The next chapter! I hope you like it, please let me know what you think! And thank you for the reviews, it makes me happy to see that you like my story.
I don't own the characters or places!
Christmas came faster than expected. The day Aberforth returned from Hogwarts, Ariana was very happy to see him. They talked for hours and Albus just sat with them in the living room, listening to their conversation. In the past weeks, his brother had written him a few letters, which had surprised him very much. Normally, Aberforth was more distant. But it seemed as if he wanted to try building a closer relationship to Albus.
Maybe Ariana had asked him to be nicer? Gellert arrived in the evening and to Albus' surprise, he and Aberforth also got along well. Maybe it was a bit forced sometimes, but it worked. The days after Aberforth's return, Ariana spent most of her time with him. Albus didn't mind that, he was at Gellert's place very often these days and they had invited Bathilda over for Christmas. She'd been very happy about this since she was used to spending Christmas Eve on her own.
Ariana didn't tell Aberforth about her lessons with Albus and he was glad about it. He didn't want to cause a fight on Christmas. It was still a miracle that Aberforth was alright with the fact that Gellert would be there with them the entire time. And Elphias would also visit them after Christmas…
Of course Ariana felt uneasy with hiding something from Aberforth. But after a long talk with Albus and Gellert, she had finally agreed a few days before he arrived.
Albus and Gellert also started to be less tensed when they were together. Slowly, the fear that Gellert would leave was vanishing. And Gellert also didn't fear that Albus might think something bad of him anymore. They still stayed close as much as possible, but Gellert didn't panic anymore when Albus was gone for a few hours. Nevertheless, they were still sleeping in the same bed, mostly at Albus' house. They both didn't want to be alone at night anymore.
On Christmas Eve, Albus was very nervous. He really didn't know if Gellert would like his present. He had thought about it for a long time and with Ariana's help, he found something. It was nothing special, just a book about magic history. Gellert had told Albus not to get him something for Christmas, but Albus didn't like not having anything. And he was sure that Gellert also had a present for him. In the past weeks, he'd acted very secretively sometimes.
Since Gellert liked history, the book had looked perfect to Albus. He'd found it on his trip to London, in a book store in Diagon Alley. It was very old, but Albus didn't mind that. And he hoped that Gellert liked it too.
Finding a present for Ariana had been easier. They'd bought her a chess set. He'd talked about his idea with Gellert for some time, but they'd both been confident that she would like it. Wizard's Chess was always fun to play. The present would be from Albus and Gellert together.
For Aberforth, Albus had bought a new cloak. In one of his letters, Aberforth had mentioned that someone had set his own on fire. Apparently, a bad joke from younger students. While reading that letter, Albus had just rolled his eyes. Not because of the joke, but since his brother hadn't done anything against it. He could have extinguished the fire easily.
Bathilda arrived early on Christmas Eve and helped Ariana to prepare dinner. Albus, Gellert and Aberforth had offered to help as well, but Bathilda had told them that they weren't needed. So they'd been sitting in the living room, mostly talking about Aberforth's time at Hogwarts. Gellert didn't say much, he just listened, but he didn't seem to mind. He was holding Albus' hand (when Albus told Aberforth that they were together now, his younger brother had just rolled his eyes) and followed their conversation. Sometimes, he also stroked the back of Snowflake, who was lying on the couch next to him.
"How is it?" He asked suddenly and interrupted their conversation, which had turned to one of the teachers now.
"What do you mean?" Albus asked with a smile.
"Hogwarts." Gellert explained. "You told me very much about it, but I've always been wondering how it is to be there."
"It's the most beautiful place in this world." Albus explained. "It's very difficult to explain, when you haven't been there yourself."
"Imagine a big castle, surrounded by fields and hills. With high towers, big hallways and a lake next to it. And a forest, though it is forbidden to go there. It is indeed an amazing view, when the sun's rising and reflects in the windows of the castle. Or the sunset over the lake. It's never quiet there, you can always see and hear students walking and talking. And in the great hall, the ceiling always shows the weather outside. Most people really like to be there, the competitions between the houses never end. Especially when there are Quidditch matches." Aberforth smiled while he explained those things. To Albus' surprise, there was a dreamy look on his face. Didn't his brother always say that he hated the castle?
Gellert smiled. "I would like to see it myself one day."
"You will." Albus said confidently and squeezed Gellert's hand.
"There are better places." Aberforth said suddenly, his voice colder. He glanced at the door of the kitchen, which was closed. "It's not home." He muttered, nearly sounding aggressive. Albus and Aberforth had a fight about that a few years ago.
"No, it's not." Albus agreed. "But it's a beautiful place either way."
Slowly, Aberforth relaxed again. "That's true." He looked at the cat thoughtfully. "I just wish that Ariana could have seen it as well." At the sad tone in his voice, Albus and Gellert exchanged a look.
Before they could reply anything, the door of the kitchen opened and Ariana announced that dinner was ready.
The exchange of the Christmas presents after dinner went smoothly. The picture Ariana had painted for Aberforth was beautiful, it showed a lake and on its shore stood a few goats. Ariana had also painted something for Albus and Gellert. The painting for Albus showed a castle that looked like Hogwarts (Aberforth had helped her with the image) and on Gellert's picture, you could see a lonely tree in the snow. On the tree sat an owl. When Gellert asked her why she chose this motif, Ariana couldn't really explain it. She just said that it seemed right.
Aberforth liked the cloak Albus had gotten him very much. He even hugged Albus, which surprised him so much that he nearly dropped his present for Ariana. Luckily, she loved the chess set and hugged both Albus and Gellert tightly. Bathilda also had a present for Ariana, it was a neckband for Snowflake.
In the end, only Albus and Gellert didn't exchange their presents yet. Albus was nervous when he handed Gellert the present, but Gellert just smiled widely, his eyes shining. When he looked at the book more closely, he grinned and kissed Albus on the lips, right in front of everyone. And then Gellert handed Albus a small box with his present.
It was very light and Albus smiled at Gellert nervously when he opened it. Luckily, the others weren't watching them. They were busy with the chess set, Bathilda and Aberforth just explained the rules to Ariana.
"The idea came to me some time ago. Probably, it's really bad…" Gellert muttered, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Maybe I should have just found something else."
Albus smiled at him reassuringly. "I bet it's perfect." He whispered and opened the box. To his surprise, it contained a necklace. It was very long, and when Albus saw the pendant, he inhaled sharply. Gellert wanted to say something, but Albus shook his head slowly. He took the necklace in his hand and looked at it closely.
"The Deathly Hallows." He whispered, because that's what the pendant portrayed. The sign of the Deathly Hallows. It was made of silver and Albus had to admit that it was really beautiful. But why had Gellert chosen this symbol?
"The Greater Good." Gellert corrected him quietly. "Represented through the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. I've been searching for a symbol for some time and then this came to my mind. Yes, I know, I've given up the Hallows. They're far from what I want now. But somehow, this seemed to be a good reminder to me. For what is really important in life." Gellert hesitated. "If you don't like it, I can also get you something else."
Instead of answering, Albus wrapped his arms around Gellert and kissed him deeply. He could feel tears in his eyes, but he didn't care. When they drew back, Gellert looked at him wide-eyed. "You're crying, love." He whispered, his voice shocked.
Albus shook his head and wiped away the tears. "It's because I'm happy. And this is perfect." He whispered and kissed Gellert again, who laughed, relieved that Albus liked his present.
"So you like it?" He asked, his voice still a little insecure.
"I love it." Albus corrected him and put on the necklace. It was so long that it vanished under his shirt. The symbol was directly above his heart now. "I don't think that I'll ever take it off again. But now my present looks so small next to yours."
Gellert shook his head. "No, it doesn't. I got the best present months ago. And that's you. I don't need anything else."
Albus chuckled but didn't reply anything. He knew that discussing would be useless when Gellert was in a mood like this. "It's a reminder of what brought us together." He said instead.
Gellert nodded, his eyes were shining. "That's true." He placed his hand directly above Albus' heart. "I love you."
"I love you too, Gel." Albus whispered.
"And now that you've settled this, get over here!" Bathilda commanded loudly. "You two will show Ariana how to play Wizard's Chess! You're the best players here, then she can see how it works."
Gellert rolled his eyes and Albus chuckled. Then they went over to the others.
"America is exciting." Elphias explained. "Even though they're seeing everything very different from ourselves. They're calling Muggles No-Majs, can you believe it?" He shook his head. "And they're even more into this whole hiding thing over there. I thought the rules were hard here, but I've been wrong."
Albus nodded. "I've heard of that." He said. Three days had passed since Christmas Eve and Elphias had arrived in the morning. Ariana and Aberforth were outside with the goats, so only Elphias, Gellert and Albus were sitting in the living room. Albus and Gellert were sitting on the couch, while Elphias sat in Aberforth's favourite armchair. They didn't tell Elphias that they were together now. He was Albus' best friend, but he wasn't sure how he would take the news. He didn't want to ruin their meeting on Christmas.
"Are they really thinking that Muggles are a danger to our world?" Gellert asked curiously.
Elphias nodded. "They do. It's infuriating, how they're talking about those people."
"I can imagine that very well." Albus muttered darkly.
"It's even worse when you hear it in person. But let's not talk about that anymore. I want to show you something." Elphias searched in his bag for something and then he pulled out a big book. A photo album, Albus realized. "I thought you might want to see a few pictures of the places I'd been, after all, you couldn't come with me." The next hour, they spent looking at the photographs that showed Elphias all around the world. Many pictures just showed landscapes and Albus would have given everything to see those places himself.
When Elphias didn't pay attention to them, Gellert squeezed Albus' hand quickly. Of course he knew that Albus longed to see the world too. But they would do it, once Aberforth finished his education and Ariana could practice alone. Then they would leave and see the world, before they decided what to do next.
To nearly every picture, Elphias could tell them a story and both Albus and Gellert were eager to hear them. They both asked many questions and the day passed very fast. Elphias would have to leave in the evening, he would meet a friend in London the next day. Again, he wouldn't stay long.
"I met a friend a few weeks ago, in New York." Elphias told them before he had to leave. "Do you remember John Brightwood?" He asked Albus.
After thinking about it for a few moments, he nodded. "He was Head Boy of Ravenclaw in the year above us. Tall, blond hair, brown eyes. Quidditch player, all the girls have been after him. He was quite nice." Next to him, Gellert raised an eyebrow.
Elphias nodded, not noticing Gellert's expression. "He's married now. His wife's from Russia."
Albus grinned. "That's a surprise. What were they doing in New York?"
"Vacation. And her brother lives there." Elphias explained with a smile, but then he became serious again. "They've moved to England, he told me. His wife didn't want to stay in Russia anymore. Apparently, some people in the east have strange world views at the moment. He said that there are rumours about the Dark Arts. And people who hate Muggles." Elphias shrugged. "They were very serious when they told me this, but I wasn't sure what to make of it. John's wife has a niece who's going to Durmstrang. There, it should be very bad at the moment." He glanced at Gellert. "I thought you might be interested in this."
Albus and Gellert exchanged a look. Gellert's expression was still relaxed, but Albus could see the tension in his shoulders. And the look in his eyes was thoughtful. He thought of Dimitri, who'd been there a few months ago and shivered. He was still attending Durmstrang. Could it be possible that he was involved in this? A look at Gellert told Albus that yes, he could.
After that, Elphias said goodbye and left. He promised Albus to write him more letters and they wanted to see each other again as soon as possible.
In the evening, Albus and Gellert were lying together in Albus' bed. Gellert had one arm wrapped around Albus and with his free hand, he was playing with Albus' necklace.
"What do you think?" Albus asked slowly.
"You're thinking the same." Gellert muttered. "So he's really doing it."
Albus raised his eyebrows. "You mean Dimitri?" At the name, Gellert flinched.
"Yes." He admitted with a sigh. "He said that they don't need me for their plans. He's been serious."
"But you've known that before." Albus said slowly.
Gellert nodded. "But hearing it, is a whole different story."
Albus couldn't disagree with him, so he just wrapped his arms around Gellert and kissed him. "Everything will be alright." He muttered and slowly, Gellert relaxed.
"I have a feeling that this will still haunt us for a long time." He muttered.
"Probably." Albus agreed. "But when the time comes, we'll deal with it together." He promised and when Gellert looked up, he was smiling.
"That sounds good." They kissed again and Albus ran his hand down Gellert's back.
"Let's forget about this. It's just a rumour, love. We can't do anything about this now."
Gellert sighed. "You're right."
Albus knew that Gellert was still thinking about it, so he rolled them over so that he was lying on top of Gellert. And then he made him forget about all those things.