A/N: I just want some feedback on this, I don't know if I should continue it...
"Aunt Phoebe?" Phoenix asked.
Phoebe Halliwell turned around and looked at her niece, "Yes, honey?"
Phoenix continued, "Wyatt and Chris won't play with me. They said I'm only half their cousin, so I don't count. Melinda said she was too busy for all of us, and she's locked in her room, meditating. Will you teach me something?"
Phoebe sighed, "I'm working on my column, sweetheart. Where's Paige and Piper?"
Phoenix grinned, and it looked strangely frightening, even though she was only five. "Mom is with Dad, and Aunt Piper is at P3. Uncle Coop, and Uncle Leo are Up There for a conference. I could help you with Ask Phoebe."
Defeated, Phoebe handed her niece a letter she couldn't figure out how to answer, at least it would keep her busy for a while. Phoenix read it, then blinked. Pen and paper were in her hands. About ten minutes later, Phoenix handed Phoebe the sheet of loose leaf.
"Dear Confused,
You need a little space and time apart. It doesn't have to be much, but you need some breathing space to find out where you stand. If this relationship has a good chance, the first sign is that your guy is willing to give you the time and space you need. The relationship can't be all about him, if you lose your identity and independence, then this is not the right guy. You don't need to rush to find the right guy, he's out there, and you will find him. Maybe not today; but one day you'll knock into him in a coffee shop, spill your latte all over your brand new white blouse, think he's a demon from hell, and then bump into him at work, a week later. You'll find he's just the right one, and all you have to do is be open to him falling into your lap."
Staring at her niece, Phoebe found that what Phoenix had written was exactly the sort of thing this person needed. "Phoenix, you know love doesn't work like that." Phoebe finally said.
Looking up from another letter, Phoenix said, "But it is for her. In two months, she's going to be assigned to work with him for her office job. He's going to insist on paying for their business lunches as payment for the blouse, and they'll just swerve off the topic of work and it'll fall together. You'll get a thank you letter."
Sure enough, everything Phoenix said in her ghost written Ask Phoebe responses came true. In order to keep people from noticing too much, Phoebe only gave Phoenix the letters which truly stumped her, though neither knew how Phoenix was so accurate.
In the years that followed, Phoenix was accepted by her cousins as they lost their prejudices. Though none knew it, Phoenix's father was not Paige's husband. He was not a parole officer, no, he wasn't even mortal. Paige herself had no idea, at least, not until July 31st when a letter came addressed to Phoenix- a letter by owl.
The owl landed on the back of the couch in the observatory, and stretched its leg out to Phoenix. She took the letter, and opened it. As she read, her eyes widened. "I've been accepted to Hogwarts. It's real."
Paige, though shocked, had seen enough as a Charmed One to take this in stride, "Well, are you going to go or not?"
Sitting, Phoenix held out her arm to the owl, "But, what about learning from you? I can't just leave Wicca behind."
As the eleven year old began to pet the owl, Paige declared, "You can learn plenty during the summer, besides, Harry Potter has been your favorite series for God knows how long. Go, have fun. Besides, we're all just a jingle away, you learned how to hear us already, so don't worry about it."
"Can you hold down the fort without me, Commander?" Phoenix asked Wyatt.
The older boy nodded, "Yeah, but don't expect us to save you any demons."
Phoenix grinned, and penned her reply, sending the owl off with a piece of bread she had floated in from the kitchen. "Well then, I'll orb over to Diagon and get all of this today. Can I have some money, Mom?" Paige handed over a wad of cash, and opened her mouth, but Phoenix beat her to it, "Be back before moon rise or you'll throttle every demon in the underworld until you find me, and if I'm dead, you'll go Up There and kick my ass into purgatory, I know, I know."
After a quick hug, Phoenix orbed into a dark side street of Knockturn Alley, and she quickly made her way to Diagon and Gringotts. There she changed the greenbacks to galleons, sickles and knuts, and went down the list, systematically buying everything she needed. The last thing on the list she needed was a wand. In Ollivander's, the storekeeper appeared at her elbow. "A smart one doing early shopping I see. Hmm, name?"
A measuring tape flew around Phoenix, taking measurements and recording them, "Phoenix Halliwell."
The tape froze, Ollivander froze, the wands began to quiver. From the very back of the store soared a staff. It was beautiful, inlaid with gold and silver, the top adorned by a floating onyx stone. The handle of the staff was carved as the body of a snake, and Phoenix caught it out of reflex. The staff glowed, and Ollivander murmured, "Interesting. Very interesting. There's not many people that could use that staff. Salazar Slytherin's very own. I believe the world can expect great things from you, my dear. I doubt you even need the staff to channel your abilities. Here, take this note, and give it to the headmaster when you get to school. The staff will respond uniquely to you, only one person every thousand years can wield it, and it will come if you call it, no matter where you or it are. The staff can become any size. It will also become the weapon of your choice if you will it to. Forty galleons."
Phoenix handed over the large amount, but considering what the staff was worth, she knew it was a steal. Stuffing the now wand sized staff in her pocket , Phoenix did a quick mental calculation of the amount of money she had left, and ducked back into Knockturn Alley. She had passed a pet shop that held some promising familiars. Inside Stalman and Smith's Rare Creatures Shop, she found a snake, which was, for some reason, blindfolded. Using her telepathic powers, Phoenix untied the knot and the black cloth floated off to the side. Her gaze was met by bright yellow eyes, and she grinned. The clerk gasped in shock as she levitated the snake out and onto her arm, and it hissed at her. Phoenix hissed back and laughed at whatever it had said. Turning to the clerk, she asked, "How much for the snake?"
"Five galleons if you'll take it. You realize that's a basilisk, don't you?" No clerk had been able to sell the animal for nearly one hundred years, and spells had shrunk the poor thing to keep it from being enormous. "It's a full grown, covered in spells to keep it small for the moment."
Instantly, though she had no idea why it being a basilisk was special, Phoenix accepted, "I'll take her. Do you have a phoenix or an eagle if not?"
The clerk pointed, "We have both, but the only ones left are on a big sale as well. I'll give you food and treats for the eagle and phoenix, the birds, and the basilisk for fifty galleons if you'll take them off my hands."
Going over to the corner, Phoenix found a beautiful green and silver phoenix and a magical bald eagle. Both were wrapped in spells to keep them caged, and Phoenix muttered, "Spells binding, unwind at my will." Careful to keep her mind focused, both birds were freed, and they fluttered down to land on either shoulder.
Phoenix looked at the three, and said, "Deal."
Had the clerk not seen it, he wouldn't have believed it. An eleven year old kid had just come in and taken the three most aggressive animals onto her own body, was not maimed in any way, and was buying them all. Not to mention, she had removed the most powerful binding spells known to wizard kind without a wand.
Returning to the dark alley way she had come from, Phoenix and all her spelled small and weightless packages orbed back to the family manor in San Fransisco. "Mom, I'm back!"
Paige, Phoebe and Piper came into the attic, where Phoenix had orbed to, and froze in the doorway. Paige said, "Phoenix, just how much did you spend?"
"Please, Mom, you gave me more than enough. I still have enough to get you all Christmas and birthday presents from England. The bald eagle is magical, before you ask, and he's for delivering mail. His name is Eldor. The phoenix is for my namesake, a familiar, and hopefully she'll be willing to lend some feathers and tears for potions. Her name is Arwen. This is apparently a basilisk, but I- Hold on." Phoenix paused as the basilisk hissed something, and she looked startled for a moment before saying, "Well, this is a basilisk, which apparently has a deadly gaze if you meet its eyes, and paralyzes you if you look at its eyes indirectly. I've just been informed that I'm a snake speaker. More talents to add to the list, lovely. Well, her name is Ileon."
Piper said, "Well, you're taking care of them. Go on, in your room, and I don't want to see any Hogwarts stuff in the attic unless you're using it for demon hunting."
The manor had four bedrooms originally. As there were four kids, and three sets of parents, seven bedrooms were needed. A spell had been cast so that three more bedrooms now existed. Two additional bathrooms and two more water heaters had also been added over time. Phoenix went to her bedroom, and closed the door. After setting Ileon on the bedspread, and settling Eldor and Arwen on the bed posts, Phoenix got out all her Hogwarts things and made them normal sized again.
To make her life easier, and so that she didn't have to lug a trunk around everywhere she went, Phoenix had gotten the required trunk, but now cast a spell over it so that it had locks running around the entire rim. Each lock opened to a different compartment, the size of a regular trunk. To keep the trunk safe from intruders, each lock was opened by a thumb/index fingerprint combination. The locks were a flat, glassy oval panel which read the prints. The locks were coded to Phoenix's earrings and rings. In total, she had ten. Three lobe piercings, one in the cartilage of her left ear, and three rings on her right hand. (Thumb, ring, and index fingers) Twisting the rings a certain way would open a second trunk with a singular lock, for show, to the correct compartment. The second trunk, Phoenix would always carry shrunken and hidden in the locket she always wore.
Phoenix grinned, and began packing her entire room. The trunk could be suspended in limbo, after being made invincible. Then she would never have to worry about losing things again. Soon, all her winter/fall clothes were packed in one trunk, her spring/summer in the second, the equipment for Hogwarts was in a third, and all her personal Wicca things, including her own protected copy of the Book of Shadows, were in a fourth trunk. Shoes and handbags filled a fifth trunk, while a supply of disguises, daggers and other various weapons were in the sixth compartment. The seventh compartment, Phoenix split in half and reserved for potions. The eighth was easily filled by her library, and the final two were left empty as room to grow.
Done packing, Phoenix cast a spell to speed her reading and comprehension, and read all of the textbooks she had been assigned. In addition, she read Hogwarts: A History, and several books she had bought to get a background on the Harry Potter world, aside from what the books said. By the end of the weekend, Phoenix had read them all. Photographic memory had aided her in memorizing everything, and then Phoenix began stockpiling potions. The Book of Shadows was too large for Phoenix to have ever sat down with and fully read, but she planned to do so before going to Hogwarts.
Until August 31st , Phoenix brewed everything from her potions textbook and the Book of Shadows. The result was that Phoenix ended up removing the divider she had placed in the seventh compartment and devoted the entire thing to Wiccan potions, and then used the entire ninth compartment for Hogwarts potions. Eventually, she realized, she would need to put a spell on those compartments to make them hold more than actually possible.
As the last day of August dawned, the mad brewing of potions stopped. Phoenix finally unlocked her room, and spent the entire day with the family, after a month of only appearing long enough to grab a plate of food and ensure everyone that she was alive. Paige grumbled, "Great, disappear for a month, and then you won't leave us alone."
Despite the teasing she received, Phoenix and the rest of the Halliwells enjoyed their day, and were nicely surprised when no demons attacked. Phoenix joked, "You know, we practically have a coven living here, it's no wonder we're always under fire."
The first day of September was a fairly hectic one. Wyatt and Chris played final pranks on Phoenix, Melinda gave her a huge hug, which was rather uncharacteristic of the quiet girl, and Phoebe and Piper wished her luck that no demons would attack. Paige orbed with Phoenix to 9 ¾ at ten thirty, and hugged her goodbye. "Be careful, and we won't jingle unless it's important. Check in every once in a while, and don't get into too much trouble."
A smirk found its way onto Phoenix's face, "I'll get into as much trouble as you did in school. Hypocrite."
Paige tickled Phoenix, and then pushed her and her three pets toward the train. "Go before I don't let you. I'll see you soon. And just don't get caught!"
Phoenix laughed, and hissed to Ileon Us, get caught? If she wasn't my mother, I think I'd be offended.
The basilisk hissed back Perish the thought. How are you going to hide Arwen? Phoenix's are rather rare. I at least can shed my powers temporarily, and be a normal snake.
Well, none of you are exactly supposed to be with me as I'm a first year, but that's not going to stop me. Besides, if people see Arwen, and know she's mine, that will make them think I'm powerful, and they will naturally turn to me for a sense of leadership. That's a good thing. Phoenix replied.
No one was in the station that early, and the Halliwells hadn't exactly gotten in the normal way, or else they wouldn't have been allowed in. As it was, Phoenix got her choice of compartments, and she took the one all the way in the back, as it was twice the size of all the others. For a while, she conversed with her familiars and joked with them. They had bonded quickly while the potions had simmered for hours.
All four could understand each other, and were good friends. The three familiars were each over one hundred years old, and they all gave Phoenix a different point of view for advice. Ileon, the basilisk, was cunning. She gave Phoenix advice on how not to get caught. Arwen, the phoenix, was the familiar for when the right time for certain things was. Her senses were remarkable. Eldor, the eagle, had good advice for what to react to, and who to react at. Phoenix herself had good instincts which often told her where the best possible place for things were, and she always had an explanation which got her out of trouble. Their inside joke was that they were the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" of trouble making.
By five to eleven, the platform was packed. Phoenix had settled down to read a new novel she had bought just before leaving, and her familiars had all gotten comfortable for a nap. Eldor and Arwen were perched on the luggage rack and Ileon was situated around Phoenix's neck. Just as they had all begun to relax, voices were heard outside the compartment. "I don't hear anything from back here. I think it's empty."
Curious, and cautious, Phoenix telepathically slid the door open. The three standing right next to the door looked very shocked, as Phoenix showed no sign of movement. "Sorry, must not have properly closed that. Do you need a seat?" Phoenix covered up her use of magic easily.
The three came in, and then gaped at Phoenix's familiars. "Hi." She said loudly, "I'm Phoenix Halliwell."
"Oh how rude of us!" The only girl in the trio exclaimed, "I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ron Weasley and, well, you know Harry Potter, I'm sure."
Phoenix raised an eyebrow, "Umm, yeah. Sure. These are my familiars. Ileon is the snake, Eldor's the eagle, and Arwen's the phoenix. Do you mind, Ileon kind of gets pissed when people stare."
The three stopped staring, and Ron, being Ron, said, "You don't sound British."
"I'm not." Phoenix said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm American. All I know is one minute I'm talking to my aunt on the phone because she was in her office, the next this owl swoops into the conservatory and sticks out its leg. Now I'm here."
Hermione smiled, "I'm muggleborn too. Don't worry about it, I know finding out you're a witch is hard."
Phoenix decided it wouldn't matter if she told them, hell, they were just a different sort of magic. "Oh, I already knew I was a witch. I just didn't know I was this sort as well."
Ron looked very confused, Harry wasn't paying attention, and Hermione asked, "What do you mean?"
As if it was the simplest thing in the world, Phoenix replied, "I'm Wicca."
More confusion followed, and then Phoenix amended, "Well, not entirely. I've always known I was a Wicca and a whitelighter, but I never knew about this whole branch of magic before, so who knows, maybe I'm something else as well."
Harry had finally snapped out of it, and said, "What in Merlin's name are you talking about?"
Phoenix orbed across the compartment and then opened and shut the windows with telepathy. "That is what I'm talking about."
"Bloody Hell!" Ron exclaimed, he backed up away from her immediately.
Ileon hissed, and Phoenix looked at her and hissed back Oh shut up, I know he's afraid. He doesn't have to reek of it for me to tell, you know. He's kind of cowering, in case you didn't notice.
Harry cut in in Parseltounge, the language of snakes, himself You can speak?
Ileon flicked her tongue out and hissed, Another snake speaker. Phoenix, you can trust this one. The others are too frightened.
Hey! Those are my friends. Harry protested.
"Well," Phoenix said in English, "You can't deny it."
Eldor advised that Phoenix ignore the trio of older kids, and she did so, cracking her book back open, and not emerging from it until the trolley came. After buying several snacks, Phoenix checked the time, and grinned. Due to the time change, Piper would have just made dinner. Holding out her hands, Phoenix grinned as a plate of food appeared, complete with fork and knife. It was steak with mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn, Phoenix's favorite.
The other three stared, mouths watering. Phoenix muttered under her breath a spell, "Hungry masses I must feed, so duplicate this meal by three."
Three more plates appeared, and she handed them to the others. "My aunt's cooking," Phoenix explained, "Is the best in, I'd say, at least California."
After that dinner, the trio was considerably warmer toward the first year, but she simply continued to read her novel. The train stopped, and Phoenix murmured a spell so that a light orb followed her. She stuck out her arm and Arwen and Eldor fluttered onto it.
Outside, Phoenix continued to read as the birds flew off to go hunting. Ileon hissed directions in her ear, and she sat down in a boat barely thirty seconds later. Just before the boat started moving, Phoenix closed her book, and, to have a little light in general, had the light orb float above the mini fleet.
One little boy fell in, and before there could be a big commotion, Phoenix levitated him out, and then levitated the water off and back into the lake. The boats rounded a curve, and Hogwarts loomed into sight. Even Phoenix was slightly awed, though it didn't outwardly show. Following at the back of the group, Phoenix leaned against a wall as McGonagal explained the Sorting.
Just before the professor left, Phoenix separated from the shadows, and said, "Professor, I have a note about my wand. Could you please give it to the headmaster? It's kind of important."
McGonagal took the note, and read it, her eyes widened. "Yes, of course, Miss..."
"Halliwell." Phoenix supplied.
The strict teacher gave a sharp nod and left them for a few minutes. Then, they were conducted into the Great Hall.