A burning summer

29th June 1899

The summer was wonderfully hot and the world had begun to turn the right way again.

Albus could smell it in the air and in Gellert's scent of lemon, seafoam and mint: the world was about to change. It did not matter if for the moment it was still full of problems and jarring rifts; soon everything would be repaired and wrapped in harmony.

It would be the two of them, with their hands, who would push the whole world, if necessary, to keep it spinning the right way. Them: Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, the most brilliant wizards of the moment , perhaps in history!

It was pure euphoria. He had never felt like this and was ashamed when he caught himself thinking that it was the best summer of his life, he had no right to think so.

It wasn't that Albus had forgotten all the suffocating problems that filled the Dumbledore house, he had simply encased them in a timeless bubble, promising that he would face them sooner or later, indeed, that it would be the first thing he would do as soon as the world would become a better one.

Things with his brother had not cleared up, but they argued less for the simple fact that there was no chance for it since the eldest of the Dumbledores was never at home; he had postponed all the quarrels to a more beautiful, simpler afterwards.

Albus stood behind Ariana braiding her hair. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating far more than necessary in inserting the purple flowers that his sister had picked in the garden into her braids.

Ariana was excited: it was a special evening, a summer tradition that was organized every year in the small village; according to some for centuries, according to others for years.

"Godric's Glimmering Gathering" was all about enjoying the summer, the starry sky, dancing and eating. All the inhabitants contributed to the feast in some way: someone brought a cake, another played the harmonica or the drum, Bathilda told old legends about famous wizards and witches to children, and Ariana had prepared flower garlands.

Aberforth had been tense about bringing their sister to the Gathering after the recent incident, but the feast was a family custom and not allowing her to participate would have meant disappointing and saddening her. They had then decided, after an afternoon of grumpy and tense talk, that the younger Dumbledore would return home with their sister in a couple of hours.

"Do you still love me?"

Albus was suddenly torn from the flow of his thoughts by Ariana's inquisitive and at the same time worried voice. He did just what he had been trying to avoid until then: he met her eyes in the mirror she was sitting in front of. It was as if he were looking into two pieces of sky: there were faint clouds of questions seeking answers. He turned his head quickly.

"Of course I love you, my little sister, you know that" he replied, however, without hesitation.

Ariana seems to think for a moment, as if she were trying to piece together a particularly difficult puzzle.

"So, you don't like my eyes?" she asked unsure.

Albus frowned without understanding exactly what she meant.

"You have beautiful eyes, Ariana, they're like Aberforth's and mine."

She let out a frustrated sigh as she wrinkled her nose.

"But then why... Ab said you never look me in the eye because mother is dead, but you said you still love me."

This time Albus was unable to respond immediately with spontaneity, in the end he said: "You can love and not look a person in the eye, love comes from the heart and the heart is blind."