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Author's Notes: I hope the time switching back and forth does not confuse you guys! It will all fall together in the end, no worries:

Disclaimer: 'Tis not mine, 'tis JKR's!

Every Great Story Begins with a Background

A photograph shows a smiling baby boy nearly twelve months of age. He giggles in the arms of his father who runs a hand through his own messy black hair as he tickles his cooing son. The baby's green eyes light up as his mother fusses helplessly with his unruly mop of ebony locks, but her own green eyes shine in bright joy as she smiles softly out of the picture.

Aye, that's me all right. You might even recognize that photograph of me and my parents…that's one of the scant few I've got after all. So you know who I am, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, although you probably know me from my Hogwarts years. I daresay I'm a little different now, eh? Oh don't get me wrong, I've still got my mum's eyes, and I still look a lot like my dad, but I guess you can say I've grown up since then. Not a skinny little prat anymore, heh, I'd go as far to say that playing Quidditch gave me some good toning, and despite all the training I had to undergo to prepare for the war against Voldemort, my facial features did not lose their appearance of healthful youth. I guess you could reckon that I learned to let things go, and can you really blame me, after all the losses I've experienced in my short life?

So as you know, I spent the first segment of my conscious life with my Muggle relatives…sod the lot of them. Then I left my bloody cupboard under the stairs and entered the Wizarding World, where everyone…well MOSTLY everyone, Old Snape was never a big support even back then, but yeah people kept telling me how my life would be this great destiny, that I was so special and how only I would be the one to save the whole damn lot from that potty bugger Voldemort. Honestly? By my seventh year all that hype and rubbish was getting to my nerves and I was pretty zonked by it. And let's just say that the final battle didn't turn out the way we expected. Oh don't worry, Old Voldie died and I was once again the boy who lived, but everyone was thinking it woulda been some great epic battle thanks to that old bat's prophecy, but my role in this great destiny turned out to be…a load of rubbish. I've moved on since then and don't reckon I'd like to too much into it, but long story short, the bugger kicked my arse in the big public duel and I ended up stunned and unconscious before the whole Wizarding world like and was about to die by his Avada Kedavra when Old Snape showed his true colors and started dueling with Voldie instead. I wasn't conscious at this point, but from what I heard, Old Sevy had a way with his wand. This battle lasted quite some time while I was off sleeping like a prat, but just as Voldie was advancing on Snape, I woke up groggily, and, being the one destined to kill the Dark Lord, popped up behind him and Avada Kedavra'ed his arse behind that infernal veil. Needless to say…it wasn't a glorified kill…and everyone saw how it was really Old Snape who saved the day. Sure, I killed Old Voldie, but I was "such a little sneak" about it, it was really "that angel from the shadows" who saved the Wizarding world," and "that's just shows what a big scarhead the glory-hungry Potter boy" was. Yeah…those were just some of the things that Skeeter bitch printed…guess you could say she had a field day kicking at my balls after my embarrassing display in that final battle. Eh, whatever, I have long since been apathetic. I think all that praise and encouragement in my Hogwarts years turned me off from being great.

But you know, all that is a different story. That is all in the past. Let's talk about me now. You think you know me? Heh.

FLASHBACK

Harry Potter leans back in his chair in Headmistress McGonagall's office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He sighs with a bored expression and forces himself to pay attention to what Minerva is saying.

"Well, Potter, even though you did not attend your seventh year…well we all know why and no one could possibly blame you…but the truth of the matter is, your marks were never very high in classes," she glances sternly over her spectacles at the youth sitting across the desk. "I mean, Potter, there is no doubt that you are a smart wizard...but you really need to apply yourself."

Harry sighs. "With all due respect, Prof-I mean, Headmistress, school has just never been an interest of mine. I mean, I'm no Hermione."

"Well, then, Potter, where do you want to go from here? Are you ready to enter the workforce then?"

"Was thinking about Quidditch."

"Well, I don't think England is looking for any new players…their trials won't be for another few years. What do you intend to do in the meantime?"

Harry groaned. "Must I DO anything?"

Headmistress McGonagall frowns at the boy. What had gone wrong with him? "You can work, Potter. You can go to school…"

"Fine, then I'll go to Auror School with Ron."

FLASHBACK END

So that's how I got to where I am now…at AMAFAT. I'm still close to my mates Ron and Hermione but now that they are married, Ron's all grown up and you know how he always wanted to be an auror, so he's working pretty hard. Me? Yeah you guessed it. I'm a hopeless student. Grins