Okay... this is my first stab at Harry Potter fanfiction...

I read this story a while back... called Time to Put Your Galleons Where Your Mouth Is. And I absolutely loved it. I love anything to do with reincarnation, and I was hooked with the story, which gave me inspiration to write this.

However... before you guys go complaining that it's the same... the only thing that's similar is that it has Harry reincarnating. This one he's making the conscious decision to be reborn as his father's brother. Which, in all considering, is a little weird... but his mindset is that he believes that he can make James sort of... "grow up" faster by being a supportive older brother to look up to.

The title comes from an old riddle: "Brothers and sisters have I none, but that man's father is my father's son." Which, if you put it in perspective of Harry, James is his brother... but his father, as he never truly had any siblings in his time.

Okay... if you guys like it, I shall continue :)

"Harry, do you know anything about alternate universes?"

Harry James Potter shrugged at the faceless creature who wore a hood. He couldn't tell if this person, either man or woman (to be completely honest, he wasn't sure if the creature was even human), but Harry could understand the creature's words clearly. And Harry was not fairly comfortable with being interrogated, whether it may be he was in trouble or not. I hate being in trouble... I guess trouble has always followed me, wherever I go.

The truth of the matter was that Harry had been considered dead for a short time. Well, in his time. He had seen many universes, some in that which he was a kid living in the Middle Ages, others which he was the Emperor of the Roman Empire. Each history, every lifetime, was different than the rest. Some were related to other histories, while others were completely different and almost like a clean, new slate. The Muggles would consider this the multiverse theory, where there are infinite amount of universes, some with only little changes... others with the biggest... most tactical changes.

Harry smiled. Well, there was that one time I was born the older brother of Hitler and literally stopped World War II.

The strangest one he had done was probably during the early thirteenth century, where he was the infamous Hardwin Potter, the first recorded Potter in history. Now, Harry wasn't sure if he was playing as his actual ancestor... or if it was just a simple different universe . However, he did end up marrying the granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell (coincidentally, Harry's ancestor in his original universe), who was one of the sons of Linfred of Stinchcombe (again, interestingly enough, was nicknamed The Potterer). Interest... only because he had five brothers after growing up, in his original life with the... Dursleys, (was it?) was considerably abusive.

Harry smiled again. It had been so long since he had been in his own timeline that he nearly forgot of his first... family (he used the word family lightly since, after... how many reincarnations? He lost count after twenty-seven). The thought of his first wife, Ginny, came to his mind. Then, memories of his first set of children came to be...(James, Albus, Lily) with memories of his friends: Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger... playing in his memory. This time, Harry frowned. He thought of his friends and family after the first couple of reincarnations, but it had been so long that he had nearly forgotten the looks of their faces... their voices.. their laughs... their smiles...

It was the curse of being the Master of Death, he soon realized. When first meeting Death, he had thought it was a mistake... how could he not spend eternity with his wife? His friends? His parents the ones he had briefly met for a few moments in the Forbidden Forest?

"Of course I do," Harry said, rather sternly. Somehow, he was reminded of Snape whenever he snapped at a student. The thought nearly made him shutter. "They are... different from our timeline, such as Heaven or Valhalla or Asgard... where they can truly affect the course of how lives turn out..." He stopped. Death did not answer, and Harry got the impression that his educated guess was, well, off. Which it should not truly have been; he had studied under the teachings of Plato, who was quick to guess on Harry (or, in that universe... Holagus). "Unless I'm wrong about this..."

"No, you are right, Master," Death said in a quiet voice. For Death... quiet was the word he (Harry decided to use the term he in terms argument's sake). "You have been gone from your original time for, well, a long time, Harry." If Harry knew any better, he could have sworn that there was a hint of a smile in Death's voice. "I think you should be able to see your family."

Family...

Harry gulped, which was something he was not used to doing. Meaning that it had been a long time since he was nervous of anything. "What do you mean my family?" he asked. In the numerous times that he had families, and having countless children and wives (with the exception of some husbands when he was born female), which family was Death referring to?

Then it hit him:

...your original time...

"You mean..." the words nearly formed in his mouth, where a beautiful world where he was not born the Boy Who Lived; where he had parents... his true Potter family... "I can be raised by my parents?"

Death released a low laugh, if the creature could laugh. "Not entirely, Master of Death. You see, in order for you to be raised by your parents, there is one factor that has to happen first." There it was; that same condescending voice that made Harry believe that Death was making fun of him. "In order for you to be raised by your parents, you must be born first as another... someone who will know how to raise you... how to love you as their own. Someone who will understand... from another life... how it feels to live in an environment where they are not loved. Perhaps someone close to the family..."

"Or what about in the family?" Harry prompted. "Like... an older brother, or something?"

There was a nod of the mysterious hood. "That depends... in the timeline, your parents wouldn't be... necessarily... old enough to have an older son-"

"No," Harry interrupted. "I need to influence the man that is my father... to help him be the man that, er, the other me will need." He suddenly recalled the stories that he heard of his father, who was a pompous, arrogant boy who only (at least, from Harry's perspective) changed when he was prompted by Lily Evans. "I think I owe the other... Harry... that."

There was another nod, an approving nod of Death. "Then it shalt be, Potter," Death said, using the same words Harry had heard many times, before entering his new identity and life. It was the ritual that, although disturbing at first, he had grown accustomed to. And.. for the first time in a long time, he would be witnessing it through the eyes of a Potter again.

And, with that, Harry once again exited the realm of Death, and entered yet another time.

September 1st, 1969

Platform 9 3/4, King's Cross

London, England

"Please, Terry! I wanna come with you!" young James Potter (the first, mind you), begged.

Terry, or, as his parents referred to him: Terrell, shook his head at his little brother. The two of them, although two years of an age difference, looked nearly identical. Both of them wore spectacles over their eyes (Terry insisted wearing round spectacles, while the five year old James at the time insisted that he be similar in appearance as his big brother and wear round ones as well), and the same Potter shaggy black hair that was famous for notoriously being messy and always out of place. However, the only difference was that Terry's eyes were not of the hazel that James inherited from their father Fleamont Potter, but were a distinguished green (not the same as Lily Evans, but dark enough to be different from James, for sure).

He smiled, and ruffled the nine year old James' hair. "Don't worry, Jim. You'll be able to come to Hogwarts when you're eleven as well. Then we can practice together and perhaps even be on the same Quidditch team."

"Yea!" James shouted. "But you'll be in Gryffindor, right?"

The eleven year old almost bit down on his lip. Being raised by the Potters (which was amazing beyond his wildest dreams), he was pressed mostly to go to Gryffindor, as Fleamont Potter and his family had all been in Gryffindor in their time at Hogwarts. Still, the thought hadn't crossed his mind if he wanted to be in Gryffindor again or not.

"Well, we'll see," Terry said.

"Whatever house you end up in," said Mr Potter, as he walked over to his sons, "they'll have gained a great new addition, and your mother and I will be proud of you." Fleamont Potter was an elder man, at sixty-five years old (well, elder for Muggles, he was still in what their mother called a mid-life crisis), but had the spirit and energy of a Weasley kid. From what Terry had learned, having children in his older years did not hinder Fleamont's health in the slightest.

"Er, between you an' me, son," Mr Potter brought his eldest son closer to him, so only he could hear: "Gryffindor is still the best house-"

"You better not be pushing him to the house that he wants, Monty," Mrs Potter said, as she walked through the entrance of Platform 9 3/4. Terry and James nearly held back their laughs at the look on Mr Potter's face that showed that he was guilty of some sort of crime. "I swear, it's as though you'd like to go back to school and live there."

Mr Potter shook his head. "No, my dear Mia... I was, er, showing my eldest son how much... fun Gryffindor is..."

Mrs Potter, with her hazel eyes darting between the three Potter boys, shook her head. "Would it have killed me to have had a normal husband?" she asked to herself. However, James and Terry heard her words and giggled nonstop. "Anyway, we should be meeting with the Bones soon..."

"Dad, why can't I go to school until I'm eleven?" James asked, once his mother was out of sight.

"It's the way it goes, son," Mr Potter said, "I went at eleven, so did your mom. And now your brother will be going..."

Terry smiled, but deep down, he hated leaving his brother. He had grown to love James as his brother (after all, it was he who suggested that James should be named as he was... with the name Henry as his middle name, after their grandfather), but he wondered if it would have made a difference if he were born some years before James. Harry insisted with Death that he should be born rather close with James so that he could keep an eye on him during his school years, and Death agreed at the time. Now... Harry was not so sure.

The train whistled, and Terry glanced at the clock. 10:56 a.m.

"I should get a seat soon," Terry said. He pushed his cart to the train, where a busboy took it, carefully transporting his pet owl (to whom he named Persephone). He glanced back at his brother and father, who were grinning back at him.

He was suddenly hit with an image of his past life: from when the first time he glanced in the Mirror of Erise. He remembered the feeling of looking in the mirror and seeing his parents smiling and waving at him, with countless Potter and Evans relatives waving and smiling as well. The sight before him now, with both his fathers smiling at him... it was too much for Terry.

Terry Potter ran up to them both and hugged them.

"We'll miss you, son," Mr Potter said, clinging onto his eldest son. "Remember, if you ever want to send us letters, or come home for dinner... which, frankly, I wouldn't blame you- I never wanted to leave that school-"

Terry laughed. "Okay, I get it, Gramps." He smiled at his brother. "Take care of him and Mom, alright?"

"You know I will," James said, but his eyes started to water.

"Are you crying?" Terry asked, smirking.

James rubbed his eyes. "No! I, er, had something in... my eye, yea."

"Well, make sure to send me some of Mom's Hallowe'en treats in October," Terry said, ruffling James' messy hair. "I'd hate to miss out on her fudge."

The whistle blew again, this time was a warning. The clock read 10:59 a.m.

With a heavy heart, Terry leaped onto the train, and getting hit with nostalgia. Memories of stepping on this train... it was the best times of his first life. Being able to be part of Hogwarts again would definitely be worth it; even if he had to go through it as a Gryffindor. Heck, it would be worth it to do all the homework again, even Professor Binns' boring History class would be worth it (although Harry assumed that the curriculum would not have changed within the twenty-two years before Harry first went to Hogwarts).

But Terry... Harry... had one mission: to make sure that his father, James, became the man that was worthwhile in the future. And... in order to do that, Harry had to be the best brother he could.

And he swore that he would do it.

A couple of things I should point out before I go on:

I mostly got this information that I couldn't find in the books from Pottermore. And the names for Harry's grandparents (James' parents) are said to be Fleamont and Euphemia Potter. Why I had Euphemia call Fleamont by "Monty"... it's because, according to Pottermore, he got teased as a kid and even got in trouble at school. So I pictured both of them giving each other nicknames, like Monty and Mia.

For consistency, I had Fleamont Potter be born in 1905, since both he and Euphemia would have been rather old to have had James, and since Rowling never stated what year they were born in (which I will put Euphemia at 1911). Why I did this... well, she would have been from a pure-blood family, and there could have been an arranged marriage (in this case, it will be). Also, the age gap is only six years, and this gives Euphemia some time to be able to have children while being older.

Another thing I put in here... was with Hardwin Potter. Again, coming from Pottermore, he marries Ignotus Peverell's granddaughter (as I say so above). Which is kind of odd, if you ask me. I mean, I know Ignotus is Harry's ancestor, but I pictured that the Peverells would have died out later (like... the fifteenth century, instead of 1200's, like how it's listed on Pottermore).

Oh, and Terrell means "ruler", as so does Harry XD.

Anyway, if I made any "inaccurate" points, then please feel free to criticize. I wrote this so I can get a feel for Harry Potter fanfiction, and I have to say... I do enjoy it :)

Also, I have not finish proofreading; I will update in the near future.

Well, see you soon :)

Published: June 1, 2016