Ten Years Later

Chapter two

What on earth was I thinking? Why would I let myself publish such a thing? Seriously!

"No, not them! Take me instead!"

"Get out of my way!"

"No, take me!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

A bright, green light woke me from my deep slumber.

"Harry," I kicked my brother with my foot. "Harry!"

"Whaaaaatt?" He yawed.

"You're snoring again, and it's really bugging me," I sat up rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Well sorry," he reached over to the nightstand and put his glasses on his nose.

"Wake up!" Aunt Petunia rattled on the door. "Get up now!"

"Someone's in a mood," I muttered.

"When is she not in a mood?" Harry asked.

"Good point."

A moment later, our cousin, Dudley, came running down the stairs. I couldn't understand why he could, overweight that one was.

"Wake up, Potters!" he jumped up and down sending us some nice saw dust. Beautiful, just what I wanted in my hair today. "We're going to the zoo!" The zoo? We never got to go anywhere with them. This was a first.

"Tossing the sheets to the side, we went out from under the stair. Dudley, the fat git, pushed Harry back inside and shut the door. He laughed and headed into the kitchen before I could give him a good one, but the last time that happened I didn't eat for an entire day.

"Are you OK?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he answered rubbing the back of his head.

"There he is," Aunt Petunia cried. "The birthday boy!"

"Happy birthday, son," Uncle Vernon said in a monotone voice from the table.

"Why don't you two cook the breakfast and try not to burn the house down?"

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry and I chorused.

"I want everything to be perfect for Dudley's special day," she led him into the other room where there were most likely dozens of presents waiting for him.

"Hurry up, you two!" Uncle Vernon said. "And bring my coffee, Girl!"

"We have names you know." I said in a soft voice fetching the coffee.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I said, yes Uncle Vernon," I poured the steaming liquid into the mug. I really wanted to pour it somewhere else, but that could have resulted into awful consequences.

"That's what I thought you said," Uncle Vernon went back to the paper.

"There darling, what do you think?" I heard Aunt Petunia gushing from the other room.

"How many are there?" Dudley asked.

"36, I counted them myself," Uncle Vernon replied.

"36! 36! But last year, I had 37!" Bloody git! He couldn't be thankful for the presents he had. Some of the boxes were even bigger than me. How could he remember how many presents he had last year anyway? That was 365 days ago.

"Well, some are a bit bigger than last year…"

"I don't care how big they are!" Dudley interrupted his father. See, he's a selfish, spoiled brat!

"What if we went out and brought you two new presents? Would that make you happier?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"Yes, yes it would," Dudley smiled.

"Alright you lot, go get dressed. We're going to the zoo!" Uncle Vernon ordered.

Dudley and Aunt Petunia piled into the car and slammed the doors shut. I was just about to grab the handle when Uncle Vernon stood in front of the door.

"I'm warning you two now," he said. "Any funny business, any at all and you won't have any meals for a week. Get in."

The zoo was a good forty-five minutes away from the house by car. A forty-five minute car ride with me being squished between Harry and Dudley, joy. Dudley really needed a shower or deodorant, or maybe a combination of them both. He smelt like a pig who just went dumpster diving. That and some beef and cheese. Thankfully, the drive was quick and as soon as the car was parked, I jumped out of the car. Clean, fresh air!

The zoo was crowded with kids, teens, and parents. I was actually kind of excited for this. Neither Harry nor I had ever been to a place like this before. We would always be cooped up in the house. I couldn't wait to see the wolves, cats and snakes. They were my favorite animals after all.(AN: True fact.)

The day was going really well at the beginning. The cats were lying around, the bears were roaming around and the wolves were howling around. There were no snide remarks coming from Dudley the entire time and I was totally cool with that. That was until we got to the Reptile House.

"Make it move," Dudley told his father. He rattled his knuckles against the glass, attempting to make the snake move. It wasn't working really well.

"Move!"

"Move!" Dudley shouted rapping his fists louder and more violently than his dear old dad.

"He's asleep," Harry and I stated.

"He's boring," the three Dursleys went to the next exhibit. "Mum, look at this one!"

"Sorry about him," Dear Lord, I was talking to a snake. "He doesn't understand what it's like watching people pressing their ugly faces in on you day after day," the snake lifted its head and blinked at us. "Can you understand us?" It….shook its head at Harry and me!

"Mum, mum, look at what the snake is doing!" Dudley ran up to the glass shoving Harry and me to the floor in the process. I looked up and glared at him. The giant oaf! Then the oddest thing occurred. The glass vanished right before our eyes and Dudley went face first into the snake's dirty water.

I laughed watching the snake slither out of its holding cell and out into the open. People all around began screaming and running out of the Reptile House.

"Thhankssss," the snake hissed.

"Any time," Harry and I answered. Did that snake just talk? And did we just answer it?

"Mummy! Mummy, help me!" Dudley was banging the glass from the inside. Aunt Petunia let out a loud shriek. I rolled onto my side and grabbed hold of my stomach. It hurt so much from all this laughing.

"Harry hit me with his elbow. Uncle Vernon was glaring down at us. I gulped. This wasn't going to be good.

"What happened?" He shouted pushing us back into the house.

"We told you before. One minute the glass was there and the next it wasn't. It was like magic…" I answered.

"There's no such thing as magic!" He sneered closing the door to our room. "And don't even think about coming out for dinner!"

"I hate this," I said sitting on the bed. "I hate this so much!"

"You and me both," Harry joined me.

"What I wouldn't do to give them a piece of my mind," I hit the nearest object with my fist. Good thing it was a pillow. "Then they'd be sorry."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Haylee," Harry spoke. "You have no idea what Uncle Vernon would do to you."

"I wish we could just go away somewhere and never come back," I whispered. "Well, I guess since we won't get dinner I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight, Harry."

"Good night," the light went out. I started humming a random tune. Someone banged on the door.

"Stop that racket right now!"

"Ignore them, you're fine," Harry said. "Sleep tight."

"Don't let the bed bugs bite!"