The Greater Good [GrindelwaldxDumbledore]

~Chapter Fourteen ~ The Flaw in the Plan

Gellert found himself spending more time in his room than his aunt thought healthy. He was quickly running out of excuses as to why he and Albus had gone from in each other's pocket to stone silence. His world had turned inward. He spent hours staring at the collection of letters and notes left to him by his grandfather in the vain hope that another great revelation would occur if he devoted enough hours to it. 

"I bumped into Albus today," Bathilda said over dinner, her eyes fixed on her nephew to gauge his reaction, "and I must say I think he is sporting a little too much facial hair for one so young, it really isn't becoming of him."

Gellert looked up from the fork he had been using to push his meal around his plate. 

"I suppose his brother has been running him ragged, Phylis was saying there was banging and screaming going on something terrible the other night, she would have gone around there if she was 20 years younger." Bathilda's brow furrowed as Gellert refused to take the bait, she wanted answers. "Have you spoken to him lately?"

I want to, Gellert thought, but couldn't get his mouth to commit to. He had information to share, a collaboration to work on, and a very big problem to solve. Ariana. "He's busy, I've told you, family stuff."

"Any thoughts about school? There are options outside of Durmstrang, you know."

"Keen to be rid of me too?" Gellert pushed his hardly touched dinner away.

"No, of course not, I'm just worried about you Gellert." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. "Last week you were full of life, owls flying back and forth between you two, now you've gone quiet and he looks rough. What happened between you?"

"Nothing."

"Hardly. I know better, something happened. I don't know what, but something dark lurks in that house, and I would put a hundred galleons on it being responsible for Kendra's death."

A ghostly image of Ariana formed in his mind's eye, pale and weak but her eyes wild with terror. Her mouth opens and something powerful shoots forth. He can feel it searing his skin seconds before it wraps around his heart and starts constricting. 

Bathilda stops her conspiracy short as she notices Gellert's eyes have glazed over. "Gellert?"

His lips turned purple as his chest failed to pull in air. His eyes locked on the skeletal girl with the dirty hair and overgrown nails that clawed into her own flesh.

Bathilda panicked, she couldn't see what Gellert could but she knew she needed to do something. Grabbing him roughly about the shoulders she shook him hard, screaming his name into his left ear. Tears bloomed in her eyes as she struggled to call him back.  In a final effort to break his trance, she brought her hand back as far as she could and delivered an almighty smack to his left cheek. Pins and needles erupted in her palm as she drew back.

The ghost was gone. Oxygen was back. Gellert's heart hammered in his chest to try and catch up. 

"Gellert? Are you back?" Bathilda could barely hold back her sobs enough to talk. She could see the light had reignited in his eyes but she needed supporting evidence.

"Sorry," he croaked, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"What was that? I've never seen you do that before, never seen anyone do that before."

"It's nothing, just forget it ever happened."

"Gellert, you stopped breathing, you could have died."

Gellert shook his head, "I normally just pass out and wake up again a short while later, nothing to worry about." 

"Are you sick? Is this the real reason your father sent you away?"