Disclaimer: Alright, this is going to be a bit different for a disclaimer. Most the characters in this story are actually mine, just based off the characters from Harry Potter. The story line, however, is not mine (that belongs to J.K). I have though 'improved' on it by my standards. Tweaked it here and there. Enjoy!

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Almost ten years had gone by since the day the Fiedlers found their niece on their porch. The only way that it seemed time had really passed was by looking at the wall of pictures hanging in the living room, oh -- and the fact that everyone looked older. There were a few photos of Mr. Fiedler and Mrs. Fiedler (some of them even together in a prepared pose!), but most were of their daughter. The largest portion was of Gale staring blankly at the camera, but she did some activites in other pictures. Such as Gale running from a flock of geese, clutching a piece of bread in her chubby little hand, and one with her eating an enitire three layered cake by herself. But with all these pictures on the wall, not one of them showed the face of the fourth member of the family, well not wholly anyway. There was one photo that had the other girl's right arm near Gale, but if anyone ever asks about it the Fiedlers say that it was just some inconsiderate person.

Kelly Seeder stilled stayed in the Fiedler household, and was actually asleep right then. That didn't last too long though because a high pitched shriek was coming from below her.

"WAKE UP! UP, UP, UP!"

Kelly rolled over and groaned at her Uncle's ranting.

" GET OFF YOUR REAR AND COME DO SOMETHING USEFUL FOR ONCE!" continued her uncle. And just to get his point across he began pulling down on the cord on her door (which incidentally was the attic door) then letting it go so that a loud SLAM would pound through the attic.

Kelly groaned again and threw her pillow aside. She sat up, streching and thinking about the dream she had just had. There was only one thing she could remember about it, the word 'Vroom.' She scratched her head in thought then shrugged it off. Standing up, she brushed out the few tangles in her hair, then carefully stepped off the little platform that was her 'room,' and down the broken old stairs that would swing down when the attic door was opened.

"Are you awake yet?" demanded her uncle.

"I'm here aren't I?" mumbled Kelly.

"What was that!?" growled her aunt who was sitting nearby.

"Um, nothing," she quickly stated as her aunt gaver her the evil eye.

"Well then," continued her uncle, "Pour some milk, orange juice and coffee for Widdle Gawwey's half-birthday."

Kelly huffed to herself and pouted slightly. Was it already that moron's half-birthday? And nevermind the fact that her real birthday was barely two months ago.

She poured all the drinks into one glass then brought it out to what had been the dining room, but was now a large gift shrine to Gale.

Kelly surveyed the room and could see that Gallie-Waily had gotten a kick boxing set, a telescope and yet another t.v. Kelly guessed that the boxing kit was to be used on her, but that was only if Gale coudl kick her fat legs high and fast enough off the ground to hit her, and even if Gale could accomplish that Kelly knew that she would just dodge it like she does with any other blow meant for her. She had developed a knack for avoiding such things, but she often felt that it was something more than just a knack.

Maybe it was from having to stay in such a tiny, cramped space for so long she was used to having to move quickly in tight areas. Kelly was a fairly normal weight for her height (which was amazing since the Fiedlers hardly ever fed her), and she looked even slimmer than that since she was forced to wear old, worn and streched clothes that once belonged to Gale. She had long arms and legs (almost like her uncle's, but not quiet the same length), shiney blonde hair, and curious deep-blue eyes. Kelly's favorite feature was her hair, which was a little longer than shoulder length, naturally wavey, and when she brushed it out the ends woudl curl up and frame her face nicely.

This made both her aunt and Gale very jealous and they woudl make a weekly threat of shaving her head bald. Kelly never liked to hear them say that for her hair did her another favoer; it would cover up most of the funny shaped scar on the right temple of her forehead. Its been there ever since she could recall, and in fact the first question she ever asked was where she had gotten the scar.

"It's from the tornado accident that sucked you and your family up in," snapped Aunt Pat. But that was never enough, she always had to add something else just because she could. "They all died," she hissed, "and you got that ugly scar to remind you what a nasty child you really are." She would then smile contently after seeing the crushed look on her niece's face.

Kelly roughly put Gale's drink down in front of her.

"Here," she muttered. Gale sneered at Kelly with her shot pig-like nose.

"What's the matter? Are you mad because its my half-birthday or is it because no one remembered your real one?!"

In all the years Gale had been alive there was only one thing that changed as she aged, her waist size. She still had the same fat pale face, pig snout for a nose, dirt brown eyes and frizzy red hair that she had as a child.

"No, that's not it," Kelly said casually. "I'm upset because I have to always look at your bunched-up-pig-face!"

Gale made a few gasping sounds for lack of anything better to say, then took a deep breath and wailed, "MOOOOOMMMMMIIIIIEEEEEEE!"

Wiping her hands on a dish rag, Aunt Pat rushed in frantically, "What is it honey bear!?"

Gale only mad loud gasping huffs and pointed at Kelly. Her aunt quickly turned around, glared at her niece and curled her lip in an ugly fashion.

"What did you do to my precious?" she growled. From behind her mother, Gale was smiling smugly at Kelly and waving her finger in a scolding motion.

"I -- I didn't do anything, just brought Gale her birthday drink," explained Kelly. "I think maybe the coffee may have not been hot enough for her, so let me go fix that."

Before either of them could stop her, she snatched the drink and hurried back into the kitchen.

Way to cut it so close! she thought to herself. Next time why don't you just ask to be locked in the attic and save them the trouble!

Kelly dumped Gale's drink in the sink and glumly poured her another one. While walking away, the telephone began to ring. Uncle Ray, being the closest one to the phone, moved over and picked it up. Kelly paused inthe doorway, curious to hear what was going on. What ever it was, it had upset Uncle Ray judging by the tone in his voice. A moment later her uncle stormed by and marched up to his wife.

"Pat, there's a slight problem," he said, "Mrs. O'Donell had a heart attack then up and died from it. That means she can't take her," he motioned his head toward Kelly.

Gale's lip began to tremble (meaning she was about to throw a fit), but Kelly felt like she could fly. Whenever the Fiedlers took Gale out for things like her birthday (or half-birthday in this case), Kelly would have to go over to Mrs. O'Donell's house. Mrs. O'Donell was a crazy middle-aged woman who lived one street over. Kelly severely hated going there. The house reeked of pickled beets and cheap perfume and Mrs. O'Donell would force Kelly to paint and repaint her nails for hours.

"How inconsiderate, dying like that with out a word of notice," huffed Aunt Pat. "What are we going to do now?" She glared at Kelly as if she had gone over and scared the woman into a heart attack herself. Kelly knew that she should feel bad for Mrs. O'Donell's death, but just thinking about not being a salon slave to Mrs. O'Donell over joyed her.

"No one else will take her, all the other neighbors despise the girl," continued Aunt Pat. Kelly's aunt and uncle frowned in thought.

"Maybe I could just stay here..." suggested Kelly trying to hid the hope in her voice.

"So that you can burn the house down!? I think not," snapped her uncle.

"Well, we could take her with to get Gale's last present...and leave her in the car," contemplated Aunt Pat.

"I'm not leaving her in my new car," argued Uncle Ray.

Gale had been watching the whole time, and had decided that she had had enough time spent on Kelly. Gale closed her eyes, opened her mouth and began to scream inchoherently.

"Now, now Widdle Gawwy," said Aunt Pat trying to comfort her daughter, "Don't be upset." She stroked her daughter's hair.

"I DON'T WANT HER TO COME! SHE'LL MESS UP EVERYTHING!!!" she screamed.

"Don't worry honey bear, she won't mess anything up, will she," said Uncle Ray with a glare. Kelly shook her head violently.

To Kelly's surprise, about five minutes later she found herself in the Fiedler's car on her way to the local pet shop. Her aunt and uncle weren't able to get rid of her so they were forced to bring Kelly along with them.

"If anything happens today," he said while trying to look at her through his rearview mirror and drive at the same time, "I am going to rip off the stairs on your door then lock it. That way even if you manage to unlock the door, you'll have to fall to get out."

"I won't do anything, promise," said Kelly.

The only thing is that weird things always happened around Kelly, and everytime something strange occured the Fiedlers would yell and blame her for it.

One time, Gale had gotten ahold of her father's razor and decided that Kelly needed a shave. So while Kelly slept, Gale began shaving off her hair. Luckily for Kelly, she woke up during it and stopped Gale from finishing. For the rest of the night Kelly worried about how she'd look the next day (for not only was she partialy bald, there was also nothing to hide her scar), she barely got any sleep. To both Gale and Kelly's surprise though, the next morning all of Kelly's hair had grown back.

And there was also the time when her Aunt Pat tried to get Kelly to wear an ugly dress that had once belonged to Gale (olive green with orange and brown stripes on it). The more she tried, the bigger it seemed to get, until it was so large a small circus might have been able to fit inside. She was locked in the attic for a month because she couldn't give an 'honest' answer as her aunt put it, but frankly Kelly had no idea why it had grown so large.

Today though was different, Kelly was going to make sure nothing went wrong. It was worth having to sit next to Gale (who hadn't bathed in about 2 weeks) then to be somewhere that was borning, cramped or smelly.

Once Uncle Ray had become bored with making threats to his niece he turned his attention to making fun of others around him.

He pointed to a little boy going down the street on his tricycle making a funny sound as he passed the vehicle. Uncle Ray swerved the car in his direction as if to hit him (and nearly did), and by bringing the car so close to the kid, it was possible to hear what he was saying.

"Vroom, VROOM, vroom....huh? Aaaahhhhhhh!" (Well that was actually the sound he made after Uncle Ray tried to run him over.) The Fiedlers laughed, but Kelly thought to herself for a moment then recalled something.

"I dreamnt about 'vrooming' last night," said Kelly casually looking out the window to see if the boy was all right.

Her uncle suddenly hit the brakes, bring the car to a screeching halt in the middle of an intersection. People honked angrily as they drove by, but he didn't care. Uncle Ray clutched the wheel in his hands very tightly, until his hands had gone white. Her aunt turned around in her seat and screamed at Kelly, "THINGS DO NOT GO VROOM!"

Gale giggled quietly, and Kelly looked at her aunt puzzled.

"But the little boy --"

"I don't care what the little boy said, he should have been hit when your uncle swerved at him. Things do not go vroom. Vroom is not a word. And vroom is never to be mentioned again."

Her uncle started to drive again as her aunt turned around. Gale slapped Kelly upside the head and sneered, "Things don't vroom." Kelly sat there rubbing her head in pain as well in confusion trying to understand what was so wrong with the word 'vroom.'

It was bright and sunny outside when the Fiedlers and Kelly got our of the car, but that didn't really matter because before Kelly could enjoy the clean air she wa hurried into the pet shop. It was dim and smelt of dead fish, which made Kelly feel sick in the pit of her stomach. Gale ran over (well to be more accurate she waddled quickly) to the first animal cage in sight. Inside it were two little pigs, and when the Fiedlers were done looking at them Kelly moved over to see. She watched the pigs run in small circles around each other, and Kelly thought they looked like Gale, only smaller and faster.

They all slowly walked in and about the different animals as Gale tried to decide which one she wanted. Kelly was having a nice time looking at the kitties when Gale grabbed her by the back of the neck and dragged her over to a different cage and pressed her face down on it.

Through the corner of her eye she could see the cage had a couple of bunnies inside it.

"Here rabbits," snarled Gale, "I have a snack for you." She pressed the side of Kelly's face down harder. Kelly struggled to get free but Gale had gotten the upper-hand on her this time. It was right then that Mrs. Fiedler saw her daughter.

"Galey Waily! Get away from those rabbits!" exclaimed Aunt Pat rushing over to protect her child. She grabbed Gale and dragged her into ther arms, making Gale let go of Kelly.

"Why don't you come over here and look at a safer pet, like a scorpion? They're nice," she said leading Gale over to the scorpion tanks. Kelly slumped down to the ground in front of the bunny cage and sighed. She tilted her head and looked at the little creatures intensely. There were about six or seven of them and most of them were just milling around from having nothing to do. They're not that bad, thought Kelly. Actually, I think they're kinda cute.

Suddenly, all the rabbits stop hoping about lazily and turned toward Kelly. They all wiggled their noses in unison at her.

Kelly just looked at them, then glanced behind her to see if anyone was looking. No one was. She turned back to the rabbits and wiggled her nose too.

The largest bunny hoped forward towards her, then jerked its left ear back at the Fiedlers and shook its head. It gave Kelly the look of:

"Bunch 'o freaks."

"Tell me about it," Kelly muttered to them, though she wasn't sure they'd understand. "They are really annoying."

The bunnies jumped up and down in excitement.

"Well, how did you come to be here?" Kelly asked

The big rabbit pointed at a little postcard on the side of the cage. It had been chewed on a little bit but was still readable.

WARNING:

Wild rabbits, caught in the

meadow of Rivendell.

APPROACH WITH CAUTION



"Oh," said Kelly sadly. "You were all free once..."

The bunnies jumped up and down once again, but stopped at the sudden loud yelling coming from behind Kelly.

"MOM! DAD! LOOK AT WHAT THE RABBITS ARE DOING!!!"

Uncle Ray and Aunt Pat came running over and pushed Kelly out of the way to make room for themselves. The next thing that happened was amazing -- one minute Gale was grasping onto the wire of the cage with her grubby little hands, and the next, she sat back shrieking with terror.

Kelly sat up and choked on her breath; the cage that the bunnies were in had disappeared completely. The rabbits composed themselves quickly, then began hoping about on the floor. People in the pet store were screaming, jumping up onto chairs, and some were even trying desperatly to hide in empty cages nearby.

As the bunnies hoped by Kelly toward the door, she was sure that a chorus of high pitched squeaks of thanks came from them.

The pet store owner was paralyed in fear.

"The cage." he stuttered. "The cage is gone..."

The only thing Gale and Mrs. Fiedler could do was make heavy gasping sounds while Mr. Fiedler directed them to the van, and dragged Kelly out by the ear. After Gale had recovered though, she began talking about how two of the rabbits had gone for her throat and nearly killed her, but what was worse than that was Gale had also calmed down enough to inform the Fiedlers that Kelly had been talking to the rabbits moments before they're escape.

Once they got home, Uncle Ray jumped out of the car and ran to the side were Kelly was sitting. He grabbed her ear again, dragged her inside to the attic door, and threw her up the stairs. While breathing heavily from anger her instructed two things to her, "Stay -- no food for a week." He marched back into the t.v room where Aunt Pat was waiting with a six pack of beer.

Kelly sat in the musty attack, waiting until the Fiedlers had all fallen asleep. She didn't want to be caught when she went down to get something to eat.

She had lived with the Fiedlers for more than ten years now, ten long years, ever since his family died in the tornado accident. No matter how hard she tried though, she could never recall being sucked up in a tornado with her family. Occasionally, she would stretch her memory as far as it could go while being locked in the attic, and would have strange visions: a bright flare of scarlet red light and a searing pain on her right temple. This, she guessed, was from the tornado but she couldn't figure out what all the red light was... She couldn't remember hardly anything at all, her parents and brother were nothing. Her aunt and uncle refused to talk about them. There wasn't even as much as a small snapshot of them anywhere. The Fiedlers were her only family. Although sometimes she imagined (or maybe believed) that complete strangers knew who she was. Weird people they were too. A very tall man with a tiny blue bowler curtsied to her one day while Gale was at the dentist. After Aunt Pat yelled at her angrily, she grabbed a half way done Gale out of the dentist's chair and dragged them both home. Another time, a bold woman wearing an orange dress shook her hand vigorously in a lunch line somewhere, then walked away. The strangest part was that when ever Kelly tried to get a better look, they would vanish from sight.