The summer was slowly coming to an end and the time for Albus and Roxanne to return to Hogwarts was faster approaching.
The two friends had managed to come closer to Gellert over a month and a half. The former Durmstrang student did not wish to be much in touch with them but slowly, he started to accept them.
While basic at first, both Albus and Roxanne shared similar views with him; although he had much darker and deeper roots.
Albus was a prodigy and intelligent man, who wished to be free of the burdens of his past; his father's imprisonment and the sickness of his sister. He did wish to stop hiding from muggles, never forgetting how they were the cause of Arianna's depression and Roxanne's scar on her cheek.
Roxanne, on the other hand, had a much more optimistic view of the world. It was her way to deal with everything dark that had entered her life and while one might consider that naive and foolish; Gellert found it an interesting thing to study.
She had the ability to look and survive through things and what would break others; it never truly affected her. The mental control she had and the strength to continue through, was something few possessed.
In addition, while she might not look like much to many; she had a lot more for those who managed to look through her soul. While her beauty was growing and making her stand out, so were her abilities.
For there was no mind like hers when it came to herbs and potions. No hands were more skilled in making alignments and inventing her concoctions before she even fully enter adulthood.
And she had just a knack for charms as well, capable of using them without the need of a wand; although that was still in development.
During their last day at Godric's Hollow, the three of them were laying under the willow. What was one the secret place of Albus and Roxanne, was now a welcoming spot for Gellert as well.
They lay on the grass, the giant tree offering them cool shade against the warm sun. Roxanne was laying in the middle of the two boys with Albus on her right and Gellert on her left.
Their relationship had bloomed in almost two months and one might say that there was something more between them. The looks the two young men gave each other were not always as innocent as one might think.
And the ways Roxanne would look at them were not as friendly as she thought they were. Both young men had attracted her in more ways than once; although their characters were so clashing to one another.
"It will be boring without you two here" Gellert said, one hand behind his back as he chewed on a blade of grass.
Roxanne frowned faintly, not truly wishing to leave him; not after all the great time they had spent together.
"Hogwarts won't be the same for sure, don't you agree Albus?" She said and turned to glance at her best friend, seeing him deep in thought. "Albus" she repeated his name but no response.
Roxanne turned her body sideways before she managed to bring her upper body and lay it on top of his chest. The sudden sharp movement caused him to focus back on the present, his train of thought already broken.
"He is doing it again" Gellert commented with a small scoff.
It would not be the first time that Albus' mind would drift away to something else. Usually, he would do that when he had a lot on his mind and he was trying to make sense of everything and hopefully find some peace.
"What's on your mind this time, Albus?" Roxanne asked, looking into his blue eyes.
Defeated, the teenager took a wrinkled paper off his pant pocket and handed it to her.
She took it with curiosity and laid with her back again as she tried to smooth the paper. Gellert had turned on his side and leaned closer to her face in an attempt to also look at the content.
Upon reading it, a gasp escaped her lips and her hand quickly covered her mouth. "I am so sorry, Albus," she said and looked at him with those amber empathic eyes of hers, only for him to avoid any eye contact.
The paper was a letter from Azkaban, informing how his father had perished in his cell after so many years of serving his sentence.
Roxanne knew that Albus was not truly close to his father, not after his imprisonment but it was his actions that overshadowed his first year at Hogwarts. It was his last name associated with him until he dug himself through the mud and proved to everyone that he was his own brilliant man; unlike his father.
Yet, his death did weigh heavy on his heart. The news had taken down their house, his siblings were shocked while his mother was in deep mourning. Arianna felt the most guilty of all and she had such an outburst that she almost took down the whole cottage and them with it.
With his death, Albus was officially the new head of the family and he did not want to. He was tired of all the responsibilities that weighed his shoulders, of all the expectations everyone had of him.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips and he felt a smaller hand grab his. Glancing down, he saw Roxanne having taken his hand and holding it tightly; somehow letting him know that she would be there for him and she was.
Gellert only scoffed at the letter and glared daggers at the leaves and branches hanging above them. He was eventually informed of Dumbledore's family secret and the attack on Arianna. He had even met Aberforth once but the middle child did not take it kindly upon his visit.
"This is ridiculous. He should have been freed by now, instead of dying while serving his sentence for a righteous crime. It should be the boys at his place, not him" he said, once again bringing up how he truly felt about the law of secrecy.
When he found out about what took place back then, he was furious. Both Roxanne and Arianna had gotten hurt in that attack for being who they were. And when Percival took his appropriate revenge, he was sentenced to a life worse than death by the very same people tasked to protect wizards and witches.
"They did pay, with their lives" Roxanne reminded him, looking at him while she still held Albus' hand.
"It isn't enough. Someone should have done something to protect, not let someone else do it and then get blamed for it" he said, looking at her. He lifted his hand gently and his knuckles brushed against the scar on her cheek. "You and everyone other wizard and witch, shouldn't have to suffer while they get protected"
Roxanne looked down, realizing what he meant. Whenever she looked at Arianna and remembered what had led to that; the more she wished there could be more to be done.
But he did have a point.
Their laws never truly protected them individually the way one would want them to. Yes, it protected them from the exposure of the whole wizarding kind but it also endangered them when faced with muggles.
"Doesn't matter. We don't have the power to force the laws to change" Albus said, leaving out a sigh.
Gellert stopped looking at Roxanne with so much intensity as his gaze landed on the other young man, barely a year older than him.
"What if we could obtain that power?" He asked, making both to look at him. "I mentioned it before...the Deathly Hallows. One who possessed all three has mastery of death itself. No one would be able to stop us and we could change the laws, protect others the way no one protected us"
Roxanne looked at him as he spoke, having a charm behind each word. The way he spoke, and how he phrased everything; make her believe in him and his dark dream. In his little speech, he showed that his plans were for the safety of all, a chance to protect others from her and Arianna's fate.
"The hallows are a myth" Albus reminded him.
While also entranced by his little speech and the idea of power and control did intrigue his mind; he knew that such a task was impossible to be accomplished and only a fool would try to hunt the hallows.
His words, however, only seemed to make Gellert more determined than ever to prove him wrong. His eyes glowed with darkness and power, bright ideas coming into his mind faster than lightning hitting the sea during a fierce storm.
"They are not and I will prove it. While you attend Hogwarts, I will search books and find clues. And when you come back, I will show you how real they can be" he said, having taken Roxanne's hand in the process as he talked, his grip a little too intense for her liking.
Yet the teenager stayed between the two boys, each one holding her hand. Albus held it with care and softness, relying on her comfort and support.
Gellert held it with strength and firmness, expecting her help and alliance in that task, since she was the only one else except him that believed in their existence.
Albus said nothing more on the topic but Gellert did put him in deep thoughts...thoughts that would eventually return to him a few months later.
The next summer; when the bigger disaster yet would forever alter his life and his plans.