Disclaimer + A/N: Everyone knows this isn't mine. Based on a challenge by Amerision. Set to be a one shot, but I have a continuation in mind if there's popular demand.
Burning Day
As my bonded's charge walked to the grave to pay his final respects, the somber mood seemed to be tenser than expected. A death always brings out latent magic in the area, but there seems to be a disproportionate amount of it, swirling, focusing on a certain point on the grave. I can see the markings that are showing barely, and I can barely make out three short lines as I receive the last image of my bonded.
An old phoenix, crashing into a boulder -
Three claws, leaving a mark -
A young boy -
Tears -
Why? Why did he show me this, what does it mean? Phoenixes are specially attuned to nature, and as such, we can receive the last flashes of a dying person's magic. Taking a form of a gentle breeze emanating from the grave, the magic creates a somber, but peaceful mood oft said to be the atmosphere of funerals.
My thoughts are interrupted as my charge turns to me and asks, "What is that? Why do I feel this?"
"You're bonded to me now, fletchling. What you are feeling is the latent magic of the death."
As I am talking to him, my sixth sense seems to be going off fully. The magic that I was feeling was not all from the passing of a great, but a greater entity, and seemingly independent. As the energy picks me up, I get the sudden feeling of urgency, even as I black out...
Harry was used to many things, but this was definitely a first for him. A phoenix blacking out was the most absurd thing he could ever have heard, even in the wizarding world, but his more pressing concern was what could have caused it.
At first, he considered that Fawkes was dying due to his Bonded dying, but as he said that he was bonded to Harry now, Harry put that option aside. Trying to look around, he was shocked when he saw Dumbledore's grave glowing with a pale light. As he kept looking at it, the light grew brighter and brighter, and when he could no longer look at it, he could have sworn he saw three short lines burning dark red.
As Harry slowly regained consciousness, he felt very drowsy, as if he just woke up from a nap. Looking around, he saw that he was in an unfamiliar valley, in front of a giant marble slab. A rugged path seemed to lead away from it, but seemed to be seldom traveled. Looking at the slab, he saw three bloody lines, leading down to a red shape.
"FAWKES!"
To Harry, the phoenix looked to be passed out, thankfully. If Fawkes were awake, surely he would be in extreme pain. The claws on his left hand looked to be mangled, covered in blood from the collision with the rock.
Tears coming to his eyes, he quickly stripped his robe and wrapped Fawkes in it, hoping to find a veterinarian or a healer, someone who could help the swan-like bird. Briskly walking down the path, he set off the path, not noticing the slight glow that the boulder exuded...
"Healin' eh? Well, the coup' down the street is sure diff'rnt. They have some quirks, but they sure heal good. Just last month when my 'ewe was ill, they fixed 'er up nice and good, like it was magic."
Thanking the villager profusely, Harry set off to the couple, utterly confused at the fact that there was no technology in sight. The village looked to be decidedly muggle, but the couple fit the description of wizards better than anyone else did, and they were his last hope. Being underage, and never been able to apparate from an unknown location, he was stuck in the village, and if he did not find some wizards, he could not help Fawkes.
As he was walking to the couple, he was distracted by a young girl playing with a dog in the warm summer air.
"Hey mister, your eyes are pretty! They are brown, just like my mommy's!"
Harry was very confused by that line. For all his life, he was known by his mother's eyes, vibrant green, just like the strongest curse. But if his eyes changed, does that mean his vision was improved? Taking a minute to look himself over, he noticed that while he was dressed in slacks and a shirt, he was not wearing glasses, and yet he could see perfectly.
"Thank you, you are very pretty yourself!"
As the girl giggled and turned back to the dog, Harry was left even more confused.
The first look he had of the couple was how them as a family. A middle-aged woman with long, auburn hair, which was beginning to show signs of graying, was berating a sixteen-year old son, who was looking sheepishly down at a goat that was standing in the front lawn, chewing grass. The father of the family was standing by, with a proud grin on his face, as he watched his wife and his son go at it.
"ABERFORTH DUMBLEDORE, how dare you use what we taught you for this? This is an abomination of nature, and you have to be punished. Go inside and think about what you did while we debate your punishment!"
"Aw, mum." The teenager grumbled, but went inside anyway. As usual, Harry was confused at the mention of Dumbledore's brother, but he decided it was a coincidence and approached the woman anyway.
The years went by fast after his adoption by the Dumbledores. Alexis and Arielle, his adopted parents, christened him into the Dumbledore family by giving him a new name, which he used while finishing off the seventh year of Hogwarts.
Throughout the years, he was resigned to the fact that he was unable to change anything from the timeline he remembered, no matter how hard he tried. Fawkes' amnesia didn't help either, and while he could remember who his Bonded was, the bird could no longer remember anything from his early years with Dumbledore. His talons were healed after his first burning day, but he seemed irritable months after that happening.
As time passed, Harry relived much of his mentor's life, but you could tell that he did not know much of Dumbledore's life beforehand, and much was new to him. Eventually, he married a girl, Linda, who he met while apprenticing to Nicolas Flamel, but his elation was ended after Grindenwald killed her and his newborn child in cold blood.
Since then, he distanced himself from everyone else, not letting himself get attached to anyone. His memories of his previous life were distant now, and he allowed little Harry Potter to go to the Dursleys with just the justification of "It's for the best."
When he was struck down by Severus Snape, his last thought was "It was a good life."
I strongly felt a sense of deja vu, going down to my Bonded's grave. Something felt wrong, but I was not sure what, and from my time with Dumbledore, I could not fathom what sort of energy this was. As I saw the grave, I noticed a very familiar white marble slab, and a flash of repressed pain wracked my body.
The memories were returning.
An old phoenix, crashing into a boulder -
Three claws, leaving a mark -
A young boy -
Tears -
As I struggled to do anything to prevent the time loop from happening again, I saw the inevitability as Harry looked toward the the three claw marks, glowing blood red, and I fell into darkness.