A/N: I know I shouldn't start a new story now, because I really have to work on my Marauders fic, but I had this idea, and I wanted to right AU, so I did. A Hebrew school teacher actually gave me this idea. Once, when we were talking about the Holocaust, he explained that all things happen for a reason, even if we don't understand them. He said that maybe, if this didn't happen, something even worse might have come along. I think the situation could apply to the Harry Potter world to.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except there are a number of original characters, or there will be. All property of JKR belongs to her and her publishers. And I stole the genie's location from an "X-Files" episode, sort of. Don't sue me.
What Might Have Been
Prologue
Harry Potter wanders through the dark, empty house. Sirius' house. It still belongs to Sirius, in Harry's mind. He cannot accept that it is his, cannot accept the emptiness now that his godfather is gone. He will not accept it.
He finds himself in the attic, farthest away from Sirius' room, from the places that still feel like him. It is dark and dusty, and has not been cleaned. Valuable, magical antiques are strewn about as if they were garbage. He steps carefully, aware that some of these things are dangerous, could hurt him. He wanders over to a window over the London street, watches the wispy clouds floating over the bright full moon. He wonders if Lupin is alright.
Harry rests his arm against the sill, and his foot brushes against something next to him. It begins to tip, and before he can stop it, it crashes to the ground. It is a large Oriental rug, and it unrolls from the impact. What happens next would have surprised him completely if he wasn't so filled with grief and pain.
A young woman with dark hair steps out of the rug. "You have freed me," she says. "For this, I grant you three wishes. Think carefully, and make your wishes wisely."
Harry's mind leaps to one thing, one all consuming thought. Bring Sirius back. But that is not enough. He has suffered other pain in his life. He wants his parents, whom he has never known. He needs them too. He begins to speak, but then stops. There is a bigger wish he can make, something much more powerful. Something that would bring both Sirius and his parents back, and thousands of others. Something that would take away all of his pain. He would have to word this very carefully.
"I wish that Tom Marvolo Riddle had never been born. Never existed. No trace of him left on this earth." Harry pauses. The genie, because that's what he knows she is, begins to work here ancient, powerful magic. "Wait!" he says, the first time he has raised his voice above a dull monotone since the start of the summer. "I also don't want to remember making this wish. I don't want to remember anything of the life that I've lead. I want to remember them as the Harry born into a world without Voldemort would have remembered them."
"Is that all?" the genie asks. Harry nods. "Then it is done."
Did you like? Don't worry, the whole fic won't be in present perfect tense, I just like writing prologues that way. If you enjoyed, please review. Pretty please? And if you really liked, please read some of my other stories!