The Phoenix Prophecy

The Phoenix Prophecy

Book II – Chapter 1 – Part 5

Sunday, August 16,^, 1998

Alec: (9:00 AM)

I had been searching for Nicole for over an hour without the slightest success when it suddenly dawned on me that I was going about this all wrong. The plateau on which the elves made their home was extremely large. I could search all day and all night and not cover even a tenth of it. There were literally thousands of places that Nicole could hide and I wouldn’t see her unless I accidentally stepped on her. Searching for Nicole as a human was like looking for a needle in a haystack. My wolf form should be able to track her down without any difficulty.

After changing form, I quickly backtracked to my secret—well, not so secret anymore—hiding place to pick up Nicole’s scent. To the wolf’s senses, Nicole’s trail was simple to follow. In less than five minutes, I knew that I was closing in on her. From the freshness of her scent, I knew she wasn’t very far ahead of me. Ten feet further along her trail, I stopped abruptly as every hair on my body bristled from a sense of danger. Bear! A male bear had stumbled onto Nicole’s scent and was following her just as I was. The bear’s scent was powerful. The wolf’s instincts were to head in another direction. I had to push the wolf’s wariness and fear to the back of my mind as I continued to follow Nicole’s trial.

When I had been searching for Nicole in human form, my mood had alternated from anger to worry and back again several times. Now I was just plain worried. If this bear was hungry and hunting for food, Nicole was in real trouble. I tried to push unpleasant and downright gruesome thoughts out of my mind as fast as they appeared. She was out here all alone because I had driven her away. If anything happened to her, it was going to be all my fault.

I was moving so fast with my nose to the ground that I practically ran headlong into the backside of the bear. At the last second, I stopped dead in my tracks, just a few feet from the biggest brown bear I had ever seen. Instantly the bear arched his back and snarled viciously. I expected him to stand on his rear feet, but instead he lunged straight at me with speed that seemed impossible for a creature of his size. If he managed to sink his teeth into me, he would rip me to pieces in seconds. Through some miracle, I managed to avoid being caught in the bear’s powerful jaws by leaping over the bear at the last possible second. I landed on his back and with a supreme effort leaped to the top of a large rock that was as big as a small house. The top of the rock was a good fifteen feet above the ground where the bear was bellowing at me in a fit of rage.

Staring down at one very pissed off bear; I picked up the distinct scent of fear coming from somewhere close by. Nicole! The scent had to be coming from Nicole. Taking one last look to make sure that there was no way for the bear to climb up on the rock I slowly turned my gaze to survey my surroundings. The top of the rock was a good twenty-five feet across with several clumps of young evergreen trees growing out of many crevasses that crisscrossed the surface of the rock. Huddled in a tight ball beneath the furthest clump of trees I spotted a pair of terrified eyes looking back at me.

“Nicole!” I gasped after changing back into human form the instant I saw her.

When she didn’t move or reply I called out to her again. “Nicole, it’s okay. You can come out.”

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Nicole began to climb out from beneath the trees she was hiding under.

“We’re safe. The bear can’t get up here,” I added when she hesitated to come completely out from beneath the trees.

I took a couple of steps in her direction and she bolted straight for me, wrapping her arms around my waist as she hit me. Her sudden lunge had caught me off guard and I lost my balance. Before I could recover, I found myself flat on my back with Nicole still clinging to me.

“Nicole, relax. We’re okay, really,” I said as gently disentangled myself from her grip and sat up. “The bear can’t get up here. It’s too high for him.”

“By the way, just how did you manage to get up here?” I asked, when it dawned on me that she had scaled an almost vertical rock wall.

“I don’t know. One second the bear was right behind me and the next I was standing up here looking down at it,” she replied, her voice shaking uncontrollably.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” I asked more pointedly than I should have.

“Just that! I don’t know,” she shouted right back at me.

“I’m sorry, Nicole,” I replied and reached out to put my arms around her. “The past few seconds have been rather intense.”

“Intense! Hah! That’s the understatement of the year,” she replied pushing me away. “First a bear tries to eat me for lunch. Then just when I though I was safe, a wolf lands ten feet in front of me. I almost wet my pants. You scared the hell out of me, Alec!”

“I’m truly sorry for that, Nicole. When the bear attacked me, I just tried to get as far away from him as possible. I didn’t even know you were up here.”

“Obviously you were following me. Why didn’t you show up sooner?”

“For the longest time I wasn’t able to find you,” I answered softly, reaching out and taking her hands in mind. “If I weren’t such a dope I would have thought to switch into my wolf form sooner. As soon as I switched forms, I picked up your scent and found you as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, I found the bear as well.”

“Well, I’m awfully glad you did find me,” she replied, moving closer to me. “I don’t know what I would have done if you, or someone else, hadn’t found me.”

“Don’t worry about that now. The important thing is that I did find you.”

“Yes, but now what are we going to do?” Nicole asked, still holding onto my hands. Luckily, she didn’t have a lot of strength in her hands or my hands would be in a lot of pain. “It doesn’t look like the bear is planning on leaving any time soon.”

“We’ll come up with something,” I replied, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be all right. “For now we can just sit tight and see if he gives up and goes away.”

“I doubt that will happen, but I guess it’s worth a try.”

“Back to my earlier question. Do you have any idea how you got up here?”

“I jumped…At least, I think that’s how I got up here,” she answered thoughtfully.

“That’s quite a jump.”

“You don’t believe me,” she answered, pulling her hands away.

“Yes, I believe you. I have to believe you. You’re up here and the bear is down below. If you didn’t jump then you must have flown or…

“Nicole, when you jumped did it seem as if everything was moving in slow motion?” I asked, suddenly considering a possibility that on the surface seemed quite unlikely.

“Well, now that you mention it, it did seem that way. Why do you ask?”

“I’m not sure how you accomplished it, but it certainly appears as if you levitated yourself up here.”

“Levitated? I don’t know how to do that. Are you sure?”

“At some level, our magical abilities are instinctive within us,” I replied, to myself as well as her. “Apparently you were able to use your native abilities to levitate yourself out of harm’s way.”

“But, I don’t remember doing or thinking anything in particular. When I saw the rock, I just knew that I had to get up here or the bear was going to kill me. The next thing I knew, I was up here.”

“However you did it, I’m sure glad that you are okay. If anything would have happened to you, I would…

“Would what?” Nicole asked when I didn’t finish my thought.

“I would have felt responsible,” I replied, looking directly at her. “I don’t want to lose you any more than you want to lose me. While I was trying to find you, I came to the realization of just how much I would miss you if you weren’t around any more.”

“Alec, that’s so sweet. I…”

“Now don’t go making this into something mushy,” I replied, cutting her off before she could say anything that would completely embarrass either of us.

“Okay, I won’t,” she replied softly.

Before I could reply, she leaned in and kissed my cheek quickly. “That’s for caring. No need to say anything further.”

The situation was hopeless. No matter what I said now, it was going to come out wrong. Ignoring the entire thing seemed to be the best course of action. I had this strange feeling that I was never going to come out on top of any discussion with Nicole. When I looked at her, she just looked back at me, her eyes sparkling with life and something else that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The look on her face wasn’t what I would call smug, but it did have noticeable traces of satisfaction. It was definitely time to change the subject.

“Nicole, since we may be here for a while, I would like to investigate your natural abilities a bit further if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, Alec. What do you want me to do?”

“First off, I want you to sit cross-legged in front of me.”

“Now, close your eyes and picture yourself floating just above the ground,” I added once she was sitting in front of me as I had requested.

“I don’t feel anything,” she replied after several minutes had elapsed and she was still seated firmly on the ground.

“Just keep trying,” I replied. Something had allowed her to levitate when she needed to. That something was undoubtedly a surge of adrenaline caused by fear. Scaring her just to prove my theory seemed both unwise and risky. I needed another means of inducing a rush of adrenaline. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how.

“Still nothing,” she added a few minutes later.

“Okay, this isn’t getting us anywhere,” I said, as I tried to think of some other way to test her.

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” I answered warmly. “We’ll just have to come up with something else.”

“What then?”

“I don’t know. Let me think.”

“Can’t you just cast a spell over me that will let me take control of whatever natural abilities that I might have?”

“Possibly, but I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“First off, I’m not sure there is a spell that can do what you suggest. Secondly, spells can have unintended consequences or side effects,” I replied firmly. I wanted to let her know that magic wasn’t something to be toyed with, but I didn’t want to scare her.

“Okay, then how about this? You levitate me with your power,” she replied eagerly. “If I can concentrate on what it feels like to be levitated I might figure out how to do it myself.”

“That should be safe enough. At least it’s worth a try.”

I took out my wand and pointed it at Nicole. For a split second, a trace of panic crossed her face. It disappeared before I could tell her not to be afraid. Ever so gently, I levitated her off the ground. She surprised me by remaining rock steady as she hovered a foot above ground. She closed her eyes and her features relaxed after several seconds. Nothing happened for the next couple of minutes. I wanted to give her every chance to accomplish something on her own. She was obsessed with learning how to do magic. Not that I could blame her, as I felt the same way once I found out the truth about my heritage.

“This doesn’t seem to be getting us…”

I stopped in mid sentence as Nicole rose another foot into the air. I was so startled that I completely lost my concentration and stopped casting my levitation spell. Her body dropped a few inches but remained steady a good foot and a half above the ground. As I watched with my mouth hanging open, Nicole slowly descended until she was sitting firmly on the ground. Opening her eyes, she just sat there and smiled at me without saying a single word.

“Nicole…All I can say is that I’m impressed.”

“Thanks, Alec,” she replied, a broad, satisfied smile on her face.

“Can you raise yourself without my help?”

“Let me try,” she replied and closed her eyes once again.

Three or four seconds later, her body rose smoothly off the ground and came to rest with her knees at my eye level. Looking up I was surprised to see her looking down at me.

“That is truly impressive,” I said as she floated gently back to the ground without ever taking her eyes off me.

“I did it! I actually did it!” she cried, her voice overflowing with excitement and enthusiasm.

“Yes, you certainly did,” I answered. “Now, tell me exactly how you did it. I would really like to know.”

“When I first tried to levitate myself I noticed something that, for lack of a better term, looked like a cloud sitting on top of me. Almost as if it was weighing me down. When you levitated me into the air, the cloud thinned out noticeably. I found that if I concentrated my thoughts on the cloud I could make it thinner or thicker. Thinning made me rise, thickening made me sink. If I stopped thinking about it altogether the cloud returned to its normal thickness and I settled to the ground.”

“What color was this cloud?”

“A very pale green. I really had to concentrate to notice it the first time. Now that I have seen it, I can spot it almost immediately. In fact I can see the exact same cloud hovering over you.”

Before I could answer, I felt myself begin to rise up off the ground.

“Holy Shit!” I blurted out as we both rose several feet above the ground.

“Neat, huh?” Nicole asked, her face beaming with pride.

“Yeah, neat,” I answered nervously as I slowly descended to the ground.

“Can you see the cloud on top of me?” Nicole asked once we were firmly seated on the ground.

“No, I can’t,” I replied after several frustrating seconds during which I tried in vain to see anything close to what Nicole had described.

“Strange. I would have thought that you would have been able to spot it right off.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that you levitated both of us in the air without the use of a wand, I would think that you are putting me on about this cloud of yours. But I can’t argue with what just happened. Maybe mom or dad, or one of the other grownups can explain what’s going on.”

“I hope so as I would like to know more about this myself,” Nicole added excitedly. She was bubbling over with enthusiasm. I had never seen her so happy.

“We need to get back to the tree-house so we can figure this out.”

“I don’t think the bear is going to cooperate,” Nicole said, nodding her head in the direction of the ledge. “It sounds as if he is still down there waiting for us.”

“You’re right. He doesn’t seem interested in leaving any time soon. If only we weren’t so far away, we could yell for help. Someone would be bound to hear us sooner or later.”

“Maybe if we start yelling for help, one of the elves will hear us and come and get us.”

“This just isn’t my day,” I replied, exasperated with myself for not thinking of calling out sooner. I was sure that one of the elves was sure to hear or cries.

“Can anyone hear me?” I called out loudly. “We need some help. If anyone can hear me, please help us.”

“Yes, Master Alec. How may I be of service?” an elf replied moments later after he materialized a few feet in front of us.

“We seem to have attracted the attention of one of the local carnivores that would like to have us for lunch,” I replied, pointing to the edge of the rock we were imprisoned on.

“Oh my!” the elf exclaimed when he peered down at the bear waiting patiently for us to come down. “This just won’t do. No, this won’t do at all.”

“Our thoughts exactly,” I said, doing a good job of keeping any sarcasm out of my voice. “Could you transport us back to the tree-house?”

“Why, certainly. Please place your hands on mine.”

In the blink of an eye, we found ourselves standing in front of the doorway to the tree-house.

“If you will kindly excuse me, I must see to it that the bear is safely relocated,” the elf said and with a shallow bow, he disappeared.

“I get the feeling that the bear was not supposed to be here,” Nicole said after the elf had departed.

“Yeah, so do I.”

“Alec, thank you for coming to my rescue. I truly appreciate it.”

“I really didn’t rescue you. At least not exactly,” I replied, suddenly embarrassed by her gratitude.

“Yes you did, so don’t try to weasel out of it. Besides that, you helped me take my first step on the road to understanding and using my magical talents. For that I am eternally grateful.”

I didn’t know what to say. How do you accept ‘eternally grateful?’ And exactly what does that imply. I just hoped that this was not going to come back and bite me in the ass. My ‘ass’ was still a little tender from my adventures inside Kai and Nyssa’s shield.

“After you,” I said as I opened the door.

“Such a gentleman,” Nicole replied before kissing me on the cheek yet again and then stepping through the door ahead of me.

This kissing my cheek had to stop, or did it? Lightly touching my cheek with my fingers, I followed her through the door, closing it behind me.

Hermione: (9:30 AM)

I felt strangely peaceful, which was nothing short of a miracle. I should have been anything but peaceful. Harry had taken the news that I was pregnant even better than I had. He seemed genuinely pleased with the idea. For the past half hour, Harry had held me in his arms while I rested my head against his chest. From the numerous kisses that he planted on the top of my head and the tender way that he was holding onto me, I knew that he was not the least bit upset at the prospect of becoming a father. Even if I discounted the visions Nyssa forced me to experience, I should still have been terrified of becoming a mother. Babies terrified me. If it weren’t for Harry’s firm belief that I was going to be a great mum—that and the fact that I knew Gretchen would help me through the difficult parts—I would be feeling anything but peaceful.

“Harry, my tummy is feeling much better now. Perhaps we should go and join the others.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling good enough to get up?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I replied pushing myself into a sitting position. “Besides, we still have to have that little chat with grandmother.”

“Somehow, I don’t think anyone is going to object to our request to be married,” Harry replied as he tenderly stroked my cheek. “The only thing to discuss is when we will be married.”

“True enough. The fact that I’m pregnant does put everything in a different light.”

“It certainly does. Especially where we go from here.” Harry was frowning, an uncustomary look of seriousness about him. For an instant, I was worried that he was having second thoughts about becoming a father, but his next words took my thoughts in a completely new direction.

“Seeing that you—I mean we—are going to have a baby in six months, we are going to have to give some serious thought as to our plans about trying to find our way back home. If we can’t be reasonably sure of making it back before you give birth, should we wait until after the baby is born to start back. And if we wait, how long do we wait? Or…”

“Or, what?”

“Do we just remain here in the Realm and make the best home that we can for our son and ourselves,” Harry added reluctantly as he looked at me, a questioning look on his face.

“I don’t honestly know,” I replied as the enormity of what he was saying penetrated my mind. “Thankfully we don’t have to decide this instant. For now, I think we should focus on one problem at a time. Unless you disagree, I think we should focus our efforts on getting married. What we do after that, can wait.”

“That sounds reasonable to me. If you’re ready, I’m ready.”

Harry stood up and helped me up from the bed. Taking my hand in his, he led me into the common room where everyone else was seated at the table. We were halfway across the room when Alec and Nicole burst through the door to the outside. Alec had a worried look on his face, but Nicole was positively beaming. Whatever she was smiling about must have been pretty important, as she seemed very happy. In fact, I could not remember her ever looking quite so happy. With everything she had been through, she deserved some happiness. Hopefully it would last for a while.

“How are you feeling?” Madelyn asked when we reached the table.

“Much better. The potion you gave me earlier seems to be working,” I replied as Harry and I sat down between her and Sirius, and Ron and Gretchen. Great grandmother and the Blyth’s were seated on the opposite side of the table.

“Take a small sip each morning when you first wake and your stomach should stay relatively calm.”

“If that potion will prevent a repeat of this morning’s episodes, I’ll not likely forget,” I replied, flashing Madelyn an appreciative smile.

“Madelyn and I would like to make an announcement,” Sirius said loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “We plan to marry as soon as possible and you are all invited to partake in the ceremony.”

A noisy, jubilant chaos erupted almost immediately. Everyone tried to congratulate Sirius and Madelyn at the same time. Everyone seemed so happy that it really didn’t matter that we were all talking over each other. By the time the congratulations died out, Madelyn was wiping a steady stream of tears from her face. She looked terribly happy.

“Hermione and I also have an announcement we would like to make,” Harry said when it was quiet enough for all to hear. “We too plan to marry as soon as possible and hope that you will all attend our wedding.”

Harry’s announcement was greeted with dead silence as everyone turned and looked at us. Suddenly my stomach wasn’t feeling as calm as it was a few moments ago. I was just about to explain why we wanted to get married at once when great grandmother cleared her throat noisily and all eyes turned to her.

“Speaking as Hermione’s grandmother, I think this is wonderful news and give her my full consent and sincerest blessing. That goes for you too, Harry. I am quite positive that Hermione’s mother and father would be immensely proud to have you as a son-in-law.”

“Speaking as Harry’s godfather, I too give my consent and blessing to a very special young man, and equally special young woman. May they have a long and wonderful marriage.”

By the time Sirius finished speaking, I could barely see. My eyes were completely blurred over from the fountain of tears that had erupted. The joyous shouting and congratulations started over the instant Sirius finished speaking. Madelyn, whom was sitting right beside me, was the first to hug me. When she whispered in my ear that we were both very lucky to have such fine men and babies on the way, I felt a powerful bond form between us. Even though we were a generation apart, we were embarking on the same road together. We were alike in many ways, not the least of which was that fact that we were both pregnant. From the look Madelyn gave me when she finished whispering in my ear, I knew that she too felt something had formed between us. Later, after things quieted down I would get her alone so that we could talk. A shiver shot through me as a feeling began to form in the back of my mind that our relationship was crucial to the survival of every one in the room.

Authors Note:

My New Year’s resolution is to spend more time working on this story. At a minimum, I hope to post every other week.

Wishing each and every one of you a Happy New Year.

The Hogwarts Oracle