Harry sat in the small Muggle café nursing his cup of coffee and contemplating, not for the first time, the state of his life. Sure, he had great friends, great family, but there was something missing…
He stared at the dregs of his coffee and snorted mirthlessly. How ironic that the Boy-Who-Lived's 'power' should prove to be so unattainable, that love should evade him so thoroughly, whilst everyone around him seemed to have no problems finding and keeping it. Harry sighed deeply, and tried himself to think of something else, unwilling as he was to spend another day mourning his utter lack of anything even remotely resembling a love life.
His mind however, seemed to have other ideas.
Harry sighed again. He wasn't a bad looking chap, he thought, looking at his reflection in the window, a bit scruffy, certainly, but girls had always seemed to like that. His growth spurt had ended with him being a very respectable six foot tall and the physically demanding nature of his job as an auror meant that that he was in extremely good shape. He had regular features and while he didn't consider himself to be anything special, he was decent looking enough to get by. The problem, he supposed, was not him, but Harry bloody Potter. And while he was willing to concede that he and Harry Potter were one and the same, it didn't change the fact that 'just Harry's' prospects would be a lot brighter than Harry Potter's. Just Harry (as he had taken to calling himself) could have walked into the Leaky, chatted up a nice witch, asked her out on a date and, Merlin willing, been accepted, with no worries more than if he had something clean to wear and whether or not to bring her flowers. Harry sodding Potter on the other hand, was swamped with witches the minute he set foot in the wizarding pub, all hoping that they could get into his pants, or into his vaults. He had considered dating Muggles, but after one horrendously awkward date (his first and only) where he struggled to come up with enough information (lies) that sounded believable enough to not raise suspicions, he gave up. Add to that the fact that if he did end up in a long term relationship with the girl, he would eventually have to tell her about magic and he would have felt rather guilty about thrusting a woefully unprepared Muggle into the magical world, what with the whole Harry Potter thing and the fame and public scrutiny that went with it.
Considering this, he was severely limited in his prospects. He needed to find a witch that saw Just Harry as he was and liked the poor fool anyway. He knew that Harry Potter was imposing. He had an aura of power that drew people to him and a charisma and charm that made people like him. Unfortunately for Just Harry, Harry Stupid Potter was a persona. Harry Potter was what Just Harry became in public- confident, charming and debonair. In reality, Just Harry was a bumbling, awkward idiot. His lack of dating experience did not help matters either. During his school years he had been too wrapped up in killing Voldie to chase girls and he doubted the uncertainty of if he would survive to see his eighteenth birthday would have been conducive towards pleasant romantic entanglements. He had just not seen the point of starting something only to die on the poor girl. His one attempt at a relationship had been a miserable failure, and to this day he could not hear the name Cho Chang without, a wave of panic hitting him and leaving him with an irrational need to run for the nearest exit. Perhaps it was not surprising, his dating history featuring only one short (and soggy) relationship and a single failed date, that his quest to find love was so far unsuccessful.
"Harry Potter, Slayer of Voldemort, could find love. He could probably do it with his eyes closed…" stated Just Harry's inner voice, a rude, snarky thing that sounded disconcertingly like Professor Snape. Only its sole aim in life was to slowly destroy Just Harry's soul, unlike the true Snape, who would have taken great delight in annihilating both Harrys and then stomping on the pieces. Just Harry grimaced. Once again, while he knew that technically he and the almighty Potter were in fact the same person, he had built the Harry Potter persona up in his mind to the point where he had become almost a mythical being- godlike and untouchable. Just Harry did not quite measure up. And although usually the mention of him, would destroy Just Harry's fragile confidence, this time was different.
'You just wait Harry Bleeding Potter!' Just Harry thought triumphantly, and with that he stood decisively, placing some muggle money on the table before striding from the café muttering under his breath; "I'll show you Harry Potter!"