It all started when Harry was just over two years of age. Petunia had always been interested in fashion and such, so she attended the annual clothes show that took place in the city. This year however, Vernon had taken Dudley to his sisters and left her to look after her own sister's spawn. She had rang around frantically looking for someone to take the issue off of her hands but no one had been available, leaving her no choice but to that it along with her. Luckily for her the brat could sleep through almost anything.
When she arrived, she took a seat near the back so she could make a quick exit if the imp woke up and embarrassed her. A young man in a stylish suit and tie outfit sat down beside her as the room filled up. She could see several people sending cooing looks at the sleeping urchin who was dozing in her Dudders carrier car seat on her other side. She pressed her lips together in irritation, now the horror was drawing attention to her. The show wasn't set to start for a while so the people around her had taken to smiling and nudging each other every time he moved. Then the man sitting next to her had the gall to gasp when his horribly familiar green eye's opened. She looked at the man appalled as he stared down at the child hungrily. He began to apologise profusely when he saw her expression but the lights were turned down before he could finish.
The brat had completely ruined the show for her as she couldn't relax and enjoy it with a man of such questionable character sitting next to her. It was the last straw when she caught him sending her nephew side way glances part way through the show. Standing up in disgust, she gathered her things and left. She was half way across the car park when the very person she was trying to escape from caught up with her.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Look, I think you have the wrong impression. I'd like to make you an offer!"
She tried to ignore him as best as she could as she continued walking.
He started rummaging around in his pockets before pulling out a piece of paper and offering it to her. "I work for 'British Fashion', the magazine. We're doing an edition based on how to dress your baby and I couldn't help but notice your child's striking features. His eyes especially, the colour is so unusual." Petunia had stopped walking by now and was staring down at the business card the man had given her in disbelief. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in letting him model. With those eyes he could make the front page! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and the pay would be generous assuming he's never modelled before." She looked up at the man's enthusiastic expression. "It would only take two days at tops. I know what it's like working with children." He smiled at her encouragingly. "So, what do you say? Would you be interested?"
She looked into the man's waiting brown eyes as she considered what he'd just told her. British fashion was one of the top fashion magazines in the country, it was delivered to her house every Friday without fail and now… Now she had the chance to have her nephew on the front page. Her lips tilted upwards as she glanced down at the sleeping angel. The neighbours would be so jealous. She could just imagine their faces, when they found out her ward was in 'British Fashion!' Then, however, her thoughts turned to her precious Duddy-kins. How could she let her sisters progeny have something she couldn't give to her own son? Dudley was ten times more handsome than any Potter child would be. She turned back to the curly haired man in front of her and said tartly "No, thank you."
The man's face fell at her answer, but he was quick to add "Well, if you change your mind my numbers on the card. We won't be shooting for a couple more weeks yet anyway so you've got time to discuss it with your partner!" He shouted the last part as she had already walked away.
She never told Vernon about the man that had approached her but claimed she had come home early because the boy had woken up crying.
It was almost a week before she changed her mind about the whole idea.
Vernon had arrived home and collapsed on the sofa with his hands covering his face as he groaned in frustration. "I'm sorry Pet."
Petunia rushed over to him in concern. "What's the matter? Has something happened at work?"
He lowered his hands and then took hold of her smaller hands, as he spoke "We're not going to be able to go on holiday this year. They're making pay cuts at the firm." He sighed heavily and squeezed her hands.
She had never seen him so down. He had been working at Grunnings for a few years now and enjoyed the work immensely. The only set back was that the pay wasn't very good and now that his wages had been cut they were worse off than they'd ever been. They needed to find the money from somewhere or they wouldn't be able to maintain their quality of life.
That was when she started to reconsider her nephews modelling offer. She did some research and it turned out that you could make quite a bit of money through child modelling. The fact that it was such a high status magazine would mean that it would be no small lump sum that the boy could earn.
She sat gazing down at the blonde beauty that was on the cover of last week's issue of 'British Fashion'. After several moments of contemplation, she looked up at her son who was dragging crayons along her freshly painted walls and then to her nephew who was sitting quietly watching his cousin seemingly in confusion. Her gaze travelled from his messy, black hair, to the scar marring his forehead and finally to the emerald eyes that followed the track Dudley was drawing across the wall. She sighed gently, before picking the phone up and dialling the number on the card she was holding.
A woman's voice answered so she asked for the name off of the card. "Hello, is Mr Rousseau there?"
Three weeks later found Petunia and Harry entering the photography studios they had been instructed to. Harry was looking around fascinated as Petunia carried the car seat and followed their guide hurriedly. She had told Vernon she was visiting a potential nursery for the boy and so was anxious to get this over and done with. She had had to sign a surprising amount of paper work and now they were on their way to the changing rooms. They made their way through pearly white halls with abstract paintings adorning the walls and tropical plants standing at every corner. Finally, they were jostled through a door and into quite a large room filled with wracks of clothing in every style and colour imaginable. A gracefully aging woman strutted over to them and offered her hand without smiling "Mrs Dursley, I'm Ms Cox and this is Harry I take it." Petunia shook her hand before Ms Cox picked Harry up out of the car seat and gestured at a chair that she could put her things down on. Petunia watched as two more woman gathered around her nephew and started to fuss over him. They were comparing his eyes with different coloured tops and cute little ties and shoes. "Usually, the parents like to sit with them to keep them from getting stressed." Ms Cox stated whilst looking at her.
Petunia just shuffled a tad closer to satisfy the older woman before letting her gaze travel over the outfits they were laying out. "Will he have to wear all of these?"
"Not for the shoot, but we like to try them on first to see which suit them the best." Ms Cox murmured as she shuffled through a pile of trousers.
One of the others interrupted before she could ask another question. "We don't normally get kids with scars but I have to say this one suits him. It's such a unique shape. How did he get it?" She was quite young and had her brown hair in a loose bun. She looked up with amber eyes as she waited for a reply.
"He was in a car crash when he was young." She answered sharply.
The ladies gasped as they stared at her in shock before returning to fussing over the giggling infant in front of them.
An extremely long hour later, Harry was set down on a green sheet before a green back drop and given some toys to play with. Petunia stood at the back of the room and watched as a man tried to get her nephew to laugh for the camera.
She had to admit, the day had been quite interesting. Who would have thought she would end up standing in a British Fashion studio watching her sister's brat model?
A gurgled chuckle drew her attention back to the scene in front of her. Harry was in a dark, green jumper that enhanced his eyes. His hair, instead of being out of control, was neatly tussled and he sat beaming towards the camera. The photographer seemed to have fallen in love.
At that moment, Mr Rousseau, the man she met at the clothes show, entered the room and smiled in satisfaction as he took in the scene before him. He noticed her standing to his left made his way over to talk to her. "I'm glad you changed your mind. Your son seems to be born to be in front of the camera." His curly, brown hair swayed as he shook his head in amusement.
She couldn't help herself. "He's my nephew."
Mr Rousseau raised his eyebrows at her but didn't reply.
A couple of hours later, after several potty brakes and outfit changes, they had finally finished. Mr Rousseau had left a while ago after he was certain everything was going well. Harry was falling asleep in the car seat and Petunia was glad to finally be on her way home. She glanced back at her sleeping nephew in the rear view mirror and felt the corner of her mouth lift. Thanks to him, they could go on that holiday after all.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
It had been a couple of months since the baby themed British Fashion issue had been released and the neighbours had stopped sending her jealous glares. Vernon had remained blissfully ignorant throughout the whole affair as he didn't bother with such things as fashion magazines and neither did his friends. She had explained the money away by claiming it had been left to her by a distant relative that had recently passed away. Overall, everything had gone well and now it was back to normal.
She had planned to forget all about what had transpired. That is until that morning.
She had been reading the paper as she waited for the cake she was making to cook. She skipped ahead to the advertising section as they were considering getting a cat for her Duddy-kins to play with. She was disappointed not to find any kittens other than tabbies for sale and so flicked back through the paper. That was when she saw it. There was a small article at the side of one of the pages detailing how they were having a local toddler's beauty contest. The winners would get fifty pounds worth of vouchers and a chance to enter auditions for a new cereal advertisement.
Her brow creased as she gazed at the black print.
After paying for their upcoming holiday and buying a new car for Vernon, they really didn't have much savings left. She had tried to invest some of it but Vernon had looked so happy at the prospect of getting a new car that she couldn't tell him no.
The money would wasn't much in comparison to what they were used to having but since Vernon's pay cut every little would help. She told herself that her little Duddy-kins would win them the money, of course, but a voice at them back of her mind was quoting Mr Rousseau I couldn't help but notice his striking features. His eyes especially. She had chucked that copy of British Fashion away but she had to admit the picture on the cover was nothing if not striking. The boy was unfortunately undeniably pretty, not at all masculine like her Dudders. He had a flimsy frame, whereas Dudley was broad and strong. However, child models often seemed to be slight. Her train of thought was broken by the ovens timer going off.
In the end, she decided to send pictures of both boys and trust that the judges would make the right decision.
That was how Harry James Potter got on his first national commercial.
He didn't have to do much, just sit and look happy whilst his supposed brothers did most of the work.
There wasn't any way of keeping his achievement from Vernon so Petunia had simply showed him the check they received and even though his glares didn't die down, his protests did.
Astonishingly, Petunia was approached by an agent asking to take Harry on. She could see no disadvantage to accepting, the boy would spend most of his time travelling with his agent and so out of the house and until his was eighteen they would receive any money he earned.
From there on, his career grew at an amazing speed.
At the age of three, he became the face of a national toy store.
At the age of four, he managed to get the part in a one-off television show.
At the age of five, he managed to secure a role in a television series.
At the age of six, he maintained this part and also did a photo-shoot for a supermarket advertisement campaign.
At the age of seven, he continued on the television series but also dabbled in being an extra in a couple of movies.
At the age of eight, his television series finished so he turned his attention to the big screen and got three minor parts and one not-so-minor part.
At the age of nine, he got the role of the main character in a film about a child genius who courses all kinds of mayhem.
At the age of ten, he was nominated for the British Independent Film Award, as well as staring in a comedy series.
At the age of eleven, he discovered he was a wizard.
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