A/N: Don't own. Continues pretty much immediately after the last chapter.

End of last chapter:

Reborn just tightened his hold on Harry as he felt his shoulder grow wet, not saying a word while trying to soothe his Sky's anguished Flames with his own.

The British Wizarding World was done. Reborn would personally see to the end of anyone he deemed even remotely responsible for his Sky's pain.

Chapter 9

Reborn remained silently focused on Harry. Even though his Sky was mostly calm again - his Flames no longer desperately latching onto Reborn for support - Harry had not yet lifted his head from Reborn's shoulder. Not like Reborn was going to complain about their position anytime soon.

Now that Harry was calm, Reborn could enjoy finally having Harry in his lap, curled against his chest, entirely ensconced in Reborn's presence - as safe as his little Sky could possibly be.

Harry had told him about about his personal story and had yet to ask for anything in return. Reborn felt something in his chest almost purr at the show of confidence and trust. Their closeness was also helping Reborn ignore the fact that his Sky had broken down at all. Because Reborn was very capable of reading between the lines.

There had been three wars in Wizarding Britain, three wars that had spanned three generations. The problems that had been the reason for all three wars had been passed on from generation to generation. And it had somehow led to his Sky getting involved, turned his Sky into a hero as a teenager. It was unforgivable. This Dumbledore character had been a figure head in all three wars, so it was safe to assume that he had been the most powerful figure in Harry's life. He was one of the people Reborn was going to hold responsible for at least some of his Sky's pain.

But it was the desperate loneliness, the paralyzing helplessness that Reborn had felt along their bond that had him in a state of deadly fury. And Harry had even specified that this last war had not gone all out. Why had a teenager felt so very desperately, helplessly alone in a war that had been fought via politics and guerilla warfare? Where had the adults been, the ones who were responsible for dragging the baggage from the last wars along with them?

Reborn felt his anger spike again. His Sun Flames were still saturating the room around them - Reborn kept them carefully contained to this room, lest someone else detected the outpouring of his Flames - and they pulsed with his fury.

He felt his Sky move slightly to rest his head on Reborn's shoulder instead of having it tucked against Reborn's neck. Reborn was kind enough - only ever kind to Harry - not to force him into facing Reborn immediately and just reacted by tightening his arms around Harry.

Harry stubbornly kept his face tucked against his Sun's throat. He was not going to move. Ever.

He was trying to stay calm as he considered his options. It was incredible how much of a difference it made to talk to someone about the war. To have someone listen, not judging. He knew his breakdown had been a long time coming and strangely he did not really feel embarrassed. That might change as soon as he regained the capacity of feeling anything beyond bone deep relief. Harry was resolutely ignoring the fact that he was currently settled in Reborn's lap and how incredibly good it felt to be held by someone while he fell apart.

Harry knew that he had not given himself the chance before to process everything that had happened in the past year. The end of the war, the deaths, the betrayals, the switching loyalties, the accusations, the loss of trust. And there had been no one at his side to support him, to help him grieve, to comfort him as he fell apart. And right now, with Reborn curled around him - body and Flame - Harry felt safe and sheltered and so warm. He was not moving, Harry concluded stubbornly. He was going to stay like this forever and Reborn would just have to deal with it.

Still, Harry knew that in order to complete his account, to explain how the wars were relevant in Harry's life specifically, he would have to tell Reborn about what he had meant by Savior.

Harry had a ridiculous number of titles for someone his age. Some old, some new, some temporary, some already past. His current titles referred to very distinct parts of his personal history. The-Man-Who-Conquered, the one who killed the Dark Lord. Harry had already narrated that bit to his Guardian. A hero, he had earned that title by martyring himself for an entire world. But there was no way he was explaining that right now, because it would require an explanation of horcruxes - which would have to include Voldemort's personal history - before he could even get started on explaining why he had been convinced that walking to his death was the only way. Harry was so not willing to get into that today. The Savior of the Wizarding World, the Chosen One proclaimed by a prophecy. That would actually be comparably easy to explain and it should be enough information to tide Reborn over until tomorrow at least.

Harry knew it was unavoidable to explain being the Savior, if only to protect the general British wizarding population from their own idiocy and ignorance when they would inevitably mob Harry at some point. He didn't think his Sun would take well to Harry being crowded, with or without an explanation. But if he knew what was going on Reborn might be content with leaving the masses crippled instead of outright incinerating them.

That was something to be considered as well. Due to Omerta Reborn would have to keep his Flames hidden in the Wizarding World which would give his Sun less of an advantage. The thought of Reborn being at an increased risk because he could not use all of his strength - irrespective of whether he would actually need his Flames to deal with any self-glorifying idiots or not - was unacceptable. However, they could not just ignore Omerta and being allowed to tell your bonded about a fancy supernatural power didn't equate with revealing it to an entire world.

On the other hand the Wizarding World's sheeple would never even consider there being muggles with powers beyond magic. They would probably be eager to explain any Flame displays on Reborn's side away as magic. Now there was a thought. Harry would have to read up on whether there were any magical gifts that might be similar enough to Flames to explain their presence to wizards. As multifaceted as magic was, there should be something.

Though he was getting ahead of himself.

Now that the topic of the war was already out there Harry was surprised at how little he was bothered by the thought of telling Reborn about being the bloody Savior since birth. Actually, he wouldn't be surprised if Reborn got a good laugh out of that cliché plot element.

Harry's casual attitude towards the Savior topic right now, was probably a result of him already having exhausted his capacity for dramatic reactions for today. But even if that was the case, it would still be easier to tell Reborn this part of his story now. It was something that Reborn had to know before they came anywhere near the Wizarding World and after having explained the war talking about the whole savior business didn't seem so bad because he wouldn't have to explain the details.

With his decision made, Harry refocused his current situation. His Guardian was still silently giving comfort and Harry was hit by another wave of desperate gratitude for having found Reborn, his Sun. Harry took a bracing breath and slightly moved his head so his face was no longer tucked against Reborn's throat, though still resting on his Guardian's shoulder. Reborn immediately tightened his arms around him as though to make sure Harry would remain in his lap. Harry would gladly take the excuse for staying in this position, though there was no way he was moving unless he was specifically asked to do so. He could be embarrassed about their position tomorrow, but right now he was going to absorb as much warmth and comfort from his Guardian as he possibly could.

Harry realized that Reborn was entirely focused on him, clearly aware that there was another part of the explanation coming.

Just get it over with. "Before I was born, there was a prophecy proclaiming the birth of the Dark Lord's vanquisher, the criteria of which fit me perfectly. The thing with prophecies is that they only have power if someone believes in them. Lucky me, the leaders of both sides of the war believed in this prophecy and also believed it to refer to me. Thus my role in the war was set."

Reborn had actually started in incredulousness. A prophecy? Like with the oracles in Greek mythology? Or any half-decent science fiction novel? If it weren't his Sky telling the story and if Reborn hadn't been able to feel the emotions pulse along their bond he might have thought this to be some kind of joke.

Harry continued. "Me being the assumed Savior led to my parents being killed while I was still a toddler. I grew up without any knowledge of magic and when I received the Hogwarts letter I was fascinated by the thought of this new wondrous and magical world. The marvel didn't last long. Being famous in a world you know nothing about is already daunting enough. Random strangers knew more about my life, my parents, my history, my role in society than I myself did. To my eleven year old self, it was terrifying."

"School wasn't the greatest time for me either due to everyone being convinced they knew me and then being offended if reality did not fit their expectations. But it got far worse when the war started, when it became clear that most people believed it to be my duty to take care of the Dark Lord despite me still being in my teens at that point. The adults had gotten so used to the thought that there was someone else who would take care of their problem, most forgot that I was still a teenager. They didn't even consider that they might be able to do anything themselves instead of taking cover behind a child. Most people hid themselves away when the war escalated."

Reborn was seething while his Sky spoke monotonously, clearly trying to get through this explanation without letting the feelings of desperation overtake him again.

"In the end, the war was mainly fought by a handful of children, while the adults kept scolding us about being too young to fight but still expecting me specifically to do my fucking duty."

Reborn carefully kept his anger tucked away in the center of his Flames. He could feel the stillness of his Sun Flames still saturating the room as they tried to keep from lashing out. This was far worse than Reborn had expected. He had suspected that his Sky had been forced into the conflict in some way and also that the people around him might not have been as supportive as they should have been, but this went far beyond that.

Also, if Harry had been recognized as the Savior from birth that meant that the Dark Lord would have specifically and continuously targeted him. This certainly explained Harry's vehement denial of ever being cannon fodder again.

Harry stated unemotionally. "It was me or him in the end. I was the one left standing."

Reborn swallowed as he kept his Sky tucked in close, protected and warm, wrapped in Reborn's presence.

There was silence between them as Reborn's Flames communicated clearly what he wasn't saying out loud. 'You won and I don't care how you got there. No one will ever get to you again. I will destroy anyone who dares trying to force you, harm you, touch you.'

Harry suppressed a tremulously relieved sigh and let himself curl even further into Reborn, basking in the feeling of comfort and warmth.

After a while spent in comfortable silence Harry couldn't help but ask a question. He knew it was just his experiences with the double standards of the Wizarding World as well as Dumbledore's 'always-a-second-chance' policy, that made him ask but he still couldn't help wanting reassurance. "You don't mind that I have killed."

Despite the infuriating question, Reborn was reassured at there being no actual questionmark included in that statement. He still confirmed. "No. I would not condemn you for doing something to protect yourself in a war that I do for a living."

Reborn thought it was only fair to talk about being a hitman now. They had clearly moved past the stage where they just talked about random topics in order to get to know each other.

He knew how essential their conversations of the last few days had been in order to get to know each other. An eighteen year old war veteran and a twenty-seven year old professional hitman. Trust did not come easily to people like them. Still, as much as he had enjoyed the last few days spent with his Sky focused entirely on him, talking and discussing, Reborn was looking forward to finding out as much about his Sky and his previous life as he could.

There was a slightly tremulous breath against his throat and Reborn felt the slight tension that had gathered in his Sky's form vanish.

Harry commented pleasantly. "No double standards, that's certainly refreshing."

"Isn't it just?" Reborn responded drolly.

Reborn considered the current development of their dynamic. Harry had talked about a war, about decimated populations and terror and guerilla warfare. He had also been mostly objective regarding all factions of the wars, trying to avoid blanket terms.

Or maybe it was just that Harry seemed to be completely fed up with the entirety of the Wizarding World, no matter their respective sides.

Still, his Sky had made it clear that he would not assign a moral label to Reborn and he was getting the impression that Harry would be just as willing to leave his side as Reborn himself was. At that thought, his Flames curled lazily in possessive contentment, like a cat lounging in the sun.

Still, Reborn had never thought that he was going to have to explain his life style to a civilian no matter how uncommonly used to violence and death. But it was inevitable that they would come in contact with each other's worlds and Reborn would damn well reciprocate the sharing information about his life. His Sky clearly sensed Reborn's intention to talk and focused on him entirely.

Reborn began. "I already told you about how the Mafia World is mainly designed around Famiglias and that all the powerful Famiglias are based around Flames to the point where anyone with active Flames is pulled into the mafia, by force or coercion. While the background and history of each Famiglia differs, at this point most Mafia Famiglias have turned towards crime and violence."

"Controversely, the Mafia World is actually better governed than one would expect simply due to a few very strictly enforced laws. The law of the mafia is enforced by the Vindice who are a neutral entity within the mafia. Even though no one really knows much about them, they are very powerful and thus their rules are unquestionably accepted. The laws enforced by the Vindice also ensure a certain standard even in the criminal underworld. They don't tolerate unprovoked massacres of rival Famiglias and thereby prevent powerful Famiglias from simply obliterating their competition. On the other hand, the Vindice do not get involved in day to day mafia business and are only rarely seen unless their laws are broken."

"Of course the mafia is not the only kind of organized crime, not even in Italy, and non-mafia crime is just as common. As the Vindice do not get involved with non-mafia crime, the more atrocious businesses are found there. But just out of self-interest the Mafia World makes sure that outsiders do not get too powerful and thereby automatically also put a limit on the level of crime that can be organized by non-mafia. If the mafia interferes with non-mafia crime it is generally preferred to not send in Flame users at all. Only in really harsh cases do Flame users get involved since no one from the other side will walk away alive to tell the tale anyways. Even in this case the Vindice will only get involved if Omerta is broken."

Harry was kind of surprised. When including the information Reborn had given him before, the Mafia World actually seemed to be based around a struggle for economic power rather than the criminal cesspool he had imagined. A deadly and illegal economical struggle for sure, but still far less repulsive or gruesome than he had thought.

Reborn briefly considered just how clear he should be about his occupation, before deciding that his Sky's trust was worth too much to risk it by even slightly distorting the truth. He did not yet need to tell Harry everything but he would not intentionally mislead his Sky's perception of Reborn's involvement in the Mafia World.

"Omerta is the most harshly upheld law in the Mafia World and thus most Flame active mafia members tend to avoid civilians. As a hitman with Flames, I only ever take hits in the mafia and as I am unaffiliated I can accept or deny any contracts offered to me. The criteria for contracts I will accept are well established as I for example unreservedly refuse hits on children, be they trained assassins or not. If I am lied to about the specifics of any job, I am known for turning around and killing my contractors rather than finishing the hit. I also only do clean jobs meaning no torture or kidnapping. At this point the World's Greatest Hitman is feared enough that anyone captured by me will tell me what I want to know anyways, no torture needed. I rarely if ever do something like an extraction because those tend to get messy."

There. That was the harshest part of the explanation. But so far his Sky had not moved away from him in the slightest, hadn't flinched or even winced.

He continued. "Information gathering is the one thing I do continuously with or without there being a contract involved. Though I don't usually do information brokering as it is too boring for my tastes, the one time I did was when I found you half-naked and tied to a chair, so I might have to change my stance on that."

Ah, how he had missed his Sky's delectable blush. He could actually feel the heat of the blush against his shoulder. Reborn tightened his arms around his Sky and continued while smirking cheerfully.

"Still, I tend to know more about any given situation than anyone else in the room and I never go into a situation without sufficient, independently provided information.I have a very extensive network supplying me with detailed information on anything relevant, so I usually know about a job before it is even offered."

Now came the personal part. "Due to their strength my Flames activated very early and thus I got involved in the mafia when I was still pretty young. Still, I hid quite well and by the time someone found me I had already integrated into the criminal underground. I pretty much grew up in the criminal underworld but without the guidance of a Famiglia or a tutor. Thus my view on organized crime and anything included in it might be slightly skewed when compared to most anyone else. The man who finally identified me as Flame active tutored me for years afterwards."

Harry kept his questions to himself for now. How young was early? And, grew up where? What happened to the tutor? What about Reborn's family?

"Being a hitman and an unaffiliated one at that means that I can accept or refuse any and all contracts on offer. It gives me an unusual amount of freedom for someone of my strength. From a certain level of Flame strength upwards anyone is pulled into some kind of Famiglia affiliation even if only in the form of a loose association. Me being as strong as I am gives me an additional level of freedom. I am not only unaffiliated but the less powerful Famiglias wouldn't dare mess with me and the stronger Famiglias prefer not to get on my bad side especially as they hope they might be able to pull me into their own Famiglia by Harmonization at some point. Though the main reason for me being left alone is that due to my reputation people aren't certain that an assassin would actually succeed in killing me. Anyone putting out a hit on me would risk me surviving and turning into an enemy instead."

"A few years back, I was becoming too strong and too well known for the powerful Famiglias to accept me as a free agent and thus a potential asset to their enemies. They would have gotten rid of me if they had been able to find me, so I vanished from the Mafia World for a while. While I was gone from I had my past including my name erased in order to prevent anyone tracking me through my real name."

Harry was looking up at him, still with his head on Reborn's shoulder. There was a question in his eyes, clearly wanting to know but not wanting to ask in case his Guardian didn't want to tell him. "My name was Renato Sinclair."

Reborn paused only briefly after saying his real name out loud for the first time in a long while before continuing. "After I returned with a new name I quickly gained a reputation. Of course anyone with half a brain knows that I must have had a past before I suddenly appeared under the name Reborn and there are some people in the Italian Mafia World who knew me before the name change. But generally my past cannot be traced back to me. Soon after I returned I claimed the title of the strongest Sun and of the World's Greatest Hitman. Now, no one will just mess with me simply because they don't like how powerful I am. At this point there is no one who would dare accept a hit on me or even anyone stupid enough to put one out on me."

Reborn knew he had given out a lot of information. About the mafia, himself, his past, even his name and his life. He trusted that Harry would not react too negatively to the revelations about the life of a hitman. Harry was still resting against his chest - Reborn would not be moving from this position unless he was forced to - and hadn't distanced himself from Reborn in the slightest which was definitely calming his Flames despite the difficult topic.

Then Harry tilted his head and focused on him with slightly widened green eyes. "Do you want me to call you Reborn or can I call you Ren?"

That definitely hadn't been the question Reborn had expected at this point and he took a moment to consider it. He actually liked the thought of his Sky calling him by his real name. In the abbreviated form no one would be able to directly link it to his past as it could even be taken as an abbreviation of Reborn. No one but Harry and Reborn would know.

"Ren is fine." Reborn responded finally.

"Ren then." Harry concluded with obvious satisfaction, clearly pleased.

Reborn tightened his arms around his Sky at that. Harry now certainly knew more about Reborn than anyone else alive. Having his Sky be the only one to call him by his true name was fitting and Reborn definitely liked the intimacy of it.

Harry was pleased. He liked having a name to call his Sun that no one else would be using but him. A sign of trust and confidence, something just between them. He didn't think he would stop calling his Guardian 'Reborn' completely or even mostly. But being allowed to call him by his real name, by a name no one else knew or was permitted to use was definitely something he enjoyed. He felt his joint magic and Flames curl contently.

Reborn had prepared a quick dinner when Harry's stomach reminded them that it was already evening. They settled at the dinner table though this time Reborn sat right next to his Sky and not opposite him as usual. Reborn was not going to let his Sky leave his immediate presence anytime soon.

While they started on the food, Reborn contemplated a lighter topic. "I had been meaning to ask. The story of the basilisk and the phoenix?"

Harry paused. "Well, you are going to like the full story even less than the abbreviated version."

There was a drawn out sigh from his Sun. Harry actually had to grin a bit. Reborn had no idea what he was in for.

But Harry had always thought that the adventure with the basilisk was one of his more fun to tell stories. Well, if you left out Harry's age, the fact that an entire school had been threatened, that several children had almost died, that the teachers who were tasked with protecting them had been entirely useless or unwilling to help... Actually, maybe the story wasn't that fun to tell after all. On the other hand, which of his stories was?

Still, Harry knew that this topic was preferable to most others that could have been suggested at this point, so Harry started on the story of his second year. He carefully edited out most of the more delicate bits, especially his age and how very close he had been to dying at the end. Also, no way was he mentioning soul fragments right now. They had had enough heavy topics for one day. He finished with telling how Fawkes had carried them out of the tunnels.

There was a moment of silence as Reborn considered the story. "Ok. I'm getting the feeling, there is something you are leaving out of the story. Something that I will definitely not like."

"Well." Harry hesitated. "This was during my second year at Hogwarts. I was twelve at the time."

Reborn forced himself to keep eating casually. Oh, he would definitely be having words with anyone even remotely responsible for this specific fuck up in his Sky's life. Reborn was well aware that his Sky had left out a lot of the more controversial parts of the story. There had been no mention of teachers helping out, which collectively put them on The List. He certainly hoped that this adventure was a singular occurrence in Harry's life, though considering what he knew about his Sky so far, he was getting the feeling that might be just wishful thinking on his part.

Like every evening they moved back to the couch after dinner and this time Reborn had just ignored Harry's little ritual of initially pretending to sit properly and away from Reborn. Instead Reborn had just dragged his Sky in close. Harry had went without protest and was now resting against him, tucked into Reborn's side.

Reborn was still considering what he had heard and was debating whether he should just ignore the implications and then decided to hell with it. He had already kept quiet about the war and the savior business. This was about school - a civilian school, magic or not - about a place where children should be protected.

Reborn asked casually. "So, just to get this straight. You were in school with numerous people who were far better qualified than you to take care of this, like teachers or five years of older students. And the only help you got against a deadly mythical creature was another mythical creature?"

Harry hesitated. For future reference, second year was not one of the fun to tell stories after all. "Well, yes. It was just me and Fawkes against the basilisk. Fawkes was actually - "

There was a brilliant burst of red fire, a trill and suddenly Harry was crowded behind Reborn on the other side of the room. Harry hadn't even realized they had moved until after they had crossed the room. Now, his Guardian's back was blocking Harry's sight of the rest of the room. Harry took a brief moment to bask in the feeling of complete and utter safety and protection that radiated from his Sun before he shook himself. He tried to shift slightly to the side to see better but Reborn fluently moved with him, easily blocking his sight. There were no further noises in the room and Reborn remained entirely focused forwards. So, Harry lifted up on his toes - curiosity was definitely his greatest weakness - and could see what appeared to a burning pile of ash on the coffee table. Reborn still had a gun pointed at the ash, the moving ash… wait, moving?

Harry started when he realized what had happened. "Fawkes!" He tried to squeeze past Reborn but he might as well have tried to push aside a mountain. "Ren, that's Fawkes. That's the phoenix."

Reborn paused for a moment before he let Harry pass into the room as his Sky obviously knew what was going on. He ignored the pleased purring of his Flames at the being called by his real name. He moved in close to his Sky while watching dubiously as Harry knelt next to the coffee table.

A head poked its way out of the pile of ash. Huh. That was different. There was a tiny bird in the ash. Magic sure was bizarre. He was still not entirely sold on the immortal burning bird thing to be honest.

When the burning bird had appeared in front of him without any warning, it had simply been a reflex to shoot. He had instinctively assumed the fire surrounding the bird to be Flames, Flames not formed by him or his Sky, which automatically translated into an enemy in Reborn's flat, meaning in the immediate presence of his still not entirely recovered Sky.

Reborn had simply reacted. He was still on a hair trigger temper due to the revelations of the day, due to having to keep his deadly fury locked within his Flames throughout their discussion. It had been a point blank shot augmented by his Sun Flames in a room saturated with his Flames. Still, he could have sworn that the shot hadn't actually connected.

Harry heard Reborn move in close behind him, obviously still skeptical, but Harry was focused on the reborn - giggle - phoenix in front of him. Harry was overjoyed to see Fawkes. Even though the phoenix had been bound to Dumbledore, ever since the Chamber of Secrets Harry had always associated Fawkes with loyalty and support.

"Hello Fawkes." Harry said softly. The phoenix chick turned in his direction and chirped at him. Harry had to smile at that.

"How did you know where I was?" He immediately reconsidered the question. "You found me because I said your name."

Fawkes chirped again and Harry took that as confirmation. "I have missed you and I am so glad to see you again. I haven't seen you since Dumbledore's funeral. How have you been?"

The phoenix chirped at him again and he carefully reached out a finger to run it over Fawkes tiny head. He felt a strong pulse of magic from the phoenix at the contact. He continued his light petting through the clearly pleased trills of the creature. Though he would have liked to lift Fawkes, Dumbledore had mentioned at some point that it was more comfortable for a recently reborn phoenix to settle in his own ashes.

Behind him, Reborn had settled down on the couch again and was watching Harry carefully.

Harry turned to Reborn. "Is it okay if I take one of your bowls for Fawkes to settle in for the next few days while he recuperates?"

Harry was already moving towards the kitchen before he finished the question, but he still heard Reborn's confirmation.

Though being gone Harry missed the piercing look Fawkes immediately sent towards Reborn, clearly assessing him. It only took a few moments before Fawkes moved his stare away, apparently approving of the Sun user's presence. Reborn was aggravated by how weighty the bird's stare had felt, by how much this had felt as though Reborn couldn't afford to be found wanting. On the other hand, it was an immortal creature, who knows how old exactly, so maybe Reborn would cut himself some slack in this.

Harry returned a moment later with a flat bowl that he set down next to the phoenix. Using a soft dish towel he carefully cupped his hands around the little phoenix and most of the ash and transferred all of it to the bowl. It only took him a moment to transfer the rest of the ash. Fawkes seemed to be drifting towards sleep already by the time he was finished.

Done with his task, Harry automatically settled next to Reborn again who immediately dragged him close, obviously not entirely trusting the entire situation yet - that was definitely the only reason Harry was not protesting against almost being settled in Reborn's lap again, really.

Reborn had listened to his Sky speak softly to the mythical bird. It was clearly a reunion of comrades if not friends. Reborn's head was circling with the revelation that there had been a funeral for Dumbledore at all, meaning the man was apparently dead. Which meant that one of the people Reborn would have really liked to sit down with in order to 'discuss' his role in Harry's life was not available anymore. Reborn certainly hoped that wasn't going to be a trend.

His Sky clearly felt the unasked question and again provided the information without Reborn having to ask. "Fawkes was Dumbledore's phoenix. I don't know how or when exactly they met, but they were companions. For me Fawkes has been a symbol of support, as in some of the situations where no one else was available or willing to help me, he was there. He is a truly loyal friend."

There had been more than one situation where his Sky had been so very alone that a mythical creature was his only support? Reborn was starting to loathe the Wizarding World and all its inhabitants. Be it due to their actions or their inactions, but it was starting to look like Harry hadn't had any sort of reliable support throughout his life.

Reborn tucked his Sky in closer as they continuted to watch the chick sleep. It was strangely soothing to listen to the trills the little phoenix seemed to give with each exhale.

A/N: I really don't like this chapter as it just wouldn't turn out the way I wanted it to… Still, there be progress and in the next chapter there should finally be more characters appearing beyond Harry, Reborn and now Fawkes.

Regarding the KHR time line, it should be pretty obvious now when this takes place. Just to warn you though, I am going to mess around with the KHR time line and with the KHR-verse in order to make my story work (like Reborn erasing his past before becoming an arcobaleno). Additionally, I don't know nearly as much about KHR as I know about HP, so if anyone notices something that goes directly against KHR facts or trivia please let me know.

Also, some people pointed out that Harry knows too much about the WW which is definitely true. However, even though I am going to keep the HP time line intact, the Harry in this story is going to be slightly OOC as I don't think my story would be plausible otherwise. Him being interested in the political background of the war he is forced to fight in is part of that.

Chapter 8 review responses:

Wow, thanks so much for all your reviews and feedback! You guys are amazing! Also, thanks to Kanikan, Hetomi, saku hyuuga, KyuubiChild717, randomasrainbows, Guest dragon and especially GiuliaZe, and Tsume Yuki for the information on the Italian and the British school systems.

To zeicherinaga: Thanks for your review! Teddy is going to show up at some point, though it will still take a while until I get there.

To writer2000z: Thank you for your review! You are right, there is no way that Reborn is going to just forget about the Dursleys. He will definitely be making them regret everything :)

To Armed Truth: Thanks for reviewing! Harry's treatment started almost three months after the final battle. Though Quirrel will be mentioned at some point, Voldemort is far more relevant to Harry's breakdown as he didn't have time to work through that death yet. Thanks also for the story recommendation, those are always welcome :)

To EmptySurface: Thanks for your review! And for your suggestion of using the response button... which I have been using to respond to reviews unless I think they are directly relevant to the story or would interest more of you guys :) Hopefully this chapter and the A/N above will answer your other questions.

To Four-eyes-girl: Thanks for reviewing! To answer your questions in order: There will be other Guardians but they will not be as close to Harry as Reborn. Definitely romantic love for both of them (I will get there). H&R will not be having much to do with Harry's life anymore. Teddy will appear at some point though not for quite some time.

To Guest#8: Thank you for your review! You are right about this Harry being grey instead of light and that is definitely not something others know about.