Written for the QL Competition. Prompt: Start and End with the same adjective.
Optional prompts used: disaster, ground, bird, Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay, confused.
Word Count: 1697 (according to MSWord)
Good things always come to an end. I, of all people, know that.
"Read me a story, Abby."
Aberforth looked back warily at his younger sister. "Please," he sighed, "don't call me that."
Ariana grinned. "Sorry, Abby."
I leaned against the wall with Albus and listened to Aberforth read to Ariana. It was "The Tales of the Three Brothers", which was Ariana's favourite. She'd ask for it every evening; it was part of the Dumbledores' routine.
Ariana could read, of course–she was almost thirteen!–but she said that she was lazy and that it was more fun hearing Aberforth read it out with all his funny voices. All the time and energy Albus had spent teaching his sister was wasted, and I could tell the eldest Dumbledore child was frustrated.
"I should just leave. I should just leave and never come back," said Albus, as soon as we walked out of the room together. We walked outside and into the backyard, where I stood and watched my friend pace around the small garden. "She doesn't need me. She has Aberforth."
As happy as I was hearing that Albus was considering leaving (with me, hopefully), my friend was in distress. "No, Albus. You know that isn't true."
Albus looked at me. "Let's leave. Now. They won't even notice."
Okay.
"Sorry, mate, I can't let you do that." What are you doing, Gellert?
I was confused at the words coming out of my mouth. This was what I was hoping he'd say for as long as I knew him!
"I'm a much more powerful wizard than you, my friend."
"Try me."
Albus took out his wand from his back pocket and my eyes widened. Was he actually going to…?
"Merlin help me." Albus fell onto his knees and sobbed. For hours, it seemed.
Of course he wasn't. Albus wasn't that kind of person. He was calm and preferred to reason with words, not actions.
Nevertheless, I was glad that he backed down. If Albus and I ever dueled–say, to the death–I don't think I'd win.
Sometimes I think how life would be like as a Muggle. Surely, I would worship the wizards and witches above me. I would be honored to work for them; they are gods compared to the non-magical folk.
Unfortunately, Muggles are simple-minded creatures.
We had a plan. We were going to run away together, find the Deathly Hallows, then master death. After that, we would overturn the Statute of Secrecy and reveal ourselves to the muggles.
It was a great plan, and it still is.
It just would've been better with him.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the sky a bright blue and the wind a gentle breeze. September 4, 1899: I will always remember that the day I killed my best friend's sister had been a beautiful one.
I felt absolutely horrible. Ariana and I were not as close as her and Aberforth, but I was certainly closer to her than Albus. I was the older brother Ariana wished she had, and I could tell Aberforth did not approve of that.
But then again, Aberforth did not approve of much.
To be blunt, I did not like Aberforth. He was too full of himself and too pessimistic. But that did not justify me torturing him. Nothing will ever justify that moment.
As I ran away from the scene–Aberforth crying over Ariana's body, Albus hovering over her in shock–my determination became stronger, my cause greater. Everything I did, from then on, would be in her name. Those Muggles, who took away her magic, who killed my mother and father–they would pay.
Don't look back, I told myself. Don't look back.
He was too good a person. The boy–or should I say man, now?–was stubborn, however; almost as stubborn as me.
One afternoon, we were sitting beneath a tree, and a bird dropped down from the sky, landing right in front of me. The boy scooped it up and fixed its wing with his wand, despite not being allowed to use magic outside of his school. I reprimanded him for being so foolish, but at the same time I also admired him.
I realize now that he had only been foolish.
He said "hello" to strangers he did not know, he helped younger children with their homework. My friend touched flowers, but he never picked one. He would leave his mark on people, but he would never hurt them.
Albus was ambitious; I was surprised he was not a Slytherin. He wanted to do great things when he grew older, and I am happy that he got his wish. Truly, I am. However, he was not willing to make sacrifices. He was a coward.
Yet my heart still belongs to him, after all these years.
"Gellert, you've gone too far."
I laugh coldly. "Too far? I've only just begun, Albus."
The man blinks. His auburn hair is turning grey and I am glad to see he is aging worse than I.
"Please, Gellert…I don't want to harm you."
"Harm me? You must be joking. After all these years, you still have your sense of humour!"
Albus ignores me. "Last chance, old friend. Stop now…or I will be forced to take you by force."
I grin. "You know I never back down from a fight. Let us duel!"
Weak is my curse, as well as my spirit. I close my eyes and try again, but the result is almost exactly the same.
"You need to put more heart into it," he tells me. I cannot tell him I do not have one.
Though I certainly would like to show him, I think bitterly.
My fortress is a disaster. I grow frustrated as he deflects my curses with a flick of his wrist. I'm sweating buckets while he looks mildly annoyed.
I aim at the chandelier hanging on top of us and move out of the way. Albus quickly looks up and surrounds himself with a Shield charm. He's not even trying, so I quickly catch my breath.
Then he attacks. I quickly duck and aim a curse at him. A bright green light comes from my wand, and a bright red one from him.
"Is this the best you can do?" I ask, tauntingly.
"Oh believe me, Gellert, I can do much, much worse."
He captures me in the most predictable way; disarming me and chaining me against the wall. I chuckle, because I am the one who showed him that technique.
"Are you going to kill me, Albus?" I ask, mockingly.
"I'm afraid you are already dead to me."
I smile and hope the man doesn't notice my faltering smile. If I still had my heart, I am certain that I would hear it break.
"Gellert," Albus whispers, "it's not too late. We both want the same thing, you know that."
"Yes, but unlike you I'm actually doing something, while you just sit and lecture children for a living!" I hiss.
"Violence–"
"–is not the answer," I interrupt. "So, Albus–what is?"
My friend's face grows angry; a look I haven't seen on his face since the day I killed Ariana. "Certainly not murdering innocent Muggles!"
"Innocent? Innocent?!" I shriek. "They killed my parents! They stole your sister's magic!"
Albus's face darkens. "Leave Ariana out of this."
"Oh, is the man still upset over his little sister's unfortunate death?"
"I said, leave Ariana out of this!"
"Alright, alright. But imagine, if little Ari was here today. Who would she support, older brother Albus or the boy who lived next door? The one who yearned to abandon his family or the one who laughed and sang with her, as she lay in her bed, too weak to walk? Who do you think, Albus, Ariana loved more?"
I push him too far. Albus leaps towards me, his face threateningly close to my own. "I will slit your throat if you mention my sister one more time." His wand jabs at me from under my chin.
"Blimey, Albus, you were always so serious. Lighten up!"
"Last chance. Stop now."
"Or what?"
"Or…I will kill you."
I scoff. "Sure. Go ahead. Kill me."
He considers it. But I know he won't actually do it.
He drops his wand and crumbles to the ground. The enchantment on me lifts and I am free.
I should run, or kill the kneeling man.
I do neither.
"You know, Albus–I loved you." I tell him this as his head is bowed down. It is partly true; perhaps the most honest I have been with my friend in years. He had stolen my heart, the day I met him.
And countless days after, he has yet to return it and my chest remains hollow.
He is silent, and I suddenly feel embarrassed for telling him. But something tells me this is the last time I will be seeing him. "And I you," he replies.
I close my eyes. "Albus Dumbledore, a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." I sigh. "It's not you, Al. This," I say, gesturing to the fortress, "this is you. You're supposed to be out there, with me, standing up for your people. You're supposed to be the solution, not part of the problem."
"I know…"
"Me and you, against the world. Remember?"
"Yes, I remember."
My heart pounds in my chest. Will he actually agree? Will I finally get what I wanted, after all these years?
Albus laughs, and it is the same laugh as the one from years ago. "But Gellert, I was merely a man; only seventeen years old! I have seen the world for what it really is. It does not work like that; there is no hero nor is there a villain. But if there were–you would be the villain, not the hero."
His words sting. "You changed."
"I am aware."
He paralyzes me and tells me that the Ministry will be there in roughly ten minutes. As he walks through the doors, I call his name. He stops, but does not turn around.
"Albus...it's for the greater good."