WARNING: Do not read further if you haven't read or finished reading Half Blood Prince!
Tis your funeral if you do :P Or... well, maybe not yours. Someone's.
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, something else would have happened at the end of HBP instead. As it is, the ending will never change :'(
Random, shortone-shot, Fawkes introspective. Thanks to smileyspiritprincess and cyropi for betaing.
Enjoy!
The Phoenix's Lament
I am wise beyond your years, yet I am a still child compared to you and your vast knowledge. For who can know what I know, and what do I know compared to you? You have shown me infinite compassion and understanding, and for that, I will make you immortal, even though you are already dead.
For those below, listening to my song, your memory will live on. It is the only way I can truly express the way my heart has broken at your passing. For decades you were my companion, entrusting me with secrets you dared tell no one else. I dedicated my tail feathers to your friend's wands, and in doing so, created a bond between those the prophecy describes. A phoenix rarely gives two feathers, but for you, in your kindness, I would do anything. I am eternally in your debt.
You are almost a father to me, if humans can be father to creatures such as myself. Since you found me on that day, took me in and cared for me whilst I moulted and burnt, brought me food whilst I rose from my ashes, I have been loyal to you. For one to show such care, such delicacy when dealing with any creatures, is rare. For one to show it when dealing with a phoenix is unheard of; and I have lived many millennia to hear of these things.
Everything you have done has been for the good of the world, to try and defeat the evil that resides within He Who Must Not Be Named. Those who are listening to me, those pointing as I circle your home and grieve for you, they know this. You gave your life to protect them, and they will not let you down.
My father, my mentor, my friend... you shall live on. Your memory will never be forgotten, never be designated to an old book on a dusty shelf. It shall be as fresh as you have always been. Today is your burning day; tomorrow you will be as alive as yesterday. Perhaps in a different form, but nevertheless, alive.
And now, as my last tears fall, I see your tomb erupting into flames, and I know the truth. Now I must leave, and await the day when I may speak with you again. It is truly sad that I must leave Hogwarts, where we have resided together for so long, but it is not forever. You said yourself that you will never truly leave here. And so, neither will I. My tears are in the lake, my song is in the wind that whistles down the corridors. If ever I am needed, then I will repay my debt to you, my friend, and I will return.
You will always be in my heart, my friend. I thank you for the years you gave me, and as a broken creature, I return to where you found me, to make it my new home. I would say that I will miss you, but to miss you would be to accept that you are gone, and I cannot do that, because you will never truly die. Like a phoenix from the ashes, you will rise again, for I will treasure your words and your love, and your memory shall live on in my heart.
In me, you are immortal.
RIP Dumbledore. I hate that she killed him :(