A Second Life
A/N; I am going to try to catch up with recent Charmed events, i.e. the Billie and Christie plot. It'll happen differently then in the series as that hasn't come to conclusion in the UK yet. Just thought I would warn everyone. Oh yeah…and obviously Leo hasn't disappeared…if anyone needs an explanation for that it is because with Harry/Aberro around it wasn't necessary for him to go. You have this chapter to review to if you want me not to add anything from the series. There isn't anything too canon in this chapter.
Chapter 8; Heartbreak
Manor; Next morning
As with all Phoenixes, Aberro awoke with the sunrise even though Paige's blackout style curtains blocked most of the light coming through the window. It didn't take long for him to get over the changed circumstances of his awakening, his new home, being in Phoenix form as well as all the loss and confusion of the last few days.
Aberro looked across the room and took in the sleeping form of Paige in the king sized bed, and then everything from the old style wallpaper to the art supplies crammed into the corner of the room and then to the small bookshelf packed with books on psychology with the odd book on magical lore interspersed with it. It was enough to get a decent idea of Paige's past or current occupation.
He was just about to spread his wings when his sharp eyes noticed a couple of other things. The first was the curious neatness of the room, the fully closed draws, the perfectly angled items around the room that weren't that uncommon in his own life but he knew that the majority of people never bothered with a perfectly tidied room. The second thing was the wedding ring circling Paige's finger that he had originally overlooked. It summed up to one conclusion; Paige was married and didn't normally sleep here.
Aberro launched himself into the air and touched onto the floor just long enough to flick open the door to the room wide enough to squeeze through. He opened his senses to the house and noted that nobody was awake in the early morning, probably because of the late night the night before. He noted the lack of Billie's magical signature in the back of his mind but since she wasn't part of the Halliwell family it wasn't his job to worry over her too much. He explored the house for a while, finding the different rooms in the house, the same conclusion was made for Phoebe that he had made for Paige except that her room was almost empty of her own possessions and the conclusion expanded to Phoebe having actually moved out whereas Paige didn't really live with her husband full time yet.
The last of the family that he visited was his own charges. The boys. Harry had never had children nor had he wanted them with the war going on since he was young. Joel had mentioned that the eldest Wyatt was six with the younger one, Chris, just past his forth birthday. Harry didn't know whether to feel despair or happiness.
It was now that he felt the two boys' magical signatures expand as they woke up and moved about and he decided that Piper and Leo should sleep in longer since he had almost hit Piper with a lightning bolt the night before. He pushed himself through the ajar door and flew up onto the side of the bed as he looked at the room. A single bed lay against the wall with messed up sheets and a six year old sat upon it. Across the room nearer to the door sat a smaller bed with raised crib-like walls with a smiling four year old looking out of the bars at him. The room was decorated in a child like fashion and toys were strewn across the room but something that caught Aberro's war-trained senses was that it was sparsely furnished. Nothing stood between the door and the two beds but a dresser stood between the beds and the window. His respect for the sisters went up slightly further even as his concern increased for the boys.
He had barely finished his train of thought when he felt childish fingers playing with the feathers on his back and he turned his head to look into the giggling face of Wyatt who, kneeling on the bed, was the same height as Aberro. He resigned himself for a morning of babysitting and after freeing Chris from his bed found himself enjoying the quiet morning of distraction.
Two hours later
When Paige woke it was with the realisation that she had slept later than usual and it was this thought that reminded her of the events of the last night finishing with the appearance of Aberro. She looked around the room sleepily and noted that the aforementioned Phoenix had gone.
After a quick shower she dressed for the day and wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen. She plucked up some bacon and a couple of sausages from the frying pan on the hob before setting them onto a plate and sitting at the table beside Leo with Phoebe and Piper across from her.
She mumbled a vague good morning for courtesy's sake but other than that just ate as she listened to the morning's discussion that she had walked into.
"All I'm saying is that I don't see where Billie is going to get any more leads, she spends all her time searching her parent's house looking for the slightest clue." Phoebe spoke resignedly.
"If that's what she wants to do and if she thinks it will help we can't do anything to stop her Phoebe." Piper pointed out, it was obviously a topic that had already been wrung dry that morning as Leo sighed quietly, only loud enough for Paige to hear and she gave him a gentle kick under the table to warn him against angering the two others.
"We need to distract her from it though; it's not good for her and her studies at college are suffering from it. She hasn't been to a single lecture in the last two weeks." Phoebe protested.
Leo finally spoke up before things could get more heated. "If she is meant to find Christie then she will, and it will probably be through some magical help. Don't worry over it too much, it is her search and if looking in her parent's house helps to focus her then let her."
Paige decided to try to change the subject to avoid a clash. "Aberro wasn't in my room this morning."
"Do you know if he slept at all?" Piper asked, "We don't really know anything at all about Phoenixes' habits."
"I think he did, but he looked really upset about something and really tired. Maybe he is just around the house somewhere." Paige suggested. The three others looked thoughtful about Aberro being upset over something before Piper shot to her feet almost knocking over a glass of juice on the way up.
"The boys! Wyatt normally comes down by now and Chris is normally calling for attention." She cried sounding very concerned.
They ran up the stairs one after the other and into the shared room but could only watch in awe as their questions were answered. Even as they watched Chris rolled over and off the edge of the bed and would have gotten a nasty bump on the head if it wasn't for Aberro's quick reactions, before Piper could even finish her first step forwards Aberro had flapped his wings, carefully missing Wyatt and caught Chris on either shoulder and flapped again to gain altitude lifting the boy unnaturally easily. Chris giggled happily at the sudden height from the floor and it was this that caused Aberro to notice the four spectators.
He was surprised that he hadn't noticed the four enter the room but shrugged it off as a side effect of his having fun watching the two boys. He circled the room gently once before setting Chris down in his mother's open arms. He did the same with Wyatt when the boy called out to him and set him down in his father's arms after a circuit of the room.
Paige and Phoebe laughed at the shocked looks on the parents' faces.
"Do you reckon the Book of Shadows has anything about Phoenixes in it?" Phoebe asked after Piper and Leo had calmed enough to thank Aberro who was now settled on Leo's shoulder tolerating Wyatt as he tried to tickle the Phoenix's feet.
"It's worth a look." Piper acknowledged with a slight nod as she hugged her youngest son.
Two minutes later found the seven of the in various places around the attic. Paige was amusing the boys on the floor near the window while Leo, Piper, Phoebe and Aberro were standing around the book. He took in the room like his Unspeakable training had drilled into him. First visually taking in the old furniture, the odd burn here and there that he thought had to do with the sister's fighting. Then he swept the room with his Phoenix senses and found no evil and only the seven of them and then finally with his magical senses, so much weaker in this form than in his human form. The room was flooded with magic.
First they was his own magical signature which was easy to ignore with practice and then the boys whose magical signatures were as powerful if not slightly more powerful than his own. The sisters had perfectly equal levels of magic which he recognised as individually being as powerful as Albus Dumbledore's but they had almost identical signatures and he could see that they were strongly linked. Leo's signature wasn't magical as such, more like a cross between Joel's, though much weaker, and that of a squib from his own world making it obvious that he was now mortal but used to be an Elder. His eyes were drawn passed the group to a table covered in a cauldron and a few potions ingredients similar to his own potions work, around a quarter of them had a small magical signature.
His senses then brought his attention to the pedestal the group stood by with a book on the top of it. The closed book that Aberro realised was the Book of Shadows was rife with magic of all different styles cast by many people but without his human form he couldn't detect the more subtle ones. The one he could pick out though encased the whole book and about a foot away in all directions. Some sort of sensing spell definitely, Aberro thought, though simple in its essence. Harry studied it for a few seconds before the answer came to him. It was similar to a part of the ward over 'The Wandering Myth.' It could sense the difference between Evil and Good.
It was with this conclusion that he noticed he was being watched by the two sisters and realising what they wanted he jumped from Leo's shoulder and onto the cover of the book and looked smugly at the sisters as nothing happened.
"You can't blame us for checking!" Phoebe laughed.
"They do it to quite a few people actually." Leo put in before ducking away from Piper's swinging arm that tried to whack him over the shoulder.
Aberro trilled an amused sound before hopping onto the top of the pedestal so that he could read whatever they found. It would be handy to know how much this world knew of his animagus' kind.
The book was opened on the right page only five minutes of searching later and Aberro noticed another of the charms was to make it easy to find whatever you were looking for. On the double page were two pictures diagonally positioned across from each other on the different pages with text filling the rest of the space. A title declared that the subject was Phoenixes. Each of the pictures or drawings to be more precise had a caption. The top right one was of a Phoenix like Fawkes. The caption read, 'Fire Phoenix, also named Royal Phoenix, Infernis Rebirth, Bane of Evil, The Protector.' The other picture was similar to Aberro's own appearance. The picture this time had a shadow behind it that was an image of a Raven. The caption read 'Dark Phoenix, also named, Ice Phoenix, Storm Phoenix, Storm Raven, The Fighter.'
Harry turned to the main body of text and started reading, upside down as it was.
'The Phoenixes are a long respected magical creature. There are two types as the images show. Both are known widely for their huge magical powers and wisdom that make them a valuable though rare ally to forces of good and a feared opponent against Evil.
'They can not be summoned like other magical beings but can be called for by name if the person/being that calls is loyal to them but still the Phoenix doesn't have to respond. Unlike other beings, like Leprechauns whose purpose it is to sow or remove good luck, Phoenixes have no higher calling and only fight for the Greater Good.
'The two types have many differences and as many similarities. Whereas they are dubbed The Protector and The Fighter they both do both, but whereas the Dark Phoenix has more offensive powers the Fire Phoenix tends to act in a protective role more often.
'Fire Phoenixes; This Phoenix is the most commonly seen and almost always in a protective capacity. However neither is much rarer than the other, only the Fire Phoenix often bonds to a Magical Human in order to protect them and therefore live a human life span in one area before moving to bond with another. They are immortal like the Fire Phoenix and can not be killed by any known means. They undergo a rebirth once every three years or if hit by a fatal attack.
Dark Phoenixes; These Phoenixes normally take on their secondary forms and are therefore more often known as Storm Ravens. They travel more than their cousins and are not uncommonly seen by mundane beings but are taken for normal Ravens. They are much more inclined to attacking anything threatening its chosen protectee. They are immortal like their cousins but don't go through the same rebirth.
'To know a Phoenix is an honour for any being and never to be taken likely. To try to contact one you should attempt to contact an Elder who have the most dealings with them though that is still on very rare occasions.'
The text then jumped to the bottom right of the page under the heading of 'Powers.'
'Phoenixes have identical powers apart from the Dark Phoenixes ability to shift to its Raven form. They can seek the location of any magical being who is either a being of good, a being with dormant powers never used before, someone who has yet to decide on a side or they can sense anyone of Pure heart in need of help.
'Their voices have the power to affect a person's mood for a short time. Their tears willingly given will heal any wound as long as the soul has yet to cross over. They can also control certain elements depending on their type; Fire Phoenixes for fire and Dark Phoenixes for Ice and Lightning and they can use this power to travel across space.'
Here the text ended but below it a post note had been added in what was obviously more recent yet still centauries old ink.
'One Phoenix has been known to have died. Heartbreak can kill a Phoenix over the space of a year. While the situation that caused it is unknown the Phoenix in question had a silver tint to its eyes that grew as time passed so that when they died a year afterwards the whole eye was silver.'
Aberro was shocked at this new information. It was what had almost happened to Fawkes after Albus' death. His eyes had begun to go silver before he found a new bonded in Neville Longbottom who had taken over the Gryffindor Head of House after Minerva became Headmistress. After that the silver had faded and Fawkes returned to his usual self. Aberro looked up and realised that Piper, Phoebe and Leo were all looking at him with pity and shock as well as curiosity.
It took Aberro a few seconds to realise what they were thinking before looking in the full length mirror a metre to his right and more importantly at his silver flecked eyes.
"What happened Aberro?" Phoebe asked in a pitying voice that Aberro couldn't stand and before any of them could say more he burst into ice and lightning disappearing from San Francisco all together.
Phoebe's eyes watered slightly as Piper explained what had happened to Paige before Paige too scanned the Book of Shadows open pages before pointing out a sentence under the 'Powers' section.
"Do you think he could find Christie?"