- August 1899 -
Albus awoke to a cool bedroom. The sky was soft and grey. Hot breath swathed rhythmically over his neck. An arm draped heavy across his chest. Underneath, the bottom tip of the pendant dug into the valley of his sternum. A breeze blew steadily in through the open window and tickled his clammy skin. He was naked. His body shivered.
He lifted Gellert's arm and stood from the bed. The pendant swung back and forth over a purple bruise marking the skin over his heart. He pulled on his clothes and walked downstairs. His mother's door was open and the room looked neat, as if it was still hers. The door to Ariana's room was closed. They had come back from creek. The weather had turned on them. How long had they been home? Had they come up to his room? Would Ariana have understood the scene? Aberforth would. Albus combed his fingers through his hair and smoothed down his shirt. He peered into Aberforth's room. It was empty. Albus twisted the button on his shirt cuff. He went down to the main floor.
Aberforth sat on the sofa and glared at him. He gripped his wand in one hand and pieces of parchment in the other. "What the fuck is this?" Aberforth said. His words were short and sharp. He raised the parchment in his hand. It was the manifesto.
Albus stepped into the sitting room and slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers. He closed his fist around his wand. "It's a manifesto. To abolish the Statute of Secrecy."
"You're plotting revolution. You're plotting open war. This is what you've been doing. Instead of taking care of your ill sister."
"Instead? I'm doing this for her. I'm doing this so she doesn't have to live in fear. So none of us have to live in fear."
"And you think a war wouldn't terrify her?"
"It's a means to an end."
"Ah yes. For the greater good. I read about that."
"Why are you so mad?"
"Why are you so calm? This is tyranny. This is genocide."
"It's not genocide."
"I wouldn't have believed it was yours except that I looked for you when we got home. I went up to your room. I saw you. With him."
"What does that mean?"
"What does what mean?" Gellert asked.
Albus turned around. Gellert walked down the stairs behind him. His blond hair was disheveled and he was wearing one of Albus' shirts. He had only buttoned it halfway leaving his bare chest exposed. He wasn't subtle but they were beyond secrecy at this point. Had he styled himself that way purposefully? Had he been awake when Aberforth had come upstairs?
"It means you should leave," Aberforth said. He stood from the sofa.
"Oh, little brother has come to play," Gellert said as he stepped towards him.
Albus put a hand on his chest to stop him. "Maybe you should leave."
Gellert turned to him and covered his hand with his own. "Maybe we should leave. Little brother thinks he's all grown up. Why wait for September. Let's get Ariana and go."
"What are you talking about? You're not taking Ariana anywhere." Aberforth said.
"Ab. Relax. We were going to travel in September. I never got to go this summer. There's no reason to stay cooped up in this house. It will be good for her to get out more. And I'll be with her the entire time."
"Are you insane? She's sick. It won't be good for her. It will be good for you. Merlin, you're the sick one."
Gellert squeezed Albus' hand and held it tight to his skin. He forcefully guided it down the front of his shirt. "Is this what you saw? Is this sick? Men have always had men, Ab. Maybe little boys wouldn't know. Or are you just jealous it wasn't you?"
"Gellert, stop." Albus hissed.
"You're perverted. This," Aberforth shook the manifesto in his hand. "This is perverted."
Albus yanked his hand free from Gellert. "Ab, they hunted us. Like animals."
"Three hundred years ago. No one is hunting us today."
"What about Ariana?"
"Don't drag her into this. Don't use her to justify this. You've already damaged her enough. She used to adore you."
"They don't hunt us because we're hidden away. They don't know we exist. But what happens when we slip up? They tortured her."
"They were kids. They were scared. They had no idea what was happening."
"We could change that. That's what this is. If this manifesto was realized, we could live in the open and they wouldn't have been shocked by her."
"If the manifesto was realized they would never encounter her. They would either be locked in a work camp or dead."
"What?" Albus said. "What are you talking about?"
Aberforth shook his head and laughed. "It's all right here." He tapped the parchment with his wand and then pointed it at Gellert. "Looks like your boyfriend has been making plans of his own."
Gellert crowded behind Albus. His hot breath ran down Albus' neck. Albus spun around and stepped backwards, away from Gellert and into the sitting room. "What have you done?"
"Don't point your wand at me," Gellert said, his eyes locked on Aberforth.
"Or what?"
Gellert took out his wand. He stepped forward. "Give me the parchment."
Albus stepped between Aberforth and Gellert and took out his own wand. "No."
A slow smile spread across Gellert's face. He brought his wand towards himself and tapped the tip over his heart and then pointed it at Albus' chest. "And how are you planning on stopping me?"
Albus' eyes went wide. His shoulders fell. The pendant rested heavy and sticky against his skin.
"I didn't think I would need it so soon."
Albus swallowed and his throat tightened.
"Alb?" Albus looked up. Ariana stood at the top of the stairs clutching the banister.
His heart thudded against his chest wall, desperate to right the situation. "It's fine Ari. Go back to your room. I'll be up in a minute."
"But Alb-"
"Depulso." Yellow light shot past Albus. Aberforth yelped and flew backwards. His body hit the wall with a thud and the floor with another. The records rattled in their stack on the shelf beside him. Gellert raised his wand again.
"Protego." Albus' shield blocked the curse aimed at Aberforth. "Accio manifesto." Albus summoned it before Gellert could. The pact worked both ways. Gellert's eyes narrowed.
"Incendio." Aberforth pointed his wand at the manifesto in Albus' hand but the spark fizzled on the shield. "Hey!"
Gellert laughed. "You're going to burn down the house, little brother."
"Stupify," Aberforth shot at Gellert but again the shield blocked the spell.
"Ab, stop! Everyone just stop!" Albus said.
Gellert lifted his left hand as if to surrender but he did not lower his wand. He lifted his right foot and eased it forward into the sitting room. "It's fine, Albus. Everything's okay. The little skirmish just got out of hand. That's all. No harm done." He lifted his left foot.
"Stop. Don't come any closer," Albus said. Gellert brought his left foot back. "What did you write?" Albus' eyes flicked from Gellert in the entrance way, to Aberforth by the gramophone, to Ariana at the top of the stairs, to the manifesto in his hands. He leafed through the parchment to find the words himself but he could not focus. His eyes jumped from line to line and then back around the room. The only text he was able to unscramble was his own signature next to Gellert's. He was bound to these words. He was bound to this man.
"I told you what he wrote. Destroy it," Aberforth said. White streaks shot from his wand at the shield and blue fracture lines radiated across the surface.
"You know what it says, Albus. We wrote it together. It's your words," Gellert said. He took a slow step forward.
"Stop." Albus stepped back. "I didn't want genocide." Gellert took another step forward. Albus pointed his wand at the coffee table and moved it in front of Gellert to block his path.
Gellert looked down at the table then back at him. "Careful."
"Stupi- "
"Protego." Aberforth had broken through part of the shield and Albus recast it before he could stun Gellert. Gellert took the opportunity to move the coffee table out of his way.
"What are you doing?" Aberforth shouted at Albus.
What was Albus doing? He had the manifesto in his hands. He could destroy it. What would that accomplish? He would never know what Gellert had written. Gellert continued to inch closer. He didn't want Albus to read it. That should be proof enough as to what it said.
Albus slid the sofa across Gellert's path. Gellert slid it away.
Albus wouldn't let Gellert's advance be proof. Aberforth misread. Aberforth inferred a conclusion that wasn't there. Aberforth's perception had been twisted by the scene of them laying naked and tangled.
Gellert stepped forwards. Albus allowed him. He wanted Gellert to step up to him, to place his hands on his cheeks and shake his head no – No, your brother is wrong. No, I would never do that. No, I would never do that to you. Albus wanted Gellert to slip his hands from his cheeks and wrap his arms around him and hold him like he had a mere hour ago.
Gellert took the final two steps. He reached for Albus' hand and his grip snapped around his wrist.
"What are you doing?" Albus asked. His skin burned under Gellert's hold.
"Come with me," Gellert demanded with a sharp squeeze and tears pricked in the corner of Albus' eyes. "They've seen who you are now. There's no turning back."
"Gellert, please."
"Albus?" Ariana had walk part way down the stairs. Her voice was quiet. Her eyes were wide with fear. He had to keep her calm. He had to keep her under control.
"Expecto Patronum." Albus shot his Patronus past Gellert and the silver phoenix circled around Ariana and perched on the banister.
Gellert grabbed the parchment and tugged but Albus held tight.
"Incendio." Aberforth had broken through the shield again. The corners of the parchment curled into flames.
Gellert let go and pointed his wand at the flame. "Finite." The fire flicked out and the charred black corner flaked off. Gellert turned his wand on Aberforth.
Albus tried to recast the shield but Gellert let go his wrist and grabbed at his wand instead.
"Stupify." Albus shoved Gellert as he cast the curse. The beam of red light shot past Aberforth's ear and hit the gramophone instead. It bounced back off the metal cone. Albus ducked and the light shot over his head. The glass front of the hutch behind him shattered. Ariana screamed. The silver phoenix fluttered its wings. The curtains billowed in front of the closed window and the air in the room began to swirl. The Patronus was failing. Gellert smiled.
Albus wretched his arm to free his wand but Gellert held tight. "Let go."
Gellert's eyes narrowed on his own. "No."
"Relashio." Aberforth's curse missed and rebounded around the room.
"Albus!" Ariana screamed for him. She had crouched against the wall. Her hands were cupped over her ears.
Gellert leered. He pointed his wand up at the wall, at no target in particular, and shot a series of curses. They bounced at random around the room, there to only add to the chaos, to catch someone by surprise in the moments to come, to further terrorize Ariana. It was cruel. Albus needed to get to her.
Albus threw his body weight into Gellert. Gellert tumbled backwards to the ground and pulled Albus with him. Albus wretched his arm but Gellert maneuvered himself on top with ease of experience and pinned him to the floor.
Aberforth rushed past them to the entrance hall and the stairs and Ariana. "Ari, it's me. It's Ab," he said as he slowly climbed the steps towards her, his hands raised, palms out in front of him. "It's okay. Everything's okay." His advance slowed and he struggled against an invisible barrier. He moved his arms in front of his face and moved his left foot down a step to brace himself. One of Gellert's rouge curses hit a banister post in front of Ariana and it exploded. Ariana shook her head and the splintered fragments whipped into the air. The silver phoenix took flight from its damaged perch and its glow dimmed into a single lone star before it vanished.
Gellert got his hands back on the parchment. Albus kept his grip but Gellert ripped it away. The parchment tore and Albus was left with a fist full of scraps. Gellert reach for his neck then. Albus froze against the pressure on his windpipe. His lips trembled. His chest fell, sucked into a hollow black pit. The hand released and Albus watched as the cord and the pendant were pulled from his shirt. "No!" he yelled as Gellert scrambled to his feet, his eyes on the front door.
"Accio." Aberforth summoned the parchment and the pendant from Gellert's hands. Gellert charged forwards, his head now turned towards the stairs.
"Crucio." Gellert's curse was pointed at Aberforth. Aberforth seized and fell to his knees. He howled in pain.
"Stop!" Albus yelled. "Gellert, stop. Please! I'm begging you. Don't hurt them."
Gellert turned to Albus but he did not stop. He walked slowly towards the stairs, towards Aberforth and Ariana.
Albus pushed himself to his feet and rushed after him.
Gellert's hand wavered, startled by the movement.
Albus raised his wand to aim protection shield past Gellert, around his siblings.
Purple light shot from Aberforth's wand. It missed Gellert.
Albus' feet twisted and locked and he fell forward as he cast the shield. Before he hit the floor, the air exploded with a bang.
Albus flew black and slammed into the wall. The furniture flew out in all directions, the sofa, the chair, the end tables. Gellert was thrown forwards into the stair rail. The wood splintered and cracked. The pictures hung on the wall were knocked off their hooks and crashed down on Aberforth.
Albus' ears rang. His chest felt tight. It hurt to breathe. The back of his head throbbed. He blinked away the stars and the black spots. Wooden spools knocked as they tumbled down the stairs. Gellert's blurry form stumbled up the steps and pulled the manifesto and the pendant from Aberforth's hands. Then he ran from the house, past a heap of blue fabric at the base of the stairs.
"Ariana?" Albus called. His voice was quiet. It surprised him.
"Alb?" Aberforth said.
"I'm okay," he answered. "Ari? You okay?"
There was no response.
"Ari?" he called, louder that time.
There was no response.
Albus stood. He stumbled forward. Ariana's body slumped at the bottom of the stairs. He knelt beside her and touched her shoulder. Her head was crooked too far on her neck. "Ari?" He placed a hand on her chest and the other on her cheek and shook her. "Ariana? Ariana! Ari, no. Please, please no."
"Albus?" Aberforth stood above him.
Albus shook his head. He slowly moved his fingers to the soft hollow below her jaw. There was no pulse. She was still. Albus sobbed and collapsed around her.