Epilogue …
"I can't believe it …" Ron breathed as Jubilee helped him sit down slowly on one of Dumbledore's couches.
He looked around the office, the X-Men, Moody, Lupin, Tonks, his parents, and Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall were gathered, and none of which seemed to have a dry eye.
Cyclops sat in a chair the farthest away, his face in his hands as his shoulders trembled in his sobs. And McGonagall sat in Dumbledore's chair holding a now sleeping -thanks to a sleeping charm- Hermione in her arms.
"It's over," Dumbledore said, shaking his head in defeat, "It's all over, Harry was our last hope … it's all over …"
"Like hell it is."
Everyone turned, shocked at who had spoken. Of the group of people gathered he was the least likely, but Ron Weasley was on his feet, wand drawn, and very much pissed off.
"I promised Harry …" Ron said, his blue eyes intense with sadness and determination, "I promised I'd hold things together if things went wrong. And by Merlin I'm going to do that." He then glanced around the room, his eye settling on the sleeping form of Hermione. Her cheeks were streaked with shed tears. "Would Harry want us to just mope around and let Voldemort walk all over us?" he said, not even flinching at the name.
"That bastard hurt one of us …" Shadowcat growled, her puffy eyes narrowing.
"He hurt all of us!" Nightcrawler finished his three fingered fists popping.
"If Voldemort wants a war," Cyclops growled as the ruby quartz of his visor began to glow brighter than the sun, "He's sure as hell going to get one."
Xavier wiped the tears from his cheeks, turned to Dumbledore and the two of them shared an encouraging smile. "Charles, even the full X-Men team cannot face Voldemort's forces alone, not even with the full support of the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore reasoned.
"But the X-Men are not the Muggle world's only defense, now is it?" Xavier finished, "Scott, set up a video conference in the X-Jet. Contact Dr. Reed Richards, Steve Rogers, and Colonel Nicolas Fury. Tell them I need to speak to them in an hour, I don't care what time it is State side." He turned to Rogue. "Contact Peter Parker and Matt Murdock, they have ways of contacting Spider-Man and Daredevil respectively. Explain what's happened and ask them to pass the word on to their friends. Peter is going to take this hard, Rogue, be especially careful with him."
He rolled to where his briefcase waited, by Dumbledore's desk, and retrieved his laptop and portable printer. After a moment's work, he handed Lupin, Tonks, and Moody a large print out. "This man was last seen in the San Francisco area. He will definitely be of use and more than willing to lend his support after you tell him what Voldemort has done." Xavier explained. "Find him if you can."
"Frank Castle?" Tonks asked, looking over the file, "He looks kind of cute …"
"He's extremely dangerous so be careful." Xavier explained, "Logan knows him and could probably help … where is Logan?"
"Haven't seen him since we got off the jet, Professah," Rogue said as she glanced around the room and motioning to show his absence.
"Considering the circumstances, I can fully understand his need to be alone." Xavier sighed, then looked at the Aurors, "The easiest way to find Castle would be to check the obituaries. Any mention of prominent criminals having died in a ... colorful manner is a good indication of his current whereabouts."
Without warning, Fawkes began whistling and squawking in an excited fashion. His wings were beating rapidly and it almost seemed as if Dumbledore's phoenix was crowing happily.
"What's with him?" Ron asked, watching the Phoenix dance.
"The phoenix has the exceptional ability to detect the rebirth of another of its kind. Fawkes has displayed this behavior before but never so close to the castle." Dumbledore replied. "The range of this sense is limited to a few hundred square miles or so but I have never found another phoenix in Britain ..." Dumbledore continued to explain as a strange feeling grew inside him. "The phoenix is an amazing creature, so full of mystery and secrets. I can only guess at the magnitude of this rebirth ..."
---
Standing before a run-down, derelict cottage in Godric's Hollow was a man who seemed to be entranced by the sight of the familiar house. His gaze wandered over the rubble and landed on the headstones that adorned the small graveyard that had once been the garden. Logan took a shaky step towards his past and quickly found himself kneeling in front of them both.
"James Logan Potter … Lily Evans-Potter … I really made good on my promise, Lil …" Logan said kneeling in front of the two graves.
"He was a good boy, a damn good boy, and I failed him twice," Logan said, tears brimming his brown eyes, "He was treated like … it was worse then I was growing up, Lil. I promised him, you... all of us, that I wouldn't let this happen but I couldn't do anything to stop it ... He still turned out to be a damn good boy, a much better man than his old man.
"He had Scott and Jeanie for a while, and they were the parents I wanted us to be for him. Sure I wish I could have told him, but I'm not his father, not anymore ... I don't deserve to have him call me that," Logan shook his head. "And he had himself a good girl! I swear I'd think she was you when it came to her personality ... That's probably why Harry thinks the world of her. I'm sure you would have loved Hermione as much as Harry."
"I failed her too, didn't I?" Logan sobbed, "Damn it, that's all I've done my whole life! One screw up after another!" He growled, ramming his claws through his own headstone.
"I wonder if it would work …" Logan asked, sheathing his claws. He brought his fist just below his chin and pressed upwards, "This is what I deserve …"
But before he could pop his claws, a memory flashed before his eyes.
---
"So you're just going to run away, Musclehead?"
James looked back to see Lily at the foot of the stairs to the dorm rooms with her fists resting on her hips.
"I don't belong here," James said turning to leave.
"Are you a mouse or a wolverine?" Lily smirked but there was a frightened, pleading look in her emerald eyes.
"Very cute, Lil," James smirked in response.
"Seriously, James, you're not going to find a place for you to just belong, you have to fight for what you have, you can't keep running away!" Lily half-pleaded.
"Fine, whatever," James sighed, not sure why he listened to her, but did anyway and walked back up to his dorm. He flipped Lily off when he saw her triumphant look.
---
"Damn it, I hate it when you're right, you know that, Bookworm?" Logan shook his head.
He stood up, his jaw set in a new sense of determination. "For you and Harry, Lil, I'm not running away," He said, unsheathing his claws, "But when I'm done, Dog's going to wish he had."
---
The rubble that was once the Chamber of Secrets has remained untouched for nearly a year. Those who view it fear the evil that had created it and those who were there when it was destroyed look upon it sadly as a monument to the woman who sacrificed her life to bring it and it's master to their doom. On this particularly windy day, one might expect the errant leaf or sheaf of paper to move through the air as if had a life of its own, nobody would expect the rubble of this cursed and sacred landmark to act in the same way. As one particularly large boulder shifted and toppled to the side a small flame sprouted from the new opening and a few sparks leapt from somewhere in the darkness below. Without warning, that small flame burst into a raging inferno and the top of the makeshift tomb exploded like a volcano. The flames coalesced into the unmistakable form of a gigantic flaming bird that cried out with a pent up rage and power that was the unmistakable song of the phoenix.
After the cries of anger and loss died away, the flaming vision receded and revealed the form of a beautiful woman, her flaming red hair was tossed around by the chill breeze along with the yellow sash tied around her shapely waist. The sun struck the red and gold body suit and there was a magnificent flash of light as the sun was reflected off the heaving phoenix-shaped symbol upon her bosom. Slowly she opened her eyes to reveal the emerald-green orbs that spoke in volumes of her anger and worry ...
"Harry …" she whispered before she spread her arms and was once again encased in the living fire that she now embodied. With a cry of urgency, she took to the air with a speed born of desperation.
---
"Oh quit complaining," Wormtail said as he walked out of the factory with Pyro and Toad.
"Maybe I don't bloody like burning up dead bodies!" Pyro complained, "They're far more fun when they can dance around and scream."
"Yeah, well alive or dead, I'm actually happy to see Potter out of the way once and for all, you haven't had to deal with the brat and his friends for years," Wormtail spat, "I wish that my Lord would have gotten rid of his friend Ron too. I'd especially like to see him suffer."
The three finally arrived at the lifeless body of the Boy-Who-Lived. His X-Men uniform was covered in mud and Voldemort hadn't the decency to close the boy's mouth or eyes. He had left him exactly as he fell. "I wish I had a camera. My Lord would want to cherish this scene forever."
"He really hates this kid huh?" Toad asked, blinking at the body.
"You don't know the half of it, my friend." Wormtail smiled, "Pyro would you like to do the honors?"
"Sure …" He said as a massive fire-bird swooped down and engulfed the area in flames. It let out a mournful cry that shook the three men to their cores then took to the air, leaving no trace of the wizarding world's last hope.
"You're such a show off, Pyro …" Toad shook his head at his friend and fellow Brotherhood member after he had regained his composure.
"Don't look at me, Mate," Pyro gulped, "That wasn't me."
"If it wasn't you … Wormtail?" Toad asked, glancing at the Deatheater.
"The body's gone, it's disposed of," Wormtail shrugged, "He's dead, that's all that matters."
The two Mutants nodded and the three returned to the others, silently agreeing to never speak on what just happened again.
---
Hermione sighed loudly and looked over New Hogwarts from the new astronomy tower. She had woken up an hour ago, around four thirty, and after what happened, there was little chance for her to find sleep again.
"You should be sleeping," Kitty Pryde said, phasing through the floor.
"That's creepy how you do that," Hermione commented weakly, not taking her eyes from the castle town.
"No worse then Kurt," Kitty smiled sadly before walking over to stand by the girl's side.
"You should hate me," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"Why's that?" Kitty asked resting her arms on the railing of the tower roof.
"I stole your boyfriend."
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you hate me for it?"
"Yes and no."
"Yes and no?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"Yes, there are times when I lay in bed at night and all I can think about is phasing my hand through your skull and making your brains into oatmeal. But I've never seen Harry smile like he did when he was with you. You made him happy, so it can't be all that bad."
"Past tense …"
"Huh?" Now it was Kitty's turn to blink in confusion.
"I refuse … I refuse to accept he's gone," Hermione said, tears rimming her eyes. "Maybe it was a good thing I didn't tag along this time. Because I haven't seen his … bod … his … him, I can hold on to the hope that in the morning when I wake up, walk down to the common room and find Harry losing badly to Ron. I'd give him a kiss and we'll all go eat breakfast together."
"Hermione …"
"No, don't …" Hermione held up her hand, "Just let me hold on to that … just for a while longer …"
"Ok, but if you need to talk to someone who thought Harry Potter hung the moon and stars too, you know where to find me. I know it probably makes you as happy as it does me, but I can relate you know." Kitty surprised Hermione with a quick hug. "Now sleep, we've got a lot to do if we're gonna get that sonavabitch for what he's done."
Hermione watched Kitty phase through the roof before turning back to the starry sky. "Harry … I miss you …" She whispered and with that she walked toward the stairwell with a deep emptiness in her heart.
The northern sea was painted red as a colossal, flaming bird soared over the choppy waters that were relentlessly beating the rocky shores below. Intermingled with the anguished cry of the mythical bird were two distinct voices, one American and the other British. With an uncanny timing that were reminiscent of twins, the two spoke as one...
"It will be ok, Son, we'll save you."
The End
Coming Soon:
HPX3
HARRY POTTER
& THE FLAMES OF THE PHOENIX
C. Cowboy: I'd like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed the story, and also Excalibur for beta reading and editing the final chapters. Don't worry, the story is far from over, the next story should be up by the weekend. Thanks again!