For the Greater Good - A Grindeldore Fanfiction

Chapter 1: The Stranger

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he walked up the main road of Godric's Hollow. He thought back on the past few weeks as his boots scraped the cobblestone. He had not expected to be back here now. He should have been touring the world with his loyal sidekick- erm, friend- Elphias Doge. He should NOT have been returning home to this dull little town to babysit his siblings, Aberforth and Ariana. He had won hundreds of prizes, his work was knows throughout the world! Certainly he was destined for greater things that taking care of a pair of children? He hadn't asked for this, any of it! But his mother's death had changed everything.

As he walked up the curving side lane to his house, he noticed a boy sitting in the shade on the side of the road. Godric's Hollow was a small village, and Albus was sure that he knew everyone who lived there, but the boy was unfamiliar. Albus was sure he would have recognized him if he had ever passed him before; with sleek blond hair, glimmering eyes (eye, really, for the other was a pale, milky white), and a thin, yet simultaneously sturdy figure, the boy's appearance was striking. Albus' mind stopped working, a rare occurrence, as he took him in. "Why was he here?",  "What was he doing?" and one small thought that made no sense at all and had absolutely no business being in Albus' head: "Is he looking for me?"

Just then, the mysterious boy looked up from his delicate hands. Inexplicably, his gaze found Albus'. As their eyes met, several things happened at once. The stranger's eyes flashed, and briefly reflected a scene different to the one that was directly before him; the stranger's beautiful face broke into secretive smirk, and he tugged on a symbol hanging from a chain around his neck. Albus' eyes widened, but he couldn't look away from the stranger, he was absolutely captivated by him. He took a slow step towards the other boy. Then another. The stranger stood and discreetly beckoned him closer with a slender finger. Albus was halfway to the boy, when a voice rang through the air.

"Albus! Albus! Over here!" the voice yelled from the porch of his house. Albus flinched, breaking out of his trance and caught standing like an idiot in the middle of the road. He whirled around to look at his little sister, still yelling his name, beaming and waving at him. After a halfhearted wave, he turned back to where the captivating stranger had been standing moments before, but he had disappeared.

Disappointed, Albus was about to turn back to his sister, when something on the ground caught his eye. Upon looking closer, he saw that lying on the ground where the boy had been standing, was a golden chain with a strange symbol hanging from it, almost like an eye. Albus recognized it as the one that the boy had been wearing when they stared at each other.

He quickly scooping up the necklace from the ground before anyone could see him. He hoped that it would lead him back to the mysterious boy and their inexplicable connection. He turned, running into the house and pulling his little sister into a hug as she squealed.

Ariana grabbed his hand and led him into the house, all the while keeping up constant chatter about who had done what, who had kissed who, who had married who, and every single other detail imaginable about what had happened in Godric's Hollow while Albus had been gone at school. Albus pretended to be interested, but in reality his mind was still on the stranger that he had seen earlier.

Ariana stopped her newsreel for long enough to hand him an envelope with his name on it and say "Bathilda sent this for you," before continuing to tell him about Chester Sneet, who had cheated on his poor wife Claudia with a much younger woman, Victoria Sentress. Albus looked around and noticed his brother, Aberforth, leaning in the doorway, glaring at him. Ariana broke of with a squeal and ran to hug him, which he did tenderly, all the while with his eyes never leaving Albus.

Albus internally sighed. He had never had the closest relationship with his brother, but he knew that Aberforth blamed him for never helping around the house and never being there for Ariana. Although he didn't like to admit and failure, he knew deep down that Aberforth was right. Well, now was his chance to make it right. He would take care of his family, until he could find another way to provide for them and continue on with his glorious purpose. He smiled firmly and walked over to pick Ariana up and twirl her around. He would NOT fail to be a good brother, as much as he wished he could be discussing magic with an equal instead of babysitting two insane siblings.

A/N: So, did you like the first chapter? Yes, that was a Loki reference for anyone who got it; I am not ashamed to use my boyfriends lines when they fit in so perfectly to the story. It actually turned out to be a bit longer than I originally planned, so yay! I'll probably update within the week, because I'm sick and I have nothing else to do. See you, my darlings! 💋