Phoenix Tears

Chapter 6: Emergence

Harry, Hedwig, and Nio had been living in the tunnels under the stone circle for a few days and Harry was starting to wonder how long he could survive on carrots. So much so that he was starting to take Nio's suggestions that he branch out to insects seriously. Not for the first time, he found himself sniffing an earthworm when Hedwig's hoot echoed from the long tunnel that ended in a pin-prick of light.

Harry stepped away from the hanging garden and waited until Hedwig had settled on the stone ledge by the pool of water in the main atrium. She growled at him.

"What is it Hedwig?" Harry asked as he found a seat by her and brought his hands up to find her back. She was hopping on one foot.

"Are you injured?" Harry asked, following the contours of her wings down to her legs, gently assuring that she was okay. That's when he discovered a rolled parchment clutched in her talon.

"Oi! What's this? A letter? How could someone find you to send a message to me?" Harry wondered while his stomach clenched at the thought of being found.

He fiddled with the leather ties that secured the scroll to Hedwig's leg and then found an edge so that he could unfurl it. It didn't open easily and he traced his fingers over the tightly rolled scroll until he found a wax seal. The seal had an imprint of swirling lines that he puzzled over for a bit before breaking it. He unrolled it and ran his fingers over the thick parchment, but found the slightly gummy lines of ink instead of the raised dots he expected.

"Someone sent me a written message?" he mused. He shook his staff out of his holster and summoned his anagnóstis so that he could read the message. He found the top edge of the paper, unrolled it, and started running it over the paper until a familiar voice spoke in his ear.

"Harry - Please don't be alarmed." He paused, trying to place the voice.

"Ron's dad, right. Mr. Weasley," he assured himself and let out the breath he was holding.

He touched the anagnóstis to the parchment again and continued listening to the message.

"I know that you've run away from your Aunt and Uncle's house, Professor McGonagall, and the Ministry. We are all very worried about your safety—especially with Sirius Black still evading the Aurors. Please let us know that you are safe. Be assured that we were only able to contact Hedwig through Errol and that only worked because both owls trust us and know that our intentions are in your best interest. We can't follow Hedwig to you, but we have duplicated the slate that your friend Gemma is using to communicate with you. Ron has one and so does Hermione. Please write to them. We want to help you. We will not allow the Ministry of Magic to hold you in the Department of Mysteries. Professor McGonagall deeply regrets the errors she made and wants me to assure you that we'll find a safe place for you away from the Dursleys and away from the Ministry. She is making certain that Hogwarts will be a safe space for you when classes begin in September. We have returned from Egypt and Hermione has returned from France and both families would gladly welcome you into our homes. Your friends are very worried about your well-being. You are not alone in this. Healer Jordan has also asked me to assure you that the Center will support you in any way it can. We all want to make sure that you are safe. You have found a way to hide from all the magical and mundane ways to find you... which is very impressive for a nearly 13-year-old wizard. Even though Gemma and Peter assure us that you are safe, we need to hear from you directly... and we miss you and beg you to return to us—Arthur Weasley on behalf of your friends and loved ones: the Weasleys, the Grangers, the Center, and Hogwarts."

Harry leaned back against the damp wall next to the spring and sighed. He paused in the act of summoning his slate out of his staff. He did want to talk to them. While he felt a certain freedom in these underground tunnels that he couldn't ever recall experiencing before, he was also lonely. Sure, he had Nio and Hedwig and they were great company... it was so much better than the times he'd been locked in his room or the cupboard at Privet Drive... but it wasn't quite the same as the companionship he'd felt at Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione or at the Center with Gemma.