Summer 1899 // Grindledore

Nightmare

The living area smelled of faux roses and lavender. The whole house did. The aroma clinged to every object as though it had no other choice— the sofa, the lounge chair, the throw blankets and ornamental pillows all reeked of the overbearing scent. As soon as one walked through the door, they were greeted by a sharp stab inside of their head. Long vertical stripes of dark purple and white edging their way down from the ceiling to the wooden flooring did no favors in warding off headaches. Neither did the matching furniture, which only distinguishing itself from the walls with floral patterns displayed across the stripes.

Mrs. Gerlind Grindelwald always kept her drapes shut since the beginning of her status of a widow. The only source of light in the house was candle light shining through the glass lamp covers. One of the lamp shades had clearly been poorly mended back together. Once again the ever so prominent floral design made yet another appearance, this time on the shattered lampshade.

Gellert's mother— an older woman who always wore her hair down— stood by the stove, brewing up a pot of stew. Suddenly, she stood completely still, her eyes staring at the wall in front of her. She grabbed at her chest and fell to the floor. Next, as if someone had turned the pages of a book too quickly, the house caught fire. Black smoke crept out of the windows and the deep purple and white wallpaper burned away.

And then there was darkness, followed by a gasp.

"Gellert." Albus said. "You're just dreaming. It's okay."

"She's had problems with her heart all her life." Gellert uttered, still not fully awake.

"Who?"

"I'm not very close to her, but I still... I still love her."

"Gellert, who are you talking about?"

"My mother."

"Oh..." Albus embraced him.

"She kicked me out after I was expelled," he said, holding back tears. He can't be weak, not in front of Albus. "Told me that'd It would be good for me. She is a madwoman. I was afraid I wouldn't find any purpose in life."

Albus held him tighter. "We found eachother." he said, stroking Gellert's hair.

For once Gellert let his barrier of emotional stability fall down and he hugged Albus and let tears fall from his eyes. "I love you," he said in a croaky voice. Albus smiled sadly. "And I you."