The mid-afternoon sun beat down relentlessly, bathing the surrounding countryside in its almost blinding white light. Harry stopped for some water and to wipe his brow before carrying on, he knew that he was close, the magic of the site felt almost sentient. His years of searching were almost at an end; soon everything would be put back to rights.

As he set off to crest the hill that was about half a mile from his target, he began to grow anxious. What if all this was for nothing? what if the legends were wrong? His breath caught in his throat for a moment before he gathered up his resolve and slowly trudged towards the ancient Minoan Palace complex of Phaistos.

It took Harry a little over fifteen minutes to walk the distance to the complex, the combined effect of his advancing years and the blazing sun took their toll. Eventually, He reached the mouth of the cave that had long passed from memory and myth. He could sense the ancient magic emanating from the depths within, this was magic that he had never experienced before; it was powerful and unforgiving. It was unyielding and demanded obedient reverence. After eighty-five years of searching, he had finally found it, now he could save his dead friend.

Harry took a deep, calming breath before he set off into the cave. From the outside it looked like he was walking into the abyss, once he got about twenty feet inside the cave he saw torches on the walls. This appeared to be an ancient temple, clearly the magical cultures of prehistory where far more in tuned to the background magic than modern society.

Taking a few more tentative steps cause the torches closest to him to burst into flame, the ambient magic changed. He could sense a definite rhythm, a thrumming sensation that pulsed in three-second beats. Harry followed the flaming torches and the thrumming got more prominent. The cave was silent, but his magic was picking up the sensations.

He followed the torch-lit passage for about thirty feet before it opened up into a large ante-chamber, around the chamber more torched blazed to life before a central fire pit roared into life. Harry stood in awe at the spectacle before him.

'Why have you come here, Chosen One?' A voice, which sounded like two slabs of lead slamming together, called to him.

'I have searched for many years to find this place; I have come to seek an audience with Cronus' Harry called out.

'Many ages of men have passed since an audience was last granted; tell me Chosen One, Why should Cronus grant you this boon?' demanded the voice.

'I have come because I have no other choice, He is my last hope.' Whispered Harry

'Then your last hope was in vain, Chosen One, go back from whence you came' the boomed.

'Why do you call me the Chosen One? I've not been called that in over a hundred years. I fulfilled my destiny' Harry spat bitterly

'No, Chosen One, you did not'

Harry stood in silence; his destiny was to defeat Tom Riddle. That was the belief from before he was born; what had he not done?

'What boon will Cronus grant me?' Harry asked the chamber

'Ask what you will and if you are found to be worthy; then it shall be granted, Chosen One.' The voice echoed around the chamber. Harry didn't miss a beat.

'I would ask that Cronus make it so that my existence never happened' Harry's voice echoed, his request sounded strange to his own ears.

'This, Cronus cannot do, Chosen one'

'Why? Cronus is the God of Time; surely this should be of no consequence to him'

'You have the mark of the Fates upon you, Chosen One, not even the Creator would defy the Fates. Tell me, Harry Potter, why would you ask this of me?' The voice did not echo but came from directly behind Harry. He turned and saw an old man dressed in a toga walking towards him.

'Are you Cronus?' Harry asked

'That is a name that I have not been called for a very long time Harry, but yes I am Cronus'

'Why all the theatrics, I'm an old man; I could do without the excitement. Said Harry

'You are merely a pup, Chosen One, in fact you look no older that you did the day you vanquished Tom Riddle' Cronus waved his hand and the years fell from Harry.

Harry felt his aches and pains vanish; his hands went from being gnarled and bony to smooth and strong.

'How did you do that?' Gasped Harry, he conjured a mirror to look at his seventeen year old face.

'Erm, God of time here! If time is involved I can change it' Cronus smiled at Harry.

'You mean with the exception of removing me from existence?' said harry with more than a little sarcasm.

'I said I couldn't remove you, Chosen One. You are bound too existence; you defeated Riddle but your destiny did not stop there. You had other things that you needed to complete; unfortunately a number of factors prevented you from fulfilling all your tasks.'

'How many tasks where there?' demanded Harry

'I do not know, suffice to say that the mark of the Fates is still upon you which means that you have not completed your destiny'

'Tell me, why do you want to be removed from existence?' Asked Cronus

'I let her down; she died in my arms because I let her down and I've spent the last eighty-five years looking for a way to fix it. I've you make it so that I'm never born then she'll never be in danger and she won't die by his hand.' Harry poured everything out. He had kept his feeling bottled up for as long as he could remember, it felt good to finally let go of them.

Cronus considered the man before him. 'You were chosen to be the breakwater against the darkness about twelve thousand years before you were born and as I said not even the Creator will defy the Fates. Removing you from existence would not remove her or any of your friends from danger; in fact it would have the opposite effect. Riddle would have gained power and your country would have been overwhelmed. Your friends would have never survived; they would have been killed as soon as they performed their first bout of accidental magic'

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his face, 'what can I do then? She deserves better than what she got. They all do.'

Cronus didn't speak; he slowly paced the chamber with his hands clasped behind his back. Harry conjured a couple of chairs and sat down to wait.

For half an hour Cronus paced, the waiting caused Harry to doze off.

'Right I've got it' cried out Cronus, causing Harry to wake with a start.

'Ok I've figured it out so don't interrupt me. Sometime between you starting your school and your enemy being resurrected, a great injustice happened to one of your friend that you were part of. One friend was looking out for your best interests and the other was selfish and covetous. I will send you back to a time of your choosing between this act of kindness and your name being selected for the tri-wizard tournament.

Harry listened attentively before asking 'Ok when will you send me back to?'

'You will have to choose, now you will retain all of your memories and abilities however you will not be able divulge any information about the future you have lived. Now I need you to think of a suitable time for you go back to.'

When he walked into this cave, he hoped that he could somehow bring her back and prevent her from dying in the first place. Now he was actually getting the chance to put right a few wrongs he was beginning to get nervous; what would he say to her, how would he be able to change things for the better? He couldn't think straight.

'If you want to do this Harry I need you to tell me when you want to go back to' said Cronus.

'Ok, send me back to the train journey to Hogwarts on the first of September nineteen ninety-four, I can start to enact changes from then. If your scenario is the one that I think it is I can fix that and make sure that she and I get away from him as soon as possible' Harry started to feel the old feeling of determination that always seem to be in his chest when he was younger.

'Remember all the knowledge that you have in your head will be going back with you, also that soul shard will be in your scar, it can be removed without you dying. You can shard your academic knowledge but nothing else about the future because you won't remember it'

Harry nodded 'Ok Cronus, send me back'

Cronus waved his hand and Harry disappeared. Athena stepped into the chamber and embraced Cronus saying 'The fate of all rest on his shoulders now, I hope that they are broad enough to carry the weight'

##

Harry woke with a start, all the colour had drained from his face. His eyes locked on to her, he got off his seat and made a beeline for her. The urgency in his movement panicking her, he put his arms around her and held her as though the act of having her in his arms was the only thing keeping her real

In a low whisper she muttered over and over 'I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, I thought I'd lost you'

Hermione held him though his moment of panic and made soothing sounds to calm him down, every eye in the carriage was fixed on this scene. Before long Harry pulled back, realising that he was standing up in a moving train holding his best friend like his life depended on it.

'Are you alright Harry?' Neville asked.

Harry closed his eyes and nodded his head 'Yeah Nev, I'm good. It's just that was a hell of a dream, I couldn't tell you what it was about though' He looked at Hermione, she could see right through his lie, the look in her eye said "we will talk about this" 'it just felt so vivid. Listen I need some air, I'll be back shortly'

Harry opened the carriage door and made to walk away when Hermione grabbed his hand and said 'I'll come with you'

Ron stood up and said 'me too' Harry looked at his redheaded friend and said 'no Ron, could you stay?' He put his hand in his pocket and took out a small money bag and threw it to Ron 'Get everyone something from the trolley but save me a couple of frogs' Ron looked at the bag in his hand and smiled 'Yeah sure thing'

Harry and Hermione walked in silence to the back of the last carriage and opened the door, and stood at the rail, slowly the colour started to return to Harry's face, Hermione cleared her throat and said 'Are you going to tell me what that was about back there?'

Harry stared out at the countryside that was passing by, formulating the words in his head before explaining himself.

'Hermione, I have a couple of things that I really need to say to you and I'm afraid that when I do they might affect how you see me. I don't want there to be any awkwardness or ill feeling so please just hear me out before you say anything ok?'

Hermione nodded and said 'Ok Harry, I trust you' then she reached out and took his hand.