Chapter 1- This is your life

It was one o'clock in the morning when I heard noises downstairs. Then the thud of footfalls on carpeted steps. Then a bossy voice hissing, "Ronald! We don't want to wake anyone up but her!" Then the creak of my bedroom door.

Three oh so familiar faces stood there. Three faces that I had dreamt about meeting ever since the age of five. The girl with bushy brown hair smiled at me.

"I know this must be a shock, and I'm sorry we haven't given you any time to get used to it but we need you to help us." She held out her hand. I looked at it, puzzled.

"Do you mind?" I asked, stupidly. The girl smiled and ushered the boys out of the room. I slipped out of bed and found my dressing gown on a chair. I pulled it on, as if in a dream. Because that was obviously what I was in: a dream. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger hadn't just come into my bedroom and asked for my help.

I went out onto the landing, my stuffed dog still clutched under my arm.

"Nice dog, what's its name?" asked Ron.

"Marvin," I replied sleepily. I held out my hand to Hermione again. "Take me wherever, then." She took it and, along with Harry and Ron, she turned on the spot and we disappeared.

I didn't notice the crushing darkness, the suffocating sensation or the cold. All I knew was that when my feet slammed to the ground, I had to be dreaming because this was the Ministry of Magic. Not the one from the films, but the one I'd always imagined in my head.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "Department of Magical Games and Sport? The Hall of Prophecy? Somehow, I suspect the latter," I yawned. Harry raised one eyebrow.

"She's taking this rather well," he told Hermione. "Are you sure she doesn't think it's just a dream?"

I groaned, and the other three's heads turned.

"I was hoping you weren't gonna say that. I really was." My eyes turned to the floor. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore. "Go on then. Tell me it's not."

"Not what?" asked Ron, but Hermione cut him off.

"We'll explain when we get to the Hall of Prophecy, now come on." And she dragged me over to the golden elevators. She pushed the button for the Department of Mysteries, and I sighed. Holding Marvin closer, I asked, "Why'd you choose me?"

Hermione smiled but said nothing. The golden grilles slid open, and a cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries." Taking my hand again, Hermione pulled down the corridor and through the door at the end. Tugging open the heavy black door, she seemingly ignored the round room

I then found myself in the 'fated' Hall of Prophecy. The realism of it all was sinking in. I wasn't dreaming. I was awake and living and this was now. An idiotic smile spread across my face, and all of a sudden, we had stopped.

"Check this label, and see if it's you it's talking about," said Hermione. She was pointing somewhere above my head. Cocking it to one side, I looked up. Then I stood on tipee-toes. Then my cheeks went red.

"I… erm… can't actually see it." I said, clasping my hands behind my back and facing the floor. Ron grinned.

"It's not funny! Just become some of us are more vertically challenged than others." I scowled at him, crossing my arms. Ron looked slightly offended.

"Are you saying I'm too tall?" he asked. I raised one eyebrow. "Alright then, point taken. Come on then," he said, and pulled me up onto his shoulders with surprising strength and now I could see the faded yellow label that was peeling off the towering shelf.

I ignored the date and my own name; my eyes had been drawn the last line of the sticker. On it was another name. A name that almost made my eyes pop out of their sockets.

"T-Tom Marvolo Riddle!" I exclaimed. "Him! An-and me! On the same prophecy!"

"So it's you then?" Hermione called up to me. "On the prophecy?"

"Yeah, it's me." I breathed

"Good! Take it down then!" I plucked the prophecy off its stand. It felt strangely warm in my hand. Ron lowered me to the ground.

"How do I set it off?" I asked.

"You've got to break it open, but don't do it here. Come on, we'll take you home." Hermione murmured, smiling warmly. But I didn't feel any better.

I let myself get dragged along the corridors and into the lift again, but I took in none of it. Him and me? Why? Before I knew what was happening, we had reached the Atrium. This time, Ron took hold of my hand. I stared up at him, trying to convey everything I was feeling in a single look, but he only smiled. Then I remembered: 'Emotional range of a teaspoon' and gave up. We turned on the spot and vanished. The suffocating darkness threatened to consume me, but I didn't care. Not while the memory of the label burned in my mind.

We appeared in my back yard and just stood there for a while. But I knew it had to be done. The orb slipped from my fingers, and crashed on the ground. I didn't see who was making the prophecy; I didn't care. I only heard the words.

"A girl who has deserted shall return.

She shall be the saviour for many lives.

She shall become an infant and go to him.

Become an orphan like him.

She shall become the only one he ever loved.

The paths of history shall change."

Silence spread around us again. Nothing could be heard except for the low whisper of wind in the trees. Eventually, I spoke.

"What does it mean?" I asked quietly. The two boys looked towards Hermione, who rolled her eyes.

"'A girl who has deserted shall return.'" She quoted. "That's you. You left the way of Harry Potter between the sixth and seventh books." My cheeks blushed. She was right, but I didn't want to admit it.

"'She shall be the saviour for many lives.' That line's obvious. After that it gets harder. 'She shall become an infant and go to him. Become an orphan like him.' I think that's supposed to mean that you'll become a baby again, go back in time and live in his orphanage with him. And if all goes to plan, you'll be the only one he ever loved. If all goes to plan, there will be no Lord Voldemort."

Harry looked up. "So… we could have everyone back? Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Hedwig… My parents…" Hermione nodded.

"But wait! You're all saying this like I've agreed to it! I mean, I have a life here too. I have friends, family and no offence but you… You're just characters from a book! And yeah, I cried for you, I stayed up all night reading about you but in the end, that's all you are. I'm sorry." I cried.

"You think we don't know that?" asked Harry. "You've got a life, and we're gonna let you live. As much as you want. Just call our names when you're ready." Then he added, "And did you ever wonder why the idea came into J.K Rowling's head fully formed?"

My jaw dropped, and Harry smiled.

"But how am I going to 'Become an infant'?" I asked.

"We're just going to use an aging potion. And a Time Turner to get you there. But the potion will have to be extremely strong. It's going to be hard, and it'll take possibly years to make." Hermione explained.

"Fine by me," I muttered. "Is that all? Only I'm quite tired." I looked right into her eyes. Hermione gulped like fish, and then shook her head.

"No wait; what about Hogwarts?" said Ron. "He'll go there because he's a wizard, but she's not magic." I glared at him.

Surprisingly, it was Harry that had the answer. "I've been doing some research about you," he told me. "It was hard, but I found out so much. Look in your pocket." I did, and gasped.

In my dressing gown pocket was a wand. I looked at Harry.

"Ginny's. She let me borrow it so you could Apparate. Which you could do. That means you have magical blood in you." He was getting very excited and was having trouble keeping his voice steady. "The magical genes in you may be dormant at the moment, but in another life the might be active. So in your next life you'll be a witch. And once you have fulfilled the prophecy, you'll be reborn." Harry took a deep breath. "You'll still be a witch and as there be no Voldemort, then my parents will live on."

The penny dropped. "Y-you mean- I'll be your… you'll be my…Really?" I asked, a grin spreading on my face. Harry nodded, and opened his arms for a hug. I leapt into them, laughing. Hermione smiled, and pulled Ron back into the shadows.

"Oh Harry!" I breathed. But suddenly I became serious, pulling away from him. "But from what you're saying, I'll have, what, three lives? How's that work out?"

"Well, strictly speaking, it's only two lives you get. One of them is used up fulfilling a prophecy, so them Powers What Be give you another go." He smiled a wonky smile. "So I found this website… or something like that… and I typed in 'What if Lily and James Potter were still alive?' and I think it's magically enhanced, because your name, photo and all this information came up."

My eyes filled with tears. "So this life, this one I'm living now, is just nothing. This isn't really who I am. I'm so-and-so Potter. I'm not real." Hot tears fell down my face. Ron rushed over and scooped me up.

"Of course it's real. This you and no prophecy can change that. You'll be under another name and you won't remember now at all. Ok?" he asked. "You are never going to live this life again. This is your life." I nodded, my eyes full of tears. Ron smiled and put me down.

"Goodbye," I whispered, handing back Ginny's wand. Giving me sad smiles, the three of them Apparated. I blinked once, then went back inside. After all, there are some things that are better left unsaid.