Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any associated characters, places, terms, etc.

Letter to the Old Me

As I sat by the water's edge I was at complete peace with the world.

The relaxing sounds of nature around me kept me calm; the quiet rush of the lake, the hum of the insects, the chirping birds and the wind whistling softly through the trees.

The air was perfectly warm and smelt of the flowers that surrounded me in the grass. The reflection of the sun was glistening on the surface of the water. Ripples momentarily washed the reflection away as a small fish broke the surface of the water and then went back under.

Lazily, I tossed a few pieces of my bread into the grass in front of me. Almost instantly a little yellow bird flew down from a tree and began to enjoy the little treat I had left it.

As I watched it I opened the letter I had received earlier that morning.

Dear Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart,

Hello. My name is Betty Wilshire. I know you don't have any idea who I am, but I just had to write to you. My friends and I are huge fans of yours. You truly are an inspiration to us. I own every single one of your books, my favourite being 'Break with a Banshee'. Your bravery and courage is quite outstanding. What I would do just to meet you in person!

I recently learned of your terrible accident. What I heard was that you were attacked and that you had your memory erased. When I came upon this information I was absolutely aghast. I couldn't think of why anyone would want to cause you any trouble. It's just unbelievable! I then realized that whoever it was, was probably jealous of your many accomplishments. I mean, who wouldn't be? However, it is still horrible that you have to go through such a terrible thing such as this.

Hopefully you are getting your entire memory back quickly. It would be terrible if you couldn't even remember all the wonderful things that you have done. And If you still don't remember, let me just tell you that you are an idol to many people in the wizarding world. So many people wish that they could be you.

I am rooting for you to get better, and I will wait until you are in the hope of finally getting to meet you. When that day comes it will be the happiest day of my life. Get better and don't ever stop being your amazingly wonderful self!

Your number one fan,

Betty Wilshire

The date on the letter told me that it had been sent almost three years prior to today. That would be around the time that I was in the care of the Healers at St. Mungo's Hospital. I doubt this Betty Wilshire cared about me at all any more. I had lost all of my fame after the accident. Not that I had rightly earned that fame in the first place.

My life would probably have been different had I received this letter three years ago as I should have. Maybe I could have kept some of my fans. There's a chance that I'd still be famous. I hadn't gotten a single letter from a fan as I was recovering. I didn't understand why and I sometimes wondered if people had found out what I had actually done in order to have those stories to sell.

As I threw some more bread crumbs to where there were now three little yellow birds hopping around in the grass I realized that I was glad that this letter had come late. Had it not, I'd probably still be obnoxious and full of myself as I had been before.

I leaned back against a large willow tree, watching the birds and the fish, listening to the sounds of the water, the insects, the wind, and smelling the fresh air around me, happy that I had something much better than fame to enjoy in life.

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