Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter.

Chapter 20

Fire has neither culture, nor pity, nor mind. Voracious in appetite, it seeks to consume whatever it pleases with no care for the ash and cinder it leaves behind in its charred wake. There is only one other such phenomenon in existence that could rival the rapacious disposition of flame: the nature of Man.

"Yuck," Ariana muttered in disgust as she popped out of existence and landed with a splash on a black puddle of some foul smelling liquid, her Apparition spell successfully completing without any signs of splinching.

The acrid smell of kindling wood instantly enveloped her nasal cavities while the muted screams she heard earlier were increased tenfold in volume as they pierced the air once again. Looking around quickly to assess where she had ended up, she soon recognized that she was in storeroom of Flourish & Blotts, the magical bookshop of Diagon Alley.

Growling in anger when she felt the air hum with the presence of dark magic, she quickly left the safety of the backroom to enter the main shop. After roughly pushing through a large huddled crowd of visibly terrified witches and wizards, she finally made it out and quickly ran down the street in the direction of the noises, where she was soon greeted with a smouldering crater.

She froze in her tracks as she recognized the fragments of flaming detritus that littered almost the entirety of the street – the broken tables, the abused chairs, and the all but incinerated linen and fabric.

This place… once was a peaceful café….

Out of the corner of her eye, a lone, robed and masked figure suddenly came into her view, completely overlooking her presence thanks to her specially designed robes. With one hand poised in the air with a wand, the individual pointed at another shop on the same street and began chanting ominously.

Don't. You. Dare.

Wand already in an iron grip in her hand, Ariana swiftly raised it and fired off the first spell which came to her head.

"Sectumsempra!" she whispered softly as to not alert the Death Eater, slashing the air three times in a zigzag manner to form a crude S-shape.

The silvery burst of dark magic spat thickly out of her wand and rushed towards the unsuspecting victim, causing a female voice to sharply cry out in pain when the spell hit. The figure fell to the ground in agony as three distinct lines slashed through the robes and sliced the body like butter.

"Seriously," Ariana sighed in an unconcerned manner as she ran over to the convulsing figure, "Out of all the spells I know, I instinctively choose this one?"

She was neither a trained Mediwitch nor an erudite in the art of healing, but she knew instantly that a couple of major veins and blood vessels had been ruptured when she drew closer, as blood thickly poured out of the Death Eater's wounds onto the hard, fire-warmed cobblestone.

Kneeling down when she reached her destination, Ariana roughly yanked off a white mask to expose an unfamiliar and definitely female face, one that was contorting in pain as it gave out laboured breaths.

"Will your death affect the future?" she coldly muttered as she stared dispassionately in the pleading eyes of a young woman.

The other female stared up with confusion in her last moments into familiar blood-red eyes as she managed to choke out, "My Lord, w-why…"

Ignoring what seemed like feeble rambling, Ariana gave a nonchalant hum after fully perusing her memories, shrugging as she stood back while casually brushing some soot off her shoulder.

"Nope, don't recall you. Please feel free to die."

The words she just uttered sounded foreign and distant to her ears as she casually walked away from a trembling and outstretched arm that was reaching for help in her direction, almost as if she were a hollow puppet and some higher power was toying with her vessel as they arbitrarily pleased.

She did not get far before a ringing noise suddenly erupted in her ears and halted her movement, steadily increasing in pressure until she clutched her head in agony as it peaked, wracking her with unabating pulses.

With a heavy gasp, she collapsed sideways onto a stone wall in a heap, her mind racing as it tried its best to logically think for a solution to the sudden pain she was experiencing.

"My… magic," she wheezed through gritted teeth amidst the pain, realizing that she was feeling something very wrong deep within her magical core.

Shutting her eyes whilst trembling violently, she intensely searched for an anomaly in the depths of her core, and after much delving, unexpectedly stumbled upon something foreign. As she cautiously approached the weird presence, it flared up like a started animal and quickly vanished into the murky recesses of her magic.

All of a sudden, the pain vanished, alongside the overbearing pressure in her head and eyes, as if a filter had been removed from her eyes. Emotions and thoughts that had been locked behind a barrier in her mind suddenly found freedom, and flooded forth back into her body with a vengeance.

"No," Ariana breathed in terror as her mind rightened itself, her large terrified eyes slowly turning back to look at an unmoving figure that lay mangled on the cobbled ground.

Tears of self-damnation sprung to the corners of her eyes as she rushed over to the young witch she had almost cleaved in twain with her spell, paying no attention to the pool of warm blood that soaked her robes as she dropped to her knees beside the dying woman.

Bloody foam oozing out a slack mouth sent shudders down Ariana's spine as she reached out and put one tremulous hand on the Death Eater's neck. After what seemed like a centuries, she finally felt what she was looking for: a pulse.

"Still alive," she said in a choked voice as elation filled her. She then raised her wand high as she prepared to say the counter-charm to Snape's dark spell to save the life of a misled young woman, but froze at the last second, as she realized something which chilled her to her core.

I… I don't know the counter spell.

As Ariana lay hunched over and rigid while her mind ferociously thought of a thousand and one solutions on how to deal with a dark spell which mimicked cursed sword wounds, the moribund witch opened her mouth with her dying breath and uttered something so faint that Ariana almost missed it.

"Please…"

Ariana was jerked out of her thoughts from the sound and she fixated on the young woman's face, a face full of nothing but raw pain and emotion as she whispered in her final moments.

"P-Please… tell my family… that I lov-"

Her plea was never completed as her eyes blurred and breath quickened, increasing in intensity until she gave out one long, final exhale.

Thus, the young witch died, a person who shall remain unnamed and forgotten in the annals of history as death swooped down and claimed her as its own, only to then gently escort her with one bony hand through the stars to her next Great Adventure, onward in a wondrous and grand journey that never really ends.

Time slowed down to a halt as the ten-year-old witch stared vacantly at her bloodied hands as they cradled a lolling and lifeless head in a limp embrace. Even with all her newfound and vast intellect, her mind simply couldn't comprehend what was happening.

Ten long seconds passed before Ariana looked upwards at the sky, and screamed.


A young man agilely ducked under a beam of sickly yellow light, the spell lightly skimming across the top of his frazzled red hair as it scorched loose strands, narrowly passing over him.

"Fabian, focus," Gideon barked angrily as sweat poured down his mud-sullied face, throwing up a shield to save his brother from a second curse that was immediately followed up, a particularly nasty spell that induced the symptoms of smallpox.

"Foolish blood-traitors," their opponent, a man, hissed under his mask as the siblings prepared for another offensive, "With power like yours, you will be welcomed with arms open into the benevolent arms of our Master, if you ever choose to be enlightened."

Fabian grunted in irritation at the predictable rhetoric, "Sorry pal, but we Prewetts stay strictly in the hero business… Stupefy!" he replied, yelling the stunning spell at the end of his sentence.

The Death Eater easily side-stepped the spell, and as he was moving, fired off a spell with lightning fast reactions, using his billowing robe to hide his wand movement.

"Interitus!" he muttered under his breath.

The foul spell punched a hole through his own robe and tore through the air towards Fabian with uncanny accuracy, a surprise move that caused the other wizard to temporarily freeze in surprise at it flew towards him.

Just as it was about to hit Fabian, an outstretched arm that glowed purple thrust itself towards the spell and reflected it upwards, causing it to soon vanish out of existence into the midday sky.

Fabian's eyes widened as he realized what his brother had done, and immediately channelled some of his own magic into the glowing arm. A thick second passed before the glow faded and the brothers stood back upright, unharmed, and stalwart in the demeanour as they acted akin to an impenetrable rampart.

Gideon steadied himself once more as he fell back into a battle position, "You will not harm anyone," he vowed with a steady voice and hardened eyes.

"You would say otherwise… if you only knew the truth," their opponent replied with a disturbingly righteous tone as he peered over their shoulders at a terrified huddle of witches and wizards, "Their lesser kind does not belong in our world," he spat, "Their existence is an insidious disease that will soon destroy all that we hold dear."

Fabian soon had enough of the speech that dehumanized Muggle-borns. "Stupefy!" he yelled.

The Death Eater casually side-stepped the same spell for the umpteenth time that afternoon "Such a delicious prowess over magic, yet you both only throw stunning spells at me," he sighed, "I'm… disappointed."

"We will not sink down to your level," came the immediately reply.

"Is that so?" the Death Eater hummed in fascination as he twirled his wand, "Well then, let's see how far I can push you… before you break," he ended with a mad cackle.

Without warning, he pointed towards a child that clinging to her mother, too quick for Gideon and Fabian to even react to.

"Avada Kedav-"

His chant was never finished as a beam of orange light suddenly burst through his body from behind, causing a gaping hole to appear in his chest where his heart had once been. He fell forwards, instantly dead.

"Harold!" came the synchronized cry of relief as the Prewetts spied their saviour. The red-heads took a large sigh of relief at the circumvented tragedy, their respite so sudden that they didn't recognize that their opponent had just been killed.

They never expected however, to be greeted with cold and dead eyes and a guttural voice almost grated on their ears.

"What the bloody hell were you two doing?"

Fabian blinked twice in puzzlement before slowly answering, "We were just-"

"If I wasn't here," Harold growled, pointing at the crying infant, "That child would be dead."

Fabian's face flushed hotly from the aggressive tone, "I know that, we were going to-"

"What? Use another stunning spell?" Harold snapped as he shook his head in disgust, muttering something he thought was out of earshot of the brothers, "This is the reason why the Order was a failure from the very start."

Without another glance back, he marched over to the prone, unmoving body and flipped it over, ripping off the white mask that adorned the Death Eater's face viciously to expose a well-aged face.

"Another unknown," they heard him mutter in disappointment as they ran up to him.

"Blimey, Harold," Fabian breathed with eyes as large as dinner plates when he drew closer, "Is he… dead?"

"One death, to save thousands," Harold replied coolly as he shrugged in indifference, standing back up and turning to leave to find other Dark wizards.

Fabian reached out and put a firm hand on one retreating shoulder, his action causing him to receive a blank stare that truly unnerved him, "Harold…" he started warily, "…there is something different about you today."

Harold shrugged off the grip as politely as he could, "The Death Eaters will stop at nothing to accomplish their master's will," he quietly informed, his cold eyes piercing straight into theirs, "Which means, I will still stop at nothing to prevent it."

His words seemed to strike a chord into the brothers, as they both physically leaned backwards from his cogent words.

"Now come, our work is not yet finished" Harold commanded, the natural leader within taking hold as he discussed some battle plans with them quickly, before running off towards the sounds of more warfare.

Gideon bit his lip in consternation as they ran like lightning down the twists and turns of Diagon Alley's back pathways, looking around every now and then to confirm a suspicion he had lingering around in his mind.

Something is very wrong… where are all the Aurors?


Ariana gave a chilling laugh as she pried the headless body of a juvenile Death Eater off her. Stumbling unsteadily to her feet, she moved onward without another look back, using what little sanity she still had to suppress a perverted desire to defile the decapitated body in ways that would be too abhorrent to mention.

The despair which once filled her from her first murder was now replaced with the opportunistic and depraved presence that she had felt earlier today, as it came back into her vulnerable mind with a vengeance, now almost swaying her every thought and action.

Of all a sudden, she stopped in her tracks as she felt the air vibrate with magic. Leaping to the side with all the strength she could muster in her body, she watched in slow motion as a beam of vivid green that promised instant death hit the floor where her body was a mere second ago.

A figure appeared from the shadows, brimming with what could be perceived as wild anger. This Death Eater was different from the rest. The mask was not the barren white as she expected, but the dusky silver that mimicked the Death Eaters of her future instead.

"Don't be too proud of your accomplishments," a dignified and haughty voice echoed from behind the mask, "Your previous opponents were mere cannon fodder."

"Voldemort instructed you to keep the Order busy as well, didn't he?" Ariana immediately responded with a smug smile as she looked over the new arrival, lazily tossing her wand up and down in the air in flippancy, "Since you haven't used your Portkey yet, it looks like you're too, nothing but cannon fodder to him," she ended with a mad bark of laughter.

"SHUT UP," the Death Eater screamed, firing off the Killing Curse once more in her general direction in an unhinged manner, causing the spell to totally be off its mark as it crashed and fizzled out on the pavement.

Ariana's smile grew predatory as she knew exactly who she was dealing with, recognizing the young voice and the mercurial manner of speech. It was a particular witch, one which she had thought about long and hard about torturing and killing ever since the fateful events in her fifth year.

Oh Bellatrix, I hope you will enjoy this as much as I will.

Knowing that her opponent was a prodigy in the art of magical warfare, she quickly scanned the environment once over as she raised her yew wand. Her body tingled with anticipation, readying all the new knowledge she had accrued over months of brutal preparation that she had put herself through, and began the attack.

"Expelliarmus!" Ariana barked, starting off with a basic spell to test the still waters.

Bellatrix seemed visibly offended at the elementary level spell as she easily conjured a nonverbal Shield Charm, the scarlet beam dissipating on the invisible barrier while she quickly returned a spell of her own through it.

"Confringo!"

The deadly blasting curse soared towards a composed Ariana, who already had premature knowledge of the spell before it was even cast due to her special ability to sense the coalescence of magic.

Knowing that the spell caused whatever it hit first in its path to explode with a concussive force, she quickly summoned a small dislodged brick from the shattered pavestone to the direct line of path of Bellatrix's spell.

Her eyes widened in surprise from a miniature explosion in the air was that was created from the powerful spell interacting with the brick, causing bits of sharp debris to fly into her face with vicious force, forgetting that even though the spell was entirely blocked, the proximity of small, high-velocity debris could still cause damage.

Blood trickled down her face from her forehead onto her eyelids as she stumbled backwards, blinding her temporarily as struggled to ignore the pain of her new wounds. Sensing another unknown spell was on the verge of being cast, she blindly dove to her right on the hard pavement as a foul-smelling piece of magic passed by her face with only inches to spare.

"Resourceful, but inexperienced," Bellatrix drawled as she danced out of the way of a barrage of relentless spells from her opponent, opting to block the particularly nasty ones with a heavily modified Shield Charm every now and then, "Powerful, but undisciplined."

"Invorto!" Ariana growled in response to the condescending tone as she struggled to lock onto the nimble target, internally cursing her overconfidence as she soon realized that Bellatrix was proving to be a significant challenge.

Bellatrix gave a mad laugh as she recognized the all too familiar spell and stood still while muttering something under her breath, not moving an inch as the spell flew towards her. Like hot cheese melting in a woodfire, the dark purple spell distorted and tapered until it finally vanished from existence, quashed from an unseen force.

"Naughty boy," Bellatrix mock-lectured as she playfully wagged her finger at her wide-eyed, Glamoured opponent, "To have the audacity to use a spell privy to those only in the House of Black."

Ariana then instantly knew that she could not win this battle with conventional magic alone. Although she had been training day and night for many weeks, Bellatrix was honed to be a living weapon her whole life. It only made sense that back then Sirius was the only one that could evenly match her skill level, as they both were trained in the same gruesome manner under the same roof.

A mental imprint of Ariana's surroundings echoed in her mind as she thought of her next move in this dangerous and precarious position. Knowing exactly what to do after a brief bout of intense thought, she pointed to the cobblestone between her and her adversary and yelled.

"Bombarda Maxima!"

The ground between them detonated with an explosive force. This time however, a lesser Shield Charm saved her from the flying debris – a lesson learned from her first mistake. While this wall of flying debris was in play, she turned her back to Bellatrix in a calculated risk as she pointed her wand to a nearby store at the object that she desperately needed.

"Accio Broomstick!"

A Comet Two Sixty that lay dormant and proud on its side suddenly launched into to action as it broke through its protective glass carrier and raced towards the outstretched arm that summoned it, its bristles rigid and untested, and its wood glossy and waxed.

All of this merely took a single second as the shaft of the broomstick handle slid perfectly into her waiting hand. She then mounted it immediately after with a fluid grace that could only stem from years of playing Quidditch.

Bellatrix glowered in displeasure behind her mask upon when the dust settled as she spied her opponent hovering just off the ground, "Running off so soon?" she whined in a babyish tone as she crossed her arms.

"Not quite," Ariana coldly replied, the derisive tone grating on every nerve she possessed as she reached into a part of her magic that she had only saved for a last resort.

Bellatrix twitched unconsciously as she sensed a powerful and unusual shift in magic, and readied her wand in response, "Very well, no more playing around then," she said in an even voice that seemed to grow darker with each word.

"Dodge this, harlot," Ariana snarled, nimbly accelerating sideways at an incredible speed on her broom, mere inches off the ground as she raised her wand.

"Fheòil Còmhla," the young witch hissed in the noble language of the Serpents, her heart pumping as she cast Parselmagic for the first time at another living being.

Bellatrix couldn't react fast enough to the broom that was accelerating sideways and as a result, the murky grey spell slammed into her sternum, throwing her backwards and lifting her upwards into a wall. Only dazed, the result from a quick nonverbal spell she cast at the very last second, she quickly got up and shook her head in an attempt to focus her thoughts, but soon noticed something wrong with her hand out of the corner of her eye. Slight fascination and horror filled her as she realized that her hand was now webbed, the skin between her fingers were slowly joining and sewing itself together in a slow, disturbing process.

"It's not just your hand, soon your whole body fully encased in your very own skin," Ariana giggled as she tilted her head, unable to mad bubble of laughter escape her lips at the palpable sense of fear she evoked from the other witch.

Bellatrix screeched in anger as she tore her mask off her face, an unsightly snarl distorting her rather beautiful and young face. She motioned with her wand and forcefully summoned the broom that Ariana was perching on towards her, casting the killing curse directly after to intercept the incoming broomstick in the air in a precise and deadly cross-fire.

Ariana, however, had already calculated that was one of her possible next moves and deftly let go of the broom as soon as it started to move against her will. Landing lightly on the ground, she pointed her wand at the end of the broom, where it was accelerating towards her opponent, and cast the decisive spell.

"Dlús," she sibilated in one syllable as she unleashed another burst of Parselmagic, the Ophidian nature boasting a protean and formidable weapon that was saved only for the most severe of circumstances.

An umber hued spell aggressively burst out from the tip of her wand and slammed into the butt of the broomstick as it was flying in the air, accelerating it tremendously until it broke the speed of sound, creating a mini sonic boom that deafened the area temporarily.

The broom flew like a targeted Muggle missile and aimed straight for a wide-eyed Bellatrix, her own summoning spell turning against her as it slammed into her gut with a sickening crunch and carried her, with its momentum, through the air and into an unoccupied house on the far side of the street.

A sliver of ecstasy shot through Ariana's body as she heard the characteristic sound of ribs breaking, the whole sequence moving in slow motion to her. Almost skipping, she made her way to the dark house and entered without fear, only to be greeted by a groaning witch that was clutching her stomach in moderate pain.

"Hmm, that would normally kill someone," Ariana hummed in fascination as she stroked her chin, "It looks like these Death Eater robes are somehow magically enchanted to mitigate physical damage after all."

Bellatrix then did something rather unexpected.

She got up off the ground as best as she could and knelt down on the ground before her opponent, her youthful face looking up in consternation and spoke despite the fact that the skin at the corners of her face was slowly sealing up her mouth.

"My Lord, a-am I being tested?" she said in a muffled voice.

Ariana said nothing in response, her eyes suddenly burning an even brighter red as a tense period of silence dragged on. Suddenly, still without uttering a word, she flicked her wand faster than the eye could see, rendering Bellatrix immobile and causing her wand to fly out of her hand as the prostrating witch was forced flat on the floor by an invisible force, the spell spreading her arms out like an eagle.

"You are correct," Ariana grinned sadistically, finally breaking the silence as she then casually flicked her wand behind her, causing the door to the deserted house shut with a bang as a silencing ward was erected around them.

"I will test your body…" she began with a maniacal leer as she raised her wand and applied a dark curse that caused Bellatrix's teeth to break off with a sickening crunch one by one, the pain causing her to howl in agony, "…your mind…" she continued as she unleashed a spate of spells that tricked the mind into thinking it was drowning, "…and your spirit," she ended with an uncontrollable giggle as she applied the Cruciatus Curse.

Fifteen minutes passed, and the oldest of the Black sisters was a state that almost seemed unrecognizable. The deluge of spells in conjunction to the slow, creeping enveloping of her skin, gave a hair-raising image of something rather monstrous.

"Now… for the grand finale," Ariana panted with laborious breaths, her face sallow and sweaty from magical exhaustion as she looking at a bruised and bloody human cocoon. Hair-raising handprints from the inside feebly pounded on the blotched skin in terror, like a fetus yearning for freedom from its mother's womb.

She had never cast the Killing Curse before in her life, past nor present, but she somehow knew she could do it at this very second. A voice that always seemed to be in the back of her mind spoke up once again, whispering words of insidious encouragement ever so soothingly.

One more spell… and your revenge is complete…

A fierce snarl erupted on her face as she mustered all the hate she could harbour in her body, raising her wand sluggishly, as though her body was unconsciously trying to fight back, and brought her wand down one final time.

"Avada Kedavra."

The spell was neither yelled, nor shouted, nor whispered. Instead, a hollow voice that was devoid of all emotion let out an incantation that caused a green bolt to race towards the misshapen heap on the floor, her muscles contracting in slight pleasure as she used the forbidden spell for the first time.

The spell soared through the air and was just about to hit its intended target until a flash of white light suddenly erupted into existence near Bellatrix, knocking the spongy ball away as the Killing Curse narrowly missed her by a hairsbreadth and fizzled out harmlessly on the ground.

Ariana slowly lowered a hand that was shielding her eyes from the unexpected burst of illumination and growled in anger at the sight that awaited her.

"Damn creature, you will pay for that with your life," she snarled, her mind now totally lost as she pointed towards the new arrival, and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"

Fawkes trilled in alarm and instantly took to the air, avoiding the green curse and bombardment of spells that instantly followed. The magical onslaught rocked the house with every spell as it nimbly weaved and dodged the best it could in the tight space it was confined in.

The phoenix knew that time was running very short. Either it acted now, or its dear companion would be dominated completely. Noticing out of the corner of its beady eyes that the young witch had her hands on her knees to take a slight break due to extreme magical fatigue, it knew this was the perfect moment.

Freezing mid-flight, it then dropped downward like a stone and crashed ungracefully on the remains of a demolished sofa before propping itself up and opening its beak in preparation to deliver its magnum opus.

A breath-taking melody of orchestral exuberance suddenly filled the room, effortlessly dancing through the air on the updraft of a stirring breeze. The song was irresistibly sweet, yet a feeling of sadness and unfulfillable longing were laced within its chords as the melody purred into Ariana's soul, piercing through and engulfing her entire being from within.

"No, no… NO," the young witch half-screamed in a disjointed voice as the music enveloped her, almost sounding as if two people were speaking at the same time, "…SHE IS MINE."

Fawkes responded by only singing louder, the intensity causing the girl to instantly tremble as a heavenly feeling enraptured her pure soul, liquid energy seeping right through as her skin physically started to glow white, dim at first, but soon into dazzling display.

Unladen tears started uncontrollably pouring down Ariana's face as she blearily gazed at the phoenix that had finally stopped singing, the crimson red in her pupils gradually starting to fade out of existence. The prison of thick brambles and deadly thorns that sat atop her breast slowly rotted away as her form grew brighter, freeing her of a disgusting amalgamation of lust, avarice, perversion, envy, and desire that wasn't hers.

"F-Fawkes… is that you?" she weakly croaked in confusion, able to thinking absolutely clearly for the first time in weeks as the vestigial traces of a raging maelstrom that was constantly churning in her mind were finally expunged.

A soft croon issued an affirmative to the question. Fawkes then did something that entirely caught her off guard. Inexplicably, as always, its mellow and angelic voice somehow gently brushed the surface her mind in a comforting touch as it spoke directly to her for the first time.

Come to me child, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Ariana suddenly felt her mind grow numb, as if half of it were suddenly locked away for no apparent reason. Her eyes grew lidded with utmost weariness as she sluggishly yawned, swayed dangerously on the spot as her mind turned on the brink of shutting down. Stumbling, she about inches away from crashing into the ground before a pair of soft, feathery wings engulfed her.

"It feels... good," she slurred, shutting her eyes in finality as she leaned deeper into the resplendent chest, drifting off into a deep and uninterrupted sleep as her once-glowing skin dimmed with each passing second, finally flashing out of existence once she was fully asleep.

Fawkes, a creature of forgiveness and purity, trilled sadly as it looked at the other witch in the house, one who was on the very brink of death. Managing to lean over far enough without disentangling its grip with Ariana, it splashed some of its healing tears over the abused figure. Once the benevolent phoenix was satisfied that the witch was going to live as it reverted numerous dark curses, including the ones introduced by Parselmagic, it raised its head high one last time and warbled soulfully, before disappearing in a fiery flash, taking Ariana along with it.

To an observer, this last act of kindness towards a person that preyed on fear, misery and destruction seemed completely ludicrous and unjust. What an observer could not see however, was that this phoenix was above the vengeful and sadistic nature of Man, and understood completely that life was too precious to be thrown away. After all, kindness is language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.


Like hail on a glass pane, the drumming of Fabian's fingers was relentless as it was loud. Each tap of the sharpened dragon hide armour on the table echoed the tumultuous thudding in his heart beat. His face, rigid with tension, belied his youthfulness; he seemed to have aged a decade in the past few hours.

The crack of a thunderbolt suddenly pierced the air, heralding the arrival of a dishevelled and completely drenched group of witches and wizards that popped out of thin air, landing heavily from the short fall as they struggled to stay upright from exhaustion.

"Late again," Fabian greeted as he forced a smile onto on his face, pushing himself off the table he was leaning on.

"Sincerest apologies, my dear boy," Albus replied in a weary voice as he tiredly sat down on an unoccupied chair, "There were… delays."

Noticing that the other members of the Order carried pale and trembling faces as they immediately cast off their soggy outer robes and left the room wordlessly, Fabian gulped and hoped nothing had gone awry, "Was the mission successful?" he asked anxiously.

"Fortunately, we arrived just in time," Albus responded with a tired sigh of relief, "However, duelling Voldemort and his lackeys whilst fending off a never-ending wave of Dementors pushed us to our absolute limits."

He stood up quickly as a strange light lit up in his eyes, remembering that there was another side to the coin, "I, however, need a report from your operation, immediately."

Fabian bit his lip in nervousness as his eyes briefly flickered to one side, "Our hold was true. There were no casualties on our side," he began slowly, "Nor any civilian deaths, thankfully."

"Ah, wonderful," Albus smiled, his aged and pounding heart slowing down from the news.

"But… Voldemort's side suffered heavy losses."

Albus gave a start of surprise as he looked at the young wizard in alarm, "What?"

Fabian closed his eyes and shuddered involuntarily, "It was all Harold," he whispered, unable to get the disturbing images that were seared into his brain out of his head, "He… was a harbinger of death, single-handedly mowing down all that stood in his path."

Albus' eyebrows rose to the top of his head as he shook his head in denial, "No, no… she would never do something like this," Albus quietly muttered under his breath as he paced around, his powerful mind almost humming as he deliberated, "Unless…"

"Where is Harold?" he broke off in an urgent tone as he turned back to face the red-haired wizard.

"He hasn't come back to Headquarters yet," Fabian replied as he shuffled his feet restlessly, "However, we were last with him at the end of the second alleyway behind Gringotts before we lost track of him during the chaos."

Albus gave a quick nod of thanks as he readied himself, "I suspect this affair will take a while, so don't expect my presence tonight in the meeting," Albus rapidly instructed as he took out his wand and visualized the street in his mind, "Oh – before I forget, make sure the others eat lots of chocolate, it helps with the lethargy."

Without even waiting for a reply, he vanished with a flick of his wand, soaring through space in an instant as he reappeared into the location his red-haired companion mentioned, with a soft pop this time.

Landing gracefully on the cobblestone, he immediately surveyed his surroundings and let out a low whistle at the physical signs of destruction as well as the blood stains that were coating the debris. Noticing a group of wizards frantically running about at the end of the alleyway, he made for them immediately and recognized them as Aurors once he drew near. Further recognizing one of the Aurors personally, he strode towards him purposely.

"Hello, Oliver," Albus greeted in a warm manner, taking on a grandfatherly face as he approached a wizard that was thoroughly scanning a handheld piece of parchment.

"P-Professor Dumbledore!" the said man exclaimed, surprise erupting on his face as he looked up, "What are you doing here, sir?"

"Come now, you aren't my student anymore. Please, call me Albus."

"If you insist… Albus," Oliver replied hesitatingly, "Anyway, this is a restricted zone... you really shouldn't be here."

"Oh – my apologies," Albus immediately responded with a faked look of surprise, "Why? What has happened here?" he continued in a curious voice.

Oliver bit his lip, looking left and right in nervousness as he contemplated divulging classified information. However, knowing that the aged wizard before him was publicized as one of the most virtuous wizards alive, he trusted his inner instincts and leaned into Albus with a low voice.

"The new Dark Lord just attacked certain parts of Diagon Alley. We're doing our best to keep things calm and quiet," he murmured, "Thank Merlin for those unknown heroes that held the Death Eaters off until the Aurors arrived, I dread to think what would happen if they weren't defending for those twenty minutes," he continued with a large sigh of relief.

Now, Albus was genuinely curious, "Hold on, twenty minutes?" he asked in a puzzled tone, "Aurors usually respond to disasters in a matter of minutes – even seconds sometimes. Why so late?"

Oliver grit his teeth, seething in anger towards something unknown as he replied, "Someone impersonated the Minister, Barty Crouch Snr, and called an emergency meeting for all Aurors mere minutes before the attack struck. We foolishly congregated, only to find ourselves trapped by some powerful magic."

Albus lowered his gaze to the ground, "Absolutely ingenious," he muttered under his breath in morbid admiration of the relative simplicity of the plan, "Without the Aurors, the Order must have been forced to fight until the very last second. If we weren't aware of Tom's plan, he would have gotten away with all the Dementors obediently by his side."

Nodding in thanks to his former student, just readied his wand to Apparate out. Just before he pooled his vast amounts of magic, a flash of blinding white suddenly exploded into existence in front of his face. He blinked twice in slight confusion, before recognizing the newcomer.

"Ah – there you are, Fawkes," he warmly greeted, curiously noting that his beloved phoenix was glowing in an unusually white hue as it flapped its glittering wings in the air, "I've been wondering-"

With a loud trill, it abruptly interrupted Albus' pleasantries as it swooped down and grabbed onto his shoulder with its claws, vanishing with a puff of smoke a second later to leave a highly bemused Auror behind in its wake.

"-where you've been," Albus finished as he was immediately teleported to his private quarters, his reactions slightly delayed from the instantaneous form of travel, a stark difference from Apparition or Portkeys, where one had a healthy lag between travelling between two points.

Whirling around at the urgently trilling phoenix, he briefly forgot his mission he stared disapprovingly at Fawkes, "I shan't be mad at you, but you know how much I dislike it when-"

Interrupting Albus for a second time, Fawkes flew up from the chair it was perched on and cuffed him gently on the head with a wing, causing him to turn his head to the side.

Albus was just about to admonish the ancient creature yet again, but caught his tongue at the last second, as he spied an unmoving figure on his bed, a person that was tucked snugly under his blanket, a person that was lying on his favourite pillow, and a person that he recognized as someone he would lay down his own life for.

"Ariana," he gasped in recognition, bolting over to a supine young witch that seemed to be peacefully sleeping, noting that the effect of the Polyjuice Potion as the Glamour Charm had worn off and left her to drown in a sea of clothes twice her size.

Just as he was about to reach her, a burst of light harmlessly knocked him back, caused him to stumble as a heavenly voice enveloped his mind, a familiar voice that he couldn't distinguish was either male or female as it resonated around his mind in a divine glory.

She slumbers peacefully, requiring not your touch, but your wits.

Albus instantly froze every muscle in his body from the voice, before slowly turned towards the phoenix that was standing protectively in front of the young girl, a look of utmost surprise plastered across his face.

"You… you haven't spoken to me in many years, old friend," Albus murmured quietly, emotions running high through him as slight tears of joy pooled at the corners of his eyes, "It has been far too long."

Fawkes trilled in sorrow from the sight of teardrops and hopped over, leaning its head against Albus' own in a heartfelt apology. An ancient happiness stirred within the creature as it realized that the bond between master and familiar was still as strong as it was on the first day since it was forged, decades and decades ago.

A brief and emotional period of silence that spoke a thousand words was broken as Fawkes detached itself from its master and hopped back over to the unconscious girl, singing a low lullaby that filled his aged heart with peace.

The light within the Child of Flame fades fast.

Time… is not your ally.

Albus peered over his feathery companion's shoulder and instantly recognized the foul stench rising off the girl, "This is extremely dark magic," Albus murmured in an undertone as he wrinkled his nose, properly inspecting Ariana for the first time and noting the strange wavelike magic that was surrounding her head in a halo.

"Fawkes, what… what am I meant to do?" he asked in a small voice as his mind absolutely refused to cooperate, suddenly feeling like a small child next to the immortal creature in light of the situation.

As always, your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness.

Albus let out a nostalgic chuckle, "So it's going to be just like old times, eh?" he grinned as he realized how dearly he missed conversing with the ever so cryptic phoenix, realizing that was all he was going to get out of the sagacious bird.

Turning back to face the girl that was at rest, his face then turned grave and lost all traces of buoyancy as he started to hum and haw, the synapses in his powerful brain reaching out and connecting with each other at breakneck speed to produce a myriad of theories and hypotheses, drawing from a vast sea of knowledge had been accrued for decades upon decades.

A thick minute passed before his heavenly blue eyes lit up, his mind connecting all the existing clues. His eyes then immediately darkened as he realized they narrowed down to one single possibility. Grabbing his wand post-haste, he leapt out of his office and ran through the school, moving so quick it seemed like the air itself was propelling him forward. Only one thought now echoed through his mind as he hurtled through the vast corridors of the sentient castle towards his destination.

Ariana, just hold on a little longer… I will not fail you.

Not again.