"So... you are someone's companion now"
Albus looked up from his book, slowly turning his head to the entrance of his bedroom, just to find Aberforth leaning against the door. It had already been two days since he had agreed on being Gellert's companion, and it had only now called his brother's attention.
"Yes" he responded with ease, turning back to his book and focusing once more in the line he was reading. "Gellert Grindelwald is his name, he is from Durmstrang. One year older than you"
"Is he nice?" Aberforth asked, walking towards Albus' bed and sitting next to him. Albus put his book down, realizing he wouldn't be able to read while his brother wasn't done with the conversation.
"Yes, he is nice" he said, eyes moving to stare at Abe. "Intelligent and smart, with a wish to know more about Hogwarts"
"So he is not evil like my friends said all Durmstrang boys were?" he hummed, and Albus shook his head. "Interesting. But... why did you say yes?"
"What do you mean?" Albus asked confused, and Aberforth sighed, letting himself fall over the bed and lay down.
"Well, you never walk with anyone. You never seek new friends, you avoid other people at all costs. And you have your prefect duties, your tests, and everything else. Don't you think being someone's companion will cut you a great deal of time from your responsibilities?"
"Gellert is patient enough to know if he can or can't be around me at certain day hours. Besides, he said he will help me with whatever I need" Albus shrugged, following Aberforth and laying down next to him, both brothers looking up at the ceiling. "He just wants to have a richer experience here at Hogwarts while he can."
"So you admit that you are the only one able to give him this richer experience he desires?" Abe asked, smirking, and Albus turned to him, both brothers now facing each other.
"Of course not Abe, there are plenty of other people that could give him the experience he wants. However, he seemed to choose me, for some reason. I am not complaining, although I wonder what called his attention…"
"Surely your good looks"
"Aberforth" Albus said, voice serious, as he stared at his younger brother, annoyance filling his body. Abe laughed, but waved it off, looking back to the ceiling and sighing.
"Sorry, sorry" he chuckled, closing his eyes and allowing Albus to relax next to him, looking up, placing his hands above his own stomach. "Albus… I know I don't say it a lot but, you are a great big brother"
Albus got many responses from his body at that phrase. His heart seemed to warm up and his lips tried to curve up to a smile, but before they did, worry filled up his mind and he looked at Aberforth, concerned.
"Is there something wrong? You are never this sentimental" he said, softly, and when Aberforth opened his eyes again, his eyes were shining more than usual. They were a little teary. His hands reached up, one grabbing his own shirt and the other cleaning his eyes. "Aberforth?"
"I miss them" he mumbled, his voice a bit hoarse, and Albus smiled weakly, knowing exactly of who he meant. Slowly, he moved further up on the bed and gently pulled Aberforth by his shoulders, under he was laying with his head over his chest.
"I know you do" Albus whispered, while his hands slowly brushed his brother's hair backwards. "They miss us too. But they are happy we are here, studying, working hard to clean the Dumbledore name and be someone by ourselves"
"I wish she was here" Aberforth mumbled, his voice still tight as he nuzzled against Albus' chest, holding onto his vest. "Ariana would have loved Hogwarts. I bet… I bet she would have been a Gryffindor, just like us"
"I don't doubt that for a second" Albus whispered, a fond smile on his face. "Although I bet she would fit in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff just as well"
"She's so smart and loyal" Aberforth mumbled in an almost whimper, curling up to Albus and hugging his middle. Albus did not react, deciding instead to keep gently brushing his brother's hair. This whole situation was taking a toll on them both, making their days harder to deal with.
He knew Aberforth missed their father the most. He knew his little brother suffered deeply with nightmares and perhaps visions of what happened to Percival almost every week. He knew that if it wasn't for him, his mom and Ariana, Aberforth would have tried to take his father out of Askaban at least a few times by now. It was such a harsh reality, the one they lived.
Aberforth was already asleep when Albus began to hear the sounds of the boys coming to their rooms. Because of that, he closed the curtains to his bed and made a spell to keep the surroundings quiet. He didn't want anyone waking his brother up. He then pulled the covers over them both and laid in a more comfortable position, allowing Aberforth to stay with him for the night, kissing his head despite of him already being asleep and turning off the light.
With a lighter heart, he also fell asleep, holding his dear brother close to him and trying to ignore the dreadful thoughts that tried to enter his mind.
In the morning, Albus woke up with Aberforth still tangled to him. Slowly and silently he made his way off the bed, fixing Abe up to keep him sleeping, and writing him a note to warn that he had woken up early for his prefect duties. With a heavy heart, he left his brother on his bed and made another charm to keep the curtains closed until Aberforth had woken up. Then, he changed in the still dark and asleep dorm room, and walked down the stairs to the empty common room, leaving the Gryffindor tower and heading to the prefects' rooms.
To his defence, he was still distracted because of the short conversation he had had with Aberforth the night prior, so when he saw someone coming out from behind the statue next to the prefects' rooms, his first instinct was to jump and take out his wand.
"Oh, did I scare you?"
Gellert's satisfied grin did nothing to Albus' nerves.
"Gellert for Merlin's sake!" he breathed out, putting his wand back and holding his vests above his heart. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry, I hadn't noticed you were so distracted" he responded, smirking even wider. "Something happened?"
"No, I'm just sleepy. Stayed up late… reading some, uh… runes… book" he mumbled, hating how he did not know how to lie. Turning towards the door, he unlocked it with a silent password spell and nodded. "Come inside. We have a lot to do"
"Its only the first week of class" Gellert said, walking in as requested and looking around as he waited for Albus to open the next door. "What is this 'a lot to do' you have to do in the first week of classes?"
"Organize all the student's files, put the records from the students that graduated in their correct boxes, check for any formulary from fifth years wanting to become prefects, make sure all one to fifth years are correctly attending to the classes they chose or are requested to do, asides from the usual maintenance of the room itself, the teachers files and most important, the creatures the first years are bringing to school" he said, opening the next door and sitting by his desk. "Believe me, we have had way more than just frogs, owls and cats around Hogwarts for our liking"
"Did anyone ever bring any dragon?" Gellert asked curiously, sitting on the desk to the left side of Albus, who chuckled and looked at him with a grin.
"Someone brought a baby basilisk once. Where they found it, I have no idea. It was in my third year. The teachers had to close the school for a week until it was found and properly relocated"
"A basilisk…" Gellert seemed fascinated, his eyes shining. "Is it true that Salazar Slytherin has a chamber inside this school with a basilisk in it?"
"Well most assume that it is true" Albus said, beginning to take the papers from underneath the desk. "However it is impossible to know. The location for it was lost long ago, and besides, even if we knew, the chamber can only be opened by those who speak parcel tongue. It is a dead language, no one speaks parcel tongue besides Salazar's heirs themselves"
"And is there any heir of his in the school today?" Gellert asked, even more excited, and Albus shrugged.
"I do not know. They lost the Slytherin name long ago, just like Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs did. Now they are almost impossible to find, the true heirs of the houses' founders"
"That's a shame, I would love to know one of their heirs" Gellert sighed, looking down at the papers Albus was placing over the desk. "So, how can I help?"
"You can take this pile" he said, taking a pile with at least five hundred files and giving it to Gellert "and put it in alphabetic order for me. Then you can place it in the 1896 graduated students' box. Right there on the corner"
"Alright" Gellert jumped off the desk with the pile on his hands and looked back at Albus. "And after this, where are we going today?"
"I have Defence Against the Dark Arts after lunch" Albus answered, smirking, and Gellert smirked right back. "I believe that will hold your interest."
"It sure will Albus" he said excitedly, and rushed to the corner, ready to put the files in order and get himself ready for one of the best lessons Hogwarts had to offer.