Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: Albus did not want to be in this fic. You know how teenagers are, always planning to remake the world in the image of what they deem best. Also, yes, I did not use any othering format for the sign language used here. Why would I?

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 12); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Clowder; Love Language; Gryffindor MC (x2); Sett to Destroy; Unaccompanied Minors; Seeds; No Proof; Buzzing Bee; Predate; Booger Breath; Booger Breath Rider; Disabled; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux; Greatest Gift
House: Hufflepuff
Assignment No.: Term 12 – Assignment 4
Subject (Task No.): Muggle Culture (Task#2: Write about someone with a sweet tooth.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [162] (Laughing); 365 [145] (Horror); Gwen's Candy Shop [Bowl 1](Deaf/HoH); Baking King Cakes [Step Two](Beans)
Other MC4A Challenges: Wi Bingo [1B] (Family)
Representation(s): Dumbledores; deaf Ariana
Bonus Challenges: Fruit Fly; Horrible Love; Misshapen Pods; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Nontraditional; Unwanted Advice; Muck & Slime; Under the Bridge); Chorus (Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Hot Stuff)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Tether); SN (Rail; Spare); SHoE (Oblique); TY (n/a)
Word Count: 703

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Everything Needed & Left Over
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Aberforth helped Ariana measure the ingredients for the filling they were making, carefully reading the instructions listed in their mother's cookbook to make sure that they didn't forget anything. Behind them, Aberforth could hear Albus grumbling over his studying, being at the kitchen table being his compromise for this endeavor. The eldest Dumbledore child had not approved of the plan to bake their mother a pie for her birthday. He had wanted to buy her a trinket from the Muggle knickknack shop in town and be done with it.

Albus had only agreed to the location compromise when Ariana had taken to refusing to look at him if they happen to be in the same room. Her hearing had been one of many losses from when those Muggle boys had attacked her. Thus, her refusing to look at Albus had locked him out of communication with her. Not that Albus didn't do a good enough job of that already. Albus couldn't be bothered to turn his 'prodigious genius' to learning sign language like Aberforth and their mother had. He was always too caught up in the latest inquiry for transfiguration or the new application of old charms.

Arianna jumped in place excitedly, drawing Aberforth's attention back to her. The thirteen-year-old grinned at him before sticking her finger into the sticky mixture of blackberries and sugar. She licked her stolen bite off her finger before reaching for the book to verify that they were still on task. A moment later, she tugged insistently on Aberforth's sleeve.

"What?" Aberforth signed only to sneezed when he accidentally breathed in flour.

Ariana laughed. The sound of it filled the kitchen, echoing like a shout. Even as she laughed, she signed out the next step. Her motions were jerky from how she was bobbing up and down in place like an apple in a barrel. He couldn't help the smile on his face at her exuberance. Too often, the awareness of how different she was from everyone (Muggle and magic alike) made Ariana sullen and irritable. Seeing her this happy would be as much a gift to their mother as the pie. Ariana smirked as she stole another fingerful of filling.

"Such a sweet tooth," Aberforth scolded, adding a flourish to the signs just to make Ariana giggle again. Albus made a noise of discontent before slamming his book shut. Aberforth winced at the unpleasant shriek his chair made as he stood.

"I really do need to study," Albus announced, his voice cutting through the fading echo of Ariana's laughter. His blue eyes sparked with something that Aberforth couldn't begin to name. Then again, Albus had always been the most like how Aberforth remembered their father being. Albus had plans. Albus had goals. Albus wanted more than the life they had all built in Godric's Hollow after the attack on Ariana and then Papa's revenge on her attackers. "It's my NEWTs year, Abe. I cannot afford to slack off just because you want to play games with Ariana."

Then Albus stormed out of the kitchen, presumably to go to either his room or the library.

Ariana tugged on Aberforth's sleeve. Her eyes were pleading as she signed her question. Aberforth just gave her a small smile and directed her back to their attempt at making a pie. There was no way that he would ever burden her with the knowledge of how Albus felt about her—the things he had said about how Papa should never have overreacted like he had or how the wizarding world needed something the sanitariums that the Muggles had. What truly worried Aberforth was the comment about how there needed to be a way to remove magic from those who could not be trained, if only for the greater good. Albus liked to talk about what the greater good needed, and Aberforth dreaded the day that Albus found someone willing to listen to the ideas at length.

Aberforth pushed away the foreboding sense of pending horror and focused on keeping Ariana from eating all of the blackberry filling they had just made. Those were tomorrow's problems, and he would deal with them tomorrow. Right then, he had everything that he could possibly need.