Laura Potter sighed as she placed the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter of the abandoned home she and her little brother had found and called out,

"Harry, I'm home!"

A few seconds later, a rather tall nine-year old boy with messy black hair, knobbly knees, and emerald-green eyes stood before her. His bangs hid the lightening-shaped scar on his forehead. He grinned when he saw her,

"Finally! The cat's been moaning for ages."

Laura rolled her eyes at him,

"Harry, we don't have a cat."

The grin widened,

"I know. What did you bring this time?"

She waved vaguely at the stuff on the counter in a 'look-for-yourself' gesture. He laughed delightedly and eagerly attacked the brown hurriedly began taking the contents out of the bag, which consisted of chicken, broccoli, pasta noodles, and various other ingredients to make several days worth of chicken alfredo. The boy made a noise of content and attacked his sister with a hug. She laughed, holding him tightly. He grew suddenly suspicious and drew back slightly to look up at her through narrowed eyes.

"How did you get these?" he demanded. She sighed,

"The same way I get everything, Harry: I traded information for money. Don't worry, I haven't resulted to degrading myself for food yet." she told him warily. Harry was instantly contrite,

"Sorry, Lira, I just -" he was interrupted by his sister's warm laughter.

"Calm down, luv. I know why you're worried. Now go wash up while I make dinner."

Harry reluctantly withdrew from the embrace and ran to do as she said. Laura grinned after him. As soon as she was sure that he was out earshot, however, her grin faded and she heaved a sigh. Taking care of a growing boy was getting difficult, and if it came down to it, she would force one of her clients to take care of him as payment. Living on the streets, even in a magical community, wasn't easy. As she washed the noodles, she thought back to the day their uncle Vernon Dursley had kicked them out of his home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~5 years ago ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was hot outside and the sun was beating down on Laura and Harry's necks as they worked the Dursleys' yard. Dudley was inside watching TV with Uncle Vernon while Aunt Petunia cleaned the kitchen. Harry, who was mowing the yard with the push mower,tripped and accidentally let go of the machine. It went off course and headed straight for Laura,who was tending Aunt Petunia's flower bed. Laura, who had heard her brother's pained cry as he fell, looked toward him and dived out of the way just in time to avoid being turned into hamburger meat. The flower bed, however, was not so lucky. Laura grabbed the mower and shut it off before running to check if her brother was alright. He laid whimpering on the ground, and Laura soon found that his foot had gotten stuck in a hole in the ground. His ankle was sprained; he wouldn't be able to do chores for a few weeks. Both their heads snapped up when they heard their uncle's angry roar of "BOY!" Laura put herself between her brother and the walrus, saying pleadingly,

"Uncle Vernon, please, it wasn't his fault! It was an accident, his foot got caught on a mole hole and he fell! His ankle's sprained and swelling. He won't be able to -" she was cut off by her uncle's shout.

"SHUT UP! I've had it with you freaks! If he can't work, he can't stay, and neither can you! I want you to gather your things and get out of my house!" he bellowed. Laura glared at the man and, for the first time in three years, began to shout back.

"FINE! You fat, ugly walrus, but you will let me tend to my brother first! I don't care if you hate us or think we're a waste of space! If you try to stop me from helping him I will be wearing your obese guts for garters!" she screamed, "I am tired of you screaming and yelling and hurting my brother! Now go get some bloody bandages and an ice pack for his ankle! NOW!" she added when he merely blinked at her. Startled by the change in his niece, he did as she ordered. A few minutes later, Petunia came out of the house with the things she had asked for and a duffel bag containing all their belongings, but Laura didn't care, she just wanted to make sure her brother was alright.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Present ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She shook her head to clear it as she put the noodles on to boil and began to chop the vegetables. Harry had come back and decided to help her. While he cut the chicken, he turned to her and asked casually,

"Do you have to work tomorrow?"

Laura sighed sadly at the hope she heard in his voice and nodded.

"Yes, I do. Sorry, baby. You can come with me if you want. I'm doing some research for a couple of girls I met in Diagon today."

Harry's emerald eyes sparked with excitement,

"What are we doing?"

She laughed at his enthusiasm,

"Listening and reading old Prophets mostly. We're trying to see if we can find enough information to clear man called Sirius Black of a crime he was supposedly never officially charged with."

Harry's face darkened at the possibility of an innocent man being locked in a cage. Finally, he decided to lighten the mood by asking,

"Who gave us the job?"

Laura grinned, she noticed that he'd said 'us' instead of 'you' and was glad that he wasn't going to let the depressing air of the task daunt him.

"His nine-year-old daughters. Apparently they've had someone teaching them politics the past few months and want to get their father a fair trial." the conversation stopped after that, and the two spent the rest of the evening in a companionable silence while they finished cooking, ate a small portion of what they had made, stored the food away, did the dishes, and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a long day.