The Time-Turner Chronicles

Chapter 3

The Marauders

All three of them, Hermione, Ron and Malfoy, were sitting on the floor. The only difference was that Ron and Hermione were pointing their wands at Malfoy, who had finally given up on throwing them filthy looks, but who had closed his eyes and was resting his head against the wall. Harry sat down opposite Malfoy to keep his eyes on him as well.

"Cool stuff," Ron said.

"Yeah, what was that?" Hermione asked.

"Dunno. Must be some kind of charm. Can I have the map please, Hermione?"

Hermione handed him the Marauder's Map and Harry started scanning the Great Hall for his parents and Sirius. It was difficult to read because there were so many students there, but he finally found them.

"I've got them. Remus, Sirius, James are sitting with..."

His voice broke off.

"Pettigrew?" Hermione asked silently.

"Yes," Harry said through clenched teeth.

"I wonder if he already is turning to the Dark Side?" Ron wondered.

"Who cares?" Harry spat and continued searching.

"We could try and-" Ron started.

"No, Ron. We can't try and convince him to be good. It won't work. If James, Sirius and Remus couldn't, you don't honestly believe that three unknown students will manage, do you?" Hermione cut him short.

"It was just a thought..."

"Got her," Harry said.

"Her?"

Hermione looked onto the map to where Harry was pointing. "Lily. It's funny to see it labelled Lily Evans... I mean, everyone always talks about Lily and James Potter," she said.

Harry placed the map on the floor but didn't wipe it blank so he could see if they started moving away.

"You know what we need?" Hermione asked.

"What?"

"An idea of the time."

"Why? It should be the same time, just 23 years ago. So... (Ron checked his watch) 15^th of May, nearly 10 o'clock."

"Ah, right... and that would explain a great deal about why they'd be eating now, wouldn't it Ron?" Hermione said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah... maybe it's a special feast and they have..."

"No, I bet it's not. The Time-Turner went back approximately 23 years. We have to find out what time of the day it is."

"Yes, we have to. Because if it was breakfast, everyone will be heading towards classes now. If we're lucky it's lunch or dinner. We could catch them in the half hour before afternoon classes start or when they go back to the common rooms if it indeed already is in the evening," Harry said.

"Exactly," Hermione said.

"Well..." Ron said. "One of us has to find a window or a clock."

"There's a window on the next floor. I'll go and check," Harry said and jumped up.

"Okay... but Harry... be careful. If somehow you cross somebody's path that you know in the future, don't do anything stupid."

"I'll be fine. Just keep an eye on our special guest," he said and nodded towards Malfoy. He went over to the mirror and stuck his finger into the gluey substance. "Anybody outside?"

"Nope," said Ron peering at the map. "Coast is clear."

"See you in a bit," Harry said and jumped right out of the mirror.

~

He landed outside on the corridor again. There was not a soul around, so Harry hesitated for a bit. They were so close... so close... just down two staircases... his heart was pounding at the thought of going right down and just sitting down near them to marvel at them. But this mission, if you could call it that, this mission had to work. He had to be invisible to them until the time had come. He couldn't waste this precious opportunity like that. Holding on tightly to the thought that it was his only ever chance to save them, Harry turned and went up a staircase instead of running down to the Great Hall. He found the window quickly. It was looking out on the Forbidden Forest. He couldn't see the sun, but it was shining from the right, so it had to be where the lake was. And the lake faced southwest. So it had to be about lunchtime. He turned away from the window and jogged down to the place where the mirror had been. It was not to be seen anymore. There was only the gap between the two pictures. Harry thought for a second and then remembered the brick that Hermione had tapped.

"Entrada!" he said and touched the brick with his wand.

Instantaneously, the mirror appeared and Harry went through it without hesitation. He found the three of them still sitting there.

"So?" Ron asked.

"Lunchtime," Harry said.

"Oh, good. Hopefully, we'll be able to talk to them soon," Hermione said, sounding relieved.

"D'you think they'll come here?" Ron asked.

"If they don't, we're going to have a serious problem. We'll have to approach them otherwise," Harry said.

Just then, a bell rang. Hermione nudged Ron who quickly started fiddling with his watch.

"Another half hour until afternoon lessons start. It's half past twelve, unless they used to do it differently," she said.

"No, I don't think so," Harry said, adjusting his watch himself and peering at the piece of parchment.

"Yeah, look, they're all heading for the common rooms or library. There's nobody going into classrooms," Ron said, pointing at the map.

Harry followed the Marauders and Lily with his eyes. They were leaving the Great Hall, walking through the Entrance Hall right now. Lily took a little staircase and was making her way to the library surrounded by some other girls. James, Lupin, Sirius and Pettigrew however headed in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, coming their way.

"How do we do it?" Ron asked nervously.

"We can't just jump out of the mirror when they come. There might be other students around," Hermione said.

"I'll just wait for them out..." Harry started, but Hermione shushed him.

"I've worked a plan out. You can't go out there, James looks like you, he might start dwelling you for all we know. I'm going," Hermione said.

Harry wanted to argue, but Hermione shook her head.

"You know it's only reasonable, Harry." She got up and looked back at them. "Can I go outside?"

"Yeah, there's nobody there right now. But hurry up, a few people are coming up the stairs," Ron said.

Hermione nodded. And this time, she jumped out of the mirror, leaving Harry and Ron inside alone.

"What is she going to say?" Harry wondered, a little angry for her snatching away his chance to see Sirius and his parents again.

"I dunno. But knowing Hermione-"

"-She's got a plan," Harry finished the sentence, grinning.

~

Hermione just had the time to straighten her robes as she heard footsteps coming. She glanced to the side and saw that the mirror was gone. At least that was good news. Her plan? None really, contrary to what Ron and Harry were thinking. She only knew that boys tended to pick fights with other boys and that they would at least perhaps actually listen to her. But she needed to get rid of Wormtail.

Somehow.

A nervous tingling sensation descended down her spine and she shuddered. She just hoped it would work. Even if this was - as usually - a bit mad.

A group of Hufflepuff girls walked around the corner and passed by, casting curious looks at her; well, after all she was standing in the middle of the corridor, apparently waiting and unknown to everybody around. She hoped the 'Marauders' would come soon as maybe a teacher might coming this way or some other Gryffindor students who would definitely know that she wasn't (yet) in their house.

"So Moony, Head Boy, what is your plan for this evening?" a voice sounded from around the corner.

Hermione jumped. She hadn't expected them quite so soon... she didn't have the faintest idea of how to approach them. The wave of panic inside herself mounted by a few degrees.

"Oh, nothing special. Just a little breath of fresh air perhaps. I'm looking a bit off colour, don't you find?" Lupin's younger self said, chortling.

And then they turned around the corner. Lupin was walking at the front with Sirius, James and Pettigrew were right behind them. All four of them were laughing. It had to be full moon this week, Hermione thought. It was true, Lupin did look pale. The way he did when he would transform to a werewolf. Hermione's sense of panic increased, but she stood her ground and looked at them determinedly. She found herself trying to catch Lupin's eye. For some reason, she had the impression that he would be easiest to convince. Sirius was still laughing along with James and Pettigrew. Hermione registered that Sirius indeed looked stunningly good; although everyone had always said so, she was still surprised by it. And she was sure that Sirius knew only too well that his looks could open a lot of doors. James - there was no other way to describe it than to think of Harry. They could have been twins. Especially now, when they were both the same age. The only little differences were that James's eyes were not the astonishing green colour of Harry's and that James did not have the thin, lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. But otherwise... there was not much of a difference. Harry was probably built a little narrower that James was. And he didn't play with his hair all the time, Hermione thought, as James went through his dark hair with his hand, to make it look even untidier than it already was. Then there was Pettigrew. Hermione's hand gripped her wand tightly as a surge of hatred overwhelmed her. Wormtail. He was smaller and rounder than the others, his eyes the same watering grey as they had been when she had first met him in the Shrieking Shack. His hands were fiddling with his robes nervously. He still had all his ten fingers, Hermione thought grimly, but tore her gaze from him and tried to catch Lupin's eye again. They were only a few feet from her now. But before she made her move to say something, Sirius stopped in his tracks and smiled at her in a rather peculiar way. Hermione felt herself blushing, and was about to try and hide the tinge of red on her cheeks somehow, when she changed her initial idea. She had a plan now.

Her target had changed.

It wasn't Lupin she would have to convince.

It was Sirius.

Hermione smiled back at Sirius and put her wand into her pocket. Now it was time for simple seduction work. How could she forget that boys always fell for that? She was laughing silently to herself, but was determined not to show it.

"A new student," Sirius said, grinning at her, noticing the towering lion on her robes and held out his hand. "Welcome to Gryffindor."

Hermione played the game. She took his hand and was about to shake it as he pulled her towards him and kissed her on the cheek lightly.

"I'm Sirius."

She was a bit surprised, but, to be honest, things could not really go better than this way. She had to gain their trust. Of course, Sirius probably always acted like a hero around girls, but this was a good opportunity.

"Hermione," she said and didn't object as he laid his arm around her shoulder.

"Nice to meet you, Hermione. Let me introduce you to Remus..."

- Lupin nodded at her -

"... James..."

- James greeted her with a small wink of his hand -

"... and Peter."

Pettigrew was staring at her openmouthed, but managed to nod as a sign that he had not only seen but also heard what was going on. Hermione nearly frowned. Pettigrew was staring at her as if he had never seen a girl before. His gaze slowly wandered from her hips up to her breast and rested there. A feeling of disgust came over Hermione, so she turned back to Sirius, who still had his arm around her shoulder.

"We've got to go to the... uhm... library, so - see you later, Sirius," Lupin said.

He cast a meaningful look at James and Pettigrew. Wormtail did not notice. Only when James started pushing him down the corridor, did he snap out of his trance and made a few steps forward.

"Bye," Sirius said, grinning broadly.

Hermione waved at them as they left. No doubt Ron and Harry would be wondering what on earth was going on, but hopefully, they would stay put.

~

"What on earth is she doing?" Ron exclaimed.

Harry ignored the way Malfoy's stare was boring into him and leant closer to Ron to look at the map.

"Look! James, Lupin and Pettigrew are leaving! She's standing there alone with Sirius!" Ron said.

"So?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean by so?" Ron snapped distractedly.

"Well, what's the problem? It's probably easier to work on one person to convince him, isn't it? She probably didn't think it a good idea to talk in front of Wormtail anyway. And it happens to be that she's talking to Sirius," Harry said and shrugged.

Ron mumbled something that Harry did not quite understand, but he did not bother to ask. He was wondering of course, why Hermione was talking to Sirius and not perhaps to Lupin or even James, because he doubted that Sirius was a very sensible person at that age. He would have chosen Lupin to talk to. He was not as bigheaded as Sirius and James. But then again, Hermione did not know the younger Sirius and James as Harry did, having seen them more than once in the Pensieve. However, he did not find the situation quite as alarming as Ron did.

Malfoy coughed silently and Harry's attention was back upon their prisoner at once. He checked that he still had both his and Malfoy's wand. This time Malfoy ignored Harry's gaze and closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall again. Harry looked at him for a few more seconds, but then turned back to the map. He was surprised that Malfoy was so calm. He, for his part, would have been at Malfoy's throat ages ago. Harry made a mental note to be extra watchful. A silent and calm Malfoy seemed more a threat to him than the usual one.

"What do we do if Hermione moves somewhere else with Sirius?" Ron asked, still fretting about.

"Nothing," Harry said, although he was longing to go out and be a part of what was happening. "We wait here until she comes back. There's too much at stake."

"But at some stage we'll have to go out to meet them, don't you think?"

"Why? They can come in here. We must avoid being seen. It's best if actually nobody except them see us. It's best if we don't move out of here at all," Harry said.

He got up and stretched. It was getting uncomfortable on the hard stone ground so Harry conjured some cushions to sit on. He gave one to Malfoy who took it rather reluctantly.

"We don't want you to think we don't care about your well-being, dear Malfoy," Ron said as he observed Malfoy sitting back down on it.

"Especially if you will not be seeing any other part of the old Hogwarts any more - at least your trip will have been a comfortable one," Harry added.

He could have sworn that a panic-stricken shadow passed on Malfoy's face and his eyes widened. Harry wondered. He had not threatened him just now, had he? What was that about? Malfoy's face was expressionless again, as Harry added that to his mental list of Malfoy's curious behaviour.

There was something fishy going on here.

Something really foul.