Story Notes:

This story is a complete re-write of the story I started called "The Chosen One". I didn't have much of a plan with that story and ended up writing myself into a corner. There are few things in common with the old version of this story but the general idea of Harry going backwards in time and getting custody of his younger self remains the same. You can find a copy of the old version on my website (there's a link to my website in my profile here).

Anyways, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the plot or characters. I'm just an insane fan mutilating J.K. Rowling's work.

Prologue

Harry was confused. He didn't know what happened. One moment he in the Department of Mysteries shoving Sirius out of the a way of a spell coming from Bellatrix LeStrange and now he was naked surrounded by a vast white nothingness. He wished that where ever he was, his clothes had came with him. To him, it would be quite awkward to explain to any rescue party what happened to his clothes.

"Why can't anything in my life go right?" Harry said out loud, thinking about the mess he had gotten himself in. He then saw a gray robe laying on what felt like the ground. "Beggars can't be choosers..." Harry muttered as he quickly put it on.

Once he was decent, he noticed that it sounded like some baby in the distance that was crying up a storm but couldn't tell what direction it was from. It was coming from all over.

"Harry! We missed you so much." A woman with an unfamiliar voice said. Harry turned around and saw his mother and father, and a teenage boy that looked very much like himself and his father was standing behind him.

"This is not normal..." Harry said confused. "Mum, dad... You're dead."

"And unfortunately so are you." his father James replied, clearly disappointed..

"You got to be kidding..." Harry said in disbelief.

"We aren't Harry." his mother Lily replied hugging Harry. "It wasn't your time to go. You weren't supposed to be here for a very long time."

"What?" Harry asked, getting more confused by the moment.

"You weren't supposed to die when you did. In fact, nobody was supposed to die. Sorry if I haven't introduced myself, I'm your cousin Andrew Potter. I died a couple years before you were born so we never actually met..." the teenage boy said once Lily had let go of Harry.

"What Andrew meant was that you and everyone who was in that room with you was supposed to survive the battle but due to every being having free will, things don't always go the way they were meant to. What happened was that when you pushed Sirius aside, you got hit by a stunner and fell through the Veil of Death which was once used to execute criminals before the Death Penalty became to controversial. If you didn't, it would have been Sirius even though it wasn't his time as well. Sirius was meant to stay at Order Headquarters and if he did neither of you would have been killed." James explained.

"I see..." Harry said, still confused.

"Don't try to understand it. Trying to understand Fate is difficult. More so then why the Ministry keeps doing things that results in Goblin rebellions." Andrew replied, shaking his head.

"Well, your death caused some really big problems, Harry." Andrew continued. "You see, it was your destiny to defeat Voldemort in a battle and go on with your life, have a family, and die of old age. Now that you are dead, there is nobody to defeat Voldemort and he will eventually take over the world."

"You defeating Voldemort was prophesied on Halloween 1979, around ten in the evening." Lily added.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. and the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. Your divination teacher said it to Dumbledore while he was interviewing her for the job. A death eater, who I am not at liberty to say, heard the first two lines of it and told Voldemort who decided to kill you before you got a chance to kill him. He tricked you into going into the Department of Mysteries so you can retrieve a copy prophecy for him. Since the Unspeakables would only let a person who a prophecy is about retrieve it and Voldemort doesn't want to be seen by anyone as that he is not ready to defend himself, let alone do something offensive..." James said before being interrupted.

"So he planted that vision in my head of Sirius being tortured where it was being stored." Harry finished. He was starting to realize he real was dead.

"Exactly." Andrew replied.

"Great... Me deciding to go rescue Sirius has doomed the world." Harry said annoyed.

"Actually it was Sirius deciding to join the rescue party that doomed the world." James corrected. "But you can still defeat Voldemort."

"How?" Harry asked confused.

"I sacrificed myself protecting you Harry and in doing so, I unknowingly put a blood protection charm on you that would keep you from dieing, assuming you had a body that could function as long as you lived with a relative of mine. If you stopped, the protection would go away within a year. When Voldemort used some of your blood to return to a body, he made himself something that was like a rope that you could use to go back to the living if you ever died." Lily explained.

"But unfortunately, you no longer have a body to return to so that means your soul, with is all you are right now, will have to go backwards in time. But not to your own body because it is already occupied. When you go back, you will wake up in my body when I died in June of 1979. Death Eaters killed my parents and I with the killing curse... I'm related closely related to both your parents that any blood based protection spell they put on your younger self will work if he lives with you." Andrew explained.

"But wouldn't I be stealing your body?" Harry asked, disturbed by the thought that he would be high jacking someone else' body like that diary did to Ginny.

"Stealing means you don't have permission and you have my permission to do what you want with my body as it will be yours." Andrew answered.

"Also, there are going to be somethings you need to know before you go back. When Voldemort tried to kill you, he unknowingly left behind a piece of his soul inside of your body. As long that soul fragment is inside your younger self's body, Voldemort will not be able to die. You must allow Voldemort to use his blood to return to a body as that I doubt you will be able to stop him from finding out about the prophecy. Your younger self will need to face the killing curse again and only Voldemort or a death eater will have enough anger to cast it. Your younger self will be able to survive it so its best that he does not face Voldemort and/or the Death Eaters alone." James added.

"In addition, the prophecy as is could have refereed to either you or to Neville, though trust me when I say its about you. When you go back, the prophecy will most likely be different so try to find out what it is. There is also going to be some events that you can't prevent from happening but you can still change things greatly. But please, don't devote your entire time to finding ways to defeat Voldemort. You have a life to live and you may miss one time opportunities like marring someone you love and securing a future for yourself after you no longer have to worry about Voldemort." Lily continued.

"You will also have my memories but they wouldn't seem real to you but be more like imagining a scene out of a story you heard. It will be enough to convince people you are me. This is all assuming you choose to go back." Andrew said.

Harry considered it. Going back would mean he would be in a time before his friends were even born. But he would have a chance to get to know his parents and see what they were like during that time period though he could still get to know them if he stayed dead. However, he didn't want Voldemort to win.

"I want to go back." Harry reluctantly decided.

"Good luck." James said before Harry departed for the past.

Chapter End Notes:

So there's the prologue. Tell me what you think in a review.

Also, I will explain how Andrew is related to Harry later on.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.