Fatal Beauty

Chapter Six: "What Does It Feel Like to Be A Ghost?"

A/N: You guys will probably find yourself sympathizing more with Autumn this chapter. There's probably only going to be one or two more chapters, so enjoy xP Don't forget to leave me a review.

Harry took a seat at a desk in the Gryffindor common room, remembering how Autumn had faded when he and Hermione had kissed. What was going on? Why was she fading? He bit his lip, and stared at Hermione, who was scribbling frantically on a piece of parchment.

"Hermione, have you figured this out yet?" Harry asked for the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes. Hermione shook her head, not looking up from her parchment. Harry sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

"She can't be a real person, can she?" Harry looked at Hermione, who was still writing. "Hermione?"

"What?" Hermione snapped, finally looking up from her parchment. Harry bit his lip and gave her an apologetic look.

"Never mind," Harry grumbled.

"You've distracted me already. The least you can do is ask your bloody question, Harry," Hermione retorted. After looking at Harry's hurt expression, Hermione gave him a guilty look.

"Sorry," Hermione apologized. She bit her lip. "I'm just so scared for you, Harry. Autumn looks like the doing of You-Know-Who."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Voldemort?" he asked a little too loudly. Several heads turned to face the two of them. Hermione blushed a deep scarlet, obviously very embarrassed.

"Harry," she hissed, "Keep your voice down." Harry swallowed loudly, avoiding Hermione's glance.

"Sorry," he murmured, his cheeks flushing. Hermione rolled her eyes and gave Harry an extremely irritated look.

"How about you just… I don't know, go sleep or something?" Hermione suggested brightly, offering Harry an over-enthusiastic smile. "You'll need your strength to fix whatever Autumn's problem is." Harry glared at Hermione.

"I can take a hint, you know."

Hermione sighed. "Look, I love you, Harry. Really. But seriously, I need some alone time to sort this all out. This is way too much for me to comprehend."

"It must be pretty complicated if you can't comprehend it," Harry joked, showing her that he wasn't angry. Hermione grinned, and Harry kissed her softly. Hermione gave him a quick hug.

"I'll talk to you in the morning. Hopefully we'll have a plan by then," Hermione promised him. Harry nodded, and stood up. He walked towards the portrait hole and then stepped into the hallway. Yawning, Harry walked a few steps before sitting down. He leaned against the wall and let himself get lost in his own thoughts.

Autumn seemed to fade every time he and Hermione kissed. If they kissed enough, would she fade all the way? Harry smirked to himself. If the way to destroy her was to kiss Hermione, he was game for that. As if on cue, Harry heard a familiar voice that sent shockwaves up and down his back.

"Hi Harry."

Harry inhaled sharply and watched Autumn walk towards him. She was unusually sad. Harry noticed that she wasn't trying to act phony and flirtatious. There was something seriously wrong. Autumn looked like she was… sorry.

"Autumn." Harry gave her a small, cautious nod. When she didn't seem to be making a move, Harry asked her, "What's wrong? You look pretty sad." He wasn't sure what to say to her and what not to say to her. Hermione hadn't exactly explained what was going on.

Autumn laughed bitterly. "Do you really want to know, Potter?" Harry shrugged, not sure what to say. Autumn bit her lip, and Harry could swear she was going to cry if she was real.

"Try me."

"I'm so miserable. I want to cry, but I can't because… I'm…" Autumn choked, unable to admit that she wasn't real. Harry gave Autumn a sympathetic look and she shrugged. "I never realized how terrible it is not to be real."

Harry gave Autumn a sympathetic look, not knowing how to answer her. There was nothing he could say to make the situation better, yet he felt like there had to be something he could do.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Harry finally asked, breaking the silence that had been lingering for a few moments. Autumn looked up at Harry, desperately trying to think of a solution to her problem.

"You can kiss me," she smiled weakly. Harry's eyes flickered towards Autumn's lips and he almost felt tempted to kiss them. However, Hermione's face popped into Harry's mind, and the temptation faded instantly. Nobody could ever compete with Hermione. Harry shook his head slowly. Autumn gave him a knowing look, and her weak smile faded.

"I had a feeling you were going to do that."

Harry bit his lip, unable to understand why he was feeling sorry for Autumn. She had manipulated her into falling for her, and then had been nothing but mean to him. Why was she suddenly acting differently?

"I have to go," Autumn announced. She stood up and looked at Harry. Harry nodded, and he watched her disappear around the corner.

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The Great Hall was unusually crowded that morning for breakfast. The Gryffindors had to sit extremely close to one another to accommodate the number of people at the table. Harry felt a sense of discomfort as he squeezed in between Dean Thomas and Hermione.

"Hi," Harry choked out, having a hard time breathing at the crowded table. Hermione laughed softly. Harry's glance flickered towards Autumn. She looked scarily pale. Harry had a feeling she wasn't going to remain in Hogwarts much longer. People were starting to notice her bizarre skin color.

"Looks like Autumn's pretty faded," Hermione whispered to Harry after making sure nobody was listening in, "I don't think she'll stick around much longer. We can probably get rid of her without doing anything."

Harry gave Hermione a look. "Well, I still think we have to do this…" He kissed her softly. Hermione blushed and glanced around the Great Hall. Harry realized that she wasn't very good with public displays of affection, and truthfully, neither was he. He got enough attention as it was.

"She's not actually evil," Harry muttered truthfully. Hermione gave Harry an odd look.

"She works for Voldemort, Harry. How is she not evil?" she demanded. Harry shrugged and bit his lip.

"She doesn't actually work for Voldemort. She was created by Voldemort to serve him. There's a difference," Harry corrected. Hermione's eyes widened.

"I can't believe you're sticking up for her! After all she's put you through."

Harry shook his head. Hermione obviously didn't understand what was going on. "She was just doing her job, Hermione. It's not her fault. She isn't even a real person. Give her a break."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "You still like her, don't you!" she exclaimed accusingly. Some heads turned and Ron smirked amusingly, listening in on their conversation. Harry shot him a look. Ron was still angry that he and Hermione seemed to enjoy spending time alone once and a while.

"I do not like her," Harry hissed under his breath, "What does it matter, anyways? She's not a real person." Hermione shook her head and stood up from the table.

"If you like a fake person more than me, Harry, I don't think this is going to work out," she announced calmly, her eyes flashing. She turned around and stalked out of the Great Hall. The second the door slammed, the Great Hall burst into giggles and whispers. Harry groaned and then left the Great Hall.

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Autumn stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway. The hallway was empty and dim. Autumn figured it must be at least two in the morning. Since she wasn't an actual person, Autumn didn't sleep. She usually spent her nights wandering around and hiding from teachers. She hardly ever attended classes, because the teachers would probably notice that she wasn't very… er real.

Autumn turned the corner cautiously, hoping that a teacher wasn't around the corner. Thankfully, nobody was in sight.

"Autumn."

Autumn felt a chill vibrate throughout her body. She bit her lip and tried to locate the sound. It seemed to be coming within her.

"Autumn. It's me."

Autumn froze. It was her master. Autumn wanted to say something, but wasn't so sure how to answer. She whispered quietly, "I've been trying to get in contact with you for days."

"Sorry. My mistake."

Autumn bit her lip. "It's useless. I don't think Harry is buying into the plan. He seems to have figured out what's going on."

"You seem to have given up, Knight. Potter isn't as strong as you think."

Autumn shivered, the disgust in the Dark Lord's voice unwavering. She took a deep breath and stopped her legs from shaking.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, slightly irritated, "There's nothing that I can do."

There was a pause. Autumn held her breath, and tried to clear her mind of all thoughts. She didn't know much about her master. All she knew was that he was extremely powerful, and seemed to have some grudge against Harry Potter.

"I suppose you're of no more use to me."

Autumn's jaw dropped. Was he going to… dispose of her? She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. Her mind felt light and she couldn't think straight. Her eyes widened and her jaw hung open.

"You can't… you can't just get rid of me," Autumn managed to gasp uncertainly. She had laughter ringing within her. Autumn closed her eyes and then opened them, letting the ringing subdue.

"Why not? I created you, didn't I?"

"But that's not fair," Autumn protested. She waited for an answer, but no answer came. Instead, she was left standing in the middle of a dark hallway, wondering what she was going to do.

A/N: So basically Voldemort has decided that Autumn is of no use anymore =( Wonder how that's going to turn out. And Hermione got mad at Harry.

Only 1-2 more chapters !!

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