~*Swear On My Life*~
By: silver_star ^_^
Disclaimer: What you know J.K. owns, what you don't is all the product of my brilliant mind ^_^
A/N: Yay! I got another chapter out! I'm sooo S-O-R-R-Y-!-!-! I know I said I'd update Friday/Saturday of last week, and its been 3 weeks, but I didn't expect the massive amounts of hw that I'd get plus all these choir competitions….aiyah! Junior year of high school REALLY sucks…oi!! Well, I really hope you enjoy this chappie, it's not that action filled, but I really like it (one of my better creative moments ^_^) and I hope you will too, happy reading!
End of Chapter 5…
Unable to control himself any more, James shifted his head and placed his lips on Lily's and they shared their first real kiss after two long years apart.
Chapter 6: The Order of the Phoenix
It was perfect. Lily placed her hand on James' cheek and James tightened his hold around Lily's waist. The kiss was very sweet, not rushed, not even very passionate, but filled with love and so much tenderness that Lily was a little surprised. As the kiss ended, their faces lingered inches apart, and Lily started giggling. James smiled, and pulled her into an even tighter hug, and swung her around in the air, both of them laughing harder than they had in a long time.
After about ten minutes of running frantically through out the halls, Tracy and Sirius met back at in front of the Gryffindor common room, where they had decided to meet.
"So you couldn't find him either huh?" Tracy said
"Nope, checked everywhere. We should get back to Lily soon though, she definitely didn't look so good." Sirius replied, "Come on, we'll try for Dumbledore again later maybe he's in his bedroom some where behind one of these portraits and statues."
"Yea, okay." Tracy said. 'Weird, Dumbledore usually isn't anywhere like that, he's always around when it's during school hours' she thought.
"Looking for me?" a voice said.
"Professor! You have to come quickly, Lily found something…anyway, you should see it for yourself," Tracy said, quickly filling Dumbledore in while she started to walk faster.
"Let's go then."
When the trio arrived once more at the statue of the griffin, James and Lily were talking silently, and when she saw the headmaster, Lily's face broke into a huge grin.
"Hello Professor! Thank you for meeting with us." Lily said. Tracy and Sirius immediately brightened, happy that Lily was feeling better and acting more like her usual, cheery self.
"The pleasure is all mine Ms. Evans. Please excuse my tardiness, I was exploring the castle and got stuck between a few temperamental stairs. Well Ms. Evans, Mr. Black and Ms. Williams have informed me about our present situation (because u know the story, and I don't wanna retell it ^_^) and I believe it's time that I perform the Soul Charm on you. First, we'll need to go into my office, and I would also like to see the box Ms. Evans."
Dumbledore gave the password, and they all stood on the ascending steps silently while Lily handed Dumbledore the little box. When they arrived, James and Sirius both plopped down on the arm chairs like they had done so many times in the past and Tracy stood with Lily. Professor Dumbledore got out his wand, then muttered, "Almarecium"
At first, the light that the wand emitted simply lingered around Lily. Then, in a rush of light, the silver halo became focused on her body and a faint red phoenix, sure enough, hovered above her heart, slowly growing darker.
"Well, Ms. Evans, there's nothing left to say but, Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix." Professor Dumbledore concluded. Lily was immediately swept up into a fury of hugs, kisses, and constant cheering, and everyone was laughing.
"Congratulations Ms. Evans. Now if you'll all settle down a bit, I think it's time that we perform the initiation ceremony." Dumbledore said.
Tracy, Sirius and James all looked at him a bit puzzled,
"Initiation ceremony? How come we never had one before?" Sirius asked.
"Well you see Mr. Black, the initiation ceremony is something less known. In fact, the only reference we have had to the existence of something like it, comes directly out of the journals of Merlin, perhaps the greatest wizard of all time. The ceremony can only be performed when the Order has been reunited, and when it is finished, I believe that you will all be able to direct your powers and focus them into one; in others words, sort of like a combined attack. Legend tells of the Order's abilities to defeat anything and everything, this development may be it. If, when the ceremony is finished, you four are able to combine your powers of freezing, blocking, telekinesis and an assist spell provided by the member with the ability to do wandless magic, it is my theory that that attack will be legend tells of, the supreme power."
As the quintet (hehe fun word!) walked down the corridors towards one of the Northern towers, Dumbledore suddenly stopped in front of a portrait. Sirius and James in particular recognized it, they had suspected that it had hidden something, but nothing ever showed up when they put it on the map, and none of the other portraits would give anything away about it. The portrait showed a magnificent, blood red phoenix with beautiful golden plumage and tail feathers that matched Lily's dark red and shiny hair. Pointing his wand directly at the phoenix, Dumbledore muttered an incantation,
" Sicut Erat Adonius"
The phoenix stopped flying and floated easily down to the bottom frame of the picture. Spreading its wings out, as if preparing to take flight, it waved it's tail feathers at the five expectantly.
"Uhhh, Professor, what exactly is the phoenix trying to do??" Sirius questioned.
"Oh come on you prat, it wants us to grab on!" Tracy replied, rolling her eyes and causing Lily to giggle a bit.
"Well how is it supposed to carry the five of us, A) it's tiny, and B) it's kind of, oh I dunno, 2 dimensional?? And in a picture too!" Sirius retorted, still unconvinced.
"Honestly Sirius! You're a part of the Order of the PHOENIX and you don't even know about phoenixes do you?? They can carry immensely heavy loads bright one, and if you haven't noticed, we live in a world of magic, I don't think the fact that the bird is in a frame and only 2D necessarily means that there's no way that it can carry us somewhere, am I right Professor?" Tracy said lazily.
Trying to hold back laughter, Lily caught James' eye and he winked at her and grinned. Lily knew that James was thinking exactly what she was thinking. They were so obvious! 'Even Dumbledore must know by now, LoL!' Lily thought to herself.
"Indeed you are Ms. Williams. Now if you please, kindly reach out, and touch one of the phoenix's tail feathers." Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling merrily, and lips quirked upwards in a slight smile.
One by one, they reached out to touch one of the bird's gleaming feathers. When the last finger touched, the four felt a sudden lurch, kind of like as if traveling by Port Key, and the next second, they were all, with the exception of Dumbledore, sprawled on the floor in a giant heap, all very confused, and some very irritable.
"James get your bulk off my back!!"
"Why Lily, I thought you'd like Jamesie boy there!"
"SIRIUS BLACK I AM GONNA KILL
YOU!!!"
"Not unless I get him first Lil! Sirius that's my head you're crushing by the
way."
"OWWWWWW"
"Hey whose robe is my head up in?? I can't see anything…"
"It's not my robe, if it was, you
wouldn't be alive right now!"
"It's not mine either…"
"SIRIUS GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THERE!!!"
"Geez, Jamesie no need to shout…oi…o there we go! No wait, still can't see anything…"
"HELP ME!!! SIRIUS' BUTT IS COMING AT MY HEAD AGAIN!!!"
Professor Dumbledore watched this all very amusedly, chuckling to himself and debating with himself over letting the four stay entangled, or helping them out. After a few more minutes of utter confusion, and many wrongly placed attempts at abuse, Dumbledore held out his wand again and muttered a spell. In the next instant, four figures levitated a few feet off the ground, all looking very disheveled.
James for one, had his robe half way up and over his head, and his shirt underneath was very rumpled. His hair could still be seen poking through the top of the robe though, and his glasses lay on the floor, where the heap of people used to be.
Lily was gripping her hand to her stomach; an injury caused by Tracy who was trying to kick Sirius. Her hair was very messy, and her robe was hanging off her right arm, but still attached to the body because she had buttoned it up part way.
Tracy was red with fury. Her shirt was very messed up, and many loose strands had fallen from her pony tail. Her right pant leg was hiked up a bit, and while her left one was still normal, but very rumpled. She had both hands on her temples, fingers massaging them lightly at first, then increasing with pressure when she spotted Sirius.
Sirius, on the other hand, still didn't really know what was going on, and was struggling with two robes, one that was kind of on his body, and the other which was over his head. He kept trying to force his head through one of the arm holes, and failing miserably, all the while screaming, "HELP ME! STUCK!! CAN'T…BREATHE…AAACCCHHH (gagging sound ^_^)"
Now all four of them were laughing (excluding Sirius) and Dumbledore managed to disentangle Sirius from the robes and Tracy slipped back into her was damaged, now newly repaired robe. When their feet hit the ground, and they were able to take in the surroundings better, all four were stunned. What they hadn't noticed before in the brief moments of chaos was that they were in a room, completely made of silver.
Crystal candle holders were attached onto the walls every few feet, and the red candles burned brightly, but let no melted wax fall to the ground. In the middle of the room was a single table, made up of glass, containing a crystal goblet in the center. On the floor were four circles which had been carved into the silver floor, each located on a side of the table. (So if you don't get it, table=four sides, on each side, there's a circle… here O |table| O …see? There's also circles on the top and bottom ^_^) Off to the side, parallel to the table was a single square box.
Held in awe by the beauty of the room, all thoughts were forgotten, and though they really didn't know what to do, something inside of them lead each of them to a circle on the ground, and Dumbledore to the square. When everyone was located inside a shape, the goblet began to shake, uncontrollably. Slowly at first, but increasing in speed, when it suddenly stopped as bluebell flames started to dance in it. The candles that had been lighting the room extinguished themselves immediately, and the blue flames rose higher than before. The strong blue light caused the crystal candle holders to glitter in the dark from afar, twinkling like unseen stars in the dark night sky. The circles started to glimmer, then emitted an eerie red light, casting a red sheen on the bottom halves of their bodies, and Dumbledore's square began to shine silver. In an even, strong tone, Dumbledore began,
"You are all here today because in spite of all your difference, there is one thing that you all share in common: a love for light and scorn and contempt for evil. You are the Order of the Phoenix, the first to be reunited ever since the days of Merlin and the founders of Hogwarts themselves. If you'll look on the table, you'll see that their names have been engraved in the table."
Immediately, all four pairs of eyes flickered to the table. James noted that he had gotten the side that was engraved with 'Godric Gryffindor, July 17, 1077 A.D.' Lily smiled inwardly as she read the curvy scripture that read 'Rowena Ravenclaw, November 27, 1077 A.D.' and Sirius looked hesitantly at the strong bold writing that read, 'Salazar Slytherin, March 8, 1077 A.D.' Looking up at Dumbledore once more, the four listened intently as he continued,
"Now it is your turn to leave your mark here. Starting from the oldest to the youngest, please say your full names, and your birthdays after." Dumbledore said.
"Sirius Orion Black, January 4, 1962" In an instant, the former scripture vanished, and in its place, in slightly sloppy, but bold handwriting, Sirius' name and birthdate appeared. "Cool!" Sirius exclaimed.
"James Harrison Potter, June 17, 1962" His name also appeared in the glass table, in a hand that was legible and neat, but, compared to Sirius', kind of small.
"Tracy Amanda Williams, September 7, 1962" 'Helga Hufflepuff' instantly vanished, and was replaced with Tracy's name and birthdate in swirly, elegant, neat writing.
"Lily Nicolette Evans, December 12, 1962" Lily smiled and shivered in excitement as her name appeared on the table in her usually hand, flowing graceful, simple and strong.
The flames in the goblet danced higher, and started to spark for a minute. After a shower of red and orange sparks, a dagger appeared on the table facing Sirius. On its' hilt was a picture of a phoenix, of course, and Dumbledore started to speak,
"This part of the ceremony is rather painful, but necessary. Firstly, prick your finger, prick not cut or slice or dice, prick your finger tip, and let a drop of blood fall into the flame. Pass the knife to James, Sirius, and James, you'll do the same."
Sirius winced slightly as the cold metal broke his skin, but as soon as the drop had fallen into the goblet, the wound closed. The flames continued to dance, but were slowly changing color, now they were a faint red, not pink, but still red.
James took the knife easily, and without much trouble or too many pained expressions, allowed a drop of blood to drip into the goblet also, and marveled the beauty of the flames as they turned a true red. Tracy quickly poked her finger and let the blood roll off into the center of the flames before handing the knife to Lily. The flames were now a deep scarlet color, and almost liquid looking.
Lily didn't hesitate, and applied gentle pressure to break the skin, and squeezed a drop out and into the goblet. The flames reached towards the ceiling now, blood red, tossing with anguish and magical energy. Lily couldn't see anyone anymore, but focused on the base of the flames, where the color was darkest. Through the noise of the flames, Lily heard Dumbledore to tell them to join hands. Her hand soon found Sirius' and Tracy's. Suddenly, Lily saw the words appear from the goblet and hover in front of her face. It was an incantation, perhaps of spell of sorts, and it was worded in Latin,
"Requiem Pacem,
Dona Nobis Ehru,
Magnificat Mea,
Anima Lia…"
Slowly, Lily started to say the words out loud, and not before long, she could hear other voices joining her. As they chanted together, increasing the intensity of the words with each repetition, the flames from the goblet now licked hungrily at each of them, a live, tossing vision of blood red and orange, glittery sparks. After around the seventh time, the flames suddenly vanished, and the room filled with an almost blinding, heavenly, ethereal white light. As they continued to chant, the light continued to fill the room. It spread into all the corners and made the silver room almost blinding to look at. Suddenly, the four circles started to glow with a white light also, and soon, Lily, James, Tracy and Sirius were all enveloped in the light, and Lily could feel its coolness as it spread around her and hugged her body.
They were now hovering a bit above the floor, and though she had no idea where it was coming from, Lily could feel air whipping her hair back from her face. She couldn't really see anything else, but she could feel Tracy and Sirius' hands gripping hers. Slowly, the light started to leave her body; looking down, Lily could see the tiny phoenix above her heart, as if a Soul Charm had been done, and Lily could see gold plumage on it now. In an instant the light vanished from the room, and Lily wobbled a little as her feet hit the ground once more. They stopped chanting, though, as a kind of tense silence filled the room.
Before they could ask Dumbledore anything though, an eerie song started to fill the room. At first, Lily thought she was simply imagining it, but she saw by the look on James' face that she wasn't alone. It was mystifying and calming song that seemed to lift all the worries and fears from her shoulders. Looking around for the source, Lily's eyes met Professor Dumbledore's, and he smiled at her as he beckoned towards the goblet. Resting her eyes back on the goblet, Lily realized that there was a pile of red ashes at the bottom, quite a large pile actually. The ashes filled about a fourth of the goblet, and looking closer (James, Sirius and Tracy had caught on by now,) Lily saw that the pile was shifting slowly, twitching every few minutes.
Minutes later, a small tiny head poked out of the ashes, and then wings and a small tail. The four stood and watched in awe as a tiny baby phoenix slowly drew itself up, and struggled to fly. Its body began to take on a red glow as it was floated over to Professor Dumbledore's outstretched hand. It let out a soft sound, and the phoenix song continued to play even stronger as the baby phoenix started to cry to heal its tiny body.
"Sirius, would you please come over here? I'd like you to do something for us."
Sirius stepped out of his circle, which continued to glow, and approached the head master questioningly, wondering what he wanted.
"Please freeze me five of this fine young bird's tears," Dumbledore said, "and not too harshly; they might shatter or lose their magical capabilities if you do."
Five large pearly drops were frozen instantly by Sirius and handed to Dumbledore. Using his wand, Dumbledore conjured five black suede cords and slowly floated the frozen tears, and directed one to each of the cords. Looking down expectantly at the baby phoenix in his hand, Dumbledore gave it a piercing look, and after receiving a feeble nod, gently clipped away (so he's not hurting the phoenix) four tiny tail feathers. After imbedding them into the necklaces, Dumbledore flicked his wand, and each necklace found its way to a person. As Dumbledore said their names once more, the necklaces drifted down onto the recipient's neck, and twinkled uncertainly. Then, Dumbledore said,
"Well, what shall we name this handsome fellow then?"
Sirius immediately burst out "Sirius!"
And though they all shared a laugh, it was Lily who eventually came up with the perfect name,
"Fawkes. Lets call him Fawkes."
Sirius frowned playfully, commenting,
"You'd pick Fawkes over Sirius?? Puh-LEASE! But it does sort of have a ring to it I guess."
James and Tracy voiced their agreements, and it was unanimous.
"Fawkes it is then." Dumbledore continued, "This phoenix is the product of goodness; your friendship, magical power and desire for peace in this world. It will be loyal not only to me, but to anyone else who shares your qualities; its loyalty to our group is immortal and endless, just like its life. Though life is full of twists, turns and more than a handful of dark times, we must all learn to pick up from there, discard the past and be reborn, with a new attitude, and a desire to live for the better and for forever. (This is my attempt at an analogy ^_^ cuz phoenixes are reborn from their ashes ya knoe…ok I knoe, I'll stop trying hehe ^_^)"
Then, carrying Fawkes with him, Dumbledore moved from his square towards the portrait hole once more. Sirius, James, Tracy and Lily all followed him, but Lily lingered a while. She traced her signature with her finger and smiled. This was where she belonged, and this was what she was meant to do. All those years she felt so lost, confused and scared about what her future would hold; now she knew that it was all for nothing, her legacy was about to begin, and she couldn't be happier.
A/N: FINISHED FINALLY!!! Hehehe! I started writing this chappie last Monday in bits and pieces cuz of all the school work and its done!! SORRRRRRY again for the wait!!! Sorry! SO how did you like it?!?? Good?? I hope so! REVIEW TO LET ME KNOW!!! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! I didn't get as many last time…wah! But, I'm not a review nazi, so even if you guys don't review I'll still be writing as always ^_^ As for the situation with Fawkes, yes I'm well aware that Voldie's wand has a feather from the little guy in it that can't be true if Fawkes was created after Voldie got his first wand, but lets pretend that the wand he has with Fawkes feather in it is his second wand…he, err, broke the first one and had to get a new one kk?? ^_^_^_^ I only did it cuz I thought of it (creation of Fawkes) before I realized that (Fawkes had to be around for Voldie to get a wand with his tail feather in it) but didn't feel like changing it cuz I think it's sweet if Harry's wand, which also has a feather from Fawkes in it, came from phoenix created by his parents; so its like in a sense his parents are always with him, you get it? Well that's my take on it anyhow! ^_^ Hope you liked this chappie and remember REVIEW!! ^_^ am I too subtle, LoL! Happy reading!
Next chapter (out march 23, no earlier due to major piano test coming up march 22 and my desperate need to practice so I don't fail ^_^): Training session, more J/L developments-rediscovering each other, and falling in love all over again, S/T developments-I won't say for better/for worse ^_^ Remus makes an appearance!! (I love remmie ^_^), hang time with all the friends, AND future plans ^_^ I think you guys will really like what I have coming up hehehehehe ^_^_^ see ya 3/23! ^_^_^_^_^
~*Priscilla*~