Author's Note: This was written by rhead-a-holic and DolbyDigital for the first round of the Capture the Flag competition.
She'd received the letter late one morning when she was just finishing up breakfast. Sipping her tea, she read through the neat cursive. It had been a while since she'd last heard from her niece – and even longer since she'd actually seen her – though she wished the correspondence had come under slightly better circumstances.
She penned her reply carefully; of course she'd take the boy in – she'd be happy to have him.
She didn't ask why he got expelled and her niece hadn't offered any information on the subject. It was no matter; it Gellert wanted her to know he would tell her when he arrived.
She spent the entire week preparing for him – cleaning her house from top to bottom; airing out the guest room and changing the sheets on the bed – and the time seemed to go by both very quickly and incredibly slowly.
His arrival wasn't a particularly remarkable occasion. The portkey took him to the large field at the edge of the town; there was only her to greet him, a small umbrella clasped firmly in one hand in an effort to shield herself from the rain.
They walked back to her little house in mostly silence; she'd made some brief attempts at conversation, but the boy seemed to prefer being left to his thoughts.
She shook out her umbrella before entering the house, placed it in the stand and hung up her coat and hat.
After a very quick tour of the house, she left him to do as he pleased. He spent the rest of the day in his room.
xXx
He'd only been there for a few weeks, and already he'd made an impressive dent in her vast book collection.
Gellert sat in the plush armchair, legs thrown over the armrest and book resting on his thighs. Every so often, the stillness was broken by the turning of a page.
Hogwarts had finished for the year a few days ago, and the younger occupants of Godric's Hollow had returned for the summer.
"Come along, dear, we're going into town," she announced. He glanced up from the book, slight frown marring his features.
"We don't need anything," they'd bought all their food for the week just the day before, after all.
"This is a social visit. Get your coat," she announced cheerfully. "No, not that one. The nice one. A good first impression works wonders, after all."
"It's hot outside," he complained, but still did as she asked.
xXx
She knocked three times of the front door, the gold number plate was missing the first digit and she wondered absently why they didn't replace it.
They weren't there for long before the door was opened by a tall boy about the same age as her nephew.
"Miss Bagshot! I wasn't aware you were visiting today," Albus smiled at her, stepping aside and allowing her to enter.
"I just wanted to introduce you to my nephew, dear," she pushed Gellert forward, ignoring his reluctance, and continued talking about him as if he weren't there. "You're about the same age, and he's going to be here for at least until Autumn. I thought you could both do with the company."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Albus extended his hand. "I'm Albus."
"Gellert," her nephew replied in monotone, shaking Albus' hand stiffly.
"So, what brings you to Godric's Hollow?" Albus was making an effort to be polite – and bless him for trying; her nephew certainly wasn't. She sent Gellert a warning look when Albus' attention was elsewhere, making several sharp gestures that were supposed to supposed to encourage him to talk but only served to confuse the boy.
"I'm visiting my aunt," he answered after a lengthy pause, having given up on attempting to interpret her hand movements.
xXx
When they returned home she was less than impressed with Gellert, to say the least.
"And what was that?" He hadn't even finished taking off his coat.
"What?" He seemed genuinely confused. That just served the incense her further.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! Would it have killed you to be polite to the boy?"
"I was polite!" he answered defensively. "I answered all his questions, didn't I?"
"Well you could have been friendlier to him."
"That's different from being polite. And he didn't seem to mind, anyway," she was beginning to think that this hadn't been the best idea.
"You want to make friends, don't you?"
"No. I am comfortable with my own company," he replied dismissively.
xXx
It came as a shock when Albus knocked on her door the very next day.
"Good morning, Miss Bagshot," he smiled, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Gellert said it would be alright if I stopped by."
"Of course not, dear, come in," she quickly recovered from her confusion and ushered him into the hallway. "I'll just-"
"Albus! You're earlier than I expected," Gellert came bounding down the stairs two at a time.
"Sorry, I can come back later if-"
"No matter! We'll just have more time to enjoy the day," he practically dragged Albus from the house. "I'll be back in time for dinner, Aunt Bathilda!"
"Good bye, Miss Bagshot," Albus called weakly as he was hurried down the street.
She did not understand that boy – sullen and anti-social one minute, boundless enthusiasm the next – but perhaps they would bring out the best in each other. Yes, Albus would be good for her nephew.
xXx
For their less than stellar first meeting, it seemed as if the two had hit off quickly. The entire summer was spent with either Albus over at their home, or Gellert leaving in the morning to spend time at the Dumbledore's home, although she often spotted them under the shadows of the great oak tree. It truly was remarkable for the sullen boy she had met at the beginning of summer.
Her book collection was still in rapid use, this time by both the boys, with Albus often complimenting her on them whenever he visited.
Whatever the two spoke about the entire day, and it probably was the entire day as they both left and arrived arguing over varying topics, had brought a strange excitement to her nephew's eyes. Gellert was an intelligent boy, there was no doubt about that, with Albus equally so, but he had been expelled from Durmstrang. Durmstrang was a school that actively taught the basics of the Dark Arts to their upper years, something that had made hearing expulsions for anything less than killing someone within their walls impossible and unheard of.
She knew Albus, his thirst for knowledge over magic made him extremely impressionable to anyone who knew more magic than he did.
Bathilda brutally stomped on the worry and fear that was beginning to blossom at the back of her mind. Albus knew better than that... as did Gellert.
xXx
The summer passed, and Albus returned to Hogwarts for his final year at Hogwarts. The silence within her home was daunting when compared to the excited chatter it had experienced throughout the summer.
An owl visited their home far more often than it did the Dumbledore's. It was Albus, Bathilda knew. No one had owled Gellert the entire summer, so it could not have been any of his friends from Durmstang. Bathilda idly wondered if Gellert had any friends within Durmstrang as she watched him silently engrossed on the armchair he had wordlessly claimed as his own since he had arrived.
Gellert retreated back into her book collection, occasionally asking her if he could get another book, or to explain something or the other. It was in those moments where Bathilda explained to him that she caught glimpses into his brilliant mind. He was a genius in his own right, and his intelligence gave him the one thing she had only ever seen in Albus' eyes before: a feeling of superiority.
The fear that had been nothing more than a trickle began to grow.
Suddenly, Bathilda wished Gellert was still comfortable with only his own company, that she hadn't forced Gellert to visit the Dumbledores, that Albus and Gellert had never met.
xXx
The summer returned, and with it came Gellert's jovial mood and Albus. Bathilda knew her nephew's brightened spirits came more from the fact that Albus would be arriving than the large stack of books he had bought only yesterday. There was another stack of books next to it, all of them books that Gellert had finished reading but still kept out for some reason.
Bathilda didn't question it. The appeal Gellert's parents had made to allow Gellert to return to Durmstrang had been rejected. No one knew how long Gellert would be expected to stay with her anymore. She doubted Gellert really cared too much anymore; Albus wouldn't be going back to Hogwarts and they had however long Gellert had left to talk, debate, argue, and whatever else the two did.
She didn't question it, until she found the plans they made of leaving together after the summer. Bathilda recognised Albus' neat cursive, the other set of writing was a bit more untidy but it matched everything she had learnt of Gellert.
Bathilda knew without a doubt that she had to stop this. Her very magic screamed at her to do something, and her magic was something she trusted beyond anything else.
Gellert couldn't be stopped, Bathilda knew that: he had no ties to his family or her. Albus was the only one she could try and convince to give this up. Bathilda had always thought Albus was someone who placed importance in his family, perhaps not above his need for knowledge but somewhere close.
Bathilda's wand was out in seconds, and a copy of the parchment was quickly drawn into her robes. She had to find a way to let Aberforth see this, without him knowing that she was behind it. Aberforth would find a way to stop it, especially with Albus being the last of his family that could care for their mysterious sister.
Prompts:
[Character] Bathilda Bagshot
[Object] Hat
[Object] Book
[Emotion] Scared
[Dialogue] "A good first impression works wonders"