And I bring you the first chapter, which happens 10 months before the excerpt from my last post.

Disclaimer: if you know it, then I don't own it. Everything but Amanda is property of amazing J.K. Rowling.

Dust and putrefaction filled the air... That was my first impression as I woke up. I never really cared about the smells in my room, but it surely didn't stink last night before going to bed... Wait a minute! Dust and putrefaction, don't tell there's a death body around here! Oh no! What if its me that's already death? Ok, let's see Amy, open your eyes, lets see what's wrong..

No way! No frigging way! Where in hell am I? This is so not my room, black and dirty? last time I checked my room was gipsy blue, not creepy black, and what's with the windows? Mom is so not going to like this.

I got out of bed just to find myself standing on a strange bit of parchment, there was ink all over the paper, so I could barely make out some a's and p's, and there was definitely a D, silently I made my way to the door, voices rang across the hallway, which was getting a bit annoying, amazing timing to wake up in a random flat, I couldn't just pop in here after a sober night, it had to be a hungover Sunday... Friggin loud voices! Why couldn't they just zip it until I figure out why I have no wand and no catch up note. Getting to what seemed like the study room, I found two extremely familiar faces.

'Aspirin. Two. Now' ok, I seriously didn't intend for it to sound so rude 'Please' I saw a mischievous smile playing on Moody's lips, but it disappeared as soon as Father glared at both of us, ok, what's his problem? Ever since I met him he's smelt like alcohol and tobacco, yet you don't see me throwing him at the face neither of my observations.

'Oh come on, it's not like you haven't tasted alcohol, we can all smell it as soon as you walk into any room, you smell like a whole casino and I'm sure you don't even know what that is' now Moody was actually smiling and I couldn't help to join him.

'Charming, but we have no time for any of your family reunion bullshit' he gave me a glass with some hangover potion — way more helpful than medicine — then his magical blue eye met my eyes, instantly I looked away 'I'm gonna make this fast, will you, or will you not take the task Amanda?'

'Now this is you going straight to the point, right mad-eye?' I started looking around, this room was not better than the dormitory I woke up in 'I already told you I'm going to America to study, I'm not gonna be able to look for wizards who might wanna join, not that I'm turning my back on you, but I'm not comfortable with the position where I'm landed, I'll do my best to recruit the wizards I meet there, but keep into account I'll be living in a muggle neighborhood, send me a patronus if you need anything and I'll do what I can, anyone kind enough to tell me what's this place?' obviously Father was not going to answer so I turned to Alastor, but my surprise got the best of me when Father answered lightlly 'My parents' house, it's full of protective charms, with Dumbledore's help it will be good enough to become the Order's HQ' I raised my eyebrow quizzically and let him continue, but he had already turned his attention some papers in the drawer.

'Well I suppose I have to go, see you later, maybe for Christmas' I turned to the door in a bit of a hurry, and followed the hallway to the main door, Moody handed me my wand and bid me farewell, for an unknown reason I turned around and there it was, a grumpy elf, just before any further contact with him I felt a strong hand embracing my wrist, their scent was the hint that rang the bell.

'Amanda, just wait' I turned around slowly and found Father looking at me, holding the door, ok so, no way out without tackling him, just smile and nod, he might let ya go sooner that way.

'Yes?'

'Well, Mad-eye told me you weren't leaving to school until next Friday, would you mind staying here? I mean we could use a little help with the cleaning, we are having many people coming over, and... ' stop rewind and WTF? So he actually is asking me to stay just because he can't get a descent cleaning service... Might as well work something out of this

'Oh, that would be great, why don't you send Mr. House elf pack my stuff, mom will probably be ok with it, and I'll help you with the house' as soon as I saw his smile growing I added 'but of course, remember that it will be 5 galleons per hour, By the way, I do have to pick up some books on how to do deep house cleaning, I'm not cleaning this dump on my bare hands... Is it ok with you Black?'

'Might as well shut that portrait over there on your little cleaning quest' now Moody was pointing at a blank space which probably was the spot of some family picture.

'Your grandmother tends to scream her lungs out every time she sees any of us...'

'So that means you're actually paying me to clear up your mess? Sweet! I'm warning you Black, no funny business, there's an upper east side loft waiting for me, in order to guarantee its availability I'll have to collect each day after I'm done, deal?' I offered my hand, but he gave a simple nod, I tried my hardest not to tackle him down —fourteen years living with Blaise had to pay off— anyways, I swallowed my grudge and kept my hand still for a proper handshake, now this was about pride 'deal? Or shall I walk away? I really ought to admit you would look exceptionally entertaining while dealing with all this dirt in here' mad-eye had clearly walked away by now, and before I could reach the door he gave my hand a subtle but strong shake which earned him a sarcastic smile.

A couple of weeks later I had already earned myself 50 galleons, meaning over 400 dollars! I know that is just a few dollars, but along with my savings, the money mom will give me and my scholarship, a good life was waiting for me. It had certainly been enough to get myself to New York in a first class plane. Though I still think I could've made a lot more tan 50 g's there were some seriously uncomfortable moments when I was left alone with Father, he looked as uncomfortable as me during each meal we had to share, but somehow we had managed to live through the boredom of it all, the only times he would actually speak, were when he praised his wonderful godson or even worse, those drunken nights that he would spend in his couch crying about how bitchy mother was every time he spotted me, just lovely, of course this was not what I had in mind when Albus Dumbledore introduced us, last year, he was probably waiting for a teary meeting, but well, dad was just so casually cruel, that things between us just didn't work out, it was so evident how we just didn't click, he is so grumpy and closed, and I'm too grown up to crawl back to him, lets just say that we came to the ignoring agreement.

*Flashback*

The light had been out for several hours by now, but no one had bothered to check the common room, everyone was trying to get some sleep for the third task, every single Hufflepuff wanted to see amazing Cedric beat Harry Potter in the tournament and earn our house some acknowledged glory, but I couldn't stop pacing by the fire thinking about the shaggy dog running through grounds, when I finally realized that pacing around the room was probably the most stupid thing to do, I went straight to the kitchen, even though it is supposed to be a secret, almost every Hufflepuff knew the way in, and right now I needed some hot cocoa, on my way out I found myself in the most embarrassing situation ever, I had spilled my yummy "homemade" cocoa in professor Sprout's robes and the only thing that blurted out of my mouth was so not supposed to get out 'not my cocoa! I've barely just tasted it!' Of course Sprout found it very amusing, yet informed me that she was actually in her way to our dormitories, apparently the headmaster required my presence, she escorted me all the way through the fine gargoyle and muttered the password before saying goodnight.

'Come in' ok, this office was so cool! He had everything messy, but it just didn't matter at all, the view was just astonishing, as I would've said at age 5 "many many shinny stuff! Me likes it!

'Hello Ms. Zabini, Lemmon drop?' Shook my head, never take candies from strangers, I barely knew the headmaster, what if he liked his Lemmon drops with cocaine or so, he merely blinked at me like he knew just what I was thinking... Hey Mandy, you better not mock the old man, what if he's some sort of super wizard able to read minds and comes out of a dark ally to take revenge upon your crazy thought, just nod and smile, and don't think about the twinkle in his eyes, he doesn't know that you know he's reading your mind. Now he really smiled at me and I took seriously the mind reading thing, I mean after all he IS a sort of super wizard 'I find muggle candies rather amusing, wouldn't you agree?'

'Oh, I'm not the kind of candy-lover person, but I do miss the fruit roll ups from the states' I started scanning his office, it was just filled with interesting objects and past headmasters portraits, his Phoenix called my eye but before I could caress it, he continued.
'I assume you have heard the rumors regarding certain mass murderer' now, that's what I call a mischievous twinkle, right there in his eyes.

'Well, there are so many of those, we have Hitler for a start, Franco a supporter of his, I think Voldie also counts as mass murderer, but again any of his subs will, which one do you mean, sir?' I looked up to find him with a wide smile on his face.

'You must be familiar with the name of Sirius Black' I gave a simple nod.

'Convicted murderer, accused of the death of the potters and several muggles, also if I'm correct he never had a fair trial so I'm not so sure if he should be considered a criminal, no offense, I know you declared against him and all but there were some dirty business in there, though I will not deny he's actually scary in those photos given in the prophet'

Little did I know, Sirius Black had listened to our conversation and had been expecting to meet a brave griffyndor girl and found himself landed with a shy sarcastic good for nothing Hufflepuff. He first said that he regretted missing my first ride on a broom -I mean seriously dude? You left when I was a toddler and regret missing my first broom ride-, by the time I finally say I suck at flying he had already looked at Dumbledore for help, and the only time he mentioned mom was to say how lucky I was to grow up away from that banshee, then later he asked where had I grown up, when I told him about mom, he had the decency to look a bit ashamed, but immediately started praising Harry Potter, his godson, and how he had to deal with hideous muggles. He then bid farewell and said he needed to go into hiding.

*end of flashback*

Since then everything went into a downfall, Dumbledore had arranged a couple of meetings in hope of growing a family bond, but apparently every time I tried approaching he had to aid Harry, after all he was a little boy and I was a step away from graduating, not that I expected otherwise... Well yeah, maybe I did have a huge hope back then, but right now things seemed better far far far away from them.

Now, New York seemed really amazing while on vacation, but trust me, you don't want to live there, I totally screwed up, the so-called dream-loft was already rented, soo I had to get a shared room, lucky me got landed with a violinist and not some drama girl full of make-up! Yay!... Ok not so nice, this girl seems to take playing the violin way too seriously! I mean the weirdo plays at night and takes away my sleep-hours, of course it would be great to cope with a violinist to get some fair opinion on my compositions and so on, but my sleep hours are sacred, I know it, everybody knows it, I even gave her a memo with my sleep hours!... Ok no, maybe I didn't but the year was starting pretty bad thus far.

Ok, I did overreact, this Jennifer is not as bad as it seems, for my first project I had to deliver a piece that could be played by the 1st years, trick being, it had to be innovative, but easy enough for them to master it, yeah why don't they just hand us our dismiss letter... But lucky me had a violinist on the house, so she helped me delete those parts that were way too tricky and well I'm hopping to ace this project, here's to hoping!

Interrupting my inner babblers an owl came through the window and rested on the couch... Ok, an owl. In NYC. This totally out-of-place, it wouldn't kill them to send a frigging little bird, obviously the owl carried a small parchment on its leg so I removed gently, but this stupid animal wouldn't go away!

'I ain't gonna give you any traits so don't make yourself comfortable' the silly bird just stood there. Oh wait, it has probably been through a very long journey, let the bird have some rest, maybe a little cookie?, I gave it some chips ahoy and read the parchment waiting for it to be a "good luck in your new school" kind of letter.

Your place. October 13. 11 a.m.

Ok, now I know something was wrong, so what am I gonna do to make sure Jen stays out of here by October 13, which should be... What day was it today again? Sweet Jesus! clock, what time is it? Ok, clam down Mandy, just pull yourself together, change your clothes and get ready, cuz it's 9:48. A little shower, cleanup for the apartment, voilà! Now looks like decent place to live! Just gotta fix that crashing sound around the kitchen, and... Wait, crashing sound in the kitchen?

'My! How did you get in?' Frowning upon what I saw, finding it hard to resist some laughter, I mean the old man was struggling with Jen's cat 'oh, did the bad man scare you to death?' I took Charlotte in my arms and shooed Black away

'Don't tell me the stupid devil's spawn is yours! That thing went straight to my feet, and not in a good way!'

'Oh, calm down, you baby girl, poor Charlotte is scared to death by you' now I was in the couch with Charlotte in lap and Black was probably deciding wether or not to join 'you know, she won't rip you off now that she knows you're welcome here, she's pretty smart too.' He doubtfully sat on the other extreme of the couch and shot Charlotte a glare, she was just happy as long as there was someone caressing her, if she weren't so calming, I would've thrown her out by now, but hey! Having a cat is not so bad.
'So, what's up?' Ok now he did look puzzled 'it's a polite way of saying what are you doing here?'
'Oh, right. Well, can't a father visit his only daughter once in a while?
'I guess so, Jen's dad always brings some food' I quickly looked at yesterday's Thai food, I'm getting hungry 'but not you. So why don't we skip the small talk, I shouldn't skip another class today.'
'Well the ministry back home has used its influence to prevent the students from learning defense, or anything useful at all, it's all some kind of plan to convince everyone that Harry and Dumbledore are lying about Voldemort. We think that they'll try to convince the American ministry of this to keep a "strong reputation" so, here's where you come in, we need you to tell us what is going on here in America and whether or not the ministry is buying Fudge's crap'
'Hmm, I do know that some dork pinky woman tried to pass a werewolf law here in the states, but well, Robert didn't take it too well, you see they hate that you Brits try to impose so hard, and well, a law like that would change drastically the Modus Operandi here.'
'So you're saying that...'
'Im saying that the ministry is ready for the war, they're handing and sending flyers with protection techniques, they even placed guards in muggle neighborhoods, well Robert did say something about centaurs in Washington, now that I mention him, he'll make an amazing acquaintance here, I'll talk to him' Robert is a really sweet little person when you get past the oh-so-serious-minister, so this should be easy 'well that's pretty much it, if I were Dumbledore, I'd send someone more social here, I mean it's not like I can keep up with politics and music, now that I mention it, it is so not meant to put music and politics together' I am blabbering 'sorry, I lost it' my cheeks were turning red and I could almost see him smile. Almost.

'Well I'll make sure to mention it to Dumbledore, are there any werewolf packs in here?'

'I guess, in full moons, though they are equally accepted as a regular wizard in here. Unless it is full moon and they missed their wolfsbane, then they're not really welcome' father seemed to drop his jaw deep down, but somehow managed to recover.

'Would you have any problem if we send a werewolf here, he's been trying to recruit some packs back home to keep them from joining Greyback, but every pack seems to support him, eventually he'll try to recruit here, and this would mean a better change of scenario.' Now he looked kind of optimistic ' he'll be here as soon as he can' a wide grin spreading amongst his face.

'Sounds like he's your friend' he nodded impatiently 'well, that won't keep him from making his own food, and cleaning his own mess. No magic allowed, I live with a muggle, and I'm rather fond of her without trying to oblivate her. If he behaves he can stay, if he's any macho kinda dude he's out and I shall not be held responsible is that clear?' Am I being a bitch, cuz I really feel like one, and I like it.

'Crystal clear expect him in a week tops' now this looked like goodbye, so I went for my bag and house keys.

'Charlotte! No touching MY sweaters! That's why Jen has her own clothes. Shoo go for hers!' I moved her to Jen's wardrobe and just before I walked away she purred me goodbye, I swear if she weren't Jen's I'll adopt her right away 'have a nice day you too little kitten'

'Leaving so soon? Did you have breakfast?'

'Yes mother' I replied sarcastically enough to earn an eye roll 'now, I have to catch my least favorite teacher and explain my absence a...' I quickly panicked and turned to face him 'you're not supposed to be here, you could be arrested! Or ambushed. Or both! You... I... Them... Now... Argh! Explain!' I'm sure I sounded hysterical, and trust I looked psycho, but he's MY father after all, my fugitive father, now out of his hiding place.

'Well as long as you don't hide a death eater here, this is safe. Well don't mention this to anyone in the order, just in case' he winked at me and went straight to the small fireplace.

'DAD! Be careful' I looked away with my cheeks burning red 'sorry' I muttered looking at my very interesting feet, I was expecting him to walk away, but instead he caressed my hair, I couldn't help myself, he was caressing me, before I could stop myself I threw my arms around him, and for the first time I let his scent involve me, he still smelt like alcohol and tobacco, but there was something fresh like pine, he was soft, and soon I felt his arms around me holding me tight, whispering me reassuring words, a couple of tears escaped my eyes and I held him closer 'don't leave me dad' I couldn't help feeling like a little girl, and soon forgot the many barriers we had both built up, I just enjoyed the embrace for as long as it lasted, which was around a minute.

'Shh, I'll drop by, when I get cleared, we'll get a nice home, it will be the three of us, Harry, me and you' not again, not Saint Potter. 'It will be out in the woods, or near a beach. It won't be long. But listen to me Mandy, I'll never leave you. Not again, not ever' I held him tighter, it was the first time we had actually acted like a family, and it is way better than I expected.

So, what do you guys think about the first chapter? I know it is kind of silly, but I'm personally happy with the outcome, I mean it is my first fan fiction after all. Well as I already told you, it would be very nice if you reviewed, yes you! The one reading through this screen. Ok enough of that, I'll post soon the next chapter, and don't worry dear Remus will show up sooner than you expect. Anyways have a good day and don't forget to be happy, or pursuit it... Either way I'm glad you're reading my story and this long note.