Hello everyone!
First off: this will never ever be a Lily/Snape story because I can't stand the slimy git. It might turn into a Lily/James story.
Actually, it's just something I had on my mind and couldn't find anywhere: a "Lily time travels to Harry's time at Hogwarts on her own"-story / please tell me, if someone's already done that! I know only one example and that's a Lily/Snape story (urgh). Well, anyway, I hope to get on with the story-telling. At the moment I'm not very inspired for my other story, that's why I decided to do something new … Enjoy!
Chapter 1
"No, Potter, I'm not going to Hogsmeade with you tomorrow," Lily Evans said without even looking up from her book.
"Alright, in that case I'll just have to keep you company now," James Potter answered, apparently not very distressed. He sat down in the seat in front of the fireplace next to her and stretched out his long legs. Lily sent him a quick glare and then tried to go back to concentrating on her homework. What was he up to?
While working on her essay, Lily couldn't help but throwing a nervous glance into Potter's direction once in a while. He seemed completely at ease. Handsome and relaxed … wait, did she just think the h-word? She scowled. Why couldn't he simply let her do her homework in peace and quiet? Lily still couldn't wrap her head around the fact, that James Potter of all people, the archenemy of her best friend, Severus Snape, had taken a liking to her.
"Don't you have some friends to plan mischief with?" she asked him coolly when she realised that she would not get any work done while he was sitting next to her with that innocent expression on his face. "While I could be enjoying your company? Never!" he asked back, eyes wide.
"James! James!" she could suddenly hear Pettigrew's voice behind herself.
Lily turned her head and stared at the approaching Gryffindor.
Peter jumped the last steps from the boys' dormitory and grinning over his entire face. "Sirius has figured it out", Peter panted when he had reached them. A big grin spread over Potter's face. "Awesome," he breathed.
Lily turned back towards her essay. There was no way she would appear to be even slightly interested in the newest nonsense these guys were up to! Even though the things they thought up could be rather funny and interesting, if she was quite honest with herself …
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Evans," Potter said and rose slowly from his seat, messing up his hair while he was getting up. Lily rolled her eyes and didn't answer. As soon as the two boys were gone, she went back to writing her essay.
Three hours later, James Potter and Sirius Black crept back downstairs into the common room. They were extremely exited, because finally Sirius had also managed his Animagus transformation, only two weeks after James' first successful transformation. They were sneaking outside under James' invisibility cloak to check out the grounds as animals. But before they had made it to the portrait hole, James stopped in his tracks.
"Oi," he said. "Look, Evans's asleep!"
"Let's leave her be, you can get dirty with her some other time."
"Shut it, Black."
The two boys had thrown off their invisibility cloaks and crept towards the sleeping redhead.
"Woahh," Sirius said and bent forward, his eyes apparently fixed on her breasts.
"Stop being a creep, Black," James said.
"I'm not being a creep. Look at her necklace!" Sirius answered and moved one hand forward. "Do you know what that is?"
Now, he had gotten James interested as well. "That's a time-turner …" the boy breathed in awe and the two friends shared their secret look. That look usually meant trouble.
Then it happened. James reached out slowly to touch the time turner and remove it carefully from around the girl's neck, just as Lily moved around in her sleep. The hourglass was twisted out of his hands and within a moment time seemed to stand still. Then the boys were standing before an empty chair. Lily Evans, fifth year Gryffindor, had disappeared without a trace.
….
Lily realised right away that something was wrong. She had awoken to a dizzying spinning feeling and now she was sitting on the floor of the Gryffindor common room. The chair in which she had been sleeping had disappeared! Scowling she picked herself up from the floor. "Potter," she growled, under her breath. "You're soo going to pay …" Disoriented she looked around for her homework.
"Um, what? Who are you?" said an unfamiliar voice.
Lily turned around and gaped. In front of her was Potter. But he was so young! He looked no older than twelve … Lily narrowed her eyes. She was not that easy to fool! "What is the meaning of this, Potter?" she snarled. "No! You could not simply let me sleep in peace! Where's my homework? Where's my chair? And whatever for have you taken a deaging potion?"
Potter simply gaped at her.
The redheaded boy next to him had his wand out. The bushy-haired witch on his other side was looking at Lily as if she was mad. "Um, Harry didn't take a deaging potion," the girl said. "And we really don't know what happened to your homework … we were just at Hagrid's and only just came back to the common room. Who are you anyway? I'm sure I haven't seen you around here …"
Lily crossed her arms. If they were going to be like that, she was certainly not going to answer. If these other two weren't Pettigrew and Black having a laugh, then she would eat her broomstick. She simply looked at them with narrowed eyes. If looks could kill …
"Um, yeah … are you a Gryffindor, anyway?" the redheaded boy backed up the question of the other girl.
Lily looked from one of the kids to the next with furrowed brows. Something was not adding up. Black and Potter could never act as demure as these three were behaving themselves. That was when her hand wandered up to her neck. "Oh no," she sighed and sat down on the next chair, eyeing the three kids nervously.
What was she to do now? She had obviously travelled through time and this was not James Potter! "What … what year is it?", she finally asked the three children.
The trio exchanged knowing glances. The redhead mumbled something under her breath and Lily was quite sure, that he thought of her as a nutcase.
The brown haired girl was the first to answer: "It's 1993."
"Oh," Lily said and for a while she stared off into space. She had travelled eighteen years into the future! Even though she had told McGonagall that she would be careful with the time-turner she had entrusted to Lily.
Finally, she sat up a bit straighter. "Is Dumbledore still the headmaster at Hogwarts?", she asked.
"Who else would be the headmaster of Hogwarts?" the redheaded boy said.
"Well, you never know," Lily said and smirked at the stupid expression on his face. "Well, I'm going to the headmaster's office and you three are coming with me!"
"Yeah, sure, and Snape's going to find us and give us detentions," the redhead wrinkled his nose in disgust.
Lily threw him a glance. What was he on about? If it truly was 1993 then Severus surely could not be hanging around Hogwarts anymore. And Severus didn't have any younger relations… But now she had to think quickly, so she answered, tipping her prefect badge: "Would you rather I gave you detentions right away?"
"Okay," the bushy haired girl said. "You tell us your name and give us your wand and we will accompany you to the headmaster."
Lily frowned. She did not think much of giving her wand up into the care of three little kids. Especially since she was stranded in an unfamiliar time. However, she did not seem to have much of a choice. And if Dumbledore still was in charge at Hogwarts, it could not be too difficult, could it?
"I'm Lily," she said with a smile and handed her wand to the girl. As demure and silent and even cute that younger Potter boy was, looking up at her with two big eyes, she would never give her wand to one of the relations of the older Potter boy she knew.
"I'm Hermione, and this is Harry and this is Ron," the other girl introduced the trio.
They quietly made their way through the portrait hole and along the corridors of Hogwarts. They were nearly at the headmaster's office, when they heard footsteps.
"Oh great," Lily mumbled. She hissed towards the others: "We're hiding in that classroom over here."
Quickly they made their way into the dark room. "I thought you were a prefect!", Ron moch-whispered. The footsteps halted outside the classroom and the door was opened.
"Who's in there?" a sharp voice asked. "Lumos!"
Lily's heart was beating fast as she stared into the bright light and she turned away slightly to shield her eyes. Great! Now she would have to explain herself to an unknown professor about which she didn't know if he could be trusted!
"Well, well, if that isn't Potter strutting around the school at night as if he owned it," a somewhat familiar voice sneered. She knew that tone! She knew that attitude towards another Potter … but could it be? Lily was frozen in place, as the professor continued to speak: "And who is that fourth one with you?"
Lily straightened and turned around and looked into the truly shocked face of an older Severus Snape. "Severus?" she asked tentatively.
The man at first looked stunned, then, however: murderous. "What is this witchery?" he hissed, spitting as he spoke, his wand close to the neck of the little Potter boy. "Is this your doing, Potter?"
"Step away from him!" Hermione and Ron exclaimed, brandishing their wands. "It's not his fault!"
"Yes, leave the boy in peace, Severus," Lily said calmly, even though she was a little bit unsettled by his strong reaction. "He doesn't have anything to do with it. If it's anyone's fault I'd bet on an older Potter and a certain Sirius Black."
Snape took a step back from the dark haired boy with a calculating look on his face and everyone turned towards her.
"Sirius Black?" Ron asked full of distrust. "What do you have to do with him?"
"I've time travelled," Lily said without taking her eyes of her best friend going on thirty-three. "I fell asleep in the common room doing my home-work and woke up in this time in front of these three kids. They agreed to accompany me to the headmaster's office. I assume Dumbledore will know what to do …"
"You're a time-traveller?" Harry asked. It was the first time he spoke in a long while.
"How's that even possible?" Ron added.
Lily pulled out the chain with her time-turner and showed it to the others. Severus was staring at her and seemed slightly dumbstruck.
"Well?", Lily said. "Dumbledore?" She arched an eyebrow.
Severus seemed to stand a little bit taller. He nodded shortly and said: "Follow me." Then he turned around with a swish of his big black cloak and led them towards the headmaster's office. Lily and the trio followed in silence.
…
Professor Dumbledore looked at Lily for a long time with those clear blue eyes of his over the rim of his glasses. Severus was standing completely still staring into the flames of the headmaster's fire place. The three younger students were looking curiously from one to the other. Lily certainly felt that, even though she was the one who had woken up in a different time, she was the one who was most at ease. She had taken a seat at Dumbledore's invitation and after they had informed the old wizard of the current situation, she was curiously looking around the office to see if anything much had changed in it.
"It is a pleasure to welcome you back at Hogwarts, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said at last. "I am sure everything will be settled in due time. After all we all remember a certain Lily Evans graduating from Hogwarts some years ago. Hence, you will find your way back to your own time."
"Alright," Lily said. "But won't we have to find a way to send me back anyways?"
"All that you will have to do, is to follow the classes of your current year at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said with a smile and a twinkle in the eyes. "Which year were you in, before you travelled to this time?"
"I'm a fifth year," Lily answered. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Severus turning around and looking at her intently.
"I see," Dumbledore said, folding his hands in front of him. "In case that you travel back in time before I can cast a memory spell on you, I will have to ask you to go straight to the me of your time as soon as you are back where you belong. I fear we will not be able to keep the happenings in-between from your knowledge …" He looked a bit sad as he said this. Severus crossed his arms and as Lily threw him a look, she could see that he was glaring daggers at the headmaster. However, he remained silent.
"To you three," Dumbledore said turning towards the three kids, "I entrust that Miss Evans will feel at ease in this time. And I hope you understand that you must be completely silent about what you have heard tonight. No one must know that Lily here is a time traveller! I will of course inform the teachers who might recognise her … But apart from them absolute secrecy must be upheld!"
"We'll take good care of Lily, professor Dumbledore," Hermione answered with a smile and a nod. The boys next to her were giving Lily tentative, a bit confused smiles.
"Very well. Severus, I would like to have a word with you. That means that Professor Lupin will have to escort you four back to the common room."
Lily gasped. "Professor Lupin?" she asked and threw a glance at Severus who still looked rather unhappy. "You don't mean to say … Remus Lupin?"
"Yes," the headmaster answered happily. "That is exactly who I mean."
"Have you had the pleasure of a class with Professor Lupin yet?" Dumbledore asked the three younger ones. "No," Ron answered. "We've only had Divination and Hagrid today."
"But we sat with him on the train," Harry said. Of course James Potter's relative would sit with Remus Lupin on the train, Lily thought, how could it happen any other way?
"Hagrid's giving a class?" Lily said and smiled happily. But her mind was set on Remus. He was the one out of the four Gryffindor boys in her year with whom she had always gotten along the best. It seemed to be a lucky circumstance that her two male best friends were teachers at Hogwarts just when she came along on a time travel trip!
Dumbledore went over to the fire place and floo called Lupin's office. He explained the situation quickly and soon a pale and shaky Remus Lupin arrived through the fire place. For a while Lily and Remus just took each other in. 'He looks way too old and sad,' Lily thought. Nevertheless she regaled him with a bright smile. The smile she got as an answer was rather forced.
"Hi Remus, or should I say hello professor Lupin?" she joked and got up. "Hello Lily," he said quietly. Walking towards the door of the office Lily went on to say: "Come on people, professor Lupin's come to escort us back to the common room!"
All except Dumbledore and Snape followed her down the stairs.
