Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N - Alright folks, here you go, chapter two! We get to see some of the other characters here. This chapter starts the ball rolling with the investigation. I do hope you all enjoy it, and please review and let me know your thoughts. :)

Chapter Two

The Phoenix Mark

Walking along the dirt path, Harry looked up into the green canopy above him that glittered with the drizzled sunrays that dodged the leaves and made it to his eyes. The trees were dense, but the path moved through them easily. Hearing a giggle, he looked ahead and found the bouncing sway of brown hair moving behind a tree and down the path. Harry beamed happily and jogged down the path in hopes of catching the mischievous girl.

Turning down the bend, he stopped as he looked ahead and found the path empty. A bird chirped nearby, and he looked up to the trees again before looking again down the path.

`AHHH!' someone screamed behind him, and Harry turned quickly. A body fell against him-along with a mass of bushy brown hair-and he, along with the person, fell on the path.

`Hermione!' Harry shouted as he hit the ground. His head fell in the brush, but he was all right, and the dirt broke his fall. Hermione was laughing beyond control, and looking at Harry's face just made it worse.

`Oh, you think it's funny, eh?' he asked devilishly, reaching to her waist and beginning to tickle her. She started laughing even more, trying to fight back, but it was not working.

`You think it's funny?' Harry asked again, laughing himself as she continued to try and fight back. Harry finally gave up with the tickling, laughing at how cute Hermione looked with her feeble fight against his onslaught of tickles. That, and he wanted to stop before she started tickling him back.

Hermione beamed delightfully at Harry as he moved his arms to the small of her back, and he pushed firmly against her. She was still catching her breath, and she took deep breaths as she moved her hands up his chest and to his face.

Harry smiled at her as her warm brown eyes looked his face over for a moment. The wind gave a gentle breeze that shook the mass of green leaves above them in the trees, and the light gush wafted the wonderful aroma of honeysuckle from Hermione's hair in Harry's direction.

His hand pulled on her gently, and Hermione smiled again, before lowering, and the two kissed. Harry moved his hands up her back and reached under her shirt, feeling the softness of her bare back against his palms. He traced about with his fingers, and a giggle escaped Hermione's mouth. Harry felt a surge of passion run through his veins with the reaction, and he smiled as he deepened their kiss with a fiery lust.

The snogging session was quickly turning hot, when all of a sudden Harry felt something soft hit him in the face.

`Wake up, Harry!' someone yelled. Harry sat up quickly, looked about, and found he was in a small bedroom with a Quidditch poster on one wall, and a nice window with curtains on another. He was in a bed with the sheets all mismatched and strewn about-some actually on the floor more than the bed.

It was a dream? He questioned himself, glancing to see that it was a pillow that had hit him. He heard someone working about in the kitchen and was about to ask who it was when the person turned the corner.

`Harry, com'on, hurry up!' Hermione said, coming around the doorway and walking in. She was busy getting things out, and seemed to be picking out a wardrobe for Harry.

`Hermione, what- . . . what are you doing?' he asked, wiping his eyes. He took a glance at his clock, and saw the time. 6:36 am.

`Com'on, hurry up, we need to get to the scene,' she insisted, throwing a shirt on Harry's messed up bed. Harry, in the mean time, fell backwards onto his bed and sighed tiredly.

`Hermione, I'm on vacation. For the next two weeks I don't go to any scenes,' he grumbled, turning over and readjusting his pillow.

`Urg, Harry, com'on!' she ranted, not bothering with the clothes, and instead whisking her wand at the bed. All the sheets flew off the bed, and Harry was left on it with his pillow and his pajama pants.

`Hermione! What's going on, I'm on vacation!' he argued aggressively. He looked up at Hermione and found her blushing at Harry. Harry quickly found what caused the reaction, and sat up quickly.

`You're not on vacation anymore. Hurry up, Kingsley ordered me to come and get you,' she explained, throwing the clothes at him.

`Can you at least tell me what's going on?' Harry asked as he put the shirt on. Hermione lowered her head and glanced at Harry.

`It's Neville.'

`What about him?' Harry asked, seeing the grave look on her face.

`Neville's dead.'

`What?' Harry whispered in shock. `Neville, our Neville, from Hogwarts?' he questioned.

`Yes, Harry, Neville Longbottom. He was killed last night, at his house. Kingsley wants you there because there's something he thinks you need to see.'

With the information, Harry realized the importance, and got dressed quickly. Hermione waited for him at the doorway, and Harry quickly used the washroom and grabbed his wand and cloak before meeting with her.

`I'm sorry I was being a prat earlier,' Harry confessed, Hermione giving him a kiss.

`It's all right. I can tell it was a good dream, it's just . . . I can't believe Neville's dead. I thought we were done with all the deaths,' Hermione admitted as they walked down the stairs.

Harry had a flat in West London, and to Apparate, he usually went to a nearby alleyway. Apparating in the flat, Harry found out, usually made other tenants call the landlord, thinking an electrical outlet broke or a pipe burst. Of course since magic and electrical appliances do not really work well together, sometimes those things would actually occur when Apparating.

`I know, Hermione, I know,' Harry reassured, giving her hand a squeeze. `And it was a good dream, you were in it.'

Hermione smirked slightly at this, but it was not long lived. It was hard for Harry to smile too, as the knowledge that Neville was gone was slowly sinking in.

`Is Ron there?' Harry asked as they came to the alleyway. It was a narrow corridor between two fire routes, so almost no one ever walked down there. They walked to about the middle of the alleyway, and moved next to the dumpster.

`Yes, he got there last night. He was on watch, and the curse was detected at Neville's. He's been there for hours, but we need to get there quick. Kingsley said they needed to get rid of something soon, but you need to get there first.'

Harry understood, and glanced up and down the alley. The coast was clear, and letting go over Hermione's hand, he kissed her quickly, and the two of them turned abruptly. The siphoning of Apparation pushed against each of them as they vanished, and a loud crack resounded in the desolate alley.

Landing on the front porch, the two Aurors scared the daylights out of several other Ministry officials outside.

`Sorry,' Harry admitted, running his hand through his messy hair. He did not have the time to even shower before getting there, so he looked rather ragged and rough shaven.

He and Hermione walked into the house and found several Aurors walking about, running over all the furniture and items with their wands. There were conversations coming from upstairs, and just as Harry glanced about, Ron Weasley came down the stairs.

`Hey,' he expressed quietly, reaching the bottom of the stairs. Harry could easily see how tired he was, the bags under his eyes weighing heavily on this sleepy eyes. He had been on duty since seven the night before, and it was already twelve hours later. He started work when the sun still had not set, and now it had already risen again on a new day.

`Where is he?' Harry asked, feeling a pang in his chest. Harry had only been in Neville's house once, and that was when he and his fiancée-now his wife-got the house in the first place. He felt horrible realizing how he had neglected seeing Neville more. He worked at the Ministry; it would not have been hard to see him.

`He's upstairs in the bedroom. Seems someone got in the house, killed the cat, and then him. We couldn't find his wand, and when we got here, everything was locked up,' Ron explained.

`What about his wife? Umm, Laurel, right?' Hermione asked, Harry nodding.

`She's with Luna right now. Once we found out what happened, we got a runner to let her know, and she came back right away. She's devastated,' Ron professed.

`We should go and see her after we're done here,' Harry insisted, the other two nodding.

Ron led the way as Harry and Hermione walked up the steps. A dead cat lay at the top of the stairs, its eyes wide open staring into nothingness. Hermione choked a bit at the sight, no doubt reminded of Crookshanks back at her flat, and they slowly moved around the deceased cat. Moving down the hallway, all the doors were locked, and several Aurors were standing outside the only open door. A tall dark skinned man walked out of the room, and turned towards the three Aurors.

`Harry, I am sorry to pull you away from your vacation-` Kingsley started.

`It's all right sir, I understand,' Harry reassured.

`All right. Thank you, Hermione, for getting him so quickly. Be warned when you enter, you're going to hear something,' Kingsley said. He turned, and walked into the bedroom, while Harry gave Hermione and Ron a disturbed look, and followed. Crossing the threshold, a distant sounding voice reached Harry's ears.

`I am the Emerald Phoenix, and you are the first of many who will die at my wand.'

Harry turned to Hermione, and her eyes were wide with shock. It was obvious she heard it too.

`What was-` Harry started.

`The message?' Kingsley asked, Harry and Hermione nodding. `It seems to be a spell cast on the room. When someone enters the room for the first time, they hear it. We're trying to lift the spell, but it's complicated.'

Harry gave a worried glance to Hermione, and continued forward. Inside the room, there was a bed and a few other normal bedroom things: a lamp, a nightstand, and a few other pieces of furniture. Moving around the bed, Harry's eyes fell on a leg, then a torso, and finally the body of Neville Longbottom.

It had been a while since Harry had seen him. He had lost some weight, and had his hair shorter. It made him look thinner than before.

He was wearing clothes that looked to be for bed, and the open sheets would agree that he was asleep when whoever came in here did the act. Harry looked about and found the curtains were drawn, and trying the windows, they were all locked.

`So . . . someone, this Phoenix fellow, just came in, and . . . and killed him?' he asked, still unpleasant with the reality of it all. One of his closest friends from Hogwarts, a man who saved his life in that attack on Hogwarts, and who found him before anyone else in the dungeons, was dead.

`It appears so. We checked the spell ratio in this room, and it's clear only two spells were cast in here, and the total is very strong. A Killing Curse is the obvious choice, since this echo spell or whatever is not that strong,' Kingsley explained.

`But who would do this? I thought we got all the major Death Eaters?' Hermione questioned, a tear threatening to spill as she looked at Neville's lifeless body.

`We did, Hermione, you guys did as well as the Auror Department, but this guy could be anyone. Of course it doesn't help that he has a name for himself and a mark,' Kingsley mentioned.

`A mark?' Harry asked, Ron looking at Harry surprisingly.

`Blimey, Harry, you didn't see it?'

`See what?' Harry asked. Ron looked at Kingsley, and he nodded. Ron ushered Harry and Hermione out of the room with Kingsley following, and the three Aurors and the Supervisor moved back down the stairs and out the front door into the morning sunlight.

`What am I going to see?' Harry asked again, looking at Ron as they moved away from the house.

`That,' Ron said, turning around and looking at the house. Harry turned and literally took a step back in shock at the sight.

Above Neville's small home, a massive green bird made of emerald flames lorded over the roof with a sinister nature, the flames licking off the shingles and up into the pale dawn sky. As the bird arched its head up, Harry could see the kind of bird it was, and it sent shivers down Harry's spine.

`A phoenix?' he remarked.

`Yes. This "Emerald Phoenix" seems to be taking after You-Know-Who,' Kingsley maintained. Although Voldemort was destroyed years ago, some people, like Kingsley, still had a hard time saying his name.

Harry watched as the phoenix extended its wings over the roof and opened its mouth, giving off a call like that of a ghostly bird of prey, which seemed to pierce his soul and hollow his chest.

As Harry scanned the bird, hearing the sound of the phoenix and watching it closely, his scar burned hotly for the first time in years, and he grabbed his forehead in pain.

`Harry? Harry, are you all right?' Hermione questioned, looking at Harry and back again at the phoenix.

Kingsley quickly moved forward and vanished the bird with a complicated move of his wand. The pain subsided in his scar, and Harry let go of his forehead and looked at Kingsley. The Supervisor gave a sigh and walked towards him.

`Any ideas who it could be?' Kingsley asked. Harry could tell Kingsley thought he knew more about this killing because of his scar, and Harry did have an idea who it could be, but he was not ready to admit that guess. It could not be true anyway.

`No. Perhaps it's a copy cat, trying to play off the Dark Mark?' he offered. Kingsley pondered it for a moment, before looking back at the house for a moment.

`All right. I wanted to hear your thoughts on this, but things are fine. Ron, go on home and see your wife and check up on Neville's wife. Hermione, you take the day off if you'd like, and Harry, you're already on vacation.'

`Sir, I think we all really want to work on this case. Neville was our friend, and we need to find out who did this,' Hermione urged, Harry nodding, along with Ron, though he did it a bit slower because of the sleepiness.

`Yeah, sir, I'll take time off after this if it's all right. We owe it to Neville to find out,' Harry stated.

`O.K., Ron, still go home and get some sleep. Harry, Hermione, go and check up on Neville's wife, and talk to Ron's wife. It seems she was the last person to see Neville alive. Report back to the Ministry at four o'clock.'

`Yes, sir,' they answered-again, Ron a bit tiredly compared to the others-and Kingsley went back into the house. The memory of that phoenix over the house still gave Harry the wiggles, and from one look at Hermione, he could tell the same thoughts were running through her head, as well as Ron's.

The three of them, without a word, Apparated to Ron's house, and walked inside to find Luna-still wide as ever-trying to console a deeply distraught woman.

Harry knew this was Laurel. Her long auburn hair was a clear give-away. She was a short girl, but had a very nice figure and Harry found her to be very cute. At first Harry had to admit he was surprised Neville got such a beautiful girl, but he did not resent it. Neville deserved a girl like that, and besides, there was much more to a girl than her looks. Harry could tell they were made for each other when she mentioned she grew up on a farm and enjoyed plants. That just sealed the deal for the two of them.

But at the moment, the two of them were no more. Harry could not even comprehend the sadness she must have felt, learning her husband had been killed so abruptly in a time of peace.

Laurel heard the door close behind Ron, and she looked up at the group. Harry's heart wrenched as he saw her cheeks covered in tears from her blue eyes, and her hands shaking as she looked at Harry and the others.

Hermione moved around to give Laurel support, placing her hand on Laurel's shoulder. As Harry took a step forward, Laurel stood suddenly and with tears still streaming down her face, she took two steps towards Harry, and he knew what to do. He compassionately opened his arms, and he gave her a hug as she continued to cry and sob profusely.

Harry stroked her back warmly as he glanced over and found Hermione crying as well. The full realization of Neville's death was now hitting all of them, and with a small wave, Hermione walked over and embraced Laurel and Harry.

Luna and Ron quickly followed, and the four wizards consoled their Muggle friend. Luna was one of the few who went to Neville and Laurel's wedding, and she knew her well.

The group let go slowly, and Harry and Luna helped Laurel in to her seat. She was still crying, but her tears were running out. She hiccuped at odd intervals, and Hermione tried to help by summoning a glass, and filling it with water. Laurel accepted, but did not take a drink.

`We're so sorry Laurel,' Ron expressed solemnly. She looked down at her feet for a moment before nodding and placing her hands on her face.

Harry and the others took seats around her and continued to comfort her as best as possible. She calmed down slowly, but of course it was a horribly sad time for everyone. She explained how she had found out, and more tears came as she spoke of their future plans, finally coming to a tidal wave of sadness when mentioning she was two months pregnant.

`Then part of him will live on,' Luna cooed to her friend, Laurel taking hold of her hand and squeezing it gently.

`Oh Luna,' she whispered, sniffing as she looked at her friend. `You always had a way of looking at things. Neville likes-` she stopped, realizing the wrong tense. She took a breath, and closed her eyes, pushing forward. `Neville always liked that about you.'

Laurel gave the shadow of a smile, and Luna reached over and the two hugged each other tightly.

`Harry, can I talk to you for a second?' Hermione asked as she looked over. Harry nodded his head slowly, and the two gave warming touches to Laurel's shoulders before walking around the corner. They just got around when they heard Ron leaving as well, and joining them.

The three of them sighed together as they looked at each other, then down at the floor.

`Do you think she'll be alright?' Ron asked.

`Laurel's a tough woman, she'll be O.K. It just takes time, and support,' Hermione assured. Harry looked again at the floor and rubbed his scar as the memory of the Emerald Phoenix's call rang through his mind, and the appearance of Neville on his bedroom floor moved in front of Harry's eyes like a haunting shadow.

`Your scar hurt when you saw that phoenix, didn't it?' Hermione declared, Harry looking at her and dropping his hand.

`If your scar burned, then-`

`I know, Ron, I know. He's dead though, and it wasn't the Dark Mark,' Harry insisted.

The three of them stood in silence as the quiet murmurs of Luna and Laurel reached their ears. Harry was trying to understand the whole situation himself.

`What if we missed something,' Hermione feared.

`Hermione, we got all the Horcruxes, and I defeated him! Voldemort's dead, it can't be him,' Harry maintained. There had to be another reason for his scar burning when he saw the phoenix.

`Why else would your scar burn? It has to be Voldemort,' Hermione asserted.

Harry was not ready to believe such a statement. He did have to agree that his scar burning could have something to do with Voldemort, but it was a far reach.

`It can't be him, Hermione. We destroyed him. Maybe just seeing the green mark above the house reminded me of the Dark Mark, and my scar tingled a bit,' Harry offered.

`Harry, your scar burned, I saw. And you know full well that did not look close to the Dark Mark,' Hermione insisted.

`But how could it still be Voldemort? How could he still be around? And why wouldn't he just cast the Dark Mark, instead of all this "Emerald Phoenix" rubbish?' Ron questioned.

The situation was strange indeed. If Harry's scar always burned because of Voldemort, and Voldemort was dead, how could it burn again years later? Harry was sure Voldemort could not be alive anymore. But, even if somehow Voldemort did survive-though highly unlikely in Harry's opinion-would he not use his normal name? Casting the Dark Mark would have caused a lot more terror in the Wizarding World, since it had not been seen for over three years.

`Perhaps we're dealing with something different,' Hermione offered distantly.

`What do you mean?' Harry asked, Hermione leaning over to see how Laurel and Luna were doing. They were sitting, talking quietly, and the three looked back at each other.

`Maybe we missed a Horcrux,' she stated, Harry not being able to keep his sigh in.

`Hermione, we got them all: the diary, the locket, the cup, the ring, the sword, the snake, and Voldemort himself. We got them all, all seven of them!' Harry boasted.

`Yes, but we weren't sure about the snake. Remember what Dumbledore said, he thought the snake could be a Horcrux, we were never totally sure,' Hermione articulated.

`But you saw what happened when the snake died. It was the same with all the other Horcruxes; we used the Proliatentia Trinity, and the green mist rose out. You saw the soul getting sucked by the Dementor, just as the spell means,' Harry reminded, Hermione nodding all the while.

`Yes, Harry, but what if something went wrong? What if that wasn't Voldemort's soul, and there's still a Horcrux out there?' she questioned.

`How could it not have been Voldemort's soul?' Harry asked, his voice exasperated with Hermione's continual belief that a Horcrux still existed.

`We never saw what the spell would do to a normal creature, so how do we know it was Voldemort's soul and not the snake's?' she asked.

`Because we know! Hermione, Dumbledore said the snake made the most sense. What else would be a Horcrux? We got every item Dumbledore thought would be a Horcrux, and he knew everything about them! Why do you think Voldemort got so furious when he saw the snake was dead?' Harry questioned, some temper getting into his voice. He knew Hermione would stick to her theory, even if Harry himself found no reason to believe it.

`Maybe the Horcrux was something else. We never looked outside Dumbledore's ideas. He was not a seer; he was fallible just as you and I,' Hermione pointed out.

`You're going off thinking this killer is some brought back version of Voldemort from a phantom Horcrux. You're ignoring the first rule in solving a magical crime: keep it simple,' Harry reminded.

`All right, Harry, all right,' Hermione said, backing down with her idea. `Just keep it in mind. The connection to Voldemort is just too close to be a coincidence.'

`That's why I thought it was a copy cat. The Dark Mark was well known, so perhaps this killer is trying to mimic Voldemort,' Harry offered.

`But why the phoenix, and why Neville?' Ron questioned.

`Maybe this killer wants to flaunt or steal fame. The Order of the Phoenix is well known now in Britain, because of their involvement at Hogwarts. And like Harry said, perhaps he's trying to mimic the Dark Mark,' Hermione added. `As to Neville . . .'

`Maybe the killer is an escaped Death Eater, or someone who was at Hogwarts. Neville played an important part in defending Hogwarts. It could be someone who wanted Neville dead from that. Perhaps Laurel might know if he got any threatening letters or notes,' Harry pondered.

`Speaking of whom, we should go back. We'll talk about this more later,' Hermione proposed. The two men agreed, and Ron led the way back into the kitchen, Hermione and Harry following.

Walking back in, Harry's mind reminded him of the phoenix above the house, and his mind turned to dark thoughts. Could Hermione be right? Could they have missed a Horcrux, and someone had found it? Or was it a copy cat killer, trying to mimic Voldemort?

Regardless of who it could be, Harry decided to take focus on Neville's widowed wife. Tear streaks were imprinted on her cheeks, and as Harry and the others took their seats around the table, she looked at Hermione, then Harry.

`Will you find who did this Harry?' she asked quietly.

`I promise, Laurel, we'll find who did this,' Harry asserted, taking her hand and glancing at Hermione.

A/N - So, thoughts? How do you find the story line so far? Do have you wondering who the Emerald Phoenix is, and what his plans are? Oh, believe me folks, there are plans. Rather evil ones actuals. :)

Please review!

Spell/Name Meanings:
Proliatentia Trinity - L. proeliator - warrior/knight, potentia - power, trinity = a group of three (a triad) (Proliatentia Trinity = The Power of the Three Knights) (this spell is used by the trio (Harry, Hermione, and Ron) on a Horcrux. They point their wands at the Horcrux, and use the spell to lift the soul out of the object. The spell also acts as a call for dementors, and when they come, they are drawn to the soul, and proceed to suck it from the air until nothing remains. Thus, the Horcrux is destroyed.)

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