CHAPTER : 1

INTO THE FUTURE

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JKR does.

The Order of Phoenix was in a meeting about the rapid increase in Lord Voldemort's army. They were also discussing about the confirmation on the daily patrols. Albus Dumbledore was reviewing every issue while the others listened to it with keen sincerity.

Harry Potter was had turned 16 this year and the headmaster was fairly certain that the war was on the brink. It had truly started a year before, mind you but things were really becoming dark nowadays.

What the Order didn't know, however, was the real action that was happening upstairs.

Harry Potter and his best friends found themselves almost always in trouble, it wasn't even funny anymore. But when Ginny Weasley burst into the room, ran to the corner (apparently running away from one of the twin's new products), unknowingly stepping on a golden object she couldn't even see, the entire room was flashed with a bright light.

Completely unaware that they had just landed 26 years into the future.

Ginny Weasley had experienced some pretty daunting situations in the fifteen years of her short life. But honestly, she couldn't help but get the feeling that something was going wrong yet again. Even as her gaze fell on the castle walls that she was so familiar with.

"Are we at Hogwarts?" Ron's confused voice broke her train of thoughts and she looked over at the others, who were all getting off of the floor.

"Seems like it" Harry shrugged and then asked Ginny if she was hurt.

"I'm alright, don't worry" She managed to say, hoping to hide the little blush on her face from his concern.

"What happened? Did the twins do something again?" Hermione asked, frantically looking around. She hated not knowing things, loathed it actually.

"I don't know, I think I might've stepped on something when I came into Ron's room but I didn't see it" Ginny replied, frustrated.

"Do you reckon it was a portkey? Seeing how we've ended up at Hogwarts" Harry asked Hermione. The latter shrugged her shoulders, a look of deep thought on her face.

"But I thought nobody could apparate in and out of Hogwarts' grounds?" Ron said in confusion.

Hermione huffed, rolling her eyes as she began walking through the endless corridors. The sun was down and it was dark outside of what they could see.

"Honestly Ron, apparition and using the portkey are two totally different things" She said.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked Hermione, who had taken it upon herself to lead the group. She latter looked back.

"I have no idea. But I suppose the best chance we have is finding Dumbledore's office" She replied, after a pause of silence.

"Are you sure this isn't a trap? How can we just turn up somewhere when everyone's been making sure we're the most protected?" Harry's voice had an edge to this. He was terribly cautious at the moment.

No one said anything. None had anything to say. Though Ron did mutter, "Magic" but shut up after receiving a rather threatening look from his younger sister.

Finally after what seemed like hours of roaming around the empty castle corridors, they reached the headmaster's office. The gargoyle was just as they remembered.

"Does anybody have any idea of what the password could be?" Hermione asked the small group, heaving a sigh of relief at finally finding the office. 'Now, we can go back to the burrow', she thought.

"Lemon drops?"

"Sherbet lemon?"

The group recalled every password they had earlier used but nothing seemed to be working.

"Doesn't he always keep it after candies?" Ron asked, frustrated.

Harry shrugged, "It can be different at times too"

"Dumbledore?" Hermione said after a few seconds, tentatively.

This time, however, the gargoyle did move and allowed them to step on the set of stairs that was upgrading by the second and stopped in front of a door. A voice said 'Come In' before they had even knocked.

Entering the old office, the group was ready to explain themselves to the headmaster. Surely he would believe that they wouldn't risk their lives leaving the Burrow's safety. Hermione's eyes fell on the chair first, and she stopped in her tracks. The rest three who was slightly behind her, stopped too and peeked a look in front of them.

What was Professor McGonagall doing in Dumbledore's seat?

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked, extremely confused. But in a split second, his wand was in front of him, along with the rest of his companions.

Meanwhile, the person in front of them was shocked to say the least. The four children in front of her had a remarkable resemblance to Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. But, they were younger. They were younger than the same people she had seen only a few weeks ago.

"What are your names?" The words left her mouth before she could process more thoughts.

After the four had spoken their names, McGonagall's sharp gaze turned behind her. The portrait of the former headmaster of the school was hung right there. Albus Dumbledore, however, seemed to be sleeping as if his life depended on it.

"Albus", the old headmistress hissed and rolled her eyes, knowing that he had heard the conversation in the office. The students followed her gaze too and couldn't help but gasp at the sight.

Only the headmasters who passed away had their portraits hung in the office. So why was Dumbledore's painting up on the wall when he should've been very much alive at the very second? And secondly, why wasn't McGonagall surprised to see him potentially dead?

Dumbledore's blue orbs had not left the twinkle they had whenever someone met his eyes. The headmistress quickly updated him even though she was sure he had some idea about what was happening. But all the portrait of the old headmaster had to do was whisper a single word to her. Her eyes widened in realization before they landed back on the four anxious yet alert students in front of her.

"Time-turner" She said quietly, but everyone in the office heard her.

"I'm sorry, er ma'am, but what about a time-turner?" Hermione leaned forward.

"Ms. Granger, we might have a bit of a situation on ourselves"

"What is it then?" Ron raised his eyebrows, ignoring the look from his friends and a 'don't be rude' hiss from his sister.

"It seems, that the four of you are in the future" McGonagall said it so calmly that for a second, they thought they had heard her wrong.

Did she just say future?

"Future?!" Ginny all but yelled.

"Ms. Weasley, if you would please calm down. May I ask which year are you from?"

"What do you mean which year we are from? Don't you mean to say which year this is? How can a time-turner take us forward for years?" Hermione ranted, her eyes wide.

The old woman sighed, "This is the year 2022. Now, do I have to repeat my question?"

"But-but the last time we knew, it was 1996!" Harry shouted, now sure that something was definitely not right.

The professor looked back at the portrait behind her before pressing her lips into thin lines. "You're 26 years into the future, I'm afraid".

"But I still don't understand why we have to change our appearances", Ginny said with a protest after minutes of explanation on their current situation.

"It's a must for a reason, Ms. Weasley. You see, I can see that each of you is rather shocked by this occurrence but all of you seem to have forgotten about the prospect of having a family in this period", Albus Dumbledore's voice came from the portrait, with a slight smile as he said the words.

Harry Potter had seen some pretty vivid things in his life, but he honestly couldn't think of one that had so much effect on him than seeing Dumbledore's portrait in the headmaster's office, meaning so that he was dead. Nothing in his life had been so shocking.

"To put it in simple words, you have children in this time period"

Oh, Bullocks.

"-And they will definitely recognize you if you don't change those appearances of yours", the headmistress continued.

"WHAT?"

"Yes, its 26 years into the future, didn't this thought cross your mind yet?", her annoyance in her tone was pretty clear.

"Does-does that mean that Voldemort is gone?" Harry couldn't be louder than a whisper.

The office fell silent, but that was answer enough. The people from the past heaved a sigh of relief which they didn't even know they were holding in. Voldemort was truly gone? Dead? Never to return? The possibility was pretty hard to imagine for they had just come from a time where he was showing no signs of stopping.

"What?" He croaked, almost refusing to believe it. Oh god.

Comprehension seemed to dawn on the four students from the past once more. Voldemort was gone. And if they had children in this period, like McGonagall had claimed, they were alive. They made it through the almost inevitable war.

"So, can you prove that we're actually in the future?" Hermione asked after minutes of silence as the professor motioned for them to take the seats in the front of her desk.

The old headmistress raised her eyebrow at the question and nodded behind her at the portrait of the former headmaster as an indication enough to prove and answer the question asked.

"So, children?" Ron looked almost scared to ask.