AN: Due to certain issues shannonjadetcuk is unable to continue, so I have taken over her stories. Please bear with me with this as it's my first proper attempt at writing and publishing fanfiction. Any advice is welcome just please keep it constructive. Most of the things will remain the same, however, there will be a few changes. I also noticed that she origanly planned for him to stay three years so that he would get to see them grow up I was planning on changing it to two years which would make it slightly AU. Unless you want me to follow cannon and knock it down to one year because the DADA position is cursed etc... so please let me know

disclaimer - I don't own harry potter

"Are you sure this is what I have to do?" I am standing in the headmistress's office at Hogwarts. I look around the room. There have been a few changes that have given it the McGonagall touch, but not many. The main differences are that portraits of Dumbledore and Snape hang with the rest of the old headmasters of the school. No longer is there a cage for Fawkes, I wonder what happened to him, and the pensieve has been moved into a corner locked up with the memories. On the desk sits the copper tea set, hat and biscuit jar that are all too familiar. Professor McGonagall shakes her head. "Would I lie to you Mr. Potter?" She takes a sip of tea as I sit down.

"Well... No... It's just..." I shift around in the uncomfortable, antique, wooden chairs that sit opposite the desk. Can't she see why this is insane? This is pure madness. "It's just what?" She quirks an eyebrow. "I can't go into the past and teach my farther and his friends. What about the of not being seen?"

"The rule is that you can't be seen by yourself or anyone that could reveal what you are doing. You don't have to worry about that rule because that rule wasn't made until after you left." She stops and thinks. "In fact I think it was your visit that brought the rule." I smirk, that sounds like something that would happen. "You did a splendid job of teaching Mr. Potter; in fact I think most of the students found you their favorite teacher."

"It didn't stop Sirius, Remus and my mum and dad from getting killed though did it!" I try and calm myself down. It's not her fault, I just that that I would have gone back to prevent their death. "No potter it didn't, but if things hadn't have happened the way they did then Voldemort might still be alive and fighting. Things would have turned out a lot differently, who knows what the outcome would have been - there could have been even more fatalities. Look you taught at the school for a two years before returning back."

I stand there shocked at her words. Two years without my family? I would be without them for two years and they would be without me. "What about Ginny and my kids? I can't leave them for two years, James is starting Hogwarts soon and what about Albus and Lily? The're getting worse each day it gets closer to James leaving - sibling jealously and all. They will change so much within those two years."

She shrugs. "You don't have to worry about them." "Why not?" "You will return to this point in time, or one near to this moment." Even if it is a few minutes for them it will be two whole years for me. "Ginny's not stupid she will notice a change in me. She'll notice when I come back from our meeting looking older." She wears a puzzled look for a few seconds, like she's thinking, before shrugging. "I'll figure something out." I frown again - is that supposed to reassure me? "Isn't there anything else you can tell me?" I look hopefully at her. She can't just send me back 1976 with not much more information than that I'm there to teach DADA. The professor stands up and starts walking around, sifting through various piles of transfiguration books that are scattered around the room on numerous desks. Finally, she something between two books and returns to her seat. "Well Potter, you told me to hand you this." McGonagall returns and hands me a sealed muggle white envelope. "I haven't read it of course."

I sigh in defeat and start to open the envelope. A hand abruptly stops me. I look up, confused, at Professor McGonagall. "You told me not to let you open it until you got there."

"Of course I did," I mutter under my breath. I start thinking about all the good things that could happen and the experiences I could gain from doing this. I'll get to meet my mum and dad. I'll be able to see Sirius and Remus again. I'll be able to actually see what they were like. But what if Snape was right about my father and Sirius? Do I really want to see them like that? Even if I'll have to face the rat that betrayed the people that mean the most to me every day, is this an opportunity worth missing? If this is what I did, then I have to do it - right? What will happen if I don't and I can't give up this opportunity to meet my mum and dad. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Good." Her expression is no different. That's probably because she knew I would cave in eventually. From a pocket within her cloak she takes out a key. Slowly she unlocks a draw in her desk, opens it, and puts something in front of me. She locks the draw before putting the key back in her pocket. As soon as I look at it, from experience, I know that it is a time turner. "I thought they were all destroyed."

"No all the ones in the ministry were destroyed. There were more time turners than those in the ministry, Mr. Potter. This one was a personal belonging of Professor Dumbledore." Her eyes glaze over at the memory of him. "You will arrive outside the office just as he will be returning. I trust you know to use the time turner." My only reply is a nod, so she hands it to me. "Well, good luck potter."

I take a deep breath.