A/N: Written for the Family Boot camp challenge, for the Dumbledore family.
The Dumbledore Family Portrait
Prompt #042 – Hard
Many who knew Kendra saw her as a harsh and disciplinary woman, hardened by life's constant challenge…but they were the ones who missed the brightly sparkling eyes and vibrant laughter that exploded at times like this one.
It was to be expected, since the Dumbledores liked their privacy. Especially in the days of late where the father withered away in his prison cell and the daughter lay to waste upon her sick-bed – or that was the story the family told. Many a person believed that other things occurred behind those particular closed doors in Godric's Hollow, but nothing was ever done about the speculation.
Said gossip-starved hounds would have been quite surprised though to find an amused Kendra watching her two younger children making paper dolls from old editions of the Daily Prophet. Not that she would have minded if they used the newer ones; they were necessary to read once – for there were, unfortunately, precious few ways to obtain news about the British Wizarding community as a whole – but rarely worth visiting again. Unless one was laughing at the image of half of Minister Lufkin's head mutated by the latest pop culture in the belly of a neatly cut figurine.
It only took Arianna a moment to bust into giggles; Aberforth was a little slower on the uptake, but he too chortled heartedly at the bizzare and undignified image. His mind, though perhaps not as bright as his mother or elder brother, was full of imagination and optimism, and the tale he began weaving soonafter had both females breathless with laughter.
The sound would have surprised most onlookers; the too sharp eyes and tight knuckle-grip on the wand not so much…but that action would most likely have been understood.
Kendra was a hard woman, yes, but she dearly loved her family.