For: Morning. xx, whom I love extremely much! =D
Day 8
On the eighth day of Christmas…
"Westward leading, still proceeding," he mumbles under his breath. Minerva looks up.
"What are you singing, Albus?" she asks, her voice haughty. She's too good for Christmas carols, he supposes.
"My favorite Christmas song. When I was a boy, my best friend told me to listen to every single Christmas song I could get my hands on, and thus, I chose my favorite. Our favorites matched, actually…" His voice gets far away, and he has to remind himself that he doesn't want to think of that boy, of his brother, of his sister, or his parents. He'd rather not.
Minerva doesn't miss this. She's observant, but quiet, and so simply raises her eyebrows and looks back down at the paperwork she's doing.
"It's that time of year, Minerva," he reminds her.
"Yes, Albus. The time for remembrance. The time for love. The time for forgiveness." Only she would accidentally preach to him.
He looks at his hands, and then takes off his glasses to clean them. She's hinting.
How would she know?
"The death of loved ones calls for no amount of forgiveness," he says tersely.
"I don't mean forgive your best friend that you often allude to. I mean forgive yourself. Love yourself. Remember happier times, Albus. You are allowed to think of the past that you never talk of." She gives him one of her searching looks, and he looks away quickly.
"I loved him," he says quietly, tears in his eyes. "I loved him, and perhaps he loved me, but then she died and everything was ruined! I cannot remember, Minerva! Remembrance is supposed to cause happiness, and all I feel is regret!"
"Forgive yourself, Albus. Forgive and forget. And then remember happier times." She's repeating herself. He knows she hates repeating herself.
"No," he says, the tears dripping off his crooked nose, "no."
(Albus/Gellert)
Notes: To clarify last chapter, Arabella is Arabella Figg, Harry's Squib neighbor, and Caradoc is Caradoc Dearborn, Order member who died before the books started. And Gellert is Gellert Grindelwald, supposedly Albus's love, but also his childhood best friend who may have killed Albus's sister.
We've made it to over 100 reviews!! I'm so excited! How about we shoot for beating my record of 113 reviews? Leave 10 more reviews and we'll get to 115, trumping another drabble-fic I once wrote and really getting into the Christmas spirit!