Little Phoenix

T H E B U R R O W

The next few months have been odd. The days have been getting warmer but the air is cold, the atmosphere in Hogwarts was chilling, after Cedric's death, and the supposed return of You Know Who.

The news media hasn't been kind to Harry, or Dumbledore for that matter, they say he's a liar. A lot of people are against them, I feel awful for Harry.

I'm glad to be home. My father has been quiet, not saying anything about the events that happened in Hogwarts. The last couple of weeks have been filled with reading, playing chess, potion making, and listening to music. I enjoy the time I get with my father, and I think he needs time away from Hogwarts as well.

I miss Fred and George, they brought so much fun in my life since going to Hogwarts, saying goodbye to them was hard. They said to visit them, but I'm sure their mum has enough on her plate, what with four kids living at home.

The sunny weather has been a good mood boost, but I feel the air changing, knowing that  You Know Who is out there, it makes me shiver.

I sit in my chair, reading advanced potion making, which my father let me borrow for the summer, I think he wanted me to do some extra credit studying over the break.

I flick my eyes up over my book to see my father in his tall, deep red chair. He's reading the daily prophet, I see on the front page is another article on Dumbledore; Dumbledore: Daft or Dangerous. I roll my eyes at the article title.

"I don't know why you read that crap, dad." I break the silence.

My father folds the paper down, glaring at me with a cold stare. "Watch your language, Phoenix." He says coldly, opening his paper up again.

"Do you believe he's back?" I say quietly.

He flicks his eyes over the article, a sense of fear fills the room. I chew on my lip, starting at him for an answer, his long pause not helping my anxiety.

He sighs. "Yes. The Dark Lord has returned."

My brows furrow, The Dark Lord? Feeling chills roll over my skin. He's really back.

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I'm sitting on my windowsill, the band Queen is playing in the background on my record player. I let the sun rays sink into my skin, kissing me with a slight bit of colour, I'm now not as white as my hair, and I have a few freckles dotted on my face.

Singing along to 'Killer Queen', with my eyes closed, swaying my head along with the music. One of my legs hangs out the window, the other inside. I'm lucky to have a large window sill, I sit here often when I'm home.

In the distance I hear the squark of an owl, which comes flying over towards me. It's not our owl, Harley, she's a beautiful black bird. This one is grey, and doesn't look too good. My brows furrow as the bird doesn't slow, it continues to fly directly towards me. It swoops past me, crashing into my shelves, making a loud crash.

"Phoenix, what was that?" I hear my fathers voice from downstairs.

"Nothing, I just dropped something!" I yell back, quickly hopping down from the window to see if the bird is okay.

As I walk over, the creature shakes itself off, even after its crash, it still holds a letter within its beak. I gently stroke its head, releasing the note from its beak. Lifting the owl off the ground, I take it back towards the window, releasing it safely.

The letter has my name on the front, it's beautifully written, making my brows furrow as I rarely get mail. I bite my lip and tear open the note.

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Phoenix