Chapter One: Home Is Where the Heart Is

It had been almost three years since Amalthea had set foot into Hogsmeade. A small smile graced her lips as she recalled all the happy memories she made here during her childhood. After all, her grandfather ran one of the shops here, so she visited him often with her parents. Not to mention all the times she joined her friends down here on multiple occasions on their breaks from Hogwarts. She remembers the first time she ever went to Honeydukes with her parents and falling in love with their chocolates. It was at Madam Puddifoot's where she had her first ever kiss with Adam White, who was a hunky Hufflepuff with a nice smile that played quidditch. Gladrags is where she often would shop for clothes with her friends and Thea would frequently spend hours inside Tomes and Scrolls looking at all of their magnificent books. Merlin, she loved her books.

Her smile soon falls into a frown. It was bittersweet to think of all these good memories, as most of the people she shared them with were now gone. Her parents were dead. They had been for years. Her father, Aegis, died fighting in the war as an Auror and her mother, Lucinda, had been killed in a raid on the Ministry only a few months before that. And her friends were mostly gone as well. Lily and James were murdered at the hands of Lord Voldemort, although their son had somehow miraculously survived, and so was Dorcas. Mary went missing about a year after we finished school, most likely dead as well, and Marlene was slaughtered alongside her family. Sirius was locked up in Azkaban and Peter was dead by his hand. Alice and Frank went mad and were currently in St. Mungo's. It always seemed like her mind always took a turn for the worst when reminiscing, but Thea didn't want to dwell on those kinds of things.

Sometimes Amalthea thought it was a miracle that she survived the war. Why was she allowed to keep on living while the others did not? It didn't seem fair, but she supposed that was the cruel way of life. Everyone was going to die eventually, she supposed, but it was always sad when it happened to someone before they truly got to live.

There were still a few of her school friends who, of course, weren't currently six feet deep in the ground, like Remus Lupin for example. They occasionally sent letters back and forth. It was nice to talk to someone about trivial things. Emmeline Vance was also still around, but they had fallen out of contact. And her grandfather was still in Hogsmeade, much to Thea's delight, taking care of his dingy pub, the Hog's Head Inn.

Amalthea brushed away a piece of her long chocolate hair that blew into her face as she stared up at the wooden sign with a boar's head that still managed to hang there after all of these years. Closing her blue eyes, Thea took a deep breath before gathering herself and trudging forward toward the small building. It was time she dealt with her demons instead of running away from them.

A bell dinged as she opened the heavy door. Thea took a good look around when she was fully in the building. It looked exactly the same as last time. Hardwood floors were covered in a thick layer of dirt, as were most of the tables. The lights were still too dim, and she could even pick out a few that were burnt out. Thea could spot a few people scattered around the bar and a couple sitting at a small table in the corner. Behind the bar was a rather old man. His face was hidden behind a long, white beard and his piercing blue eyes still managed to shine from behind his spectacles that were sat upon his long nose.

Taking a step further into the grimy establishment, Thea held the door open for a small cloaked man who was leaving as she was coming in before allowing it to slam closed. A few eyes drifted toward her as she walked up to the counter, but she just ignored them.

"Thea, what the bloody hell are you doing back in England? Aren't you supposed to be in France for a few more months?" her grandfather asked gruffly. He was wiping a glass out with a rather dirty looking cloth, managing to only smear the cup rather than clean it.

"What, no hello or how are you?" Amalthea rolled the matching blue eyes at him and gave a subtle wave of her wand, cleaning both the glass in her grandfather's hands and the cloth, which now appeared to be white instead of a dingy tan color. She plopped herself down on a stool at the bar, deciding that she might as well answer her grandfather's questions. She didn't want to put him in a mood. After all, he was insufferable when he was in such a state. "That's what I thought too until he and his wife died. It was somewhat unexpected, but they had enough time to put their affairs in order before they passed. Nicholas said I could leave earlier if I wanted when they decided they were going to destroy the stone, but I didn't have anywhere else to be. It cut my visit to France early, but I didn't mind too much."

"That doesn't explain why you're here, Amalthea," her grandfather muttered, giving his granddaughter a stern look. Aberforth Dumbledore didn't believe that he was hearing the entire truth from Thea. She was a bright girl, sometimes too much like his brother, but he still loved her dearly. Thea would always have a place in his heart, just like his sister did. "Ever since the war ended, you've been happy to never set foot back in the country."

A sign escaped Thea as she leaned her elbows on the counter. No one knew her better than the man before her. A glass of firewhiskey was placed before her by her grandfather as if to prove her point. She noticed it was in a clean glass too, instead of a one clouded with dirt. Amalthea shot her grandfather a small smile of thanks before taking a large swig of the burning liquid. "I thought it was time to come back to England. It's been eleven years since the war ended. I think it's about time I finally come to terms with what happened, don't you think?"

Aberforth started at the woman before him with his lips pursed before answering, "Thea, honestly, I wouldn't give a shit if you never came back to this hell hole." He watched his granddaughter's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and her mouth open to argue, but he silenced her by holding up his hand. Her grandfather's eyes peered down at her from over his spectacles and stared into her own. He wasn't finished yet. "This place is like a home to you, I know, but every time you visit I see how your memories plague your mind. I watch your eyes become glassy and your thoughts start to turn for the worst. That war took the young, sweet girl I knew and turned her into a hardened and broken woman. You were just a kid, Thea. It wasn't right that you had to suffer like that."

Thea averted her blue eyes from the man before her. She never knew how much her grandfather saw through her mask of normality. Amalthea always pushed away those who wanted to get close to her, isolating herself from making friends for the past decade in fear of losing them like she lost her friends before. Hell, she avoided all of Britain for the smallest possible reminder. The entire country was full of places and memories of her past and she was absolutely terrified of encountering them.

This is exactly why she wanted to return home. Thea was tired of hiding away from all her past. It was absolutely exhausting. She didn't think she could handle it anymore.

"But if you want to do this, then I will support you," the grandfather finally whispered out. It was almost like he could read what she was thinking when he mutters his next words, "I don't want to see you in so much pain anymore either. You're a better person than me, Thea. I could never face my fears head on like this."

"Thank you," Amalthea murmured quietly. She then drowned the rest of her firewhiskey, savoring the burning feeling she had admittedly been experiencing too much lately. "Now, you don't mind me staying here with you, do you? I haven't exactly made any plans, so I figured I could help you around the bar for a bit."

"Oh, I suppose," Aberforth grunted out, going back to his gruff and tough exterior. "But I don't want you trying to change everything around. It took me a week to get everything back in order the last time."

A sly smile makes its way onto his granddaughter's face as a mischievous glint flickers in her eye. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it."

Author's Note- I know what you're all thinking. Another story? After all these years? You still haven't finished your other ones.

Yeah, I know, but I was struck with inspiration. This is kind of a revamp of my old story, Broken Trust, if anyone remembers it (it has since been removed). I really got the idea stuck in my head an just wanted to get it out. I honestly have no idea when I will update anything.

Also, after looking back at everything I wrote years ago, it's so cringy.

Now, please leave a review if you can! They are the best type of motivation and I want to see how you all feel about this story.

Thanks! -Laura