Chapter One

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

Sirius Black had no idea what was going on. The last thing he remembered he'd been duelling his bitch of a cousin in the Department of Mysteries. Now, unless he was very much mistaken, he was somewhere else entirely and Auntie Dorea was screaming at him.

Of course there was the minor issue that Auntie Dorea, and Uncle Charlus, had died more than 15 years ago but Sirius was pretty sure it really was her. 'Maybe being stuck at Grimmauld Place has done what Azkaban failed to do,' he mused. 'Maybe I really have lost my mind.'

Despite Dorea Potter's obvious fury, Sirius was comforted by her presence. When he finally snapped as a teenager and ran away from the House of Black, Auntie Dorea had welcomed him into her home with open arms. She had treated him just the same as James, her own son, and was the mother Sirius had always wished he had. Seeing her again reminded Sirius of better times in his life, happier times.

"WELL?" Dorea Potter thundered dangerously.

"I guess there's always a chance that I'm crazy. I don't think I am, though."

"Oh you're crazy alright, Sirius Black. I can't think of any other possible reason that would possess you to take a fight with Bellatrix so lightly!"

"It's only Bella," Sirius said mulishly. "What does she matter?"

"SHE MATTERS WHEN SHE'S THE ONE ABOUT TO SNUFF YOUR LIFE OUT LIKE A FLAME!"

Sirius shrugged. "It's not like I have anything to live for, anyway."

"Nothing to live for?" Dorea growled. "So my grandson is nothing to you?"

Sirius shifted uncomfortably as he thought about his godson. He loved Harry more than anything and knew that the kid would be upset about what had happened. Even so, though Sirius knew that he'd been a pretty shitty godfather. Harry would be okay without him, possibly even better off. "Harry will be fine."

Dorea raised her eyebrows, portraying her scorn in a way that only a mother could. "Really?" she drawled. "Harry's surrounded by people whom are either setting him up to die or whom insist on treating him like a child but still expect him to save the world and he'll be fine, will he? And that's not even taking into account the fact that, while Harry has caring friends, if they have to choose between him and Dumbledore, they'll always put Dumbledore first!"

Sirius sighed. He had frequently pointed out the hypocrisy of the position Harry had been placed in but had repeatedly been told either that, as a wanted fugitive, he had nothing of value to contribute to the Order or that, as he'd gotten himself sent to Azkaban, he'd given up all rights to a say in Harry's life. "I don't know what you want me to do! I love Harry and I know how messed up his life is but everybody insists that it's for "the greater good" or just outright accuse me of exaggerating. Nobody will help me!"

Dorea's expression softened. She stroked Sirius ' cheek lovingly. "You don't need any help, darling. You have it within you to change your life and Harry's all by yourself. Where's my clever boy, the one who had the strength and cunning to survive and upbringing by my idiotic nephew and his shrew of a wife?"

"Gone," Sirius said thickly, swallowing a lump in his throat. He'd been alone for so long, in a world that despised him, that just a shred of affection from his beloved aunt was enough to bring him to tears. "That person is gone. Azkaban killed him. I'm all that is left."

"I don't believe that," Dorea said, shaking her head. "That kind of strength isn't something that just goes away. Azkaban may have hurt you but I refuse to believe it broke you."

Sirius shrugged disbelievingly. "Maybe."

"There's no "maybe" about it," Dorea said firmly. "You have the power to change your life, and Harry's, simply by making different choices!"

"If you say so. Isn't it too late, though? If I'm here, wherever "here" is, with you doesn't that mean I've died?"

Dorea nodded. "It's true that you died when you fell through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries. This is the Ministry of Death where all newly departed souls come for a review of their lives and a decision about what sort of afterlife they deserve. Usually it would be a person's personal Grim Reaper that they deal with but the powers-that-be thought it would have more of an impact on you if I was the one you spoke to."

Sirius' life had been shitty enough that he'd never really contemplated what would happen after death. Still, he'd seen enough crazy things in his time that the thought of a "Ministry of Death" didn't seem that weird. "So what's going to happen to me?"

"It's been decided that as you died well before your time, after so much suffering, and as you have the ability to alter Harry's extremely important destiny for the better, you deserve another chance," Dorea explained gently. "You're going to be sent back in time, exactly one year, with all your memories intact. From there it will be up to you to change the future."

"Oh my God," Sirius whispered, overwhelmed. He didn't know if he could do this.

"You can do this. You have to do this!" Dorea said firmly, correctly guessing what he was thinking. "For both yourself and especially for Harry. He needs somebody without any divided loyalties on his side."

"You're right," Sirius said, a new resolve washing over him. Regardless of what happened to him he had to do this. "For Harry."

Dorea nodded, looking extremely proud of him. "James and Lily send their love."

"James and Lil?" Sirius gasped, looking around. "Are they here? Can I……..?"

"I'm sorry, darling, but once you pass through the Ministry of Death the first time you can't come back without special permission, permission that James and Lily do not have. Besides, if you saw them now can you honestly say that you'd be able to let them go again?"

Deep down Sirius had to admit that Dorea had a point. He missed James and Lily every day and, if he saw them again now, it would break his heart to let them go again. It was going to be hard enough to let his Auntie Dorea go. "You're right," he said softly.

Dorea pulled him into a hug. "We'll all be here waiting for you when the time is right but that time isn't now. Our lives are over but you still have so much to live for."

"For Harry. I know."

"And for yourself," Dorea reminded him. "I know things are hard at the moment but they will get better. I promise you they will."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, right."

"They will," Dorea insisted, giving him another hug. "Be brave. Be strong. And for the love of Merlin don't just blindly follow Albus Dumbledore anymore."

Sirius' lips twitched. While Auntie Dorea didn't have any of the pureblood prejudices that most of the House of Black did, she definitely wasn't a Dumbledore devotee like the majority of the light. She'd tolerated Uncle Charlus' friendship with the man – the two old mages having fought Grindelwald together – but she had flatly refused to join the Order of the Phoenix. She said she would rather die than put herself under the command of anybody as manipulative as Albus Dumbledore.

Sirius couldn't help wishing that he, James and Lily had followed her example. They'd all thought they were doing the right thing when they accepted Dumbledore's invitation to join the Order but now, in retrospect, Sirius couldn't help thinking of all the things that would have been different if only they'd just said no.

"Are you sure that this is going to work?" he asked. "For me to change things I'll have to pit myself against Dumbledore and the Weasleys, all of whom Harry is very loyal to. I can't really see the point in going back in time if Harry's never going to speak to me again and that's only if Dumbledore, or somebody else in the Order, doesn't turn me in to the Ministry, just to get me out of the way, first."

"Dumbledore can't turn you in to the Ministry without himself admitting to aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive," Dorea said dismissively. "And he won't do that because his precious reputation would be destroyed and he wouldn't want that. Besides, while Harry still looks to you for guidance you're still useful to Dumbledore. And I think Harry will surprise you. All he wants is a family and, while he is fond of the Weasleys, he knows they are loyal to Dumbledore first. You put Harry first, he'll give you his undying loyalty."

"I suppose he did risk his life to save me when he thought I was in trouble in the Department of Mysteries," Sirius mused thoughtfully. He'd always known that his godson cared for him but he'd assumed that was because he was a better alternative for a guardian than the Dursleys. Perhaps he'd underestimated the depth of Harry's affection for him, though.

"Exactly," Dorea said encouragingly. "He loves you."

"I hope so."

"I know so," Dorea said, as a gong went off somewhere in the distance. "Darling, our time together is coming to an end. You'll be going back to just after the end of the Triwizard Tournament and you'll have to start making your first changes fairly quickly."

"The end of the Triwizard Tournament," Sirius mused. "It's a pity I couldn't go a bit further back. Then there might have been something I could do to save the Diggory boy. I know his death haunted Harry."

Dorea sighed sadly. "I am sorry for young Cedric Diggory but, darling, you know as well as I do that, in a time of war, there are always casualties. It's impossible to save everybody and you'll only hurt yourself if you try."

"I know that. Harry will never accept that, though. He's already lost so much in his short life that he's willing to go to any lengths to prevent himself feeling that pain again."

"It will be a hard lesson for Harry to learn but it's something that you're going to have to teach him, Sirius. It's essential to his survival that you do. Then, together, perhaps the two of you can figure out that eventually those left behind will be okay."

"I hope so," Sirius said, privately doubting that things would ever be "okay" for him. Even if, by some miracle he lived to see his name cleared, his name would be forever tarnished. He would forever be looked upon with scorn and suspicion, a normal life forever out of his reach. He would do whatever it took for Harry to get the future James and Lily would have wanted for him, though. "I'll do my best."

"I know that you will, darling."

Another gong sounded in the distance. Sirius smiled sadly. "It's time for me to go, isn't it?"

"It is."

"Tell James and Lily, and Uncle Charlus too that I love them and I miss them and that I'm sorry."

Dorea gave him a final hug. "Oh darling, you've got nothing to be sorry for. Voldemort, Dumbledore and that little beast Pettigrew are responsible for what happened, not you. But if you really feel that you've got something to make amends for then just live the best life possible, be the best person you can be and make sure that Harry does the same. That's what we want for the pair of you."

"I love you, Auntie Dorea."

"I love you too, darling."

"Do you really think I can do this?"

"I know you can," Dorea patted his cheek affectionately. "Now get out of here. Go back and save the world."