Chapter 23: The one with his favourite title

Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers.

Previously on Phoenix Accession (in Vampire Diaries voice over Haha)

"No, you're not." Linus stood up from the sofa abruptly, "I knew something like this would happen, I knew it. And yesterday you could have…you could have…"He couldn't even say the word. "This place isn't coated with candy, it's-"

"You're being paranoid! Nothing would have happened! I just hurt my leg!" I was screaming at the top of my lungs, tears brimming out of anger. I won't let them take this from me.

"He isn't Kyrianna, and he is quite right." I turned and looked to door where the calm voice floated from, and my blood turned cold.

Chapter 22

I stared at the owner of the voice, at his flowing silver beard and his royal blue robes; I stared at the framework of the doorway with its cracks and dents. I stared everywhere but at his twinkling blue eyes and I tried to breathe again, it seems Subconscious Ky's heart was broken just as much as mine was.

It makes sense though, of course he would agree with them. Of course, he would want me to go with them. Of course, he wouldn't want me to stay. I was a nuisance…I'm sure he had to leave some important meeting to deal with this. Just like he probably left some important meeting last night to speak to my medi-wizard.

I felt warmth trickle down my cheek, and I snapped my head down… crap. I turned to walk to the window, an adequate way of hiding the flood that was threatening to break on my face. Fuck, I had forgotten about my bum leg and the floor was getting closer. Linus caught me, but I threw him off with strength I couldn't explain and grabbed the coffee table for support instead.

Damnation! I looked like some kind of pathetic sod, half on the floor with traitor tears running down my face. What was I fucking crying about anyway? So, what if he doesn't want me, so what if he reeled me in with all the pretence of hot cocoa and shared secrets, sarcastic potion snobs and stringent transfiguration tyrants. I was fine before, without him. With Linus and Lenzo and…without magic.

I gripped the edge of the table and decided to give up trying to stand, I must look pathetic. Like those lame videos where a deer tried to take its first steps. I let myself fall lightly to the floor and adjusted into a seated position, with my back against the table. I heard the swish of robes and scratch of carpet to my right,

"I think perhaps my previous statement has been misconstrued." I didn't look up at the soft voice that always held that underlying current of authority. I continued to stare at Len's shoes, suddenly finding interest in the twist and turns of the simple white tick. "Kyrianna?"

I looked to my right slowly, still not looking at his eyes, finding interest instead in the silver beard, wondering if he brushed it every day and how long that would take.

"I do agree with your brothers. Last night you were placed in a dangerous situation, so they're quite right to be angry and worried. A dangerous situation I did not account for. And Quilinus is right to believe that there are a few people that would take advantage of our relationship. Try to cause you harm. You see Linus, I was aware of that, but I also trusted the Weasleys immensely and it is a trust I still hold. Nobody could have foreseen the situation. And for that I must apologise, most sincerely to you both. It seems time has lulled me into a false sense of security, something many of us here in the Wizarding World are much too guilty of. But my most profound apologies go to you Kyrianna. I'm immensely sorry that I was not there, in a time that you were in need of guidance and security. It seems I am much too used to taking up counsel with the Ministry at times like these, and I failed in my duty as a grandfather. I only wish that you forgive an old man-"I finally fell into the sea of blue and found not the usual waves of serenity but an undercurrent of regret.

"There is nothing to forgive Nonno. It wasn't your duty to be there last night to coddle me or hold my hand. I think at times like last night, Fudge needs more coddling than I would, and I never expected you to come. I am well aware of the duties that come with being the greatest wizard of our time, and I never want you to think that I can't handle not being your number one priority."

"Never think that, Kyrianna. I may not have earned the right, but I have found that you are very much my number one priority. Know that. I know it must not seem so," He looked at Linus and Lenzo, "but it is. I have found I much like having Kyrianna in my life, no matter how undeserving I am of her. It's not something I take lightly or for granted, it seems life has given me many titles, and some that I wear more comfortably than others. But it seems grandfather is the one that's taking its time to settle in, but no other title do I wear with more pride."

Linus sat back down; the man had a way with words. All was silent for a second,

"I'm not trying to take that title away from you. Whether I like it or not you have it. This is more than just me rebelling against that fact." Linus leaned forward and he stared fixedly into Nonno's eyes, "I am looking out for her best interest, for her safety. Can you honestly tell me that she won't be exposed to something like that again?" Linus was being ridiculous, so much so that I had to cut in,

"Look Linus I could just as likely walk into a street and get hit by a car, a feat I am quite shocked I have not accomplished yet-"

"No. I am almost a hundred percent sure, that if Kyrianna chooses to remain in the Wizarding World, there will come a time where she will be placed in many unsavoury situations."

"And as her grandfather, you're ok with that." Linus looked at Nonno in disappointment.

"Linus, it is because I am Kyrianna's grandfather that I am ok with that. I have never held much regard to what the Wizarding World has said about me, and I am far from a great wizard. Much too far," He was silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts, "but I do hold regard to my own conviction. There is very little that I would not do to help my students and those who need it, and I have spent many years shunning away the idea of grandness that accompanies my name. I find myself not doing so today; I find that I quite like being Albus Dumbledore, grandfather. Doubt my power Linus and doubt my words and doubt my choice in clothing, but never doubt my intention. And I intend to keep Kyrianna safe."

Linus frowned and leaned back. He was quiet for a few moments and then he spoke so quietly it was eerie,

"This Voldemort… He's not dead, is he?"

"Unfortunately, I do not think he is. I believe the question you really mean to ask me is if I think he would be coming back. And to that I answer yes. I know not when nor how, it could be years from now, or weeks."

"And when he's back and you're off fighting him, what about Ky? Where would she fit in?" I cut in before Nonno could answer,

"I believe that question is for me Linus. You weren't there yesterday. You didn't see how frightened everybody was at his mark; it was as if their worst nightmare had come to life. Voldemort is evil incarnate Linus; he is more than just a murderer and a sociopath with a warped sense of the world. He has killed so many people, but his greatest kill was himself. His humanity. He is a monster."

"You're not exactly helping your case."

"I'm not trying to. I'm trying to make you see that there is no case." I stared at him, and realisation dawned on his face. As a child I was afraid of many things. Porcelain dolls, staples, the Bratz (they have no noses, that's just weird) but the one thing I was never afraid of was monsters. I actually had what Len had termed an 'unnatural fondness for the unnatural'. I even had a poster of Freddy and Jason on the back of my door and only liked Barney because I thought he was a distant relative of Godzilla's.

I was not afraid of monsters.

"Ky, I don't think you understand-"

"No Linus. You don't understand. It's not Nonno you distrust. It's me." He looked at me with a resigned look on his face. "I'm not a kid anymore, something I thought you'd realise after we bought my first training bra. And even more so when the training wheels were taken off." Linus clapped his hand to his forehead and Len chuckled, "But I'm not going to walk into oncoming traffic…again, or cartwheel on a tight rope I suspended ten feet in the air, but I think that one's on you guys for taking me to the circus in the first place. But I am going to trip over a few stumps and probably fall down a few stairs and I am so going to get into a girl fight. That's on my bucket list. All except the last, because let's face it, which girl can get one over me, I'm a freaking dragon, would end with me hurt. And no matter how much you two try to protect me, it's going to happen. And you have to trust yourselves. Trust that you made me into the kind of girl that can handle being Albus Dumbledore's granddaughter. Because I do trust that." I looked them both in the eye, and Len quickly got off the sofa and simultaneously gave me a bear hug, lifting me onto my feet. He tucked me into his side,

"She had me at bra Li, our baby's all grown up. Let's let her stay."

Linus stood, "I guess I went all Godzilla there for a second…felt like my young was being threatened." Linus gave me an awkward smile and kissed my forehead, "Godzilla had an easier job though, her little monster has nothing on mine."

Nonno was already on his feet, the strange sight of witnessing him in his blue robes and pointed hat, crossed legged on the floor would be a memory I will cherish. Now he was just standing there, humming to himself. He was so preciously weird.

Linus lifted me up and seated me on the sofa and sat on the coffee table opposite me. He was staring intently at me, "Ky, its ok to be nervous about tomorrow. It's your very first day of school. And I know you're worried about not being in the same…house...as your friends but you heard-"

"Woah Linus, don't waste a good pep talk. Knowing me I'll need a few in the future. I'm fine; I guess I was just being weirdly emo. It must be all the black I wear; I've heard it does that." We chuckled at the memory of my old nanny, Mrs Glover, that insisted that the black clothes 'emo' children wore was what made them emo and not the other way around. "Actually, I'm quite excited about my first day of school tomorrow. I haven't met all the teachers yet, some were on holiday, and I heard there is a crazy fortune teller lady and a giant man that owned a dragon. Oh gosh and I completely forgot! My very first detention!"

Linus looked at me puzzled and Nonno smiled down at me amused, "There is nothing like one's first detention." I laughed at him,

"Oh, please Nonno, don't try to be cool. Mi told me you were Head Boy. You run in the same circle as Linus over here."

"And where in the rule book does it say the Head Boy can never have a few detentions to his name."

"Ok, so what was it for? Borrowed too many library books, had we?" Len cut in,

"Handed in a paper that looked like a professor wrote it."

"Or corrected the teacher's working out so often that she resigned and moved to a different state."

Nonno chuckled at us while Linus glared, "For the umpteenth time she got married, that's why she moved to Washington. And it's not my fault that Mr Heidelberg was too much of a nincompoop to understand a standard essay on Albert Einstein."

"He was the English teacher, the essay was on your hero, not an in-depth discussion on the theory of relativity." Nonno chuckled and Linus looked at him,

"Oh, and I'm sure you got detention for breaking a few suits of armour."

"Actually no, but it did involve a few suits of armour. And an enchantment or two. Professor Black didn't seem to find the humour in the suits of armour engaging in a jousting match."

I smiled up at him and was shocked that Linus' laughter accompanied our own. It seemed he was as well because he stopped abruptly. Linus looked at me, "And that is in no way an excuse for you to do the same. And by that, I mean get detention, not enchant suits of armour. Not that you should enchant-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it, don't have fun, it'll give you acne. That's why your skin is so smooth and perfect. Laugh now but he actually told me that when I was four."

"Not like it worked."

"Maybe it's cause you threatened a four-year-old with acne. It's like threatening a twenty-year-old with menopause. And speaking of menopausal twenty something's, how is dear Nessie?"

Linus glared at me, "Agnes is fine Ky. She actually sends her love."

Len and I burst out laughing at that. "Oh please…if you're going to lie, at least tell one of this solar system. Let me guess…you're at a meeting in London?"

"I did tell her that. And do you know why? Because I was in a meeting in London before your little mishap." He then stood and cleared his throat awkwardly, looking at Nonno. "Speaking about Agnes, she wants to meet you. She's been on my back about it for weeks; she wants to have a dinner or something. I know you're busy with school starting-"

"That's a lovely idea, Linus. Just owl me when's good for you and I will work around it." Linus nodded awkwardly at that. "Anyway Kyrianna, I best be bidding thee farewell young maiden. I will be seeing you tomorrow, at the welcoming feast; I'll be the one in the big chair, front and centre."

"I'll be the one in the grey pants and white shirt."

He laughed, "I definitely wouldn't miss you then, not a lot of grey trousers and white shirts at school." He turned to Linus and Lenzo, "Lenzo, Linus, as always it is my pleasure. If you need anything at all, you know where I am."

Len smiled and shook Nonno's hand, "I'll hold you to that Old Man."

Nonno held his hand to Linus, who hesitated for a second and then shook it, "I'll speak to Agnes about next week and I'll send a letter."

He touched my forehead affectionately; it became something of a trademark of his ever since he had done it the first time and gave me a quick peck on the head. "Don't forget your medication." And he turned and walked out the door.

"We better get going too. You need to rest; you've got a very big day tomorrow." Linus kissed me on the forehead and stared me down again, "You're okay?"

"Just peaches and cream…. uh oh, food analogies, you know what this means, I'm famished."

Len hugged me and ruffled my hair, "Now remember, it's always good to make…"

"Pretty friends."

"Because…."

"Pretty friends have pretty sisters."

"And…"

"Lenzo likes pretty sisters?"

"No, Lenzo likes pretty girls. Pretty girls. I've been teaching you that for ten years and you still forget. I see what you did with that Hermione over there, good job. But I found out whilst playing quidditch with the guys earlier on that she's an only child. See you got to do your research Ky. It's all about the detail."

"You played quidditch!"

"Oh Ky! Ky, Ky, Ky! Remember how I told you football is the beautiful game. Well, if it is, Quidditch is its hotter sister, you know the one with the personality and brains. The marrying kind."

"I knew you'd like it. Flying is awesome right-"

"How do you know, when did you go flying." Linus was giving me the 'stare down'.

Lenzo cut in with, "Li it's cool. You don't need a license to fly. Plus, Ky's problem is when she's grounded, not in flight. Ever heard of someone tripping in mid-air?"

"Haha hilarious." I shoved him softly, I stood slowly, and Len supported me.

Linus frowned, "Didn't you have a crutch."

"It's here." Mi was standing in the doorway; I didn't even notice that she had left; the crutch in her hand and her face pale. Ron and Harry stood behind her. Mi's face then went even paler, if possible, but she had a determined glint in her eye.

"Linus, erm… Lenzo. I am very aware that it might seem like Ky is not in the best of hands considering her leg, but I cannot stress enough the amount of authority and protection and austere power that Professor Dumbledore has in the Wizarding World and there would be nobody braver and better equipped to ensure her safety. He's noted for so many-"

"Long story short, Ky's in good hands. Don't take her home. We don't want you to."

"Ronald!"

"What Mione' you were going on and on, they probably stopped listening-"

"We'll help too." Harry's voice drifted through the air. "I'm sure nobody knows better than you two what a handful she is, we'll make sure she…or at least we'll try to contain her."

"She has a name you know. And she is standing, well limping, right here." He smirked and grabbed the crutch and tossed it to me, and I caught it deftly.

"Thanks. Well, you kids have a good first day. Oh, and Harry."

Harry looked at Linus surprised at being called out.

"I hear you have a knack of getting yourself in a pinch of sorts annually. Mind refraining to do so this year? Ky tends to turn pinches into third degree burns."

"Believe me Linus, I'm retired from the business."

And with that they were gone.

A/N:

Let me know what you think of this chapter…. there were a lot of dynamics, and I tried my best to manoeuvre around them.

Kalina