Chapter Twenty Two: Hummingbird’s Wings
Ginny dropped to her knees beside her husband as tears began streaming down her face. Sirius was gone.
Ginny looked around the clearing at her devastated family; there were no dry eyes, despite the fact that they were now out of danger. Ginny reminded herself that only moments before she had been sure that she was about to die, along with all of her family, and Sirius had saved all of them from that. This logic was poor comfort, but it moved her to action for the well-being of the rest of her children.
Ginny moved to Harry’s side and cast the healing spells necessary to set and mend his broken legs. Harry looked up in surprise at the interruption of his mourning for his son.
“We have other children that need to be anywhere but here, and practically everyone is wounded,” Ginny said in a whisper, not trusting herself to speak any louder.
Harry nodded immediately and began hobbling about the clearing as he joined a tearful Chris Weasley in setting all of the others free. Hermione went immediately to Lee who appeared to be the worst injured among the quadruplets, while Fred and George went to awaken the other two. No one had escaped the fight unscathed, but their injuries were mostly forgotten in their grief. Ron busied himself binding and disarming the unconscious Death Eaters, and he was none too gentle about it.
Ginny and Harry made sure they were there when their children got free, giving each of them hugs of comfort. Sirius had been a friend and protector to all of them, even James, though James would deny that, and all of them were shocked that he was gone. Ginny made a point of giving Samantha the same attention; Sirius had acted when she had been threatened, and Ginny made sure that Samantha knew it wasn’t her fault.
“Ron?” Harry asked hoarsely, after offering what comfort he could to his children. “Would you run back to the school and get us some help?”
Both men knew that Ginny, by transforming into a falcon, could get to the school and back the fastest, but neither were willing to take her away from her children.
“Alright, Harry, but you should come see this first,” Ron said quietly. He led Harry over to the far side of the clearing where Frank Longbottom’s body had been respectfully covered.
“I found him next to several Death Eaters that were all pretty mangled,” Ron whispered. “I didn’t think the kids would want to know about it just yet, but someone will have to tell Neville.”
“I’ll tell him,” Harry said in a deadened voice, not looking forward to that meeting. “At least I can tell him his boy died a hero; he saved Sirius’ life by taking out Stan.”
“Maybe we can arrange a medal or something from the Ministry as well,” Ron said. “It’s not much, but it’s something.”
Ron squeezed Harry’s shoulder before turning into a lion and running quickly into the forest, disappearing quickly into the night.
Harry stood there a moment, staring off into space after his friend had vanished, trying to understand a new sensation tickling at his mind.
“Harry?” Ginny asked, wanting Harry to come back to his children.
Harry turned to her, and shook his head slowly, needing time to concentrate. Ginny waited a long moment before speaking again.
“Harry, what…?” she asked and then stopped in confusion as a slow smile began growing over Harry’s face.
Harry turned and ran as fast as his sore legs would let him, and began digging through the ashes quickly before getting to his feet, something small held delicately in his hands. Ginny’s hand went to her mouth in shock as she realized that it was a baby phoenix. Even as Harry carried the tiny bird towards her, sparks of light began lifting off of it.
“Is that the phoenix?” Ginny asked, still not knowing about Sirius’ transformation.
“It’s Sirius,” Harry said in a choked voice.
At first, Ginny thought the strain had driven Harry mad, but before she could say anything, the sparks grew into a soft white light that gradually faded. As it did, the baby phoenix slowly transformed into a human infant that Ginny recognized instantly.
“Sirius,” she whispered, rushing to her husband’s side and taking the baby from him and holding it close. Everyone in the clearing was looking on in shock at the tiny baby with green eyes and a full head of messy black hair. The baby began crying loudly, and Ginny laughed as she cried.
“I remember that cry,” she said quietly.
“Is that Sirius?” Lillian asked, looking at baby in interest.
“He’s alive,” Harry said quietly, as everyone gathered around. “Somehow, he’s alive.”
***
Samantha paced around the hospital wing, not knowing what to do with herself. Every time she went to sleep she had nightmares of her time in the clearing and Sirius dying. When she woke up, she had the bittersweet knowledge that Sirius was alive, but he was no less lost to her.
Madame Pomfrey had declared everyone fit to leave the hospital wing less than a week after the battle in the clearing. Lee had been the worst injured of everyone, besides Harry, and hadn’t been able to talk his way out of his hospital bed after a couple of days like Harry had. She had almost regretted her decision, since that meant that the other three Weasley quadruplets had stayed with their brother almost constantly.
Samantha had been there with James, Lillian, and Muriel when Chris told his brothers about Sirius’ final battle. They were all shocked and grateful at the lengths Sirius had gone to save them all, but they were all still very sad; while Madame Pomfrey had declared Sirius healthy, she had been unable to think of any way to return him to his proper age.
Now she was wandering around the school as had become her habit, and found herself next to the Headmaster’s office just as Neville Longbottom, one of the more respected wizards in England, came out of the office. It was obvious he had been crying, but he still took the time to smile at her as he walked off down the hallway.
“It’s not an easy thing to lose a son,” a voice said behind her, and she turned to find Harry Potter looking down at her with a sad smile.
“He just barely found out?” Samantha asked incredulously; it had been several days since the battle.
“He was traveling in South America looking for some rare plant or other. We couldn’t reach him until recently, and I wanted to talk to him about it in person. He’s a close friend,” Harry said in explanation.
“Did you tell him everything?” Samantha wanted to know. After all, Frank had been the Death Eater’s tool before finally turning on them.
“Yes, I told him everything,” Harry said with an understanding smile. “The torture that Frank went through before he finally turned on the Death Eaters just makes what he did all the more heroic, and Neville understood. Still, most of Frank’s involvement won’t be public knowledge, since many people would twist the story to make it more controversial.”
“How is Sirius?” Samantha asked before blushing and looking away as her voice broke.
“He’s doing well,” Harry said with a sad laugh. “I know a lot of women who would kill for the chance to turn their grown up boys into babies again, and Ginny is really enjoying it. We all miss him, you know.”
Samantha looked up and saw compassion in Harry’s eyes.
“Don’t worry. Everything will work out the way it needs to,” Harry said gently. “You’ll see.”
Samantha suddenly found herself believing Harry despite all of her misgivings and smiled before running off.
Harry watched her go before limping back into the Headmaster’s office; his wounds were mostly healed, but Harry had learned long ago that severely broken bones took a long time to stop hurting, even with magic.
“You’re sure his memories would be intact?” he asked his old mentor.
“His rebirth can only be explained by the death and rebirth of a phoenix,” Dumbledore’s portrait said once again. “Fawkes’ always remembered everything from his previous lives, and it stands to reason that Sirius would remember too. There are all kinds of variables that make this uncertain, though.”
“Like the fact that nothing like this has ever happened before?” Harry asked pointedly.
“There is that. Also, we don’t know how he turned back into a human as an infant phoenix, or why he couldn’t turn back into a phoenix now,” the portrait said with a smile. “Besides, everything is reversible if it doesn’t work out.”
“Why don’t you try telling that to Ginny?” Harry said with a sardonic grin.
“Well, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Dumbledore said hastily. “I am just a portrait, after all, and I don’t have the real Dumbledore’s courage.”
“I have a feeling that the real Dumbledore wouldn’t have been willing to do this either,” Harry mused.
“You could be right,” the painting said, eyes twinkling above half-moon spectacles. “He was accounted as a very wise wizard.”
***
Ginny looked down at Sirius’ sleeping form, thinking of how much fun it had been to be able to pull out the various baby accessories such as the bed, clothes, and toys, and thinking that it would be hard to put it all back. Still, Harry had convinced her.
“I’ve gotten used to having a baby around again,” she said wistfully as she watched Sirius move in his sleep.
“There is a solution for that, you know,” Harry said with a grin as he put his arms around her.
Harry was waiting for his implied suggestion to be turned down, as similar suggestions had been for the past couple of years.
“Alright, Mr. Potter,” Ginny said, turning to her husband with an answering smile, knowing she was surprising him. “But this time I mean it; eight kids is where we stop.”
Harry shook his head ruefully. “That’s what you said after six. I still think ten is a better number.”
“Dream on, Harry,” Ginny laughed, before sobering as she turned back to her sleeping son.
“I hope it works,” she said as she gently took Sirius from the bed.
She took hold of the Portkey that Harry held out to her, and the three of them vanished, reappearing in the Department of Mysteries.
“It’s not often you get Ministry permission to play with time,” Minerva McGonagall, Minister for Magic, said with a smile as she welcomed some of her favorite former students. “But how can we say no to Harry Potter?”
“I think you should be doing this for Sirius alone,” Harry said seriously. “He saved all of our lives, and stopped Malfoy before he could do any more damage.”
“Yes, we do owe Sirius a lot, and we hope to be able to offer him our deepest thanks in just a few moments. Are you sure about this?”
“Yes,” Ginny answered before Harry could. “Sirius would want it.”
“Besides, if it works for a Death Eater’s head, it should work for Sirius too, right?” Harry added.
“Then let’s begin,” McGonagall said with a nod and a wave to two of the Unmentionables that were waiting.
“I hope it works,” Ginny said again as her son was taken from her and carried towards a large crystal bell jar in which a small hummingbird was sinking towards the bottom, slowly growing younger as it did. She reached over and held her husband as her son was placed inside the jar; his tiny body began rising gracefully toward the top along with the hummingbird, whose wings were beginning to flutter as it grew to maturity once more.
A/N:I got rid of the joke at the beginning since it wasn't as fun if you didn't have to wait for the chapter. Sorry to everyone who got really scared because of it (I made it seem like Sirius was dead) I just couldn't help it/ Enjoy the rest of the book!