Disclaimer: All rights to Harry Potter go to J.K. Rowling.
Back to the Past.
Prologue:
Hogwarts Express, September 1st, 2022
"Bye!" Albus Severus Potter hung out the window, along with his cousin and best friend Rose Weasley, waving to his parents until the scarlet steam train rounded a corner and Platform Nine and Three Quarters was lost from view. He pulled the window shut and then flopped down in his seat, pulling out a chocolate frog from his pocket and ripping it open and shoving the candy in his mouth before carefully pulling out the card.
"What card have you got, Al?" Hugo asked interestedly, peering over his shoulder.
"I got dad again." Albus smiled down at the card, his father's picture grinning back up at him underneath the title: Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived.
"You must have like ten or twenty of dad's card now, right?" Lily asked, looking over at him from where she was sitting opposite Al and Hugo, reading Witch Weekly with Rose.
"Yeah, so? They're cool." Al shrugged, putting the card in his pocket.
The ride passed quietly for the first hour of their journey, as they sat together, chatting and reading. After the first fifteen minutes, they were joined by Scorpius Malfoy, Albus' other best friend, another fifteen minutes after that, Albus and Lily's older brother James appeared, and half an hour later after that, their friends the Scamander Twins, Lorcan and Lysander, who were in the year below Al, joined them. By the time the first hour of their journey back to Hogwarts was over, the compartment was full to bursting point.
"Hey, Rose!" Hugo piped up suddenly, looking over at his sister. "Show them what we found in mum and dad's study yesterday!"
Rose nodded eagerly and stood up on her seat to reach up into the luggage rack to find her trunk amongst all the trunks that had been crammed in there, and pulled out a small pouch from hers. She sat back down, opened it, and tipped the contents out into her hand, holding it for everyone to see. They all leaned forwards to see what she had in the palm of her hand.
"Is that….?" Al's eyes widened as he took in the long, golden chain and the glass sphere pendant which contained a tiny hourglass.
Rose nodded excitedly. "It's a time turner! We found it hidden in a secret drawer in mum's desk in her study yesterday. They don't know we've got it though. I hope they don't notice it's missing!"
Hugo rolled his eyes. "Relax, Rose. Who cares if they notice? You could do with a good dose of 'getting into trouble'."
"We should test it out!" James suggested excitedly, Scorpius, Hugo and the Scamander's nodding in agreement with him. "We could go back in time, to anywhere!"
"No, we can't! We shouldn't even have it!" Rose shook her head. "No, no, I should put it away. I need to keep it safe."
James snorted and grabbed it out of the palm of her hand.
"James! Give it back!" Rose scowled, trying to snatch it back from him. "Be careful!"
"Nah, let's have some fun first." James smirked.
Rose made another grab for it and grabbed the chain, but James held on tight to the pendant, refusing to let go. Rose tugged gently on the chain, and it enlarged itself, getting longer and longer and longer with every tug will it trailed around them all.
"James, give it!" Rose lunged forward, knocking the time-turner out of his hand and it started to spin, round and round.
The compartment around them blurred for several minutes and they all froze, unsure of what to do, until finally the time turner stopped. The compartment looked the same, all their trunks still up in the luggage rack, and they were all still there. Rose grabbed the time-turner and put it back in the pouch, looking around.
"Did we go back in time?" Lily whispered nervously. "What if we're lost in time? This is all your fault James!"
Lily and James stated to bicker until Al told them to shut up. "Guys, stop it! We need to find out where we are!"
He got up and slid open the compartment door, looking around before going to the compartment opposite and picking up a copy of The Daily Prophet which had been abandoned on the seat, his eyes widening as he read the date.
"Well?"
"Where are we Al?"
"Come on, tell us!"
Al looked up at them, his eyes wide and nervous. "We're in 1996. Today is the September the first, 1996."
Authors Note: Well, there's the first chapter for you! I hope it's good, hoping to get the next couple of chapters soon!
