The Potters and the Choices Made
Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. If it did, James and Lily Potter would be alive, as would Sirius Black.
After all the havoc involved in Remus' rescue, things got pretty calm. In fact, James got his deserved vacation from problems and worries for about 6 years, way longer than he had imagined possible. Life seemed rather dull, if compared to all the craziness those four people had lived since they had left Hogwarts (to be frank, even during the last couple of years of school). So, things were 'dull', but one cannot overlook the fact that 'dull' for the Marauders meant a quite eventful life.
Harry grew up to be a happy-go-lucky kid, always wearing a smile that seemed to light up the whole world, pretty much like his father. Actually, each passing day made him look and act more like his father. James was his hero, his world, his everything.
Even though Harry loved his mother more than a large number of kids love theirs, that wasn't nearly the same amount of love he had to his father. The little boy spent the whole day waiting for 'his James', and then the rest of the day with him. Harry's eyes shone every time he looked at his father, and when James was around, he had an easy smile on his baby lips, and his laughter was way easier.
It's funny that, most of the times, the family bond is deeper between a young boy and his mother, or between a young girl and her father. In fact, it is common to hear stories about girls who were extremely attached to their fathers, but had issues with their mothers, and boys who were crazy for their mothers and had problems with their fathers, but Harry didn't work that way. His bond was deep with his mother, actually, deeper than Lily's bond to either of her parents, but Harry's connection to his father was similar to an addiction.
Sometimes, for instance, when something upset Harry to the point of crying, even Lily couldn't make their son calm down, but James just needed to hold him and whisper a few words and the boy stopped. It was easy to see that Harry would be a person who could love, a person who loved others, and that pleased not only his parents but also his 'uncles' and some of their friends.
It was being raised in a love-filled family, which seemed to highlight his propensity for love, and the fact that both his parents were, say, full of love, that combined created Harry, whose greatest strength was the ability to love so much at a tender age, much like his father.
Much to Lily's distress, though, the physical resemblance and ability to love weren't at all everything that Harry inherited from his father: Mischief seemed to be one of his passions as well. As he was still very little to plot, he would help his father and his godfather prank other people. The two men, of course, not only happily and proudly welcomed him, but most of the time taught him what they knew about pranks (Lily insisted that James and Sirius had taught her son to show her 'puppy eyes' when she needed to tell him off for 'participating' in a prank. They denied it vehemently, claiming that the boy had the so called 'marauder spirit' and had taught himself this saving technique. Needless to say, Lily could barely mumble a few words to her son when he was looking at her that way, which ended up taking James' and Sirius' pride to stratospheric levels).
During his third birthday, almost a year and a half after Remus' salvage, Harry earned his first 'punishment' for being naughty. James had woken him up and took him downstairs so Potter family (insert Remus and Sirius there) could enjoy their day together.
When the two Potter boys arrived in the kitchen, Lily was already there, preparing both the breakfast and the cake for the small party they were throwing later on. She was stirring something on a pan, and behind her there was a stressed Blinx, who insisted 'Mrs. Potter is not to cook'. Upon hearing them entering the kitchen she turned and smiled at her son.
"Good morning, my precious." She said, finally letting Blinx continue the preparation of the food, reaching Harry and hugging him tightly. "Happy Birthday, my handsome prince." And she kissed him on his forehead, which made him giggle and started to leave the kitchen to the dining.
"Hey, your handsome king also wants a kiss!" James said, following his wife and child. After putting Harry down, Lily laughed and gave her husband a light slap, but also a passionate kiss. After a some good 5 seconds of kissing, Harry giggled and the couple parted, both blushing furiously.
"Hem… Okay, Pronglet. Let's let your mum work and get your uncles to help us… hum… prepare the party." James said, still a little bit pinkish. Lily eyed him suspiciously but decided to say nothing. She gave Harry one of the balloons Gally prepared (she always used muggle objects in her parties, even during Hogwarts) and went back to the food.
Waking Sirius up would require them far too much effort and time, and making him get out of bed was an impossible battle, so the three marauders and the junior one gathered on Sirius' bed, with the dog animagus still under the duvet. After making sure Sirius was awake enough to listen and comment, they started planning the prank they would pull during the party. Remus wasn't really sure about it, but, as they always did during school, Sirius and James ended up convincing him.
The plan was becoming rather difficult: all the ideas had already been used, and they wanted to do something new, innovative. They spent almost one hour just thinking, but nothing new showed up. That's when Harry entered.
"Unkl Pafoo, balloon!" He said, giving the balloon to Sirius.
"Hey, Pronglet, thank you!" He said, with a warm smile. He tried to take the balloon from the kid, but Harry shook his head.
"No, Unkl Pafoo. Balloon is going POP!" He said, shouting the last letter.
"You want me to pop the balloon?" Harry nodded quickly, even before Sirius finished his question. Sirius used his wand to create a pin. Then he popped the balloon.
Harry squeaked and then frowned. He started waving his hand in front of his nose. "Smewy" He said.
"Smelly?" James asked. He and Remus had stopped plotting so they could pay attention to his son. "No, no Harry, it's not smelly."
Harry's frown deepened. "Yes, smewy…" he then blew a raspberry, unmistakably like a fart. The adults looked at each other as the idea sunk in. They were dumbfounded by the oh-so-excellent idea that the little one had given them. Smiling like crazy they looked at Harry again, and he was grining.
"Is he grinning?" Sirius asked.
"No, he can't be. Babies don't grin, they smile." Remus said. "But… that devilish look is the same one James does when he plans a prank… Do you think…?" He said.
"Harry, do you the balloons smell like farts to you?" James asked, barely holding his joy. When Harry nodded, James and Sirius shouted and stood up from the bed and started making a happy dance, with made Harry and Remus laugh like crazy. They had a prank, and it was planned by their newest, youngest member. James and Sirius were overjoyed with pride, while Remus was still a little bit dumbstruck by the little boy's idea. He had to admit, though, that he was barely holding not to join the other marauders on their commemoration.
In the end, the whole prank was flawless, but needless to say, Lily didn't like it at all. They were conscious enough not to pop the balloons inside the house or near the food, but one of the balloons popped near baby Ginny Weasley and she puked an awful lot.
When the guests decided to leave later that day, Lily was the one to take them to the front door. Before leaving the living room, though, she shot a glare towards James and Sirius, who were sat on the sofa, making them well aware of her intentions when she came back.
"Don't even try to hide. You know the consequences." She said, her tone harsh. Both boys shuddered.
"I think we're going to get a spanking…" James said when Lily left. As usual, Harry was on his lap, and showed no signs of wanting to leave. Sirius looked at his brother with his eyes as big as saucers.
"Prongs, you don't think she would really spank us, do you?" he said. Upon seeing James shrug, he turned to Remus.
"Moony?" He turned to his friend who was standing near the fireplace. Sirius pretended shake. He wasn't really afraid of Lily, but drama was indeed one of his specialties. Remus giggled.
"If you're not cheeky, I don't think so." He said.
Padfoot stood and posed himself in front of James and Harry, his back towards the entrance of the room.
"Prongsie, we have to protect Pronglet. He's too young to be told off, that may hinder his natural ability for pranks!"
"That's exactly what I want." Lily chose this specific moment to enter back in the room. As Sirius' back was turned to the entrance, he didn't see her.
"AHHH!" He screamed very girly, jumping a few good feet away from the door, and consequently, Lily. "Don't kill us, woman! It was the baby, I swear!"
Lily had to control herself not to laugh. Her effort almost got her a broken rib, so hard she was trying to hold, but even with all that, a smile escaped her lips. She was able not to laugh, though.
James and Remus, on the other hand, were laughing widely. They started laughing with Sirius' effeminate scream, and their laughter just augmented with their friend's antics. After some good seconds laughing, James controlled himself enough to glance towards Sirius, playfully hidden behind one of the armchairs, and say:
"Good job protecting the kid." He said, sarcastically, as Sirius stood and sat beside him.
Lily frowned again. Time for being a mother.
"I can't believe you two did that! After all the hard work I had to prepare the party and you morons make balloons with farts inside!" She was starting to get red.
"But Lily, it was Harry who thought about…" Sirius started, but was cut by Remus.
"This is considered cheek." He said, while Lily inflated in anger.
"STOP BLAMING HARRY!" She shouted. James and Sirius somehow seemed to get smaller. "He's just a baby; obviously you two are the evil minds behind this!"
"Lily-flower…" James winced when Lily's sharp look turned to him. "This time Sirius is se… is not kidding." He said. No need for Sirius to make this more dangerous with his stupid puns. "Harry indeed thought about this…"
Lily's jaw dropped and her eyes shone in fury. "You're trying to say my three-year-old baby planned this? Alone? You're trying to blame him to save your sorry bums"" Her voice was dangerously low, now she was really angry. Maybe it would be okay to prank people, but not being man enough to take on the responsibility? That was a first... Sensing the danger, Remus intervened.
"They're not lying, Lily." He said. Lily looked at him, her mouth opened in an 'o'. She looked from Harry on his father's lap to Remus who was nodding. Remus Lupin wouldn't lie. Would he? "I was there, and I saw him. He didn't actually create the plan, but he surely set the idea up."
"Harry… will… have to be punished then…" She finally said, all anger apparently disappeared, but with a strong voice.
Sirius smiled, relieved that Lily wouldn't do anything to him, but James frowned.
"Wait, she believes Remy but doesn't believe her own husband? This is…" He stopped talking when he saw Lily's look.
"Well, then…" Sirius stood up and sighed. "Now that everything is settled…" He started to move towards the entrance of the room, only to be stopped by Lily.
"Where do you think you're going?" She said with that same harsh tone. Sirius halted halfway through the room and slowly turned to look at Lily. She had her arms folded in front of her chest and her gaze was still piercing.
"What? We told you Pronglet did it alone!"
"He may have, I don't know, given you the foundation, Sirius, but he surely doesn't have the necessary magical skills yet to actually perform it." She walked to the table where she used a quill to write in two pieces of paper. "Here is your punishment, boys." She handed one piece to James and the other to Sirius. "Get these chores done."
A while later, James and Sirius were cleaning the house, taking out the garbage, doing the dishes and organizing Harry's bedroom, which was a mess after all those kids playing in there. They both complained a lot, but neither of them said anything to Lily. She didn't want them to use magic, but they still used it behind her back, and calling her attention to them would not be smart.
Lily and Remus were having tea and having a light conversation in the living room. Harry was sat with his face turned to the wall, where he had to stay for 5 minutes and think about how bad creating fart-balloons was. Lily thought it wouldn't be very successful, but at least she told him that this would happen again if he participated again in his father and godfather's mischiefs.
What Lily wouldn't tell anybody, though, was that, deep inside, she couldn't be prouder of her clever child.
Another characteristic that grew with Harry was his passion for flying. As soon as he was old enough, James and Sirius started taking him for some light rides on their brooms. Soon they were flying almost every day after breakfast, much to Lily's distress. In fact, they would keep flying the whole day if Lily didn't limit it to an hour and a half, claiming that, if they kept on flying any longer, she would go crazy. That didn't keep Harry from crying almost every time he and his father or godfather, depending on who was taking him, got down, though.
Of course James gave him toy broomsticks which hoovered a couple of feet from the ground, but Harry seemed way more pleased with the height.
That was the hardest part for James to go back to work, which he knew he would have to do, rather sooner than later. The problem was that Harry hated the idea of not having his father around and taking him regularly for flying sessions. However, not a month before Harry's sixth birthday, James and Sirius decided it was time for them to go back to the Auror Force.
Voldemort's apparent defeat made the job fairly simple, but the shifts were sometimes long, and James always had to spend quite some time playing or flying with his son when he arrived home, no matter how tired he was.
Even though the Marauders and Lily felt their lives couldn't get any better, Remus started feeling really bad after James and Sirius went back to work. Each month that passed after this that Remus couldn't find a job turned him more bitter, no matter how many times Lily told him he helped her very much, taking care of Harry and Potter Manor.
The problem was that Remus felt he was imposing on his friends, living with them without having a job to pay for his stuff. And the lack of money kept him from finding himself a good home.
'Who would hire a dangerous monster' he used to think, bitterly. He tried, but the only jobs he could get were temporary as magical instructor, and even those did not survive the first time Remus couldn't work because of the full moon. Not directly because they knew he was a werewolf, even though he had to tell his bosses he was because of the law, but mainly because he had to stay some days at home.
James, Lily and Sirius tried their best to make their friend happy, asking him for favors for some money, but Remus hated feeling he was being pitied, so even those had to stop after a while.
But then, a couple of weeks before Christmas, when Harry was 7, and the situation was getting unbearable, Remus was offered a permanent job at one of his temporary instructions. He would have to move to a house and tutor a home schooled 14 year old boy enough so he could try his OWLs later on.
His name was Dan Oxenstierna. He was from Sweden and represented a typical image of a Swede: Blond, blue eyes, thin, introverted and silent, but very intelligent and educated. Lily, when she met him, said he was going to be very good looking, and wouldn't even notice, which would only help him become more handsome.
Dan's parents still lived in Sweden, but his mother was English and had attended Hogwarts. That's why they decided to send Dan to the UK to finish his magical studies.
James was unhappy about this situation. First, he didn't want Remus to move out, and the job required this. Second, he was scared. They didn't even know anybody from the boy's family! What if they were Death Eaters in disguise? But none of the arguments worked and barely a week before Christmas, Remus had moved out.
Of course he went to the Potters to visit often. But he was finally glad he didn't depend on his friends anymore. Even if Harry and James were not that happy about it.
Of course, as Harry started to grow up, his education became something the Potters needed to think about.
Normally, children born into magical families didn't go to school. They were taught at home how to read, count, and the basic knowledge they should have. This was, actually, one of the professions squibs chose: tutoring young kids. It didn't require magical knowledge and it paid relatively well, as the paying family was generally rich.
Lily decided that that was very lacking, though. After convincing James, it was decided that Harry would go to the same school she went when she was a child, St. Tiagus. St. Tiagus was in London, not that much far from the Leaky Cauldron. Either Lily, James or Sirius would apparate to the old bar and do the five minute walk with Harry to leave him there. Remus also did it a couple of times, before he moved out. Some many things happened throughout the years Harry studied there, that it would be possible for a person to write a whole book about it. This is another time's story, though.
All in all, things adjusted themselves pretty neatly. No big problems, and only one big concern: Bellatrix. Since the whole ritual thing, which, by the way, James and Lily did their best to find a way to defeat but couldn't, they worried about the day she would try to reach them.
It was only in the beginning of the year 1988 when something finally, and sadly, happened.
A.N.: HELLO! *echo*
IS ANYBODY THERE? *echo*
*sigh* Hello, guys. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update something. Life's been hectic, and I just didn't have time to continue this. In fact, I still don't, but I hate unfinished stories, so here you have, at least one update.
I have to be sincere; I had lost confidence in this story. I thought I didn't have in me what it took to continue. So it took me more than one year to start writing again. And when I did, I found out I just couldn't continue at the same point I was before, so this is way this chapter takes us ahead from where we were.
When I say so much happened, I'm not kidding. While I was on this forced hiatus, I almost erased the story, I donated it to my best friend, got it back... But every time I saw something that I thought I could include here, I thought about this story, and that's what got me back. I hope the next phase of this story manages to keep you more entertained.
I'm sorry for the long AN, but I had to get this off of my chest. I hope I manage to update by the beginning of next month.
I suck at writing what a baby says. Sorry.
Sorry about the Ginny puking thing, also. I try, but I hate her far too much to leave her alone. But don't worry, there will be no bashing, and she will be a nice girl. Well, as nice as Ginny can be.
And a three year old thinking about that prank is possible. I've seen it myself.
Hope you enjoyed, and please, if you can, leave a piece of your thoughts to me, review or PM? =)