"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have served him blindly until their deaths. Born as the seventh month dies. The Dark Lord shall control him from within while simultaneously deceiving him into believing himself an equal. He will have the power the Dark Lord knows not. He who emerges on the other side of death shall have the shackles of deception stripped from his soul. The Deathly One shall engage in a battle to shape destiny. Only at this time will it end, since neither can die while the other survives."

Harry Potter awoke from a short sleep with nightmares forever plaguing him. He saw the faces of those who died in the name of the light.

Two years. It had been exactly two years on this day since the historic battle of Hogwarts. Two years since the death of Voldemort and the fulfillment of that damned prophecy. Two years since the death of the last adult figures who had been even remotely like family. Two years since Severus Snape sacrificed his life to save Harry.

It had all been because of Dumbledore. At first, Harry grieved the loss of the old man like all the others. But after a while, he came to realize that if it weren't for Dumbledore's manipulations, things would have turned out vastly different. And not necessarily for the worse.

"Harry? Are you all right?"

Harry was snapped out of pondering thoughts by the sound of Ginny's voice.

"Ginny? I didn't hear you wake up." Harry said, giving her a hollow smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"No. You wouldn't have. Seeing as how you were lost in your imagination again."

"I was just thinking about the past. The ... The ones who never got to see our victory even though some of them deserved it more than us. Why do I get to survive? Why not Remus, Tonks, Fred, Moody, or any of the others. Hell, even Snape deserved to live."

"Harry. Don't talk like that." Ginny said, looking worried. Was that fear Harry saw in her eyes?

"I didn't even fight as hard as them. I had it easy compared to Sirius. He spent twelve years in Azkaban. Then a further three years on the run before he finally died by falling through the vail."

Harry was done. He was only nineteen, but already he had had enough of life. If this was what it was like to be a surviver, then Harry wanted no part of it. He was going to end it.

He didn't care what anyone said. Not even Ginny could stop him.

Before he could change his mind, he Apparated to the Ministry of Magic.

Because of who he was, the Ministry's guards let him in without question. Harry often came and went from the Ministry. He was good friends with Kingsley Shacklebolt, the acting Minister for Magic.

However, he was not headed to see the Minister today. He went to the Department of Mysteries.

He stunned the Unspeakables who tried to stop him from entering.

He stormed into the Department. He searched until he found what he was looking for.

The room of the Vail of Death had haunted Harry's dreams ever since the end of his fifth year, when Sirius Black, his godfather, fell through.

Harry stared at the archway that lead to the sweet oblivion of death.

Harry smiled. He would welcome death. He craved the emptiness it would bring him.

"I'm finally doing it." Harry said. "From this day forward, the Boy who Lived shall live no more."

And then he stepped through the vail.

When he regained consciousness, he was aware of three things. First, he wasn't dead. No. He was lying on the floor of what seemed to be a hut of some kind. Like the one the Dursleys had dragged him to in a fruitless attempt to escape the barrage of Hogwarts letters.

The second thing was that he felt different. He felt almost younger.

The third thing was the load of memories that had been unblocked from his mind.

Harry now knew the truth. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was not who he said he was.

All along, Dumbledore had been manipulating everything in a much different way than Harry thought.

The Dark Lord! It was never really Voldemort! Harry realized.

A few seconds after this realization, he realized something else. Tom Riddle was an innocent man. If he could go back to change things and maybe save Riddle, he would do it.

Then it dawned on him. He was back in time. A moment after this, there was a bang on the door.

Rubius Hagrid, gamekeeper at Hogwarts, barged in.