Phoenix Tears

By Phoenix ash

Rating: T

Spoilers: SS, COS, POA, GOF, OOTP, HBP.

Category: Action/adventure/romance

(A.N.) this is my first fanfic so please bear with me. This starts out rather fast but I promise that it'll slow down at the burrow.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places. I only own the plot.

Chapter one

Fawkes's secret

In his room, Harry Potter lay in his bed twisting and turning, mumbling things of death and loss. He was having a nightmare. This was not unusual, for Harry had been having the same nightmare night after night; reliving that horrible night.

He remembered flying toward Hogwarts with the headmaster, the dark mark looming high above the astronomy tower. Upon reaching the top they were approached by Draco Malfoy, who was ordered to kill Dumbledore, although Snape had been the bastard who killed him. But worst of all, he remembered Dumbledore's wasted body fall down, down, down………..

Dumbledore was buried on the school grounds by the lake where a great marble casing encompassed his body. Professor McGonagall became headmistress and Malfoy and Snape returned to lord Voldemort's service.

Harry woke up with a jerk and sobbed. This was the first time he had openly mourned for his friend and mentor. He turned his head to the nightstand which held a picture of Ginny and his troubled mind soothed. Last year for awhile she and Harry were together. But when Dumbledore died he broke up with her to save her. She was kind about it but he could tell that she was hurting inside. He needed to make her understand that he cared about her so much and that Voldemort could use that to his advantage and hurt her. Even now, towards the end of July he still missed her.

He had gotten a letter the other day from Hogwarts, confirming that it was not going to shut down. Usually, this would have lifted Harry's spirits at the prospect of going back to his real home, but last year he had vowed to find the four horcruxes that stored a part of voldemort's soul, even if that meant not going back to Hogwarts.

It was now 7 am so Harry decided to get up. As he was putting on his trousers, Hedwig flew in with a note attached to her leg. He took it and read.

Dear Harry,

Guess what? Mum has agreed to have you stay at the burrow for the rest of the summer. We'll pick you up on Thursday at noon. See you then,

Ron

Harry scribbled a short letter confirming that he was looking forward to it, tied it to Hedwig and she flew off into the sunrise. He didn't bother to pack; instead he started to read some books he had Kreacher fetch from Grimwald place, now reinstated order of the phoenix headquarters. He had already been through half of the books, looking for anything that referred to the necklace or any of the other four horcruxes.

He opened his notebook and started taking notes. If one were to look in this notebook he or she would find a mixture of spells, made by either Harry himself or the half-blood prince, who turned out to unfortunately be Snape. They would also find several doodles and drawings of Ginny, and notes on the whereabouts of the horcruxes and what they may be.

Harry was reading the history and myth of hufflepuff, when he stumbled upon something:

One of the most well known relics was the cup of hufflepuff. Known to have great healing powers, it is relatively known as the Holy Grail. It has said to be the work of he-who-must-not-be-named, it is also believed that he harnessed the secret power then hid it for disposal. To this day it has not been found but it is rumored that it lies somewhere in the United Kingdom or Ireland however that can not be confirmed.

A feeling of accomplishment filled Harry. Now he knew where to start. He scribbled something down in his notebook, and then called "Kreacher!"

There was a loud pop and Kreacher appeared. "Master called?"

"I need you to bring over anything from the library at Grimwald place pertaining to the Holy Grail, United Kingdom, and Ireland."

"Yes master." then he mumbled "Ungrateful mudblood lover. If only my mistress knew that the blood traitor was letting werewolves and mudbloods into her house….."

At this point Harry yelled "Now, Kreacher!" with a pop, the old elf vanished. He sighed and started to pack his robes and schoolbooks into his trunk. Kreacher returned and set several volumes on his desk before vanishing again. Harry was about to read the Holy Grail: fact and fiction, there was a loud crash and uncle Vernon yelled, "Boy! Get down here!"

Harry obliged and walked into the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Dursley where staring at a beautiful gold and scarlet bird.

"Fawkes!"

"It is I." the great bird said

"You can talk?" Harry asked.

"You may not know it, but you are an amazing linguist since you have discovered that you are a parsletounge. It is easier to talk now because I am now yours." Fawkes replied.

"What?" he inquired.

"Boy what is another bloody pigeon doing in my house?" Uncle Vernon shouted at him.

"He's mine." Harry said, stroking Fawkes's soft, shiny feathers. Uncle Vernon turned purple. "Oh, you don't say?" Harry was having a bad feeling about this.

"We have put up with your freakish ways for fifteen years, boy." He began, turning more purple by the second. "I will not tolerate another bloody bird in this house!"

"I will flame travel up to your room." Fawkes told Harry.

"Okay" he said. "Fine uncle Vernon, I'll just be in my room" and before Mr. Dursley could say anymore, Fawkes was gone and Harry had disappeared into his room.

When Harry got up to his room Fawkes was perched on Hedwig's perch.

"I don't mean to be rude but what are you doing here?" Harry asked, rather confused.

"In the event that Dumbledore perished, I would go to the next descendant in the Gryffindor line."

"Are you saying that the Potters and Dumbledore's are related to Godric Gryffindor?"

"Dumbledore was your great grandfather's 3rd cousin. And yes, you're related to the great Gryffindor." The phoenix replied.

"I see." Harry said. "Do you still miss him?"

Fawkes started to sing a shrill song of lament that was both inspiring and mournful. Then he started singing of rebirth and joy. Harry started to read The Holy Grail: fact and fiction. He read about how Hufflepuff had created the cup and its history until he found a detailed account of a muggle expedition in Wales, detailing some sort of map and symbols on a tablet that could not be translated and that it now rested in the Wales museum. Then an idea that was so unlike a Gryffindor formed in Harry's head.

"Fawkes is it possible to flame travel to a Muggle Museum and get back to the point of origin without muggle detection?"

"It is possible, why?" Fawkes replied.

"I need to borrow a muggle artifact that may or may not hold the key to finding a horcrux." He said. "I'll tell you more later. I have been working all night and I'm tired."

Fawkes started to hum a Phoenix song that was, like the rest, beautiful. Harry's eyes got heavier and heavier until he fell into the first dreamless sleep in ages.

Well that's the first chapter, I hope you like it. Please r&r and be brutally honest. I'd love to her any comments good/bad.