Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with the series. However, I like to borrow J. K. Rowling's world and create new, hopefully entertaining, plots.
On the Other Side of the Coin
~o~
Prologue
October 21st 1981
Sirius Black sat in a Muggle bar sipping his drink. He was deep in thought.
He had just come from James' place, where he had proposed to change the plan. Originally, James had asked him to be their secret keeper and it had taken him not even a split-second to agree. Now, he was afraid. Not for himself. He would lay his life down to protect his friends and their baby boy, and would so without regret, but he feared to be the wrong man for keeping this most important secret.
It was widely known that James and he had been best friends since they had been eleven. Thus, it was to be expected that the Death Eaters would come for him rather sooner than later. The danger itself, however, was not what had made him queasy. It was rather that Voldemort and his followers were very much aware of his link to the Potters and that he would be their first choice as Secret Keeper. It was too obvious and in perilous times like these, they could not afford obvious.
Therefore, Sirius had proposed switching places with Peter. It had taken him a while, but in the end, Lily and James had agreed to change tactics.
Now, Sirius Black sat somewhere in London and enjoyed the last drops of his strong Scotch burning in this throat, a luxury which he assumed would not happen often, once he would be on the move. He mused about how to best prepare for his going into hiding. With a wary expression, Sirius looked at his now empty glass. He had preparations to start with, but when would he be able to enjoy another excellent Scotch? Rather not soon, he guessed.
Unwilling to decide what to do, he pulled a coin out of his pocket. The fat Galleon shimmered innocently between his fingers.
"Heads, one more drink. Tails, I'll go home," he whispered.
Then, with a light flip of his hand, he threw the coin into the air, catching it again between his palms. A small grin split Sirius' face as he saw the metal in his hand. Fate seemed to be good to him tonight.
"Barkeeper, another one," he said and leaned back into his chair.
Sirius Black would never be able to appreciate fully how much would have changed, if this tiny Galleon had landed on the tail side.
We all know the stories of Harry Potter's life, if the coin had shown tails, but now fate has thrown us on the other side of the coin.
~o~
A quick expectation manager of what you willnot find in this story:
No canon rehash. No personality transplants. No bashing. No prodigy Harry. No kid politicians or romances.
This is just a simple universe with (logical) canon divergences because of a different Halloween 1981 and various additions, which do not contradict canon, but rather broaden it.
Everything up to 21st of October 1981 had happened exactly the same as in the books.
For the few of you who knew my previous story, yes, this is a rewrite of said story. The first version never went very far because I made the classical mistake of wanting to tell everything too fast, which turned out to bore me (and probably you). Also, I had some problems with finding a satisfying finale towards which the whole story can move and had to interrupt the writing process. Now, I have found a solution, planned quite a bit and real life gives me some respite to continue writing. ;)
The overall story is called "On the Other Side of the Coin," but every school year has its own name for fun.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. If you spot any mistakes, please let me now.
Enjoy!