Chapter Eight: The British vs. the Americans
Kevin raised his eyebrows at her last name.

"Potter?" he asked. "You aren't by chance related to Harry Potter are you?"

Julie thought for a moment. "Is he British?"

"Yeah, he is. He's kind of a national celebrity," Kevin replied. He had attended Hogwarts with Harry. Kevin had been in his First year when Harry was in his Seventh.

"Can't say that it rings a bell. My grandfather came from England, but he didn't have any relatives. They were all dead before he left."

"Oh," Kevin replied, sounding relieved yet disappointed at the same time. "Thought he might be a distant cousin or something."

Julie laughed. "I doubt I have a distant cousin or anything, famous or not." Kevin laughed as well and continued to eat his ice cream.


~~~~~
Julie shut her eyes tight trying to erase the memory. If she had known about Harry then, she would have told Kevin that Harry was her cousin. Maybe it would have saved his life.

"Julie, stop this!" she scolded herself. "You have Kelsey to think of now and you can't do this." Her brother had no right to yell at her. Her husband had died doing a great service to his country and his family. But then why didn't you keep his last name after he died? She pushed the thoughts of her dead husband out of her mind and tried to think of something else.


~~~~~
"He what?" Hermione asked, stunned at what Harry had just told them. He had found Ron, Hermione and Ginny immediately after overhearing the conversation between his cousins, and told them everything that had been said.

"You heard him, Hermione," Ron replied. "Does he really need to repeat it?"

Hermione shot him an angry look and continued anyway. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know," Harry responded. "But it seems so odd. She mentioned her husband, but I'm not sure if he has anything to do with it."

"How did her husband die?" Ginny asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno."

"Why would her own brother threaten her?" Ron asked. Ginny starred at him.

"Ron, are you implying that you or any of our other brothers have never threatened me?" Ginny asked.

"Or me," Harry muttered.

"Well, that was never about life or death things," Ron responded quickly.

"Just because they are brother and sister doesn't mean anything," she said.

"I wonder who Andrew could be talk..." Hermione began, but Harry silenced her when Julie walked into the room.

"So what about a family Quidditch game?" Ron said. Ginny laughed at Ron's attempt to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah, well I thought we'd show these Americans a thing or to," Harry replied, picking up on Ron's story. It did actually seem fun."

"Did I hear you right, Harry?" Julie asked turning towards him. He smiled at her.

"Yeah, I think you did,"

"Do you think that you Brits can beat us at Quidditch?" She asked placing her hands on her hips.

"If the wand fits," Harry replied.

"You do realize that we have Quidditch in America?" she asked.

"Yup," Harry answered.

"All right, Potter, name the time and place and we'll see about that."

"Okay, ten minutes, outside in the field," Harry replied.

"Done," Julie said and left the room.

"Harry are you crazy!" Hermione asked.

"Probably," Harry said and shrugged it off. "But we need to come up with a team."


~~~~~
Minutes later they were standing in the middle of the field that Harry and Ron had discovered on their first day.

"So, what's your wager, Potter?" Julie asked.

"Don't know. Don't care. Let's just play," Harry said to her.

"Nope, not good enough," Julie shook her head. "Come up with something."

Harry turned to his team and looked at them for suggestions.

"How about money?" Ron asked. He had played Keeper for their house team at Hogwarts and was playing his old position.

"No, something better," Harry replied. He glanced at Ginny who was deep in thought. She had grown up with six older brothers and had gained an impressive knowledge of Quidditch from it. She had played Chaser at Hogwarts and was playing her old position as well. Darenn was the Beater and James was the Seeker on the Gryffindor House team, but James had been bumped down to Beater for the day because Harry was playing Seeker. The other two Chasers were Reagan and Caitlin, and Harry looked to them for suggestions.

"How about Christmas?" Reagan asked and everyone looked at her.

"Christmas?" James asked. "How can you bet on a holiday?"

But Harry was thinking along the same lines as his daughter. "We'll bet where the Potters, all of them, spend Christmas. If we win, then the Americans spend Christmas in Britain, and if we lose then we and the Weasley's, all of them might I add, spend it here. The team that loses has to go to the other team's home country for the holiday."

"I love it!" Ron exclaimed. Harry turned to his American relatives and explained the details of their wager. Julie smiled and agreed on behalf of her team.

Bryce had been voted out of the roster. Both teams had decided that since he was a professional Quidditch player for the Arizona Blazers, his playing would cause an unfair advantage to his team. Harry kept quiet the fact that he had been asked to play for the Chudley Cannons, the Montrose Magpies and the Puddlemere United, before he had left Hogwarts.

"So we've got an advantage, right?" Harry asked. His team looked at him in disbelief.

"We do?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "How did you determine that?"

"Well, we've all been playing since we could walk, with the exception of me," Harry explained.

"Yeah, and Garett told me that they don't really start playing until they get into High School. It's like their fourth year or something," James explained.

"Exactly," Harry said. "And besides, Quidditch was originally from England, so we've got that in our favor as well."

"Harry, we'll be fine," Ginny said.

"Yeah, we just haven't played together and we haven't practiced, and we've got a Seeker playing Beater," Ron said and looked at James.

"Hey, I'm the second reserve Beater at Hogwarts!" James said defensively. "I've never actually played Beater in a game, and if all the Beaters got hurt, I doubt I'd play, but I'm still technically the reserve."

"See?" Harry responded. "And we've played together! What about Christmas, Ron? Don't we always get dragged into a match then?"

"Okay, okay," Ron agreed. "I'm still not sure about this."

"Ron, it was your story. And it's your fault if we win or lose," Ginny told her brother.

"How is it my fault? It'll be a good thing if we win!" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah, but you won't have the American Potters and the Weasleys in your living room on Christmas Day," his sister stared at him with a look Harry was sure she got from her mother.

"Point taken," Ron replied.

"Okay, so are you ready?" Harry asked.

"Yeah!" Reagan, Caitlin, James and Darenn exclaimed.

"All right, then, lets go!" Harry cried. His team trotted across the field and took their positions. James had consented to let Harry use his broom, after much pleading on Harry's part. Harry even used the excuse that it was for the good of the team to make sacrifices, which he was sure he had heard from Oliver Wood a time or two.

Both teams faced each other on the field. Bryce released the balls as each player mounted his broom. They rose quickly into the air at the sound of the whistle. Reagan immediately had possession of the Quaffle and Harry watched proudly as she scored their team's first 10 points. He was having a hard time searching for the Snitch and watching his team play. He finally gave up on monitoring the events below him when Julie, who was playing Seeker for her team, dove down so suddenly that Harry was positive she had the Snitch. Thankfully, she pulled up and glared at him for now following her bluff.

"That is literally the oldest trick in the book," Harry yelled to her.

"Funny! You panicked for a second, though!" she called back. Harry returned her smirk and focused his attention to the Snitch. Soon it was 30-0, British. A few passes ater, Jenna, one of the American Chasers, got a break away and scored. Harry laughed as Ron silently cursed himself for letting it get by him. Ginny made a pass to Reagan who earned another ten points. Harry smiled at the sight of his wife and daughter high fiving each other in midair. He thought he saw the Snitch for a second but realized that it was the glare off Reagan's necklace. He smiled at her but she didn't return the expression. She was staring at something behind him and he followed her glance. He saw the Snitch. It was fluttering twenty feet away from him. Julie didn't see it, and if she had, she was on the other side of the pitch. On impulse Harry shot after it and it dove. He flew after it, gaining on it, swerving through the players. Harry's head almost collided with James' bat when he was in mid-swing and Ginny cried out to stop her son from smashing his father's head. James didn't pause and Harry's head didn't get smacked, but it was a close call. Ginny's yell alerted Julie to what was going on. She took off after Harry and strained to gain on him. But Harry was ten feet closer than she was. He stretched out his hand and felt his fingers close around the familiar touch of the Snitch. He glanced back at Julie with a huge smile on his face. Harry watched her eyes grow in amazement and recognition. Harry laughed at her, unable to read her expression.

"Harry?" Julie asked as they landed, Harry's fingers tightly around the Snitch. "You're the Boy Who Lived, aren't you?"

"You didn't know?" he asked.

"Nope, I never made the connection. Just now I saw your scar."

"Yeah, well, its faded a bit since school. My head grew into it or something," Harry laughed and rubbed his forehead, but Julie stared at him. "What?"

"I wish I could have known before," she stated. "It might have made a difference with..." Julie stopped.

"With what?" Harry asked. She seemed to be about to tell him something.

"Nothing, nothing. I, I..." Julie stammered and tried to walk away. Harry caught her arm and turned her around.

"What is it Julie?" he asked.

"Nothing, Harry. It doesn't concern you," her voice was angry and she continued. "You can't change the past, and you can't catch every bad wizard there is, even when they're right beneath your nose. So stay out of it!" She stormed off without a backward glance. Harry stared at her retreating back in disbelief.

"Hey, mate," Ron said landing beside him. "What was that about?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know." He stared at his cousin's back as she walked back to the house. His family members landed around him and congratulated him. He felt Reagan hug his middle, but he was unattached from it all. How could knowing him change anything? And what was right under his nose?