STAND BY ME

Chapter 5

School Days

The voice was in his head again, it was a voice of a man he now realised. He did not know who it was or where it came from but he sensed he could trust it.

Amicitia et amor are strong with you young one use them well and follow the guide. Remember no mortal thing lasts forever, time stops for no man. All you can do is follow your destiny to the best of your ability.

"Who? The guide? what are you talking about?" asked Harry but the voice was silent.

He was gazing out over a meadow. It was beautiful. The wind blowing from the west played with his messy hair. There was a sweet floral smell on the air. In the distance there was a girl under a tree, but he could not see her clearly. Something deep inside him was telling him he knew this person, he just couldn't think from where or when. She was beautiful with long flowing hair but he could not tell the colour.

He started to run towards her.

"Mum," he shouted as he approached. The woman turned to face him smiling happily.

A huge cheeky, grin spread across the child's face "No. Guess again," the girl giggled. She then faded away to nothing.

He tried to cry out but the cry was never heard.

In her place was a burning red phoenix, its wings spread wide, protruding from a rose bush, its wings ablaze until nothing was left except the rose bush and a little pile of ash at its base.

Harry felt sadness in his heart as though he had known this person all his life and now he had lost something. A small part of himself he felt he would never get back again.

The flowers on the bush had been blackened from the heat of the flames. The plant then shrivelled and died away to nothing.

A greater sadness now filled his heart for the last of the great beauty was gone. He looked away, tears glistening in his eyes. He was therefore shocked when he turned back to face the base of the tree. His heart filled with joy, for there before him the phoenix was back, the rose bush was again in full bloom. Its flowers were huge and strongly perfumed but the smell was not overpowering and it had a relaxing, calming effect on the young man.

His heart was then filled with a greater joy for he saw beneath the phoenix, which was in full flight, was the girl with the flowing hair. The view then faded until only the girl and he were left standing in the dark. She remained in the shadow so he could not see her. She placed her hand gently on his cheek and he relaxed into her touch.

You are not ready to see me yet you have to find me within yourself first. I will become clearer to you as time goes on. But first you must learn much. It will take time and it will be hard. You have a long and arduous task ahead of you Harry Potter and it will not always be easy. Be strong and use what you have. Remember, nothing remains the same forever but love is eternal. People do not easily learn from the mistakes of the past but you must if you are to succeed in your endeavour. Do not turn away a helping hand even if it has hurt you before; take help wherever it is to be found. Be patient, you will get there in the end.

At that she removed her hand, turned and was gone back into the darkness. As she disappeared he felt pain on his chest where the crest was situated on his school robes. His eyes widened in shock. The pain went as suddenly as it had come. Harry pulled the shirt he was wearing down and looked down at his chest.

There freshly engraved on his chest was a rose. It had many petals with a tinge of pink to them; it was an image of the flowers that had been on the Rose bush by the tree.

The man started to speak again.

Well done you have past the first testing of the heart and have been found to be pure and true. "The rose of amor" will mark you and the group of people of your time destined to face the challenges placed before you. Good Luck rose warrior.

The girl finished by saying, One last word of advice. Her voice echoed from the dark; Follow the guide, the Phoenix. Follow your heart, trust in your friends and you will find your way.

Shapes began to form out of the dark and it began to get light. Harry was then able to see.

He was again at the top of a mountain staring out towards the land before him.

The same childish voice the girl had used began to sing out over the darkness, a slow melancholy tune as if grieving for the passing of a great leader from a long time ago. The sombre words were chanted through the air before suddenly changing. A new emotion was sung; Hope. Hope that something good was coming. Hope that the violence would end and the world would be restored to its former glory; where people where allowed to be what they were without the fear of oppression, where differences where a thing to be proud of and cherished. Hope of a future in which people helped each other; there was no pain, suffering, fear and no war. It was peace and people were happy.

The tune made Harry's heart swell. He felt that he would be able to follow his destiny, if only he could find the power within himself and that he was not alone. It was the feeling that he always got when he heard Phoenix song.

A lonely man on a mountain top,

Stands and stares as all time does stop.

Eyes of mourning,

Understanding dawning,

Destiny calling.

A happy girl beneath the chestnut tree.

Dances gaily happy as can be.

She holds the key,

For them to be free.

Before the end,

One will bend,

To save their friend.

The time has come, a man's harsh voice said from behind him. Harry turned to look at its owner, but saw no-one. He turned back knowing what was to come. Again there was a flash of orange light and a loud, deafening roar all around.

The vision ended.

As Harry was coming round again, he heard the chiming of a bell far away. It was midnight.

He felt the tingling pain in his chest like you get just after you have been hit by a ball. All the pain he had been feeling faded away. Harry pulled down his shirt and there on his skin as he knew it would be was an ornate rose, tinged with pink, engraved in his skin.

"At last it has happened," whispered a slightly awed voice. "The leader has been chosen."

The voice sounded very far away as Harry slowly came fully back into consciousness.

"What?" asked Harry puzzled. "What's happened?"

"What are you talking about boy? You collapsed that's what happened," snapped Aunt Petunia.

"But why?"

"I'm sorry, I cannot tell you Harry. You must find the answers for yourself," answered Mrs Figg, as she stood up from the spot on the floor where she had been kneeling next to Harry. She had been checking his pulse he noted, as he glanced down to look at what the pressure on his wrist was. As she stood he saw something on her wrist, something he had never taken notice of before. There, on her inside of her right wrist, was a small engraving of a Phoenix. A meaningful look passed between the two.

"Why did the room shake?" questioned Aunt Petunia, distracting Harry's attention from what he had seen.

"It is a power from the past. I was warned it could happen. The only other person I ever saw that was able to do that was, Tom. Not even Dumbledore could do that."

Harry's eye's opened wide in shock as the words registered in his brain.

"Tom? As in Tom Riddle?" he asked. "Tom Marvolo Riddle? The maniac who killed my parents."

"I thought it was Voldemort that killed you parents," stated Aunt Petunia. Mrs Figg had not flinched at the name as Harry thought she would.

"It was. It is the same person, 'Voldemort' is his nick name," replied Harry, his attention still on Mrs Figg. The old woman nodded sadly.

"It was a long time ago. I was at the school with him at the time."

"You were at school with him?" Harry spluttered. The statement had not quite settled in his brain which was still numb from the pain previously.

"Yes Harry, I was not always a squib you know. I had such a crush on the tall, dark, handsome 5th year only two years older than I was. I was foolish enough to think he loved me back, but he took my powers for his own, leaving me defenceless. But it is the past and it does not matter anymore. It does not do well to dwell on things that might have been." As Mrs Figg said these words, Mrs Dursley flinched slightly, and shifted uneasily in her seat. She glanced up to see if it had been witnessed.

It had.

"Yes Petunia. You have held on to the jealousy of your sister for far too long. Is it not time to forgive and forget?"

"I…" stammered Petunia "I…"

"Do you not see the wonderful young man that is sitting before you? Do you know what trials he has had to go through? Have you ever tried to find out what he thinks how he feels?

"Magic is not the be all and end all of life. There is a natural magic to the world if you would only take time out to look for it. You do not need to have magic to do wonderful things. Lily's sacrifice showed us all that. It protects him though you cannot see it.

"The reason you can see me as who I am now, is because I shielded myself from you until such time as it was truly in your heart to care for this boy. It was done by Dumbledore." At these words Mrs Figg began to look younger, not by much, but some of her wrinkles faded and her hair became slightly less grey, leaving in its wake, streaks of strawberry blonde.

"This is how others see me," she stated.

"I do not care for that worthless waste of space!" exclaimed Petunia, sounding insulted by the very idea.

"But do you not see, some small part of you must have shown genuine concern, that you can now see me as your mother's old friend."

Aunt Petunia smiled a sad smile.

"Harry. I see what kind of man you are going to become. You are gentle and kind. Through all that we have put you through, you have never once complained, even though you knew it was wrong. I have something that I should have given to you when you left for school but for my own selfish reasons I never did. I will go get it now." With that she went out the room and up to the attic.

"Mrs Figg, does he know we are here? My scar only hurts when he is near or feeling strong emotion or…He didn't put the images in my mind did he? If he does know where I am it won't be safe for us here!" Harry started the moment Petunia left the room.

"No he does not know you are here Harry," reassured Mrs Figg. "He did not put the images in your mind. You scar hurt because you are connected nothing more. This time.

"He will have seen the same things as you did because he is your opposite and opponent through all time. It will worry him but there is still time before he will work out it is connected to you, and by then you will be well out of his reach. For a time at least. Take some advice, follow you heart and trust your friends, and you will find your way."

"What is that meant to mean anyway?"

"Harry you will know what these words truly mean eventually but for now just let it be.

"Have you told you aunt about his return yet?"

"Yes, last summer."

"Good, what about Sirius?"

"No"

"She will need to know."

"Why?"

"She knew him for a while."

"I will at some point," hesitated Harry. At that moment Petunia came back into the room. She handed Harry a 12 by 10 inch box, its surface covered in blue velvet. It had catch made of gold.

"Call it your Birthday present," she said.

Harry turned the catch and gasped. Inside lay two wands next to each other, the base of each in one of the bottom corners and their points met in the middle. Lying in between the two wands near the bottom of the box was a pair of wedding bands. They had belonged to his mother and father. Just above them, forming a triangle, was another ring. Harry picked it carefully out the box.

The ring a simple twist, rounding to make the band and was green in colour.

"That is the Potter family ring," Mrs Figg answered the unasked question. "As soon as you put it on you, are entitled to the inheritance you parents left for you."

"Your mother told me I would get this box in the event of her death," Aunt Petunia said. "When you were old enough you were to get it and Lily said Mrs Figg would be executor of her Will.

"The Will will be released when you put on that ring."

Harry slipped the ring on to the middle finger of his right hand. Tears threatened to fall but he fought them. He had done enough crying, he would do no more.

Laying by the handles of the wands, there was a carved animal made from oak. Next to his mother's there was a fox and next to his father's there was a stag. Harry picked them up. For some reason he felt they were calling him to something else, but what he could not tell. He put them back in the box. He would dwell more on it later.

He now had something of his parents that was linked to them in some small way. It truly was a gift that touched his heart.

Harry - Takes deep breath.

Coughs

Chokes on chocolate biscuit.

Is shortly followed by Mrs Figg

Both start cursing the writer.

Why? Because the author cannot put commas and full stops in!

Don't worry KCEstel is an excellent first aider and will make sure our characters are alright for the next update.

Till then

Len87