The Boa Constrictor Incident gave Hailey the longest punishment she could remember having, since it lasted till the summer holiday started. When Hailey was allowed out of the cupboard, she found out Dudley had broken his new video camera, crashed the remote control airplane, and during the first time out riding his racing bike; he knocked down Mrs Figg as she was crossing Privet Drive on her crunches. She even found out which school she was going to, while Dudley and Piers were going to Smeltings.

Dudley had told her, "You know, they stuff people's heads in the toilets at Stonewall High. Yes, even girls. Do you want to go upstairs and practice?"

"You've been alive for eleven years. I think it's time that you know which gender you are." She had replied and ran like hell before Dudley figured out what she meant by that.

Ever since the summer holiday started, she was trying to hide from Dudley's gang as much as possible because they show up every day and she usually hid at the library since they were never went in there. She was in her cupboard reading a school library book that she had conveniently "forgotten" to return, when someone banged her cupboard door.

"Get out! We know you're in there!" Piers shouted sounding a little smug.

She nearly dropped the book, realizing that the gang was about to enjoy their favourite game: Hailey Hunting. She cursed her momentary lapse of stupidity and closed the book. She wished Dudley and Piers went to Smeltings already.

Someone hit the door again and Piers shouted, "Open up, Potter!"

Hailey thought about the positions that the boys would be in. They would be in a curve, blocking off potential of escape routes. Dudley would be in front of the cupboard door since he was the leader. Piers would be next to Dudley, by Dudley's right arm, next to the kitchen. Gordon, Dennis, and Malcolm would be near the front door.

She would have to crawl through or around their legs or she could always give them a distraction, which consisted of her throwing her underwear or a bra at them, since they were usually grossed out at that. It was odd because Piers loves snapping her bra-strap, but it was probably because her shirt covered it.

She figured out what to do. She opened the door and ran out right into Piers's arms, giving him a huge hug. She cried dramatically, "oh, Piers, you silly boy! Of course I like you, too!"

Dudley and his gang seemed a bit stunned at the random burst of affection, Piers even more. She shoved Piers into the wall and ran through the kitchen, into the backyard. She threw herself behind the hedges and the guys came running out of the house with cries of, "Where did she go". Through the leaves, she watched as the gang looked around for her, heard them call her name, get bored looking for her, and went inside. She was left alone to her thoughts of Stonewall High.

Since Dudley was their leader, Gordon, Dennis, and Malcolm would be a bit lost without him, but those two would figure something out, eventually. Maybe she'll get lucky and they'll never cross paths there, but she knew that would never happen. If Dudley's story was true about girls getting their heads shoved in toilets, she was going to have to avoid those girls and possibly guys, if Dudley and his gang was anything to go by. She started planning her escape routes. The library was her usual go-to escape, but who knew how many people would be in there, but at least a teacher would be there to make sure no one got hurt. Going to teachers seemed perfect, but then again she couldn't hide out in the library and hang out with teachers forever.

While it seemed like a long time hiding out in the hedges, she got up, and tiptoed back to her cupboard, so she can finish reading her book.

The next morning, Hailey woke up to a terrible stench going through the house. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to eat it. She got dressed and went in the kitchen to see what was dying in there. Aunt Petunia finished taking pictures of Dudley wearing a ridiculous Smeltings uniform and she nearly broke two ribs trying hard not to laugh at him. Uncle Vernon was reading his newspaper and Dudley was admiring his Smeltings stick.

She composed herself and looked in the metal tub that was in the sink. She saw dirty rags in grey water and looked at her aunt. "What's in there?"

Aunt Petunia's lips thinned as they usually did when Hailey asked a question. She said simply, "Your school uniform."

Hailey looked back in the tub, "Oh. I was unaware that wet clothes were supposed to be part of the uniform."

"Don't be stupid. I'm dyeing all of your clothes and some of Dudley's old clothes grey because I'm not wasting money on buying you a school uniform," Aunt Petunia snapped. "It'll look like everyone else's when I'm done."

Hailey doubted that and tried to picture herself wearing some of Dudley's clothes at Stonewall. It would probably look like a large pile of fabric moving on its own. She went to sit at the table and heard the mail slot click and the flop of mail hitting the ground.

Vernon said, "Get the mail, Dudley."

"Make Hailey get it," Dudley countered.

"Get the mail, girl," Vernon ordered Hailey.

"Make Dudley get it," Hailey replied.

"Poke her with your Smelting stick, Dudley," Vernon ordered.

Hailey was hit in the knee with the stick and she got up quickly. She limped into the hallway while rubbing her knee, which was probably going to bruise the next day. She gathered the mail, which was a postcard from Aunt Marge, a bill, and noticed a letter addressed to her.

She wondered if maybe she forgot to return some books to the library and looked at the letter again. It was thick and heavy, made out of yellowish parchment. She remembered that notes from the library never looked like that and saw that the address was written in green-ink:

Miss H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey

She noticed that there was no postage stamp and turned it over to see a purple wax seal with a coat of arms with a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large H.

"Hurry up, girl! What are you doing? Checking for letter bombs?" Uncle Vernon shouted and then chuckled at his joke. She walked in, dropped the postcard and bill in front of her uncle and sat down to open her yellow envelope. She popped the wax seal and took out the same thick, heavy material that made up the envelope.

Dudley shouted, "Dad! Dad! She got a letter!"

Suddenly the letter was ripped out of Hailey's hands and she shouted, "Hey! That was mine!"

"Who'd be writing to you, besides the library?" Vernon sneered and looked at the envelope.

He went red to green and then greyish white, like the old porridge that Hailey was forced to eat two months ago. Vernon gasped out, "P-P-Petunia."

Dudley tried grabbing the letter, but Vernon held it over his head.

Aunt Petunia took it and read the first line, then grabbed her throat and made a choking noise, "Vernon—oh my goodness—Vernon!"

Dudley seemed to have gotten frustrated over being ignored and gave his dad a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick. Hailey nearly winced in sympathy for her uncle.

"I want to read the letter!" Dudley shouted.

"No, I should read it! It's mine!" Hailey shouted at Dudley, who swung the stick at her in return, but she managed to get out out of the way.

"Get out, both of you," Vernon croaked out, stuffing the letter in the envelope.

Dudley was frozen in his spot and Hailey glared at her uncle, "I want my letter!"

"Let me read it," Dudley said furiously.

Vernon yelled, "Out!" He grabbed Hailey's upper arm and grabbed Dudley by the scruff of his neck and promptly threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door in their faces.

Hailey was stunned over the fact that she got a letter, Dudley didn't get his way, and her aunt and uncle reacting like that. She was shoved into the wall and Dudley leaned down to listen through the keyhole. She went to the living room, which was connected to the dining room, which was connected to another kitchen door. She crouched down by the chair and couch trying to stay hidden so she can listen.

"But what should we do?" Petunia asked. "Should we write back? Tell them that we don't want—"

"No," Vernon said gruffly. "We'll do nothing. We'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer…yes…we'll do nothing."

Petunia started, "but—"

"I'm not having one in this house! We swore that when we took her in, we'll stamp out that dangerous nonsense!" Vernon shouted.

Hailey was confused. What dangerous nonsense? What was she? She wasn't a criminal or anything; unless conveniently "forgetting" to return a book to the school library was a criminal offense. Whatever it was, did it have something to do with this H person who knew where she slept?

Suddenly, Petunia was standing in front of her, "What do you think you're doing?"

Hailey looked at her and at the ground, "Just…just…looking for my lost pen that Uncle Vernon had given me."

Aunt Petunia grabbed her by her ear and started pulling her to the cupboard. "Get in there." She muttered, "going around, eavesdropping on private conversations like your blasted father."

"My…my…father?" Hailey stuttered out and she was unceremoniously shoved into the cupboard and the door closed on her. From what she saw before the door closed, even Dudley looked a little confused.

Now all she had was that her parents died in a car accident and her dad used to eavesdrop.

We're such an impressive bunch, she thought, bitterly.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, when someone knocked on the door to her cupboard. "Come in," she called out. She closed the book and set it on the bed next to her.

Uncle Vernon walked in and sat down on the bed, nearly sitting on the book Hailey was rereading.

Hailey asked, "where's my letter?"

Vernon tried to play dumb, "What letter?"

"You know, the one that was addressed to me," Hailey said.

"It must've been a mistake," her uncle said. "I burnt it."

"It wasn't a mistake since it had my cupboard on it," Hailey pointed out.

"Silence!" Uncle Vernon roared and a few spiders landed on Hailey's head. She casually removed them and released them on the floor. Her uncle took a few deep breathes and forced a smile. "Er…yes…you know—about this cupboard. Your aunt and I were talking; we think that it's unbecoming of a growing young lady to be sleeping in here with all these spiders. We think that it would be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."

Hailey eyed her uncle, "Why?"

"Don't ask questions!" Her uncle shouted. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."

Hailey nodded and gathered her stuff in a tattered messenger bag that she got from a second-hand store when she was six.

It took one trip to get to Dudley's second bedroom. There were four rooms, one for her aunt and uncle, one for visitors which was Aunt Marge, one for Dudley, and the last room was for Dudley's broken things. There were shelves lined with books that Dudley never read, which she knew she was going to read later on.

She could hear Dudley sobbing downstairs, "I don't want her in there…I need that room…Make her get out."

Hailey sighed and stretched out on the bed. There were times she wanted to be in Dudley's second bedroom, but now it was just a hollow victory without having that letter to read.

The next morning, Dudley was in shock. He had done everything he could to get his room back, but nothing worked. Hailey had dressed in her recently dyed grey clothing. The only thing that didn't suffer the fate of the grey dye job was her favourite light blue shirt and the dark blue skirt. She was at the kitchen table regretting the fact that she hadn't opened the letter in the hall.

She heard the familiar click of the mail slot and then jumped up to get the mail, but Vernon managed to grab her around the waist as she made her way to the kitchen door. Vernon looked at Dudley, "You! Get the mail!"

Dudley sputtered and then he went in the hall banging his Smeltings stick. There was a silence then he called out, "She got another one! Miss H. Potter, the Smallest Bedroom 4 Privet Drive!"

Vernon threw Hailey to the ground and ran into the hall. Hailey got up and ran into the hall to see her uncle wrestling with Dudley to get to the letter. Hailey ran down the hall and jumped onto her uncle's back, wrapping her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist. She tried crawling over Vernon but she got hit with the Smeltings stick and she ended up on the floor in pain, clutching her stomach, watching as Vernon held up the yellow letter in victory.

Vernon looked at Dudley, "You! Go to your room!" He looked down at his niece and pointed at her, "you! Go to your cupboard—I mean your room!"

Hailey and Dudley did as they were told, but she gave one last glare to her uncle as she walked up the stairs. When she got to her room, she slammed the door shut to show her displeasure at not getting what was hers in the first place.

"Don't slam doors!" Vernon roared up the stairs.

Hailey rolled her eyes, as she started pacing, trying to form a plan. Somehow the mysterious writer knew that she didn't get her letter the first time and sent her a second one. So, what's stopping them from sending her a third letter? She needed to be ready for the third letter. She needed to get up before the Dursleys and needed to get to the door first. And if that one didn't work she needed a Plan B…

The alarm clock, that Dudley broke which Hailey managed to repair, went off at six in the morning. She dressed quickly and quietly, trying hard not to wake the Durselys. She made her way down the stairs and stepped on something that was warm and alive.

She jumped up, squealing in surprise. Her uncle seemed to have made the same plan as her. She got yelled at for thirty minutes and was told to go make him a cup of tea. She shuffled off to the kitchen, made the tea, and came back right to see three letters land in Vernon's lap, which he proceeded to tear into pieces in front of her.

On Friday, Hailey decided to use Plan B. She woke up at six in the morning again, and went to sneak out to the backyard so can go around to the front yard. She was going to sit outside and wait for the mailman to show up. She was planning on getting the mail from the mailman before the Dursleys can so she can get to her letter and read it before they can destroy it. She waved to Mrs Figg who hobbled by on her crutches and waved to some people in cars who happened to drive by. She realized that Plan B had a downside because she had to use the toilet.

She ran round to the backyard, through the kitchen, down the hall, to the stairs, and ran straight into Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. They let her use the toilet, but locked her into her room to make sure that she couldn't get to the mail.

By Friday morning, she was locked inside her room, all the way into Saturday morning to make sure she doesn't sneak out of the house and wait for the mailman again.

By Sunday, the entire house was nearly boarded up and Hailey was allowed outside of her room in the morning since the mail doesn't run on Sundays.

Vernon was gleeful, but tired. "No posts on Sundays. No damn letters—"

Something came whizzing out of the chimney, hitting Vernon on the back of the head. Thirty or forty letters came shooting out of the chimney.

Hailey looked at the letters and decided to go low. She dove to the ground trying to grab one when Petunia grabbed her around her waist, pulling her off the floor, while Vernon handled Dudley, who had gone for the air to try and get a letter. They ended up in the hallway, listening to letters hitting objects in the living room.

"That does it!" Uncle Vernon shouted, pulling small tufts off his mustache. "I want you all back here in five minutes! We're going away! Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"

He looked intimidating with half of his mustache gone, so no one argued with him.

Ten minutes later they were in the car, speeding away from 4 Privet Drive. They drove, and drove, with Aunt Petunia not asking what was going on.

Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction. Hailey looked behind her, trying to see who might be following them, but she didn't see the same car twice. Now that she thought about the events, it kind of made sense. Her aunt and uncle were terrified of these people who knew that she lived in the cupboard, knew that she switched rooms, and knew that she wasn't receiving her letters. Whatever was in the letters, it was something that horrified her aunt and uncle. What she couldn't figure out was what the letters contained. Was it some sort of horrifying picture like a person being murdered or something?

Dudley looked at Hailey, "Who wants to write to you that badly?" All she could do was shrug in response.

They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall, Dudley was howling because he never had a bad day before. He was hungry, he missed five television programs, and he didn't get to blow up an alien on his computer.

They got to the coast and Vernon went inside. Dudley started complaining about missing his favorite show, since it was Monday. It reminded her that since it was Monday, tomorrow must've been her eleventh birthday.

Vernon returned holding a long, thin package, and he was grinning madly. "Found the perfect place. Everyone out!" Hailey didn't like the look on her uncle's face and looked at the long, thin package. Her empty stomach was churning and she had a bad feeling about what was going through her uncle's mind.

A/N: Hopefully, I'm succeeding in making it close to canon but deviating from it if needed.