23 - New Digs

It didn't take long for Harry to realize just how badly Dumbledore had miscalculated with his threat, and to say that he was pleased would be an understatement. All he had to do now was say the word and he would be out from under the old man's thumb, the Tournament notwithstanding. Everything else was merely timing.

Barring active magic, Dumbledore could no longer legally hurt him.

By the time he made his way to Fleur's suite, he was smiling widely. He knocked on the door, and to his surprise, was greeted by Hermione when it opened. The girl stared in shock at Fawkes, having never seen a phoenix before. Harry, for his part, was feeling bold enough that he actually reached out and gave her a brief hug, which shocked her even more thoroughly.

Fleur rose gracefully to her feet when she saw him, and her eyes bulged when they landed on Fawkes. "Is zat–" she breathed. "Is zat a phoenix?"

"Yup," grinned Harry, enjoying her reaction. "Fleur, meet Fawkes. Fawkes, allow me to introduce my beautiful wife, Fleur. And this is my best friend, Hermione Granger."

Fawkes trilled happily at Hermione, making her smile, and then made the brief flight to Fleur's shoulder. He craned his neck to stare into her eyes for a very long moment – she stared back wide-eyed – before finally letting out another cheerful trill and nuzzling her the same way he liked to do to Harry. A smile slowly spread on her features, and she reached up to gently scratch him.

"Magnifique! Je suis tellement heureux de vous rencontrer, Fawkes!"

Hermione smiled at her reaction and moved to give Fawkes a scratch as well, just as awed by him. How could one not be? The bird exuded warmth, comfort, and a sense of utter rightness, and between that and his happy disposition, it was impossible not to like him.

"I take it the meeting went better than you thought?" asked Hermione hopefully.

Harry shook himself out of his vain attempt to translate Fleur's French, and his expression dimmed. "Worse, actually," he corrected. "I just forgot I had Fawkes with me when I stormed out. I reckon he can stay if he wants, I think he was bored up there."

Fawkes suddenly flapped his wings and trilled a victorious trill at the statement, almost as though he was thrilled that someone had finally noticed. Harry's smile rapidly reappeared; it was hard to be angry or sad in Fawkes' presence for too terribly long.

"Well, you're always welcome, Fawkes," he grinned. "And if we're not around, there's always our friends, like Hermione here. I doubt they'll refuse you, and they're pretty fun."

Fawkes trilled another cheerful trill, gracefully lifted off from Fleur's shoulder with a great flap of his wings, and in a flash of fire, he was gone.

Harry blinked.

"Did I misinterpret him?" he wondered.

"Zen I did as well," frowned Fleur with a shake of her head.

"Maybe the Headmaster called him back," suggested Hermione.

But then there was another, much larger flash, and Harry's eyes bugged out at what he saw: Fawkes was back, carrying his perch. He stared as the bird flew to a conveniently empty corner and carefully deposited it before settling down and sending a questioning trill to Harry. He was stunned by this behavior, and had no idea what to think.

"Er, it's fine, Fawkes," he said faintly. "I'm just surprised is all."

Fawkes trilled happily and adopted what Harry could swear was a smug expression. Harry's smile returned, and it was growing by the second: not only was he genuinely thrilled to have Fawkes around, but Dumbledore would go spare. This would drive him up the proverbial wall!

The silence continued for a long moment while everyone stared at the overly cheerful phoenix, and then–

"Okay, tell us what happened, Harry," urged Hermione suddenly.

Harry abruptly lost his smile, and a wave of mental exhaustion hit him, though it quickly passed. He rubbed his face, his irritation with the old man bubbling to the surface again. Finally, he motioned everyone over to the couch; this was going to take a while, and he supposed he might as well get the worst out of the way up front.

"He decided to expel me," he said darkly once they were all seated.

Hermione's eyes grew to the size of tennis balls and she bounced back to her feet in obvious alarm. "WHAT?!" she screeched.

Fleur, on the other hand, eyed him critically for a moment, and though she was clearly concerned, she did not initially react. Then, suddenly, she stood and moved to the shelf where they'd left her father's Pensieve after the twins were done collecting memories for use against Snape. She brought it back to the table and set it down, and turned a solemn look on him.

"Show us," she ordered.

And so he did.

And the girls were roaring with laughter by the time the memory ended.

"Oh, Harry!" breathed Hermione, wiping a tear from her eye. "That was priceless! Your reaction was so perfect!"

"Oui," grinned Fleur. "I do not think 'e expected you to be so... unafraid?"

Harry chuckled along with them. Seeing it from that perspective, it was quite amusing. True, he was still worried about what might happen now, but their good humor was infectious, and he couldn't help but share in it.

"It gets better," he smirked after a moment. "I talked to the Headmistress on my way here, and I have a place at Beauxbatons if I want it." And then he paused hesitantly, and looked up at Fleur with his heart in his eyes. "And I can live here now, if you'll have me," he added softly.

Fleur's eyes bulged, and then she graced him with a blinding smile – but he only caught a brief glimpse of it before she suddenly engulfed him in a warm, heartfelt hug. "I 'am so 'appy!" she breathed. "Of course I will 'ave you!"

Harry relished her reaction. It was amazing having people who actually loved him, and who wanted him around like this. Hermione was only a distant second in that respect: he had no doubt that she cared deeply for him, but it wasn't the same as the way Fleur and her family felt. Otherwise she would have visited him on Privet Drive long ago...

He wasn't angry about that – he hadn't exactly told anyone the truth about the place – but the fact remained. Life debt or no, the Delacours had gone out of their way not just to welcome him, but to help him through his immense number of problems. He doubted that he could ever truly repay them.

Finally Fleur pulled away again, and her expression turned more serious.

"We must tell Papa of zis," she mused. "'E must know 'ow far zat batard is willing to go."

Harry nodded his agreement. "He'll get a kick out of the memory," he shrugged. "I just hope I haven't tipped our hand too much."

"But what will you do about school?" fretted Hermione. "He didn't actually expel you, he just told you he would."

Harry shrugged, having thought of that already. "Simply put?" he asked. "I'll move in here and keep going to class in the castle until he kicks me out. He won't dare, though, and like the Headmistress said, he can't afford to say anything about my living arrangements for the same reason. I'd just transfer, and he can't stop it from happening."

===[~]===

The conversation continued for hours as they discussed plans and possible repercussions. Harry was surprised that Hermione was taking it as well as she was; in retrospect, he would have expected that she would explode when he mentioned the possibility of transferring. Then again, she would probably just join him; she would adore the opportunity to get an education abroad.

When they arrived for dinner that night, Dumbledore was nowhere to be found, which was something of a relief. Fawkes, however, had elected to join them – and he drew incredulous stares from almost every student in the Hall. Harry put it down to fact that they'd probably never seen a real phoenix before, until–

"Way to make an entrance, Harrykins!" gushed Fred.

"Couldn't have done it better ourselves!" agreed George.

"First the veela, and now a phoenix?"

"Don't forget the other girl, Fred."

"Right, and Hermione, too?"

"Three birds at once!"

"And they're all hot!"

"Way to go!" they chorused.

Harry snorted at their antics, and tried to ignore the way Ron's expression dimmed, his jealousy flaring once more. For someone who had so recently used Harry's fame to bolster his own, he was awfully intolerant when Harry got more attention. Worse, it wasn't like he actually tried for it, let alone liked it: he was famous before he could even speak!

But alas, there was nothing he could do about his friend's discontent unless he wanted to fight, which he didn't. He had too many other problems that were far more important. Ron was just going to have to deal, so Harry ignored him.

"Everyone, this is Fawkes," he smiled instead. Then he turned to the phoenix. "Fawkes, meet Susan Bones, Neville Longbottom, Fred and George Weasley, and of course you already know Ron Weasley."

Ron scowled at the introduction for some reason, and Fawkes clattered around on the tabletop to greet everyone while Harry and Fleur watched with open amusement. But then Fawkes spotted the twins. Apparently they'd spent some time in the Headmaster's office, because he clearly knew who they were.

Harry was surprised when he hopped up between them, putting one foot on each of their shoulders. The twins were equally as surprised as everyone else, and they grinned at his antics – he could barely balance and was swaying almost drunkenly – but Harry saw him doing something with his talons. And then, quite suddenly, he burst into flame and vanished.

Harry stared in astonishment as the Great Hall erupted in laughter.

Fawkes had grabbed their shirts and flamed away with them. A slow smile spread across his face as he stared at their stunned, bare-chested forms, and a moment later, Fawkes reappeared on Fleur's shoulder, snickering quietly to himself. And then Fleur started in.

"Not bad, I suppose," she frowned. "But I think zat I like 'Arry's chest much better."

Harry blushed, and everyone had a good laugh at that. Deciding to avoid that conversation entirely, though, he turned to Fawkes instead. "So, Marauding phoenix?" he asked bemusedly.

Fawkes chirped brightly at him.

Harry smirked evilly. "Remind me later," he chuckled. "We'll get Padfoot and Moony."

Fawkes sat up a bit straighter, an interested gleam appearing in his inky black eyes.

It was only then that Harry realized that Fawkes had ignored Ron when he made the rounds, and now would not so much as look at him. That was a bad sign, but Harry put it – along with Ron's continued grumbling – from his mind for the moment. His attitude was becoming supremely annoying, but Harry truly didn't want to deal with it right now.

Soon everyone settled down, and as the conversation continued, Fawkes wandered the table and kibitzed with Harry's friends in his own unique way. Eventually, though, as everyone started to load their plates, he seemingly decided that his job was done. He hopped up on Fleur's shoulder and settled in to beg grapes from whoever happened to have one in their hand at the time.

Harry was actually surprised that the the bird was so social. He had been holed up in Dumbledore's office for who knew how long, and so far as Harry was aware, they were – until now at least – the only students to ever meet him. He certainly wasn't well known in Hogwarts, which was odd when one thought about it given that he was thought to be the Headmaster's familiar.

Harry supposed it was really no wonder that Fawkes wanted out of that boring tower, now that he considered it.

Halfway through dinner, Madame Maxime caught his eye, winked at him, and inclined her head slightly at the door. Harry nodded back; if he understood correctly, then Dumbledore had just entered the Hall. This was going to be interesting.

And sure enough, not thirty seconds later–

"Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore in one of his sterner tones, "I think it time that you return Fawkes to my office."

Fawkes, who was still sitting calmly on Fleur's shoulder, turned and stared neutrally back at the Headmaster, while Harry quirked an eyebrow. It was awfully presumptuous on Dumbledore's part. He didn't know if the man had ever truly been good, but if he had, then he'd forgotten an awful lot, especially about phoenixes.

Harry reached around Fleur to gently stroke the bird's neck, which drew his attention to him. "Do you want to go back, Fawkes?" he asked quietly.

Fawkes squawked and shook his head vehemently, and Dumbledore paled at the gesture.

Harry, meanwhile, turned to look in the old man's general direction, but made sure to keep his eyes averted. "Sorry, Professor," he shrugged. "I think Fawkes goes where he wants, and as my friend, he's welcome here any time he likes."

Dumbledore stared at him for a moment, and then– "Why are you doing this, Harry?" he asked in a pained voice.

He sounded deeply hurt and disappointed, but he couldn't keep his anger out of his eyes, obvious for all who knew to look. Harry's defiance, along with Fawkes' apparent abandonment of him, was getting under his skin. If things kept up this way, it probably wouldn't be long before the man's composure gave out, which would probably be a good thing in the long run, albeit initially painful.

And with that thought in mind, Harry purposefully misinterpreted the question. "It's Fawkes' choice, sir, not mine," he shrugged.

Dumbledore stared for a moment before apparently realizing that Harry had a point. "Very well," he scowled. And then he tossed a betrayed look at the beautiful phoenix, and stalked off to the teacher's table, where Maxime awaited him with a broad smirk.

Harry rather thought he looked like a petulant child.

A/N: Fleur's French ("Magnifique! Je suis tellement heureux de vous rencontrer, Fawkes!") = "Magnificent! I'm so happy to meet you, Fawkes!", at least according to Google Translate a decade ago. Yeah, I still don't know any French. Sorry! And I apologise if the Chapter is not upto par