Chapter 3 - The Horrible Discovery

Random thing: I'm very happy today. Wonder why? Cause there's finally a review! XD Thank you VERY much RosieeWeebb for reviewing and advising me. Really. Thanks. I dedicate this chappie to you. And for the rest of you, I hope you like it! Don't go ruining my good mood now, it's awesome.

~~O~~

"Where could she be?" Kendra Dumbledore asked as she paced around the room, glancing up every now and then to see her husband and sons all watching her anxiously, obviously unnerved as well. Ariana usually follows their assigned curfew, and this is the first time she's been very late. Except for the time when she was cornered in an alley by some bullies until Aberforth found her, and she was only late whenever something bad happened to her.

"You think she's in trouble?" Aberforth asked apprehensively, looking the most panicked out of the three of them if that's even possible.

"Maybe.." Albus pursed his lips and knitted his eyebrows together to a frown. Percival then turned to his oldest son and said, "Albus, could you go and fetch her? I'm sure she's just side-tracked about something new she discovered about her beloved butterflies."

No one is pretty convinced about that. Everyone was worried, and when Albus stood up and started to leave, Aberforth panicked even more. "Wait! Can't I come too? What if something did happen to her?! I can help!"

"No, you're grounded Aberforth remember? Hurry up Albus, find her." Percival told him and Albus nodded stiffly and left. Aberforth yelled out in frustration and ran upstairs in his room, slamming the door rather loudly. Everyone seemed too keen on reminding him that he's grounded. Kendra then turned to her husband, suspicion evident in her eyes. Percival just sighed wearily, "I don't know where she is anymore than you do Kendra. Let's just hope she's safe."

~~O~~

The moment he closed the door, Albus took off in a run. He's very worried about Ariana. She's never late, and if she is, it's just five minutes after. Not a whole half hour! He'll never forgive himself if something did happen. He loved her dearly more than what he shows outside. She's always a sweet and perceptive little girl. And quite bright for her age. He kept telling himself that their father was right, that she did just got side-tracked because of butterflies, but his inner musings changed to the worse when he reached the first place Ariana was most likely in. The hill by the lake. And it's covered in drops of blood. Blood! Albus' stomach squeezed painfully as the most horrible scenarios flitted across his mind. Was Ariana hurt? Is this her blood? What the bloody hell happened in here?! Albus glanced around the place frantically until he finally saw a small blood trail leading to the forest. Blood running cold, he immediately took off, putting on a new burst of speed as the trail got bigger and bloodier until he saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks and feel like his whole world came crashing down on him. He retched violently and emptied his whole stomach on the spot and cried harshly, the image of his sweet, innocent little sister laying nearly hidden in the bushes bloodied, bruised, and naked with a gag on her mouth still leaving an imprint in his mind. What happened?! Who did this? What did she do to deserve this?! And a hundred questions started popping up in his mind but he knew he would get some answers later. Right now, Ariana's more important than the end of the world.

He snapped his eyes open and averted his gaze from the seemingly corpse-like body of his sister and removed his coat. He rushed over to her and carefully covered her with it. He then proceeded to remove the gag and threw it as far away from him as possible. Then, with shaking arms and tears still streaming down his face, he lifted his precious sister in his arms and started the journey home at a brisk pace, both afraid to run and jostle her body even more and afraid to walk slowly or she might never make it. He kept muttering words of encouragement in her ear, but it only seems to just make her flinch away violently from him and fall unconscious again. He didn't understand, who would do this horrible thing to her?! She's just six for Merlin's bloody sake! Their family's going to be extremely devastated and angry. And it's all his fault! If he just accompanied or even followed her like their mother wanted…

He hiccupped as a fresh bout of tears cascaded down his cheeks and he walked even faster, he can't stand to see her extremely pale face and think about how much he failed her as a big brother. He slowly felt his coat becoming soaked with the blood and sweat and he gritted his teeth to keep himself from screaming and throwing something in a rage. There it is! Their house! Just a few feet more… Just you wait Ariana. Mother and father will know what to do. I promise.

~~O~~

Not a whole ten minutes has passed when a frantic and loud knock echoed in the Dumbledores' silent house. Kendra immediately jumped up and slammed it open, fearing the worst…

~~O~~

Aberforth collapsed on his bed angrily, feeling left out. He couldn't believe he hasn't been allowed to look for Ariana! Albus doesn't care much about her, but he did! And if anything did happen that made Ariana come home late -maybe it's the bullies again- then he'll personally find them right now and kick their asses. But seeing as he can't, he just pounded on his pillow as he waited for Albus to return. But as soon as he said it, a loud and harsh knock filled the quiet house. He heard his mother pound downstairs and slam the front door open. He waited with bated breath before he jumped as a shrill scream filled the house coupled with his father's angry shouts and Albus'... is he crying!? He threw his door open with a bang! heart pounding as horrible scenarios filled his head. What happened to Ari? Is she alright?! He pounded down the stairs just in time to see his beloved sister wrapped in Albus' coat with blood and bruises covering her. He suspected there were more, but he didn't get a chance to see before he was shoved away from the room by Albus, who was obviously crying harshly. But before he could even say something, Albus steered him away and to his room with a very determined expression.

"A-Albus? What happened? Why are you crying? Is Ari okay? Why're mother and father so angry? Answer me dammit!" He yelled as Albus shoved him into his room and slammed the door close behind both of them. Then he broke down. Aberforth watched horrified as his oldest brother, the calm, quiet, and arrogant know-it-all, looking so lost and defeated. It must be so horrible to make Albus cry like this. But Aberforth couldn't move. He's frozen and helpless as he watched Albus vent out his frustration. Finally, when he sensed he calmed down just a little, Aberforth asked the question that has been hanging over his head with a voice so small he himself was surprised that he was even heard. "I-Is… Is A-Ari.. dead?"

He watched horrified as Albus shook his head. "I-I don't know Abe. When I carried Ariana… she seems so small an... and lifeless. But I know she's still breathing, maybe just a little bit.."

"But what happened?! Tell me something or I'll go down there and find out myself!" Aberforth shouted and slammed open Albus' door without waiting for an answer, but his brother immediately pushed him away and closed it again, looking very furious. "NO! You will not go down there Aberforth. I won't let you! I won't let you see her like that and get scarred for life! I WON'T!"

Aberforth almost backed away as he saw Albus lose his temper even more, but he wasn't the rebel of the family for nothing. He ran and body-slammed Albus away from the door and wrenched it open yet again, but Albus seized him by his sleeve and threw him across the room and to the bed, saving him from landing on the floor and getting a concussion. It would be the last thing they would need anyway. Aberforth growled angrily as Albus slammed the door close for the third time and spread his arms wide, blocking him from the only escape in the room. "Please listen to me Aberforth! You wouldn't want to see her in that state! We will find out what happened after mother and father are done."

"But I saw blood! I saw bruises! Please tell me what you know Albus!" Aberforth yelled helplessly. He watched Albus freeze and purse his lips. Finally, he sighed, looking very weary and defeated. He slumped on the bed beside Aberforth and placed his head on his hands. "Okay… I-I found her by the lake. You know her favorite spot?" (Aberforth nodded) "Well she's not there. But instead, I found a trail of blood leading up to the forest.."

Aberforth gasped, "A trail of blood?! Her blood?"

"I don't know. Most likely. Anyways, I found her. Just lying there looking…" He choked. "d-dead and exposed."

"What do you mean by exposed?" Aberforth asked slowly, feeling horrible dread creep up inside him.

"Aberforth... s-she's hurt. Really bad."

"What do you mean? There's just a few blood and bruises-"

"You wouldn't understand. The Muggle boys did something horrible to her... she's exposed as in…" Albus suddenly met Aberforth's gaze with distraught and haunted eyes. So intense that Aberforth quickly stumbled back. "Her clothes were g-gone Aberforth. Ripped to shreds. One piece of it was tied up to her mouth. A gag..."

But before he could even finish, Aberforth broke down. Albus immediately hugged him tight as he yelled and cried and choked and sobbed. The front of his shirt became soaked with salty tears but he didn't let go. They just held on to each other for comfort. Albus was fairly surprised, he only saw Aberforth cry once, and it was because of his goats when one of them died tragically, (At least, Albus thought it did. it was truly horrifying for Aberforth because he was the one who took good care of them and almost treated them like his own babies), but seeing him crying made him realize just how serious the situation really is.

Ariana might never be the same again.

TBC