Prologue

I was born by a lake.

My mother, concerned about pains she was experiencing in her abdomen, walked towards the family lake. A medicine woman, many years beforehand, had convinced her that the scent of fresh water aided in healing. It was alright. She didn't know any better.

She also didn't know what was happening when she pushed me out, and I saw the light.

I was told I didn't cry.

My mother picked me up after the labor, and somehow walked back to the house, then collapsed. My father left her in the entranceway as he lifted me, took me to a neighboring chapel, and bestowed upon my trembling, not-crying body, my Christian name: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, first son of the Dumbledore family, given a Baronship by His Majesty, George the Third, in the Year of Our Lord, 1778.

Flying with Broken Wings
The Albus Dumbledore Story
by Lemon Kitten

Mama was humming when I woke up. I opened my eyes and looked over at her. She was sewing at a shirt I'd ripped the day before.

"Albus, my baby!" she said, noticing. "Come sit on me."

I crawled into her lap. Mama hugged me with her arms, and I felt a sudden, sharp stab on the side of my hand. A tiny drop of red floated onto the white. I looked at it, wondering how it had gotten there. I saw Mama was on her fifth layer of thread; she tried her best to make certain the shirt wouldn't fall apart again.

Mother noticed the blood. She touched it with her index finger, pushed me off her lap, and shook the shirt at me. "What do you think you're doing, Albus? You ruined my work. What do you think… what do you think you're doing? I'd been working all night. Albus!" Standing up, she crumpled up the fabric. "Why would you do that? I'd been working all night. What do you think you're doing?"

Then she walked out of the room.

I followed her as she called for Auntie Summers, the lady in the black dress. The shirt was hidden between the folds of her skirt.

Auntie Summers appeared in front of Mama with a pop. Her eyes looked upset.

"Amelia, what are you screaming about? You've woken the entire house." She put her hands on Mama's back, then looked at me.

Auntie Summers was old. Mama told me that she'd been her nurse and tutor as long as she could remember. Staring at Auntie Summers wrinkly thin hands, I knew she had to be at least over one hundred. Her hair was all silver and grey and flew out all over the place from the big knot she wore at the back of her head. Her eyes were lined around the edges, but looked like mine.

"Albus ru-ruined my shirt!" Mother yelled, making the shirt appear from her skirts and wagging it in front of Auntie Summers. "I worked on it all night. He was si-sitting on my lap and he ruined it! He was sitting on my lap. I worked on it all night! But he turned it red! I worked on it all night."

Auntie Summers took my old shirt and winked at me while she hugged Mama. "Don't worry, Amelia darling, I'll be able to get the stain out." Ms. Summers looked at the sewed up fabric and moved her old wrinkly hands all over it looking for the stain. "You did very well repairing this, but dear! The stain is gone!"

My mother sniffled, looking at the bright white shirt. Auntie Summers gave me another wink. "The stain's gone." Mama blinked, and then realized I was watching. "Albus, my baby. I'm sorry. Albus my beautiful baby boy bumblebee, I'm sorry. I'm sorry Albus. I'm sorry." She opened her arms.

I ran towards her and gave her a hug, pulling my arms around her big body as far as they could go. Mama lifted me past her skirts, and walked me back to my room, stealing Sorry's and kisses all the way.

I was hiding in Mama's dresser when the sun went to sleep. I got tired, too. In fact, I didn't even realize when Mama came into the room, or when Auntie Summers found me sleeping in the small space and clucked her tongue. But I did hear Mama giggle. That's when I woke up, really. Mama was moving her finger back and forth through a candle flame, falling back onto her bed when it burned her, then giggling when she started again. I almost opened the dresser to join her, but a shadow moved through the door.

Sir, Father, Sir yelled at Mama.

Sir, Father, Sir yelled at Mama loud.

"Amelia!"

The hairs on the back of my neck got all excited, and my body started, all shaky.

Sir, Father, Sir grabbed at Mama's hands and pulled them away from the candle, quickly blowing it out. He yelled a few words I didn't know, and then the room was all dark from the night and all I could hear was my own quick ins and outs and Sir, Father, Sir's angry yelling and ripping.

"You heinous thing! You might have burned down the house! Killed my son!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dumbledore, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, Mr. Dumbledore, I was just playing, I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

I heard the bed squeak. More ripping.

"No more playing! You're a bad influence on my son!"

"Please, please please please, I'm sorry, Mr. Dumbledore, please, I'm sorry, I was just playing, please… please don't take Albus from his Mama, please please, Mr. Dumbledore!"

"You," breathed Sir, Father, Sir, "don't deserve to talk with my son! You foul, dirty treacherous fiend! The devil is on you!"

I put my hands over my ears, but Sir, Father, Sir's anger still made their way through my fingers.

An odd squelch reached me in my hiding spot, and Mama's cries of Sorry's changed to "Please don't punish me, please stop, Mr. Dumbledore, please I'm sorry, Mr. Dumbledore, please stop…"

But Sir, Father, Sir only laughed and yelled about getting the bitch fatter, and all I could do was scream with my eyes shut and the rivers running down my face and when I finally opened them I had POPPED! back into my room and Auntie Summers was running inside telling me everything would be ok and to stop listening and that she was sorry, too, and that one day Sir, Father, Sir would realize he was nothing and she said this so many times that I finally started believing her and then all the rivers and all the yells and all the rips overcame me and my eyes shut and I went asleep as the sun woke up while Auntie Summers rocked me back and forth, whispering words I couldn't understand.

----

Mama sat with me in my lessons every day, moving her mouth along with the words Auntie Summers was reading while I looked at the pictures or watched mama work out the problems on her own chalk board. She had to get a special seat a long time ago 'cause she got all fat, and she couldn't tell me why, 'cause she didn't know either.

But I knew it was 'cause she was eating too much. I saw her every day at the dinner table while Sir, Father, Sir ate his food without moving his mouth. Mama's plate had more green things and meat than mine and Sir, Father, Sir's put together. Sir, Father, Sir never looked at Mama.

"Albus Percival," Sir, Father, Sir said last sun.

Mama ate her green stuff. So I did too.

"Albus Percival," he said again. Then I looked at him, eating my green stuff.

His face scrunched up and his eyes got fiery. "Speak to me you insufferable nitwit."

Then I looked at Mama, who's face was turning all red and splotchy and her rivers were dripping onto her green stuff, and I kept eating my green stuff instead.

Sir, Father, Sir got up angrily and yelled at Mr. Wilsberson to take away Mama's food, even though she was still eating, and his voice boomed out like thunder as he gripped her big belly, "Your blood will not taint this son. This son will not be like that."

Sir, Father, Sir pointed at me.

And I pushed my plate away. 'Cause Mama couldn't eat. At least she wouldn't get fatter.

So Auntie Summers said that Mama and I wouldn't eat dinner with Sir, Father, Sir anymore, unless he asked, and then she "couldn't do anything about that except turn him into a ferret," which Auntie Summers always cackled. I didn't think Sir, Father, Sir would like being a ferret. He'd probably make Auntie Summers go away if she did that. I didn't want Auntie Summers to go away.

Auntie Summers was teaching me and Mama to be good little boys who knew their numbers and letters. Mostly, though, she just grumbled about Stump, and so Mama and I grumbled about Stump, too.

And I learned two and two is four.

And that "d" follows "c."

And that Mungo Bonham was born in The Year of Our Lord, 1560.

And eventually that day, Auntie Summers said, "If I have to teach you more, you're going to explode with information, so you might as well go play."

Mama and I went to the lake. It looked all dark and cold outside, so Mama bundled me in three of my bright white shirts and four of my dark blue sweaters. She threw a stone into the lake and it went plop through the water and sunk to the bottom and then she looked at me so I threw one plop in too. And Mama giggled, and I ran around looking for tiny flat rocks to go plop into the lake. Mama called it "skipping stones" and so we skipped stones for what had to be days and days until the moon started waking up and the sky was full with shiny diamonds. Then Mama remembered before she lived at home, and she said she liked it here better, because she had me. I wrapped my arms as far as they could go around her big belly, and she said "sweet baby, sweet, sweet baby," and her voice was kind of mumbly like she was about to go sleep.

Mama looked at me and called me her tiny little baby bumblebee and picked me up and turned her face to the side so I gave her a kiss on the cheek and she giggled and carried me closer to the house until she had to set me down 'cause she said her stomach was all angry. So Mama and I walked back to the house, and she held my hand. Except you couldn't even tell that she was holding my hand 'cause you couldn't even see it inside of her big-nice-smooth one. Her skirt was all big and swooshed all over the grass, which crunched underneath our steps. The sky was so dark I could only see Mama's eyes and they smiled down at me so I smiled back up at her except every once in awhile she'd grab at her stomach and walk a little faster. By the time we were closer to Sir, Father, Sir's big old house, Mama's big eyes that look like mine were leaking rivers again and I got scared because she wasn't even smiling anymore and so I screamed for Auntie Summers and screamed and screamed and screamed and Auntie Summers came running through the house like lightning and looked at me all confused and distracted until she saw Mama and then her eyes got all big.

"Albus, stop screaming."

So I stopped.

Auntie Summers gathered up Mama and started taking her down towards the servant's part of the house and I grabbed at Mama's skirts because now she had started to whimper and I didn't know and when I looked down the floor behind us was all wet and there were spots of red and I almost started screaming again until Auntie Summers looked at me and shook her head and said "Albus, you need to go to your room" and I wanted to stay with Mama so I shook my head and then she just said it again but I shook my head no.

A maid came running up to Mama and Auntie Summers and me.

"I heard screaming, Miss. Is she--"

"Yes," Auntie Summers interrupted. "I need you to take Albus back to his room and keep him there and also to floo Lunelia Lufkin and tell her to apparate here now."

The maid, her face turning all grey, nodded and turned towards me.

Her arms went around me and "No! MAMA!" screamed from my mouth over and over and Auntie Summers took out a stick and pointed it at me and said "Silencio" and then although I tried to keep yelling nothing came out and now I needed Mama even more! but Auntie Summers had already hidden her and I wanted to scream so bad but no matter how hard I tried nothing came out.

Then the maid shut me in my room.

I felt the rivers waterfalling down my face and I pushed them away and then I couldn't breath out of my nose so I jumped on my bed and pounded the pillow with my fists but they barely made a dent. "Mama, Mama, Mama" I wanted to say but couldn't and why was there all the red? Then I got so tired that I stopped and I laid down and there was no sound but the rivers still left my eyes and there was a big soggy spot on my pillow and all I wanted was Mama.

I opened my eyes and I didn't know what had happened, but the sun was all shining and Auntie Summers was staring at me. I tried to say Mama, but nothing came out.

Auntie Summers blinked. "Oh Albus. Finite Incantatem."

I said "Mama?"

Auntie Summers looked out the window at the lake where Mama and I "skipped stones." She let out a big sigh and her voice got all quivery and she said, "Your Mama's gone."

"Gone?"

"And she won't be coming back."

"Where did she go? Why won't she come back? Where's my Mama? What happened to my Mama?"

Auntie Summers picked up a tea cup I didn't see behind her skirts and she handed it to me and I wanted to throw it at the wall because I was so angry and she wouldn't tell me why I couldn't see Mama. But then I saw her eyes that looked like mine and I went in and out and I saw a tiny wet drop go plop! into the cup and so I drank it.

"Your Mama's gone beyond the veil, little bumblebee." She stopped and wrapped her arms so far around me that I thought I'd never come out again. "Sleep, baby Albus. Sleep." And she closed my eyes and I went right into darkness.