Bloody Politics
6 July, 1995
"I feel like a bloody Malfoy!"
Sirius looked over at his godson with an amused expression. Harry was so much like James in looks and mannerisms that is was scary. He could almost hear Prongs saying those same words.
It was amazing how much Harry was an amalgamation of people he'd never met. In looks and manner he was James. His morals and drive was pure Lily though. Lily got her outlook from her mother, Rose, but Harry also had the iron will that reminded Sirius so much of Lily's father, Michael.
Sirius supressed an involuntary shiver at the memory of Mr Evans. The Marauders had played a prank on the Express returning to London after Fifth year. Several girls including Lily had been caught and suddenly added fifty pounds and a bad case of acne to their appearance. It was an illusion but most of the girls had been devastated. Lily had been beyond furious.
When the train arrived at the London station, the Marauders suddenly found they were boxed in a corner by an equally furious Michael Evans. But where Lily's fury burned hot, the Evans father burned cold. Even knowing the man was a Muggle the boys were terrified. In a low, dangerous voice, the man told them exactly what he thought of their behaviour. Then just when they thought it was over, Charlus Potter joined in. The two men took turns ripping into the boys. By the time they let the boys go, Sirius felt like a complete slime, Remus looked like a kicked dog, and Peter had pissed himself. James didn't lift his eyes for three days.
James made an embarrassed shuffle over to where the effected girls were standing watching the reaming the boys received. Lily was standing in front of all of them. James stopped just short of the girls and made an abject apology. He also told the girls the magic would have faded on its own in two hours but eating chocolate would cancel the effects immediately. James pulled a chocolate bar from a pocket of his robe and offered each girl a piece with an individual apology.
It was the last malicious prank the Marauders ever played.
Years later at James and Lily's wedding, Sirius learnt that Michael and Charlus became friends after that and would meet ever few weeks at the pub until the elder Potters were murdered by Death Eaters. The old Auror-turned-solicitor wizard and the shop foreman came from very different worlds but had common ground in their children and their outlooks on life. When Michael learnt of James and Lily dating he reckoned that no son of Charlus could be a complete prat and the boy had shown some sand with his apology.
Sirius never lost that fear and respect of the Evans male. To Sirius, Michael Evans was proof positive that his family's beliefs in the weakness of Muggles was so much bullshit.
And the grandmothers were not left out of the mix in Harry. Lily inherited her eyes, sense of justice and fair play from her mother, Rose. The Evans mother was the model for a proper English housewife of her generation that was both sweet and gentle while firm against any that she saw as acting against proper behaviour. In many ways, Petunia had turned into a grossly distorted image of that loving woman.
Dorea Potter nee Black on the other hand was Sirius' great-aunt; making James his first cousin once removed. Dorea Black had been the epitome of what daughters of the Black family were taught to aspire to: calculating, ambitious, beautiful, and Hell on the enemies of the family. The quintessential Slytherin student, Dorea was loved by and terrified her fellow students in equal measure. So it had been a complete shock when Dorea suddenly turned her back on the Black family's plan to marry her off to a political ally and instead wed Charlus Potter, the Gryffindor son of a potions master with a shop in Diagon Alley. Yes, the Potters were an old and respected family but not in nearly the same social class as the Blacks. Charlus had left Hogwarts the year before and had just finished his year of training as an Auror. After the marriage people were shocked at the happy, carefree witch that had suddenly appeared as Dorea Potter. Whispers started about love potions and the like. That was when Dorea Black reappeared and ruthlessly crushed anyone that spoke or acted against her new family. This included her own father. The Black family quickly backed off, accepted the marriage and never made any effort to disown their wayward daughter. Sirius asked once what she had on the family to make them back off. Aunt Dorea merely smiled and offered him a warm biscuit fresh from the oven. Harry may think his ruthlessness came from the Beast, but Sirius suspected it was just as likely to have come from one of the most loving people he'd ever known.
Sirius had once heard some Muggles in a pub arguing over what was more important nature or nurture. Harry never met any of his grandparents and barely had any time with his parents but it was so easy to see them living on in Harry, but their strengths and their weaknesses in to a package that was uniquely Harry. It didn't really matter to Sirius if Harry's traits came from some family disposition, his life experiences or some combination of both. But it was somehow comforting to see the spirits of Harry's parents and grandparents living on in the newest Marauder.
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