Chapter 1

Grief struck Harry as he saw Ginny fall to Bellatrix's curse. He couldn't process what had happened properly. She couldn't be dead, she just couldn't. He barely registered the ear-piercing scream that tore apart his throat, as he tugged off his invisibility cloak. It took only a moment to kill Bellatrix; really he should have taken longer to enact vengeance on the person who killed the girl he loved. With everyone staring in surprise he turned to face Voldemort. The Dark Lords mouth was agape with a look that under normal circumstances Harry would have found amusing. The two of them began circling each other and after what seemed like an eternity they cast their spells. Red met green and the Dark Lord fell to the ground, finally, dead. With that done the-boy-who-lived finally collapsed to his knees, and just stared.

"Harry please, come with us, you need to eat." Mrs. Weasley's voice seemed to be a thousand miles away. "There's nothing more you can do for her. She's she's dead."

Harry finally looked up at the woman who treated him like a son and found words tumbling from his mouth "I should have saved her. I should have saved them all. Why did I let this happen, HOW could I let this happen? What was the point of it if she's gone?"

knelt down beside Harry, putting his arm around him. "I can't give you a good answer to that, no one can. What I do know is that she would want you to live on and find a new purpose for your life."

Harry turned to him, his eyes showing the agony that he felt. "How do I find a new purpose? What can I even do anymore, my whole life has been dedicated to bringing him down." Mr. Weasley just shook his head. "No one can find the answer to that but you."

A week had passed and Harry felt as lost as he had after killing Voldemort. He had wandered around the castle, hoping that the answer would come to him in the place he felt most at home. After the first day he had done his best to hide from the Weasleys. They had all come and talked to him, telling him that it wasn't his fault Ginny and Fred had died and how she would want him to move on. What was the point of being Harry Potter the-boy-who-lived, The Chosen One, Mater of the Deathly Hallows. Wait, the deathly hallows. Being master of all three meant he was supposed to be master of death. What does it mean? He took off running to the forest, aiming to retrieve the last of the three not currently in his possession.

As he was about to exit the castle Ron and Hermione grabbed him. With an expression of terror Hermione asked "Harry what are you doing? Don't run from us, we want to be there for you." Ron nodded in agreement and added "Whatever you need mate and we're there for you."

Harry looked at them and came to a decision. "I need to retrieve the stone. I think that with it I can do something about what happened."

Hermione's face softened "Harry you know that it's impossible. No magic can raise the dead." "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT." Harry bellowed at her. "IF I HAVE ALL THREE I MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING!" Ron stepped up and punched him. Stumbling a bit Harry realized he had been shouting at her. "I'm sorry Hermione, but I need to try. If I don't I won't be able to live with myself." She nodded at him "Alright Harry. We'll help you look."

It took another week of searching before Harry finally found it. With Ron and Hermione in tow they returned to the castle, heading to the Gryffindor common room. After sitting down Ron asks "What now? I mean we found it but what do we do with them?"

Hermione shushed him as quickly as possible. Harry looked up at them "I'm not really sure what to do now. I didn't think this far ahead. I'm not really sure what to do."

"Well" Hermione began "What if we try arranging them the same way as the symbol for identifying others that hunt for them." Harry took out the three hallows, setting the cloak down first followed by placing the stone on top of it and laying the wand on them both. Harry looked up at his friends about to ask them for other ideas instead gasping. A large robbed figure sat in front of him where his friends had been a moment before.

"Wha who are you? Where are Ron and Hermione?" He managed to stammer.

A voice seeming to come from all directions answered. "Your friends are safe, fear not. As for who I am, well I am the angel of death. I have answered the summons as I am bound. What is it you wish to ask of me."

Harry gulped feeling more nervous than he had ever before "I want to bring back those I love back."

Death laughed, a surprisingly warm and welcoming sound. "All humans are the same, wishing for that which cannot be. I am not allowed to return those who have passed from this life. It is one of the few rules I am required to keep." Harry's face fell in disappointment "But I can offer an alternative to you. I can send you back to a time in your past, this will give you a chance to save some of those you lost." Harry looked a bit confused at this and asked "If you aren't allowed to bring them back then why am I allowed to try and save them?" Again Death laughed "Don't know myself. Upper management makes the decisions for what is and isn't allowed. All I do is bring the dead to the next part." Shaking his head Harry was more confused than ever. "What would it mean for me to go back?" "You would be sent to a time in your life of your choosing. You would retain your memories, giving you an advantage for what's to come. It would only be you though, no one else is allowed back.". Harry understood what he meant. He would not have his friends, at least not as he knew them at this moment. "What would happen to my friends here? Would this time just disappear?". Death shook his head "No. Time is a finicky thing like that. I won't go into the details but you would disappear, and this timeline will be short one Harry Potter.". At this Harry became conflicted. "Can I talk to my friends before I make my decision?". Death nodded "Remove the wand from atop the stone. Put it back when you come to a decision. If you wish for something else I can still grant another request."

With the wand removed Harry informed his friends of what happened. "So if you go back in time you just disappear and we live our lives not knowing what happened to you?" Ron exclaimed. Hermione looked at Harry a soft expression on her face "Harry we know how much you miss them. You've convinced yourself that there's nothing left for you here. I think, to be really happy, you should do it. You'll have a chance to make a world you can be happy in. I'm not sure you can be happy here, not anymore.". Ron nodded in agreement saying "We need to decide what to tell everyone once you disappear though. They would freak out if you just go missing." Harry thought for a moment then said "Tell the rest of the Weasleys, and the other members of the order what actually happened. You can choose what to tell the rest of the wizarding world after talking to them. I just don't know when I should go to. Should I start from my first year? Or just redo this year?" After much discussion amongst the three they came to a decision. Third year, the first year he could make any real change to what had happened. "Alright" Harry started "I go back to the start of third year and come up with a way to change things in the next few years". With that he gave his friends a last goodbye and replaced the wand.