The white hot chocolate singed her tongue. She held it away from her mouth and blew on it. After a moment, she placed it carefully on the grass. She crossed her legs and blinked repeatedly in anticipation. She loved when this happened.
A ball of silvery light appeared from behind a tree within the backyard. She smiled and opened the palms of her hands in the direction of the sky.
A handsome translucent bird flew in her direction and landed on her hands. The wind shook the trees behind the house and the night sounded like music. There was hair on her face.
Albus stepped around the tree with his hands behind his back. The bird dissolved into smoke in her sister's grasp.
"That was beautiful, Albus." She stared at the grass, pulled out a blade and rolled it timidly between her fingers. "Can you do it again?"
He smiled and wrinkles formed in the corners of his eyes. He stepped back, drew his wand, pointed it in Ariana's direction, and produced a Patronus in the shape of a baby phoenix. Ariana surrounded it with her hands and grinned at her brother.
Albus moved his wand upwards and the baby bird transformed into a fully-grown silver phoenix. It flew majestically towards the deep night sky.
He had rarely seen her so at ease with her surroundings, her gaze intent on the Patronus.
A fuzzy figure sped through the air and flew through the phoenix, breaking it into wisps of smoke.
Ariana whimpered and held her knees against her chest. Energy beamed from her body that burned a depression into a circle of grass around her. The cup of chocolate burst and the beverage stained her clothes. Her entire body shook as the wind blew her hair in several directions at once.
A speckled owl descended from the sky and dropped a letter in front of the kitchen door.
Albus kneeled down and slowly put a hand on Ariana's head.
"It's okay," he said quietly. "Nothing happened."
She moved his hand away with an arm and buried her face in her knees. "I want to go inside, please."
Albus calmly took her by the arms and helped her stand up.
"I'm sorry I –"
"It's okay, Ariana. Don't apologize."
He took her inside the house. Aberforth had just finished pouring chocolate into two cups; there were marshmallows in his hand. His features hardened as he saw his siblings come in.
"Are you – " he softened as he spoke to Ariana, "are you okay, beautiful?"
She nodded slowly. "Can you take me to bed, please?"
Aberforth pushed his brother away and took Ariana upstairs.
Albus exhaled and went to the garden. He repaired the shards of cup and was restoring the grass to its unburned state when Aberforth walked up to him.
"What were you thinking, doing magic around her," he whispered dangerously.
"It wasn't the magic, Aberforth," he sighed, then hesitated. "There was an owl here to deliver a letter."
Aberforth's eyes lit with violence. "A letter from him, wasn't it?" he asked in disgust.
"You're very fond of saying how much you love her –"
His face grew pale with anger. "You –"
"She's growing up, Aberforth. Do you intend for her to stay in the house forever? Caged by her fear, away from all the beauty in the world, from people?" His brother's frame relaxed.
"Magic is part of who she is. She deserves the opportunity to at least explore it."
"But look how it's gotten her!
"You're not almighty. You can't make everything happen. She's not your guinea pig – "
"That's enough." The air seemed to freeze. There was a ripple of energy that pushed Aberforth back a little. He composed himself and sneered sarcastically. "Gonna show off your genius boy powers on me now?
"It's about the one bloody thing you haven't gotten around to – "
"I said that will do, Aberforth."
The authority in his brother's voice took him by surprise. He scowled at him and walked back into the house. Albus stood alone in the garden. He heaved his chest and heard the sound of shattering porcelain coming from the kitchen.
He got closer to the house and picked up the letter the owl had dropped. It was covered with mud and ashes from someone stepping on it.
It was from Gellert.
