Let's try again: Reset, a harry potter fanfic

Once Upon a Time...

A/N: A one-shot with the capacity to turn into something much more... read and review.

Summary: Five teens use a ritual spell to turn back the sands of time and return to their first year at Hogwarts, and disembark before the train gets to its final destination to begin a new life. A life that's not stricken with and emptiness, where they can create a future where they will not be the only ones left.

Harry held his hand out, and Ginny swallowed nervously. 'Are you sure it'll work, Harry?' she whispered just before Draco began chanting. The emerald-eyed boy gripped her hand tighter in response; none of them could speak now that Draco had started it. From here on out, it was all or nothing. He felt Hermione's grip on his other hand tighten as he began to chant the spell along with Draco, letting the other boy finish the first verse before he joined in. Ginny began nervously after Harry, and then Ron, and as an eerie orange glow enveloped their five bodies, Hermione joined in. They chanted for what seemed like a slow eternity, caught in the web of orange flames that were beginning to spin around them, circulating as if some cursed wind had suddenly whipped up and was driving the flame around them. Their voices rose into the air with an eerie twist. Together they chanted, and together they glowed. Harry felt strong magic working around them, and he felt both girls grip his hands tightly. There was no going back now. Their chanting grew louder and across from him, Harry saw Ron's fist tighten around Draco's. If the ache in his own hands was any indication, Ginny and Hermione were just as nervous and unsure as him and Ron and Draco. But they had all agreed, and there was no going back. If the spell failed, then at least they had all failed together. But it was too late now, and suddenly, the magic around them fell back as if on command. Across from him, Ron's face paled considerably, and Harry wasn't sure who screamed as an invisible wave suddenly thrust their bodies all at once forwards--

Harry watched the rain fall down the window pane, settling for an air of slight boredom as the train rattled down the tracks. The train ride had been nice so far, but now it was raining. Somehow, that seemed to mute everyone, bringing a sense of 'Oh, pooh; look... it's raining...' into the air. A kindly old witch had brought by an interesting lunch trolly earlier, but Harry hadn't been particularly brave about the new kinds of candies and pastries available to him and had only bought a small pumpkin-shaped pastry. Now that it was gone and the rain had settled in, it seemed that the excitement had drained from the room.

Across from him, his first wizarding friend that was his age (and size) sat, fiddling absently with a chess piece. Ron Weasely looked up out the window occasionally with Harry, then went back to staring mutely at the white knight he held in his hands. Beside Ron, their other best friend's head was tilted down slightly so she could comfortably read the text on her lap. Harry's pet owl Hedgewig was safely and contentedly perched in her cage sitting on the luggage racks above their heads. A smile tugged at Harry's pale pink lips as he looked out the window as he thought of his owl, but the smile starting failed and his face slowly adopted the dour look of boredom he'd been wearing for the past few minutes.

The train ride had been boring so far, and if the soft and steady patter around them indicated correctly, that would be the vein along which the rest of the ride would travel.

Silence stretched for a few minutes, with Hermione reading, Harry looking out the window absently, and Ron fiddling with the chess piece in his hands. Each was nursing his and her own thoughts. Hermione, while reading, was thinking about being in a new place for the first time, thinking about how different people would be here than from at home. How she, a muggle-born witch, might or might not fit in to this new and literally magical world. Ron was thinking of home and his brothers, Fred, George, Percy, Bill, and Charlie; all of whom had already been run through this ringer. He'd have to live up to the expectations of being the sixth child, and next year Ginny would have to live up to being the seventh. And then there was Harry Potter. Boy-Who-Lived, savior of the wizarding world before he was out of diapers, defeater of Dark Lords extraordinare. His thoughts were mixing; would the teachers be like the Professors from his muggle schools? Would they treat him as poorly as he had been treated all his life? Knowing nothing else, what could he expect but the same thing again?

Immersed in these thoughts, it wasn't a wonder that the three glum faces didn't look up all at once when the compartment door slid slowly open.

The blonde shook his head. "Look at this lot of sour grapes," drawled a silky voice, causing Ron's eyes to snap up sharply, Harry looking away from the window as well. The admission also drew Hermione's gaze from her text, and all three students looked up at the unfamiliar pale face with differing expressions. Only Harry and Ron recognized him after a moment, Hermione giving the new face a peculiar but polite look.

"Malfoy," Ron muttered bitterly, putting the white knight piece down.

Instead of sneering and giving the Weasely an insult that would redden his cheeks and ears to match his hair, Draco Malfoy nodded in something akin to acknowledgment as he looked around the compartment.

"Weasely," he replied, and Ron spluttered at the almost civil tone Malfoy was using, "Granger."

Ron looked shocked, then suspicious. Malfoy would never pass up a chance to call a muggle-born a mudblood, if their brief encounters in the past were any indication. Harry also looked surprised; did Hermione know this boy? 'I remember him from Madam Malkin's robe shop,' Harry mused to himself as the silver-eyed boy gave them all a look over, seemingly searching them for something. Across from him, the hot headed Weasely stood up.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron prompted, adopting a look of suspicion instead of an outright scowl since Malfoy had somehow avoided saying anything clearly offending yet.

Instead of answering him, the looked at Harry and rose an eyebrow. "...come on, Potter," he muttered almost under his breath, then, speaking directly to Harry as if neither Ron nor Hermione existed, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star... how I wonder what you are. The Second Power. That was my job. I was first, and I just came around. You were second..." Draco leveled Harry with a look with meaning behind it, meaning that went deeper than anything Ron or Hermoine could place, but could recognize for the sheer honesty with which it filled Malfoy's face. Silver and emerald met and connected, and Harry blinked, as if he'd just remembered something from a long-forgotten conversation. He breathed in slowly, as if for the first time, and gripped the seat. For a moment, Ron wasn't sure if it was just him but Harry looked like he had recognized Malfoy--recognized in a way that was different from the way two strangers meet for the first time; far from it, in fact. Raising his voice, Draco spoke to break the silence that had settled over them all like a spell.

"Well?"

Harry, who had up till now been the epitome of silence, suddenly broke into a wild grin.

"Run, run, run, as fast as you can. The First Power."

The effect those words seemed to have on Draco were like a spell breaking. The seemed to brighten up visibly, his silvery eyes shining brighter and his shoulders, which had previously been squared up in tenseness, dropped in relief.

"Thank Merlin," he breathed, and Ron looked back and forth between the two.

"Harry? Malfoy? What's going on?"

The dark-haired boy scooted over so Draco could join them, Hermione putting her book away and Ron scowling darkly in confusion and betrayal as Malfoy sat next to Harry like they'd been friends their whole lives. The two struck up a conversation that neither Ron nor Hermione could comment on, and the two speechless members of the compartment shot each other twin looks of confusion.

"How do you feel?"

"It's familiar... like coming home again... when did you get back?"

"It was just before we got onto the train, a good ten minutes prior, I'd guess. I just barely escaped Parkinson and the others, and came to find you."

"Would she come if she knew?"

"She might, and so might Blaise. They'd be helpful, too. Would seven be alright?"

"I don't think it would alter anything except the size of our group."

"What about the Anchor?"

"I think Blaise might fit that part, it might be beneficial to split the burden of that job--Pansy could share Ginny's role."

"What are you two talking about?" Ron cut in, prompted by Harry's mention of his sister, "Harry?"

Hermione also offered up a confused look. "Harry..."

Draco and Harry shared a glance, then looked at Ron and Hermione in turn.

"When do you think they'll make it?"

"Well, Ron was fourth..."

"And Granger was last," Draco agreed, "The Weaselette should be coming around by now."

Ron's ears and cheeks reddened to match his hair, but before he could rise to the obvious insult against his family, the door to the compartment slid open and gave Ron another reason to be speechless.

"What did I tell you about calling me that, Draco?" asked the red-haired playfully as she slid into the compartment with the rest of them.

Ron gaped like a fish out of water, and Harry adopted a similar look for a moment before turning on the boy beside him.

"Draco! She's not supposed to be here yet--how did you--Oh, Merlin... You didn't--! Draco!"

"I had to!" he said through his grin as Ginny joined them, sitting next to her older brother with a pleased look akin to a child in a candy store "She would've been with her mother or father otherwise. And I didn't even use magic--the little glutton just followed me wherever I went, never taking her big, sugar-hungry eyes off the Sugar Quills."

"Ginny?" Ron squeaked in disbelief.

Harry groaned and shook his head. "Great. Did anyone see you?"

"Nobody recognized me," Draco affirmed, looking at Ginny. Time for the real confirmation. The red head looked at him sharply, then broke into a broad smile.

"Oh, you know me. I'm the Gingerbread Man. Back door, trap door... The Escape."

Ron's cheeks colored. There was obviously something going on, and he and Hermione were being left out.

"Harry! Ginny! Could either of you two PLEASE tell me what this is about?" he asked, hoping the boy he thought was his friend or his sister might actually give him an answer instead of talking in confusing terms or being all secretive like they were doing right now.

Unfortunately, the others seemed to have no intention of doing so anytime soon, and were quickly speaking amongst themselves again.

"How much time do we have?"

"I'd say the train ride will be another two hours yet."

"Perfect! Who timed this?"

"It was 'Mione, Drake," Ginny quipped cheerfully, "Gotta love the girl's mind."

"When will they be coming around, d'you think?"

"Ron's next, isn't he, Harry?"

"Yeah, Gin, and seeing how quick you came around after I did..."

The three looked at Ron expectantly, who stared right back at them. "Crazy," he said, sitting down and shaking his head in blatant disbelief, "You're all barking..."

Whatever he was going to say next was swept away by a startled look. Ron blinked his eyes several times, shook his head, and then looked around as if he'd only just now woken up from some kind of dazed dream. Before Harry or Draco or Ginny could prompt him, he spoke with a dreamy tone.

"Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky... Hiding in plain sight; Anchor."

He wore that expression for a few moments more before he grinned at the group before him.

"Bloody hell! We made it!"

The bushy-haired just sat back in her seat, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in shock. What in the world was happening here? She'd come to sit with Harry, and had been thoroughly delighted to find it wasn't just ANY Harry she'd sat with, but THE Harry Potter. Then, the red head, Ron Weasely came to sit with them. He'd seemed like a nice boy an hour ago when the train ride began, and so had Harry... but then the had come in. Draco Malfoy, from what she remembered. He'd interrupted their nice quiet, and Hermione had just gotten to a good point in the text. He and Harry started talking, causing a commotion with Ron. Then the other red head showed up, obviously Ron's little sister, and she'd begun to talk with the boys like she knew what was going on as well! Well, it was all fine and fun and games until Ron joined them, and then it had been four against one! Hermione put on a pout, giving the others in the compartment a clear idea of how unfair the whole game was. She liked mysteries as much as the next person, but this was too much!

"Guys," she said, speaking up for the first time and catching the attention of everyone in the room, "What's going on?"

Ron took out his wand and cast Tempus, the time-telling spell. Hermione squealed, then hissed, "Hey! We aren't supposed to do magic--" and then, suspiciously and curiously, "Where'd you learn that spell?"

"Guys, let's get started," Ron said, ignoring Hermione's question.

They began to move as a unit, and Hermione found herself staring in awe as they moved in swift succession. Harry and Draco stood and pulled all their things down from the luggage racks; Ginny and Ron had their wands out and went back to back, one Weasely warding the door against entry and casting a Silencing Charm while the other began to unlock the wards charming the windows shut. "What about Pansy and Blaise?" muttered Harry as he and Draco worked to open all the trunks. The shrugged. "It might've worked, it might've failed. I guess we'll never know." There were too many other things he wanted to say and so he said nothing, leaving it at that, and so did the other boy. Harry pulled out everything from their trunks and then cast several murmured spells. Draco was doing the same, though he picked up all the coins that had been tucked away probably by their parents into a fold in his cloak. Together, they raided all the luggage and by the time Ginny had finished warding the door against entry the charmed clothes were all back in their proper suitcases. Ron took his wand down and looked at the others with a nod.

"Done."

"We linked the spells," Ginny said comfortably, proud of her quick work, "they're set to lift after we vacate."

Harry looked at Ginny curiously. "I didn't know you had a wand already..." She shrugged. "Mum got me and Ron our wands during Fred and George's first year," she admitted, "we would've given her all hell otherwise. Imagine! All your brothers suddenly going off to a Wizarding school and you're all by your lonesome with mum and dad? They were more than happy to get us our wands a little early, though I guess we were a bit whiny about it..."

Ron cut her off with a wave of his hand. "It doesn't really matter," he said, looking pointedly around the cabin for silence, "Now... the trunks are charmed and we've got everything. It's do or die from here. Once we open the window it's all or nothing..."

"Where have I heard that before?" Hermione whispered, and Ron grinned at her.

"Coming around, are you?"

The bushy-haired looked as if she were struggling with a reply, and then suddenly a look of sudden realization came onto her face. Her eyes widened and she blinked several times, as if she were trying to get a clearer view of what was plainly in front of her. Whatever she had been about to say was lost as she looked around at the faces in front of her. The next words she spoke as if in a dream, looking around, and yet not really looking at anyone.

"...The Architecht. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down."

With that, her lower lip trembled, and everyone started as she sobbed loudly.

"'Mione?" Ron asked cautiously, reaching out a tenative hand to her shoulder. Before it could connect, she threw herself forwards at Ron and his sister and hugged them both.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny asked tenderly, patting the older 's back in a slight daze, wondering what in the world she was crying for when it was apparent that everyone had made it.

"Oh, Merlin," came Hermione's sobbing voice as she pulled out of the double hug, unable to stop herself from crying, "Can't you see? It's going to work--!!"

Harry let out a laugh as Hermione sobbed again, burying her face in Ginny's shoulder. The younger laughed, too, speaking softly to Hermione in words of comfort. Beside Harry, Draco felt his shoulders droop in relief. "Thank Merlin. I thought..." Next to Hermione and Ginny, Ron looked up from the two and nodded. "I thought, too," he muttered, running a hand along the crying 's shoulder, "for a minute... she took so long to come around, I thought she hadn't made it. It was that scream, at the last moment..."

"...'no sound shall be uttered, other than that which will bring us back'," Draco intoned, and instantly Hermione stopped sobbing. The room was full of glum faces for an instant longer, then Harry got to his feet.

"Well, I don't know about you lot, but I've got another life to begin." He flexed his hands as Draco stood beside him.

"The ravine will be coming up soon."

"There's only one place through the entire trip where the forest parts like this," Hermione muttered as she stood, too, Ginny and Ron rising with her. "It's on the side Harry and Ron and I sat at during our first year; the Second year I sat on the other side of the train, and I don't remember where it was third or fourth year..." The train would be taking them past a sheer drop, a ravine that went down nearly three miles straight down. They'd timed the spell so that they'd all arrive just before the train made its pass. They'd had to be precise; this was their one shot.

Draco stepped forwards with Harry, both boys taking either side of the window and turning to their companions one last time.

"Anyone have any last words?" asked Draco sarcastically, and Harry smacked him upside the head.

"It's almost here," Ron said, his words just above a whisper as they felt excitement climb into their hearts.

This was it.

There was no going back.

They'd turned back the sands of time to where it had all begun.

They, the last five.

The War's sole human survivors.

"Are you ready?" Ginny breathed as the deep ravine came into sight. It was passing, but if they all leapt at once, they would make it into free-fall.

The lighting outside was growing darker, and Harry could feel adrenaline beginning to course through him. His fingers were trembling on the window latch. They only had one shot at this, and it was all or nothing.

"Well, if we're not, then we're in a sorry position to do anything about it," Hermione said with a grin, unable to restrain the look of pure excitement that was beginning to bloom across her face.

The train rattled down the tracks at its usual speed. Without warning, one of its windows burst open. No body noticed, not with the 'Notice-Me-Not' charm that was activated when the window opened.

Five bodies escaped the window, flinging themselves without hesitation into the night.

As they plummeted, Ron whooping and Draco laughing wildly, Ginny and Hermione squealing in delight, Harry couldn't hold back a grin.

This was it.

Their new beginning.

"Here we go."

A/N: This is the end for now... I think it can stand on its own as a one-shot, but as you can probably guess, this would be where the real story begins. Again, please review.