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The Phoenix Rises	By : greenwizard11 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 44621 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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The next few months were anything but quiet.� While James was trying to figure out how to
prepare Harry for the third and final task, while also trying to get to the
bottom of who had entered Harry in the tournement in
the first place, Hermione was getting hate mail from people who had read Rita
Skeeter�s article about her breaking Harry�s heart.� Hermione was more determined than ever to
figure out how Rita had found out about her and Krum, and spent most of her
free time studying magical eaves dropping.�

She almost seemed a little disappointed when Rita mysteriously
vanished.� The only clues to what had
happened were an ominous blood splatter on the back wall of the Three
Broomsticks where Rita was last seen with her photographer, the photographer�s
insane mumblings about a black panther and a shaggy black dog, and large claw
marks on the photographer�s chest that were definitely from a feline like
creature.�

Harry was spending more time with Draco in the middle of the
night.� They had mutually agreed to move
their meeting spot to an empty classroom, and Ron and Hermione were allowed to
go as well.� Harry was glad he hadn�t
been forced to choose between Draco and his two best friends.� Ron and Hermione had been with him through a
lot, but he was really starting to like Draco.�
The blonde boy was actually fun to be around when he wasn�t putting on a
show for his housemates.

Surprisingly enough, Ron was starting to like Draco
too.� As it turned out, they had a lot in
common.� They both liked to play chess,
they liked the same quiddich team, and they even liked the same music. There
were times that Draco and Ron were chatting about something and Harry felt a
little jealous.� Hermione noticed, and
usually tried to steer the conversation back to something Harry could join in
on.�

Easter was the same arrangement as Christmas.� Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed down to the
dungeons to have a late brunch with James, Lucius, Draco, and Snape.� Lucius brought large baskets brimming with
sweets for each of them.� He was thrilled
to see how well Draco was getting along with Harry and his friends, but it was
bittersweet because Draco still spent most of his time alone.� There were times when he considered asking
Dumbledore to have Draco transferred to Gryffindor, but there were many reasons
it wouldn�t be a good idea, one of them being the ever darkening mark on his
arm.� �

Soon it was finally time for the third task to be
revealed.� The champions were called down
to the quiddich field.� James didn�t go
down with them though.� Dumbledore wanted
to see both him and Severus in his office.

�What news have you heard from Lucius?� the older wizard
asked almost as soon as James entered the room.�

�Really nothing new,� James answered with a hint of
frustration in his voice.� �Everyone who
has a Dark Mark has noticed it getting darker every day.� That tells us Voldemort is still out there
and getting stronger, but it still doesn�t tell us how.�

Dumbledore turned to Severus.� �Has Karkaroff bothered you recently?�

Severus shook his head.�
�No, not since Harry eaves dropped,� he scowled at James.

Dumbledore sighed and tapped his fingers together as he
thought.� �I don�t like the way things
are going.�

�Neither do I,� James agreed.� �Somebody is planning something, but we still
don�t know what.� Things just keep
getting stranger and stranger.�

�Well if you don�t need me�.� Severus stood up.�

�Actually, yes, I do,� Dumbledore said as he motioned for
the Potions Master to sit back down.�

Severus grumbled, but sank back down into the chair.

�I have noticed a certain� tension between you and James,�
Dumbledore continued when Severus was seated again.� �You continue to hold James� actions against
Harry, which you had better stop doing.� Harry has no control over his father; nobody
does.�

Severus was about to protest when Dumbledore turned to
James.� �And you, you�ve been teasing and
torturing Severus.� Stop it.� You both need to learn to let go of the
past.� We are all on the same side
here.� Harry, a fourteen year old boy, is
being more adult about this than the two of you.�

Both men stared at the Headmaster silently.� Dumbledore rose from his desk.� �I want you both to shake hands, and at least
try to get along from now on.�

James and Severus stood and faced each other.� James felt like he was back in school.� �I�m sorry for being so mean,� James said
very softly and held out his hand.

�And I�m sorry for taking things out on Harry,� Severus
answered and shook James� hand.� Both men
pulled back quickly and Severus left before anything else could be said.

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head.� �Will you ever be able to repair the
relationship you once had with Severus?�

�Probably not,� James answered.� �So when you were talking about letting go of
the past, were you hinting that I should forgive you too?�

Dumbledore smiled.�
�Nothing gets past you does it�.��
Are you going to forgive me?� I
care for you and Harry deeply, and I only wanted what was best for both of
you.� I�m sorry I made such a horrible
mistake.�

James sighed and crossed his arms.� �I haven�t decided yet.� Harry is practically a stranger to me.� And with this stupid tournament�.�

Dumbledore put his arm around James and led him toward the
door.� �I know it�s been hard, and I�m
afraid it will get even harder, but keep trying.�

When they reached the bottom of the stairs Severus was
standing in the hallway with a very upset looking Harry.� When Harry saw them he ran around the Potions
Master and straight to Dumbledore.� �It�s
Crouch, he�s on the grounds and wants to see you,� he cried out breathlessly.

�Lead the way,� Dumbledore said and followed Harry with
James right behind them.� Harry explained
how Barty Crouch was in the forest talking nonsense.

James wasn�t sure what to expect, but when they reached the
spot where Crouch supposedly had been, all they found was the unconscious body
of Viktor Krum.� �Go fetch Hagrid and
Karkaroff James,� Dumbledore instructed.

James nodded and took off across the grounds.� His first stop was Hagrid�s cabin, and then
he went to get Karkaroff to tell him Krum had been attacked.� Karkaroff was furious of course.� He marched right to Dumbledore complaining
loudly of a conspiracy.� He spat at
Dumbledore�s feet, and that seemed to enrage Hagrid, who lifted the smaller man
up and slammed him against a tree.

�Hagrid, don�t!� Dumbledore ordered sternly.� �Just take Harry back up to the castle like I
told you.�

Hagrid reluctantly let Karkaroff go and did as he was
told.� Karkaroff took Viktor and stormed
off.� Dumbledore turned to James.� �Now that all the distractions are gone,
let�s search for Barty.�

They searched all night.�
Severus even came down to help, followed by Moody.� James found himself wondering how Moody had
found out, but he had too much on his mind to really think about it.� Finding Barty Crouch was too important.

They didn�t find him however, and in the morning James had
to tell Harry that Barty had somehow disappeared.� �Don�t you worry about Crouch,� James said
sternly when Harry started asking questions.�
�You focus on the third task.�

He reached into his robes and pulled out a beat up leather
bound book and handed it to Harry.� �Take
this and study it.� It�s a book of hexes
that you might find helpful.�

Harry took the book and looked at it with a sad expression.� �Don�t worry Harry,� James tried to comfort
him.� �I�m here now, and whether or not
you see me around I�m looking out for you.�
I won�t let anything happen to you.�

The search for Barty never stopped.� It was getting to the point where even
Dumbledore was having second thoughts about continuing with the
tournament.� He called Fudge for a
meeting, but the Minister refused to see the disappearance as anything
sinister.� It was clear right away that
Fudge was going to give them trouble.�

***

A/N:� I know this
chapter was short and skipped over a lot of stuff.� The next one will be better I promise.�
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The Phoenix Rises