It's MY Life
Chapter 8
A/N Thank you to all of you that reviewed my last chapter! For those of you that had patience and perseverance, I give to you the next chapter! Also, what you recognize is JKR's what you don't is mine or you've been living under a rock for years.
Such a silly little man. Worrying about the weight of the world for so long and yet now so young and still so pure. True, he is my silly little man but still, that really doesn't make him any less silly.
She gazed down upon her silly little man as he slept. He looked so peaceful like that. He usually did, except when in the throes of nightmares. As before, she would be by his side from now until they were parted by death. Unlike before, she was now changed because of what should have been before but was not. True, it had happened before but she was not there to see it. Strange, how that works. I can remember the things that are to come but still have yet to see them.
He awoke slowly. The feeling of someone staring at him had slowly pervaded his sleeping mind until, like most people, sleep was but a distant memory in the world of the wide awake. He took stock of his surroundings, trying to figure out what had woken him.
One male laying in an extremely comfortable bed . . . check. One absolutely gorgeous woman that he loved with every fiber of his being beside him in an extremely comfortable bed . . . check. One completely quiet room with no snores and no disturbances indicating the Room of Requirement with two people laying in an extremely comfortable bed . . . check. One pure white phoenix staring at said people laying in an extremely comfortable bed, oh yessssss, extremely comfortable bed. Wait! White phoenix?!
Harry sat straight up in the extremely comfortable bed, unfortunately dislodging Hermione that had thought his chest made an extremely comfortable pillow. She awoke with a startled squawk of indignation on being dislodged from her new favorite sleeping accessory. She glared up at him, ready to properly chastise him for disturbing their extremely comfortable sleeping arrangements. That was, until she followed his wide open gaze to settle on the form of a pure white phoenix that was perched on the headboard.
~"It is good that you are finally awake, my Harry chick. Long have I waited to talk to you and your mate. It is good that your mate finally remembered her bond. Now we can finally talk as we were always meant to."~
Harry stared in confusion at this new addition to his sleeping arrangements, the phoenix, not Hermione. He tried to make his way through the confusing statement, puzzling over certain things and confused by more. "Wait. I don't understand. As we were always meant to? What does that even mean? Who are you?"
The phoenix gave a trill of laughter before her speech made itself known again. ~"Do you not recognize me, my Harry chick? Long have we known each other. Since you were barely out of your egg. You watched me die before your burning day. I am as you should have known me, but your mating was after that time so you did not see it."~
Harry puzzled one and one and, like most males when dealing with females, came up with three. "Albus?"
~"No, my silly chick, you knew me before the deranged old man. You knew me when the tall one bought me for you."~
Harry thought about that statement some more. Dumbledore was tall, Hagrid was taller though. But still, neither one of them had ever bought him a snowy white mythical bird before. He may have somewhat lost his mind in the last few decades before he came back but he was pretty sure he would remember something . . . like . . . that?
His mind hit light speed. Snowy bird, burning day, watched her die. The pieces finally clicked for him. "Hedwig?" he asked in a small voice.
Hedwig trilled in happiness that her friend had finally recognized her. ~"You know me now as I was always meant to be, my Harry chick. But now you must help your mate. She does not think what her eyes tell her are real."~
Harry glanced over to his beloved Hermione, she looked particularly radiant this morning. Her hair was a mass of frizz. The curling tangles weaving in on themselves and pressing out until her hair reminded him of not so much the bushy mess she had always had but instead more like a nest for some large avian. He reached out to touch her gently. "Hermione?" Nothing. Not even a flicker of recognition. He shook her gently, repeatedly calling her name. "Mione? Mione? Miiiiiionneeeee! MIONE!"
At the last she started and turned towards him. "Harry, there's a Phoenix on the headboard."
Hedwig trilled her amused laughter again. ~"Well where else would I be? There are not a lot of perches in here after all."~
Hermione just stared at Hedwig blankly for a moment before her eyes widened and she turned to the man in the bed next to her. "Oh, Harry!" she shouted before pulling him into one of her tightest hugs. Leaning back slightly but with her arms still around him she asked, "Did you really go through all of that…that…that horror?"
Harry gently pushed her back so he could look in her eyes. After she had properly focused on him he gave his answer. "Yes."
Hermione looked into his eyes. She saw the deep pain and hurt there. She saw, even with the last eleven years of his, now, new life the loneliness. "I'm here Harry," she said as she pulled him closer to her and rested her head on his shoulder. She hugged him close and rubbed his back soothingly before whispering in his ear, "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere unless death separates us, maybe not even then."
~~oOoOo~~
Harry walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with Hermione by his side, as always. They settled into their seats and prepared for the upcoming class, bringing forth parchment, quills, ink and their textbooks.
Harry listened with half an ear to Professor Quirrel's lecture. Privately he had to admit that the professor was a lot more informative without the stutter and being possessed by Voldemort. He was, actually, a good defense teacher.
Harry perked up somewhat and gave him more of his attention when a student asked him about phoenixes.
"A phoenix is a pure creature of good, Miss Patil. As such, they come when they like and befriend who they like. If a phoenix appears to a witch or wizard it will stay with them until the end of that witch or wizards life or until that witch or wizard is no longer deemed good by the phoenix itself."
Harry tried to phrase his pointed question as a seemingly nonchalant one. "Professor, is there no way to keep a phoenix after it has appeared to you?"
Professor Quirrel gave this some thought before he replied. "There are certain spells and rituals which, once a phoenix appears, will bind the creature to that person. But to learn these spells or rituals on the remote chance that a phoenix will appear to a person would be, to me at least, arrogance in the extreme. I highly doubt that a phoenix would appear to someone that knew such things."
"How would you go about making sure that the phoenix was there willingly and not as a captive to spells or rituals then?" asked the shy Ravenclaw, Lisa Turpin.
Professor Quirrel widened his eyes for a moment before leaning back against the front of his desk. His pose one of a person deep in thought. "Truthfully, Miss Turpin," he said slowly. "I have never given that matter much thought. For a Phoenix to appear to a witch or wizard is such a rare event that I believe only the Headmaster has had a Phoenix appear to them in the last three hundred years."
Harry hid a chuckle in the guise of a cough before speaking up. "Actually, Professor, that's not true."
All eyes turned to him and his cheeks reddened at the scrutiny. Professor Quirrel gave him a piercing look before asking the relevant question. "And who do you know that has had a Phoenix appear to them other than the Headmaster?"
Harry smiled back at the professor, he really was much more likable this way, before lifting his head and, speaking as if to the ceiling, called out, "Hedwig!"
Hedwig appeared in a burst of flames above the students heads. Flying around, she trilled a joyous song that had almost the whole room smiling before landing gracefully upon the outstretched arm of Harry Potter. "Hey girl," he greeted while stroking her soft white plumage. Turning back to the startled man at the front of the classroom he remembered the niceties, "Professor Quirrel, may I introduce you to the magnificent Hedwig who, aside from my wife, is the most beautiful female in the world." Hedwig trilled sharply at him and began smacking him upside the head with her wing.
"Ow! Quit it Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed as he tried to duck and protect his head . Unfortunately for him, having the person that was hitting you in the head perched on your shoulder made the task impossible. "All right! All right! I give!" Hedwig calmly folded her wings and settled on his shoulder while Harry straightened and turned to his professor.
"Professor Quirrel, may I introduce you to the magnificent Hedwig who, along with my wife," he glared at the phoenix darkly before turning to the professor again. "Is the most beautiful female in the world." Hedwig preened her feathers and trilled happily at the correction. Harry turned his head towards her and stated, "You are such a diva."
~~oOoOo~~
Harry was seated at the Gryffindor table eating his lunch. Hermione by his side, was looking through a book. His enjoyment of the simple meal was interrupted by the grating voice of Percy the pompous prefect Weasley. "Potter! I need to have a word with you, if you please."
Harry slowly finished eating his last mouthful before carefully placing his utensils aside and turning to face the pompous prefect. "Yes? What is it I can do for you, Mr. Weasley?" he asked in what he hoped was a pleasant tone.
"That bird of yours. You'll have to get rid of it. If you'd looked closely at the letter you were provided before starting Hogwarts, then it clearly states that students will be allowed an owl, a cat, or a toad. No where did it say anything about a phoenix," he continued smugly.
"You are correct in your rule stating. I personally congratulate you on the sheer amount of useless information you have been able to retain." Harry struggled to keep his face neutral before continuing. "However, as you are clearly woefully misinformed I am forced to rectify a lapse in your knowledge." Harry chuckled to himself as he saw Percy try and keep his composure. He knew that the potion he had slipped him earlier was now in effect.
As if on cue, Percy opened his mouth. "And what knowledge do you have, that I, as a prefect, do not currently have? I only ask because I am trying to get you in trouble and all knowledge makes that easier." Percy's eyes widened at that last comment , disbelieving that he had actually revealed that.
Professor McGonagall came striding towards the apparent confrontation. "What seems to bee that trouble Mr. Weasley?"
"Mr. Potter here has a pet that is not authorized by the school rules." His smug smile directed at Harry then turned into a pleasantly sweet simpering one as he turned to his head of house. "I'm only bringing it up because I'm trying to get him in trouble as well as to suck up to you so I can better my chances of being Head Boy when I enter my seventh year." Percy immediately clapped his hands over his mouth at that statement.
"Mr. Weasley is correct, Professor McGonagall. Hedwig is not on the list of approved pets that we were given prior to attending here today." He could see the smug smile on the arses face from the corner of his eye. He decided to wipe that smile away immediately. "However, Hogwarts Charter Title Three, Paragraph Seven, Subsection Nine clearly states that any Familiar, no matter what it may be, will be allowed to attend as its bond permits." Hedwig decided to lend credence to this rule as she flamed into the Great Hall and landed on Harry's shoulder.
The potion that he had slipped Percy was compelling him to add the truthful reasons behind every one of his actions. As such, he turned to McGonagall and posed his next question. "But, Professor! How am I supposed to make myself look good in your eyes and get the Head Boy position if I can't catch anyone breaking the rules?" he asked/wined.
"Mr. Potter is correct. Familiars of any type are allowed within the walls of Hogwarts as their bond permits." She gave a small smile at Harry. "However, I am less than pleased with your attempts to change the color of your nose to match my arse . As such, I will be keeping a close watch on your prefectship in order to ensure that any reporting by you is just, correct, and accurate." With that she walked away back to her business, leaving a gaping Percy, a smiling Harry and Hermione, and an extremely smug looking Hedwig.
A/N I am so very and extremely sorry that it has taken this long to update my story. I would like to be able to promise you faster and longer chapters. Unfortunately it would be a lie if I said that. Updates will be forthcoming as the chapter permits and the muse strikes. This won't be to everyone's preference but I can only do so much at a time.
That said. Thank you to everyone that has stuck with my story! As always, reviews are appreciated, even if they're bad.