The Phoenix's Fire

Pasts Remembered

Chapter 6

'Sirius...'

Jolting back to reality, Harry hurried towards where he knew the strategists of the Order were assessing the damage. Bursting through the door, he yelled for Remus. Glancing up, the werewolf immediately looked concerned.

"How long have you known that he was missing?" Harry growled.

"Since about ten minutes after we got back," Remus replied calmly.

"Who's missing?" Dakota asked curiously.

"Sirius," Harry snapped. Turning back to the werewolf, he quietly asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What difference would it have made? We couldn't have gone back and it would have just caused even more worry and panic."

"Look at it this way: at least there is not yet any proof that he is dead. There is still hope that he is alive," Stanton the replied.

Glaring at them, Harry began snapping orders to get maps and start preparing to rescue the ten missing in action.

*****

In the dark cell where he had been thrown, Sirius Black struggled to open his eyes. Looking at his surroundings, he tried to recall what had happened. In a flash, he remembered the pathetic battle that had ensued. After hearing Harry give the order to retreat, he had raised his wand to apparate when he'd heard Destiny, his little girl, yell to save the bodies. Spinning around and searching frantically for the location of the voice, he'd been stunned by a Death Eater for standing still for to long.

Groaning, he rubbed his forehead.

"Is he waking?" a voice murmured.

"I believe so..."

"It's about time!" a male voice snapped.

"Shut-up, you're not helping!" a girl's voice replied sharply.

Blinking up at the people crowded around him while trying to focus his eyes, Sirius whispered hoarsely, "How long have I been out?"

"About a day," the woman who'd spoken last replied. Reaching out, she helped him sit up. "You hit your head pretty hard when you fell. How do you feel?"

"Crappie, but I'll be fine in a little while." Looking around at the assembled faces, he frowned. "Who are all of you? I don't recognize any of you."

"No, you wouldn't, would you? You never pay attention to anything that doesn't pertain specifically to you." Sighing, the woman visibly deflated. "My name is Mia and I am an elf."

"Hang on, I do know you! You helped train Harry to be a War Mage!"

"Yes," she said simply, "I did."

"So you can get us out of here, right?"

"No, I can't help. None of us can. This place has wards that repel magic. Besides, if we wait long enough; help will come."

"They may figure that we're dead and not come."

"Lady Destiny would never leave us to die. If we aren't all accounted for, a rescue team will be sent. It may take some time though."

Looking around at the sad state they all were in, Sirius couldn't help but wonder how long they could make it.

*****

Later that evening, after returning to his home, Harry sat in front of a fire, a drink in hand, staring broodingly at the flames. Coming silently into the room, Alexia paused by the heavy oak French door. Moving slowly to the chair next to his, she lowered herself down carefully.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"No."

"It'll help." When she didn't receive an answer, she changed the topic. "I lived in the medieval times, you know. It was awful. People wasted so much time worrying about keeping their family names spotless that they often lost track of what was important. I grew up with a wealthy merchant as a father and had everything I wanted. My mother died when I was fifteen and that's when everything began to change. The world I had always known was gone forever. Time passed, we mourned, and I began to move on. When I was, oh, about nineteen, I met this boy named Cameron. He was wonderful, everything I could ever want. He came from some far away place that I could only dream of and swept me off my feet. We courted for a year before HE came."

Having finally drawn him into the story, Harry asked who 'he' was.

Laughing softly, she continued. "He was a vampire."

Straightening in his chair, Harry's eyes widened. "He's the one who changed you isn't he?"

"He was responsible for the de Winter vampire clan, yes." Pausing, she smiled. "You actually know him too. His name is Stanton."

"Stanton? That white haired vampire from work?" Seeing her nod of conformation, Harry asked, "Why did he change you?"

"Respect, loneliness: a lot of things. I'll explain it later sometime. It was when I met Stanton though that I found out I was a witch. Actually, I'd already known but he began to teach me the magic that I should have learned at Hogwarts."

"Why didn't you go to Hogwarts if you were magical?"

"Circumstances; circumstances that have been around forever." Before he could ask, she waved away his question. "It's none of your concern. It's too late to change it anyways. The world is as it is and she'll not be changed. This is not the point of the story though."

"The point is I learned the magic that I was taught and had both the brains and the talent to be the best. I would have been too if it hadn't been for LOVE..." Bowing her head, she closed her eyes on the welling tears and tried to control her breathing. "Cameron was also a wizard but had left the magical world to live as a muggle so that he would not have to deal with the evil that came with the magic."

"When he found out I was accepting my magic, that I was slowly doing magic that wasn't exactly smiled upon, that I wasn't the muggle I had pretended to be... he... he didn't take it well..."

"Meaning he completely freaked out," Harry summarized.

"Pretty much."

"How did you and your family end up being changed?"

"Cameron betrayed us to the authorities with the accusation of witchcraft and they came after us. Our house was burned and we were caught in the flames. We escaped but the de Winter family dying. Stanton changed them at my request and we all lived- sort of anyways."

"About a week after the burning of my home, I was found in the forest where I had taken refuge, and drug out before the crowd." Smiling savagely, she said proudly, "They hung me for being a witch that day. I can still feel the bones in my neck snapping."

"You were hung?" he asked with disbelief. "Why would someone who supposedly loved you do that to you?"

"I'm not sure. He was in the crowd that day though. He came up before I climbed onto the scaffold and said that he was sorry. I forgave him and..." Coming to a halt, Alexia suddenly changed the topic. "Tell me about yourself and your misfortunes."

Cocking his eyebrows, he smiled bitterly. "Misery loves company?"

"Something like that."

"Well," he started, reclining back into his chair. "What do you want to know?"

"I know your school story, so, how about what happened after graduation?"

"After Destiny left, I just kind of hung around a lot. I just didn't care anymore. Things were getting worse with Voldemort when an elf named Mia approached me about becoming a War Mage. With nothing better to do, I agreed. From seventeen to twenty, I spent learning the art of the Mage."

Giving him a disbelieving look, she raised her eyebrows and whispered, "Three years... My Lord, you managed to become a full fledged MAGE in THREE YEARS? That's completely impossible!"

"Well, it actually took four years. I trained with Destiny for a year before she disappeared..."

Reaching out her hand and taking his in hers, she murmured, "You really miss her, don't you?"

Glancing at her, he quickly looked back at the floor. Running his hand tiredly through his hair, he squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

"I would do anything for the chance to see her one more time; to hold her in my arms for just a moment."

"You will one day," Alexia replied soothingly.

"How do you know? You could be wrong."

"I promise you," she replied sincerely, "you WILL see her once more before the end."

*****

Glancing cautiously over his shoulder, Draco Malfoy hurried through the dungeons, ignoring the prisoners pitiful begging. Stopping at a cell in the very back of the dungeons, he glanced inside and cleared his throat to get the prisoners attention. The looks he received were enough to make a lesser man retreat in fear.

"Psst, Black!" Rising to his feet, Sirius glared hatefully at the younger man. Waving him forwards, he hissed, "Help is coming."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to believe a word you say? You're a Death Eater and a Malfoy."

"I may be guilty of both but I am also your daughter's best friend. The only friend she trusted enough not to abandon." Pausing to be sure they were listening, he continued in a whisper. "Destiny is coming- be ready."

Without glancing back, Draco strolled from the damp dungeons and into the sunlight.

*****

Twenty-four hours later, Sirius sat on the cold floor and watched as the other captives tried desperately to keep Derek Lupe alive after his encounter with the Cruciatus Curse. Turning his head away, he sighed in defeat. It hadn't taken long for him to figure out who the old man was since everyone seemed to defer to him for everything. He was the leader of the shape-shifters. Remus had mentioned him before.

'Well, he won't be much longer and then Dakota will take his place.'

Cringing at the thought, he glanced back to the center of the cramped cell. The old man was taking his last breaths, the death rattle clearly heard by all.

A couple of minutes after complete silence had descended, Mia spoke up. "What should we do with the body?"

Nobody bothered to reply; there was no need to. They all understood that it wouldn't matter in a day or so; they would be joining him.

*****

Creeping quietly through the underbrush of the forest, a small snowy white fox lifted its head and sniffed at the air. Catching the scent it was searching for, the fox ran forwards, dodging trees and stumps.

Time was running short and the small fox knew that the hunt had begun.

*****

Walking swiftly through the swirling gray mist, Destiny looked at the figures walking next to her: Lily and James Potter, her best friends. Returning her attention to the path before her, she frowned. The Potters' wondering on earth was about to come to a close. The Necromancer was going to make sure that when she died, they had been freed from their imprisonment.

*****

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Sirius could feel tears blurring his vision. He had forgotten just how painful the Cruciatus Curse was and prayed to never feel it again.

Two days had passed since their capture. Two long, agonizing days and still there was no sign that his daughter was coming to rescue them. Truthfully though, Sirius hoped she wouldn't. He just couldn't bear to see her die.

As he was thinking this, a black, swirling hole appeared in the room and a figure cloaked in white stepped out. With the hood up and her face shrouded in darkness, none of her features were visible. Stepping farther into the room, she froze at the sight of Derek Lupe's corpse. Glancing at the state of the living in the room, she focused her attention upon the elf.

"Mia, there are only seven living in this room. Where are the other two?"

"They're dead," she replied quietly.

Nodding, the woman motioned to the swirling portal.

"Pick up Derek and let's go."

As two shape-shifters carefully lifted their fallen leader, the woman turned to Sirius.

"Hello," she whispered.

Staring at her in disbelief, Sirius responded incredulously. "Hello? Destiny you disappeared for five years and all you have to say is HELLO?"

"Look," she murmured, "now is not the time for this. We'll discuss our problems when we reach safety."

"Good, then you can explain to Harry why you abandoned him."

"Oh no," Destiny replied, "I'm not taking you to Harry. I'll be taking you to Dakota and she will deal with Harry. Now get up, we have to be going."

Walking back to the hole, she froze when she heard what her father's response was. "They were right about you. You really do have a heart of stone and no soul."