Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, never will be (except for Aidan). The rest of them belong to Ms. Rowling. I just have them in for tea once in a while.
Thanks to my two fabulous betas, Wolfiekins and Kosh Weasley. You guys are the best!
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Aidan, barely visible in the early dawn light, crept quietly toward Harry’s bed. Madam Pomfrey had (against her better judgment) allowed him to return to the dorm, after sternly warning him against over-exerting himself for the next couple of days.
He quickly disrobed, slipped stealthily under the covers, and wrapped his arms around Harry from behind. Harry, though still asleep, sighed contentedly and snuggled deeply into Aidan’s embrace.
Aidan smiled, amazed and thrilled by his physical and emotional response to the contact with Harry. After several months of spending practically every moment together, their bond, and their thrall with each other, only grew stronger with each passing day.
There was just enough light coming into the room so that Aidan could observe Harry. His mate was so beautiful in slumber – so peaceful, so angelic, so perfect. Aidan rarely got to see him this way, as Harry was usually the one waking him.
Aidan was a very deep sleeper, but he’d awakened really early this morning – most likely due to the fact that he and Harry had spent the night apart for the first time since last August.
Waking up had always been an annoying struggle, but now that Harry was in his life, it was probably Aidan’s favorite part of the day. It was so awesome, slowly reaching toward sentience, gradually becoming aware of Harry’s gentle but provocative caresses, his voice murmuring teasing endearments. Then, when Aidan finally awoke, the first thing he’d see was Harry’s gorgeous smile, and his beautiful, sleepy emerald eyes.
Aidan would never forget how it felt to fall asleep in one world, and wake up in a completely different one. Being moved from one reality to another, through no effort of his own kept him very cognizant of his limitations. He was weak with gratitude each time he realized that he’d been permitted to remain here with Harry for another day. It was a brand new miracle every morning.
Usually, by the time he woke, Harry would have been nuzzling and cuddling him, and murmuring in his ear, for several minutes. Between the pleasurable touches, and the fact that they were teen-aged boys, they almost always had extreme and identical cases of “morning wood” which desperately needed attention.
Aidan smirked. He couldn’t think of a nicer way to start the day! And today, for once, he would be the perpetrator.
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As soon as Harry and Aidan finished a very necessary replenishing breakfast, they headed toward Dumbledore’s office.
“Okay, you know the drill,” Harry grinned, pausing at the bottom of the revolving stairway. “The password will be whatever Dumbledore’s favorite candy is this wee-”
Suddenly, the gargoyle jumped out of the way, and the stairway began spiraling on its own. The boys glanced at each other in confusion.
“I guess he must want to talk to us as well?” Aidan offered.
Harry shrugged, stepping onto the stairway. Aidan followed hesitantly.
When they reached the top, the door to the Headmaster’s office was already standing open. They entered slowly, glancing around.
“Professor Dumbledore?”
The office was empty, save for Fawkes, who sat preening on his perch. He trilled cheerfully at them, looking in the bloom of health. He was clearly just a few days past his most recent burning/rising day.
“Hey, Fawkes,” Harry smiled at the phoenix, making his way toward the magical bird.
As the boys approached, the normally dignified creature squawked loudly, and began bobbing up and down. He grasped the perch with his claws and swung downward until he was hanging completely upside down, acting for all the world like an excited parrot who could sense an impending earthquake.
The two wizards exchanged startled glances. Perhaps Fawkes was closer to a burning day than Harry originally thought he was.
“Hail, Brother Mactus!” A strange, completely unfamiliar voice that was NOT Harry’s greeted the redheaded wizard.
Aidan glanced anxiously around the room. This was not good. His role in Harry’s life was supposed to be a closely guarded secret, an “Ace in the Hole” for the side of the Light. So, why was a disembodied voice in Dumbledore’s office chatting with him about it?
“You are the mate of the Chosen One, are you not?”
Said disembodied voice was decidedly non-human. Perhaps it was one of the Hogwarts ghosts, hopefully one who could be persuaded to keep the secret safe from Peeves. God help them all if the demented poltergeist became privy to this information!
“Will you not answer me, child?”
Aidan realized all at once that the voice speaking to him seemed to originate from the throat of the Phoenix.
Cute. Harry was having quite the joke at his expense. Aidan decided to play along.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Fawkes, I didn’t mean to be rude,” Aidan answered earnestly. “I just never realized that The Boy Who Lived was such a bird brain.”
“Bird….brain?” The phoenix tilted his head to the side, as though confused. “The Chosen One speaks to snakes, does he not?”
Aidan glanced at Harry, who looked as though he’d just seen Voldemort and Pettigrew dressed in tutus, performing “Swan Lake.”
Okay, so maybe Fawkes WAS speaking to them? Aidan slowly approached the magical creature, reminding himself yet again that nothing about life these days should surprise him. Maybe some day he’d truly be able to internalize this concept.
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Harry watched in amazement as the phoenix cooed and chattered at Aidan, leaning in and nibbling on the redhead’s ear. Soon he began to comb through the boy’s auburn tresses with his beak, moving from his perch to Aidan’s shoulder. He rubbed his head against the boy’s cheek, like a cat intent on claiming and marking its favorite person.
Fawkes’ behavior was baffling enough, but it was nothing compared to the fact that Aidan was actually conducting a conversation with the bird in its own language. Harry watched, dumbfounded, as the two chatted away like old friends reunited after a lifetime apart. A sparkling, golden aura, saturated with their commingled magic, surrounded them, and Aidan, practically iridescent, had never looked more beautiful.
The two continued to converse for a while, occasionally breaking into what must be shared aviary humor. After a few more moments, Fawkes gave a final enthusiastic trill, and, with a soft “pop” disappeared into thin air.
Aidan turned toward Harry, a look of utter disbelief on his face. “You never told me he could speak English!”
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“Well, it seems that, in addition to your other talents, Mr. Agrandir, you also possess the Rostrumnarro gift,” Dumbledore twinkled enthusiastically. “Roughly translated, it means 'One who speaks with the bill of a bird.'"
“But sir, he was speaking English,” Aidan insisted. “I heard every word he said very clearly.”
“Aidan, it’s the same way with parseltongue,” Harry reminded him. “I never would have known I wasn’t speaking English if Ron and Hermione hadn’t told me.”
“So what you’re saying is, I can talk to a magical creature in his own language, but I can’t even cast a simple Lumos, without blinding half the castle,” Aidan sighed. “There’s something very wrong with this picture.”
Harry gasped quietly, coming to a startling realization. The pieces, one by one, fell into place.
Last night, his injured hand had suddenly stopped hurting, and the engraved skin had closed and smoothed out….
….after Aidan’s tears had fallen on his wound.
Just like Fawkes’ tears had done, when the basilisk fang had pierced him.
Healing tears…
Wow….Who would have ever imagined…No wonder Harry had never seen anyone else with hair the color of Aidan’s.
People were always underestimating his mate, Aidan himself more so than anyone. His magic insisted on manifesting itself in such outlandish ways that most people didn’t take him terribly seriously as a wizard.
Well, those who were acquainted with him were in for one hell of a surprise.
His beautiful little redhead, when he found his Animagus form, would undoubtedly look just like Fawkes.
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After conversing with Dumbledore for a while, they returned to their deserted dormitory.
“So, do I get to hear what Fawkes had to say?” Harry asked, taking a seat on Aidan’s bed. “You two seemed to really hit it off.”
Aidan sat down beside him. “He’s very outspoken, that bird.”
“Oh really,” Harry raised his eyebrows interestedly. “What words of wisdom did the winged one have to offer?”
“You know, he’s a nosy perv,” Aidan muttered. “Just like Dumbledore, only with feathers.”
Harry snickered loudly.
“I’m serious - they’re two of a kind,” Aidan grumbled. “No wonder he’s Dumbledore’s familiar.”
“You have GOT to tell me what he said!” Harry begged, still chuckling.
“Well, one thing he said is that I have “flight” in me,” Aidan began.
“Really?” Harry asked, excitedly. “Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
Aidan snorted with derision. “He wasn’t there the last time I attempted to use your Firebolt.”
Harry tried, but failed miserably, to keep from cracking up. Poor Aidan - every time he’d summoned the broom, the obstinate thing would either snap into an upright position and begin sweeping the surface of the Quidditch pitch, or it would fly unmanned in circles around Aidan's head, as though challenging him to a game of tag. After numerous times with the same results, Aidan, in his frustration, had referred to the Firebolt as an “overgrown shoe brush.” He’d then been chased back and forth across the field while the broom repeatedly whacked him across the backside.
Aidan tried to glare at his mate, but the memory was just too amusing.
“It’s okay, baby,” Harry patted his shoulder comfortingly. “In all honesty, I really prefer you all cuddled up behind me, on the back of my broom.”
“Truthfully, so do I,” Aidan smirked. “It’s the only way to fly.”
“Maybe Fawkes meant you’ll be able to fly later on,” Harry suggested. “You know, as you get more accustomed to being a wizard.”
“Uh, no, I don’t think that’s what he meant,” Aidan stammered, blushing.
“Why?” Harry asked.
“Well, he said that my flight, and…er…other things…would come about only if I was willing to “stretch my wings.”
Harry had never seen Aidan blush so furiously. He looked like he might burst into flame at any moment. “What other things, love?”
“Shit,” Aidan muttered, and then continued. “He also said that my mate is very powerful, but he will be unstoppable once he…once he….” here Aidan trailed off, mumbling unintelligibly.
“I’m sorry,” Harry moved closer, “I didn’t hear what you said.”
“Onceheisfullypiercedbymyquill.” Aidan babbled quietly.
“What?”
Aidan, still blushing furiously, spoke very slowly and distinctly. “Once. He. Is. Fully. Pierced. By. My. Quill.”
“Oh.” Harry processed this statement silently for a moment, before breaking out into an enormous grin. “Oooooooooh! I see!”
“Mmhmm.” Aidan murmured.
“Wow. Well - that’s pretty clear, isn’t it?”
He regarded Aidan, who nodded, suddenly very interested in the texture of the carpet. He continued staring at the smaller boy until Aidan was forced to meet his eyes - at which point they burst into simultaneous hysterical laughter. Before long they fell to the floor, overcome with mirth.
“Oh my GOD, I nearly shit myself!” Aidan gasped, wiping away the copious tears running down his face. “That was the LAST thing I expected him to say!”
“I can imagine,” Harry struggled to catch his breath. “What did you say then?”
“Well,” Aidan bit his lip, looking away. “I told him that wasn’t my usual flight pattern.”
Harry exploded again into laughter, dragging Aidan right along with him, which delayed their conversation again by several more minutes.
“Isn’t it great, the maturity level we’ve attained?” Aidan observed, finally getting a grip on his hysteria.
“Well, you have to admit," Harry sat up, still trying to catch his breath, “getting advice about your sex life from a phoenix – I mean - damn!”
“Yeah,” Aidan reached for Harry’s hand, “particularly when that advice calls for a complete…uh…behavioral change.”
Harry realized that Fawkes’ suggestion intrigued him greatly. “I have to say, I kind of like the idea.”
“Really?” Aidan glanced at him uncertainly. “You wouldn’t mind….trading places….once in a while?”
“I want to experience everything with you, love,” Harry assured him. “Besides – it sounds like…well, in order for the Mactus power to be fully activated, we have to….”
“Consummate the bond both ways,” Aidan murmured distractedly.
© 2009 Wolf Moon / Buckland Productions.
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