“You f… idiot,” Sirius shouted at Peter, while they were running down the stairs in order to look for their friends.

“Sirius, stop it. That won’t help Harry and Sev.,” Lily hissed, hot tears running over her face.

“That’s right, Lily, we have to get help. We need Fawkes, he might be able to find them, since there doesn’t seem to be a way out here,” James said urgently.

The ground floor was completely devastated. There were so many rocks, stones, and wood, as well as glass splitters lying around that it was impossible to get down the stairs.

A black snake wiggled its way over to them and transformed into Severus. He had a head wound, and his arms at least seemed to be broken. Lily gasped when she saw him. “I’m fine, Lily, but Harry isn’t. We need help to get him out of there. I don’t know where he is,” Severus moaned, obviously in pain.

“All right, let me transform into my owl form and fly over to Dumbledore’s office to get Fawkes,” Lily agreed, glad to be able to do something. “Severus, you stay here, don’t move unnecessarily and don’t transform again,” she admonished her friend. Then she transformed and flew out of the large opening in the wall, heading for Professor McGonagall’s office as it was the only office she definitely knew where it was from outside.

-----

Fortunately, the Professor was there and opened the window immediately, when the owl knocked insistently. Lily immediately transformed and urgently told the story to the stunned professor, who was pulled out of her musings about her granddaughter being an owl Animagus by the thought about what may have happened to her great grandson.

Minerva threw Floo powder into the fireplace and shouted, “Albus, we need Fawkes and you here immediately,” and seconds later, two phoenixes were sitting on her desk.

Lily urgently told the whole story once more, and Fawkes and Dumbledore in his phoenix form flashed away without comment. Lily changed back into her owl form, while a grey cat could be seen coming from Gryffindor Tower dashing through the school.

When Lily arrived on the second floor of the Shack, her friends were still standing there, horror written on their faces. Severus however was gone.

“Has Fawkes taken Severus?” she asked worriedly, as soon as she had transformed.

“No, Lily, Dumbledore has taken him to the Hospital Wing, and Fawkes is looking for Harry,” James replied, putting a calming hand on her shoulder.

While Lily was wondering if she should fly over to the Hospital Wing or wait for Fawkes to show up with news about Harry, Dumbledore arrived and told them that Madam Pomfrey was looking after Severus at the moment. He offered to remove them from the Shack before joining Fawkes in his search for Harry. As soon as he had transformed, the boys grabbed his tail feathers and were taken to the grounds just outside of the Shack, while Lily changed into her owl form and flew out, too. The others were standing in front of the Shack, talking frantically about if there was anything they could do. Professor McGonagall just came over, looking very worried.

Suddenly Fawkes arrived, sat on Lily’s arm, and carefully put something into her hand. She let out a loud gasp. It was a baby phoenix, a very small, naked bird. “Is that… is that Harry?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes once more.”

Suddenly, Dumbledore was at her side. “Yes, Lily, that’s Harry. He was very lucky to be in his phoenix form; otherwise he wouldn’t have survived it. As a wind phoenix, he had his Vaporizing Day and is now a baby.”

“Will he also be a baby in his human form?” Lily asked flabbergasted.

#No, he will be a big hatchling, but you mustn’t transform him back for at least ten egg-turns. I will be the one to do chit-chat with him.#

“He will be his normal age; however we cannot transform him back for at least two or three weeks. Fawkes will care for him in the meantime,” Dumbledore translated for the others, carefully taking Baby phoenix Harry from Lily.

#Be careful, old man, you have to keep our nestling warm, otherwise he will not make it!# Fawkes advised Albus, who put the small baby phoenix under his robes and translated Fawkes’ warning to the others.

After that a discussion about where they should take Breeze and who should take care of him started, until Dumbledore called everyone to silence and decided, “I will take him to the Snapes’ living room. We can place his perch, which is also made for a baby phoenix to sit on, in front of the fireplace, it will be warm and comfortable enough for him while he recovers. I would like to ask every one of you to take the time to be there for him as much as possible. I suggest that we take him there now and then discuss everything else. Hopefully Fawkes will be able to give us further advice about how to care for a baby phoenix.”

They walked up to the Snape quarters. However, before they could knock, Remus asked, “Should we go in there together? I mean, it will be quite a shock for Professor Snape; so maybe it would be better if only the Professors and Lily went in together with Fawkes.”

“Yes, Mr. Lupin, that’s right. Thanks for your understanding. Please return to your Common room, so that I can find you if we have questions later on,” Dumbledore spoke up and knocked at the door.

When Salazar opened the door, Lily threw herself at the teacher, bursting into tears and Dumbledore quickly told him what had happened.

#In about a week he should be able to communicate to you – I will be the first able to have a proper conversation with him of course,# Fawkes informed Albus. After a short while, he added, #And don’t make such a fuss over him, he will be alright.#

“Where is he?” Salazar asked, and looked over to the perch that Minerva had placed directly in front of the fireplace. When Lily, looking at the perch to search for Breeze she suddenly started to giggle, everyone followed her eyes and saw that Fawkes had taken a position just next to Breeze, spreading his pretty wings all over the baby, so that not even the tiniest bit of the small phoenix could be seen. The room erupted with relieved laughter.

By now, everyone had settled into the chairs around Breeze’s perch and Albus called Twinkle and asked for tea and biscuits for everyone. When she came back a minute later, he told her that Breeze was a baby now and that he wanted her to take care of him during the next couple of weeks. Seeing the confused looks the others were throwing at him, he explained, “Twinkle always takes care of Fawkes while he is a baby. Therefore, she knows exactly what he needs and is well prepared to care for him. Don’t worry; he will be in the best hands,” he explained reassuringly.

A few minutes later, they were silently sipping their tea when suddenly, Minerva started to speak. “Lily, can you tell me what exactly happened? How did the ceiling come down when they were trying to measure the length of the wall?”

Lily shook her head. “I have no idea. Sorry, but I really don’t understand what happened. We were in the other room and only came over when Peter suddenly cried out.”

“Maybe we should call Mr. Pettigrew and ask him,” Dumbledore suggested.

“No,” Lily contradicted vehemently. “Let’s try to ask Severus first if he knows something. Peter probably won’t know what happened anyway.”

Minerva stood up from the sofa immediately. “I’ll go and check on Severus. Poppy should be finished treating him and can tell us how he is. I will also ask her when we can talk to him.”

“May I come with you, Granny?” Lily asked immediately.

“Let’s all go together,” Dumbledore suggested. “Fawkes will look after Harry while we are gone.”

-----

When they reached the Hospital Wing, Poppy was sitting on the edge of Severus’ bed, and the two of them were engaged in an animate conversation. “What happened to Harry?” Severus asked immediately.

“It’s all right, Severus, calm down,” Albus replied calmingly, and Severus relaxed noticeably.

“Oh, thank God,” Poppy said and turned to Severus again. “Then please drink your sleeping potion now, you have to rest in order for your body to heal properly.”

“No,” Severus contradicted urgently. “I have to speak to the professors first. It will only take a minute. Please stay here and wait.” He turned to Dumbledore. “Professor, please, you have to ask Pettigrew under Veritaserum what he did today. If he had only done what he was supposed to do, there is no way that the ceiling could have collapsed.” Ignoring Minerva’s, Poppy’s, and Lily’s gasp, he repeated urgently, “Please investigate using Veritaserum.” Then he turned to Poppy and gulped down the Potion she held out for him.

When Severus fell asleep, Poppy tucked him in and turned to the others, who were still standing around his bed, stunned because of what he had told him. “How is he, Madam Pomfrey?” Lily asked worriedly.

Poppy sighed. “He has a concussion and several broken bones. Both arms and three ribs were broken, but they are already healed and will be fine by tomorrow.”

“Can Salazar take him to his quarters, so that he can keep our Baby phoenix company?” Dumbledore asked straight away, and Poppy sighed.

“Not yet. As soon as his fever has broken, you may take him with you, Salazar. He may keep Harry company, but I also want him to rest for at least a few days.”

“All right. Thank you, Poppy.” Albus finished the conversation and turned to his wife. “Minerva, please bring Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew to my office. In the meantime, I shall prepare some tea. Lily and Salazar, would you care to join us for a cup of tea?”

“Oh, yes, Professor, thank you.” Lily was the first to reply, and Salazar gave Albus a short nod to show his agreement.

-----

In the Headmaster’s office, Dumbledore immediately called Twinkle and ordered tea. A minute later, he poured the tea into eight cups, while Salazar busied himself carefully pouring a drop of a plain looking liquid into four of the cups. When Minerva arrived with the four students, Albus motioned her to sit next to Lily and invited the students to take a seat and have some tea.

While everyone sipped their tea, Dumbledore started to question James. “Mr. Potter, can you tell us what happened this morning at the Shrieking Shack?”

James gave him a confused glance. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “Harry and Severus went over to measure the walls in the large room, and Peter followed them, while Lily and Remus measured the walls in the smaller room, and Sirius and I tried to measure the walls in the hall. One in each team was performing the Longitudo Dimetiri spell, and the other was taking notes. Harry and Severus had already done the same thing at the front part of the Shack and showed us how to do the spell.”

“Who did the spells, and who exactly was taking notes, Mr. Lupin?” Dumbledore enquired.

“Lily performed the spell, and I took notes. I’m not 100 percent sure, but I believe James did the spell, while Sirius noted the measurements, and I’m quite sure that Harry performed the spell and Severus took notes.”

“What did Mr. Pettigrew do in the meantime, Mr. Black?” Albus asked once more.

“I don’t know, but he isn’t capable of doing difficult spells, he just always follows those he thinks are the best and watches,” Sirius replied and gasped at his own words.

“Can you please explain exactly what happened in your group, Mr. Pettigrew?”

“Harry and Severus didn’t even give me a chance to participate. They just did their own thing without me. So I pointed my wand to the ceiling, when they were not looking, and performed the Tectum Collabor spell, so that the ceiling came down on top of them.”

“Did you want to kill them?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I was going to become a Death Eater during the Christmas holidays. But those stupid Snapes killed the Dark Lord before I even had the opportunity of joining him. They shall wait and see – I’ll get my revenge on them.”

“Have you tried to kill them before?”

“Yes. I charmed a Bludger to attack Snape at the Quidditch match, but he managed to escape. It’s difficult to get him because he’s so good at everything.”

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin, you are dismissed. Please do not talk about this to anyone until you hear from me again,” Dumbledore said, with a sad smile at his students without the usual twinkle in his eyes. He stood up and went to the fireplace to call the Auror Office.

Two minutes later, Aurors Moody and Potter stepped through the fireplace, and Dumbledore hurried to question Peter again before the Veritaserum wore off. Finally, the Aurors took Pettigrew with them to keep him in a ministry’s cell, since they couldn’t throw him into Azkaban because of his young age. He will be tried for the attempted murder of his two classmates.

Just before the Aurors left with the boy, Albus asked Moody, “Alastor, could you please organize a few registration cards for Animagi for us? We need at least three but better send me six.”

“Oh, yes,” Lily threw in, “just to let you know, Pettigrew is an unregistered rat Animagus.”

“Really, thank you very much, Ms. Evans. This is very valuable information,” Mr. Potter commended immediately and threw a spell around Peter that would prevent him from transforming.

-----

On Monday evening, Severus was finally allowed to transfer to the Snape quarters under the condition that he wouldn’t do anything but lie on the sofa and keep Harry company for the rest of the week.

During the first week, Fawkes didn’t move at all. Every piece of food Twinkle brought went into his beak first and from there into the tiny baby’s mouth. He trilled and trilled to entertain the little phoenix whenever he seemed to be at least half-awake. Severus often stood next to the perch talking to Harry. Of course, he didn’t know if he would understand, but he was quite sure that he would – at least – recognize his voice. Their friends visited as often as they were allowed to join Severus. On most days, Salazar threw them out after an hour as Severus still didn’t feel too well, and Salazar was as protective of him as he was of Harry.

As soon as Severus had recovered, Minerva, Albus, and Poppy started to visit Salazar in the evenings, and most of the time Lily and Severus were there as well, drinking tea and waiting for the baby phoenix to grow.

On the eighth day, Fawkes finally moved and took a spot next to Baby Breeze who had grown a bit during the week and was even sporting small green feathers here and there. The little phoenix lazily moved his head out from under his wing, and slowly opened his beautiful green eyes. Albus immediately transformed into his phoenix form and sat next to his great grandchild on the perch to exchange a few trills with him and Fawkes.

Finally, Breeze looked around to where his family was sitting and trilled, #What happened?# Lily went over to his perch and held the back of her hand directly in front of his feet, and Breeze accepted the invitation and carefully put one foot after the other onto his mother’s hand. She carefully took him over to the sofa and sat down next to Severus quietly talking to Breeze. Severus carefully put his hand onto the back of the phoenix’ head, knowing how much his future son liked him stroking the feathers there and told him what had happened in a quiet and calm voice.

“Harry”, his great grandmother addressed the tiny bird, “I don’t know when you will be able to transform back to your human self, but I can change you back whenever you want me to.”

Breeze nodded his head and trilled, #Fank you vewy much Gwanny. I don’t know how and when to twansfowm back; I have to ask Fawkes.#

Lily could understand what he said – probably because of being a bird too – and translated for everyone what Breeze had said. Salazar turned to the bird and told him, “No, Harry, you don’t have to ask Fawkes. He cannot tell you how to change back because he is not an Animagus, and about the timing, YOU have to decide in which form you feel more comfortable. You can either wait until you feel strong enough to transform by yourself, or we can ask your Grandmother to change you back.”

The phoenix baby took his time in making a decision, and for some reason Lily grew more and more upset. Severus asked Lily softly one day when everyone was assembled in the Snape quarters for tea, “Lily, what’s the problem with Harry being a baby phoenix? You know that he’s fine; you’re even able to talk with him, and remember you’re the only one except for the Headmaster to be able to do so. Also, don’t forget, when Harry is born in a few years’ time, we are going to have to raise him from birth onwards. You have to be very patient to have your fine big son back.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course, Sev, I know that. But you see, it’s only a few more months until Harry and your future self are going back to the future, so I want to enjoy every second of the time we have remaining with them.”

None of them noticed baby phoenix Harry tilting his head and listening in to their conversation intensely. A few minutes later, Harry started to let out a stream of words that was endless and much too fast for Lily to understand.

“Lily, what is he saying?” Severus urged his girlfriend. “He seems to be very upset.”

Lily gave Severus an exasperated glance before she admitted, “I have no idea at all. He’s ranting about something but it’s much too fast and too babyish to understand a word.”

In the meantime, Minerva had gone over to the perch and had taken the baby phoenix onto her hand, carefully stroking his head feathers with the other hand. Suddenly, the tiny phoenix stopped his ranting and his bright green eyes stared pleading at his great grandmother. All of a sudden, an image started to float in front of Minerva’s mind and she let out a huge gasp.

“Are you sure, Harry?”

The baby phoenix shook his small feathers before he nodded his head in a confirming nod.