Chapter 1

An old new beginning

Well, this was unexpected. Unexpected and weird. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. Rubbing his eyes and making sure that what he was seeing was really true. When even after all the blinking and squinting in the world his reflection did not change he had to concede that what he was seeing was reality. A weird and bizarre reality but reality none the less. He hadn't expected to wake up and be alive. Well, they had said that they would bring him back from the dead but they had forgotten to mention when they would bring him back. He stared at the reflection of himself. He was eleven years old, again. It would seem as if he would have to go through puberty twice. He groaned. Who could claim that they went through puberty twice. He also would have through the horrid clothes that they all had worn in the seventies again. Just great. He had been dead for 17 years, stuck in the in-between because he couldn't leave his friends and son behind. The in-between was the place where one decided to go to heaven, become a ghost or waited for somebody. He and Lily had been watching over them for 16 years. He had watched their every breath. He had welcomed Moony and Padfoot when they died and his two friends had chosen to wait with him for Harry when they had suddenly brought him back to life. They had to transfer his dead soul into the body of his very much alive eleven year old self of the seventies. Couldn't they have chosen a different age and maybe a different time? Maybe when he was an adult and not a squirt? They had a twisted sense of humor.

"Bloody Fates", he muttered under his breath. How the hell was he supposed to stop Voldi when he was stuck in the body of an eleven year old. He stared at his reflection some more. He had nearly forgotten just how much he looked like Harry when he was younger. His son had the same unruly black hair as him. Even their stature and face looked very similar. Only their eyes were as different as night and day. The hazel eyes staring back at him were so very different from his sons emerald ones.

Lily would be laughing at him right now. She would find the whole thing bloody hilarious. He groaned again as he thought of Lily. He had to live through six and a half years of her hating him again. Well, maybe he could change things this time around. Maybe she wouldn't hate him. The thought made him realize something. It made him realize that he could change a lot of things for the better. Not everything but maybe the things that were manageable. He needed a plan and fast.

From the way the today was marked on the calendar next to his desk today was the first of September. The day he would go to Hogwarts for the first time. And just like he remembered his trunk was not packed at all. He could vividly remember now how he had scrambled to pack everything at his mother's call at 10 o'clock. Quickly his eyes landed on the clock above the door. He still had half an hour before his mother called him. Enough time to pack. He quickly grabbed his wand. He smiled as his fingers closed around the familiar wood. He had missed his wand. Being without it in death had felt wrong.

He raised his wand and went through the motions his younger self had not known back then. The rule of not allowing underage wizards from performing magic outside of school had one gigantic loophole. They could not identify the caster. That meant that children with magical parents could perform magic without being suspected. That Loophole had caused Harry all the trouble with Dobby back in second year. He watched as everything flew into his trunk. Everything neatly taking its place inside the trunk. He also put inside his first aid kit for which he still needed to get some salves from his mums cabinet. The last item flying into it was his invisibility cloak, which had once been his fathers and in the future had been his sons. One of the deathly hallows. The thing which would protect his son and his friends from prying eyes. He gently touched the cloak before he shut the trunk. He kept his wand in his trouser pocket. Not daring to leave it far from his person especially after he had been killed so easily without it. He checked the clock again. He still had time before she called him and he would embarrasses himself horribly by hugging her tightly. He quickly grabbed an empty piece of parchment, ink and a quill before flopping down on his bed. He needed to make a list of all the things he would need to change this time around. After a few minutes of scribbling his list contained the following things:

1. Lily - Making sure that Lily doesn't hate him as much as last time. Don't insult Snape while she is standing next to you. Don't make jokes about her hair. Don't try to play it cool. Stop showing off in front of her. No asking her out every day!(he needed to make a better impression on her than the first time around but he didn't want her to fall head over heels for him immediately. He could wait till seventh year again. In a sense he had liked their cat and mouse game. It had given their relationship a certain balance and strength that he didn't want to miss.)

2. Sirius - Get him out of the Black family earlier! NEVER say that he is like his family! Never let him near Azkaban in any way! Never let Dementors near him! work on his temper! Try to stop him from going overboard! But still let him be himself! And most importantly: Warn him about killer curtains! (He looked down at the words fondly. He had missed his best friend more than he cared to admit. Even if he had been beside him the last two years after his unfortunate incident with the curtain of doom. It didn't make up for the 15 years he had been without him.)

2. Remus - Be there for him! Don't drag him through Hogwarts after a full moon, get a lunar chart! Be more gentle when revealing that you know about his furry little problem! Don't ever doubt him! Don't mess with his books and don't try to take away his chocolate! ( He winced as he thought about how they had doubted him. He couldn't imagine the betrayal Remus must have felt. He would never doubt him again. He would value his unspoken trust more than ever before)

3. Regulus - prevent his death! making sure that he and Sirius don't hate each other, turning Reg into an accomplice? Lessen his parents influence on him (This one would give him a headache he knew. He knew first-hand what Regulus had done. He had told him so in death. He knew the kid had a good heart and this time around he would make sure that Sirius saw it and not the perfect child of his mother. Also he would make sure that he didn't die like that. He would come with him to destroy the locket. But he needed the sword of Gryffindor or Basilisk fangs.)

4. Snape (He had no clue what he was supposed to do about this one. After all he could never ever possibly like Snape but he knew what Snape would do for Lily and he had to respect that. Snape may have gone about it the wrong way but he loved Lily. He wouldn't be able to resist playing a prank on Snape form time to time but there would be no more bullying this time around.) - No bullying but a few pranks are allowed!

5. Voldemort - ? (He would deal with this after he had dealt with everything else. This problem was too big to make certain plans yet. He also had no clue about the current situation concerning the reign of the not yet Noseless bastard)

4. The Basilisk! - Kill it or let someone know about it?

5. The Horcruxes - Finding and destroying them! Problem: The diary (Since he had no clue where Voldemort had hidden it. Maybe it was with the Malfoys but he couldn't be sure.)

6. Peter Pettigrew - Wormtail (He felt torn. He felt anger for his betrayal but he also missed the friend he had been during his Hogwarts years. Maybe he could prevent it from happening. Maybe he could stop Peter from turning dark. Also even if he turned dark he wouldn't make him his secret keeper. Maybe he could save him.) - making sure on whose side he is, prevent him from turning dark, stop ridiculing him, try to install some confidence into him, make him stand up for himself, stop protecting him from everything, teaching him to stop hiding behind powerful people and maybe save him.

7. The willow incident - STOP IT FROM EVER HAPPENING!

8. Map and Animagus - maybe start a little earlier?

9. Avoid Malfoy at all costs! (no repetition of the frog incident!)

10. Same goes for Bellatrix! And for Ms. Black!

11. Less harmful pranks! No serious injuries!

12. Dobby - freeing him from Malfoy!

13. Kreacher - TRY to make Sirius act civil with him! (Emphasis on try!)

14. Don't go along with Sirius grand master plan number 26 and 31!

"James!" His mothers call cut through his furious scribbling. He folded the piece of parchment neatly and put it in his trousers pocket before he jumped out of the bed.

"Coming!" He called as he hastily left his room and nearly fell down the stairs because he hadn't been looking where he was stepping while running. Taking two steps at a time. He more or less slithered into the dining room where his parents were putting out the plates for a very late breakfast.

He stopped dead at the sight of the two of them. His mother was just about to put the handmade cherry marmalade on the table. She looked slightly startled at his sudden entrance. The eyes he had inherited were looking at him with love. Her long copper hair was falling in waves over her shoulders. There were less grey strands than he remembered. The last time he had seen her hair had been completely silver. It was the day they had lowered her coffin into the ground. He bit his lip and tried to furiously suppress the tears that threatened to spill.

He threw his arms around her and hugged her. He soaked in her warmth and relaxed in her familiar scent. Her arms came around him automatically and she gently started to stroke his hair probably making it even messier. He had forgotten how it felt to be hugged by his mother. Something his son had never experienced. He hugged her a little tighter.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly as her finger trailed through his hair. He could hear the worried undertone in her voice. It was unusual for him to hug her like this when he was already eleven. He had always insisted that he was too grown-up for the cuddling, not that it had stopped his mother. He pulled back slightly.

"Nothing is wrong. Can't I just hug my mother for once?" He asked with a small smile. She raised an eyebrow clearly not believing him. But she didn't press the issue. His father was watching him with a questioning look. He looked nearly like him. The same unruly yet black hair, the same nose and mouth but different eyes. His were a dark blue whereas James were just as hazel as his mums eyes. His black hair was lined with silver. Before his dad could say anything James had hugged him as well.

He could hear his father's heartbeat. He could feel the sense of safety that he had always felt in his father's presence return. He had lost that feeling of safety with his father's death and the lurking danger of Voldemort. To be able to feel it again was like a fresh breath of air.

"All right, you're acting weird. What are you planning?" His father's voice asked from above him.

"I'm not planning anything!" He exclaimed with a pout. His father just laughed his deep and carefree laughter.

"Right and I'm supposed to just believe that?" He asked as he ruffled through James hair, which made James pout all the more.

"Boys!" His mother said with a fond smile. James took a seat between his parents at the table that was way too big for three people. The table was filled with all kind of foods. Last time he was unable to savor the food because he had to rush in order to pack his trunk. This time around he could eat as much as he wanted. He put all kind of food on his plate.

"Did you pack you're trunk?" His mother asked as she took a sip of her tea.

"Yes!" James said while chewing. He had forgotten just how good his mothers pancakes were. His mothers wrinkled her nose. She opened her mouth to admonish him for his table manners but they beat her to it.

"No talking while eating!" His father and him said at the same time in a bored voice. They shared a small wicked grin whereas his mother just huffed.

His father pulled out the daily prophet and started reading it which elicited another eye roll from his mother. She had tried for years to stop him from reading during breakfast with no success. In the end she had given up. James sniggered. She would be annoyed if she found out that he would do the same in the future. An idea came to James. Maybe there was something written about Snakeface.

"Dad, can I have the daily prophet please?" His father raised an eyebrow in question but handed him the wizard newspaper. Quickly James scanned through the articles. He was so busy checking them that he missed the worried looks his parents shared. There was nothing written in there. That meant he had to sneak into his dads study and find the files his father had on the Deatheaters. Having the Head Auror as a father was quiet handy. Not that he liked using his father's influence. He also needed to get some tinctures and salves from his mum for the first aid kit. He put the daily prophet down and came face to face with his parents stares.

"What?" He asked after his parents didn't stop staring at him.

"Are you sure that you're all right?" His father asked while his mother said: "You don't have a fever, right?" James groaned. Was it that weird for him to read the daily prophet? From the way his parents were acting it seemed to be. As annoying as it was he had missed their concern and worry.

"I'm fine", He said with a fond smile and an eye roll.

oOo

A.N.: This was originally just a vague idea. The whole Snape travels back in time and changes the future stories gave me the idea. So I thought what would one of the marauders do. I wrote it during one of my more boring History seminars to pass the time. It is more or less a side project, which is why it will probably only be updated when I'm updating Revival of the past. I might update it sooner but I don't want to let any of my stories down.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and reviews are very much appreciated :)

Thanks for reading ~