was just struck, as a result of your idea, of young!troubled!Dumbledore finding out something similar - but of course in those days homosexuality wasn't okay in the Muggle world at all (I usually don't see the Wizarding world being open to queer sexualities).
... and then, "order of Merlin" could be code for something very different. Maybe. Seen as Dumbledore did receive one eventually.

Oh god, now I want to read this. :<

Thanks for the encouragement re: writing stuff up. Unfortunately I've never been able to finish anything that passes the 2k mark, so I don't think this is going to happen ... but thank you, anyway! :)

And true, it is meta. Quite!