Author Note: I do not own Harry Potter. That honour goes to the magnificent mind of J.K. Rowling

Prologue

Harry just lay there on the ground waiting to die. He knew it would happen sooner or later. At first he thought that it would be the Dursleys who did him in, either because of starvation or their bullying. He then learned about Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Now, he was lying there dying because of a deadly magical creature, a basilisk. At least Ginny, Ron's sister, was safe. She would live a long happy life filled with her loving family. He felt tears run down his chin and past his ear. He hadn't cried in years. Last time was when he was five and had burnt himself on the stove. He opened his eyes that had closed. He looked down at his arm with the fang embedded deep within, red blood within black poison pooling around him. He looked beyond and saw Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, lying there confused. He seemed fine. Harry wanted to tell Fawkes that he should wake up and take Ginny to Madam Pomfrey, but his body was shutting down and his voice wasn't working. He tried to gasp when Fawkes looked at him. Those eyes were filled with sadness and his beak was dripping with blood. The phoenix was dying as well. Fawkes moved slowly towards him. His shining golden feathers were now splattered with red, but they still shone with a calming light. He was close now and his eyes filled with tears. Fawkes cried over Harry's wound. Harry remembered a distant voice telling that phoenix tears could heal anything. Harry wanted to thank Fawkes for his generosity, for giving him, who was nothing but a burden, a second chance. However, before he could Fawkes dropped onto his arm in exhaustion and started burning. Harry, still paralyzed by the venom, couldn't scream and pain was all he knew.