AN: Yes, I realize that I am slightly obsessed with time travel fics. I have decided to put this up despite my better judgement because I am going to be very upfront about it. I don't have a massive plot planned out. The chapters will be drabble length (at least I think) and it will be very slowly updated (and sporadically at that). So please be kind with your reviews. Still, I do hope you enjoy this very tentative foray into time travel/dimension travel hp.

no pairing yet, strong themes possible, but T for now...

Disclaimer: *blinking* Me? Own Harry Potter? Are you kidding? I'm too poor! Seriously, I don't own it. So don't sue.

Revertor Reverti Reversus – to return

Prologue – Ritual

He wondered, in those last minutes, if what he was doing was truly worth it. It was a fleeting thought, one that lasted only a second. Moral conflictions didn't bother him anymore. That wasn't to say he didn't have morals; it was more of a code. And it was simple. Protect my precious people. And this final ritual was the only way, after ten years of extensive research, he had found to do it.

Neville's determined face looked straight at him. There was no hesitation, no fear, only the faint light of hope. Harry focused on his last remaining friend, memorizing everything about the boy who had stood by him until the very end, unflinching and courageous. "Are you ready?" His voice was horse and scratchy from the poorly healed battle wound he had taken across the throat their last battle.

Neville's faint grin pulled lopsidedly on his face – other scars preventing the boyish grin from forming fully. "Yeah, I've been waiting for this day. You know that, Harry."

Harry grimaced, even as his determination held strong. Neville's eyes sharpened. "You know you're the only one who can finish it. I have to be the one."

Harry's hand ran agitatedly through his hair. Yeah, I know, Nev. He sighed and nodded grimly. "You know how wrong this feels to me."

Neville's eyes sparkled for just a brief moment, "Yeah, that crazy code of yours." A rusty chuckle passed through his lips. "I still say Hermione was right. It's just a hero complex."

The empty hole in his chest yawned dark and aching for a moment before he could remember her the way she would have wanted, not as the cursed, dying woman she had been for that last year. "She was always smarter than me, Nev." His voice thicker. He shrugged, shaking the emotion away causally as he had learned to do out of necessity, "Maybe you're both right."

Neville shook his head, scraggly hair puffing from the movement. He took a steadying breath. "You're all ready, then."

The numbed hole pulsed with pain again, sharp and cold, for a moment. "Yeah, the ritual's ready?"

Neville nodded somberly as he pulled the highly enchanted knife from his pack. His grip was steady even as he held it to his neck. He locked his eyes with Harry's anguished ones. A genuinely fond smile curved up his cheek. He would miss Harry, but he had yearned for this moment from the second after he had found Luna's desiccated body. His eyes blazed. "Then make it worth it, Harry. Make this last chance count."

Visibly, Harry gathered himself, forcing everything back. He would make Neville's sacrifice matter. He would go back, and he would win. He would save them all if he could. "I will." His raspy voice steady and determined.

The air shimmered around them as the ritual began.

"Willingly, this sacrifice, I give." Power swirled around the ancient and long forgotten ruins carved perfectly around their circle. Hotly, it pulsed and grew and raged around the two.

A timelessly moment froze the two as they locked determined eyes for the last time.

Harry's eyes never left Neville's face. "So mote it be."

Prologue is done. I have chapter one finished as well. It will be up shortly. Hope you enjoy.

tg