A/N: Hi all - this is my first fic and the first things I've ever published that I've written. I'd really like to hear you feedback so please R&R!

Harry Potter belongs to JKR - anything you recognise below is hers, everything else is mine :)

Now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents were swarming forwards for final kisses, last-minute reminders. Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned towards Harry.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus, as he and Rose craned round to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me. I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling, and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him…

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.

"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny.

"As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absent-mindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.

"I know he will."

The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.

(DH Epilogue)

Harry turned as Ginny took Lily's small hand in hers and began to lead her toward the portal back to Kings Cross station. He shivered suddenly and the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. A sense of unease came over him, the disquieting feeling that something wasn't right. His eyes scanned the rapidly emptying platform 9 ¾, searching for the source of his discomfort.

A silence fell as the final families left the platform leaving the Potters and the Weasleys alone. A slight breeze, making the first leaves of autumn skitter along the ground, ruffled Harry's untidy black hair.

"Harry?" Hermione stepped away from Ron and walked closer, concern showing in her eyes as she watched him scan their surroundings. "Is everything OK?"

Harry glimpsed movement in his peripheral vision and turned towards a figure in a long black cloak, face concealed inside a deep hood, who had stepped out from the shadows of an archway. A wand raised in one hand, the other pushing the hood back to display a sallow, sunken face, changed by years of exposure to the Dementors of Azkaban but recognisable to Harry nonetheless. How could he fail to recognise the person who almost stole his best friend from him?

"Dolohov" Harry whispered. Hermione spun on the spot, a moment of fear in her eyes as she caught sight of the Death Eater that gave her the scar on her chest. Her hand rose to touch it, remembering the pain as the dark curse had struck her.

Doholov smiled at the pair as he whispered the words almost lovingly. His voice practically caressing the syllables…

"Avada Kedavra"

A blinding flash of green light.

A scream of terror from Ginny as she held Lily close to her, shielding her eyes from what was unfolding in front of them.

A shriek of "Mummy!" from Hugo, being held tightly in the arms of his father. Ron's mouth open in disbelief.

And the terrible rushing sound as the unforgivable curse struck home.

Harry opened his eyes and blinked at the bright mist that surrounded him as he lay once more on the hard, white floor of the Kings Cross station that was located somewhere between the world of the living, and that of the dead. He recognised where he was immediately, the visit he had paid to this location 19 years ago wasn't one he would ever forget.

He sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings once more. Harry was relieved that there was no small, shuddering, whimpering bundle in sight this time but couldn't understand how he could possibly be here again? The shard of Voldemort's soul that had been embedded in his scar was long gone, and Harry's blood that had once flowed through Voldemort's veins could no longer be anchoring him to life.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the silence and Harry stood to face whoever was approaching.

"Potter," a voice growled. "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you learn anything from me? CONSTANT VIGILANCE"

Harry twisted to look at Alastor Moody. His face was whole, as it had been in the Dumbledore's pensieve memories, without the chunk missing from his nose courtesy of Evan Rosier or the magical eyeball whizzing around in its socket. Missing too was the fake leg ending in the clawed foot that was a familiar part of the Moody of Harry's past, instead his real leg was firmly in its place.

"Mad Eye? Where am I?"

"You know where you are Potter. You know what happened for you to get here. The real question is how the hell did you let it?"

"It was Dolohov," said Harry defensively. "He was in the shadows…" Harry trailed off. "Oh my god. Ginny… Lily!... I've got to get back to them!"

"There's no going back to them now" uttered Moody softly. "That life is no longer open to you."

"But my family! Ginny. James. Albus. Lily!" Harry felt a pain deep within him. Tears streamed down his face and he fell to the floor once more, heartbroken and drawing deep shuddering breaths between sobs.

"What about Hermione? She was stood right next to me when…"

Moody shook his head slightly.

Harry pulled his knees up to his chest. He struggled within himself, trying to take everything in.

Moody crouched down next to him and lay a hand on his shoulder. "You can't go back to them Harry," he said softly "but you do have a choice to make." Harry looked up at him through watery eyes. "Dumbledore once offered you the chance to get on a train here and go onwards." continued Moody. "You could do that, or you could take the second option. It's not the easy choice and you'll experience more pain, hardship and betrayal, but you'll have the chance to do things differently. To make decisions that could save lives and lead to a better future."

Harry inhaled deeply, calming himself. When he had gained control of himself once more, he asked "what do you mean?"

"You can be sent back. Not your body but your mind, your memories and your experiences. Back to a time where you can make a difference."

"How far back would I go?" asked Harry, the possibilities beginning to unfurl in his mind. The lives he could save… Fred, Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Cedric… maybe even…

"You won't be able to protect your parents," said Moody. Harry's heart fell as the brief glimmer of a life unlived was snatched away from him, "but you could save hundreds of other lives. You can go back and change things for the better." Moody paused for a moment.

"In the 19 years after you defeated Voldemort can you honestly say things have moved on in the Wizarding world? Sure, there was a little progress while Kingsley was Minister, but once the old factions started pumping their galleons back into the process everything went back to how it was before. The same old hatreds and pureblood beliefs that they were destined to rule exist today, just as they did when Voldemort rose to power."

Moody looked into Harry's eyes. "You need to go back Potter. I'm not allowed to tell you much of the future but I can tell you this. If this course of events isn't changed, within the next quarter of a century a new Dark Lord will begin their rise to power. Motivated by the hatred of the way their friends were ostracised and trodden on by those in who claimed to be above them. Eventually this person will cause the shattering of the statute of secrecy leading to all-out war between magicals and muggles, and the eventual destruction of the world as we know it."

Moody paused again. "I know what I'm asking of you. What we're all asking of you."

Harry turned slowly to see they were no longer alone. Behind him stood the figures of those who had fallen due to the two wars with Voldemort. There were those he only recognised from photos - the Prewett brothers, the Bones family and the McKinnon's. Those who were, or should have been, friends - Frank and Alice Longbottom (who had passed away shortly after Neville took up his role as Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts), Ted Tonks, Fred, Cedric, Colin and Lavender. And finally his family. Remus and Tonks, Sirius, and stood in front of all of them, his mother and father.

"Mum? Dad?" Harry whispered.

"Hello Son" James said as he and Lily pulled Harry into a tight hug.