The Phoenix's Fire

Destiny's Death

Chapter 7

Walking around the outer perimeter of the room, Dakota couldn't help but bite her nails nervously.

"Dakota, please sit down. Pacing isn't going to make them arrive any sooner," Remus said soothingly.

"Excuse me for caring that my family and friends are in danger!"

Lounging back into the chair, Remus only raised an eyebrow in her direction. "It still won't change a thing."

Coming to a stop, she flopped onto the couched, beside him. Rolling onto her back, she flung her feet into his lap.

"How can you always be so calm?"

"How can you always be so hyper?"

Smiling, Dakota propped herself up onto her elbows. "Who knows?" Looking into the fire that burned in the hearth, she forced herself not to look at the clock on the mantle. "How is the Sirius-Julia thing going?"

Snorting, Remus said, "They're working on it."

Suspiciously, she asked, "Have they made progress?"

"Oh yeah! They're dating and I suspect Sirius is going to propose soon. Everything would be perfect in that family if Destiny would just go home."

"She has her reasons."

"I know. But still... Sirius is my friend and it's killing me to see him so miserable..."

"I don't see why he cares so much. I mean, he knew her for less than a year-"

"They hung out constantly though. Whenever she wasn't with Harry, she was with her father."

"Well, Destiny is going to rescue them so they will have a chance to talk."

Pursing his lips, Remus exhaled loudly. "I just hope he doesn't screw everything up."

*****

Stunned, Destiny couldn't move for a moment. Shaking herself out of her shocked state, she turned around and let a low growling noise escape her.

"Stone is it? Last I heard it was ice. But then, the last man that was fool enough to say that is now six feet under." Stepping back from the hovering hole, she gave a mocking bow and hissed, "After you Daddy."

Not wanting to be left alone with this creature that had once been his beloved daughter, Sirius stepped past her and onto the Ghost Roads.

*****

After traveling for a long while on the Roads of the Dead, the group of dirty prisoners finally reached the lighted hole at the end of the road. No trouble had been seen from the usually slightly violent spirits and Sirius couldn't help but wonder at it.

"Why are the ghosts not bothering us?" Sirius finally asked.

"They wouldn't dare," Destiny answered simply. Turning her hooded face in his direction, she saw his questioning expression. "Why don't you ask Remus why when you get back; I don't feel like explaining it to a person like you."

"Like him?" Mia asked, bouncing up to stand beside them.

"A prejudice git who has no idea why things are the way that they are, yet feels the need to blame it on the more unfortunate."

"Wow," Mia giggled, "that was very Dawson's Creek of you."

"Thank you, I try."

As Destiny moved ahead of the group and waited by the light for the others to catch up, Mia grabbed Sirius by the arm and hissed, "Stay away from her! She has enough crap to deal with without having to make peace with her father before she dies!"

Sighing, he asked defeatedly, "So, she is dying then? Why doesn't she just come home so we can get help for her?"

"If she goes home, Harry and the rest of the people she considers family will see her die. She would never let that happen. When it is time, she will be alone and nobody will know exactly when it happens." Putting a sympathetic hand on his arm, she looked pleadingly up at him. "She's not trying to be cruel; it's just her way of protecting herself from being hurt. The kindest thing you can do is just let her go-"

"No, I won't! I will do everything I can to bring her home and to find a cure to whatever the heck it is that she has!"

"Why do you care? After all, I thought that she didn't have a soul."

*****

At Dakota's almost bare apartment, the shape-shifter was ecstatic when the portal onto the Ghost Roads opened in her living room. Stepping gracefully into the room, Destiny nodded at the other two inhabitants.

"Seven have lived; three have died. Make it known that the humans have lived because of my peoples deaths and that enough of them are dead because of stupidity. You will bring all decisions to me from this point on and I will approve of whether or not my army will fight."

Nodding once more at them, Destiny stepped around the rescued prisoners and vanished back into the darkness.

"Remus?" Sirius Black snarled, causing Dakota to quickly jerk her head around to see them. "Exactly how sick is my daughter? If you lie, I will kill you."

Raising an eyebrow at his friends' currently weak condition, the werewolf glanced over at the shape-shifter princess. Shrugging at him, she made her way over to her dead father's body and watched as Remus turned back to his childhood friend.

"She'll be dead by her birthday, probably sooner."

Staring at him in disbelief, Sirius whispered in horror, "Do you even care?"

Sternly, Remus replied. "Yes, I do. She is suffering though. More than you can imagine and all everyone can do is treat her like she's a completely abomination!"

Guiltily, he whispered, "Isn't there anything that we can do to save her?"

Sighing, Remus flopped down onto the threadbare couch and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "We can do nothing to help her. But... there are cures."

"If there are cures, why can't we get them for her? Or, better yet, why doesn't she get the cures for herself?"

"Because," Dakota whispered, looking up from where she was kneeling, "the cure is unthinkable to her."

"You said cures though. As in, more than one..." Sirius hinted not very subtly.

Glancing at each other, Remus caught Mia making frantic, exaggerated arm motions, desperately trying to shut them up. Ignoring her, Remus faced Sirius, his eyes full of pain.

"Harry is Destiny's cure. Without him, she will die. The problem is Harry would have to cure her without ever knowing there was one."

"How is that possible? Is it even?"

"Yes," Mia replied softly.

Rising swiftly to his feet, Remus grabbed his coat and began to pull it on. "Destiny is a survivor. She's not going to go down without a fight. You can count on that."

*****

At Phoenix headquarters, Harry ran as fast as his legs would carry him, eager to be reunited with his Godfather. Stopping at the hospital wing door, he took a deep breath and tried to calmly open the door.

Sitting on a bed near the door with a nurse leaning over him and clucking her tongue in a disapproving manner, was Sirius Black.

"Dear God woman!" Sirius snapped, pushing the offending lady away. "Your hovering is more likely to kill me than anything else!"

Clearing his throat to get their attention, Harry waited until he was alone with his Godfather before moving farther into the room.

Feeling his breath start to come in short, shallow gasps, Harry closed his eyes against the onslaught of tears that tried to force their way out. Hearing the bed creak, Harry opened his watering eyes to see his Godfather rising unsteadily to his feet.

"Harry?"

As Sirius opened his arms to the younger man, Harry felt the hardened walls that he had built around himself for the past five years, begin to crumble and fall. Letting out a strangled cry, the War Mage flung himself into the animagi's arms and buried his face in his chest. Instantly, five years of pain and loneliness began to pour out. Holding the sobbing young man in his arms, Sirius sank back down onto the bed and gently stroked Harry's hair.

They sat like that for a long while. Minutes or hours may have passed yet neither moved. Finally Harry spoke. "I thought that I was going to lose you. That you would leave like everyone else..."

"I would never leave you," Sirius murmured soothingly.

Sitting back, Harry wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeves as he replied. "Destiny once said that she would always be there. My parents should have always been there. No matter the cause, I always seem to end up alone. I'm always the one left behind..." Silence blanketed the room and Sirius couldn't think of a way to break it. Finally though, Harry spoke again. "Why do you suppose it is that I'm always the one forced to bury my friends? Why am I always the one forced to say goodbye?"

"I don't know kid, I just don't know."

Looking down at his feet, Harry spoke in a whisper. "Everyone sees me as this great hero, an undefeatable War Mage... I'm supposed to be brave... What do you think the world would say if they found out that I was scared to death of dying?"

"You know Harry, being brave isn't about being fearless. It's about doing what has to be done in spite of that fear."

"Maybe I'm just not strong enough..."

"You will be- someday. You just need a reason."

*****

Sirius was released from the hospital wing the next day on the condition that he would be staying with Harry and resting.

Arriving at the mansion, Sirius grinned at the change that had occurred in the place.

"Alexia been remodeling?" he chirped happily.

"She's completely redone the place."

Where the once overgrown gardens had been, there were now flowers of every variety blooming beautifully. The grass was cut and trimmed and the shutters looked as if someone had painted about half before quitting, leaving the paint brush to lie in the grass.

"Looks good," Sirius nodded approvingly. Walking into the house, he squinted his eyes. "Whoa, kind of dark don't you think?"

"Sh, she's asleep," Harry whispered, pointing over to where the girl laid on the couch, still as death. Picking up the blanket, Harry gently laid it across the vampire.

"Going sweet on her Harry?" Sirius asked curiously.

"No!" he hissed back, frowning.

Smiling slightly at his Godson, Sirius patted him on the back before moving to the grand staircase. Pausing at the bottom, he spoke without turning. "It's okay for you to move on you know. Nobody would be angry with you and..." Sighing, Sirius turned. "Kiddo, Destiny's not coming back. I think it's time for you- for everyone- to move on. Des will command her army from a distance and eventually she will die. We need to respect her wishes and let her go in peace." Moving slowly, he made his way up the stairs. When he reached the top, he glanced down to where Harry still stood frozen to the floor. "Oh, by the way, you may want to have a talk with Draco Malfoy. He would be a perfect spy."

"What makes you think that?"

"The fact that he's spying for the Dark Creatures and has yet to be caught. Just a thought."

*****

The next day, Harry owled Draco Malfoy and asked the other man to meet him for lunch. Malfoy declined. The day after receiving the owl, Harry invited Draco to meet him anywhere the other man wanted. He accepted and the very next day, Draco Malfoy showed up on the front step of Harry's home.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"You invited me."

"I meant that I would meet you somewhere."

"I wanted to meet here." Pausing, Draco raised an eyebrow. "May I come in?"

Leading the blond into the kitchen, Harry motioned for him to sit.

"You helped those prisoners from the Light Side when they were being held captive. Now I want to know why."

"Does it matter so long as they're safe?"

"It does to me."

Cocking his head to the side, Draco asked impassively, "Is your opinion of Destiny really so low that you would believe that she would leave her own father there to rot?"

"Destiny has done nothing to make my opinion of her rise as of late. Now what does my question have to do with Destiny?"

"It's very simple," Draco replied, lounging back in his chair. "I work for Destiny. She told me to help and I did."

"So she says jump and you just ask how high?"

"Something like that."

Nodding his understanding, Harry leapt to his feet and grabbed Malfoy by the collar.

"Where the hell is she?" he snarled.

"That's not for me to say," Draco replied calmly.

Letting go of the blond man, Harry snarled, "You could at least tell me SOMETHING!"

"What do you want to know, besides the obvious of course?"

"What is she dying of?"

"The Latin name is Mortis Exolesco or, in English, The Fading Death. At first she'll look like a normal woman, but as time passes, she'll begin to fade away. She'll age but only a few signs of it will appear on her body. She'll be stuck as both a young adult and an old lady. But, unlike most people when they die, she won't leave her body behind. If she dies a natural death, she will first become transparent and then will just disappear. The curse of the Necromancer is that they must become what they love: a spirit."

*****

Walking slowly up the front steps of a nondescript apartment building, a blond woman, with large violet eyes, looked up sadly. So many years had passed since she had last been in Europe and the years had not been kind. Worn down and weary with age that had yet to come, the blond halted in front of the door. Buzzing the apartment of the woman she seeked, the visitor waited.

With a small click, a feminine voice answered. "Who is it?"

Fighting the impulse to flee the visitor forced out her reply. "Julia, it's me. It's Selena Terrell."

*****

A few minutes had passed since Draco had last spoken and neither man made any attempt to break the silence. It was then though that Alexia staggered into the kitchen yawning.

"Morning, Harry." Looking up, she froze. "And person who's not Harry." Backing up slowly, Alexia blushed slightly and grinned sheepishly. "I'm going to go, you know, put on some real clothes." Spinning around, she ran for the door but stopped when Harry asked for her to wait. "What?"

"Destiny-"

"Here we go again," she muttered.

Glaring at her, he snapped out, "You know what, just never mind." Rising to his feet, he turned to Draco. "I'd like to offer you a job."

"I have a job," Draco replied coolly.

"Torturing people, yes I know."

"Stop it Harry," Alexia snapped, coming back to the table, ready do defend the fair haired man.

Rolling his eyes, Harry turned back to Malfoy and forced himself to be civil. "The Order would like you to join our ranks as a spy. If you accept, you will not be put in Azkaban when the war is over."

"And if I don't, I'll be guaranteed a spot in that hell hole, am I right?" Draco snapped.

"Pretty much."

Clearing his throat, Alexia glared at him before turning to Draco. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Harry's just being a jerk because, well, he doesn't like you."

"I can tell." Smiling charmingly, Draco leaned forward and asked her name.

"Alexandria de Winter."

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Draco asked curiously, "Of the vampire clan de Winter in France?"

"Oui, Monsieur."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," Draco replied, kissing her hand softly while looking up through his eyelashes seductively.

"I assure you, the pleasure is all-"

"Alright, that is enough!" Harry snapped, smacking Draco's hand away from Alexia.

Smiling nastily, Alexia rose to her feet and headed for the door. "I'll be going now. We wouldn't want Harry to throw a jealous hissy fit on us, now would we?"

*****

Twenty minutes later, Draco Malfoy had agreed to spy for the Order for a set amount of money, and had left after promising to make contact when he had information.

Heading up the stairs, Harry checked on Sirius before continuing down the hall to Alexia's room. Banging on the door, he demanded that she let him in.

"What do you want?" Alexia snapped, throwing open the door.

What he saw shocked him into silence. Alexia stood before him, white hair swirling in a halo around her, black eyes blazing. Feeling his eyes drifting down, Harry blushed. Obviously having been getting ready for the day, Alexia wore only a lacy bra and a short slip.

"Um..."

"Well, get on with it!"

Shaking himself slightly, Harry remembered why he was there and narrowed his eyes angrily at her.

"What the hell do you think you were doing down there? I'm trying to command a war and all you are doing is getting in the way!"

Not looking even the slightest bit perturbed, Alexia calmly said, "You suck at playing war little boy. Besides, you brought me here."

"And you've been worthless the entire time!"

Narrowing her eyes dangerously, Alexia pursed her lips together tightly and stormed back into her room. Following her into the room, he glanced around. The room was a disaster with clothes on the floor, sheets hanging off the bed, and a blanket hung to block the windows and the sunlight. The strangest thing was the amount of paper that had been taped to the wall. Glancing around and seeing that Alexia was still in the bathroom, Harry approached one of the walls and read some of the papers. 'Danger is near for those who do not hear', and 'broken at heart, she will seek a new start.' Reaching for another paper that had an illustration of a fireball and an object burning inside of it, Harry managed to read, 'Only as the fire burns will-', before a pale hand darted out and snatched the parchment away.

Alexia now stood before him completely dressed and stuffed the paper into the jeans pocket.

"Haven't you ever heard that curiosity killed that cat?" she growled, walking around the room, collecting all of the papers.

"Well then, it's a good thing I'm not a cat now isn't it?" Gesturing to the bits of parchment, he asked what they all meant.

"I don't know."

"You should have told me about those prophesies as soon as you made them."

"It's not always a good thing to know the future," Alexia muttered darkly.

"It is if it can save lives!" Harry shouted angrily.

"Having these will not make any difference! I told you that when I had something of use, I'd tell you!"

Quietly Harry stepped back and closed his eyes looking pained. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and, letting his true power shine through, commanded her forcefully, "You will hand over every one of those prophesies to The Order of the Phoenix and allow them to be studied. If you refuse, you will be seen as the enemy. What is your choice?"

"I have a choice?"

"You always have a choice."

Turning to face the mantle of the fire place in her room, she whispered, "I'll make my decision then..."

Without hesitation, Alexia flung the parchment scraps into the grate and activated the flames. Yelling angrily, Harry lunged towards the fire only to have the vampire force him to stop or risk knocking her into the flames. "I will not be threatened; I will not submit to a pathetic humans will. Those prophesies told of peoples deaths that could not be avoided. They were of no use to you."

Grabbing her by the shoulders, Harry shook her roughly. "You little twerp-"

"I'm not afraid of you."

Leaning in close enough that their noses almost brushed, he hissed, "When people die, it's going to be on your head. I hope you can live with that."

Calmly, Alexia murmured almost to herself, "I live with that everyday."

Eyes changing from anger to confusion, Harry shook his head slightly, never moving away. "You are the most confusing person I have ever met. One moment you want to save the world, the next, it's everyone for themselves. Why can't you just stay the same?"

"Would you want me to?"

"No," Harry whispered, cupping her cheek softly. "I like you just the way you are."

Without giving it a second thought, Harry leaned in the rest of the way and gently pressed his lips to hers.