The scene in which Dumbledore tells Harry what he must do in order to survive has given me an idea for a little plot bunny: Dumbledore gives Harry the “Talk.”
“You see Harry, when a phoenix gets old, it dies and is reborn. That is the phoenix’s life cycle. It lives, grows old, dies in a fiery explosion and is reborn over and over again. The wonderful creature has no need for reproduction like we humans do. And let me tell you, Fawkes doesn’t know what he’s missing,” the old wizard said knowingly while using his elbow to nudge Harry in the ribs.
Also, even though Harry was stunned by Luna’s forwardness, I still think he would’ve caught her throwaway line of “...I knew that my first male lover...”
I imagine he would’ve said something along the lines of; “Wait, male lover? Why do you have to make that distinction...? Oh... sweet!”
Again, I kid because I care. It’s fun so far. A nice, fun story.
Author's response
As for the bit with Dumbledore; If I wasn't already using the Monty Python "Wink Wink Nudge Nudge Know What I Mean?" bit in a later chapter, I might have included it. But, you'll just have to wait for the obligatory Eric Idle Cameo GRIN
As for Luna, well, if I'd thought of it, I probably would have used something like "Yippee!"
Red