Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It's a surprise, I know.
A/N: Hiya! Now, some important stuff before we start. This story is a sequel to my other story 'Broken but Beautiful', however you DO NOT have to read it to read this one. If you like James and Lily fanfics, that one will probably good for you. The two stories ARE linked.
A/N 2: This story is NOT canon, it is AU. Just so that you're aware. It is a bit slow at the start, but it becomes more fast-paced as you go on.
I also like reviews. A lot. And reviews make me update faster. Just so you know.
Enjoy! xx
The streets outside the Ministry of Magic were bustling with people, as usual, on Monday the 14rd of December 1995, so no one noticed the curious pair walking purposefully towards the visitor's entrance. The first of the pair was a rather dull wizard by the name of Robert Livingstone. Robert, known affectionately as Robbie by precisely no one, was dressed all in grey; grey trousers, a grey coat, shiny grey shoes and a smart grey flat cap. In fact, if he had laid down on the floor at that very moment, he would have blended exceedingly well with the grey pavement. Now, Mr Livingstone loved two things in his exceptionally ordinary life; his job, and his sister.
His job was the kind of the boring job that no one can remember the name of, and if you asked his beloved sister what it was, she would respond with a graceful shrug and the answer of "It's something to do with money." However, Mr Livingstone loved his job that was something to do with money, and, to his credit, did it extremely well.
His sister, two years younger than him, was a pretty, well-connected witch with a lovely house, a rich Muggle husband, and a clever, obedient daughter. So when Robert was asked to look after his niece for a day while her mother and father went on a business trip, he happily accepted, sure that the quiet, unassuming girl would be no trouble at all. One thing he was not banking on, however, was the girl's curiosity.
So that brings us onto the second person of the pair, Mr Livingstone's niece, who was a bright fourteen year old girl by the name of Lira Munns. While her uncle was dressed in varying shades of grey, Lira was wearing a bright purple coat, navy jeans and a white blouse and that, combined with her white-blond hair, made her very eye-catching indeed. It was cold, so Lira pulled her coat more firmly around her as she struggled to keep up with her uncle's long strides.
"Uncle Robert, where are we going?"
"To my work, dear."
"What do you work as?"
"It's something to do with money, dear, you wouldn't understand."
At this, Lira scowled. She was in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, and had come top in most of her classes, so she thought, quite rightly, that she would most likely understand, but decided to leave it. Hopefully she would find out later.
The pair climbed into a battered old telephone box, and Robert pressed several keys on the graffiti-covered keypad, looking slightly repulsed at its condition. A few seconds later, the box shuddered, and began to sink into the ground, landing in a large tiled atrium. "Is this the Ministry of Magic, Uncle Robert?"
"Yes, dear."
"What floor do you work on?"
"Level five, dear. Now, no more questions, if you don't mind. I need to concentrate."
Lira found that she most definitely did mind, and couldn't understand why Uncle Robert would need to concentrate to get to a place that he went to every day, but she wanted to see more of the Ministry, and she didn't want to get in trouble with her mother for antagonising Uncle Robert.
Her uncle led her over to a miraculously empty lift, and she stepped in as her uncle pressed a button. The lift flew backwards quite suddenly, and Lira stumbled, falling against the wall of the lift. After barely a moment of being thrown around, the lift flew forwards and halted abruptly, so that Lira stumbled forwards.
A cool voice sounded in the lift, and the doors slid silently open.
"Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British seats."
"This way, dear."
Lira followed her uncle as they walked up a long corridor to a grey door labelled, "Trade Finances." Lira marvelled as Robert fumbled in the pocket for the key to the room; the door was exactly the same shade of grey as her uncle's coat. They entered the cramped office, which was the size of a roomy broom cupboard, and her uncle removed his hat and coat, hanging them on a tarnished hook on the wall. Lira knew that if every man had a castle, this office would be Uncle Robert's. He took immense pride in the fact that he had an office to himself, and would spend half an hour every time he came into work straightening the things on his desk, in case anyone came in. This was in vain, however, because Lira was the only person other than Robert to have entered the office, if I can call it that, since he had got the job.
Lira sat down on the floor as Mr Livingstone sat on his desk chair and began to write on a sheet of parchment, evidently thinking hard.
After a second, Lira began to fidget.
"Umm…Uncle Robert?"
"Yes dear?"
"I…kind of, umm…may I use the toilet?"
The 46 year old flushed slightly at the question.
"Of course, dear, there are public toilets on Level 8, or maybe it's Level 9…"
"I'll ask someone for directions if I get lost!" Lira said quickly, desperate to leave the stuffy office.
"That's a good girl. Off you go then."
Mr Livingstone waved his hand at her, and she turned and ran down the corridor, occasionally slowing to avoid bumping into people.
She hopped into the same lift that they had used to get to the floor, and hesitated over the buttons. After a moment, she punched the number nine button and rose up on her tip-toes to hold onto the support as the lift began to move. When the lift stopped, the door slid open, and the cool voice sounded again.
"Level Nine. The Department of Mysteries."
Now, in this position, most people would assume that they had gone to the wrong floor and go to level eight. However Lira, being a naturally curious and adventurous person, was filled with excitement at the name of the floor, and stepped out of the lift. The floor was dimly lit, and as she walked cautiously forward, Lira was reminded of a scolding she'd received from her mother after opening the medicine cupboard after explicitly being told not to.
"Curiosity killed the cat," her mother had said, and she remembered what she had responded:
"But satisfaction brought it back."
The memory comforted her slightly, despite the memory not being the happiest one, and she continued to walk towards the intriguing-looking door. When she reached it, she tried to push it open, then shook her head; there was no way it would open that easily. Reaching for her wand, Lira waved it, whispering the Opening Spell, but it still didn't open. Lira had just given up, when it creaked open. Stepping inside hesitantly, she realised that she was surrounded by doors, and picked the one directly on her left, because, as everyone knows, left is always best.
Surprised at the lack of security, she pushed it open and stepped inside, jumping slightly as the door slammed shut behind her. A bit nervous now, she pulled her wand out, despite her mother's warning about underage magic and the Trace, and turned around to look at the room.
Clocks. That was what covered the walls. Hundreds and hundreds of clocks. Grandfather clocks, pocket watches, wrist watches, and wall clocks. Absolutely everywhere. Lira stepped forward, the constant ticking grating on her nerves, and watched, in awe, at the life cycle of a hummingbird, which was playing on repeat, in an enormous bell jar. After she had watched it a few times, she stretched and walked over to a massive cabinet, filled with delicate, beautifully engraved hourglasses on chains.
Time turners, she thought; her mother had one for her job.
Pulling the door open gently, she ran her index finger along the labels of the shelves. Each one was a date, and they all corresponded with a certain time turner. Fighting with the sense that she was breaking the law just by being here, Lira carefully picked up a time turner that was hidden behind lots of others, and bent down to read the label.
28th October, 1981.
14 Wulfric Close, Godric's Hollow.
The sound of footsteps shook Lira out of her reverie, and she straightened up quickly, panicking. If she tried to exit through the door that she came in, she'd bump into whoever was coming and could get arrested, but there were no places to hide in the Time Room, so she couldn't hide. Being a smart girl, she knew that her best option was to put everything down, deny that she touched anything, and say that she got lost on her way to the bathroom. It was then that Lira also realised how much she needed to go to the toilet.
The footsteps were getting louder, and Lira muttered a quick apology to Uncle Robert as she stuffed her wand in her pocket and bent down to put the Time Turner back in its rightful place.
Now, Lira Munns was not necessarily unlucky person, and since her mother didn't believe in luck, Lira Munns had never really thought that she was unlucky. However what happened as she reached to put that Time Turner back was most definitely bad luck. As she reached over, her fingers slipped, and the Time Turner began to spin.
The frightened girl gave a loud shriek as the Time Turner spun, faster and faster, the world around her spinning too. Lira got the feeling that she was flying backwards, very fast, and the word around her was just blurs of colour. Her eyes hurt, so she closed them, and when she opened them again, she was most definitely not still in the Time Room. Lira watched in horror as the Time Turner crumbled to dust in her hand, and then looked up as she heard a gasp.
Standing in an unfamiliar living room, in front of Lira were a man and a woman. The woman had red hair, and startlingly green eyes, and was holding a baby with the same spiky black hair as the man.
"Hello," Lira said faintly. "May I use your toilet?"
Three Chocolate Frogs and a bar of Honeydukes' finest if you can guess who they are!
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