The Regrets of the Past

Chapter 1: The Next Chapter of Life
Declaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. If I owned it I would have done things differently but hey that’s what fan fiction is for right. Also, I don't make any money from this in any way.
Authors note: I did not like the open-ended and unsatisfying epilogue to Deathly Hallows, so I decided to give myself and other HP fans some proper closure. This story includes yaoi and is in respect to Harry’s thirty-six year old self who knows the sacrifices made by Severus Snape.
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Harry woke to the feel of tears running down his cheeks; he shuddered, and curled in on himself. Once again, the guilt he felt plagued his dreams, his scar had not troubled him in over nineteen years, but other more painful scars refused to heal. The scars of his heart were many and deep, he still felt the cold of death in the night, still felt the blood on his hands. It was his fault he knew that fact well. If it hadn’t been for his weakness and his own selfish stupidity he could have killed Voldomort earlier, could have spared so many lives. The image of Fred lying dead, the stone cold body of Hedwig her eyes still open and unblinking before she was lost to the night, Tonks who had so recently become a mother lying forever still, Remus lying next to her his feelings of shame left unresolved, Dobby the one who had so little to gain but who risked everything for him, and Severus Snape a man who hated him so much but who died for him regardless. How could he smile and feel happy when all these wonderful people had died because of him.
He still put on a happy face in front of others of course, but alone in the bed Ginny would no longer share with him he could not hold back the sorrow and the pain. Every time he looked in his wife’s eyes, he could see the spark of blame that lingered there. In Mrs. Weasley’s he could see her struggle to cover up her hatred with the love she had shown him before the war, but he knew she only did it out of some sense of obligation to him because he had no living relative who would have taken him. Now, after all these years things had become very strained, none of the Weasley’s could ever quite meet his gaze, George flat out refused to be in a room with him and Ron’s friendly smile never quite reached his eyes.
The last thing Voldemort had ever passed to him had been leginimacy and with it, he could see the thoughts behind the tight smiles of his in-laws. See the resentment of all the others whose lives he had ruined. Teddy too always felt a deep sadness for the parents he’d never known and as a young man and werewolf was much in need of the father he’d lost to the war.
Harry had never told his son’s about his past or the friends he had seen die and none of the Weasleys had ever attempted to bring it up. He’d never said a word and it was because he was ashamed and more than a little scared. He knew he could never bear to see the hatred he saw in so many others reflected in his children.
If he could do only one more thing in this life, it would be to bring back those who had died. Harry rose from his bed with still tear clouded eyes and moved to the ornate box in which he kept his possessions from the war, he had been afraid to look at its contents for so many years, but now his pain outweighed the fear. He lifted open the lid and stared at the pensive, still swirling with memories, the shattered mirror Sirius had given him, and the broken shell of the snitch laid next to the resurrection stone. He reached out a hand and touched the stone, he knew he could never use it, despite his pain; he would not drag the dead back to life. It would be cruel and selfish.
He placed his fingers on the stone and whispered, “I will never use the power you hold, but I will always feel the pain of my mistakes. My heart was torn open when they died and I still remember those words, “I open at the close.”
As he said these words, there was a brilliant flash of light and a voice began to speak, from deep within the stone.
“Selfless once and selfless still. A child of fate and destiny’s will. The gifts you will not take with mortal hand. The spirits lost to a darkened land. The pain of a true heart and the sorrow of the living. Now given a gift by fate equally giving. Your fate was fulfilled. Now returned to you those that were killed. Ask them once and hear their say. If they will not go than let them stay. Three hallows for the hand of only a willing three. Give them their life with the power you see.” The stones hallow voice echoed around him as he sat stunned.
Then pale ghosts appeared before him, His mother, his father, Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Fred. Then Dumbledore, Dobby, and Snape appeared, all of their faces held smiles.
“You have done another selfless thing Harry; you give the gift of life to those who were not yet ready to depart. Remember though that if you do this, things will irrevocably change, you will be a child again at the end of the war, these years will never have passed,” Dumbledore said warningly.
“But who will return,” Harry asked looking at all their shimmering faces.
“We will stay Harry. You have lived without us for many years and we are not meant for that world, not now,” Harry’s father and mother said stepping back.
“I too will stay, my life ended long before my death, it is better this way,” Dumbledore too stepped back with a small smile.
“As will I Harry, you don’t need me now and it would change too much,” Sirius said stepping back, a sad smile on his face.
Harry wanted to argue, but he knew he could not, the choice was theirs ultimately and he could do nothing to change that.
Fred stepped forward, “I’d like to come back Harry, I’ve seen how George is and he needs me.”
Harry nodded, “Come back Fred,” he said softly, then Fred disappeared in a flash of light.
“I will come back as well,” Lupin, said stepping toward him. “Teddy needs me, I can’t leave him to suffer alone.”
Harry nodded again and said the needed words for Lupin who too disappeared in a flash.
“I will stay,” Tonks said sadly. “As much as I wish to see my son, he needs his father more and it would change to much if I go back,” she then stepped back.
“I will stay too Harry Potter, I can be of no more help to you sir,” Dobby stepped back with the others.
Harry then turned his eyes to Snape, “And you Severus, what will you choose?”
“I will return Potter, but do not change the circumstances of my death, they are far too integral. I will return but in a time after the defeat of the dark lord.” Snape said a scowl on his face.
'As much as I hate it, the boy is the only one who can defeat my former master, I would only interfere' Snape thought grudgingly to himself.
“Then Severus, return after Riddle’s demise.”
At these words, Snape disappeared, as did the others after quiet goodbyes and words of encouragement. Then a light brighter than those before it burst forth and Harry was thrown into the past and oblivion.
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I know this chapter is short but I wanted to put the actual changes to the past in the next few chapters