The rest of the day went by quick, and Albus arrived home to the smell of pizza and chamomile tea (strange combination, yes, but more common than Albus would have liked), and to the sound of some American TV show coming from the living room.
He put his bag down, pulled the scarf from around his neck and put both the scarf and his coat over the hanger by the door, before heading to the kitchen, seeing the living room empty. The kitchen was also empty, and thus he took two pieces of pizza from the box and put them in the microwave to heat up before serving himself some still-warm chamomile tea, no sugar.
It tasted like grass.
Sighing, he put the mug down when the microwave rang, and pulled out the pieces, sitting down by the table and beginning to eat, alone.
Only then he heard footsteps coming down from the second floor.
"You said you would be back around eight" the shadow said, and Albus sighed, rubbing his eyes. "It is past eleven"
"I'm sorry" he said, looking at the shadow in the distance. "The principal asked me to stay later, he said he has some kind of promotion to give me… I don't know, I just didn't want to seem lazy in my first day of the semester"
"It's fine" Aberforth sighed, coming out from the dark living room and walking towards the table, sitting in front of Albus. "I was just tired. Wanted to sleep. But you said you wanted to talk…"
"Yes, because of what you said earlier" Albus said, serious. "Aberforth, you didn't even know the boy! You entered in his house, almost broke in, and defied him? Abe, you need to stop getting into fights…"
"What if he had Ariana with him on propose?" Aberforth asked, narrowing his eyes. "Was I supposed to ask politely 'oh, where are you keeping my sister locked in?' Albus give me a break! He comes out of nowhere saying he is Bathilda's nephew?! We have never heard of him!"
"Abe, I know why you did it, and I would have done the same, but your attitude is what doesn't help!" Albus tried, sighing when Aberforth rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You should have asked to come in, asked him about Ari, showed him the texts… not just assume he kidnapped her!"
"Yeah, you are right. Next time I will ask if the pervert if he is keeping my sister locked up somewhere and if he says no I will just walk away and just wait for her to come home" Aberforth said, nodding. "That sure sounds like a plan"
"That's not what I said Aberforth!"
"That's what you implied, Albus!"
"I just want you to stop getting into trouble!"
"You don't get to tell me what to do!"
"Yes I do!" Albus screamed, standing up and slamming his hand on the table. "I am your legal guardian whether you want it or not Aberforth and I am responsible for you!"
"You know where you can stick that responsibility" Aberforth spat out, eyes digging holes into Albus' soul. He stood up then, and uncrossed his arms, grabbing the note from the headmistress and throwing it on the table. "If you want me back to school, you need to sign this. I was late. Again"
Albus looked down at the paper slowly, feeling all frustration turn to anger inside his body, but he just took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Go. To your room. And tomorrow you will take this to your headmistress" he said, without opening his eyes, keeping them closed until he heard the footsteps on the staircase.
Then, he collapsed over the chair, and groaned loudly, pulling onto his hair out of frustration until there were tears in his eyes from the sharp pain of the tugs.
After that, he recomposed himself, took another deep breath, and signed the god damned paper.
As Aberforth reached the first floor, he saw someone waiting for him by the door of his room. He was still angry, for sure, but the sight of his sister made him smile.
"Aren't you asleep yet?" he asked, curious, walking to her and opening the door to his bedroom. She rushed inside, jumping on his bed and sitting by the headboard.
"I was but I heard screaming and woke up" Ariana said, frowning, and he sighed, closing the door behind himself. "You and Albus fought again? Because of me?"
"Ari, we would never fight because of you" Abe assured, smiling as he pulled off his shirt and laid down next to her, yawning tiredly. She looked at him, eyes suspicious.
"So you two were fighting?"
"Ari, don't worry yourself about it" he said, tapping the place next to him and smiling as she wiggled down and laid face to face with him. "You need to sleep. Won't you wake up early to make the cookies?"
"We weren't even invited to Bathilda's house, and besides, I thought you wouldn't allow me to go" she replied, biting her lip. Aberforth shook his head, smiling at her.
"I would never hold you back from doing something you enjoy. And besides, Albus is certain that whoever that guy is, he is actually nice" he rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I don't like him, but I won't stop you from apologizing."
"You should apologize too" Ariana said, firmly, and Aberforth huffed, rolling his eyes yet again. "Please Abe, it won't cost you a thing"
"My dignity perhaps"
"Is your dignity more important than our brother's contentment?"
Aberforth looked at her and she was staring at him, eyes wide, the ghost of a smile on her lips. She wiggled her eyebrows, making him snort with laugher, before shaking his head and groaning.
"Aaaaaaaaah you'll be the death of my little sister" he groaned, pulling her for a tight hug and smiling when she cuddled up to him. "Fine, I will apologize"
"Good" she mumbled against his chest, closing her eyes and curling up against his warm embrace. "You shouldn't fight Albus so much. He is trying his best to care for us… he gets really stressed, it is unfair to be mean to him"
"I'm not mean to him" Aberforth replied, frowning, and she looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Ugh fine I may be a little mean but it isn't my intention!"
"Then get better with words" she huffed and slapped his arm. "Now sleep."
"Fine fine… goodnight Ari"
"Goodnight Abe"