Harry Potter and the Desideratum Crusade [Harmione]

30. The Return of Albion

"Now what?" Harry asked.

"He said to wait," Luisa said.

"For what?"

Luisa just smiled at him.

Harry sighed. He was really getting tired of being kept in the dark. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. He was becoming very irritable and tired, and incredibly hot. It was a lot warmer here than on the other side of the mountains, so he pulled off his heavy coat. He had just finished when he heard a phoenix cry and looked up. Fawkes was returning, and he wasn't alone. Harry wondered briefly if it was his mate, and the reason why he didn't want to return. He watched as the two phoenixes alighted on the table. The new bird was slightly different from Fawkes. Harry noticed that there was a streak of white feathers across the top of its head, and a second streak that seemed to flow down from its beak. The phoenix blinked its blue eyes and cocked its head to study Harry.

"Is this your mate, Fawkes?" Harry asked as he leaned forward and reached out to stroke the other bird.

Suddenly the new phoenix struck out and bit Harry's hand.

"Aah!" Harry cried as he fell back in surprise, his hand throbbing.

Luisa laughed, and Harry glowered at her.

"You wouldn't be laughing if she bit you," he grumbled.

'First of all, Harry, I am not a she, and secondly, I didn't bite you that hard.'

Harry turned back and stared at the bird.

"Did you just talk to me?" he asked.

The phoenix bowed to him.

"How?" Harry asked, confused. "Fawkes has never spoken to me before."

"You have been chosen," Luisa said. "It is quite an honor. It usually takes several meetings."

'I have been waiting for you, Harry,' he heard.

Harry narrowed his eyes as he looked at the phoenix again.

"How do you know my name? Did you have to bite me? Couldn't you have just said hello?" he asked as he sucked on the now bleeding cut on his hand. "Do you have a name?"

'I had to leave my mark, and take your blood in order to connect with you. Otherwise you would not be able to hear me,' the bird ruffled his feathers and stood up straighter. 'My name is Albion.'

"So, Albion, why me? Do you know Dumbledore?" Harry asked, as he poked at the wound.

'You could say that. Hold your hand out, and let me heal that cut, since it seems to be a distraction to you.'

Harry held out his hand, and watched as Albion allowed a few phoenix tears to drip on to the cut. As the wound healed, he could feel warmth spread from his hand and up his arm. It seemed to engulf him, and make him relax.

"Thank you," he said.

'You're welcome. Now, to answer your question. Why you? Because we have much work to do, Harry, and you will need my help, I'm sure.

Harry looked at the bird carefully, taking in the twinkling blue eyes and the white chest feathers, and then turned to look at Luisa. Albion, for his part, settled comfortably on the table, as if waiting for Harry to make some kind of a connection.

"The bond is healing, Harry. There will be much rejoicing this night," Luisa said.

"Pardon?" Harry asked, confused. She sounded just like Luna.

"In our world, we make connections with each other. In your case, one of your connections was severed prematurely. Even though you may not see it, there are repercussions. Sometimes, we can reconnect with someone, and heal. When we are able to do that, there is much happiness here."