Chapter 7: Phoenix Song

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long, but I wasn't feeling well, and we had bad weather, too. We're supposed to have bad weather this afternoon, so I wanted to try and get this up before then. Thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far. It means a lot to me. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Harry Potter. Those characters are owned by J.K. Rowling. I own any characters that aren't from the Harry Potter series.

The sun was shining brightly, and the birds were singing. Lily found herself on the Hogwarts grounds near the Forbidden Forest. She looked around and thought about how beautiful everything looked. Hagrid did such a good job with keeping the grounds looking nice. She was looking at the tress in the Forbidden Forest when she saw a flash of scarlet between the trees. Then she heard something that made her feel warm inside. It sounded like a bird, but it wasn't any sort of bird she'd ever heard before.

She started to follow the sound of the singing but had a hard time going through the forest. Once she did get in there, she tried to find the scarlet color but couldn't see anything. She kept walking deeper into the forest, trying to listen for the song, but it had stopped. What had happened? Was the bird gone, or had she imagined it?

"Hello?" she called. "Where are you?" She kept on walking. The bird had to be in the forest, or had flown away from it. She looked into the sky, trying to see if the bird was there, but she saw nothing.

Lily was ready to call out again when she heard a twig crack. She turned around and saw a group of centaurs staring at her, pointing bows and arrows at her. She could tell they weren't happy to see her.

"What are you doing here?" one of them demanded.

"I'm sorry, sir," Lily said. "I thought I saw a bird go into the forest, so I came to follow it. Have you seen it?"

"We have not seen anything apart from you, human," the centaur replied. "You are not welcome here. I suggest you leave here before we are forced to destroy you."

Lily was taken aback by their words and they scared her. She turned and tried to go back the way she had come but found she couldn't because the trees had somehow closed in around her. Wide-eyed, she began to panic.

"What are you waiting for, human?" the centaur asked. "We told you to leave at once. We're giving you one last chance to leave before we destroy you."

"I can't!" Lily cried. "The trees have blocked me in!"

"Then we have no choice," the centaur replied. "You must be destroyed." He and the others raised their bows and pointed them at Lily.

She began trembling. "No, please, don't hurt me!" she begged. "I didn't mean to come in here! Just let me go!"

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"Lily, Lily, wake up!" a voice said.

Lily sat bolt upright in bed with a gasp. She looked around and saw that she was in her dormitory. Miranda was next to her, looking concerned.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You were crying out in your sleep."

"I guess so," Lily answered. "I had a weird dream though." Then she told Miranda about what she dreamed. "It was so weird," she concluded. "Do you know anything about birds?"

"Some things, but not a lot," replied Miranda. "Can you describe the sound it made?"

Lily tried to imitate what she heard, but she wasn't sure if it was accurate. "I think that's what it sounded like," she said.

"And you said it was scarlet?" pursued Miranda.

"Yes," Lily answered. "After I heard it, I felt so warm and happy."

"Sounds like it was a phoenix," said Miranda. "I've read about legendary birds, and that's what it seems to be. We'll have to go to the library to be sure though. We can go during break."

So they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast and joined Hugo, Kenneth, James, and Rose. Lily told them about the dream because she felt it was important to tell them about it. James rolled his eyes and said that Lily shouldn't be taking it seriously. Rose, Hugo, and Kenneth looked intrigued.

"I think maybe this dream is trying to tell you something," Rose said.

"You mean it's like a message?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Rose replied. "But what it is, I'm not sure."

"Oh, come on!" James scoffed. "You can't possibly believe that. It was just a dream."

"Dad had dreams that weren't normal," Lily reminded him. "That's how he saw Grandpa Arthur get attacked."

"Yeah, but that's because he had a connection to Voldemort," James replied. "He could see into Voldemort's head, you know."

"So, you think someone's putting stuff in Lily's head?" asked Hugo.

"Could be," said James nonchalantly.

"No one's putting stuff in my head, James!" said Lily hotly. "This dream was real."

James said nothing more but rolled his eyes to express his skepticism. Lily ignored him and got into a conversation with Rose and Miranda about what they were going to do. The first step was go to the library and then consult Hagrid.

Classes went by too slowly for Lily's liking. She was excited about Defense Against The Dark Arts and wasn't disappointed. With each lesson Harry taught them something really interesting and practical. While the first lesson (which Lily missed due to being in the hospital wing) was mostly devoted to explaining what would be taught in the class, this lesson was devoted to learning it. Harry began by talking about some useful spells and then demonstrating them for the class. He started with the Disarming Charm and then put the class into pairs to practice. Lily was great at it having learned it already from James and Al as well as her father. Miranda faltered a bit with this but then recovered nicely. Hugo and Kenneth also did well on this lesson, which made Kenneth happy.

Once break had arrived, Lily, Miranda, Hugo, and Kenneth went to the library and found a book on birds. They flipped through it until Lily saw the color she had seen in her dream. Miranda pointed her wand at the bird, and it gave a sample of the bird's call. It was a bit loud and caused them to get a reproving glare from Madame Pince.

"Yes, that's the sound I heard," Lily said. "It has to be a phoenix in the forest."

They went down to Hagrid's after that, hoping he'd be able to answer their question. Lily knocked on the door and was greeted by Fang's booming barks Hagrid came to the door and smiled when he saw who was there.

"Nice ter see yeh," he said. "I was wonderin' when you were goin' to see me. Want a cup o' tea?"

"Yes, please," Lily replied.

They sat down and waited while Hagrid made the tea. When he was done, he served the tea along with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. The children ate them and thought they were very good. Lily was a bit surprised because she had heard stories about Hagrid's cooking from her dad. Hugo had, too, and was on the point of saying something until a nudge from Lily made him stop.

"Hagrid, do you know if there are phoenixes in the forest?" asked Lily.

"Phoenixes?" repeated Hagrid. "No, there aren't any that I know of."

"Have there been any at Hogwarts?" inquired Miranda.

"The on'y one I remember was Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes," replied Hagrid. "He was a great pet. He helped yer dad when he was in the Chamber of Secrets, Lily. Magnificent bird he was."

"What happened to him?" asked Hugo.

"Well, he left after Dumbledore died," Hagrid responded. "Never saw him since." He looked at them with a puzzled expression. "Why yeh wanna know?"

Lily told him about the dream she had last night. "It felt so real to me," she concluded. "Do you think maybe Fawkes has come back?"

"I don't know," Hagrid said honestly. "He might be, or it might've just been a dream that has no meaning. Have you heard the song ever since the dream?"

"No, I haven't," Lily said. "But I might hear it one day. I just have a feeling that it's a sign of something. Hagrid, could you take me into the forest one day soon? I want to see if my hunch is right."

"I guess I could do that," replied Hagrid. "I'll have to ask your dad if it's okay though. I don't want him to get mad if I do it without tellin' him."

Lily nodded, and the subject was changed to something else. She knew her dad needed to know about this. After all, he'd had dreams that seemed real and had helped him a number of times. But hadn't James said it was because of his connection to Voldemort? Yes, but maybe he could tell her what is was about and why she was having this dream.

After tea was over, Lily and the others said goodbye to Hagrid and went back to the castle. But as they left, Lily distinctly heard the same sound from her dream. She stopped abruptly and listened more closely. The others stopped, too, and stared at her.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Hugo asked.

"Shh!" Lily ordered. She listened again and knew the sound was coming from the forest. "It's the sound form my dream," she said. "I know it is."

"Lily, we have to go to class," Miranda reminded her. "We can do this later."

But Lily shook her head. "No, I can't," she said. "I need to know. You go on ahead and tell Professor Flitwick where I've gone."

"But, Lily, we're not allowed in the forest," Kenneth told her. "It's forbidden."

"I don't care," Lily declared. "I'm going to see if my dream was right." And with that, she bolted into the forest while her cousin and friends tried to call her back. She ignored them, certain that she was going to get her answer here.

She kept on running, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Then she caught a glimpse of color between the trees. Yes, this was just like her dream. She followed the color and hoped that she'd see the phoenix. Yet each time she thought she'd see it, the color disappeared. She had never been here before and didn't know where to go next. She decided to follow the sound of the song some more to see if she could catch a glimpse of the phoenix.

She heard a twig snap behind her and whirled around. Nothing was there. Lily had been told about the forest by her father. He had warned her not to go in there. Why hadn't she gone to Hagrid and asked him to go with her? Why had she been so rash?

Before she could answer her own questions, she heard more twigs snapping. She whirled around again and saw a group of centaurs coming towards her, looking at her curiously. They had the heads of men and the bodies of horses. All of them were carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows like in her dream.

"What are you doing here, human?" one of them demanded.

"I was looking for a phoenix," Lily answered. "You haven't seen it, have you?"

"We have seen noting apart from you, human," the lead centaur replied. "You are not welcome here. We suggest that you leave here at once."

Lily waited for the trees to block her way back, but they stayed put. She could leave freely and not have to worry about getting hurt. But what about the phoenix? What if she never saw it again? She had to keep going.

"I have to go on," she said. "I need to know why the phoenix is here. I had a dream about it. You have to let me go." She looked at them with pleading eyes, hoping they would take pity on her.

But the lead centaur didn't. "Then we have no choice but to destroy you," he said. "We do not allow humans in our forest."

"Bane, she is young," said a second centaur. "You know we do not hurt foals. Let her pass."

"The time for sparing foals is past," Bane replied. "You know that as well as do, Ronan. They will grow up and change their ways to fit all of the humans. It is best to get rid of them while they are young."

"What about Hagrid?" Lily asked. "Surely you let him in here?"

"Very rarely and only when he is teaching classes," Bane told her. "There was a time when he was granted free passage here, but that was before he stood up for the traitor known as Firenze. You, on the other hand, have no business here. We must destroy you." He nodded to the other centaurs who raised their bows and pointed them at Lily. Only Ronan did not follow them though he knew better than to go against them.

She was getting scared now. This was the part where she woke up after pleading with them. "No, please," she begged. "You have to spare me." She waited, but they didn't lower their weapons. Then she thought of something. "Wait!" she shouted. "My father is Harry Potter, and if you kill me, you'll have to answer to him!"

"Harry Potter?" Bane repeated. "The one who defeated the Dark Lord?"

"Yes," Lily replied.

Bane studied her. "I see no resemblance to Harry Potter," he said. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not!" Lily protested. "I'm telling the truth. You must believe me!"

"Silence!" Bane shouted. "No more of your lies!" He raised his bow and prepared to fire it.

Lily said no more. This was it. She was never going to see her family again. She braced herself for the shower of arrows, tears pouring out of her eyes. But then she heard the phoenix song again, and it was closer than ever. Before Lily could look around, Fawkes flew toward the centaurs, his talons curved. The centaurs tried to fend him off with their arrows, but he avoided them and dived at the herd. After the centaurs ran out of arrows, they had no choice but to flee. After they had fled, Fawkes fluttered to Lily and settled on her shoulder.

Lily reached up and stroked the phoenix's feathers. "Thank you," she said. She was going to say more but stopped as there was the sound of more rustling. She pulled out her wand and pointed it in front of her, cursing herself for not thinking of using it when the centaurs were there. The rustling grew louder, and her father and Hagrid came running toward her.

"Lily, what do yeh think yer doin'?" Hagrid scolded. "Yer lucky yeh weren' killed. I thought you were goin' to wait for me to take you."

"I'm sorry, Hagrid," Lily replied. "I heard the phoenix song and had to see what it was."

"You know you're not supposed to be in the forest," Harry chastised. Then he looked at the phoenix on her shoulder. His eyes widened in shock. "Fawkes," he whispered.

"Blimey!" Hagrid exclaimed. "He came back! But why?"

"No idea," Harry replied. ""We'd better go to McGonagall's office and see what she thinks."

So, the three of them went back to the castle and to McGonagall's office. She was surprised to see them and equally surprised to see Fawkes on Lily's shoulder.

"What has happened?" she asked them.

Lily explained everything from the dream to hearing Fawkes and entering the Forbidden Forest. Professor McGonagall's lips thinned at that, but she continued to listen to the young girl's story. It seemed unusual to her that Fawkes would suddenly return.

Dumbledore's portrait was listening to the conversation. "This is extraordinary," he said. "It seems as though Fawkes has chosen a new master, or in this case, a new mistress."

"But why has he come back, Professor?" asked Harry.

"As to that, I don't know," replied Dumbledore. "Perhaps he sensed that Lily needed him and came to her aid. I'm not sure how long he's been in the forest, but it was fortunate he was there this time. Lily, you are now Fawkes's keeper and must take care of him. I assure you, he will be a great pet and very faithful."

"But I already have an owl," protested Lily. "Maybe he could stay here instead."

But Fawkes didn't go to his old perch and merely stayed on Lily's shoulder.

"I believe Fawkes has chosen you," Dumbledore said. "It doesn't hurt to have tow pets."

"Spare me the sentimental drivel," Snape said. "You're rewarding the brat when she needs to be punished for breaking the rules."

"Severus, that's enough!" Harry chastised. "I told you not to bully my children. Lily will be punished for going into the forest. She'll get a week's detention with me and thirty points from Gryffindor."

"Very well, Harry," Professor McGonagall said. "Miss Potter, please go back to your common room and get your books for your next class."

Lily did as she was told and left Fawkes in her dormitory. He settled on his perch and got ready for a nap. She couldn't understand what this meant, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She went to Potions and tried to concentrate on that day's lesson, but she couldn't. Miranda and the others were mad at her for being so rash and wouldn't speak to her. She hoped they'd get over it soon and be friends with her again.

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Up in her tower room, Sibyll Trelawney was gazing into her crystal ball and gasped at what she saw. It was just like the vision she'd seen before. She hadn't thought it was accurate at first, but now she knew better.

"It's happened," she whispered. "My vision has come true." She had to speak to the young girl. Lily Potter had to know about the vision and what it entailed. She couldn't be left in the dark any longer. She was the key they were looking for during this time. Sibyll sensed that darkness was upon them and that Lily Luna Potter was the light that would smother the darkness.

A/N: Dun dun dun! So, now Fawkes is finally in the picture and a prediction has sort of come to pass. What does this mean for Lily? Well, you'll have to read on to find out. And don't forget, evil is still at large, and you'll be seeing some of it in the next chapter. Please feel free to leave a review once you've finished reading. I'd really like to know what you think. I hope to have the next chapter up tomorrow depending on how I feel and if the dog will let me. Until then, just think about all you have read and keep guessing. It's always fun to do that.