"Here we go then. This is what we've all come to Silverstone for. The British Grand Prix, and its lights out, and away we go."
"Max Verstappen already into Abbey, takes the lead. And Carlos Sainz… and at the back… that's George Russell out of this race!" David Croft announced to the TV audience. "Its not just George Russell, as we've got a red flag which is going to make racing redundant. It looks like the car that went upside down through the gravel is…
"I think it was Jimmy Potter who was also involved with this."
Alison "Lis" Longbottom was worried.
She was worried because of the crash that had occurred on the first lap of the 2022 British Grand Prix.
The crash that occurred to the person she had fallen for. The person she had given her first kiss to.
James "Jimmy" Potter.
He had crashed on the corner of Abbey and was still in his car, which had got itself wedged between the fences.
Her heart was racing. She had to get to him. She needed to get to him.
But she couldn't. Even though there was a red flag, she wasn't an official, a steward, or a driver. Because of that, she couldn't go on to the track to tell him one thing...
That she loved him.
"He'll be alright." She heard Harry Potter, Jimmy's father, say to his wife. "Ian is there. He's one of the best you know."
"I know Harry." Hermione said to her husband. "I just worry you know. I worried for you when you had your crash in 2003. But Harry, James is our eldest, he's my baby, same with Rosie, Al and Hugo."
Alison looked at the older Potters and started crying. "I know Jimmy and I have only known each other for a couple of days, but... I think... no I know... that I l...I have feelings for him. Not because of him being a Formula One driver, but because of him being... well... cute, friendly and... well, him."
Hermione looked at her husband and smiled. Turning back to Alison, she led the younger lady to the back of the garage where there was nobody working. "You remind me of when I was not much older. How a cute, messy haired bloke took my breath away, not because of him being a racing driver, but because he stopped and helped me in my moment of need."
"And then history repeated itself over twenty years later?"
"It looks like it is." Hermione said, Looking at the younger girl. "Tell me, do you love him?"
"I... I do. I need to confess something. I ... I had a dream last night. It was a dream featuring Jimmy."
Earlier that day...
Alison was laying in her bed at the hotel, asleep, thinking of a certain person with cute green eyes and messy hair.
It was Christmas night at the Potter household. Alison was sitting in an armchair, a small bump on her stomach, a toddler in her arms.
She looked up to see her husband in a ridiculous elf outfit, his arms lifting up a little boy with her hair colour and his eyes.
"Daddy loves you, Monty. Even when he must go away to work, daddy loves you."
She watched as her brothers-in-law were in the kitchen having a food fight with their sister, trying hard not to laugh at the Potters at the same time.
She saw how her father-in-law tried hard to act as a peacekeeper and failing big time.
She watched as her husband's grandfather, the man he was named after, James Potter, was trying his best to not to get involved with what his grandkids were up to whilst his wife was looking disapprovingly.
And then she saw how her husband sat down on the arm of the chair and placed his hand on her bump.
"I love you too Lily Athena Potter." Her husband had said softly. The couple looked into each other's eyes and Alison saw those eyes she had fell in love with years ago at the side of a road.
Present Day...
The past three quarters of an hour felt like it had gone slow as the stewards and officials managed to recover Jimmy from his car and get him to the Medical Centre.
Alison had found herself being told to follow Harry and Hermione by none other than Jimmy's grandfather, James Potter, into the course's Medical Centre.
Her brother, Franklin, opted to remain with Al and the two Potter siblings, in the Alfa Romeo garage where the Potters had invited them to, but James could see that she was still worried about his grandson and namesake.
Alison remembered how she had had dined with the Potters the previous night and how well the three generations of the family got on well with each other.
Previous Day...
The Potter family were in a restaurant in Brackley, a village near to the Silverstone complex, having invited the Longbottom siblings to dine with them.
"I can't believe that three generations of Potters have raced at Silverstone." Frankie said, still shocked to be up close and personal with three of his idols. Turning to Harry, he had to control himself. "You know, your rookie year was interesting but I think that 2004 was more interesting, especially after the events the previous year."
"I had luck in 2004. Michael was the favourite to win at the start of it, but the Ferrari engines were not as good in the first half of the season, otherwise he and Rubens would have beaten Jenson and I hands down."
"But then the team of you and Fernando Alonso made the next season look like child's play in the Renaults, didn't you?" Frankie said, turning to Athena. "Splitting the first and second places."
"Fernando was a good teammate to be fair." Athena said, "Plus I wanted to try and beat my big brother, much to the Fernando's disappointment. It helped that the B. had that two race ban."
"That season was a shit show. Being ill, that farce of a race in America-"
"Harry!" Hermione said, chastising her husband "You couldn't help being ill in Malaysia, and the less said about the other thing the better! "
Harry sighed, he knew that despite his wife not being as invested in racing as her father, she still had a opinion on the events of the 2005 Grand Prix at Indianapolis.
Frankie turned back to Harry. "Watching the 2006 Honda win, and the win with Red Bull in your final season in 2009 online, I thought they were awesome!"
"Thanks" Harry said, smiling. "Although it wasn't just me. I had a good team. So did Athena, it's just a pity that neither of us got to be on the same team together otherwise we could have provided each other with more of a chance to break records. Christian was a good Team Principal when I was at Red Bull, still is. Look at how he had Sergio and Max last season, they won fair."
"No, Lewis did" Athena said, bobbing her tongue out at her brother.
"You're biased" Harry retorted, a smile on his face "You spent over half a dozen seasons teaming with him!"
"Yeah, but at least I don't keep lurking around the Red Bull garages now and again!"
"No, you just keep trying to analyse things instead!"
"Children, children" Lily said, giving Harry and Athena a smack round the ear each. "No arguing over that, I hear enough of it when Dan or Martin and your dad get together. At least Sirius, and Remus as well, would rather talk about their school days and not sitting in a car going nearly 200 miles a hour!" fake sighing, she tried hard not to giggle. "Honestly, sometimes I swear most of the men in my life, and my daughter as well, would rather get in front of a V6 engine or talk about them then they would about anything else."
"Mum!" Harry fake whined, "I do think about other things you know."
"Yeah, like Hermione!" Athena said, with a straight face.
"Yeah, Mr I can race and ride a motorbike no problems, but struggle to put up a set of shelves." Hermione said, trying to tease her husband.
"Hey, it's not my fault I drilled that screw into the wall too hard and burst that pipe. I did kind of get distracted you know." Harry said, knowing that his wife was teasing him, he decided that turnabout was fair play. "You were wearing that nighty, and you know what you were doing still turns me on!" he whispered into Hermione's ear.
"Dad!" both Al and Rose exclaimed. "You're in public!"
Alison watched as Jimmy went red at how his parents behaved.
"Excuse me? Are you Jimmy Potter?" a voice came from behind her. Alison watched as he turned around.
"Yes… yes I am…" he responded.
"I'm sorry to be a pain, but can I get a selfie with you?" the owner of that voice said, brandishing a camera phone. "The lads at work won't believe me that I bumped into you otherwise. I'm Fred by the way, Fred Weasley."
"Well Fred Weasley," Jimmy said, standing up, "I'm happy to oblige the fans."
Alison watched as the youngest of the three Potter racers talked to the young man. Behind him though, there was a commotion as flashes and shouting happened behind him.
"Mr Malfoy, Mr Malfoy, is it true that Fernando is leaving Aston Martin at the end of the season" one of the voices shouted.
"No comment" the response came.
"Mr Malfoy, we've heard from a reliable source that Fernando and Scorpius aren't getting along. Your son has had a bad season, picking up less points than his teammate, and his on-track rivalry with Jimmy Potter is growing, especially with the incident in Monaco. Do you-"
"Like I said, no comment at this time" Mr Malfoy said, "I'm sure the Potters would love to answer your questions though."
"For the love of…" Harry muttered. Alison looked at him inquisitively.
"That Skeeter woman is a pain. She writes for one of the gossip magazines, and she constantly hounds us, ever since Hermione and I got together. And now, with social media and all that, if one of us doesn't give her an interview now and again, well…"
Alison got the unspoken meaning. Her father, being the CEO of her grandfather's chain of garden centres, had to deal with the media now and again and she knew from his rants how he felt about them.
"At least Uncle Marty isn't like them." Jimmy said, holding her hand as his father stepped away to address Skeeter and the rest of the media. "He and grandad raced together back in the 1980's. Although it is embarrassing to see them and dad on the telly sometimes" he said quietly, hoping the microphones didn't pick what he said up. "And he watched dad and Aunt Athena in their careers too."
Present Day…
The bed in the medical centre was surrounded, and yet Alison could see only one person…
…the person that she had fallen for.
Going over to the youngest Potter there, she held his hands as he looked at her.
"I'm sorry" Jimmy said, not noticing how she looked at him, the concern in her eyes. "I wanted to win it you know. Not for the crowd, but I wanted to win… I wanted to win for you."
"You silly git." Alison said, rubbing the palm of his hand with her fingers. "I don't care if you win, lose or whatever. I…you…"
"Yeah, you soppy so and so." Harry mumbled from behind the couple. "You're defiantly like me in that sense. I'm sure your granddad would agree with that."
Leaning in for a kiss, Alison smiled. "I love you, Jimmy Potter."
"I love you too."
Awww... So Jimmy Potter has found love, and Silverstone is over for the 2022 season... We'll be off to Paul Ricard... soon!
Will Jimmy and Alison remain at the end of the season? Will the Alfa Romeo team bounce back? Will Aston Martin score higher in the Constructors Championship?
Oh, and the points standings in the Driver Championship... Jimmy Potter is now 6 points, having got 8th place in Canada, Scorpius Malfoy on 2 points.