Author's Note: I would like to dedicate this lovely(?) fic to my cousin, Shini, as a welcome to all the forums. She's been a long time lover of reading HP fanfiction, and I recently convinced her to join some of my favorite forums! YAY! I would also like to thank the Captain of the Kestrels, Kat-nee, for helping me beta this story, because you are awesome and deserve the credit. Please read and review if you have anything to say!

Bear in mind that this fic centers around the idea that Grindelwald returns to Britain, after fleeing from Ariana's death, to find the Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection Stone.

Set around the years when Fleamont Potter possessed the Cloak of Invisibility.

Title/Link: Twisted

Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Position: Beater 2

Extension Used: None

Season 6, Round 5: Use the title of a story written by your Beater 1 for inspiration. - "A Stairway Encounter" by MagicMinnie

Optional Prompts: (word) eternity, (emotion) apathetic, (dialogue) "Do you mind if we stop for a minute?"

Twisted by ValkyrieAce

The crack of apparition rang through the empty clearing of Church Lane, almost inaudible to someone who wasn't actively looking for it. A man, once at home with the sights and surroundings, could be seen walking briskly through the snow, stopping only to tilt his head in curiosity at every turn. As he approached his destination, he turned to see if anyone had noticed his arrival. It was obvious that he didn't want to be seen. Once he was satisfied, he entered the house and climbed a few of the steps on the stairway.

Suddenly, he realized that everything around him was stilling. Or rather, he was the one who was coming to a halt. And he had no reason as to why.

There was something amiss.

"I never thought I'd find you back in Britain again, Gellert…" a voice behind him spoke, the tone vicious and biting, almost deadly.

He flinched and tried turning the rest of his body to face the newcomer, but his body betrayed him to this unknown attack on all fronts.

He would recognize that voice anywhere; it was as familiar to him as the wand in his holster. It felt as though an eternity had passed since he had heard this voice, yet it had simply been less than half a decade.

A single name ran through his mind.

Gellert Grindelwald's POV

'Albus!' I thought, a sliver of fear running through my body at the tone of his voice. I heard the sound of a wand swishing by my left ear, and I twitched slightly. Regaining my composure with a few deep breaths, I responded:

"What is the mea–"

"I wonder," Albus cut me off, his tone eerily unconcerned, "what could possibly spur you to return to your great aunt's house?"

I paled. I didn't answer him, nor did I wish to. I knew how clever and manipulative Albus could really be, and I couldn't risk him getting a hold of the rest of the Deathly Hallows I wanted for myself.

"I find that answer vague and unconvincing."

"How did you fin–" I started, once again cut off by Albus.

"You couldn't possibly have known that this particular set of stairs was cursed to alert me if anyone other than your great aunt were to step on it. Did you think I would not consider a possibility in which you had to return to Britain?" he explained in an uninterested tone of voice, his wand twirling between his fingers laxly.

If it were possible, I regained a minute sense of respect towards him for considering this possibility and planning ahead in order to entrap me. And in my own great aunt's home, no less.

"How dare you come back to Godric's Hollow, after what you did to my sister?"

At this, I became indignant.

"I did nothing to your sister!" I exclaimed, trying not to show my outrage at the blatancy of his accusations, "If anything, it was you who killed her!"

"I was not the one who used an Unforgivable on their best friend's kin, dear Gellert," he spoke admonishingly. My lips formed a surreptitious smirk; torturing Aberforth, even for a few seconds, was… enjoyable. Cathartic, almost. It had been one of the few things in Durmstrang that truly captivated him, and introduced him to the Dark Arts. He never did regret his actions then, and he didn't now.

"And even though I started the fight, you did not stop it once your sister asked," I responded, feeling a sense of satisfaction when he twitched visibly, and repeated her plea in a dark tone:

"Do you mind if we stop for a minute, Albus?"

Albus Dumbledore's POV

Those words reverberated in my mind, shattering my calm in an instant. It was unbearable for me to watch him stay so calm and collected, as though nothing had changed, even though his actions had caused Ariana's death. I wanted to yell at him – to scream – but I collected myself.

"It was because of you that Ariana died!" I spoke, my heart aching for her presence, "why would you have run away otherwise?"

"It was the fear of retribution regarding Ariana's death that persuaded me to flee from Britain. I still did not kill her."

I stilled, unable to comprehend the easiness of this excuse. Did he not feel guilt over an innocent casualty, especially one that could have been avoided had it not been for his casting the Cruciatus on Aberforth?

Inwardly, I shuddered at the inhumanity caused by his morals. It sickened me to have been close friends with Gellert, when we believed in different perspectives of morals and ideals.

"This isn't right, Gellert," I started, "You aren't right. Ariana was a lovely child, who had done nothing wrong. This, I knew."

I watched as his face grew red, a stark contrast from the pale face he donned only moments ago. His apathetic responses are done for.

"You were never able to keep you calm," I continued, prideful for inciting a flinch from Gellert, "if you were, you wouldn't have to run around as you do now."

I climbed up the stairs slowly but with intention, walking around him on the step above his. As I looked down on him, I could see his face morph into a look of contempt.

"I know, just as well as you do, that you've all but forgotten the idea of guilt. So consider this: what would happen if I were to dig up some of your victims? Are you guaranteeing that you've had your hands clean of them? I've got a few ideas on where you'd choose to hide the bodies, and I can look for them now…"

I moved closer to Gellert's face and, as I stared at his baleful eyes, I found resolve within myself to deliver the final strike.

"So, do you mind if we stop for a minute, Gellert?"

"There are an eternity of theories that could explain the stray curse that killed Ariana. But the fact remains that they are most bothered by the fact that it wasn't their fault.

If only they believed what they wanted to believe."

Ariana Dumbledore's POV

There is too much fighting. Albus, Aberforth and Gellert were fighting over something called… the Deathly Hallows? I don't know what it means, but it seems to be important to Albus.

It was not the first time Albus and Gellert had fought as friends. Still, it was the first time where spells were being cast between them, done purely out of spite. It was the first time Aberforth had gotten in the way of Albus' dreams, and by association, Gellert's dreams as well. It was the first time an Unforgivable was used in front of my eyes, and on my own brother nonetheless.

But it wasn't the first time that I felt helpless.

'It feels too much like that horrid day…' I thought, feeling sick to my stomach as the memories of the Muggle boys' torment came back to me.

Ever since that day, all anyone around me had done was fight. My father fought and tortured the boys who hurt me, my mother died supporting my father, and now…

My darling brothers.

It felt as though an eternity had passed by the time I pulled myself out of those memories. The darkness of that time clung onto me. It pained me.

I desperately wanted the fighting to stop. But I was also scared.

"Do you mind…" I whispered, knowing then that they wouldn't be able to hear me. So I cleared my throat and started over, this time speaking louder than I did before.

"Do you mind if we stop for a minute, Albus?"

I had not realized my eyes had closed in the span of my asking the question, but when I opened them, they had still not ended their fight.

It was getting to be too much for me. I couldn't bear to see another spell cast against any of them, so I tried once more.

"Do you mind if we sto-"

This time, my eyes had stayed open, but my body was expelling a slightly purple shine.

'Oh no!' I thought, knowing now that my magic was going to lash out at my brothers and at Gellert. I couldn't let this happen. I had to stop it.

Slowly, I felt the magic let loose into the world. It felt as though I had finally learned how to use magic.

But that happiness didn't last as long as eternity did.

The moment the magic left my body completely, it returned to me in a shock of light, the initial amount of magic almost doubled as it found its source.

It overwhelmed me. It hurt me. I could feel my heart beating faster. It felt like my heart was going to explode.

Then, I lost consciousness.

"She never realized that her magic made the backlash look like a stray curse.

She never realized that her brothers held onto their guilty consciences for as long as eternity lasted them.

But most of all, she never realized that her magic had made them just as unstable and twisted as she was."

Fin

Word Count: 1,531

Additional Prompts:

The Golden Snitch - Through the Universe - (character) 146. Radiation - Ariana Dumbledore

The Golden Snitch - Ollivander's Wand Shop - 8-9 inch: Write about a Gryffindor character.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry – Term #9: Assignment #1 – Astronomy: Galaxies, Task #4 - Write about someone making an incorrect assumption.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry - The 365 Prompts Challenge - 93. Dialogue - "I find that answer vague and unconvincing."

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry - The Insane House Challenge - 997. Genre - Mystery