Lost in the Time of the Marauders

Sixteen-year-old Hermione Granger dashed through the hallways of Hogwarts at top speed. She was almost late for Potions, and she refused to let Professor Snape take more points from Gryffindor on her account. Although she was using the Time Turner again, Hermione often found her day packed way too full, which caused her to be on the verge of being late for almost all of her classes. Points had been taken from Gryffindor, detentions had even been handed out to Hermione, and Hermione was on the breaking point. Between running Prefect meetings, taking House points away from the younger kids, handing out her own detentions to the rambunctious kids of the school, and doing the tons of homework she acquired every night, Hermione rarely had any time for herself or her friends. Harry and Ron were not the only ones noticing her presence, or lack thereof.

It was Hermione’s seventh year, and she was packing her schedule full of advanced classes, along with the required classes. Professor McGonagall arranged for her to be able to use the Time Turner again, but cautioned her to be extremely careful, because if she wasn’t, “some dire consequences could result.” But until that fateful morning, Hermione had no idea what the dire consequences could be.

Hermione sighed resignedly and stopped running. There was no way she could make it to the dungeons from the fourth floor in two minutes. “Well, there goes another fifty points from Gryffindor,” Hermione muttered to herself, trudging down the steps.

Suddenly, Hermione felt the staircase shifting under her feet. It caught her off guard, and with terrified horror, Hermione felt herself tumbling into a black nothingness...

*

Professor Severus Snape sneered at his seventh year Potions class. He scanned over the students, making sure that nobody was missing. When his eyes landed on the table with Potter and Weasley, he felt his lips twist up into an evil grin; Miss Granger wasn’t there.

“Potter, Weasley,” he barked. Snape smiled to himself as he saw the two startled boys jump and look at each other as if to say, “What do we tell him?” Snape narrowed his dark eyes and strode out from behind his desk. “Do either of you know where our Head Girl is? Or has she chosen not to grace us with her presence today?”

“Erm--well, that is,” Potter said, stumbling over his words. Snape could see his brain working out something to say, to save Miss Granger from humiliation when she actually did return to class.

“She’s doing some Head Girl stuff with Professor McGonagall!” Weasley blurted.

Snape’s face twisted into another evil grin. “Then why isn’t Mr. Malfoy with Professor McGonagall and Miss Granger?” he asked. “Because Mr. Malfoy is in fact Head Boy.” Snape could see Malfoy grinning with pleasure at the thought of Hermione Granger, perfect Head Girl and role model, skipping Potions class.

“Um, secret Head Girl business?” Potter said, his face scrunching up as he thought about it.

“Well, whatever the case may be, Miss Granger isn’t here with us in class today,” Snape said, snarling, “therefore I shall take...60 points from Gryffindor. I find that a fair amount, don’t you, Mr. Malfoy?”

Tall, blonde Slytherin Quidditch star, and Snape’s favorite student, nodded his head empathetically. His gelled-down hair didn’t move as he did so. “Yes, that’s a very fair amount, Professor. I think you’re going easy on her.” He elbowed Crabbe and Goyle, who took the cue and started sniggering.

“Yes, now on with the lesson...”

*

Hermione sat up and rubbed her head. There was a throbbing pain that wouldn’t go away. Silently, she looked around at her surroundings: she was sitting on a hard stone floor, her robes billowing out around her. Books were scattered all over the place. Sand was on the floor, along with bits of broken glass. Hermione remembered falling on her way to Potions class...As a feeling of dread swept over her, Hermione felt around her neck.

Her Time Turner was no longer around her neck!

“Oh no. Oh no. Oh no,” she murmured, standing up and looking around. “How can...no, no, no, no.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, Hermione turned around and saw a large banner hanging from the ceiling that read, “Vote for the King and Queen of Hogwarts, 1977!”

“Oh no. No! This isn’t possible...1977?”

Hermione was beginning to panic. Obviously, her fall has caused her Time Turner to smash. Now it lay around her in broken glass and sand...useless. Hermione took a deep breath and bent over to pick up her books. She would have to go see Dumbledore.

*

Dumbledore paced in front of the new girl, looking her over carefully. “So, you mean to tell me that you’re from 1997, and not 1977?”

Hermione nodded. “Yes. Professor McGonagall gave me a Time Turner, so I could manage to fit all of my classes in. I was on my way to Potions class, and the staircase changed. I wasn’t ready for it, and I guess I kind of fell, and smashed the Time Turner into little bits. I don’t know what to do!” she wailed all in one breath.

Dumbledore smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling. “Alright, Miss--was it Granger? I suppose that since your Time Turner, that you claimed Minerva gave to you in 1997, is smashed, you’re stuck in the past...er, the present...er, 1977, until we can figure out something further to do.”

Hermione gasped. “What? No, I can’t! I’m late for Potions! I have classes and homework that I need to do! I’m Head Girl! Professor McGonagall will be furious with me!” She burst into tears. It was all too much for a soon-to-be eighteen-year-old to take in all at once. One moment, she was going to class, and the next, she had been sent back to the past!

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. “Now, Miss Granger, calm down,” he said gently. “Although I’m afraid you won’t be able to be Head Girl, or a Prefect, but you will be allowed to continue with your classes. The regular amount though. No need to be sent back to 1957, now.”

Hermione sighed and leaned back into the chair. “But, Professor Dumbledore!” she whined, surprising herself. She had never whined to a teacher before, especially Professor Dumbledore. But considering the circumstances, Hermione felt she had the right to whine.

“Miss Granger. Please, be mature about this. I know it’s not every day that you get sent back to 1977 from 1997, but you’re going to have to make do. We’ll need to come up with an alias for you, and we’ll place you in--Gryffindor, since you said that was your previous House. I’ll give you your schedule tomorrow morning.”

Hermione sighed and wiped some tears away. “Alright, Professor Dumbledore.” She sighed again. “An alias? You mean, a new name?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” Professor Dumbledore smiled at the girl. “How is the name Athena Townsend?”

“Sure.”

Hermione didn’t really care what her name was. She just wanted to be able to get back to 1997 so she could get to Charms...

“Alright, then!” Dumbledore said cheerfully after he cast a voice charm on Hermione to get rid of her British accent. He clapped his hands together. “We’ll play a little game of pretend--your name is Michelle, and you are a new seventh year exchange student from...Faerie Point Academy, a small all-girl witchcraft school in Athens, Greece. I suppose that’s it. For now, why don’t you go on to the Gryffindor Tower and get settled in? The password is ‘lilalicious’.” Dumbledore chuckled again. “I suppose that’s because our dear Lily is Head Girl...”

Hermione nodded. She didn’t know the Lily that Dumbledore was talking about, so she just stood up and forced a little laugh. “Goodbye, Professor.” With that, Hermione hoisted her back onto her shoulder, picked up the rest of her books, and left the headmaster’s office.

She slowly walked down the hall, turned corners, went up stairs...finally, she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, dressed in the same silky pink dress as usual. With a miserable sigh, Hermione muttered, “Lilalicious.”

The Pink Lady stared at Hermione with curiosity. “Hullo, dear. I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before,” she said suspiciously, as if she had to block intruders from entering the Gryffindor common room many times before.

“Uh...I--I’m new. My name’s Athena Townsend,” Hermione answered quickly. “I’m from Greece. Named after the Greek goddess of wisdom. Athene before 500 B.C., you know.”

The Fat Lady just smiled and the portrait door swung open.

Mentally kicking herself for rambling about her “name”, Hermione stepped into the common room. As she entered, at least twenty pairs of eyes focused on her. Many of the kids immediately went back to what they were doing prior to Hermione’s entrance, but five pairs of eyes remained on her. As she walked silently over to the deep scarlet couch in the center of the room, three boys dressed in loose midnight black robes, and one girl dressed in sleeveless, fitted pale white robe sauntered over to Hermione. Hermione noticed the Head Girl badge on the girl with long, wavy red hair and brilliant green eyes, and the Head Boy badge on the boy with jet black hair and glasses.

Suddenly, it came to Hermione. “You’re Lily P--Evans,” Hermione exclaimed, swallowing, “and you’re James Potter!” She looked back and forth between the two, and then at the other two boys standing behind James. Sirius and Remus...it has to be, Hermione though excitedly.

Lily gave Hermione a questioning look, and James looked thoughtful.

“Yes, we are,” Lily said a moment later. “And these guys are Sirius Black and Rem--”

“--Remus Lupin!” Hermione interrupted, growing more and more excited by the moment. “Of course! It’s 1977! It makes sense!” She stopped suddenly. “Where’s Wormtail?”

James’s eyes grew wide as he turned to give Sirius and Remus a look. “Uh...you mean Peter Pettigrew? He’s in the hospital wing. A stomach bug...How did you know?”

Lily sighed. “What’s your name?” she asked brightly, masking her confusion easily.

“Athena Townsend,” Hermione answered. “Oh, I saw Peter and thought he looked like a rat, so I decided Wormtail would be a good name for him.” She giggled. Slowly but surely, she was adjusting, and she would be extra careful so as not to slip up again.

“Oh, hullo, Athena.” Lily smiled and flashed her pearly whites. “What year are you in?”

“Seventh!”

“Oh, me too. We’ll be roommates,” Lily replied. “There’s only one other girl in our dorm, Summer Collins, but she pretty much keeps to herself. Rarely talks...it’s almost like I have my own room.”

Hermione nodded. “Well, it has been really nice talking to you all...but, I think I should get up to the dorm and get settled in a little. You know, first night here, first classes in the morning. I should study a bit too, to be prepared for classes tomorrow!”

Lily nodded understandingly. James just rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “Chicks and their study habits,” to Remus and Sirius.

*

“Harry, I find it hard to believe that Miss Granger is missing,” Professor McGonagall said, narrowing her eyes at Harry. “She’s probably in the library, or maybe she came down with something and went to the hospital wing.”

“SHE IS GONE, PROFESSOR!” Harry yelled, surprising himself. “Professor McGonagall...Hermione never skips classes, especially now since she is Head Girl. There’s no way that she is hiding out in the library!”

Professor McGonagall shook her head and turned to Dumbledore, who was sitting at his desk, his blue eyes twinkling. “Albus, do you believe that Miss Granger is missing?”

“No comment.” Dumbledore smiled as if he knew a secret the others didn’t. “I’m sure she’ll turn up. No need to worry.”

*

Hermione woke up early the next morning in an unfamiliar bed. It had the same deep scarlet flannel sheets and the deep scarlet comforter, and the scarlet hangings around the bed, but it just didn’t feel right. As she looked at the small table beside of her bed, she realized that her Head Girl badge was not where it was supposed to be. Climbing out of bed, Hermione yanked the hangings back and peered out: through a small opening of the hangings on the bed on the right side of her, Hermione saw long red hair splayed out around a scarlet pillow. On the other side of that bed, the hangings were drew open, and a petite looking girl with long bleach blonde hair was lying on her bed in some muggle clothes. Then Hermione remembered.

She wasn’t Hermione Granger anymore. She was Athena Townsend.

It wasn’t 1997. It was 1977.

And the girl in the bed was Lily Evans.

Everything that happened the previous day flew back into her head. The smashed Time Turner. The voice charm that made her thick British accent not so British anymore. Meeting all the Marauders, except for Peter, and meeting Lily. Everything was so strange, and Hermione didn’t know what to do. She felt like a student in a foreign school, not one that she had been going to for six years.

Sighing, Hermione rifled through the trunk at the foot of her bed and finally pulled out a set of fitted black robes, a pair of flare jeans, and a spaghetti-strapped royal blue shirt. She quickly dressed and undressed, not wanting to have to walk to the bathroom. As she was getting ready to put on her shoes, she heard a voice.

“Athena? What’re you doing up so early?” It was Lily’s voice, and Hermione could see her sitting up in her bed after she pushed the hangings aside. “It’s only six, Athena. And breakfast doesn’t start until nine.”

“I was going to the library,” Hermione answered. She wanted to look some things up on Time Turners. Smashed Time Turners and how to get back to the present, to be exact. “I need to look a few things up.”

Lily grinned. “Silly, nobody goes to the library this early. Except for the brainy Ravenclaws and occasionally some Slytherins.” Lily made a face and rolled her eyes. “I’m coming with you, wait up.” Without waiting for an answer, she jumped out of bed and flung a set of black robes over her pajamas. “I’ll come back and get dressed for classes later.”

Hermione agreed and the two girls walked out of the dorm and down the stairs silently. They walked out of the portrait hole, but Lily soon stopped Hermione.

“You’re new here. How did you figure out where the library is? I got lost my first year on my way to the library, and found myself in some abandoned corridor. The Head Boy and Girl had to find me, and I lost 100 points from Gryffindor for getting lost. Courtesy of Snape, of course.”

Hermione giggled. “I got here really early yesterday morning, and Professor Dumbledore showed me the library because I told him it’s my favorite place to be at school,” she lied. Hermione was discovering that lying was becoming easier and easier everytime she had to make something up.

“Oh.” Lily gave Hermione a skeptical look but didn’t say anything until they entered the library. Madam Pince was bustling around, just as Hermione recalled from being in the library in the present. As Lily had said, only a few students were in the library, most of them dressed in muggle clothes. A few girls were pouring over thick hardback books at a large table. There was a black-haired boy reading something, sitting at a small table by himself. Not paying any attention to him, Hermione walked right over to the “T” section of the library, for “time travel”. Lily followed wordlessly.

After pulling several books from the shelves, Hermione dragged Lily to the table next to the black-haired boy and handed Lily a small, paperback book called Time-travel and How to Do It. Lily raised her eyebrows at the title.

“Planning on jetting into the future, Athena?” she asked, smirking. “Time-travel is a bunch of bull. I’m a very open-minded and optimistic person, but I must say that I’m a pessimist at the subject of time-travel. It’s just not possible, nor will it ever be.”

Hermione grinned. If you only knew, Lily, she thought as she skimmed through her own book, a big, hardback book called Time Turners and the Horrible Consequences.

The girls poured over the large collection of books for awhile. Hermione found nothing useful to her at the moment, although the statement, “Be very careful not to break your Time Turner, or you could be returned to the past up to fifty years,” in one of the smaller books.

“Why are you so interested in Time Turners and time-travel anyway, Athena?”

“Um...I had to do a report on it at Faerie Point, my old school, and I figured I’d finish it just for fun,” Hermione said. She smiled, pleased with her new found lying ability.

Lily looked skeptical. “Oh, I see.” She sat back in her chair and cast a glace at the black-haired boy sitting at the table beside of them. She grinned broadly. “You know Severus has been staring at us--well, you--ever since we got in here, don’t you? I think he’s got a little crush on you, Athena,” she teased.

Hermione felt herself blushing. “Snape? You mean Severus Snape?” Hermione’s eyes grew wide as she looked at him. Teenage Snape looked nothing like teacher Snape. His black hair wasn’t long and greasy--it was cut short and spiked, and looked clean much to Hermione’s surprise. He was still pale, but not as pale as Hermione knew him to be. He wasn’t tall and lanky, he was tall and muscular. When he looked up and looked straight into Hermione’s eyes, she could see that his eyes weren’t beady and black, but a friendly, and warm, inviting look. Hermione blushed and looked back down at her book.

“How do you know Severus Snape?”

“I looked at the student list while I was with Dumbledore. Some had a picture, and his did, so therefor, I know him.” Hermione didn’t hesitate before she set into her lie.

“Oh.” Lily sighed and checked her watch. “We need to go and get ready for breakfast. I really don’t want to be seen without my Head Girl badge, and with my hair looking like this!”

The two girls giggled and Lily sent the books back to their shelves with a simple spell. Then they walked out of the library, Hermione not noticing that Severus Snape was staring after them with a look of longing on his face.

*