Disclaimer: How about...no. Just...no. Not really...no. It's not possible.
A/N: Well, long time no see, right? I have spent ages trying to figure out how I wanted my story to end and now I have finally written it. It has not been beta-read because I am too impatient to wait lol. This is not the final chapter, however there shall be an Epilogue. I hope it is ok for everyone and I would appreciate it if you would review. If you fell something needs changing...I'm open to suggestions! I will change it once it had been beta read!
Thanks to all the people who have reviewed my last chapter...last year...wow. I would make a new years resolution to update more often...only I would never keep it. Anyway, thanks guys!
Bex
Chapter 10
May the Best Wizard Win
Aberforth sat patiently on the windowsill of his brother's guest sleeping quarters waiting for the man in question to emerge with his new mistress. He had been up since five that morning thinking over what he was going to do for the final competition and reeling over what had been said the night before. Although he had given the impression that it never mattered to him whether Albus took Minerva, there was always more to it deep down inside. Aberforth felt torn and hurt that his brother could actually do such a thing as betray him like that but in the end, he knew that it was no good crying and screaming about it, because the main fact was that she would never have married him anyway. Aberforth knew that when he asked Minerva out, hell, he knew that the day he had seen them both together fighting in the war against Grindlewald. But the fact was that it still hurt inside and no one would be able to mend it. Aberforth had always been truthful with Albus unless it came to love. He never let him know what was really going on in his own little world because he believed that was for his eyes only.
Taking a deep sigh, Aberforth glanced at the cloud-shaped clock on the wall opposite him, and turned his attention back to the sun rising behind the mountains a short distance away from the castle. It was quarter to six and Albus was still not up. Aberforth felt that if he waited any longer, he would wake the sleeping couple up himself by bouncing on their bed, regardless of what they were doing. Yesterday was Albus's day of victory. Today is mine, Aberforth thought with a smile. If Albus gets the girl, I will win the competition as to who is the best. Its how the story goes...
He had been up since the wee hours where sun had barely began to sir behind the mountains giving the forest a haunted look. Aberforth had planned out exactly how the day would go, with the slight exception of Albus and his sleeping beauty, from breakfast right down to his bee-pattered socks. With another impatient look, Aberforth glanced at the clock again, and saw only a few minutes had passed. He began to fidget by shifting slightly backwards and forwards on the windowsill, feeling undecided as to how he wanted to be perched while he waited for Albus.
When both Aberforth and Albus were teenagers, if they had a competition running between them, they would have been up at the crack of dawn and outside hexing each other or climbing trees, and other crackpot things they used to get up to when they were younger. A new wave of memories washed over Aberforth as he remembered a time where nothing would ever get in the way of a good competition between him and his brother. Their mother had a very hard job trying to stop them from doing what they wanted as Aberforth would charm his way out of the situation and Albus was supposed to be the best brother out of the pair of them because he was the intellectual one of the family.
A sudden noise shook Aberforth out of his musings and turned his attention towards the door. Ah, at last! He thought with relief and shot from the windowsill to the door within seconds. Upon entering the next room he caught Albus and Minerva putting on their cloaks to walk to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Well it's about time, old boy!" Aberforth said happily walking over to the new couple.
"It's competition day. I was up at the crack of dawn but Minerva insisted on a sleep in," replied Albus cheerfully as he pulled on his boots and offered his left arm to Minerva.
"Too right, Severus would not be happy if you awoke him in the early hours. You know what he is like in the morning," she countered and took the offered arm.
"Yes, poor Rolanda is all I have to say in the matter," Aberforth agreed as they began to walk swiftly down to the Great Hall.
Albus had been to see the house elves the night before to kindly asked them to set out an early breakfast, as there would be a few early risers the next morning. When trio eventually reached the Great Hall, to their immense surprise, they found a cheerful looking set of teachers all contemplating the outcome of the final match between the Dumbledore brothers. However, the thing that surprised them the most was after looking around the table a few times, they found a smiling Severus Snape talking amicably with Rolanda Hooch as if they were going to see a good game of Quidditch. Once the staff had noticed the trio standing in the doorway with surprise evident on their faces, a tirade of comments came rushing at them. But the one that stood out the most was a comment from Severus, which caused Albus to laugh long and hard at.
"What took you so long?" Severus repeated when the noise had died down. "We have been here for the past half an hour,"
"Ah well, I am delighted to say that Minerva will share that particular answer with you, won't you, my love?" Albus said with an impish grin at his beloved, who turned a little red when Severus demanded an explanation. After explaining her theory to him, she felt a sudden impulse to step back and wait for the barbed comment that was bound to come flying her way any second.
"On a school day, I would challenge you." he said with a small smirk of triumph as he noticed her step back. "However, today I feel willing to let it slide,"
"Someone's in a good mood," Pomona Sprout commented as she reached for a jug of pumpkin juice. "What have you been doing all weekend?"
Severus gave a side-glance at Rolanda who smiled mischievously into the Daily Prophet which had arrived a moment before hand. With a satisfied smirk he picked up a piece of toast and began to butter it.
"Oh, nothing you old folk would know about," he replied dismissively.
"Old folk, my beard!" countered Albus, his eyebrows raised high into his forehead.
"That is an outrageous comment!" Aberforth cried with indignation.
"That's because it was aimed to shock," replied Severus with an amused smile as the staff giggled at the looks the Dumbledore brothers was giving him. "And it succeeded too,"
"Alright gentlemen, wands down, we still have a competition to finish," Minerva conceded shaking her hands at the offended brothers.
"Yes, of course, Minerva." Albus agreed and smiled gently as he squeezed her hand gently.
"That's ok, we'll get him after." Aberforth grinned wickedly at Albus who gave an uncharacteristic smirk. "Old folk, indeed."
"Right, well. I think it is time," Albus said quickly before Severus could retort.
The group of teachers made their way to the entrance hall and down onto the vast green lawns that spread over the grounds until they reached the forest. The sun was still in the early hours but it provided enough light for the task to be carried out. The black lake glistened in the morning sun, occasionally braking to let the giant squid lift a tentacle in to the clear, crisp air. The birds had begun to stir from their perches on the edge of the forbidden forest and sang their morning songs to wake their neighbours. A little smoke was coming from Hagrids' hut, which told the teachers that the gamekeeper was up, and ready for the mornings excitement.
Once he saw them making their way to their designated spot by the edge of the black lake, he picked up his moleskin coat and beckoned Fang to follow him.
"Come on, yeh lazy dog," he said happily and walked out to meet the rest of the staff.
Albus sniffed at the fresh air as they made their way over to the lake where the forest ended. It was indeed a beautiful morning for a good swim although he was not sure about the quick chill in the air that snapped at his face and hands. Glancing down at Minerva, he caught her enjoying the view and the sunshine that had begun to warm to her face. Transfiguring a few pebbles on the side of the shore in to deckchairs, Albus offered one to Minerva, and the rest to the spectators. Once he was sure the spectators were happily installed by the shore drinking tea and hot chocolate, Albus gave a nod to his brother and they began to undress themselves, earning a few whistles from the staff and a groan from Severus.
"Typical Dumbledore brothers, can wait to get their clothes off!"
"I'll say!" agreed Minerva as she cheered for Albus.
"Oh look, Tonks. Were haven't missed much!" came a growling voice behind Hagrid and Poppy jumped up in delight as she saw Moody appear and walked around to her.
Tonks however, made a beeline for Filius who was holding a wooden box on his lap.
"Is this where we place our bets?" she said happily as she stumbled over Hagrid's large foot. "Sorry,"
"No problem," he replied jovially and offered her a seat next to him which fang had settled under.
"We're placing bets on the brothers after the competition has ended, and the one with the most votes, will win." Filius explained to Tonks as she transfigured a stick into a camping chair.
"Gotcha," she replied with a wink.
"It's nice to see you back here again, Nymphadora," Filius smiled at the young witch, who cringed at her given name.
"Yeah, I got dragged along with Mad-eye 'cause he wanted to see Madam Pomfrey and the final round," she replied with a grin. "But it's nice to be back, all the same."
Albus raised his hands and called for quiet and the spectators complied with his request. Rolanda could not help but giggle as to what the two brothers were wearing. Both were in old-fashioned bathing suits from the 1920's with their names written across the back in black. Aberforth's bathing suit was a stripy yellow and blue while Albus's was purple and red.
"Old fashioned indeed," she giggled to Severus and an amused twinkle settled in his eyes.
"You're missing the hats, Albus," Alastor grinned and pointed to his head.
"Yes, I seem to have mislaid mine, I'm afraid," Albus replied with a grin to match. "The rules are thus, only one spell may be used to flip, bounce, swim etc. No cheating," he said with a meaningful look at his brother who innocently examined the grass beneath his bare feet. "The one who pleases the crowd the most, wins. It will last for half an hour, so could someone keep the time please?"
"I will, Albus," Auriga Sinistra volunteered from the front.
"Excellent. We shall start now," Albus indicated to the black lake and walked to the edge of the shore.
"On your marks, get set, GO!" Auriga shouted as both men ran forward in to the cold lake and dived when they reached a certain depth. The spectators began cheering on their desired winner and the Dumbledore brothers swam out a good ten feet and performed a different charm each. Aberforth suddenly pounced out of the water and flipped a good seven feet in the air before diving straight back down in to the water. Albus began to bounce on the waters' surface, making a star shape along the water. Aberforth flipped out of the water again but this time he did a pike turn in the air and fell the other side of Albus, who was bounding like a rabbit on the surface. The next time, Aberforth shot in to the air doing a superhero pose and flipping back into the water just as Albus began to surf along a wave that he had created. The staff was cheering along their favourite swimmer, shouting advice to their player and booing the opposite team.
"Looks like Aberforth is putting out a good show!" shouted the Poppy over the noise as Aberforth attempted the splits in the air.
"Merlin's beard!" cried Moody in disbelief opening and shutting his mouth like a fish in the air. Albus began to break dance on the surface of the lake and earned many whistles of approval.
"Take this, Severus Snape!" shouted Albus to the younger man who stared at him in utter astonishment, as if he should not be doing that at his age.
Aberforth made several flips in the air and the crowd gasped as he span around and landed in the water at such a speed. Albus began to go for a big finale, dancing along the surface and flipping every now and then as Aberforth went into his last somersault sequence after gracefully diving into the water. Albus finished by saluting the crowd and sinking down in to the water as he pretended to be spinning a handle. The staff clapped at cheered to the brothers for their outstanding performance. Swimming back to the shore, both brothers were ambushed by Minerva and Poppy with towels and hot drinks.
"Thank you ladies," Aberforth flashed a grateful smile.
"Yes, thank you very much," Albus agreed as they were steered towards two empty deck chairs and pushed in to them.
"Ok, silence!" shouted Filius as Hagrid held him up on his shoulder so people could see him. "Would you please line up to place your bets,"
"If you win, what do I have to do?" Aberforth lent forwards to ask Albus, shivering from the cold air. Albus lent forward and picked his cloak up from the ground and offered it to his brother.
"Here, take this…"
"Oh no, I'll be fine in a minute. You have it," Aberforth declined politely. Albus chuckled and threw the cloak at him.
"Tough," he replied. "If I win, you will have to pay for a full course meal for the whole of my staff this coming Christmas and, entertainment in which you shall be performing in. But if you win, I shall…"
"Go skinny dipping once a month for a year, at any time you please, provided I'm there of course," Aberforth grinned mischievously at his brother who began to laugh.
"All right. If it's a draw, we both do it," Albus agreed and held out his cold hand for his brother to shake.
"You have a deal, old boy," Aberforth grinned as he shook his brother's hand firmly. "Now back to another matter at hand. What are we going to do with the young Mr. Snape over there?"
"I have a pretty good idea…" Albus smiled with a mischievous glint in his eye and Aberforth smirked evilly.
"CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?" Filius shouted over the noisy banter that had been going on ever since the two brothers had exited the lake. "Thank you. Well, we have our winner of the great Dumbledore contest. I would just like to say well done to the both of you for actually having completed a competition. I don't think I have ever known one to finish. And now for the results…the winner of the competition is…ABERFORTH!"
"YES! YES! YES!" shouted Aberforth as he jumped up and began a celebratory dance. "I TOLD YOU I WAS BETTER THAN YOU!"
"Oh no…. That's not fair!" Albus grimaced as he buried his head in his hands.
"Oh but it is fair my dear brother! And you have to go skinny dipping!" Aberforth skipped around happily, stopping to kiss all the people who had voted for him, even Severus and Hagrid.
"I know, don't rub it in…" Albus stood up and began to put his robes back on with a feeling of forlorn.
"Ah but I have to…of all the times you took the micky out of me when I lost, it is too much of a temptation not to gloat and rub it all back!" Aberforth cackled as his brother swatted him on the arm.
"Yes, I suppose you have a point," Albus said with a small smile and pointed his finger at his chest. "But don't think it ends here!"
"Never, dear brother. I wouldn't dream of it," Aberforth waved it off with a satisfied grin and began to pull on his robes as Minerva came over to congratulate him.
"Well done, Aberforth," she said with a grin and a sparkle in her eyes. Aberforth lent in for a quick kiss on the cheek but was rewarded with a quick slap in the face.
"Don't be cheeky," Minerva laughed as Aberforth pushed out his bottom lip. Albus grinned and swooped in for a quick kiss, but his time Minerva allowed him access.
"Alright, that's enough!" Aberforth said with mock-seriousness and waggled his finger at them as if they had been caught doing something they should not have been doing.
"Fine, come on. Lets go in and celebrate your victory…" Albus said with a mock-sigh as if his brother was a constant pain in the side and offered Minerva his right arm to hold. They both laughed as they walked to join the rest of the staff, who had began to make their way back to the great hall for brunch and a good cup of coffee.
"So, what were you going to do with Severus?" Minerva asked curiously and both the brothers smiled mysteriously.
"You shall see, my dear," Albus replied, his eyes twinkling in mirth.
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