The Difference One Choice Makes
5th June 2007
"You wanted to see me Mr Cuffe?" said Euphemia politely as she sat down opposite her boss Barnabus Cuffe in his office.
Sitting in his favourite office chair, snacking on biscuits and his favourite brand of tea, the 68-year-old, short grey-haired Chief Editor of the Daily Prophet newspaper had grown large and fat in his advanced age with his large belly straining against his tweed suit.
As he tucked into another biscuit, he leaned forwards slightly which had the adverse effect of his large belly hitting and jolting the entire desk.
"Most of us here at the Prophet have been really impressed with your work in the last four years Ms Creevey" said Barnabus Cuffe,
"Thank you Mr Cuffe" said Euphemia politely.
Placing his cup of tea on the desk and pushing it to one side, Barnabus Cuffe clasped his hands together excitedly.
"Yes… some of your work has been truly remarkable, especially your article on that whole muggle-born trial against the Malfoy's two years ago, you certainly captured all of the key details of the entire story" said Barnabus Cuffe proudly.
Euphemia sighed, not wanting to be reminded of the heinous crimes of the Malfoy's and their associates, even if it was one of her more well-known articles.
"Given the success of that article as well as some of the other articles you have worked on… myself and some of the other senior figures are considering promoting you from junior reporter to a senior reporter" said Barnabus Cuffe.
With the excitement of the prospect of a significant promotion coursing through her veins, Euphemia straightened up with a slightly eager look on her face.
"Thank you, Mr Cuffe… I promise you will not regret giving me this promotion" said Euphemia confidently.
Barnabus Cuffe gave her a small nod.
"I hope so… that will be all for today Ms Creevey, we will let you know in a few days time if you are accepted for this position… see yourself out" said Barnabus Cuffe.
As the Chief Editor returned his full attention to his tea and biscuits, Euphemia stood up and left the office without another word.
As she walked away from his office towards the main room where the rest of her colleagues were busy with their own work, Euphemia saw her 26-year-old, short blonde-haired husband Colin Creevey sat at his desk, looking over some of the photos he had taken on his latest assignment which was the retirement of famous Holyhead Harpies Beater and Wales national team Captain Gwenog Jones yesterday.
As she sat down on the edge of his desk, Colin looked up at her.
"What do you think?" said Colin placing three of the photographs on the desk so she could see them.
Euphemia looked down at the three photographs for a minute or so before placing her finger on the one she liked the most.
"I think you should go with this one… it makes her look like the legend she is" said Euphemia, picking the picture of Gwenog Jones in her dark-green and gold trim Quidditch uniform, with her Beater's bat resting against her shoulder and her other hand on her hip with a serious look on her face.
Picking up the photograph, Colin took one last look at it before agreeing with her.
"I'll give this one to Michael then" said Colin, referring to Michael Corner who he had been partnered with for this assignment.
Euphemia glanced around the room before leaning towards him.
"I'm up for promotion to a senior reporter" said Euphemia quietly, not wanting to create a big scene in the workplace.
Understanding the reason behind her quieter tone of voice despite the fact that this possible promotion was big news for her career. Colin did not loudly voice his congratulations and support, instead, he told her that she deserved it before they were eventually told to go back to work by their supervisor.
Three days passed before Euphemia was finally called back into Barnabus Cuffe's office where she was offered the position of becoming a senior reporter at the Daily Prophet.
Five minutes and a new work contract signing later, Euphemia could finally call herself a senior reporter at the Daily Prophet, getting a bigger paycheck each month as well as more flexible working hours and opportunities to cover bigger and more important news stories.
24th May 2008
Kneeling down on the floor, watching as her 3-year-old twin daughters Dorea Katherine Potter and Celia Maxine Potter play together with their dolls on the floor.
With long brown hair that Katie had enjoyed braiding and bright blue eyes with steel-rimmed glasses, Dorea and Celia had inherited their father's eyes and eyesight problems as well as their mother's natural brown hair.
As she knelt there, watching as her daughters played with their dolls, Katie's mind was drawn back to the life-changing decision she had made two weeks ago and how it had affected her life so far.
The decision she had made to announce her retirement from professional Quidditch at the young age of twenty-nine.
Looking at her daughters, Katie had long accepted that they were the main reason for her retirement, wanting to be a proper mother who was there for them at all times instead of an absentee mother who left her daughters with her parents or her in-laws, which was the case when she and Harry had to spend so much time at training, matches, endorsements and charity events.
Even though the two Potter girls were only three years old, her parents as well as James and Narcissa would often tell Harry and Katie that the two girls missed their parents dearly, often asking the other adults when their parents were going to be back from whatever they were doing.
Upon hearing this, Katie had thought long and hard before finally reaching the decision to retire from the sport that was a huge part of her life. Ever the supportive husband, Harry was behind her decision one-hundred percent even if he was not ready to give up on his growing Quidditch career and rising stardom just yet.
Of course, there were other reasons behind her retirement including a nagging shoulder injury, courtesy of a direct hit to her right shoulder from a Beater's bat of a Kenmare Kestral's player in late January 2008. Her shoulder took nearly a month to heal properly so she could return to the team and help them finish second in the league, thirty points behind Winners Tutshill Tornadoes.
As she finally went through with her decision to retire, in the company of Harry who brought her a large bouquet of flowers and a box of her favourite chocolates, after meeting her on the pitch of Arrowhead Lane (home stadium of the Appleby Arrows) so she could have her husband and daughters by her side as she said her farewells to her teammates and fans.
With Harry by her side, Katie thought back on the exciting career she had forged out for herself, winning three league titles and a Player of the Season award last year among other awards, winning the 2002 World Cup alongside her husband as well as former Gryffindor teammates Ginerva Sloper (formerly Weasley) and Oliver Wood.
Being a part of the England squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup, losing to the eventual winners South Africa in what was described as one of the matches of the year by multiple Quidditch experts.
Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts by the voice of her daughter Celia.
"Mummy… will you dress Susie?" said Celia holding a small, plastic, ginger-haired doll up to her.
Katie took the doll offered to her in one hand with a loving smile on her face before leaning down towards her both of her daughters.
"Well… I think Susie wants a nice dress to wear outside on this lovely day, what do you girls think?" said Katie softly, actively engaging in her daughter's playtime activity.
"She wants the yellow one Mummy" said Dorea excitedly.
"It's her favourite colour" said Celia excitedly.
With her smile growing wider, Katie shifted closer to the two young girls as she started to leaf through the small pile of doll clothes in the middle of her two daughters.
Later that night…
Removing the baby-blue scrunchie tying her hair in an elegant ponytail behind her head, Katie removed her baby-blue dressing gown, revealing lavender-pink lingerie underneath that she knew was bound to get Harry in the mood for the night.
Slipping under the covers and getting comfortable on her side, Katie let Harry pull her into his embrace, melding her lips to his.
As Harry broke their kiss and kissed his way down to her neck, Katie ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his head up so their eyes were locked on each other.
"Harry… what do you think about me going back to work?" said Katie.
"Can't we talk about this in the morning?" groaned Harry as he ran his hands over her thighs.
Katie flicked him on the side of the head.
"No, we can talk about it now… so what do you think?" said Katie, her voice a mixture of stern and barely contained passion.
Harry sighed and slipped his arms under her back, pulling her up into him.
"If you want to get another job then I think it's a great idea" said Harry.
Katie kissed him.
"After my last match against Puddlemere… I got talking to Katrina Mullet, you know… the referee?" said Katie.
Harry nodded, having a faint idea where this was going.
"Well… after I had announced my retirement, she suggested that I could become a referee if I ever wanted to still have a part in Quidditch, said she only has to work one day a weekend and the occasional Tuesday night… it would give me something to do with my life and still spend most of my time with the girls" said Katie softly.
Harry smiled and moved his hand around to her stomach.
"If this is what you want to do… then I say do it" said Harry softly.
Katie removed one of her hands from his hair and grasped his hand that was on her stomach, lacing their fingers.
"I can't leave Quidditch behind Harry… not completely, it's been a huge part of my life and I want it to continue to be a big part of my life" said Katie.
Harry brought their joined hands up to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
"You know I love you, Katie, I always will… so do us both a favour" said Harry.
Katie felt the desire inside of her body steadily increasing with each passing second.
"Let me show you how much I love you… I just can't help myself, not when you're wearing this, I just want to get it off you so badly" said Harry, hooking his finger under the cup of her bra.
Katie rolled her eyes and kissed him.
"I love you too" said Katie, not even bothering to suppress the desire rising from within her before he claimed her lips once again.
12th August 2008
Walking into the kitchen to the sight of Daphne feeding their 1-year-old son Charlus Lincoln Potter who was sitting in his high chair.
Now 28-years-old, Daphne had her long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and she was dressed in some jean shorts and a dark blue sleeveless top.
Making his way over to them, the now 30-year-old, short black-haired Edward knelt down and pressed a kiss to his son's forehead which made the infant giggle with delight.
"You're home early" said Daphne sounding surprised, as he was not usually due home for another hour at least.
Turning away from his son, Edward cupped Daphne's chin and kissed her before moving away from them.
"I thought I'd finish early today" said Edward, using his wand to boil some water in the kettle on the stove.
Daphne was about to ask him why but decided to halt her question for a moment so she could finish feeding her son his favourite organic apricot baby food.
After Edward had poured a cup of tea for each of them, placing hers next to her on the kitchen counter.
Once Charlus had been fed, Daphne picked him up out of his high chair, holding him against her hip.
"When was the last time we had a holiday?" said Edward as he sipped his tea.
Tracing her finger on her son's cheek with a soft smile on her face, Daphne turned to face him.
"We took Alexandra to Cornwall when I was pregnant" said Daphne bouncing Charlus on her hip slightly.
Edward sighed.
"I meant other than the three days that we spent in Cornwall?" said Edward.
Daphne frowned, knowing that other than the occasional few trips away in Britain, neither of their children had been on a proper holiday with their parents.
Edward moved closer to her.
"2004 when we went to the Caribbean for a week… which was four years ago" said Edward softly.
Looking up at him, Daphne gave him a quick kiss.
"Alright… you've made your point, I'll speak to Carter in the morning about booking some time off of work" said Daphne, planning to speak to her supervisor Jason Carter when she arrived at work tomorrow morning about taking some time off for a holiday.
Having finally achieved her goal of working in the Investigation Department when she was promoted nearly two years ago, Daphne found this line of work much more enjoyable than her previous position even if it was more taxing and the hours were longer.
As she told him that she would book some time off, however, his smile widened.
"Well… you could do that… only, I already spoke to your boss… and got you two whole weeks off starting tomorrow, I'm rather surprised he agreed to it actually" said Edward with a hint of teasing in his voice.
"You went to my boss?" said Daphne, sounding surprised.
Edward took Charlus from her, holding him against his side before taking her hand and leading her through to the sitting room.
"Saves you taking a needless trip to work in the morning… we can be on the Orient Express by tomorrow night… and in Berlin the next morning" said Edward as they sat down on the settee, with Charlus balanced on Edward's lap.
"You're taking us to Germany?" said Daphne with her eyebrow raised.
"I heard it's great this time of year… and I managed to get us a suite at the Brass Dune Hotel for a week" said Edward, using her love of extravagance and glamour to excite her about their upcoming holiday at the finest magical hotel in Europe.
"So… you want us to leave tomorrow night then, why so sudden?" said Daphne teasingly.
Edward pulled her into his side.
"We've been waiting longer than necessary for a good family holiday, why should we force ourselves to wait any longer?" said Edward.
Daphne smiled and gave his thigh a gentle squeeze.
"You best start packing then" said Daphne softly.
Edward gave Charlus back to her.
"You sort the kids out… and I'll sort me and you out… deal?" said Edward.
"Deal… and if you want us to leave tomorrow, we best get started" said Daphne, giving him a gentle push to make him get off the settee.
19th May 2011
The now 30-year-old Harry, who was Captain and Seeker for the Falmouth Falcons took a deep breath and glanced at his teammates who were holding the trophy from their second straight League Cup triumph and his sixth overall, looking at him with a mix of happy and disappointed faces as they knew what was coming.
A decision that had been reached by the Falmouth Seeker six months ago that was thankfully kept out of the newspapers and magazines, quashing any potential rumours that may have circulated earlier had the story gotten out.
As he glanced towards the player's entrance of the Falmouth Stadium he saw his now 32-year-old Wife Katie Potter walking towards him along with their now 6-year-old twin daughters Dorea and Celia while she was holding their 2-year-old son Henry in her arms.
After taking a two-week training course on how to be a Quidditch referee, Katie had qualified for her new job in June 2008, now working a single day on most weekends as well as occasional Tuesday night fixtures.
Though she would say it could be hard work at times being a referee, Katie enjoyed her new job immensely, though she was forbidden from refereeing any of Harry's matches owing to their marital relationship, which some could argue that such a relationship might compromise the game.
As his family approached him, Harry saw the loving smile on Katie's face giving him all of the reassurance he needed, to know that he was making the best decision, not just for him but for their family.
With three children to provide for and having played in his favourite sport for thirteen years, Harry finally felt like it was time to bring an end to his Quidditch career and make the most of his life with Katie, their two daughters and their son.
Glancing up at the row of private boxes near the top of the stadium, Harry knew that his parents, siblings, their partners and children, along with the friends he had invited to watch the match, were sat in one of the boxes watching him with what must be proud looks on their faces right now.
Harry nodded to them with a small smile before raising his wand to his throat and silently casting a "Sonorus" charm to enhance his voice making it sound like he was shouting as opposed to talking.
He took a deep breath.
"I have felt extremely honoured to play for this fantastic team since I graduated from Hogwarts in 1998… and it has been thirteen amazing years of which I have very fond memories, I can't thank the fans and my teammates enough for all of the memories you have helped me to create!" said Harry, with his voice being magically enhanced thanks to his spell.
Harry waited for the crowd in the full capacity stadium to quieten down.
"I've won six League Cups here at Falmouth, been your Captain for the last three years, I've won the World Cup with England alongside my lovely Wife Katie… I love you so much baby, I have four Player Of The Year and three Seeker of the Season awards for which I am extremely grateful to have, all in all, it has to be said that I've had a fantastic career… and it's even sadder to say that all good things must come to an end!" said Harry glancing at his family as he mentioned Katie's name.
Harry chuckled when he saw that Katie now had slightly red cheeks having been mentioned so lovingly and publicly in his retirement speech.
Cheers of "THANK YOU POTTER!" rang around the stadium as Harry wiped a few tears from his eyes while Katie and his Daughters joined in the applause.
Harry nodded to them and took a deep breath before looking up at the stands.
"Tonight… I officially announce my retirement from professional Quidditch… from now on I'll be devoting my time to my wife Katie and our three children Dorea, Celia and Henry… Falmouth… thank you for the support and the memories over the years, I'll miss playing for you… but I'll be happy enough watching from the stands from now on!" said Harry as even more cheers and applause rang out around the stadium.
Feeling someone take his free hand, Harry turned to see Katie as she kissed him softly.
"I love you" said Katie softly.
He put his wand away and picked Dorea and Celia up with one in each arm leading both girls to press sloppy kisses to his cheeks.
"We love you too Daddy" said Celia.
Harry pressed a kiss to each Girl's forehead.
"I love you too, all four of you… now let's go home, where I truly belong, with all of you" said Harry softly looking at each member of his family before he started to walk off of the pitch for the last time.
"THANK YOU POTTER, THANK YOU POTTER!" cheered the crowd as the Potter Family made their way back towards the changing room.
As they walked through the Players Entrance Harry saw the Coaches and Owner of the Falmouth Falcons standing in the tunnel applauding him as he walked towards them.
"Good luck Potter" said his Head Coach Brian Fenwick.
"You'll be hard to replace" said one of the other Coaches Lisbeth Hopper.
Harry thanked them and put both his Daughters down as the Owner Julian Macmillan made his way towards him, holding onto a gleaming gold League Cup Winners medal.
"Good luck Mr Potter… you take good care of him now Mrs Potter" said Julian Macmillan turning to Katie as he addressed her.
Katie managed a thankful smile as she readjusted her hold on Henry while Julian Macmillan placed the medal around Harry's neck.
"The robes and captains badge are yours to keep as well Mr Potter… for thirteen years of loyal and fantastic service" said Julian Macmillan.
"Thank you" said Harry as he picked Dorea and Celia up once again.
After saying his final goodbyes to his Coaches and the Owner, Harry went back to the changing room to get his things so he could go home.
Half an hour later…
As Harry finally stepped through the floo of their cottage, having showered and changed out of his Quidditch uniform at the Falmouth Stadium but he kept the unbuttoned outer robe of his uniform and his winner's medal on, feeling happy to wear them one last time.
As he went to get showered and changed, Katie had taken the kids home, telling him that she would be waiting for him in the house.
Only now that he had finally arrived home, Katie was leaning against the doorway leading into the entrance hall while the kids were nowhere in sight.
"Have the kids gone to bed already?" said Harry sounding slightly puzzled.
Katie smiled and shook her head.
"They have a surprise for you… but not here" said Katie, pushing herself away from the doorway and moving towards him.
Keeping quiet, Harry dropped his bag containing the remainder of his uniform and his shrunken broomstick on the floor before letting her take his arm and guide him over to the fireplace.
Surprisingly, she flooed them to Potter Manor into the deserted foyer.
"What is this?" said Harry.
"Not now" said Katie firmly as she led him towards the doors leading into the large sitting room.
As Katie pushed the doors open, Harry was caught off-guard by what was waiting for them inside the sitting room.
"SURPRISE!" shouted all of his family and friends, around fifty of them who had gathered inside of the sitting room, with a large banner bearing the words of "CONGRATULATIONS HARRY!" hanging from the ceiling.
As Harry was shocked by the sight before him, with every guest applauding and shouting their own congratulatory words at him, Dorea and Celia came running out of the crowd to meet him.
"Congratulations Daddy!" squealed the two girls.
Kneeling down to meet them, Harry felt their small arms wrap around him, holding onto him tightly.
After he eventually let go of his daughters, Harry stood up to meet his parents as they stepped out of the crowd and gave him a swift, loving hug of their own.
"Congratulations Harry" said James proudly.
"We're so very proud of you" said Narcissa softly.
Burying his head into his Mother's shoulder, Harry thanked his parents for all of the support they had given him over the course of his life, knowing that he was making the right decision to retire at this point in his life.
Once his parents had congratulated him, his family followed suit before finally his friends stepped forwards one by one to congratulate him on his fantastic career.
15th June 2011
"Congratulations Mr Potter… welcome to the Department" said the middle-aged witch who had interviewed Harry for the position of a Match Organiser in the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, located in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
Knowing that he was not ready for full-on, relaxing retirement just yet, Harry had decided to apply for a job in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, which had been his backup plan in school if he was not able to turn professional with Quidditch.
With his background as a professional Quidditch player as well as his good OWL and NEWT results, Harry's interview with the Department had been successful and he had been offered a job within forty minutes of the start of his interview.
"You can start at half eight on Monday morning Mr Potter… speak to Mr Edric Vosper, he will help you get settled" said the Witch.
Harry stood up along with the Witch, shaking her hand and thanking her before he left the interview room, happy that he was able to tie down a steady job.
As being a referee had done to Katie, the connection to Quidditch that came with working as a Match Organiser proved that the sport would always be a part of Harry's life just like it was a part of Katie's life.