Disclaimer

The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to J. K. Rowling. I get nothing out of this except enjoyment. If she wants to use any of these edits and go back and revise either of the last two books, she's welcome to them.

Introduction

What if Harry had to chance to go back two years and do some things differently? What might change? What might stay the same? This story begins and ends immediately following the last scene from Half Blood Prince. It consists of altered scenes or extended scenes from critical moments in Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince, all involving Harry and his friends being more open or trusting with each other. What if … ?

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Prologue

"Mate?" Ron said anxiously. "We're with you all the way. You know that, right?" He walked up to Harry and put one hand on each shoulder. "We let you down this year and that's not going to happen again. We're going to trust you, no matter what."

"Harry." Hermione stepped forward, her eyes glistening. "I'm so sorry. I should have trusted you more this year too. I swear it will never happen again. Whatever disagreements we have, we'll all work them out – together."

Harry turned to Hermione and took her hands in his, looking her directly in the eye. "You're right. But it goes both ways. I should have trusted you more too, and been more open with both of you. All the way back to last year. If there's anything I could change in my life that would be it. If I had listened to you back then so much of this might not have happened. Sirius, Dumbledore …" He trailed off, a faraway look in his eye. If only …

He turned back to her again. "I'd give anything to be able to go back and do it again."

For a few seconds everything around him blurred and shimmered. Harry blinked a few times as Hermione came back into focus. He noticed her doing the same, and when he turned his head to look at Ron he was blinking also.

"What the heck just happened?"

Harry was still holding Hermione's hands and looked into her eyes again, thinking back on some of the things that had happened to bring them to this point.

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