A burning summer

17th June 1899

The first hot air of the summer had gathered in the house like an unbearable bubble of sweat, sadness, grief, anger, boredom and an insoluble knot of other things that Albus Dumbledore couldn't even give a name to.

By the end of his seventh year at Hogwarts he had been full of grit, with a tremendous desire to throw himself headlong into a bright future full of adventures and new goals to achieve. There was the fabulous grand tour he had planned with Elfias, the new freedom they would have after seven years of study and commitment.

Illusion.

By leaving Hogwarts he had ended up leaving his happiness there too, everything had gone to pieces.

His mother's death had hit him painfully in the heart in a number of different ways. Kendra, their fabulously strong and beloved mother had been snatched from the world by another person he loved: Ariana. It was not her fault, it would have been terrible to hold her responsible, but Albus found it hard to look his sister in the eye for more than a few seconds and it scared him, as well as angering Aberforth, even if he tried not to show it.

Furthermore, the terrible accident had deprived him not only of his mother, but also of his freedom, the much desired freedom that he had hoped to welcome with open arms and which had turned out to be nothing more than a cloud of smoke.

He had not felt such a dark tangle of feelings since his father had been swallowed by Azkaban and now he no longer remembered how he had chased those dark thoughts away back then.

For the first time in a long time, Albus, who had always been looking for new questions to answer, had too many problems to solve and lacked the strength to face them all.

His brother wanted to drop out of school, devote himself completely to their sister to "prevent such incidents from happening again" as he had said screaming during their last fight. Albus knew it was simply Aberforth's way of handling the grief, but that he abandoned Hogwarts before graduation was out of the question.

They were alone now, really alone, three insignificant spots of color on the canvas of the world and the future was more uncertain than ever, a good education was elementary to have a chance to regain control over their existence.

He wondered what his professors would think if they saw him now: sitting on the edge of the bed, bent in half and his hands rubbing his sweaty face. The brightest and most promising student in centuries. They were probably almost all sure that he was traveling with Elfias to spread his fame around the world and to increase his knowledge. Very few were aware of Kendra Dumbledore's death, they didn't want rumors about the circumstances of the accident to start circulating to possibly compromise Ariana.

"Albus" called Aberforth at that moment.

"Albus, come downstairs" he repeated after a few seconds with his voice starting to fill with irritation. The auburn-haired wizard took a breath trying to dispel all the bitterness that had remained in his mouth after their last fight and joined his brother in the kitchen.

Aberforth was sitting at the table with Ariana handing her some flowers that they had picked in her garden and which she wove into a chaplet. His brother didn't look up and just pointed to an envelope in the center of the table. Bathilda's flying writing was unmistakable.

"She is inviting us for tea, for the third time this week. I'm staying with Ariana, so you have to go" Aberforth said.

"I could stay with our sister for a while."

The other gave him a look that made Albus feel unpleasantly guilty and angry at the same time, then opened his mouth to say something he really didn't want to hear and so he stopped him just in time.