Today was my second first day of Hogwarts ever. Breakfast in the morning had been just as chaotic as the first time I'd ever seen it. With all of the older students catching up from their vacations over the summer holiday, it was easy to see how a first year would be so nervous in such a space, but now it only felt like home. It was one of the few things I could clearly remember that was a happy memory when I closed my eyes. I could pretend I was back with Ron and Hermione, planning out our weekend, talking about home work, arguing over who got the last bacon...

And now I could open my eyes and see them in front of me, all too young and all too naive and all too nervous. They were chatting anxiously as I walked up to them, but smiled up at me all the same. As much as I loved them and cherished the sight before me, I wanted my Ron and Hermione back. The kids in front of me were so sweet, but they hadn't been through everything with me yet. They didn't know our adventures, how much we loved each other, how much everything sucked, and how much everything would very much be okay, one day, hopefully...maybe. I wanted to see Ron's tired eyes. I wanted to hold Hermione's shaking nervous hands. I wanted my friends back. The ones who I knew always had my back. They were perfect, and the children in front of me only might grow into them. Who knows how much I had already changed in this timeline. Who knows if anything will go the same with what I plan on doing. Will we even be friends at the end of this?

I don't know.

But...

I would rather see them happy and safe. Even if we don't get as close as I know we can be, I would rather see them happy.

"Harry?"

I shook my head and looked up to meet the eyes of a concerned Ron.

"You alright? You going to finish your bacon?"

Even in this timeline, even with what I had already changed, Ron still cared about me from the start, in his own little ways.

I pushed my plate towards him, mumbling about being nervous and offering him the rest. I wasn't nervous for classes, like all the other's around me though, I had other things on my mind. The plan that I had laid out for myself to accomplish my first year would need to be started today. There were a few things I needed desperately: an ally and a map. Both would take a while to complete, as I knew not many I needed would be inclined to trust an eleven year old. I knew from my experiences some I could not trust until later, until I had more answers myself...I would befriend Dumbledore for now but I would not move his piece on my board until I needed him. I wasn't ready to sacrifice him so soon this time around. Perhaps I could solve it all before he could even get involved...was I going to far?

I need an ally.

For that I need trust. For that I need someone who knows I am not lying.

McGonagall came by and passed out our schedules. First was charms. Charms was easy for me now. I had to learn so much while we were on the run. I would have to remember the incantations for a few, I've done so many on my own. Then we had history of Magic, followed by what I had been looking forward to the most: Potions.

"Don't tell me we have Potions with Slytherin!" Ron groaned. "That Malfoy is going to be rude the whole time. It's all my father talks about his father doing."

Hermione nodded her head briefly before I spoke up.

"I dunno, it might not be all bad. We can just ignore him," I argued. "He just wants a reaction. It's not like any one who matters will listen to him. He's just a first year like us."

Hermione sighed. "Harry's probably right. I've seen it before. People bully others when they just want to feel cooler than them."

Ron half-heartedly shrugged in agreement and went back to eating my bacon. I figured if I couldn't get Draco to be nice to us this time around, I could at least make him bored of the whole "cool guy" act until he matured and wasn't a bully blindly following his father. And if he decided to be nice later, well, the door was open for them all to decide.

After breakfast, our group of Gryffindors nervously mingled with the Ravenclaws in the Charms classroom. The students in the room around me were buzzing with excitment. I couldn't bring myself to pretend, I was too nervous about my plans for later. Perhaps this made me blend in even more than I would have if I were calm; no one spared me a second glance, to worried about standing out on their own on the first day to care what I was up to. Sometimes, it was more simple being a child.

Class went on and Professor Flitwick got us right into practicing Levitation. Very few around me managed to get it in the air in the first couple of tries, many feathers twitching and moving slightly along the table . I played with the one in front of Ron and I at our desks and mimicked the average movement everyone else was producing until Hermione managed to get hers to float a good foot above the desks. After a few more hesitations on my end, I became the second one in class to get my feather to leviatate, having to console and coach Ron for the rest of class, cheering loudly when he managed to get tenth.

History of Magic brought with it a lecture right off the bat about the Earliest forms of magic. I remembered the first time I had heard this lecture. I had thought it was a cool lecture, but I had only recently come to terms with the fact that magic had existed at all and I was finally in a place where I felt valued and accepted, I wasn't able to focus. Now through, every word from Professor Binns pulled me in deeper. To understand the origins of the magic that saved my life and allowed me to fight for my friends was something deeply important to me now.

May be I understood the origins of magic I could use it to help me get back home. I could get back to my friends and my family, back to my safe bed in my safe home and I wouldn't have to think about going through any of these horrors again and even if I was stronger now and knew everything I needed to in order to fix everything and win I could get back and be in the comfort of knowing...

No. Maybe I could go back, but not until after I made sure this Ron and this Hermione, and this Ginny and this family, were safe and happy first. I would study as hard as I needed to, I would get back to my Ron and my Hermione eventually. I would have them check in on me with their constantly worried expressions and know how much I was loved and cared for in such a deep and raw way...

I could get to them later. For now...

"I couldn't keep any of the dates straight, could you?" Ron asked as we walked out of the door an hour later. He was busy stuffing his notes deep into his bag. Hermione poked her head over his shoulder.

"I had already read the section in the book on this lecture, and he skipped the whole part about Ancient Wands having runes carved into them! Do you think he will cover it in the next class?" Hermione complained.

"It was a rather interesting lecture, but my notes were a little all over the place, too" I added. Each of them smiled, having been agreed with, as we walked down the stairs and made our way slowly to the dungeons. I t would be easy this time around, I figured, to befriend Ron and Hermione. If they were the same, I already knew what I needed to do in order to be the best friend I could be to them. I did feel weird knowing all of their secrets I had learned over the years. Would this Ron and this Hermione also want me knowing all of those things? It had taken years of trust for some of those conversations to happen. Would we be able to be vulnerable with each other in this timeline like we had from what I remembered?

The dungeons were just as damp as I remembered, but nowhere near as scary as I had first thought them to be. It was simply normal now for Potions to be down here. Nothing had felt more natural. But even this thought could not calm me. This was the class I had been looking forward to the most. This was all part of step one.

As the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins filed into the rows of desks, I caught Draco's eyes and gave him a small nod. After stiffening his shoulders and flattering in his steps for a few brief moments, he sipped his chin ever so slightly. I would get him to be cordial yet.

As Professor Snape swooped into the classroom, I struggled to breathe. You would think that I would finally be used to seeing everyone alive and well around me, I had even seen him at the table last night and just this morning even, but I couldn't help but ball my hands into fists to keep myself calm. After his confession, I had finally understood how deeply misunderstood all of his actions had been. He had never learned to love properly, having had an obsession and deep regret about his relationship with my mother, but I knew he always tried to do what he thought was right. He was often misguided, and he was hurt many times, but in his own cunning way, no matter the consequence, try to make things right. For that he had my deepest respect.

His eyes found mine for a second time that day. During breakfast I had purposefully caught him staring at me, no likely shocked to see the ghost of the eyes of his late and tragic best friend, and pushed an image of his young self at the front of my mind. He wasn't' searching for anything in my eyes then, but maybe now he would...maybe now I could show him.

This time however, they widened slightly in surprise and then, if it were even possible, his scowl deepened, aging his features another ten years - a stark contrast to the teenager I had just shown him. With a sweep of his robes he was at the front of the classroom, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Wands away," he sneered. "Parchment out."

His speech began exactly as it had all those years ago. it was intimidating, even now as I had matured and learn was real fear was. I used to be so suspect Snape i had never given him a chance to be the Wizard he could have been before. I would not let him down again. If only he would...

"Potter," he barked, "Day one and already not paying attention? I hear you are a bit of a celebrity. Do not let that get to your head."

A gaggle of young Slytherins giggled to my right.

"Tell me," he continued, "what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

A few of the students giggled again and I could feel Hermione's hand as it shot into the air behind me. How was I supposed to know the answer unless I had already known about potions? We weren't;t to learn about until the next year.

"You would get a Draught of Living Death," I replied evenly. "Sir."

Snape's eyes bore into mine. He was reading me, searching for something. I pulled forward a memory of him standing over me as I brewed it in second year with Hermione. Once again his eyes widened. Once again, his scowl got deeper.

"I expect you to take notes in my class. I won't be repeating anything a second time."

Snape turned to the board and began to write and I diligently followed into the rhythm to the rest of the first years desperately trying to copy down both everything Snape was writing on the board and explaining. When he was finally finished, he explained the assignment we were to hand in first thing on Friday. Our first bit of real homework of our Hogwarts career. I had already finished mine this morning. Six inches on the properties of lemon grass was a lot easier than it had been all those years ago. As lunch approached and the hour grew later, Snape passed by my desk as I pretended to do the cursory research for our assignment.

"See me after class."

I nodded my head. "Sir."

Beside me Hermione looked confused and shared a glance with Ron. I waved them off with a. Smaller, whispering that I would meet them in the Great Hall. When we were finally released, I gathered my books and headed to the front of the room.