Never one for disclaimers, this will be the only one for this story.

It's not mine... I'm not making money... Sue someone else...

Chapter 1

The Long Sleep

An old man in exquisite black robes sat quietly in front of the brightly flickering fire in his study reflecting on his long life and the myriad of troubles the criminally insane wizard known as Voldemort caused the Wizarding world more than 50 years ago. A half empty bottle of Ogdens Finest sat on the ornate table beside his chair. His left hand, filled with his glass rested limply on the arm of his rather comfortable leather padded rocker. In his right hand, he held his wand. It was worn, but polished and well cared for, and was made of holly with a phoenix feather core.

It was a powerful wand, used to do great things as the old man Ollivander predicted so many years ago. Its brother resided in a bottle of basilisk venom on the mantle above the fireplace. This was to prevent any would-be followers of Voldemort from attempting to use it for dark deeds. The venom was most potent and by now was thoroughly embedded in the wand. No one could touch it without succumbing to the effects of the poison. Save the old man himself, he discovered that after being cured of basilisk venom in his youth, he was immune to its deadly effects.

His long black, no longer messy, hair covered his haggard face and the tell-tale scar he received as a child of only a year and a half. He knew a long life was still ahead of him as wizards were notoriously long-lived, but he wasn't sure yet whether he wanted that long life. Contemplating suicide wasn't on his mind, rather something a little more; involved.

There were so many lives lost, so much destruction of property, and so much heartache in the wizarding world. Hogwarts was gone; Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were rebuilt, but not the school. It was too far gone and the magic the school held from the time of the founders couldn't be replicated. Children were mostly educated at home by their parents, or small groups of parents would collaborate to educate their children together.

For him, it started with his parents. They were killed by Voldemort as he was attempting to skirt a prophesy one of his followers overheard. He thought he could do this by killing their son.

Then his godfather Sirius Black was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban Prison for the betrayal of his parents. Later Sirius' innocence was proven to the Wizengamot and he was released albeit after several years in prison. Sirius was murdered while out on an errand for Dumbledore. Pettigrew claimed later that he was the one who bested Sirius in a duel, though no one believed it. It was commonly thought that Peter ambushed Sirius with Dementors and while in his animagus form performed the killing curse on him from the shadows like the coward he was.

In the end, Peter Pettigrew lost his life as well when he met up with Remus Lupin. The werewolf caught his former friend and caged him with anti-animagus charms and other charms against magical or muggle travel that kept him from running off. He purposely did not take his wolfsbane potion one full moon and asked his wife Nymphadora Tonks to lock him in the cage with Pettigrew. Harry still had nightmares from the screams he heard that night.

Next to die was his headmaster and mentor/manipulator Albus Dumbledore. He'd long since forgiven Dumbledore, but if he was able to alter anything, several of the headmaster's manipulations would be some of the first to be changed.

Remus, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were killed in the final battle at Hogwarts. They hadn't suffered thankfully, killed by that sickening green killing curse known as Advada Kedavra.

There was his broken heart from the loss of his friends, family, and in Hermione's case, the love of his life. He didn't even get the chance to tell her as much before she died. A life of regrets awaited him if he didn't do something about it. Shame at losing so many and regret for never telling them what each meant to him. Ron was his brother by choice, not by blood, and Hermione…

Hermione... A smile slowly spread across his worn and weary face. It hadn't happened over night. In fact, it was quite a while in coming, but he did fall in love with her by the end of his seventh year. She and Ron helped him figure out just what made Voldemort able to return after the tournament in his fifth year. They searched every library, every dark corner of Knockturn Alley as well as the one time they actually broke in and raided the Malfoy library… An adventure in itself really.

Their first kiss happened when they met up the summer following the tournament. It was a chance meeting at a local shopping center, but for Harry, it couldn't have been planned better if he was given a month and three wishes from a genie.

Harry was out at the grocery purchasing a list of items for his aunt and was almost finished gathering the items on the list when he turned a corner about to head toward the counter when he literally ran into his best friend.

She fell flat on her bum with an undignified 'oomph'. Harry was mortified, he started apologizing as if his life depended on it until he realized just who it was he was apologizing to and helping up. That's when Harry, overcome with emotion, was unable to process it any other way. He laughed. Not your regular chuckle, not a funny joke laugh, but a deep belly laugh, the kind that comes from being awake for thirty-six hours straight with your buddies and someone farts laugh… he couldn't help it.

He bent at the middle and was roaring in his amusement. It was contagious. Hermione was at first, understandably upset at being knocked over, but as realization dawned on her just who her assailant was, she started her own laugh. Actually, she was giggling like a schoolgirl, it was just so surreal seeing Harry Potter here of all places.

They finally got a hold of themselves and greeted each other properly. This meant Harry was wrapped in a very tight almost crushing hug. As she was hugging him, he remembered getting the feeling he never wanted to let her go. It wasn't the first time, but the feeling was slightly stronger each time it happened. She smelled slightly of honey and berries. "Probably her shampoo", he remembered thinking.

After taking quite a bit longer than usual to let each other go, Harry sobered quickly as did Hermione. Maintaining eye contact, Harry stepped back into the hug, put one hand on her lower back, the other cupping her right cheek.

He gently brushed his thumb across her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. Harry slowly leaned forward and finally closing his eyes, he softly kissed her lips. She responded almost immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck and running her fingers through his eternally messy raven hair. Her lips parted slightly allowing for more contact. Harry was lost in her, they melded into one being, and for a moment, the world consisted only of their kiss…

Afterward, it was quite awkward for Harry. She never allowed him to apologize, but nor did she force him to talk about it either. She allowed him to come to realizations about their relationship on his own and unfortunately, it just took a little bit too long.

There was a decision to be made. Harry Potter was just on the cusp of making it when a swan-like and beautifully plumed red and gold bird flashed into his living room quite unexpectedly in mid-air directly in front of him. Surprised, Harry watched as the bird glided over and landed on the arm of his chair.

"Hello old friend, what brings you out of retirement?" Harry asked of the Phoenix he knew as Fawkes.

Fawkes yawned widely then started a low trill while staring directly in Harry's eyes. Harry was mesmerized for a moment when Fawkes' voice suddenly penetrated his human mind and spoke to him for the first time.

"I am to be bonded with you Young One."

Startled a second time in as many moments, Harry gathered his thoughts and questioned the former familiar of his mentor Albus Dumbledore.

"Why now?" Harry was about to make a lot of changes and didn't think he could afford to bond with Fawkes. It wouldn't do any good anyway if his plan came to fruition.

"I understand Young One. I am here to make sure we go back together."

This statement caused Harry no small amount of surprise once again.

"I learned of your plan almost as soon as you decided to do it. The bond between us was initiated by Albus before he passed, but I have stayed away in order to recover from his loss. It is difficult to deal with losing a piece of yourself as I'm sure you are aware. I am here now because I felt I could not wait any longer. It is important you do not try this without my help.."

Harry gave him a questioning glance as Fawkes answered the unasked question.

"I see my traveling back with you gives you pause Young One. Do not worry. My past self will still be bonded to Albus, but I will be bonded to you. My coloring will change with the bonding as it did when I bonded to Albus. There will be no need to try to explain anything to Albus. In fact, it would be best if no one knows what we are doing. My other self will know of course, but will keep our confidence. With Albus' passing in the new timeline, my other self will fade from existence and his modified memories will pass to me. It will be uncomfortable for a period when that happens, but I will endure."

"So you know of my plans?" Harry asked as he unconsciously called for his house elf Dobby. The little pointy eared, bug eyed elf popped into existence at his side and with out much fanfare, relieved Harry of his glass and Fire-Whiskey, and quietly popped away.

Dobby regarded the phoenix as any magical creature regarded the phoenix, as something so purely good that they knew instinctively there was no danger from them. He would protect his master from all harm. Ever since the boy-who-lived freed him from his former masters, and even before, he felt it was his duty to protect Harry Potter.

After the war, Dobby was offered a job with Harry, but the man could not convince the elf to take nary a knut for his work. Over the years, Harry learned that House Elves died from lack of magic if they were not bonded to a home or to a human master so Harry and Dobby were bonded soon after the elf came to work for him.

Fawkes waited until the little elf left before answering.

"I have been watching you Harry Potter. You are unhappy with the outcome of the War and wish to change certain events so much that you are contemplating a return to your childhood in order to effect these changes. I agree with your plans and have made my decision to come with you to help."

"I still have a problem though Fawkes. While I will be able to keep certain memories intact, the whole of my life experiences, my soul, my magic, none of these can cross through the rift I plan to make." stated Harry. The spell he found while researching Voldemort's inhuman ability to stay alive in spirit form was good only for transporting a few key memories back to oneself and was usually only good for a period of a few months, though Harry figured out how to make it work for years by reducing the number of memories to just a key few as well as instilling knowledge within himself to realize what the memories represented.

Fawkes answered cryptically, "That is why we are not using your rift to travel back in time Young One. I have been a part of this world for a very long time and with my help, it is possible to allow you to keep all your memories as well as your inherent magical power. I may even be able to enhance your abilities a little along the way. However, we will need to start preparations as soon as possible so your magic doesn't start to fade as happens with age to all wizards. You are actually at your peak right now. You are so much stronger now than you were when Riddle was defeated. Being bonded to a phoenix will let you keep that power throughout your lifetime."

Harry and Fawkes spent most of the night discussing the possible changes to the timeline including how far back to go and what they couldn't change in order for the defeat to be permanent. They discussed the Phoenix's ability to transport himself and Harry to the past. Fawkes informed him that it was inherent to his species to be able to manipulate time, hence the ability to 'flash' from one place to another. Basically the phoenix stops time then opens a portal to the location it wants to go, after hopping through, time is restarted. The flash of fire is just a visual representation of the magic that holds the portal.

Fawkes' explained that his magic would support both of their minds; and as Harry would have a body to go into and Fawkes wouldn't, they were using Fawkes' body. Harry would need to use occlumency to consolidate his memories so Fawkes could transfer and protect them. His soul and his magical powers would be transferred after the bonding. Harry was told he would have to give up his body by forcing his spirit to depart prematurely. Fawkes would then pull it into himself before Harry's spirit was compelled to cross over. It would take several years for Fawkes to build up the magical reserves for the time travel process to complete, but Harry's essence would be contained within Fawkes during this period. Since he didn't have a body, he could live within Fawkes for centuries if need be. Though after that much time, he would have a hard time unless his body was held somewhere in stasis…

The phoenix could save the spirit from crossing over, and once it used its tears to heal the body, could replace the spirit in the once dead vessel. If it was necessary, a phoenix could protect it's human from death in this manner. A phoenix had to agree to it and the wizard had to be pure of heart, and even then, it was almost never done.

So with the details worked out, Harry fell asleep in his chair while Fawkes initiated the bonding process.

When Harry woke, the process was complete and he felt more alive than he had in years. Looking over at Fawkes he asked him aloud, "Is it done old friend? If it is, I must tell you I feel like a million galleons."

Fawkes trilled an answer and nodded his head. He was struggling with the bonding as Harry was powerful already. He took some time to recover and answered slowly.

"All is complete Yong One, you are most impressive. I have had a hard time absorbing your magic. We are bonded. You cannot die unless I willingly let it happen now."

"I think we should wait until you recover fully to return to the past Fawkes. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I am fully recovered Harry. I am ready to start the process when you are. You must give up this body as we discussed. Are you able to separate your spirit so I can pull you into myself?"

Harry took only a moment and nodded in ascent to his newly bonded familiar. He sat back in his chair again and concentrated on separating his soul from his body. It was difficult at first as his soul resisted the separation as if it knew it would die without a body. Eventually though, Harry was able to make the disconnection. He felt as if he was floating up toward a new great adventure. No longer in any pain from his sore joints or muscles, he felt freer than he ever had. He just knew he was going to see his family again; Sirius, Albus, Remus, his father, his mother, Ron, and probably most importantly, Hermione.

As quickly as he felt these feelings they were replaced with an urgent tugging sensation as his guide's pull was starting to affect his non-corporeal being. He resisted, but the pull was inescapable. He suddenly found himself on a mountain top with a vast expanse of the mountain range and valleys surrounding him. He seemed to be in a nest of some sort.

Fawkes appeared before him and said, "Welcome to my mind Young One. I have to rest for a few years before I can bring us back but we will start your training immediately."

The Wizarding world mourned the passing of the former Boy-Who-Lived. His funeral was a grand ministry affair. Minister for Magic Blaise Zabini whom Harry helped get elected called for a national holiday in honor of their savior. There were speeches, candle-light vigils, and multiple memorial services held throughout the country. His body rested in state and the Ministry but eventually would be transported to Hogwarts where he would be entombed much as his former headmaster was, though Harry wouldn't be near the lake where the Dumbledore rested. He would be near the memorial that was erected after the war to honor the fallen. It was a simple statue of a group of six children crouching in a circle with wands aloft as if in the midst of a battle. The simple bronze plaque at the base of the statues read:

For those who lived, and those who didn't.

We will never forget. We will persevere.

After Harry Potter was laid to rest, Dobby the house-elf found his magic being pulled to the unknown. As he bawled for his master, he was overcome with his grief and decided to follow the pull. He popped away and was never seen again.

Harry spent the first few days of his joining without any sense of time. Several years passed for Harry within Fawkes. Fawkes was a magical creature, but his intellect far surpassed any human Harry ever met, and that was saying a lot considering he knew Albus Dubmledore and Hermione Granger.

Fawkes knew about elvin magic, human magic, and other types of magic lost to the sands of time or more likely, the bonds of ignorance and jealousy. Harry spent a good deal of his time learning and perfecting elvin magic since it was more closely related to human magic, though wandless. He also learned how to channel his inner animagus, both magical and non-magical. His forms were that of a white lightning phoenix and a large black wolf.

Fawkes appeared to him again after several missing hours. It was the first time the phoenix had left Harry alone for any length of time since first appearing. The only times he disappeared before was to find and eat food in the real world. He explained that he was preparing his magic to go back in time further than he had ever gone before and was preparing to do this while transporting his bonded within him.

Harry glanced at his friend nervously and raised his eyebrow questioningly at the bird.

Knowing the question, Fawkes replied, "Yes Young One we are ready to depart. You should feel nothing. I will be gone from here for what will seem like a couple of minutes while I transport us, but I shall return and guide you into your younger body."

Harry nodded and offered a slight smile as Fawkes disappeared.

Fawkes looked around at the old castle ruins one last time.

COMING SOON...

Chapter 2

The Awakening…