To say Sirius Black was shell-shocked would be an understatement. He sat in the chair, listening as Harry explained everything to him. His mind wanted to reject what he said, but his godson's eyes showed he at least believed the story.
"So, let me get this correct. You and the Weasley's plus their significate others were all cast back in time to this year? You have all the memories and magical skills of your adult selves?"
Harry nodded to him earnestly. "That's right. I was an Auror in that time, so I had gotten quite strong. Remind me later to tell you about our battle with a group called the Neo-Death Eaters."
Sirius shuddered. "As if the Death Eaters we have already are not bad enough. What did they want, to resurrect Voldemort?"
Harry nodded. "Part of it, yeah. They also wanted to kill everyone that was in the Order of the Phoenix. Shame they were not expecting the Shining Stars to find them on their first night out."
Sirius' head was swimming, and he really needed a drink. "So, you are supposed to defeat the Dark Lord three years from now but you are planning to do it earlier?"
Harry nodded. "If possible. We would also like far less deaths this time too."
That was the other thing. Harry had told him how he died. Killed by Bellatrix while fighting side by side with Harry. Honestly, Sirius could think of no better way to have gone out, defending his godson from a Death Eater. Still, he could tell Harry was very happy to see him again. He swore that if all this was true, he would not let it happen again.
"Well, consider me on board for that. What do we have to do."
Harry smiled and told him. After he was done, Sirius really needed that drink.
*A-Weasley-Redo*
Fred hit the ground, his wand flying out of his hand. He had approached the others to ask for dueling practice a few days ago.
"I don't want to die again, and you all seem to have gotten stronger. Maybe you can help me."
Now he was fighting Ron, hailed as the weakest duelist but he made up what he lacked in power in sure guile in his spell work. Ron's duel was like a chess match, and he was always two moves ahead. The only people he could not overwhelm were Hermonie and Ginny. Harry, he stood no chance against of course.
"Come on, Freddie!" Angelina called from beside George. "You'll never beat a Shining Star like that."
Fred got to his feet, panting as he faced a calm and collected Ron. "How are you so good, little brother?"
Ginny called out. "Your problem is your thirsting for vengeance Fred. You're clearly out for blood. But to stand a chance, you got to be out for love."
Ron nodded. "Fuel yourself with the fear of losing those people that are your reasons to live, Fred. Let that fear wash over you. Use it to your advantage."
Hermoine added. "By harnessing your heart in this way, you'll fight with all you can give to save your loved ones. It really works, we were skeptical too when Luna taught this to us at first. But the difference speaks for itself."
Fred looked at Ron, then Ginny, and then his eyes set on George. His twin, his partner in crime. Fear filled him and the dread of a life without him. Was this even a taste of what George had felt after his death?
"Don't fight it!" Ginny called out. "Embrace it. Make it your own. Use it to guide your steps and your spells. It doesn't make you invincible, but having something to protect is a powerful motivation to win."
She was right. He could already tell his normal style would never work on Ron. His opponent knew him too well for that. He couldn't describe the sensation, not really. It was like an icy calm had washed over him but that was a poor description. Before when anger and the desire to survive had been fueling his actions, he had just fired off whatever spell came to mind first. Now however, he found three or four more effective spells and use what was best to counter Ron's moves.
He still lost in the end, but he lasted a lot longer this time and even got a spell past Ron's Protego, forcing him to dodge out of the way.
"Well done, Fred." Ron clapped him on the back. "Harry would be pleased if he was here. We'll keep training each day and I'm sure you will be fine."
George got up and nudged him. "Plus, you'll have me and Angie right at your side. You'll make it through alright."
Fred had a question he wanted to ask his brother, but he was not sure if this was the right time. His brother had gotten Angelina, but his mind wandered to another chaser. He wondered if Katie Bell had met anyone in the old timeline. His twin raised an eyebrow, twin telepathy could be a terrible thing at times. He understood they would chat about it later. Fred was relieved, he was not ready for that yet.
*A-Weasley-Redo*
The rest of the summer passed in a flash. Harry and Ginny had moved back into their bedroom at Grimwald Place to sleep but returned to the Burrow for meals. Harry had kept Sirius' old room as a shrine to not just his Godfather, but also Remus, Tonks, and his parents. He did miss the comfort of sitting in there and going through the keepsakes he had of each when he was sad, but he had the actual subjects alive. He intended to keep them that way this time round.
Sirius and Ginny got along like a House on Fire. Harry was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing when all was said and done but his Godfather was very taken with his Goddaughter-in-law. Harry was not sure that was a thing, but he didn't want to ruin their fun.
His reunion with Hedwig was, if possible, even more emotional than with Sirius. He petted her feathers and gave her so many treats, Ginny had to intervene.
"Stop it, Harry," She scolded. "If you keep that up, she will be so round she won't be able to get airborne."
Harry had blushed and agreed, even if he wanted to keep spoiling her. Hedwig loved their new freedom and spent much time on his shoulder.
Ginny's birthday passed without issue and Harry thought he would die from the number of kisses she gave him.
"You're lucky mate," Ron joked as he looked in envy at the Firebolt Harry had gotten his sister. "If you were much older, she would have dragged you to her lair and not let you out for hours."
"Days," Ginny panted between deep kisses. "It would have been days, Ronald."
Ron had walked off and everyone else had laughed. Harry looked around, sad that Audrey and Fleur were not with them. But Sirius and Fred were, so that was already a victory.
Then came the night the last night of the summer. The night that Barty Crouch Jr would take over as Mad Eye Moody. Harry geared up with the other Shining Stars and slid his wand into its holster on his upper arm. Sirius was going with them, along with Remus who had arrived a few days before. The last to arrive was Dumbledore, as fashionably late as always. The older man approached Harry first.
"I have made some progress in the studying of the theory of Horcruxes. I will have more to share in a week or so. I'll send for you to come to my office when it's time."
He nodded, eager for that meeting. "Ginny can come too, right?"
Dumbledore laughed and looked over at the redhead. "Yes, I would think it would be quite impossible to keep her away. Now then, shall we go?"
The group nodded and headed out of the Burrow's kitchen and into the night.
*A-Weasley-Redo*
They arrived on the road leading up to the old Gaunt shack. Fakes was watching Riddle and his faithful this night, making sure Tom would not get a sudden urge to check on the ring.
The arrival at the shack was fast but Harry was slightly worried. He knew Dumbledore had found the ring on his own last time, but he was still uneasy. He wished the other version had shown him the protections that the Dark Lord had put around the object. Once they were in place, the Stars spread out and assumed their places at the cardinal points. Dumbledore cast a spell over the area, blocking the Trace from detecting underage magic within its borders. A very handy spell Harry hoped to get from him later.
The Shining Stars began warding the area in a large diamond around the building, with Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore on the inside. They put all the privacy and warding spells they knew with one more added in. This one was all Neville in their past timeline. It was a spell that blocked a specific individual from working magic on a space. There was undoing it either. The area inside basically treated the target as if they were a Muggle and ignored all spells. They layered this spell on the outside, targeting Tom Riddle. No matter how powerful he was, he could not undo the other warding spells if he couldn't get past that one.
Remus whistled, his eyes bright with wonder. "You say Neville figured this trick out?"
Harry grinned as he pulled the hood off. "That's right. He wanted to keep his Gran from finding him and Susan Bones in an intimate moment. The spell just came to him after that."
Sirius laughed. "Oh, I bet Augusta Longbottom is real fun police for a young man with his first love interest. Good on Neville."
"We started using it when hunting a specific individual, though we often would set them around them to trap them in an area we wanted to fight them in." Hermonie explained. "It works very well, as you can imagine."
"I'm really glad I'm not the villain the wizarding world made me out to be then," Sirius jested. "I would hate to be the enemy of you four."
Harry hugged him, showing him there was little chance of that. Dumbledore emerged from the house, the ring floating in the air some distance away from his hand thankfully.
"Shall we destroy it, and thusly reduce Tom to only two life lines left?" He asked. Harry nodded to a place in the road.
"You do it Professor. You've fought Voldermort for a long time and that ring did some nasty things to you last go round. It's only fair."
The old man gave him a smile worth more than any gold in Gringotts and set the ring on the ground. He took out the sword of Griffindor and stabbed the ring. There was a horrible cry as the fragment of soul inside died, leaving only the shell and the Hallow.
"Harry James Potter, take the Resurrection Stone, as is your birth right as a descendent of the Percival line." Dumbledore instructed.
Harry only smiled. "I, Harry James Potter, master of death, release you. Oh Hallow, return to the forces of chaos from which you were forged."
It had taken them years to find this command in the old Potter library, but he had used it before on the Elder Wand in his old time line. The Resurrection Stone dissolved into a puddle.
"No more suicides brought on by despair." He said firmly as Ginny wrapped her arms around him. "No more Inferi made by the stone."
"Well, now that task is completed, off to bed with the lot of you. The trip to Hogwarts will be long tomorrow morning. See you at the Feast."
They nodded and soon were tucked into their beds. Harry and Ginny lay down together in the bed at Grimwald Place. Harry thought he would have trouble getting to sleep even as Ginny passed out quickly. But soon he felt his eyes close as he joined his wife in slumber.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the April chapter of this story. We are into the year at Hogwarts and things will be speeding up towards the Start of the Tri-Wizard Tournament soon. See you next month! As always, check out my other works on this platform and maybe consider my original works on Royal Road. You can find the links to those here:
fiction/82316/song-of-phoenix-aquatic-currents
fiction/55565/song-of-phoenix-ordeal-part-1