It was one of Ari's good days, Al decided.
It was now the summer after his first year in school, and he was rather fed up. He wanted things to go back to the way they were before, with Father there and Ari... well, alright. Not an empty shell, like she was now. But today was a good day, and Ari was fine and acted like she did before, and he could almost forget that things had changed. He could pretend that Father'd be there this evening, at supper, that the world had stopped having these fits of insanity.
Of course, it hadn't, but playing pretend was better than nothing.
He and Ari were lying in the grass, staring at the clouds, and trying to find out which shapes represented what.
"Look, that's a ship."
Ari had always said that she wanted to visit the sea, when they were younger. It made Al's heart constrict, to think of the way things were before. Quickly, he pointed at another cloud.
"And there, there's a dragon, you see?"
"Yeah... look, that's a mermaid, like in that Muggle tale Mother told us!"
It did look like a mermaid, a rather strange and a bit disfigured mermaid, but a mermaid nonetheless.
"What do you think of Muggles?"
The question had escaped his lips before he could stop himself. He knew he shouldn't ask. It was Muggles that had destroyed his sister, his life. Still, he had to ask.
"They... actually, they are pretty awesome. Have you seen those lemon drops they have?"
"Lemon drops?"
"Lemon drops. They are a Muggle candy I'm rather fond of. Mother and Abe sometimes bring them with them, you know."
"Seriously, lemon drops?"
"Oh, shut it, Al."
Ari laughed, and they went back to observing the clouds.
Years later, a much older and much wiser Albus Dumbledore went into a Muggle candy store and saw a box of lemon drops.
He bought them, and ate them. They did taste rather good, but what was more, they reminded him of Ari. Not of the bad times, but the good ones, like that day when they lay in the grass, gazing at the sky.
