How Harry was named

The public have often wondered how Harry Potter was named. It is not a family name, it isn't a particularly original name. Those who knew Lily and James Potter were a little mystified when they announced, almost in tears, the name of their first, and though they didn't know it then, only child. They could not imagine what had caused this. Few remembered that there was once a girl nicknamed Harry, who attended Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry...

I almost hate Valentine's Day. Most of it is horrible! First of all, there's the...the pink-ness! I hate pink! And it's everywhere! Pink decorations of all shade cover the castle. To make it worse, it usually involves little frilly hearts. And other little frilly, girly things, like the doilies found everywhere in McGonagall's classroom. I know! McGonagall and little pink frilly doilies don't mix!

It just gets worst. There's all the snogging. There is no safe place to escape the nauseating site of, say, Frank and Alice, slobering all over each other! Not to mention the lovesick comments couples are exchanging. Blah! I like romantic, but not too much. Some of the things they said...it makes me want to give them a good whack in the head as they stare gooey-eyes at each other.

And the gifts! Way too cheesy. A bouquet of roses?! Oh, how original.

But there is one, and only one, redeeming quality to Valentine's day. And that is...drumroll please...CHOCOLATE!!

I love chocolate. I have a hidden stash in my room, under enchantment so that nobody but me (unless given my permission) can access it. I have every kind of chocolate you can think of. All my friends know by now that all I want for Christmas is books (which I also adore) and large jumbo bars of chocolate (or many small chocolate bars in bulk).

So, as I entered into the Great Hall that fateful morning, for the last Valentine's Day of my stay at Hogwarts, I had a huge smile on my face. Why, you wonder? Did I not just say that I hated Valentine's Day? It was because there were mounds of chocolate placed strategically on the House tables, and my friends have just happened to find themselves right in front of those wonderful strategically placed mountains of chocolate. I felt like those chocolates were just waiting to be enjoyed by the tastebuds of I, Harriet Corinne Brennan.

Alice waved at me.

"Harry, we kept this spot just for you!"

"Thank you!" I gushed to Alice and Lily.

I sat down, so happy that I made my wand throw mini-fireworks above my head.

They all laughed at me, and I sat down laughing with them, but then I saw the chocolate right in front of me. My mouth watered.

I'm sure by then my eyes were shining and it looked like I worshipped the chocolate.

Hmm...are there chocolate gods? Wait, I've already discussed this with the girls one night when we were being silly.

I lifted my hand to take one of the chocolates, and the whole mound disappeared.

I gasped.

"Where did it go?" I whined.

Alice and Lily again laughed at me, so I knew it was them who took it.

"Spare me, oh great chocolate gods! I promise that I will worship you more often if you give me my chocolate back!" I said dramatically.

People around us were either looking at us as if we were mad, or smiling slightly (or snogging in a corner with their girlfriend/boyfriend), but we chose to ignore them (especially the ones snogging in a corner).

Unfortunately, that meant that we also attracted the attention of a certain group of boys (not men, but boys), who called themselves, you guessed it, the Marauders.

"Oh, Lily..." I heard James Potter call .

I rolled my eyes with my friends, and in unison (we had practice), we said:

"Ignore."

And we ignored the whole lot of them. Though they were trying their best to catch our attention. I sighed. Don't they (or more specifically, James) know by now that we (or more specifically Lily) were not going to talk to them? My happy-chocolate mood evaporated, and the horrible-Valentine's day one started to seep in. My friends noticed as soon as they saw me staring murderously at a doily on the table. They hurriedly made the chocolate reappear, and we stuffed ourselves. Then we went outside (bringing more chocolate), underneath the beech tree, melting the small amount of snow around it.

"So, Evans, if I give you chocolate, will you go out with me?"

Again, because of extensive practice, my friends and I, simultaneously turned our heads and glare at the Marauders, who seemingly followed us. They flinched. Ha! They can't stand our glares!

"Potter, the only time I'll go out with you, is when hell freezes over!" Lily said to him, coolly.

"She'd rather go out with the giant squid!" said Alice.

"And she would rather be trampled by...er...flock...er...herd...er...pride of hippogriffs!" I stumbled, "or endure Valentine's Day in Madam Puddifoot's tea house!" I finished, proud of my recovery.

"I thought all girls liked Madam Puddifoot's," said Sirius, confused.

"Ah yes, and we also all love to wear pots as hats and scream 'the English are coming!'" I said, rolling my eyes.

I saw his frown in confusion. Really, he could be thick-headed sometimes.

I then shifted position on the ground, and fell into the lake.

I surfaced spluttering, and noticed that now the girls were in stitches, and the Marauders were grinning broadly.

I pretended to look indignant.

"That's right! Laugh at me! Some kind of friends you are! It would serve you right if I got eaten by the giant squid, and then you would forever feel guilty because you laughed at me."

I swam to the side, freezing (I mean, it is February) and climbing up to the ground, did something that only I could do in a situation like this: I slipped and fell right back in.

I finally managed to get back on dry ground, teeth chattering. I used two spells to dry and them warm myself up. I grinned broadly.

"That was refreshing," I said.

My friends smiled back, shaking their heads at me.

"Shouldn't you go to the Hospital Wing? I mean, you just fell into a freezing lake," said Remus, slightly concerned.

"Oh no, she doesn't have to," said Lily,"She fell in so often that we all learned the spells to dry off and warm up."

"Yep, that's our Harry," said Alice,"Always the one who gets into strange situations. But we love her even though she's a klutz."

I glared at Alice.

"What? It's true!" she said.

I rolled my eyes, and reached to our pile of chocolate. I searched through the discarded wrappers to find one.

"There's no more chocolate!" I said mournfully.

Sirius reached into his pocket.

"I have one," he said, a chocolate in hand. He waved it in front of my nose.

"Harry, you've already had at least two dozens of them, and we haven't even had our first class yet!" Lily said, chastising.

We all froze.

"First class!" We were late!

We ran into the castle, but not before I took the offered chocolate with a hurried 'Thank you!'.

"They were actually civil to us!" I heard James say as we left hurriedly.

"Well, they weren't paying much attention to us," noted Remus.

"Harry said 'thank you' to me," said Sirius proudly.

"Yeah, I guess it's progress," said Peter, sounding doubtful, looking at James and Sirius for approval.

"Of course it is!" said James jovially.

How were we to know that those short moments of civility would trigger a series of events that would change our lives?