Back to the past to change the future
As Harry came to his senses, he could feel his head throbbing.
He remembers his skull connecting with the concrete with a sickening crack.
Merlin. He may have to visit St. Mungo's if the pain was any indication.
He blearily opened his eyes and tried to locate where he was but all he could see was a blur of green and blue.
Great.
Just fantastic.
He was reminded of why he was there in the first place as his memories came back to him.
He was supposed to be on a mission. There was a dark witch who had taken an unhealthy interest in time turners and had managed to make one before the Ministry could find out. Unfortunately, the mission had gone wrong as the witch had thrust her homemade time turner at Harry and had clearly done...something. He doesn't know what she did exactly because he can feel a broken time turner pressing into his neck. So, if he hadn't been sent back in time then...what had happened?
Harry, who could finally see clearly again, realised that he was outside in a large field, just like he had been before he had woken up.
He quickly got to his feet and surveyed his surroundings for danger. He looked for a few minutes until he found none and cast a Tempus charm to find out what time it was.
It was 15:45.
This confused Harry because the last time that he checked the time, it was 4 in the afternoon, so surely it hadn't been more than a day. Where was the rest of his team? They wouldn't just leave him here so why couldn't he spot any of them?
Despite his well-trained insticts warning him that something was wrong, he had to go and investigate. Or at the very least get home to his family.
...Shit. If it had been a day then he would have missed the party that Ginny had worked so hard on. On that note, his family would also be worried sick that he hadn't come home. Stress wasn't good for Ginny and the baby, not to mention his young sons and Teddy (who was at home for the holidays).
He was currently in Wales so he tried apparating back home.
Sadly, due to his terrible headache, he ended up in Diagon Alley instead. That was fine, he could either buy a potion to cure his headache and then he could apparate back or he could floo back to their house and then take a potion there. Either way, he had to move so he walked down the road.
Surprisingly, the alley wasn't as busy as normal. This fact made him on edge and it only got worse as he saw some of the shops were boarded up or destroyed.
He was walking past a stand with the current issue of The Daily Prophet when something caught his eye. He made his way over to the stand and picked up a copy, only to reel back in surprise when he saw the date: 31st October...1981. Surely it couldn't be...could it? There is no way that the time turner could have worked because that would mean that he was in the past with no way of getting back to his own time.
He grew frantic as his eyes searched the paper for any helpful information. Anything that would help him to understand what had happened.
He almost had a panic attack when the paper discussed Voldemort and the death eaters. It had been years since Voldermort had been killed and his followers had been dealt with, so why was this being discussed now?
Deep down, Harry knew that he was in denial. He also knew that he should be better than this but he couldn't help it when faced with the very real possibility that he would never see his family again. At least, not in the way that he knows now.
He had learned about time turners though. They had all been destroyed in the future and he knew no one would come for him. Even if Hermione, who was the current and best Minister for magic that Britain had seen, had managed to convince the right people that a time turner was necessary, there was no point. They didn't know when he was.
It then dawned on him when he was.
It was that day.
It was that stupid. fucking, no good, horrible, bloody day.
The day his parents died.
The day he was made the world's most famous magical orphan.
The day he was left on that bloody doorstep to force the people who loathed his existence to take him in.
The day that Dumbledore, along with so many others decided that it was his job as the saviour of the Wizarding World to fight Voldemort when he returns to power.
He still respects Dumbledore but definitely not as much as he used to.
As a father, he has realised that he should have never been put in the situations that he was in as a child.
He would never expect his children to feel like they have to go into dangerous situations because no adults would listen too them. He would never expect that his children should be forced into a competition that would almost guarantee his death. He would never expect his children to feel so scared and alone that they would have to break educational degrees (that should never have been mad in the first place) to ensure that both themselves and others would survive long enough. He would never allow them to be burdened with hunting down and destroying dark artefacts just so that when they are finally forced to sacrifice themselves, it will actually make a difference.
He would never. Which is why, with a heavy heart full of regret and guilt, he made the decision that would change his life.