Disclaimer found on chapter 1

Chapter 2 - Anguish

Hera was unusually quiet as the family endured the seventeen hour flight to London. Only Edward was privy to the thoughts that waged war on the seven-year-old phoenix's mind as she tried to focus on rereading her well-worn copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit." Though the vampires were also saddened by the news that their friends' long lives were ending, they were currently more concerned with helping Hera come to terms with her despair.

Two hours into the trip, she finally gave up the pretense of trying to read and began staring out of the window absently. In a seemingly random movement, Hera slid her book into the seat pocket in front of her, buried her face in Edward's side and started sobbing. Edward immediately pulled his mate into his lap and held her as she cried herself to sleep. He then glared at the human businessman on the aisle seat beside him who openly stared at them as if they were an exhibit in a museum put there strictly for his amusement.

Rosalie, who was seated directly behind the nosy individual, looked as if she were going to vault over the seat and rip the guy's head off. The blonde vampire was caustic on a good day, but when Hera wasn't smiling, she was likely to kill first and ask questions later. Thankfully he got the message and turned his attention back to his laptop. The stranger called him a freak in his mind and for a second he was tempted to say, "Buddy, you've got no idea," but decided it wouldn't be worth the potential drama.

After finding a suitable hotel, the Cullen family walked the seven blocks to the place Carlisle's vampire friend Sanguini said held the entrance to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Jasper, who had Hera riding piggyback, looked at the abandoned department store in confusion. "This is the hospital?"

Emmett snorted. "Very classy… you sure this Sanguini person wasn't yanking your chain, Carlisle?"

Hera slid down from her brother's back and gazed intently at the red-bricked building. Directly beside the mannequin in the window, she could make out a magical portal tinged in blue. Taking a deep breath, Hera walked through the glass without hesitation, prompting her startled family to follow closely behind. She immediately took off her charmed necklace, feeling no need to hide her creature in the magical world, despite the prejudice of magical humans, and handed it to Edward.

Suddenly frightened to death that she may be too late to see her aunt and uncle, she shyly hid behind her father as he approached the young witch behind the check-in counter. At first the gum-popping teenager sneered at her family, telling them that their hospital didn't cater to "their kind." Hera wanted to curse the woman's ears off, but instead remained silent as her father asked for Uncle Nick and Aunt Nelle's room without once slipping into an impolite tone as the rest of them would.

Hera didn't know who Mungo was, but the only one close to being a saint in this room was Carlisle Cullen.

Sighing, as if suddenly dissatisfied with her life, the witch checked a scroll before her and directed them to, (hopefully), the correct ward. She heard Rose growling the entire way as Emmett held tightly to her hand. Hera knew that her beautiful sister's patience had been shorter than usual because of her and it made her feel guilty. Both her emotion and thought prompted Edward and Jasper to give her a sideways look before the former placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.

The young phoenix gasped in dismay when she first caught sight of the Flamels. The hospital had, thankfully, placed them together in one room. Their beds lay side by side, but their bodies hardly resembled the vivacious wizard and witch she'd come to adore. Tears started streaming down her face when it took her a few moments to even recognize her aunt and uncle.

Hera needed to say good bye, but the two withered husks on the beds didn't look strong enough to even open their eyes. The waves of despair had swelled and were now threatening to drown her, so she did the first thing that came to mind.

She flashed away.

Ahna sat in her private chambers, fuming. She had patiently listened to the news Rynex brought before the Mages Council, which consisted of the four joint rulers of Aria, the homeland of phoenixes since the beginning of time. She had sent him out to discover why the Wizengamot had put together an emergency meeting.

The phoenixes, despite the return to Aria, chose to be kept abreast of current events of the wizarding government in order to bring aid to the other magical races of the world should they be in need. Though the races who faced oppression were typically those the human ministries viewed as being "dark," Ahna knew that to be ridiculous. In the thousands of years she'd been alive, she'd met many different races of magical beings, some of which had died out years before.

Phoenixes were unable to tolerate the touch of evil, or what humans liked to call "darkness." They knew instinctively whether or not a person was inherently good or bad, and she'd never once seen a race that collectively fit that description. There was light and dark to be found in all species, and until the ministries realized it, all magical non-humans were in danger.

This prophecy though… she racked her brain trying to figure out how the emerald-eyed baby girl she'd once cradled in her arms could be saved from the burden that would be placed upon her small shoulders. The fact that they were now hailing Charlus Potter as their chosen bought her a little time to come up with a plan to protect the youngling.

Ahna knew in her heart, however, that the truth would be known much sooner than she could hope to come up with a viable solution.

When Hera had transported, she knew immediately that she hadn't left the hospital. She very rarely attempted to flash blindly, (without a destination in mind), but it seemed as if her emotions had taken control of her body. Hearing a gasp, she looked up and met the eyes of a boy around her age. She wiped her eyes and looked away, embarrassed to have a stranger witness her grief.

"Hi," the slightly chubby boy said shyly with a thick English accent. "My name is Neville Longbottom, what's yours… and how did you get in my mummy's and daddy's room?"

She looked up to see a couple about ten years younger than her parents appeared. For a reason she would never be able to explain, the phoenix felt drawn to touch them. "My name is Hera… Hera Cullen, and I flashed here by mistake," she said while inching closer to the couple.

Neville seemed completely unconcerned with her interest in his parents who lay on their beds with their eyes open, but unrecognizing of what was around them. "Flashed?"

"It's how I travel." She fluttered her wings, drawing his attention to the emerald appendages. "I'm a phoenix." She hesitantly reached out to grab the woman's hand beside her, then turned to pick up the adult male's on her other side.

The young boy looked on in wonderment after she told him what she was. He said nothing as she closed her eyes in concentration, driven by instinct to do… something. Hera felt her hands grow warm and, judging by Neville's sudden gasp, they were probably glowing. She couldn't look yet, though… there was something she needed to… there!

Hera, through her mind's eye, could see two separate balls of light, (both colored a harsh red), before her and she knew she had to pull them towards herself. She vaguely heard the sounds of a disturbance from somewhere near the front of the room, but was too deep into her trance to worry about it. She heard Neville speak demandingly to a woman with a grating voice as Hera pulled the darkness inside her body.

The phoenix gasped in excruciating pain as the light she instinctively recognized as evil burned through her before it was suddenly expelled in a burst of wild magic. The shattering of glass and a feeling of cold hands touching her face were the last sensations she had as she lost consciousness.

Yeah… this story is basically writing itself at this point :) Thank you for reading and reviewing!