Chapter 1 The Letter

He had never expected things to turn out this way thought Harry as he tossed and turned on the soft mattress. He plumped his pillow and laid his head back down on it, staring at the ceiling which was slightly illuminated by the moonlight spilling in from the window. The wind howled outside.

First, he, accompanied by Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the Order, had finally vanquished the Dark Lord Voldemort. The memory of his final duel with Voldemort haunted Harry's dreams even now, three years later. Then, after the war had ended, he had asked Ginny to marry him. She had accepted happily, and the two were now living together in a little house near the Borrow.

Harry only wished that Ron and Hermione could have had the same outcome. He then turned and looked at his wife, sleeping peacefully beside him, who had been carrying their baby boy for over six months. Harry thought she was gorgeous; with her long, flaming red hair and elegant posture. He smiled.

Suddenly a light tapping noise aroused him from his thoughts and he glanced around, searching for the source of the noise. He then heard it again. There at the window flapped a large snowy owl which reminded him painfully of his faithful owl Hedwig, who had passed away last year. Harry slid out of bed, walked across the room and opened the window to let the owl in. All Harry saw was a blur of white feathers as it zoomed in, dropped the letter which was clutched in its beak and then shot out the window again as if it was scared that something would hurt it if the letter was never delivered. This made Harry very worried as to who the sender was that had made the owl so afraid but still he bent down to pick up the letter.

Harry ripped it open, the first thing he saw was that it seemed to be written in red ink. But at a closer inspection he realised that it did not look or smell like ink; it was in fact human blood. His piercing green eyes slowly travelled the letter, taking in every word.

Dear Harry,

It has been a long time since I saw you and Ginny last, but I suppose I've gotten used to living alone. Did you get the present I sent you? I bet you had a hard job covering that up. So how have you been? How is Ginny doing, I heard she is pregnant, I hope Ron is well. I miss him the most.

There is not a minute of the day in which I do not regret taking that shortcut home so many nights ago. I can barely remember anything about those times they come to me only in dreams and that is all they are to me now, fuzzy dreams that sometimes I wish I could forget. You see I only want too look to the future now as my new life is just beginning .

See you.

Love, Hermione

Harry's hands started to shake which caused him to drop the letter. It fluttered to the floor where it lay alongside a rumpled newspaper.

The newspapers headline blared, in big bold letters: GRANGER STRIKES AGAIN. The article talked about five victims of murder. They had been found with small punctures in their necks and a lot of blood loss.

Ron sat in his kitchen gulping down a large Fire whiskey. His hands were shaking as he took another great swig of his drink. He too had received a letter from Hermione. It was now lying crumpled next to him on the table. They had been meant to get married that day. It was supposed to be the happiest moment of their lives a fresh start but it had never happened. Instead, Ron now sat in their old apartment, thinking about the love of his life. Unanswered questions swam in his mind.

Why had it happened? How could she abandon him? Even as Ron thought this he scolded himself; he should have been asking himself how he could have let it happen. He had promised her he would always be there for her.

Then Ron jumped as a loud POP reached his ears. The whiskey that was in his hand fell to the floor and smashed into pieces.

"Damn!" Ron swore viciously.

Harry walked up to him, having just magically appeared in the flat.

"Let me help" Harry insisted as he got out his wand to clear up the spilled whiskey.

"No, it's all right" Ron muttered, performing a wordless spell.

The glass was instantly repaired, and its contents vanished. He refilled the glass and drank deeply from it.

"Did you get a letter, too?" Harry asked, voice shaking.

"Yes" Ron replied ever so quietly. His face was very pale.

"We cant keep trying to cover it up, Ron. The papers already know. I've tried to convince them that it isn't her, but we can't keep it quit any longer, she is killing people now, not just animals."

" Why did this have to happen?" Ron sighed.

Harry shrugged sadly.

"I've also talked to the Ministry they've assigned me a new mission. I have to capture Hermione forcefully."

Ron now looked at Harry in shock as his eyes went wide, almost dropping his glass again.

" No there must be another way. This is Hermione, Harry."

"It isn't her, Ron. It may look like her, sound like he but its not Hermione."

" I know but I still love her" Ron said dejectedly, taking another guzzle of drink.

Harry wasn't sure what else to say.

"I've got to go now are you going to be fine by yourself?"

"Yeah you should probably go say hi to Ginny for me"

"Will do, she worries about you all the time. Just like the rest of us"

With a pop Harry was gone and Ron was once again left alone with his thoughts. He allowed them to wander back to that terrible time when everything went wrong

Thanks for reading, and REVIEW! O and thanks to my beta EmeraldShadows who has made this chapter better for me.