TAINTED BLOOD ━ FRED WEASLEY ( editing )

𝖝𝖎. 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖎𝖉𝖆𝖓𝖙

Her loyal bowtruckle ( who had thrown a tantrum when Alexandra had offered it the chance to roam the grounds with Blaise ) had taken residence on top of the witch's discarded scarf, soft snores leaving its lips as it blissfully slept the late morning away.

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor snapped Alexandra back to reality. The witch tilted her head to the side, her eyes locking with Aron's.

Aron Grindelwald, unbeknown to his twin, had spent weeks crippled by guilt. Images of his vision kept him from sleeping, tossing and turning all night much like Alexandra. He'd had enough of seeing his sister struggling on her own. Finding Alexandra hadn't been hard, for if one truly knew her, they'd be aware that there were only two places she might have retreated to; the Forbidden Forest or the library.

"Mum and dad have sent me a letter for both of us." The boy shyly mumbled, unable to conjure a better excuse to initiate a conversation.

Alexandra exhaled slowly. "Why are you really here, Aron?"

Aron's nerves did not stem from fear. For as far as he could remember, Alexandra's expression had always been stony and cold, aside from when she was surrounded by people she knew and trusted. No, Aron Grindelwald was not afraid of the look that often sent shivers down witches and wizards' spines, but wracked with sadness due to the mere prospect that he might have lost his twin's trust.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

"I – I guess..." Aron hesitated, shoulder slumping as he whispered. "You've been avoiding them ever since we got here, and I know you're mad at me, but I don't understand why you haven't replied to any of their letters."

"You know why." Alexandra asserted. "You've known for a while now, haven't you? We're twins and, unlike me, sometimes you're kind of an open book." Reaching in front of her, the witch held her twin's hands in her own, stopping him from fidgeting. "I was mad at first. I am not gonna lie to you. I was mad because you were keeping things from me – ironic, I know – but then I thought to myself, 'he's a seer; he doesn't have control over what he sees, and, being new at this, he must have gone to Dumbledore.'."

A single tear ran down Aron's cheek, and Alexandra wasted no time in brushing it gently away, her lips stretching into a reassuring smile. "He told you not to tell me, didn't he?" She queried rhetorically.

"I wanted to tell you." Aron choked. "I was worried, I still am." It was as if a dam had broken. Aron burst into tears, his heart breaking, for he thought he'd failed his sister by doing the one thing he never thought he would have ever done to her: lying. The young wizard had always looked up to his twin and considered her his role model. Aron didn't care that Alexandra was different from the rest of their family members, for he didn't see it as a negative thing, but as something to be cherished and admired. To him, Alexandra was the strongest of them all, the one who'd never allowed a nasty comment break her stride.

Tears blurred his vision. Aron was so overwhelmed he hadn't noticed that Alexandra had stood up and crouched beside him.

"Hey, hey, look at me." Alexandra needled. "You have nothing to be sorry about, okay? I'm the one who shouldn't have lost it. You're my twin, and I should have been more understanding... I just haven't been myself lately." Shaking her head, the witch let out an empty chuckle. "Merlin, look at us: the Grindelwald twins, a complete mess." Locking eyes with Aron, Alexandra smiled sympathetically. "You saw something that truly spooked you, yeah?"

"That's not the half of it –" Aron begun, only to be cut off by Alexandra, who raised a hand to prevent him from finishing his sentence.

"Ah, ah, ah." Alexandra tutted. "Dumbledore might be as cryptic and odd as they come, but, call me a nutter, I still trust his judgment."