Harry's gaze kept flicking to a cupboard, and Sirius noticed.

"Now, what did that cupboard ever do to you?" Sirius asked him.

Harry debated his options. "I need to steal something." He decided to say.

Sirius' eyebrows rose. "About to go on trial in front of the entire Wizengamot, and you want to steal something?"

"Well, here's the thing. Security isn't the problem, I know exactly where it is. Getting to it is easy." Harry said.

"Then what is the problem?" Sirius asked, a sparkle in his eyes.

"Kreacher won't want to give it up." Harry said. "He'll try to take it back."

"Kreacher?" Sirius seemed taken aback.

"Yeah."

"What do you want to take from Kreacher?" Sirius seemed horribly confused.

"An evil locket."

"An evil locket."

"Yep."

"Are you serious?"

"No, you're Sirius."

Sirius blinked. And then exploded into laughter. Harry couldn't help but join him.

"What did I miss?" Remus asked, having just returned.

"Harry did the 'you're serious, no I'm Sirius' joke!" Sirius proclaimed happily.

Remus smiled too. "Well done, Harry, you've beaten him at his own game."

"Hey now, I wouldn't say he's bested me-"

Remus shook his head, and pat his friend on the shoulder before sitting down.

"So," Sirius said to Harry when he'd caught his breath. "What do you want me to do?"

Harry worried at his lip. "Actually," He realized, "I think he would let me take it. I just need you to keep him from trying to attack me first."

"What's this about?" Remus asked.

"Kreacher has something I need." Harry said.

"Why do you need this evil locket?" Sirius asked. 

Harry froze for a moment. "Let's just talk to Kreacher."

"Harry..." Remus trailed off. 

"Just... Trust me for a bit." Harry said.

"Kreacher!" Sirius called out, not angrily.

The house elf appeared in the room. "Yes?" He asked in his gravelly tone.

Harry stood up from the bench, and knelt down in front of Kreacher, to be closer to the house elf's height. Harry didn't want to tower over him. "Kreacher, I need Regulus' locket."

Immediately, Kreacher's posture went to defensive and angry, his face morphing from one of mild disgust to pure hatred. Sirius' eyes shot wide open at his brother's name.

"How dare you-" Kreacher began.

"I want to fulfill his last wish." Harry interrupted, looking the house elf in the eyes.

Kreacher went still. "How would you know Master Regulus' last wish?"

"That doesn't matter." Harry said. "What does is that I know how to, and I can. Destroy it, I mean."

"How would Mister Potter know this?" Kreacher narrowed his eyes.

"Harry. What about Regulus?" Sirius asked.

Harry looked up at Sirius. "Regulus was a death eater. But he didn't die one."

"He didn't? I mean, I know he tried to leave..." 

"He died to steal something very important to Voldemort. The locket." Harry said. "The locket has very dark magic. Very few things can destroy it."

"How do you know this?" Sirius whispered.

Harry looked between Sirius and Remus. "If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else. I mean that you have to pretend I didn't tell you anything."

"You can destroy Master Regulus' locket?" Kreacher interrupted.

"I can, and I will." Harry said to him. "I will destroy it whether you give it to me willingly or if I have to take it from you."

Kreacher looked into Harry's eyes, and believed him. The house elf padded over to his cupboard, and retrieved the locket. He held it gingerly in his hands as he walked back to Harry. "Nothing Kreacher tried could destroy it."

"You just didn't have the right tool." Harry told him. "But you've kept it safe this whole time."

"You will have the right tool?" Kreacher asked.

"I will." Harry told him. Kreacher held the locket out to him, and Harry held his hands out for the house elf to set the locket in. 

When the locket made contact with his skin, Harry hissed through his teeth. It was still a horcrux. "Thank you, Kreacher. I won't fail you."

Kreacher gave a nod. "Thank you, Mister Potter." Then, before Harry could react, he padded out of the room.

~~~

Sirius and Remus stared at Harry.

Harry slipped the locket on, and tucked it under his shirt. He'd have to find a better hiding place for it later.  "Can we go to a more private room?"

Sirius led them into another room, and Remus closed the door behind them. 

"Privacy charms?" Harry asked him.

Remus nodded, and cast a few. When he was done, he looked at Harry expectantly.

"Last chance to walk away." Harry said. "If you stay, you can't tell anyone. Not even the Order, not even Dumbledore. I'm not even telling Ron and Hermione."

"Are you sure, Harry?" Remus asked.

"It's not safe for them to know. And whoever knows is going to have to lie, or at least not tell the truth." Harry said. 

"You're my godson, Harry. I want to know." Sirius said.

"I care about you too. The both of you." Remus said.

"I've accidentally traveled back in time." Harry said.

"You've what?" Remus asked. "Like with the time turner?"

"No. I'm in my fifteen year old body, and this... This happened almost four years ago."

"Four years?" Sirius' eyes went wide.

"Yeah. I'm in my eighth year at Hogwarts."

"Eighth?" 

"Yeah. What with death eaters running the school the year before, it was decided that repeating the year was the best idea." Harry said. "Besides, I've been taking the time to study."

"Study? What would you study for?" Sirius asked.

"Fifth year Harry thought he wanted to be an Auror." Harry said.

"And now?" Remus asked.

"I was supposed to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next year." Harry said.

"Really?" Sirius asked. "A teacher?"

"Yeah."

"Brilliant." Sirius said. "Back to the main point: Time travel?"

"I don't know how it happened. I was pretty ill for a few days before, and then I went to bed in the dormitory and woke up here, sick." Harry said. 

"How do we send you back?" Sirius asked.

"No!" Harry blurted.

"Why not?"

"I can do it better this time!" Harry said. "I can... I can end it. Without losing... Without so many people dying."

"This is a war, Harry. We're going to lose some people. It can't be helped." Sirius said gently.

"I'm going to change it." Harry said. "I just got you back. I can't lose you again."

"Again?" Remus asked.

"Again, Harry?" Sirius asked.

Harry took a shaky breath. Then he looked Sirius in the eye. "Swear to me. Swear to me that no matter how bored you get, no matter what, you will not leave this house." Harry demanded. "Swear to me that you will not leave this house."

"Harry, I can't promise something like that-"

Harry punched the wall. His knuckles stung. Damn, the locket was getting to him already.

"Harry!" Remus exclaimed, taking Harry's hand to examine it.

"Sirius, I will not watch you die again." Harry told his godfather, his voice cracking. "I won't let it happen. We watched you die, and I can't... I can't go through that again."

"You... Watched me die?" Sirius asked.

"Remus had to hold me back." Bellatrix's voice echoed through his mind. 'I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!'

"How did it happen?" Sirius asked.

"Voldemort tricked us." Harry said. "I went to the Ministry to save you. You went to the Ministry to save me."

"Then we won't let him trick us." Sirius said.

"No!" Harry said. "No extra risks. None."

"Harry, there's some things we can't avoid."

"And this is something we can!" Harry insisted. "I can't be alone again at fifteen. I can't do that again."

They stared at each other for a long moment, without speaking.

"I won't tell you any more." Harry said. "But please. I need you to listen to me when I do tell you something."

"Okay." Remus said.

"Okay." Sirius said, even softer than Remus.

"I love you. Both of you." Harry said.

Sirius wrapped Harry in a hug. Remus joined a moment later.

"We love you too." Remus said.

"What can we do to help?" Sirius asked.

"For now, stay safe." Harry said. "I don't know what the Order is doing right now. They don't let me in for a long time."

"You want us to stay with the Order?" Remus asked.

"Yeah." Harry said. "You have to pretend you don't know about me. You have to pretend everything is normal."

~~~

It felt entirely like deja vu the whole trip to the ministry, and through it. If he'd had any doubts about his mishap through time, they were gone now.

"Remember, during the hearing, speak only when you're spoken to." Arthur said to Harry. "Keep calm. You've done nothing wrong. As the muggles say, 'Truth will out!' Yes?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm not allowed in, I'm afraid." Arthur said. "Good luck, Harry."

The room was as he remembered. Fudge, and Percy Weasley next to him. Umbridge to his left, and Harry had the distinct thought that the pink collar wasn't exactly part of the uniform. Madam Bones to his right, looking just as respectable as professor McGonagall. 

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August, into offences committed by Harry James Potter, residence at number four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Sulley. Interrogators Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of-"

"Witness for the defense!" Dumbledore's voice sounded through the room as he swept into it, exactly as Harry remembered. And the same as before, he didn't spare a glance at Harry.

"Albus Percival Wulfric," Dumbledore's voice went softer at the next middle name, but his voice didn't command any less attention. "Brian, Dumbledore." 

"You... You got our message that the time and place of the hearing had been changed, did you?" Fudge asked, seeming slightly uneasy.

"I must have missed it, but by a happy mistake I arrived at the ministry three hours early." Dumbledore said. "Charges?"

"The charges against the accused are as follows:" Fudge said, slipping on his spectacles. "That he did knowingly, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, produce a patronus charm in the presence of a muggle. Do you deny producing said patronus?"

Harry set his nerves, and let his voice sound out calmly and clearly. "I cast the patronus charm in front of my muggle cousin, whom I have been living with since I was a year old, who already knew I was a wizard, and has known for the past five years. I cast the charm to defend us both from the two dementors." 

Whispers sounded through the Wizengamot. "Dementors? In Little Whinging?" Madam Bones asked.

"That's quite clever," Fudge said. "Muggles can't see dementors, can they, boy? Highly convenient."

"I'm not lying." Harry said firmly. "And Dudley already knew that I am a wizard-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been a very well rehearsed story," Fudge said, and Madam Bones looked at him in a way that would have had any Hogwarts student shut their mouth immediately. "But since you can produce no witnesses of the event-"

"Pardon me, Minister. But as it happens, we can." Dumbledore said.

Mrs. Figg was brought out, and took Harry's place in the chair. She also, looked just as he remembered. A bit shy, a bit awkward, but still kind.

"Please describe the attack." Madam Bones inquired. "What did they look like?"

"Well, one of them was very large, and the other rather skinny." Mrs. Figg said.

"Not the boys, the dementors." Fudge said.

"Oh, right, right. Well, um... Big. Cloaked... Then everything went cold. As though all the happiness had gone from the world."

"Now look here," Fudge said. "Dementors don't just wander into a muggle suburb and happen upon a wizard. The odds are astronomical."

"I don't think anyone would believe that the dementors were there by coincidence, Minister." Dumbledore said.

"Hem hem." Umbridge voiced from the other side of the chamber. Harry had forgotten how much that sound set off his nerves. It made him want to just throw a stunning spell at her and be done with it all. She then continued in her ear-grating pitch. "I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor. Dementors are, after all, under control of the Ministry of Magic. It's so silly of me, but it sounded for a moment, as though you were suggesting that the ministry had ordered the attack on this boy."

"That would be disturbing indeed, Madam Undersecretary. Which is why I'm sure the Ministry will be mounting a full scale inquiry as to why the two dementors were so very far from Azkaban, and why they mounted an attack without authorization." Dumbledore said, and then stepped closer to Fudge. "Of course, there is someone who might be behind the attack. Cornelius, I implore you to see reason. The evidence that the dark lord has returned is incontrovertible."

"He... Is... Not... Back!" Fudge hissed. Harry could picture the disappointment on Dumbledore's face.

"In the matter of Harry Potter," Dumbledore said the Wizengamot, "The law clearly states that magic may be used before muggles in life threatening situations."

"Laws can be changed if necessary, Dumbledore." Fudge said.

"Clearly it has become practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic." Dumbledore said. Harry could clearly see the discomfort that swept through the chamber. Dumbledore gave what Harry could assume to be the Dumbledore equivalent of a shrug, before setting his hands on his hips.

"Those in favor of conviction." Madam Bones announced. Fudge was the first to raise his hand, followed by a few others. Umbridge was quite pleased to raise hers.

"Those in favor of clearing the accused of all charges." Madam Bones said. Many hands were raised without hesitation then. Madam Bones herself raised her hand punctually.

Fudge looked around the room before raising his gavel. "Cleared of all charges."

Dumbledore swept from the chamber as though Harry had ceased to exist. This time, Harry didn't call out to him.

A/N

I hope you're liking this so far... Technically it's not Friday for me yet, but it's Friday somewhere.
Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed, and comment! I love reading comments.