So, hi
Sorry it's been so long, as i've said before i really don't write that often or in some sort of pattern. That said, it's been great to read your reviews and knowing that some people are actually reading this, or were. Oh well. Reading back I can see that instead of writing fic it's been writing pic. Which i thought was funny as it doesn't make much sense. Also, I want people's opinions. How soon should I make it differentiate majorly from cannon, I mean, i've already planned to change certain things but what about not only sitting with Ron on the first train ride or her having more powers than in cannon. I've already made the Dursleys a lot more abusive than they were in cannon I think it just fits with the story and i'm not going to have a too manipulative Dumbledore (No matter how much i enjoy fic's like that). So, idea's?
Enjoy, Lightning
Do i even need a disclaimer at this point, we already know I don't own it.
"The Vanishing glass" announced Mcgonagall and then proceeded to raise an eyebrow. Hailey looked down and didn't say anything. She knew that she hid her ability, it was what she had always done, a side effect of the Dursleys. This chapter would also show her home life and that scared her. She had changed alot and the childish taunts of the Dursleys saying that she was worthless didn't faze her anymore but the memories of the hopeless feeling and crippling loneliness she had 'enjoyed' in her youth were hard to get rid off. She could guess from the title that it would show the incident at the zoo, she still hadn't told Sirius that she was a parselmouth. She knew about his hatred of all things slytherin, she hoped it wouldn't matter but she still held onto that old insecurity that everyone would abandon her. She snuggled into Sirius' side.
Sirius looked down at his God-daughter and gave her a one-armed hug. He could see the conflicting emotions in her body language and he wondered what he was going to hear that made her want the reassurance that he was there. He steeled himself, whatever it was didn't matter. He had let down his Pup enough and he would be there for her in whatever this is. He sent a look at Dumbledore that clearly said 'We will definitely speak later'. Mcgonagall cleared her throat loudly to silence the muttering.
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their niece on the front door step.
"10 years, why don't we get to hear about little Hailey's childhood adventures" asked Sirius with a smile. Inside however he was worried, 'why would it skip over her childhood'
but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.
"After 10 years?"
"Creepy"
The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living
room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.
"Definitely creepy"
Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed.
"Aww, I bet there are some cute baby pictures of you Hailey" Squealed Lavender. Parvati nodded in agreement with her best friend.
Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets
All the baby lovers went 'aww', and everyone else cringed.
but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another child lived in the house, too.
"Huh"
"What"
"Where's Potter"
Were some of the many comments echoing around the hall. Hailey curled into Sirius' side, head buried in his shirt. Sirius looked at her, confused. Why wouldn't there be any photos of her and why would she react that way.
Yet Hailey Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for
long. Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
Anyone who had ever met or heard her, winced.
"Wow pup, how are you not deaf"
Hailey didn't move other than to bury herself further in his jacket.
"Up! Get up! Now!"
Hailey woke with a start. Her aunt rapped on the door again.
"Up!" she screeched. Hailey heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. She rolled onto her back and tried to remember the dream she had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it, and lights turning on and off. She had a funny feeling she'd had the same dream before.
The hall was yet again, silenced.
"You… remember that night" stated Sirius. Hailey nodded into Sirius's side. She strained her voice so she could be heard.
"Yeah, it wasn't much… just green light...I remember more now...thanks to the dementors"
No one could say anything to that.
Her aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Nearly," said Hailey.
"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."
"THEY MADE YOU COOK" yelled both Mrs Weasley and Narcissa. Both Husbands looked panicked and tried to pacify their wives .
"NO CHILD SHOULD BE MADE TO COOK"
"ESPECIALLY NOT A LADY OF AN ANCIENT AND MOST NOBLE HOUSE"
Hailey stiffened and raised her head from Sirius' side.
"What do you mean, Lady of an ancient and most noble house. I thought you said Heir, not Lady"
"Ms Potter, unless I'm misinformed, you were tried as an adult, as such, it means the ministry recognises you as an adult. Not to mention your name came out of the goblet of fire. Whether you put it in or not, an ancient magical artifact, accepted you as an adult, meaning magic itself has accepted you as an adult."
"Of course!" interrupted Sirius, "That makes sense. It would mean that you are Lady Potter"
Narcissa leveled her cousin a glare and continued, "I don't know what happened to you for magic to see you that way but I suspect we will see that some time soon"
Hailey groaned.
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door. "Nothing, nothing..."
Dudley's birthday - how could she have forgotten? He was always going on about it.
A few people laughed. He sounded like a real spoiled brat. Reminding a few of a certain blonde haired slytherin.
Hailey got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. She found a pair under her bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,
Ron shuddered at the mention of spiders.
put them on. Harry was used to spiders,
"How are you so used to spiders mate" asked Ron
"I don't know why she can, but it was really useful the other day. Our dorm's personal hero" exclaimed Parvati.
"What happened?"
"Well" said Fay "It was late, last saturday evening. We were all up talking in the dorm and playing truth or dare when Hermione dared Parvati to sit on the floor in the bathroom, in the dark, for 10 minutes."
"So, i went in and sat down on the floor, leaning back onto the shower door." continued Parvati "It was dark and really creepy but I was doing fine until I felt something small creep up my leg"
"We heard her scream and I swear I have never seen anyone move so fast as Hailey did when she went to see what had happened." explained Lavender "She turned the light on and we saw this massive spider crawling up Parvati's leg. She looked to be having a mini panic attack so Hailey went forward, cupped her hands and scooped up the spider. She then went back into the dorm, found an empty jar and placed the spider inside it, put the lid on to make sure it could not escape and went back to help me comfort Parvati"
"When we asked why she didn't just kill the spider she responded by saying that 'It didn't deserve to die for being in the wrong place at the wrong time'"
Hermione, Ron, Cho, Dumbledore and Sirius flinched at those words. Hailey had used them to describe what had happened to Cedric.
because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,
"Why would that matter" asked Zacharias Smith in his usual obnoxious tone. When other's glared at him for interrupting, he shrugged and replied "What? Its true"
and that was where she slept.
Yet again silenced enveloped the room, although this time it was only a matter of seconds before
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'THAT WAS WHERE SHE SLEPT'" yelled many people, most noticeably Narcissa, Molly, Remus, Mcgonagall and Sirius. All of them but Sirius had stood up, but they were all looking murderous. Actually it wasn't just them, most people around the hall looked ready to strangle the Dursleys, even the most die-hard Voldemort supporters in the room looked livid. Hailey whimpered and buried her head in Sirius' side again. She hated how everyone was hearing about her past and she hated the pitying looks she would get from now on.
While everyone was screaming in outrage, Umbridge was thinking of ways she could use this new knowledge to her advantage. She was wearing a small sadistic smile on her face, which luckily for her, no one noticed.
After a few minutes of everyone screaming at Dumbledore, the not-there Dursleys and just screaming for the sake of screaming, Hailey had enough. She jumped up and yelled, her magic whipping around her and the hall making them stop talking, as she did so.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP" and they did. It was rare to see someone able to command there magic in such a way, and practically unheard of for someone her age to do it.
"Yes, this happened. No, I do not sleep there any longer and you should all calm down. There will likely be more places where you want to scream at or curse certain people, but I want you to remember that the majority of this has already happened and cannot be change. We need to learn from what has happened and we cannot do that if you all won't BE QUIET"
Hailey nodded to professor Mcgonagall to continue reading and sat down on the sofa with her arms crossed, looking at the book expectantly. Slowly everyone registered what she said and sat down sheepishly, also looking at the Gryffindor Head of House, expectantly. Just as Mcgonagall cleared her throat to read, Hailey heard Harmony whisper into her ear,
"Well done"
When she was dressed she went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.
Many purebloods looked confused at all the muggle things mentioned. A few muggle-borns and half-bloods took pity on them and explained what they were.
Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to her, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise
"Definitely not a Ladies man" quipped Lee Jordan. A few people laughed but many were still shaken up at the revelation of Hailey's homelife.
unless of course it involved punching somebody.
"It better not have been you" Sirius whispered. The statement was echoed in the minds of many across the hall.
Dudley's favorite punching bag was Hailey, but he couldn't often catch her. She didn't look it, but she was very fast.
"Yeah, you definitely are. You could beat us all when you were still a firstie. You're even faster now" stated Katie.
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Hailey had always been small and skinny for her age.
"Nah" laughed Remus, "That's just the Potter-Evans genes". 'It can't of helped though' he thought. Across the room Madame Pomfrey was writing a list of everything she needed to check her favorite student for.
She looked even smaller and skinnier than she really was because all she had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than she was. Not to mention broarder and a boy.
"Second-hand boys clothes" cringed the more fashion forward girls
Hailey had a thin face, knobbly knees, bright green eyes and black hair with dark red highlights which shimmered in the sun. She wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched her on the nose.
"Did no one ever tell him not to hit a girl"
"I'll punch him on the nose"
The only thing Hailey liked about her own appearance was a very thin scar on her forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.
"You actually liked that?" asked Hermione. She, like Ron, knew how much she hated that scar and all it represents.
"That was back before I knew what it meant" she replied
She had had it as long as she could remember, and the first question she could ever remember asking Petunia was how she had gotten it.
"In the car crash when your parents died,"
"They told you your parents died in a car crash"
"Lying, deceitful, little …" Sirius had been silenced so as to not corrupt the innocent little firsties' vocabulary.
she had said. "And don't ask questions."
'I wonder if this is why she doesn't ask many questions' thought many of the teachers.
Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Hailey was turning over the bacon. "Comb your hair!"
"No use" laughed Remus "according to James, no Potter has ever managed to make it lie straight"
Sirius nodded in agreement. He would have said something but he hadn't been unsilenced yet. Hermione noticed this and took pity on him and undid it.
he barked
"What is he? A dog"
"Hey! I take offense to that"
"Knock it off Padfoot"
by way of a morning greeting.
"What happened to saying hello?" asked Tracy Davis
"It's too civilized" responded her friend Daphne Greengrass.
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Hailey needed a haircut. Hailey must have had more haircuts than the rest her class put together, but it made no difference, her hair simply grew that way - all over the place, every girls' nightmare.
Many girls nodded in agreement.
Hailey was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often says that Dudley looks like a baby angel
Almost everyone snorted.
- Hailey often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
The Weasley twins started clapping and many others did as well.
Hailey put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.
"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."
"What a spoiled brat!"
'Even i'm not that bad' thought Draco 'No wonder Hailey turned down my offer to be her friend. I probably reminded her of him. Bollocks, i'll never get a chance with her now'
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.
Hailey, who could predict the Dursley's moods almost as quick as they changed, could see the beginnings of a Dudley Tantrum. She began wolfing down her breakfast (one piece of bacon and a single slice of toast) as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.
"He's strong enough to turn over the table?"
"Yeah, he's quite strong" said Hailey. She winced at the memories of Dudley punching her, he had a rather mean right-hook.
Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right''
"THAT IS NOT HOW YOU RAISE A CHILD!" yelled Molly. Appalled at how bad at parenting those two seemed to be. Arthur had to pull her back down into her seat to stop her ranting.
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."
"Holy Merlin. He can't even count. How stupid can you be"
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."
Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.
"You shouldn't encourage that" tsked Mcgonagall.
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Hailey and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.
"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take her." She jerked her head in Hailey's direction.
"Oh, what happened"
"She tripped over one of her cats"
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Hailey's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Hailey was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady
"Mad old cat lady. Sorry". Those who had met Mrs Figg, laughed.
who lived two streets away. Hailey didn't really like it there. Don't get her wrong, Mrs Figg wasn't that bad but, the whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made her look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned. She also seemed to know something Hailey didn't but wouldn't outright say it. It was confusing.
"I didn't realise it was because i'm famous" Hailey muttered.
"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Hailey as though she'd planned this.
"Off course. I spend my free time making evil plans to torture my relatives" Hailey scoffed
"Of course Hails, everyone knows you're a disturbed, insane individual who enjoys torturing mundanes" commented Ron. Hailey and Hermione snorted and then burst out laughing. Others just looked on, surprised at how the 'Golden Trio' acted. Through their laughter Hermione managed to get out one last sentence.
"I see you read that dictionary I threw at you over the summer"
Hailey knew she ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had
broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when she reminded herself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.
"What awful names"
"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.
"Is that the aunt you blew up?" a Slytherin first year asked.
"Yeah it is, but to be honest she deserved it"
Many looked shocked at what she said.
"So, the Golden-Girl doesn't like muggles, I didn't see that coming" taunted a Slytherin upper year who Hailey thought was a death-eater or at least was going to be as soon as he graduated. She took a deep breath and let out a smirk to do Salazar proud.
"If you are honestly stupid enough to take that from my statement then you are proof of what inbreeding can do to the mind" she snarked. The smug smile the slytherin was wearing evaporated. Quite a few people sniggered behind their hands at the look on his face.
Hailey turned back to address the first year.
"I assume you will find out exactly what she did in the third book, but to sum it up, she insulted my parents". The few people who had made the mistake of doing that in front of her or those who had witnessed her response winced. You didn't talk ill of Potter's parents where she can hear you unless you wanted to visit the hospital wing. Too many had found that out the hard way, if there was one thing that pissed her off, it was that.
"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the brat."
The Dursleys often spoke about Hailey like this, as though she wasn't there - or rather, as though she was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.
"Yeah well you have the intelligence of a slug" muttered Hermione, making those who heard her laugh.
"What about what's-his-name, your friend - Ian?"
"On vacation in Majorca with his wife" snapped Aunt Petunia.
Hailey snorted. Petunia had been jealous as she had wanted to go on holiday that summer but couldn't as Vernon was supposedly going to be promoted soon so he was working overtime.
"You could just leave me here," Hailey put in hopefully (she'd be able to watch television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).
"He had some really cool games on there" Hailey sighed wistfully.
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.
"She always looks like that"
"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.
"I won't blow up the house," she said, but they weren't listening.
"I suppose we could take her to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave her in the car..."
"What is she? A dog" snarled Molly.
"Technically you're not supposed to do that to dogs either" responded Remus though he looked equally upset.
"Not the time Mooney" whispered Sirius.
"That car's new, she's not sitting in it alone..."
"Of course he thinks of the car not the human being" deadpanned Hermione though you could tell she was very upset.
Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
"I could tell he was spoiled … but this … that's taking it to a new level" commented Madame Pomfrey. She looked rather stunned, much like most of the hall.
"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let her spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.
"She actually fell for that?!"
"I... don't... want... her... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "She always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Hailey a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. Most of the things she had supposedly 'spoiled' were actually things dudley had done and blamed on her just to get her into trouble.
"Brat"
Mcgonagall looked at what she had to read next and narrowed her eyes.
Hailey subconsciously rubbed a small crescent moon shaped scar just above her elbow.
The hall sat in horrified silence. Hailey sat straight, looking forward. Many turned to look at her, she didn't look any in the eye as she spoke.
"It was just a scratch from a nail when he shoved me into the cupboard, nothing more, nothing less"
"Are you sure?" asked Amelia Bones.
"Yes" Hailey responded, looking her in the eye this time. Most people in the hall looked satisfied at that. Hailey looked back at her hands 'When he hits me he would never left a scar'.
Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.
"Arse-hole"
Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.
"Had to keep up his reputation" sneered a fourth year.
Half an hour later, Hailey, who couldn't believe her luck,
"Urgh, I had to jinx it didn't I"
A few people laughed but most were worried about what happened.
was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in her life. Her aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with her, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Hailey aside.
"He better not do anything" muttered Sirius.
"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Hailey's, "I'm warning you now, girl - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
To the casual observer Hailey looked completely unfazed at the threat however, those who knew her could detect her unease.
'It wasn't as if he would go through with it' she thought, and then with a touch of humour added 'the smell would annoy Petunia'.
Madame Bones was scribbling furiously on her notepad and so was Madame Pomfrey. The other aurors were taking notes as well.
"I'm not going to do anything," she said, "honestly..
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe her. No one ever did.
Nearly everyone in the hall shifted guiltily. They all, at some point or another, had accused her of something only for it to be proven false afterwards. Hailey herself was feeling justified. She always told the truth when she could, lies had put her in more danger than the truth had. If people actually told her what was going on maybe she wouldn't get into as much trouble.
The problem was, strange things often happen around Hailey and it was just no good telling the Dursleys she didn't make them happen.
Remus and Sirius perked up at this, it seemed like it was talking about accidental magic. What accidental magic someone did was always a good indicator of magical strength and from what they know of her, she was a powerful witch.
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Hailey coming back from the hairdressers looking as though she hadn't been at all,
Molly Weasley sighed knowingly. She had offered to cut Hailey's hair when she was staying with them over the summer before second year. Hailey had laughed and told her that it wouldn't do anything. She attempted to cut it anyway only for it to go back to looking the same after only a few hours.
had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut her hair into a sort of messy bowl cut, except for her fringe which she left alone to "to hide that horrible scar." as she put it. Dudley had laughed himself silly
at Hailey, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where she was already laughed at for wearing his cousins baggy cast offs and glasses that were only held together through a lot of tape.
"Why didn't they get you new glasses?" asked a younger Hufflepuff.
"A waste of money apparently" grimaced Hailey. Her eyesight was as bad as it is because the Dursleys hadn't bothered to get her a new prescription in years. Luckily she managed to get a new pair of glasses that had a better prescription off Madame Pomfrey. She hadn't had any problems since so she suspected that the medi-witch had done something either to the glasses or to herself.
Next morning, however, she had gotten up to find her hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. She had been given a week in his cupboard for this,
Remus started growling at this and the other adults didn't look much happier.
even though she had tried to explain, that she couldn't explain, how it had grown back so quickly.
"Must have been" "Magic" whispered the twins in a theatrical voice. Hailey smiled faintly at that.
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force her into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls)
Anyone with any sense of fashion (everyone other than Umbridge) looked pale at the description of the jumper.
The harder she tried to pull it over her head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Hailey.
"Yeah, i'm small but not that small" Hailey joked.
Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash
"How stupid are they"
"Very apparently"
and, to his great relief, Hailey wasn't punished.
"You shouldn't be punished for accidental magic" frowned Professor Mcgonagall. "It's dangerous"
Professor Dumbledore's ever present twinkle dimmed. He knew perfectly well how dangerous it was. 'Arianna…' he thought sadly.
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing her as usual
"I'll chase the fat lump. See how he likes it." growled Sirius, Remus nodded in agreement.
"As you or padfoot" Hailey questioned. Both would cause her cousin to piss himself in fear.
Sirius pretended to be deep in thought then slowly said. "I was thinking both, at different times"
Hailey snorted into her hand, as did many others.
"What's more terrifying" quiped Hailey, "An angry dog or an angry, supposedly insane, prison escapee"
when, as much to Hailey's surprise as anyone else's, there she was sitting on the roof, behind the chimney.
"Woah" went one of the first years.
"You accidently apperated!" Hermione exclaimed. Hailey nodded her head slowly.
"Yes?"
"Pup, many adults find apparition hard. To do it instinctively before you turn ten is amazing." said Sirius. He reached over and ruffled her hair as he smiled proudly.
The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Hailey's headmistress telling them she had been climbing school buildings. But all she'd tried to do (as she shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of her cupboard)
The mention of the cupboard caused many to bristle in anger.
was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors.
"Nice hiding spot" snickered George.
"It would be so smelly" grimaced Lavender.
Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump.
"Well, you did look like a strong wind would knock you over dear" Molly Weasley commented. She gave Hailey a look and declared that Hailey would be going on a diet to gain some weight. Madame Pomfrey nodded in agreement and made a note to give the Weasley matriarch a list of what she should have. The wrong foods could be counter productive.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong.
"Famous last words" Hailey muttered. Those who've been on one of her adventures, winced, Hailey had the weirdest luck.
It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, her cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room. While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things, alot.
"He does seem the type"
Personally, Hailey thought that was all he did. His favorite things to complain about were of course: people at work (Like every other adult she had ever met),
This comment was met with many laughs, particularly from those who had parents in the Ministry.
Hailey (not that she did anything wrong he just hated the fact she existed),
Almost everyone in the hall looked disgusted. Hailey was a national hero, she still was, even though the Ministry and The Daily Proffit were doing their best to discredit her. She had still saved them all. Her 'mere existence' meant the end of Voldemort's reign of terror. No one wanted to imagine what would have happened if she didn't exist and some muggle dare hate her for it. It was an outrage.
While many plotted ways to get revenge on the Dursley patriarch, the senior under secretary to the minister tried to find ways to work this to her and her darling Fudge's advantage.
The council, Hailey, The bank (because if he wasn't doing some kind of fraud Hailey would eat her wand)
That got many to laugh, it was a funny image. Madame Bones leaned over to Shacklebolt and whispered something into his ear. He made a note in his notebook and nodded at her.
and Hailey were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.
"He better not diss Motorcycles" muttered Sirius. Remus hit him round to head.
"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.
Sirius started grumbling about heathens that don't understand the brilliance of the motorcycle.
I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Hailey, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
Hailey groaned, she had been so distracted by what was outside the window that when she heard the word motorcycle she just said what was on her mind.
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Hailey, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a mustache, spittle flying everywhere.
"EWW" squealed Lavender.
"Dean, could you draw that" Seamus asked his best friend.
"Sure thing" he laughed.
"MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"
"What are you talking about, of course they can fly"
"In the muggle world Sirius"
Dudley and Piers sniggered.
"I know they don't," she retorted. "It was only a dream."
But she wished she hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than Hailey asking questions, it was her talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think she might get dangerous ideas.
"Hailey doesn't need cartoons to have dangerous ideas. She creates them naturally" snorted Ron. Hermione and Madame Pomfrey nodded in agreement. Hailey had her own bed in the hospital wing due to her dangerous ideas.
"What's a cartoon?" asked the Weasley twins. Any sane muggle raised in the hall looked at each other in fear. The twins were terrifying enough without watching looney tunes.
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Hailey what she wanted before they could hurry her away, they bought her a cheap lemon lolly. It wasn't bad, either, Hailey thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.
Everyone laughed. Dean pulled out a notebook and started scribbling down ideas of things to draw. Hailey's life seemed to be full if inspiration.
Hailey had the best morning she'd had in a long time.
"Yeah, I enjoyed the zoo" Hailey smiled in remembrance.
"That settles it. We're going to the zoo for your birthday" Sirius decided. Remus, Molly and Arthur nodded in agreement. The girl deserved it.
She was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting her.
Sirius snarled, it seemed he was going to do this every time they mentioned someone hurting Hailey. Hailey worried about how much damage his throat would take, lots of people had tried to kill her after all.
They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Hailey was allowed to finish the first.
Hailey felt, afterward, that she should have known it was all too good to last.
Hailey blanched and groaned,"Potter luck strikes again".
Ron patted her back in sympathy while Hermione looked curious.
After lunch they went to the reptile house.
"Ohh. Yeah that explains it" she muttered in realisation as she looked at Hailey's face and body language.
It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.
"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.
"You're really not supposed to do that. There a signs and everything telling you not to" muttered a first year.
"Does Potter's Uncle look like someone who would take that advice" her friend responded.
"Do it again," Dudley ordered.
"If one of my sons had dared order me that they would be grounded they would have been grounded until they were fifty"
Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.
"That snake is so me after the end of year tests" muttered a sixth year slytherin.
"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. Hailey moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake.
"Never look a snake in the eye" One twin went.
"They always win staring contests" the other followed.
"Why do i have a feeling that you've tried that" Ginny sighed.
SHe wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
"You are literally comparing your life to a trapped snake's" muttered Ron.
Hailey rolled her eyes, "It's not like I knew anything different".
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes.
"That's impossible, snakes don't have eyelids." stated a slytherin.
Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Hailey's. It winked.
"Impossible"
She stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. She looked back at the snake and winked, too.
Hailey shook her head as others laughed. Thinking about it, she must have looked insane.
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Hailey a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."
Remus raised his eyebrows. Hailey put her head in her hands and started to laugh quietly. Though worried about Sirius' reaction to her being a parselmouth, what happened had been rather funny.
"I know," Hailey murmured through the glass, though she wasn't sure the snake could hear her. "It must be really annoying."
Ron and Hermione started laughing, that was such a Hailey thing to do, start a conversation with a snake because she was bored. They could picture this scene clearly and couldn't stop laughing.
The snake nodded vigorously. "Where do you come from, anyway?" Hailey asked.
More people started snickering. It wasn't helped when Harmony, with Hailey's permission, showed a visual of what was happening. There was no audio, but everyone could see eleven year old Hailey Potter staring eye to eye with a snake, with only a pane of glass between them, having a casual conversation about life.
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Hailey peered at it.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?"
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Hailey read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"
Even more people started laughing at the absurdity of the Girl-Who-Lived, the Gryffindor-Golden-Girl, holding a conversation with a snake, the symbol of Slytherin, looking completely at ease. Something niggled in the back of Sirius' mind.
The snake shook its head sadly. Hailey thought back to a long forgotten Geography lesson and decided to tell the snake about what she knew about Brazil.
"Well, Brazil is in South America and is home to the Amazon Rainforest and is home to over two thousand different species of animals" Pausing to think of more things to say, Hailey was blindsided by Piers yelled right next to her.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Hailey in the ribs.
Hailey sucked in a sharp breath as she felt the punch for a second time, though it might have been her imagination but it didn't seem as painful as she remembered. However that could be because her pain tolerance had increased since then. Sirius growled from the back of his throat.
Caught by surprise, Hailey fell hard on the concrete floor.
She grit her teeth. She noted that the pain only happened as it was read out. That could be useful in the near future.
What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.
The visual had disappeared the moment Hailey felt pain as it was her concentration that had kept it up there, but that didn't stop anyone from visualizing what happened.
Hailey sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor tank had vanished.
"Congratulations Miss Potter, now if only you could repeat that in class then you will have no problem passing your O. " commented Professor Mcgonagall.
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Hailey could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."
"Your a parselmouth!" exclaimed Sirius. He looked down at his God-daughter and saw her shake and curl up a bit.
'What in the… oh' he thought. Realising what she was worried about he put an arm around her and pulled her into his side. He lent down and whispered into her ear.
"I don't care about any special abilities you have, you are still my God-daughter and I will be here for as long as I can. Even when your tired and fed up with me, i'll be there". Hailey took a shuddering breath as she buried her face in his chest. They sat there like that until she had stopped shaking. She hugged him tightly and they stayed like that for the rest of the chapter, taking comfort in each others presence.
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
"Did the obliviators ever hear about this" wondered Tonks.
Madame Bones wrote that down in her notebook. If they had, then she needed to find out why she hadn't heard about this. It involved the Girl-Who-Lived and as such, was a high profile case, it was her job to be informed of this. It was worrying as it meant, either she purposely wasn't informed (meaning she would have to investigate and most likely fire someone), the obliviators hadn't investigated as they were supposed to (which meant that again, someone needed to get fired) or the obliviators hadn't known about this and hundreds of muggles had seen magic without it being covered up (meaning the statue had been broken and the wizarding world was at risk, because if it could happen once it could happen again). She sighed, this was going to be a hell of a lot of paperwork.
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Hailey had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.
"Cry babies" scoffed Hermione.
But worst of all, for Hailey at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Hailey was talking to it, weren't you, loser?"
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Hailey. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He got up in her face and shoved her against the wall.
Hailey flinched and shuddered in Sirius' arms, she could feel the wall on her back and she needed Sirius to remind her that it was in the past. Sirius tightened his arms around her and swore to himself that he would get revenge on the useless SOB's who hurt his pup.
He growled at her and managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.
"Yes, lets give to violent angry man alcohol, i'm sure that will end well" snarked Snape, thinking of his own father. He looked over at the girl's group and watched them all be there for her. Like Lilly was for him, a voice in the back of his head mused.
Hailey lay in her dark cupboard much later, wishing she had a watch. She didn't know what time it was and she couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, she couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.
"You shouldn't have to sneak around for food in your own home"
He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years.
Dumbledore, Hagrid and Professor Mcgonagall looked extremely guilty at this. Most of the room looked angry at this as this was a national hero and to hear that she had an awful childhood because of the Potter's sacrifice while everyone else celebrated and enjoyed the peace it brought, hurt.
As long as she could remember, ever since she'd been a baby and her parents had died in that car crash.
"Hope you end up in a car crash" muttered Dennis Creevey.
She couldn't remember being in the car when her parents had died. Sometimes, when she strained her memory during long hours in the cupboard, she came up with a strange vision: a blinding
flash of green light and a burning pain on her forehead.
Everyone flinched, though those who had ever seriously considered how she survived looked interested.
This, she supposed, was the crash, though she couldn't imagine where all the green light came from.
"It wa kind of obvious it wasn't a car crash looking back. How did I ever believe that!"
She couldn't remember her parents at all.
Everyone who knew James and Lily flinched. She should have known them, she should have grown up with them. It was upsetting that their only daughter didn't remember anything about them. Silently, many across the hall swore to themselves that they would tell Hailey all the stories of her parents.
Her aunt and uncle never spoke about them, kindly anyway, they liked to insinuate that her dad was a drunk,
Sirius and Remus started growling. Madame Bones looked over at her and said loudly so everyone could hear.
"James Potter was one of the finest Aurors our department every had." looking directly at the girl she continued, "I can tell you some stories about him and how much trouble he got himself into sometime."
She smiled to herself when Hailey looked up and smiled in thanks.
And her mother was a prostitute.
Snape, while not as obvious as the remaining marauders, was also livid. The scowl on his face grew and he started trying to think of ways to get back at the dursleys without landing himself in Azkaban. He decided that for this situation only, and no more, that he was going to help the marauders.
Of course she was forbidden to ask questions and everytime she tried to get the Dursleys to stop she was locked back up in the cupboard with a few bruises as a reward.
Remus' eyes flashed amber and many others were looking murderous. Many looked ready to start yelling but they remembered her reaction earlier. Bones wrote it down in her notebook before looking at Sirius. He nodded and pulled Hailey even closer and hugged her tight.
There were no photographs of them in the house.
Hagrid was suddenly very glad he gave her that photo album.
When she had been younger, Hailey had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take her away, but it had never happened.
Sirius looked really guilty and whispered apologies he had already made over and over again and promised yet again that he would never leave again. She only hugged him tighter and told him that he was here now and that was all that mattered.
The Dursleys were her only family.
Remus looked guilty, the Potter's had been family to him and he had failed their daughter by being too afraid of himself. He promised himself to never let that stop him again.
Yet sometimes she thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know her. Very strange strangers they were, too.
Some of the younger muggle-borns laughed, they had thought that most wizards and witches were strange. Now they're used to it but it was entertaining to hear someone else react like they had.
A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to her once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.
Quite a few cracked a smile at that.
After asking Hailey furiously if she knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at her once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken her hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
"How careless can we be" muttered Arthur.
At school, Hailey had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Hailey Potter in her baggy old boys clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang. The other girls wouldn't talk to her as to be seen with her 'cramped their style'. She was considered a troublemaker as everything went wrong around her.
Hailey ignored the words, she had heard them hundreds of times already. Hermione and Ron looked at eachother and promised to be better friends, they had screwed up a few times and they didn't want Hailey to feel like she had no one ever again.
Umbridge was about to comment in how that hadn't changed but Fudge silenced her. He still didn't believe You-Know-Who was back, didn't want to believe it, but this was the Girl-Who-Lived who he, and their people had seemingly failed. She was having her life read out, he couldn't imagine himself going through that, and if she was lying why go through with it. He decided to do the smart thing and wait and see what happens and he couldn't have his undersecretary spoiling that. If he was wrong and the girl was right, endearing himself to her should let him keep his job.
Amelia Bones looked at everything she had written down and decided she needed to speak to the girl as quickly as she could. Firstly, she needed to get a concrete list of all the Dursley's crimes and get a case together. Secondly, she needed to speak to her about whether Voldemort was really back, she needed evidence before she could start preparations for a second war and without the girl's testimony, it was all hearsay.
Professor Mcgonagall closed the book as that was the end of the chapter. She wished it ended at a nicer place but that was the end. She thought about the subject of the story and vowed to herself to be there for the girl, she was the daughter of two of her favorite lions and she had also found her way into her old heart.
Professor Flitwick took the book from where his colleague had put it and stood up on his chair. The hall was busy talking about what happened in the chapter and wasn't paying attention. He cleared his throat to try and grab everyone's attention. No one looked at him. He decided to take a page out of Albus' book and waved his wand, causing a loud bang to echo around the hall. He smiled to himself and started to talk.
"Now, I know everyone wants to discuss what happened in the last chapter, however, if we are to get through these books we need to keep reading. I propose a break every five chapters, so in three chapters time. This means we have a schedule we can follow and can get through these books quickly so we can get back to lessons in a few days time."
Everyone seemed to agree so he sat back down and announced the title of the next chapter.
"The Letters from no one"