He stumbled along the uneven cobblestones, dazed and lost. He knew every shop he passed, who owned it, what they sold. And yet, he knew none of them. Nothing looked familiar. Nothing felt welcoming.
Albus had lost his way. He had turned his back on everything he held dear. He had hurt everyone he loved. Gellert. Aberforth. Ariana.
Ariana.
His poor, sweet little sister. Dead. Because of him. What if he had been the one that cast that fatal spell? He had to have been. He was so bent on stopping Gellert from hurting his family that he killed her.
His poor sister.
He stumbled on the pavement and fell to his knees before a shop. Ollivander's. Except it wasn't Ollivander's. The windows, dirty and cracked. The shelves within, bare. The door, boarded. The floors, dusty.
And in the midst of the filth stood Ariana.
Albus's heart clenched at the sight of her. "ARIANA!" He hit the cracked glass hard while his little sister simply stood staring. Why didn't she react? He hit harder and harder, trying to break into the shop.
"ARIANA PLEASE!"
And then she was gone.