Disclaimer: All that usual stuff: I don't own JKR's charries or anything like that…

A/N: Well, this chapter is quite like a cross over… A tad bit of LOTR, but it's not even really definitely LOTR. You'll see what I mean… For those of you who know who she is, I weaseled Cardi into this fan fiction... Erm… I guess this chapter isn't too terribly important… but I may find a way to make it more so as I type it… The Seven Fears of Phoenix are mentioned and that is VERY important…Okay, I'm going to stop rambling now and start typing the bloody chapter. I hope you people like it.

On July 17, Phoenix fell off the couch. She yawned and tiredly looked around her family room. Kelly and Ali fell asleep in opposite directions on a couch. Ron had fallen asleep upright in an armchair. Ashanti and Ami fell dozed off while sitting on a couch. Fred and George were randomly sleeping on the floor. Hermione and Ginny fell asleep in similar positions but on different chairs. Harry was sitting awake on the floor. He gave her a questioning look. Phoenix motioned him to follow her into the kitchen. As Harry came in, Phoenix noticed a note on the counter.

Phoenix, I've left for work. If you are going into the forest today, please do be careful. They won't be expecting you. I won't be home until quite late tonight. I will see you back at the other house.

-Mom

P.S. Don't do anything stupid.

Phoenix smiled a bit at the post script. Then she felt Harry's eyes on her. "Yes, Harry?"

"Um… did you have the same… er… dream… as me?" Harry asked.

Phoenix blinked as her dreams flashed before her eyes. "Was yours of the murder of Chelsea Porter? She had brown hair, brown eyes, and a ton of freckles?"

Harry nodded wide eyed.

Phoenix sighed. I'm going to have to tell Harry soon…

"I thought that was why we woke up at the same time…" Harry muttered.

"Shouldn't you be blocking that sort of stuff out of your head, Harry?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… well… you see…" he stammered to explain.

Just then Ron walked in while yawning widely. "G'morning."

"Good morning, Ron. Is anyone else up yet?" Phoenix asked.

Ron nodded. "Hermione was stretching when I came in here, and I think some of the other girls were waking up too."

After a few minutes, everyone was awake and in the kitchen. It was about 11 o'clock. "Anyone who's hungry can eat whatever they find in here. I dunno what we have… But then you should get ready for life. At – hopefully – noon, we're going into the forest."

Ron paled. "Didn't you say that spiders live in there?"

Phoenix corrected, "Did live. They should be dead now though."

Ron was not reassured.

At noon, everyone found Phoenix sitting on a chair outside by a pool. Fred and George smirked mischievously, but Phoenix snapped, "If you two even think about it!" Then she said somewhat sarcastically, "Now, if you would like to venture into the unknown, please follow me."

Phoenix led the group along the forest's edge for a while. They were all joking around and talking about last night's party. Then Phoenix began into the forest. The path that they followed was well hidden when you were looking for the outer limits of the forest. Yet when you were in the forest, it was clearly defined. It wound around through the woods and was made of tightly pact dirt. Phoenix walked confidently along it, but Harry noticed that Phoenix was holding something by her belt. Apparently Ami noticed too because she asked, "Phoenix? Is that a sword hilt you are handling?"

Phoenix paused and looked at them. You could see the mischievousness as well as the amusement in her blue eyes. "Quite possibly." She smirked.

"Why would you need a Muggle weapon? We do have magic, you know," Hermione stated.

Their guide continued to walk forward. Even though they could not see her face, the group knew that she was smiling. "What if ordinary magic couldn't harm them because they have magic of their own? What if only the Unforgivables could touch them?" Everyone glanced nervously at each other.

"Fred, your girlfriend is loony," Ron whispered. Fred just raised his eyebrows as if to challenge that statement.

They all now fell silent out of anxiety. Phoenix—who was a few yards ahead of them—said, "Oh, they're hiding!" The group walked to where she was standing.

A small town lay before them. The shocking thing about it was how one with nature it was! Some of the homes were on the ground. These had many vines, trees, and other botany growing about them. Other houses were actually in the trees, tree houses! They seemed to be camouflaged by the living limbs and leaves. The trunk of the tree formed what looked like natural spiral staircases up to the house. The village itself was breath taking.

"What is this place?" Ginny breathed in amazement.

"It's a secret." Phoenix smiled. "Wait here."

She walked a little farther into the village. Harry thought he saw something move in one of the trees. Probably just a squirrel, he thought as he watched Phoenix make her way deeper into the town. Then he saw it again. The figure definitely was not a squirrel. "Phoenix, look out!" Harry yelled in warning, but he was too late. Whatever it was jumped out of the tree towards Phoenix with a gleaming silver sword raised. It appeared as if Phoenix would be sliced in half when their host drew her own sword and parried the attack. The onlookers stared dumbfounded as their friend sparred with the hooded figure. After a while, the assailant attempted to strike her vertically, but Phoenix held her blade horizontally to temporarily pause the duel and said something in a foreign language. All was quiet for what felt like forever. Then the assailant and Phoenix laughed and hugged. The cloaked figure's laugh was odd though; it sounded almost musical. When they stopped, the stranger said something loudly in that foreign language to no one in particular. Next, Phoenix led the person over to the onlookers. "Everyone," she said, "this is Cardinix."

Eyes widened as the person let her hooded cloak fall to the ground. Cardinix had an inhuman beauty. She had no flaws what-so-ever. Her figure, too, was perfect. Her complexion was fair; there was no sign of a blemish anywhere on her skin. Her hair was long and fiery red. A thin braid began over each of her ears and met on the back of her head to form one large braid. In fact, there were quite a few similarities between herself and Phoenix. The main differences were Cardinix looked a few years older, her hair just fell short of being at her waist, and she was dressed in a beautiful midnight blue medieval styled gown. Her eyes -- though they had the same almond shape -- were also a different shade of blue: a darker blue like the color of the night's sky.

"Uh… Phoenix? Is Cardinix—" "—your sister or something?" Kelly finished asking Ali's (as well as everyone else's) question.

The two girls laughed for a long moment. "No," Phoenix managed to say.

The group looked at each other, baffled. "Then who is she and why is she living in your backyard?" Ami asked.

Cardinix smiled and brushed her hair behind her ears. Mouths dropped open. This was no mortal they beheld; her ears were pointed like those of an elf.

"You're a… an elf?" Ginny questioned. Cardinix nodded.

"I thought elves were short and had big eyes… and had to serve a master and such…" Harry said.

"That's a house elf, Harry. She is an elf, anoble one… the kind that disappeared in the Dark Ages," Hermione breathed.

"So, Phoenix, you have an elf living in your backyard?" Ashanti said somewhat in disbelief.

"Not just an elf," Cardinix said, her voice musical, "a whole settlement of elves." She gestured to the village behind her.

Eyes widened yet again as elves began to come out onto the streets performing their everyday activities. Some were talking and laughing; others were singing. Some were even gardening. Cardinix led the humans to an elegant looking building and into a large room. It had numerous other elves chatting with one another. All of these elves seemed to be quite important, and they were dressed more elegantly than the others outside. They briefly greeted the newcomers before continuing their conversations. Cardinix gestured to some chairs and large pillows at the end of the large hall. Everyone sat down. "I am assuming you must have some questions to inquire of me?"

Kelly asked first. "You look so much like Phoenix. Are you two somehow related?"

Cardinix looked thoughtful. "I was not even born yet when this occurred, and I have seen a few centuries already. One of the ancestors of Phoenix washalf Elvish. Of the parents of this said ancestor, one was my grandfather. He had – what do you call it now? – an affair with a mortal maiden. She bore a child. Since my grandfather had magical abilities, this wizard child was still called a 'pureblood.' This wizard is the ancestor of Phoenix of whom I spoke of earlier. In a simplified version, yes, we are related."

Kelly whistled. "Wow, so you are part Elvish, Phoe."

Phoenix just rolled her eyes. "I'm not the only one. The others just don't have their Elven relatives living in their backyard."

"So there are more part-elves than just Phoenix," Ami said with a hint of a questioning tone.

"Yes. Many of the purebloods have some sort of elf blood running through their veins. When we still resided in Europe, wizards and witches were our closest kin. It was fairly common for one of nobility or of great wealth to court an elf. The Elven heritage in Phoenix is just more apparent than others, and as Phoenix said not a moment ago, she has elves in her backyard and is therefore very aware of this heritage."

"So why did you elves leave Europe?" Hermione questioned.

"The mortals were taking for granted all that we had contributed to them. In addition to all of this, it was time for us to go. You humans did not need our help any longer. We left what you presently call Europe and immigrated to this forest.

Hermione asked interested, "Why here? I'm sure there were plenty of places you could have gone."

Cardinix smiled. "You see, there is a portal in these woods, a portal to the Immortal Realm. At any point in time, we may travel into the other Realm, our original home."

"The Immortal Realm?" Ginny inquired. "What's that?"

"It is the Realm where nothing ever dies. It is where the soul of a mortal goes when their life leaves them. There are two different parts: Mar – where immortal beings come from – and Gurth – where mortal beings go when they die."

"So we're in the Mortal Realm right now?" Ginny asked. Cardinix nodded.

Harry stated. "I didn't even know that elves like you even existed."

"That is not uncommon for not many know about us. Elves are even unknown to most of the wizarding world. It is now only known by you who are present and Elizabeth that we are even still among those in the Mortal Realm. Almost all of the recordings of us were lost during the Dark Ages and soon we turned into myth. It is even a mystery to us where that history has gone."

"How do house elves fit into all of this?" Ron asked.

"A brilliant question yet such a woeful tale," Cardinix said somberly. "As one may imagine, elves were sought out for many tasks that a mere mortal could not wish to perform as well as us. Since we are immortal to all but a physical wound, the humans begged for our help. In most cases, we obliged willingly. Elves during this time always spoke in a language that could be understood by any living being. In that language which is sadly now even forgotten by us surviving elves, quite a few unfortunate elves made the mistake of saying 'at your service' when they were introduced. This allowed the mortal to summon the elf at any moment for this forgotten language was a binding and controlling one. If something was said in it, it was either already true or made true.

"Humans began to abuse this. Eventually, a group of witches and wizards decided to hunt us like we were animals. The targeted elf would have no idea of the evil intent of the wizard or witch and would reply in a similar fashion to what the mortal said. In other words, the mortal would introduce themselves using 'at your service' and the elf would reply using that phrase too. Suddenly, that poor elf was bond to that mortal for all eternity.

"Mortals then would auction us off to the highest bidders who were mainly noble or wealthy wizarding families. Those elves were forced to become slaves of every sort. They replaced mortal servants and slaves, and they were very low maintenance. The imprisoned elves rebelled, but they were stricken down by magic and by the promise that they themselves had condemned themselves to keep. The thing that the mortals did not expect was an elf named Beriothien to create what you may call a 'catch.' He cast a powerful spell in the forgotten language that freed an enslaved elf if it was given clothing. Many elves were freed because of his noble deed, yet he was forced to pay for this. Beriothien was executed soon after by his master.

"Over time, the elves—not being able to return to the Immortal Realm—began to change. They were transfigured into what you know as house elves. They shrunk and lost their beauty along with their immortality. It is true that the house elves still have quite long life spans for a mortal being, yet they still die. It was a horrendous end to so many noble elves," Cardinix finished.

"That is horrendous," Ashanti said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I know this is kinda, like, not at all like what we were just talking about," Ali said, "but is it true that elves are, like, better at archery than centaurs?"

Cardinix laughed in her unusual yet musical way. "Indeed! Of course, the rivalry between elves and centaurs is merely… friendly. We have nothing against our fellow Immortals." Phoenix snorted. The elf just smiled at her. To Ali, she asked, "Do you wish me to show the practice fields?"

Everyone nodded so their Elven host led them back out of the building and to a large field. At one part of the field, archers stood aiming at targets with remarkable accuracy. Farther down were a couple different terrains with elves sparring one another. Cardinix smirked at Phoenix.

"Oh, Cardi, no! I don't want to!" Phoenix protested without the elf even saying anything.

Cardinix walked over to a male elf and spoke to him in their language. The elf nodded to her and passed his bow and quiver to her. Cardinix gestured Phoenix over, but she all the while stood rooted in her position shaking her head. "Phoenix, come!" Cardinix shouted at her.

"Do I have to, Cardi?" Phoenix complained.

Cardinix smiled at Phoenix. "Of course you do," she said sweetly.

She continued to whine. "But I'm going to be horrible! I was lucky I even didn't get beheaded when we were sparring before!"

"That would be your problem," the elf said simply.

Phoenix gave her a dark glare before heading over. What she did next was as if it were second nature to her. She nocked the arrow, pulled back the string, aimed, and released. The arrow flew quite straight and hit near the bulleye.

Phoenix sighed. "That was lacking but are you happy now?" she asked annoyed. Cardinix smiled and nodded.

"You have not changed at all," the male elf said.

"No, I haven't," Phoenix said. Then she froze, completely froze. She muttered something in the Elvish language. No one answered her so she practically yelled in English, "I thought you said you got rid of them all!"

"Rid of what?" Cardinix asked and followed Phoenix's gaze. She, too, temporarily froze, and her almond shaped eyes widened. "We did."

Now all the archers redirected their aim at the large shadow at the forest's edge. "What is it?" Ginny asked nervously. A huge spider slowly crawled out of the shadows of the forest.

"It's a SPIDER!" Ron shrieked. Just then, the spider charged forward. The elves released their arrows, but it kept coming, even with arrows lodged into its body. "It's from the Immortal Realm!" Cardinix yelled, taking charge of the situation at hand.

"I thought immortals can die from a mortal wound. Why is it not dying?" Ami asked worriedly.

"It's just harder to kill immortals…" Phoenix answered shakily. "It takes a lot more effort."

Harry noticed that her skin was pale, and her eyes were wide. "Phoenix, are you afraid of spiders?" he asked.

"Terrified," she answered somewhat in a daze.

"Phoenix! Snap out of it and enchant the arrow!" Cardinix yelled at her from the midst of the action.

Phoenix shook her head and came out of her daze. She pulled out her wand and cast a spell on an arrow. Then she nocked the arrow the bow she was still holding. She was ready to shoot when she whistled loudly. The spider stopped attacking an elf and turned towards her. It ran at her, but Phoenix didn't move. Probably because she is so afraid, Harry thought.

The spider was very large, perhaps seven or eight feet tall. It was extraordinarily hairy. Its many eyes were all focused on Phoenix with a hungry gaze. Its pincers snapped loudly. Phoenix released the enchanted arrow. It flew straight through the spider. The spider stopped dead in its tracks. Everything was dead quiet. Then the spider collapsed to the ground along with Phoenix.

After a moment, Fred walked over to Phoenix and crouched down next to her. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "I just hate spiders; that's all." She was shaking as she sat up.

By the group of witches and wizards, Kelly asked, "Is it dead?"

Ali said, layered with sarcasm, "No, it's gonna get up and kill us all."

"Are you okay, Ron?" Hermione asked, concerned.

Ron's eyes were wide and distant; he was breathing fast. Then he looked at her. It looked as if he just now (a few seconds later) heard the question and nodded rapidly.

"What about Phoenix? Is she going to be okay?" Harry asked.

Ashanti answered, "She should be."

Amianda nodded but said, "Yes but… she is terribly afraid of spiders."

Ashanti said, "Yeah, but that doesn't mean that she's going to die of fright. God! We're all afraid of stuff!"

"Hers are just extreme… that's all." Ami shrugged.

"Why are they so 'extreme?'" Ginny questioned.

"She's had a very bad experience with each of them," Ami replied.

"What are they?" Hermione asked curiously.

"The Seven Fears of Phoenix," George said seriously. At people's confused looks, he added, "That what she called them when she told us about them… a year ago, actually."

Kelly nodded. "That's what they're called. Spiders, werewolves, vampires, dementors, darkness, pain, and deaths of others," she rattled off.

Not even a moment later, Phoenix and Fred rejoined the group. Phoenix quickly said, "Okay, we're going back to England." With that, she turned on her heels and strode back towards the path.

A/N: WHOOP! I got this chapter done! I'm soooo proud of myself. Yeah, so now this chapter – contrary to what I said earlier – is quite important cause it has quite a few plot points in it. HUZZAH! PLOT POINTS! So like I said, I hope you guys all like it… please comment cuz that's the only way I'll know if you liked it or not.