When You Wasn't Famous
By: Sam Lincoln
Disclaimer: The characters from Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling and are used here without permission.
"When you're a famous boy/it's gets really easy to get girls/It's all so easy you get a bit spoiled/but when you try to pull a girl who is also famous too/It Feels Just Like When You Wasn't Famous
-When You Wasn't Famous, The Streets
Chapter 3: Meet the Potters
James and Lily Potter might have been one of the most influential couples in Wizarding Britain — James was a rising voice in the Ministry who many considered a strong candidate for the next Minister of Magic, while Lily was a leading researcher in the field of charms — but they still lived in the same little house in Godric's Hollow that Harry grew up in. Harry had asked on occasion why they hadn't moved into a larger house more fitting of their social standing, but his mum always told him the same thing.
"We don't need a bigger house Harry, and just buying a manor because people expect you to is hardly any sort of reason at all. Besides, your father and I are far too attached to this house to ever want to move. There are too many good memories here."
On that last point Harry had to agree. His childhood was what could only be described as idyllic; rampaging about the countryside with Neville in tow, surreptitious broom rides with his dad late at night so mum wouldn't find out. The amazing stories mum would tell about growing up surrounded by Muggles. And especially the tales Sirius would tell about their days at Hogwarts. The exploits of the Marauders always delighted young Harry, much to his mum's dismay.
"Sirius, stop trying to turn my son into a Maruader," Harry recalled his mum saying one day.
"What's so bad about that?" Sirius asked as he shot Lily a roguish smile. They were all sitting in the Potter's living room one sunny afternoon waiting for James to return from the Ministry. "After all, you married the worst of us. Harry's got Marauder's blood running through his veins. I'm just letting him know what that means."
"I only married James after he reformed," Lily said. "Now Harry dear," She said to her son as she knelt down to look him in the eyes. "I want you to remember something very important. You are James Potter's son. That means people will expect you act a certain way. Just always keep in mind that everyone deserves your respect, and just because you can pick on someone doesn't mean you should. Pranks can be good fun, but if you're mean-spirited about them then that's just bullying, and I will not tolerate that sort of behaviour, are we clear?" Harry nodded in understanding.
Later on that day Harry asked his father about the exchange between his mum and Sirius while the pair rode their brooms around in a field behind the house. James heaved a deep sigh when Harry finished his story.
"Harry, Sirius is my best mate and I love him dearly, but he does have a bit of a superiority streak to him. It's not really his fault. He had it knocked into his head from the day he was born that he was better than everyone else because he was a Black. That's not the sort of attitude you just forget when you realise your parents are mean-spirited bigots. In Sirius's case he transferred that sense of superiority to being a Marauder. Again, not that you can blame him. We were doing brilliant magic, far ahead of anything any of our classmates at Hogwarts were doing. The problem was that he, and myself too if I'm honest, thought that made us better than everyone else, and we didn't handle that well. It took your mum to get me to see how wrong we were, but Sirius has never found his version of your mum. He still thinks we way we acted was appropriate. Don't misunderstand Harry, there's nothing wrong with a good prank, but don't be mean about it. That was my big mistake at Hogwarts, and I'd rather see you make exciting new mistakes rather than repeat mine." James laughed. "But you didn't want to listen to your dad ramble on did you Harry? You just needed me to say, 'Listen to your mum' because she is always right. Now toss me that Quaffle."
For those memories, and a myriads of others, Harry was glad when he tumbled out of the Floo into the familiar comfort of the living room. It even smelled the way he remembered it. A familiar blend of his mum's cooking, cleaning products, and the remnants of her experiments. It was a combination that some people found off-putting when they first visited, but to Harry it was how home ought to smell.
"So I see the guest of honour has finally decided to show at his own party!" The voice of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and business manager, boomed out across the small living room. "I hope the bird was worth it Harry, your mum's been in a right state all morning."
"No doubt your doing Sirius," Harry said with a grin as he walked over and embraced his godfather. When Harry was growing up Sirius was a much a presence in his life as his parents. AFter their time at Hogwarts, the disowned heir to the Black fortune had drifted from job to job with no real plan. James and Lily would always do whatever they could for their friend. For a while he helped run James's office at the Ministry and did a good job of it too before his love of chaos caused an unfortunate incident involving a Pygmy Puff and Lucius Malfoy. After that Lily tried having Sirius work as her assistant. That experiment was doomed to failure and everyone agreed it was best to never speak of it. However it was his stint as an assistant professor at Hogwarts helping teach Defense Against the Dark Arts with Remus Lupin that was the most surprising. Despite his record while a student Sirius was quite good at the job. The students loved him, and the stories he would tell, and he and Remus were committed to making sure their students knew the material.
Unfortunately for both Remus and Sirius, politics was their undoing. Despite Dumbledore's best efforts, the board of directors eventually succeeded in forcing the werewolf off the teaching staff. Without what was perceived as the stabilising influence of Remus, the board was not willing to hand the job over to a man they thought to be the dilettante outcast member of the Black family. Sirius was quietly let go and replaced with the retired Auror Alistair Moody.
Harry's success at professional Quidditch meant success for Sirius as well since Harry needed someone to manage his wealth, and for all his failings, Sirius had a head for money. Under his guidance, Harry's fortune had grown by leaps and bounds. His wages from the league provided Harry with enough money to be well off, and thanks to Sirius Harry was now one of the wealthiest players in the entire league, with holdings that spanned the globe.
"James and I might have insisted on performing quality control on the watercress sandwiches she was making without her knowledge," Sirius said. "But that doesn't answer my question. Was the bird fit?"
Harry glanced over at Seamus who was talking to Neville and Hannah in the dining room. "Yes, she was fit, but I don't want to talk about that right now."
"Sirius!" James said from the kitchen door. "Stop embarrassing my son."
"Someone has to Prongs, we wouldn't want his head to get so big it can't fit through a door."
James walked over to where Harry and Sirius were standing and gave his son a one-armed hug. "Uncle Padfoot has a good point Harry. It won't do for your ego to get out of control, and heavens knows none of your friends can keep you in line."
"Nice to see you too dad," Harry said with mock exasperation.
"James, poor Harry just got here and you and Sirius are already doubling up on him?" Lily Potter said as he she walked out of the kitchen.
"But Lils," James said. He released Harry and rushed over to his wife to scoop her up into his arms. "Padfoot and I were just keeping Harry's feet on the ground."
Lily clucked her tongue and pushed James away. "Harry doesn't need anyone to keep his feet on the ground. He's perfectly capable of doing that on his own. Aren't you dear?" She wrapped her arms around Harry and kissed him on the cheek.
"Hello mum," Harry said before returning the kiss. "And no I don't need anyone to keep my ego in check. Though considering that Sirius can't go more than ten minutes without taking the piss out of someone; better me than anyone else. I can always fire him if he gets too far out of line and he knew it."
Lily patted Harry on the cheek. "That's my boy, and Sirius?" Lily round on Sirius and held up an index finger threateningly.
"Yes Lily, the most beautiful and wise?"
"Lay off Harry, today's a big day for him."
"It's not like he had anything to worry about. It would be criminal if Cabbock left Harry off the squad."
"I wouldn't go that far," Harry started to say.
"That's my boy, modest to the last," James said, affectionally punching Harry on the arm. "But Sirius is right, if Harry isn't named to the squad I will personally call the Aurors in to investigate."
"We'll find out soon enough," Lily said. "Now who wants a drink?"
"I'll have a lager if you have any," Sirius said.
"We do, and you know where to find it," Lily said to a crestfallen Sirius.
"Quiet everyone, they're starting the show!" Dean said to the rest of the room as he turned up the volume on the wireless.
"Good afternoon Quidditch fans, Lee Jordan here with the moment you've all been waiting for. Yes, at long last the starting seven for the 2008 European Championship Team for England can be announced. I'm joined, as always, by my partner Ludo Bagman. Ludo, what do you think we can expect from manager Mike Cabbock's side?"
"Good afternoon Lee, it's a pleasure to be here. I think if you are looking for a single word to describe a Cabbock side it would be tough. Cabbock believes in a hard-nosed brand of Quidditch. He expects all his players to play hard for the entire match. So expect him to select versatile flyers who play a solid two-way game. Regardless of who he selects though, we can expect it to be a cracking good side."
"Right you are Ludo, now then onto the roster. We're going to start with the Seeker position since we all know who it is and there's no sense in trying to build suspense. The Seeker for your 2008 English squad is of course Harry Potter. No surprise here, eh Ludo?"
"None at all Lee, Potter is hands down the best Seeker in the world and quite possibly one of the best Seekers in the history of the game. It's also no surprise that the success of the English team rests squarely on Potter's shoulders, and the team's ability to keep the score within reach of a Snitch catch."
"Moving along, at Keeper the choice is Montross's Chris Howse. Any thoughts on this selection?"
"Howse is one of the premier Keepers in the league. He also brings an amazing sense of calm to the position which is what you want from your Keeper on this stage."
"True enough Ludo, still you might've thought Cabbock would've gone with a more acrobatic keeper than Howse, but we'll find out soon enough if he made the right call. Shifting our attention to the Beaters, Cabbock has selected a pair of right brutes in Joey Colbourn and Derek Prentiss. Cabbock's not going for subtlety with these chaps. Any thoughts about these picks Ludo?"
"You hit it on the nose when you said brutes Lee. These are two of the roughest, toughest Beaters you will find anywhere. They will do a fantastic job of keeping the Chasers and Seeker clean during the match. All around they are both very solid selections."
"Next are the Chasers. This is where there's been some real drama, and no easy choices for Cabbock. So, starting left to right we have Brendan Shetley from Puddlemere United."
"A goal scorers goal scorer Lee," Bagman said. "Shetley is so big and strong it's impossible to knock him out of position."
"Then at center we have another Puddlemere Chaser, Steve Westerman."
"You might think it's rubbish selecting two players from your own club, but Cabbock knows what he's doing. Westerman is crafty, with a solid defensive game. He's almost two decades into his career and he's still one of the best in the world."
"And lastly the name we've long expected to hear called, but shockingly this is the first time we are. From the Holyhead Harpies the last starting Chaser is Ginny Weasley. It's about time right Ludo?"
"You're only too right there Lee. Ginny Weasley is the perfect addition to this squad. I can't think of a player better suited to fly in Cabbock's system than Ginny. She's a fabulous defender and a lethal scorer who knows where to pick her spots. It will be fantastic to see what she can do alongside a facilitator of Westerman's caliber."
"So there you have it, the starting seven for England. Overall what do you think their chances in the championship are?"
"I don't think it's overstating it to say this the best English side in a generation. They have to be strong favorites heading into the tournament. Really what it all boils down to is will the other six members of the team be able to keep the score close, because the odds say Potter will catch the Snitch."
The conversation on the wireless turned to discussing the reserve players and Dean switched it off. Everyone in the house then made their way over to Harry to offer their congratulations.
"Ginny Weasley," Lily said thoughtfully after the scrum died down. "Why do I know that name?"
"We played together at Hogwarts," Harry said. "She was the year behind me I think. Her older brother Ron was dorm mates with me, Neville, Dean and Seamus."
"Oh that's right," Lily said. "Arthur and Molly Weasley's little girl.
"Harry also dated Ginny our sixth year," Neville said.
Harry shot Neville a death glare. "That's right, we did. It was a school romance, nothing more than that."
"If you say so dear," Lily said. "Still, it must be exciting to play Quidditch at such a high level with a fellow Gryffindor."
Harry did his best to keep the grimace from showing on his face. "Yes, extremely."
Author's Notes: The tricky bit when writing a story like this is deciding exactly how much to change, and which characters to include. To keep myself from going mad I had to narrow down who was going to be included. So, for instance, Draco Malfoy will not be appearing at any point. He's an important character to the canon, but not to the story being told so he gone Likewise Remus, for as cool as he is, only shows up just this one time. In general though, if there's a character you really like, and they don't get mentioned, just imagine they lived a perfectly happy life. Thanks again to everyone who's read or reviewed and I'll see you next week.
-sam