October 31, 1981
Crack! A man dressed in dark robes suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He was carrying an infant. He wandered aimlessly through the streets, having no idea where he was going. All he knew was that he was in a Muggle neighbourhood, somewhere in America. The man looked at his surroundings; he looked up and saw a fairly large building with a giant Tiffany glass dome. There were little children and parents dressed up all over the place. He didn't look that out of place.
"Just wonderful, Muggles and Halloween" the man muttered.
The man began walking quickly away from the building. He walked down the sidewalk until he stopped in his path. He looked to his left and saw a dead end street. He could continue walking either direction, but the dead end wasn't what stopped him. It was a house on that street. The house looked like something directly out of a fairytale. It looked like a perfect place for…for a baby to grow up. The man looked to the baby. He knew that he shouldn't have taken the baby, but he couldn't just leave it there either. The baby looked so much like….so much like someone he once knew.
The man walked up the stairs towards the house. The lights appeared to be on. He set the baby on the welcome mat in front of the door. He hoped that the baby would be able to live a life knowing no malice or hatred; that the baby would be better off here, than anywhere else. The man rang the doorbell and before anyone could answer the door, he was gone.
A woman answered the door ready to pounce on whichever young prankster it was this time, she didn't give out candy to the young rascals. The woman squinted to find someone, but then she heard crying. The woman's gaze went to her feet where she saw a young child. The woman's eyes widened at the sight. She picked the baby up and looked around. She still couldn't spot a single person. The woman turned around back into the house muttering complaints about another mouth to feed, and shut the door.
….about 8 years later….
The woman, now middle-aged was in the living room watching TV. She had been watching TV all morning and was quite exhausted from doing so. Living in a house with 4 kids and 5 foster kids was exhausting work. Granted, she didn't do anything for the welfare of the children, but it was exhausting even to think about all the children.
"Girl!" the woman screamed.
A young girl of 9 years quickly appeared in the living room. The girl had long flowing auburn hair; some days it appeared red, other days brown. She also had a cute button nose and bright green eyes.
"Yes, Ms. Farris?" the little girl asked.
"Get to work girl" Ms. Farris demanded.
"But ma'm, I've been working all morning, can I have a break?"
"No! There are eleven people in this household; there is no time for breaks!"
"Yes, Ms. Farris."
"You keep working, or you will suffer the consequences!"
"Yes, Ms. Farris!"
Ms. Farris climbed stairs slowly and eventually made her way to her room for a nap. The young girl, on the other hand, went straight to the kitchen. She had been cleaning all morning, and the house still looked like a disaster zone! She sighed and started on the dishes.
Christina, a two-year-old girl, came up to her and demanded that she play ball with her.
"Play ball, now!" Christina screamed.
"Christina, I can't right now, how about later?" the girl responded.
"No, now!"
"Christina…."
"I'm going to go tell Mommy!"
The girl's eyes widened as Christina zoomed towards the staircase. She knew that she was in for it, but she just continued with the dishes.
"Girl, you play with Christina!" Ms. Farris screamed.
"Yes, ma'am!" the young girl responded.
Christina came down the stairs with a smug look on her face. Christina always got everything she wanted. The young girl sat down on the floor to roll the bouncy ball back and forth. Christina eventually got bored of just rolling it, so eventually, she threw the ball, and the young girl had no idea where it went. She saw it go flying towards the shoe pile, but she'd never find it fast enough. Eleven people's shoes were in that giant pile. Christina raced back up the stairs to tell her mother what happened.
The young girl quickly made her way back towards the kitchen. She wished she had somewhere to hide from what was going to come next. She heard Ms. Farris bound down the stairs and make her way into the kitchen.
"Why the hell won't you play with Christina?!" Ms. Farris asked.
"I was playing with her, but she lost the ball!" the young girl explained.
"Don't lie to me, girl"
"I'm not lying; it's in the pile of shoes somewhere."
"Liar, why are you smiling girl?"
"I smile when I'm nervous."
"I thought I told you not to lie to me!"
Ms. Farris slapped the girl across the face. Tears began welling in the young girl's eyes. Ms. Farris saw that the dishes still weren't done, and she went to examine the work done. She saw a glass in the dishwasher with a chocolate milk ring. Ms. Farris was furious. She picked the glass up and chucked it at the young girl.
"Why the hell is that in there?" Ms. Farris screamed.
"I was washing it" the young girl cried.
"Don't you dare cry in my house, you know the rules of my house!"
"I'm sorry Ms. Farris"
"Don't apologize to me unless you mean it, and I know you didn't mean that!"
The young girl began crying and this made Ms. Farris even madder. She grabbed the young girl by the ear and shoved her face in the shattered pieces of the glass. The young girl tried to escape through Ms. Farris' legs, but she closed her knees around the young girl's neck. Ms. Farris began to pull the girl's hair, keeping her neck in between her legs. The young girl made choking noises, and Ms. Farris let go. The young girl found a way out of Ms. Farris' grip and she ran for the front door.
The young girl's face was covered in blood from the glass and bruises were beginning to form. She ran as fast as she could, getting as far away from there as she possibly could. She hated living there. She had to do everything. Cook, clean, laundry, babysit…everything! Ms. Farris hit her and kicked her every time something wasn't done to her satisfaction. Ms. Farris was cruel to her but seemed so loving towards the other children.
The young girl looked behind her as she ran, she saw Ms. Farris bounding after her! Tears were streaming down the young girls face; she didn't know where to go. She passed the courthouse, but it was a weekend, and no one was there. So she kept running. She ran for another block until she made it to Sarocka Field. She stepped in the gate and took a deep breath. She couldn't run anymore, it was too hard to breathe.
Ms. Farris was soon as Sarocka too. The young girl screamed and ran again. She ran across the park, but she soon was up against a fence. She was trapped, even if she could climb the fence there was a steep hill, which was practically impossible to climb. The young girl backed up against the fence. She could hear Ms. Farris screaming at her. She quickly closed her eyes, wishing that she was anywhere but there.
Next thing she knew she fell to the ground. She wrapped her arms around her head to protect it from the slap that she would receive from Ms. Farris, but it never came. The young girl sat there waiting for something to happen. At that moment, she realized that she was all wet. How was that possible? It wasn't raining, and she was in the middle of a field in the afternoon! The young girl opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of a swampy area in the middle of the night.
Her eyes opened wide in shock. Ms. Farris was nowhere in sight, and she had no clue to where she was. She gasped what if she was lost? What if she died out in the middle of nowhere, with no one to find her? Tears began to well in her eyes again, but suddenly she spotted an odd looking building. It was in the distance, but there was visible light in the darkness.
The young girl quickly made her way to this odd building. She at least knew that she wasn't going to die; someone should be able to help her. Whoever lived here was bound to be better than Ms. Farris. She ran quickly and she was almost to the house when she began to feel dizzy. She looked at the house, and the house began to spin. Next thing she knew, she was laying on the ground.
"Arthur, I thought you put the wards up!" a voice in the distance yelled.
"I did Molly." a man spoke beside her.
The man shook her to wake her up. She opened her eyes wide and stared at the man. She suddenly flinched in case he was going to hit her. He just looked at her with concern in his eyes.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The young girl remained quiet. Honestly, she didn't know what her name was. Ms. Farris had always called her "girl." She once heard Ms. Farris say that she didn't know what her name was because she had just shown up on the front stairs, and there could possibly be legal situations if she was to have a name.
The man just looked at her.
"Well, then. My name is Arthur Weasley, and you're at my home. Do you know where you are?" Arthur spoke.
The young girl shook her head no.
"All right then, well you at least understand English."
"Yes sir." she finally spoke.
She quickly flinched just in case he was going to hit her because she spoke when there wasn't a question.
"It's all right child, come on, we'll get you inside."
The man name Arthur picked her up easily. She looked like she hadn't been fed properly for quite some time, and was quite light. She closed her eyes in case the man named Arthur was taking her some place scary.
"Merlin, what happened to the poor child?" a woman asked.
"I don't know Molly, but she's frightened to death," Arthur spoke.
"Well, set her on the couch so I can fix her up," Molly spoke.
The young girl slowly opened her eyes. She was in awe of what she saw. There were knitting needles clicking without anyone working them! It was like magic. The woman came up to her holding some bottle of some liquid and was holding a wooden stick. The woman, whom she thought was named Molly, pointed the wooden stick at her. The young girl just sat there in shock and fright. Was the woman going to beat her with the stick? She winced but the woman just muttered some words, and instantly her wounds were healed.
"Here dear, drink up. I'll get some pumpkin juice to wash it down afterwards." Molly smiled.
She wondered what pumpkin juice was; she'd never tried any before. She looked at the funny coloured liquids in front of her and swallowed them. She felt even better after drinking them. Again, it was like magic. She wondered what kind of people Molly and Arthur were. They seemed like kind people, but Ms. Farris seemed nice on the outside too.
Molly quickly returned with the pumpkin juice.
"I see you've taken the potions, good girl. Now drink up." Molly spoke.
The young girl just nodded and drank the juice. It was probably one of the best things she'd ever tasted in her life. Molly chuckled at how fast she drank the juice.
"That a girl, my you look underfed. Let's get you some food dear."
"No thank you ma'am. I'm not hungry."
As she spoke her stomach growled, and Molly tutted.
"How about just a small sandwich then?" Molly asked.
The girl just nodded. Molly made a mental note to give her a large breakfast in the morning. Molly handed the girl the sandwich, which was devoured fast. Molly went to the kitchen to take care of the dishes she used for the girl, and when she came back to check on the girl she was fast asleep on the couch.
Molly wrapped a blanket around the young girl and sat in the chair. She didn't want the girl to wake up all alone, so she decided to sleep in the chair. This way she'd be there when the girl woke up. Arthur wandered back into the room and saw the sleeping girl.
"What do you think, Molly?" he asked.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, we'll let her sleep and take care of it in the morning."
Arthur nodded and kissed his wife on the forehead and headed up the stairs to their bedroom. He quickly fell asleep.
The young girl woke up to voices surrounding her.
"Mum, who is this?" a young boy asked.
"What's she doing on our couch?" another boy asked.
"Fred, George, let the poor girl sleep," Molly said.
"Yes, Mum," they said in unison.
The girl quickly opened her eyes and saw two red-head boys in front of her. They looked quite similar, they could be twins!
"Mum, she's awake!" one of the boys said.
"Fred, you better not have woken her," Molly spoke.
"I didn't, and don't you know I'm George."
"Oh, George, just leave the poor girl alone."
"Ha fooled you again Mum, I am Fred!"
"Oh shoo…" Molly spoke.
Molly made her way over towards the young girl and smiled at her. The girl half-smiled back but was hesitant in doing so. Just then a knock came at the door.
"I wonder who that could be at this time," Molly spoke.
She left the young girl and made her way to the door. The young girl watched from the couch. She saw two people outside the door. They both looked rather old, and were dressed very oddly; one was a man and the other a woman. The man had moon-shaped glasses, while the woman wore a very stern look on her face. The young girl wanted to hide; maybe they came to take her away for not washing the dishes the way Ms. Farris wanted her to! Molly made her way over to where the young girl sat with the visitors.
"Professor, I don't understand what's so important that it had to be said in front of the poor girl." Molly started.
"You'll understand in time, Molly." the man spoke.
Molly huffed because the young girl hadn't even eaten breakfast yet.
"Hello miss, my name is Professor Albus Dumbledore and I also brought Professor Minerva McGonagall with me. Do you by chance know where you are?" Dumbledore asked.
The young girl just shook her head no.
"Do you know how you got here?" Dumbledore asked.
The young girl shook her head no.
"I mean you know harm, feel free to speak to me" Dumbledore spoke.
"Yes, sir." The girl answered.
"How old are you?"
"I don't know sir"
"What do you know about your family?"
"I don't have any sir, I showed up on Ms. Farris' doorstep one night."
"You wouldn't by chance know what day that was?"
"Um, I think she said something about Halloween because I was a nightmare."
"Professor McGonagall, Molly if I could speak to you privately," Dumbledore asked.
The young girl watched as they went outside to speak. She was very tempted to listen to what they were saying, but she didn't want to get hurt if she did, so she stayed on the couch.
"Molly, you say that she doesn't know who she is?" Dumbledore asked.
"Arthur said she wouldn't answer him about her name. It's as if she doesn't even know who she is." Molly answered.
"Professor McGonagall, what do you think of the young girl, do you think she looks similar to…?"
"Yes, Albus, I do," McGonagall answered.
"I thought so; I had a feeling last night that she finally made her way back…it appears that I was right"
"You had a feeling about what, what are you talking about?" Molly asked.
"Molly, it appears as if Lily and James Potter's missing daughter, Hayley, has finally been found."
Note: I would like to thank January Lily for helping me with this and for reading it. You should check her stories out. They are way better than this one. But it is my first story so maybe someday I will get as good as her.
