In my opinion, the trouble started the day he arrived. You could argue it all started when we moved to Godric’s Hollow, or when Ariana was attacked, or when my mother died, or when my father was sent to prison, or when we were all born, or when someone decided creating a universe full of morons would be a good idea. I say, stuff it. This is my story for once, and I shall start it when I please. And when I please is the evening of a day in the fourth week of my Summer holiday, the year my mother died.
“Albus, d’you dream in Mermish?”
My brother looked up from his book.
“What? Hmm? Hang on, you came in without knocking!”
I sighed, and looked around at the piles of books, too many books for even the fairly big room.
“Well, yes, but you wasn’t naked, so no ‘arm done.”
“I might have been,” he replied, accusingly.
Albus never used to be bothered about all this ‘knock before you come in’ business. We used to be better friends too, we used to go swimming in the pool by the church when we first came here. We went down there a lot in the summer when I was seven and I asked Enid Smeek to marry me and she kissed me on the lips. But when Albus started Hogwarts that year, he came back with lots of new ideas and lots of forgotten old ones, and didn’t come swimming any longer, he sat and read all day after then. So I went down with Enid Smeek, but when I started Hogwarts she pretended she didn’t know me, and forgot all about us getting married and everything, said I was being stupid. But swimming’s no fun on your own, so I never go anymore.
“Aberforth?”
I snapped out of my remembrance.
“Yeah?”
“Go away.”
As I left the room it occurred to me that I never had found out if Albus dreams in Mermish. Maybe he doesn’t dream at all. Wouldn’t surprise me. So I went to see Ariana.
I walked into Ariana’s room without knocking, she didn’t care about that, her door was always open anyhow. Her room was refreshingly untidy compared to my brother’s and she was sat on the bed, drawing.
She smiled at me, and my annoyance at Albus was forgotten. Ariana’s smile can do that to a person. She showed me her drawing.
I laughed. It was a picture of Albus, looking at us haughtily over the top of his glasses, with his silly little beard in all its silly little glory.
Ariana smiled, then stood up abruptly and pointed out of the window. There was someone knocking at the door, who I hadn’t heard. Ariana had though. She has a good sense of hearing, definitely.
I went to the door, and there was a boy in the doorway. He was about as tall as Albus, and had the same constantly annoyed expression on his face. He wore robes of green satin and blue velvet, and had a lot of curly golden hair and small features. He looked very dramatic and handsome. I hated him at once.
“Gut Evening,” (yes, I can spell good, that was just how he spoke) “I am here to see Albus.”
“Right. Wait here then.”
I walked to the bottom of the staircase.
“ALBUS!”
I waited the inevitable couple of seconds.
“Yes? What is it now? I am working and… Oh, hello Gellert.”
They shook hands.
“Aberforth?”
“Hmmm?”
“Go away.”
Unwillingly, I stormed up the stairs, swearing under my breath. Ariana met me on the landing, smiling still. She took my hand and led me to her room and she carried on drawing. I sat there, letting my emotions die down, for about half hour before I realised that it was dark outside.
“Ariana? Bedtime.”
She glanced up sadly, ever the six year-old-child. She then smiled hopefully. She wanted a story.
Sighing I trudged over to Albus’ room, grabbing ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard’. The one in runes. It will probably surprise you that I can read runes, but there is a story behind it.
When I was five, Ariana four, and Albus eight, we loved The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Mum would read to us from the old little book that had been passed down through my dad’s family. Our favourite was always the Tale of Three Brothers, we would all sit down cross legged, and listen attentively. Then we would have nightmares about it, but it was all part of the fun of our favourite story. One day, our mum set down the book on the kitchen table and said that the first person to learn to read the runes of the Tale of Three Brothers would get to keep the book. And I really wanted to win it. So, every morning, I would sit at the table, and, as my mum read it to me, I would follow the words, and learnt which rune made which sound, and the words they made together, and eventually, I did it.
Of course, by that time, Albus had already learnt to read it and won the book. He brought home big books from the library, and because he could read plain English already, naturally he had the edge. But deep down, I felt I was better at it than my brother, because he still had to use a dictionary to translate, but I could do it automatically. But I didn’t practise, so now I can barely read any word that’s not in that one story.
Ariana looked at me quizzically, and, forcing a smile, I sat down on the bed, and began to read.
Halfway through, Ariana jabbed her index finger at the top of the page, in an annoyed sort of way. I looked up to see that some fool (Albus, obviously) had drawn a little symbol at the top of the story.
Ariana looked upset, so I told her I’d get Albus to get rid of it. The idiot, writing at the top of the book. The book was hundreds of years old, after all, and the paper was as thin as… a really thin thing.
But me and Ariana went to sleep. Correction: Ariana went to sleep, and I stayed awake, annoyed at the laughter and chatter leaking upstairs from the parlour. It was late when Albus came upstairs and walked into my room. I noticed that he didn’t feel the need to knock.
“Do you like my friend?”
“Barely met ‘im did I?”
Albus shrugged in a ‘suit yourself’ sort of way and was gone. I heard him blow out the candle on the landing, and idly wondered who his friend was. But I soon fell asleep, so it can’t have been troubling me that much.
The Life and Lies of Aberforth Dumbledore by The Dog Star
Chapter Notes: Guess what? I don't own Harry Potter. Yeah, I was surprised too. I mean, just waking up one morning and discovering you don't own Harry Potter? That sort of thing could scar a person.