Written for lezonne's Duct Tape Competition: Brown - write about a Muggle or Muggleborn

The Wrong Turn

Just one turn, she told herself. It would be all she needed just to catch a little glimpse of her future. Would she pass her OWLs? Would she be made Head Girl? Surely finding out about that wouldn't disrupt anything, not if she kept hidden.

"Time Turners only take you back in time!" Marlene hissed, almost snatching the gold chain from around Lily's neck. Lily yanked it away, weighing it in her hands.

"I've read about them," she said absently. "To you, it won't even feel like a second's past. And anyway, they're only used for travelling back in time. It doesn't mean going forward won't work."

Marlene wore a bewildered expression, her mouth moving up and down, searching for words.

"I just want to know how much study I need to do," she said. "That's all."

"You don't know how to use it." There was no hiding the concern in her friend's tone. "You should take it to Dumbledore and tell him where you found it. The Lily I know would do that."

Lily hummed, studying the small object. Yes, but when would she ever get her hands on one of them again? Once she was back she would hand it straight to the headmaster and tell him she'd found it outside the girl's bathroom on the fifth floor, just like she had. He would never know.

"Bad things happen to people who use those," Marlene warned. "Please, Lily." She gave another feeble attempt to take it away, but Lily wouldn't hear of it.

"Class starts in ten minutes," she said. "I'll be back long before then." She breathed out loudly. "Wish me luck. Let's hope I pass." And before Marlene could say another word, she'd given the little hour glass a turn and suddenly everything was rushing around her. Marlene was no longer by her side, her head felt dizzy, and then all of a sudden she wasn't in Hogwarts anymore.

She was in a house… an old house with long narrow hallways and a very eerie feeling. Her stomach began to twist inside of her. This wasn't supposed to happen. Time Turners were not supposed to take you to different parts of the world, they were only meant to transport you into the future, or take you back to the past.

Oh no, this was bad.

Lily swallowed. She was only supposed to be in Hogwarts castle, taking a peek at herself and her OWL results. That was all. Maybe she had turned it too far?

It still didn't explain why she wasn't still at Hogwarts, though.

"Er, hello?" Her voice echoed down the hall, but no reply came. She crept closer up to where light was peeking out of a door at the end. Maybe someone was there and they would be able to help her find her way back. It wasn't like they would recognise her. She was just a mere Hogwarts student.

She'd just reached the staircase when suddenly, from nowhere, a boy met her there. She startled him as much as he had startled her, and she could see his mouth quivering, ready to scream for help.

"No, no, it's okay," she soothed, her voice a whisper. "I won't hurt you, I promise." The boy looked about eleven. He had jet black hair which looked oddly familiar, quite a long nose and –

Lily gasped. No, she was imagining things. Plenty of people probably had eyes like hers.

The boy stared at her.

"Where am I?" Lily asked kindly, not wanting to frighten him anymore. "Can you tell me? If you can just tell me how to get back to Hog… to Scotland, that would be great." She didn't know if this boy knew of magic or not, but she didn't want to take her chance.

"Hogwarts, you mean?" the boy asked, taking a final step onto the creaking floorboards to stand level with her.

"Um, yes."

"We're in London," he informed her. "And it's the holidays, so the train won't leave for a while. How did you get here?"

Lily quickly tucked the Time Turner inside her sweater and didn't answer the boy's question. "I'll just be leaving now." She made for the door.

"No, I really mean, how did you get here? You… you're… well you're dead."

Lily stopped mid-step, turning back round to face the boy. "What?"

The boy shrugged, his expression full of innocence. "You're dead," he said simply. "Well, I thought you were. That's what my dad told me, anyway. And I've never met you or my grandfather before. He said you were both dead."

Lily wasn't liking what she was hearing at all. The Time Turner tucked firmly inside her clothing, she had a very sneaking suspicion she may just have travelled quite a few years ahead, not a few months. The boy was speaking as if he knew her, and those eyes… those eyes she knew all too well.

"You… you know me?" she asked.

The boy nodded. "I've seen pictures. You're my grandmother, Lily, aren't you?"

Lily could only nod weakly. "And your name?" She wasn't sure she wanted to hear it. She knew she had seen that hair before, too.

"Albus," he said. "Albus Potter."

She had guessed as much. "Oh."

Albus gave her a smile. "It's nice to meet you," he said.

Lily chewed on her bottom lip. "Listen, I should go. I didn't mean for this to happen. This is a bit much for me. I only wanted to see if I passed my OWLs, not meet… not meet my grandson." She cringed at the title. And Potter, too.

"I have an older brother and sister, you know," Albus continued, ignoring her request to leave. "James and Lily. They're not here, though. They're out with Dad. Mum's here, I can get her if you want. She'd like to meet you."

"No, no, I think I'll just go." But it was too late. Albus had shouted for his mother, and within seconds a woman with red hair much the same colour as hers, freckles on her face, and wand in hand, emerged from the kitchen. Her first sight was of her son, and when he pointed to where Lily stood, the woman took a step back, drawing her wand.

"What are you doing?" she wanted to know.

Lily raised her hands. "I-I used a Time Turner," she admitted. Despite knowing she was actually older than Albus' mother, in this moment, in this time, she was not. "Can you help me get back?" She almost begged the words.

"It's Grandma!" Albus said cheerfully, beaming. "Isn't it cool, Mum?"

His mother said nothing, only looked at Lily with distrusting eyes, as if she didn't truly believe she was seeing her there. Which, if what Albus said was correct, she was in fact dead. She shuddered at the thought.

"I'm not supposed to be here," she continued. "I'm supposed to be at Hogwarts. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." She looked at Albus again, and the thought was out of her mouth before she even had time to think it. "Did I really marry James Potter?"

Neither mother nor son spoke a word, but by the looks on their faces she knew it to be true. James. She honestly believed he'd get over that obsession with her, that they'd both settle down with other people and be happy. But apparently they would eventually be happy with each other. She wasn't sure what to do with that knowledge.

"Listen, you should probably go. Harry will be home with the kids soon, and, well… you can imagine what it would be like if he saw you."

Lily frowned. "Harry?" Her mouth then fell slightly open. "Is that –?"

The mother only nodded. "I've never used a Time Turner myself, but my sister-in-law has. I can ask her to come over and have a look for you. I have never heard of them being used to travel forward, though, so…."

Lily passed her the trinket, hoping that she would be out of there soon. While Albus' mother had a look, Lily wandered the hall, looking at the photographs there. James and Lily, Albus had said his siblings were called, and when she spotted them on the wall, she thought they were rightly named.

James looked almost exactly like the James she knew. Messy hair, a mischievous expression, and with a group of friends that looked just as mischievous. Little Lily looked a lot like her mother; red hair, blue eyes. Were they really her family in the future?

Her eyes then fell to another photograph resting on a mantelpiece. It was of her, older than she was now, with James and… and her son. They looked so happy, and she wondered how long after that she had… no, she couldn't think of it. Albus said he hadn't know her, but she hoped at least she would have been able to spend some quality time with her husband and her son.

She snorted at the thought of James being her husband. Oh, he'd be delighted if he knew.

Albus came to stand beside her. "That's Dad," he explained, pointing to the baby in the picture.

"Was he an only child?" She thought of her own sister, and how close they had once been. She'd always wanted more than one child.

Albus opened his mouth to say something, but it was his mother who cut him off, returning the trinket to her. She smiled kindly. "I'm thinking if you just turn it back the same amount as you turned it forward, it should take you right back to where you came from. No need to call Hermione."

Who was Hermione?

"Thank you," she said.

"It was nice meeting you, Grandma," Albus said brightly. "I wish Dad was here to see it. He would have liked it. And James and Lily, too." His mother rested a hand on his shoulder, a warning.

Smiling, Lily put the chain back over her neck. There was still so much she wanted to know, now. What was her son like? What about her daughter-in-law? Why were two of her grandchildren named after her and James, but the third named after what she assumed to be a headmaster? What had happened to her? To James? Why did Albus' mother seem hesitant in sharing any information? Was it really that bad?

She went to ask the question – the one question she wanted an answer to, but didn't want to hear – but the red-haired woman shook her head. "You'll find out everything soon enough," she assured her. "Don't dwell on the future."

That was a bit late now, though. If she wanted Albus to exist in this future she would have to suck up her pride and let James know soon enough. Was it bad that the thought still repulsed her?

"Say hi to our grandpa, too, when you get back," Albus added, and for a moment, Lily thought she was listening directly to her own father.

"I-I will," she stammered. "Okay, well, see you." With a deep breath she turned the hour glass again, and soon she was being rushed backwards, people were moving around her, but everything was a blur. Then, like before, she was standing beside a bewildered Marlene.

"You did it, didn't you?" she said, not at all happy. "So, did you pass?"

"I-I… no."

"What?"

"I mean… I don't know. I-I didn't see that… I saw… I saw Albus."

"Professor Dumbledore?" Marlene questioned, confused.

"No… my grandson," Lily informed her.

"Your what? Lily I thought you were only going to see if you passed the exams, not have a tea party with your grandchildren! What were you thinking?"

"I didn't mean to, but…." She lowered her voice, beckoning Marlene closer. "My grandchildren have the surname Potter."

This was what shocked her friend the most out of everything she had said so far. "Potter?" she bellowed. "You marry Potter?"

"Shh, Marlene, I don't want him to hear that."

"No, I can see why. If he finds out he'll start planning the wedding already. I mean, are you sure? I'm sure there are other Potters in the world, right?"

"I saw pictures."

"Oh."

"There's also one other thing, Marlene."

Marlene waited patiently.

"You grow old together and live happily ever after?" She almost laughed at what she thought to be a joke.

Lily shook her head, swallowing a lump in her throat. "No," she said. "No, it's almost the opposite." She looked her friend square in the eye, and said, "I die."

I really don't know how plausible most of this is, to be honest. 1, I don't think Lily would play with a Time Turner, 2, I don't think it can transport you different places, and 3, I really don't know if you can travel forward, but for once in my life I had a muse to actually write rather than it being forced, so I wrote it down. I enjoyed this, actually, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it :)