June 28th, 1898.
Ariana had never seen such Albus in such a forlorn, depressed state. For the last week, her eldest brother had locked himself up in his room, never once exiting to check on his little sister, who he had done such a poor job taking care of.
Aberforth told her to ignore his 'pathetic' absence, but she couldn't help but wonder what had put her outgoing, brilliant (yet egotistical) brother in such a mood. She knew it must have had something to do with Gellert, but with Aberforth watching her every move, she was unable to visit the cottage down the lane where the young foreign boy hadn't been seen out of for days.
Despite the glorious weather, this part of Godric's Hollow felt gloomy and desolate, with not a sign of happiness in sight. Ariana had spent the last week reading in her room, Aberforth preventing her from having any form of privacy outside it. Having finished the many books her companion had suggested she read, she spent hours staring out her window at the quiet surroundings, dreaming of the windy beaches many miles away and the beautiful forrest she could just see on the horizon.
Today had been the same, but while she had been gazing out, lost in another world, she was unaware the someone had been watching her from behind another window.
Gellert couldn't deny he was fascinated with his friend's sister. She held a natural beauty and innocence that would attract any young man - but it was her sharp tongue and cheeky wit that had Gellert so flustered around her.
Watching her stare out the window, he constantly wondered what troubled her mind, wishing that the worry etched across her face would vanish. He couldn't understand what intrigued him so much about the girl, yet it didn't bother him in the least - she was a perfect distraction after his bitter brawl with Albus.
He wasn't oblivious to the looks his great-aunt was giving him over supper; she knew very well something went wrong between him and the eldest Dumbledore. In fact, today she had walked into the library - where he was quietly reading - and demanded that he go and make a mends with his new friend.
So here he was, nervously biting his nails while staring across the distance at Ariana in the window trying to pluck up the courage to head towards the cottage only half a minute up the lane. It was only minutes later that Ariana noticed a figure strolling slowly towards her cottage, snapping her out of her forever gazing daze.
He was less presented than usual; his shirt's sleeves were rolled up, his black vest only half done up and his wand was sticking out of his pocket. She jumped off her bed, where she had been reading, and quietly yet quickly headed down the stairs to meet Gellert at the door.
"Hello Ariana," he smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes.
"Are you here to see Albus?" she asked, hoping this feud could end and she could see Gellert more often.
"I am. May I come in?" he asked politely, to which she hustled him in a directed him to the door to Albus's bedroom.
"I should probably go, Gellert. Albus doesn't like me," she whispered, and although Gellert was none to please to hear her words, he agreed.
She walked away from her brother's door, leaving Gellert to deal with Albus himself while she headed outside to avoid hearing any form of conflict between them.
The scorching hot summer air outside was a good distraction; walking to the pond not too far from the cottage, she dipped her feet into the cool water while plucking daisies from the grass to form a daisy chain of flowers to place over her soft blonde hair.
Oblivious to the tense conversation that was taking place inside her home, she wondered how long it would be until Aberforth noticed she had escaped for a few moments of peace.
It must have been a whole twenty minutes, before footsteps were heard walking down the stairs of the back doorstep. She assumed it was Aberforth, but to her surprise Albus and Gellert were heading across the grass between their two cottages, heading towards the cosy home of Bathilda Bagshot, neither of them noticing her presence. Well, so she had thought.
Gellert was relieved to have made amends with his good friend, but his mind was soon distracted from the relief, at the sight of Ariana, a crown of daisies carefully placed on her hair, staring mindlessly into her reflection on the surface of the pond. Without turning his head, he watched as she carefully brushed her hair behind her ears, trying not to damage her daisy crown in the process.
He wondered what thoughts were going through her head; did she ever think about him like he thought about her? He doubted it was possible - she was a girl of almost fifteen, yes, but she held a childhood innocence that both scared and fascinated him. He had never been one for relationships - he'd may have fooled around with a few girls at Drumstrang before, but none of it was anything serious.
Unfortunately, the girl he held such interest in was not only Albus's sister, but an Obscurial that could spin out of control at any time. She also shared vastly different opinions regarding the standing of Wizards and Witches in the world, although her opinions were justified, as Ariana could not perform any type of controlled magic. Yet, someone with such little magical ability is what Gellert wanted most.
Regardless of whether or not he'd deny it, Gellert was utterly infatuated with his best friend's little sister - and his best friend was utterly infatuated with him.
It was well past midnight when it happened.
Ariana had been sleeping soundly when he heard a roar of anger from downstairs, followed by screaming and shouting. Albus and Aberforth's voice could have quite possibly woken up the whole neighbourhood.
Pulling on her robe, she quiet snuck out of her room and down the stairwell, avoiding stepping on loose floorboards that would bring attention to her as she tip toed towards the kitchen, just close enough to hear what Albus and Aberforth were screaming at each other on the other side of the door.
"So you and your little boyfriend are at it again, are you? Plotting to use our sister in your devious little plans?" screamed Aberforth.
"Gellert and I made a deal! Everything goes back to normal as long as I take the magic-less spell off the cellar - I'm not getting rid of it completely!" Albus shouted in return.
"What's the point of having the cellar if it isn't magic-less? It's supposed to stop that thing from getting out of control!"
"Well if you hadn't noticed, I agree with you! But I will not sacrifice my friendship with Gellert over something as simple as the god forsaken magic-less cellar!"
Ariana frowned; get rid of the magic-less cellar? She hated it, yes, but why on earth would Gellert even know about that? And why does he want Albus to get rid of the magic-less spell? Everything about this didn't make much sense.
"He wants to use our sister for his sneaky little plans and you're letting him! If you weren't so blinded with your disgusting infatuation with him, you would realise he's got his eyes on Ariana with more than friendly intentions!"
"I am not infatuated with -"
Ariana couldn't listen anymore, retreating from the door she stood outside and quietly but quickly heading back to her room. Her head was filled with too many thoughts to continue listening to her brother's row. It was Aberforth's last line she remembered the most clearly; it was horrifyingly revealing.
"…disgusting infatuation with him…"
"…more than friendly intentions…"
She knew her brother was incredibly fond with Gellert, that was certain, but there is no such thing as men being infatuated with each other - she knew that. It must've just slipped from his mouth out of frustration, but so must his final words involving Gellert's 'more than friendly intentions' towards her - she hoped.
Unfortunately, although she hated to say it, that hope of Aberforth just saying it out of frustration was unlikely. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen the signs before.
His subtle 'pop-ins' where he would flirt with her while 'waiting' for Albus were beginning to make sense. The many times she caught him staring at her through her window while outside with Albus and from his own bedroom window had become countless and his defence of her (which she now knew to be the cause of Gellert and Albus's fight) in her rather unfortunate situation had never made much sense until now.
But what on earth would Gellert see in her? She was a slowly dying, practically magic-less, out-of-control Obscurial with nothing but out of control power to offer. Nothing but out of control power to offer. She didn't want to believe it, but maybe what Aberforth had meant wasn't to do with Gellert liking her (which although she'd never admit, she quite liked the sound of), but his interest in her Obscurus.
That had to be it.
He was interested in her power - not her.
She didn't like that very much.
Gellert was all to pleased to hear that Albus had won the argument to get rid of that dreadful magic-less cellar, despite the two having kept up half of Godric's Hollow with their deafening shouts and screams at each other. Now, Ariana would not have to face the horror of having magic locked inside of her torture her trying to escape. Unfortunately, this had made Albus's brother loath him even more and Gellert wasn't allowed in the house unless Albus was there - or at least that's what Aberforth said when threatening him. Like Gellert was ever going to do anything that obnoxious bloody twat demanded.
Nothing could get much better, in his mind. Ariana was no longer subject to pure torture, Albus and him were back on good terms and he had pissed off Aberforth in one of the delightful ways possible by getting Albus to do it for him.
There was only one thing he wanted more.
From his bedroom window, he watched as Ariana fed the goats in the Dumbledore's backyard, wearing another daisy crown on her head as she skipped around, giggling to herself as the goats ravaged the food in her palm. Her hear was let loose and trailed down her back, something you would so early see a girl of her age do, in their day and age. He also noticed she had let loose the horrible constricting corset that she had been forced to wear from as young as nine. Oh, how he wished he could go out to the free girl in the field.
But, here he was, hiding from his feelings.
As was Albus.
As was Ariana.