Written for:

The Insane House Challenge, 965. Word Count: 490

365 Prompts, 144. Genre: Family

The Sticker Challenge, Locations Collection. The Burrow: Write about a family


There was a bird in the tree. Albus squinted up at it, at the very top of the tallest tree on the acre. It was a beautiful bird, with red feathers. No, orange. Or was it yellow? The colours seemed to reflect differently in the sunlight, and sometimes were even gold. Albus couldn't see the bird very well, but it didn't seem to be doing so good. It didn't take away from its beauty- at least not from this far away. But it was sickly. And then, quite suddenly, the bird burst into flame.

Unfortunately for Albus, James came outside at that exact moment.

"Albus!" he said. "You set the tree on fire! That's not allowed! You're breaking the law. I'm going to go tell Dad."

"I didn't do it! There was a bird! Why would hurt the bird?"

"Cause you're evil," James said, walking back to the backdoor.

"I'm not. Dad, I didn't do it!" The two boys ran into the house, both sputtering to tell what they'd seen.

"What happened?" Harry asked. Both of his sons started talking, their lips stumbling over the words. "You know what, just show me."

"Okay," Albus said happily. He had, after all, been planning on showing his dad the bird eventually.

"There was a bird there," Albus said, pointing at the tree.

At the same time, James said, "Albus set the tree on fire."

Harry looked at the tree with interest. The fire had gone out, and smoke was drifting into the sky. It was times like these Harry was glad they didn't live too close to Muggles.

"What did the bird look like?" Harry asked.

Albus paused to think. "Fire."

"Yeah, cause you set it on fire."

"James, can you please stop? That's very interesting." If Harry known before, he now did: they had a phoenix on their property. Another good reason to be living away from Muggles. "Let's just wait and see what happens," he suggested.

"Nothing, the bird is dead."

"James."

"Sorry, Dad."


The phoenix stayed there, in the tree, for two weeks. About five days into its stay, Harry recognized it. He wasn't quite sure how he knew, but it had to be Fawkes. There was a certain Fawke-ness to it. There was no other explanation. Also, he seemed to have a certain fondness for smell of lemon. Harry didn't doubt for a second if Dumbledore had been feeding his pet lemon sherberts. He must have been.

When at last he did leave, the five of them stood and watched it. Fawkes flew away, singing, filling their bones with a strange chill, and their hearts with a sense of safety. He dropped a feather, bright orange and scarlet, which they placed on the mantle. The feather stayed there for a very long time, longer than any of the Potters ever knew.