Hey guys! Happy 2020 - since I have pretty much nothing to do for the time being, I thought it would be a good time to work on this story. Enjoy!

(Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.)

Chapter 31:

Preparations

"'That was quite some Patronus,' said a voice in Harry's ear.
Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased.
'The dementors didn't affect me at all!' Harry said excitedly. 'I didn't feel a thing!
'That would be because they - er - weren't dementors,' said Professor Lupin. 'Come and see -'
He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field.
'You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright,' said Lupin."

"So how are we going to get the Time-Turner?" Molly asked Madison, adjusting her legs so that they didn't fall asleep from sitting on the bathroom floor for so long.

"I don't know," Madison said. "I know Hermione has one, but she'd never give it to us unless she had a reason - and we can't tell her about the books."

Molly nodded. "We already have one person who knows - we can't let anyone else know."

"The only other Time-Turner I can think of is in the Department of Mysteries," Madison said. "But you said that's even more dangerous in the books?"

"Way more dangerous," Molly affirmed. "We can't risk it. There is one other Time-Turner, but it belongs to the Malfoy family."

"How do you know that?" Madison asked.

"It was in that Cursed Child book," Molly said. "Zoë snuck it into the hospital when Stella was at Quidditch practice."

"So the Malfoys have a Time-Turner," Madison said. "How do we get it?"

"Well, I'm a Gryffindor," Molly said. "Maybe we could - wait a second."

"What is it?" Madison asked.

"I have an idea."

"So, Ava, aren't you glad that Molly's out of the hospital?" Zoë said, sitting with Ava on the stairs to the girls' common room, almost obnoxiously loud.

"Yeah, Zoë," Ava responded, robotic as they come. "She seems to be doing a lot better."

"I still can't believe she passed out," Zoë said. "She was found in Lupin's room - did you hear that she's been trying to ward off fake Dementor attacks?"

She peeked through a small hole between the boards of wood that made up the door. Sure enough, Draco was listening intently, sitting on one of the couches with wide eyes.

"We should play a plank -" Ava looked at the sheet of paper Molly had given them. "Sorry. Prank. Typo."

"Ava, this is a verbal conversation," Zoë said.

"I know," Ava said. "We should play a prank on her."

"Ava," Zoë said condescendingly. "Wouldn't that be rude?"

"It would be funny," Ava said. "And it wouldn't be relevant after a few months."

"Okay," Zoë said. "Go on."

"When I was in elementary school," Ava said, "I saw a TV show - an American one, not a British one, so it wouldn't be on any TVs in this area - where a guy caused another guy to get super paranoid by hiding in a snowman during a snowball fight, then bursting out of it and beating the guy up."

"Beating him up? Ava, that doesn't sound ethical."

"Well, we wouldn't beat her up," Ava said. "Maybe a Stupefy - we could always undo that with a Rennervate. Besides, it would be fitting for a Dementor."

"What do the Dementors have to do with this?" Zoë asked.

"Instead of a snowman, someone hides in a Dementor statue, then pops out and casts the spell," Ava said. "And then, the best part - you then set up a field of Dementor statues - you know, after you've gotten her paranoid enough - and you're not in any of them, but she thinks you are, so she freaks herself out trying to get across the field."

"Ava, that's downright evil," Zoë said.

"We're Slytherins, aren't we?" Ava said, in a tone that clearly said she didn't agree with that statement whatsoever.

"Maybe," Zoë responded. "We'll see. That seems more like something Draco Malfoy would do. It's insane - he can pop up anywhere, at any time, no matter where you are. It's almost like he has a Time-Turner - probably from his dad, he talks about Lucius all the time."

Ava peeked through the hole in the door this time. Draco's face looked like that of an owl, perpetually shocked. She gave Zoë a thumbs-up, who returned it.

"We should try to find it some time," Ava said.

"That would be fun," Zoë said. "Well, I'm going upstairs."

"Me too," Ava said. "See you later."

"Ava, we share a room," Zoë said.

"Right," Ava said, motioning for them to stand up (man, her legs were fast asleep) and start walking upstairs. "Why we've been gossiping in the stairwell for so long, I really don't know."

They walked upstairs, hearing Draco mutter to himself about paranoia and Dementors and Time-Turners. As soon as they got into their room, Ava closed the door.

They waited a second.

Then they burst out laughing.

"Oh my God," Zoë said through wheezes. "I can't believe we just force-fed Draco Malfoy a prank from The Office!"

"I can't believe Mackenzie had that idea," Ava cried. "God, that was brilliant."

"Wait," Zoë said, growing slightly more somber. "Do you think Draco's going to go through with that prank - or should I say 'plank' - on Molly?"

"I don't know," Ava said. "I mean, he could."

They paused for a moment.

Then the laughter returned.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you said 'plank' instead of 'prank'!" Zoë said.

"I can't believe I said that it was a typo!" Ava said.

Draco sat in the common room, alone. He looked around to make sure nobody could see or hear, then reached around his neck. A golden chain found his hand, and he pulled it off, carefully looking at the pendant at the end.

It was gorgeous, having been handed down from generation to generation. As the only child of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, he had a lot of pressure - marry well, keep the pureblood ideology intact, and keep this trinket safe.

He had never really examined it that well. It was solid gold, with little molded shapes of plants on the sides. Curving lines, interlocking like tangled hair. Draco felt them with his fingers, looking at the center, the one part that wasn't gold.

It was an intricately designed hourglass, with glittering blue sand inside. Even just looking at it, Draco was almost hypnotized by the sheer power that emanated from the pendant.

He didn't know how Ava and Zoë had found out about it, but he knew he had to keep his family's Time-Turner safe. He wasn't sure why they had given it to him, especially this year, but he knew he couldn't let them down. There was too much at stake.

He looked up at the door to the girls' common room. He couldn't pull that prank on Molly - not at first. He had to make sure it would work before he could rely on it. He had to design a statue - or even a costume - that could fool even Dumbledore.

And then he'd try it on Harry.

Late that night, Zoë snuck into Draco's room. She had cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself, but she still felt like tiptoeing as she walked up the stairs, thinking about how ridiculous it was that girls could go up the boys' stairs but boys couldn't go up the girls'.

Draco's room, she found, was tidy. Everything had its place - much as Muggles and Mudbloods had their place in Draco's world, so did his clothes.

And right next to his bed, Zoë saw a golden pendant with an hourglass in the center.

Bingo, she thought to herself.

She drew her wand, whispering the spell, almost inaudibly: "Accio Time-Turner."

The pendant raised itself from Draco's bedside table and floated over to Zoë, who grabbed it with an invisible hand. Without a word, she fled from the room.

"Alright," Madison said, the others gathered around her in the girls' bathroom. "I should only be gone for a few seconds, but I feel like someone should keep watch."

"I probably should stay here," Fred said.

"I'll stay, too," Molly said. "Let me know what happens."

"Definitely," Madison said. "Any suspicion on Draco's end?"

Zoë shook her head. "He was fast asleep - should still be asleep."

Madison nodded. "You guys ready?"

They all nodded in return, putting a hand on Madison. Opa landed on her head, which made Molly giggle as she drew her wand.

"Good luck," Molly said.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps - loud, stomping, running, through the halls. The sound of the door to the bathroom opening.

"Go, go, go!" Stella said.

Draco's red face, eyebrows curled in a furious rage, stood in the doorway. "It was you!" he shouted.

Molly stepped in front of the group. "You're not getting through to them -"

"Stupefy!" he cried, and she fell to the floor, Fred catching her just before her head could hit the cold marble floor. He drew his wand to stop Draco, but the Slytherin had already passed by -

Madison started to turn the necklace. Draco lunged - Jonah cried out - Opa flew off Madison's head, startled - something was around Jonah's ankle - he tried to squirm away, but it was no use -

And the world around them all started to change. Molly and Fred vanished into thin air...people walked through, walked out, like those time-lapse videos over hours, or days, or months...or even years…

And finally it stopped. "When are we?" Ava asked.

"According to my calculations, we should be in Hogwarts circa 2004," Beatrix said.

Jonah finally pried his foot away from Draco's arm, which went limp in shock. "Wait," Draco said. "This is the...future? But...why would you want to come to the future?"

"Why would we tell you?" Stella asked. "I don't care how much you look like - never mind."

"Wait, who do I look like?" Draco asked.

"Wait, who does he look like?" Zoë whispered into Stella's ear.

"Julian from The Flash," Stella said. "They're both played by Tom Felton. But he definitely can't know that." She turned to Draco - "Nobody."

"Okay, you guys are definitely hiding something," Draco said. "But what is this? Why are we here?"

"We need access to someone who can take us somewhere," Madison said. "Show us something."

"Who's that supposed to be-" Draco began, before it started to rain inside the bathroom.

"That," Stella said. "Everyone huddle up - you, too, Draco, before I'm tempted to leave you behind."

Reluctantly, he grabbed onto Jonah. "Why is it always me?" Jonah muttered to himself as he closed his eyes, the ground rumbling.

When it stopped, Draco looked around. "Where are we now?" he asked.

Madison looked up at the building - a beautiful little suburban house. She didn't recognize it, but something in her gut told her what it was.

"My house," she said.

Thanks for reading! Here are this chapter's behind-the-magic fun facts:

1) The title is based on the song "Preparations" from Great Comet - it's a rapid-fire song preparing for a big undertaking for some of the characters.

2) If any of you haven't watched The Office: 1. You should. 2. The prank that's referred to in this chapter is actually from Season 7 of the American Office, and it's one of the funniest scenes in the show for me.

3) Fred actually wasn't in the original version of this chapter. I decided to have him keep watch after writing the next chapter, and I put him into this one.

4) Stella almost slips about The Flash! I'm very excited for Draco's upcoming storyline as his relationship with the time travellers becomes even more interesting.

5) Jonah gets a little echo of Neville's famous line. (By the way, that scene from Chamber of Secrets was on Freeform the other day, and I forced my parents, neither one knowing what was going on, to keep the movie on until after that line.)

6) I love the AVPM reference in this chapter. See if you can find it!

7) I can't wait for you guys to see the next part of Madison's storyline. This was almost entirely Madison's inspiration's idea, and I loved working with her to make this next part perfect.

Feel free to review, but please no negative reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!