Chapter 33 A Friend For Patrick
Most days, Patrick could be found in his mother's quarters, Merope oftentimes was busy during the day teaching classes so Dyspo, her house-elf, was sometimes tasked with looking after him, but at night she always tucked him in and spent as much time with him as possible. Albus had even allowed her a few classes off each week so that she could spend some much needed time bonding with Patrick. Sometimes, Merope would invite Severus, Lily, and Albus too if he could make it to her quarters on weekends and allow Patrick's godparents spend some time with their godson. Although Albus would occasionally be busy with his additional commitments beyond Hogwarts, Severus and Lily always made time for their godson. Naturally, Merope treasured every bit of time she had with her son, she loved him, but truth be told there were times when she didn't think she was as good of a mother as she should be. She felt that she was inadequate at times, and that she needed others to help fill the void, it wasn't a pleasant feeling, thinking you needed others to help raise your child, but out of necessity she swallowed her pride and accepted the help that was so freely given to her. Despite her feelings of inadequacy, nothing would give her greater pleasure than seeing her son succeed, it was the greatest remedy for her feelings.
Patrick could prove to be a handful at times, now that he was close to ten months old, his mobility seemed to increase with each passing day which meant one could never take their eyes off him for a second. He couldn't walk, not quite, but he'd grown into quite the avid couch surfer and provided there was something to grasp, he was quite able to stand on his own two feet. Merope suspected it would be any day now that Patrick would take his first steps, and she most certainly wanted to be there to mark the occasion. On one fine early autumn day in the first week of October, it finally happened. It was a Sunday, and so Merope was free from classes as was everyone else in the castle, she decided it was high-time to invite Severus and Lily over for a cuppa, since this was one of the few times throughout the week that all three of them, and Albus too, had their schedules free. Albus had been in London all day yesterday convening with the Minister and the British ICW delegation on the cleanup of Grindelwald's forces in Europe; he mentioned something or other about a massive search mission to recover the Dark Artifacts that Grindelwald and his loyal followers had collected over the years. Today though, he had no ICW meetings to worry about, and he had virtually nothing else on his plate, it was as perfect a time as ever to meet.
Despite his mischief and perpetual state of high energy during the day, Patrick was a peaceful sleeper for the most part, for which Merope was grateful. He also didn't cry much, compared to other babies his age at least, and he usually only reserved his sobs and wails for when he was running low on food, or had dirtied his diaper. Early on that Sunday morning however, Patrick chose to announce his awoken state with a loud wail that had Merope springing out of bed, and her house elf Dyspo popping into existence by her crib not a moment later. Patrick was crying softly, which indicated his desire for milk so Merope kicked aside the covers of her four-poster and grabbed the milk bottle on the bedside table. Dyspo was reaching through the bars of the crib, trying to shush the crying child, but the poor house-elf had wide eyes seemed out of it's depth attending to Patrick. The school had been kind enough to loan a house-elf to her to aid in the raising of her child, Toppo, Albus' house elf also assisted at times but for the most part, Dyspo looked after Patrick whenever she was in class or was otherwise occupied. Unfortunately, the Hogwarts house-elves were not the best trained in regard to raising children, but Dyspo did try his best and was learning—for that, Merope couldn't fault him.
"Thank you Dyspo, but I'll take it from here. Please prepare some breakfast for four and a bowl of fruit for Patrick. I think our guests shall be here in an hour or so," Merope said softly.
"Yes Mistress Merope, right away," Dyspo said dutifully, giving a low bow to the Assistant Professor and then popping away to the kitchens.
Merope reached down into the crib and hoisted Patrick out and into her lap, and one sniff was all it took to determine that he was in need of a change. Shushing her son, she carried him into the bathroom and summoned a change of diaper and soap. "Shhh Patrick, mama's here, just be still for me, alright?"
His cries seemed to lessen, reducing in pitch and volume from wails to quiet sniffles as Merope undid his diaper and tossed it into the bin. She cleaned him up, rinsing, then washing with a generous portion of soap, before redressing him in a change of diaper. To her relief, Patrick's cries had stopped entirely; her baby wore a goofy grin as Merope slipped his favorite black and red onesie over him. With big grubby hands, he reached for her, Merope hoisted him off the counter and into her arms. Holding him in one arm, she shut the door behind her and reached for his milk-bottle, seeing his uneven, yet pearly white incisors peeking out gave her reason to smile as he reached for the bottle and began to drink. Merope headed out of her quarters and summoned her house elf.
"Yes Mistress Merope?" Dyspo squeaked, appearing attentively at her side.
"Please look after Patrick for the next half-hour, I'm going to take a bath now. If there's an emergency, you may call me," Merope instructed.
She moved over to the window with Patrick still held to her chest and pushed aside the blinds, outside it was still dark, although the deep-purple horizon just beyond the forbidden forest heralded the imminent arrival of the sun. Turning around, she walked back to the sofa and gently set Patrick down, with Dyspo clambering on next to her son and accepting the bottle from Merope.
"Dyspo can do that ma'am. If help is being needed, Toppo can always—"
Pop
"Someone be calling Toppo?" Albus' house elf said.
"No Toppo, we aren't in need of your assistance at the moment. Dyspo was just saying that if he needs help, he can always call you."
"Oh!" The nodded, his big ears flapping about like sails in a gale. "My apologies, Mistress Merope, Toppo will be going now."
Pop
Sighing, Merope cast one more glance at her son and house elf; Patrick seemed to be content enough, drinking away from the bottle, and Dyspo was making goofy faces at him as he fed her son. It seemed Dyspo was managing well, so she left her sitting room to get ready for the day.
Half an hour later, Merope was entering her sitting room and was in the process of accepting Patrick from her house elf when a knock at the door caused her eyes to snap up to the source of the noise.
Holding Patrick against her chest, she quietly sent Dyspo on his way to finish his breakfast preparation, then turned back to the door and said; "Who is it?"
"It's Albus, may I come in?"
"Yes. Yes, please do Professor," Merope replied.
The door swung open, and through it stepped Albus Dumbledore. "I hope I'm not here too early Merope, but I couldn't resist seeing that bundle of fun for a moment longer. How are you two?"
"We're well Albus, I suspect it'll be any day now when he takes his first steps. He's been quite close on a number of occasions in recent days," Merope said fondly, her eyes drifting from the red-haired Professor to her son.
"That's wonderful. I was wondering if—"
All of a sudden, the floo roared to life and a floating head—Lily's head—appeared in the flames. Albus had cast a sound muffling charm on Merope's fireplace to mute out the noise of the floo coming to life, but even still, the fireplace made a sound akin to the whooshing of a gentle breeze whenever someone decided to floo call her.
"Hello Merope, hello Albus," Lily greeted, nodding in turn at them both. "Is it alright if we come through now? We hope we aren't too early."
"Now's a perfectly good time Lily, Dyspo should be finished with breakfast soon," Merope answered.
"Thanks. We'll be right there, Sev's just in the bathroom now, we'll be over in a few minutes," Lily replied. She withdrew her head from the flames and they died down moments after.
"So what woke you so early today Albus?" Merope asked, glancing over at a chair as indication for Albus to sit down.
"Let's just say that I've been rather busy in recent days. A new pet project of sorts, you could say," Albus said, grinning infuriatingly at her.
"A project? What sort of Project?" Merope asked.
"How about I show you?" Albus asked, throwing Merope a wry look. "Oh, and you'd better cover Patrick's eyes and ears, this might be rather bright…and loud as well," he said, glancing concernedly at Patrick.
Merope nodded quickly. She lifted Patrick off the sofa and onto her lap, then cupped his ears and hugged him tightly to her chest so that whatever light-show Albus promised would not disturb him. He'd been well-behaved today for the most part so it'd be an awful shame if he were to start crying now. With Patrick secured against her chest, Merope gave Albus a tight nod. Having received Merope's approval, Albus nodded back at her and raised his hands to cup his mouth.
"Fawkes!"
Not a second later, a bright flash akin to an atom bomb, and a loud roar like that of a fighter jet going supersonic assaulted their eyes and ears. The blinding light, far too bright to look at directly, slowly lessened in intensity, revealing the outline of a creature of some sort. As the light dissipated and the roar died down, the outline of the creature became more apparent. It was sat on the table next to Albus' lounge chair, and it was evidently a bird or avian creature of some sort; but its precise species was unknown to Merope. When the flash of light had gone and the room once more reached a tolerable degree of brightness, Merope finally recognized the outline of the bird that sat perched on the table. It was a bird spoken of only in myth, and was one of the rarest and most majestic creatures known to man that walked the—actually…flew over the earth; the bird was almost entirely red, with accents of gold and white atop its tufted head. It was a Phoenix, one of the sacred birds in all the world, and somehow, someway, there was one in her room.
Merope finally released her hands from Patrick's eyes and ears and allowed her son to look upon the bird. Little did she know that in ten or so years' time, one of his tail feathers would become the core of his wand, and that the bird before her would become an integral part of her son's journey. Fawkes crooned appreciatively as Albus stroked his crimson plumage, the bird tilted its head sideways and leaned into Albus' hand. By all intents and purposes, the bird looked entirely tame; despite the fact that they were supposedly very hard to domesticate and amongst the most stubborn birds known to man. Fawkes flapped out its wings, extinguishing the embers that burned and returning the bird to a non-flaming state; his black eyes swept across the room, coming to rest on the young woman and her son sitting across from him on the couch.
"Is—is that a phoenix?" Merope asked, glancing curiously at the bird. Patrick looked upon the creature with unrestrained awe, his eyes wide and curious at the mysterious creature before him.
"Indeed. And his name is Fawkes. He's my familiar," Albus explained, smiling at Merope as he continued to stroke Fawkes' dorsal feathers.
"How did you get him?" Merope blurted out quickly, unable to contain her curiosity.
The old man smiled serenely at her and gave a quiet chuckle. "I thought you might ask that. I met him on my travels a little while ago," Albus explained. "Do you remember when I was in London a few months ago for an ICW meeting?"
Merope nodded, she recalled her Professor saying that he'd be gone for half a week to discuss the cleanup operation of Grindelwald's forces in Europe.
"I asked, because on the last day of my meetings, I encountered Fawkes here on the outskirts of London," he explained. He glanced back to Fawkes and scratched the area between his ears, drawing a long croon from the bird. "He wasn't in a good way, his tail was broken and he didn't look healthy at all. When Phoenix's are hurt, they often cry tears onto the wound so that they can heal themselves. Fawkes was crying…but his wound was on his tail—"
"So he couldn't heal himself because…because his tears couldn't reach his tail," Merope surmised.
Albus nodded. "Yes. So I brought him back to school and snuck him into my quarters and began to nurse him back to health. Toppo was a great help, of course, but since this was during the summer break, I was able to spend most of my day with either Fawkes, or with you and Patrick. So I healed Fawkes' tail first and foremost, and then I took some time to procure some volcanic ashes and that helped to restore his overall health. In a few weeks, Fawkes was as good as new."
"How come I never saw him when I was in your office? I never even smelt any ashes or embers or anything that would indicate he was there. And what would Fawkes need ashes for?"
Albus opened his mouth to answer her questions, but his eyes snapped away to the fireplace as the floo roared green. Severus and Lily stepped through the fireplace one after the other, and just like Merope, their eyes lit up in surprise of the bird that sat to Albus' left. They hadn't even finished even dusting off their robes when Lily blurted out; "Is that fa—phoenix?"
Severus gripped her arm and flashed her a warning look, she'd quite nearly blurted out the bird's name despite never having met him in this life. Albus seemed to notice it too since his eyes had widened in alarm as Lily quite nearly shouted his familiar's name. Thankfully, Merope was busy with Patrick, pointing out to him the different features of the bird.
"Yes, his name is Fawkes, I've been raising him for some time now," Albus explained. "In fact, why don't we start breakfast, now that we're all here I can fill the two of you in on how I came to meet him."
Moving from the sitting area over to the dining table, the four Adults sat down in their seats, with Merope setting Patrick down in his high-chair. Once they were all seated, she summoned Dyspo and asked him to bring their usual breakfast spread as well as a pot of Peppermint tea. The elf did as he was told within a few seconds as a sumptuous meal appeared on the flowery tablecloth. Fawkes followed Albus over and perched himself just off to the side, in view of Patrick.
"Allow me please," Severus offered, reaching for the teapot and pouring out four cups of tea into their corresponding cups.
"Sorry we were late Merope," Lily said sincerely, flashing their host an apologetic look. "This sourpuss was rather slow getting out of bed this morning. He stayed up far too late last night working on his little project," she added, teasingly prodding Severus in the ribs. Severus scowled but didn't say a word, he refused to rise to her bait this early in the day.
"Oh don't worry, Albus only showed up a few minutes before you two did so you weren't that late. He was just explaining how he came across Fawkes," Merope replied.
As if on cue, Fawkes crooned in the background, eliciting a few giggles from Patrick. He certainly seemed entertained with the bird.
"Yes it's quite interesting actually, I met him on the way back from an ICW convening over the Summer Break," Albus explained, as he loaded his plate with a small portion of sausages. "I was leaving the meeting when I'd heard this eerie, haunting, noise. It sounded like an animal of sorts, but I was clueless as to whether it was a mundane or magical creature, I had no clue, but it sounded like it was hurt."
"This was in London?" Severus asked. He sounded skeptical, and frankly, Albus couldn't blame him, if he'd been the one hearing the story for the first time instead of telling it, he'd have been skeptical to say the least as well.
Indeed Severus, I believe it was in Chelsea if my memory serves me well. Naturally, being a Gryffindor I followed the noise, even thought I had no idea what was making it," he smiled as he spoke, it was a fond memory after all. "I soon found the source of the noise to be Fawkes, but he was wounded, his tail broken and he was trying to cry onto his tail, but he couldn't quite twist around that far."
"So you found him when he was hurt, then you brought him back to Hogwarts and healed him?" Lily asked, it was a genuine question since she'd never learned how Albus had come across his trusty familiar in her first life.
"Indeed," Albus concurred, nodding at Lily. "I collected his tears, and dripped them onto his tail feathers. And I ordered some volcanic ash from Iceland, and that worked wonders as far as restoring him to full health went."
"How does that work?" Severus asked. It was a genuine question and one he'd never got around to asking Albus in his first life; whenever Fawkes had a burning day, or was otherwise unwell, Albus would always mention buying some ash for his familiar.
"I'd just asked that myself when you two came through the floo, actually," Merope added.
"Indeed, it's a good question. One I didn't know the answer to, myself, until I checked out a few books from the library about Phoenixes," Albus replied. "When a Phoenix approaches the end of its life-cycle, and its burning day nears, it will begin to grow weaker and its feathers shall fall off it like how a tree sheds its leaves. At the point of death, a Phoenix will then burst into a ball of flames and collapse into ashes. And from the Ashes, they are reborn, and the ash provides healing properties for them and aids them in their growth. The greater the supply of ash someone has on hand, the faster a Phoenix reaches maturity."
"So let me get this straight. You went to London a few months ago for an ICW meeting."
"Yes."
"Then as you left, you heard the faint cry of an animal, a cry that you didn't recognize."
"Indeed."
"And then you brought him back to Hogwarts, helped to heal the bird by collecting its tears, and then ordered ash from Iceland of all places to help him recover."
"Exactly."
Severus' eyebrows rose in skepticism, but Albus held his gaze evenly; as crazy as it sounded, he was telling the truth.
"So how've you been hiding him all this time Albus? I swear I've been in your office at least ten times or so since the summer, so where's he been?" Lily asked.
Albus held his hand up as he chewed his bite of eggs, he chased it with a glass of Orange Juice before finally replying. "Funnily enough, Merope asked the same thing just before you arrived," he said amusedly.
"But you see, that's the thing, I never kept him in my office. Fawkes remained in my quarters for the duration of his recovery. I had to get permission from Armando to keep him, and Sawyer knew about him because of my inquiry into Volcanic ash…but other than that, no one knew I had him, and I intended to keep it that way for a while."
"So why reveal him today then?" Merope asked.
"The answer to that is simple, Merope," Albus smiled. "Him." His fork—a sausage mounted on the end—was pointed at the boy sat across from him.
"Patrick?" Merope glanced to her son, who was currently slouching in his chair and looking over at Fawkes off to the side. "What's it got to do with him?" She asked, looking back at Albus.
"Every time you've brought him over, Merope, every time Patrick has been in the vicinity of Fawkes, Fawkes has been acting strangely."
"How so?"
"It's hard to describe," Albus said slowly, he observed the boy curiously, his gaze then drifting away to his familiar familiar. "But Fawkes was always aware of whenever Patrick visited with him, and whenever Patrick was near…Fawkes was rather…upbeat, in a sense. Look at him now for instance—" He gestured over to his familiar, prompting his colleagues to shift in their seats to find the Phoenix. Fawkes had his head cocked sideways, and seemed to be squawking at Patrick, Phoenixes were remarkably intuitive so quite was quite possible that he was communicating with him. Patrick as babbling away too, in his basic brand of baby-english. "—It's almost like…they're communicating in a way. It's strange, don't you think?"
Severus observed the entire exchange through narrowed eyes—calculatingly taking not of Patrick's and Fawkes' behavior. Whilst Lily and Merope were distracted by the little display, he leaned over to Albus. "Albus a word, please, I think I might understand what's going on," he whispered, quiet enough so that he wouldn't disturb the two women.
Albus frowned, but nodded. He withdrew his wand and cast a privacy charm over them and prompted Severus to speak. "In my first life, Fawkes who was your familiar then as well, once donated two tail-feathers to Olivander to use as wand cores. And one of the wands he crafted…one of just two, mind you, was sold to a boy by the name of Tom Riddle. Obviously that boy has a different name in our world, but he's still that same boy all the same. I think…and this is just a hunch, but I think Fawkes is forging a bond with the boy. There's a reason after all that one of two wands that were constructed with his tail feathers chose Patrick; so I don't think it should come as a surprise that these two are beginning to forge a connection of their own in the here and now," Severus explained.
Albus' sparkling blue eyes darted between the pair. Judging from the way Patrick babbled away to the Fawkes, and how the Phoenix he'd been raising for the past three months squawked back to him; one would've thought that they were old friends of many years, and not having just been introduced for the first time. The more Albus mulled over Severus' explanation in his head, the more sense it made to him; Severus appeared to be bang on the money.
"I must confess I think you're right Severus," Albus remarked, his brow raised in surprise. He withdrew his wand from his trouser pocket and took down the privacy charm.
Patrick was reaching out for his mother with his pudgy little arms, prompting Merope to stand from her chair and lift her whining son from his. "Yes Patrick, is there something you want?"
Patrick babbled away, his arms moving all about in frustration, as he tried but failed to convey his wishes to Merope. Patrick still hadn't spoken his first word yet, but it sure was frustrating for the youngster; knowing what he wanted but unable to vocalize it. His wild gestures and incoherent babbling seemed to have a common pattern however and all lead back to Fawkes, perched just a few meters away on a chest of drawers.
"I think he wants to see Fawkes," Lily commented.
Nodding in agreement, Merope set Patrick down on the floor, and waited to see what he would do. Patrick's eyes refused to leave the bird, and set in his small irises, was a glint of determination that did not escape Severus' attention. He'd seen that familiar glint so many times in the eyes of his master, except this boy's eyes weren't crimson, they were brown, and they were hardened in determination so rarely seen in a ten-month old. All the adults watched on with rapt attention, Albus, Severus and Lily at the table, and Merope standing by his side, smiling in encouragement. Slowly, Patrick crawled over to the nearest chair and grabbed onto the chair legs with his pudgy hands. Using the chair, the toddler pulled himself upright, and he stayed that way with the chair giving him balance. Merope gave a quiet gasp, her hands flying to cover her mouth which had parted in shock, Albus looked on in interest and Lily was giddy with excitement—her eyes shining like gemstones.
"Sev look. I think this is it, I think Patrick's gonna do it," Lily whispered softly, pointing over to Patrick who was now standing on his own power, his hands off the chair and standing upright.
"I can see Lily," Severus replied equally quietly. The veteran spy's face remained impassive, but a brief glance at his seemingly-neutral eyes told Lily that he was paying close attention to the scene unfolding before him.
With bated breath, the four adults watched closely—Merope especially so—as Patrick released the chair and stood on his own two feet for the first time. Slowly, he placed one foot forward—his first step, then another—his second; Fawkes crowed in encouragement, but when he took his third, little Patrick's run of luck came to an end and he came crashing down to earth onto the soft carpeted floor. Patrick sniffled quietly, but tried to push himself upright once more; he tried, and he failed, falling back onto the floor as his sniffles grew louder and louder. Merope was on him in a second, but to everyone's shock, so was Fawkes. From his perch on the dresser, the majestic creature swooped down to land right by Patrick. Fawkes leaned forward and nudged his head against the boy, giving him encouragement. None of the adults dared move, Merope was by her son's side, ready to pick him up when Fawkes nudged him with the crown of his head again. Lily watched with her hands clasped over her mouth, whilst Severus actually seemed interested now—he was even leaning forwards in his chair in clear anticipation.
Slowly, Patrick gave one almighty push and stood up once more. His second venture lasted thrice as long as the first, taking six steps in rapid succession before falling on his seventh. Ever the diligent trainer, Fawkes swooped over to him and encouraged him to his feet. Merope and the rest could only look on in awe as Patrick pulled himself to his feet for the third time that day and persisted in his attempts to master bipedal travel. He fell many times, but each time he rose, Merope felt a swell of pride and joy seeing her boy discovering a new milestone. As Merope looked on watching her baby boy interact and draw inspiration from a creature of myth and legend, Lily stood from her chair and walked to her side.
"You've done a wonderful job Merope," Lily said assuringly, giving the shorter woman a sidelong hug. "Patrick's grown so much, and I'm so happy I got to be here for this."
"Thank you, Lily, but in part it is thanks to you, and Severus and Albus too. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for you three. Thank you," Merope said sincerely.
Lily just smiled, and looked back over to Patrick, who was toddling away after Fawkes who was now walking on his own two feet instead of flying. "I have a feeling that one day, Patrick will change the world," she said quietly, yet confidently. "He'll be a great wizard one day Merope, but he needs you—" Lily looked over at Merope, her eyes gentle "—he needs you Merope."
"I know. And nothing in this world will take me from him," Merope said fiercely.
At the end of the day, the greatest cure for Merope's insecurity as a mother was seeing her child succeed. When he first crawled, then stood, then walked, each time her bundle of joy did something new, the pride and wonder she felt at knowing that she helped facilitate that was indescribable. All she wanted was to see her Patrick succeed, and to see him standing on his own two feet, chasing after a bird of myth and laughing and giggling like the carefree child he was almost brought tears to her eyes. Almost. Instead she just smiled, watching with wonder as the child she would kill for—would die for, loved life and experienced joy she herself never had the chance to. Glancing briefly at the red-haired woman by her side, her smile bloomed; none of this would be possible without her or Severus, and for that, it was enough for her to feel lifelong gratitude to her friends. After all, where would she be without Severus and Lily?
Severus and Albus eventually joined Lily and Merope, getting to their feet and walking over to them to bear witness to the wonderful sight before them. The connection forged between man and animal was undeniable, and it was a beauty to behold. Had Severus or Lily thought that a boy who in one world grew to become the darkest wizard since Herpo the Foul—would befriend the legendary familiar of one of the most powerful wizard's of all time? No. They'd have thought you insane for thinking such a thing. Three of the four adults were well aware of the potential for darkness that child held, yet here he was, toddling and laughing away as he chased after Fawkes without a care in the world. To Severus, Lily and Albus, it was beautiful sight to behold, and brought smiles to all of their faces, yes, even Severus was smiling. Despite the joy they felt at seeing Patrick find happiness in life; it saddened them that the lost boy of their world, Tom Riddle, never found this. All he'd known was pitch-black darkness that would one day ensnare his mangled soul and warp it beyond what was thought to be humanly possible. That was something Patrick would never know if they had anything to say about it.
A/N: So Patrick's met Fawkes, I've been trying to craft their first interaction for a while and I eventually came up with this. Since Harry and Fawkes held a close bond in canon, with Harry's escapades in CoS perhaps encapsulating that best, I thought it'd be neat if Fawkes formed a bond with the other recipient of his donated tail-feather. Now Patrick's not gonna swoop in and steal Fawkes from Albus or anything like that, but they will be forging a bond of their own as the story progresses. Also, I'd read that Phoenix's are quite difficult to domesticate supposedly so I tried to make the scenario in which Albus came across and nurtured Fawkes back to health(thus earning his trust), as believable as I could.