Harry and Ron sat down at Grimmauld's place sharing a bottle of firewhisky. A hard day, a day where they had lost many of their friends and family. It had been a year since the end of Voldemort, a year of pain and heartache; everyone, muggle and wizard trying to heal. Harry took a sip of the burning liquid thinking about the last year. The guilt George had for surviving, the sadness Ginny held in her eyes every day, only matched by her Mother's. Remus and Tonks were gone, little Teddy without his parents. The death of other students and faculty. The death of Dumbledore, let alone Sirius and Snape, still hit Harry hard. The last year had been a challenging year but they were surviving, living for those who could not.
"How's Hermione," Harry asked looking up at Ron, who gave a small grin.
"Working hard still on restoring the ministry and gaining equal right for all beings, not just wizards," Ron said as if it had been something he had rehearsed several times over, in the mirror.
"Good, glad she found her parents. They still getting used to being at the Burrow?"
"Yeah, Mum likes having them. Gives her someone to fuse over. Take her mind off things."
Hermione and Ron had gone looking for the Grangers about a month after the war had ended. It had taken another two to locate them, restore their memories and bring them back to England. To say the least, they had not been happy with what Hermione had done, but they were pleased to have their memories and their daughter back.
A few moments of silence passed between the two men. Both men were 18 years old, nearing 19. They had felt like they had dealt with so much and with such little satisfaction. They had survived a war, but neither left unscathed.
"Ever wish we could do it over again?" Ron asked looking at his best friend. It wasn't the first time he had thought this, but perhaps the first time he had vocalized it.
Harry looked into his glass, do it over again, like the time Hermione and he had used the time turner to save Sirius. If only.
"I wish Ron," Harry said as his friend and he clinked glasses and drank. They continued drinking all night long, laughing and crying about the past. They both fell asleep at the table with one thought on their mind- if only.
Harry started to wake up- he felt something lumpy underneath him. He wondered if Ginny or Hermione had come home and levitated him to the couch. He blinked his eyes a few times; nothing was coming into focus. Moving his hand around a few times, Harry found the eyeglasses. Rubbing his eyes, he placed the glasses on his face. Blinking a few times, Harry caught his breath in his chest because he couldn't fathom where he was.
This wasn't Grimmauld's Place. Hell, this wasn't even the tent he sometimes slept in when his nightmares became too much even for him. He was sitting in his bedroom, well Dudley's spare bedroom, at his Aunt and Uncle's at 4 Privet Drive Lane in Surrey.
Closing his eyes, he started whispering out loud, "This can't be, must be a dream. Drank too much."
Opening his eyes, he was still very much in Surrey. He pinched himself. Nothing happened. "This just can't be possible."
He stood up and walked to the window; it was night time, and he could see Hedwig flying back towards the window. Sweet Hedwig, alive and well. What kind of cruel dream was this?
She landed on the window ledge and pecked Harry playfully. He couldn't help but to stare at her like she would disappear any moment, the moment he would wake up and the truth would be back. Harry walked back over to his bed, and he heard the faint noise of Vernon snoring. Maybe if he went back to sleep, he would wake in the morning and all would be set back to where it should be.
"Ronald, are you listening?" Molly Weasley said to her youngest son.
Ron blinked a couple of times; this was not where he had been just hours ago. This had to be some nightmare.
"Ronald make sure your clothes are ready for tomorrow. I do not want to spend more time than necessary in Diagon Ally, not with Sirius Black on the loose."
"Sirius Black" Ron was able to say.
"Honestly, Ronald are you feeling alright? You look quite pale," Molly said to her son as she felt his head for a fever.
"Umm, fine mum. I'm just going to...right...get things ready for tomorrow." Ron took off up the steps of the old Burrow to his room.
He shut the door and tentatively walked over to his bed in his very orange room. Taking deep breaths, what had he done last? None of this was right. He had been drinking with Harry at Grimmauld's place. They had passed out after, and then he was in the middle of the kitchen with his mum, being yelled at about Diagon Ally. Sirius was on the loose...his mind started to work over this problem with only the precision of having been Hermione Granger's best friend and boyfriend.
He slowly got up from his bed and walked across the room, there he was, the rat, scabbers, wormtail, bloody Peter Pettigrew. Ron looked around wildly for his wand and found the one he broke in his second year. Before they had passed out, Ron and Harry had been talking about if they had it to do over again, what they would have done, what they could have done. Was this fates chance, to make everything right? To give all his friends and family a chance at life? Or was it no more than a dream?
He looked back at the rat and tried to process. Harry, he, though, would Harry have come back? Hermione? Could he make a difference if it was him alone? He grabbed a quick piece of paper and quill and then stared at it for a long time. How could he ask Harry without asking Harry? He scribbled down the only thing he could think of, begged Percey to borrow his own, and sent him off.
Maybe this was all a dream. But if he had the chance to save just one person, any person from that blasted Voldemort, even Snape, he would.
Harry woke up, he was still at 4 Privet Drive and sitting at his window was Percey's owl. Harry tentatively took the message and read it with a small grin spreading across his face.
"I found a piece of parchment that says Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs. Any idea who they are?"
Harr's grin got wider, as he scribbled back a reply. This maybe a dream of some kind but he wasn't here alone. Together they would find answers, and if this was the past, they would protect their future.