Albus swept the broom back and forth methodically over the kitchen floor, unable to hold in a sigh as he went. He could easily have used magic to clean the house, but Aberforth had made him feel guilty for ignoring his responsibilities and going off with Gellert. Sweeping the Muggle way felt like a form of penance, even if Aberforth was locked away in his room and didn't see it. As soon as Albus dared to pick up a book, his brother would be sure to appear and have something to say about it.
There was a knock on the back door of the house, and Albus' eyes shot in that direction, his heart hammering before he saw Gellert standing on the other side of the glass. Albus rushed forward to let him in, the broom falling to the floor as he went.
His palms were already sweating, and he was conscious of how he must have looked after doing chores the Muggle way for the better part of two hours. It was a far cry from how carefully he usually took care of his appearance when Gellert was around, but just the fact that Gellert had snuck over to see him on his own was enough to distract Albus from any of that.
"Are you planning to slave away in the kitchen all day?" Gellert asked, casting a suspicious glance at the abandoned broom on the floor. "Or were you planning to do something that was actually useful to the world?"
Albus sighed, willing the heat in his cheeks to dissipate before they became bright red.
"There's no one else to do it," he said. "Aberforth has summer work to do fro school, and I'm the eldest. I have to keep the house clean."
Gellert hummed as if he'd already forgotten the topic of conversation. He turned his back towards the broom to look at Albus, and Albus felt ashamed, though he knew that he shouldn't have been. He longed to be in Gellert's position, free to think of higher ideals all day and not bother himself with trivial matters like sweeping the floor. As far as Albus knew, Bagshot didn't ask Gellert to do so much as empty the rubbish bin.
Albus kept his gaze on Gellert, ignoring the discarded broom as easily as his friend had.
"What did you want to do?" he asked.
The smirk that appeared on Gellert's face threatened to undo Albus, and he let himself muse briefly that staying at home to clean would be better for his health. Reaching out, Gellert took his hand and began pulling him from the house. Albus struggled to follow as his heart raced, the sound of it beating loud in his ears. He could only hope that Gellert couldn't hear it as distinctly as he could.
"I was thinking all night, and I want to run some new ideas by you," Gellert said over his shoulder as they went. "I think I may have come up with a way to help the world see that our plans really are for the greater good."
Albus beamed at the back of Gellert's head as he followed, not even caring if Gellert turned around to see the way his eyes shone at him.
Prompts:
The Golden Snitch
Nautical Ship Challenge: Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald - H.M.S. The Greater Good
Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments
365 Prompts: slave
Scavenger Hunt: Write a pairing you've never written before.
Word count: 544