There was something off about the neighbor's granddaughter. She returned to their house around the same time that Harry came back, and liked to walk around at night, her hood drawn, and holding something tightly in her pocket. Vernon, Petunia's husband, was convinced she was a drug dealer, but Petunia had a different theory.

This summer was an odd one. Her nephew, Harry, hardly ate the small portions she gave him. Unless he was required to work around the house, he stayed in his room, completely silent. Owls came very often for him, but she never saw Harry's owl leave with one. Despite the fear she had of magic, she was worried for him.

After two weeks of this behavior, she decided that she couldn't let it go on any longer. She made her way up the stairs, her heart pounding in her chest, and opened the half-open door to Harry's room. He was laying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, his expression unreadable. This scared her even further- it would be better if he was showing signs of anger or sadness.

"Harry?" she asked gently. Her nephew jumped, pulled himself into sitting position, and took out his wand in a second. She stumbled back into his desk, fear racing through her. Harry lowered his wand when he saw her terrified face, and apologized under his breath. "Are you alright?" asked Petunia. She couldn't believe she was asking this after the fright he had given her.

"I'm fine," replied Harry quietly. He ran a hand through his hair, and Petunia saw that he was lying- there were dark shadows beneath his eyes, and he was very pale. He seemed to have lost some weight in the last two weeks he had gotten to Privet Drive, which scared her. She assumed that the Weasley's were sending him food, as they usually were. But now she doubted whether he even kept down the food he was given.

"No, you're not." she sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. She swallowed back the fear and dislike of his magic, and looked into his eyes. Her sisters eyes. "What happened?" He frowned, looking confused.

"What d'you mean?"

"What happened while you were at school. I know that you've been keeping things to yourself all these summers, but this is somehow different." said Petunia. Harry opened his mouth as if to lie again, but seemed to rethink his words and closed it once more. He shook his head.

"You can tell me. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you, but please tell me. I might be able to help." He looked up, abruptly angry.

"Everyone thinks they can help, but they can't. My parents are gone, and I haven't thought of anyone as a parent until Sirius and now he's..." he sounded choked, and blinked furiously. There was a sort of buzzing in Petunia's ears. She had never seen Harry act like this.

"Was he hurt?" Harry shook his head. "Is he..." she put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, god." She never knew Sirius very well, although she knew that he was close to Lily and James. They knew as well that he was Harry's godfather, and he wrote letters to him often, but now... "Harry, I'm so sorry." And she was.

"No you're not." answered Harry. He had closed up again, his expression once again unreadable. "After everything you've done, every time you wouldn't stop your husband from beating me, you cannot be sorry. Sirius was worth ten of you, ten of me, and for some reason he's gone. Everyone leaves eventually."

Early the next day, Harry showered and dressed quickly, pulled on a hoodie and trainers, and left the house through his window. He scaled down the tree with ease, landed in the damp, dew filled grass, and started walking down the block.

There was no particular destination he had in mind- just feeling that he was going somewhere helped more than anything. He wanted to flee the Dursley's, but he couldn't do that until he was seventeen- they were his legal guardians, and if he lost them, it wouldn't matter as much as losing Ron or Hermione. This loss was worse than his parents or Cedric. Sirius's name had been cleared a few weeks earlier, and Harry couldn't believe how close he was to having an actual father. A lump rose in his throat, and he ducked his head as he walked, staring at the cracks in the pavement. He knew that eventually he would break down, but was hoping that the day wouldn't come soon- he hadn't shed a tear for Sirius, deciding that it was better to be numb than to feel the loss.

Harry was so lost in his own thoughts that he hardly noticed the girl walking his way until they bumped into each other, both falling to the ground.

"Sorry," said Harry as he struggled to a stand. He examined the girl on the ground- she was around his age, with black wavy hair and an olive complexion. Her hazel eyes met his and she shook her head and took Harry's extended hand.

"It's fine, I should have been looking where I was going," she mumbled, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. Harry helped her to a stand, and she shook his hand.

"My name is Cassidy Renolds," she greeted.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Harry Potter." her face switched from politeness to a vague recognition. She slipped her hands into her pockets and rocked on the heels of her shoes.

"That sounds familiar." she spoke oddly, as though English wasn't her original language. "Do you play sports around here or something?"

"No," said Harry. Was this girl a witch? Or did she live in the area and hear of the troublesome Potter boy? "But I do live down the street. I haven't seen you around here, though."

"No, you wouldn't have." the girl said, shaking her head. "I live on Privet Drive, with my grandparents. I just moved there this summer after my Dad died."

"I'm sorry." murmured Harry. And he really was- she seemed nice, and they were going through a similar loss. Cassidy shrugged.

"It is all fine- I am just trying to process it all, I suppose." she cleared her throat, and half-smiled. "Do you go to school around here?"

Harry kicked a pebble onto the street and shook his head.

"No, I go to a school in Scotland." he answered.

"A private school then, yeah?" Harry thought of his first home, and felt the memory of a smile on his face.

"Something like that. Where do you go?" the girl chewed on her lip before answering.

"I used to go to a school in Northern Italy. I am also transferring to a school in Scotland this year- my family is familiar with one of the teachers there."

"You speak English very well," complimented Harry, and he realized that they were walking away from Privet Drive again. "Did you grow up in Italy?"

"Yeah, I did. My Mum was from America, so I learned both languages growing up."

"Are you going to miss your friends from Italy?" asked Harry.

"I have kind of been ignoring them for a while now. My dad was in critical care for a week before he died- I started spending time away from them since the accident, and after he died I started to ignore them completely. I just feel like if I get close to someone there's a risk of feeling the way I did when he died." replied Cassidy quietly.

"I know the feeling." sighed Harry.

"Have you lost someone close to you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. For some reason, Harry felt as though he could talk to the girl- they weren't very close, but all the same she was there to listen. The fact that they were going through nearly the exact same thing helped a bit.

"Yeah. My parents both died when I was very small. My godfather just died a few weeks ago." The girl nodded.

"It sometimes feels like it did not happen. Or that you wish that you could change it." Harry privately agreed.

Cassidy, it turned out was walking to a nearby cafe where she worked. She told Harry that if he would like to come to dinner, he would be welcome.

"And even if you don't want to come, you have to because I gave you this." she said, and handed him a cup of coffee she made from behind the counter. Her manager- a grey-haired man with a large stomach- looked at her sternly, and she smiled at him. Then in a false, sarcastic voice she said, "Thank you sir. Have a good day!" Harry put two pounds in tip jar, nodded politely, and left the cafe, wondering how he felt so fond of someone who he had only known for a half an hour.