Author's Note: I was planning on continuing Phoenix Rising but then I realized I need to go back to the beginning before I could move forward. Phoenix Ashes is a series of oneshots set before the beginning of PR and is, obviously, centered around Phoenix McKinnon. You don't need to read PA to understand PR but it does add more depth to Phoenix and her friends.

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and co are owned by the ever fabulous JK Rowling. The only thing I own is Phoenix and various other originals you see running around.

Chapter One
"The Letter"
September 18, 1989

Today was the day. I was turning 11.

11 doesn't seem particularly special. I'd entered double digits on my tenth birthday, and I wasn't yet a teenager. 11 was kind of an in between number, you're not a kid but you're not considered a "young adult." So really, 11 wasn't that big of a deal.

Except for one thing: Hogwarts Acceptance Letters.

I've known about Hogwarts for as long as I can remember. I'd grown up knowing that, one day, I'd join my adopted brothers at a real life castle, learning magic and having adventures, just like my mum had. I would make new friends and see magical creatures and learn new spells and live in a castle and -

"Breakfast is ready!"

Breakfast! The post always arrived at breakfast...my letter was coming! I was so excited, I kept tripping while trying to get dressed. Eventually I had on my favorite outfit – an Appleby Arrows shirt, black shorts and the lion slippers Mama Molly got me last Christmas – and was running down the stairs.

"Is it here? Is it here?" I slid a little, trying to turn the corner into the kitchen but eventually made it to the table with only a few bruises. (Someone had moved the table next to the staircase and I hadn't realized that until after I tried to jump on it. Whoops!)

"Phoenix dear, not yet. Calm down before you hurt yourself." Mama Molly said, coming over to gently push me into my seat. She looked down at my leg where the bruise was already starting to form. (Told you!) "Or should I say, hurt yourself again." She hurried off to yell up the staircase again and I started piling food on my plate. Arthur was already at the table and Bill was coming in right as I started on my eggs.

"You excited Nix? Today's the day, isn't it?" Bill said, ruffling my hair as he walked past me to get to his chair. My mouth full of eggs, I just nodded and he chuckled. "Careful there, don't want to choke to death before you even get it." My eyes went wide and I swallowed my food, careful to start taking smaller bites. Really, growing up in a family with 6 boys, it wasn't a surprise that I'd picked up some of their habits.

I'd lived with the Weasley's for as long as I could remember. My mum had died when I was three years old. Mama Molly had always said that when I was old enough she would tell me more about my mother. I hope it's soon, I don't really remember much about her. I have this kind of foggy memory of sitting in the grass, watching a horse with wings gallop around me and a woman sitting next to me. I know she's my mum because she looks like the pictures I have of her. I look like her a little bit, but my blonde hair is lighter than hers and my eyes are more grey than blue. She was very pretty and I hope I look like her when I get older.

Mama Molly comes back to the table, Ron and Ginny behind her. Charlie, Percy, Fred and George were at Hogwarts, the lucky ducks. You couldn't go to Hogwarts until you were 11 years old. Fred and George had turned 11 in April so this was their first year. I was 11 too, but your birthday had to be before September 1 and mine was on the eighteenth. So I had to wait a whole year before I could be at Hogwarts too. Ron would be going the year after me and Ginny was going the year after him. Bill had graduated from Hogwarts this year so he was staying with us until he got his own place. He applied to work at Gringotts to join the Curse-Breaker team (so cool!) and he's really smart, so I'm sure he'll get the job. I'll miss him when he leaves. I was closest to Fred and George but I love all of my brothers and my little sister too.

We're halfway through breakfast when we hear the screech of an owl. I screech too. My letter is here! It seems like it takes forever for Errol to land, silly old bird, and then Bill has to untie it, but finally it's in my hands. My letter! I stare at the front of it, my eyes wide. It says:

Phoenix McKinnon
Kitchen, The Burrow
Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon

"Well," says Arthur, a smile on his face. "Are you going to open it?" Don't have to tell me twice! I tear the envelope open, careful not to rip the letter as I pull it out, then read it.

"Dear Miss McKinnon – that's me! - we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on the first of September. We await your owl by no later than the thirty-first of July. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall. I'm going to Hogwarts!" Every one claps and I can't stop smiling. Charlie's owl Merlin arrives with cards and presents from the boys at Hogwarts but I'm still staring at my letter. I was going to Hogwarts, just like Bill and Charlie and Percy and Fred and George and Mama Molly and Arthur. Just like my mum.

Author's Note: So that's young Phoenix. For those wondering why the style is a little different from PR (young voice, less description) I'm trying to write as if young Phoenix was telling the story herself.. It's a little harder than I thought. I instinctively want to change all of the errors. ^_^ Reviews are very much appreciated and thank you for reading!