Here is chapter two. I said it would be longer, and so it is, a bit.
Much thanks to RikkuAlaise for reviewing chapter one!
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"How long have you lived here?" Gellert asked him.
"Since I was ten," Albus said. "But I hate it here."
"Yeah, it is pretty dull," Gellert said. "However, there was one exciting thing about this place that I found."
"What was it?"
"Have you ever heard of the Deathly Hallows?"
Albus thought that he had heard of them somewhere, but he couldn't remember where or what he had heard about them. "Vaguely," he said.
"Well," Gellert said, "it's a tale – a legend, you might call it. A Wizarding story. And this place holds some proof that the story is at least half true."
"What's the story?"
"You ever heard of the tale of the three brothers that had an unbeatable wand, a perfect invisibility cloak, and a stone that could bring the dead back?"
"Yes," Albus said, frowning. He vaguely remembered that story. His father used to tell it to him when he was little before he went to Azkaban.
"Well, I think that one of those brothers lived here."
Albus wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "Who?" he asked.
"Ignotus Peverell. His grave is here, and on his grave is the mark of the Deathly Hallows. The Hallows are the wand, the cloak, and the stone combined."
"But," Albus said, thinking, "but didn't the story say that they got these things from Death as if Death was an actual person? I thought they met him on a bridge or something."
"Yes," Gellert said. "But that part's made up, just to make the story better. You can't really meet Death like he's a person, obviously. I think that they were just very powerful and clever and made these objects themselves. The Death part must have come from people with wild imaginations who couldn't understand how they made them."
"Where the hell have you been?" a voice demanded angrily.
Albus turned with dread and looked at Aberforth. "Walking around," he said. "This is Gellert Grindelwald, by the way; he's Mrs. Bagshot's great-nephew."
"Hello," Gellert said to Aberforth.
Aberforth looked between the two suspiciously. Then he looked directly at Albus and said, "Ariana set the house on fire."
Gellert cast Albus a confused look, but he asked no questions.
"Did you put it out?" Albus asked, embarrassed.
"Duh," Aberforth said. "But I don't know how to get rid of the damage. You'll have to do that."
"Okay, I will when I get home."
"Which would be… now?" Aberforth said coolly.
"Which would be in half an hour," Albus replied, an equal amount of coolness in his voice.
Aberforth glared at him and Albus expected him to argue further, but he turned on his heel and made his way home, which Albus and Gellert had passed just a few seconds before Aberforth appeared.
Gellert looked at Albus questioningly.
Albus sighed. "Long story."
Gellert shrugged. "Let's hear it. I'm interested in getting to know you anyway. My aunt simply loves to talk about how great a person you are; she talks about you all the time."
"I'm sure you are exaggerating."
"Nope," Gellert said and they began to walk again. "She absolutely adores you. She says that you're a genius and you're the 'most responsible young man in this town,'" he imitated her airy voice. He grinned. "So, where do you reckon she gets that idea from?"
Albus frowned slightly. "Well…" he began slowly, "My father died in Azkaban a few years back and my mother died just recently. I'm left taking care of my younger siblings."
Whatever Gellert had been expecting, it wasn't that. He looked taken aback.
"My sister – well, as you might have surmised – she's a bit mad. Crazy. But she was not born that way."
"What happened to her?"
For some reason, Albus did not mind telling Gellert the details. He had never even told his closest friends the truth about Ariana, but he suddenly felt like he could tell this virtual stranger. "Ariana was attacked by three Muggle teenagers when she was six. They saw her doing unintentional magic. They must have gotten scared or something because they didn't understand it, just like people used to do when they went hunting after witches hundreds of years ago. They hurt her very badly. I don't know the details and I didn't understand just how badly the attack was when it happened; I was only ten. But from what I've pieced together, I don't think that they just beat her…. Since then, she just hasn't been the same. She tries to not ever do magic, but it builds up inside of her and explodes out of her. That's why she set the house on fire. But most of the time, she's harmless and sweet, but still always scared."
"I'm sorry," Gellert said, and he sounded like he meant it. "Why didn't your parents just take her to – what is it called? – St. Mungo's?"
"Neither my father nor my mother wanted her to go there. My father went after the Muggles and attacked them. Then when he was caught and was on trial, he refused to give a reason. He was assumed to be a Muggle-hater, and he was sent to Azkaban and died there, along with his secret. And then my mother died; throughout her whole life after it happened she was determined to keep her with us. She died when a lot of magic exploded out of Ariana one day when she got upset over something. So now, I have to honor what they gave their lives for and look after her."
"So, you're trapped."
"Yes."
"What would you do if you weren't?"
Albus snorted slightly. "That's the grand question, isn't it? The truth is I don't know what I would do with my life. But that's what freedom is all about, I suppose. Before this all happened, I wanted to change the world, but I was never really sure how I was going to do so, or what change I was going to make."
Gellert nodded. "I used to feel that way."
"Used to?"
"Yes. But now I know what I want to do with my life."
"And what is that?"
Gellert took a deep breath. "I want to overthrow the Statute of Secrecy."
"What?" Albus said, startled. "But that's what keeps the Muggles from trying to kill us and stuff. Ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Gellert said impatiently, "but Muggles are only afraid of witches and wizards because they don't understand. You said yourself those Muggles attacked your sister because she they didn't understand."
Albus looked at him thoughtfully. Gellert's deep blue eyes were bright with inspiration.
Evidently encouraged by this, Gellert continued. "I want Muggles and Wizards like to live in harmony. Muggles die each year from things that Wizards could easily cure. And Muggles, though very much behind us, sure have invented a lot of things in the past few years. They seem to be gaining speed, as a race, and I have no doubt that some day sooner than we all think, they will be able to do things we can't. We would be helping each other. Of course, Wizards would be above Muggles, because at the current state, we can do much more and they could never equally repay us. If we saved their lives, made their lives easier – they'd love us! They wouldn't attack us if they appreciated just how great we are. We would be triumphant over them, ranked above them, but it would also be for their own good. For everyone's own good."
Albus liked the idea, as radical as it seemed. It seemed so difficult, so unrealistic, but yet, it seemed possible. "Utopia?" Albus asked, amused.
Gellert grinned. "Well, not quite utopia, but as close to it as we can get."
"I can't imagine both the Wizarding world and the Muggle world combining."
"There's only one world."
Albus smiled. "Your aunt has talked to me about you as well. She told me you were brilliant."
Gellert laughed loudly. "Well, I don't know about brilliant," he said, though he was clearly pleased with himself. "I just think a lot, that's all."
There was a slight pause between them.
"Well, I'd better be getting back," Albus said. He added sarcastically, "Otherwise Aberforth will ground me."
"Well, yes, you'd better go home then," Gellert agreed. "I'll see you around I guess, since this place is so damn small."