Title: A Wing And A Prayer
Author: Amejistuo
Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date.
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus
Rating: R
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .
Warnings/Squicks: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC.
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined.

Beta'd by the wonderful Suki. Thank you dearest!

Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.

The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.

This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.

Chapter Six

Harry felt himself laughing hysterically in relief and happiness. "Who else indeed? That is so wicked! Can you hear her?"

When he looked at Draco he started laughing even harder; the blond's mouth was open in shock and he looked rather silly sitting here.

oO"Only you can hear me for now, but if you ever Bond yourself to someone, they will be able to hear me as well. Now tell Falcon to close his mouth, it's undignified."Oo

"Falcon, eh? Close your mouth, Draco, I wouldn't know but I have it on good authority that it's undignified."

"What the bloody fuck? That's supposed to be impossible!"

Harry just laughed again and ran his fingers through Hedwig's wings. "How do baby phoenixes appear? And I don't mean like when Fawkes has a Burning Day and turns back into a fledge."

"No one knows really, there are myths about phoenixes in the Middle East, Greece, Egypt, Asia ... the Greeks believed they nested near where the sun god Helios parked his chariot that drew the sun across the sky ... to the Chinese they represent the Yin to the dragon's Yang, and is a spirit of femininity and beauty and peace. Some even say that the phoenix is a gift from the gods ... no matter what though, I've never head of one turning up after having been bonded as a familiar!"

Harry just shrugged. "It could be the luck potion, because really this is the best thing that's happened in ages. Then again it could be just me, weird stuff always happens to me." Either way Harry didn't care. He had Hedwig and she was nearly immortal. Even the killing curse couldn't hurt her now. "Go on, Hedwig, give us a good look at you. Let us see how gorgeous you are."

Instead of answering him telepathically, Hedwig gave off a trill that sounded a lot like laughter and flew to the middle of the pavilion.

"Merlin! You're beautiful, Hedwig!"

"For once I'll agree with you, Potty. Madame Hedwig, you make a beautiful phoenix."

Harry flushed, happy that Draco had nothing bad to say about his friend. Hedwig trilled again and flew around them in a circle and then hovered again in front of them. The white feathers that had been so much a part of her were still evident on her body, almost like an undercoat of sorts. The top layer of feathers, though, was every shade of red and gold, orange and yellow. It reminded Harry of a mosaic he'd seen in a Home and Garden shop once, of the sun. Bright colors that swirled around to make a beautiful whole.

Petunia had thought it was too gaudy. Harry had wished he'd had something that pretty in his cupboard while carrying her forty kilos of manure for her roses.

Hedwig must have sensed the way his thoughts were leading because she flew over and perched on his shoulder, her talons sharper than they'd been when she'd been an owl. oO"Stop that! Do not think of those ... vermin anymore, my own. They treated you horribly and the best way to get revenge is to never think of them again." Oo

Harry laughed and played with one of her tail feathers. "The best revenge is living well, eh?"

oO"That, and I bet my droppings are caustic now."Oo

"HEDWIG!"

Harry's mouth had dropped open at his familiar's statement and Draco was looking at him as if he'd gone around the twist.

"It's very odd only hearing half of the conversation. Care to share what she said that made you go all Puritanical?"

"I – she – I was thinking about the Dursleys and she said not to, that living well would be a good way to get back at them, and then she mentioned that her droppings would most likely catch on fire or something! I thought phoenixes were supposed to be beings of goodness and Light!"

oO"And burning what little hair your uncle has on his head would be a good thing!"Oo

"Bloody hell! You're a menace! A pyromaniac menace!"

Hedwig preened as Harry related to Draco what his phoenix had said and Draco laughed. Harry couldn't remember feeling this good, not in a very long time. Before the Tri-Wizard Tournament at the very least. It was his best birthday since Hagrid had come to tell him he was a wizard. Hedwig was a phoenix and he had wings of his very own.

Now if only Voldemort would drop dead, and maybe Dumbledore's wardrobe would burn itself, preferably while he was wearing a good bit of it, life would be perfect!

Harry jumped up, unable to sit still any longer. "Come on, Draco! Fly with me!"

"What if Severus comes back?"

Snape had gone to throw his two Masters off Harry's trail, looking for him someplace else or some such. They had agreed to shelve all talk of the future for the next day, Harry being given the day off in honor of his birthday. He'd been surprised at that, no one ever really did anything for his birthday but Snape had given him a look before flooing away, going to "look" for Harry in Diagon Alley.

"Tell your elves to tell Hedwig, she'll relay any message. He said to Draco before turning back to Hedwig. 'Won't you, lovely?'

oO"But of course. The Raven has always been nice to me when we've visited, despite his cawing and complaining."Oo

Harry laughed. For one thing, Hedwig had Snape's personality pegged. He was only now learning when Snape snarked he wasn't always being a bastard, it was just his odd sense of humor. He also found the fact that Hedwig had given both Draco and Snape bird names, Falcon and Raven, and she'd called Harry her chick. It was a very ... avian way of looking at things and he couldn't help but be amused.

It took a few more minutes of annoying Draco to get the blond to come with him. They'd not only left Hedwig watching for Snape, but told the house-elves what was going on and Draco had left a message before he turned into his gyrfalcon form and Harry had picked up his wand and disillusioned himself and opening his wings up for the open skies.

It felt so wonderful to fly, the warm sun on his back and his wings outstretched to catch the wind currents. Harry found himself laughing out loud doing stupid stunts like trying to do loops and barrel rolls like he would have on his broom.

Only this was a thousand times better than flying on a broom. He was free and if the current was just right Harry found his could soar without too much effort, and look down at the ground. They had just flown over a small Muggle village, the paved streets and cars looking like toys from this high above. It was difficult to see the businesses and houses, mostly all he saw was shingles and slate roofs and a few air conditioning units on the top of the bigger establishments. The gardens were a sight to see, though, every one seemed to be a different color of green with specks of colors that Harry took to be decorative shrubs and flowers.

A few of the houses even had swimming pools attached and there were usually occupied with people playing in the water or sunning themselves in the August sun. As they reached the edge of the town there was a stream lined with trees and in the distance the farmland turned into moors.

Draco gave a short shriek and led him the other way, following the stream to a series of small foothills. It was a beautiful area, more wonderful that Little Whinging had been. Not that all of Surrey was bad, Redhill was quiet nice if not exactly posh, but Little Whinging had been too close to the suburbs of London and was a company town, be it Grunnings' Drills or the various textile, machinery and chemical plants. It had been crowded and rather smelly, despite the perfectly edged gardens wherever you looked.

But while this village had been laid out carefully, there were winding roads around small groups of trees and walking paths that seemed to lead to nowhere and there were old cottages with ivy and climbing roses growing up the sides of them. A few gardens had been allowed to grow wild and were covered in dandelions or Queen Anne's Lace. The woods looked wild, not scary like the Forbidden Forest but Harry didn't doubt that there were a few pixies and fairies hiding within them along with a few other creatures.

The whole area surrounding Malfoy Manor was beautiful. He was a bit surprised that there were Muggles so close nearby but there was evidence of wizards living there as well. One of the gardens had what looked to be a half-quidditch pitch hidden by a copse of trees.

His attention wandered again, and Draco brought him out of it with another call. Privately, Harry thought Draco's Animagus form sounded like it had a hairball with it's 'kack-kack-kack' sound but he wasn't going to say anything.

Well, unless he could bring up the fact it was better than a ferret's 'dook-dook-dook' sound at the same time.

For the moment Harry just grinned and followed his friend, flying over several tree tops and over a series of hills. Then Draco wheeled around and Harry, assuming he was heading back for the Manor, followed. He then promptly lost a couple of hundred feet in altitude.

There, on the side of the hill, was the image of a giant white horse.

He'd heard of the White Horses of Wiltshire of course, especially the one in Uffington. There were eight of them still visible in the Wiltshire hillsides but he'd never thought he'd actually get to see one. What was even more exciting was the fact that he'd never seen pictures of this one before.

Harry circled the site a few times before following Draco to the ground. The other wizard transformed smoothly to his human form and landed gracefully and Harry ...

Misjudged how close he was to the ground and stumbled and nearly fell.

Draco was smirking at him, the bastard. "Nice to see some things don't ever change."

Harry flipped him off. "Prat." He then turned around on the hill, trying to tilt his head sideways so he could see the design carved into the hillside. "This is gorgeous. I don't think I've heard of this one before, what's the name of the town?"

"Halsford. This Horse is usually called The Stallion because of its obvious ... attributes."

Harry snickered. He'd been too shocked to really notice when he first saw it, but the Horse carved into the hill was very well endowed. Draco smirked in agreement and then continued his lecture.

"What makes this Horse different is that it's believed to be one of the few Horses carved by wizards, as there are Muggle repelling charms around the area and it can only be seen by someone who is magical. There's a stone ring in the forest near here as well, and many of the Muggles avoid the wood, afraid of being carried off by the Fae. It's not as well preserved as Stonehenge, or some of the other monuments in the area but if you want on another day we can visit it, it's not swarming with Muggles and, Merlin forbid, tourists. Some of the witches and wizards who come from different countries are worse that the local common Muggles. At least they have a moderate amount of sense. You should see the Americans, traipsing around saying how 'quaint' the village is and then going to Stonehenge and running around starkers given half the chance. Winter Solstice it's not so bad but during the Summer? There are thousands of people here and half of the Muggles dress worse than Dumbledore on Wash Day. At least they usually keep their robes on. "

"Muggles are strange that way." At Draco's incredulous look Harry shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, I don't think that calling anyone Mudblood or going around torturing them just for laughs is right, but I don't think they should know about the Wizarding World either. It's as if Voldemort and Dumbledore have taken two points of view and gone to the opposite extreme, when a compromise in the middle would probably suit everyone better."

Harry took to the air for a moment and landed near the head of the Stallion. "Look, there's some sort of crystal in the middle of the eye." When he looked up to discuss it with Draco however, the blond's mouth was unhinged and he was giving Harry an odd look. "What?"

Draco shook his head and then gave him a bemused look. "Just when I think I'm starting to know you, you go and say something like that."

Harry snorted. "Remember I've been living with the Dursleys for ages, and have been living in a Muggle town filled with people like them. I know there are good Muggles, but I'd rather not associate with the majority of them. Then again I'm not fond of all wizards and witches either. "

"I've found in the last few months that idiots come from all races, classes and Houses. It wasn't a fun lesson to learn but I did learn it."

Harry merely nodded. What Draco said was true but just thinking about how his best friends had turned into prats was depressing. Therefore the subject needed changing.

"You think if we owled the Twins, they might know a charm that would animate The Stallion?"

"Probably, but knowing those two the thing would start to hump all the other local chalk horses and scare some poor drunken wizard to death." Draco paused, tilting his head to one side before looking at Harry and smirking. "Besides, if we do it ourselves, there won't be any witnesses!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

TBC ...

Additional Author's Notes:

For more information regarding chalk horses, look at my insane journal and there's a link that you can follow. And just so y'all know, Halsford is totally made up by me, as is The Stallion.