Written in QLFC Season 9 Round 3, for the team Falmouth Falcons
Chaser 2 - BluePhoenix
Main prompt: Write about someone having a change of heart, for better or worse.
Optional prompts: (dialogue) "You're better than this.", (plot point) a funeral, (genre) tragedy
Word count: 1067
An eye for an eye
The three wizards looked in horror as she fell, her face contorted in pain, from her magical outbursts or their spells, they will never know. One of them Apparated away. The other two watched, spellbound, as her body hit the ground, and then ran towards her, wands already waving, trying, hoping against hope, as they tried every spell they knew to reverse the damage to her magical core as it released burst after burst of magical energy, consuming her life force.
"She's gone," Aberforth stated, grief overwhelming him as he tried to stop his brother from using more and more complex spells to undo what could not be undone.
"No. It was just a magical outburst. She has always had them and it's just another one," replied Albus, crouching protectively over her body as he muttered another healing spell to start her heart, refusing to believe for even a moment that his sister, his sweet, innocent, young Ariana was gone.
"Albus, she's—," the younger wizard tried to speak.
"Please, don't," whispered Albus, standing up teary-eyed, a broken husk of a man, looking at his brother.
"I am sorry, I never should have left her alone," said Aberforth, remorse and guilt framing every inch of his face, as the two brothers stared at the lifeless body of their sister.
Aberforth looked at Albus and saw a man who just had lost two of the three people he had loved more than himself, thinking how he must be mirroring the same despair on his face, aware that his brother's young love had fled the scene, presumably far far away, to avoid the wrath of the two grieving brothers.
o-O-o
The funeral was a small affair, private and quiet, held in the cemetery of Godric's Hollow. The Bagshot and Wright family members were the only ones who knew that the Dumledores had a girl child. After paying their respects, they stood to a side as the brothers waved their wands, levitating the casket into the grave and covering it up with dirt. One by one, they placed flowers on the grave and lit candles, offering heartfelt condolences to the Dumbledore brothers, mourning the loss of a young soul.
The Godric's Hollow seemed to be mirroring the cold fury that was inside Albus. The brothers stared at their sister's grave, despair showing in each shuddering breath they took.
"He'll pay for this. I swear on my magic, I'll make him pay," swore Albus, looking every bit of a powerful wizard he was, the reason that had made the third wizard, Grindelwald, love him, respect him, and fear him.
"I'll be with you," stated Aberforth, with anger that seemed to burn as bright as the candles on the grave.
o-O-o
"I swear I do not know!", screamed the wizard on the floor, begging, cowering in the corner of the almost-demolished living room, where a duel seemed to have taken place.
"Then tell us who does," said the older of the pair of attackers with a crazed look in his eyes, wand already glowing red with the spell on its tip.
"Crucio!" he bellowed.
"I do no—", the cowering wizard was cut off, his spine arching, as unimaginable pain wracked his brain, frying his nerves one by one. They already had gotten the address using the combination of Cruciatus Curse and Legilimency spell, breaking the occlumency shields of the wizard on the floor on the first try, but the older wizard insisted for the man to tell him himself.
The younger of the two attackers frowned. Finding the older attacker's, his brother's, old lover wasn't that difficult, but the fun they were having torturing his old followers was delaying them a little bit.
"We are gonna be late for the next appointment," said the younger wizard with a cutting tone, checking the list of the possible leads to find the wizard, not really pleased with the events occurring in front of him.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time," as he reluctantly broke the spell and let the half-comatose man slip away to blissful unconsciousness.
The younger wizard looked with disgust at the man on the floor. He didn't like torturing them, but the older wizard had insisted it was part of the revenge, and who was he to deny that.
o-O-o
The two wizards Apparated onto the street, in front of a lively cream house. It looked homely, and the younger wizard looked at it bitterly. How could someone live like this after destroying their home? He could see the fireplace glowing inside, the warm glow seeping out from the windows, that, for some reason, were half-open. It was snowing outside, and the weather seemed to be such a perfect metaphor of their own feelings. The cold wind of harsh winter blew their cloaks around but neither felt the cold.
Finally, a decade of their search had come to an end.
They pushed open the fence gate and stepped inside the property. Setting up anti-Apparition and anti-portkey wards, they covered the distance to the front door and knocked.
A few moments later, a middle-aged woman opened the door. She looked questioningly at them.
"May I help you," the woman asked the wizards.
"Yes. We are. . .friends. . . of your husband," the older one of the two replied.
"I'll call him," the woman replied and turned to call for someone.
"No need. We'll just come in," the older wizard said as both wizards sidestepped her and entered the room.
The man standing inside the living room froze when he saw them, recognition clear in his eyes. He looked at them with fear and reached for something in his pocket.
"Kill the spare," the older wizard said to the younger as he flicked his wand and sent the man flying into the wall. Behind him, there was a green flash of death curse and then quiet.
"We meet again Grindelwald, and this time, revenge will be mine " replied the older wizard.
"I am so sorry. You are better than this Albus. Please, not my kids," begged the man on the floor, crawling to a side to shield the stairs leading to the upper floor.
"Ah yes, I am better, but this is for the greater good. This is for family. An eye for an eye," said the older wizard, the red curse already lightning up the wand in his hand.