;D

[minnie313]

I love the [“I know that we have been friends for a long time, Minerva, but maybe we can be more, like…lovers?” Albus asked hopefully.] part, he was just so cute there ;p

[Mandy McGonagall-Dumbledore]

Awwwwwwww!!! *____*