A Different Start: American Harry Prequel

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. I'll put them back almost like new.

Warnings & Story Info: Some violence, profanity, SLASH, sexual content (Ygroup), OCs. Rest assured this story is about Harry and revolves around Harry. Harry is: very intelligent, still a kid, powerful with limits, confident, outspoken, opinionated and complex. Dumbledore dislike story, not a bash story. Will include info from all seven books.

Prequel is of a work not written yet. It focuses solely on Harry in America with no scenes or in-depth info about anyone in Britain. Harry is learning new ways of doing magic and living in a very different magical world in America. Harry will go to Hogwarts fourth year, not as a Gryffindor; he attends an elite American school until then. He moves to Britain once Sirius is freed.

Reviews: Reviews, reviews, reviews. Not really begging or anything, but if you like what you've read, let me know. Constructive criticism definitely accepted. I can't improve if I don't know what to improve, after all.

BETAS: Thanks go out to my beta readers Maggie, known on ffnet as "there is only you", and to jynx67. Megan, too! Any problems remaining are entirely mine (and there probably are issues remaining as I have (in)famous epic struggles with commas).

Edit: Chapter replaced 05.10.08 with tweaked pre-story stuff and small formatting change.

A Different Start: American Harry Prequel 04

Laney was rather surprised to see Kathy sitting at her kitchen table drinking a tall glass of iced tea and reading a book as she brought in the first few bags of groceries. "Where's Jamie?"

"Upstairs." Kathy put the book down on the table, and Laney saw it was one of her goofy romances with the woman swooning on the cover and the guy's hair blowing all over the place as shooting stars blazed in the background. "Sunny stopped by and they're up there attempting the impossible."

"Oh boy," Laney muttered as she pushed the bags back on the counter and stopped to put her hair up in a ponytail. "What are they doing?"

"Jamie's got this idea in his head that he wants to redecorate his room with Legos."

"Of course he does."

"Yeah." Kathy got up and followed Laney out to help with the groceries. "So Sunny, wonderful man that he is, do note my exasperation, thank you, he decides to go out and buy all of the Legos in the nearest toy store, and they are up there at this very moment attempting to build a desk. Last I checked, at least."

"Really?" Laney fanned herself as she waited for Kathy to pull out the last couple of bags. "Jamie's actually kind of weird about colors matching right. I can't imagine they'd have enough of one or two colors of Legos to satisfy him."

"I expect Sunny said he'll change the colors for Jame or something."

"Hm." Laney nudged the door shut with relief and headed for the kitchen. "As much as I don't want my baby to go back to school, I'll be more than glad to have summer end. It's too hot out there to be real."

Kathy snorted.

"Yeah, whatever."

Kathy set to helping her unpack the groceries. "You feed that kid the weirdest stuff…"

"I don't." Laney pulled a box of crackers from her hands. "I just don't feel the need to buy enough sugar to kill him."

"Most children his age don't prefer apples over cookies."

"Maybe they ought to."

There was a sudden thumping on the stairs. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

"No running down the stairs!"

The thumping stopped. A handful of moments later Harry came into the room, looking innocent as can be, holding a plastic water bottle carefully.

"Look, Mommy! Look!"

Laney braced herself to see something only a little boy could find endearing, but it was only a little lizard, looking distorted and jumpy. Up close, Laney could see the little air holes made in the top of the bottle were actually small, perfectly round little holes.

"Where'd you find that, baby?"

"He was in the bathroom, Mommy," Harry told her with an odd mix of excitement and seriousness. "And Sunnytree helped me catch him in the bottle to take him outside so he could be safe, because Sunnytree said that the insides of lizard houses are the outsides of our houses and the outsides of lizards houses are really the insides of our houses and we should always help each other out when we get lost."

"Good advice to remember," Laney said with a little smile, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"Though," Harry told her quietly in what he obviously thought was a confiding whisper, "I don't think many lizards know that. People are getting lost all the time outside and they don't help. So Sunnytree told him and I told him and I'll tell him again before we take him back to his house and maybe this lizard can tell the other lizards."

"Maybe."

"It's a mission of utmost importance," Sunny said seriously from the kitchen doorway.

Harry nodded just as seriously.

"Well, you boys go do your part in saving the world," Laney said, smiling affectionately. "And I'll do my part and have orange juice ice- popsicles waiting for you when you come back."

"Okay, Mommy."

"Lizards today," Kathy said once the two were well out of earshot, "caterpillars tomorrow. Maybe a cat by the end of the week-"

"What are you babbling about?" Laney interrupted.

"And next year – they'll save the world!"

Laney groaned and threw the wadded up ball of plastic bags at her.

"I have a confession to make."

Laney looked over at Kathy suspiciously. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Well…"

"What did you do?"

"Well… You know those advertisements for that Karate Kid movie?"

Laney's suspicious feeling began to crystallize into a suspicion. "Yes?"

"I maybe sort of accidentally kind of told Jamie that you might maybe sort of consider letting him learn karate…"

Laney put down her book carefully. "What?"

"I maybe sort of-"

"I got that part."

"Um. I told Jamie you might let him learn karate…"

"Did you now?"

"It'd be really good for him. Help him with his magic."

"Would it now?"

"And I might have accidentally sort of-"

"Maybe mentioned that to Jamie?"

"Yeah, that."

"I see."

"And, you know, it's not a bad thing. Discipline, fitness, socializing…"

"I see."

"And-"

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" Harry came barreling into the room and climbed up onto her lap, eyes bright and expression oh so very hopeful. "Mommy!"

"…Yes?"

"I can learn karate, right? Be good at magic with karate, right? Be like the kid on the commercial with the karate, right?"

Laney sighed.

"Please, Mommy? Please, please? With sugar and karate on top?"

She snorted.

"Please?"

"Oh, all right."

He threw his arms around her in a hug. "Love you!"

Harry reached the front door first when the doorbell rang, despite the kitchen being just off the entry and Harry having been in the living room at the back of the house, watching cartoons. When Laney joined him he was bouncing up and down excitedly, glancing between the door and the hallway. He had the look of someone who had been waiting positively forever.

"I don't think you're quite excited enough about having people over," Laney said dryly. "Maybe I ought to tell them they should go home."

"Mom!" Harry gave her a scandalized look.

"Just kidding, just kidding." She peered out the little window and then undid the locks.

Terry was braced and ready for the little Harry bullet that shot out at him. He caught Harry up in his arms and spun around once before settling him easily on a hip. "I've been munchkin'd," he said with a grin.

Laney rolled her eyes and grabbed up the bag sitting by Terry's feet before he could grab it himself.

"Thanks, lovely."

Laney rolled her eyes again. "Whatever."

"The others here yet?"

"No. You're early for once."

"Anything for the munchkin." Terry followed Laney into the kitchen, though no sooner had they gone into the room that Harry started to wriggle to get down.

"Smurfs! Smurfs!"

Terry let him down with a smile. "Go on, then."

Harry raced out of the room.

"Ah, the energy of youth," Terry said, settling into a kitchen chair.

Laney hmphed as she unpacked the bag. There was a wide assortment of sandwiches there that she looked over with a raised brow.

Terry shrugged. "You said bring sandwiches. You didn't say make them, which is a good thing. As a confirmed bachelor, my idea of a sandwich is a couple slices of bread, a couple pieces of bologna and some cheese if there's still some somewhere in my fridge that won't bite when I pull it out."

Laney sighed and shook her head.

"I don't have a lovely lady such as yourself looking out for me."

Laney gave him a look.

"Just saying. I can't help it if you're lovely."

"Enough of this flattery. Go watch cartoons while I finish boiling eggs."

"No thanks. The Smurfs freak me out a little."

Laney gave him a look. "The Smurfs freak you out?"

"Yeah."

"…Why?"

"Smurfette."

"What?"

"The girl Smurf. The fact there weren't any until she was created. As a weapon, I might add."

Laney continued to stare at him.

"Hey, I have no problem with them being a whole race of little gay people. Blue gay people, at that. I don't care. But it's just weird to have a whole village of little blue guys, who just spontaneously exist apparently, and then suddenly girls start to appear and the guys go insane and everyone wants her. It's just creepy."

"On second thought, don't go watch cartoons with Jamie. You'll give him some sort of complex."

Terry shrugged. "Just saying."

"It's just a cartoon."

"So?"

"Just never mind. New topic."

"Okay."

Laney carefully dropped some eggs into the boiling water on the stove.

"You know, there's a spell-"

"No."

"All right."

"So." Laney carefully lowered the last egg in. "How's, um, the magical first family doing, if I'm allowed to ask that?"

"Fine. Can't really give details about anything not already public. Though no harm in telling you that Alaisa's kneazle is having a bit of a spat with Johnathan's crup over something. Bit of a mess, really."

"Johnathan's the one that you…?"

"The person I'm assigned to, yes. There's four shifts of us."

"He's the older one, isn't he?"

"By a few years, yeah. Johnny's ten and Laisa is eight."

"That must be kind of weird, being around all the time and seeing all sorts of family stuff but not being a part of it."

"A bit odd. But that's the job you sign up for."

"Mommy! Terry! Mommy!" Harry dashed into the room and then slowed to a sedate walk at Laney's stern look. "Mummy-"

"Mommy," Laney corrected gently.

"Mommy, Mom, can Terry and I do the bag monsters? Can we? Please?"

"Didn't you want to wait for the others?"

"They should be here soon." Harry stared hard at the clock on the wall. "Big hand is… Clock says they should be here soon."

Laney glanced over at the clock, just to be sure, and was relieved to see it didn't say that. With more magic coming in and out of the house on a regular basis, it was sometimes hard to be sure something wouldn't get changed.

"Yes, I see that."

"They said they'd be here after Smurfs. Remember?"

"I remember."

"And it's after Smurfs. It's just the boring names right now. So it's just about right now after Smurfs."

"I expect they'll be here any time, then." The doorbell rang. "Like now."

"I'll get it! Terry can help."

"You've been summoned," Laney said, mouth twitching with a smile as she turned back to her eggs.

"I see this." Terry stood up and caught Harry around the waist before he could run off. "Let's go see who's at the door."

"It's going to be Sunnytree. Cammy's always late."

"I expect you're right."

Terry peered out the window at the door and then opened it.

Harry held out his arms. "Sunnytree!"

Terry and Sunny performed a switch, Sunny taking Harry and Terry taking Sunny's bag.

"Morning."

"You're late!"

Sunny checked his watch. "No. My watch says I'm right on time. See, right there." He showed Harry his watch. "Pointing right at the 'right on time' mark."

Harry tapped the watch face. "Your watch is funny."

"I expect so." He came in and had the door mostly closed when there was a huff from the other side.

"Just shut it in my face why don't you?"

Sunny opened it up again. "Hello there, Cameron."

"Sunny."

"Cammy!"

"Monkeypants!"

Harry giggled and wriggled out of Sunny's arms to give her a hug.

"One of these days someone will explain monkeypants to me," Sunny said mildly.

Cameron and Harry exchanged a glance before looking at Sunny with grins to chorus, "Never!" Harry dissolved into giggles.

Terry came into the hallway carrying several flat and folded brown paper bags from the grocery store. "I snuck these out of the kitchen for our bag monsters," he confided.

"Don't you be out there telling tall tales to my child," Laney called out.

"Yeah, Terry," Harry said with a nod. "No tellin' tall tales. Just short ones."

Terry gave a snort of laughter. "Come on, let's go invade the dining room and claim the table in the name of… bag monsters!"

"Bag monsters!"

Cameron held up a triumphant hand. "Bag monsters!"

There were a few moments of silence. Cameron nudged Sunny with her elbow.

"What? Oh, yes. Bag monsters. Hurrah. Forward march."

Cameron rolled her eyes, but Harry just giggled as he grabbed one of Cameron's hands and one of Sunny's to pull them to the dining room. Terry made a detour into the living room where the big box of art supplies was waiting in anticipation of bag monsters.

"–and so after bag monsters we'll go to the park, Mummy said. Mommy said," Harry was saying as Terry came into the dining room. "And then we'll play! And then we'll all eat lunch and then maybe get ice cream and then maybe play some more and then come back and Mummy- Mommy said that- that we could watch movies. Watch movies and play games. But you can't stay late. Mommy said we have to shop for school tomorrow because school is big and important and I guess so but- but- oh! School means I get to learn magic soon! So you can't stay late."

"I think we can arrange that."

Harry nodded as he reached for a purple marker. "Good."

"I've got a surprise for you." Cammy scooped Harry up with a grin. "Close your eyes."

He gave her a wide-eyed look before obediently closing his eyes tightly. After a moment he put his hands over his eyes for good measure. "Can I look now?"

"No, not yet," she said with a laugh, nudging open the door to the living room. She carried him over to the table in the middle of the cleared space and set him down on it. "No peeking."

His hands pressed over his eyes more securely. "No peeking."

"Good." She nodded to the other occupants of the room. "When I pull your hands away you can look, okay?"

"Okay!"

She mouthed a 'one, two, three' to the room and then pulled Harry's hands away.

"Surprise!"

Harry stared in wide-eyed wonder as magical fireworks burst out around the room. Cameron, Laney, Kathy and everyone grinned at him and sent up magical streamers. The streamers twirled around in pretty patterns and made pictures of cakes and presents and spelled out words before disappearing with little pops.

"Happy birthday!"

"But I had my birthday…"

"Not your magical birthday," Cameron said with a grin. "And you're six now! That deserves a nice magical birthday. Come on, come look at the games!"

Harry let out a squeal of delight as Cameron swept him off the table and over to the pile of wonderful and strange looking games. One of the boxes gave a croak that made Harry giggle as Cameron put him on his feet again.