When he first came to, everything seemed to be swimming. He couldn't figure out why; bringing his hand to his eyes, he realized that they were wet with his own tears. Somewhere near him, someone was sobbing quietly.
Albus sat up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. He was lying in his bedroom; his mother was sitting next to him on a chair holding Ariana tightly, and he realized that it was she who was sobbing. This might have registered as shock normally -- he had never seen his mother show many emotions other than impatience, let alone sorrow -- but he was too numb to be surprised. Something inside him seemed to have gone cold. Looking across the room, he saw that Aberforth was sitting on his own bed, completely silent; the usual spirit that the boy possessed seemed to have gone out.
"Mum?" Albus finally said shakily. "What's..."
"Albus! You're awake!" Kendra gasped, looking up at him. He had never seen her look so relieved. She clutched him tightly, holding him and kissing him on the forehead. Albus had too many questions to be taken in by his wonder at this.
"I was so worried... " his mother went on shakily. Her face was wet with tears. "Oh, I don't know what I would have done if both you and Ariana were..."
"Mum, what... what's happened? Is Ariana alright?"
Kendra fell silent. Her grip on his sister tightened. For the first time Albus looked down at Ariana; other than a couple of cuts and bruises, she seemed to be fine. And yet, as Albus looked closer, something didn't seem completely right. Her eyes were half-closed, and she was mumbling quietly to herself.
"Mum!" Albus insisted, as panic began to wash over him. "What's wrong with her?"
"We... we don't know," Kendra sniffed, kissing Ariana on the forehead. The little girl didn't respond, but merely continued her delusional muttering. "She's been like this since she woke up... we think that the attack may have, well..." She choked and broke out into a fresh bout of sobs, but it wasn't necessary for her to go on. Albus realized what had happened; the attack by the Muggle boys must have caused Ariana some kind of trauma.
"Mum, we can't stay here... we have to take her to St. Mungo's, or call a Healer, or something!"
Kendra hesitated, then shook her head slowly.
"Why on earth not?"
"We... we can't tell anyone."
"What? Mum... what are you saying?" Albus demanded, appalled.
"Don't question me," Kendra said, suddenly fierce. "I'm your mother, and you'll do as I say. No one is to know about Ariana's condition."
"But if no one knows about Ariana, then what has father told the Ministry?"
Kendra fell silent for a moment, then her stern exterior broke down once more into a fresh bout of strangled sobs. Albus's face paled. If his father couldn't tell the Ministry of Magic about Ariana's attack, then his attack on the Muggle boys would have been seen as completely unwarranted...
"Mum, is father...?"
"He's... he's in Azkaban," his mother said simply. She stood up, drying her tears with the sleeve of her robe. Albus could tell that it was taking her a great effort to keep from crying again. "I'm going to go put Ariana in bed. Just... try to get some rest. Alright, Albus?" Kendra gave him a weary smile, then strode out of the room, Ariana still cradled gently in her arms.
Albus looked at the single dark window in his room; it had to be nearly midnight, and yet he wasn't tired. How could this be happening? Percival Dumbledore had been their rock, their shelter... how could the Dumbledore family survive without him? Albus had to use all of his strength to fight the oncoming wave of nausea that was threatening to take over. He had heard about all of the horrible things that happened in Azkaban. Creatures called Dementors guarded it; most didn't survive...
Anger suddenly bubbled up within him. Why were his parents refusing to tell the Ministry about Ariana? If they did, then his father would be cleared. Had it been his mother's decision? Was she trying to keep up her good reputation as a mother? How could she just abandon their father like that? It was sick, it was cruel, it was...
But no... even if she didn't show it, Albus knew that his mother loved his father. Then what was going on? Why was this happening? Albus hated feeling in the dark. He just wanted to understand why...
Albus crawled underneath his sheets once more. How could this be happening? His father may have said that he had been blessed with brilliance... but Albus had never felt more lost in his life.
------------------
That winter was the coldest that the Dumbledores had ever felt. Percival had always brought such life and warmth into the house, but now that he was in Azkaban, it was as if a light had been put out in all of their hearts. The days and weeks all ran together, nothing but a blur of icy numbness. Kendra was now even snappier and more sullen than usual; Aberforth still didn't seem to understand what was going on, but since Kendra shot down any questions he asked, the once-lively boy grew more and more silent as time went on.
The newspapers didn't help. The attack on three innocent Muggle children by the "Muggle-hating" Percival Dumbledore was well-publicized, and his trial was being closely followed by the Daily Prophet. Most of their neighbors in Mould-on-the-Wold had stopped coming to call, and nearly all of the Wizarding families in the village avoided the Dumbledores whenever possible. Some family friends kept sympathetic contact, but Kendra's coldness and the children's emotional distance caused them, too, to fall to the wayside.
On top of it all, Ariana's condition was only getting worse. Worst of all were her episodes. The first time it happened, Albus had been sitting in his room on the floor, turning the pages of a book without taking in any of it. Aberforth was sitting on his bed, staring at the wall in silence. Albus had lost all desire to practice his magic or to produce potions; this was hardly helped by the fact that the last thing his father had said to him was to show patience until Hogwarts. Not that it made any difference -- Albus wouldn't have touched a cauldron if someone paid him. How could he, when his experiments had been the cause of Ariana's attack? If he had only stayed in the yard and watched Ariana like he was supposed to, none of it would have happened. The feeling made him sick.
A tremor suddenly shook the floor, and a stifled scream came from down the hall. Albus jumped to his feet, alarmed; Aberforth looked up in dazed bewilderment, as if coming out of a waking dream.
"Stay here," Albus insisted, running out into the hallway. Smoke was coming from his sister's room; he hurried inside, only to find his mother holding her wand shakily. The curtains were ablaze.
"A...Aguamenti..." Kendra stammered, as a stream of water erupted from her wand and put out the flames. Her face was pale, and her eyes were wide with panic; she seemed to not even notice that he was there. Albus was shocked; what on earth had happened? He had never seen his mother so shaken. Where had the fire come from?
A horrible unearthly scream suddenly came from his feet; the sound itself made his hair stand on end. Looking down, Albus realized with horrified revulsion that his sister was on the floor, her blue eyes rolling back into her head, her limbs thrashing, her face feverish and sweating. Her lips were moving very quickly, and yet no sound came out. She looked mad, and yet--
A brilliant light shot from his sister, flying into the wall with a crash; pieces of wood and brick rained down upon them, and Albus hurriedly grabbed hold of his sister to protect her from the falling rubble. She was twisting and writhing so violently that it was all he could do to hold on.
Kendra grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away, scooping up a shaking Ariana. She held her tightly, and in the crisp light coming from the frosty window Albus realized that his mother's face was wet with terrified tears.
Albus looked down at his sister, and he knew.
This was why they couldn't tell the Ministry -- not if they wanted to keep Ariana. This was the sacrifice that Percival had made; he had given his freedom so that Ariana wouldn't be taken away from them, a "threat" to everyone around her.
Albus silently stepped forward, hugging his mother. Normally she might have moved him away in irritation, but this time she pulled him close with one arm.
Aberforth's curly head appeared around the door frame.
"Mum? What happened?" He looked around at the destroyed bedroom, a look of innocent confusion on his face. "Mum, why... why are you crying?"
Kendra said nothing, merely motioning for Aberforth to come closer. She clutched him just as tightly, a strangled sob escaping from her lips. Albus could feel it coming, but he couldn't prevent it; tears, hot and wet, began to obscure his vision and blur the image of his mother. Aberforth, though he didn't seem to realize what was happening, began to cry as well.
They stood there, shaking, huddling for warmth, love, comfort, safety, peace, all of the things that they had lost when both Percival and Ariana had been taken away from them. It felt like an eternity before Kendra broke the silence.
"Albus, Aberforth, in a moment I want you to go and pack your things," Kendra whispered. "We're moving. Away from Mould-on-the-Wold."
"But mum, where are we going?" Aberforth asked quietly.
Kendra didn't answer, merely shaking her head. Albus nodded silently, not needing to question why. They couldn't stay here, he knew that. Not with the shadow of the accident looming over them, not when all of their happiest memories here included their father. They had to leave if they were ever to recover from the tragedy that had befallen them.
The four Dumbledores huddled together, a broken family, all alone in the world.
