Some time later, Harry felt warmth on his neck and looked up just in time to see the sun was in full view over the horizon. It was a good sunrise and Harry realized that his mouth was open in awe. He never quite realized how easy it was to enjoy a sunrise when there wasn't an evil threat on your mind all the time. It was a wonderful splash of color across the sky. Reds, oranges, yellows, purples; they were all there. Harry suddenly felt a lot better and leaned back, drinking in the entire sky. A sudden familiar musical song brought him down out of his reverie with a start.

"That sounds like-... But... It can't be..."

He had not heard that song since... He looked around and sitting next to him was a beautiful red and gold plumaged bird.

"Fawkes!" Harry breathed softly. The phoenix acknowledged with a soft coo. Harry last saw Fawkes high in the sky at Dumbledore's funeral at the end of his sixth year, and after piping a truly mournful song Fawkes had disappeared. Harry had no idea why he would suddenly turn up now. Fawkes rested his head on Harry's shoulder, and Harry ran his hand down Fawkes' neck a few times before speaking again.

"What are you doing here?"

Fawkes trumpeted his song again before holding out his clawed foot to Harry. He suddenly realized that Fawkes was clutching a large egg. It glittered with green, blue and purple with a hint of orange and gold. It seemed to be made out of polished stone.

He held out his hand and as he did so, Fawkes dropped the egg into it. He had just a moment to marvel at how light it was before the egg suddenly burst into flames in his hand. Harry gave a yell and instinctively tried to drop the egg to the ground but his hand wouldn't obey. He started to panic until he realized that the flames weren't really burning him. They were hot, sure, but they weren't unbearable.

Then, the flames died almost as fast as they had started. The egg was no longer there. A pile of ashes had replaced it. Then, something poked up out of the ashes and Harry recognized it as the head of a baby bird. A memory suddenly burst into Harry's head from his second year at Hogwarts. A very old and ugly Fawkes bursting into flame and dying only to be reborn immediately, equally as ugly looking.

Harry looked up again just in time to see a small trail of smoke rising into the sky. Fawkes was gone. Intrigued, Harry slowly stood up so as not to startle the small creature in his hand. He had no idea what having a phoenix meant and he only had a small idea of what phoenixes could do. Just as puzzling was the existence of the egg in the first place. Was the bird he was holding Fawkes' offspring? Had Dumbledore once done the exact same thing with Fawkes? Carefully, he carried the small bird into the kitchen and put it on the table, where it started looking all over with huge eyes, taking in this new world.

Harry made toast for breakfast while the phoenix watched him intently.

Afterwards Harry went to the library of the house, where he felt his heart sink slightly. The library had shrunk by about half since they had rid it of all the books that Sirius's mother had kept in there, and ever since, Harry had been making his way through these to pass the time. He had not come across anything to do with phoenixes before now, but it was worth a look anyway. The baby phoenix had not left Harry's shoulder, preferring to be as close to him as possible. It weighed so little though that it made no difference to Harry.

He had just finished sneezing after making piles of dusty books to look through for information when he was startled by a "whump" followed by a loud tapping and a high screech coming from the library's lone window. The phoenix, startled, disappeared in a small puff of flame and smoke. Harry made his way over to the window and saw a very tiny, somewhat cross-eyed owl. It was Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, who had clearly just crashed into the window full force. Harry rolled his eyes as he patted the creature in his pocket gently.

"Don't worry, it's just Pig." He said soothingly as he made his way to the window. Knowing what was coming, he stood to the side of the window and opened it. Immediately, Pig rocketed through the window and began zooming round and round the room as fast as he could, screeching loudly. His Quidditch reflexes serving him well, Harry caught Pig within a few seconds. He still had it. He removed the letters and Pig continued to zoom around the ceiling.

The first letter he could see carried the unmistakable Hogwarts crest seal, as well as Professor McGonagall's emerald green handwriting.

Dear Mr. Potter

It is with great pleasure that I would like to extend an invitation for you to return to complete your 7th and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of books and supplies you will need for the coming term. It is also my pleasure to inform you of your reinstatement to the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Captain. Further details will be provided on your return. Please note that the Hogwarts Express will depart Kings Cross station from Platform 9¾ on the 1st of September. I await your return owl by no later than July 1st.

Happy Holidays!

Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry leaned back in his chair and looked up, watching Pig fly around like a brown Snitch, pondering. Hogwarts. Of course, he had never even started his 7th year, really. He hadn't decided if he was up to attending it or not. Was it worth it being pointed at while people whispered behind their hands about him all over again? It was most certainly worth returning for Quidditch. He had been Captain in his 6th year but had been banned unfairly and never got to complete the season or compete for the highly coveted Quidditch Cup. He had almost forgotten completely how it felt to even fly, having lost his previous broom, a Firebolt, a year ago in his escape from Voldemort. The houses had not even played Quidditch that year, due to the unusual circumstances the school found itself in. Harry decided to think about that more later, and ripped open the next letter, which had Hagrid's unmistakable scrawl.

Harry,

Just wanted to know how yer doin' after the battle. The school almost looks same's it did before the battle, thanks to Grawpy and everyone. Headmistress says he can stay in the forest. Both Fang and Buckbeak miss ya, are ye coming back to finish year 7?

All the best,

Hagrid

Harry moved on to the next letter, which was from Ron.

Dear Harry,

How have you been doing, mate? To be completely honest with you, things are pretty messy here. Mum's going crazy because of Fred. Actually, we all are, really. Don't you dare blame yourself for any of this, Harry. Fred would force-feed you 50 Skiving Snackboxes if you were, you know. We all fought for a better life. You should come and visit us and stay for the rest of the summer, like always. Hermione is already here, and it would do Mum good to smile again. Have you considered returning to Hogwarts this year? Hermione won't shut up about it. Come and visit!

Ron

Harry gave a small sad smile as he read Ron's letter. Ron was surely having a worse time of things than Harry and he was trying to make HIM feel better. The next letter had Hermione's neat cursive.

Dear Harry,

I do hope you're doing alright. Things have been rather somber here at the Burrow I'm afraid to say. You should really visit us. I know Ginny has been missing you. Did you get your letter from Hogwarts? Don't even think about ignoring it! Our careers are too important to give up on now! You won't go far without graduating!

Lots of love,

Hermione

Feeling guilty, Harry looked out the window aimlessly. He had been unable to do anything for her during Fred's funeral and had not tried to contact her again since, as he didn't want to add more to her plate right now, and figured she needed some time and space away from everything, like he did. He turned to the last letter, which was from Ginny herself, and tore it open apprehensively.

My Dear Harry,

I know we didn't get as much time as we needed before it all happened. I wanted to be angry at you. You left to find Voldemort all by yourself and I didn't know what to do. When I saw Hagrid carrying you back from the forest I thought my world was ending. I can't do that again, Harry. There is so much more I want to say to you. Please come and see us. Stop blaming yourself in that big dusty house!

Most sincerely yours,

Ginny

Harry let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding on to as he finished Ginny's letter. It sounded like Hermione was right. Reluctantly, he cleared a space off the library desk and wrote a response to Ron saying he would leave in two days' time.

"Oi, get down here so I can send you back with this!" Harry called to Pig, who was still zooming around the room uncontrollably. Pig finally landed, but continued to move around so much Harry still had trouble. Then once Harry opened the window again he shot outside like a javelin and disappeared. With the disturbance gone the phoenix reappeared on Harry's shoulder, looking relieved.

"Yeah, he takes some getting used to, sorry." Harry told it.

The rest of the day was spent with the window open to let out the dust Harry disturbed as he went through books scouring for information on phoenixes.