With this chapter I shall no longer update this story until I get some reviews!
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Chapter 13
"I swear Harry, if he see any of those giant spiders," began Ron, walking beside Harry as they continued deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
"They're in a completely different direction, Ron," Harry reminded him, but kept his wand within reach, just in case.
"We don't have Dad's car to save us this time Harry," said Ron, who looked like he was about to list everything that could go wrong when he heard something in the branches above them. "What's that?"
"That would be him," said Harry, smiling as he looked around for the pale boy.
"Harry," cried the innocent one's voice as he dropped down from the branches, landing on Harry's back and wrapping his arms around him. And since he was, literally, light as a feather due to his Phoenix powers, he didn't even knock Harry off his balance.
"Who?" began Ron, staring at the pale boy in disbelief. "What?" He pointed at the branched above them. "How?"
Noticing Ron for the first time, the innocent one released Harry from his embrace and moved so he was standing in front of the red head. He then circled, a very confused, Ron, occasionally stopping to look at something more closely. He stared at Ron's freckles for a while, causing the red head to look desperately at his friend for guidance and this friend to laugh at his discomfort.
When the angelic boy was done, he turned to look at Harry while pointing at Ron.
"Giant?"
"Giant," questioned Ron in bewilderment as Harry's laughter increase.
"No, not a giant," said Harry, walking over to the two. He suggested towards Ron. "This is Ron."
The innocent one's face broke into a huge grin as he viewed Ron with wonder.
"Ron? Best friend?"
"That's right," confirmed Harry.
Ron threw up his arms in shock as the innocent one threw his arms around him in a hug. He turned to Harry, silently pleading for instructions in what to do.
"Sorry Ron, but he doesn't really understand the concept of personal space yet," said Harry, patting the innocent one on the head to get his attention. "So what did you do today?"
Releasing Ron, the innocent one jumped back into the trees. When he gone up about a dozen feet into the air he jumped off the closest tree to get further up until he landed on a tree's branch. Grabbing something he had left there, he jumped back down as easily as a cat would jump off a counter. He held up a bow and arrows for them to see.
"Hunt centaurs."
"He hunts centaurs," questioned Ron.
"He means he hunted with the centaurs. He's still learning to communicate verbally but at least he understands now," said Harry.
"Harry," asked Ron slowly.
"What," asked Harry, wondering which of many possible questions that his friend was going to ask first.
"Are you some sort of pedophile?" asked Ron, his expression between that of worry and disgust.
"WHAT?" asked Harry, shocked, causing the paler boy to jump in surprise.
"He can't talk right, he i just /i learned to understand and he acts like he's five. And then it gets even weirder! He runs up in tree branches like he's some sort of flying monkey and he hunts with centaurs? Centaurs hate humans! What the hell is going on here?" demanded Ron, wildly suggesting to the area around them.
"Weird hell," repeated the innocent one, being unfamiliar with these words.
Harry shook his head helplessly and suggested towards the ground.
"You might as sit Ron, this is going to take a while."
Looking around, Ron spotted an fallen over tree and chose that as his place to sit. He didn't mind when Harry sat next to him, but continued to looked worried as the innocent boy sat on the ground in front of them and leaned his head against Harry's knees.
"Ron, stop making that look. I'm not a pedophile, he's our age," said Harry.
"I'll believe that when I see a birth certificate," muttered Ron.
"Birth certificate?" asked the pale boy.
"It's a record of the time you were born," answered Harry.
"Record?"
"Ah… It's something written, like a story." said Harry, relieved when that explanation seemed satisfactory.
"I'm still waiting for your story of how this all happened," Ron reminded his friend, suggesting towards the boy who could understand him, but could not communicate properly in return.
"Well, it all began when Hagrid sent me in here after that, that whatever-it-was," began Harry, ignoring Ron's 'no duh' expression.
During Harry's retelling, the boy leaning against him seemed content just to listen, though there were often times he wanted to ask what some of the things were he were talking about. He didn't know what a 'Care of Magical Creatures Class' was or what a 'grave' was, but the group of phoenix's, a clan, sounded familiar. He also found it interesting how many different expressions Harry's best friend Ron could make. The very tall boy, which he still thought was a giant, looked worried at first and, for whatever reason, it had been directed at him. He then looked astonished, worried again, confused, some what happy, worried again and then frightened.
Indeed scared of what Harry had told him, Ron stood and began to pace in front of the two other boys. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he nearly tripped over his broom, but quickly regained balance and continued his pacing.
"The Phoenix Clan. i The /i Phoenix Clan," mumbled Ron. "Harry, do you have any idea how hated they were? Are scared people still are of them? Axel would be a walking target if anyone in the Ministry found out about him."
Harry had only mentioned to Ron that he suspected that his love interest's name was Axel from the book he had borrowed from Draco, Ron had taken it to be his actual name and called him that whenever he needed to say something about the boy. And though the pale boy had never said anything about it, Harry noticed that he would glance at the person who said the name, every time it was said.
"We can never, ever tell anyone about Axel," said Ron, not noticing that the pale boy had looked up at him again. The red head stopped pacing and took in a deep breath. "Except for Hermione of course."
Harry looked taken back by this.
"Hermione?"
"Well, she is our friend Harry and she'd do much more then I did after finding out about Malfoy if she had to find out about your boyfriend on her own. She'd actually make an attempt on our lives," said Ron, holding his neck as if to protect it from the very thought. "And if anyone can teach Axel-" Again the pale boy glanced at him "-how to talk, Hermione can."
"I suppose," said Harry, sad that now he'd have to share his angel with his friends, but he knew he couldn't hide from them forever. And the pale boy seemed to like being around Ron, he was fascinated by him to say the least. He looked down at the innocent boy and decided to test his theory.
"Axel?"
The before nameless boy looked up at Harry and smiled.
"How would you liked to meet Hermione?" asked Harry, wondering why he suddenly felt nauseous.
The pale boy, who shall now be referred to as Axel, smiled even bigger then before.
"Hermione, smart friend?"
"Yes," said Harry.
Axel nodded energetically.
"Hermione! Met Hermione!"
"I'm amazed he can even say Hermione," said Ron, puzzled.
"It wasn't easy. It was a day's worth of work on her name alone," said Harry.
"Hermione," said Axel, now in a questioning tone, getting up so he could face the first human to visit him in the forest.
"We still have to go get her," said Harry. "We could bring her tomorrow if you like."
Axel nodded and kissed Harry on the cheek before moving to sit next to him on the log.
At first Harry was embarrassed that Axel had kissed him in front of Ron but then he noticed Ron had gone back to looking worried.
"What?"
"Harry, does he even understand what a relationship is," asked Ron slowly, looking down at his feet.
"Ron, I'm going to force him into anything," protested Harry.
"That doesn't answer my question," said Ron, not looking at his friend.
Harry looked at Axel, who was currently looking at Ron like a puzzle with a few missing pieces. He thought of how Axel had reacted to their first kiss, how innocently he responded to blush, how openly Axel had held him. It started to make Harry feel insecure. Was he really manipulating Axel into what he believed was a relationship, when Axel could have just thought it was part of normal human friendship? He began to feel more physically ill then the time he had to re-grow all of the bones in his arm.
As he watched Harry begin to question himself, Ron also watch Axel become concerned for the boy next to him. He began to feel guilty when Harry flinched at Axel trying to comfort him with a simple hand on the shoulder.
"Well, I guess there's one for sure way to find out," said Ron, approaching the two. "As long as you promise not to kill me that is."
"Why would I kill you," asked Harry, looking up in time to have the very desire to do just that as he watched his friend, his i best /i friend kneel down and kiss Axel full on the mouth.
Since Harry had been the first time Axel learned about a kiss he didn't really know that much about them. He knew he liked it when Harry kissed him, but nothing about what they really meant. None the less it really surprised him when Ron suddenly knelt down to his level and gave him such a kiss. It was liked time crashed to a halt, as he felt his eyes widen instead of close and the next thing he knew he had punched Harry's best friend across the face.
It seemed like Harry blinked and he went from wanting to kill Ron to thank him and laugh at him sprawled on the ground from Axel's punch. It was amazing how relieved he felt as he watched Axel's confused expression as he tried to wipe off his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Harry," asked Axel turning to him, sounding like a small kid not understanding why he had been punished.
"I'm sorry Axel. Ron was just testing you," said Harry, unable to stop from smiling.
"Testing?" asked Axel.
"He wanted to make sure you really liked me," said Harry.
"Remind me never to do you any more favors," grumbled Ron, holding his cheek as he struggled to sit back up. "I'm going back to Hogwarts to have Madam Pomfrey check my face. If she asks, I'll say you hit me."
Struggling not to laugh at Ron moving so slowly in his effort to stand up and get back on his broom, Harry thanked his friend.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm looking forward to Hermione smacking you up when we tell her about all this," said Ron, pushing off into the air. "Enjoy your lovey dovey time." And with a wave he flew off.
"Ron flies," asked Axel in disbelief as he stood, pointing in the direction Ron had gone into.
"All wizards can," said Harry, standing up as he picked up his Firebolt. "With a magic broom."
Amazed, Axel poked the broom in Harry's hand as if afraid it would zoom off at first opportunity.
"How?"
"I'm not actually sure how it works, but would you like to fly with me," asked Harry, smiling at Axel's eager nod. Harry was about to mount his broom when Axel embraced him from behind. "I can't get on the broom with you-AXEL?"
"Harry," replied Axel, as he flew them further up into the air.
Until that moment Harry had forgotten that the book had said that Phoenix Clan members could fly without brooms and had all of the phoenix's other abilities, excluding bursting into flames and being reborn from the ashes. Phoenix strength explained how Axel was able to lift him so easily, but it didn't make any easier to handle.
"This isn't what I had meant," Harry protested, tightly shutting his eyes. He DID NOT like having nothing beneath him while so far up into the air. It reminded him of third year when he fell off his broom. He was relieved when his feet re-made contact with the ground.
"Sorry," said Axel softly, letting go of Harry and stepping away from him.
Seeing the other boy's saddened expression, Harry hugged him.
"Don't be sorry, you just surprised me."
Leaning against Harry, Axel returned the hug.
"I was asking if you wanted to fly on the broom," Harry explained.
"Ron?" asked Axel.
"Yes, like Ron," said Harry.
The two mounted the broom, with Axel sitting in front of Harry so he could keep his arms around him, and took off into the air. They didn't get much higher then Axel had with Harry when Axel started to say "ground" as a mantra and Harry complied by landing.
Upon landing, Axel latched onto a tree and continued his mantra.
"I guess we'll have to hold off on the flying thing for now," said Harry.
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AGAIN! With this chapter I shall no longer update this story until I get some reviews! IF you want to read more you will review!
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