The potion which Ariana had been given when she had first got to Hogwarts was given to her again the next morning. Once again she fell into a deep sleep once she had it. She was going to be feeling better once she had it thought Albus. But no longer was it enough. That day had made him realize that. It was enough to sustain her for a while but it had not given her back her sanity. It had only given false hope.
She looked beautiful as she lay in her hospital bed. Beautiful and strange, like a half finished painting that had gone wrong. She was one of a kind. Rarely had he heard of cases like hers. There had been others of course when he had been growing up. Some had been luckier than Ariana and had managed to grasp some sort of control of themselves. He had rarely heard of a case worse than hers though. He thought the only way it could be worse if she had been killed by the boys who had brought her so much suffering. He wondered now what had become of them. They had suffered an attack of there own hadn't they? His father had gone after them, and he had given them what he had thought they deserved. Albus inside had always been in two minds over what Percival had done. On one side of course it had been right. He had been protecting his young. The most basic animal instinct. Protecting the family he loved so desperately. But then he had been made to leave them for ever. To Albus that made the attack wrong. He had left his wife and his children just when they had needed him the most. And they had been such a tightly knitted family. They had been together, the five of them; no one else was ever needed by any off them. The great Dumbledore's. Rocks of the community.
How had it come to this? Whoa could have known back then this was going to come to pass? And just when every thing else was going on. He had the tournament to think of and then there was Harry. He hoped the boy who lived was going to keep himself out of trouble this year. He would always be there for him if he did get in to trouble, of course. But there was so much to think of already…he didn't need any more.
Even now he was betraying his family, thought Dumbledore to himself. He should be thinking solely of them. And he was thinking of everything else. Just as he always had…
There was no more room in his life for mistakes. He had made so many when he had been young. He was meant to be wise and powerful now but he was only human. And he had a feeling he was going to make many more before his time on earth was up. But not where his sister was concerned. He was going to have to start taking care of number one. And to him number one was her.
Taking hold of her hand he smiled. It was warm. There was always hope. And love. As he
sat there at her bedside he didn't think he had ever loved her so much or tenderly.
"Precious girl…" he said to her smiling. "We will get through this."
He knew soon doubt would come. He would question everything. But in that one moment he felt that everything might be ok. And the real Ariana would find a way back to him. The one who had laughed, played and joked her way through life. He had to face up to the fact that from the age of six she had been a husk of the girl who had been born into that loving family. His mother had wanted the baby to be a girl. She had had two boys and now Kendra had wanted a girl to dote upon. To help the boys grow up respecting women.
And the joy on her face that day when Percival had first taken the boys into their room to see the baby. It broke Albus's heart. How could they have known?
As if he was lost in as a dream of the past he wondered if the hallows could have helped her. If he had been their master would things have been better?
No he had been fooling himself. Looking for an exit, a way out in to a better more glorious life. But what was more glorious than love and family. That had been a lesson he had learnt from a young witch he had once known. She had been beautiful, and strong willed and courageous. And she had given up her place in the world so her son might go on.
Lily and James had known more loved in those few years they were together than he had known in one hundred. That had to change.
Dropping a kiss into his sister's hair as if it was a falling star, he smiled. It was indeed going to change.
--
Sirius went to the Hogshead. He had a feeling Aberforth was going to need to talk. And so did he. He wanted to understand more than he did about Ariana. It wasn't fair what she had to go through. Surely there was a way they could stop it.
As he walked through the village down to the pub he noticed a cold chill in the air. Winter was on the way for sure. It wasn't so long till Halloween. Then they were going to know who was the Triwizard champions. That was going to be something. Now he wondered if any of the Dumbledore siblings were actually going to be able enjoy i,.
Judging by the look on Aberforth face when he got there he would say not.
Already by the time he got to the bar Aberforth had got a drink for him.
"I didn't thank you for what you did for my sister. I am grateful to you." he said to him. He had stayed with her when others would have turned and run. "Not a lot of people would want to get involved with someone who is like her and yet you and Harry do." he said to him.
"You don't have to thank me. She is such a sweet little girl." he said to him.
"You don't have to tell that to me. She's my darling…and she is coming home." he nodded. He wasn't going to let her waste away at that school he had made his mind up.
Sirius didn't like the sound of that. She had come so far on her journey. She had really begun to get to grips with what she had been doing just before the attack. She had been normal…almost. She had been as normal as Harry. That wasn't very normal, he knew but they had had a bond due to there uniqueness. He couldn't pull her out. Not now.
"Aberforth you cannot let her give up now, you can't take her out of Hogwarts. That would break her heart, she is becoming someone of her own when she is up there, please let her stay."
"No." Aberforth said to him. His mind was made up. His brother couldn't take care of her.
"But –"
"No." he said furiously. He didn't need Sirius telling him how to take care of Ariana. "Do you know what I remembered most about my childhood, of my late teens?"
"No." Sirius said as he had a sip of his bottle. He wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on and so he sat and he waited to listen. He wanted to hear this.
"I remember Albus and the look of disappointment on his face when he worked out he couldn't go on the world trip he had been planning for when he left Hogwarts. It had been all he had talked about all the way through his seventh year!" he said. "Do you know why he couldn't go?"
"No." Sirius said to him quietly, but provocatively,
"Because of our girl, our Ariana. She was sick by then you see. She couldn't go any where. Our mother had died. He had to step up to the mark and be a man for the first time in his life and look after her. He hated her." he shook his head.
"Albus loves Ariana to death, he loves the bones off the girl any one can see it." Sirius said. It was the truth. Albus was so affectionate with her.
"Now day's maybe. But not back then. She was the source of all his woes." He recalled.
"I can't image the thought of any one hating her, but even if he did - he was young." He tried to defend Albus.
"So was I. But I loved her. I was there. I wanted to protect her and love her, and cover her in cotton wool." he sighed. When he thought of how much he had loved her it had ached inside of him.
"He detested being home. He hated both of us - didn't want us, or need us for that matter. Hated family. Hated home. Loved only power - we weren't what he wanted." he sighed. "We were what each other wanted though."
He wasn't a romantic. He had always been practical. He had never fallen for anyone. Never liked girls. Or boys. If he had had a love of his life then it was his sister.
"We were the weight about his neck. If I didn't know better then I would think he was glad when she got sent to the future." he said. Maybe he would be able to take care of her better now. But the trust for him was gone.
"She belongs with me here where she can be loved and protected." He concluded. He knew it was true in his heart.
Sirius didn't now what to think. Why would he say it if it was not true. And he knew how it was not to be believed. And who really ever knew what went on behind closed doors? Could you ever really know some one? He didn't think Aberforth would lie, he wasn't the type. And in him, he saw himself. A man who felt a paternal love even though he was not a father, all he wanted to do was protect a child from harm. Who could blame him? After everything she had seen and been through.
"She has been doing so well." he defended her. Sirius didn't want all that to come to nothing now. "You can't just make her give up now." he said to him. The girl had been beginning to dream of something more than a nut house in her future. She had been given hope. He didn't want it to be taken from her, not now. She was so capable when she was well. It would be an injustice if she should leave school now.
"I am not going to make her do anything." he said. She was going to want to get out of Hogwarts, he was sure.
"Let it come from her. If she wants to come back then that is fine. We all know that is her decision - but if it comes -"
"Sirius. I have got her this far," growled Aberforth. "I need nobody telling me how to bring her up."
"But you and Albus are bringing her up together." Sirius reminded the aging man. "It isn't just you."
"Have you listened to anything I have said?" he said to him.
"I am just saying what I know as an outsider." Sirius sighed. He just wanted to help.