Chapter 1
December 1997
Severus can't believe he's doing this for a Potter. Except, that's the crux of it isn't it. Harry isn't just a Potter, he is Severus' godson. That should have always been the short and long of it. Yet, somewhere along the way he got so twisted up that he couldn't see up from down, wrong from right, or Harry right in front of him.
Because no matter what, Harry James Potter is his godson. It was a promise he and Lily had made when they were both young and punch drunk on being magick, on Hogwarts and all the possibilities that came with being a part of the British Wixen Society. Severus had never wanted kids, too scared that he would be exactly like his father; (and wasn't that just a punch to the gut to think about because wasn't that exactly who he turned out to be?) But Lily did, and she wanted him to be the godfather for all her children. Severus had been ecstatic, he may have never wanted kids but he always wanted to spoil Lily's kids rotten.
They had spent the summer before fifth year, (the summer before everything went wrong), researching blood magick; They had heard about blood adoption and knew in that moment that they wanted to be siblings in more than just words, in blood and in magick.
When they found out it was a procedure that the Goblins offered at Gringotts, they had made sure they set aside a time and galleons to go together that summer.
By the time fifth year had rolled around and they went back, the differences were noticeable; Lily's bright red hair deepened to a darker red and her forever untamable hair, smoothed out to a more manageable sort, her cheekbones had also become more pronounced. On the other hand, Severus' hair lost the greasy sheen and had gained a red hue in certain lighting, his own eyes lightened to a hazel, his face had lost some of its sharpness and had rounded out.
Everyone chalked it up to puberty but Severus and Lily, they knew. If only Fifth year hadn't ended up being such a shit show, with him and Lily on two warring sides.
Through it all, even on the days his sister didn't like him as a person or who he hung out with, he knew that she loved him, vindictive arse of a witch that she was. He knew that she would have him as her son's godfather.
When he forgot that, he can't tell.
Now with the chance to go back and fix it, to have Harry raised by family (not like the Dursley's), Severus knows he has no choice. He owes it to Harry, the trouble maker who didn't deserve everything that was thrown his away at such a young age. To Lily, his beloved sister, to raise her child like she would have wanted him raised in the magickal world and protected. To James bloody Potter, who stood up to the Dark Lord for his wife and son. Most of all he owes it to himself, to let himself be happier than he ever could be if he stayed at Hogwarts and let himself be bitter and twisted. To raise Harry with the love and care he deserves and that Severus desperately wants to give him not only for being his last connection to his sister with his bright green eyes and enduring spirit, but also to allow him to be his own person and not just his parent's carbon copy.
The choice was made before the question was ever posed. Severus will go back, and he will do it right. Nothing is keeping him here, Dumbledore is dead and wants to let Harry sacrifice himself for the greater good, Severus cannot allow that to happen. In reality there was never a choice, never a moment in time where he could have, would have, might have let that happen.
Severus knows himself well, he will not delude himself. He is not a good man, not a good person, but all that doesn't matter not when a life is on the line. Not when Harry's life is on the line. Lily would never forgive him, and Severus he would never forgive himself.
Severus may not be the parent that Harry deserves, but he can do a better job than Petunia and Vernon Dursley, certainly. Better than Remus Lupin, the coward who couldn't be bothered to even visit Harry until Dumbledore called him to attention to teach at Hogwarts in a perpetually cursed position. Better than Sirius Black, who although innocent of betraying Lilly and James, still decided running after a traitor was easier and more important than taking care of their shared godson. Better than Albus too-many-names Dumbledore, who left Harry in that godforsaken house to rot.
Severus wasn't sure if it would work, but the possibility was there. He was the youngest potion master in Britain. Not that it was a hard accomplishment to achieve, British Wixen are woefully behind in many aspects, including education, but up to governing bodies. Even as such his forte had never lent itself to Runes. Which is exactly where he was looking for the answer to his problems, Rune work and Rituals.
He had seen a number of powerful Wix with Runes carved into their wands, that was clue number one. Clue number two, came when he read through the actual meanings of the Elder Futhark alphabet (Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Birth, Death, Cycles, Living Renewal, Regeneration, etc). Clue number three, came when he remembered the Dark Lords ritual of rebirth. He had no doubt that the Unspeakables were already aware, or working on rituals for time travel, if they, too, had seen the signs of possibility, maybe even the ripples, that time travel left in its wake. He was sure there was a ritual out there, maybe not in Britain, but from somewhere else, and if there wasn't, he would make one.