Gosh this chapter got pretty long and depressing at first. ...I hope you like it anyways?^^
Also finally we get to meed Grindewald! I have been looking forward to this :)

Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness.

Ariana had always been different. Albus could remember the day she had been born, when he was allowed to hold her for the very first time. He had expected her to start crying, like Aberforth always did, but she had been completely quiet. Even the midwives had found her silence eerie as they had pulled her out from his mothers womb. She was born sleeping, with her eyes closed and a peaceful look on her face. The moment she was put in Albus hands, however, she opened her eyes and looked him right in the eye with an intent gaze. Then she smiled, yawned, and stretched her hands out to her mother, who took her to her breast, relieved that she was finally showing some sign of life. After that, however, she ignored her eldest brother no matter how hard he tried to get her attention, and looked most attentive whenever Aberforth was nearby. She was a strange baby, but very loved by all of her family. At the age of two she had shown her first sign of magic ability. She had been lying peacefully in her cot all day, when suddenly a moth came to sit on her hand. She eyed the Moth carefully for a moment, before blinking her eyes a few time. A mirror image of the moth, made entirely of tiny sparks of light, now sat on her hand beside the moth. Even after the real moth had flown away, the light creature stayed atop her hand, slowly moving its wings. The Dumbledores rejoiced at the discovery, since early sign of magic always showed for a great talent with spells and enchantments. Albus had started showing signs on his 5th birthday, Aberforth on his 10th. As the girl grew, so did her spontaneous magic. At the age of four, she would, once tired of playing with one of her toys, simply place them in the air next to her and let it float around her until she needed it again. This has caused some concern with her parents, since she did not even seem aware of the fact that she was using magic. It made taking her outside to the muggle town that they lived in difficult. However, nobody wished to tell her off, for her magic was extraordinary indeed.

It had been a sunny afternoon when it happened. Just an ordinary warm day in July, and the Dumbledore kids had been playing with some of the muggle kids from around the block. It was a great day for playing ball, and one of the richer kids had brought a really good leather ball to the field. Both the Dumbledore brothers had been very into the game, even though neither was very good at it. They found the muggle game intriguing with its absence of broomsticks, bludgers and snitches. Ariana found herself content with sitting under a tree in the shade, reading a picture book about mythical creatures that her mother had given her for her sixth birthday. Albus, who was always told to look after his sligtly absent-minded sister, made sure to glance her way every now and then.

Then suddenly the game got intense, one of the players on the other team saw an opening and started to run with the ball in Albus's direction, where he stood just a few meters in front of the goal. This was his big chance to actually help his team, more than just standing around trying to understand the rules. The boy dribbled to another boy at Albus's right, who tried to run around Albus on his left flank, to shoot at the goal that was rather poorly protected by Aberforth. The boy made the shot, and Albus kicked off the ground, trying to place himself between the ball and the goal. In the last second he put his hand out, trying to protect himself from the impact, and almost punched the ball in the air.

Pleased with himself, he saw the ball roll away in the opposite direction. But as he looked up at his teammates, they didn't look to happy with his success.

"What?" He asked, brushing off the dirt from his pants.
"You're not supposed to use your hands, Dumbledore!" One of the older boys said. "that's cheatin'"

Albus settled for a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head. The other boys sighed once again over the weirdness of the Dumbledore family, and went back to continue the game. Aberforth stood just behind Albus, and he turned around to tell him off for leaving the goal unguarded when he saw that there was a worried look in his younger brothers eye.
"Abe?"
"...Ariana. She's gone" And when Albus looked he found that she was, nothing left underneath the tree except some bent grass and a few flowers twined together in what looked like the beginning of a garland.

"She's probably just wandered off for some flowers at the old field behind the bakery. Come on, lets go look for her."

But she was not. Neither was she down by the old quarry, or by the church. When they had looked over all her usual spots, they decided to walk back home. "Maybe she just got tired and wanted to go home" Aberforth said. Albus tried to believe him but there was hint of panic growing in his gut.

As they approached the house on London street four their father was already waiting by the gate. They had stayed out past their curfew looking for Ariana, and they were likely to be scolded the moment they got home. As they reached the tall iron fence, their father laid on his best reprimanding look, and looked down at his sons.

"You are in big trouble young men. Now tell me, where have you hidden your sister?" He asked. Aberforths eyes widened.
"You mean she's not home?"

The look on their fathers face changed instantly to worry, and he immediately located their mother and their neighbors to start a search. Then he started interrogating the boys so harshly that Aberforth started to cry. There was a sense of stillness in the air that night. Like the whole world was holding it's breath. Thunder rumbled in the distance, but the rain never came.

The search lasted long into the night, but Ariana was nowhere to be found. At four in the morning when both the brothers had cried themselves to sleep, and their father had yelled himself hoarse. In the woods, in the parks, in the factory areas at the other side of town. Everywhere the cries were heard. "ARIANA!" "ARIANA!" and the echoes of their voices would haunt Albus and Aberforth for the rest of their lives.

They found her in the morning, at the bottom of a dark pit, her left arm and most of her fingers broken in several places, and bruises all over her face. But it was the damage inside that was the worst. She would never be quite herself again. She became confused, disoriented and forgetful, and her magic that had been so harmless, so beautiful, turned into a wild beast that would destroy anything it came in contact with. And whenever she used it, there was a wild look in her eye that scared even her father.

A month later a witness came forward, and pointed out four of the young boys from the village as being responsible for the abuse of Ariana. Once he heard the names, their father left the house, wand in hand and a dark look on his face. The rest of the family sat quiet once he left, not daring to think about whatever he was planning to do.

The boys where sent to a muggle hospital, Albus's father to Azkaban, and the rest of the family had fled the muggle world and moved into the more wizard-populated village Godrics Hollow.

And two years ago, his father had died inside the walls of the wizard prison.

Albus shakes his head to clear his mind and adjusts his grip on the coffin, careful not to cause unbalance towards the other men carrying. He thinks about the last time he saw his mother alive. She had been tired, dark circles under her eyes, but she had seemed happy. And now here he was, carrying her coffin to a freshly dug grave in the Godrics Hollow cemetery.

The sky is dark and As they lower the coffin into the grave, Albus stands between his sister and his brother. The only three Dumbledore's left in the world. The whole funeral is quiet and empty of people. The Dumbledores had not made many friends since their move to Godrics Hollow. Besides the children there was only their neighbor Bathilda Bagshot, and old man Potter who lived down the street. I surely hope my funeral won't be this empty, Albus thinks and puts an arm around Ariana, who is looking faint.
"I dont understand," she says in her soft, quiet voice. "Why is mother dead?"

Because you killed her, he wants to scream, but he simply cannot. He swallows and tries to find his voice. Aberforth finds it before him though.
"It was an accident" He says, and walks around to stand on the other side of Ariana, hugging her close with one arm.

"People shouldn't die" Ariana says.

Then she cries, and the rain starts to fall.

Albus misses his graduation. Elphias leaves on his around the world trip without him, and he tries his hardest not to be bitter. He takes over all the chores his mother used to do, and prides himself in inventing new spells for cooking and cleaning. Albus does some of it, and when he is not working he sits with Ariana, entertaining her with games and stories.

Albus finds the house too quiet, too small, and in the night he dreams of the walls closing in on him and the air leaving his lungs as he cries for help, but no one answers. And when he wakes up, damp with sweat, he realizes that none might ever answer again. But he buries himself in housework, tells himself that he is being a good brother, a good man, for taking care of his siblings and his house.

Two weeks after his mothers funeral, he finds himself in the garden behind the house, using one of his newest spells to make the laundry dry faster. It was an easy feat, as long as you knew how to redirect wind in the right way.

"Are you bored?" a voice calls from the other side of the fence. Albus glances up to see the boy who lives with Bathilda Bagshot for the summer peaking at him over the planks. He answers with a noncommittal grunt.

"Because I don't have to take care of any siblings or do any chores AND I have a great treasure hunt going on, yet I am still bored out of my mind." The boy is two years younger than Albus, and his grin is far too wide for his taste. According to Bathilda he was expelled from Durmstrang and Albus had figured that this fact was all he needed to know to avoid the kid.
"So I'm thinking, you must be really bloody bored." The kid continues, as a gust of wind finds its way through his blonde curls. Albus finds himself thinking that this kid must be very popular with the girls, looking like that.

"Come on man, admit it." He continues, not dishearted by Albus silence. Albus shrugs.
"I guess so."

"I'm Grindewald. Gellert Grindewald." the boy says, and his voice is very clear and melodic. Albus answers with his own name. They are then silent for a moment, before Albus finds himself curious enought to ask "What is this treasure hunt of yours, then?" while tries to sound like he doesn't care the slightest.
"Oh nothing you've heard about, I'm sure. I might need someone as skilled with spells as you with me though. Its not without danger, this hunt for treasure."
"I cannot. I have my sister and brother to take care of."
"Surely, you have some time left? They are not small children are they?"
"Nevertheless, they need me." Albus picks up the last of the laundry, putting them into a basket and walks back towards the house, determined to end the conversation by simply walking away from it. As he reaches the door, however, Grindewald says one more thing.

"The Deathly Hallows." Albus stops in his tracks.

"Thats what I'm looking for" The kid continues. "And I am pretty sure they sound appealing to you too."

Albus stands in the doorway for a long time, feeling the gaze of the boy at the back of his neck.
Then he makes up his mind.

Curiosity is not a sin... But we should exercise caution with our curiosity... yes, indeed.