AN: This is the fourth chapter, and I hope it's not going to be too short. I have an idea, but don't know how long it will take. I hope the story is enjoyable so far. I know it's a bit slow, but I guarantee it will become more interesting by the fifth chapter; I just need to set it up. Once again I own nothing in this story, except for Mandy, and maybe some other OCs I will be bringing in soon.
Harry was restless when he returned to Private Drive for the summer after his fifth year. He never slept, and was always plagued with the sense of guilt. Harry had convinced himself that he should have saved Sirius, and nothing would ever change his mind. Everyone tried, but Harry considered them useless words, only spoken to make him better because they would need to to fight for their world. Mandy never tried to make him feel better, but she would sit next to him quietly for as long as she could until she had to work. Harry didn't say much that summer.
Mandy's new job was waitressing at a pub. She never invited Harry to see her work because legally, neither of them could have stepped foot in the place. Mandy was paid under the table for less than minimum wage, and in exchange, the man who ran the pub didn't ask too many questions that could get them both in trouble. Harry didn't know about that, nor did he know about the skimming Mandy did from the register. He wouldn't have approved. His last school year had enhanced his sense of justice, most likely from learning that he would have to soon fight a battle for good against evil. So Mandy never mentioned her job unless she had too. Meanwhile, Harry had yet to tell her that was supposed to kill a person. As twisted as Voldemort was, he was also a man once, and the thought made Harry sick just thinking about ending a life. He was already the cause of too many deaths around him.
Their relationship seemed to acquire tension that summer. They spent more and more time apart, and when they did meet up, neither one had anything to say, not wanting to speak of the bad things in life. Then, one day at the park, Harry noticed sunlight glinting off something shiny on Mandy's wrist. He knew she didn't make enough to buy a diamond bracelet, and she would never wear anything her parents gave her. All her things were hand-me-downs or things she swiped from commercial stores. It could have been fake, but Harry thought it probably wasn't.
"That's a nice bracelet, where did you get it?" He asked casually, but not casually enough, because Mandy was soon on the defensive.
"I bought it with my own money, and that's all I'm saying" She replied, twisting it around on her arm.
Harry came back with "Whose money was it before it was yours?" Mandy was quickly getting angry. "You never cared about what I did when we took the liquor or food from the gas stations!"
Harry snorted. "That was food, not money, and I bet you're stealing on the job, aren't you? You have to give it back."
"No way! I earned that money, whether they gave it to me personally or not. Stop being so noble, you're just as bad as I am!"
Neither would budge, until finally Mandy stormed off, yanking the bracelet off and throwing it to Harry's feet. He had never judged her before, and Mandy had forgotten what it felt like. Back at the swings, Harry picked up the bracelet and put it in his pocket, then walked off. He never noticed he was crying, tears were nothing new at this point. He had just wanted to pick a fight, but as Mandy stormed off, he had a feeling he hurt her more than intended.
The house was still, besides the quiet rustling and occasional meow from the cats. Mandy had planned to storm to her room and feel a bit sorry for herself. As she walked towards the stairs, she tripped on something and looked down. She had tripped over her aunt! Quickly she called the police and started checking for a pulse. There was no pulse.
The next six hours were a blur as paramedics showed up, and a policeman taking her to the hospital. She knew they would call her parents, because she was now all alone. They would take her back to America. Hours spent in the hospital waiting for word on what she was supposed to do next. Mandy had money saved. The bracelet was a whim, as she was attracted to shiny, but that was the only thing she had spent any money on. Mandy would let her parents take her out of England, but then she would disappear. Mandy knew she was in danger. She had no magic, but she knew all too well what malicious magic felt like, so she knew her aunt had been murdered, not suffered a heart attack like the doctor would tell her. And she had a good idea who had done it. If she was right, Mandy was next on the list.
Harry walked by Mrs. Figg's house forty-three times the week Mandy disappeared. There was no activity. Harry initially thought that his plan to keep her hidden from the dangers of the war had failed and Death Eaters had found her, but he had found a bottle of mint schnapps buried in a shallow hole under the swing set, with a note that read "I bought this myself, I swear." Harry believed her. Now he had to find her. Harry spent the next week listening in on all Aunt Petunia's conversations with the neighbors and learned that Mrs. Figg had passed away. No one knew how she died, but a lot of people seemed to think that cats ate her face. Harry knew better, and her death meant Mandy was in America, and it was unlikely that he would see her again. He tried calling the night bus to take him to Gringotts so he could get money and purchase a plane ticket, but the night bus never responded and he had a feeling Dumbledore may have had something to do with that. And then said man swooped him away to use him as bait for an old professor. Harry had a feeling that he wouldn't see Mandy for a long while.
Mandy was able to lose herself in the JFK airport in New York, and it did not even take her a day to find a waitressing job at a little diner. She rented a motel room and made a home for herself. She missed Harry, but she had a feeling that he would find her someday, if he really wanted too. She would wait and see.