Harry Potter's first thought was that his bum was hurting. His second thought was that his glasses had fallen off. Finally though, his third thought was the most important: What had just happened?

"You a'right boy?"

Harry looked up. Unfortunately all he saw was a dirty-white beard on a blurry face. But the voice...He was sure he knew it.

"I-My glasses-"

"Here."

"Thanks."

He quickly put on his glasses- he had to see- and got up. The moment he did, he realized being so fast was not such a good idea.

"Hey, watch out kid!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder steadying him, keeping him from falling. He finally looked up.

"A-"

"Don't talk just yet. You don't seem very steady to me."

He wasn't. In fact, his whole world was still turning from his fast get-up. But he just couldn't remember what it was that had caused him to be so light headed. Or how he found himself in front of Aberforth Dumblerdore's Inn, in the middle of the night. Luckily, it appeared Aberforth was in a better mood than the usual.

"Come on in then boy; don't want a dead kid layin' near my inn."

"I-I'm not dead, A-"

"Well, you don't look far from it. And this place already has a bad reputation as it is. I said don't speak."

Harry had many objections-and many questions. But he couldn't find it in himself to disobey Aberforth, mainly because of his murderous headache. Hell, he couldn't even walk straight without Aberforth's help. Oh Merlin, don't throw up.

Aberforth, not very gently, threw him to a bed and Harry could only mutter one last "A-" before he was fast asleep.

Harry woke up with the sound of a collision.

"Damned bird!" A raspy voice yelled. From the sound of it, an owl had brought the recent post. "Did you bring the newspaper?" The bird hooted. "Hmph, there it is."

What had happened last night? Harry tried to think through the pounding in his head. He couldn't remember anything. His long term memory was fine but his short term memory was no good. No matter how hard he tried yesterday was not coming back to him. Only the blurry moments when Aberforth found him were slightly there.

Aberforth.

Harry did remember he acted slightly strange last night. As if he didn't-But that was not possible. Unless Aberforth was becoming senile-and Harry didn't see that happening any time soon-there was no way he wouldn't recognize Harry. He slowly got up to his feet and waited for a second. Steady. So he was better than last night. Slowly he made his way downstairs to where Aberforth would be. There was nothing he wanted more than to sleep a little more but his hunger was stopping him from laying back on the bed. And he had some questions.

He had aimed to be quiet but his groaning gave him away. He couldn't help it.

"Ah, you're up." He was opening the yellow package of the newspaper he'd been asking.

"Yes, A-"

"So, maybe you can introduce yourself now; normally I don't really care who stays here as long as they pay but tough times these are" Aberforth spoke grumpily, "Could be a bloody Death Eater." He mumbled under his breath but he made sure Harry heard him also.

Surely, he had to be joking. And Death Eaters?

"You're kidding, right?" Harry said, a half smile reaching his face. Aberforth Dumbledore did have an odd sense of humor after all.

Aberforth was not laughing at his own joke. Harry jumped when he slammed the newspaper he'd been holding before on the counter.

"Kidding!" He yelled, "The whole damn world is being dragged into a fucking WAR and you dare say I'm JOKING!" He was breathing heavily now, "You better get the fuck out of here right now, kid."

Harry couldn't move. In fact his legs were shaking. What the hell was happening here? He didn't give it a possibility before but maybe Aberforth was really going senile. Perhaps his mind was not as lasting as his brother's had been. He was panicking now, he had to call Ron and Hermione here to help Abe. But in his slightest move, his already weak legs betrayed him. Harry found himself flat on the floor with his world turning once again. Luckily there was nothing in his stomach that could force its way out right now.

Aberforth, despite his apparent anger, rushed to his side. Harry had learnt in the past year how much of a softie he was on the inside. Apparently, his senile state was not taking away from his personality. Aberforth placed the dizzy boy on a chair and Harry rested his head on the table. Shaking his head, Aberforth went behind the counter once more and Harry heard some rattling. Seconds later a slice of bread, some cheese and a glass dark red liquid was placed next to his head.

"Cheap muggle wine." Aberforth said when he noticed Harry looking at it; he poured another glass for himself. "That's all I got. 25 Knuts will be enough. Business ain't so good anyway." He paused for a second and took a big sip from his wine. "I'm gonna blame your previous gitness to your dizziness. It ain't wise to make light of dark matters nowadays boy. These are dark times."

Harry finally found it in himself to open his eyes. He didn't trust his head to nod just yet so he blinked to show Abe his understanding. As soon as he was feeling better, he had to find his friends. Abe wasn't in a good state. He took a piece from his bread and dipped it in the wine before eating it. He needed get himself together. He decided to ask Abe some questions to deduct just how bad his mind really was.

"You're right. I apologize. How has this place been holding up?"

"Hmph. Not different from any other place I suppose. Always been empty, now it's even worse."

Harry nodded and ate some more. He could finally sit up.

"It'll be better, eventually." He said.

"An optimist, I see. Ah, I doubt it boy. The mad man's gonna have all our heads in the end. I don't even care if you're one of his lot. What you gonna do anyways? Report me? Kill me? Do it. I don't see anything ever getting any better."

It sounded more like he was talking to himself rather than Harry. But he was saying some important stuff. The mad man? He couldn't be talking about- Harry had to understand just what time Abe thought he was in. He decided to use his current state to his advantage.

"Look I, I'm not a very healthy guy. This light headedness happens often. I suppose I am a bit behind on the current issues. What has been happening exactly?"

Aberforth shot him a reprimanding look and got up. He moved to the counter while Harry continued his breakfast. Suddenly the newspaper was thrown on the table, knocking over his wine.

"See for yourself."

Harry almost choked on his food. His eyes bulged. This couldn't be. Faces of the past, names that were dead moved in pictures in front of him. The newspaper was new and shiny and he'd heard it being brought this morning. He'd seen Aberforth open the package in front of his eyes. But the date. No. It couldn't be.

He looked up at Aberforth, his mouth forming a perfect "o" and his heart stopped. He'd never noticed the decrease of white in his beard before this moment. The minority of the lines in the edges of his eyes. Just how young he looked.

He swallowed and looked back at the newspaper. The date. The date was impossible. But somehow it was true.

September 10, 1977

Soo here it is. This was originally the first chapter before but for some reason I wanted to pull the Regulus chapter forward. I don't know why. To set the tone perhaps. Anyways thanks to anyone who read and reviews are appreciated. It was perhaps a stupid move to rewrite an entire unfinished story but I felt like I couldn't finish the other one with the way it was. I'm just much more satisfied with this right now. Anyways thanks and I hope you keep reading! If curious, you can find the original Time Flies Backwards on my page I will not erase it.

Lots of Love,

Necesisstas