Like A Phoenix: A Harry Potter Fan-Fiction
By hurricane55
Chapter One: My So-Called Perfect Life
AN: The story begins in May of 1994 (the end of Harry's fourth year) and the first few chapters will detail how Xavier (my OC) will go from America to England.
"Brrriiiiinnnggggg!! Brrriiiinnnnnngggggggg!" the alarm clock on the nightstand was going off. Xavier reached over and read the time, 9:00 A.M, and groaned. He really didn't want to get up, but he had to so he could get to breakfast on time. But Xavier just wanted to lie there until at least 11.
"Hey, X… Get your ass out of bed! We've got a game in two hours. And you of all people know how big this game is." Xavier opened his eyes and looked at his roommate and best friend Steve DiAntonio. Steve was short and stocky, with short dark brown hair. He had very dark brown eyes as well, and Xavier could see that Steve was already wearing his Quidditch uniform. Xavier couldn't believe how energetic Steve was, being that it was early on a Saturday morning.
"Wait…. Today's the 23rd? Damn, I really shouldn't have stayed out late last night…" Xavier had completely forgotten about the date. Xavier looked over at the clock, and saw the date: May 23rd. Today was the American Interscholastic Quidditch Final, between the Los Angeles Academy of Magic and the Texas Institute of Magical Studies. Xavier was originally from Boston, but his father and mother had both gone to the Los Angeles academy, and they wanted their son to do the same. Xavier played Chaser for the Quidditch team and Steve was the Seeker. Together, the two friends were hoping to bring the championship back to their school.
Xavier finally summoned the energy to pull himself out of bed, and he walked over to his cabinet and pulled out his blue, gold and silver uniform. Xavier stood 6'1'' and weighed about 175 pounds, most of which was muscle. Xavier worked hard in the gym, and it paid off for him. Xavier pulled on his robes, and looked in the mirror, and tried to pull himself together. His light brown hair was a complete mess, and his blue eyes were missing their usual brightness.
"Steve, I'm heading down to breakfast early before the team and most of the school gets there. Tiffany wanted me to meet her at 9:15." Xavier yelled across the room to Steve before heading out into the hallway.
"Alright, lover boy. Talk to you before we leave for the field." Steve got a joke in before Xavier could get out of earshot, one of Steve's talents that always made Xavier laugh a little.
Xavier walked out into the hallway, and saw that it was deserted. Xavier turned right and sped off towards the elevator. He needed to hurry, cause Tiffany would not be happy if he was late. Unfortunately for Xavier, lateness was a bit of a habit for him and his friends. Just as Xavier reached the elevator, he heard familiar voices coming from just behind him.
"Wonder where Xavier is heading to…"
"Must have a breakfast date. He better not let it last too long…" And Xavier could hear the laughter of his two other closest friends from behind him, James Carter and Scott Murphy. James and Scott were the two Beaters for the team, and they, Xavier and Steve were nearly inseparable. Finally the elevator arrived and Xavier rode down to the first floor of the school, where the dining hall was located. Xavier looked at his watch, and he had four minutes to meet his girlfriend.
Xavier walked out of the elevators and ran down a few hallways, and he reached the dining hall with one minute to spare. He opened the blue double doors and walked in. The familiar room, with many small circular tables and blue chairs, came into view. Xavier scanned the room, and saw the head of long, wavy brown hair that he was looking for. Xavier crept down the aisle between two sets of tables, and he soon was standing right behind his girlfriend. Xavier pecked her on the cheek and sat down next to her, a smile on his face. Xavier couldn't not smile whenever he was with her.
Xavier had met Tiffany Bellarose on the first day of classes back in September. They were assigned seats next to each other in their fifth year Transfiguration class, and Xavier was smitten the minute he sat down and saw her face. If you were to describe her in one word, Tiffany was beautiful. Tall and thin, with a pretty face and soft brown eyes, she had captured Xavier's attention in a heartbeat. Kind, sensitive and funny, Xavier thought she was the perfect girl. Xavier sat down next to her, and she said softly,
"Not hungry? You really need to eat baby…" Xavier's heart skipped a beat whenever she called him baby. Xavier thought his life was perfect. He was a sports star, he had three of the best friends in the world, and to top it all off, he had captured his dream girl.
"You know I'm never hungry before a game…" Xavier responded. The only time that Xavier lost his overly cocky attitude was before a game.
"I really hate it when you're a wreck, you know that… I dealt with this enough during football season, and then Quidditch regular season, but this tournament is just horrible… Look at yourself, you're a mess." Tiffany said with a laugh. Xavier was a two sport athlete at school. In the fall, he was the star running back for the football team and the spring was Quidditch season.
What Xavier found to be cool is that the school football team played in a Muggle league, playing as a school by the name of Wentworth Academy. Xavier had always been in touch with a Muggle lifestyle. His favorite sports team was the Boston Red Sox, he listened to rap and rock music, and one of his most prized possessions was a Super Nintendo. (remember its 1994…)
"Hey Tiffany!" Xavier turned around to hear another familiar voice. Right behind him was Lisa DiAntonio, Steve's kid sister, and Xavier's ex-girlfriend from the year before. When they started dating, Steve flipped out and didn't speak to Xavier until him and Lisa had broke up a month later. But since the breakup was mutual, they remained good friends. Lisa and Tiffany were also best friends, which had made things dicey for Xavier when he had started dating Tiffany. Lisa had been jealous for a few weeks, but she had gotten over it. Lisa was short, but was still very attractive.
When Lisa sat down next to Tiffany, Xavier took the opportunity to leave. He needed to talk strategy with Steve, James and Scott before the game. He pecked Tiffany on the cheek and walked out of the room.
As Xavier got back to his room, the reality that he was playing in the national youth Quidditch game in just a few hours finally hit him. Xavier flopped down onto his bed, where he noticed a piece of paper on the pillow. Noticing it was a note from Steve, he picked it up and began to read.
X,
Meet us outside on the football field as soon as you get this note. The team wants to run through some last minute drills before we have to leave for the game. Don't forget your broom, Romeo.
Steve, James and Scott
"A bunch of comedians…" Xavier thought to himself with a chuckle. Xavier looked around his room for a certain picture. And then he found it on top of the television that Xavier had bought so he could play his Nintendo while he was at school. Xavier looked at his favorite picture with a smile. It was him and Tiffany immediately before the school dance in October, a school tradition. Xavier smiled at the memory of their first kiss which had happened later on that night. Sticking that picture in his gym bag, like he always did before a big game, Xavier grabbed his broom, a Nimbus 2000, and his Chasers gloves, before exiting his dorm. Xavier glanced down at his watch again, it was 10:25. They were leaving at noon. So he would have about an hour and a half to get ready for the biggest game of his life. Xavier had been sweating since he had left Tiffany at the breakfast table.
The next two hours passed in a hazy blur for Xavier. He was so damn nervous that he couldn't really take anything in until he walked onto the Quidditch field for the game.
"And the other co-captain for the top seeded Los Angeles Titans, playing Chaser, Number Five, Xavier Dalton!!" The announcer had finished the lineups, and there was a great roar from the crowd, who was anticipating the start of the game. The referee, a massive bald man, called for the captains to meet at the center of the field. Xavier and Steve walked out to meet the Texas captains, who were two of the biggest Quidditch players that Xavier had ever seen.
"You ready?" Steve mumbled so that only Xavier could hear him.
"I've been ready since our first practice." Xavier smiled for the first time in a couple of hours.
"Someone's a little cocky… as usual." Steve fired back quickly before the referee blew the whistle and the game had begun. The Texas team was massive, and tried to use their size to win the game. But Xavier and fellow chasers were just too fast for the Texas team. And James and Scott were more skilled than the stronger Texas beaters, which made that particular position even. But Xavier was in the zone. Ducking and weaving through the Bulls' defense, he scored the first four goals of the game for Los Angeles.
The game was getting out of hand, and quickly. L.A held a 100-20 lead after only ten minutes, and Texas was getting desperate. Xavier was flying down the field when he felt a sudden pain in his right arm. He whipped his head around and saw that one of the Texas beaters had hit him intentionally with his bat. In a fir of rage, Xavier threw the Quaffle as hard as he could at the Beater's head with his left arm, and knocked him off his broom. The crowd and both teams were shocked at what they had just seen. The referee flew over to Xavier and started yelling at the top of his lungs, and he awarded Texas five penalty shots.
"Nice going, hotshot…" Xavier glared at T.J, who he had never gotten along with. Although T.J was a year older than Xavier and Steve, they had been chosen team captains over him, and T.J was very bitter as a result.
"Shut up you ass, the guy fucking broke my right arm with a blatant cheap shot that the ref missed. So go defend the goals and keep this lead." Xavier yelled back, and T.J had no response.
"Steve… I cant really play anymore. I'm going to have to play all left-handed. So we aren't going to score much more. So please find the Snitch fast so we can get out of here with the title…" Xavier could feel the blinding pain set in. He was thinking about giving up for a brief second, but he wanted the trophy so bad, he decided to play through the grievous injury.
But his goal scoring ability was nearly gone, and the Texas chasers were taking advantage. They were piling up the scores, and soon they held a 130-120 lead. But Steve had taken off for the Snitch and it was clear that he had the advantage over the opposition in the race that would decide which team would go home as national champions. Xavier watched the world slow down as Steve caught the Snitch, but was then hit in the back of the head with a Bludger in the same instant. He was over two hundred feet in the air, and the fall would be fatal. Xavier completely forgot about the game they had just won, or his broken right arm. He willed his broom to reach his best friend in time. Steve was a hundred feet from the ground when he came back into sight of the crowd. But it was too late for anyone in the crowd to save him. It was all up to Xavier. In his moment of panic, Xavier forgot about the fact that he had his wand in his back pocket. Steve was twenty five feet from the ground when Xavier reached him. Sticking his left hand out to save his friend, he realized that he didn't have a hand on his broom, and when Xavier caught Steve, he fell off his broom, and the two best friends plummeted to the turf…
"That fucking hurt… Steve! Tell me he's alright!" Xavier opened his eyes and saw three things that broke his heart: The first was the fact that he saw that Tiffany had been crying. The second was that he saw Steve surrounded by his family, and he still hadn't woken up. And the third was that Xavier was wearing a cast on his right arm and his left leg, but Steve didn't appear to have any injuries.
"Tiffany, please tell me he's alright…" Xavier was nearly crying now. His best friend for nearly five years looked like he was dead, "Please tell me that he's still alive."
"Xavier… I'm so, so sorry… He was falling too fast, and you didn't slow him down enough. He's still alive, but the doctors aren't sure if he'll come out of the coma that he is in. They think it could take years, the amount of damage that his body took. You saved his life." Tiffany said slowly to her boyfriend
"I didn't fucking save shit, Tiffany! We both know that! It's all my fault that he's like this. If I wasn't a fucking idiot I would have used my fucking wand and saved my best friend. But I didn't and look at him now…" Xavier was yelling at the top of his lungs, and when he finally got his cool he started sobbing.
"Xavier… don't do this to yourself, please…" Tiffany just wanted him to be okay, but deep down she knew that Xavier would never be the boy she had fallen for again.
"Tiffany… I'm sorry that I yelled at you…" Xavier managed to choke out before the tears and the shaking came back. Tiffany held him tight and kept whispering in his ear, "Shhh… its going to be alright baby…" And then when Xavier had finally calmed himself down, he just sat there and held his girlfriend for hours. It was all he could do…
July 14th, 1994…
"Xavier, please don't do this…" Xavier was standing outside his front door about to get into a taxi. Tiffany was crying and his parents were standing in shock. He had told them all the night before that he was leaving America and going to England for a fresh start at life. The events of May 23rd rattled Xavier's mind so badly he couldn't stay in the country.
"Look, I've made all the arrangements… I'm going to stay with Uncle Richard at his place in Surrey for the rest of the summer, and during the school holidays. And I have already spoken to the headmaster of the best wizarding school in the U.K, and he agreed to take me as a transfer student. I have to do this…"
"Mom, Dad. I'll call you as often as a can… Tiffany…" Xavier's heart broke in two as he watched the tears fall down her cheeks. "Tiffany, I love you with all my heart, but I have to start again in a new place." Xavier kissed her one last time before getting into the taxi. Unknown to Xavier, Tiffany was currently planning to follow him to England. She was willing to follow him to the ends of the Earth, but Xavier had no idea how much she loved him…
AN: Please read and review. I'm not sure whether I should have Tiffany actually follow Xavier or not, so I think that you the readers could help me decide. So leave a review if you have an opinion, or just to tell me what you think so far of my story. And for those wondering, the canon characters will all make their first appearances in the next two chapters.