Disclaimer: Uh uh shakes head don't even say it! BECAUSE I DON'T OWN IT!
A/N: As usual i shall apologise for my spelling and grammer mistakes. And thank you to my reviews! You guys ROCK! Anyway don't forget to review this chapter!
Bex
Quill of Minerva: Thank you for the review!I have always thought that the two of them were great pranksters when they were at Hogwarts and even now they still can't help but get up to mischief!
TartenLioness:Albus and Aberforthhave had just under 150 years of fighting and mischief, i still think they are caperble of fighting becausethe most silliest things like a sandcastle competition lol.The idea amused me at the timeand i thoughtit would be perfect for them to carry it out. Thanks for the review!
bigkihap: does a very happy dance I'm so glad you liked it, i was a bit dubious of it at first. Thank you for the praise, i hope you have the e-mail thing up and running soon! If you think it's going to be longer, i may have to find a tempory replacement until you sort it out. Anyhow, i hope you enjoy this chapter and keep me posted through the review ; )
Leta McGotor: lol you shall see in this chapter! I'm glad you like it, thanks for reviewing!
Alesia G: Grins widely lol! That will eventually be the case, it shall start in the next chapter.I have a few ideas of what Albus shall do to impress her lol! Thanks for the review! And thanks for the offer, i shall see how long my beta will take with the whole email thing and if it takes a while, would you consider being a tempory beta? please reply in the review!
foci: Here you go, the next chapter. I hope i didn't keep you waiting too long? And I know just how you feel. I felt frustrated whenIcouldn't review and that means no one else can review my fic : (. But anyway, I'm so glad you enjoyed my story! happy dance I hope you like the competition in this chapter lol
Chapter 2Days later, Minerva found herself walking silently down to a nearby beach by Poppy and Albus on the other side of the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts. They had decided to go by carriage because of Minerva's predicament and because Poppy had told her she had to take it easy otherwise they would have flown by broomstick. When Minerva had told Poppy of the little competition between the two brothers, she insisted that she come with them "To see what all the fuss is about," Poppy had said as she gave Minerva her weekly check up. "I don't know, those two are like a couple of teenagers the way they act. You would never guess that either one was approaching their one hundred and fiftieth birthday soon."
Poppy bustled about, making sure she had checked everything on her list and given the right medication to Minerva.
"Right, you seem to be doing fine, better than last week at any rate. But you still need to try to slow down a bit though," she said modestly and sat down in the chair opposite Minerva.
"I am trying to pace myself. I just can't help it, sometimes it feels natural to rush about and get everything done." Minerva replied defensively. Poppy raised her eyebrows and leaned forward.
"You don't need to prove yourself to anyone, least of all the headmaster. He knows you like to give 110 on the job but sometimes you just have to slow down. You may feel fine but you're still not well. It was a major injury so it will take time to heal. You are not doing yourself any favours by rushing around like you used to. We are not young women any more." Poppy explained kindly to her. She had known Minerva ever since they were little girls. Her parents were very good acquaintances of the McGonagall's and although they were generous to others, they never seemed to have time for their two daughters, especially Minerva. Minerva always had a thirst to prove herself, which is why she had become the school bookworm and head girl. But in her heart, Poppy knew that no matter what Minerva ever amounted to be, she would never meet her parents expectations like their other daughter Evelyn.
"I'm sorry Poppy, I feeling a little defensive today. I'm just sick and tired of being treated like a child. People think that I can't handle things when I can, I just…feel trapped. I want to go out and do things, have fun. It's not fair," Minerva sobbed into her hand. Poppy put down her clipboard, walked over to her friend and hugged her.
"Maybe this little outing will take your mind off of it," soothed Poppy. "It will get better. You shall see,"
Minerva was jolted out of her musings as all three came to a stop. Albus transfigured a rock into two yellow and blue deck chairs that both ladies could sit upon.
"As usual, my dear brother is late." Albus sighed as he looked down at his watch. He took off his travel cloak and placed it over Minerva's legs because she was shivering. Although it was a gorgeous sunny day, the wind seemed to spoil it and gave it a chill.
"Thank you, Albus." Minerva smiled.
A sudden 'pop' told them that Aberforth had just arrived as he walked over the sand dune.
"Good morning all, I trust everybody slept well last night?" he greeted them.
"Yes thank you," replied Poppy and Aberforth kissed her hand.
"I did too, thank you." Minerva smiled as he kissed her hand too.
"What are the rules?" asked Poppy as she took out her sunglasses.
"Ah, yes rules. No magic, no cheating," Albus ticked the list off with his fingers and looked pointedly at his brother who smiled innocently. "One hour to complete the sand castle within and nothing can be used that you would not find on a beach. Is that it?"
"Yes I think so. Ladies, if you could please keep the time for us?" asked Aberforth as he rolled up his sleeves and walked over to his designated space of sand.
"Certainly," Minerva replied as she watched Albus transfigure another two rocks into two buckets in the shape of a castle and two spades.
"Here we are, old boy. I hope you have all that alcohol ready," Albus smiled serenely to his brother as he kneeled down and prepared himself.
"Just be prepared to give up that plantation for the summer, Albus." Aberforth bit back.
"On you're marks, get set, GO!" shouted Poppy and Minerva and both men dived into the sand and started digging like a couple of rabbits. Aberforth decided to have a damn build around his castle so he started off building a fifteen-inch trench that went around in a circle. Albus on the other hand decided to start off building the actual castle itself by digging up lots of sand and putting it onto a pile. Both men were digging as fast as they could while Poppy and Minerva observed them. Albus started to flatten out his mound of sand and started to fill up his bucket. Aberforth was still building his trench around where his castle was going to be built and started to 'accidentally' throw wet sand over his shoulder where Albus was building.
"Aberforth, stop it! Just because I'm in the lead at the minute!" Albus shouted at his brother.
"Oh sorry, old boy. I got a bit carried away!" he said innocently and carried on digging.
"Now, now boys, play nicely!" Minerva put in looking quite amused at their antics.
"It's not my fault that I'm in the lead!" said Albus grinning as he placed his second mini castle on top of his mound of sand. Aberforth merle snorted and started to speed dig, putting the rest of his sand from the trench into the middle of his island.
"You still have twenty minutes left!" called Poppy as she started to nibble on a bar of Honeydukes chocolate with Minerva.
"All the more time to put in the detail," said Albus to his brother who was only just starting to build his castle where as Albus had almost finished his. He had used his bucket to put a row of five mini castles in a square, and then he had put four mini castles in the middle then one on top of that. Albus had only just started to make the main gate into his castle by digging a little hole into one of the mini castles. Aberforth had built four mini castles around his hill of sand and had started to shape the top into a tower.
"I'm not sure, which one do you think is the best Poppy?" Minerva asked her friend.
"I like what Albus had done but I prefer Aberforth's one. It looks much safer," Poppy giggled.
"Yes, I thought that too." Minerva agreed. "Five minutes, boys!"
Aberforth had started to make roads leading down to a bridge over the damn while Albus was busy decorating his castle with seashells and a seagull feather. Using all the little pebbles he could find Albus made a cobbled road leading around the mini castles and out of the main gate of his fortress. Aberforth had only just started to put the little detail into his tower by using seashells. A sudden splat told Albus that a dirty big seagull had just pooped on his main castle.
"Why mine?" Albus asked scornfully as he glared up at the offending seagull that had just flown out to sea. Minerva and Poppy were in fits of laughter and Aberforth grinned at his brother.
"Perhaps he is trying to tell you something old boy? He obviously likes mine the best!" he said smugly.
"How do you know he wasn't aiming for yours? He could have miss-aimed!" Albus retorted as he added the finishing touches to his road.
"Because he got your castle spot on!" Aberforth cackled evilly at his brothers' misfortune.
"Ok boys, time is up!" called Minerva as she picked up her walking stick and pushed herself up from the chair. Poppy followed her and started to walk around Albus' sandcastle.
"Hmmm, not bad work. I like the cobbled road, though it wouldn't be very safe if the enemy attacked." observed Minerva.
"Yes, nice big fortress." agreed Poppy as she knelt down and observed the detail closely. "Good detail, I like the doors."
Albus looked smugly at his brother and stuck his tongue out. Minerva walked slowly over to Aberforth's sandcastle.
"Very safe, I like the tower. Not as much detail but no matter," she said looking around.
"I like the bridge, very creative." Poppy said with approval. "And I like the seashell windows too!"
Aberforth stood and looked proudly at his piece of work and grinned at Albus who had been slightly put out.
"It's going to be a tough one. If you will excuse us gentlemen, we have some deciding to do." Poppy said and both women walked back over to the deck chairs. Aberforth took the chance to gloat to his brother.
"You here that Al old boy? They seem to like mine the best!" he said with a smarmy grin.
"Ah, as an old wise man once said 'don't count you're chickens before they hatch,'" Albus retorted glancing over at his brother.
Poppy and Minerva returned with small smiles on their faces. The Dumbledore brothers watched them with anticipation as the women walked back slowly to them.
"Well, we've both had a little chat and we both think they are good castles," Minerva stated as she looked at both men.
"But as we know there has to be a winner and we think that Aberforth's castle was the best out of the two!" poppy announced proudly. Aberforth jumped and punched the air with his fist.
"YES! I TOLD YOU MINE WAS THE BEST!" he shouted at his brother who stood glaring at him.
"It was that stupid bird, it cursed my sandcastle! It gave me bad luck!" Albus exclaimed and kicked his own sandcastle. "Foiled by my own brother, I shall never live it down. I'm sorry my dear boy, but this means war."
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