AN: First date of Fadwig! Or Hedwkes. I don't know. I made Hedwig a little more juvenile, as you can't get very good teenage-jitters from an owl like canon-Hedwig. Set during GoF. This is just the first of many chappies, so the next will be either the proposal or the wedding, then Hedwig's pregnant, the hatching, etc.

Hedwig was waiting nervously on the edge of the Forest. She had a dinner date with Fawkes. The Fawkes. The Headmaster's Phoenix! When he had asked her to the Forest's Feast, she had gone into shock, and after a while, she had said yes. Then it was an hour-long freak-out session with Ana and Evanna, her best friends. (The sister owls of the Patil twins.) Even Pigwedgeon joined in, though Hedwig doubted he knew what the celebration was about. For 2 hours, Ana and Evanna had preened her feathers to perfection, shined her talons, and gave her tips on her composure, as if she hadn't been on a date before! Well, Fawkes was the closest you could get to a celebrity in the castle. And you had to look good for the most famous avian on the grounds.

And there he was! Swooping down from Dumbledore's office, surrounded by his fiery glow. He alighted on the branch next to her.

"Good evening, Hedwig. I must say, you look quite nice tonight."

He thought she looked nice? Really?

"Thank you, Fawkes. You don't look too bad yourself."

And on that note, they flew off into the forest, headed for the stand of close-growing pines, in whose entwined upper branches was the avian section of the Forest's Feast. Supplied and served by the Hogwarts house-elves, the Feast had several floors; the largest was the ground floor, where the land-dwelling creatures brought their dates and dinner meetings. The middle section was for creatures that could climb well, squirrels, raccoons, badgers, and the like. The top floors were for the flying creatures, birds, Phoenixes, and even hippogriffes if they wanted a view.

Hedwig and Fawkes landed upon a limb with a wonderful view of the dance area, a circular hole in the branches where the birds could "trip the light fantastic." A house-elf came over and took their orders, then sped downwards to the underground kitchens.

"I heard that your human has been selected for the Triwizard Tournament." Fawkes stated.

"Yes, Harry's not happy about it. Just like in his second year, most of the Castle is against him. They think he cheated, being chosen while he's still underage. Even his own best friend thinks Harry put his name in the Goblet."

"The Weasley boy? Ron, is it? I always thought he'd stick by his friends. The sorting Hat told me that almost all of the Weasleys in the last century have been very Hufflepuff-ish."

Normally Fawkes didn't know the names of the students, but he had seen enough of the two oldest Weasley boys and the twins in Albus's office in the past 10 years that he came to know them by name, and they told him all about their family, with the six boys, one girl, their muggle-loving father and the family Matriarch.

"He has in the past, but Hermione, the muggleborn, thinks he's jealous of all the attention Harry gets, and that's clouded his judgment. He'll probably come around when he sees how dangerous the Tasks are."

They continued with casual conversation throughout dinner, which for Fawkes was a plate of fire kindling, and Hedwig's was mice, frogs and rats. When they were finished, the Snowy Owl and the Phoenix danced for quite a while. Afterwards, they perched in a tall maple, and looked at the crescent moon. When they were both getting sleepy, Fawkes flew Hedwig back to the Owlery, where her friends had fallen asleep waiting for her, and arranged another date for the next week. He continued on towards the Headmaster's tower, and alighted on his roost. His last thought before falling asleep was: "Hedwig's much prettier up close."

Both birds that night had dreams of small, feathery balls of white fire.

*Please, please, review! This story is beta-ed only by a facebook page I admin,, so if anyone wants to do me an honour and be my beta, I'd greatly appreciate it! *