Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Pfft."

Harry Potter. (hphphp) wrote in vrrpg,
@ 2017-07-03 15:56:00

Entry tags:

!complete, char: harry potter, char: mandy brocklehurst, location: ministry of magic, time: 2009 07

RP: Meeting with a new... Consultant.
Who: Harry & Mandy
When: 4/3/09; afternoon
Where: Ministry of Magic, DMLE
What: Harry meets with a new DMLE asset.
Warnings: None.

Harry had spent the morning going over security issues for the Muggle Prime Minister; Gordon Brown was meeting with American diplomats for the US holiday in the morning and the DMLE liaison to the PM's office were involved in a security capacity. That taken care of, he'd grabbed a quick lunch and checked in with his assistant, who reminded him that Mandy Brocklehurst would be here any moment for their meeting.

She was back in the UK after years doing merlin-knew-what in the US, and would be working with the DMLE closely. Harry wasn't sold on the idea of using felons in this way, and was wary to trust her, but he also wanted to go into the meeting with an open mind. Perhaps she'd had her reasons. Harry had certainly broken more than one Wizarding law in his life, and those above him had never held it against him once he'd grown and become an Auror. Surely she had her reasons and her time with the MACUSA DMLE must have matured her, surely.

He pulled out her file and flipped through it while he waited.

(Post a new comment)

lost_andfound
2017-07-03 09:22 pm UTC (link)

Mandy was torn between her normal insoucience when it came to authority figures like this and the fact that it was Harry Potter, who she'd shared classes with for six years before they'd both gone on the run for different reasons.

So she'd gone for something a little in between. Muggle jeans, not yet very faded, pretty blouse, and boots. No robes. She didn't feel like pretending on that level right now, even if it was her forte.

She sauntered in as if unconcerned about anything, though, flashing the man a smile. "Harry Potter, how not a surprise it is to see you in this position," she said, leaning against the door frame despite the prod she received to her lower back from the handler she'd been led in by.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-03 09:49 pm UTC (link)

Harry looked up and gave Mandy a friendly smile, she hadn't changed much from school from what he could tell. "You say that, but when they told me, I'll admit, it was a helluva surprise," he stood up from his desk and made his way over to greet her with a handshake. Indicating she should come in and sit at the opposite side of his desk, he sat back down and asked, "How are you doing, Mandy? Settling in alright?" Harry had never lived anywhere but the UK, even if he'd traveled a little bit since the end of the war, he was never away for more than a week or so, he couldn't imagine being gone for years.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-03 10:06 pm UTC (link)

She just tsked lightly at him. Harry never had been known for his exceeding smarts but she bet he was still good at his job. She could just picture him beinf surprised by the promotion though.

She shook his hand and sat, crossing her legs smoothly. She shrugged. "As well as your lot let's me. They've let me have my dog back, but no trip to the salon and no wand yet," she said. She hated looking less than her best and not having it though she understood the latter, at least.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-03 10:17 pm UTC (link)

"You'd only been with the Americans for less than a year before you requested this transfer, surely you can't blame me or my bosses for being... cautious. I'd never accuse you of violence, Mandy, but your list of crimes are long and well known at this point. The MFBI aren't pleased that they still haven't been able to pin some of this on you. Auror Hendricks in particular had some very colorful notes in your file..."

He lifted the file from his desk and slipped it into a drawer, away from too-smart eyes.

"I don't care, though. You haven't made any trouble for your detail at the safe house, and if that keeps up, we can talk about progress. How do you like Auror Singh so far? She says you've been quiet for the most part." Harry had been surprised to hear that Mandy was quiet - according to her file she had an... attitude.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-03 10:33 pm UTC (link)

"And spent most of it undercover on their behalf," she said, shrugging ahain. "Girl has to feed herself after all." And shed reported the big crimes when she'd discovered them. The big harmful ones.

Her stealing was small potatoes compared to that.

She couldn't and didn't even try to hide her sneer. "Hendricks couldn't find his arse unless he wanted me to kiss it," she said bluntly. Unapologetically. There was no love lost there.

"She's boring and by the book but she's good at her job," she said. "Once she got me Skittles I didn't see any use in making her life hard." Granted she'd love to take the dog on walks but at least she could exercise such a small dog at home.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-03 10:46 pm UTC (link)

"You've got a sweet tooth?" Harry asked, surprised for some reason. He shook the thought from his head and focused again. "I'm glad it's working out with her, and yes, she is good at her job. I can't guarantee she'll always be assigned to you, but for now we'll keep her with her. Do you mind the safe house at all? I know in your report when you came over you said you wanted to be out of the prison system, which I can't blame you for at all, but maybe eventually we can see to getting you your own place, with precautions in place, of course."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-03 11:09 pm UTC (link)

"I actually do, yes, but actually it's my dog's name." She held up her hands, grinning slightly. "No, I didn't name him. He came with that name."

She shrugged as if it didn't matter. "I'm used to being passed arohnd," she said, and there was a thread of uncaring innuendo in her voice.

"Its okay. I've lived in worse," she said. She didn't like the place, she wasn't allowed any personal touches or any of her few things aside from the dog. "Won't lie though I'd rather have my own place."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-03 11:12 pm UTC (link)

"Auror Singh secured your dog for you, of course, I'd gotten a note about that. Didn't include the name, though," he chuckled at himself and made a note of it. "How's Skittles doing with the closed quarters, then?"

Harry nodded, "I understand, and like I said, if things keep going the way they are, hopefully we can do better than this." He hated the idea of keeping someone who wasn't in prison in a ... well, a prison. It didn't feel right. But he also hated the thought of letting Mandy loose on London, knowing what she was capable of.

"So there are a couple of things your file doesn't cover and I hope you have a moment now that we can go into them?" He felt so old and professional asking this, like somehow Percy Weasley had possessed him for a moment, but he knew he had to do it, for the job, and the Ministry, and all that rot.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-03 11:44 pm UTC (link)

A faint shrug, a small frown. "Better since Auror Singh charmed a tennis ball and a fake window for him for when I'm not in. He's a small dog, so exercise isn't an issue at least." The Yorkie was a charmer, pretty low key but still needed some exercise.

She would believe it when she saw it though. She had no trust of law enforcement, even that of Harry Potter. She'd been used and abused too many times.

She gave him a steady look for a moment though and then she gestured in assent. "Sure, you can ask." She might not answer, but he could ask.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-03 11:53 pm UTC (link)

Harry sighed. "Sorry about this..."

He looked to his notes and started with the easiest (at least to his mind). "While you're in 'custody' do you agree to any or all of the following: weekly therapy sessions, advanced placement lessons via the Ministry, self-defense training with the Aurors & Hit Wizards."

Next, he asked her the more embarrassing questions, "And while I'm not a therapist I have to ask... Tell me about your file. About you. What's not in these papers. Because I agree with you that Auror Hendricks is a jackass, and if was under my command he would have been censured ages ago, but I can't very well completely dismiss his reports, either. So tell me."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-04 12:08 am UTC (link)

Mandy settled back, looking relaxed though she pulled a bit of bubble gum from a pocket and popped it into her mouth, starting to chew and deliberately putting the wrapper in her pocket.

She didn't want to fidget with the wrapper and give anythinf away.

"Not sure I want or need anyone in my head," she said. Total denial of course. "But the other two, depending, I'd be up for that."

The next set of questions she shrugged at. "Like what? I'm an open book. I went on the run that last year of Hogwarts and did what I had to in order to survive. I'm a halfblood you know."

A tug of her hair. "I was pulling a con on some shady folks in New York when I found out they were worse than shady, and we'll, some things even I can't abide, so I told them and screwed myself over good with it." Another shrug. "He was a chauvinistic ass and he had no qualms about what he made me do, so I was a bitch right back."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-04 12:14 am UTC (link)

Harry made a note, keeping his face neutral - therapy would eventually be mandatory, but she didn't need to know that yet as it wasn't an issue yet. One issue at a time.

He sighed, though, at her second answer, "I think what we're trying to get at is why you kept going after the war... it ended. We all moved on." She could have come home. Isn't that why Harry and his friends and family had all put their lives on the line? So people like Mandy could lead normal, happy lives?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-04 12:23 am UTC (link)

Her face kept it's charming smile. She didn't cringe or turn away. But inside something clicked and shut down. That time of her life right at the end of the war was not a time he or anyone else would get het to talk about. At least not anytime soon.

The only thing that shifted was the way the fingers of her right hand curled a bit, the tattoo on the inside of her pinky finger pressing against the skin of her bare ring finger. Promise.

"And what was I supposed to do?" She asked with a tilt of head and cascade of hair. "I didn't find out about its end until that August. I had no seventh year and no way to take the exams. I had nothing. Running shamed my family. And I was good at what I do. Getting better. It was a fair sight better than stripping for money or selling my body, which were among my very few options."

And shed had a newborn, though nobody here knew that. Nobody would knew that.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-04 12:29 am UTC (link)

Harry nodded, "It was a hard time," -- THAT was an understatement, even from him. He moved on, though, and looked to his notes. "Um, well, yes, as far as what we're planning to have you do, for now it's a bit more of laying low, I'm afraid. Do you at least have ways to pass the time? Any books you're looking to read?" He was trying to be helpful, really, but there was something about her that 1) set him on edge big time, and 2) seemed like a slick wall - nothing could stick to or effect her in anyway, which also set him on edge in a totally different way!

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-04 12:54 am UTC (link)

She didn't snort though she wanted to. Understatement of the century. She had forgotten how good he was at that. "So no undercover then," she said with a sigh, stretching her legs out a bit and cracking her gum against the roof of her mouth. Relaxed. Seeming so anyway. Uncaring. But not bucking the system.

"I'm willing to read anything once," she said. "I could do with more books and magazines. And if I can't go to a salon it would be nice to have something to put my hair back to rights, since I didn't get to do it after the last op, and some nail polish to go along with the books."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-04 04:02 pm UTC (link)

"Not yet," he cautioned. He didn't want to keep her in the dark about what he job might eventually entail, after all.

"I'll see if we can have someone brought to the flat, would that be acceptable?" He made a note to call Percy Weasley about on call stylists for the Ministry and just barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Books we can do. Nail polish might be harder..." Mostly because it was flammable, but Harry also wouldn't know where to begin and if would even be safe to give to a witch who's technically a prisoner.

"Good then," he said, marking some more follow-up down. "I'll have something for you soon, we're working on a couple of things, not undercover, and probably not even being anywhere but here or the safehouse, but it'll be something, at least." He had a small crew tracking a fake galleons ring, and he figured her expertise would come in handy once they actually had some evidence to pursue.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-04 04:24 pm UTC (link)

"It would be nice, yes, thank you," she said sweetly, giving the man a brilliant smile. Certainly she was vain and almost positively they would label her as such. But a fair portion of this in particular had to do with the fact she wanted to finish washing that horrible last op off of her. The last bit included getting her hair trimmed, dyed. Get the last of those highlights she'd used for it gone.

Her voice was dry and droll as she observed the bit of doubt on his face. "I'm not going to escape with a thing of nail polish, Harry. The worst I might do with it is paint my dog's nails as well as my own. I like to look pretty, and it gives me something to do at night when I'm all alone." A faint smirk lifted one corner of her mouth. "There's only so much fun a girl can have alllll by herself," she added.

"Anything to keep me from dying of boredom. I can't say I liked the life threatening portions of the ops, but I'm not especially fond of twiddling my fingers either." And like she'd said, there was only so much a girl could play with herself before that also became boring.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hphphp
2017-07-04 04:31 pm UTC (link)

Harry's eyebrows raised at her comment about being all by herself. There were things he didn't need to know. "Right then," he said, feeling a need to change the subject. He stood, "In that case, thanks for coming in for the check in, and I'll have Auror Singh get you a schedule for the lessons and get any new work to you as soon as I have some for you. Good?"

He came around the desk to walk her out to her Auror, who would be waiting with Sally, his receptionist.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lost_andfound
2017-07-04 04:51 pm UTC (link)

Mandy smirked faintly, managing to stifle her snicker at his obvious discomfort. Some people, men especially, were so easy to make uncomfortable. "I appreciate your time, Harry," she said, as if she'd had any choice in the matter. But might as well play nice and all that. Get what she wanted.

She could bide her time on the other things she wanted.

She followed him out, giving both him and Sally a smile. "Thank you again. I look forward to seeing what I'll be doing."

(Reply to this) (Parent)