Choices

Chapter 1

It is our choices that define us; whether it's the way we dress, who we spend time with or even which side of the law our lives reside on. Even simple choices like turning left instead of right when your large cousin and his gang are chasing you ready to beat you into a pulp can change the course of your life for the better. In this universe, Harry Potter did turn left while being chased and instead of running into a dead end and getting caught, he ran into a garage and met Matt. Now Matt had himself been abused as a child and recognised a kindred spirit in Harry, saw the raw fear in his eyes and the instinctive distrust of adults and hid him and gave the boy a safe place to hide whenever he needed it. Hence, Matt's garage became Harry's safe haven, a place where he was safe from his family, fed as much as a growing boy truly needs and looked on with fond affection from Matt's employees.

It took a while for Matt to earn Harry's trust but earn it he did through understanding when to sit back and just let Harry sit and draw in his office and when to gently push through the small child's boundaries and show Harry how he had unconditional love, a heady thing for an abused and neglected child. Matt began to teach Harry, over the popped hood of a BMW Matt taught Harry about cars and through cars about people. It was at Matt's garage Harry learnt to read people, from the businessmen in a rush to shag this month's mistress to the hard working dad who just couldn't seem to catch a break. It was here that Harry learnt and it was here that Harry truly grew.

So it was a changed Harry who opened his Hogwarts letter in the hall and hid it in his cupboard for later. It was this new Harry who asked the Goblins about getting statements sent to him and hence found out about the true amount of his family's wealth, status and the large international company Potter Inc that he owned which had many fingers in many pies. It was a Harry who thought for himself, knew his own worth and had a healthy dose of scepticism that said goodbye to Matt at Kings Cross Station, he'd told Matt about magic as soon as he could and after a liberal amount of cheap scotch, Matt had accepted this new facet of his young friend and had proceeded to learn as much about the wizarding world from every available source as Harry did.

It's on the Hogwarts express that Harry meets Hermione and Neville and with a judicious scar flash to a prefect to get them to summon Trevor the toad without any pity or scorn towards said toad's owner and an in depth discussion over the true worth of the Hogwarts houses (that Gryffindor is over rated, Hufflepuff seriously underrated, that Slytherin was stuck in an endless loop of discrimination leading to living up to those bad ideals and that Ravenclaw had potential only if their minds overrode the human tendency for conflict and the need to feel superior to another) got himself two lifelong best friends. This trio would be inseparable, even though Neville got sorted into Hufflepuff away from Harry and Hermione in Ravenclaw, and it would be together that they would avoid the blatantly obvious trap on the 3rd floor corridor, report Ginny's odd behaviour to Professor Flitwick, save Luna from the darker side of Ravenclaw and, after learning about the animagus revealing spell test it on Ron's rat and hence stumble across the true betrayer Harry parents and freeing one still remarkably sane godfather who incidentally, ended up moving in with Matt and traumatising Harry with their inability to lock doors while having hot, sweaty sex.

The fact that when not fixing cars over the summer Matt took Harry shooting and after finding out about the Dark Lord that was inconveniently still alive and making sure Harry always carried a handgun around with him that saved Harry's life in 4th year. Apparently, firing two clips of bullets from a handgun at a newly resurrected Dark Lord when one is a horcrux of said Dark Lord, negates the protection of horcruxs and sends the evil snakey monster straight to the afterlife. Who knew?

Harry final years at Hogwarts passed uneventfully, Harry having conveniently forgotten to tell the majority of the wizarding world that Voldemort had actually been back for about 30 seconds, no sense frightening the sheeple over nothing. This left one bearded master manipulator without a Dark Lord to set him up against. Dumbledore quietly faded away and passed away in his sleep after one too many potions laced lemon drops. Though he did live to see Harry graduating as Head Boy second highest in his year, after the Head Girl Hermione of course.

After graduation Harry promptly left the wizarding world, after all; unicorns, charm and potions were all well and good but having to put up with a community who actually believed that at four he had killed a dragon, at six saved a whole village from a rampaging werewolf and didn't even have libel laws for the books that sold this utter rubbish as fact seemed a bit much. Harry then took care of his friends. He set Hermione up with a job at Potter Inc as his liaison between him and the board of governors, for Neville, he set up an interview with the premiere Herbology Master in the world, which Neville aced and gained his apprenticeship and for Luna Harry set up a new vault filled with money and everything an aspiring explorer needs to find her creatures.

As for Harry, he worked with Matt for a while before finding his passion in designing new engines and customising cars for his new passion, street racing. Harry's pursuit of faster and better cars leads him to America and it was in America where he met Dom.