Chapter 600 - Potter’s Cottage Ⅱ (2/2)
A chuckle escapes from Albus as he gently scratches Butter behind the ears and on the chin. Before Albus has even finished the wooden door is slammed open to reveal the owner of the Hogs Head Inn, Aberforth Dumbledore. With neatly trimmed gray hair and beard, Aberforth glares at his older brother with vivid blue colored eyes hidden behind spectacles.
”Albus,” Aberforth sharply said, ”to what do I owe this unexpected honor?”
”A private word, please Aberforth,” Albus quietly remarked.
Aberforth furrows his brows and sneers but does not protest. Gruffly he moves aside and says, ”Hurry up and come on inside. I've got customers waiting, and I've got a living to keep.”
”It won't take long, I promise,” Albus replied as Aberforth sneered at this brother's words. Albus had once made such a promise to Aberforth and had all but broken his word. No Aberforth did not put his trust even in a single knut when it came from his older brother, Albus. (And that was somewhat of a lie if one considered the fact that Aberforth was a member of the Order of the Phoenix and had allowed Albus to host said meetings temporarily at the Hogs Head Inn.)
Albus is heading to their usual meeting point when Aberforth roughly grabs him by the elbow and gruffly says, ”In there,” he gestured with a tilt of his head.
Albus blinks in surprise as Aberforth had never permitted him to enter his personal quarters. Curious, Albus did not protest and entered the room as requested. The parlor is sparsely decorated with an old bookshelf and old furniture. Everything looked cleaned recently, but more importantly Albus gasped at seeing the portrait hanging over the mantelpiece. It the portrait of a girl with chest length golden hair neatly pulled back as her bright blue eyes stared straight ahead and all the while cradling a book in her arms, Ariana, his younger sister.
Aberforth loudly slams the door shut behind him causing Albus to startle out of his gawk and reluctantly tear his gaze away from the portrait. ”I thought-,” Albus fell quiet, before speaking, ”I thought there were no living portraits of Ariana.”
Aberforth sneered in reply, ”You must have looked terribly hard, Albus.”
Albus steps back as if slapped, before melancholically staring at the gaze with something akin to longing. ”Does she ever speak to you?” Albus's voice wavered as he stared at the portrait willing it to move and speak to him.
Aberforth glances at the image of his beloved younger sister which causes his expression to soften. ”At times,” he admitted.
”I see,” Albus quietly remarked, before forcefully tearing his gaze away. Giving himself a minute, he finally composes, and says, ”I am sorry about the intrusion this evening, Aberforth but I merely wished to inform you that I have found permanent quarters for the Order. I am grateful for all that you have done and especially patiently hosting us. Thank you.”
Aberforth curtly nods his head at Albus with his arms folded over his broad chest. ”Is that all, Albus?”
”Yes, that is all.”
”Good, then you know the way out.”
Albus gazes one last time at the portrait as if willing it to speak to him, before departing. Aberforth remains standing there for a moment staring at the portrait, but the portrait does not react or move. It would seem that Ariana was far away lost in distant shores found within her own mind. And only with time would she ever return to them again. (A trait leftover from her the obscurial, and seemingly impossible, but the magical painter had managed to capture it against impossible odds.)