It was 1891 and a young blonde girl was rocking on her heels by the front door. She was short and thin, but not unhealthily so, and she wore a beautiful little dress that matched the blue of her eyes. Her gaze shifted from the window, through which yellow sunlight poured into the house, to her two elder brothers, who were occupied with their own activities at the moment. She sighed dramatically to get their attention.

At the corner of the small room, a tall boy with auburn hair peered up from his book. Albus was only ten, but he had the wisdom of someone much older and more experienced. When the clever boy realized that his sister, Ariana, wanted him to come outside, he simply declined, shaking his head with his nose pointed up in the air. His gaze shifted back to the words on the pages, while hers leapt to the younger boy in the room.

Aberforth Dumbledore had nicked his father's chess set and was currently clashing the pieces together on the floor of their front room. Much to the pale boy's dismay, the little stone figures wouldn't actually battle; in fact, they seemed only to want to be returned to their board. Aberforth peered through dark brown bangs up to his sister, whose innocent eyes usually melted him like butter. Today was different, though, as he was tired and only wanted to play with his toys. With a regretful expression that suited his thin face, he shook his head at the eager young child.

"I'll go out alone then," the six-year-old piped, pouting at her brothers. Albus never played with her, but Ariana thought for sure that Aberforth would come. Nevertheless, the child skipped out of the house, and her brothers didn't pay her any mind. Though Ariana was young, she could handle herself and didn't need to be babysat.

Aberforth, who was only seven then, always admired that about his little sister. The two youngest Dumbledore children shared a bond that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the family. They were the closest in age, for one thing, and they both loved playing games and hated books and being quiet. Albus was quite the opposite, a studious child, and this created a lot of friction between the two boys especially. Young Aberforth could already see that his brother was favored by his parents, so he appreciated the extra affection he received from Ariana.

The boys had sat unbothered in the front room for about an hour after their sister's departure. Aberforth was in the middle a heroic duel between the white and black chess pieces when their mother wandered into the room. Kendra was a delicate woman who seemed constantly drained, a quality all too common in mothers. She peered around the room to find only her two eldest children present.

"Albus, Aberforth, have you seen your sister? I thought she was in here with you," Kendra queried, expecting the little girl to leap from under the curtains or behind the bookshelf. Instead, Albus glanced up from his book, clearly annoyed at being interrupted, and answered his mother in a matter-of-fact tone that found permanence in the young man's dialogue.

"She insisted upon playing outside, Mum," he replied, rolling his crystal blue eyes pretentiously. Kendra bit her lip nervously, knowing that it wasn't necessarily safe for a six-year-old to wander about alone. She didn't worry too much, though. Ariana had played outside alone before.

Aberforth placed the chess set back where he took it from after a scolding from his mother. Left with nothing else to think about, he began to panic for his younger sister. The dark-haired boy ambled towards the back windows, studying the hedges in the yard. The boy was reassured by the rustling of the bushes; sure that Ariana was just playing one of her little games. With a fond smile on his adorable face, Aberforth skipped back into the front room. With any luck, he could pester Albus into playing with him.

It was when he reached the room that he heard her scream. Aberforth felt that all the breath had left his body in the moment. Albus had even put aside his book as the haunting shriek echoed throughout the Dumbledore house. The elder stood from his chair, while the younger dashed immediately to the back window. All he could see was the rustling of the hedges.

"MUM!" the young boy bellowed in desperation, and Ariana's screaming persisted. Kendra was already throwing Aberforth out of her way, instructing both of her boys to stay inside. Her youngest son disregarded this, nearly running out ahead of her before Albus held him back. Even their father had come down the stairs, seeing only the thrashing young boy in his elder brother's grasp.

Percival instructed his sons to go to the front room, despite their protesting and the tears that threatened to leave their eyes. Their father had no idea what was happening then, but there was no mistaking the child's scream. It wasn't the scream of a scraped knee. That scream was laced with all of the pain in the world.

"Perc!" Kendra wailed, bursting through the back door. She was carrying a now silent Arianna in her arms and she was crying. The bearded man rushed to his wife's side, lowering their tiny daughter onto the table. Aberforth and Albus, ignoring the explicit instructions of their father, reentered the room to see what was wrong.

Aberforth saw the remnants of his younger sister lying in the fetal position on the wooden table. Her pretty blue dress was now stained by blossoms of crimson blood. The color had left her face apart from the developing bruises and her mouth was agape in permanent horror. Her crystal blue eyes had glimmers of suffering and the worst things you can imagine. It had been seemingly endless minutes, but she was still trembling.

Her parents and brothers repeated her name, starting in whispers but soon shouting pleadingly. Ariana never responded. She rocked back and forth, quaking in horror and forgetting to blink. It was as if she were alone. She couldn't hear the pleas of her family, and she was left unaccompanied with her worst nightmares. Aberforth could see how alone his sister was, and he wanted nothing more than to be with her. For the first time ever, he wasn't there for Ariana. He could never be there for her again.

The wounds on Ariana's body soon healed, but the wounds in her mind never would.