Disclaimer: I don’t own the Harry Potter books.
Summary: Somewhere out there is a Harry Potter who never heard of Voldemort.
Author’s Notes: I’ve never been able to enjoy an AU high school HP fic, so I challenged myself to write one to see if I could. This is as close as I could get.
A Slice of Normal
In high school, Harry was the quiet kid in the back of the room who liked to daydream. Other students knew him and his friends as “those weirdoes”, the teachers barely remembered their names, and Harry liked it that way. It had taken him two years of being unremarkable, a little geeky, and a whole lot strange for his classmates to forget who his father was and how rich he was. Now Harry could come to school dressed as the worst kind of cheep hooker from Knockturn Alley and the worst would be another rumor around the school how “The weirdoes are up to something” and another warning from the principal to not let Hermione blow up the chemistry lab again and to keep Ron away from the cafeteria’s kitchen.
As he adjusted the silver tassel on his graduation cap so his mother could take another picture, Harry knew he would miss it. College would come with its own brand of anonymity, but it wasn’t the one he was used to. Here people knew who he was, they just didn’t care what he did; there no one would know and no one would care. It was almost enough to scare Harry into telling his father he would take his offer of a year off.
Hermione laughed as she tackled him, knocking him into Ron and both of them on the ground. Harry and Ron’s caps went flying, revealing the purple and silver hair their mothers had spent so much time hiding. Grinning, Harry pulled Hermione’s cap off and Ron pulled the pins out of her bun, releasing her dyed curls.
Ignoring their embarrassed parents and the other families around them, the three friends, still in their puppy pile on the ground, grinned as Hermione pulled a disposable camera out of her gown, and they posed for the snapshot.
“Harry?”
Harry looked away from the Mirror of Erised and smiled weakly at his best friend. “Hey.”
“Didn’t Dumbledore tell you that thing was dangerous?” Ron asked as he walked over and sat on the floor next to Harry.
Harry shrugged and went back to watching the scene play out in the mirror. “I keep waiting for my boggart to turn into a camera,” he said eventually, “but the me in there doesn’t seem to have a problem.”
Ron nodded, wishing he could see what Harry saw in the mirror so he could understand why Harry sounded so wistful. “Is he posing for the camera?”
Harry snorted, and then snickered before saying, “Yeah; me, you, and Hermione. We’re goofing off.”
“Ah. You know, we can go goof off in the common after Professor McGonagall kicks us out of Dumbledore’s library for the night,” Ron suggested, not at all liking the pained expression on Harry’s face. He regretted saying anything when Harry’s smile disappeared. “Or we could sit here until Hermione comes to find us.”
“No,” Harry said, shaking his head as he stood, his recently acquired stubborn, tired, determined expression firmly in place. “We need to figure out how to destroy the Horcruxes.” He looked at the mirror and smiled sadly. “Normal can wait.”
In high school, Harry was the quiet kid in the back of the room who liked to daydream. Other students knew him and his friends as “those weirdoes”, the teachers barely remembered their names, and Harry liked it that way. It had taken him two years of being unremarkable, a little geeky, and a whole lot strange for his classmates to forget who his father was and how rich he was. Now Harry could come to school dressed as the worst kind of cheep hooker from Knockturn Alley and the worst would be another rumor around the school how “The weirdoes are up to something” and another warning from the principal to not let Hermione blow up the chemistry lab again and to keep Ron away from the cafeteria’s kitchen.
As he adjusted the silver tassel on his graduation cap so his mother could take another picture, Harry knew he would miss it. College would come with its own brand of anonymity, but it wasn’t the one he was used to. Here people knew who he was, they just didn’t care what he did; there no one would know and no one would care. It was almost enough to scare Harry into telling his father he would take his offer of a year off.
Hermione laughed as she tackled him, knocking him into Ron and both of them on the ground. Harry and Ron’s caps went flying, revealing the purple and silver hair their mothers had spent so much time hiding. Grinning, Harry pulled Hermione’s cap off and Ron pulled the pins out of her bun, releasing her dyed curls.
Ignoring their embarrassed parents and the other families around them, the three friends, still in their puppy pile on the ground, grinned as Hermione pulled a disposable camera out of her gown, and they posed for the snapshot.
“Harry?”
Harry looked away from the Mirror of Erised and smiled weakly at his best friend. “Hey.”
“Didn’t Dumbledore tell you that thing was dangerous?” Ron asked as he walked over and sat on the floor next to Harry.
Harry shrugged and went back to watching the scene play out in the mirror. “I keep waiting for my boggart to turn into a camera,” he said eventually, “but the me in there doesn’t seem to have a problem.”
Ron nodded, wishing he could see what Harry saw in the mirror so he could understand why Harry sounded so wistful. “Is he posing for the camera?”
Harry snorted, and then snickered before saying, “Yeah; me, you, and Hermione. We’re goofing off.”
“Ah. You know, we can go goof off in the common after Professor McGonagall kicks us out of Dumbledore’s library for the night,” Ron suggested, not at all liking the pained expression on Harry’s face. He regretted saying anything when Harry’s smile disappeared. “Or we could sit here until Hermione comes to find us.”
“No,” Harry said, shaking his head as he stood, his recently acquired stubborn, tired, determined expression firmly in place. “We need to figure out how to destroy the Horcruxes.” He looked at the mirror and smiled sadly. “Normal can wait.”
Tags: au, hp, one shot