The Malfoy's were as stunned at this statement as Haley was.
"Daughter?" Narcissa whispered.
Lucius shook his head, "No, you must have made a mistake."
"There's no mistake," Rodolphus stated firmly.
Haley looked up to Severus, "You think I'm your dead daughter?"
Snape gently took her shoulders in his hands, "We're sure of it."
"But… how… why?" Haley had so many questions going through her mind but couldn't even string together a proper sentence.
"What makes you think Potter's Comet?" Draco asked the question everyone that didn't know was wondering.
"After we escaped from Azkaban Bella wanted tried to make a death certificate but it didn't work. That means the person wasn't dead so she used a tracking potion with the hairs from Comets brush. That type of tracker only shows where someone is when they use magic. It said she was at Hogwarts so we waited and tonight it showed that she did accidently magic in Little Whinging. Haley is the only witch in the area. At the least the only one around Comet's age that did magic tonight," Rodolphus explained.
"Now back to my question," Bellatrix growled, "Why is my daughter afraid of you?"
Narcissa shrugged not knowing the answer but Lucius and Draco looked very uncomfortable.
"What did you two do to her?" Rabastan asked exasperated.
"Draco's been bullying Haley since they started school," Snape informed them, "I don't know what's got up Lucius' crawl though."
"We don't have the best history," Lucius told them calmly.
Bella turned to Haley, "Do you mind explaining what he means?"
"Um…"
"Don't worry, Haley, he won't hurt you. Tell your mother what happened," Severus told her kindly.
"Well, I sort of had him accidently free his house elf that attacked me with a bludger as an attempt to save my life and he tried to kill me in return but Dobby through him down a flight of stairs."
"Kill you?" Bella asked in a dead whisper. "Why do you think he was trying to kill you?"
"He said part of a spell before Dobby cut him off. I later did a little research. I now know what Avada means."
Bella turned to Lucius and raised her wand. "You almost killed my daughter!"
"I didn't know! Bella, I am so sorry!" he pleaded.
Bella took a deep breath and lowered her wand. Snape smirked, "Azkaban made you soft?"
"No I just don't want Draco to become fatherless even if his fathers a son of a…"
"Whoa!" Rodolphus cut her off looking at the children.
"Oh please! Comet's twelve not six. I think she's heard enough cuss words to be desensitized," Bella rolled her eyes.
Snape nodded and grimly said, "I have no doubt of it with her relatives."
"What do you mean?" Rabastan asked.
Snape sighed and looked down at Haley for a moment. He then turned back to the others and said, "I don't know anything for sure but every year Minerva tells the Headmaster suspicions at the first and last staff meeting of the year."
"What does she say?" Bella asked not taking her eyes of her daughter who kept her head down.
"That she doesn't want Haley to go back to Petunia's because she fears she is being abused. Haley however, would never speak of it," Snape told them.
They stared that the girl who was once again hiding behind Severus.
"Oh, my poor girl!" Bellatrix crossed over to the shy girl and pulled her into a hug.
Haley was so stunned that she didn't hug back.
"What did those bastards do to our daughter?" Rodolphus growled.
Once Bellatrix let Haley go she quietly said, "Can I ask a question?"
"Of course, honey," Bella encouraged.
"Whose daughter am I?"
There were several chuckles but Rodolphus answered, "I cannot have children of my own so to have a child Bella and I turned to one of our best childhood friends, Severus, to be a secondary father. He is your biological father but we are both technically your dads and obviously Bella is your biological mother."
Haley just nodded.
"Now back to our previous discussion," Rodolphus continued looking at Severus again, "What did those horrible muggles do to my daughter?"
"I don't know but Minerva believed that she was being starved because she always came back to school much skinnier than she was when she left. At the beginning of last year she swore that she saw bruises on her arms but Dumbledore assured everyone that Haley was perfectly safe."
"He's behind everything," Rabastan growled.
"So what exactly happened that night?" Rodolphus questioned.
Snape ran a hand over his face before answering, "When I realized that the Aurors wanted us dead I went to Dumbledore. He promised to do everything he could to protect you. In return I needed to work for him. I was meant to be a spy for him against the Dark Lord. I was then called to a death eater meeting. I went and he told me that he was going to get you to pack up and wait for me. He was supposed to move us to a safe house. When I got back then house was half destroyed. I tried to run upstairs to the nursery but Albus grabbed me and said I didn't want to see what was left of her room. I trusted him and he helped me grieve. He told me that the Aurors came to the house to try to take us in and you fought against them. He told me you killed seven Aurors and that you were going to go away for a long time even if we convinced them we weren't death eaters. He said that Comet died by Rodolphus' spell being redirected by an Aurors shield. He said that he was able to convince them with memory proof that I became a spy for the light side of the war."
"None of that's true!" Rabastan yelled in angry.
"What actually happened?" Snape asked.
Bellatrix held Haley close as she explained, "We were waiting for you to come home when the door blew off the hinges. Comet wasn't even upstairs. She woke up and started crying so I was holding her downstairs. Dumbledore and a bunch of Aurors burst into the room. It all went black when I woke up we were in a holding cell at the ministry. When Dumbledore came to our cell I asked where you were and he said that you sold us out and got out on a plea bargain. I didn't believe him so I asked him to give Comet to you, figuring the ministry had her since they had us. He then said that when I was hit by a stunner I dropped her and she hit her head."
By the end of her story she was wiping tears from her eyes.
"So," Draco but in, "Haley is Comet. The Headmaster lied to us all and kidnapped her. He let her be abused and let us all hate her."
Severus nodded, "That sounds about right."
"My life has more drama than an episode of One Tree Hill," Haley muttered out loud much to everyone's confusion. "Muggle thing," Haley clarified.
A couple people nodded.
"Why don't we all sit down?" Lucius offered.
Bella led Haley to a couch where she was sandwiched between Bella and Rodolphus. Snape sat on the other side of Bella so Haley a familiar face nearby.
"So Com… um… Haley, why did you do magic tonight?" Snape asked before getting hit in the chest by Bella. "It's a valid question! I mean it is against the rules and I highly doubt she wants to get kicked out of school."
"I had a problem and lost control," Haley told them shyly.
"What problem?" Rodolphus asked taking her cold hand in his own.
Haley shrugged, "It doesn't really matter anymore."
"Of course it does," Bella assured her.
Haley shrugged again and said, "Well, my Uncle Vernon's sister was visiting and she was disrespecting my… uh… James and Lily. I was used to her being mean to me but I thought they were my parents. I lost control and accidently blew her up like a balloon."
Bella held Haley around her waist and Snape grabbed Haley's other cold hand and rested it on Bella's lap.
"What did she say that was so bad?" Draco wondered aloud causing his mother to cuff him over the head for lack of tact.
"She called James a drunk that deserved death and… She said, 'If there's something wrong with the bitch then there's something wrong with the pup'."
"There's nothing wrong with you or your mother," Rabastan growled.
"She also implied that they should drown me in the river like she does with runt puppies."
Bella snarled, "If she comes near you I will blow her up in a much different sense."
"Now what?" Lucius asked.
"We can't stay here. It could get you in trouble," Rodolphus stated.
Lucius shook his head, "I don't care about that. You're family. Plus I kinda owe Haley."
Haley gave him a small smile.
"We could go with them," Draco blurted out.
"But that would take you away from everything you love," Narcissa reminded him.
"I don't mind. Plus I kinda owe Haley," Draco said with a cocky grin making several people laugh.
"We could just pack up and leave," Lucius said with a satisfied smile.
"No more crazy Headmasters," Snape said.
"No more dementors," Rabastan dreamed aloud.
"No more Aurors," Rodolphus stated.
"No more Fudge," Lucius added.
"No more people trying to murder me?" Haley half added half asked.
Everyone stared at her.
"Yes definitely no more of that," Bella said firmly.
Lucius raising his hands in an innocent manner said, "Never again."
"Well I assumed you wouldn't but you're not the only person that's ever tried to off me."
"You'll need to explain that to us one day," Rodolphus told her.