Chapter 28: Warnings and Misleadings

For the next several weeks, Harry kept a close eye on Albus and Grindelwald. He trailed them constantly, watching them from afar as they visited the graveyard and talked in their front yards. Frequently, he saw Albus glancing toward the spot where Harry was.

He still had no idea how Albus knew he was there, but when they got together in the evening every few days, Albus never mentioned a thing about noticing Harry.

So, Harry just didn't mention it.

One endeavor Harry wanted to go about doing was talking to Atticus. He saw him in town frequently, sitting on the benches around the square. He seemed to be doing homework, since he always had a pencil and pieces of parchment out.

Albus always tried to convince him not to talk to Atticus, but the more Harry saw him around, the more of an urge he had. "His father's an Auror, Harry," Albus said.

"I know, Albus!" Harry said after about the fifth time.

"I'm only saying that it would dangerous."

But Harry had to at some point.

He kept putting it off until one day, toward the end of July, just a couple days before his birthday.

Atticus was walking idly passed the Bagshot's house. Harry, who was watching Grindelwald practice spells in the sideyard, far from most people's range of sight, stopped and looked toward Atticus passing by with his head down. He seemed to be sorting through the Famous Witches and Wizards cards.

When Harry looked back up at Grindelwald, he was walking toward the short stone wall lining the Bagshot house.

Harry shot up from where he was sitting in the trees and made his way quickly over there, walking far enough behind them where he could reveal himself if he had to.

"Hey, kid," he said, stepping up onto the wall and walking it, his hands out, even if he had perfect balance.

Atticus looked up, confused. "Hello," he muttered, looking back down at his cards.

"You're a Potter, aren't you?" he asked, jumping off the wall and sitting down on it.

"Yes, what's it to you?" Atticus asked coolly. Harry could tell that Atticus was nervous, though. His hands were shaking.

Grindelwald shrugged and held out his hand. "I'm Gellert. I'm Bathilda Bagshot's nephew."

Atticus stared at his hand for a moment, then shook it quickly before pulling his hand away. "My dad's mentioned you before."

"Yeah?" Gellert asked, looking very interested. "What did he say?"

"Nothing," Atticus said with a shrug. "He just knows about all the Magical people in the village."

"Hm," Gellert said, looking down the street. "What's your name?"

"Atticus," he said.

"What kind of cards do you have there, Atticus?" he asked.

"Just the Chocolate Frog cards," he said.

"I have some," Grindelwald said. "You want them? I'm too old for them."

"No, thank you, I-"

"I'll go get them. Wait here."

Gellert ran off into the house and Atticus stood there, staring at Grindelwald as he ran off into the house. He seemed very confused, but he still waited for Gellert.

When he came back, Gellert had a whole box.

He sat down on the wall again and opened it up. Harry stepped closer to try to see what was in the box. It had stacks of cards, but also seemed usually large on the inside. He must have had more items in there than the cards. He conjured up a bag and piled the cards in.

"Enjoy," Grindelwald said, handing him the bag.

Atticus took it wearily. "Thank you."

When Atticus continued down the street, glancing back at Grindelwald, Harry nearly ripped his cloak off and ran after Atticus to rip the bag of cards from his hand.

Grindelwald jumped up. There was no smile on his face. He just went back into the house. After Atticus disappeared into his yard a few houses down, Harry took off his cloak and went up to Bagshot's house and knocked.

Bathilda opened the door. "Oh, hello, Harry. I haven't seen you in a few days."

"May I see Gellert?" he asked.

She nodded. "Come in. Would you like tea? I'd love to talk to you-"

But Harry ran past her, saying, "No, but thank you. Maybe another time!"

The door was open when he got there and he went straight in. Grindelwald was sitting on the floor, shifting through his papers, but looked up as Harry entered.

"Hm," he said, smirking. "I was wondering if you were out there with us."

"What did you just give Atticus?" he demanded.

"Cards," Grindelwald said, shrugging. "Is there a law against that, Mr. Auror?"

"No, but-"

"Then I don't see what the problem is. I know what you're thinking," he said smugly, looking down at his parchment and writing without looking down. "You think I did something to them. You don't trust me, right? Look, I just gave him cards. I don't need them. I don't want them. I'm German, so we don't have those there. They were no use to me."

He paused and looked up from the sheet. "Get out of my business, Potter. Stop following Albus and me around."

"Or what?"

"I'll hex you into the next century," he said lightly, chuckling slightly.

Harry didn't want to admit that he would actually like that to happen.

Harry stepped closer to him. Gellert looked up at him defiantly, though, as if the height difference of him sitting on the floor and Harry standing still made him feel more powerful than Harry.

"Don't touch Atticus," Harry said. "I'll be damned if you do."

Gellert smirked slightly and looked down at his finger nails. "And why is that?"

"He's a friend," Harry said.

"A friend I've never once seen you talk to?" Grindelwald said, laughing again. "Sounds like an excellent friend. Not to mention the age difference, either…"

"At least I don't manipulate my friends," Harry said.

Grindelwald sent Harry a rude hand gesture and then pointed toward the door. "I don't need friends, Potter. Now get out. I've already told you I don't want you here."

"Don't let Albus hear you say that," he said, stepping back toward the door. "He loves you. You're the only thing he talks about when I see him most evenings."

He smirked again, but dropped it almost immediately. "Out, Potter!"

Harry turned around and left the house without even telling Good-bye to Mrs. Bagshot.

He practically ran to Albus's house. Once he got there, he pounded on the door.

It took several seconds for Albus to open it. He looked down at Harry in surprise. "Something wrong, Harry?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you," Harry said.

He seemed confused but he stepped outside and sat down by the tree in the front yard. Harry sat a little off to the side as usual.

"Look, we need to talk about Grindelwald," Harry said.

Albus blinked, then looked up at the Bagshot house.

"What about him?" he asked, his voice slightly strangled.

"I think he's trying to start something with the Potters," he said.

"Yeah?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

Harry nodded, glancing up at the house as well, and then he told Albus what happened.

Albus nodded along, staying silent. He didn't stop staring at the house, though, and at times Harry wondered if he was even listening.

When Harry finished, Albus glanced at him.

"It doesn't sound odd to me," he said with a small shrug. "I gave my cards to Aberforth."

"But, Albus, seriously-"

Albus shook his head, stood up and took his wand out. He cast a spell at a tin can on the front steps. It changed into a duck and then he changed it back into the tin can. "Hm," he muttered softly.

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Nothing," he said. "I wonder if I can change the color of the duck…"

Harry watched him, not understanding. The duck was blue when he transfigured the can again. What was Dumbledore doing?

Then Harry understood…

He was changing the subject. Sighing, Harry leaned against the side of the house and pulled his Snitch out.

He let it fly before catching it. Albus eyed him while he did that and raised his eyebrows when Harry made a catch that was unusually hard.

Harry really shouldn't have been surprised that Dumbledore completely refused to listen to him. When he thought about it, he often ignored Harry's thoughts on people. Though, he guessed those people had been Malfoy and Snape. They hadn't turned out all that bad in the end.

Grindelwald was another story, though.

"Harry, can I ask you something?" Albus asked when the Snitch got away from him and flew into a tree. Harry stepped up on the stonewall and reached for it. When he got it, he frowned at the now frayed wing.

"About what?" he asked, glancing up.

Albus's cheeks turned red as he took a deep breath. "You have a girlfriend back, er, home."

Harry nodded. He wondered more about if he could use Reparo to fix his Snitch than he listened to Albus.

"How did you… know that you liked her like that?"

Harry still studied the wings, too nervous to try to fix it. What if it got worse or couldn't fly again?

Harry saw Albus's long fingered hand come into view. He pulled it out of Harry's hand and tapped the it, the wing fixed instantly.

"Thanks," Harry said as Albus let go of the Snitch again and it flew around Harry's head, glad to see it was fixed. "How did I know I liked Ginny? I don't know. I'm really not good with talking about girls and stuff."

Albus frowned and looked down at his feet as Harry grabbed the Snitch again.

"Why do you want to know, anyway?" Harry asked, sitting back down in the grass.

"No reason," he said. "I was just wondering what it was like for you when you realized you liked her. That's all."

Harry didn't really have to think about it. After all, he spent most of sixth year realizing it. "I don't know exactly," he said. "I think I was jealous, maybe? She was going with Dean. Her brother and I caught them kissing one day and this… thing kept bothering. It felt like something was in my chest, growling. It's mad, but that's how it was."

"Growling?" Albus asked, looking dubious.

"Yeah. Mad, isn't it?" Harry said placing his Snitch back into his Mokeskin pouch.

"Yeah," Albus said softly, glancing back up at the Bagshot house.

Albus sat back down at the tree and pulled at the grass.

"Hold on," Harry said, a thought coming to him. He stared at Albus for a moment, wondering… "Do you like someone?"

Albus glanced at him, then back toward the house. His eyes lingered there for a few long seconds before he reached down to pull his wand out. He shot at the tin can again, but this time it only jumped high.

Harry grinned slightly, finding it funny that Dumbledore of all people would be asking Harry about this. Sure, Harry was friends with girls, but he had no idea how to deal with them.

"Ah," Albus said finally, but he didn't go on.

Harry, for a moment, wondered who it was. "You can tell me if you want. I won't laugh, even if they're ugly."

That got a grin out of Albus, but he tried to hide it immediately.

"It's not important," Albus said.

Harry tried to take his word for it, but he couldn't help but wonder. He wondered if it was that shopkeeper, Sylvia, but he remembered that Albus said she was married.

Albus started humming lightly and Harry decided not to pursue it.

Later that day, Harry left Albus's house. Instead of going back to the Flamel's, though, he stationed himself outside of the Potter house. He could see Cadmus sitting at a desk in front of the window, writing something.

A few hours passed before all the lighted candles went off in their house. Harry's eyes began to become heavy as he waited, sure that something would happen, just like that time with Kendra Dumbledore.

But when he woke up cold across the road, Atticus was out in the front yard, climbing the tree like always.

Harry sighed in relief and stood up, stiff.

After watching him for a few minutes, he wondered if he should finally reveal himself to him. It didn't seem like anyone else was around, although he did see Grindelwald in his yard, messing with a knife.

What could it hurt?

He pulled the invisibility cloak off and walked up to the metal gate of the house.

"Atticus?" he said.

"What- oof!"

Atticus had fallen off a branch and landed flat on his back in the window of the yard.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, shocked, pushing the gate open. He fell to his knees beside him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Atticus said, smiling. "That was- Mr. Potter! What… What are you doing here?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, relieved he wasn't hurt. "Visiting the Dumbledore's."

"Oh, right," he said, looking down at his feet and rubbing his back as he sat up. "I'm guessing you heard about their Mum?"

Harry nodded sadly. "Yeah."

Atticus looked Harry up and down, a smile growing on his face. "I thought I wouldn't see you again! I thought my dad would catch you or something."

"I've been careful," Harry said. He figured after being on the run from Voldemort for a year that he could easily avoid an Auror, especially since he had been an Auror.

"Albus Dumbledore told me to never tell my dad that we talked, but I told I wouldn't, anyway, since I didn't want him to know you were giving me extra lessons in Defense."

"Is your dad around right now?" Harry asked wearily, looking around as if he would apparate right behind him.

Atticus shook his head. "Neither is my mum. She's working in the Ministry archives today."

"So, you're by yourself?" Harry asked.

He nodded. "I want to go into town and do my homework soon, though."

"That would probably be a good idea," Harry said, glancing around again, toward the Bagshot house. He could see Grindelwald carving something in the tree with the knife. "Do you have your essay for Defense yet?"

He shook his head. "Will you help?"

"Maybe," Harry said hesitantly. "I can't be seen too much around here. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine," he said.

"Good," Harry said.

He looked back toward Grindelwald, who was still concentrating on his carving.

"Look," Harry said again, lowering his voice and getting closer to him. "Can you do something for me?"

He nodded instantly, looking as if he'd do anything for Harry. He was a nice kid, really.

"Don't go near Gellert Grindelwald, okay?"

"Why?" Atticus said, though his face went pale too fast for Harry's liking. He looked away nervously.

Harry guessed he was thinking of what happened the day before, but Harry knew he wasn't going to mention it.

"I don't like him," Harry said. "I know he's friends with Albus and related to Bathilda, but that doesn't mean he's okay to be around."

"He's bad? My dad thought so." His skin was so pale now that it looked as if he was going to faint. Harry helped him stand up and led him over to the steps to sit him down.

"Yeah," Harry said, kneeling down in front of him. "Please don't talk to him again, okay? If your dad's around, go straight to him if he starts talking to you again. Promise me, please."

Atticus nodded stiffly. "Okay. I promise."

"Good," Harry said.

Harry stood up again. "I have to go. I have to work. Go into town, okay? Stay there until your parents get home."

He nodded, jumping up immediately. "I'll go now."

"Thanks," Harry said.

Harry turned around and made his way to the gate again. He was nearly about to disapparate, but Atticus called out.

"Mr. Potter?"

Harry turned around.

"Where have you been and why did you have to leave?"

Harry's lips twitched. "I wish I could tell you, but I don't know if you'd believe me."

He seemed confused, but Harry thought of Flamel's workshop and he disappeared from Godric's Hollow. He's talk to Atticus again. He wished he could spend more time with him, but he knew Flamel would concerned about where he'd been all night.

Albus was writing a letter to Gellert. He knew he'd been doing that a lot lately, much to Aberforth's dismay, but he had so many ideas. He couldn't stop writing.

He also knew Harry disapproved of him being around Gellert so much, which concerned him more than Aberforth's dscomfort.

Sometimes he wondered if this all happened in the future. Was he still friends with Gellert in Harry's time? He hoped so, but he couldn't help but wonder why Harry so hated Gellert.

Though Gellert could be harsh- Albus remembered a time when he shot a rabbit with a spell and it struggled to get free. Albus had pleaded with Gellert. "Let him go! Stop it!"

But Gellert had just rolled his eyes. "Fine." He let the rabbit free and it ran from him, scared.

Albus chose to largely ignore that in Gellert, even though it made him nervous. He didn't understand how Gellert could be so cruel, but he wanted so desperately to like him that he usually went along with Gellert's antics.

Otherwise, Albus thought his ideas outweighed his harsher behaviors.

In fact, just as he was thinking that, there was a tap on the front window. Albus looked up from where he was by the fireplace and saw Gellert waving. Smiling, Albus jumped up.

"Hello," Albus said, letting him in.

Aberforth looked up from the couch and narrowed his eyes. He slid closer to Ariana, as if trying to protect her.

"Good afternoon, Aberforth," Gellert said, smirking. "Hello, Ariana. How are you today?"

Ariana's eyes narrowed slightly and she hide her face in Aberforth's shoulder.

Gellert had been fascinated with Ariana when Albus finally introduced him to her.

"She looks normal," he said, seemingly surprised.

"I am," she said softly, her usual kind smile missing. She stared straight at him, looking the most coherent than she had in a long time.

He smirked at her. "Hm. Cute, aren't you?"

"You just don't want to be around her when she has a tantrum," Albus said casually. "Right, Ariana?"

She smiled then and looked at Aberforth who was staring between Albus and Gellert, looking as if he'd been waiting for Gellert to do something to her.

After a few weeks after they met, though, Gellert never did a thing. Actually, he seemed quite enamored with her, always asking how she was very sweetly and sometimes talking to her like she was normal.

Honestly, Albus liked that. She was rarely introduced to new people. While she didn't seem quite sure what to make of Gellert, she didn't seem to mind him much.

"Let's go on a walk," Gellert said.

Albus nodded. "Don't do anything mad, okay?" he said to Aberforth.

Aberforth just glared at him and leaned in close to Ariana to whisper something in her ear. She giggled and looked up at Albus sweetly.

"Bye, Ariana," Albus said, waving.

"Where are we going?" Albus asked.

"No where in particular," he said.

Albus noticed, though, that when they passed by the Potter house, he stared up at it a little longer than any other house.

Albus nearly asked what he was staring at, especially since Harry had felt concern before, but Gellert said, "Harry Potter is interesting. Why do you think he follows us around?"

Albus shrugged. "You've noticed, too?" he asked casually. He did, however, feel slightly sick at the thought that Gellert knew about that. He had no idea why, either.

He nodded. "He seems very protective of you," Gellert said, huffing. "It's odd. He's like your little fanboy."

Albus shook his head, pulling his arms behind his back and holding his own hands tightly. "There's no reason why he should be protective of me. I only met him last year."

"I think he should be institutionalized," Gellert said. "He's insane. There's something wrong with his head."

Albus wasn't sure what to say to that, so he only hummed.

"Don't send me any owls tonight," Gellert said.

"What, why?" Albus asked, surprised. He always sent Gllert letters at night! It was normal and he'd never said anything about it before.

"I'm going to London tonight," he said.

"Really? Do you, er, need someone to show you around?"

He shook his head. "No. Thank you."

Albus had a burning desire to ask him what exactly he was going to London for, especially in the middle of the night.

He decided against asking, deciding he'd rather not know.

With Gellert, it could have been anything.

A/N: Gosh, this chapter was super hard to write. Probably the hardest so far. I don't even understand why it was so hard. But anyway… I'm really regretting not writing more scenes with Atticus in the beginning now. I'm not too good at planning things, but he'll be a part of things, I think.