May 16th, 1898. Godric's Hollow.

It was a beautiful day to arrive in Godric's Hollow. The spring air held the scent of freshly bloomed flowers and the sun was shining down brightly, not a cloud in the sky. The wizarding neighbourhood of Godric's Hollow was full of life; the elderly were sitting out on their front porches watching their small grandchildren play in the gardens, their mothers frantically running around kitchens to prepare Sunday lunch, while their husbands sat reading the Daily Prophet.

A teenage boy had just appeared in the middle of the street, causing many to shift their eyes in curiosity to the figure strolling down towards church lane, wondering why the boy was not at school, and what the unknown boy was doing in Godric's Hollow.

His blonde curls danced lightly in the breeze as his proud figure headed towards the furthest end of Godric's Hollow, ignoring the many eyes that were watching the attractive boy head towards the direction of the most mysterious part of the village.

There were only two houses on Church Lane (other than the Church), a small cosy cottage with a well kept garden and an enormous library visible through the window - no doubt the boy's great-aunt's house - and another house, further down the street that seemed more... depressing.

He opened the white picket fence, walking up the path to the front porch, a small briefcase in his hand as he knocked sharply on the door. It was only a few seconds later that a middle-aged woman opened the door, embracing her grand-nephew she had only meet a few times, ushering him inside the house.

"Gellert! Why, how you've grown since I last laid eyes on you. Come to the kitchen, we'll have a cup of tea to catch up!"

Following his aunt, he was shown his room along the way, which was conveniently next to the enormous library and far away from his aunt's room on the second floor. After putting his briefcase down and taking off his jacket, he headed to the kitchen at the back of the house, with a view of endless fields that stretched off into the distance.

"Thank you for having me, Aunt Bathilda. Mother truely appreciates it," he said politely, eager to get to know the place he would be living for the next year or so.

"Yes, well I was surprised when she asked for you to stay longer! I assumed you would've had school, but obviously you've graduated early and would like to live in England, so you're happy to stay as long as you like! It's nice to have some company," she smiled, oblivious to the lie her niece had told her.

In truth, Gellert Grindelwald was expelled from Drumstang Institute six months ago, for his far to experimental take on Dark Magic. His mother, however, would never embarrass herself by telling anyone the truth about why he really left school.

"Well I'm happy to keep you company, Aunt Bathilda. Is there anything to do in the village that would interest me?" he asked, keeping his dark thoughts to himself.

"Well, now that you mentioned that, there's nothing particularly for a bright boy like you, but I'm hoping to introduce you to a boy who lives up the road. His name is Albus, he's two years older than you, but I'm sure you lad's will get along splendidly," she replied.

"Well, I'd love to meet this Albus you speak of, anything in particular I might need to know about him or his family?" asked Gellert, his interest suddenly perked at the thought of getting someone to agree on his outlook on the world.

"Well, he has a little brother and sister. Aberforth is your age, but is currently still at Hogwarts and I don't believe you'd share the same sort of interests - all that boy talks about is Quidditch. Then there's Ariana, two years younger than yourself - a mystery that one. Her mother and brother's never let her go to Hogwarts, but I've seen her perform magic before so I don't see why not... she's a rather interesting girl, but the poor thing is always locked up in the house I can't imagine how she stays sane! Their mother passed away earlier this year, and their father was put in prison almost a decade a go - best not to mention that though," she answered, staring out the window at the cottage up the road.

Gellert immediately had even more interest in this Albus - and his family. He had always liked a good mystery, and hoped Albus turned out to be as interesting as his aunt made him out to be.

"I'm assuming Albus has graduated from Hogwarts, so what is he doing now?"

"Well, he writes for scholarly journals and newspapers here and there, but he was planning to go on a world tour earlier this year, but it had to be cancelled as his mother died and he was left in charge of dear Ariana," she replied.

"So, if I went up to their cottage, which I assume is the one you are looking at, he would be home?" he asked, hoping to escape for a while.

"Maybe, he might be in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, but he's usually always home. If he isn't, his sister Ariana will be. Best not to go anywhere near her though, her brothers' hover over her like she's fragile glass that could shatter at any moment!"

Gellert wasn't one for gossip, but if this family was as mysteriously interesting as it sounded, he definitely would want to get to know them.

"Do you think she get's annoyed? Having people hover over her, I mean," he asked.

"Well, of course! She always come sneaking down the road to have a chat whenever she can, poor girl must not get any space. At least Aberforth isn't home - he's almost as protective of her as her mother was. I don't think Albus likes her much, but he still struggles to let her out of his sight, although he does let her stay home alone," replied Bathilda, enjoying having someone to gossip too.

"If you don't mind, Aunt Bathilda, I'm going to go and see if this Albus is home."

"Oh, no problem dear, I'll just be writing some history papers so go ahead, replied Bathilda, heading in the direction of the Library.

Now free of his Aunt, Gellert changed out of his travelling clothes into something more comfortable, before setting off up the lane to the cottage which gave no other impression other than... lifeless.

The front gate was open, swinging slightly in the mellow breeze, a cobble pathway through the front unkept garden leading to a dark oak front door. The curtains behind every window of the house were tightly shut, making Gellert wonder how on earth they had light in the house and how unpleasant it would be on a fine day like this. Hesitating at first, he knocked on the door three times before stepping back, waiting for an answer.

It was almost half a minute later that the door opened about a crack, a short girl poking her head out from the darkness in curiosity.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked, her voice so soft he could barely make out the words.

"Hello, I'm Gellert Grindelwald, Bathilda Bagshot's grand-nephew. She mentioned there was an Albus who lived here?" he replied.

Ariana was slightly taken aback at the very sight of the boy - more like young man - who stood so confidently in front of her. He was beautiful. Short golden hair with small ringlets, strong jawline and lean body - Ariana had never seen someone so attractive in her life. As well as his good looks - although he spoke with perfect English - he had a foreign accent that made his voice so intriguing and captivating.

"My brother is currently out, but should be back soon. Please come in, I can make you a cup of tea," she replied, her palms sweaty and voice shaky. She knew she was breaking the rules, letting a stranger into the house, but Mrs Bagshot had mentioned her grand-nephew many times over the past few months and Ariana had an instinct to trust him.

Leading him down the hallway to the kitchen, she quickly poured him a cup of tea and placed it on the table. Gellert took note of two things, the young girl hadn't used magic, and every time women invited you into their house in England they always offered you tea.

"You must be the Ariana my Aunt speaks of," he said, watching the mysterious young girl, no older than fifteen, take a seat opposite him.

"That would be me. I've heard much about you from your Aunt, she says you're quite the prodigy," she replied politely, trying to keep her voice from shaking in front of him, strugglingly to make conversation.

"Well, I wouldn't flatter myself, but I am rather the intellectual. Why aren't you attending Hogwarts with your other brother..."

"Aberforth?"

"Yes, Aberforth. I can hardly imagine a beautiful sight as yourself could be incapable of performing magic?" he grinned, causing Ariana to blush a deep shade of red - she'd never been complimented before in her entire life.

"It's a long story that's not worth going into," she muttered quickly, avoiding that subject at all cost, "well why aren't you attending... Drumstrang?"

He smirked at her avoidance of the topic, but answered her diverging question regardless.

"Do you want to hear what everyone is being told, or do you want to hear the truth?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and leaning forward on the table slightly. She frowned in confusion, but responded never the less,

"Both."

"Well, what every is being told is that I'm some brilliant prodigy who graduated two years early and is planning to work in England. The truth; I'm a brilliant prodigy that got expelled for experimenting with a type of magic that most are too dimwitted to understand, therefore they fear it. So, my mother decided to send me to England for a fresh start, hoping my rather controversial past leaves me," he replied smirking, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands arrogantly behind his head.

Ariana didn't know what to think; clearly Mrs Bagshot had been told the false stories, having heard the tale of the 'marvellous' boy coming to stay with her.

"You sound like a Slytherin," she smiled, suddenly gaining some confidence.

"Ah yes, the house of the determined, cunning and resourceful. I take it as a compliment, despite what you were really meaning," he smirked, watching the girl smirk back at him.

"Slytherin's are most commonly known for being not very nice people who will go to any lengths to get what they want," she said, staring deep into his eyes with a new found confidence.

"My, that sounds exactly like me. Who new that the soft, sweet and harmless little girl locked up in a house all day actually had a personality - and a very interesting one at that!" he remarked, watching her smile turn into a grimace.

"Don't let my brothers' hear you say that, they'd throw a fit!" she laughed, unfortunately at a rather bad timing.

Albus Dumbledore had just apparated into the kitchen, only to find his little sister talking to a older boy, laughing about something to do with her brothers'.

"Not let your brothers' hear what?" he snapped, turning towards her. She shrunk back in her chair, avoiding eye contact with her eldest brother who had inconveniently surprised her at the wrong moment. Thankfully, Gellert stepped in quickly to save her.

"You must be Albus! I'm Gellert, Gellert Grindelwald - Bathilda Bagshot's nephew," he said, sticking his arm out to offer a handshake.

Albus was stunned, but shook his hand, entranced by the god like man in front of him. He quickly composed himself, smiling slightly and replying.

"Yes, I'm Albus. We must leave my sweet sister in peace, we should head outside - it's a lovely day!" he said, motioning for the man to step out the backdoor with him, making Ariana's mood sink; back to same old same old.

One thing, however, was clear by the end of that day: Gellert may have had his eyes on the Ariana, but the youngest Dumbledore wasn't the only Dumbledore to have their eyes on him.

Second chapter done! I'm trying to give Ariana a cheeky personality she tends to hide away around her brothers. For anyone who think Albus and Aberforth are out of character, remember that they're a lot different to what they were over 90 years later in the Harry Potter era, many things changed them to be the people they were when we saw them in the books.

Please give a fav and comment your thoughts!

- Emma.