Two Steps Back

By: Belcris

Summary: In an act of absolute love and complete stupidity, Harry ran through the Arch after his Godfather. Now, he finds himself back in time to the night before his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Harry's secrets will come out into the open and armed with greater confidence, what will the new future hold for him?

Harry Potter created by: JK Rowling

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and I do not seek to profit from this story.

WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, foul language, multiple sexy witches, and a confident Harry.

Category: AU. Crossover. Adventure. Supernatural. Friendship. Romance.

Chapter 1: What did I step in?

The first thing I remember after running through the odd arch my godfather had just fallen through was the sound of several voices talking with each other. Several men and a woman were talking about something that was "not possible," "too early," and "an incredible opportunity." I really didn't care about any of that because all I wanted was a pain relieving potion for my aching head. I had only ever been hung over one time, the morning after the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. I remember waking up with Hermione on my left, Luna on my right, and our clothing on the floor. To this day I have no idea if anything happened between us that night and the girls aren't talking, which really gets on my nerves as neither of them drinks, so they have to remember something!

Anyway, that's besides the point at the moment, though I will have to think long and hard on that night to try and get my memory back of what happened, I'll do that when I'm alone to prevent interruptions. Right at the moment I was more concerned about the people talking around me as I didn't recognize any of the voices and that is never a good thing when I'm waking up in a strange place. My first thought was I had been captured by Death Eaters, but if that was the case I figured my scar would be burning by now, what with Voldemort being close by. As it was, my scar was remarkably quiet at the moment, so I wasn't about to complain too much. That left option two, that I was currently in a Ministry detention cell awaiting arrest when I woke up. Further thought kind of made that one iffy as I figured Fudge would have had me put in prison without a trial if that were the case, it wasn't like he hadn't done it before. That left two other options, I was either in St. Mungo's waiting for treatment, or I was royally buggered and had no clue where I was. I was leaning towards the later options at the moment as that was just the way my luck usually worked.

"He's awake," said the female voice. "Just make this happen, boys. No arguments, just get it done."

I tried to open my eyes to see what was going on, but oddly I couldn't. It was like my eyes were already open, but the area around me was too dark to see anything. Maybe it was always dark on the other side of the veil, which I was starting to think was not just a cloth hanging in the opening of a stone arch to keep people from mistaking it as an ancient Quidditch hoop. I heard someone moving towards me, the footsteps sounded like a short stride, bare feet on stone and soft like what Ginny sounds like when she's sneaking around behind me and doesn't think I know. Suddenly I found a small hand brush my bangs back away from my scar, then it was the oddest thing cause I swear someone kissed my forehead. There was a moment of pain, just the briefest sensation, then warmth seemed to flood through my whole body. I hate to say it, I mean it was just such a pure feeling, but I suddenly had an erection that could have been used to drive six inch steel spike straight though solid stone.

"As you command, so shall it be done, Adon!" shouted several male voices.

I felt the presence of the young woman pull away as I heard her say, "Good boys! Now, I've dealt with this one, so you all deal with the rest. Mike, you and Gabe are on guard and guide duty. Keep him out of trouble, teach him what he needs to know, and for my sake get him some new clothes."

Suddenly I felt a small hand pat my lap, specifically my erection and much to my embarrassment, the young woman suddenly whispered to me, "Thanks for the compliment, Harry, but you're a little young for me. Save this thing for the ones I'm going to send your way. I promise you, you're going to love the surprise. They may even share, but that's between you and them. Now, you take care of yourself and listen to the boys, okay?"

"Who are you?" I asked, for the first time feeling brave enough to speak. I mean if a young woman has her hand on your penis, she can at least answer that one simple question, right?

"I'm just someone that has looked over you since the moment I first knew you," she said with a hint of a giggle in her voice. "I feel bad because I let things get a bit out of hand, for which you suffered. I really am sorry about that. Sadly, until just a little while ago, there was nothing I could do about it. Then in an example of absolute love and complete stupidity, you presented me an opportunity to correct my previous mistakes by leaping though an old backdoor I forgot to seal up. Now, I can't tell you too much directly as that would be a bit too much direct interference on my part, but Mike and Gabe are going to bring you up to speed. Trust them, they are my best and they will not fail you."

Suddenly I was engulfed in the most loving and warm embrace I have ever felt in my life. No one had ever hugged me like that before and I seriously doubt anyone ever would again. Molly Weasley tries to engulf you and never let you go when she hugs you, it's rather smothering. Hermione on the other hand is very exuberant with her hugs, but they end too quickly, almost as if she's afraid to commit to them. The only other person that every hugged me was Luna, and she grabbed my arse when she did, so I related hugs from her with sexual excitement. This hug, from an unknown young woman, seemed to be filled with a sense of absolute safety and love. It was incredible and I will never forget it.

"Okay," I whispered, hugging the petite figure back as best I could.

"Good boy," she whispered, then kissed me on the cheek and let me go.

I knew the moment she released me that she was gone, not just having stepped away from me, but no longer present. The rustling I heard around me was the signal that several of the people that had been present were also gone now. Immediately I felt lonely and I wanted cry, the way I imagine a child wants to cry when they watch their mother walk away from them that first time they are separated. It was a new experience for me considering my first experience with being left behind by a parent I couldn't remember and I was thrilled the first time my aunt or uncle left me somewhere alone. What can I say? I had a messed up childhood and experiencing anything even remotely like what I missed was usually cause for my eyes to mist up.

Anyway, I noticed I was finally starting to see details in the black void around me. At first it was vague shadows, but soon it was distinct shapes as if someone was slowly turning up the lights. Much to my surprise I realized I was standing in the middle of the Gryffindor common room late at night. How I got there, I have no clue. The better question would have been how was I suddenly shorter than I remembered being just a few minutes ago and who were the two guys standing beside me. The one on my left was movie star handsome, blond, blue eyed, and disgustingly fit. You know, the type girls just gush over and make guys like me jealous as hell that we don't look like them. The other guy, the one on my right was a head taller than me with shoulders three times wider than my own, with his ginger hair, brown eyes, and sunburned face he looked like someone that spent the majority of his time outside. Weird thing was, even with them both being complete strangers, I felt safe. No, not as safe as I had felt when the young woman hugged me, but it was a close thing.

"No offense," I said, taking a few steps away from them before I turned to look at them, "but who are you guys and how did we get here? Last thing I remember, I was fighting in the Ministry and my godfather had just fallen through some old arch. Is he okay? Are my friends okay? What's going on?"

"Calm down, kid," growled the ginger. "My name is Mike and he's Gabe."

The blond guy smiled at me, saying, "It's good to meet you!"

"Yeah, yeah," continued Mike. "See, we're like your personal motivators, bodyguards, and therapists for the next little while."

"I'm the therapist," added Gabe. "Trust me, that's a good thing. His solution to everything is usually to blow it up and let someone else sort it out after the fact."

Mike just shrugged and nodded as he pulled out a cigar and started gnawing on it. "Why mess with a good solution. You either deal with it, or it deals with you. I don't know about you, kid, but I prefer to be the one dealing with things."

Walking over to the fireplace, Mike bit off the end of his cigar before spitting the offending tip into the fire and using his suddenly flame covered finger to light the stogey. "Anyway, back to your questions. The answer is a bit more complicated than you imagine. See, your little fight at the Ministry hasn't happened yet. In fact, your whole fifth year and most of your fourth has yet to happen yet, so as of right now your godfather and friends are in great shape!"

"Wait!" I barked, looking at the odd man like he was crazy, which was quite possible at the moment. "How is any of that possible? Hermione told me that time travel was impossible!"

Gabe smiled at me, walking over and sitting on one of the large sofas. "Miss Granger would be absolutely correct in most normal situations, save this is not a normal situation. See, the delightful Miss Granger may know a great deal about a great many things, but compared to everything there is to know in the Universe, she's still just barely skimming the surface."

"Yeah, what he said," growled Mike jabbing a thumb in Gabe's direction. "See, you weren't supposed to take your little trip through the Veil for a long time yet. So, imagine my surprise when I get a priority summons because you've just shown up in the waiting room several years too early. You really had people scrambling to figure out what went wrong. Talk about a complete FUBAR."

Gabe nodded with a smile. "Very true, but it gave the Boss such a wonderful opportunity to correct several oversights from the past few years. So, She sent us back here to correct those little mistakes."

I flopped down in the chair closest to the fireplace and took my glasses off, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "That arch wasn't just some odd old magical artifact, was it?"

"That would be a big no, sonny boy," drawled Mike. "That there Arch was at one point the gateway to paradise. Then some idiot politician thought it would make for a great means of getting rid of prisoners, since no one came back after passing through it. Well, we had to disconnect the Arch from Paradise at that point as we didn't need criminals getting an express ticket to Paradise when they should have been on the expressway to Hades."

"It did cause some problems for Lu and the Boss, but these things happen," agreed Gabe. "Eventually the Arch was just disconnected, but due to a clerical error everyone thought it was sealed when in reality it was still being used for prisoner disposal. The Boss was most displeased by that."

"That's putting it lightly," Mike said with a smirk. "She had to go and round up all those criminals that were still floating around in the Void and direct them to their proper destination. In fact, she was in the middle of doing that when you showed up. Talk about a surprise to see Harry Potter floating in the middle of the void when he should have been fighting Voldemort and winning."

That answered all my questions right there I groaned, standing up and heading for my dormitory. "Well, it's official, you two are both nuttier than squirrel shite. Me beating Voldemort? You two are insane. Tell you what, why don't you two go round up Merlin and see if you can't get him to return your common sense to you. Meanwhile, I'm going up to bed and see if I can't wake up from this dream."

I didn't wait for them to say anything, actually I didn't even give them the chance as I stood up and made my way up to my dorm room for a good nights sleep and maybe an end to the peculiar dream I had found myself in. That's when things got strange, or stranger as the case may be. I opened the door to the Fifth year dorm and stepped through only to find myself stepping into the common room again. Now being the stubborn sort, I immediately turned around and stepped through the door again, and again, and again. I lost count of trying to figure it out after finding myself in the common room for the twentieth or so time. Each time I would watch Gabe and Mike sitting on the couches, Gabe would wave and Mike kept smoking his cigar. Refusing to give up, I just kept walking in the portrait hole, up the stairs, and into my dorm room only to find myself right back in the common room. It was only when after who knew how many repetitions I heard the portrait hole open behind me and watched as a very naked Luna Lovegood walked in right after me.

Okay, let me tell you something about Luna Lovegood. Luna is not crazy or loony in any way shape or form, it's all an act she uses to protect herself. That and it annoys Hermione to no end, something I get a kick out of watching. No, she is one of the most wonderful and special people in the world with a heart so big it dwarfs everything else. Sadly, she is also a target of bullies and jealous bints all around the school because she is so special. The fact that Luna started developing a chest before the rest of the girls in her year might have had something to do with it. Not many people know that I've been watching out for her since my third year when I found Luna wandering naked through the castle after the bints in Ravenclaw kicked her out into the halls in the middle of the night. That night Luna admitted to me that all through her first year at Hogwarts the girls in her dorm had been locking her out of the dormitory naked at night, no mater how cold it got. She had missed so many classes due to sickness that she almost got held back a year. By second year when I found her wandering the castle, the girls in her year had just gotten to the point where they would steal all her clothes the first night she was there and then toss her out of the tower the moment they got her alone. Most days she only had a threadbare robe to keep her covered and warm, while the nights would be spent shivering and crying in one hiding spot or the other, waiting for dawn when she would be allowed back into Ravenclaw. I know that they only allowed her even that because they did not want to get caught.

I wanted to tell Professor Flitwick about the situation, but Luna convinced me it would just make things worse. I wasn't sure I believed that, but Luna did and she made me promise not to tell anyone. When I almost refused to promise, Luna began crying and got up to go and I think it was right then I knew she would be dead by morning if I let her go, whether from freezing to death or suicide. Swallowing the anger I felt inside, I chased after Luna and promised I would not tell, though I left no doubt about the fact I felt she should tell someone. With no other choice, I wasn't going to let her freeze to death in the hallways, I took Luna back to Gryffindor tower with me where she curled up in bed next to me. I gave her one of Dudley's old shirts to wear, and held her in my arms as she cried herself to sleep. Since then, Luna always has the password to the Gryffindor dormitory and a standing invitation to share my bed if she needs it, I keep that shirt of Dudley's tucked away under the foot of my bed just for her. I was going to give her a bigger one when she started to outgrow it, but Luna swears it fits just fine even if it does barely cover anything anymore.

So, with that backstory out of the way, you'll understand why it is not uncommon for me to see Luna in that state fairly regularly. It was also my first real indication something was wrong with me, other than the fact that I seemed a little shorter than I remembered being previously. See, Luna has always been a rather mature girl for her age. She told me fairly early on in our friendship that she started puberty when she was nine and had developed breasts by the time she was ten, meaning when she reached Hogwarts Luna was already trying to hide a respectable and very perky B cup chest that by my fifth year had reached C cup. I will fully admit that I have spent many a night admiring Luna's chest, the rest of her body as well if we are really being honest, though we have never had intercourse or even dated. That being said, seeing Luna's chest back to its B cup size stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Will you stop with the resets, Harry!" demanded Luna as she strutted across the room, past me and directly over to Gabe without even a hint of modesty. In a flash, no pun intended, she had Mike's cigar out of his mouth and in the fireplace before he could blink. "That thing stinks, you know that, right?"

I think all three men in the room were stunned, I know I was, as a naked Luna dragged me over to a sofa and pushed me down on it. Standing in front of me with legs slightly spread, hands on hips, and a scowl on her face I couldn't be sure if I should be slightly turned on or scared out of my wits. I chose to go for a bit of both when she just continued to glare at me for a moment, then closed her eyes and went to her dreamy place. I don't know what it's really called, but sometimes Luna get's this look on her face like she's dreaming of all the good thing in life, like puppies and ice cream while cuddling with someone you like. When she gets that look on her face is when you know that Luna is figuring things out. I think I'm the only person that has seen her go to the dreamy place in her mind as she only seems to do it when she feels absolutely safe, such as when she's completely alone or when she's with me. Anyway, that's besides the point, the real point is while Luna is in that state of mind she can figure things out that no one else can. It's how she knows the things she does, even when there is no other possible way she could know it. I've asked her if she's a seer, but according to Luna it's not divination or anything like that. Who knows, but I look at it this way, if Hermione can't figure the answer out in the Library, Luna can in the dreamy place.

Opening her eyes back up after we all sat there silently watching her for a few moments, Luna smiled down at me before reaching down to pull open my robes, thankfully I was wearing something under them, before she crawled onto my lap and wrapped the robes closed around us again. One of my favorite things in the world is holding Luna, not in the hormone driven sense, but just holding her in my arms. Whether it be the sneak hugs we sometimes give each other during the day, or the cuddling we do at night when she sneaks into my room, holding Luna is just great. So sitting there in the common room, late at night, after so many odd things and events had happened to me recently, holding a naked Luna in my arms as she rested her head just under my chin seemed to bring a hint of normalcy to my night.

"You stupidly brave man," Luna said after several moments of working her arms around me and just holding on for dear life. "You have no idea what you did, do you?"

"No, I really don't," I said after a moment, resting my chin on the top of her head and holding on to her for dear life. "I'm starting to think it was really stupid and that's scaring me."

I could feel my chest getting wet, which meant Luna was crying, something I always hate to see. "Yes, Harry, it was really stupid, but in a way it was a good thing."

"Tell me?"

Mike and Gabe sat on the couch watching as Luna began to explain it to me. "You died, Harry. You walked through the Veil of Death and you died."

"So, I'm dead?" I asked, feeling my eyes start to tear up. "You died to, is that why you are here?"

Luna shook here head, hugging me even tighter. "No, you aren't dead. You got extremely lucky and drew the attention of someone with the power to undo what you did. The fact that you did what you did to save someone you loved, combined with your own destiny, added to how bloody noble you are earned you a second chance. I can't understand it all right now, probably because most of it has never happened now, but you've been sent back in time. I don't know how long..."

"Nearly eighteen months, dear," Gabe said with a smile as he looked at Luna. "Almost two full school years."

"Thank you," Luna said with a nod to the helpful man. "You've come back to the early morning hours of the 31st of October, 1994. It's the morning before the Champions are chosen for the Triwizard Tournament. I don't know the future, Harry, but I know you and your luck, so I'm guessing your name is going to come out of that Cup tonight. It's going to be bad, isn't it?"

I debated whether or not to lie to her, but I had promised never to do that to Luna, so I wasn't going to start now. "Yeah, it's going to get really bad, Luna."

"Yeah, well maybe not," Mike said gently, or at least gently to him. "That's why we're here. Me and Gabe are going to teach you a few things, well Gabe's gonna teach and I'm going to be watching your back. See, we're gonna correct a few little mistakes."

"Excuse me, but that will be allowed?" asked Luna and though I couldn't see it, I just knew from the tone of her voice that she was giving Mike one of her patented looks that makes you want to tell her the truth. "I may not know the future, but I do know who you are and who you both work for. Are you telling me that She is going to get off the fence this time and do something to help?"

"Who do they work for?" I asked, whispering the question in Luna's ear and causing her to shiver.

"Stop that," she whispered back, still shivering a little. "I can't tell you, Harry. Not that I don't want to, but that I really physically can't."

Gabe looked a bit sheepish as he held up a hand to get our attention. "Don't blame Luna, Harry. That's the Boss' doing. She has a policy of noninterference and because of that she feels that until you figure out who she is, no one can reveal it to you. So, you have to figure out who we are and who she is before anyone can confirm or deny it."

"Meanwhile, like the lass was saying, you got sent back to fix things," continued Mike. "Our job is to make sure you do it the best possible way."

"And your Boss has this much power?" I finally asked, trying to think of all the witches I had ever heard of that might be powerful enough for this, but coming up blank.

"Oh, you could say that, Harry," Mike said with a smirk. "For now, all you need to do is take the lass to bed and get some rest. In the morning Gabe and I are going to make a few arrangements that will help you out a bit and get this little predicament off to a good start."

"Can you get me into a new house?" asked Luna, sounding hopeful.

Gabe and Mike looked at each other for a moment and I swear they both glanced at the roof for a moment before Gabe answered. "Which house, child of the moon?"

"Harry's," she replied calmly. "Where he goes, I want to be there. Always."

Now that wasn't exactly the answer I expected, but hey, it was Luna and she always surprises me. "You sure about that, Luna. It's not going to be fun for me here in Gryffindor after my name comes out of that Cup tonight."

Pulling away from me enough so that she could look me straight in the eyes, smiling as she spoke. "I said what I meant, Harry, I will always be there with you."

Now you might think that with Luna sharing my bead most nights and the fact that we've explored each other's bodies rather extensively that we've kissed a lot. You would be wrong. Luna has kissed me countless times on the cheek and I've done the same, or kissed her forehead, but the number of times we've kissed on the lips can be counted on one hand. It's not that I couldn't see myself dating Luna, cause I could, but she had always told me that the time wasn't right. Rather ironic that now I was back in time she would lean up and kiss me so fiercely that I was wondering if maybe now was the right time for us.

"So be it," whispered Gabe with a smile. "You do realize that there will be more than one, don't you?"

Pulling back from the kiss, which had me feeling a little buzzed and very excited, Luna looked over at Gabe and smiled. "There will be three. The course has changed and that will trigger more changes. Three, no more and no less, for three is a powerful number."

"Oh, I like her," Mike said with a rather evil smile. "She's got spunk."

"Not yet, but give it a few years," Luna whispered, looking back up at me with a rather devious grin. "Now, take me to bed, Harry."

"Yes, ma'am," I said with a smile as I managed to get to my feet with Luna still in my arms.

"Mike and I will be around, Harry," Gabe said from the couch. "You won't see us until after the announcement tonight, but when you do, don't act surprised no matter what you hear. Keep this to yourself for now, we'll tell you when it's safe to talk about it."

I nodded as Luna displayed just how limber she could be by never once letting go of me with her arms, yet managing to wrap her legs around my waist. Then she ducked her head inside my robes and grabbed my wand, the wooden one, casting a spell that instantly hid the fact someone else was inside my robes with me. I looked down and could see my feet, even though I could currently feel Luna wrapped around my body with her head resting on my shoulder. It was damned impressive, as was the weight reducing charm she cast next. I swore to remember both for the years to come because I could see many possible uses for those two spells in later years. Oh yes indeed, they were going to be some of my favorites.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I looked over at the two men that said there were going to help me and asked the one question I had wanted to ask all night long. "Can I trust you two?"

"With your life, Harry," replied Gabe, bowing to me.

"We won't let you down, kid," Mike added.

I just nodded again and carried Luna up to my bed. I opened the door as silently as I could and looked around noticing that everyone else was sound asleep. In the dark I couldn't see the guys, but I knew that come morning they were going to be younger. It didn't matter to me right then and there, mainly because everything else was going on. Luna was doing a wonderful job of distracting me just by being her, but I could feel the fear still there on the edges. I climbed into my bed, pulling the curtains close and sealing them before I pulled my robes off to free Luna. She was already asleep, so I just pulled back the covers and laid her down as best I could before I shimmied out of my clothes and joined her. The moment the covers were pulled up, she was wrapped around me again, but that was fine as I needed the contact right then to keep the fears away. Yeah, I may have been watching over and protecting Luna all this time, but she's the one that keeps the nightmares away for me, so it balances out in the end. As sleep claimed me I kissed Luna's forehead and smiled knowing she was going to be there with me through it all.

AN: Welcome to a new story. Currently it is not Beta'd, so if you find an error then feel free to let me know.

This story came about through several factors. The first was writing Lost Summer and just really liking it. The second was running into someone I hadn't seen since I was a kid and realizing I should have married her the moment I was old enough. The final factor was sitting in a coffee shop and talking with her about how if I could go back and do it all over again, would I?

My answer was yes.

That just got me thinking and this story is the result of some of those thoughts since I can't go back, but Harry can. So, from his point of view we have a story about changing things for the better, or at least trying to. Harry does not know about Horcruxes or the contents of the prophecy. He's just mentally a little older, even if he's physically younger. That in mind, let's see where this goes.

This story is actually already complete, though I am currently working on polishing it and 4 other stories at once. I will post updates when I post them and depending on the reviews I will either finish posting or cancel it and move on to other projects. Personally I like the story, so I'm good with it as it is.

Hope you enjoy,

Chris :)

Side note... I get sick of hearing about Canon versus Alternate Universe. Honestly, unless you are JKR, anything we write here is AU, so drop it already.