The Sinclair Castle, July 23, 1884
"Eleanor, are you ready yet? The Dumbledore's will be here any moment!" Ella's mother didn't yell, but let the urgency of the situation speak for itself. Ella hopped down from the comfy chair she had been reading in.
"Nearly, mother. Give me five seconds." With an impish smile, she held up a hand and ticked down her fingers as she counted.
"One, two, three, four…" Just before she said five, her mother blinked and her daughter stood there in a completely different, and more appropriate, outfit.
"Five." Ella said smugly. Her mother shook her head.
"No matter how many times you do that, it still amazes me. Come along now, they have just reached the wards." Ella followed her mother downstairs, making faces at the portraits of her descendants as she did. The portraits, well used to the young teen's antics, made faces back. Thirteen year old Ella was the highlight of the day for them.
Ella stood back politely as her mother welcomed her guests. Mr. Dumbledore was an imposing man, standing well over six feet. His wild red hair is nearly identical to Godric's, Ella mused. His wife, Kendra was petite. Her piercing blue eyes shone with mirth most of the time. And with them was the cutest little boy Ella had ever seen. She wanted to pick him up, but children tended to cry whenever she got near them.
"This is Albus." The Lady Dumbledore said proudly. "He just turned three this summer." And then the toddler turned and smiled right at Ella. She smiled back, and to her surprise he toddled over and held his arms up.
With a small crease in her brow, Kendra remarked, "That's odd. He doesn't usually like strangers." But Ella wasn't listening. Little Albus immediately began talking to her in a high childish voice. He spoke in whole sentences, and Ella was enchanted. Albus wouldn't let her put him down the entire visit.
At one point, the Lady Sinclair suggested that Ella take him outside to the garden. Ella did so, and chased the little boy all around until she was exhausted. She collapsed, and laughed as he immediately began trying to tickle her with chubby fingers.
Sitting up, she grabbed the little rascal and tickled him back. After a while, little Albus finally fell asleep. Ella studied his face for a long time, thinking. She could feel his growing power even now. He was going to be a very great wizard. Very powerful. And she didn't want to see him growing up to be a Dark wizard as so many powerful ones did.
Softly, she began to chant under her breath in a long forgotten language. Magic swirled around the pair. Ella didn't notice as her parents and the Dumbledore's came outside.
Kendra immediately went for her son, not understanding what the young witch was doing. Her husband did though, and held her back. The Sinclair's stared at their daughter in awe, something they were quite used to doing.
"What is she doing?" Lady Dumbledore questioned in a hushed tone.
"She is blessing him, to always seek the Light and to abhor the Dark." The Lady Sinclair murmured in a reverent tone.
Ella finished the blessing just as the lad awoke. She smiled at him, a bit exhausted. She had just poured a powerful amount of magic into the little boy. She looked up through a stray curl to see the adults watching. She bit her lip when she saw the tears in Lady Dumbledore's eyes, but relaxed when the lady smiled at her.
Little Albus Dumbledore never did forget Ella Sinclair. He always remembered her laugh, and associated it with a warm, comforting presence. Oddly enough, he remembered her most at critical times in his life. He remembered her as Arianna was assaulted, after his father was sent to jail, when Grindelwald tortured his brother, and right before he defeated Gellert for the last time, preventing an avada kedavra.