Harry Potter and the Second Chance

Chapter One - King's Cross Station

Harry was in King's Cross station, or some variation of it. He thought he recognized it, but he wasn't sure from where.

"Harry Potter. By George, I wasn't expecting you any time soon."

Harry looked around, utterly confused.

"Pardon me, but... where am I?"

"Why, you're in the gateway! Surely you remember it?"

Harry would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Professor Dumbledore? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is, Harry. You remember the last time we met here?"

"Of course I do. It was fourty years ago."

"And do you remember the circumstances under which we met?"

"I was dead." A sudden fear pricked his mind. "Professor, am I dead?"

Dumbledore walked out from around a column.

"Sadly, yes, Harry. And this time, you cannot go back."

Tears welled up in Harry's eyes.

"But what about Ginny? And James, and Albus, and Lily? I have to go back, Professor."

"Harry, we are equals now. You may call me Albus."

"But, pro... Albus, How have I died?"

"You passed in you're sleep. You felt no pain, and there was nothing wrong with you. It was simply your time to go."

"Albus, I can't leave my family!"

Harry sat down in a row of seats, feeling as if he were about to collapse.

"I know that it is hard, Harry. It was for me. But you must learn to let it go." Dumbledore sat beside him.

Harry thought about the last time he was here. There had been a squirming figure beneath a row of seats. He turned slightly and saw that it was gone. His breaths were rushed and shallow. He thought he would die if he hadn't already.

"Now Harry, please tell me, what in your life do you regret?"

He thought long and hard about Dumbledore's question.

"I regret letting Cedric die. I should have done something."

"Is there anything else? Take your time, my boy."

"I wish I wouldn't have been the chosen one."

"Alas, sometimes there are things in our lives that we ourselves cannot change, things that not even fate could change."

"I regret letting you and Snape die. I know it had to be done, but I wish I could have prevented it. And I wish I had found the Horcruxes faster."

"Is there anything else?"

"It's small, but I wish I had been kinder to my friends. During our last year, when we were hunting Horcruxes, I was awful to them. We're great friends now, even more so than before, but I still regret it. Even after all these years."

"In our lives, there are many things that we will regret. Some that are small, some that are big. There are some that we do not know until we get a chance to redo."

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, do you believe in soulmates?"

"What? Yeah, I do." Harry's mind drifted to his wife, who was asleep in a bed next to his dead body. He let out an involuntary shiver.

"Soulmates are a powerful magic that few know. Every person has multiple soulmates. There is always a best match for someone, the one who truly has the other half of your heart. Then, there's a secondary match, and so on. Often times, we don't really know our true soulmates. Some people don't even meet theirs. You were very lucky, Harry. You spent your life with your secondary match, which is closer than most people get to their true match."