Fame and the Like

This fanfiction is quite experimental - you might understand why when you read the ending. It's quite long as well, around 4,000 words, but it I hope I wrote it so that you have no problem reading it in one go. Should be okay, right? Feedback is greatly appreciated. Have fun reading!

Apathy was not unknown to Harry Potter. True, he much rather liked the opposite of people close to him, but usually, apathy wouldn't bother him. In fact, he liked it. Whether he was strolling past the streets and the alleys of Muggle London, taking the tube or spending his days sunbathing in Southern Spain; he didn't mind, as long as he wasn't surrounded by people who gasped when seeing him. See, Harry Potter was a private person, that was certain, and coping with so much attention could require a lot of energy which he'd most wanted to put in other things. For instance, being social and acting caring and attentive to Ginny's desires. Which, as a consequence of happenings, didn't happen all the time.

'What's the matter?' Ginny's first words were already softening Harry's boiling disgruntlement. He shot a look at her and Ginny understood him immediately. She put down the book she was reading and caressed his hands, glancing at him with genuine affection.

'Another one?' she said.

Harry nodded.

'An odd one.'

Ginny's eyes longed for a more detailed explanation.

'I was walking down in Knightsbridge and suddenly I had this true itch to go and have a donut,' Harry started. 'Like, a proper donut, you know, not those fantasy-bakery ones from that one big American chain. No, real donuts. So I set out to find one, I was early off work; ideal. Neville had told me about a shop Hannah has found which a few streets away from where I Apparated in Knightsbridge itself. It appeared to be named The Beakery. A logo of a duck would be on the window of a shop, that's how I could recognise it. After fifteen minutes or so I found it at the other side of the park, sandwiched between a cycle repair shop and a café which appeared to be a meeting point for people with those laptops. I crossed the street and initially wanted to walk past the park, but there were roadworks ahead and you had to walk beside the pavement on the street. I deemed that unsafe and decided to cross the park since it was the same distance to the bakery shop. I passed a small grassland and a fountain and passed thick bushes on both sides of the way. I was minding my own business, more specifically thinking about a case at work, when I heard a shriek after me. I turned my head to the back when she leaped herself upon me.'

'Who?' said Ginny, a little louder than usual. Harry made an apologetic face.

'A woman. I had glanced my back because I thought that was where the sound came from. Suddenly this woman was on top of me, screaming sounds I couldn't recognise whilst I was absolutely flabbergasted.'

Ginny gasped. 'The bitch.'

'So I tried to push her off, push her off me real quick and it seemed to work out. Some other kind people had come to my aid, helping this woman to get off me. Her sounds were getting more clear now. The adrenaline was still pumping through my body when she was saying my name. It was very incoherent, she stuttered and had a very high-pitch voice – but she said my name. I was startled, baffled, anything you'd call it: it was me.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' said Ginny.

'Because, well, what was I going to say?' answered Harry. 'Though it isn't the whole story. I got up, people asked if I was okay and I was ready to move on. The woman was held by two other people. She wasn't screaming anymore but was creepily staring at me the whole time. Of course, this, and the fact that she came out of nowhere and leaped herself upon to me made people precautious. A very nice man told me he thought I was getting assassinated, but I could ensure him that wasn't the case at all. After a few moments one of the passerby's called the Muggle police. They briefly interviewed me, took witness statements and took the woman with her.'

'Well, that's something,' remarked Ginny relieved. 'I hope they sent her for research to a psylochologist. Or how is it the Muggles call that?'

'I don't know,' replied Harry, 'but, Ginny, understand, I encountered her again.'

Her eyes became wide. She let go of Harry's hands. 'Tell me.'

'I told you about the bakery shop, right? Turns out it was a pastry shop.' Ginny didn't look amused.

'Anyhow, I entered half an hour or so after the woman was brought to the Muggle police station. I wasn't badly bruised or anything, so I stepped into the shop with a sense of freshness. A donut was finally waiting for me to be eaten. The shop was busy, so I had to queue in order to get one – they're quite popular. As I was second in line, I glanced behind my back and saw a figure I thought I recognised. Mind you, the shop was full. You could enter and slip neatly past the people in the back, but it was impossible for you to go straight to the counter. As soon as I realised this, I knew I was in trouble – again. The woman whom I just had met before had now entered the shop. To everybody's surprise but mine, she began screaming. This time I exactly understood what she was saying, as did everybody else. My name. In high pitch, hands raised, I don't know why, but she did it. "HARRY POTTER! HARRY POTTER!" was enough to attract the attention of everyone. I tried to be anonymous in a crowd like that one in the shop. However, I couldn't help being tapped on the shoulder by a woman behind me, saying the foul-mouthed woman was not just intensively gazing at me but was also fervently pointing.'

'Don't tell me she jumped on you again, Harry,' Ginny fumed.

'No, she didn't. Do you know what happened?'

Ginny's stare at Harry's was austere and signaled him to complete his story. By all means, she didn't know the end of the story, hence why she was asking. She rolled her eyes. Harry didn't notice.

'Exactly at that moment two police offers were walking by outside and heard the woman's screams. I saw them peaking by the door to identify the source of the sound. It wasn't hard, of course. They asked what was wrong, spoke to the woman, but she didn't reply adequately to the officers, so she was led outside. After a minute I was asked by policemen to answer a few questions, but I refused. I didn't want to get jumped at again. I told the man I was beleaguered by her just less than an hour ago and I had no idea why she was here – "Wasn't she taken away by colleagues of yours?" - and affirmed my decision to stay in the shop. Eventually, they checked with their department and it was indeed confirmed that she was taken to the police station less than an hour ago..! To my astonishment she was released shortly thereafter. They didn't tell me why. From that moment on I began to suspect that there was more to that woman than meets the eye.'

'She's bloody crazy?'

Harry snorted. 'Obviously. I meant it more as in, "she's probably one of ours".'

'Oh,' said Ginny judgemental, realizing the sudden complexity of the situation.

'Yep,' continued Harry. 'The police officers told me she said she was "in mad love with Harry Potter". First of all, I found that creepy. Second of all, she was gone before they could ask her anything else – she was as quickly gone as she did appear.'

Ginny grunted. 'So what do we have now – Harry, how did you get yourself in such a terrible situation? Missus Mad Woman is still on the loose now. God knows what she'll do next. She might as well just pop up here and stick in her face in front of our window!'

Harry expected Ginny to be infuriated like this. Even though they were sitting in their living room in Grimmauld Place (which itself was unplottable), he too had to acknowledge that it was very likely that Mad Woman would show up again and harass him. It was nagging him. He had to do something, he thought as he glanced at Ginny, or: they had to do something.

'I need your help,' Harry replied.

'My help? You got yourself into this mess, Harry, you better help yourself,' Ginny snapped.

'Oh, come on Ginny, I don't mean in it a funny way.' Ginny's eyes pierced through him as Harry had finished his sentence. At last, after a few seconds, Ginny swallowed and recollected herself.

'Alright. I'll help you. But this time we'll do it properly,' she replied as she got up and walked past him. Harry sighed. Ginny turned her head around. 'And this time we'll catch her.'

To be frank, Harry didn't really know if the plan he and Ginny made up would work. As he glanced at her, he thought that they had some sort of plan, and although it wasn't meticulously planned out, Ginny's assertive character in situations like this conveyed a subtle message to Harry that everything would be alright – in the end.

Their plan was simple. Harry would function as the red rag to the bull. He would hang around a public, quiet place and after some debate, they choose Raggenhall Park as their location. Densely forested, Raggenhall had plenty of options to do some wand-work against the Mad Woman if the situation required it. On the other hand, it lied on the outskirts of the Thames, one or two miles west of Buckingham Palace, so it wasn't that remote either. Harry would first walk around more busy parts of London, then hope he was being trailed and subsequently sped off towards the park. Ginny would be waiting in a seclusive spot (wand ready, of course) and confront the Mad Woman, together with Harry, with her behavior.

And so Harry set off. Ginny and he parted ways. The first twenty minutes of his walk were busy; tourists were cramming themselves through every nook and cranny of London, it seemed, on their way to either Portobello Road or Camden. In most cases, Harry figured out, they'd also liked to look at Buckingham Palace. He approached the palace on the south side and walked right past it, his shoulder to the back and his head up high, hoping that someone – Mad Woman – would see him. It was the first time that Harry hoped to spotted, even though he didn't know where that exactly would be.

After the palace was out of sight Harry passed less-crowded streets in the western part of London. Shops urged passerby's to enter, and their signboards stood fiercely when the wind suddenly rose and made the day chillier than it already was. Harry looked up, saw the clouds conjugating and shivered. The wind sent shivers down his spine, however – it could have also been something else. Harry had turned his head a moment before he looked up at the signs and saw a face he thought he recognised. Could it be..? Shivers followed again, this time not because of his certainty that he had actually seen her, but because he could have. The possibility. He remembered that Ginny and he could communicate by using an earpiece from George Weasley ('It's called the Earritating, Harry, but it does really work,' George had said) and touched his right ear slightly. A low bleep followed.

'Yes?' said the female voice.

'Ginny, I think I might've spotted her.'

'Where?' she answered. 'Are you close?'

Harry looked around and decided he was only one or two miles from Raggenhall Park. 'Ten minutes,' he said. On the other end of the line, Ginny coughed and Harry heard her politely greeting someone before she came back to him. 'Okay,' she replied, before adding, 'let me know when you're here.'

He nodded, quickly realised that Ginny couldn't see that, put his finger to his Earritating earpiece creating a thud and let out a dull 'OK'. Then he continued his way, walking westwards and arriving at a crossroad before walking onto a busy street that led, in the end, to the main entrance of Raggenhall Park.

The sun was nowhere to be seen and as Harry had left the area around Buckingham Palace behind him, the crowd became noticeably thinner which allowed him to stride on at a good pace. Several kebab and pizza shops had already opened their doors this time around tea, and apart from a man asking for a cigarette (and calling him 'Dave' when doing so) he arrived at the big iron gates without any problems. Harry checked the time on his watch and set out for the park when his attention was caught by an older lady with a red checkered skirt talking to her dog.

'Monreal. Please, go on, dear, go on. Come on now.'

The dog didn't make any attempt to move. A Pomeranian, it's thick hairs on its skin shivered as it glanced at the old lady with an odd-striking fear. Harry moved past her and walked on. The paved road was old and, although deserted, not very inviting to walk on; big potholes elevated the road to a hilly path that not many were risking to take. Soon the paved road transformed into an unpaved path. More narrow, this path was flanked at a considerable distance by low hedges. Grotesque street lamps, Victorian style but seemingly without maintenance for at least a couple of years, stood tall on both sides of the paths as if they were pedestrians without a goal. They would go nowhere, just like the Mad Woman. During the way, Harry's determination to catch and confront her was strengthened. Although he wasn't profoundly affected by her actions, the fact that she was able to find and approach him both times did strike some kind of fearful uncomfortableness in his head.

Harry shook his head and followed the road. On his left, he could see the lone oak and birch trees in the field, and he took it as a sign that he should turn a sharp left. The hedges had become taller than his head. Swiftly he took the turn when he heard a bark. As he walked onto the path to the grass, a dog was sitting in the middle of the path. On the right were a bench and a wastebasket.

The dog was the same as Harry had seen before, just when he had entered the park. An elderly woman had accompanied it and this time was no different. The same woman sat on the bench, wearing the same checkered skirt and pressing a small purse against her body. She was smiling at Harry. The dog appeared to have no emotion. Harry stopped dead in his tracks and glanced at the woman. She was sitting there peacefully, and albeit Harry thought she appeared very polite, his stomach turned upside down. He touched his earpiece.

'Ginny. She's here.'

A crackling noise followed.

'Ginny,' he repeated, softly but firm.

He got no reply. Meanwhile, the elderly woman had got up, summoned Monreal to come with him (he simply stayed seated) and started to walk towards Harry.

'It seems you're alone out here,' she grinned.

'Who are you?' replied Harry, clutching his wand in the pockets of his coat.

'Just a ... woman.' She stopped a few meters before Harry and turned around.

'Monreal. Come here, come on..' the dog gave no sign of willingness to come to her. 'Monreal …' sighed the woman. She faced Harry again and her grinning smile had transformed into a sly one. She opened the purse and started feeling blind, all the while she continued to maintain eye contact with Harry. Her hand went in, but in an instant, her whole arm disappeared into the purse before finally she took her arm out and held her hand in the purse. Adrenaline struck through Harry's body as he had recognised the Undetectable Extension Charm. She was a wizard.

'I've been wanting to meet you for a long time, Harry Potter.'

Harry's right eyelid vibrated. 'How so?'

'Well, you're a very interesting man, with a very interesting story ...' the elderly woman smiled and shortly brushed her checkered shirt. Harry stared at her when she took her hand out of her purse.

'Immobulus!' she shouted.

Harry immediately dodged the stream of blue light and directed his wand at her. 'Expelliarmus!' The spell hit a bush behind the lady and she started to run. Her skin started to change when she tried to run away, which in turn slowed her down. Her checkered shirt disappeared and her grey hair became long blonde hair. She turned her face to Harry and he recognised her. It was the Mad Woman, whom he had encountered before. He stood up and pointed his wand at her for the second time.

'Prostatus!'

The woman made attempts to withstand the jinx but had to give in. She lost balance and fell over. She grabbed her wand, directed it at Harry, but the latter was faster.

'Immobulus!'

Her blonde hair, which had previously been waving alongside her body, froze. Her arm was still stretched out and her facial expression was one of utmost effort. Harry had beaten her by seconds. He sprinted towards her and checked his surroundings. There was nobody in sight. The dog, Monreal, was right next to him, and Harry recognised a flawless copy of a real dog – this one was fake. It was set up.

He inspected the Mad Woman. She was young, mid-twenties, and had some scars on her right arm. As he stared at her he reminded himself that he had to get her to a safe place, a spot where he and she could not be seen. And where was Ginny? Harry glanced around again and kicked the dog doll in the bushes.

'Sorry,' he said. With the use of his wand, he put her arm alongside her bod and bent his knees to pick her up. She was easy to carry. He was very close to the grass with the oak and birch trees and decided that would be a good spot to lie her down and interrogate her. Swiftly he started walking and stepped onto the grass. On his left, he spotted a place with higher grass and trees surrounded by large bushes and deemed it suitable. He glanced to his right when he heard a woman's voice.

'What the fuck are you doing?'

It was Ginny. She had come behind the trunk of a thick oak tree and stared at Harry, carrying the woman in his hands.

'Is that her?'

'Yes.'

'Well,' sputtered Ginny sarcastically, 'you might as well have included me in the action.'

Harry's face turned red.

'I was literally over there,' he replied as his eyes gestured the direction. 'She and I were firing spells at each other. And you didn't see anything?'

Ginny's eyes stared at the ground before meeting Harry's.

'I did hear it. But I hid in case she would sprint towards me. So I could confront her and take her by surpise.'

'But you were ...' began Harry, but he swallowed, before briefly looking away. After a second, he turned his head back to Ginny.

'Never mind. Help me.'

Ginny walked towards Harry and together they put the Mad Woman down on a conjured field bed.

'What spell did you use?' said Ginny.

'Immobulus.'

'So -' Ginny glanced at Harry. 'So she has heard everything?'

'Probably. We'll Obliviate that part at the end.'

Her eyes pierced through Harry's. They both know that it wasn't ethically correct. However, their private conversations and, more specifically, disagreements were not destined for other people to be overheard, certainly not enemies. Or, a potential in that case. It brought Harry to the situation. The Mad Woman was caught. Ginny scanned the area and saw that no one was around. She waved her wand around them in a, for Harry, recognisable pattern.

'Repello Muggletum,' Ginny spoke softly, before concentrating her wand on the woman's arms. After muttering 'Vincula', lazuli-glowing chains appeared around her wrists and Ginny cast the same spell on her legs. Then, she pointed her wand at the woman's head.

'Wait, Ginny,' Harry said.

'What?'

'We're gonna interrogate her. You need to mute her from the area. By Merlin, what if she starts screaming?'

Ginny nodded and waved her wand in a cross. 'Silencio foras.' A profound lack of noise followed following her incantation; the birds, insofar they had been prevalent in Raggenhall Park, had instantly ceased to make any noise. Harry saw leaves on trees silently dancing in the wind.

Harry nodded. Ginny left where she had been before she was interrupted by Harry.

'Immobulus concedus', she muttered as she was waving her wand alongside the woman's body. The latter's reacted directly, with her body showing a natural reaction to being freed from the compelling freeze. The woman coughed loudly, seemingly gasping for air, but was able to lie still after a few seconds, quietly staring at both Harry and Ginny. Her pupils were wide as if she had expected not to end up in this situation. Ginny glanced at Harry.

'What's your name?' she said.

The woman smiled.

'Your name?' Ginny repeated.

'Clara Berghold,' she said. 'Am I under arrest?'

'No,' answered Harry. 'Not yet.'

'Harry Potter,' said Clara. Ginny lowered her wand closer to her head.

'That's me,' he replied.

'I've been wanting to meet you for a long time.'

'You've told me that before. What do you want from me?'

Clara ceased smiling and directed her attention to Ginny.

'Everything.'

Without any warning, bats flew out of Clara's nose. Ginny and Harry had to duck to the sides to the avoid the creatures.

'Ginny!' Harry screamed at the top of his lungs over Clara's cries of distress. The bats flew away, quickly unrecognisable in the dusk of the day. Ginny looked untouched by the event that had just happened and smiled at Clara.

'He asked you a question.'

Clara swallowed.

'I'm just on my own. There are a lot of stories about you, I just wanted to meet you once.'

'You know very well the way you did that is not how a normal person generally introduces oneself to me.'

'Yes … but ...'

'But?' Ginny snapped.

Harry raised his hand to prevent her from further agonizing Clara. Ginny silently obeyed.

'... I don't know. I just felt the need to so and so I did. It was a fun game.'

Ginny groaned.

'Indeed, it was a fun game,' Harry said, ignoring Ginny, 'and you played it quite well. You're altogether capably of hiding yourself in plain sight. What's your occupation?'

'What I do for a living?'

Harry nodded.

'Well, nothing at the moment … I .. just live on my own, traveling throughout Europe. I can't really work, to be honest, Mr Potter..'

With adressing him as "Mr Potter", Ginny's body visibly relaxed. However, her wand was still clenched in her hand.

'When did you finish your studies at Hogwarts?'

Clara's eyes moved away from Harry and Ginny, looking for a mental way out of this question, which clearly was making her uncomfortable. He recognised her sentiment.

'You didn't..?'

She moved her eyes back to both of them and lied them to rest in Harry's.

'Yes.'

'Well, me neither,' responded Harry wittily. He glanced at Ginny.

'By Merlin, Harry.' Ginny rolled her eyes.

Clara raised her eyebrows. A silence followed.

'I'm sorry,' she said.

'I'm willing to accept it,' replied Harry. 'But Ginny here is a bit reluctant to give in.'

'I know, I know.' Clara raised her voice. 'But I'm really sorry, Ms Potter …'

'Ginny's good enough,' she said, showing a wary smile. 'Apologies accepted. Just don't do this again. Period.'

'Understood, understood,' Clara said while raising her head to look at her chained wrists and ankles.

'I'm gonna remove the chains under one condition,' Harry said.

'What is it?'

'I want you to come and work in the Auror Office.'

'Auror Office? What do you mean?'

'Your wandwork is above average, you show you know a fair bit of Transfiguration and you're able to stay hidden in large crowds from me. And I am, if I may say, not the worst wizard.'

Ginny snorted. Clara lowered her head down, her eyes still fixated on Harry.

'And what makes you think I will comply? I might as well just say yes and never show up.'

'Well,' said Harry, 'as a starter, you could've just said nothing when we chained you, but you did end up speaking.' He glanced at Ginny, who was smiling. 'Moreover, you could've just Disapparated. Ginny did chain you; however, she didn't cast an Anti-Disapparation Charm here.'

Ginny waved her wand and the lazuli-glowing chains disappeared. Harry stretched his hand out to Clara, who put her hand into his and sat on the field bed.

'You might have a point there,' she said.