◦ *˳༄ OCTOBER SKIES
❨ a harry potter story. ❩

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a great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don't get to choose our own hearts.
—ᴅᴏɴɴᴀ ᴛᴀʀᴛᴛ.

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◦ *˳༄ S U M M A R Y .

❛ 5 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the Wizarding World had rebuilt itself and ushered in a new era of peace and prosperity. Gone were the days of fear and suffering lurking around at every corner. But lulled into the false sense of security as they were, Britain – and its heroes – had forgotten that while life was many things, simple it was not. For victory they might have claimed, but darkness was not purged so easily.  ❜

HARRY POTTER was known for being many things: the Boy Who Lived, the One Who Vanquished the Dark Lord, a skilled Auror, and Quidditch aficionado. But after March 2003, he could add another title to his list of achievements: lead investigator of the now infamous Whitechapel case. Not a wholly abysmal title either, if only a little unwelcome; they had made little progress on the case in over two years, after all. But then again, all positions came with benefits, didn't they? At least, that's what Harry thinks until he finds himself face to face with a shadow from his past, one whom he felt was best to forget.

HAZEL FINCH too was known for being many things: a gifted Healer, former Head Girl, ex-Hogwarts rebel, the Beatles devotee, and dessert connoisseur. And after March 2003, she could add another title to her equally impressive life resumé: the lone witness to a new murder in a series of killings that was driving the Auror Department up the wall. A rather lamentable thing to be known for, if Hazel was being honest.

It happens like this:

Jack the Ripper has returned, and in his wake, mass hysteria and fear has gripped the city of London yet again. Though first assumed to be the work of a Muggle, a murder in Diagon Alley brings to light the fact that the notorious killings may, in fact, have magical ties. Thus, sleepless nights and weary days abound for the Aurors as they track down the killer. Except the Ripper leaves no trace, no clues, and not a single witness has come forth. Until one night when an unconscious Hazel is found near a new crime site.

And so begins a series of events which make little sense to everyone involved, least of all to Hazel who, in addition to all the miseries chasing after her, now had to worry about keeping away from a certain bespectacled — not to mention gossip magazine fodder and the Ministry's (unoffical) poster boy — wizard who just could not take a hint. Never mind that it wasn't his fault they kept running into each other.

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◦ *˳༄ S T A R R I N G .

lily collins as
◦ *˳ HAZEL ANNE FINCH ˳* ◦

daniel radcliffe as
◦ *˳ HARRY JAMES POTTER ˳* ◦

◦ *˳ additional cast ˳* ◦

eliza scanlen.....................................ZOEY FINCH
aisha dee.................................PAISLEY LATIMER
josh o'connor........................OTIS ENTWHISTLE
kate winslet...............................PHAEDRA KNOX
emily blunt...............................MRS. MAGNOLIA
martin freeman.......................OWEN GOSHAWK
santiago cabrera.....................AXEL CRESSWELL
olivia coleman.........................CONNIE BURTON
ian glenn...............................GAWAIN ROBARDS
idris elba................KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT
kristin s. thomas.............ANDROMEDA TONKS
fionn whitehead...JUSTIN FINCH-FLETCHLEY
brittany o'grady........................ROMILDA VANE
naomi scott.....................AUDREY DE WINTER
max irons......................CORMAC MCLAGGEN
linus wordemann....................PERCY WEASLEY
luca hollestelle........................GINNY WEASLEY

&  the rest of the canon cast.

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◦ *˳༄ S O U N D T R A C K .

◦ *˳ 𝐢. OCTOBER SKIES ❨mumford and sons.❩ ◦ *˳ 𝐢𝐢. HELP! ❨the beatles.❩ ◦ *˳ 𝐢𝐢𝐢. TWO GHOSTS ❨harry styles.❩ ◦ *˳  𝐢𝐯. LEGO HOUSE ❨ed sheeran.❩ ◦ *˳  𝐯. LET IT ALL GO ❨rhodes; birdy.❩ ◦ *˳  𝐯𝐢. UNSTEADY ❨x ambassadors.❩ ◦ *˳  𝐯𝐢𝐢. LOVELY ❨billie eilish; khalid.❩ ◦ *˳  𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢. FIX YOU ❨coldplay.❩ ◦ *˳  𝐢𝐱. THE NIGHT WE MET ❨ lord huron. ❩ ◦ *˳  𝐱. THERE'S NO WAY ❨ lauv; julia michaels. ❩ ◦ *˳  𝐱𝐢. BROTHER ❨ kodaline. ❩ ◦ *˳  𝐱𝐢𝐢. HOME ❨ dotan. ❩ ◦ *˳  𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. SMALL INFINITY ❨ whim. ❩ ˳* ◦ 𝐱𝐢𝐯. TILL THERE WAS YOU ❨ the beatles. ❩ ˳* ◦

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◦ *˳༄ N O T E S .

𝐢.
October Skies is a Post-War, Harry Potter fic that oscillates between fluff and angst. It's sad and dark at times, but then gets light-hearted and funny (at least, that's what I think but maybe my sense of humor is just bad. you are about to be the judge of that).

𝐢𝐢.
Since what has now been forever, I've wanted to write about how Harry and everyone else found a new normal in the years after the War because the epilogue was trash and we deserved so much better for reading 7 books and/or watching 8 movies. I invested years in this series; I feel I deserved a better ending than the one I got. So yeah. I refuse to believe things were all easy peasy lemon squeezy for them, that they all married their school sweethearts and had two kids and a white picket fence house by the age of 24.

Clearly, I'm still bitter about the epilogue.
And apparently that warrants my impulse to write yet another fic.
Say what you will.

𝐢𝐢𝐢.
the book is a bit of an AU, in that I completely disregard the "epilogue" and ignore several small bits of information the Author-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has let slip/invented over the years. I also do not consider Cursed Child canon. Basically, I've taken a fair amount of creative liberties when it comes to what happened after the war. But I will say I have done my best to ensure that the characters stay true to the actual books.

With that said, yes, Harry is an Auror in this one. I know the debate around his career is intense and (without giving away spoilers for the book) I can only say this: both sides are right. I can see him being both an Auror and a DADA professor, and both career choices are pretty justified. I do discuss this point later in the book!

𝐢𝐯.
so after much deliberation (read: 2.5 minutes) I decided I should warn you: this story is non-linear, meaning it's not told in chronological order and we hop back and forth between multiple timelines. It may sound confusing at first glance, but hopefully it isn't once I start publishing chapters. I mention the date in every chapter so you know right off the bat (...is the phrase 'right off the broom' more appropriate? ... i'll shut up...) which timeline we're in. To reiterate, the main timeline is 2003, but every now and then we jump back to events between 1997 and 2002.

𝐯.
This note is purely to thank the maybe two of you who actually read all the notes. You might understand the story now.
Good for you! And me.
So, thank you.

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◦ *˳༄ D I S C L A I M E R S .

disclaimer.
I obviously do not own the HP characters or plot. But I do own all my OCs & the plot & subplots of this story. I've spent a lot of time and effort planning this so please don't plagiarize. I will know if you do.

warnings.
this book deals with some sensitive themes, like ptsd, trauma, violence, and depression. While I don't go into heavy details, I understand some or all of these topics may not be for everyone, and that not everyone is comfortable reading these topics. I'll do my best to post trigger warnings before chapters, when applicable, so you know what's coming and can skip over chapters if you like.

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◦ *˳༄ D E D I C A T I O N S .

First and foremost, this book is dedicated to my b r o goodhYOUman who has never once discouraged me from writing anything even though we both know I need to stop publishing new books and work on the ones I have in-progress.

Also dedicated to pepperronys -recordplayer protectremus faithrewarded NaerysSnow for letting me pester them with questions and for giving me wonderful advice in return. You guys are genuine gems.

Lastly, dedicated to these amazing people who endlessly inspire and support me: -stxrdusts remuslupout slimshadies luckyvirgo euphxria-- kyrakovacs thunderblink issytrix -Winteriscoming alderaans daniellawrites02 dprandall21

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❛❛

To live is the rarest thing in the world.
━ ᴏsᴄᴀʀ ᴡɪʟᴅᴇ.

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