The next chapter! I hope you like it and thank you for your support! It always makes me happy to read what you think of my story. Please leave a review for this chapter as well!

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"I'm gonna miss you, Ari." Aberforth whispered and hugged his sister tightly. They stood there like this for some time and it seemed as if Ariana never wanted to let him go again. When Aberforth let go off her and loosened her grip around his waist carefully, she began to sob.

"I don't want you to go." She muttered and looked up at him with wide eyes.

Aberforth knelt down in front of her and took her hands. "You know that I have to go, Ari. I need to go to school. It's just one more year. And before you really realize that I am gone, I will already be back for Christmas. And then we'll celebrate together." He wiped away the tears on her cheeks. "And I'll write you a letter every week." Aberforth promised with a soft smile on his lips.

"You will?" Ariana muttered and he nodded immediately.

"I promise."

She looked at him for some time, before she finally nodded.

"And you will look after the goats for me, right?" Aberforth asked and now Ariana's expression changed. Her eyes began to shine and she smiled while nodding profusely.

"Of course. And Albus promised that he'd also help me with that."

At those words, Aberforth seemed to remember that Albus was also there, standing in the doorframe of their house and watching the departure of his brother. The scene in front of him nearly broke his heart – he hated to see Ariana this upset. However, there was no way that Aberforth would miss his last year at school. He had tried to convince Albus that it was better if he stayed at Godric's Hollow with Ariana, but Albus had argued that he could also take care of his sister. And that Aberforth needed to finish school, if he ever wanted to do something real in his life. They had argued very much – luckily, Gellert had been there and had taken Ariana outside to show her some things in the garden. Once Gellert had left, Aberforth had argued that he also didn't finish school – he didn't miss the chance to mention that he had been expelled – which had made Albus even angrier. They had shouted at each other for a long time. In the end, Albus had won the argument. Aberforth had promised to return to Hogwarts one last time. His voice had sounded bitter while making that promise, however Albus didn't care about that. He was just glad that his brother would finish school. Nevertheless, the mentioning of Gellert and the fact that he didn't finish school had made Albus feel uneasy. He was worried for Gellert's future. Everyone who met him saw that he was brilliant, but would that be enough?

"You better take good care of her." Aberforth's voice ripped Albus out of his thoughts and he nodded. "And don't leave her alone for too long. And don't you dare upset her. And –"

"Don't be so hard to him, Aberforth." Ariana interrupted him softly. "We will get along well. You don't have to worry so much."

Aberforth stared at his sister for a few moments, before his gaze wandered to Albus again. He looked at his brother seriously. "I will take care of her, I promise." He repeated the words he had said to his brother a thousand times in the past days.

Aberforth narrowed his eyes, but something in Albus' expression seemed to calm him. He hugged Ariana once more and stood up. To Albus' surprise, he didn't walk towards the gate. He stopped in front of Albus and without saying anything, he hugged him as well. It wasn't a long hug, but it told Albus everything he needed to know. That Aberforth was grateful for him being there. And maybe that he had finally accepted him as a real part of their family.

Without saying anything, Aberforth walked to the gate where his suitcase was already waiting for him. Then he made his way towards the house of another wizarding family who lived at Godric's Hollow and whose daughter would have her first year at Hogwarts. They would take a Portkey to London and had invited Aberforth to join them.

One he was out of sight, Ariana looked at Albus questioningly. "When will Gellert be here?" She asked slowly, her voice still sounding sad. Even if they got along better now, Gellert didn't want to be there when Aberforth said goodbye to his siblings. He had told Albus that it was a moment for the family and no one else. So he had stayed at home, probably reading a book. A few days ago, Albus had lent him one about Occlumency and Legilimency – it had been a present of his teacher at Hogwarts, Mr. Bright.

"He should be here soon." Albus sait with a smile and led Ariana inside the house. They went to the kitchen and Ariana looked at the vase with the flowers on the table. They were already dried up and would have to be exchanged. Those had been the last of the flowers which had grown with Ariana's magic.

"They were so beautiful." Ariana whispered and touched one of the flowers carefully. However, it didn't take the touch well. One of the leaves sank to the ground slowly.

"And I am sure that you can let grow new ones." Albus said softly and sat down next to his sister. "We can try it again whenever you want. Or maybe something else, I've got a few more ideas."

Ariana smiled at him. "Thank you, Albus. It means a lot to me that you help me with this."

He chuckled. "That's what a brother's there for."

Ariana's expression became sad again. "You know that it's not true."

Her sad tone made the smile on Albus' lips fade slowly. "What do you mean by that?"

She sighed heavily. "Aberforth is also my brother. And don't get me wrong, I love him very much. And you too, Albus. And Gellert, even if he's not part of our family. Aberforth does everything for me, he takes me outside, he plays with me in the garden, he tells me stories. However, he's always so careful with me. He acts like I'm going to break if something bad happens. Or something that I don't like. He tries so hard to make me happy, sometimes I even think he tries too hard. He forgets himself and that he can be happy too. Abe always says that he's so careful with me because he doesn't want me to get hurt. I know that I can hurt people when I'm not careful and when I lose control. You know what nearly happened some time ago… But when he's always like that around me, I have in mind what could happen all the time. I always fear that someone will get hurt. And with you, that's different." She paused for a few seconds, still not looking at Albus. "Aberforth is afraid of me. He would never admit it, but I see it in the way he behaves around me." Finally, she looked Albus in the eyes. "With you, it's different. You are not afraid. You even bring yourself in danger to help me. And you do not care about the risks. And with Gellert, it's the same. You both just want to help."

"Ariana…" Albus began slowly, not sure what to say. He had never thought about it like this. For him, it had been just logical that they needed to help Ariana, no matter how difficult it would be. And of course Gellert wouldn't let him take the risk alone.

"You are very different, you and Aberforth." Ariana finished her speech. "And don't say that it's normal to help me again, you know very well that it isn't. What you helped me do last week, that's something not many people would have been able to. You are a very special wizard, Albus."

Albus cleared his throat, Ariana's words had made him speechless. "Have I told you that I love you, Ariana?" He asked slowly and when she nodded, he hugged her tightly.

"And I love you, Albus."

They stayed like this for some time, until Albus reached for his wand in his pocket. He pointed at the flowers on the table and muttered a spell. Slowly, they regained their colours and after a few seconds, they looked like they just came from the garden. Ariana's eyes were shining. "Thank you, Albus." She whispered and he smiled at her.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door and Albus knew that Gellert was there. He just wanted to make his way to let him in, when something else came to his mind. "Oh, Ariana?" He asked and looked over his shoulder to see that his sister was still watching the flowers.

"Yes, Albus?" She replied without looking at him.

"Aberforth is not afraid of you. He could never be. He's so worried that it nearly breaks his heart that he cannot help you." Without waiting for her reply, Albus opened the door for Gellert, who was already waiting with raised eyebrows.

"She misses your brother." Gellert muttered and ran his hands down Albus' back. Once Albus hat let him in, Gellert had greeted Ariana who just smiled at him sadly. However, the book he brought out of his bag made her smile again. It was a book with fairy tales and a very famous one, to be exact. Albus had been very surprised to see that Gellert just gave it to his sister. The Tales of Beedle the Bard. He had just raised his eyebrows at Gellert and at the sheepish look on his face, Albus hadn't been able to stop himself anymore. He had kissed Gellert – right in front of his sister. But she hadn't even noticed it, she had been too consumed with the book. After hugging Gellert and a quick 'Thank you!' Ariana had made her way to the couch to read the first story.

Albus and Gellert had gone upstairs to Albus' room then and Gellert had pulled him down onto the bed immediately. Then he had wrapped his arms around Albus, who still shivered at Gellert's touch. He couldn't understand why someone so perfect wanted him, of all people.

"Of course she does, she loves him." Albus whispered and Gellert raised an eyebrow. Their faces were only inches apart.

"She loves you too."

Albus nodded slowly. "But I don't think it's the same."

Gellert frowned. "Why not?"

With a sigh, Albus repeated what Ariana had told him downstairs. That she feared that Aberforth was afraid of her and that he always tried to be careful with her. And that Albus acted completely different.

"You say it like it's something bad." Gellert remarked slowly, his blue eyes locked with Albus'.

"I don't think that it's bad." He paused, searching for the right words. "It made me realize how much she trusts me."

"And you don't want to disappoint her." He should have known that Gellert used to notice everything – and that he understood Albus better than anyone else.

He wrapped his arms around Gellert's shoulders, pulling him even closer. Now Albus was able to hide his face in Gellert's neck. The growl told him that he was not happy about the breaking of the eye contact. When Albus didn't reply anything to Gellert's statement, he began to play with Albus' hair.

"You will not disappoint her, if you want to hear what I think." Gellert whispered after a few minutes of silence. "She knows that you're trying very hard to help her. And she would accept it, if it would not work. She's grateful that you are not letting her alone in this."

"I could never do that." Albus muttered. "And I don't think that I could stand it when something happened to her while we try to set her magic free."

"Nothing will happen to her. She will be alright, Albus. After all, she's got the best teacher in the world." The certainty in Gellert's voice made him chuckle. "What's so funny?" Gellert asked when Albus pulled away far enough to look into his eyes.

He smiled softly and touched a strand of hair that had fallen into Gellert's face. He loved the feeling of the blond locks. "I doubt that I would be a good teacher." He said simply.

"The mediation was incredible and you know that." Gellert argued. Suddenly, there was a gleam in his eyes and he smiled cheekily. "Or didn't I show you that well enough?"

At the thought of that night, Albus' cheeks burned. Gellert had shown him very well how impressed he had been. And they had shown each other their love. Now Gellert leaned in to kiss him, but Albus pulled away after a few seconds. "It's not that." He muttered and began to play with Gellert's hair again. The look on his face told Albus that he was enjoying it very much. "I just don't want to make her hope when everything we do will be useless in the end."

"Something like that could never be useless. Every step she takes, no matter how small it is, will help her to gain control. And it will help her to become the person she really is. You give her confidence, Albus. You make her believe in herself. That could never be useless."

Albus touched Gellert's cheek softly. "I want this to work."

"Then we'll make it work." Gellert replied simply. And maybe, just maybe, it was that simple. Albus wanted to have the same confidence as Gellert. Perhaps it was time to set his doubts aside and just stay in the moment?

"You say it like it's easy."

Gellert nodded, a smile on his lips. "Because it is. You just make it difficult with all your overthinking."

"I wish I could have your confidence." Albus admitted slowly.

Now it was Gellert's time to chuckle softly. "You're perfect." He kissed him quickly. "And your doubts are sweet. And let me tell you something else." Now Gellert moved so that he was able to whisper into Albus' ear. "We all have doubts sometimes." When he leaned back, Albus saw the serious expression on Gellert's face. "Yes, even I do have them." He said before Albus could ask. "And in the past weeks, I thought a lot of everything. Of what brought me here, if it was right or wrong, what he future holds…"

"Right or wrong?" Suddenly, Albus was nervous. They had talked about the reasons for Gellert moving to Godric's Hollow before and Gellert had assured him that it was good – very good, to be exact. Nevertheless, Albus couldn't stop the fear that took control over him now.

Suddenly, Gellert's expression softened and he took Albus' face in his hands. "It brought me to you, so it could never be wrong." He whispered. "I love you, Albus Dumbledore. Never doubt that. It will never change, as long as I live. It will always be you. And all that matters is that we are together now." Gellert leaned in slowly and then they kissed – Albus couldn't say for how long. He just knew that they broke apart later, both gasping for air. "Just in case you want to know it, I think it was wrong. What I did back at school."

The look on Albus' face must have been surprised since Gellert laughed. "Don't look at me like that. After all, you made me realize that."

Albus smiled. "I'm happy to hear those words from you." He paused, not sure if he could ask his next question. However, the patient look on Gellert's face gave him the courage to do so. "Do you still think that you could not resist when it comes to the Dark Arts?"

Even before he finished his question, Gellert tensed. But it didn't last long. He took a deep breath and relaxed again; the smile had left his lips. "I do think that I can resist, yes. I already told you that my dreams for the future are about to change." He sighed. "But I don't want to promise anything, Albus. Not yet."

Albus nodded, his worry was vanishing again slowly. It was obvious that Gellert meant it and he believed him. "You don't have to promise anything." He whispered and kissed him again. The kiss didn't last long when Albus noticed something else. "You gave Ariana the book."

Gellert touched Albus' hair carefully and began to play with it. "It surprised you." He stated without looking into his eyes.

"You always said that it contains the truth about the Hallows and how it all began." Albus remarked.

"It does. But it also makes Ariana happy to have it. Isn't that worth much more than a few objects?" Albus eyes widened when he realized what Gellert just said. Without thinking about it, he buried his hands in Gellert's hair and pulled him closer. Then he kissed him passionately. First, Gellert gasped in surprise. But soon he was kissing Albus back and moved so that Albus was lying on top of him. Gellert ran his hands down Albus' back and moaned when their tongues began to fight for dominance. When they broke apart, both breathing heavily, Gellert grinned.

Albus smiled back at him, feeling so happy that he thought his heart would burst. "I can't believe you just said that." He whispered and Gellert touched his cheek.

"And I mean it. Why should anyone want to conquer death when he could have what I have now? Screw those Hallows and the Dark Arts, if it means I get to love you I will gladly give up both."

Albus looked at Gellert for some time, searching for any signs of doubt in his eyes. When he found none, he smiled even wider. He was fully aware of the fact that Gellert had promised nothing – he could still return to the Dark Arts and leave to look for the Hallows, and those thoughts nearly broke Albus' heart – but right now he also knew that Gellert meant it. That those things weren't important and that he only cared about having Albus around. And that was something they could start with. And maybe he could make Gellert happy and he would forget all those thoughts forever. Just maybe. Albus had hope.

Suddenly, Gellert flipped them around and now he was lying on top of Albus. "Stop thinking too much, Albus." Gellert muttered against his lips. "I'm not going anywhere. I love you."

"And I love you too." Albus whispered before he finally brushed all his thoughts aside and just concentrated on the feeling of Gellert's body against his.