Hey everyone, Chapter 7 is here life has been so busy lately that updates will be slow, but the story will never be abandoned. I hope you enjoy the latest chapter. Thanks so much for reading and all the support.

I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 7

When Harry awoke again it was to an empty room and the sun pouring in through the window. The brightness made his head pound, and his body ached something fierce. He was thankful for the moment of quiet to try and gather his thoughts. He had travelled back in time! 20 years back in time, it was unbelievable but also completely believable at the same time. He was honestly barely surprised anymore by the shit that happened to him, though this would probably take the cake. Sirius was alive. Remus was alive. He remembered the attack on Grimmauld Place, his heart pounding as they tried to fight, watching as the most important people in his life fell. It was strange lying here, without having to worry that Voldemort was going to burst through the door and try to kill him. It had been a constant shadow over his life, so it felt quite odd to have it lifted, even if it was just for a little while.

Harry glanced up as the door was opened and Remus stepped in, carrying a tray of food before him.

"Good morning Harry how are you feeling?" the young werewolf asked.

"I'm OK" Harry said, eyeing the tray as his stomach gave a loud grumble.

Remus merely raised an eyebrow in disbelief but didn't try to contradict him, as he lay the food in his lap.

"Take the potion first, it will help with the pain. You will also need to take another in a few hours to try to help with the nerve damage" Remus said mildly.

Harry just nodded; he knew Remus well enough to know that there was no point in arguing. And quite honestly, he was in a fair amount of pain so he would gratefully take anything that could help.

Remus watched as Harry ate. "Everyone would like a chat with you if you're feeling up to it?"

Harry wondered who 'everyone' was. He must've looked confused because Remus elaborated.

"You're still too injured to be moved, so we could come in here, but there's a few of us… so I didn't want you to feel overwhelmed."

Harry smiled, even as a teen Remus was incredibly thoughtful.

"Ah, yeah sure, I guess" Harry said awkwardly, not really sure if he wanted to be interrogated so early in the morning.

Before Remus could do anything other then smile, the door was flung open and there Sirius stood. Harry could see a group of people standing behind him.

He gripped the blankets nervously, magicking the tray to the side as several people started filing into the room. Harry felt his breath catch in his throat, his heart pounding as he caught sight of dark scruffy hair and glasses- his father. His eyes trailed the other teen, who hadn't taken his own eyes off Harry since he had entered the room.

A hand landed on his father's shoulder and Harry glanced to the left to see an older man also watching him. He assumed this must be his grandfather, the resemblance between the 3 of them was uncanny.

"Hello Harry" James said softly, eyes tracing the delicate features and bright green eyes of his son.

"Dad" Harry breathed. Tears springing to his eyes and escaping down his cheeks before he could do anything to stop them. His breathing turned ragged as he looked at his father for the first time in his memory.

James blanched as Harry started crying in earnest, rushing to his sons side and pulling the smaller teen into his arms, mindful of his injuries.

"Hey, now, it's OK" James said soothingly, rubbing gentle circles onto Harry's back.

"Just never thought I'd get the chance to meet you" Harry croaked, fresh tears running down his cheeks as he sobbed.

James froze minutely at that, 'never get the chance to meet me?' he thought to himself. Why had his son never met him before?

Harry took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself, before he regrettably pulled back. James looked at him with concern before reaching out and wiping the tears off his cheeks.

"Everything will OK."

Harry nodded, visibly pulling himself together. He looked warily around the room, taking in the other occupants for the first time. It wasn't difficult to work out who they were given the context.

Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, Orion Black and Regulus Black…

"I- I don't think I'm up for a lot of questions at the moment" Harry said honestly. "And even if I was, I don't really think I should be answering any questions about the future anyway."

James looked slightly horrified for a moment.

"We weren't going to question you."

Harry looked appropriately sceptical.

"Well maybe a few questions" James amended sheepishly.

"Any questions can wait until you're feeling better" who Harry appropriately assumed was his grandfather, Fleamont Potter said.

Harry visibly relaxed at that.

"There are a few things that need to be discussed though" Orion said frankly. "For instance, your health. You were severely injured." Harry tensed at the words, causing James to reach out and hold his hand.

"We don't have to speak about it now, but you should know that healing will be a long process. You will need to take specialised potions each morning and use a cane to assist you with walking until your leg is feeling stronger."

Harry relaxed, a bit of pain didn't worry him too much.

Orion and Fleamont shared a look at Harry's lack of response.

"There was something else" here Orion hesitated, and Harry narrowed his eyes, this couldn't be good.

"Are you very familiar with the ideas behind time travel?" Orion asked carefully.

Harry shook his head with a frown.

"Well, I actually know quite a bit. Due mostly to my connections at the Department of Mysteries. The thing is, you spoke yesterday about when you return to the future… that… that won't be able to happen."

James' hand tighted around Harry's own and he looked down in confusion.

"W-What do you mean?"

Orion let out a deep sigh, running his fingers through his dark hair.

"You see, when someone travels back in time as far as you have, there is no going back to the future. A new timeline is created, branching off from the old one, so even if we were somehow able to send you into the future, it would be the future from this time, completely separate and different to the future you left behind."

Harry stared and continued staring. Blood pounding in his ears. Surely, he didn't just hear what he thought he'd heard. No going back to the future, no returning to his own time…

"There has to be some way to get me home" he argued. But Orion just sent him a pitying look and a shake of his head.

"I'd like to be alone please." Harry said quietly as he stared down at his hands.

"O-Of course" James said unsurely. "Umm just call whenever you're ready."

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but Remus grabbed him by the ear and dragged him from the room, the others trailing out after, most shooting worried glances over their shoulders at the teen lying on the bed.

Harry didn't even notice as the door shut behind the last person, caught up in his thoughts as he was. He didn't want to believe it. Didn't want to believe that there was no way back to his own time. But he trusted Sirius and he trusted Remus, if they said there was no way back to the future, then there probably wasn't. He bit back a sob as he started to cry again.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

It took three days before Harry felt well enough, both emotionally and physically to get out of bed. Sirius had brought him a new cane on the first day, it was a rich brown wood that was warm under his touch. He tried to fight back the image of himself like the elder Malfoy, cane in hand. Mostly he was just thankful that he could still walk. He had made a few trips around his room but hadn't felt up to venturing beyond that yet. The pain was still intense, but not as bad as when he first awoke, he wasn't sure if he was feeling better or just getting accustomed to the pain.

Someone had brought him his meals each day, but they had thankfully kept conversation to a minimum, allowing him the time to mentally process all that had happened.

So it was, on the third day after he had been told he wouldn't be returning to the future, he got up early, dressed and made his way slowly down to the kitchen, new cane in hand.

He was mildly surprised to find the kitchen full when he entered that morning. He knew Remus and Sirius loved to sleep in and had assumed his father had been the same.

"Harry!" Sirius crowed, grinning broadly.

Harry gave him a wry smile as he hobbled in. "I wasn't expecting so many to be up."

"We were just discussing whether we should forcibly remove you from your room today, if you didn't venture out on your own."

Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise just as Sirius let out a loud yelp.

"Why'd you kick me, Moony?"

"Ignore Sirius, he has no sense of subtly" Regulus said with a small frown.

Harry smiled at the Slytherin, "Oh, I am well aware. But thank you for the warning Regulus."

Regulus' dark eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and Harry blushed at his faux par.

"Sor-" Harry tried to say, but Regulus held up a hand to silence him.

"You are more then welcome to call me Regulus, Harry" the Slytherin said with a smirk that had both James and Sirius frowning.

Regulus pulled out the seat beside him. "Here, come have a seat before you collapse." Noting the slight tremor in Harry's legs and the sheen of sweat that line his brow.

Harry nodded gratefully and sank into the offered seat.

"How are you feeling?" James asked, concern clear in his eyes.

Harry looked mildly sheepish. "A bit better, sorry for shutting you all out" he said, looking around at his assembled family. "Just needed some time to process."

"We understand my boy" Fleamont said. "It was a lot to take in. How are you feeling about it all now?"

Harry let out a sigh, running his fingers wearily through his hair.

"A bit better. I've had a lot of shit happen in my life and I'm not really one to dwell on the negatives, so I think that helps. It's just hard knowing that that life, those people are all gone."

His voice hitched a little, "th- there wouldn't be much to return to anyway, what with everyone I care about dead." He lifted his hand and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye before it could fall.

Regulus itched to reach out and comfort Harry, but James got there first.

"I know we can't replace the people you've lost, and we would never want to, but we are here for you" James said so sincerely that Harry burst into tears again.

James looked startled for a moment, his eyes widening in surprise before he gently took the smaller teen into his arms, rubbing his back softly. Harry rightened himself pretty quickly, blushing softly.

"Sorry, I thought I'd gotten all that out of my system in the last few days" he said with a wet chuckle.

Fleamont and Euphemia gave him a sad look and James held him a little bit tighter.

Harry brightened when a plate full of toast, with bacon and eggs was plopped down in front of him.

Harry looked up to find Kreachers scowling face staring at him. He looked as ancient as ever but maybe not quite so miserable.

"Thank you Kreacher," Harry said softly, gaining looks of surprise from everyone in the kitchen. He wasn't sure if they were surprised about him thanking a house elf or that he knew Kreacher's name, either way he ignored the looks and started shovelling into the delicious food. Say what you wanted about Kreacher, but the elf knew how to cook.

As he took his last bite, Orion cleared his throat.

"When you're feeling up to it, I think we all need to sit down and have a discussion" Orion said plainly.

Harry nodded resignedly, "of course, you will need to know everything if we are going to stand a chance of defeating him."

Orion furrowed his brow in confusion and Harry was momentarily stunned by his similarity to Sirius.

"Defeat who?" the head of the Black family asked.

"Why, Voldemort of course."