Seventeen year old Harry Potter sat at the desk in his small room in No. 4 Privet Drive. A large book lay open on the desk in front of him, and Harry was flicking through the pages trying to find information for his History of Magic essay. Harry stopped and looked at the page he'd just found. A portrait of a family stared silently up at him, blinking. As was normal in the wizarding world Harry belonged to, the people in the picture could move. However, these people just blinked up at him, staying very formal. He looked at them in surprise but then read the picture's title.
'The Royal Family.' Harry murmured, looking more closely at the picture. The family consisted of the King and Queen of the wizarding world as well as their three children. Their oldest son, a handsome boy, had to be at least three years older than Harry, and he appeared to be somewhat shorter than Harry, maybe six feet. Harry had always been short and skinny for his age, but a recent growth spurt had made him one of the tallest boys in his year, at six foot three. He'd also filled out a bit, and had a pretty toned physique, which he put down to his Quidditch training. Harry looked at the other children in the picture. A smaller boy of about eleven had a smile on his face. Both brothers had black hair and bright blue eyes. Harry looked at their sister, and his mouth dropped open. She was beautiful. She was rather tall for a girl, only a few inches shorter than her brother, and she had the same black hair as her brothers, but her eyes were a brilliant green colour, not unlike Harry's eyes. A small smile played on her lips as she looked up at Harry; he turned his attention to her parents. The King was a tall, handsome wizard. He had the same black hair as his children, and Harry could see where his sons got their blue eyes. His wife was a head shorter than he was, and Harry could see a resemblance between her and her daughter. However the Queen's eyes were a very dark brown. Harry couldn't help but wonder where the Princess had got her green eyes from. While he was studying the Royal Family's portrait, Harry had been carefully selecting beans from a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans that his friend Hermione had included as part of his birthday gift. He'd mistakenly popped a spinach bean into his mouth while studying the Princess and now spat it out in disgust.
Harry pushed the book aside for a moment and went to adjust his glasses, not remembering that he no longer needed them. Madame Pomfrey, the nurse at Hogwarts, had been able to correct Harry's vision the previous year due to new advances in Magical Medicine. Harry was eternally grateful for this; it made playing Quidditch in the rain much less troublesome. Instead, Harry ran his hands through his messy black hair, the hair he'd got from his father. His bright green eyes were the same as his mothers. As he thought about his parents, Harry rifled through his trunk and pulled out a leather bound photo album. He flicked through it and stopped on a page that contained a photo of his parents with two other people. Harry hadn't really noticed this before, but he suddenly recognised the two people standing with his parents. He pulled his school textbook closer and examined it. His parents were standing with the King and Queen of the wizarding world. Harry's mouth dropped open in shock. The royal couple were almost twenty years younger in the picture, but it was unmistakably them. Harry pulled the picture from it's page and flipped it over. Careful handwriting listed the names of the people in the photo. Harry read them, James, Lily, Michael, Helen. It was obvious to Harry that his parents had known the King and Queen quite well, well enough to call them by their first names, at least. Harry put the picture aside and pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment. The only way to solve this mystery would be to ask someone who knew. Harry decided to write to his parents' friend and his godfather, Sirius Black. Sirius was still a fugitive in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic, and had been imprisoned in the wizarding prison of Azkaban for twelve years for a crime he didn't commit. Harry smoothed out the parchment and started his letter.
Dear Sirius,
I was looking through my pictures of my parents and I found one of them with the King and Queen of the wizarding world! Did my parents know them? I really need to know, that is if you can tell me.
Harry
Harry quickly tied the letter to the leg of his owl Hedwig.
'Hurry back with a reply, Hedwig.' He urged her. The snowy owl hooted softly and soared out Harry's open bedroom window.
He watched her until she disappeared and then sat back at his desk. The Royal Family still blinked up at him from his textbook. Harry decided to read more about them.
What he read fascinated him. The wizard King had been an outcast from one of the Royal houses of Europe. When his family discovered he was a wizard, he was banished. He was the first wizard to be of royal blood, and was crowned King of the wizarding world. He started a search among the royal families of the world to find himself a queen. At last, a Spanish princess made it known that she was a witch, having kept her abilities secret from her family. They were married and had several children, and so the House of Phoenix had been born. By now, the King had been welcomed back into the family he had been banished from. All the royal houses knew of the existence of this magical branch, and through the generations, they intermarried.
Harry looked at portraits of past rulers, looking for an ancestor of the current Princess that might have had the same green eyes. At last, he found a portrait of her grandparents. The King had his son's black hair and blue eyes, but his Queen had blonde hair and the same green eyes as her granddaughter. Harry didn't know why, but the Princess fascinated him. He couldn't help but stare at her portrait, mesmerised by her green eyes that were so like his own. Eventually Harry managed to tear himself away from the book long enough to finish his essay.
Harry's completed essay, the ink still glistening, lay on his desk several hours later. By this time, the sun had gone down, and Harry was lying on his bed reading a book on Quidditch that his friend Ron Weasley had sent him for his birthday the week before. As Harry read through the list of Quidditch fouls, a small owl flew through Harry's window and zoomed around his head. Harry recognised Ron's owl Pig at once, and snatched him out of the air. He untied the note from around the owl's leg and released it. Pig zoomed over to Hedwig's cage and took a drink of water. Harry unrolled the note and read it.
Harry,
Do you want to come over for the rest of the holidays? Bill and Charlie are visiting this year. Hermione's coming in the last week, she's spending some time with HIM before then. Harry laughed at that. HIM was Hermione's boyfriend, Viktor Krum. Ron was incredibly jealous, but didn't say a word about it to Hermione.
Send your answer back with Pig, and someone will collect you in our new car at 12 tomorrow.
See you then!
Ron.
Harry grinned. It would be good to go to the Burrow for the rest of the holidays. He just needed to clear it with Uncle Vernon. Harry's smile faded. Although Uncle Vernon would be glad to be rid of Harry, going to the Weasleys' would make Harry happy, which Uncle Vernon tried to prevent whenever he could. Harry sighed and decided to get it over and done with. He got up from his bed and went down to the living room. Uncle Vernon was reading the paper, Aunt Petunia was sitting primly on the couch knitting. Harry's cousin Dudley was engrossed in a television show. As much as Harry detested his cousin, he couldn't help but notice that Dudley was much better looking now that he had lost all that weight. His eyes didn't seem as piggy anymore. Although he still was fat, there was no need to widen the doors in the house for Dudley to get through.
'Uncle Vernon?' piped up Harry. Uncle Vernon slowly lowered the paper and eyed his nephew.
'I just got an invitation to go to my friend's house for the rest of the holidays. They'll pick me up. In a car.' He added hastily.
Uncle Vernon considered this carefully and nodded curtly.
'I can go?' Harry asked, not believing his luck.
'Yes. Marge is coming next week and we don't want you here.' The last time Uncle Vernon's sister Marge had visited, Harry had lost his temper at her constant put-downs of his family and had made her blow up. Remembering this, Harry had to hide a smile.
'Great. I'll go send them a reply. Thanks.' Harry added as an afterthought. He exited the loungeroom and raced up the stairs to his own room. He quickly scrawled a letter to Ron and sent it back with Pig. After doing this, Harry happily flopped down on his bed. He loved spending his holidays with the Weasleys. The only thing that could have made Harry happier then was finding out his family's connection with the Royal House of Phoenix.