Walking Through Treacle

Fawkes didn't know what to think. The girl had hung onto him as if he was a prize turkey until she reached Albus' study, and then handed him over.

"I brought your phoenix back, Professor Dumbledore." Fawkes played along, letting himself be placed on his stand by Albus, as if he couldn't have got there himself. The girl's tears ran down her face, and she told Albus how she'd been approached, and when she'd refused, her grandfather had had his shoulder blade broken. They'd sent her a pensieve with it in, and she'd gone up to the fifth tower, because no one used it. Severus came in, and gently took the girl to the hospital wing. Fawkes was there by the time the two Slytherins had reached it, in full invisibility mode.

He gave her a sleeping draught and returned to the study, leaving Fawkes to watch over her until morning. He rubbed his head against her hand, letting her hand run down his back. She dozed easily, and he stood by her until morning, waking her up by tickling her toes with his tail-feathers.

He picked up her robes in his beak, and handed them over, letting her get dressed before her head of house came in. Severus was evidently shaken by events, and his arm was giving him pain. As he took over, Fawkes noticed that Zeus was on the windowsill, and went over to him.

Severus continued to talk with her, and Zeus continued to listen, before nodding and leaving. Fawkesflew after him, and they soared, wing-tip to wing-tip, with Zeus making a strange screeching sound. They alighted on the top of the astronomy tower, where they talked Zeus abandoning his usual solitary behaviour. Fawkes wasn't sure he wasn't imagining it, but when Zeus started to groom him gently he surrendered to this feeling of heaven. To begin with, Zeus was gentle, running his beak over Fawkes body, letting the phoenix enjoy himself over the feeling of feather against feather. Stroking the talons, Fawkes responded in kind, letting Zeus know how much he was appreciated. Gradually it got more serious - Zeus was more insistent, while Fawkes simply acquiesced, letting the owl mate with him, feeling the pleasure run through him.

Afterwards Fawkes felt rather bereft. Zeus had flown off, leaving the phoenix alone, and wondering what had happened. As if that wasn't humiliation enough, he realised that one of the telescopes had been trained on them the whole time, and even now there were probably students laughing at him. His head drooped forlornly, and he left the tower, not daring to look and see who had born witness to his affections.

Flying in through a window, he alighted in Severus' dungeons, and let the tears fall. Severus said nothing, simply placing a petri dish under him, and letting it catch the tears, not really sure what you say to a disconsolate phoenix who's just had the best (probably only) sex of his life. Fawkes felt used.