The next chapter! It's shorter than the others, but I hope you don't mind that. And I hope you like it. Please let me know what you think! Getting reviews always motivates me to go on with the story.

I don't own the characters or places!

The next weeks, they developed some kind of routine. Albus would wake up very early in the morning, do some research for his publications and after that, he had breakfast with his siblings. Then, he would meet Gellert somewhere in the village and they would talk about different things – even after a few weeks, they still hadn't talked about Hallows or anything like that again. They were both still lost in thoughts about those things and Albus constantly tried to figure out how to confront Gellert with them. However, finding a solution to that wasn't easy. He liked the way Gellert was very much and he didn't want his friend to change again. Of course he was still getting angry very fast when something bothered him, but Albus doubted that it would change.

In the afternoon, Ariana would prepare dinner (Albus had helped her with it a few times; he wasn't a very good cook) and then they would eat together. The more time passed, the more often Gellert joined them. First, Aberforth hadn't been too happy about it. Though, he stopped complaining once he noticed that Ariana seemed to like Gellert as well. He even managed to make her laugh sometimes and it was not always easy to do that.

To be honest, everything was perfect. Nevertheless, Albus knew that it wouldn't last. In three weeks, Aberforth would have to go to school again. Then he would be alone with Ariana and had to take care of her. He feared that most of his conversations with Gellert would have to take place in their house then since he didn't dare to leave his sister alone for a long time. At least, Gellert was there and Albus wouldn't be alone with his sister. He loved Ariana and he would do anything for her, but at the same time Albus needed someone to talk to as well. Someone who really understood him. And it seemed as if Gellert Grindelwald was that person.

At night, when Albus was lying in his bed and stared at the ceiling, he often feared that Gellert would leave. That he would realize that this wasn't the life he wanted. Albus knew his friend wanted to do something meaningful with his life, he wanted to make changes. And he wanted that too. However, the small village of Godric's Hollow wasn't the best place to start those plans. But they couldn't leave. At least not until Aberforth had finished school in two years.

When he thought of Hogwarts, many memories appeared in Albus' mind. He had loved his time there, always learning new things and getting new experiences. And he missed the school, it had been his home. Even if he was feeling at home in Godric's Hollow as well (something he owed to Gellert), the time at Hogwarts had been completely different. When he had graduated, leaving the school had made him very sad and excited at the same time.

Sometimes, Albus wondered if Gellert missed his school as well. He hadn't graduated since he was expelled two years before that. Would he have wanted to finish school? Does it bother him that he didn't have a graduation? Albus knew that it could be hard to find a job when you didn't finish school. He hoped that Gellert would be the exception from that and that his intelligence and charm would help him. Because he could be really charming if he wanted to. In the past weeks, Albus had realized that himself. When Gellert had a new idea and wanted to persuade Albus, he smiled at him in that brilliant way and he would make him many compliments. Those things and the look on his face made it nearly impossible for Albus to resist him.

To his surprise, Bathilda had told him not to worry about Ariana. She had visited them a few times by now and they liked each other. Bathilda used to tell Ariana stories about her life and Albus' sister couldn't get enough of them. With a wink, Bathilda had promised to look after Ariana when Albus and Gellert needed time for themselves. Albus had thanked her many times for that – until Gellert had laughed and told him not to be this sentimental. While saying that, his friend had grinned at him and it made Albus blush.

One morning when Albus entered his room after breakfast, he heard a scratch on the window. To his surprise, an owl was sitting on the windowsill and she was carrying a letter. He opened the window and looked at the owl for a few moments. She was very beautiful, with her brown and beige feathers and the dark eyes. He took the letter from her carefully and instead of flying away, the owl looked at him patiently. The letter was from his friend Elphias Doge, the handwriting couldn't belong to anyone else.

Albus sat down on the bed and opened the letter. While doing that, he noticed that the owl was sitting on the chair at his desk now. He chuckled, only Elphias would choose such an owl to deliver his letters. And somehow, Albus knew that this owl wouldn't leave until he gave her an answer to the letter.

Dear Albus,

It has been a long time since we heard from each other. I have travelled around the world for some time now and you would never believe me all the things I have seen! The world is incredible, you would have liked it very much. Lately, I have been in Egypt and China. The cultures are very different from our own and the magic they use is magnificent. I would have loved to have you by my side, traveling alone can be very exhausting sometimes. I hope you and your family are alright and made it through the difficult times.

I will stop in England soon, maybe I can come over for a visit? Name a time and a place and I will be there, we have lots of catching up to do!

Elphias Doge

PS: The owl waits until you have written your answer and she will not leave otherwise. She knows about her responsibility at delivering letters.

Albus smiled at the owl in amusement and read the letter once more. His friend didn't write much about the things he had seen, but Albus knew that he would tell him everything once they would see each other again. He would have loved to be there with Elphias, in Chin and all those other places he had visited. It must have been very exciting. However, he wouldn't have met Gellert if he would have gone to see the world…

He stood up and went to his desk, looking at the owl with raised eyebrows. "If you keep sitting there, I won't be able to write the answer." He told her and as he expected, she owl just looked at him. With a sigh, he sat down, ignoring the offended screech on the backrest of his chair. For a second, he wondered what she would do if he leaned back now. However, he didn't want to scare Elphias' owl so he dropped that thought again. His answer was short and Albus nodded. He would tell Elphias everything else once they saw each other.

He watched the owl disappear before he went downstairs to search for Gellert.

"So this friend of yours, will he come here soon?" Gellert asked slowly and Albus nodded.

"I told him to come over once he was in the country again." He replied. "I bet he's got many things to tell."

Gellert nodded thoughtfully. "I bet he has…" He muttered and Albus raised his eyebrows.

"Is everything alright?" He had the feeling that it wasn't, but Gellert would never tell him that. Sometimes, his friend was too proud to admit that something was bothering him.

"Yes, of course." Gellert said with a nod. "I just didn't expect him to be back soon, you said that you wanted to travel for a year."

"He's just stopping here on his way to America." Albus explained. "That had been our original plan and Elphias is doing exactly what we wanted to do together, so…" He didn't finish his sentence and Gellert nodded.

"So you'll be busy when he's here?" The question caught Albus by surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you want to spend your time with him when he's here. Then I'll have to look for something else I can do in that time." Gellert didn't sound happy and Albus sighed.

"Gel…" he began, but his friend shook his head.

"It's alright, Albus. Really. I don't want to stand between you and your friends."

"Would you please listen to me before you draw your own conclusions, Gellert?" At his change of tone, Gellert looked at him with a surprised expression on his face. "Actually, I wanted to introduce you to each other." Albus told him and suddenly, there was something like uneasiness on Gellert's face. Something he had never seen before.

"Are you sure?" His friend asked hesitantly and Albus nodded.

"Of course. I would be very happy if you knew each other. And then we can spend the day together all the same."

They looked at each other in silence for some time, before Gellert nodded hesitantly. "Alright. But if I don't like him, I'll leave." He stated. "And let me say now that I'm already sorry if that should happen."

To his surprise, Albus nodded in agreement. "Alright. However, I think you'll like each other." At least that's what he hoped. Somehow, the expression on Gellert's face told him that he didn't like Elphias even now, before they have met.

The day after his conversation with Gellert about Elphias' visit, Albus was in the garden with Ariana. Aberforth was busy with the goats and Albus had offered to spend some time with his sister. Now they were in the garden, searching for the cat that visited them every day. Ariana had already got some milk for her, but the cat didn't show up as usual. Ariana was getting restless and Albus told her not to worry. "She'll come, Ari. Maybe she's just late."

In that moment, he wished that Gellert was there. He always knew what to say when his sister was like this. He made jokes about many things that made Ariana laugh and forget all her troubles. Albus wondered why he wasn't able to do this. Gellert wanted to come over soon, but first he had to help his aunt with the household – something he didn't like very much.

"Come on Albus, we have to search her!" Ariana's voice ripped him out of his thoughts and Albus went to her, a smile on his face. Ariana was really impatient by now. They had already looked in front of the house and didn't find the cat there.

"No need to be this urgent, we'll find her!" He said and chuckled when his sister started to look under the bushes. Albus doubted that the cat would be there, but he remained silent. He didn't want to disappoint Ariana.

When they had searched the garden – at Ariana's instructions, Albus had looked for the cat in the trees – they went towards the house again. "Why isn't she here, Albus? She always comes." Ariana whispered and he squeezed her hand.

"Don't worry, I bet she'll come back later. And if she doesn't, she'll be here tomorrow. Maybe she's on a trip outside."

Suddenly, Ariana's face lit up. "I have another idea where she can be!" She said with excitement in her voice and began to run towards the flowers next to the fence. Albus watched her in amusement when Ariana knelt down right between them.

Then it all happened very fast. Ariana screamed and Albus ran towards her, reaching for his wand in his pocket. "Ariana, what happened?" He called, but his sister didn't answer him. When he got closer, he saw what was bothering her. There was something lying between the flowers and Albus recognized the black and brown fur of the cat Ariana loved so much. His sister was crying and Albus wanted to wrap his arms around her when he noticed that the air around them began to cool down very fast. He just had enough time to cast a single spell before the explosion around them turned everything into a mixture of dust and smoke.