Opened At The Close...

7: Amare

The pheonix stared at him intently from her perch, for quite a while; it was as though she and Harry were engulfed in an unspoken staring contest. Then, a stout little wizard walked out from the back, and noticed them looking at each other.
"Ah!" He said with pride. "I see you've taken a particular liking to our phoenix! She is the first phoenix we've had in months (we only get one about three times a year), but let me tell you that she has lasted in the shop longer than any of the other phoenixes," He said thoughtfully. "Most of them are gone within two or three days, at the most. But she, I mean to say, has not taken a liking to people as they do to her, therefore she has been here for two weeks! Do you know what I mean by taking a liking to people as they do to her? Most people do not."
"No, not really," Harry said as they all listened intently.
"Well, phoenixes typically choose their owner, rather than the owner choosing them," He cast Amare a look of curiosity."But this little girl has been particularly picky about the choosing of her owner," the stout wizard explained, leaning on the counter. "She seems to stare at you a bit differently, though..." he scrutinized Harry in the dim light of the shop. "Hey! Wait a minute! You're Harry Potter!"
Harry nodded sheepishly.
"Why, then these must be the Weasleys! And, of course, Miss Hermione Granger, as I see it in the Prophet?" The others nodded by way of greeting much like Harry did.
"Well, well, well. Isn't it so curious that she chose you then, Mr. Potter?" He said, deep in thought.
"She's chosen me?" Harry asked, feeling the happiness swell inside him.
"Why, yes. I believe so..." the Eyelop's worker stared at him for a moment, then said; "There's a simple test to tell whether or not one has been chosen. All you have to do," he instructed Harry. "-is try to feed her a piece of food. Anything will do, so-" he handed Harry an owl nut.
Gingerly, Harry extended his arm to a seemingly anxious phoenix. As she looked down at the food, she glanced back and forth between Harry's face and his palm. Then she sniffed his offering cautiously,(sweat was gathering on Harry's forehead as the others stared at him, waiting,) and then the phoenix snatched it from his hand with one nip of her shiny black beak. Harry gasped with the others as this happened; then his shoulders were bombarded with claps of congratulations as if he had just won the heart of the woman he had always wanted.*
"Congratulations, Mr. Potter!" The man said merrily, shaking his hand. "She's chosen you, so now she is yours! That is, of course, if you want her...?" He looked questioningly at Harry.
Harry had never heard a more stupid question in his entire life.
"Well, yeah! I want her! How much does she cost?"

200 Galleons later...

"I can't believe that she chose you, Harry! After she had seen two weeks worth of people!" Hermione said delighted as they purchased their books from Flourish and Blott's.
"I know, neither can I," said Harry, who was as completely and utterly giddy as if he had just swallowed a couldronful of Felix Felicis.
"She's so beautiful, Harry!" Ginny swooned.
"What are you naming her, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked tentatively. Harry shrugged.
"I'm not sure yet. But she'll have a name by the end of the day, that's for sure," he said.
"I wonder how George is doing?" Hermione asked anxiously as they entered Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"There he is!" Ron said, pointing to a red-headed figure in the middle of a crowd of goggling children.
"That's right, folks!" He was saying pompously. "You just place the bottle on the floor," he bent down," and say one of the four simple incantaions on the back, like so- Nubila." The place where George had set the bottle erupted suddenly like a volcano, but instead of lava, snow was blowing into the air. It flew this way and that, the actual snow flakes falling and soon covering the floor so thickly that it crunched underfoot."OBTERACULUM!" Yelled George, and the bottle seemed to stop snowing, thought the snow was still covering the floor and there were still a few flakes drifting toward the floor. "That was the counter-spell, which corks the bottle and stops the flow of weather from within (which, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, can last for thirty minutes at a time.) Weasley's Weather in a Bottle, everyone! Two Galleons each!" George concluded, taking a bow and standing aside to let the children take the bottles from the shelf in front of which he was standing. He smiled at the sight, then he noted Harry and the others and his smile grew broader still.
"Hello, you lot!" He said merrily.
"George!"exclaimed his mother, who ran to embrace him." How are you?" She asked anxiously.
"I'm fine, Mum. Really, I am," he said reassuringly, though his grin could not hide all of his grief.
"Well, all right..." Mrs. Weasley said uncertainly, patting his cheek. Then she departed to look around.
"Have you ladies seen ou-my newest Wonder Witch products?"
"No," Hermione and Ginny said together. George pointed to a shelf packed with pink bottles and jars. After the two girls had walked over, he said;
"Instant Hair Remover, and Instant Hair Grower. Tested the Grower on myself, and you wouldn't believe how fast it worked. I looked like Ginny. Anyway," George's manner changed; he was suddenly business-like. "When are you coming to work, Ron? I thought you could just work your way from cashier to CEO over time."
"What?" Asked Ron, confused.
"You heard me," George replied simply." You can start as a cashier, then work your way up the corprate ladder like the rest of us hardworkers have to."
"That's not what you said two weeks ago!" Ron began angrily."You said I could come and help you run the shop, not I could come work the cash register!" Ron spat the words as if the were bitter in his mouth.
"Tell you what," said George importantly. "If you can think of a product that is amazing enough to fly off the shelves by the end of the summer, then you can be CEO immediately. If not, then you can always work your way up."
"All right, I will!" Ron said indignantly.
"No one can help you!" George added sharply."Hermione could probably think of something for you in a heartbeat, but that is not going to happen. Harry can't help, either," he cast Harry a serious look.
"Okay," lied Harry. A number of ideas were already sproting in his brain.
Ron said hotly, "Fine, then." And he stormed toward the Skiving Snackboxes.
George smiled meniacally, then noticed who Harry held in his arms.
"Blimey, Harry, is this Remus and Tonks's son?" He asked, staring at the pink head.
"Yep," said Harry, repostioning Teddy so that George could get a better look at him. Whilst looking, George saw what was in the cage at Harry's feet.
"Is that a phoenix?" George asked breathlessly.
"Sure is. She chose me," Harry said proudly.
"Chose?" George repeated, bewildered.
One brief explanation later...
"Merlin's beard, Harry! Do you realize how rare phoenixes are?" George said. He was simply astounded.
"Yep," nodded Harry again as he stared at a shelf of fireworks.
"That's wicked," George said as they moved on to Screaming Yo-yos.
*_____*_____*
Having done his grocery shopping in Muggle London (after buying a couple pails of paint for Teddy's room,) Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys returned to Grimmauld Place. It was the first time Mrs. Weasley had seen it in a while, and she had not seen it since Kreacher had changed for the better.
"Oh, Harry dear, you didn't tell me that Kreacher had actually cleaned this place up," she said with awe. Hermione nodded.
"All we had to do was be nice to him," she said pointedly. Ron coughed a little cough that sounded an awful lot like "spew ". Hermione glared at him.
"I'm going to paint Teddy's room today," Harry announced.
"I'll help you," Ron volunteered.
"So can I," said Hermione.
"Thanks. I can just let Kreacher do the fourth wall and then we should be done in a day," Harry said with a smile.
"Mum and I can make dinner," Ginny suggested.
"If you do, the rest of your family has to come over: Mr. Weasley, George, Percy, Bill and Phlegm. I mean Fleur," Harry corrected himself as Mrs. Weasley looked stern and Ginny had difficulty suppressing a giggle.
"All right," Mrs. Weasley said brightly, recovering. "I'll send them all a letter," then she looked questioningly at Harry."Do phoenixes deliever mail?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted." But there's a pamphlet that bloke gave me on phoenixes..." he opened the pamphlet, which bore an elegant, moving picture of a phoenix and Harry read aloud the words:
" Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a phoenix, who has no doubt chosen you for their own. Useful information on this fantastic beast includes:
*Phoenixes eat small animals as well as birdseed, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and raw meats. Do not feed a phoenix bread or bread products.
* Phoenixes can carry many times their own weight and therefore are ideal for post services." Harry held out a thumbs-up in Mrs. Weasley's direction.
"*Phoenixes are very big birds that need a lot of space. Let them outside to fly everyday.
*Phoenixes' names cannot be changes once they are called something once. Their first name sticks to them and they will not respond to anything else."
Ron whistled, long and low. "We'd better be careful not to call her anything before Harry names her." He said fertively.
"Yeah. I think I'll let her out to fly," Harry said fondly. Just as he let the beautiful bird out of the cage, however, Hermione rapped her wand on its head so that her flame colored plume faded as though she was a camoflaged chameleon.
"Disillusionment Charm, just in case," Hermione explained as she stowed her wand back in her pocket. The phoenix cooed at her, then spread her grand wings and flew from the window magnificently.
"Kreacher," Harry said. Predictably, Kreacher appeared at his feet with a crack. Sinking into a deep bow, the house elf croaked,
"Yes, Master?"
"I need you to help me and Ron and Hermione paint Teddy's room," Harry said, trudging up the stairs with a paint pail in each hand, Ron, Hermione, and Kreacher at his heals.
"Of course, Master Harry," Kreacher said, opening the door to Teddy's room for them.
Two hours later, with the help of considerably astounding magic by Hermione, the walls had been painted and dried, and instead of the dull beige they were now a bright, sapphire blue.
Walking downstairs, Harry saw that the phoenix had returned , the Disillusionment Charm on her lifted. She sat perched on the back of a kitchen chair.
"Has she already delivered the notes?" Asked Ron.
"Yes, all four of them!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.
"Wow," said Harry, smiling. He had not known that fast delivery was one of the perks of having a pet phoenix.
"Dinner's almost ready. Could you set the table?" Mrs. Weasley asked the three.
*_____*_____*
That evening at dinner, the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Teddy all sat at the long wooden table, each of them lost in conversations. Suddenly, there was a tinking of metal against glass. Everyone looked to the far end of the table, where Mr. Weasley stood, a wineglass in his hand.
"I'd like to make a toast," Mr. Weasley said." To our old headquarters, and to Harry's new home."
There was a jabber of agreement, and the tilting back of glasses. Harry appreciated it. The fact that they were all eating together under his roof, toasting to Harry's house with his godson sitting in his lap was a bit strange to Harry; it really shocked him into realizing how much he had grown. But he had a feeling that he would always have these people from his childhood. Always.

That night, after Harry had told everyone goodnight, had Kreacher clean the kitchen, put Teddy to bed, taken a shower, and a partridge in a pear tree, he set up the phoenix's perch in his room. She had flown after him up the stairs, and waited patiently on his bed for him to find a spot for her perch. After he had finally picked the perfect spot, she flew gracefully across the room and landed on her perch, tucked her head under her wing and fell asleep.
Harry lay in great contemplation on her name, then, finally decided what he would call her. Amare would be her name. He had no idea from what he had gotten this name, it aimply came to him mentally and he liked he sound of it. It seemed to fit the beautiful bird's grace and elegance perfectly. So it was settled. Harry got out of bed and walked over to the beast, shaking her gently. Pulling her head from under her wing, she looked at him groggily.
"Your name is Amare**," he told her, stroking her red head. She nodded as though she understood and let out a musical cry that lasted only a few seconds, then Amare tucked her head under her wing once more.

Any questions? Ask them HERE!

*I think we all know at this point that Harry already has the woman of his dreams. <3
**Amare is Latin for... I'll let you guess. Or look it up. Comment what you think it is!

PS: I don't know much about the mythology of the phoenix, I just created most of it.