Despite the fact that Harry is going back to the same Universe's past as before, there are already going to be a few changes in his life, without future Harry meddling. I see this as the same kind of thing as not being able to step in your footprint again in the exact same spot. You can never redo something exactly the same, and with the leap that Harry's making, he has room for changes.

Thanks to Hkokuryuha and Queen Selene I for reviewing.

Disclaimer: Oops, forgot this on the prolouge. OK, why do you think it's called FAN fiction? Because the FANS write it, based off the REAL thing, meaning we OWN nothing. Pfft, I don't even own myself, legally. So stop rubbing it in.

Chapter One: Finding the Light

Harry looked around at the small room, checking to see if he had forgotten anything. The house he had inherited from Lupin when he had been tortured and murdered by Death Eaters, and while he hated to profit from another's death, he had come to terms with the fact that he needed all the resources he could get.

The dark, musty, dingy room housed his most valued possessions, and was protected by nearly as many wards as Hogwarts and Gringrott's was. Here he stored ancient books of lore and knowledge, previously thought to be lost. And yet, they weren't nearly enough. Heck, he could barely read the books, let alone perform the spells and rituals within.

He was getting ready to go to his death, as he was finally resigned to do. Voldemort had defeated him on every other occasion, and taken one more thing away from him each time, without ever breaking a sweat.

Well, Harry had decided that as his power was starting to wane, he would attack with all his strength, and maybe succeed in being an annoyance to the Dark Bastard before he kicked the bucket, although, knowing himself, Harry would probably trip over the bucket first. Nothing had ever gone right in his life before, and he didn't see why it should start now. Luck was a jerk.

Pushing the first and last prayer he would ever give up to the heavens, he set out, but his toe caught on the carpet just outside the door, and he fell.


Harry sat up and groaned, wondering what he must have hit to have been knocked unconscious from such a small fall. He reached down out of habit to check the wrist holster in which he stored his wand. With a sense of alarm, he felt no bent and cracked stick at his shoddy holster. He didn't even feel a holster. His clothing felt lighter too, as if all he wore was a nightgown….

He opened his eyes and looked around widely, not seeing the familiar study, which hid the entrance to his secret room, but a wide plain stretched out below him, beyond which a dark, murky lake rested.

At first he thought he was flying, but then he looked at his feet, and behind him, and found that he was actually standing on a balcony, with few and simple designs, but the simplicity of the place made it all the more breathtaking. It was a masterpiece of workmanship, with flowing and overlapping designs on the door, which was the most elaborate thing, so he took it to be the seal of whoever lived here. He was clothed in some airy material, which seemed to float just above his skin, rather than rest on it.

When he looked more closely, he could tell that the door's designs contained a graceful dragon, a charging boar, a soaring phoenix, and a plethora of other animals. He could feel the power emanating from it, almost a heat on his face.

"Yes, it's very nice, isn't it?"

Harry jumped and twisted around, to see an impossibly beautiful woman standing before, every feature perfect, gentle curves, deep eyes, utterly astounding. However, rather than staring at her in amazement, his eyes narrowed suspiciously, and he began mentally scolding himself for not having noticed her presence before.

She smiled slightly and said, "Don't be angry at yourself, it's always hard for a mortal to notice us."

Harry's eyes narrowed a little more, and he gave a soft snort. "Mortals? What are you then? God?"

The lady shrugged and said, "We prefer the term Higher Being, but whatever floats you boat."

Harry shook his head. "Well, I've finally gone insane. Where's the banana?"

The lady stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"Well, since I've gone insane, I've decided that I'll believe that I'm a monkey, and I can't do that very well without a banana, so…"

She blinked. "You humans are extremely odd. Are you sure you're Harry Potter?"

Harry began getting angry. "I've more than earned the right to be crazy, so, if you have a problem with me being crazy, what's your reason?"

She stared again. "Um, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, so I'll just pretend that you weren't talking at all. I understand that you have fallen upon some, ah, hard times-"

"More like they've fallen on me," muttered Harry.

She continued on, undaunted. "-and I'm giving you a second shot at things. I can teleport your soul back in time, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Come along, we have some planning to do."


"Let me see if I've got this straight. You believe you are an offspring of the powers that came into existence when Creation was first started, and have powers unsurpassed by all but a few of your colleagues. You want to send me back in time, because after you set events into motion, you managed to forget about me, and that is disastrous because I was put there to kill Tom Riddle, who, if he isn't stopped in time, is going to stumble on an ancient power and destroy your favorite galaxy. I have a few questions." Harry was unnaturally calm.

If Destiny were human, she would have been unnerved by the blank stare she was receiving from him, but she wasn't human, so she nodded pleasantly. "Fire away, to borrow a human expression."

"What the bloody Hell made you forget about the one thing that could save a GALAXY?"

"Er, actually it's kind of embarrassing, could you ask a different question?" Seeing no response coming from Harry, she sighed. "I thought not. Ok, I was invited to an unusually rousing game of cricket, and afterwards I, er, went to the movies in London with Power."

Harry blinked. "You forgot about me because you saw a game of cricket and went on a date?" Ignoring her protests that it hadn't been a date, he said to himself, "Bloody Hell, these people are more insane than me. Whatever." Turning back to her, he said, "Then, if you're so ruddy brilliant and powerful, why don't YOU go down to Earth and snap your fingers or click your heels or whatever and make everything better? What makes you think I want to go back?"

"Well, for why I think you want to go back, those silly shields of yours can't block me. I can see the truth in you. However, to answer your other question, I can't directly meddle in the goings on of the Universe we Created because it wouldn't be able to stand the concentration of power and it would thus disintegrate. Oh, and cause every person in the Universe that I appear in and a couple alternate Universes closely connected to that one go insane before dying."

"So, a mortal in your direct presence should go mad and die from the amount concentrated power that they would be forced to absorb?"

"Actually, yes. I'm surprised you got that absorbing part."

Harry looked at her. "Why aren't I dead then? I know I'm insane, but shouldn't I be dying too?"

"Wow, you're really observant for your kind." She thought she heard him say something like, "Thanks to Hermione," but continued after cocking an eyebrow. "You aren't going insane because my force isn't concentrated right now. My force of being and power is spread out all over this land, although a little bit more concentrated right here to create this house, which should explain the heady feeling I'm sure you're getting.

"The power manifests itself in this world between worlds, usually suiting our personality, though we have figured out a way to change it with a lot concentrating." A table with a glass of lemonade suddenly came into existence right next to Harry, and Harry took the hint and downed it, thinking that if it were poisoned or something like that it wouldn't matter because it would be a more pleasant way to die than being murdered by Lord Unholy Wart anyway.

"This place has a natural resistance against our powers, being at the edge of the barrier between Life, Final Death, and everlasting Purgatory. Also, I've already started to imbue you with some of my power with that glass of lemonade, so hopefully that annoying heady feeling will leave now."

Harry shrugged. "So, what am I actually going to do to get there?"

"Well, you don't have to do anything until you get there. You see, I'm sending you to your own original Universe, through time, not some alternate one where you died. Because you lived in this Universe, and because of the collective decision of the Higher Beings, you're going to have to go back only in soul, memories, and power, which will all be drawn to your younger self, and he will have to willingly agree to be joined with you in mind. I believe that once he agrees, your two minds, and powers, will combine, and you'll be one person again.

Trying to hurry past the "I believe" in her last statement, she said, "He'll probably do this in sleep, where he can create a setting in which he can understand what's happening, like forming a person out of you and talking to you."

"Exactly how young am I going to be?"

"I have no idea, but it's before you go to school."

Harry groaned. "Oh, that's just great. With my luck, I'll be thrown into the body of my 2 year old self, and be defenseless for years."

Destiny shook her head with a grin. "Actually, I had a talk with Luck, and a couple of the other Higher Beings. Apparently, he heard your comment about Luck being a jerk to you, and decided to prove you wrong. Also, the other Beings I talked to seem to like you and are going to give you some of their power, and watch over you."

Harry gave up trying to really understand what was going on. "Right. That makes perfect sense, so please don't explain anything else. When do I leave?"

She grinned again. "I think the process starts in 17.098 seconds."

Harry's eyes widened. "Wait, what's your name?" he said quickly.

Her smile got even wider. "I took the name of Destiny, but I you can call me Christine. Bye. If you need to contact me, just pass a message along with a soul that's starting its Journey to Death."

When Harry had completely disappeared, she sighed and went to talk to the last of the Higher Beings about Harry.

Change, Fate, and Power.


Harry didn't like the cupboard. It always left him sore and stiff, and that wasn't a good thing when you wanted to keep away from Dudley.

He always woke up a little early, and took a look at himself in the mirror that he had scavenged from a dumpsters a few weeks ago. It was crusty and cracked, but Harry could still make out his reflection clearly enough.

He slept in boxers only, so he could easily see his whole body. He had a few scars across his chest, from when Dudley had pushed him through a glass window when Harry didn't play the prank on an old neighbor because the man had always been kind to Harry.

He could usually hear what was going on in the entire house, as the ventilating system opened up and was sucked out in the small cupboard under the stairs where he slept, and where he spent most of his time, but it was not healthy for him. All of the gases used to heat and cool the house mixed a little there due to gas leaks, which altered his appearance from what it would have been, should he have been in a more nourishing environment

His hair was slightly dull, dry, and seemed to be impossible to brush properly, and his hands abnormally dry, for the oils had been scalded off during the weekly heating of the house. His bones were weaker than they should have been, and easily bruised. He was often overcome by small bouts of asthma, because his lungs were weakened as well. He was also smaller than even a boy his age should have been, because of malnutrition.

However, a few good things had come from the less than healthy environment for an 8-year-old boy. His eyes were one of the most noticeable things affected. They were vibrant green at times, shining in such a way that they caught the attention of any near him, and other times dull gray-green, seemingly suppressed, so that he was barely noticed. Not that he knew whether that was from the gases or not.

He often used this as a method to stay out of trouble. If he cleared his mind and thought about almost nothing, other than being unnoticed, people around him would see him, but not notice him, and immediately forget that he existed, finding thinking about him an unnecessary effort.

The other benefit was that he could hear the TV. It wasn't that he liked to occupy his time listening to meaningless cartoons, for beatings given for unnecessary things had given him a sharp, pragmatic mind, and he didn't understand what Dudley liked about the stupid things that he constantly watched.

In an effort to get Dudley to become physically fit Aunt Petunia had made sure that Dudley watched an hour of Child's Fitness every day on channel 215. The few exercises that she actually managed to get Dudley to do had very little impact, other than making him punch a little bit harder.

Harry had heard the people telling the children on the channel about the ways to deal with asthma, and different exercises to get stronger and get bigger. He also heard them telling the kids about the importance of eating the right foods, and the right amount, so Harry decided to see if he could strike a deal with Dudley.

He told Dudley that if he gave Harry all the vegetables and fruit that Petunia gave him, let him eat them, and the glass of milk that she forced before allowing him to drink soda, then he would finish it off, and give back the empty glass and plate, as long as Dudley wouldn't hurt him as much.

Surprisingly, Dudley's small brain had calculated the facts and decided that he got the most benefit from the deal, and agreed.

He was slowly starting to get healthier, but there was no doubt that he was miserable. Dudley had always hurt him, whether it was twisting an arm to get what he wanted or throwing something at him because Dudley was angry, or bored.

The little boy sleeping quietly, with a few tears leaking out of his eyes, under the stairs in the cupboard, never expected what was going to happen to change his life so drastically in approximately 17.098 seconds.


Harry was fading away, his world slowly getting dark, a sickly warm feeling filling where his chest and stomach would have been had he had them. Suddenly, he got the impression that he was speeding towards something, being pulled towards it by an inconceivable force. Then a warm, cheerful light erupted in front of him, and he was engulfed by it.

He slowly opened his eyes, and peered around him. Sitting on a small mat in front of him was a small boy, crying fitfully.

Harry may have given up his will to live and be happy, but he could never bear to see someone else in pain or grief. "What's the matter little one?"

The boy raised his head slowly to reveal a tear-streaked face. The tears were coming from a pair of startlingly vibrant green eyes. "I-I'm s-sorry," cried the boy, whom Harry was starting to quickly recognize . "I d-d-didn't m-mean t-to! D-don't tell Uncle V-V-Vernon. Please!"

Harry knelt down and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Sshhh, it's okay. I'm not mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong." Harry's eyes hardened when he realized how true that was. "I won't hurt you."

He ran his hand through the boy's hair, both to confirm his belief, and calm the crying child. There, hidden by over-grown bangs, was the tell-tale scar, shaped like a lightning bolt, although a strike of lightning would have been preferable compared to it's like-ness's impact on the young boy's life.

The young Harry looked up again, and met his eyes. "Who a-are y-you?"

Harry smiled. "A friend. I'm here for you, and you'll never be alone again." Harry realized how ironic it was that he had always tried to not pity himself, but failed even now.

The boy looked at him again. "A friend? Like Piers is to Dudley?"

Harry replied, "Oh, no, no, Piers isn't a real friend. You'll have real friends, ones that care about you. Do you promise to take care of them?"

Nodding vigorously, the child answered, "Uh-huh, if I had a friend, I'd never let them get hurt! I wouldn't even let Dudley or Uncle Vernon hurt them."

Harry smiled genuinely, his younger self had quickly forgotten about his fears in the light of a friendship, and was showing more courage than Harry had originally had, in promising to defend them even against his uncle.

However, the boy still wanted a little more affirmation on the truthfulness of this person, and asked again. "Who are you?"

The older man seemed to visibly age even more. "I think that it would be better if I answered a different question first. That question is: Who are you?"

The child looked at him oddly. "I'm just Harry Potter. At least, I think my last name's Potter, I only heard Aunt Petunia say it once when she was screaming about my dad."

"Is that all you are? Just a boy living with his Uncle, Aunt, and cousin?"

Still completely clueless as to what the stranger was talking about, young Harry replied, "Yes, although Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia call me a freak a lot."

Harry frowned darkly at the young boy's answer. The child backed up, but seemed to realize that the anger wasn't directed at him. "We'll talk about that later. First, I want to know, what strange things have happened to you? Was your uncle yelling at you from outside the cupboard, and it locked suddenly, so he couldn't get in? Has Dudley chased you, and you wished really hard to be somewhere else, and then you were? Has stuff like that happened?"

The child seemed to think hard, but slowly nodded his head. Harry doubted that the boy thought hard about whether that kind of thing had happened or not, but judging from the look on the boy's face, rather to tell him or not. "Once, Dudley and Piers were punching me, and I felt something weird, and then when Piers tried to hit me again, his hand stopped a little in front of my face, and he yelled something. The next day, all the bruises were gone."

Harry hesitated a little longer this time, and the older man bent down and hugged, assuming correctly that Harry had been punished for the next one, but the hug apparently reassured the boy.

"I was walking home from school one time, and a dog jumped at me. I put out my hand, and the dog hit the wall. Then the owner came out, and shouted something for hurting his dog, and pulled me back to my house and told my uncle what happened. My uncle hit me, and locked me under the stairs. Aunt Petunia didn't give me a meal for three days.

"Also, one time I came home with a little stick I threw for Mr. Hengings little dog, and Aunt Petunia screamed at me and Uncle Vernon came out, and he knocked me down and broke this stick. He kicked me and locked me under the stairs again. I had to break the lock to get out and steal some food because Aunt Petunia wouldn't feed me. I think I heard Aunt Petunia say something that sounded like wond, or maybe wand."

Harry pulled out his wand and said, "Lumos." The young Harry looked at it in awe. "This, Harry, is magic. I can do all sorts of things with it if I know the right words and moves. Do you believe me?" The young child nodded again, unable to answer with words, for obviously the child hadn't grown out of stage when you believe in most everything. "What do you think you can do with magic?"

"Anything?"

Harry smiled. "Almost. Do you think you can travel back in time with it?" The boy nodded again, although this time he seemed a little less sure. "That's right. Do you remember you dreaming about someone taking you away from the Dursley's?" Harry's eyes lit up with hope, and he nodded again, once more to excited to speak. "You could say that I'm that person. I traveled back in time, with a little help. Harry, I'm you."

He conjured a mirror, finding it easier than he ever had before, and used one hand to lift the boy's bangs, while doing the same with his other hands to himself. The young boy gasped, because he'd never seen or heard about anyone else with a scar like his, and surely he would have heard about everything from the amount of magazines he read that his aunt leaves lying around.

Still, this was a bit of a leap for the child, and couldn't believe that so easily. "H-how do I know that you're not kidding?"

Harry had expected that he'd meet with some resistance, though this was less than he thought he would get. "How else would I know what all that stuff I asked you about without being you? Have your family ever told anyone about you?" "After a shake of the boy's head, Harry continued, "I used magic to come back in time, because I need to try again. When I grew up, things went wrong, and my friends were hurt. I need to stop that from happening again. I can only do that if I do it with you. You are me, that's why I need you, I couldn't start over with someone else.

"You're a wizard, Harry. You're just young. You can't do any magic on purpose, only when you're really scared, or angry. Things like that make your magic come out and help you. Can you understand that?" The younger Harry, who had an even more practical mind than the older Harry had had at his age, nodded, accepting the fact that what happened might be magic.

"When you're old enough, you'll go to a school. It's an amazing school, full of wonderful things, and you'll find a lot of real friends. I did, and I know that you will too."

The child forgot his skepticism in the face of friendship again. "Really? Can you tell me about them?"

"I can do better than that. Let me show you." Harry put his wand to his own head, concentrated for a moment, and pulled away a silvery string, that hung in the air, vibrating intensely.

Hiding his surprise at the ease with which he did slightly difficult magic again, he touched the wad tip lightly on the boy's temple, ignoring the small flinch that came from him.

The child watched as a boy a little older than him, who looked like him (was him, he realized) wandered around a train station, and met the family called the Weasely's. He saw as Harry met the twins, Ron, then Hermione and Neville, and a few of the times he had shared with them, though it seemed as if things were being left out, time was skipping ahead, and Harry believed his counterpart had deliberately left things out.

Wondering why, but not really spending much time on the question because of the multitude of amazing things that were currently besieging him, he continued on through Harry's first year, until it came to an abrupt halt, and he could see the man again, and the person who he now believed without a doubt was indeed his future self seemed to be struggling not to cry.

"What's wrong?"

The older Harry looked into his eyes. "Just old memories. They can hurt sometimes. Now, I came back because things went wrong in my time. People got hurt, my friends included, and I wanted to try again."

"But what can I do?" The younger child seemed to be struggling to not show his approaching feeling of helplessness. It showed through his eyes that he did not believe himself capable of helping anyone, but rather that he was just a small 8-year-old child who didn't have enough strength to do anything of use.

"I can make us join together. Our minds will be put together, into one. We'll have each other's memories and experiences, but they'll seem to be our own, not another person's. We can stop our friends from being hurt, if we work together. But, it's up to you. If you join minds with me, you'll see all of the things I've been through. You'll see those friends hurt, and many much, much worse things. I don't want to force you, though. It's up to you."

"If it'll help my friends, and give me more of them, I'll do anything. I don't care what it is, I won't let any of my friends get hurt!"

"I'm glad you feel that way. I thought you would, seeing as I do as well. This won't be easy though, and I have to do it now, if ever. Are you ready?"

The boy braced himself, and nodded. Harry pressed the wand against his head again, and a much more fierce look of concentration came upon his face. When he pulled away, a writhing bundle of silvery strands, ten times as brilliant as the one before it, came out, and then the man placed the child's hand on his breast, right where his heart was, in accordance with the ritual that seemed to have been implanted in the man's head from his talk with Destiny, despite the fact that the words had never been spoken.

Slowly, anticipatingly, he placed the wand against the boy's forehead, and with a burst of magic, shoved the child's hand through his clothing, through his skin.. While the skin did not break due to the magic, both man and child pitched face first onto the ground, the child resting partially on top of the man. Then there was a flash of light, and the strands of quicksilver on the wand disappeared into the boy's head, and the man became translucent, like a ghost, but did not fade completely.

And the second chappie! YAY!

Sorry about the wait, but I had to do a lot of double-checking. Thanks tons to my beta, ryota is evil.

IMPORTANT

Okay, I said Ron betrayed Harry in the prolouge. Now let me say this: Ron did NOT betray in the way you might be thinking of. Harry has fogiven him and DOES NOT hate him, so don't think this is a Ron bashing story. There will be a minor fight, which will be quickly reconciled, but of course you're going to have a fight with a hothead like Ron. Also, only SLIGHT Dumbledore bashing. He will be a major asset, because he IS a powerful and knowledgeable wizard. Harry throwing his help away would be stupid, because it IS help, even if he has to get Dumbledore to settle down a bit.

REVIEW PLEASE! I accept flames, as long as the have cronsructive critiscm. After all, telling me how much I suck won't make me any better nor will it allievate the headache your getting from a horrible story, now will it?