Perils of Fame (HP)
Title: Perils of Fame
Rating: PG
Summary: It's not easy being married to the most famous wizard in Britain.
Note: Written for the 2005 femgenficathon, for this prompt: Women are at last becoming persons first and wives second, and that is as it should be. -- May Sarton
DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe and everything it encompasses. This is a work of fan fiction, and thus derives no profit or material benefit therefrom.
Witch Weekly (Spring 2005 Issue): Behind Every Great Wizard...
By Mendacity Fibbulus, Reporter-at-Large
The door opens and Ginny Potter enters the restaurant, wearing shimmering bronze and café au lait robes from, as I learn later, Gabrielle Delacour's exclusive fall collection. She spots me right away and threads her way gracefully between the occupied tables. Heads turn and voices murmur as she passes, and she stops once or twice to pat a familiar witch or wizard on the shoulder or to respond to a greeting called from across the room. Clearly, she is as well-known here as she is all across Britain.
She arrives at our table and extends her hand to me. "Madam Fibbulus, it's a pleasure to meet you," she says. Her voice is low and husky, like that of a femme fatale in an old Muggle cinema. The warmth in her bright brown eyes convinces me she is genuinely pleased to meet me, and I start to see how she managed to charm The Boy Who Lived.
She is surprisingly pretty up close, despite the red hair and freckles. I can see now that the long-range lenses that usually capture her in private moments, or the staged studio portraits of the famous couple, are not all smoke and mirrors.
"Today's my wedding anniversary," she says as she takes the seat across from mine, "so I'm afraid I can't stay long."
"Congratulations," I tell her. "How many years -- three? Four?"
"Two," she says. The laugh lines at the corners of her mouth deepen slightly, as though she has just remembered a naughty joke.
"I won't keep you any longer than necessary, then." While she confers with the waiter I set up my Deluxe Quick Quotes Quill.
So you were married to Harry Potter two years ago today?
Yes.
Tell me about your wedding.
There's not really much to tell.
Come now, it was the most talked-about social event of the year!
No, really. Just a few close friends and family in the Marriage Registry Office. My brother Percy officiated.
And then?
Sorry? And then what?
Where did your new husband take you on your honeymoon?
We didn't go on honeymoon. There was still so much that needed to be done to rebuild after the war that we decided to postpone it.
The Potters' home in Somerset encompasses several hundred acres with an impressively large manor house, recently remodeled and refurbished by the design firm of Patil, Brown and Spinnett. The main house is seated atop a hill that gives visitors a panoramic view of the lush, rolling countryside. Nestled in a grove of trees at the northwest corner of the estate lie the ruins of Harry Potter's childhood home, the site of his first and final confrontation with He-Whose-Name-We-Still-Refuse-To-Speak-Aloud. A hundred yards away sits the Potter family cemetery; confidential sources tell Witch Weekly that Potter leaves a bouquet of calla lilies on his mother's grave every Halloween.
Those in the know say that inside the home, the furnishings are elegant but welcoming, a testimony to Potter's reportedly warm and generous personality. Yet, apart from a modest trophy case set in a dark corner of the sitting room, there is little to suggest that a wizard of such fame and notoriety lives there. Upon examination, the trophy case reveals only Potter's medal received for Special Services to Hogwarts, the Triwizard Cup, his Quidditch Captain's badge and the medal he received from a grateful wizarding Britain upon his final victory over You-Know-Who.
So tell me what it's like being married to The Boy Who Lived.
I don't think I quite get your meaning.
Well, I mean... he's so famous... and powerful... and the rumors --
Perhaps you should have asked him for an interview instead of me.
He turned us down.
I really should be going --
No, please, sit down. Tell me about the post-war rebuilding efforts. Is your husband involved?
Well, as you may know, my father has been spearheading the confiscation of property belonging to known Death Eaters. That property is then being liquidated and the proceeds redistributed amongst the survivors of Voldemort's victims. With the help of Hermione Granger --
That would be your brother's fiancée?
Er, yes. She and Luna Lovegood and I have been responsible for locating those survivors. We've also been drafting a measure to take before the Wizengamot that would guarantee all magical creatures equal status with witches and wizards. Remus Lupin, as you may know --
Is it true your husband personally arrested Severus Snape?
Er... I'm not quite sure what that has to do --
Did he really put Snape's eyes out with his own thumbs?
What rubbish. Where do you get these ridiculous stories?
Well... If he would just agree to an interview we could clear up a lot of mysteries about him.
Draco Malfoy will walk out of Azkaban a free man before that ever happens.
No one knows exactly what happened the day Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who once and for all. Or, rather, those who know aren't telling. It is safe to presume that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were present, but some have hypothesized that Ginny Potter, then Ginny Weasley, may have been there as well. Stories have abounded for years that she fell under You-Know-Who's sway while a student at Hogwarts, and some believe she may have had a hand in his 'rebirth' at the climax of the Triwizard Tournament. Unfortunately, none of the reliable sources we contacted in pursuit of information were willing to go on record to confirm or deny the rumors.
What is a known fact, however, is that Severus Snape, whose loyalties during the Second War remain unclear even today, sits in Azkaban a blind man, his eyes having been gouged out at some time late in the war.
Look, do you want to hear about the rebuilding or not?
Of course, that's why you --
As I was trying to explain earlier, Luna, Hermione and I have been responsible for locating survivors. It hasn't been easy. Many of them went deep into hiding after initially being attacked. Some went overseas, to Europe or the Americas and even as far as Australia. Many have been passing as Muggles.
Your husband was raised by Muggles, wasn't he? I imagine his expertise is dead useful in tracking down people.
Not at all. Hermione is Muggle-born, so she is our best resource in that regard.
But surely you call on him for help at times. After all, he is the head of the Auror Division and the most powerful --
The most powerful wizard alive, yes, so I've heard.
Is it true?
Is what true?
That he's the most powerful wizard alive? Is it true he can perform advanced magic without a wand? That he can disembowel his enemies with a thought?
(Indistinct)
I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.
I said he puts his trousers on one leg at a time, just like any other wizard.
Boxers or briefs?
I beg your pardon?
Which does he prefer: boxers or briefs?
I...
We conducted a poll of our readers, and that was the number two question they most wanted an answer to.
I know I'm going to regret this: what was the number one question?
The hippogriff tattoo on his chest: fact or salacious rumor?
Are you familiar with the Bat-Bogey Hex?
No. Is that a spell your husband invented?
Vespertiliones mucorum!
* * * * *
Harry set down the magazine and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, chuckling. "I can't believe she actually left that bit in."
"I can't believe any of that twaddle," Ginny said, her eyes still trained on the pile of parchment spread out before her. "The insinuations about Voldemort were particularly offensive. I have half a mind to sue her for libel. And where does that hideous old cow get off calling me 'surprisingly pretty'?" She pointed a finger at the magazine, as though accusing it, and not those who contributed to it, of committing the offense. "To hear her lot tell it, you'd think my only purpose in life was to be 'The Girl Who Managed To Snag The Boy Who Lived'."
"You mean you have other ambitions?" he asked, his tone gently teasing her. "I mean, besides traveling all over the world to find traumatized survivors, or helping raise Galleons to build a home for war orphans, or designing and testing new products for Fred and George's business, or petitioning the Ministry on behalf of werewolf rights, or volunteering at St. Mungo's, or.... Did I forget anything?"
She turned her head to look at him, her eyebrow raised. "Another owl from the recruitment office for the Falmouth Falcons came today."
Harry sighed and picked up the magazine to finish reading the article. "Again? How many times do I have to tell them I'm not interested in playing professional Quidditch?"
"You're not listening, Harry," Ginny said. "The owl wasn't for you. They want me to play."
He looked up from the magazine. "Really?"
"Yes, really. Why, is that so unbelievable?"
He had the grace to blush. "No, not at all. I just -- I wasn't expecting it, is all. You've never really indicated any interest in playing at that level."
"I can do more than hunt down missing wizards and harass the Wizengamot and parade in front of cameras, you know."
"I never had any reason to doubt that you can do anything you set your mind to. After all, I could never have defeated Voldemort if you hadn't insisted on being there right beside me." This time, she was the one to blush and look away. "What are you going to tell them?" he asked.
She turned over the parchment she'd been reading earlier and scribbled a few notes on the back. "That I'd have to think about it. I am very busy, as you well know. I also told them I was concerned that if the team did well with me as a Chaser, my husband might have trouble coping with the attention that comes with having a wife who's as famous as he is."
A grin of wonder crept across his face. "You didn't."
"Did too." A corner of her mouth quirked. "You realize that if I do join the team, Witch Weekly will be hounding you for interviews?"
He made a face. "And how is that any different from the way things are now?"
"This time, though it'll probably still be your face on the cover, they'll actually be asking questions about me."
Rating: PG
Summary: It's not easy being married to the most famous wizard in Britain.
Note: Written for the 2005 femgenficathon, for this prompt: Women are at last becoming persons first and wives second, and that is as it should be. -- May Sarton
DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe and everything it encompasses. This is a work of fan fiction, and thus derives no profit or material benefit therefrom.
Witch Weekly (Spring 2005 Issue): Behind Every Great Wizard...
By Mendacity Fibbulus, Reporter-at-Large
The door opens and Ginny Potter enters the restaurant, wearing shimmering bronze and café au lait robes from, as I learn later, Gabrielle Delacour's exclusive fall collection. She spots me right away and threads her way gracefully between the occupied tables. Heads turn and voices murmur as she passes, and she stops once or twice to pat a familiar witch or wizard on the shoulder or to respond to a greeting called from across the room. Clearly, she is as well-known here as she is all across Britain.
She arrives at our table and extends her hand to me. "Madam Fibbulus, it's a pleasure to meet you," she says. Her voice is low and husky, like that of a femme fatale in an old Muggle cinema. The warmth in her bright brown eyes convinces me she is genuinely pleased to meet me, and I start to see how she managed to charm The Boy Who Lived.
She is surprisingly pretty up close, despite the red hair and freckles. I can see now that the long-range lenses that usually capture her in private moments, or the staged studio portraits of the famous couple, are not all smoke and mirrors.
"Today's my wedding anniversary," she says as she takes the seat across from mine, "so I'm afraid I can't stay long."
"Congratulations," I tell her. "How many years -- three? Four?"
"Two," she says. The laugh lines at the corners of her mouth deepen slightly, as though she has just remembered a naughty joke.
"I won't keep you any longer than necessary, then." While she confers with the waiter I set up my Deluxe Quick Quotes Quill.
So you were married to Harry Potter two years ago today?
Yes.
Tell me about your wedding.
There's not really much to tell.
Come now, it was the most talked-about social event of the year!
No, really. Just a few close friends and family in the Marriage Registry Office. My brother Percy officiated.
And then?
Sorry? And then what?
Where did your new husband take you on your honeymoon?
We didn't go on honeymoon. There was still so much that needed to be done to rebuild after the war that we decided to postpone it.
The Potters' home in Somerset encompasses several hundred acres with an impressively large manor house, recently remodeled and refurbished by the design firm of Patil, Brown and Spinnett. The main house is seated atop a hill that gives visitors a panoramic view of the lush, rolling countryside. Nestled in a grove of trees at the northwest corner of the estate lie the ruins of Harry Potter's childhood home, the site of his first and final confrontation with He-Whose-Name-We-Still-Refuse-To-Speak-Aloud. A hundred yards away sits the Potter family cemetery; confidential sources tell Witch Weekly that Potter leaves a bouquet of calla lilies on his mother's grave every Halloween.
Those in the know say that inside the home, the furnishings are elegant but welcoming, a testimony to Potter's reportedly warm and generous personality. Yet, apart from a modest trophy case set in a dark corner of the sitting room, there is little to suggest that a wizard of such fame and notoriety lives there. Upon examination, the trophy case reveals only Potter's medal received for Special Services to Hogwarts, the Triwizard Cup, his Quidditch Captain's badge and the medal he received from a grateful wizarding Britain upon his final victory over You-Know-Who.
So tell me what it's like being married to The Boy Who Lived.
I don't think I quite get your meaning.
Well, I mean... he's so famous... and powerful... and the rumors --
Perhaps you should have asked him for an interview instead of me.
He turned us down.
I really should be going --
No, please, sit down. Tell me about the post-war rebuilding efforts. Is your husband involved?
Well, as you may know, my father has been spearheading the confiscation of property belonging to known Death Eaters. That property is then being liquidated and the proceeds redistributed amongst the survivors of Voldemort's victims. With the help of Hermione Granger --
That would be your brother's fiancée?
Er, yes. She and Luna Lovegood and I have been responsible for locating those survivors. We've also been drafting a measure to take before the Wizengamot that would guarantee all magical creatures equal status with witches and wizards. Remus Lupin, as you may know --
Is it true your husband personally arrested Severus Snape?
Er... I'm not quite sure what that has to do --
Did he really put Snape's eyes out with his own thumbs?
What rubbish. Where do you get these ridiculous stories?
Well... If he would just agree to an interview we could clear up a lot of mysteries about him.
Draco Malfoy will walk out of Azkaban a free man before that ever happens.
No one knows exactly what happened the day Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who once and for all. Or, rather, those who know aren't telling. It is safe to presume that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were present, but some have hypothesized that Ginny Potter, then Ginny Weasley, may have been there as well. Stories have abounded for years that she fell under You-Know-Who's sway while a student at Hogwarts, and some believe she may have had a hand in his 'rebirth' at the climax of the Triwizard Tournament. Unfortunately, none of the reliable sources we contacted in pursuit of information were willing to go on record to confirm or deny the rumors.
What is a known fact, however, is that Severus Snape, whose loyalties during the Second War remain unclear even today, sits in Azkaban a blind man, his eyes having been gouged out at some time late in the war.
Look, do you want to hear about the rebuilding or not?
Of course, that's why you --
As I was trying to explain earlier, Luna, Hermione and I have been responsible for locating survivors. It hasn't been easy. Many of them went deep into hiding after initially being attacked. Some went overseas, to Europe or the Americas and even as far as Australia. Many have been passing as Muggles.
Your husband was raised by Muggles, wasn't he? I imagine his expertise is dead useful in tracking down people.
Not at all. Hermione is Muggle-born, so she is our best resource in that regard.
But surely you call on him for help at times. After all, he is the head of the Auror Division and the most powerful --
The most powerful wizard alive, yes, so I've heard.
Is it true?
Is what true?
That he's the most powerful wizard alive? Is it true he can perform advanced magic without a wand? That he can disembowel his enemies with a thought?
(Indistinct)
I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.
I said he puts his trousers on one leg at a time, just like any other wizard.
Boxers or briefs?
I beg your pardon?
Which does he prefer: boxers or briefs?
I...
We conducted a poll of our readers, and that was the number two question they most wanted an answer to.
I know I'm going to regret this: what was the number one question?
The hippogriff tattoo on his chest: fact or salacious rumor?
Are you familiar with the Bat-Bogey Hex?
No. Is that a spell your husband invented?
Vespertiliones mucorum!
* * * * *
Harry set down the magazine and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, chuckling. "I can't believe she actually left that bit in."
"I can't believe any of that twaddle," Ginny said, her eyes still trained on the pile of parchment spread out before her. "The insinuations about Voldemort were particularly offensive. I have half a mind to sue her for libel. And where does that hideous old cow get off calling me 'surprisingly pretty'?" She pointed a finger at the magazine, as though accusing it, and not those who contributed to it, of committing the offense. "To hear her lot tell it, you'd think my only purpose in life was to be 'The Girl Who Managed To Snag The Boy Who Lived'."
"You mean you have other ambitions?" he asked, his tone gently teasing her. "I mean, besides traveling all over the world to find traumatized survivors, or helping raise Galleons to build a home for war orphans, or designing and testing new products for Fred and George's business, or petitioning the Ministry on behalf of werewolf rights, or volunteering at St. Mungo's, or.... Did I forget anything?"
She turned her head to look at him, her eyebrow raised. "Another owl from the recruitment office for the Falmouth Falcons came today."
Harry sighed and picked up the magazine to finish reading the article. "Again? How many times do I have to tell them I'm not interested in playing professional Quidditch?"
"You're not listening, Harry," Ginny said. "The owl wasn't for you. They want me to play."
He looked up from the magazine. "Really?"
"Yes, really. Why, is that so unbelievable?"
He had the grace to blush. "No, not at all. I just -- I wasn't expecting it, is all. You've never really indicated any interest in playing at that level."
"I can do more than hunt down missing wizards and harass the Wizengamot and parade in front of cameras, you know."
"I never had any reason to doubt that you can do anything you set your mind to. After all, I could never have defeated Voldemort if you hadn't insisted on being there right beside me." This time, she was the one to blush and look away. "What are you going to tell them?" he asked.
She turned over the parchment she'd been reading earlier and scribbled a few notes on the back. "That I'd have to think about it. I am very busy, as you well know. I also told them I was concerned that if the team did well with me as a Chaser, my husband might have trouble coping with the attention that comes with having a wife who's as famous as he is."
A grin of wonder crept across his face. "You didn't."
"Did too." A corner of her mouth quirked. "You realize that if I do join the team, Witch Weekly will be hounding you for interviews?"
He made a face. "And how is that any different from the way things are now?"
"This time, though it'll probably still be your face on the cover, they'll actually be asking questions about me."