A/N: Okay, so, if anyone is reading this one-shot and has read my other Harry Potter story, Mission Make the Gryffindor Princess Mine, I am going to warn you that this is completely different. It's quite sad and angsty and, unless someone convinces me to write a follow-up, does not have a happy ending. It's written in letter form and is based very loosely on the song "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + the Machine. Thank you for reading! Please review! -Dani
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this! The brilliant JKR owns the characters and the world, and Florence + the Machine owns the song that inspired me to write this. Listen to it and see if you can find the connecting parts.
Dog Days Are Over
To the Order of the Phoenix:
You may not have heard, as of yet, but in my capacity as an Unspeakable at the Department of Mysteries, I have agreed to venture into the Veil. As you are all already aware of its existence, my supervisor has approved of my telling you this. Yes, I am aware, Harry, that those who enter do not return. It is a risk I am willing to take.
I suppose the best way to explain why I agreed to do this is to explain the events of the past year, starting where the war ended. Some of you are aware that just before I should have left for my final year at Hogwarts, I wiped my parents memories of me, for their safety of course, and sent them to Australia. None of you, however, are aware that I suffer from chronic depression. No one but my parents were ever told about this. I was never able to take medications for it because I am deadly allergic to anti-depressants.
Another thing I should probably tell you is that true happiness is physically painful for me. I have never met another depressed witch or wizard, but I suspect that this pain is the manifestation of my magic. It's a bit sad, really.
Strange though it may sound, the war was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It gave me a reason to not be happy so no one would realize I was depressed. Thus, I was mostly devastated when it was over; I was forced to focus on the people we'd lost rather than the fact we had won. There was a bit of happiness in it, but not enough to cause me more pain than a paper cut.
But there was so much joy around me that it would soon become contagious, I knew. So I set out for Australia to try to bring back my parents, as it was now safe.
I spent two months searching out the place they'd settled down in the year since I'd sent them away. To ensure my ease of finding them, I had modified their dental degrees to match their new names, Monica and Wendell Wilkins. So it was no surprise to find that they were running a thriving dental practice in Darwin. It took me so long to find them because I had been looking for the Wilkins' in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, and even Perth. I didn't think that they would have moved north; the climate's not really like Britain at all up there. They never were much for heat, or so I'd thought. But I suppose I'm just delaying the inevitable explanation.
What really surprised me when I found them was that there was third entity in the house I'd tracked them to. It was very young, and, surprisingly enough, possessed a distinct magical signature. It wasn't until later that I found out what...who it was.
I had entered the house under the pretense of wanting to be interviewed for a position as a dental assistant. While the both of them were facing away, I performed the counter-charm to the one I had used to modify and wipe their memories.
Oh Merlin, were they angry. They were very put out that their own daughter had the audacity to use magic against them. Their rant lasted about a minute before the sound of an infantile child's cry echoed through the house. My mum sprung to action and raced off to respond while my dad explained what the noise was. It was baby brother, Leo. I was shocked. May parents had been told that, after me, they couldn't have anymore children.
When the shock wore off, I was happy. I'd always wanted a sibling. But in that moment, I wished I didn't have one. This happiness was deadly. It felt like I'd been hit by a train or a bullet in the back. But the worst part was that my parents should have known better than this, telling me happy news. My dad realized what was wrong and started apologizing, but it was too late . The damage was done and couldn't be reversed. I Apparated out of the country, all of the way back to England. I damn near splinched myself, too.
I spent the next four months in that apartment that I bought with the money from my Order of Merlin, Second Class, after the war ended. I was practically a drunk-no, I was a drunk, but I wasn't an alcoholic. I wasn't addicted. I used the majority of my remaining Order of Merlin prize buying bottles of Ol' Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey. By the time the happiness was gone, I was damn near broke.
So when the Department of Mysteries offered me a job, I took it on the spot. I had worked there doing menial tasks, filing papers and completing minor research projects for five months, when they offered me my first, and probably only, practical case. I think they use the newbies for the riskier missions, especially if they don't show too much particular promise. I worked hard, but I wasn't into it.
I have been authorized by my superior to tell you the following because you already know about the topic of my mission. The documents that told about the Veil had been destroyed in a fire more than two centuries ago. They needed an operative, preferably disposable, to go in and try to gather direct information. I leapt at the chance. There was no possibility of happiness and I didn't have to run from those whom I love.
In all probability, I'll never return. If I do, I swear to all of you that I'll go to the Wizarding equivalent of a pyschologist (a mind Healer) like I should have as soon as I entered the Wizarding world. Maybe I'll be able to bring Sirius, or at least his body, back.
I just realized that I never got to see my brother. If any of you do see him and I don't come back, please tell him his sister loves him very much. Also, tell my parents that the money in vault 113,264 at Gringotts is for his education. The key is under my matress.
I'll miss you all.
Solemnly,
Hemione J. Granger, Unspeakable
A/N: Yeah. Not too happy. Well, I hope you all enjoyed it! I dunno when I'll return or update my multichapter stories, but I hope this is good enough until then. Review! I don't mind flames. -Dani