Chapter One
Disclaimer: Just to make sure everyone is aware, I am not in fact J.K Rowling. Anything you recognise isn't my property.
I find myself locked away having to quarantine due to testing positive due to Covid. As such, I thought I'd pass the time by trying to write my first ever fanfic. Please don't judge me too harshly. Not sure how often I'll be able to update as I'll only be writing when I have the energy to.
If there was one flaw that Harry James Potter was self-aware enough to admit it was that he often didn't think. Oftentimes he relied more on instinct and bravery rather than planning out his actions ahead of time. The irony was in no way lost on him that it was that same reliance on instinct over logic that had trapped him in what seemed like hours of self-reflection. It had begun not more than half an hour ago when everything just seemed to click, the final pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place, he needed to die.
He remembered that moment of certainty before he began his slow trek, but if you asked him now to explain the logic he found he just couldn't. He just knew this was it, all the people who had died protecting him, or some even due to him. Remus, Tonks, Sirius, his parents and so many others. Each death weighed heavy on his shoulders, they had all given their lives to protect him and he just knew it was time to rebalance the scales.
Regardless of the prophecy, he knew that he had no chance of defeating Voldermort. He was barely trained, half-starved 17 year old against the most powerful dark wizard of the century. So as he stepped into the clearing, moving just as much under autopilot as anything else, he was lost in his thoughts. The conversation occurred around him, his body going through the motions the replies he gave he couldn't remember he simply focused on the one thought that kept him going. The thought of the first sacrifice of his parents, his mothers' death, had protected him. He only hoped that with his death he would be able to protect everyone else that was still out there fighting.
Lost in his thoughts as he was he barely registered as Voldermort lifted his wand, a cruel smile played out on his lips as he saw more than heard him say "Avada Kedavra". As the green light sped towards him he simply closed his eyes and thought of everyone he would be protecting. As the seconds passed confusion crept upon him, shouldn't it have happened already, maybe it was so painless he was dead already. He summoned up his courage and cracked an eye open.
"Merlin" he breathed as he took a staggering step backwards. Just in front of his face, a few centimetres from where had just stood hung the blinding green bolt of the unforgivable curse.
"Took you long enough, don't worry about that the everything is stopped we have all the time in the world" Came a voice from behind him sounding both comfortingly familiar and yet alien, like hearing an old recording of a friend before you knew them. He whipped around to confront the voice only to pull up short stunned by the figure standing in front of him. The features so similar to his own, though they stood taller with easy confidence, with a small smile that seemed to say that he knew something that no one else did. The raven-haired man's outfit threw him, a pair of dark blue jeans matched with a grey graphic tee that had what looked like an airport flight board that said, flight from death - cancelled. "Dad, what are yo-" Harry began before he noticed the figures eye's, they were brilliant emerald green, just like his own.
"Close but unfortunately not" the other Harry laughed " Want to try again".
The younger wizard glared back at the laughing man. "Who are you" he spat out "and what are you doing here".
"Merlin's beard, I know we don't often think things through but I think even we can put together who I am" The stranger began stepping forwards. " Mum's eyes, the striking similarity to dad. Polyjuice wouldn't allow for the discrepancies and I'm sure Padfoot or Mooney would have said something if other Potter siblings were running about. So Sherlock if we remove every other possibility, then who could I be". By the end of his short monologue, he was standing just within arms reach of the younger man.
"So you're me" young Harry breathed, the uncertainty clouding his eyes. "Why, are you here? What do you want from me?" he fought the urge to step back uncomfortable with the closer distance unsure if the older him was about to lash out or something and finding himself worrying unable to read his reflected features.
"Hmm," the older man hummed and tilted his head as if weighing him up. "Nothing". He said with a wide smile.
"What?" Harry replied the confusion evident on his face.
"I don't need you for anything. To be honest I was kind of just passing through and thought I'd do some sightseeing". The man shrugged. "I'm here to speak to an old-" and here he paused as if looking for the correct word. "Friend". He said in a way that seemed almost unsatisfied with the word. "It's just that considering our status" he acknowledged younger Harry's slight frown with a small shake of his head. "That it was easier for me to appear here as you were moments away from death".
The older wizard took a second to look around, head cocked as if to listen out for something, which seemed odd to Harry as their surroundings were completely silent stuck as they seemed to be in a moment of time.
"There they are" He muttered more to himself than to his younger self then returned to him with an even wider smile on his face. "Now despite what I said earlier I do have other things to be doing so I can't spend all my time just talking to myself, what would people think" He laughed at his joke. "But I will tell you this," he said suddenly all joviality " What you were about to do was incredibly brave. The fact that you were willing to sacrifice your own life is something to be proud of, hell I know for a fact our parents and Sirius are extremely proud of you. However it should never have gotten to this point, you have been let down spectacularly by some of the adults in your life and let's just say I'm hoping that what I'm about to do should make things a lot easier for you. Now with that said" he suddenly snapped his fingers and Harry froze a quizzical look on his face. The older man then waved a hand and the young man's body rose before turning and returning to its previous place in front of Voldemorts spell. As he turned to face back towards the looming shape of Hogwarts castle a slight grimace passed his face as he whispered to himself "it's time to speak to Hermione".