Disclaimer: I do not own Rowling's characters or work. This is just a super intense fanwork to try to suppress an unhealthy addiction to the series. It's a work of love, don't worry 3

A/N: This story is being cross-posted on my LJ account (see website). Feel free to review there if you want me to reply directly to your review.
This one is a lot less exciting than the original book version. Hopefully it'll pick up!

Chapter Three: The Letter from No One

When Aunt Petunia noticed that Hattie was awake, she felt her forehead, her thumb resting on Hattie's scar. "Hattie dear," Aunt Petunia said. "You have a fever. I think you should spend some time in bed."

Hattie rubbed her swollen eyes. Yesterday was definitely not a fever-induced hallucination. She didn't have chills or feel too hot. Her head throbbed a bit, but she was pretty sure that was from crying the night away. Aunt Petunia pried the stag out of her hand and held onto it. Hattie felt strangely naked without it. "I don't feel sick," she said.

"I think it's walking pneumonia. Stay in bed unless you have to use the washroom to throw up," Aunt Petunia said. She stood up from the bed and set the stag down on Hattie's desk.

"Are you getting rid of me?" Hattie asked, sitting up. "Is that what this is about?"

"Don't be silly, my dear," Aunt Petunia replied with a distant smile. "Try not to take your uncle too seriously. His temper makes him say silly things."

Hattie still felt unnerved, especially when she was supposed to stay in bed for the rest of the school year. Aunt Petunia helped her with all her homework so that she still had finished the year out. Hattie found herself pacing her room when Aunt Petunia went out to wear off extra energy. When Aunt Petunia declared her healthy, she was well into summer. She suspected that it was because of Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day, Aunt Petunia wanted her out of the house. Hattie wondered if she was trying to separate her from anything that would provoke the weird things that happened around her.

So Hattie spent her time going on walks around the street a lot, thinking about the following school year. She would be going to secondary school, and she would finally be away from Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings, but Hattie was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. This was because Uncle Vernon didn't think Hattie had the intelligence for Smeltings, and he also didn't want to lay out the money for her. She suspected that Aunt Petunia didn't protest because of the way Dudley and Hattie provoked each other and decided it would be best if they were separated. Dudley thought Hattie going to public school was very funny.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Hattie. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No thanks," said Hattie. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." Then she ran, before Dudley could work out what she'd said.

One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform. She was planning to take the both of them, but Dudley complained that Hattie would make fun of his uniform. Deciding it would be easier not to have the two of them fighting in the car, Aunt Petunia left Hattie at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as boring as she usually was. She had broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. They spent the day watching television, Mrs. Figg had a running commentary going on over the news, and she even gave her a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.

Hattie wished she was still at Mrs. Figg's as Dudley paraded around in his new uniform in the evening. Both her Aunt and Uncle were positively proud of their son. Aunt Petunia burst into tears, saying "I can't believe it's my Ickle Dudleykins. He looks so handsome and grown-up!"

Hattie knew better than to say anything at all. She thought two of her ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.

In the morning there was the usual smell of bacon and eggs as Hattie came down the stairs, since Aunt Petunia strongly believed in breakfast. She and Hattie were going to pick up her Stonewall uniform today while Dudley was at Piers' house for once. "Breakfast will still be a few minutes," Aunt Petunia said as Hattie got out the orange juice.

Uncle Vernon was sitting at the table reading his newspaper, and Dudley came in to bang his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. Then there was the click of the mail slot and the flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

"Make Hattie get it."

"Get the mail, Hattie."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke her with your Smelting stick, Dudley."

"If you hit your cousin Dudley, so help me, you will not be getting any breakfast," Aunt Petunia said, turning away from the stove to glare at her son.

When she turned back to the frying pan, Dudley swung at Hattie. She dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. She flipped through the letters as she went into the kitchen. She stumbled onto a letter addressed to her with no return address. The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. She was surprised that there was no stamp. She thought for a moment, she didn't exactly have any friends, let alone one that would mail her something. (Dudley managed to bully anyone who tried to befriend Hattie.) Mrs. Figg had sent her a postcard once that she liked with a bunch of cats on it, but that was only because she thought Hattie would liked it. This didn't seem like the type of thing Mrs. Figg would send.

She tossed the other mail on the kitchen table, and she sat down at her seat where Aunt Petunia had placed a plate of bacon and eggs for her. When she flipped it over, Hattie saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.

"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Hattie's got a letter!"

Hattie was on the point of unfolding her letter, when it was jerked out of her hand by Uncle Vernon. "That's mine!" said Hattie, trying to snatch it back.

"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face began to pale, and he gasped, "Petunia!"

Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took the letter. She sighed, and she rubbed her temples. She said, "We thought this might happen."

"You said it wouldn't happen," Uncle Vernon said.

"With all these things going on, you really thought it wouldn't happen?"

They were talking as if Hattie and Dudley weren't in the room at all. Dudley glared at Hattie. It was just another problem in Dudley's life that was her fault. He gave his father a sharp tap in the gut with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.

Hattie pushed him. "No, I want to read it," she said through her teeth. "It's mine."

"Get out, both of you," Uncle Vernon said, resignedly.

Both of them left the room, and Uncle Vernon slammed the door behind them. Only after they were out of their sight, did Dudley push Hattie. "I hope it's some obscure relative to take you away," he said.

"It's too bad you're stench is strong enough that it would follow me all around the world," she snarled back at him. "Now shut up so we can eavesdrop."

Both of them pushed their heads against the door. Dudley took a higher position, and Hattie was lower, her face pressed against the folds of fat on his chest. "This is what you wanted," Aunt Petunia hissed. "You wanted her out of this house and this will mean she's out of the house ten months of the year."

"But she'll be one of them when she comes back! I'm not having one in the house, Petunia!"

"Two months, Vernon," she said. "You can go on vacation with Dudley for those two months if you want to. You can avoid her and not make eye contact with her."

"She'll know things, Petunia!" he said. "And are you really going to put her before your own son?"

"No," Aunt Petunia said, sternly. Uncle Vernon had clearly struck a nerve. "But if history is so determined to repeat itself, I won't keep making the same mistakes."

Uncle Vernon sighed, his voice softening. "Tuney, this isn't going to bring your sister back."

"Vernon, it already feels like she is back," Petunia said. "And this is the part where it all went wrong."

"Well then we'll set some rules. I can't have the neighbours thinking that we're freaks. And when she's here there'll be no funny business. Maybe she'll finally learn to control what's been going on."

Hattie imagined her Aunt Petunia smiling. And she would have seen it through a keyhole, if her Uncle Vernon hadn't replaced this door after he broke it off the hinges one evening, screaming to tell Hattie and Dudley to shut up. (Hattie wanted to watch one show on the Telly, whereas Dudley wanted to watch another. They ended up watching their guardian replace the door.)

"Thank you," Petunia replied, softly. "I'll send a reply and I'll see if they'll send someone to talk to Hattie and Dudley. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"I think Dudley should be left out of this," Uncle Vernon said.

Hattie felt Dudley stiffen next to her. She knew he'd be jealous of anything she could do that he couldn't. He told her off once for being able to swing higher than him, even though he didn't even like swinging high.

"He has to understand what's going on," Petunia replied. "He'll find out anyway, and it'll be better if he finds out without his group of friends or-"

"Without that girl hurting him," Vernon interrupted, stiffly.

Petunia hesitated before replying with a "Yes."

"Well then that's settled," Vernon said.

The creak from the chair suggested that he sat down. At the sound of Petunia giving her husband a kiss, Dudley and Hattie pulled away from the door. Dudley whispered, "What are they talking about?"

Hattie began moving towards her room. "I don't know," she replied. "But I can't wait to find out!"

"There's no way you could hurt me," Dudley replied.f

"Yeah I know. There's too much fat," Hattie said.

Dudley pushed her roughly, so she tripped on the staircase. From her lower position, she kicked him in the knee. As Dudley grabbed his knee, Hattie began scrambling up the stairs on all fours. He grabbed her leg, but she managed to get a good kick in on his face. It was hard enough to daze him, but weak enough not to break his nose... again. Finally free, Hattie went into her room and sat up against her door. Dudley tried to open the door, but he gave up after a few minutes. She heard him go back downstairs, and the voices coming from the living room suggested he was watching the telly.

Hattie's heart pounded in her chest. She stayed sitting by the door, and she couldn't wait until the mystery person came along to explain everything. Maybe Dudley was right, maybe it was a mystery relative to take her away. She wondered for a moment if she could leave her Aunt for a stranger. Her Aunt had said something about being home, well at this home, for two months. Smiling, Hattie decided she'd be okay with it, whatever it was, so long as she still got to see her Aunt. Dudley and her Uncle could be out of her life for good and that'd be fine with her.