The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Fifty-Three | Reliving the Pain

Ariana, Harry and Dumbledore had left Crouch under the watchful eye of Snape shortly after his manic exclamation of the Dark Lord's return. The Headmaster was taking the two students up to his office, where Sirius should be waiting by now.

Ariana and Dumbledore were helping Harry limp up to the office, since the adrenaline had worn off and his the pain in his leg had come back tenfold. It was safe to say that the pair of Gryffindors were absolutely miserable, so neither of them really spoke at all. The white-haired witch couldn't really bare the thought of having to discuss the events of the graveyard. All the memories were still open wounds and talking about them would feel like someone had ripped them open even further, making the pain increase draftmatically.

"Professor," Harry mumbled as they approached the stone gargoyle guarding the path to Dumbledore's office, "where are Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?"

"They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been positively mad during the interrogation of Barty Crouch, was now quite calm, though it shook a tiny bit. "She was Head of Cedric's house, and knew him best."

The trio reached the gargoyle and Dumbledore gave it the password, making it rotate while moving upwards, revealing a spiral staircase. Harry was aided up the stairs by the others, making sure he reached the top in one piece. When Dumbledore pushed his office door open, Ariana laid eyes on Sirius, who looked as gaunt as he did when he had broken out of Azkaban.

"Harry, are you all right? Ariana? I knew it - I knew something like this - what happened?" he questioned at one hundred miles per hour with frightened eyes, his hands shaking as he took over and helped Harry into a seat. "What happened?"

Ariana also lowered herself into a seat beside Harry in front of Dumbledore's claw-footed desk, as the elder wizard began to tell Sirius about Crouch Jr. She was still none-the-wiser about who the phoenix on her shoulder was, but for now she was just glad of the warmth and comfort that it provided.

All she wanted to do was fall into a deep slumber, not wanting to feel anything anymore, at least not for a while. A long, undisturbed sleep was an attractive idea, but she also knew it wasn't going to happen for a while; she had to relive the horrible experience from the graveyard before that was permitted.

A soft flutter of wings sounded and Ariana saw Fawkes had left his gold perch, flown across the office, and landed on Harry's knee. The swan-sized bird was a bit larger than the one in Ariana's shoulder, but had similar striking feathers.

"'Lo, Fawkes," said Harry quietly.

Dumbledore stopped talking. He sat down opposite the other three, looking straight at the Gryffindor pupils, who avoided his gaze. Ariana knew the questions were coming, but she was going to get in there first.

"Professor, before we are questioned, can you please tell me why this phoenix -" she lightly brushed her fingers down its warm wing and it let out a peaceful, melodic chirp "- came to my aid?"

"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "When you were an infant, your father procured a phoenix egg, a very rare thing to gain indeed. The phoenix, this phoenix, hatched soon after your birth. He gifted it to you in the hope that she would prove a lovely companion for you. As you know, phoenixes are fiercely loyal creatures, and when Fiera here was kidnapped by Death Eaters, she remained loyal to you, and only you. That is why she came to your aid tonight."

Ariana blinked a couple of times, knocked into a stunned silence. She had so many follow-up questions but, when the shock finally wore off, she looked up at the beautiful phoenix blissfully watching her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, running a delicate finger down its feathered stomach. Fiera, as she had been named, let out a warm, mellifluous note.