A.N.: Well, it's that time again. Yup, it's time for another chapter of Harry Potter and the Ruby of the Phoenix. Now, this is kinda sad, but only one person spotted one of the two references in the last chapter. Kenshin Himura was a reference to Rurouni Kenshin, one of my favorite animes. The other one was where Arthur got Kenshin. The place, Otherworld, is a reference to Dragon Ball Z. I'll admit I've only watched the dubbed, edited version, but most people have. The one person was:

brion

Oh well, on to the fic!

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny stepped out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron and moved out of the way, brushing the soot off her robes as she did so. She then stretched out her arms and caught Harry as he came flying out of the fireplace after her. Blushing slightly, he stood up and brushed the soot from his robes as well.

"Thanks, Gin. I don't think I'll ever get used to that." Giving his robes one final pat he started off towards the back door of the pub. They stepped out into the back alley and Harry tapped the bricks of the back wall in a clockwise motion, and let them into Diagon Alley.

Harry couldn't help but grin at the sight of the bustling wizard community before him. It reminded him of the first time he came here, rescued from the Dursley's by Hagrid. As they walked down the main street he couldn't help but glance at the working model of the solar system for sale, albeit cheaper than the first time he saw it. He would've bought it, but they weren't allowed to use models like that for Astronomy or Divination.

As they walked down the street, Harry mentioned the ease with which they'd left the Burrow. Ginny just smiled nervously and said something about Mrs. Weasley wanting to do cleaning and Hermione forcing Ron into homework. Then she switched topics. "Harry, why exactly do you need to see Ollivander?"

"Well," he explained, "Voldemort's wand and mine are brother wands. When we dueled they couldn't work against each other, they…linked up, or something. I need to find out if I can counter that or use magic in a different way if I'm going to go up against him someday." Harry looked up. "We're here."

Ginny turned from him and looked up. They were standing outside a window, which looked into a room with small boxes lining the walls. Her hand went to her own wand as she remembered the day she got her wand. Then she looked at the door. "Oh no! The shop is still closed. We'll have to come back later."

Harry stepped up to the door and knocked loudly on it. "Mr. Ollivander? Are you there? It's Harry Potter and I have to speak with you, it's very important!" He tried to peer in the glass, but couldn't make out and details. After a few minutes he shook his head and turned to walk away.

A lock clicked behind him. "Ah, Mr. Potter, so good to see you again." Tom Ollivander stood in the door way, eyes shining in a way similar to Albus Dumbledore's, "And Miss Weasley too. Do come in, I was expecting you to show up soon, Mr. Potter." He turned and walked back into his store. Harry and Ginny exchanged a confused glance and followed him in.

"Now, Mr. Potter, what seems to be the problem?"

"It's my wand, sir." Harry pulled out his wand and handed to Ollivander's outstretched hand.

"Let me see," Ollivander muttered half to himself. "Supple body, eleven inches, holly, and phoenix feather core? Yes, yes, I remember this one. You were a tricky customer, Mr. Potter, almost as tricky as Miss Weasley here."

Harry's "Huh?" overlapped with Ginny's "Really?"

Ollivander chuckled, "Indeed. Oddly enough, she ended up with one of the wands you tried Mr. Potter." He turned to Ginny, "Beechwood and Dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible, correct?" She nodded.

"I remember that one!" Harry stated, "That was the very first wand I tried!"

"Indeed it was. In fact, it was Mr. Potter's father's as well." Harry stared at him in shock. "It was a tragedy when your parents died, Mr. Potter. But Albus came here the next day with their wands, and told me to see if another wizard or witch was meant for them. I'll admit it was an unusual request, one person's wand almost never works for another person, but they did."

"Who bought Harry's mum's wand?" Ginny asked.

Ollivander turned to her. "I'm sorry Miss Weasley, I don't give out information about my other clients, for their privacy's sake."

Ginny spluttered, "But you told Harry about my wand!" Harry quirked an eyebrow at her outburst. Ginny's cheeks reddened. "Er, no offense, Harry." He just grinned at her.

Ollivander smiled at Ginny. "But I wasn't telling him. I was informing you of the previous ownership of your wand, Miss Weasley." His smile was reminiscent of Dumbledore's. Ginny just dropped her head and sighed. The old man turned to Harry, giving him his wand back. "You wand is in excellent condition Mr. Potter."

"I know. I was hoping you could tell me about Brother Wand magic."

Ollivander shook his head. "I've never experienced the magic first hand. All I know is what I've been told by witnesses."

"What about other forms of magic, or of channeling magic?" Harry held his wand at eye level. "I can't fight Voldemort," Ollivander winced, "with this wand. I need another way."

The wand maker sized him up. "Normally, Mr. Potter, I wouldn't consider this. But the resurrection of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can hardly be considered normal. Please understand, the only other wizard I know who can use one of these is Albus Dumbledore."

Ginny's eyes narrowed in confusion. "One of what?"

Ollivander turned and walked to the back of the store. "A mage staff." He pulled out his own wand and began tapping portions of the way while saying some incantations.

Harry turned to Ginny. "What's a mage staff?"

"A mage staff," she explained, "is like…well…think of it as a big wand. Kind of like comparing a Muggle gun to a cannon. It takes an exceptional amount of power to use though, and is even more personalized than a wand is. Only a staff's owner can use it." She turned to Harry and lowered her voice, "But if anybody can use one, it's you, being…you know."

He nodded. He was the Phoenix Lord, the most powerful wielder of magic since Merlin, if not more powerful. If anybody could use a mage staff, it was him. Although, he was surprised to know Dumbledore had one as well. Suddenly there was a light thud and a section of the wall opened up. Harry and Ginny followed the old wand maker in.

The room was full of wood. There were several miniature trees growing in pots near a window, and Harry realized they were magically shrunken trees. There were also long wooden poles stacked along a far wall. All of them were about the height of an average man and they were all different shapes and color, due to being made from different trees. But they looked grown. Some even looked as if they were made of vines. This is where Ollivander led them.

"Now, Mr. Potter, you're going to have to try these out, just like you tried out your wand." He picked up a dark brown staff. "This one is oak, with a core of diamond. Give it a twirl."

Harry picked up the staff and spun it in his hands. Ollivander snatched it back. "That won't do, try this, Maple, with an emerald core. Good for defense." Harry picked it p only to have it pulled away. "No, no…ah! Try this! It's Holly, like your wand, but has a Dragon Diamond core. Excellent at deflecting blows."

"Dragon Diamond?" Harry asked. Surprisingly, it was Ginny who answered.

"A Dragon Diamond is a diamond that has formed in a dragon's fire sac. They're really rare, as the only time you can get it is when a dragon dies, and dragons have an incredibly long life span."

"How long?" Harry asked.

"About two thousand years."

Harry blinked in surprise. "Oh." He turned to Ollivander. "Do you happen to know what kind of dragon it came from?"

He smiled, "A Hungarian Horntail."

Harry smiled. "Figures." He picked up the wand. Golden beams of light shot out of the tip and bathed the room in a warm, sun like glow. "I think this is it."

Ollivander was beaming. "Indeed it is. Now, there is the matter of a focusing gem."

"But, I thought there was a Dragon Diamond in the core?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, there is," Ollivander answered, "But you need a gem or crystal of some sort at the top, or your spells will be out of control. I have some over here, although you'll have to hold each one until we find one acclimated to your magical signature."

"There's no need, I think I have one already." Harry reached for his pocket.

Ollivander blinked, "Really?"

In response, Harry pulled a bright red ruby out of his pocket.

"Harry," Ginny gasped, "is that…?"

"Yes," He answered, "It is." He held it out to Ollivander. "Will this do?" Ollivander gently plucked the gem from Harry's outstretched hand.

Holding it up to his eye he spun it in his fingers, examining every facet of the jewel. As it twirled it sparkled, spreading red highlights along the walls. With a nod Ollivander gave it back to Harry. "It just might do the trick, Mr. Potter. We just have to see if your staff will accept it. See that niche at the top? Yes, that's the one. Now insert the bottom of the ruby into it. If the staff accepts it, it will grow around the base of it, bonding the ruby to the staff."

Harry slid the ruby into the niche, as instructed. There was a stretching sound as the staff grew around the ruby. As the staff stopped growing the ruby glowed a brilliant red, and as the light faded the occupants of the room had to blink their eyes to remove the spots dancing in their vision.

"Well, Mr. Potter, all seems to be in order. Come, we'll settle on a price out front, and you can be on your way." Ollivander led them out to the front of the shop, muttering words and waving his wand to close the second room and replace its wards.

*~*~*~*~*

Having completed his task, Harry began to walk back to the pub, in order to Floo back to the Burrow. Ginny threw a quick glance at her watch, shook her head and grabbed Harry by the arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Harry blinked. "Well, I thought we'd grab some Butterbeers and head back to the Burrow."

"Uh-uh." Ginny shook he head. "I never got to do any shopping here yesterday. I was unconscious, remember?"

Harry ducked his head. "Sorry 'bout that."

She slapped his arm "You already apologized for that this morning! It's not your fault I fainted after I heard the news, you know. So stop trying to apologize for it." A grin lit up Ginny's face. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if one day you started saying that, due to your lack of effort, there's no magic in Muggles."

"Hey!"

Ginny giggled. "Come on. You can buy me an ice cream and then we'll stroll around and look in a few shops. Then we can go home."

~*~*~*~*~

Ginny stepped out of the fireplace at the Burrow and looked around. Perfect, she thought to herself, not a soul in sight, everybody must be ready. There was a whoosh and thud behind her as Harry came through the fireplace after her.

"Ow! Hey Gin, I thought you'd be there for me!" He made a motion to push his glasses up his face, only to run a finger into his forehead, as he didn't need glasses anymore. Ginny laughed as he used his new staff to help him up. "That's weird," he said as he looked around and didn't see or hear anybody, "there's nobody here." He walked towards the back door, Ginny right behind him.

Suddenly there was a bang and the door flew open. Harry slipped into a defensive stance, staff held ready to fend off any attack that would come his way. So he was surprised when red and gold streamers flew at his face and he heard a multitude of voices yelling, "SURPRISE!"

"Huh?"

Ginny came up beside him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Harry looked at her, blinked, and looked out into the Weasley's back yard. A grin split his face and tears formed in his eyes as he saw the Weasleys, Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Dumbledore, with Fawkes singing on his shoulder, standing around the tables set up for the occasion.

Hermione came up and gave Harry a bone-crushing hug, quickly followed by Mrs. Weasley's hug, which left Harry blue in the face. Then the twins grabbed Harry's hands and proceeded to attempt dislocating Harry's shoulders by shaking his hands so hard. Percy and Ron managed to hold back their enthusiasm when they clapped Harry on the back, although Percy watched Sirius closely when he hugged Harry, and Dumbledore, Remus, Charlie, and Bill said congratulations from their seats.

Harry swiped at his eyes. "I'd completely forgotten today was my birthday. You really shouldn't have gone through all this trouble for me."

Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "It was no problem, really. Mum loved the opportunity to bake a cake, and the twins jumped at the idea of a surprise party. Now, the real question, is do you want cake or present's first?"

Harry grinned. "Cake, definitely. Eating your mum's cooking is present enough for me."

Mrs. Weasley cheeks tinted pink, but she smiled and went in to get the cake. As Harry took a seat at the head of the table, at the insistence of the twins, he saw Ron pull a chair out for Hermione, then glance around before sitting next to her himself. Harry grinned at their antics.

"Harry," Dumbledore asked, "where did you get that staff?"

Harry sobered up a bit, "At Ollivander's, sir. I thought I might need it for Vol…well, you know."

"Indeed." He pulled a lemon sherbet out of his pocket. "Let us not dwell on such things today. I'm afraid I'll have to give you your present and go though, I do have a lot of paper work to finish before term starts."

"But sir," Harry asked, confused, "I thought the…"

Dumbledore cut Harry off, "Now, Harry, one thing I've learned in life is to never turn down free gifts, especially birthday gifts. Your gift is Fawkes. After he came back to me at Hogwarts he seemed a little put out. He acted as though he missed something, or someone. When I asked him if he wanted to come back and stay with you he aroused quite a ruckus. In fact…"

A loud hooting from behind Harry interrupted Dumbledore. Both Harry and Dumbledore turned to see Hedwig swoop down from the Burrow and alight on Harry's shoulder, where she hooted quite vigorously towards Fawkes, who, in turn, trilled back. Then they both flew up into the nearest tree and began hooting and trilling at each other, both of them perched quite close together.

Dumbledore's mustache twitched violently. Harry's jaw dropped. "I believe, Harry, that we have found the, er, reason behind Fawkes restlessness." Dumbledore pulled a gold pocket watch from his robes. "Fawkes! I expect the best behavior on your part! Goodbye Harry, I'll see you at Hogwarts." With that he turned a dial on the top of the watch and with a pop! he was gone.

Harry's subsequent spluttering was interrupted by the arrival of Mrs. Weasley with his birthday cake. After a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" ("And he smells like one too!" provided by Fred and George) everybody dove into the cake. Chatter flew around the table, with Remus, while tugging on his own shaggy and slightly longer than average locks, complimented Harry on his new look. The two Marauders howled with laughter when the twins successfully managed to turn Percy into a pink fuzzy bunny, and Ginny was quick to point out that Remus grinned wolfishly.

It was Hermione, level headedness incarnate, that suggested they all give Harry his presents now.

"Here you go, Harry," Percy stated, handing over a rectangular object, "I think this should be of some use to you." After Harry tore off the paper Hermione's eyes lit up and Ron groaned. It was Hogwarts: A History-Platinum Edition. Harry just grinned ruefully and set the book aside.

"This," Remus explained, "is from Padfoot and me." Harry received the present, which echoed the shape of Percy's gift. Eyeing it Harry pulled off the paper, and after he saw what it was preceded to hug both Sirius and Remus.

"Come on, Harry, tell us what it is."

Harry picked the book back up. "It's The Marauder's Guide to Animagi Magic by: Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." Harry looked to Sirius, "You made this when you became Animagi for Remus, didn't you?"

Sirius grinned. "Yup. We spent more hours in the library researching that than we did revising for our O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts combined. When all of you have become Animagi…"

" 'All of you'?" Hermione asked.

"Of course! We can't have just one Marauder at Hogwarts. It wouldn't be proper."

"Your idea of 'proper'," Remus chuckled, "has gotten us in more trouble than not, Padfoot."

"Oh really?" Sirius shot back, "Hey, Moony, does, 'Here, Padfoot, use this Filibuster to see if the grease in Snape's hair is an accelerant or retardant,' sound familiar?"

Remus blushed. "I haven't a clue as to what you're talking about. Although," He added as an afterthought, "the grease was a retardant, rather than an accelerant. James won a lot of money off that bet."

Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Percy looked scandalized during their conversation, while Harry, Ron, Ginny, and the twins grinned deviously.

Hermione grabbed a non-book shaped package. "Here you go, Harry." He opened the package to discover a wristwatch, to replace the one he ruined at the Second Task. He strapped it on and set the time. He idly noted the watch face was gold with red hands and numbers.

"And now," chimed Fred.

"You must," George said.

"Open our present!" They chorused as one. A vibrantly wrapped package was thrust in Harry's hands. He opened it cautiously, expecting the worst. Instead he found yet another book, Seeking the Slightly Hard to See Snitch: A Seeker's Guide to Seeking the Snitch. Harry grinned and opened the book, only to have his hair turned neon pink. Grinning sheepishly, Harry pulled at his new do, only to discover it pulled right out to reveal his usual shaggy black hair. Putting the book aside, he accepted gifts from Bill and Charlie.

"They go together, so it's only natural you open them together.," Bill explained.

Harry pulled off the paper from Bill's and Charlie's presents, decorated in pyramids and dragons, respectively, and opened the boxes to discover a pair of dragon hide boots, fingerless gloves, and vest, with regular black trousers and a white tee shirt.

"The boots, gloves, and vest," Charlie explained, "are made of from Pennsylvanian Pyro's skin. They're some of the strongest dragon hide clothes you'll ever see. I had to special order it from a friend over in the States."

"The shirt and trousers are woven from Egyptian Griffin fur. It's exceptionally resilient against potions. It'll help you through Snape's class." Bill tugged at his own shirt. "I can't begin to count how many times my shirt has saved me from some of the poisons left behind by the Pharaohs."

"Thanks, I can't wait to try them on."

Ron tossed a small, bright orange package to Harry. "You'll like this one. It's a real catch."

Harry eyed Ron and opened the package. Inside was a small glass box, and inside that box was a mounted snitch, with different signatures across it. "Whose names are those?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "They're only the signatures of the Chudley Cannons. They started a new program to raise fans. All you have to do is send in someone's name and birth date and they'll send an autographed Snitch. I submitted your name. The best part, though, is the fact that the Snitch still works. You just give it the proper charms to set height and whatnot, then we can play a real game of Quidditch."

Harry grinned, "Hey, Charlie, want to see who can get the Snitch first tomorrow?"

Charlie's eyes lit up. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Ginny handed Harry a small rectangular package. "Here you go Harry, it's not much, but I thought you might like it."

Harry opened it. "To Kill A Mockingbird?"

"Why would Harry need to know how to kill a song bird?" Ron snorted.

Hermione swatted Ron's arm. "It's a Muggle book, Ron. It's about a girl in Southern America around the turn of the century. It's quite good actually."

Ron rolled his eyes, "Hermione, every book is, 'quite good,' too you."

Harry just sighed and flipped through his new book in an attempt to ignore the upcoming quarrel. As he idly looked at the pages something caught his eye.

"Gin?"

Ginny turned away from watching the argument. "Yes?"

"What in the world does, 'DOOOOOO JESUS!' mean?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A.N.2: Here's the end of Chapter 9. There's only one reference in this chapter. It's a slightly altered line from Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. I'll even be nice and tell you that Duo said it then, and Gin said it now. TTFN!