TITLE: Mountains in the Distance
AUTHOR: emerald-hopes
RATING: R for language, violence, some sexuality, and mature thematic elements
SUMMARY: Their child has been dead for a year... So why are they suddenly seeing her again, just as if she was alive? The result of sex, their beautiful daughter... Why is she back? Why does she harm everyone they care about?
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here except my own characters, and I think you'll be able to figure out who they are. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: I'm sorry in advance if something here doesn't match up with something that we learn in the fifth book; I'm not done reading it yet. Also, I know this is short, but it's the prologue. I'll most likely update again tomorrow. I would do so again today, but I have somewhere to be at 6:00, so unfortunately I'll have to put this story on hold until tomorrow, Sunday. This is the sequel to "Lightning Strikes", so if you haven't already read that, I suggest you do so before you begin reading this fic.
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"May her soul rest in peace. Amen."
The small, flower-covered wooden casket was lowered into the cold earth with a loud THUNK. One hundred and fourteen eyes gazed sadly at the grave, silently paying their last respects to Audrey Lily Potter. The pastor closed his Bible and led the group in a prayer.
A woman with curly brown tresses and chocolate brown eyes choked back a sob and turned away. She could not bear to see her daughter be swallowed up by the ground, for she was Hermione Potter, the girl's mother.
Hermione turned to her husband Harry and sagged against him, not caring that she was wrinkling her long-sleeved black dress. It was a cold January afternoon, and the ground and trees were covered with beautiful, pure white snow. But to Hermione everything might as well have been covered in dark red blood, for now she had no children, no little smiling face to cherish.
Harry quietly led Hermione away from the group of people gathered around Audrey's grave and held her close to him. It was an awful time for both of them. Harry's parents had been murdered when he was only a baby, and aside from a few wicked relatives that he didn't maintain contact with, Hermione and Audrey had been his only immediate family. It had been wonderful to have in-laws like Mr. and Mrs. Granger. They were so welcoming, even though they were Muggles, they were always eager to watch Audrey when Harry and Hermione went out, and they loved Harry like their own son. But now they were gone too. Harry felt as though his world was slipping away, person by person, day by day.
Hermione buried her face in Harry's shoulder, fighting back more tears. Why? Why was her daughter dead? Why did she fall from her bedroom window? And how? How had she gotten onto the windowsill? Not by herself, that was for sure. Hermione wished the Hogsmede coroner, Ned James, had the answer to those and many other questions the Potters had. Ned promised he was doing his best, and he had already made a lot of progress with Hermione's parents.
An unknown force too had murdered them not long before Audrey fell from her window. The funeral service for the Grangers had been held two weeks prior, and it had been no better than Audrey's. Thanks to the latest in wizard technology, lifeless corpses could be duplicated and kept by a coroner for testing so there could be a body to bury without making the family wait a long time for a funeral to take place.
Hermione looked up just in time to see Ned James walking solemnly over to herself and Harry. Ned's graying hair blew about in the wind as he made his way toward them. When he reached the Potters he shook Harry's hand and put a consoling hand on Hermione's shoulder for a moment, his dark brown eyes full of sympathy.
"I'm so sorry to bother you at a time like this," Ned began, removing his hand from Hermione's shoulder, "but I think there's something you should know about your daughter."
AUTHOR: emerald-hopes
RATING: R for language, violence, some sexuality, and mature thematic elements
SUMMARY: Their child has been dead for a year... So why are they suddenly seeing her again, just as if she was alive? The result of sex, their beautiful daughter... Why is she back? Why does she harm everyone they care about?
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here except my own characters, and I think you'll be able to figure out who they are. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: I'm sorry in advance if something here doesn't match up with something that we learn in the fifth book; I'm not done reading it yet. Also, I know this is short, but it's the prologue. I'll most likely update again tomorrow. I would do so again today, but I have somewhere to be at 6:00, so unfortunately I'll have to put this story on hold until tomorrow, Sunday. This is the sequel to "Lightning Strikes", so if you haven't already read that, I suggest you do so before you begin reading this fic.
*************************************************************
"May her soul rest in peace. Amen."
The small, flower-covered wooden casket was lowered into the cold earth with a loud THUNK. One hundred and fourteen eyes gazed sadly at the grave, silently paying their last respects to Audrey Lily Potter. The pastor closed his Bible and led the group in a prayer.
A woman with curly brown tresses and chocolate brown eyes choked back a sob and turned away. She could not bear to see her daughter be swallowed up by the ground, for she was Hermione Potter, the girl's mother.
Hermione turned to her husband Harry and sagged against him, not caring that she was wrinkling her long-sleeved black dress. It was a cold January afternoon, and the ground and trees were covered with beautiful, pure white snow. But to Hermione everything might as well have been covered in dark red blood, for now she had no children, no little smiling face to cherish.
Harry quietly led Hermione away from the group of people gathered around Audrey's grave and held her close to him. It was an awful time for both of them. Harry's parents had been murdered when he was only a baby, and aside from a few wicked relatives that he didn't maintain contact with, Hermione and Audrey had been his only immediate family. It had been wonderful to have in-laws like Mr. and Mrs. Granger. They were so welcoming, even though they were Muggles, they were always eager to watch Audrey when Harry and Hermione went out, and they loved Harry like their own son. But now they were gone too. Harry felt as though his world was slipping away, person by person, day by day.
Hermione buried her face in Harry's shoulder, fighting back more tears. Why? Why was her daughter dead? Why did she fall from her bedroom window? And how? How had she gotten onto the windowsill? Not by herself, that was for sure. Hermione wished the Hogsmede coroner, Ned James, had the answer to those and many other questions the Potters had. Ned promised he was doing his best, and he had already made a lot of progress with Hermione's parents.
An unknown force too had murdered them not long before Audrey fell from her window. The funeral service for the Grangers had been held two weeks prior, and it had been no better than Audrey's. Thanks to the latest in wizard technology, lifeless corpses could be duplicated and kept by a coroner for testing so there could be a body to bury without making the family wait a long time for a funeral to take place.
Hermione looked up just in time to see Ned James walking solemnly over to herself and Harry. Ned's graying hair blew about in the wind as he made his way toward them. When he reached the Potters he shook Harry's hand and put a consoling hand on Hermione's shoulder for a moment, his dark brown eyes full of sympathy.
"I'm so sorry to bother you at a time like this," Ned began, removing his hand from Hermione's shoulder, "but I think there's something you should know about your daughter."
