A/N: well here is the long awaited explanation to why exactly Fawkes is now pestering our Severus. He really is quite an amazing critter.

Keeper of the Phoenix (10)

As Hermione had entered the small cell she was accosted with the smell of sweat, unwashed bodies and total despair; just faintly though she could almost taste a small, but strong thread of defiance and determination. As she allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim light she surveyed the room. It was horribly small and dark. The only color in the place was Fawkes' crimson and gold feathers over in the corner where he was perched precariously on the sink. Turning her attention to the hunched figure on the edge of the cot she was both saddened and amazed by the condition of the man before her. The once intimidating and imposing figure of a man that Severus Snape had been was all but gone. It had been replaced by a nearly skeletal and drawn figure with sunken, haunted eyes. She was reminded of the pictures she had seen in her muggle history book of the concentration camp victims. She was genuinely concerned and felt compassion for the man that had made her life a living hell for six years.

She had grown to respect him in her fourth year, though she still had a healthy dose of dislike for the man, she had learned of his life as a spy by accident on one of her trips to the kitchens for a late night snack. She had taken to occasionally borrowing Harry's invisibility cloak on late night study sessions when she got hungry, as well as cover for observing the House Elves' actions, mainly in concern with S.P.E.W. and her liberation efforts (which she now saw as futile but nonetheless interesting part of her past). She had though tried to please him in class, providing the best Potions of the class while preventing disastrous outcomes in Neville's cauldron when she thought he wasn't looking. She had wanted his approval, though he had never given it to her. The worst part about it was that she had realized in her seventh year when he was no longer teaching at Hogwarts, that despite her dislike for him she felt lost without his deep voice thundering through the dungeon classroom. Potions class was just 'blah' when he wasn't teaching it, no occasion to rise to and no arrogant expectations to meet and exceed, no velvet growl to make her blood boil and anger rise. There just wasn't anything exciting about Potions anymore. Of course the whole notion of mixing, brewing and experimenting was exciting and interesting, but without the ridiculously high standards to attain for the approval of the hard man; she just wasn't interested like she had been before.

Fawkes watched as Snape sat more patiently than ever on his bed and the two new people stood next to the door. He had seen them both before and had helped the boy defeat the Basilisk. The girl he knew from her exploits with the boy, as well as some of her own that had transpired. She had also been in Snape's mind, for he had been carefully sorting through the broken man's thoughts and memories. He had not been invited to do so by Severus, but as he had spent many hours staring off into space, Fawkes had taken advantage of the opportunity and had been doing what he could while Severus' mind wandered.

Fawkes had been carefully keeping Snape alive ever since he had arrived. He was still eating a bare minimum of food and it would have barely sustained him for much longer. So as a result Fawkes had taken it upon himself to slowly heal him wither he liked it or not. He saw this man's potential and would not let him extinguish it so foolishly. He had spent nearly every night perched on his side, though every night there would be a struggle to get him off. When Snape finally fell asleep Fawkes would cry, carefully letting each tear slide down his beak and into Severus' mouth as he breathed. His tears had healing properties, but he knew that there was a limit to what he could do, especially when this man did not really want to get better. He felt that the presence of these two would either make or break the situation. From what he had heard of the conversation before the slip had been replaced, he had high hopes. He began to hum quietly in his corner of the sink. Then he hopped to the ground and walked over to Harry and Hermione who still had yet to move or make any motion to talk.

"Hello Fawkes." Hermione said with a smile and bent down to be at his level; she reached out her hand to him, remembering what Harry had said about the Aurors being beaten up by this bird. Fawkes looked at her with intelligent eyes, gave a small melodious coo and reached out to gently nibble on her fingers in an almost affectionate manner. Then he hopped over to Severus and then up to his lap where he perched rather comfortably on one of his thighs. Fawkes looked at the man pointedly and settled down as if he were going to take a nap, eyes hooded slightly as he waited for things to unfold. Hermione and Harry could have sworn that Snape had muttered something under his breath as he absently stroked Fawkes's feathers.

Severus watched as Fawkes went over to the intruders who had yet to do anything. Hermione had reached out to the bird trustingly and affectionately. "Hello Fawkes," she had said kindly with an amazing smile spreading across her face to light the room even though it had been pointed to the bird. Fawkes had given her outstretched hand a gentle nibble and then came over to him, settling down on his knee.

'Find choice, fine choice.' Fawkes told him with a hint of amusement, but not mocking in his voice as he looked at Severus and glancing back at Hermione.

"Cheeky bird." He huffed under his breath. Despite his apparent hatred of the bird he had come to enjoy the company he had brought to the cell. He is like a mold or a fungus, Severus had deduced one day, he just won't leave anything alone and starts to grow on you after a while. He reached out and absent mindedly began to stroke Fawkes' back feathers. Hermione had stood back up and was watching his interactions with the bird. Harry still looked like the boogie man was going to jump out of a corner and still had a dueling stance. After another moment it became apparent that neither was going to make the first move. Severus grew rather impatient and self conscious about the whole affair.

"Well are you going to tell me why you are her Miss Granger?" He said, injecting his tone with a healthy dose of venom. "Or have you and the Boy Wonder come to gawk? If that is the case then you have seen your fill and you should leave."

"I have not come to gawk I can assure you of that Professor." Hermione said, still watching in fascination as Fawkes hummed slightly from his knee. "I have come to ask for your help."

"I can assure you that I can offer you no assistance." Snape snapped. "I am in prison, if you didn't notice on the way in; make sure you check on the way out. Besides it seems that even before my trial I am already a convicted man, one cannot do or experience the terrible things I have and come away clean. My counsel, if you chose to look for it, would be tainted."

"I can assure you that while I know you have done many terrible things, there are many more things that would have been a lot worse if you hadn't been on the side of the Light. I know that Professor McGonagall has been quite the champion for your cause and I have no reason to believe that she is wrong; despite the fact that she is angry at you, she is still fighting for you. Now, since you are the most knowledgeable Potions Master alive I chose to come to you and ask for your help." She told him genuinely, looking him in the face.

"Someone I love will die very soon if I don't get some help finding the right Potion, quickly. I have done what research I can in the time I have. I have been unable to find any information that may be of help and I am out of ideas. I am quite confident that you can give me the information that I will need."

"So you think that you can waltz in here and get me to help you just like that? You are not as smart a witch as thought Miss Granger." Wait; did he just give her a complement? "You must have been hit by a stupefy during a battle."

"I can assure you Sir, that I hold all of my facilities and I didn't expect to get anything out of this meeting, I came with the hope that I would. I am not here to demand anything from you, but to ask."

"Hope is nothing more than an illusion. Hope does not give you anything but disappointments and shattered dreams, if you choose to dream at all. Once you learn that, your life will be much easier." Snape scoffed, Fawkes tried to nip at his fingers as if to tell him different. "Now unless you have something worth while to be here for, then I suggest you be on your way."

"Hope is all you have when you have no one left. Hope is what you survive on when there is nothing else. Hope is implicit and natural, even those who believe they lack the capacity to hope still can and still do, even if they don't believe it. Even if that hope is for something that is better than what is now and nothing else. So Sir, if hope is an illusion, then it is one that I choose to embrace and nurture.

You may call me a fool if you wish, but I even hold out hope for you. You seem to have enough friends in influential positions to keep your wand unbroken while you sit here in Azkaban. You are the only one that has ever happened to; I know I have done some research into Azkaban the year Sirius escaped. I have come here with the hope that you will help me find the Potion that I need to save a creature that is extremely important to me." Hermione told Snape who scoffed at her declaration.

"And what creature would that be that you are so inclined to come to a condemned and extremely dangerous man to get the information you so desire?" Severus asked coldly, looking away to Fawkes so that she wouldn't see the amazement in his eyes.

"A horse." Hermione told him with confidence that she felt waning just slightly, but she would not let him see it.

"A horse?" Severus was truly amazed by this, he snapped his head up. "You came all the way here, to see me about some bloody horse!? You really have gone mad." He sneered and looked back at Fawkes who looked him right in the eyes after about a minute of what seemed like almost a battle of wills Severus looked away from the bird. "Fine." He growled at seemingly no one in particular. "What is wrong with this animal that you want a Potion for?" It seemed that the statement was a reversal of his previous conclusion. "And what have you done so far?"

"Well. There is a young colt who's mother has died due to an unfortunate occurrence. It has fallen to me to save his life. I have given him a nutrition enhancing Potions that are given to human infants and a pep-up Potion in his bottles. I was unsure of the effects that the Potions would have on a horse and so I stopped giving them to him after a day. It seems that it has worked somewhat, but he still has not gotten up in almost a week, not since his mother died. I am afraid he will seize up and die despite my best efforts. I have come to you in hopes you can tell me of a Potion that will work at strengthening him, as well as encouraging him to get up. I have been unable to get to an adequate library to do research on my own and I fear that it would take me too long to find the right answer. So I have come to you, the most knowledgeable Potions Master alive to ask for your knowledge." She said, neglecting to tell him exactly why she was unable to get to an appropriate library.

"Your attempt at flattery will get you nowhere." Snape sneered. "I would take away House Points for your cheek, but as you so adequately pointed out before you came in here, I cannot. It was quite foolish of you to use Potions in a manner that you are unfamiliar with, ignoring the Warnings of misuse that you were taught in class. But you were lucky and the Potions you used were of the variety that is interspecies usable. As for a Potion that will incur the will to live, there is none. I suggest that you continue with your previous treatment and cling to your feeble illusion of hope." Snape scolded her. "Now you have your information, I do believe it is time for you to leave. I am sure you have wasted enough of your time coming here to find out what you already knew."

"Thank you Professor." She said. "I am grateful for your knowledge and I do not count it as a waste of time." Snape scoffed and looked back down at the bird on his knee that had given a plaintive call.

"Let's go." Harry told Hermione as Severus looked at Fawkes, he had not backed away from his dueling stance, nor had his eyes left Snape since he had entered the cell.

"Yes, all right." She sighed, still watching Snape intently as she saw him muttering to Fawkes who stared intently into his eyes.

"We want to leave now." Harry called out tapping the eye slot with his wand.

"Wait." Severus said after a moment. "There is one thing more that I, we, wish to give you. I trust that Potter can transform something into a vial for you as you don't have your wand." He sounded slightly reigned.

"What?" Harry asked almost suspiciously. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Don't worry Harry." Hermione told him. "I have a vial with me, remember." She took the vial she had thought to bring out of her pocket and held it out. "What am I to do with it?"

"Bring it here." Snape commanded.

"You will go no closer to him." Harry Warned. "He can't be trusted."

"He didn't kill you while you were at Hogwarts," she countered.

"But he killed Dumbledore, I watched him." Harry answered.

"There is usually more to things than meets the eye Potter; you have yet to learn that I see." Snape countered venomously. "But, seeing as I am a dangerous man then you can put the uncorked vial on the floor."

Hermione complied, placing the vial on the floor in front of her feet holding the cap in her hands. Then she took a step back. To her surprise Fawkes jumped off of Snape's knee and walked over to the vial. Positioning his beak over the vial opening he began to cry, letting each silvery tear drip down his beak and drop into the vial.

"You will add two drops after the last step in the pep-up Potion and stir counterclockwise three times to incorporate." Severus told her as she watched in fascination. "It will help the animal grow strong. I was told that you are to consider it a gift."

"You were told?" Harry scoffed. "Now you've gone mad too." Fawkes finished filling the vial and hopped back onto Snape's knee.

"I should have figured it out sooner." Hermione said, eyes growing wide with revelation. "I should have made the connection the instant Harry told me that Fawkes was here."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"So you are among the few chosen a Phoenix Keeper." She continued ignoring Harry. "I guess I didn't think it because he didn't come to you immediately after Dumbledore's death, but the fact that he is here and won't be dislodged is proof enough."

"Please explain." Harry insisted. "You are not making any sense."

"I read about the Phoenix Keepers while still at school, I found a book about them in the library and it caught my attention. They are an elite and very powerful handful of witches and wizards around the whole world that are responsible for the keeping of the Phoenix birds. It is not a job that is aspired to or sought after, but it is a job that is appointed by the Phoenix themselves. When a Phoenix Keeper dies their bird will leave and search the world over for another Keeper; a witch or wizard of great magic and power as well as a true heart. Those they choose also have good dose of personal fire within them. They will not choose a companion that has an evil or black heart, only power with a true and steadfast heart for what is right will bring the Phoenix to a person and persuade them to choose them their companion. Once they have made their choice it is permanent until the death of that Keeper.

The Phoenix Keepers are said to have almost a telepathic bond with their companions and can converse with them. They channel and harness the Phoenix's power as well as the other way around. It is a mutual relationship that increases the power of the wizard even further and allows them to do great good. The Phoenix helps to guide their companion to stay in the Light. There is almost no chance for anyone to be chosen a Keeper, the combination and levels desired by the Phoenix are so high that it almost impossible to achieve, but there are a few that are born with the correct combination. They are born at about the same intervals that the current Keepers die." Hermione told them in awe.

"But how can that be?" Harry asked. "He is a murderer to begin with and a follower of Voldemort. How can he be a Phoenix Keeper? You said that they had to be true of heart."

"Yes I did." She said almost mesmerized. "It seems that he is true of heart despite his past. The fact that Fawkes chose him, Dumbledore's killer is intriguing without a doubt, but I will not question Fawkes' judgment, he has been around in one form or another for forever, or thereabouts. I guess I will see you on the outside then Professor." Hermione said picking up the vial, corking and pocketing it.

"He will still get the Demontor's kiss." Harry said. "That is what he deserves for his transgressions."

"I don't think that he will." Hermione shook her head. "He may have done some terrible things in the past, but I doubt that the combination of things working for him will let him rot here in this cell or endure the Dementor's kiss."

"I'm right here." Severus said in a venomous tone, "and I am not deaf. I am not one to suffer people talking about me like this."

"Are you ready then Harry." The Warden said, the eye slot had slid back and the Warden's eyes were visible.

"Yes." He affirmed. The door creaked open behind Harry. "Come on Hermione, it is time to leave." He pulled gently on her robes.

"Take care of yourself Professor." Hermione told him and turned to leave. "And Fawkes, make sure he does." Fawkes gave a melodious coo as Harry backed out of the cell once Hermione had left.

The door swung shut behind Harry and Severus was acutely aWare that he was alone again, with no one but Fawkes as company, but he was suddenly much more comfortable with the idea then before.

Hermione followed Harry and the Warden out of the prison. She clutched the vial in her pocket. It contained the answer to help Prince. She would have to ponder the mystery that was Snape the Phoenix Keeper later, but she had the suspicion that she would come to understanding of Fawkes' decision in a way she didn't expect. What way that was she was still unsure, but she could just feel it coming.

A/N: here ends this offering to you all. this is NOT the end of the fanfic, I will not abandon it. I know I have had a few reviewers express concern that I would. I enjoy this fanfic too much to just let it hang. Besides, I would like a sense of closure from this fanfic as well as any others that I may write.

To address at least one concern in more depth, yes I know he is still in Azkaban and there is information floating around that could get him out. but as much as I would love to spring him from the slammer right away, I can't. he must have his day in court, it was quite fun to write. Besides him getting out has to be a public affair to relieve him of official guilt. So for those who want to jump the gun and spring him immediately, sorry not yet. just be patient.

If you have the time and would like to read a fabulous fan fic with our two favorite characters then I suggest you go over to my 'sister's' postings, Romancing the Shadows by Skydancinghobbit. It is very entertaining and very good. if I could make her update even sooner and more than she does I would. as it is I am relegated to being nothing more than the little voice on the other end of the phone telling her to update SOON! But what are friends for anyway.

That said I would like to have at least 6 more reviews (only 3 per chapter) before I post again. hopefully by then I will be back on campus and have unrestricted internet connections. Enjoy what is rest of the summer and fanfic on!