Chapter Three: Downhill
Weeks began to pass in a blurry haze. While Albus and Gellert seemed to grow closer to one another, Aberforth seemed to shrink from them as quickly as possible. Resentment was filling up in the younger brother. Abterforth's love for his week sister was all that kept him from speaking his mind to the older wizards. The strain was beginning to be too much for the underage wizard.
Albus and Gellert were hardly ever seen separate from each other, bursts of laughter—from inside jokes between the two—and notes being passed feverishly to one another became quite the common site whenever the two were together, or, in some cases, when the two had to be separated by a couple of houses.
It was a warm, hot, mid August day. Children could be seen up and down the street running and playing in some form of water fun. In one house however, no one was outdoors. With Aberforth in Ariana's room and Albus and Gellert in another, both parties were too busy to take advantage of the beautiful day that was just outside their walls.
"I don't know how much we can rely on the book itself, it's probably been twisted by Beedle—"
"That is no matter, Albus, we know what we are looking for and I am willing to do anything to find these items"
"Gellert, surely you can't have inferred my previous statement as one of despair. I am merely stating the obvious and trying to brainstorm some ideas that could lead us to the objects we seek"
Gellert backed down, though sneered when he thought he heard Albus mumble,
"So sensitive, really…"
He, however, did not ask Albus to repeat himself and returned to the bloody tale, which followed the Elder Wand.
"What object do you wish for the most?"
Albus asked suddenly, after a brief period of silence between the two. Gellert did not hesitate, nor to look up, as he replied,
"The wand, of course. That way we'd have nothing to stand in our way of domination over the Muggles. Why? Do you not agree?"
"Er, I suppose I agree that the wand would be the most powerful…"
"Yes… but that is not the one you would choose, now is it?"
"You're right, I'd prefer to have the stone"
Gellert scoffed, as if offended by the idea of choosing the stone over the wand.
"Why would you want the stone over the wand?"
It took a small amount of time for Albus to reply, but when he did it was not truly an answer,
"I have my reasons"
As he looked into Gellert's eyes, he knew he would protest but was stopped by the piercing eyes that told him not to push it.
"Sure, sure"
They fell back into their silent research. Making little progress on the Hallows front and just a bit more progress on the "Greater Good", they walked downstairs. Aberforth was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, holding a tray of food, which was obviously meant for Ariana. Gellert pushed past him and sneered. Aberforth glared in return and was about to say something but held his tongue at the last minute.
Once they were alone, Gellert said,
"He's a bit annoying, isn't he?"
Albus looked up from a book he picked up from a shelf,
"What? Oh, yes, he can be annoying at times. Doesn't matter though, so long as he stays out of the way. He'll be going back to school soon anyway"
"Hm, well Aunt Bathilda will be wondering what's keeping me. See you tomorrow Al"
And with that he departed from the residence down the street. Albus' blue eyes stared after him for a bit until a cough brought him back from his reverie.
"He thinks I'm annoying, does he? What an ass…"
"Don't call him that!"
"Why the hell not? He acts all superior to everyone here, well, except you that is—"
"That's because we're equals!"
Aberforth didn't like being interrupted by his brother and became overcome with a feeling to yell and shout, even curse, his brother until he saw things his way. He knows though, he knew that Albus could out duel him any day of the week. Though that didn't make him keep his mouth completely shut,
"What are you two working on in there anyway?"
Albus stiffens,
"Something dangerous, isn't it? Something you shouldn't be doing? Are you planning on hurting people?"
"No! No, we're trying to make the world a better place—"
"By hurting people?"
Aberforth gave a dry laugh,
"That's rich Al, real rich—"
"Oh, shut up you! Go upstairs and just shut up!"
Aberforth stared at his brother for some time until he did as his brother told him to do, and walked upstairs into Ariana's room.
Another few weeks passed and Albus and Aberforth barely talked to each other unless completely necessary. Once again the two wizards could be found in Albus' room, looking over documents that they believed could be related to the Hallows.
"My mum wrote me a letter"
"Oh really? What was it about?"
"Nothing much, just the usual greeting and love. However, something caught her attention that she apparently just couldn't help from telling me"
They stared at each other for a moment, Albus waiting for him to continue, and Gellert waiting for Albus to guess,
"Well?"
Albus asked, and Gellert smiled his handsome smile to him,
"Apparently, my countries wand maker—"
"Gregorovitch?"
"Yes, him. He's been spreading the rumor that he has the Wand of Destiny. Mum thinks that he's just trying to promote business but what if he was telling the truth? That he really has the Elder Wand!"
Albus looked at him for a long time, then smiled.
"That'd definitely be something to look into"
There work for the rest of the day became much more busied and excited. Then, ten minutes before Gellert was expected to leave for his Aunt's house it happened. Simultaneously, the two boys looked up into each other's eyes. Something sparked between the two then, neither really knew what the spark meant, or what to do next. They stared at one another, relishing in the mutual feeling, until Gellert looked away towards the clock,
"Crap, I'm late!"
Albus looked at the clock as well and nodded. He should have left five minutes ago.
"You should go, tell Bathilda it was my fault—I was making you help me clean the house, or something"
Gellert smiled his handsome smile and departed from the room, then the house. Every once in a while looking back towards Albus' window, where Albus stood watching Gellert depart down the street.
It was the last day of August, the day before Aberforth was supposed to return the Hogwarts. However, unlike so many other returning students, Aberforth was not happy in the least. Leaving for Hogwarts mean t leaving Ariana. This idea frightened him. Who would take care of her now that he was leaving? The thought of Albus doing it was, albeit acceptable, except for the reminder that Gellert would take up all of his time. Would Albus even remember poor Ariana? Or would he simply forsake her and not give her the nourishments she would need.
Aberforth was in his room now, contemplating what to do. If only Albus would let him stay here and not force him back to school for "his education". He scoffed at the idea; it was almost as silly as "the Greater Good". He sighed, not knowing quite what to do. Perhaps, he thought, I can try to appeal to Al again, no harm in that.
Walking down the hall to his brother's room, he noticed it was ajar and couldn't help but peer inside to see what they were really up to. Although he had some kind of inkling as to what it was. Inside was pretty calm, save for the awkward glances they would give each other without the others knowledge. Aberforth, however, could not see these glances and gave it no heed when he knocked on the door. Albus looked up, confused, and said,
"Ab, come in. Is there something you need?"
Aberforth walked in, looked at Gellert—who sneered at him—and asked,
"I know I've asked you this before, but please, please can I stay here? And not return to Hogwarts?"
Gellert gave a snort, which Aberforth tried his hardest to ignore. Albus sighed,
"No Ab, your education is important and—"
"But then who will take care of Ariana!"
"I will, of course"
"Oh, please, you'll be too busy planning the killings of Muggles to care for her!"
At the mention of Muggles, Gellert intervened,
"How'd you know what we were planning boy? Have you been spying?"
Gellert reached for his wand and Aberforth did the same,
"So what if I was, someone's got to know what you're up to in here and if you ship me off I intend to tell one of the teachers!"
Albus pulled his wand out as well, not necessarily to intimidate but to stop things if they get out of hand,
"Ab, are you threatening—"
"You ungrateful git! How dare you threaten us?"
Gellert aimed his wand and screamed,
"Crucio!"
Aberforth writhed in invisible pain and fell to the ground. Albus was frozen, momentarily with horror,
"Gellert, Gellert stop, please! Don't hurt him!"
Then, someone else was screaming. It was a small, week scream. Gellert released Aberforth of his curse to look up to see who else was screaming. It was Ariana, out of bed to see what was being so loud. Magic began to pour out of her uncontrollably, trying to protect Aberforth from the intruder. Aberforth, now standing, raised his wand to Gellert and the curses began once again.
Everything happened so quickly, and yet slowly at the same time. Slowly because of how long it took for Albus to attempt to stop the two from fighting. Quickly because of how quickly Ariana fell to the ground, and how no one was able to tell who sent to curse that killed her.
"ARIANA!"
Aberforth was instantly by her side, clutching her small body to his. Tears pouring down his face onto the dead body. Albus stood frozen. Torn between dropping to his feet and calming Gellert down. Gellert began to freak out. Grabbing his long hair, fear shown in his eyes. Before Albus knew it, Gellert ran down the stairs and out of the house. This time, Albus did not watch him leave; he kneeled down beside Aberforth and took Ariana's hand. Like his brother, he began to cry hysterically. Both boys sat in silence, not knowing what to do, for hours, clutching the dead body of the younger sister.
A/N: I'm Back! Haha, well for now anyway. This was so long! Just about eight pages on Word. Anyway, I'd like to thank the first (and only) reviewer Shinmara-chan! Thanks for bringing the story back to my attention and sorry for the delay, I'm such a procrastinator. Also, heads up to those who may read this—the next chapter is the epilogue, which is the way I planned for it to be. Hope you enjoyed!
Love,
Pastry~