And I Bleed When I Dream

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own HP, and if anyone has read American Gods by Neil Gaimann, you may recognize a scene from this chapter. I don't own that either. If you haven't read it, I suggest you go do so.

To my reviewers:

Naomi: Do you mean Fleur? Now that you mention it, yeah, I guess so. Thanks for the original thing, I like to pretend I'm original.

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Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed or will review in the future. You guys keep em going!

Chapter One: For the Birds

Alanna's dad was really supportive, when she went inside to tell him. He was happy for her, but underneath, Alanna could tell he was sad that she'd be leaving, and she was having the same feeling inside her as well.

She was terrified, however, to have to lie to her friends, so she put that off as long as possible. Well, as long as she could stand the idea of knowing she was leaving and not having anyone else know, anyway. She decided to respond to the letter first.

It was late evening already, so she didn't have long to wait until it was dark out. Once there were stars in the sky and crickets chirping annoyingly outside the windows, she walked out into her yard and hooted softly as an owl would. She waited and listened for a reply.

Once she knew that there was at least one owl in the area, she began to sing, pitching her voice to call of an owl, feeling the magic rise up within her. It was a living pulse that beat inside her, swelling with each passing moment that she held her song, until she felt it would consume her and run her through, but she was not afraid. On the contrary, it was an indescribably feeling, like her soul was being set free and her heart's desire was filled. She was on fire and felt she could have done anything she wanted right then and there.

But that's what the magic did to her. Every time, without fail. It was such a part of her that she couldn't even imagine living without it. She compared it to losing her eyes, or her ears. Not just an absence of the sense, but an absence of a way to perceive it.

When she opened her eyes, (which she hadn't realized she'd closed), and let her song die down, a small, brown, barn owl sat on the lawn in front of her. Alanna smiled and brought her voice and magic back up, but this time in a softer song, telling the owl what exactly she wanted in a personal message, not a free call.

When she was done singing and could feel the magic dying down in her, the owl stuck out its leg and waited while she tied on the letter, like it had done this a thousand times. Which, thought Alanna, it probably has. I bet it knows exactly here Hogwarts is.

The owl took flight off into the night sky, and when she could see it no longer she went back inside. She sat down on the couch and just felt as the magic died down reluctantly, like a child who doesn't want to go in at dusk in the summer. It felt good to use it, but there was always a longing when it stopped, something that seemed like it was missing.

Her thoughts soon turned to her friends and she reached over and picked up the phone. She stared at it for a moment until getting up the nerve to turn it on and punch in the number.

She waited while it rang, and then said, "Hi, is Sarah there?" She took a deep breath. "Oh hi, Sarah, this is Alanna." She proceeded to tell Sarah the story about how she was going to go be a foreign exchange student in England with her aunt. She told her how much she'd miss all her friends, which wasn't a lie, and that she'd write all the time and maybe even call, but she didn't know, because this school she was going to was kind of archaic.

Sarah then talked for awhile about how cool that would be, to live in England for so long, and to go to an old boarding school, and maybe to learn more about her mother's side of the family. She assured Alanna that she would be missed terribly and that se would get letters all the time.

Alanna excused her self after awhile, saying that it was late and that she really had to get some sleep or she would just drop dead of exhaustion, and hung up the phone.

Sitting back against the couch, she let out a breath, and a lot of tension. While Sarah was a good friend, she wasn't exactly the kind of person one told secrets to; she was a bit of a gossip. Alanna smiled. Which is exactly what I need right now. It will save me from having to talk to everyone.

She yawned loudly, and suddenly realized that she really was tired, so she got up and went to her room. She sat for a bit, looking around at all the things she wouldn't be able to take with her, but soon could hardly keep her eyes open. Crawling under the covers, she reached up and turned off her bedside lamp.

Within two days she received another letter, telling her what to bring and she packed it all right away. That night, she again reached up to her bedside light, only this time to turn the lamp on. She had been awoken by a tapping on her window. As she squinted against the light, she turned around to push aside the curtain and nearly jumped out of her bed with fright at the sight of the man peering in through the glass. She pushed open the window slowly.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," said the man, taking a step back. He was dressed from head to foot in deep purple robes.

"Oh, you just startled me, that's all," Alanna said. She bit her lip. "Um, I'm sorry, but, do I know you?"

The man looked surprised. "Oh! What was I thinking. Forgot myself entirely." He stuck out his hand through the open window. "Tristan Salmandi. Professor Dumbledore sent me to bring you back to Hogwarts."

"Hello. I'm sure you already know, but I'm Alanna Stalmer. It's nice to meet you." She shook his hand, which he then drew back through to his side of the glass.

"Good. Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, we can get underway. Do you think you can be ready in half an hour?"

A surprised expression crossed her face. "We're not even going to wait until morning?" she asked.

"Horus travels better just before dawn. I would hate to have to wait until tomorrow morning," Tristan replied, stroking his goatee.

Alanna nodded. "Okay. Well I have to get dressed and say goodbye to my father."

"Okay," Tristan said. "I'll just stay out here with Horus."

Though it had crossed her mind to ask who Horus was, in the interest of time, she decided to put off her questions. She got out of bed, reclosed the curtains, and got dressed. The bag of her things was lying by the wall, and she picked it up, stuffing a few extra things inside, and left the room. Down the hall she slowly pushed open her father's door, and walked inside.

It was dark in the room, but from the sliver of light let in by the door, she could make out his bed and his sleeping form in it.

"Dad," she whispered, touching his shoulder gently. "Wake up."

He rolled over towards her and opened his eyes. "Alanna?"

She nodded and smiled sadly. "I have to leave now, Dad."

He sat up. "Now?"

She nodded again, and then leaned down to wrap her arms around him. "Yeah, now. I'll miss you. I'll write you all the time."

"I'll miss you too honey," he said. "I hope you have fun. I'll write you too, if you send me one of those owls."

She stood up and blew him a kiss. "Bye." She turned and sniffed, trying not to cry as she walked from his room. She picked up her bag, which she had left in the hallway, and went out the front door. She stopped short on the porch.

There, standing on her lawn was the most enormous bird she'd ever seen. It reminded her maybe of a condor, in it's huge wingspan, but it's feathers were a dark purple in color, and it's intelligent eyes seemed to crackle with lightning as they looked at her. It shifted impatiently on the lawn, as if eager to get back into the air where it belonged.

Tristan stood next to the big bird like it was his pride and joy.

"Horus," Alanna managed to say.

Tristan beamed. "Horus. And Horus here is our ride back. Let's get you up, and you can ask your questions later, since I'm sure you'll have plenty." He beckoned her over and helped her up onto the back of the bird.

"What is he?" she asked as Tristan worked on securing her to a leather harness that was strapped to Horus' back.

"Oh, he's a thunderbird. American birds they are, like yourself. But no one stays in one country their whole life if they can help it. Horus found me once during a storm and rescued me. We've been pals ever since. We go everywhere together." Tristan finished strapping in her and her bag, and settled down into the harness in front of her. He tightened his own straps and called back, "Ready?"

"Wait. What's it like?" she asked, eyeing the ground and then the sky nervously.

He grinned over his shoulder at her. "It's like riding lightning." He whistled sharply and Horus took off into the air. Alanna gripped the straps tightly: it was exactly like riding lightning.

Finí

Hope you liked it, please R/R. If there's anything specific someone would like to see, I'm open to suggestions, and as always, constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated.