Hello everyone! Thank you for reading the first chapter of my new story! This idea came to me the other day and I knew I had to write it. I'be been recently obsessed with Marauder era fan fiction and I really liked the idea of combining the two eras. If you guys have any suggestions for good Marauder era fan fiction, let me know because I'll definitely read it!
Anyways, so I would really appreciate some reviews on this because that is what gives me the motivation to keep going with my stories. I like constructive criticism, but no flames please! So please REVIEW! The more reviews, the sooner I will put out a new chapter!
Well, thank you for reading! And I hope you enjoy.
AN: JKR owns all, except for Prim, she is all my own.
I don't think I had ever seen it storm as hard as it was storming tonight. As I stared out the window from my dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower, the little droplets of rain plopped against the glass making noise. Normally, I would have found that sound comforting. Rain always made me sleep better at night; it had always soothed me. But not tonight. I had a lot on my mind and the storm outside seemed to reflect that.
I glanced around the room, taking in my familiar surroundings. The four poster beds with the dark blue hangings that had been a fixture in my life for the past three years couldn't even bring any solace to my troubled mind like the typically would have. One of my best friends and roommates, Lisa Turpin, was snoring soundly in her bed, a little bit of drool seeping out of the side of her mouth and onto her pillow, while her black hair was as messy as a nargel's nest. I wished that I could be as carefree as she was after what we had heard tonight.
I had only come to Hogwarts three years ago, when I was 15, after transferring from The Salem Witches' Institute, where I had completed the first four years of my magical education. My father was an American auror, who famous for his capture of several known American supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the late 1970's, and he had been solicited by our late headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, into joining the Order of the Phoenix, a group that was reformed when You-Know-Who started gaining power again. So my dad and I left Salem, leaving behind my older sister, and moved to London, where my father started working with the Order and in the fall of that year, I became a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was sorted into Ravenclaw and became fast friends with some of the girls and I had never regretted my time at Hogwarts until now. Now, I just wished we had stuck to our own boring, American lives and stayed in Salem. I would never have had to worry about something like this in Salem.
"You still up, Prim?" My other roommate and best friend, Mandy Brocklehurst, whispered quietly as she let herself into our dormitory, school bag slung over her shoulder and her sandy brown hair tied in a messy bun on the top of her head. Mandy was careful not to wake Lisa, who was notoriously awful when awoken from a deep sleep.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep," I replied, sipping on a cup of tea that I had conjured up. "Padma still downstairs?"
Mandy nodded. Padma Patil was our other roommate and close friend. She had been really shook up about what we had heard this afternoon and ran to the arms of her twin sister, Parvati, who was a Gryffindor and known for being a little bit braver than her Ravenclaw sister.
After changing into her pajamas, Mandy laid down in her bed, and I thought she was going to sleep when she sighed and made her way over to where I was curled up on my bed near the window.
"What are you thinking about?" She said, conjuring up another steaming cup of tea for herself before settling down beside me.
"I really don't know," I ran a hand through my blonde hair. I was sure that I looked almost rabid now as I hadn't done anything to it since this morning, but I didn't really care. "It's all a bit much to take in, isn't it?"
"I know what you mean," Mandy nodded, deep in thought, like a true Ravenclaw would be. "But I think we should do it."
"What?" I was almost surprised by her acquiesce. Mandy had always been the rational one out of the four of us girls, but this plan—this thing—was anything but rational. I would have thought she would have been the first one to stand against it.
"I just think that we could be doing a whole lot of good here, Prim," Mandy replied, taking on a very serious tone. "Think about what would happen if we didn't do this. McGonagall was right. We are the best shot they have."
As I considered what she was saying, I thought back to the conversation that we'd had earlier that day in Professor McGonagall's office.
"I'm sure you are wondering why I called the four of you here today," McGonagall said, peering at Lisa, Mandy, Padma and me from behind her desk. I had only been in her office once before, to ask for Transfiguration help in fifth year right after I transferred to Hogwarts because I felt a bit behind. It was just as neat and put together as it had been two years before, almost like everything had an exact place down to the last sheet of paper and quill.
Of course I had been concerned what Professor McGonagall would want from four Ravenclaw girls when Professor Flitwick told us that she wanted to see us in her office after dinner, but I figured it had something to do with someone's family being hurt or killed and that she wanted the others there for support. All of our families, except Mandy, who was a Muggleborn, were involved in the war someway or another so needless to say we were all terrified when we sat down in our Transfiguration teacher's office.
"Yes, Professor," Padma replied. Truthfully, McGonagall kind of scared me—not in the way that Professor (or shall I call him Headmaster?) Snape or the Carrows scared me—but she was very intimidating. Padma was probably the most familiar with Professor McGonagall because she had been named Head Girl this year. It was quite a surprise because we were all suspecting that Gryffindor Hermione Granger to get Head Girl, but she had mysteriously not shown up for school that year.
"This is a very difficult subject to approach," Professor McGonagall sighed, removing her square glasses and resting them on her desk. For the first time, I really noticed how much she had aged since I had started at Hogwarts three years ago. I felt like most of that had to do with the war at hand. "But I would not do this if I didn't feel like this was our last resort.
"You girls are very smart—some of the brightest witches of your age, otherwise I would not come to you with this task. Miss Patil, as Head Girl, you know that the staff thinks very highly of you, and Miss Brocklehurst, Professor Flitwick is always talking about how impressed he is with your work in Charms class. Miss Turpin, you may lack some common sense, but you do know your way around Ancient Runes," McGonagall praised my friends, before turning to me, "And Miss Halliwell, Professor Slughorn raves about your abilities in his N.E.W.T. level Potions class.
" You all no doubt know that our lives are in great danger from the forces of Lord Voldemort, and I know that some of your families are part of the brave resistance that is fighting to rid our world of the evil that is out there. But there is something that you do not know and that very few people do—only a select few staff members and members of the Order of the Phoenix do know this at all. There is a threat to our world that, if achieved, will change our lives as we now know it. As we speak Lord Voldemort has sent one of his followers back to the past to try and stop Harry Potter from being born by killing his mother, Lily Potter. We cannot let that happen which is why I am coming to you four."
Mandy spoke up, voicing what all four of us were thinking, "What do you expect us to do about that, Professor?"
"In 1977, I remember four girls who appeared practically out of nowhere, starting the final and seventh year at Hogwarts. I believe that those four girls were you all," McGonagall looked at us and for a moment I thought she had gone crazy.
"What?" Lisa nearly screamed. She was the most vocal of the four of us and always had something to say. "You've got to be going senile or something—no offense, Professor—but that's barmy! There's no way!"
"I'm sorry to say, Miss Turpin, but there actually is a way," Professor McGonagall placed her glasses back on her face. "There were four girls that I, as well as others, remember from 1977, which would have been Lily Potter's seventh year, that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and became students at Hogwarts. Others, including Professors Flitwick and Slughorn remember it, too."
There was a moment of silence when all of us, including Lisa, who normally couldn't be quiet for five seconds, contemplated what Professor McGonagall was implying. Had we really been at Hogwarts in 1977?
Padma was the first one to speak, albeit hesitantly. "So what is to happen if we do agree to do this?"
"You would go back to 1977 and become students at Hogwarts where you would do all that you could to save Lily Potter—or Evans as she was at this time—from being killed by the followers of Lord Voldemort before Harry Potter is born," McGonagall stated simply.
"But, Professor, couldn't that change the future?" I spoke up, my voice cracking as I did so. "Terrible things happen to witches and wizards who mess with time."
"You are not, I repeat not, to change anything that you know will happen in the future," Professor McGonagall said, staring us down sternly. "You are to just keep Lily Potter alive until she is supposed to die. I do understand that sounds very harsh and that if you go back you may want to stop some of the horrible atrocities from happening, but if you all were to change anything at all—even the smallest detail—there might not even be a future for you to come back to."
The four of us were shocked to silence once again. This task that Professor McGonagall had forced upon us was no easy feat. If we were to do this, we could risk the chance of one or all of us not even being born. My mind, which, as a Ravenclaw, I normally prided in being one of my greater attributes, was failing me. I didn't even know how to respond.
"I cannot force you four girls to do this, but Harry has figured out a way to rid us of Lord Voldemort for good," McGonagall told us. This was a surprise to me. Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger had not returned to Hogwarts for our seventh year, but I had no idea that they had left so that they could hunt for You-Know-Who. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I will give you till morning to make your final decision."
"It's not like we actually have a decision to make," Padma chimed in. In my reverie about what had occurred in McGonagall's office early that day, I hadn't heard her come into our room. "You heard McGonagall. She said that people had recalled seeing us in the past. She knows, as well as you guys do, that we are going to do it."
I hadn't really thought of that. Part of me almost felt like we were being forced into this, but another part of me knew that we had to do this, that it was the right thing.
"So we'll do it then," I stood from my spot by the window and determinedly faced my friends. "We'll go back to the past."
The next few days were spent with Professor McGonagall preparing for what was to happen. Apparently, things were a little bit more complicated than just doing a spell and appearing in 1977. First off, we had to have a backstory, and a believable one at that.
"I've taken the liberty of developing a little idea when it comes to your backstory," McGonagall passed us all around four separate pieces of paper, one for each us with our names printed at the top in McGonagall's slanted script. "You will tell everyone that you used to attend The Salem Witches' Institute and that you left school there in order to get a more rigorous education at Hogwarts because you are all advanced students. Seeing as Miss Halliwell used to actually attend school there, she can fill you all in on details of the school and some of the older teachers just in case anyone should start asking. You are to let the Sorting Hat sort you into whatever House with no qualms. Do not let your House in the present influence your House in the Past."
On each piece of paper was a little biography on each of us, which I assumed was the story that we should each be telling once people started asking about us, which was inevitable because we hardly ever got transfer students at Hogwarts, and especially not four of them. My name remained the same on my paper, but I noticed that Lisa's last name had been changed to Thorne and that Mandy's last name had been changed to Brown.
"Miss Turpin and Miss Brocklehurst, you will notice that I have changed your last names. Miss Turpin, seeing as your uncle is currently a student in 1977, it would be unwise to send you back to the past with the same last name because it would cause too many questions, and Miss Brocklehurst, I don't think it safe to send you back to the past with a such a muggle last name. At that time, it would be just as unsafe as it is now and I don't want to call any attention to you," McGonagall explained.
"Why not change mine and Prim's last names, too?" Padma asked curiously.
"Miss Halliwell's family has never attended Hogwarts before now, Miss Patil, and you have a very common last name in the wizarding world," Our teacher replied while straightening some of the papers on her desk. "Now, we will have to worry about getting you clothes and things that are appropriate to that time period, but I do believe that can easily be done with a trip to London when you get there. The school will provide you with some money to do these things as well as for other expenses while you are there since you are doing this in service to the school as well as others."
"So what is the process of us actually getting back to 1977?" Mandy inquired. I was honestly surprised that no one had asked this question before because I knew it was something we were all worried about. All the time turners had been destroyed a few years ago and I knew there was no way we could get back twenty years with one of those so I was concerned that it was going to be some kind of painful spell or a portkey or something along those lines.
"There is a spell," McGonagall spoke, flipping open a book that lay on her overly neat desk, "that will open up a door to the past for just enough time that the four of you can get through. The spell is based off of the task that you have to complete, so when you have successfully eliminated the threat to Lily Evans' life, the door will reappear and will take you back to the exact moment that you left the present."
"So we will only be gone for a second?" I asked, baffled by the spell. This was no type of magic that I had ever heard of before. It sounded dangerous and confusing.
McGonagall nodded. "In the present, you will only be gone for a second or two, but you could be in the past for some years until the task is completed. You will be going back to 1977, but James and Lily Potter aren't set to die until 1980."
"Three whole years?" Lisa exclaimed, unbelievingly. We had not heard that little fact before. "We could be gone for three whole years? That's a long time."
McGonagall did not say anything to us, only sending the four of us a sympathetic look, which was something unusual for her. We sat in silence before Padma interrupted our thinking with an interesting question.
"Professor, you said that people remembered us from the past," Padma started, unconsciously dragging a hand down the dark plait that ran down her back. "Why has no one ever said anything to us about it before? Wasn't it a shock to them?"
It took a moment for Professor McGonagall to reply. I could tell that she was thinking about the wording of her answer very carefully and that she was concerned about how it would come across. "The people, besides Professor Dumbledore and myself, who would have recognized you the best, did not meet you until later years, and they had been warned to keep away until things could be sorted out and explained to you. I am sure some of them will be anxious to speak with you when you come back."
"What?" The word involuntarily slipped out of my mouth. I was just so confused, and my thoughts weren't even making sense to me. Had I known someone back in the 1970's who still knew me now? I could barely thing of anyone that had been in school at Hogwarts around then…
Professor McGonagall did not reply, but she smiled grimly at us. She set the time for us to leave as noon the next day and sent us off back to Ravenclaw Tower to get one good night of sleep before we took on the biggest task of our young lives.
That night was spent fitfully tossing and turning in my bed. I didn't think any of us had really slept at all, but we didn't talk either. I thought about the fact that I possibly wouldn't be seeing my father or my older sister, Posy, for three years. Although they would probably never even realize that I was gone because of the time difference, the thought of not seeing my family for that long was disheartening. I could only imagine how Padma felt because she was very close to her twin sister, Parvati. Mandy even had a boyfriend, Kevin Entwhistle, another Ravenclaw in our year who she had been dating since the middle of sixth year; I knew it would be hard for her to leave him behind. Lisa, as much as I was sure she'd hate to admit it, would probably even miss her annoying little brothers, John and Andy, who were fourth and third years respectively. It did give me some assurance knowing that we would have each other to rely on.
I gave up on trying to sleep at around 6 am, and Mandy was just rousing from her bed as well. She looked like she had slept about as much as I had and her eyes were red and watery.
"I went to say goodbye to Kevin last night," Mandy sniffled, making up her bed like she had every morning since I had roomed with her starting fifth year. "Of course he didn't know I was saying goodbye. He thought I was just being weird and emotional."
"I'm so sorry, Mandy," I pulled her into me for a hug. Mandy had been my closest friend at Hogwarts since I had moved here, and I hated seeing her upset. She rarely ever got so emotional since she was such a rational person so I knew she had to be very sad to start crying. "Just think about the good things we will be doing. And at least Kevin won't be miserable. He won't even have time to look at other girls while you're gone."
"I know, I know. I will just miss him," Mandy cried, which caused Padma to get up from her bed and join us in a group hug. Not to be left out, Lisa, who was the only one who seemed to get a wink of sleep, joined in, too. The four of us stood silently for Merlin knows how long with only the sound of Mandy's sniffles accompanying us.
"There's no one else I would rather do this with," I whispered as we held each other, none of us really ready for what the day held for us. "You guys are my best friends. No matter what, we stick together through this."
This seemed to leave all of us teary eyed, but we all decided to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast one last time in 1997. As we all sat at the Ravenclaw table, I looked around. I had never known what Hogwarts was like before You-Know-Who had returned. To me, Hogwarts had always been fun with a touch of frightening darkness underneath, with this year becoming even more terrifying with Snape becoming headmaster and the Carrows being in charge of punishment. But Mandy, Lisa, and Padma had always told me what Hogwarts was like before then—pranks and amusement and mischief with no sense of fear. I felt like doing this task, sacrificing these next three years of my life, was worth it if it meant we got to come back to a place that would not be like this forever.
Noon rolled around quickly. Maybe I was just dreading what was to come, but I had never felt a day fly by so fast. Professor McGonagall was right in her office where she had told us she would be and even she seemed to be looking a bit nervous.
"Are you ready?" I asked Lisa, who was looking a bit green at the thought of travelling through time.
"As ready as I'll ever be," She mumbled, tucking the pouch of money that McGonagall had given each of us as part of our compensation for our services to the school and the wizarding world into her small bag. When we got to muggle London in 1977, which was our first stop in the past, we would be buying all new things so we didn't bother to take much with us, only the essentials.
"Now don't forget to give this to Professor Dumbledore the minute you reach the castle," McGonagall said, handing Padma a piece of parchment with the Hogwarts seal on it. The letter held just enough information to ensure that Professor Dumbledore believed our story, but not enough to give away what was to happen in the future. "I suggest that you skip the train and apparate to Hogsemeade and get to the castle that way. That way, you can have an opportunity to speak with Professor Dumbledore before the rest of the students return."
We all nodded in agreement, no one was really in the mood for talking.
"When I cast the spell, the door will appear and there will be just enough time for all four of you to go through. Remember that the door will reappear when your task is completed. Do not miss the door or else you might permanently be stuck in the past and the future will be altered greatly," Professor McGonagall said as the four of us lined up in her office. I was on the end and Mandy grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly.
McGonagall raised her wand slowly and with a great motion, she cried out, "Iuana Adventum!"
A glowing white light lit up a door that slowly appeared in the middle of McGonagall's office. The air that surrounded the door seemed to be pulsating, drawing us closer and closer towards it. It almost felt like it was calling to me, like it knew that I was supposed to go threw it. Padma was closest to the door and she reached out towards it, trancelike almost.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the fireplace in the room start burning a brilliant green. Someone was coming to McGonagall's office through the Floo Network and it distracted me, wondering who possibly could be coming at a time like this. Out stepped a man I had only met on one occasion but had never forgotten—Remus Lupin. He was wearing a shabby set of robes and his light brown hair was flecked with more gray than the last time I had seen him. He looked especially tired and sickly, but when he saw me, he looked almost alarmed.
We locked eyes and he moved towards me.
"Prim," He hoarsely breathed my name and it almost sounded like a caress coming from his mouth. Truthfully, I wasn't even sure he had remembered my name because the first (and only time) we met at Grimmauld Place when my father had been at a meeting for the Order and had dragged me along so I wouldn't be at home alone, Lupin seemed to run out very quickly.
"Miss Halliwell, you must go now!" Professor McGonagall was yelling at me urgently. The other girls had already gone through the door and there must not have been much time left. "You have to go now!"
Remus Lupin looked at me with an unreadable expression and for a moment I wondered if I had known him in the past. But I didn't dwell on it because the pull towards the door had overtaken me and all that was left was darkness.
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