Chapter One: Why Teenagers Should Never Handle Magical Modes of Transportation

A/N: Why do I have thoughts? I swear, it's all this inspiration that's been keeping me up and having produce stories. Okay, this is my fourth shot at trying my hand at crossing over these two pieces of awesome and I think this time I'm got the balance of description and quotation down to a science. It also doesn't help that Riley, James and Fred seem like real people to me while (sadly) the rest of the characters from the Harry Potter series just seem rather...flat *ducks flying projectiles*

So, I promise to keep up with my other stories as best I can. Literally, I'm sorry but if the muse hits I've to got write because otherwise it plagues my daydreams thereby causing me to do poorly in Spanish, thereby preventing me from getting Dean's List. You guys don't want that do you? Besides, I need something to fill the hole in my writing life that this purge of the RTB's has caused.

I only own Riley Dursley—I don't know why I love that name so much but I do. I just picture Dudley's wife naming her that to get back at Petunia who bullied her into giving the first daughter a feminine name. Oh, everything else is property of JK Rowling or Tolkien. Figured I'd say that before I started to ramble about personal canon.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" an outraged yell came from a rather petite girl on a somewhat muggy afternoon in Late August of the year 2030. "FRED WEASLEY!"

"Shit! Run mate!" a red-haired tan-skinned sixteen-year-old ran into a rather well maintained house and shoved a messy haired boy in front of him, who was running as if his life depended on it, despite their place in the noble house of Gryffindor. Behind them was a soaking wet, pissed off sixteen-year-old brunette who went by the name of Riley Dursley—also known as the brains of the third generation of Marauders and only Ravenclaw of said group. They called themselves the Musketeers, if for no other reason than to keep the M part of the pranking tradition.

"James," an older version of the boy, except with emerald-green eyes and a faded lightning bolt scar on his forehead, came down the stairs of the Burrow. "What's with all the yelling? And why is Riley soaking wet?"

"Trip jinx into the Lake," James muttered. He knew he wouldn't get a letter; it was a Weasley family reunion after all. All the of age wizards and witches there would cover any spells he did, or Fred, or Riley if she got mad enough to consider breaking the law. Speaking of which...

"Honestly," Harry sighed and dried Riley off with a flick of his wand; thankfully preventing the temper which she inherited from her mum from breaking free. "Go upstairs you three. And keep it to a minimum. We just got the ghoul to settle down and Teddy's little boy is down for a nap."

They ran upstairs and sat in George's old room, where they did most of their planning and their plotting. It was also the place where they could find most of their products that they used for a significantly lower price than retail—free. Hey, it wasn't their fault George still used the room for storage when the back room in the shop ran out of space was it?

"Honestly James," Riley rolled her blue eyes as she dried off the book she was reading and then set it off to the side so she could re-adjust her braids. Picking the book back up, she continued to lecture her cousin. "A trip jinx while I was walking? What would possess you to do such a thing?"

"Because you were being ever so boring," said cousin rolled his own hazel eyes right back at her and went back to searching for whatever it was he was searching for. Finally he surfaced with a gold necklace that had an hourglass on the end; along with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

"Wicked!" Fred exclaimed but then turned puzzled at the sight of it. "Err…what is it?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck in confusion.

"Honestly," Riley sighed, closing the book she'd opened upon entering the room. "It's a time turner. I didn't know they still existed. I thought an unknown force destroyed all of them in the spring of 1996. James, however did you get it?"

"Nicked it from Aunt Hermione of course," James smirked, messing up his already messy raven-black hair as he leaned back on his trunk and swung the time turner around his hand. "Said she was building a new type of time turner and I just wanted to see how it looked. Not my fault her office was unlocked and Rose was off snogging Malfoy."

"James, you really are incorrigible," Riley rolled her eyes but shot a fond smile at her cousin. James came up with a lot of their plans; Riley worked out the flaws and Fred provided the products. It's how they were the best pranking team since the Weasley Twins—as George was quick to praise in a letter after a howler from Ginny the morning after a prank gone right. "Do you even know how to work that thing? It could take you years in the past if you made a mistake."

"Thank Merlin we've got a Ravenclaw here," Fred teased, messing up his smooth red hair as he copied his cousin and then waved his hand towards James. "Let me see it James."

James nodded and tossed it over to Fred without truly looking. Fred, proving he was in fact a Beater and not a Chaser, missed it—resulting in it crashing on the floor, spreading all the bits of sand all over the room. Had Riley been paying attention to the exchange, not even she could have been quick enough to try to summon the device before it broke.

"Brilliant, that's the sort of thing I was worried about," Riley groaned, her wand slid back into her back pocket of her shorts. Suddenly, the room started to spin. It spun faster and faster until suddenly…it stopped, resulting in the three teens spilling onto the ground. Well, that's what Riley thought upon seeing the trees surrounding her. Getting up, she groaned upon feeling the pain in her right arm. The sight of blood instantly got alarm bells ringing in her head.

"Accio Dittany!" she muttered as she reached into her bag with her wand. Thankfully, she was holding the bag in her back pocket (along with her wand) when the time turner broke. Watching the wound heal was always so fascinating to the muggle raised Riley, but her attention was soon forced onto another thing. She had no idea where she was and her two companions were nowhere to be found.

"James!" she hissed, not wanting to draw unwanted attention. "Fred! Get your arses out here so I can kick them!"

Not hearing an answer, Riley decided that it'd be best if she explored for a bit. At least that way, she might find her friends. It was a rather treacherous walk, and Riley took more than a few stumbles before finding herself by a lake. A lake, by which, a great battle had been fought by the looks of it. Riley, not being an emotional girl, couldn't help the small gasp that came from her lips as she walked through the bodies. Ignoring those that looked like demented House Elves, she focused solely on the men.

Where have I seen this before? she thought as the stench of decomposing flesh reached her nose. Turning away before she lost her lunch on one of the bodies, she looked straight at a handsome brunette who was lying by the body of water. He seemed not much older than she was, and yet, looked decades more mature than she could ever hope to achieve. His gasp for air was what sprung Riley into action. Summoning the dittany once more, she turned the man on to his side and administered it to his wound—which was much greater than her scratch earlier. Feeling him gasp, Riley dropped him in her surprise.

The noise of horses galloping only strengthened her fear, and she didn't regret running into the cover of the trees. Riley couldn't resist, however, peering out from her hideout once safely hidden in the forest. Several men holding flags arrived as the skies opened.

"Find the King's son!" the man in the lead shouted as they dismounted. Riley could hear the grumbling of the other men and couldn't blame them. She'd grumble too if she had to walk through all that muck. Let it be known that Riley Dursley was not a prissy princess type of a girl. No, growing up with Fred and James would do that. But still, she had grown up with her sisters as well. That was enough to make her a tad feminine.

"Mordor will pay for this!" one of the men shouted and Riley couldn't help the gasp that she emitted, as she was pulled from her rambling thoughts. James was so dead when she found him! As was Fred, but her cousin more than her best friend. Then the thought re-entered her brain: where were those two? They weren't in the woods; they weren't by the lake…

"These Orcs are not of Mordor," the lead man corrected, putting a foot on one of the helmets. Riley tugged on one of her newly wet braids, a nervous habit that she had formed when she was four—along with her habit of wearing her brown hair in braids. She was getting annoyed with everyone interrupting her thoughts but more importantly, she was scared out of her mind! She barely knew how to use a sword, never mind a bow and arrow or a spear! She was lucky that her ten-inch mahogany and phoenix feather wand was with her when Fred dropped that time turner.

"My Lord Eomer!" one of the men shouted from the lake, and the lead man raced over to where he was. Riley stood on her tiptoes to find out which of the men was the King's son, and she clutched the bottle of Dittany that was in her pocket. Thankfully, it was abnormally large—since James and Fred had a horrible habit of getting hurt when planning a prank.

"He's alive?" Eomer gasped, and Riley stared in shock as the brunette she had just helped was lifted up onto a horse. The Ravenclaw in her wished to follow, to gain more information. As there was no way that she was really in Middle Earth. Right?