Together they raced down the grassy slope of the mountain, their boots throwing up flecks of green. The deer, startled by their sudden charge, fled into the forest in an elegantly choreographed series of leaps and bounds.

"Where are we going?" Albus spluttered, struggling to keep up with Gellert, who had longer legs and was in much better shape.

"You will see!"

On they ran, until Albus' heart pounded fit to burst in his chest and his breath was ragged. The mountain rolled past his eyes in flashes of green, punctuated by bursts of floral colour. He was lost, adrift in a sea of rushing images, the warmth of Gellert's hand the only thing keeping him anchored. As the ground angled steeply downward beneath his feet, he realised where they were heading.

"Gellert," he panted, "you're going… wrong way. Fall…"

"This is the right way!"

"Are you mad?"

"A little bit!"

"No!" shouted Albus. "This is crazy!" Yet he kept running, his body and Gellert's joined by their clasped hands as they headed towards the sheer drop. Ahead of them, the mountain opened into a chasm of harsh, breathtaking beauty. The stream flowed down the chiselled mountainside, the rock face riven with clefts and stony outcroppings, cascading water smashing against the rough boulders and shattering into a million rainbow-hued droplets made of cloudy mist.

"We won't survive that!" Albus screamed.

"Trust me!"

They reached the brink. Albus squeezed his eyes shut, as though he could blot out the reality by refusing to see it. He felt Gellert's arms closing around his body from behind. Together the two of them half leaped, half fell, and suddenly there was nothing beneath Albus' feet. The world lurched, and in an instant he was falling at tremendous speed with wind whipping through his hair.

"AAAAAAAAAAHH!" Albus yelled, but the wind snatched his voice out of his mouth as he fell, so he could barely hear his own scream of pure terror and adrenaline. Dimly he was aware of Gellert laughing like a maniac right beside him.

He's insane, Albus thought distantly. I've fallen in love with a madman. And now I'm going to die in his arms. Come to think of it, it wasn't such a bad way to die.

"Open your eyes, Albus!" Gellert shouted in his ear, just audible over the roaring of wind and falling water. "You are missing the good view!"

Afraid of what he would see, Albus opened his eyes, and just managed to keep himself from shouting again. It was like a scene from another world. They were falling alongside the mountain, upside-down so that their perspective was skewed. It felt like they were flying, but it was so free and light without the constraint of broomsticks, like they were birds or spirits of the air. What seemed like half the river fell with them, water churned to white foam by scraping along the jagged rocks. Sunlight blazed around them, turning each droplet of water into a sparkling diamond. Despite the beauty surrounding him, Albus' eyes were drawn irresistibly to the ground, which was nothing but a distant green and brown blur at the moment, but approaching at a very rapid rate.

"Gellert!" Albus' voice was hoarse as he struggled to make himself heard.

"Ja?"

"The ground!"

"It is far away!"

"Not for long!"

"Do not be worried!"

The ground had already expanded to almost fill Albus' entire field of vision. It wouldn't be long now before impact. Albus hoped Gellert had a plan.

"If you're doing something, do it now!"

"Not yet!"

Ten seconds, Albus estimated. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six.

"Gellert!"

"Hahahaha!"

Albus closed his eyes.

Three. Two. One.

Albus winced and braced for the impact, but it never came. He was still moving at a rapid pace, the wind rushing through his hair, but he was no longer falling. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes.

He was skimming over the roaring, leaping surface of the river, seated on a broomstick. The thundering crescendo of the waterfalls was receding into the distance.

"Welcome back," Gellert said. "I was wondering if you will have your eyes closed all the way home."

Albus realised that he was sitting in Gellert's lap, with Gellert's arms around him. Embarrassed, he tried to squirm away, but the broomstick rocked unsteadily, forcing him to stay where he was.

"Be still now," said Gellert. "Else we will fall into the river. This broomstick is built for one."

"A Summoning Charm," Albus said, his brain working properly now that the panic was beginning to fade. "I thought you'd Disapparate us."

"Apparating would take the fun out of it. Flying is more scenic. And a broomstick ride over the river is the perfect finish to waterfall diving!"

"But how could you know the broomstick would arrive on time?"

"I didn't. That's why it was more exciting."

"Idiot!" Albus shouted, and punched Gellert's arm. The broomstick rocked again, but Albus didn't care. "That was so stupid! We could have been killed!"

Gellert looked surprised and a little annoyed that Albus had struck him.

"But we were not killed. So where is the problem?"

"Idiot!" Albus fumed. "You may think it's clever to pull stunts like that, but I don't. If you want to gamble with your own life, fine, but next time don't gamble with mine."

Gellert frowned.

"I did not force you. You came over the edge yourself. You should maybe take responsibility for your own actions."

"You were pressuring me."

"I am sorry. I did not realise you were so weak willed to do whatever others tell you."

Albus shook his head and looked away, glaring at the rippling river as though it had personally offended him. The two of them were silent for several minutes.

"That was quite… fun, though," Albus said after a while, grinning.

There was a pause, then Gellert snickered.

"You should have seen the look on your face," he crowed. "Will we go again?"

"No!"

The broomstick continued to follow the course of the river as it slowed and snaked down the hills. The brisk, choppy surface of the water calmed, becoming flat and still as the surrounding land changed from harsh, rocky formations to green, grass-covered plains, and eventually forested areas.

Albus closed his eyes and leaned back against Gellert's body, his ears filled with the sound of trickling water, his skin relishing the warm kiss of the sunlight. It was sweet and peaceful. Gellert was still and silent as stone apart from the gentle rhythm of his breathing, his fingers gently stroking Albus' hair. Albus wished that Gellert could be like this all the time.

Eventually, they reached the spot where they'd made their picnic. The broomstick came to a rest above one of their blankets, hovering about three feet in the air. Albus climbed down, while Gellert tumbled casually onto a blanket and lay on his back with his eyes half closed, looking sleepily satisfied, like a cat full of cream.

"That was a fun time we had," Gellert said. "Will we eat now?"

"Sounds good to me," said Albus, opening one of the picnic hampers. "Would you like to help me unpack the food?"

''No. That is a job for house-elfs and girls."

"Well, there are no house-elves or girls with us at the moment," said Albus crossly, "so unless the picnic springs to life and unpacks itself, it looks like we'll have to do it. I'll take care of it myself, shall I? You can just sit there, Your Majesty, I wouldn't want you to lower yourself with servants' work."

"I was joking," Gellert said, rising to his feet. "I will help you. Why must you take things very seriously all the time?"

"How am I supposed to know whether you're joking or merely being obnoxious?"

"You are supposed to be intelligent. You should be able to surmise it."

"I understand most people. I don't think the problem lies with me."

Between the two of them, they soon had the hampers empty of their contents. On the red tartan blanket closest to the river Albus set two china plates, silver cutlery with grapevine-engraved handles, soft napkins and a couple of glasses patterned with green-stemmed purple lilies. Gellert handled the drinks, examining bottles of beer and wine and nodding approvingly at each before setting them down.

"Ginger beer?" he said incredulously, holding a bottle of bubbly golden-brown liquid aloft and squinting at it with an expression of distaste.

"Yes," Albus said. "Why, don't you like it? Never mind, then. More for me."

"How old are you?" Gellert muttered, shaking his head and dropping the ginger beer as though it were poisoned. He reached into the hamper and withdrew another bottle. "Lemonade?"

"If you have a problem with it, don't drink it," Albus said.

He laid out the watercress, tomato and chicken sandwiches, cakes, both chocolate and plain, frosted with icing, wobbling jellies in bright translucent greens, yellows and reds, biscuits with cream centres, sticky buns and jam tarts, mince pies with steaming fillings and flaky golden crusts, and silver flasks of hot soup.

"This is looking delicious," Gellert said. "It seems that dirty house-elf is good for something after all."

"Dirty house-elf? Did Birdy do something to offend you? I was under the impression she was a good and faithful servant to your great-aunt."

"Of course she is faithful. Their race is bred to be obedient. They are destined for slavery, it is in their nature. But it doesn't change the fact that she is a dirty house-elf."

Albus tried, with difficulty, to keep the anger from his face.

"Don't speak that way, Gellert. Not in front of me. Please. If you do, I shall have no choice but to leave right now and never see you again."

Gellert raised his eyebrows, looking genuinely surprised.

"You would give up our relationship over a mere house-elf?"

Albus looked away.

"It's not just about Birdy." He said the name deliberately, forcefully. He didn't like the way that Gellert wouldn't say her name. "My principles are at stake."

"Oh. I see."

There was a strange note in Gellert's voice. Albus glanced at him and saw a hard look in his eyes.

"Perhaps… ," Gellert said softly. "Perhaps we will see how firm your principles are."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," said Gellert, smiling oddly. "Let us eat. I am hungry."

Author's Note:

This is a fragment of the next chapter so it's quite brief. I have less time to write now so I'll probably update in bits and pieces. The story won't flow as well as I'd like it to, so apologies for that.

I'll try to have the next update ready for Wednesday 14 March, with the usual caveat that I can't make promises.

Em: Hey Em, that was a nice video. I first got excited because the song you used is a cover of Sally's Song from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was one of my favourite films when I was a bit younger. I was trying to work out where you got the extra footage of Gellert and Albus from... then I realised you must have chosen a different movie with two boys in it. Then I realised with a jolt that I recognised the footage. It's from an old American film I watched last year - purely by chance - on TV. It was a really sad story about a boy who is sexually abused by his (step?) father. He moves to a new school and ends up involved in a relationship with another boy. At the end the abused boy is raped and killed by some other boys from his school. That was a sad movie... I have no idea what it's called, but it stayed with me because the scenes with the predatory stepfather in it were really scary. What are the chances you would pick a song I like and footage from an obscure film I only saw once... it must be destiny. :P I like the scene at the very end with Old Dumbledore standing forlornly by the window, and the overall melancholy texture. Nice vid.