Out of her Hands

A/N: Thank you to my lovely beta, Miss Ang, for reading through this chapter and editing my simple grammar mistakes. Thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter and I do hope that I surprise you with the person demanding answers from Albus.

Chapter 8: The beginning is a good place to start

The broken form of the most celebrated wizard of recent times forced himself to look up and look in the direction of the voice. Albus felt like he was staring into a mirror or looking at a photo of his younger self as his blue eyes met with another pair of twinkling blue eyes. Aberforth Jonathan Theodore Dumbledore stood leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. It was clear that he was waiting for answers but he wasn't going to push for them, as he knew his brother all to well. Like Minerva, Aberforth had accepted his brothers death only days ago and this was like seeing a ghost.

"Aberforth," greeted Albus sadly "how did you know?"

"Someone told me," answered Aberforth sadly as he walked into the living room and flopped down on a chair. "It;s not the way I wanted to find out, better coming from you!"

Albus nodded. He agreed with his brother that he should have been the one to tell him of his return but it had slipped his mind. Aberforth was just another name to add to the list of people he loved but had let down. His Minerva, his brother, and his friends had all been hurt because of him.

"Minerva contacted you then!" Albus concluded as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his fingers.

"No," replied his brother. "I contacted Min to see how she was doing and I spoke with Alastor. He mentioned that you had popped up in the flames unannounced."

"She didn't even let me explain, Abe." Albus said with a deep sigh.

"Can you honestly say that you deserve a chance to explain?" questioned Aberforth. "You put her through hell Albus. I saw her go through it every one of those days for the entire eight months you were gone. I watched as she made herself ill as she refused to give up looking for you. You're my brother and I am overjoyed that you are well and back with us but I am finding it hard to choose between hugging you and hexing you for what you put us through. I am supposed to be the wayward brother, not you!"

Albus looked at his brother. The words he had spoken were not that different to what his conscious mind was telling him but they seemed more real as his brother spoke them. It was true; the Dumbledore brothers were like chalk and cheese but the best of friends. Albus was the intelligent one who acted responsibly but still kept that childlike quality of fun within him. Aberforth didn't like responsibility unless it included his beloved goats. He lived for fun and never held back from doing exactly what he wanted to do, regardless of the consequences. Albus had covered for his brother on many occasions and even in his youth, had gotten into fights because of something his brother had said a bit too loudly and people had taken offense.

"What can I do Abe?" asked Albus, who felt as though he had nothing in the world.

"Albus Dumbledore asking me for advice?" mused Aberforth with a playful smile. "I thought I would never see the day and you do know that Father, will never believe it when I tell him."

"Abe, I'm serious here." Albus snapped without meaning to. He knew his brother was only trying to lighten the heavy mood that had engulfed them both in the living room.

"Well tell me, what in the name of Merlin happened to you?" suggested Aberforth.

Albus explained in detail about stumbling across Grindelwald by chance. Albus had been following the latest coordinates to the Dark Lord's supposed lair and had found the coordinates to be wrong. Albus had decided to head back to the Aurors headquarters to tell them but on his way back he had seen his target. He knew of his destiny and he knew that he had to do it alone. Albus had sent no word of where he was and didn't even ask for backup.

Albus admitted to his brother that he had pounced not even knowing if Grindelwald had his followers around him or nearby. He simply took a chance when he saw one. The Dark Lord hadn't been expecting it and so it had been easy for Albus to quickly gain the upper hand in the duel. Albus explained that all sorts of ancient spells had been cast from both sides and both men had been weakening. Albus couldn't remember how long the battle had lasted between them. It could have been minutes, hours or maybe even days. He had no memory of the spell that had cost Grindelwald his life or on the spell that rendered him at deaths door.

"You are a brave but stupid man Albus!" Aberforth pointed out.

"Yes, thank you for that evaluation Abe." Albus replied.

"Well what happened then?" asked Aberforth.

"I woke up in a hospital," explained Albus as he tried to remember all the details he could. "They told me that I wouldn't be able to walk again and that I was lucky to be alive. I felt anything but lucky Abe. I felt like a failure and I wished he had killed me. My thoughts turned to Minerva. They were always of her. She is the only woman I have ever loved but I couldn't put her through this. I didn't want her to see me like that. I didn't want her to stay and pity me. I was disgusting, vile and a disgrace. I made myself believe that not telling her was for her sake when really I was doing it for my own vanity."

"What about your own family?" asked Aberforth who was trying to understand his older brothers reasons. He knew that Minerva's own mother had nursed her husband towards the end of his life and he had heard that it had been hard so he could understand why his brother had chosen as he did but it had been wrong. Aberforth had seen the love between his brother and Minerva. At times he had even envied it so he knew that Minerva would have stuck by his brother, regardless. Albus had always been the one in charge of things. He had always saved his pocket money and bought useful things when they had been boys. Albus wanted to protect and help people, especially the ones he loved so Aberforth could see that Albus would have hated not being able to be useful

"If I had told you," said Albus breaking into his brothers thoughts "you would have told Minerva and I would expect no less. I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused but I was suffering as well. I was alone and suffering for a long time before I finally realized I had people to live for. I worked hard and set myself goals and here I am now, walking and among the people I love."

"But surely you didn't expect to arrive and it to be like nothing happened!" said Aberforth softly.

"Of course I didn't," answered Albus irritably. "I thought I might get the chance to explain. I don't know what I am going to do without her Abe. This house reminds me of her. When I close my eyes I can see her and when I open them, she is still there."

"Time is a great healer Albus," said Aberforth wisely. "You just have to give her time and space."

Unbeknownst to the two brothers, they were not alone in the cottage that Albus had built for the love of his life. Sitting on the stairs, hugging her knees to her chest sat Minerva McGonagall with silent tears running down her porcelain colored cheeks.

To be continued!