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Oz- You sicko, happy that Dumbles is dead! That isn't very nice…but kinda funny.

Everybody else: I know there are more people reading this story because my Yoda showed me the page that lets you see hits. Please review! I wont beg because that would be weird, but please do it!

Chapter 17: The Phoenix Rises

Desmond woke up from a spell dazed and confused, laying on the floor outside of the Graveyard he picked his head up, spitting out the dirt that had managed its way into his mouth.

What happened? He asked himself, there was a pounding inside of his head and his back felt as though someone had prodded at him with a stick.

Oh wait, that did happen. He remembered Mad Eye Moody standing on his back with his peg leg after Persephone left, crushing his face into the dirt. The last thing he remembered was hearing a series of apparation sounds before he was knocked out.

He placed his hands next to his shoulders and pushed himself off the ground, everything began to spin and he grabbed his head to steady the motion. Desmond looked at the earth surrounding him and saw that Moody had walked back to the Graveyard, his peg leg making deep gashes in the earth. He groaned and picked himself up onto his feet, using a tree for leverage he looked for his wand on the ground. He vaguely remembered Persephone throwing it out of his reach as soon as they caught him.

Desmond retrieved the lost item at the base of another nearby tree and decided to head back to the Graveyard to see what all the apparating noises had been about. Rubbing his head he walked into the edge of the graveyard and scanned his surroundings, when he saw all the Order Members there instead of the Death Eaters he ducked behind a large headstone to try and understand what was going on.

He could see a large group of them surrounding something on the ground, a girl with pink hair was crying and running towards someone at the front gate. Persephone was looking at whoever the crying girl was running at, she was motionless and pale.

Desmond turned away and leaned against the monument, clutching his wand he thought to himself rapidly about what to do. Voldemort wouldn't have left them here unless something major had happened, he tried to get a glimpse of the house but he couldn't see it from here. Putting his wand in his back pocket, he got on all fours and began a sneaky stretch towards the front gates. If he could get there he could see the house and make a plan.

He ruled out apparating, the crack would attract attention to him, and with that many Order Members it was bound to end up bad for him. He tried to hear what they were saying but they were all too far away to make any sense of the snippets of conversation he could make out. As he got closer to the gates he stopped and looked from behind the current headstone he was using to hide, he jumped.

Persephone was about 10 feet from him now, she had come towards the gates as well. Desmond was smart enough to stay put, fearing that any movement would attract her attention. He heard her yell back to the group,

"Take the body to the school and let Harry go with him. Everyone else, meet at Headquarters in 20 minutes" Desmond could recognize the sound of more apparating and he dared to peak at what was happening.

Persephone was still standing in the same spot, she looked at the girl with pink hair and the man that Desmond remembered was Remus Lupin. One of Greybacks men. The two of them left as well but Persephone stayed in the same spot and stared where she had been concentrated for some time. He couldn't see what she was looking at but he couldn't move either.

"Well, are you gonna say something?" Desmond heard a meek voice ask her, it was male, low, gruff and masculine. But frightened at the same time.

"I have nothing to say to you." Desmond risked the inch that he needed to get a glimpse of the man that she was speaking to. When he moved his foot, it went onto a twig, cracking loudly, the next few moments happened very fast. Desmond threw himself from behind the headstone and sent a spell flying at Persephone, choosing the devil he knew. The man by the gates performed a spell that sent the cruciatus at himself instead, he took it in the chest and fell to the ground, hitting his head on a rogue headstone.

Persephone stunned Desmond within seconds and let him fall into a heap on the ground. Going to Sirius she grabbed him and apparated them both to Grimmauld Place. Choosing to get out of there as fast as she could, she didn't want to deal with Voldemort now that their agreement had fallen through.

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She hit the foyer of Grimmauld Place where she was immediately surrounded by Order Members begging for news and instructions, she sought out Lupin and asked him to take Sirius upstairs and take care of him. Having that done she had everyone go to the kitchen to begin a meeting.

The cavernous room was dark, with only a fire lighting everything, the flames cast eerie dancing shadows on the walls. The still grieving and shell shocked Order came to the table and sat in silence waiting to hear someone speak. Persephone went to the edge of the table and rested her palms on the old wood, leaning over she breathed in deeply, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind all at once.

Sirius is upstairs, alive, Dumbledore is at the school, dead, Voldemort is on top, Harry is mentally weak right now, The Order is antsy and Remus lied to me. She let the breath go and pulled her head up from its defeated position pushing past her own issues for the moment,

"I know this is emotional, but we have work to do, too much to be mourning right now. I am putting Minerva and Mad-Eye in charge of Dumbledore's…arrangements." She couldn't bring herself to say funeral just yet, "I will speak to them about that, we also need-"

"So what, you are just taking over The Order? Just like that? No voting? No democracy? Why should you lead us rather than someone else?" Asked Amos Diggory, his Irish brawl making his questions sound accusatory, she was in no mood to fight with him for authority, she would if she had to though. Just as she was about to open her mouth to reply, Lupin walked through the door,

"Because she was handpicked by Dumbledore himself, its what he wanted. Besides, she knows Voldemort better than anyone in this room." She glanced at him, wanting to rush at him and cast the most heinous cruciatus curse on the planet right into his chest for lying to her. But for now, she stood, tall and proud, and let him speak. Walking towards the table in a very uncharacteristic swagger, he looked more like Sirius than himself, Remus spoke to the Order Members,

"Think about it, Persephone has been closer to Voldemort than anyone in the world, let alone this room. Dumbledore has been training her, she has the leadership abilities, who here wouldn't trust her? Also, she has lost more than possible anyone else fighting this war, I think she has a score to settle with Voldemort."

At this Amos stood up and said in a loud, defensive voice, "How can you say that! I lost my child to that sonavabitch!"

"And that makes you able to lead us in a war? Losing a child?" This remark came from Arthur Weasley, who sat back in his chair, rubbing his crying wife on the back.

He leaned towards the table and stared Amos down, "I have come close to losing my own children, the twins, and in fact, Ron, today. Who know who saved them? All three of them?" Amos said nothing so Arthur continued, pointing at Persephone, "This woman has saved them. With great risk to her own life, she has saved not only them but many Order Members as well. How dare you say that she would have no right to lead us."

He paused, "I for one would be proud to follow her, I will pledge myself today to someone who has willingly sacrificed as much as she has." His voice was raising as he started to stand from the table, Molly softly touched his knee and brought him down, sitting once more. Amos looked around the room for someone to help him, finding not a friendly face in the crowd he turned to the woman standing regally in front of the fire and almost shouted at her,

"So you spent a few years in Azkaban! Big deal you-" But he was cut off, Mad-Eye Moody walked into the room, clearly having just returned from taking Dumbledores body to Hogwarts and immediately started in on him,

"I saw her coming out of Azkaban Diggory, and believe you me. She has earned the right, it seems as though you are the only person that has even the slightest problem with her and if that is so, you can go on ahead and get the hell out of this house.I'm sure that no one would miss you." Most of the Members seemed to agree with his sentiments, nodding and glaring at Amos, and the ones who weren't didn't seem to disagree. Amos scanned the room in one last hopeful attempt, and, upon seeing no one to help him, conceded and slowly took his chair.

Mad-Eye and Lupin both found seats and looked up at her expectantly, she tried to stay calm, this day was just too much for her. She took a breath,

"Mad-Eye can I expect you and Minerva to take care of the funeral arrangements?" he nodded and she continued, "Now I need someone to go to the school and fetch me Professor Flitwick and get him here as soon as he can once this meeting is over. To Remus," she looked up at him, "Desmond surprised us in the graveyard, it isn't safe to go back to Greybacks Men. He may or may not know, but I don't want to take that chance."

Instructions and various other articles were covered in the next ten minutes, the Aurors now had to be extra careful since the Death Eaters knew them and could attempt to sabotage them at work. Tonks held Lupins hand throughout the meeting, he didn't protest.

When they were finished Mad-Eye went to the school to fetch Flitwick and Persephone went upstairs to check on Sirius. Opening the door to his bedroom she noted though, it was still technically his room, it no longer smelled like him. The cigar smoke and cologne was gone, it had been replaced by dust and mold from the shower. He lay in the bed, fast asleep, Remus had healed his head as well as he could, the bandages were already blood stained and Sirius was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Walking to the bed, Persephone threw the covers off him to cool him down and then proceeded to the bathroom to get a cloth. He heard her in the room and opened his eyes, he knew if he sat up he would feel dizzy, so for the time being he rested on the soft covers and waited for her to come to him. He heard the water running and saw the bathroom light turn off, her boots reverberated on the wooden floors as she walked back.

She sat on the bed beside him and laid the cloth on his forehead, when his eyes fluttered open she didn't smile, only took him by the back of the neck and pulled his head off the pillow. He would have moaned but he knew that might be the last thing he ever did, she was beyond angry and he didn't want to push her.

She took out her wand and ripped off Remus's bandages without worry or care of the hairs she pulled out as well, she performed a complex healing spell and the gash in the back of Sirius's head healed immediately. The rest of his jet black hair was still matted with blood but at least the pain was gone. She let his head fall back on the pillow and he still, remained silent. Watching her dab the blood from his face off with the washcloth he stayed mesmerized by her movements, her beautiful eyes were filled with such apathy that Sirius began to feel cold. Or perhaps that was the fact that he no longer had any blankets, he started several sentences that he never knew what to say to finish, so he allowed them to die, still transfixed by her hands gliding over his body.

When she deemed him clean enough she leaned back and threw the washcloth inside the bathroom, wiping her hands dry on her dirty grey slacks. Her hair was matted with blood as well, her teeth had a faintly red tinge to them and she was developing a pronounced bruise on her equally defined cheekbone. The bruise sat above her newly made gash that may soon enough become a scar, one of Desmonds spells that had come a little too close for comfort. Her clothes were smeared with dirt and grass stains, the shirt she had worn had a few rips in it that showcased some more of the cuts she had received during the afternoon.

She leaned over him, tenderly and spoke, "How are you feeling?" She gave a small smile and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief,

"I'm fine now."

She smiled full on now and said to him, "Good," she caressed his hair, "because I so would so hate to do this to a sick man." Sirius looked confused and in a rapid motion she pulled her hand back and hit him with all her might straight across the cheek.

Now, for someone as strong and as powerful as Persephone, doing something with all her might meant you would feel like a bomb hit you and only you. Sirius shot up into a sitting position and clutched at the new red mark on his cheek. Persephone stood from the bed and walked towards the door, "Bastard." she whispered before she grabbed the handle. The red spot on his face seemed to throbbing with pain but he jumped out of bed and yelled at her,

"What was that for!"

Persephone turned on him, a bewildered and furious look on her dirty face, "Do not act stupid Sirius! Consider yourself lucky that I didn't Crucio you!"

"Lucky? Lucky? You just hit the crap out of my face!"

She rolled her eyes, "Well glad to see that your vocabulary has expanded, now instead of saying shit you can say crap, I am so proud of how far you have come!"

Before he could say anything to reply there was a knock at the door, they stood at a standstill, Persephone asked,

"Who is it?"

She heard Professor Flitwicks small voice from the hallway, "You called for me?" He sounded timid, as though the last thing he wanted was to upset her further. She stared at Sirius with a malicious glare in her eye,

"We're not finished here." She said as she pointed her finger at him. She stormed from the room to meet with Professor Flitwick about the new Fidelius Charm that needed to be done. Sirius sat in his bedroom, all alone on the bed with his head in his hands.

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Minerva McGonagall sat in a chair besides Dumbledore in the Hospital Wing staring at the body of the man she had loved for so long. She didn't know how long she had been here, minutes, hours perhaps? Time had lost all meaning to her now, Poppy had drawn a curtain around the bed so that Minerva could have this time alone. At least as most alone as she could ever hope to manage, the funeral would be the hardest part. No, notifying the public to come to a funeral would be the worst part. She didn't know how she was going to say goodbye in front of all those people.

She wouldn't break her stiff posture and would never weep in front of others, that much she knew. But she also knew that she could not bid farewell before an audience of mourners. Minerva stood and took out her wand, she cast a spell around the curtains, no sound could enter or come out, when this was done she returned to her seat. Her back straight as a board, she spoke to him,

"You old bastard." she said to him, "Why couldn't we have found the time for each other? And now its too late."

She stayed with him another hour or so, until Mad-Eye Moody came, she greeted him graciously and went to her bedroom. As soon as the door to her chambers closed, she allowed herself to cry, and when she left for her office there was no trace of a tear to be found anywhere on her old and wizened face.

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Harry had been with the body for a long while, Hagrid came to pay his respects and offered for him to come and get some tea with him. Ron was with Hermione in the common room, both consoling each other and Harry figured that after today he was pretty much on his own. They had each other and Harry had, well, Harry had Hagrid. Needless to say, he was miserable walking down to the small hut that was Hagrids house.

The biscuits were stale and the tea tasted old, inside this shack, nothing had changed but he knew that everything was wrong. Hagrid was sullen and sober, a very unusual combination and Harry didn't even care that there was an uncomfortable silence in the musty room. In fact, he preferred it that way so when Hagrid began to speak Harry was already on edge.

"You know, at least he died for what he believed in. There was no other way he would have wanted to go." he paused and glanced at Harry, whose head was resting on his hands. He sighed, "You know your not alone, I know you thought of him kinda like a da' but-"

"Stop it." Harry's voice was passionate and cold all at the same time, Hagrid was taken aback but he decided to let it go. He continued, "They said you were one of the last ones with him, what did he say to you?"

Harry shook his head, "Love, it was all about love, forgiveness and acceptance." he paused and smiled, "No clue what he meant about that whole forgiveness thing huh?" He said with a bit of hope in his voice, Hagrid only shook his head and plowed on through his oversized beer mug while Harry stared off into space. He turned his head towards the giant,

"What do you know about Professor Parker?" he asked him. Hagrid didn't know what to say,

"What do ya mean?"

"I know that she's my Godmother so its not like you have to hide something from me. I just want to know what shes like, outside of class you know?"

Hagrid shook his head, "Well Harry, in that case, I think you need to talk to her. Is that what Dumbledore meant about the acceptance and forgiveness?"

Harry just shook his head, "I don't know."

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The funeral took place on a Sunday afternoon, it was overcast and the clouds threatened rain, but the mourners came anyway. In the hundreds wizards apparated to Hogwarts castle and crowded around the casket and podium to pay their last respects. Many people made speeches, Minerva of a love lost, Moody of a friend, Harry of a family member and finally, Persephone stood to give hers, of a Mentor.

"I am not here to say much, in true Albus Dumbledore fashion I will try and make every sentence count." she paused and looked at all the mourners, crying and upset, clearly they hadn't known him all that well.

"He didn't need to make a grand speech, he only needed to speak. And even his final words were used to teach, they taught me to go out fighting. They taught me that in order to be a good leader, you must be completely selfless. And he was, nothing he did in life was for his own benefit. He gave up family, love, life so that we could have ours." She had prepared more on how he had taught her to forgive people but Persephone thought to herself about Sirius, sitting in the back of the crowd in Moodys old invisibility cloak and she couldn't bring herself to say the rest of it. It was now too hypocritical. She couldn't forgive him, at least not yet.

The End