Picking up the Pieces

Chapter Three

Returning to the Dursley's residence was almost done in complete silence with neither Vernon nor Petunia sparing us a glance. Not that we would be remaining in this place for much longer once I received Gringotts correspondence letter.

That was one of the first things I had decided on, fixing and making better for us.

Because I refused to stay in an abusive household.

"Petunia," I began once Vernon had stomped off and Harry went to place our trunks into our bedroom. "You want us out of your life, correct?"

For this to work, I needed this hateful woman to work with me.

"Of course," snapped Petunia with a sneer while glaring down at my shorter height. "I never wanted to take you freaks in. You know very well that you both were foisted upon us."

"Then I need you to agree to a few things," I continued with a thin smile on my face while my eyes coldly met hers. "If you can accomplish these things, then you'll never seen us again."

Not that didn't mean I wouldn't be using the goblins to find us a lawyer, or the one that was usually used by the Potter House, to sue her for everything she and her family has done to Harry and Haley. They wouldn't get away with the abuse they had heaped on us.

"What do you want?" demanded Petunia face paling as she almost took a hesitant step back away from me. "Be quick about it, girl."

"I'm expecting a letter sometime soon," I answered with a smile on my face fading away as I stared at her with a blank expression. "Once I have received it, Harry and I will gather our things and leave. What I need you to do is tell Mrs. Figg that we got accepted to a summer camp and will be gone all summer until the day before the first of September, which is the same day we leave."

Because while neither Harry, nor Haley, had known about her spying on them for Dumbledore, I was very much aware of it. This way it would keep Dumbledore from being suspicious of us not being around which would give us more time to settle into our new home.

Because I already had one picked out.

It was a place that Lily had mentioned, and even chose to add the said location into the letter to the goblins. Though I'd also have to find a few house elves.

Seeing as those that had been in the Potter service were likely dead now.

House elves needed to feed off their master's magic to live, it also meant that Dobby was actually Harry's house elf, and to lose their master meant their own lives would be counting down. Which meant I highly doubted any previous Potter elves were still alive.

Unless of course, they had bound themselves to Haley when James died.

"Fine," scoffed Petunia before stalking past me while I grinned.

"Now to speak with Harry," I whispered under my breath, my eyes couldn't help but glance toward the door under the stairs. "Soon I'll have my chance to destroy them."

I wasn't nice, I was selfish and possessive, and that meant I wouldn't just forgive and forget the torment and abuse this family heaped onto the Potter twins without hesitation.

"Haley?" called Harry making me blink and turn to see him standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm great," I answered as I moved forward and took his hand in my own before tugging him upstairs to our shared room. "There are a few things that we need to discuss."

"Like how you know that first year in Ravenclaw?" wondered Harry as he took a seat on his bed that faced my own. "Or how you left to speak with that boy in Slytherin?"

It made sense that Harry was very keen on things happening around him considering the household he grew up in. Though how he could pinpoint that I was meeting to speak with a Slytherin when others were also leaving was interesting to note.

"Did you know that our father was Lord Potter?" I questioned making Harry blink and lean back while taking in my words. "We come from the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, our family line is ancient and entrenched in so much history that we aren't aware of."

A lot of things were being kept from us, least of all that of our parents and what they were like.

Then add in the fact that Sirius had been tossed into Azkaban without trial and Remus had ran off, and we were left to rot alone. We were left on our own to flounder and save ourselves.

It was one of the main reasons that neither of us fully trusted any adult.

"As the eldest, I will be the next Lord Potter. If I can gain emancipation and take up the Lordship, then we can be free of this house. I would become your magical and legal guardian until you turn seventeen, no one would be able to make us come back here."

"What does that have to do with the Slytherin?" questioned Harry even as his eyes brightened while he leaned toward me.

"Heir Zabini," I answered slowly with a slight bitter smile, "is the next Lord of the Zabini House who swore an alliance to the House of Potter. There are others who swore alliance to our House, but Zabini is one of the newest ones."

They were also ones that didn't hold ties to Gryffindor, and more so to Dumbledore, meaning that they'd more than likely helps us gain our freedom.

It also helped that they wouldn't rat us out to the man.

"What did you ask of him?" whispered Harry eyes wide. "I know you, Haley. What exactly is it that you're having him help you accomplish?"

"He will be taking a letter I wrote to Gringotts," I answered smile crooked and filled with mischief. "They should send a response to us with a portkey, which is a way to basically teleport to their location and will help me gain my title as Lord Potter officially."

A letter that I had only just barely been able to pass onto Zabini when we got on the train.

"You learned this from your time in the library," stated Harry with a small snort even while reaching forward to clasp my hand in his. "I don't care if he's a Slytherin, if he can help us then that's all that matters."

"I also learned it from overhearing conversations from some Slytherin's," I added with a frown considering before this I thought of myself as a Slytherin. "There is still a lot I don't know, and that is another reason I reached out to Heir Zabini for help."

Because I wouldn't be anything but the best that I could be in order to make James Potter proud, it was also something I knew that Haley would have done. This would take a while to learn and wouldn't be done so simply but at least I was taking the first step needed.

Hence my reaching out to someone who could help me.