A/N: Hey guys… sorry if I didn't post this chapter yesterday, I was just really, really busy.

In this chapter, Harry notices something odd about Alexander and discovers a prophecy made about Sophie's little brother.

I still have writers' block; this is just a useless filler, if you're interested…

Thanks for reading, by the way.

Kristie

Oh yeah… I forgot… what the bloody hell are disclaimers, and are authors required to write one?

Forgive my ignorance.

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Chapter 9 – A Prophecy

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sophie went down. Professor Dumbledore was back, and he said that Lupin was going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. He announced that they did not need to get new books for his subject. They could just use the book they had three years previously. This made Mrs. Weasley ecstatic, seeing as the Weasleys had little money. They were getting more of it, however. Percy gave his parents all the money he earned as Junior Assistant to the Minister and he wouldn't take it back. Harry felt glad that Mr. Weasley was starting a new job. If Percy's position got him at least some gold, Mr. Weasley's new one must earn more.

The children, Mrs. Weasley and Lupin were going to Diagon Alley while Tonks, Percy and Mr. Weasley were to stay at Headquarters. Dumbledore was to accompany Harry &co. Harry wondered why at first, but then he remembered about Voldemort. This sucked out all the happiness in his body. He was so happy that day that he had almost forgotten about all the things he had to bear with. He nearly forgot to be the Boy Who Lived, and that moment in time was perhaps his happiest.

Sophie tried to conjure a car, but a car was too big for her powers that she only managed to create the boot, the back seats, the passenger seat, but there was no driver's seat. Hermione was restraining herself from making any comment, but perhaps she thought that she had no right to comment, for she could only conjure yarn and knitting needles. Dumbledore conjured the missing part of the car, gave it an enlarging spell and gave it a nice electric blue color (his personal favorite.). They agreed to bring Sirius' portrait, seeing as he was cleared by the Ministry last month. They knew of Peter Pettigrew's murders and the fact that he was an unregistered Animagus, and they were still on the hunt for him.

The car ran using magic, so there was no steering wheel. Everyone had a good time using the magical car. Dumbledore even suggested that he and Sophie start a business on these cars. Harry noticed that Sophie seemed to have a close, personal relationship with Dumbledore. She laughed with him like they were close friends, and Dumbledore regarded her with an expression that he used with Harry. Harry suddenly felt guilty for the things he said and did to Dumbledore. He turned to his left and saw Alexander. He realized how much he looked like Sophie. The only difference was Alexander was olive-skinned like his mother, while Sophie had her father's porcelain skin. Alexander was sitting moodily; he was looking out the window, staring at the different passersby. He looked like those child actors on Muggle movies that had some sort of depressing role. That's when something hit Harry.

Alexander's parents were dead.

When Harry realized this, his head jerked like a dog that had just scented a rabbit. His eyes, so reminiscent of his elder sister's, were on him. He stared at him with the same piercing stare Sophie had.

"Must you rub it in that they're gone?" said the little boy quietly.

There was nothing that broke Harry's heart like this. He now realized why Hermione sometimes cried over such meaningless things. What he didn't realize that she did was that there are many people who are hurt so badly that his the pain his own problems caused was nothing compared to the grieving of other people's loss. Harry did not need to cope with loss when he was eleven. Sure, he had to face Lord Voldemort, he had to endure physical pain, but he didn't have to endure emptiness and grief that came with the loss of one's loved one.

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"They're gone," said Alexander, his eyes still fixed on Harry's.

"I know how you feel."

"You can't, and you know it."

"True, but I've also lost much."

"It's nothing compared to losing your parents."

"I lost mine."

"True, but you didn't know them."

"Would you rather that they were gone from the start than you losing them but having a few moments in space and time with them?"

"Time and space cannot be frozen, so these moments are useless. You can't savor them when they're done. They only give you pain when they're gone."

"So what you're saying is that you don't want to love?"

"No, what I am saying is that I don't want to lose."

"You can't lose anything if you don't have anything to love."

"Aye, but that's if you outlive them. You can die young, but feel content with all the moments in time that you have experienced. Unfortunately, I am forced to outlive everyone."

"Not everyone. You're bound to die sometime."

Alexander didn't reply. He looked back at the window and said nothing. Harry sighed and turned back to Sophie and Dumbledore. They seemed done with their conversation; Dumbledore was now humming to himself. Sophie, however, wanted to talk about her brother.

"Don't mind him, Harry. Let him grieve. He's got it better than me. I let go of everything I felt, but they haunt me, Harry. My dreams are filled with images of them. I let go of my emotions, but I cannot let go of the memories. I refuse to cope; pretending there's nothing to cope about. My conscience eats me up inside because I feel guilty for becoming callous to loss."

Harry did not understand how this made it worse for her, because he would've given any amount of money not to feel. He supposed that it was some sort of girl thing. Or maybe, perhaps, they had a very different way of thinking.

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When they got to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry saw a man who he felt he saw before. He was in black and had a hood on. He made a beeline for Alexander, then stroked his cheek.

"Phoenix… Half-blood… Royalty…"

The man then saw Dumbledore, then vanished. Alexander looked very fearful. He shot into Professor Dumbledore's arms. He wasn't crying, but he was clinging onto the headmaster's robes very tightly. Dumbledore had a strange light in his eyes. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were clueless as to why the man approached Alexander, and why he had such a strange reaction, but everyone else seemed to know why. Lupin looked sadly at the little boy while Mrs. Weasley's eyes shone with tears. Sophie looked as though she wanted to kill the man who just vanished.

They stood there for a long, long time. The people in the pub started to look at them. When Alexander felt better, they headed towards the wall that Harry used as an entrance when he was in his first year. Dumbledore brought out his long wand and tapped the brick wall. The wall quivered and the bricks rearranged themselves to make a hole, just like when he was in his first year.

They had gone to Flourish and Blotts to get all their books, and while Alexander went with Lupin and Sophie to Madam Malkin's, the other's had ice cream at Fortescue's. When it was time for Alexander to get his wand, however, everyone joined him, and in result, Ollivander's little shop was crammed. To everyone but Dumbledore's surprise, Fawkes was there. He was perched on Mr. Ollivander's shoulder.

"I received your letter, Mr. Dumbledore, sir," Mr. Ollivander said, bowing slightly. "I'm glad it wasn't much of a struggle to get the tail feather. The first time, he was very reluctant to give a feather. I suppose, it was most probably because… he knew…. Curious, how these animals behave. It was as if he could see that Tom Riddle… yes, well, the other two wands are used for good. Well, one of them, anyway." He looked at Harry, who shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we?"

Alexander wasn't measured like Harry was, but a wand was handed to him. "Oak and phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches."

He waved the wand, and muttered, "Serpensortia." A black snake shout out of his wand.

"You were always right, Dumbledore," muttered Ollivander. Alexander did not look at all amazed that he had done a spell for the first time. He began to speak to the snake. Parseltongue, thought Harry. Sophie looked at Harry and smiled.

"Yes, Harry, he's a Parseltongue. I am, too, you know. Listen to what he's telling the snake."

Harry listened and hear the words, hope… help… trust…

He smiled at Sophie. She didn't seem to notice, though. She was gazing at her little brother with a pitying look. Seeing her like this wiped the smile off of Harry's face.

"Harry, can we take a walk?" Sophie asked Harry.

Harry nodded and they walked out of Ollivander's Wand Shop. She jammed her fists into her pockets and stared moodily at the ground. When she looked up, her face was very wet with tears.

"What's wrong, Sophie?" Harry asked quietly.

"It's not fair! He's only a kid, why must he cope with so much? Why should he be so torn in between?"

"What do you mean?"

Sophie brought out her wand. "When I say Legilimens, I want you to use a shield charm right away. Do you understand, Harry? Do it right away," she told him firmly. Harry brought out his wand and prepared to do what Sophie instructed him to.

"Legilimens!"

"Protego!"

Harry blocked the spell almost as soon as it was said. His mind then filled with frightening memories that were not his.

It looked like a peaceful day in a your typical Victorian home. In front of the fireplace were armchairs made of polished wood. On one armchair was Mr. Volkova, sipping a cup of tea, while seated on the other was a very pregnant Mrs. Volkova. On the rug was a four-year-old Sophie, playing with a shaggy brown dog. Three house elves came bearing sweets. There were Belgian pralines, Swiss chocolates and what looked like Chocolate Frogs. Suddenly, three more house elves rushed in, announcing that there was a man at the door, saying that he needed to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Volkova, and that it was urgent. Mr. Volkova instructed the three house elves to let the man in.

He was a short, tubby man, with thinning hair splotched with gray and a gray beard. He was wearing chocolate-brown robes that looked like the outfit of friars. He was soaked by the rain. He then fell to his knees and began to talk in a raspy, hoarse voice. What he was saying was, undoubtedly, a prophecy.

"At the Solstice will come a new asset to both sides…. A prince that refuses to be killed or to die…. Equal to the one to vanquish the Dark Lord, alike with the one who he wants to kill…. At a young age will he be forced to fight, killing someone he loves if he fights the side of light.… At the Solstice will come a new asset to both sides, a prince that refuses to be killed or to die…."

Harry opened his eyes and saw the present day Sophie looking at him with eyes filled with fury.

"What was that? What did I just see?"

"That was the prophecy made about my brother."

"How did you know that your brother was the one being talked about in the prophecy?"

"Well, for one thing, Harry, d'you reckon that a man would be crazy enough to go to the home of a bunch of people he didn't even know about just to deliver a prophecy? My brother was born on the Solstice. You heard the prophecy; he's equal to the Dark Lord and alike with the one the Dark Lord plans to kill. That mean's he's half-blood like you and Voldemort! A prince who refuses to be killed or to die – my brother is a Flamagus."

"A what?!"

"The Flamagi are part-phoenix. They burst into flame when someone attempts to kill them and when the flames die, they turn back into babies."

"So that's why he would be an asset to both sides!"

"Exactly! What worries me, however, is the fact that he already has his first wand. The prophecy states that if he fight the light side, meaning that he joins Voldemort and the Death Eaters, someone he loves will die. I don't think he can bear with that yet. I don't know why such heavy burdens are put upon the backs of young people."

"Was there a prophecy made about you?"

"My parents told me nothing, but I'm beginning to suspect that there was," she said darkly. "They've always treated me like my brother, telling me never to join the Dark Lord, telling me to always follow Dumbledore."

Somehow, Harry felt that he saw the man that prophesized Alexander's role in the second war. Then it hit him: the Department of Mysteries, when I told the others to smash shelves…

Alexander's prophecy was kept in the Department of Mysteries, but Harry and the others had smashed it. He remembered seeing the pearly-white figures coming from the spheres they broke. He didn't say anything anymore, for a small voice spoke behind them.

"Why did you tell him, Sophie?"

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