My Vacation in 1977

Chapter Three: Something About Harry…

Lily didn't quite know when it happened, nor did she ever expect it to happen. First impressions really defined a person for her. It was one of her personal flaws. Her first impression of James Potter was that he was a mean spoiled brat, so forever in her mind he stayed a spoiled brat. Severus Snape seemed misunderstood when she first met him, so she continually tried to understand him and be kind to him, even if he did insult and belittle her on a daily basis. So that was why she was completely baffled as to why she held a small fondness for Harry Lionheart. Her first impression of him was less than desirable, he was distant and rude, and not what she looked for in a friend. But as she watched him throughout the first few weeks of school her image of him changed.

He was standoffish and had no friends but everyone, no matter if it was a first year Hufflepuff or a seventh year Slytherin, could say something nice about him.

The Hufflepuffs found him charming and kind, the first years often followed him like ducklings after their mother and Harry never stopped them. He directed them if they were lost, helped with their homework, every first year adored him.

The Ravenclaws were more interested in his background, how he knew the most obscure and obtuse facts and could make a persuasive argument with the wittiest Ravens in the house. They respected him and would often gather with him in the library, reading any and all books that caught their fancy.

Gryffindor liked him for obvious reasons; he was of their house and was brave and stood up for what he believed in. He knew when to take a joke and wasn't strict with the rules like Ravenclaw or afraid to break the rules like Hufflepuff and he didn't bully or take advantage of the younger years. Though they were disappointed about his fair treatment of the Slytherins, he didn't fight with them and gave the serpents their space. He also kept some of the more foolhardy Gryffindors from being baited by the Slytherins.

And Slytherin, as much as they loathe admitting it, respected his overall cunning and ambition. Even though his apparent ambition was to avoid as many people as possible and laze about the rest of his school days. There was a silent truce between the seventh year Slytherins and Harry and that was enough in her mind to say that the house of snakes in some way or form considered Harry one of them, even if it was only a little.

Overall Lily decided it would be so much easier if Harry turned out to be the aloof bastard he was when they first met. Damn her luck to hell.

Now was one of the few times Harry was alone, he escaped the trailing Hufflepuffs and any other students that enjoyed tailing him to sit near the Great Lake. He didn't read, didn't do his usual origami, or homework, but just…sat staring out at the lake. Taking a deep breath Lily figured now would be as good of a time as ever to approach him. After the whole incident with James she had tried to talk to him again. Much to her aggravation she could never find him, he would disappear after class ended and she would never be able to find him again. Well now she had her chance.

"Hello Harry."

The black haired boy turned on eye on her and kept the other closed. He didn't say anything but she got the message, 'What do you want?'

"Well I was thinking that we could get to know each other."

Another silent message, 'Why?'

"Well you're new and everything so I thought—"

"No."

"What? But why?" Lily fumed; this was the second time she had been rejected. She faintly thought in the back of her mind this must be what Potter feels likes every time she denied him. Lily mentally scowled, that was completely different. She had a valid reason to hate him, he was spoilt, annoying, talked far too much, and was an overall prat. But Harry didn't have a reason to ignore her, so why was he? Was she not good enough for him or something?!

Harry gave her a cool look, "I'll give you another chance, why do you want to talk to me?"

"You're new!" She was about to continue but he stood suddenly.

"Well," he pulled a worn messenger bag over his shoulder, "There in lies the problem. Do you want to talk with me or just the friendless new kid?" He paused and turned his forest eyes to her when she didn't respond, "Ah, that's what I thought. When you actually bother to get to know me, I'll respond civilly to you. I have better things to do than to talk with someone so shallow that only feels she needs to talk to me out of obligation or perhaps…A bet? Good day Ms. Evans." With a quick turn the dark haired boy made his way to the castle.

Lily stared after him absently, still thinking over what he said. As much as she hated to admit that she was in the wrong, the red head knew he was right. Why would he want to make friends with someone who only wanted to get to know him out of responsibility? She felt even worse when he mentioned the bet between her and Potter. He knew she was just using him to get rid of the bratty Marauder so of course he wouldn't want to be friends with her let alone be near her. She was just as bad as Potter, using other girls and then throwing them away. She knew she would feel hurt if she were in his shoes. But she still had a chance to make things up to him, this time she'd get to know him. I mean really, really get to know him; she'd be just the kind of friend he needed. Not some superficial fake who only cared about status and the like. Squaring her shoulders Lily stood she would be a true friend this time, she vowed it.

Walking back to castle Harry looked disappointedly back at his mother. He'd really expected more from the people who would become his parents. He knew he had to stay away from them lest he let his feeling overwhelm him and blurt the truth. But he really hoped that they liked him for him. Not the new kid, or the Boy-Who-Lived, or the Savior, but Harry. He dimly wondered what it would have been like if they had survived that attack with him, would they still love him? Would they hate him because he was a parseltongue? Or would they become as bad as the Dursley's and care only for fame and money? He shook his head, it was best not to think of these things, he would only be here for the school year, nothing more.

Sirius Black was currently a very happy fellow. Humming merrily he looked through his photo album. He'd started it in his first year when he'd met James, Remus, and Peter. Coming from a family like his he wanted to remember every good time he could. There were pictures of the Marauders, the Hogwarts staff, all of their pranks, that one time Lily had slapped James, and many other things. He paused to look at one of his newly added pictures; Harry was sitting in their Charms class chewing absently on the end of his quill while Flitwick lectured on Charms theory. He looked extremely bored and his eyes were half lidded. Sirius traced Harry's face, he was just so cute!

He didn't quite know why he'd taken Harry's picture; he'd never taken any pictures of other people that he'd fancied. He didn't even have his first date's picture! He found the boy to be kind and witty, that's how he would describe Harry. James was his best friend, but it was just so damn funny to see Harry outwit him time after time! He shrugged; he had all year to get to know Harry. He'd let James have his fun and then he could really get to know the boy. Sirius' grin widened, he couldn't wait.

Harry looked on amused; he didn't think he'd ever seen his father so frustrated in all the time that he'd been there.

"What do you mean you can't play?! We don't have a second string seeker! You just can't up and quit now!"

"I've told you James! We all thought my arm would better over summer break and it is! But I may completely lose all mobility in my arm if I get hit like that again within the next year! I'm quitting the team and that's final!"

James Potter looked on in dismay as his only seeker left the team. Sure he was a seeker as well but he really belonged as a chaser! They'd won the house cup last year but right as their seeker was catching the snitch a bludger had come up and completely shattered his arm. Shattered bones were easily reparable but it took a while if you wanted instant results, and you were not allowed to but any strain on the arms, then the arm would re-shatter. There was always the charm that removed the bone completely from the body and you could re-grow and new bone with the help of a Skelegrow potion. But since his bone was completely shattered they would have to perform the spell for as many times as there were fractured pieces. Medical wizards and witches found it easier just to repair the bone using magic and wait it out for the bone to heal.

And thus James had a problem.

He was planning on his seeker being well by summer's end. That was not the case as he now knew. He'd seen other people try out for seeker and it was not a pretty sight. He could be seeker but then they'd have to replace a chaser and their whole team dynamics would have to be reshaped.

Damn.

Hearing soft laughter from nearby James looked up to see Harry laughing slightly at his predicament. James pouted.

"Oh, so first you set me on fire and now you laugh at me? You're a cruel sadistic bastard you know that?"

Harry hm'd, "And if I am?"

"Well then," James suddenly smirked, "I seem to recall you said you could fly, let's put that to the test!"

To James' utter delight Harry looked shocked, that was the first time he'd gotten the better of the green eyed boy. Although he was aggravating and acted smug for a whole week after the fire bird incident Harry seemed alright. He was, after all, still his best bet (No pun intended) for a date with Lily.

Physically dragging the smaller boy behind him he made his way to the Quidditch pitch. Letting go of Harry he ran to the equipment shed and brought out his broom and levitated the chest with the rest of the Quidditch supplies behind him.

He handed Harry the broom and waited. Harry just looked at him like he'd started sprouting pixie wings and puss.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Fly."

"What?"

"Fly, you know, like a bird." James linked his thumbs together and flapped his hands making tweeting noises. "Fly away birdie!"

Harry backed away slowly, maybe his father wasn't as sane as he'd come to believe.

"And why do you want me to fly?"

"Because it's a broom and there can't be a broom around without someone flying it."

"…"

"Okay it's because we now have no seeker and we're desperate. You know this so why are you asking?! Fly already!"

"…You don't know how weird that sounds." But Harry relented and mounted the broom. Ug, a granny broom, how was he supposed to fly on this…this…thing?! He could already tell that it was slower than his precious Firebolt. Harry sighed, he'd humor his father.

Taking off Harry looped around the pitch as fast as he could make the broom go, which was a fair deal faster than he thought this broom could go. Quickly loosing what little irritation he held Harry let loose and twirled through the air making dives and swerves. He instantly forgot his father's presence and was content to fly about all afternoon before he heard a high whistling.

Harry flew back to the ground and gracefully landed before handing the broom back to his father.

"Are you satisfied now?"

James' couldn't have smiled wider if he tried. Inside his head he was mentally dancing his heart out. This boy was truly a godsend. He had the perfect build for a seeker and he could fly just as well, if not better than him. He'd never seen his broom fly quite so fast, the cup was in the bag!

"Very! Now if you come this way we can officially sign you up for this year's Quidditch season by telling the rest of the team!"

"Wait, wait, hold on. When did I agree to this?"

"You see? That's the brilliant of my plan! You didn't!" James threw his arms in the air and grinned madly.

"What do you mean I get no say in this?!"

"Because if you do get a say in this I have a gut feeling you'll set my hair alight again. So your privilege for freewill has been revoked."

"What are you? My father?"

…Harry paused. Now that was irony.

"For all purposes right now just call me daddy! Because you are joining the Quidditch Team son!" And with that James dragged Harry back to the school.

Later that night Harry sat in the Room of Requirements. Today was the most awkward day by far. For a split second he'd thought James had figured out that his son from twenty year in the future had come the his seventh year for vacation. After getting over his surprise he dismissed the theory. Not only because of his father's attitude but because even if James did suspect something, time travel was probably the last thing on his mind.

Turning his thoughts away from this afternoon's events and dug through his bag for a small mirror. It was the mirror that Sirius had given him. He wondered if it worked all the way from the past… He supposed it wouldn't hurt to try, he hadn't been given the chance to say goodbye to everyone after all. Draco was going to throw a hissy fit…

"Sirius? You there?" Harry was immensely relieved when he was the face of his godfather instead of a teenager.

"Harry?! Where have you been?!"

"What? Albus didn't tell you?"

Sirius shook his head, "All he said was something about the Bermuda Triangle and black cats."

Harry smiled, "That sounds about right."

"Harry, you wound me! Lying to your own godfather! The shame!"

"Okay so I'm really twenty years in the past, happy?"

"…"

"Sirius?" Harry examined his godfather's face; he looked partially shocked and partially pleased.

"Hold on Harry, be right back." Harry looked questionably at the mirror, even though he couldn't see anything since Sirius' face had left the frame and he couldn't see anything beyond that. He waited for ten minutes before Sirius returned.

"I can't believe I don't remember you! You were the only transfer student we ever had. I just brought out my old photo album and I'll check to see if any pictures of you are in here."

Harry raised an eyebrow; he never knew Sirius' kept a photo album. But then, he supposed someone had to take all those pictures of his parents. "Well that's not surprising. Albus can't possibly cast a strong enough spell over everyone of the student body, especially mind magic. He's old, he does have limits. So I guess he must have used a spell to just make all memories of me hazy. But there's still a chance you could have recognized me before now so I've been keeping my distance. Plus the Marauders are known for trouble, I came here to relax."

Sirius nodded, eyes not focused on the mirror screen but down in his lap, he paused and then paled dramatically. "Harry…I think I just remembered everything…"

"So you do have a picture of me in there?"

"Yes…" Harry frowned; he would have thought Sirius would be more exited about the newly discovered pictures.

"Something wrong Sirius?"

"No! You'll find out eventually. I have to go…Think about things…"

"If you say so…Bye Sirius."

"By Harry, be safe and watch out for perverts."

Before Harry could question that last statement the mirror's surface turned blank and Harry only found his eerie green eyes staring back at him. Harry's frown deepened, Sirius had always encouraged any sort of trickery and could be bit perverse himself, so why would he tell him to watch out for perverts?

Groaning Harry flopped back down on the couch he'd been sitting on. He could just tell things were going to get complicated, sometimes he hated his luck.

/----------------------/

LBH: Finally…And this time I didn't try to type this three times.

R/R