Fawkes felt the bond with her Companion shatter. She had known her Companion was nearing death, and that he had refused her healing powers. He was still wracked with guilt of his younger years. But that still did not prepare her.
Memories flooded her mind as her eyes closed, and her tears fell uselessly below her.
She had been newly hatched just over 250 years ago, and had explored her world. Her world of flames and heat. She had danced and sang with an innumerable amount of fellow Phoenixes. But one day, she met a new Phoenix, with a new smell about him. He spoke of a world filled with beings called humans. He spoke of a magic similar to their own, of new colors, of a man named Merlin.
She had felt her own interest grow, and had spent years asking for the older Phoenix to recount stories. Eventually the Phoenix had grown weary of her questions and told her that if she as so interested she should speak to the Old One and go herself.
It had taken her years to gather the courage, but finally she wondered deep into the heart of her world where the Old One, draped in flames of blue, green, and red had danced and sang. She sang of birth, and the everlasting cycle. Her song and magic revolved around birthing new Phoenixes to replace those lost, and to keep the world burning and strong. She was the essence of all that is and was, the oldest Phoenix.
The Old One instantly coaxed her into dancing with her. And though the Old One never paused in her singing, she spoke directly to her mind. The Old One warned her of the dangers of the other world, told her that those who existed in the other world died. But after sensing the younger Phoenix's will to go, the Old One had relented. She granted her the knowledge on how to arrive at the other world and how to return.
Singing her goodbyes, the young Phoenix had transported herself to the other world. Her first sight of the other world filled her with delight and she sang to the skies, hoping her joy would travel to the Old One's ears.
The years passed and she found out much about the other world. She learned that there were many humans who sought to capture her and steal her feathers. But she easily evaded them. Sometimes they would grab her tail feathers, but she drew on the flames within herself to burn them. But not all humans were as rude, she remembered a man who begged a boom. A single feather from her tail to build a magical wand. She sensed no ill will from the man and agreed, turning her feathers into solid form, ridding them of flames. For his politeness she gifted him with two instead of just one.
It wasn't long after that she found a man in a forest. She noticed the spells placed around him, trying to keep anyone from noticing him. But she saw him, and she felt the sorrow in his mind and heard the sobs resonating throughout his body. She flew to him and began to sing. She drew from deep within herself and sang about the beauty of his world. She sang of the sky, and the flowers. She sang of the colors and the smells. She sang of he kindness of some men. The man eventually calmed and lay on his back, looking up at the sky, listening.
She felt her flames sing after her first glimpse of his face, it now looked so peaceful, and she felt her song end. The man looked at her. "Are you comforting me you sweet thing?"
She had flown down to his side, and allowed his hand to pet her head. The sensation was new and welcome. She trilled her delight. The man chuckled. "You are a beautiful Phoenix. The first I have ever seen. Do you have a name?" Her head had tilted to the side in confusion at the word. He chuckled, "I'll take that as a no." He sighed. "My name is Albus. Would you mind if I give you a name, so that I may call you something other than Phoenix." She took a moment to think, before trilling her acceptance. The man had taken on a thoughtful expression. After a moment he spoke once more. "How does Fawkes sound? I heard of a man with the name Fawkes who attempted to blow up something he disagreed with. He attempted to burn them. What do you think?"
She tested the name out. She found it pleasant and beautiful so she trilled her delight and pressed her face to his chest. There she heard him laugh once more, the vibrating sensation was one she would never forget. But too soon he was pulling away and standing. She looked up at him, and he looked down at her with a twinkle in his eye.
"Thank you dear Fawkes. I feel better because of your fine song." He sighed and she noticed his twinkle diminish. "But I must go and face what I have done. Perhaps we will meet again." And then he was leaving.
A few years later, she has her first burning day on the other world. She hid herself in some ruins, hoping she would be safe. But she was discovered when she was too weak to defend herself. She was captured and trapped by magic.
For years they tried to tame her, but she kept her feathers in their hottest flame, deterring their questing fingers. A young girl came and spoke to her when the others weren't near. She spoke of a good many things, and Fawkes would trill to her softly. But Fawkes was not blind, she recognized that the girl was a slave for the group as much as Fawkes herself was. There were near daily bruises appearing on the girl, and a band of metal around her neck.
One day the girl opened the cage. Fawkes knew that the girl was going to get into trouble for it, so she tried to stay in the cage. But the girl begged with tears in her eyes and reached into the cage to pull Fawkes out. Unwilling to hurt the girl, Fawkes kept her feathers just warm enough to warn her, but the girl ignored it, instead pulling with all her might until she held Fawkes cradled in her arms.
The girl threw her into the air after a ment and Fawkes fluttered there shocked. But then there was a shout and bolt of green magic. It hit the girl in the chest, and the girl fell to the ground dead. Fawkes trilled mournfully for the girl, and tried in vain to heal her with her tears. A noise had her looking up. Fawkes noticed more men were flooding the grounds. But Fawkes realized that the new men where fighting against those who had captured her.
Fawkes flew in circles over the group and helped the new men fight the captors, in any wy she could. Until finally the man who had killed the girl was the only one left alive. Fawkes trilled angrily and dived at the man. Making her flames glow a near blue tint, she wrapped her wings around the man and ignored his screams. Eventually the man had burnt to a shell of a man. Dropping the body, Fawkes flew in circles around the remains of the girl, and sang of her courage to any who would listen.
Soon her song ended and she heard, "Fawkes?"
Fawkes faced the man who called her name. He was different from before. He seemed happier, but she could tell that he was just as sad as the first time she had met him. She flew to him, and was delighted when he didn't flinch. She landed on his shoulder and pruned his hair happily. He chuckled and she heard the unused quality. With the death of the girl fresh in her mind, she began to sing a binding between her and Albus. He shook under her magic. But the binding held, and he became her Companion.
Using their new mental connection she spoke to him. "I will protect you. Whatever it takes" His gasp was the only reply she needed, because she felt the warmth that grew in his mind at her declaration.
The years had passed quickly for the pair. She fought at his side and protected him. She grew happier as the darkness from his past began to fade. He grew happier and gained a lighter twinkle in his eye.
Her interest in another person appeared when she met a young boy by the name of Tom for the first time. She noticed that he carried a wand that was tainted with the feel of her own magic. Because of this, she felt the evil in the boy and tried to warn Albus. Albus kept an eye on the boy but did nothing to stop the boys decline into insanity. And she fought against the reappearance of Albus' darkness when the boy went past the point of no return.
It was a long time before another earned her attention. The boy met her on a burning day, but she felt no ill will from him, so allowed him to see her transformation. As a reborn Phoenix, Fawkes listened to the boy, and knew he meant no harm. He was almost the polar opposite of the boy named Tom. Albus tried to tell her things sometimes about the boy Tom and the boy Harry. But none of it made any sense to her. So she dismissed it.
Not long after this, Albus was asked to leave the school, but he asked her to stay and guard his students. She heard his unspoken plea for her to protect the young Harry. So she did, using magic to hide herself from view. She only left the boy at night. So she was surprised when she heard the boy cry out Albus's name in his defense. Using her instinct, she grabbed the hat from the bookcase and flew to where the boy was. She saw the snake that tried to eat the boy, and could feel the magic in the beasts eyes, so she evened the field and blinded the beast, rendering that magic useless. Whatever it was.
She flew up and sat in the rafters of the room and watched as Harry fought the beast. She wished to help him, but she felt that it was more important to watch the shadow of the boy named Tom. She felt her magic flowing through the wand in the shadow's hands. At first she thought it was the boy Tom's wand, but she realized it was not the same. Then she remembered something Albus had told her once, about how the boy Harry had gotten the other wand from her feathers.
Her shock distracted her enough that she missed the ending of his battle with the snake. But she watched as he pulled a poisoned fang from his body and stabbed the diary that the shadow had tried to escape from. Moments later the girl sat up, and Fawkes flew down to the boy with a trill. She felt pity that this poor boy had to do so much and she let the tears fall on his wound. And felt a light bond with the boy form.
Albus had been so proud of her. The next few years passed, not gently, but passed they did. And then Albus had gotten himself cursed. He had started to die slowly. She knew she could heal him, but when she had offered he had shook his head, insisting that his time had come. No matter what begging she implored, he remained firm in the matter.
So she had prepared herself, as much as she could. She knew that humans died. She knew that the bond would be severed when he died. But he had managed to keep his earlier death date secret. He had told her not long before disappearing with the boy Harry. He told her that his days were fewer than she had ever expected. That he had days at most to survive. He had trapped her in his office to keep her from following him.
And now he was gone. As was the spell that kept her trapped. The pain was horrible and she flew into the sky. She had only to think for a moment before she began to sing. She sang to everyone who could hear her. She poured her sorrow into the notes, hearing them echo around her. She sang the very first song that she had ever sang for Albus. Her words were happy, but the notes were sorrowful.
She eventually reached the end of the song.
She continued to circle the sky for a few minutes more, her tears pouring to the ground below her. Finally she spotted her home, appearing on the horizon. She began to fly toward the sun, with her magic swirling around her.
Once in her own world, the Phoenixes felt her anguish and danced and sang around her, trying to comfort her. But she ignored them and raced to the Old One. The Old One knew of her pain instantly. She tried to cheer Fawkes up. But Fawkes cried. And she begged the Old One to let her die. She cried, saying the pain was too much. But the Old One asked if she truly wanted to leave her Companion's Protected all alone in the world.
Fawkes thought on the young Harry, but the boy only made her think of Albus, so she begged for the Old One to, at least, rid her of her memories. The Old One had paused for a moment in her singing, and the world shuddered. But then the Old One was singing once more. She made a bargain with Fawkes. She told her that if Fawkes would only wait for her next death day, which was a few years away, and she still wanted free of the memories, than the Old One would send her rebirth into the body of a human. There she would grow old and eventually die, but she would not remember her previous existence.
It was the day before her death day, and she flew to the Old One's side, dancing along with her. After a few minutes of this, she told the Old One that the pain was still unbearable. And the Old One wept for the loss of Fawkes. But she had promised Fawkes. So her song changed, and she sang for Fawkes. All of the other Phoenixes stopped their own songs, whether in this world or the next, to listen to the Old One sing. Tears fell down every Phoenixes eyes and they heard about the loss of one of their own.
For a full day, all the Phoenixes quieted their own songs and began to sing with the Old One. Those near the Phoenixes on Earth, heard the sadness in the notes and would forever remember the day.
9 Months Later
A green-eyed man cradled the young girl in his arms. Rocking her gently he hummed to her, she quickly fell asleep, gripping his shirt. He knew her hair would be a red flame like her mother's. He kissed his daughter's forehead gently and whispered, "My dearest Lily Luna Potter."
This story was prompted by this line in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: "And he knew, without knowing how he knew it, the Phoenix had gone, had left Hogwarts for good, just Dumbledore had left the school, had left the world... Had left Harry." (Page 632)