June 21st, 1898.

Clouds of steam filled the station; a chugging rhythm was slowing as a bright scarlet steam engine entered the station. Families were struggling to stay together as the crowded platform hustled and bustled with parents looking up and down through the train's windows, in hopes of finding their children.

None in the crowd, however, were waiting for Aberforth Dumbledore. As the blond boy stepped off the train, his trunk in hand, he immediately started to look for a clear place to apparate home (so no one would accidentally tag along). Having quickly found an empty alcove, he spun on the spot, appearing seconds later in front of the Dumbledore cottage in Godric's Hollow.

To his surprise, he discovered that the normally secluded house, had the curtains pulled and windows open, for anyone who wished to snoop their eyes in. Albus, as usual, so irresponsible.

When he walked inside, he had expected to be greeted by his siblings, but found the cottage empty - not a soul in sight. His sister wasn't home, and nor the brother who was supposed to keep her inside the cottage at all times.

Quickly placing his trunk in his room, he decided to try Bathilda Bagshot's place, where Albus's new companion was no doubt staying. Using magic to cool himself off in the stinking hot weather, he jogged down the road to the neighbouring cottage, where he found himself face to face with his sister, who was quickly leaving the cottage, books in hand.

"ARIANA! What have I said about leaving the house?" he exclaimed, grabbing her wrist tightly.

"I was just -"

"What have Albus and I said -"

"I don't care what you and Albus said - no one's been here to stop me! Mrs Bagshot is nice and trustworthy, and I was only dropping in to borrow some novels. I'm just so bored of reading the children's books you give me!" she shouted back, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red, her fists clenching around the books in her hand.

"You. Must. Not. Leave. The. House. That is the number one rule, sister!" he replied.

"Well, I'm sick of your rules! Gellert thinks your rules are 'stupid' and that 'I must be going mad locked up all day in a cottage'!" she exclaimed, pushing past him and heading back up the footpath to the cottage, ignoring her brother as he made his protests.

"Gellert? You've been talking to Albus's new boyfriend have you? What did mother say about not trusting strangers?" he screamed.

"I don't care what mother said, she's dead!"

Running back into the cottage and locking the door to her room, she quickly hid the books (which were most certainly not novels) underneath the loose floorboard underneath her bed, where she hid her most precious possessions - most of which she wasn't allowed.

She hadn't expected Aberforth to be arriving so soon, but then again, Albus had barely said two words to her in the last few weeks and Aberforth's letters had been cut short due to his exams. Unfortunately, he had caught her at a bad time, provoking the overprotective beast inside of Aberforth to lash out at her.

She missed Gellert; they had only had five or six conversations in the last few weeks (due to Albus's possessiveness over him), but they were the most interesting conversations she'd had in her entire life.

She still hadn't revealed what she was, in fear he would mention it to Albus, but he had given her some recommendations about a particular set of books she should read, all of which could be found in his great-aunt's library. His choice of books had amused her, being exactly what you would expect from a wizard supremacist, loather of muggles and someone interested in the Dark Arts.

There was Wizarding Oppression (1840) by L A Malfoy, The Darkest of Arts (1887) by A J Selwyn and coincidentally enough, The Tales of Beedle the Bard - specifically The Tale of the Three Brothers.

The first two had made her roll her eyes... but the third choice made her raise her eyebrows. Why on earth would someone of his intelligence, bother with something as childish as a fairy tale? Was she possibly not the only one who found it rather... realistic?

Unfortunately, with her other brother's arrival home from Hogwarts, she no longer had the freedom she had enjoyed the past few weeks with Albus distracted. This would make it even harder for her and Gellert to sneak in conversations without either of her brothers catching her. It didn't help she was falling out of control more and more as the months went by, the Obscurus slowing eating away at her soul.

It was only two days after Aberforth's arrival that she had another... episode... which had left her locked up in the magic-less cellar beneath the kitchen, where the raging creature inside of her couldn't escape. It may have kept those around her safe, but it would torture her; the beast craving to escape her skin, only to be trapped inside by the anti-magic spell that kept it from recking havoc on Godric's Hollow.

Except this time, when Aberforth threw her down the trapdoor, locking it tightly and letting her rage wear off, unbeknownst to both of them - someone had been watching.

Gellert had been watching.

The pieces were coming together, Gellert's suspicions slowly being confirmed. He hadn't even considered it, until he picked up the Dark Arts book found in his great-aunt's library, where there was a very in depth chapter about a dark magical force the would feed off young children - whose magical development had been disrupted by a traumatising event.

He hadn't realised what had happened when Ariana was a child, until he had questioned Albus to why his father was in Azkaban, which had resulted in Albus eagerly defending his father's actions and explaining (not specifically) why Ariana had to be kept 'safe'.

It hadn't taken Gellert long once he began his research on the matter to work out that a certain dark magically creature, called an Obscurus, had developed inside Ariana after she was brutally assaulted by the muggle boys.

Now he understood why she would ferociously defend her inability to perform magic, why she would disappear for hours on end and why she could go from sweet and innocent, to angry and hateful in seconds.

But, nothing explained why Aberforth Dumbledore had thrown her down a trapdoor, into what he presumed was an underground cellar. It had shocked him; his eyes widening at the sight while he clenched his fists painfully, a lump rising up in his throat. He wanted to go in and help her, but he couldn't be gone too long or Albus would notice. Thankfully, the younger of the Dumbledore brothers hadn't seen him watching through the kitchen window.

He had quickly retreated back to his Aunt's house, where he found Albus unfazed when he returned to the library, thankfully not noticing Gellert's longer absence than usual.

"So how far through are we with our plans, Albus?" he asked, taking a seat on one of the plush chairs across from him.

"W-well, I think it's best we leave next summer. Aberforth would have graduated, meaning he could start looking after Ariana for me," he replied, his had fidgeting in hopes of approval.

"Indeed I agree, we should wait until Aberforth has graduated. But, I believe your sister is very capable of taking care of herself Albus - she might even make a useful addition to our travelling party," he smirked, knowing Albus would eventually give in to his suggestions, he always did.

"Gellert - you don't understand... my sister... she needs to be kept safe and in control... you just wouldn't understand -"

"Albus, I understand perfectly well what an Obscurial is and I can assure you that locking her away in a house for the rest of her no doubt... short life, will only make her condition worse," he assured, putting Albus into a state of shock.

"How did you know?" is all Albus could say, almost speechless that his friend had discovered the truth the Dumbledores had been hiding for years.

"It wasn't hard Albus, once you told me about your sisters attack. But I can assure you, that all locking her up will do is kill her faster!" he replied.

"But -"

"No buts, Albus. She's incredibly powerful and not only should you give her some freedom, but she would be a powerful asset to our plans," he continued.

"What do you mean? My sister can't even control -"

"We could change that, Albus! We could help her control the Obscurus power and use it to help us achieve our goals!" he replied, trying to make Albus see reason.

"She killed my mother!"

The argument came to a halt, the room falling into a tense silence. Gellert hadn't known the truth about the Dumbledore's mother's death. His aunt had made it very clear that it was a fresh wound, which still needed time to heal, so he decided not to mention it. He hadn't been aware, however, that the Obscurus inside Ariana had been the cause of their mother's death.

"Albus, she did not kill your mother, the Obscurus -"

"Well she made the explosion happen! She got angry! It was her fault!"

"She couldn't control it! I don't blame her for getting angry! I would if I was locked away in that bloody cellar all day!" shouted Gellert, rising to his feet in front of Albus. Gellert however, after quickly realising what he said, sat back down - just before Albus spoke again, in a much quieter tone.

"H-how did you know about the cellar?" he asked, fear lacing his shaking speech.

"I saw Aberforth throw her down there only ten minutes ago," replied Gellert, his voice still filled with anger.

"It's not what it looks like! I charmed it so no magic could be performed in it, meaning Ariana's Obscurus wouldn't be able to escape when she was angry! I was only doing it so I wouldn't face the same fate as mother!"

"If you prevent an Obscurus from escaping an Obscurial, it will torture them!" screamed Gellert.

Albus had ignored what his friend said, barging out of the house, tears threatening to fall down his face as he ran back to the cottage, past Aberforth and upstairs to his room where he collapsed on his bed, sobbing.

He didn't understand why Gellert couldn't see where he was coming from. Gellert had always agreed with him and told him how amazing he was, but now the matter of his sister was brought up, Gellert just shouted at him for being horrible and stupid! And as his sobs slowly died down, he hoped his siblings hadn't heard him cry.

Ariana hadn't; but Aberforth had.

Aberforth had watched half amused, half confused, as his older brother ran up the stairs looking heartbroken, clearly having gotten into a fight with his foreign friend down the lane. He had been shocked at the sight, of what looked like his brother crying at first, but it hadn't been a surprise that Albus would have such a reaction to a falling out with a friend.

Aberforth wasn't stupid. He watched as his older brother's face lit up like the night's stars every time the foreign boy appeared. His presence making Albus blush ferociously, his brother holding onto every word the boy said as though he was some sort of God, putting Albus under a spell that had distracted him from his other responsibilities - such as their sister.

It hadn't taken Aberforth long as a child to work out Albus didn't have eyes for the pretty girls the Aberforth liked. He would often catch Albus looking at other young men his age for longer than normal, admiring their physique when they'd go swimming on the coast, rather than the curvy young women in flowing sundresses.

He couldn't understand it, it just seemed... wrong. Why would a man prefer another man over a beautiful young woman? It was wrong in so many ways. He had never met someone with the same interests as Albus; especially not the foreign young man who had come to stay with his aunt. Regardless of Albus's feelings, he knew that Gellert Grindelwald much preferred the sight of his sister - which he hated more.

Disclaimer: Remember it is 1898, and no one accepted homosexuality. It was illegal in the UK till 1967 and still today LGBT+ face discrimination. Homophobia is disgusting yes, but it is 2017 not 1898. Please sympathise with Aberforth's views, as he would have been confused to why Albus preferred his own sex, as every LGBT+ person would be forced into the closet unless they would want to face prison or even execution. This means no one was exposed to anything other that heterosexuality, therefore it would've been confusing and shocking for Aberforth, who didn't even know what 'homosexuality' and what someone being a 'homosexual' would've meant. This does not excuse homophobia in the present day, but you should understand why he would think it was 'wrong' in 1898 - where no one would ever talk about it. Even when my grandparents were young in the 30s/40s, it was never spoken about and they wouldn't have deemed it acceptable for years until the 60s/70s when it was legalised and people started to accept that it wasn't a choice and there was nothing wrong with it. Once again, this does not make homophobia acceptable in the present day.

Thoughts? Please vote and comment!

- Emma