It was the end of year six and James Potter was finishing up his packing. The Hogwarts Express would take him home in a matter of hours. He scanned his trunk and realized something very important was missing, him mom's time turner.
"Padfoot!" James yelled.
Lily Evans sat awake in her bed reading a book, to sad about leaving, when she heard screaming. As prefect she believed it her responsibility to take care of it, before the trouble makers woke everyone up.
She ran down to the common room and found James Potter in the common room- with a silver cloak in one hand, and a bit of parchment in the other- yelling at Sirius Black, his best friend of six years, who had a funny looking necklace in hand.
"Potter! Black! Shut up before you wake up the whole school!" Lily spoke quietly, but fiercely. Her tone showed no mercy.
Sirius turned around, shocked, and dropped the funny looking necklace. It shattered like porcelain.
"No!!" James cried. But it was to late. Lily, James, and Sirius were falling, flying forward, fast!
When it all came back to focus they found themselves in the empty Great Hall.
"Potter, Black, what did you do now?" Lily asked sternly. Then something hit her. "This better not be a prank!" She spoke clearly irritated.
"No. prank. Pad." James gasped in shock, slowly looking around, for signs of difference in the hall.
"So! We'll be fine. Just can't be seen, right? And you've got the cloak, so that should be a problem. How far back could we've possibly gone?" Sirius asked, clearly not fazed in the slightest.
"The... the, necklace," Lily stuttered, finally catching on. "It, it, was... a...oh god! This is bad Black!" She bellowed.
"It's worse than you both think," James whispered. "Let me explain," he said, in response to the look on Lily's face.
"How could it be- ?" Sirius began to ask.
"Shh!" James said. "Sit!" James gestured to the Bench in front of them.
Lily and Sirius looked at each other, as they sat opposite James.
"My mum works for the Department of Mysteries," James began. "She got that time turner from there"
"And?" Lily asked nervously.
"Well, you can't say anything, because they can't find out she told me but," James paused and looked around before continuing. "It takes you to the, well┘, have either of you ever traveled by time turner before?" James asked desperately trying to stay true to his word and not say anything.
"Bloody hell," Lily whispered after a second of thought.
Sirius and James stared for a second, Lily was not the type to curse.
"I have... once," she began slowly. "The feeling is unmistakable." Lily said, her voice dropping with every passing word. "You feel like your falling backwards, backwards in time." She explained.
"But we feel forwards," Sirius interjected.
"Exactly," James whispered almost inaudible.
Lily and Sirius looked at each other and gulped.
"So that means," Sirius started.
"That we're in the..." Lily continued.
"Future," James finished. "shh," He held his finger to his lips. Shuffling feet could be heard outside the great oak doors. James quickly shoved Lily and Sirius in a far corner and threw the cloak on top of them just in time.
Just then the back doors opened and Dumbledore, along with many others, walked in and sat down at the staff table.
Lily twisted the material of the cloak in her fingers for a bit before whispering to James, "you have all the gadgets," in which he smiled.
When they turned back to the scene, students were already seated, and a group of nervous first years made their way to the sorting stool.
After a small silence, the hat broke out in song:
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (thought I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap"
Everyone in the hall, including James and Sirius, although unseen, applauded.
"That was great," James voiced.
"They're never that good," Sirius said stunned.
"Do you two even listen to the songs each year?" Lily asked knowingly.
"Er... well. But did you hear the stuff about Gryffindor? It-" Sirus tried to change the subject.
"Is said every year," Lily finished Sirius' sentence.
They stayed silent for a while, impassively watching students, they may never know, being sorted, until a familiar name popped up.
"Draco, Malfoy." James, Lily and Sirius gapped as the eleven year old skipped off to the Slytherin table.
The three silently discussed what year it may be, if Lucius had a child in Hogwarts. That is until another familiar name caught their attention.
"Potter, Harry"
The three looked up in shock as did every other eye in the school. A scrawny small boy walked up to the sorting hat. There was no mistaking it, this boy was James.
"Looks like you passed on that mess you call hair, James." Sirius said as each sat in shock. They looked around and found the hall was not silent as should be. Whispers had erupted, people saying things such as "Potter?" "The Harry Potter"
James beamed. The family name is living up nicely, he thought. James absentmindedly twisted his thumbs in and out as his newly found son was finally sorted into... "GRYFFINDOR"
James leaned up against the wall, and sighed in relief. Maybe this future thing isn't so bad after all, he thought.
The three sat quietly for a bit, until Sirius began to complain of hunger. The feast was drawing to and end and James thought it'd be okay to run down to the kitchens before they went to speak to Dumbledore. It wasn't long before Dumbledore dismissed the students to their dormitories for the night.
As they all exited James and Sirius led Lily, all still under the cloak, to the kitchens to grab a bite to eat. As they went up a flight of stairs that led to the painting of a bowl of fruit, the secret entrance to the kitchens, they heard small footsteps and a very stuck up voice heading closer to them. James pushed Sirius and Lily in a corner and watched as the first year Gryiffindors were lead up to their dormitory by a very stuffy looking prefect with flaming red hair. Lily watched Harry. She didn't know why she was, but she felt something calling her to look closely at him. And so she did. And that is when she saw something she would never forget. She took a step closer, not believing her eyes and gasped. She almost fell over, thankfully Sirius caught her under the cloak. It was a wonder they weren't caught. Her head was warning her... but she had to be imagining it, right? Then why did she feel her heart pound and her throat tighten? She just had to be mistaken, right? Many people had green eyes, right? This just couldn't be! Right?
Half a dozen house elves rushed up to Lily, James, and Sirius as they entered the kitchen.
"Hows may we help you, Sir's and Ma'am?" Asked a rather tall house elf with a duller nose and smaller eyes than normal. To Lily, he looked deformed.
"I love the kitchens," Sirius replied.
The three sat in front of the kitchens corner fire, each eating their dessert. Lily had already finished and was staring into the fire deep in thought. Those eyes, they were so familiar. And she knew exactly where she had seen them... in herself. But many people have green eyes, right? She thought. But those eyes , they were so, familiar, so bright. Just like hers. She just couldn't shake this feeling. It just couldn't be thought, it couldn't! Her thought were immediately interrupted by James.
"Ready to go Lils?" he asked.
"Huh," she shook herself out of the dream like state she was currently in. "Yeah," she said finally. "Lets go see Dumbledore"
"Under the cloak then," Sirius said, holding the cloak out with one hand, and trying to stuff sweets into his pockets with the other.
The three trudged along to the stone goblin that guarded Dumbledore's office, and after an abundance of guesses they found the correct password and walked up the steps. James stopped his hand from knocking the griffin knocker to Dumbledore's office, as he heard voices inside. He was about to tell the others to walk off when his own name came up. All three couldn't help but listen to the conversation on the other side of the door.
"... and Gryffindor, I'm so glad. Albus, you don't seem as glad as I am. Isn't this what you wanted?" McGonagall's voice turned.
"Yes, Minerva. But much needs to be done before I'm truly happy. He need so much more than we can give him. He needs, James." Dumbledore said, leading them to the fact that this conversation was concerning Harry in some way. "Yes. James would be so proud, as would Lily." McGonagall said in a reminiscing sort of way.
Lily tripped while backing away from the door. 'Lily?' Was that Harry's mothers name? Had to be. How ironic. Her name was Lily, and James had been chasing after her all year. Wow, he was destined to be with a Lily. This was all to ironic. Things Lily didn't like in her head had formed. But she couldn't possibly be married to James in this time period. But those eyes, NO! Lily looked up and found Sirius standing over her with an extended hand, and a gaping mouth. Lily took his hand gratefully, and while getting herself off the floor, stole a glance at James. He seemed he had a different expression on her face, something akin to a lopsided grin. She tried her hardest to tell herself she couldn't be this Lily. But those eyes. Harry's eyes kept popping in her head and she knew it must be true. Just as the three were about to open the door, they felt the floor shake. A mini earthquake, if you will. They began to fall forward, onto the ground. But instead of falling onto the granite floor, they fell to a carpeted room.
"Where the hell are we now?" Sirius asked annoyed.
Lily looked around at all the gadgets and a big oak desk. "You should recognize this room Black. It's Dumbledore's office."