The Reward of the Phoenix

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related characters and themes are the property of JK Rowling and Warner Brothers. I am making no money from this story. All I am getting is a cramped hand from writing and typing.

Chapter 1

The cool night air swept into his bones as he lay on the cold, hard ground. He could feel the grass move beneath him as tiny ants crawled out from the weight of his unmoving body. Every inch of his body ached as if he had not moved in years and was permanently frozen in place. The low rise and fall of his chest quickly allayed his fears of being dead.

A thick groan echoed suddenly into his ears and he was only slightly surprised to realise it had been his own. The sound, however sudden, only managed to enforce the complete silence of the world around him. It was a painful silence, one born of mystery and evil.

'It shouldn't be so quiet.' He thought to himself. 'There should be a baby, and laughter. And the warm smell of breakfast. And her. She should be here.' Panic overcame him when he realised she was missing. The stifling fear sprung his eyes open and he blinked in the darkness.

'It's night.' He thought, the obvious truth striking him unawares. The full moon shone above, light filtering down on him, taunting him with memories of things he could hardly picture.

Once his eyes adjusted to the silvery light, he looked around himself. He was standing in a graveyard near a headstone which had been completely halved by some sort of explosion. He didn't recognise the area, although something told him he should.

Something round and hard prodded into his foot when he walked forward. As he crouched down, the moonlight revealed it to be a wand. A small smile graced his face as he picked it up and felt the familiar weight as it settle into his hand.

"Lumos." He whispered, feeling a slight tingle as the wand's tip lit. It reminded him on the first magic he had ever done. He supposed his magic had been dormant for years, although why it would have been he had no idea.

He cast his gaze around again, using the brighter light of his wand to pick up on things he had totally missed in his initial inspection of the area. He was startled to see another bright light in the distance, as if there was another witch or wizard using the Illuminating Charm only a hundred metres or so away.

He silently extinguished his light and began to slowly creep towards the alien glow. It was moving in a wide arch, so he assumed that the caster of the charm was looking around in the same way he himself had just been.

Every few steps, he paused and watched the light as it was blocked by the shadow of the caster. As he near, he caught occasional glimpses of a flash of red reflected to him in the wand light.

It distracted him enough that he didn't notice a large stone until his foot collided with it and sent it scuttling across the ground until it stopped, resting against a headstone just beside the mysterious figure.

The shadow spun, its wand held at the ready. He flung his arm up to shield his eyes as the light stung them.

"Who are you?" The shadow asked hoarsely. He worked out that it was a female talking,, the voice unwittingly revealing her fear.

"Look, I'm not here to hurt you," He said and she snorted in disbelief. "No, really, I'm not. I really couldn't even if I wanted to, which I don't."

"I don't believe you!" She replied. He began to wonder why it seemed so familiar, although the coarseness made it difficult to tell. 'Does my voice sound like that too?'

"Move your hand, show yourself!" She continued.

"I would, but I'm more than a little worried that you'd blast my head off, or at the least accidentally blind me." She lowered her wand a fraction, allowing the light to shine on his lower chest instead. "Thank you."

He slowly lowered his hand from his face and let the softer light wash over him. He heard a soft thud as the wand slipped from the woman's hand but he ignored it. The light flickered but remained, lighting all their features softly from below.

His dark eyes met hers, their bright green depths drawing all his focus until suddenly she moved forward and he felt he collide with his chest.

He buried his face in her long, red hair as he held her tightly to him. Her sobs were muffled, but her shoulders shook as he pressed soothing kisses into her hair.

"Oh, James, I thought..." She cried. James shushed her, letting one hand stroke her back as the other tilted her chin back up so he could look in her eyes once more.

'It's alright Lily." He said. Lily's face was damp with tears, matching the front of his robes. "We're both here, everything will be fine."

"But James," Lily pulled away from his grasp. "Where is here? And why can't I remember anything about how I got here?"

"I don't know, Lils." James whispered, a feeling of dread building in his stomach, washing over him as he thought about his lost memory. The last he could remember... "What's the last thing you do remember?"

His wife was quiet for a few moments as she cast her mind back, before the colour drained from her face. "It was him. You told me to get Harry and get out of there- oh, Merlin, James – he killed you! I couldn't get out and he came after Harry... I remember laughter... Then I woke up here."

She stopped speaking and clapped her hands to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

"James, please tell me you've seen him! Tell me our baby's okay!"

"I'm so sorry Lily. I wish I could tell you he's fine, that someone saved him... Oh, Harry... I'm so sorry."

Lily let out a keening cry as she began to weep for her son. James enveloped her in his arms and held her to his chest as they sunk to the ground. He felt his own cheeks dampen with tears as he tried to fathom the fate of his darling little Harry.

Hours later, Lily's breathing had evened out and she lay asleep in James' arms. James, however, was far from sleep- his mind was full of memories and theories. It wasn't until the first light of dawn began to peek over the horizon that he fell asleep.