May 2nd, 1998
Forbidden Forest

Harry Potter, Boy-who-lived, was going to die. That is what he was here for. It had taken him a long time to get to where he was, sneaking out of the now crumbling hogwarts castle and making his way across the school grounds and into the forbidden forest.

"I open at the close" read the engraving on the snitch and, having retrieved them from inside of it, had rolled the two small stones in his hand. He had seen his parents, his godfather, Lupin and others and had walked with them to what he knew was going to be his last moments.

"Will you stay with me?" Harry asked.
"Until the very end" Came the reply.

After some time he cast the stones aside and stepped out into a clearing to face his enemy and his mortality. Words were shared and a moment later there was a flash of green.
Harry felt his heart grow cold, his legs went limp from under him and he fell to the forest floor even as he felt something inside him being propelled and lifted away.

Harry woke. Not the slow groggy waking that followed a nights sleep but, instead, sudden awareness. He looked at the ceiling above him and for a moment struggled to understand what it was he was looking at. After some time he realised it was the inside of his 4 poster bed, inside the gryffindor dorm rooms, at hogwarts. He hadn't seen it in more than a year nor had he slept in a bed so comfortable.

It felt as if He hadn't slept, his muscles ached and His eyes hurt. Lifting himself up on one elbow he surveyed the room He knew so well. The clean stone surfaces, the red and gold rugs in the centre of the room and the beds and trunks that sat against the circular walls.

He wasn't alone. Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom were all asleep in their respective beds, He could see, but Ron was conspicuously absent.
"This has to be a dream. Or heaven?" Harry thought to himself looking around "If this is heaven the afterlife is pretty crappy"
He rolled out of bed quietly, pulled out a set of clothes and got dressed. Jeans and an old white shirt. He considered for a moment waking the Boys to talk to them but looking outside He saw the sun hadn't yet risen fully. Even in a dream Harry was more considerate than that, that and He wanted to avoid Seamus' moaning, so he moved to the door before letting himself out.

Slowly, he made his way down the spiral stairs and into the common room, his aching legs giving him grief with every step.
The common room looked much the same as he remembered it. The same red and gold colours that dominated anything gryffindor were in appearance here too, and the room was lined with sofas and chairs. A fireplace took centre stage on the longest wall but it wasn't lit. The only thing Harry noticed that was different was a mural of newspaper clippings and photos that had been taken of Harry's exploits in the Triwizard tournament was missing, instead just showing a blank piece of stone wall.
There was a student Harry didn't recognise curled up on one of the larger chairs snoring quietly but no one else and so after enjoying the quiet of the place for a moment he moved on.

The painting that functioned as the only door to the common room swung open for him as it should and as he pushed it closed behind him he took a look over his shoulder to see a slumbering fat lady within the frame. He stopped for a moment to consider his next move.
Do I really want to go any further? Do I really want to see the entrance hall of the castle, the damage, the bodies? He shook the image. If Neville and the others were all happily asleep in their beds then whatever happened to the school in real life hadn't happened in this dream, Right?

A few minutes walking later and he came to the stairs leading down to the entrance hall. He took a deep breathe and braced himself for what he was about to see. There was nothing to see, it turned out, just a normal hall as it had been before the attack on Hogwarts. The vaulted ceiling still stood, the stairs were undamaged and the old, well walked carpets were as clean as they had ever been. One or two students were waiting outside of the great hall for the doors to open for breakfast but nothing seemed odd or out of place. He went to move over to the great hall but stopped when he heard a voice he recognized.

"Hello, Harry" Harry turned to where the voice had come from to see Percy Weasley in full stride in his direction with the smug look he always wore on his face.
"Uhh Hi" He replied. It was odd seeing him in school robes again and his features were noticeably narrower and less blemished than last time Harry had seen him. "Percy hadn't been at hogwarts for what? 3 years? More?"
"Breakfast isn't being served for a few minutes yet, Harry. What are you doing here so early?" His tone was almost accusatory. Merlin, Percy is an ass.
"Couldn't sleep, i guess." Harry replied, still somewhat nonplussed. Before Percy could say anything Harry piped up again "Percy, what's the date today?"
"You should get more sleep, Harry. It won't do to have you taking exams in this state. You have your houses reputation to uphold. remember? And it's tuesday, June seventh, since you asked"
"Thanks, and yeah, i guess so."
"Get a bite to eat and try to wake up some. I'm sure you do have some tests today, hmm?"
"Uhh yeah, i think so"
"Alright then. Best of luck" and with that, he trotted off, head held high.

June was test month, so that checked out at least although it definitely wasn't june last He'd checked. Harry thought for a moment and then it hit him. Percy had his Head Boy's badge on. That made it Percy's last year at Hogwarts and so that made it… what...Harry's fourth year? Third, maybe? And the date? The 7th? That was important. It took him a moment more.
Sirius.
Sirius had escaped on the night of the 6th, just as that year's tests started. Harry was in his third year. Sirius has just escaped and so was still alive. The fact he had to work that out was beginning to lend credence to the idea that maybe he wasn't dreaming at all.
Then the next thought. "What should I do about that? Whether is it a dream or not, what's My best course of action? What needs to happen?" He smirked a little to Himself. "What would Dumbledore do?"
Then another realisation hit him, this time big enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Sirius was alive. Dumbledore was alive. Nobody was dead.
Then a terrible thought followed.
Nobody was dead, yet.
He needed Dumbledore's help if He was going to make sense of this.

A few minutes later and Harry stood at some familiar gargoyles. Harry thought for a moment on what the sweet of the day might have been but there was no way that even if he knew it at the time He'd remember it.

"Fizzing Whizbees" Nothing.
"Sherbet Lemon" Also nothing. Harry spent a good minute shouting the names of various sweets before finally trying "Liquorice wand" and the stone beasts jumped aside.

Climbing the stairs he was suddenly filled with doubts. "What if this is a dream? What if He isn't there?"
"well" he thought in response to himself "I've dealt with him dying before. I could deal with that too" and Harry gave a good knock on the heavy wooden door.

There was no reply. No movement. No sound.
Harry knocked again, louder this time. Again there was no noise.
Harry punched the door in frustration.

"You may come in when you're done attacking my door" Came a measured voice from inside. Harry tentatively pushed the door open and peaked inside. As the door revealed the room inside he took in the floor to ceiling shelves filled with all manner of magical oddities. The desk sat where it always had, littered with even more items of increasing complexity and of unfathomable purpose. The office looked much like it had in Harry's earlier years.

"Ah, Harry. Is there something i can do for you this early in the morning or may i return to the business of sleeping?" Said Dumbledore, His eyes sparkling with just a touch of mirth over his half moon spectacles. Harry walked into the room fully and took in the sight before him. The old man stood in sky blue robes, beard and all, just in front of his desk, resting a hand upon the surface. There was a moment of silence before he continued "Is something the matter, Harry? Is this about last night? From what i hear you performed admirably."

Not seeing the response that was meant to engender, his brow creased. Harry just stood looking at him for a moment before a tear leapt to his eye.
"I don't know how to start, Professor. I…" The words suddenly wouldn't come. Looking at the eyes beyond those half moon specs was surreal.
"It's quite alright. Take your time. We have plenty of it"

Harry took a moment to think. "How do I say what I'm thinking? Where do I start?" and then the answer jumped to him. Like so many difficult stories that had been shared with Harry before He would share his the same way.

"Professor, Can I use your pensieve?"

Dumbledore let out a great sigh. As the air left him he seemed to diminish in size and for a moment was just an old, tired man, before collecting himself and straightening his back. They had been wandering the world of memories for a few hours at least and every event that dumbledore witnessed he seemed to wither a little more.
The two locked eyes and for a long moment they said nothing, only sharing in the things they had just seen together.

Harry had placed in the stone pensieve a number of his memories, a shortened version of the events that would lead to the destruction of the horcruxes and Harry facing Voldemort in the Forest.

Now they walked in that memory behind an image of the Boy-who-lived, standing tall and unafraid in the face of death. The memory was frozen in place as Harry allowed Dumbledore to take in what he was seeing, the wand raised and the green flash of the killing curse.

"I ask again, Harry, is this some kind of vision? I can't say I fully understand what it is I'm seeing."

Harry looked at him again. It was unbelievable, that all of this could so clearly be recollected without it actually happening but then, so was the fact that Harry was four or so years older than the body he now occupied.

"Just a moment more, Professor. It's about to become clear, I promise." If the scenes they'd spent their morning reliving weren't as depressing Harry might have chuckled at him being the cryptic one for a change.
Harry turned back to the events unfolding before them, Dumbledore taking the hint and doing the same, before, with a wave of Harry's hand, the scene continued.
Voldemort's curse struck true and Harry fell.

And then immediately they were inside the gryffindor dorm room, standing over a boy who looked rather confused to find himself in bed. Dumbledore quickly raised his hand, stopping the memory again.
"That can't be right. Is this correct? Is this one, continuous memory, Harry?" He said, turning to the young boy. The mirthful old man had dropped away entirely, He looked worried, stressed. Harry just nodded.
" I don't know how, but yes"

Dumbledore looked back at the memory of Harry lying in front of him before waving his arm. The scene reversed itself and they were back in the forest, Voldemort laughing at his imminent triumph over the upstart Potter. This time it played out slowly, the killing curse traveled at walking pace across the clearing and Dumbledore walked with it, his eyes ablaze, his focus intense. The spell struck, the scene changed back to the gryffindor dorm. They stood in the dorm room for only a moment before the Headmaster harrumphed to himself, shook his head and flicked his wand.

All of a sudden Harry felt a pull as Dumbledore removed them both from the pensieve. Standing back in Dumbledore's office the Headmaster looked up at a clock before releasing the slightest of sighs and turning to his younger companion.

"Harry, I'm needed at the ministry. Minister Fudge needs some help to explain Sirius' disappearance last night. Leave this with Me. I will let Professor Mcgonagall know of your absence from your examinations. I will do some research and write to you as soon as I have something useful to tell you.

And I really am sorry for everything you've been through."

It was past 8 by the time Harry walked back to the great hall and it was a bustle with activity. Harry walked in through the doors and stopped to take a look around.

There were faces all around He recognised, some He thought He'd never see again, and some who didn't know him yet. He spotted Luna and Cho at opposite ends of the Ravenclaw table, the former sitting almost alone. At the staff's table sat Professor Snape next to Professor Trelawney, obviously doing his best to ignore whatever it was that the divination Professor was saying to Him. Harry took a good look, feeling his stomach drop, before snapping out of the stupor having heard His name called. He gaze wandered over to the Gryffindor table to see a number of redheads and one messy brunette who was waving him over. Harry made his way to them and sat next to Hermione, across from Ginny, Fred and George. Ginny locked eyes with Him for just a moment, before going bright red and involving Herself in Her breakfast.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione smiled at him "So you know, Ron's going to be in the hospital wing for a few hours yet."
"Yeah, I'm good. And ok. He's alright?"
"And what, may I ask, happened last night?" asked one of the twins, interrupting.
"Never you mind." She snapped at him with a smile. "He's fine, Harry, but You look tired. Didn't you sleep? And why aren't you in Your robes? There's tests today" Hermione said looking Him up and down.
"Yeah, i know. Just..." He gave his thoughts a second to catch up. "I went to Dumbledore's office this morning. He wanted to ask me some things."
"Things? What things? Something I should know about?" She asked quickly, wide eyed.

Obviously She was worried about being punished for what they had gotten up to the night before. It reminded Harry of a conversation years earlier. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled."

Harry's eyes wandered up the table, taking in all the faces. Lavender Brown sat far to Harry's right munching bacon and talking animatedly with one of the Patil girls. Colin Creevey sat closer to the left playing with his camera. Finally Harry's eyes settled on the Weasley twins. Suddenly, Harry found himself wishing he'd skipped breakfast. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with all the noise or the questions and he certainly wasn't ready to share breakfast with friends who just yesterday He watched die. He died Yesterday too, afterall, and deserved some time to rest.

"Don't worry about it, I'll tell you later" He said looking her in the eye and giving Her his best attempt at a smile before grabbing some toast and getting up to leave.
"Okay. Hurry up and get changed. You have tests to prepare for."
"Hermione, you're the only one that's ever prepared" Quipped Ginny as Harry made his way out of earshot.

He found himself thinking of what had happened as he made his way out of the main door and out into the grounds. The weather was about as foul as his mood, grey skies and heavy clouds threatening rain.

He saw it all again. The weasleys gathered around Fred's body. Lupin and Tonks lying next to each other. Lavender crushed by Her fall. The cold stares of the victims of killing curses. The countless bodies strewn across the fields. A crying hufflepuff girl, covered in blood, as she cradled another dying student in her arms.

It was too much to think about. The scars Hermione had earnt saving His life. He had watched Hedwig fall to her death but now she was probably up in the tower waiting for him to come see her. He had buried Dobby but he would be down in kitchens working with a smile on his face now.

Harry stopped walking when he realised He had come to the Forbidden forest's edge. He still had the toast in his hand He had grabbed but not eaten. He threw it into the trees.
He wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come. He wasn't upset although he felt he should be. He was angry, angry at the injustice of it all. He had done the impossible and ventured alone to sacrifice himself for everyone else and that had been taken away from him.
Will i have to do it again? Did any of it matter? I spent a year running for nothing!
It built up inside Him, a bubble that inflated under his chest and made him feel sick, the anger growing until, finally, He shouted His anger into the forest, wordlessly cursing it. He screamed and swore and kept shouting until finally the tears came and then he cried huge, heavy sobs. This is what it means to be the boy-who-lived. To be alone in the worst ways.

"Ar yer a'right 'Arry?" The Voice made him jump. "I can leave yer be if you wan'?"
Harry turned to a big man in a brown trench coat. Hagrid was walking the treeline from the castle, a pair of slain hare in one hand. Harry thought for just a moment before replying "No, and no." He let out a sigh and sniffed, wiping his nose on his shirt. "I could do with the company, i think." Hagrid smiled.
"Righ'. Le's ge' Us a cuppa tea then."

They'd made their way to Hagrid's cramped little cottage and had shared in some tea and inedible cakes. Once the tears had stopped Hagrid mentioned the good news, Buckbeak had escaped!
"Musta' not tied 'im down proper" He said with a smile and maybe the beginnings of a tear in his eye.
Harry thought for a moment. Last time around He'd kept the truth to himself, He remembered. Let Everyone think it was just a mistake.
"No, Hagrid." The big man looked him in the eye, concern jumping to his face. "I did it. I untied him when the ministry Guys were in here." Harry gestured with one arm at the inside of the cottage.
"'Arry, Yer shouldn' have. If the Minis'ry find ou'..."
"They won't, if you don't tell them." Harry interrupted with a smile. "Besides, trouble is what I'm good at." A quiet moment passed then Hagrid simply asked "Why'd ya do it?"
Harry thought for a moment. Yesterday was years ago, afterall.
"Fuck the Malfoys, that's why."

End of chapter 1

It's been a long time since i last wrote anything, so please forgive me if i misspell anything or if my mind travels faster then the story does and it becomes hard to follow. I'm no novelist but I've had this burning away in my brain for long enough now that it needs writing down, if only to get it out and away.
Constructive criticism is more than welcome. This is chapter 1. I'm not so sure how much i'll write but if enough people like it maybe i'll write some more.

Ofcourse it goes without saying that i in no way have any claim to any creative rights with the Harry Potter books or films.
Any events in this story are entirely historical, although names and dates have been changed to protect identities. XD