Title: The Children Of The Phoenix

Summary: At his 17th Birthday Party Harry Potter disappears after being ambushed by Voldermort. After Fifteen years the Wizarding World thinks he's dead, but he's not. Instead, Harry wakes up on a strange island inhabited by hundreds of Phoenixes. After training for 5 years with both the Phoenixes and their Keepers (the Children), Harry returns to the World he was forced to leave behind. And he gets a rude shock. For not only is the entire Wizarding World on the defensive (and safely entombed in Hogwarts) but every seems much older than they should be...

Timeline: Books one to five, although Sirius did not die. Kingsley Shacklebolt was near enough Sirius when he fell to grab him before he fell through the veil. Otherwise the same.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and any related characters and settings. They are all the property of J. K. Rowling.

Extra: 'blah' = thoughts

waffle = mind speech

Chapter Two – Welcome to the New World

The sun was setting. And not just setting – it seemed to be dying, throwing out streams of deep red light, accented by hints of deeper blues and purples. It bathed the rough countryside of Dorset in it's light, as though the fading glory was the death throes of the ancient star.

With a crack like a whip, two people appeared in the field, so suddenly that you would think it was by magic.

They were both very alike and could be taken for father and daughter. They both had white blond hair, the man's short and cropped, the girl's longer, and flowing down her back in soft waves. Both had striking, clear turquoise eyes that seemed to shine in the dying throes of the sun and very pale white skin. But if you actually bothered to stop and watch them, you would be puzzled.

The man was very young – in fact, he was only 22 years old. Too young, therefore, to reasonably have a daughter that looked to be 7 or 8 years old. As the man, gave his head a little shake and looked about him, the girl gazed around with interested eyes that showed wisdom and knowledge beyond what her appearance suggested.

Without a word, both of them immediately started walking in the direction of the poorly maintained road at one end of the field.

"So, this is England, huh?" asked the girl, looking up at the man with her wide eyes.

At first, the man didn't seem to hear. Instead, he was looking about him in an expression of sorrow and old pain. Then he turned to look down at her. "Yep."

"A bit small, isn't it?" asked the girl, looking around again, her nose wrinkled slightly. "And by Merlin does it smell!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Riva, I still must confess to be confused," the man told her dryly. "Why are you here?"

This time, it was Riva who rolled her eyes. "Harry, we've been over this," she told him, with the tone of someone who has explained this many times. "The Council feel that your best chance of penetrating either Hogwarts or the resistance movement is by posing as a parental figure. And," she added, "what is a parental figure without a child? So, voila, me!" She beamed at him.

Harry grinned at her. "I get that," he said, "but I asked why you?"

Instantly, the smile was replaced by a scowl. As Harry laughed, she poked her tongue out at him. "As it so happens," Riva informed Harry pompously, drawing herself up – which, in a girl of seven years old, was not particularly high – "I happen to have studied with the Phoenixes for all my life, whereas you have only been there, what, 5 years?" As they neared the road, she stopped walking and turned to glare at him. "Like it or not, Harry Potter, the Council feel you're not ready enough to face the world without an advisor or guardian. You need help, you need a mentor – cause, let's face it, without it you'd just get into loads of trouble and need rescuing…"

She suddenly trailed off. There was a faint roaring in the distance. Harry, even after five years absence from the muggle world could recognise a car when he heard one, but Riva had never been off the Phoenix Island. As the car – a rather rusty, dust covered Ford Mondeo – raced towards them she gave a horrendous shriek.

"HOLY MERLIN!" she screamed, running to hide behind Harry. "IT'S A BLOODY DEMON!"

As the car raced past them, Harry turned around, grinning, to face the shaking girl. "And you think I'm going to need rescuing?"

It was a mark of just how scared Riva was that she did not glare at Harry. 5 years had made Riva more mature, but it didn't mean she was any less hyperactive. But now, Riva was just pale and mouthing wordlessly at the retreating vehicle in a way that reminded Harry painfully of Ron.

Finally, it seemed, Riva recovered from her shock enough to speak. "What was that?"

"It was a car," Harry replied, turning away so that she would not see his smirk.

"And what, might I ask, is a car?" she snapped, still slightly breathless, but regaining her former spirit quickly.

Harry turned and faced her. "It's an vehicle – like a horse and carriage." He laughed as Riva gave a very disbelieving snort. "Seriously, it is! Except it runs on it's own power and doesn't rely on horses. It's a muggle invention, but a lot of wizards use them, too."

"Wow," breathed Riva, eyes wide. "A car."

"Well, if you thought that was impressive, wait until you see this," Harry told her, flinging out his right hand.

Nothing happened.

'What?'

"Well?" asked Riva, shivering slightly in her thin, dark purple cloak, and glaring at him. "What's supposed to be happening?"

Harry didn't answer, drawing his hand back. Frowning slightly, he flung it out again. Still nothing happened. "I don't understand," he muttered to himself, staring up and down the road. The Knight Bus was nowhere in sight. "It's supposed to come straight away – I don't understand…"

"Don't understand what?" snapped Riva impatiently.

Harry shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he told her, though he was beginning to feel slightly uneasy. "We'll just have to apparate."

"But you said that was a bad idea!" Riva protested, peering intently at him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Harry lied. "Absolutely nothing – just a…um… slight change of plans."

Riva sighed but, thankfully, didn't ask any more questions for which Harry was immensely grateful. The absence of the Knight Bus could be explained by any number of perfectly good reasons – it's just that Harry couldn't think of any.

"So, where are we apparating to?"

Harry looked at her and grinned. "The Leaky Cauldron."

7 7 7

With a faint crack, Harry re-appeared in the Leaky Cauldron. For a moment he couldn't see anything. Their sudden arrival had whipped up layers upon layers of dust that made him cough. While he waited for the dust to settle, the uneasy feeling that he had tried to quash earlier returned, full throttle.

Harry knew Old Tom the barman – and he would never leave his bar in such a state. So where had all this dust come from. Instincts that had been inbred in him all his life flared to life and he crouched ready in a fighting stance and reached for Riva's hand. Although she may have been 19 years old in real life, at the moment – for all intents and purposes – she was just 7.

As the dust began to clear, he could make out dark shapes moving, closing in on them. Suddenly he heard someone bark, "STUPEFY!" and a jet of red light streamed towards them.

With a stifled yell Harry and Riva jumped apart. It was a narrow escape: Harry could feel the heat of it as it brushed past his arm. But now was not the time to sit and think. More dust had been kicked up by their antics making it even harder to see their attackers. He needed to grab Riva and go – obviously Diagon Alley wasn't safe anymore.

"There's one!"

'Ooops!' Harry thought as he whipped around to face a man sized like a bear – wearing the robes of a death eater. 'Too much time standing around.'

The Death Eater opened his mouth to curse Harry, but Harry was quicker. Before the other man had even raised his wand Harry had sent a stunner streaming at him and was already moving away before the stupid idiot had realised he'd been hit.

Another Death Eater launched himself on his back and attempted to strangle Harry. Harry was finding it very hard to stand upright as the second Death Eater felt like he weighed more than even the first. Legs screaming in protest, Harry managed to fling him off his back. There was a loud crash and a sickening snap as the Death Eater hit the wall.

Trying very hard not to think about the dead body not two inches from his left foot, Harry continued to search for his companion – or, dare he say it, daughter.

'This is impossible!' thought Harry, desperately trying to see through the clouds of dust that were choking him. 'I'll never find Riva like this! I'm more likely to hex than save her!' Getting his wand into his hand, he bellowed "SCOURGIFY!"

Immediately the dust disappeared and silence fell as the two sides faced each other. Riva, it had appeared, had just been standing meekly against one wall doing nothing. But then Harry spotted a couple of Death Eaters who had slash marks down their chests – maybe she hadn't been quite so dormant after all.

The Death Eaters were definitely worse off. Three of them, it transpired had been having a furious duel with each other and their numbers had been depleted by both him and Riva. As both scrambled to other sides of the small parlour room, one of the Death Eaters snatched off his mask and stood glaring at them. His white-blond hair – so like their own – was slightly mussed up from the fight and his grey eyes glared hatefully at them in a manner that was not very different from the last time Harry had seen Lucius Malfoy.

"You may think you're clever," he snarled, clenching fists crushing the mask, "with your curses and all, but for people who defy the power of the Dark Lord their only escape is death."

A small hand grabbed his. Riva had crept up to him and was now holding his hand and glaring forcefully at the Lucius with wide, blue eyes. While the Death Eater had been talking, Riva had been preparing a portkey, the magic being hooked into Harry's cloak. Apparition wards had been set up around the dilapidated pub, and while they could still apparate, they didn't want to give the Death Eater's even more cause to remember them by.

The movement brought Malfoy's attention to the small girl and he smirked at her. "Well, well, well," he said, exchanging a significant glance with a Death Eater next to him. "You've got a child."

"And the award for observation goes to?" snapped Harry, sarcastically, but his attention was diverted as Riva sent him a message.

Where are we going?

Malfoy, not hearing her silent question, merely grinned more at Harry. "Oh, no, you misunderstand me," he said softly, peering intently at Harry with his grey eyes. "It's just that torturing children is one of Pansy's favourite past times."

As the shortest Death Eater ripped off her own hood, Harry stiffened in shock. He wasn't the only one. Riva, in the beginning of asking another question, stopped suddenly and was gazing at the Death Eater in mingled fear and disgust – but, most of all, with rage. Harry could literally feel the anger radiating off her and her grip on his hand became much tighter.

But Harry hardly paid her any attention. 'Pansy?' he thought, still in shock. 'Pansy Parkinson? It can't be!' But there was no denying it as she smirked at him in the way that he so well remembered. It as definitely her, but she looked about thirty!

'But that means...' Harry thought suddenly, feeling cold, 'that that's Draco! Not Lucius – Draco!' Harry was paralysed with confusion and shock. How could both Draco and Pansy look as if they'd aged fifteen years, when he'd only been away five? 'Maybe this is what becomes of being a Death Eater,' Harry thought, but without humour.

Meanwhile, Riva was tugging on his sleeve. "Daddy?" she asked, turquoise eyes wide, while her mind shrieked at him; Harry, what the hell are you doing! Finish the bloody portkey! I have no particular desire to be tortured today!

"Right," Harry mumbled, shaking his head and plastering a smirk on his face, although his knees were still trembling slightly (he hoped no one would notice – how embarrassing!). Malfoy and the other Death Eaters looked rather taken aback as even Riva grinned at them. "Sorry, Malfoy," drawled Harry, in a fair imitation of the Death Eater himself, "but neither me nor my daughter are in the mood for a torture session today. So go back and tell your master that I said 'hi'."

As Malfoy's face contorted into one of fury, Harry finished the spell required for the Portkey, adding in the location: Hogwarts…

And, for the third time that day, Harry disappeared into a world of rushing wind and colour.

7 7 7

As soon as his feet hit the rather sodden ground, Harry dropped Riva's hand and turned to glare at her. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled, glaring at her forcefully.

Riva looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" repeated Harry, furiously. "Why is everyone old?"