They stopped with a soft pop some time later right where they were standing when they started, except there was no yelling Snape here. There was no one there at all, and the dungeon corridor looked exactly the same, missing only the small dent in Snape's door that came from Neville trying a little too hard not to be late and walking too swiftly.
Halfway through the transformation Ron had begun crying and shut his eyes. Harry and Hermione quickly followed, cuddling each other around the time turner and sobbing quietly. The scenes continued to flash by, getting faster each moment, a soft buzzing becoming steadily louder.
And then it just stopped.
It took them a few seconds to recover, and Harry broke himself away from the other two, gazing around. Ron held Hermione's hand again, but neither of them moved except to look up. After moments of intense silence, Ron broke it with extreme tact.
"Where the bloody hell are we?"
Harry ran his fingers down the wall, sniffing them before running his knuckle down Snape's wooden door. "The question is," He murmured, hoping to sound wise. He turned to gaze at them, cocking an eyebrow. "When are we?"
"Oh Harry," Hermione spoke for the first time, rolling her eyes. "We all know that; it was just a poor choice of words. Either way, the question has yet to be answered, and it won't be, if we continue to stand here."
Harry frowned, knowing Hermione's miniature speech sounded cooler than his question. Ron spoke hesitantly. "Should we go to Dumbledore's office?"
Harry felt an intense flame of anger, and he channeled it towards Ron, who seemed innocent and unsuspecting. "I don't know, Ron," He sneered, glaring at the slightly taller boy. "Perhaps you could transport us into another time? Maybe we can go say hi to Tom fucking Riddle and help him hex his diary!"
Hermione seemed to be thinking, and as Ron tried to yell an angry retort, she interrupted him. "That's it, Harry! We can just use the time turner to transport us back into our time! Of course, we'd have to find out what time we're in right now, but that shouldn't be hard. All we'd need to do is ask someone or find a newspaper. This is an easy fix!"
As she spoke, Ron, angry with the interruption, waved his hands in the air furiously at Harry. The time turner was in Hermione's palm, and Ron's elbow hit her hand and it was knocked to the ground.
It was like the sound of all hope being lost, the sound of the time turner shattering into pieces.
Harry walked up and punched Ron squarely in the face. Ron hit back with equal force and a full out fist fight broke out, but none of them did any actual damage, considering that they were both lanky adolescents with no skill whatsoever. "Stop it!" Screeched Hermione, but they continued, the fight reaching its ugly head when Ron accidentally stepped on Harry's foot.
"Ow!" Harry limped away, shooting Ron evil glances. "Too far, jackass." He nursed his foot by taking his shoe off and massaging it gently. Ron looked guilty.
All three of them stood there, Hermione trying without success to repair the broken time turner. Without any progress, she sighed and enchanted the pieces to fly into the pocket on the inside of her robes. "What are we going to do?"
Harry looked cross. "I suppose…I suppose we could do what Ron said and go visit Dumbledore's office, if it even is Dumbledore's office." He shot another glare in Ron's direction.
Ron just shrugged. "I'm sure it will be Dumbledore's. It ought to be, the man is ancient."
Harry, finding the perfect excuse to verbally harass Ron, stood up. "Don't speak about him that way!" He said furiously, foot cured.
Before Ron could reply the bell, louder and clearer than it was in their time, rang and the door was swung violently open. They were pushed into the corner of the hallway by a stampede of students. Potion fumes were floating out, and Ron coughed loudly. No one noticed.
"How should the poem go? Lily, oh Lily, how you are so silly! I'd love to laugh with you, not at you, and if you shake off Snape, we could date…"
The roar of laughter drowned out everyone else at these words, and Harry saw, with complete shock, his father walk out with three other people, all of which he recognized. Sirius was laughing the hardest, his head thrown back in a legit howl. Lupin was just smiling slightly, eyes tired, and Peter was chortling with a laugh he thought would impress James and Sirius.
Instinctively Harry pressed himself harder into the corner, for some reason not wanting them to see him. Ron whispered. "Blimey, we're in the time your parents went to school, Harry!" As if it wasn't obvious. They all looked to be around his age, and with total horror he watched the person they had attempted to escape earlier push his way through the crowd. He was younger, but his hair was as greasy as ever.
"Out of the way, out of the way!" The nasally voice rang throughout the hall, and James and his friends stopped to watch. "If you don't fucking move I'll be late for bloody Herbology, as if I don't have better things to do…"
"SNIVELLUS!" James called out in a feeble attempt to bully, but Snape merely ignored him. "Ah well," the bespectacled boy said to his friends, and they continued to walk with the crowd. With a sinking feeling Harry felt his father's eyes fall on him. He poked Sirius and pointed at them. Sirius followed his gaze and broke out in a grin.
"He looks a tad bit like you, Prongs."
With those words Lupin and Pettigrew turned to look. "A tad?" Remus scrunched his eyebrows. "They could be twins."
"Fellow Gryffindors," James spoke to them as if he hadn't been speaking about them earlier. "My twin, the ginger, and the One-Of-Bush-Origin, I ask what year you are in."
Hermione frowned at his description. Harry didn't know what to say, so he ignored his father, instead pushing Hermione and Ron in front of him and down the hallway. At the shove they all broke into a sprint, running blindly down the halls in a vague sense of direction towards Dumbledore's office. They turned and ran down the main corridors, pushing other students out of the way. Harry had no time to take in his surroundings, nor any time to stop and gaze at what he new to be his mother chatting animatedly with a Ravenclaw girl in the same year.
"Harry!" Ron panted, stopping in front of the stone gargoyle with enough force to knock Harry down. "Slow down! We don't even know the bloody password!"
Hermione was studying the gargoyle. "Lemon drop? Fizzing Whizbees?" The gargoyle shook its head. "Hmm…I don't suppose it's butterbeer? It's not a candy, but the headmaster seems fond of it…"
The gargoyle nodded furiously and moved aside so they could climb up to Dumbledore's office. "You go first, Harry." Both Ron and Hermione pushed him in front, and Harry scowled, adjusting his glasses.
As they ascended up the stairwell, Harry felt a stone in the pit of his stomach. What will he say? Will I have to explain my entire life story to him? As much as I like talking about myself, the tale is rather long, and…ya know how it is…
They stopped in front of his door and Harry hesitantly knocked, a part of him hoping the headmaster wasn't there.
"Enter."
Harry swallowed and pushed the door open, not knowing what to expect.
Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, auburn streaked in his graying beard. Other than the slight hair difference, he looked essentially the same, maybe a bit less wrinkled on the edges. The office wasn't any different; the bowl of lemon drops sat in the exact same spot they did in Harry's time. For an absurd moment Harry wondered if it was glued to the desk.
"Ah, James!" Dumbledore glanced up only momentarily before looking back down at his paperwork. "What do you need? Are you in trouble?" Receiving no answer he glanced up again, eyebrows scrunching. He didn't look back down this time. "Who are your friends?"
Harry took as step forward, gulping. Ron and Hermione did the same. With a cough Harry spoke as calmly and clearly as he could. It took a lot to stop his voice from shaking.
"I'm uh…I'm not James."
