Summer Writing Series Challenge (July 14)
Challenge: Harry/Hermione is confronted by a former crush
Title: The Letter From Beyond the Grave
Word Count: 1,000
"I saw it with my own two eyes!" An unnamed witness exclaimed, still surprised at what he'd seen. "Just minutes after Mrs. Potter broke into the warehouse, he was taking shards of bloody glass from the floor and then Flooed out of the office."
Another witness places him near Ottery St. Catchpole just minutes later, the home of a prominent wizarding family burning to ashes shortly after he entered the building.
"I'm not sure what's happened to him," an anonymous source at the Ministry of Magic said when asked questions concerning the sudden turn in Mr. Potter's demeanor. "We've been receiving reports of people sighting him all over England, though the majority of them are false. He's always been an asset to the Auror Division but he's seemed distant since his friends Ron and Luna Weasley died..."
Another prominent family with ties to the recently infamous Boy-Who-Lived just suffered a heart-stopping blow when the Chang family lost their daughter Cho, who had self-admitted herself to a wizarding mental institution due to emotional problems stemming from her ill-fated courtship with Mr. Potter, to an unknown assailant as she left the facility. A letter she had written before she was accepted in the recovery program at an unnamed St. Mungo's branch was tracked to the main facility where Mr. Harry Potter was the recipient.
Mystery and intrigue has always surrounded the Savior-Of-The-Wizarding-World as well as a heaping dose of misery and dismay. It is this reporter's opinion that this dangerous psychopath be apprehended for the safety of both wizarding and muggle worlds.
Rita Skeeter, Staff Journalist.
"What in the bloody hell?" Harry asked incredulously as he watched the moving photograph on the front page of the paper. He appeared, ran into the Burrow and seconds later, flames shot from the kitchen window. The scene repeated itself over and over. Another photo depicted him crying over the letter that he thought was from his wife.
"That's what the Order is trying to find out," Remus said quietly. "By this time tomorrow, you'll probably be taken into custody."
"You're kidding me?!" Harry said incensed. "I'm not some psychopath! Hermione said it was Malfoy that came after her..."
"I don't know what to tell you, Harry," Remus said with a sigh, "I thought you should know what was happening so you could prepare for it."
Harry ran his fingers through his hair angrily and sighed in frustration. "I wonder if this has anything to do with Ron's death..." Harry hissed to himself, his eyes going wide and shifting around the corridor as he mentally flicked through the pages of text he'd received.
"That was an accident, Harry..." Lupin said concernedly.
Harry looked up, an incredulous sneer on his face but he relaxed almost instantly. "Y-you're right," he stammered as he thought frantically. "I need to let Hermione and Mum know what's going on and we need to get them all in the same room... Have you been able to get anything out of Nott?"
"Even under Veritaserum he kept jabbering about the new Dark Lord..." Remus shook his head in confusion. "Whatever they did to him, he can't even answer simple questions..."
"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO MY BABY?!" A voice screeched from down the hallway. Harry and Remus turned as one and saw an enraged Mrs. Chang barreling at them with fury in her eyes. "ALL SHE DID WAS LOVE YOU!" She shrieked as she pulled a wand from her purse.
"Get down!" Remus shouted and pushed Harry to the floor. A red bolt of light screamed from the tip of her wand and exploded against the corridor wall. "Drop the wand, Mrs. Chang," Remus said cautiously. "Harry didn't do anything to your daughter..."
"He steals her baby and then marries that MUDBLOOD?! YOU CALL THAT NOTHING?!" The woman bellowed, bringing her wand down in a graceful arc, blue light shining at the tip. "HE'S GOING TO PAY!"
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Kingsley Shacklebolt yelled and Harry watched the woman's wand fly through the air to the hand of his boss. "Mrs. Chang!" He growled as politely as he could. "There will be no vigilantism over these false accusations!"
"HE KILLED MY SWEET DAUGHTER!" She yelled in protest. "HE'S GOT HER LETTER! I KNOW IT WAS HIM!"
"Remus, get Harry out of here," Kingsley whispered quickly as he continued past them on a direct path for the irate mother. "Mr. Potter has been in the Hospital since he brought his family in for treatment, he couldn't have been the one who attacked your daughter."
"But it's got to be him..." The woman wailed. "My baby..." She broke down in sobs as Remus pulled Harry down the corridor and out of site.
"It looks like things are getting out of hand faster than we anticipated," Remus whispered as they turned the next corner. "That letter, what did it say?"
Harry handed him the letter in question and shook his head. "I thought it was from Hermione," Harry admitted, "Talking about Lilian... Lilian?" He looked over the letter once again and cursed under his breath. "That's not even Hermione's handwriting!"
"This could very well be that letter from Cho," Remus said with a sigh.
"It is," Harry growled angrily, "I recognize the handwriting." He clenched his fists as he attempted to calm himself down. "I've received several letters from her," Harry explained, "telling me how I made a mistake by marrying Hermione and how Lily was really Cho's daughter and not Hermione's..."
"Sounds like she was completely out of it," Remus said with wide eyes.
"That's pretty much the gist of it," Harry growled. "She didn't admit herself to that blasted mental facility... It was Ministry mandated when I filed for a restraining order on her, they deemed her insane and requiring help. You remember those fights that Hermione and I had..."
"We should be able to get those records easily then," Lupin said with a nod. "It looks like she really bought into this fantasy of hers..."
A/N: Ok, so Cho is dead but her letter and her mother represent the crush coming back to Haunt Harry... Not really what the challenge prescribed, but my interpretation based on the plot I've got going... Hope you enjoy the chapter ;)