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The footsteps grew closer and closer. He didn't know what to do but walk quicker. He didn't dare look behind him, for fear of who was following him. He was in a dark alley with tall buildings surrounding him. It was night and there was no light except the light that reflected off the moon.

He stopped. The footsteps stopped. He started to walk again and at that very moment, he heard the footsteps start again. From what he could hear, they were a man's footsteps. They were heavy, strong footsteps. He only feared knowing who it would be. He decided to turn around, just for an instant.

Harry turned around, drawing his wand from his pocket. He didn't see anyone there. He whirled around, saying "Lumos." Finally he shed some light on the situation, but still he saw no one.

He started to walk forward again, trying to leave the alley. He wanted to get out into the streets where there were muggle street lamps. As he passed a garbage can, someone jumped out from behind him. The stranger then jumped on top of Harry and threw him to the ground.

Harry and the stranger wrestled in silence. Harry tried to push him off, while the stranger tried to pin Harry to the ground. 'Why didn't he instantly kill me?' Harry thought as he tried hard to push the stranger off him.

For a moment, the moonlight shone in the stranger's face. Harry thought he saw his old friend, Ron. Ron and Harry used to be friends when they attended school at Hogwarts. However, this wasn't a comforting thought for Harry. Ron turned to the dark side and joined the death eaters, Voldemort's followers, in their seventh year. Harry didn't know what persuaded him, but he suspected that Ron's breakup with Hermione had led to his descent.

Finally, Harry managed to push off the man who was possibly Ron Weasley. He took his chance and ran toward the road. The muggle street lamps blinded him at first, but he kept on running. Harry nearly ran into a car, but he regained his sight right before he did. He ducked into another alley and ran down it. It was a dead end.

Harry hid behind a garbage can, just like the stranger had done. He watched the entrance of the alley and saw that the stranger ran by, not even thinking of going down the alley where Harry was. Harry noticed for an instant that the stranger had red hair. 'It is Ron,' he concluded.

Harry fell to the ground, finally breathing. He had forgotten to do so for the past few minutes. At least he didn't breathe consciously. He sat against the wall of one of the two buildings that made up the alley.

When Harry regained his breath, he looked around the alley. Everything was dark except for a glint of gold at the end of they alley. Harry started to stand up slowly. He struggled, his legs still shaking from the attack. When he finally found his balance, he walked towards the only thing around him that had colour. He felt drawn to the piece of gold. It reminded him of a golden snitch. The golden snitch was a ball that was used in Quidditch. Harry used to play Quidditch with Ron at Hogwarts. Now, though, he hadn't thought of Quidditch for three years.

When Harry finally approached the golden object, he bent down to it and merely looked at it. He didn't dare pick it up. It was too precious. When he finally realized what it was, it reminded him of Hermione. Hermione had used it in her third year. Well, he thought it was her third year. It seemed so long ago to remember properly. It was a time-turner. He wondered if it was the very time-turner that she had used. 'But what would be the odds of that?' he thought. 'No, they were all destroyed in the Ministry,' he concluded.

He knew that a time-turner could only turn back one hour each time it was turned. It couldn't possibly turn back years and years of mistakes. Harry wished that he could go back to where it all began. He didn't know exactly where that was, but he wanted to go there.

Harry put out his hand and touched the edge of the golden time-turner. In an instant, his world was spinning, and he was being transported to a far away land.