Harry Potter stared out of the window in an all too familiar compartment of the Hogwarts express. Unlike usual however there was no Ron at his side talking about quidditch or Hermione across from him with her nose already in a book. In fact Harry would be surprised if there was a single living creature on this train.
So when Harry turned away from the window and set his gaze on the figure sitting across from him he was not at all surprised to see the late and very dead Regulus Black. At least who he presumes to be Regulus Black since he had never seen him in the flesh before.
He had the same sharp jaw as every other Black Harry had ever seen and shot wavy black hair that complimented his pale skin. He looked so much like Sirius with the shape of his face that it was almost painful to be remained of the fact that this was not him. But of course the difference between him and Sirius were much more noticable. His face was composed like a true pure bloods and where Sirius had had ice blue eyes Regulus's eyes shun grayish silver like they held all your secrets.
Just when Harry thought that this ominous silence between them would go on forever Regulus opened his mouth to speak. Harry honestly didn't know what he expected but the strange conversation that took place after this was most certainly not the case.
"So you're finally dead." Harry blinked. Why would this man have been waiting for him to die?
"Yes I guess I am, but how do you know who I am?" Harry asked
"I've been forced to watch your wretched existence for the last 17 years." Regulus replies not quite angry but...frustrated.
"Oh" And really what was someone supposed to say to that?
"So you didn't like watching my life story, I take it?"
"No, not in the slightest but the good news is we're getting a chance to fix it"
"Why?"
Because Harry had just gone through 17 years of living and now he was dead and he knew how this went. Because Harry knew there was no point in questioning 'What' or 'How' and expecting an answer. Because Harry… he had just died as a sacrifice for the wizarding world and was so, so very tired and just wanted to see Sirius and his parents again.
"Our lives were unfair" Said Regulus, because he had just watched the entirety of Harry's life and he understood. From his younger years of abuse to his teenage years when he was forced to fight a war that was in no way his fault. Harry Potter did not want to relive his life. He wanted to forget about it and all the pain he had gone through. Harry just wanted it to end much like himself
"I saw death when I died, because I have never had any figure that guided me in life like you. He said the we were not given a chance to choose what path we walked like everyone else and for that we would get a second chance."
"How so?"
"We restart our lives from the moment we were born merging with our younger selves in some ways, but still retaining the knowledge we have now."
"And that's it?" Harry asked highly suspicious
Regulus lip twitched upwards the first real expression to show on his face. "Is it ever really that easy? No, fate can be altered easily but not changed without effort. Every step of the way when we change something, something else will happen to keep the balance in the new timeline."
"What does that mean?"
"For example if we were to save your parents" "when" interjected Harry. Regulus just signed and continued "When we save your parents for some reason or another fate will make sure you are still raised by the Dursleys. But because we changed the timeline your parents will still somehow get to experience raising a child."
Harry's expression hardened and closed of at the prospect of having his family once again be ripped away from him.
"Can I Adopt you?" Regulus blurted out before he could control himself, and mentally cursed at Harry's shocked look. Harry did not understand the kind of emotional attachment Regulus had with him. He had seen Harry grow up before him eyes for the last 17 years and knew him better than anyone else he knew when alive. He was determined not to let Harry go through the same hardships in his early years of childhood again and for that reason he would never let Harry go back to the Dursleys again.
Harry was frozen on the surface, but inside his mind was a whirlwind of emotions. This man...wanted him. After so many years of the madness that was his life Harry had become very good at reading emotions or at least his magic had. Hermione had said it was something called empathy and because of it he knew that this man in front of him truly wanted to be his parent.
It wasn't the same as Sirius who had already been half insane from the start and never saw past the James Potter in him, or even that saw him as another child in need of a home. This man cared about him in a way he did not understand and so desperately sought to be accepted by him. Him
Why anyone would need acceptance from him he didn't know but it was for that reason that Harry let a simple 'Yes' slip past his lips without much consideration. In return he got to witness his new parents mask fall for the first time seeing as how it was his turn to be shocked now.
"A-Are you sure."
Harry didn't think this posh elegant man before him even could stutter until this moment. "Yes"
"Ok" Regulus said actually smiling at him and Harry was overcome by the sudden urge to see his expression if he called him ' dad'.
Suddenly they heard the SCREECH of the tracks and the train stopped.
They had reached their destination.
In 1961 Regulus Black was born as the second child of Walburga and Orion Black. As a child He was unusually close to his older brother who was the exact opposite of him the favorite son of house Black. Most people would have expected him to shun Sirius Black since he was a bit of a wild child but this just made Regulus adore him even more.
When Sirius Black turned eleven and was sorted into Gryffindor he had expected everyone in his family to start calling him a disgrace and shun him. Yet the very next day he received a letter from his younger brother saying that he had figured this would happen and was proud of him.
To say James Potter was highly confused when his new best friend started to cry in the Great Hall during breakfast the next morning while reading his mail would be an understatement.
Next year when Regulus Black finally came to Hogwarts he was instantly sorted into Slytherin. That year that two most talked about topics in Hogwarts were how the Black brothers defied all house prejudice and communicated regularly and how the Infamous Gfinindor pranksters had integrated Severus Snape there eternally damned archenemy into their group.
If you were to ask anyone when or how it happened they would say they didn't know but at the beginning of second year they were at each other's throats and by the end of the week all 5 of them were attached at the hip.
7 years passed by in a flash for Regulus Black. He was sad to say that in that time he and his older brother had grow a part. While they both still loved each other dearly Sirius could never understand why Regulus refused to leave the Black family with him if he didn't share their views. He had always given vague answers like.
"You'll understand someday"
So when Regulus Black graduated Hogwarts and promptly joined Voldemort's forces Sirius felt both furious and betrayed. When he mysteriously died the winter of 1979 he only felt devastated.
However he was not able to lament the loss of his younger brother for long because soon after the incident Regulus Black was erased from the memories of all who knew of his existence.
In the summer of 1980 Harry and Henry Potter were born the twin sons of James and Lily Potter. They were both cheerful balls of energy that brought light into the Potter house during its darkest hours. However when they were both 15 months old there safe haven was betrayed to Voldemort by one of their parents closest friends. The family of four had been enjoying a quiet evening in the living room when it happened.
Lily went into the kitchen to heat up milk for the children when she accidentally burned herself. Her strange yelp of pain prompted James to leave the babies alone for a moment to see what had happened to his wife. It was then with both parents in the kitchen that Voldemort attacked.
After the parents felt an intruder come in through the wards they only had enough time to rush back into the living to see the twins being attacked by an Avada Kedavra before everything went white. The rest of the events of that night went by on a haze. When Albus Dumbledore came an hour after the attack to see the Parents each cradling a child while trying to be comforted by the rest of the Marauders he knew that something had gone terribly wrong.
When Harry Potter was somehow shown to have lost all his magical powers from the attack they all knew he had to be sent away for his own protection. The family of 4 huddled even closer together and absolutely refused to let go.
There were many a tears shed in the Potter family that night but inevitably some might even say by fate Harry Potter ended up living at number 4 Privet Drive before day break. In this life however the Potters had made it very clear that they expected the Dursleys to welcome Harry into their family or else.
Sadly while the Potters had had every intention to somehow remain apart of Harry's life with in the next few days of his departure Harry's existence was erased from their minds.
The Dursleys to someone or another's astonishment actually lasted for two months until they took Harry on a trip abroad with them to italy and tried to dump him in the mediterranean. The key word being 'tried to' dump him into the sea but as soon as they threw him over the cliff he began to float in mid air. He flew right over their heads and into the arms of a very familiar man with silver eyes that half of him never remembered meeting.
"DaDa" yelled little harry in delight especially when he saw the man's eyes widen in surprise before a slow smile spread across his lips.
"Hello Harry. Are you ready to go home?"
