First, this is a Harry Potter fan-fiction. Two, I don't own any of this, except a few characters of our (my friend and I) imagination. Three, everything else belongs to the Queen of the Wizarding world, J K Rowling. Fourth, I hope you like it.
Edited: 07-05-2018
The Time Turner

Chapter 1:- The Time Turner

'The Time Turner is a device of immense magical importance, the name suggesting the very function: the turning of time. The Ministry of Magic is highly secretive and quite closelipped when it comes to these little articles but some inside sources have given us sufficient explanations and history to interest even the most menial of poltergeists.

In itself, the Time Turner, resembling an eccentric locket is not worth the second glance. The miniature hourglass however, is another story. Rumored to contain the Sands of Time from the ancient mountains of Persia and hence the powers of the Time Sorceress herself, the magic invested in so small a device is hardly imaginable.

The Time Turners can give the wearer the ability to go back in time, alter whatever he chooses to, and dismantle the whole future as world knows it. As all great powers however, there is a catch. Oftentimes there are created such conundrums that the user will never again be able to manifest his physical form in the past, or the present, or the future.

Some experts say that time cannot be changed; that although the wearer may try his hardest to change the past, it cannot be altered except that it was already changed by being willed to be changed. A paradox of the acutest kind, fundamentally speaking. Yet, opinions are mixed as to full affects of magic done while in a different timeline, or what happens when another timed version of a witch or wizard, comes face to face with them. The situations created in time, are as of yet, still unknown to the bounds of wizardry; and what is unknown is often dangerous.

Back in the day, the Time Turners were the work of a free market: that is, anyone with enough galleons could buy one. And then, it was not only the past you could visit, but also the future. This all changed with the Catastrophe of 1562 of Albert de Frust, who, due to improper and unrestricted use of his magically altered Time Turner, somehow managed to wipe out the entire year of 1562 from existence. Since then the Ministry has been unwavering in the restricted use of these devices and has put forth banns for owning one illegally. All devices must be registered with the Ministry and can be traced to the owner at any given time or moment. And all the Time Turners with the feature of turning the time forward, have been destroyed.

Let us now discuss the details that we have managed to get from the written records of some of the original users of these Time Turners from the 12th century...'

"Whoa!" He closed the book in wonder. It would be really cool if he got this 'Time Turner'. To look through your past, to know what the future would bring, it would answer so many questions. Just to imagine the kinds of problems it could solve!

... But it might bring new ones as well. You would never know what is going to occur since you already know exactly what's going to occur, so you can have the power to change what's going to happen but without knowing what is going to happen when you change the future. And what if you change the past to suit your needs but it makes the future oh-so-complicated that the past future, that now doesn't exist, was better in the first place?
Remus frowned. He had confused himself yet again. It was probably why the book wasn't allowed to students.

He decided to show this passage to the rest of the Marauders. Sirius and James would really like this, and Peter would like whatever the two of them did. Remus threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself again and quietly got out of the Restricted section of the library. Sneaking past the new librarian, a Miss Pince, who kept eyeing him with looks he didn't know what to make of, he was quickly out of the library and took off the cloak, all the while rushing to the Common Room with his 'borrowed' item.

"Felix Felicis," he said as the Fat Lady asked for the password.

Stepping through the portrait hole, he spotted James and Sirius playing chess near the fireplace. It was the holidays, and only the Marauders and a few second years had chosen to remain behind, so the Gryffindor Common room was mostly empty.

"Hey Padfoot, Prongs."

They did not respond, engrossed as they were in trying to make the other lose. Remus observed the game; James was smugly waiting for Sirius to make his move, as he was winning after a very long time.

Remus was in no mood for a pissed off Sirius, wanting instead some intellectual debate that was sorely lacking now that the other students were not here. Sirius and James, though two of the best pupils in their year, hardly cared about what they learned. Plus, the Time Turners really were fascinating. Thinking quickly, he moved Sirius's Knight to cooperate with his Queen to corner James's King.

"That's a check mate, you lose James," Remus said to James. True enough, with no move left for James to make, the Queen drew her sword and sliced his King's head off, throwing shards of marble everywhere. One piece hit the already irritated Quidditch Captain on the nose, but his exclamation of pain was lost in the jeering by Sirius's chess pieces.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Sirius exclaimed, hugging Remus as he did a victory dance like his pawns. "Thanks Moony, you're a real friend!" He high fived Remus.

"What are you talking about? This is cheating!" cried a very indignant James.

"How so?" said Sirius, pulling a mock innocent face. "It's friendship; and any way you weren't going to break Facinelle's record of the year."

"You... I'm gonna..." came the stuttering reply.

"What? Fight?" Sirius took up a boxing position he'd seen in that Muggle film.

"Oh, your gonna get some for sure."

"Guys calm down." Remus finally called out, putting himself between the two of them who were crouched down, ready for the attack.

"Oh, now what?" James frowned at him.

"Look here! I was looking for some interesting books in the library and look what I've found," he said placing the book in front of them.

James and Sirius looked at each other, then at the book, then again at each other with sly smiles, and finally at the expectant Remus.

"Oh Remus! I can't believe it, you found a book!" cried James with a shocked tone.

"And a real one too," added Sirius, "Oh just look how beautiful she is."

"You both are going to make a beautiful couple."

"I wish you a very happy life ahead, my friend."

"Oh kids, they grow up so fast," ended James wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

"Shut up you two!" Remus was annoyed at this point. Instead of shutting up, they both started laughing like idiots. "Just read what it says," he pleaded.

"OK!" James picked up the book and started reading in a chirpy high-pitched voice. "My dearest Remus. How I love and miss you. These years without you have been dreadful. I dream of our-" he was cut off by Moony.

"Enough!" Sirius laughed even harder, Moony took the book from Prongs and turned away to leave.

"Hey wait Moony. I'm sorry." Sirius apologized, hastily followed by James. "Let's read," said he, taking the book back. "The time turner..."

After twenty five minutes...

"I don't think this thing even exists." James concluded.

Remus argued, "Of course it does. Why else would they put this in a book?"

"Because this is a stupid old book from the restricted section, isn't it?" James looked at him; his eyebrows rose, "Don't tell me you took my Invisibility Cloak again! And for such boring things?"

"Well...um...you know..." Remus blushed.

Sirius smirked at him, and then a thought occured to him. He looked down at the book, 'Powerful Artifacts The Ministry Won't Tell You About', rereading the description of the Time Turner, and the physical features. An image came to his mind and he blinked and turned to Remus. "Hey Remus, do you have a picture of it?" he asked.

"You believe in this Padfoot?" James asked, getting a bit annoyed.

"Yes, I have it," Remus opened the book and pointed to a picture.

"Oh fishshshsh!" Sirius exclaimed and ran up to his dormitory without any explanation.

"Did he just say 'fishshshsh'?" Prongs just shrugged at Moony's question. They both looked towards the dormitories' staircase with bewildered expressions. After waiting for five minutes, which in itself was a record, they followed Sirius to their shared room.

The said room was a mess. How five minutes, could alter a perfectly tidy room that shone with the Hogwarts' elves' hardwork, into a clothing ravaged storeroom, was the testimony of Sirius Black's talents. He himself was sitting in the middle of the mess, pulling out item after item from his expansive trunk and shaking them, before throwing them behind him.

"Where is it?" Sirius muttered after tossing a broken quill behind him, right at James' face, splattering it with ink blots.

"Where is what?" James asked, irritated and quite unaware of the fact that his handsome face resembled a Dalmatian's.

When they received no reply, Remus moved closer and asked again, dropping the book, still open at the picture, on his bed. "Sirius, what are you looking for?"

"There!" Sirius pulled out an old, slightly bulging, frayed black sock, and shook it. A rusty, antique looking locket fell out. The dials were covered in dirt and grime, making the engraved runes undecipherable, and the hourglass in the middle, holding some golden sand, was cracked. A tiny emerald gem was encrusted in the middle, barely visible, but still adding a speck of colour to the dark object.

Sirius, after the deranged search, now calmly picked up the locket and put it next to the image in the book. Apart from the mentioned differences, it was quite clear what they were looking at.

"Oh fishshshsh!" Prongs and Moony hissed together.

"You can say that again," whispered Sirius.

"Oh fishshshsh!" they both said again.

"I didn't mean literally, idiots," muttered Padfoot.

"How do we use it?" shouted an over-excited James.

"But where did you get it?" Asked an incredulous Remus.

"Okay, his question first." James agreed.

"They're to be kept in strict Ministry regulation! With the strongest security!" Remus began rambling. "Not to mention, you're not of age yet, and you couldn't have broken into the Ministry, nobody can. Atleast no teenaged Hogwarts student! And certainly no outsider. Then... How did you get it? You didn't steal it from someone did you? That would be so wrong! But of course you didn't , as you didn't even know what it was! How can I forget that... But what if someone finds out we have a Time Turner and they turn us in?!"

"Chill out Moony," said Sirius, frowning. "You forget who I am... I wish I could."

Such a statement silenced his friends, and he sat down on the bed and explained, unconsciously twisting the locket.

"I found it in the attic, in Grimmauld's Place. I told you I hide up there right? I thought I might do up some digging and find something somewhat useful in that evil den." Sirius rolled his eyes then, his face becoming sombre. "They were on my tails constantly that last summer, my parents. Wanted me to salvage my mistakes by joining You-Know-Who. I knew I was more of a scapegoat. Or scapedog I guess." All three friends managed to laugh at this.

"Anyway, I found this in the attic, and it didn't do anything as far as I could tell and I was kind of experimenting on this and a bunch of other stuff when I ran away. Just remembered that I still had it."

"Well!" James exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood by clapping his hands, "some good did come heh? Let's use it!"

"Should we?" Whispered Remus cautiously.

"I think we should!" whispered Sirius.

"I don't think so." Remus whispered back. They were looking at each other intently.

"Guys," whispered James, "can you tell me why we are whispering?" He shut up with the glares they gave him.

"I say we use it!" Sirius snatched the locket and put it around his neck. "Come on!" James followed suit eagerly, and after a moment of hesitation, so did Remus.

"What do we do now?" demanded Sirius. Remus nervously replied.

"Um... Rotate it right for past and left for future. One rotation for one hour or day, depending on the type. The future ones were banned long ago, and although this one does look old, I can't be sure. I mean even the glass is cracked, its so old. Or worn. Maybe its not a good idea to use it, we should just-"

"Shut up Moony," Sirius deadpanned.

"I say future," said James holding his hand up.

"Future," agreed Sirius.

"Future," sighed Remus.

After checking the time, 5 o'clock in the evening and remembering it was 18th of December 1977, Sirius rotated the Time turner five times to left. Nothing happened. He rotated it again ten times. Nothing. Frustrated, he turned it as many times as he could until it was rotating itself. Again, nothing happened.

"Maybe if we just," said Sirius and took out his wand. He pointed it at the spinning locket and cast the spell, "Reparo!"

Remus watched with wide eyes as the locket sparked brightly, almost blinding them, and a burst of energy threw him on the ground. As he blinked rapidly and tried to stand, he was vaguely aware that the room was much cleaner than a few minutes ago. House elves are magic, he thought distantly.

"I told you it was junk," James muttered, as got up from the floor, rubbing his neck.

"You did no such thing. Something must be wrong," defended Remus.

"We have lost our minds that is what is wrong," said Sirius, "Let's give it to Dumbledore. He knows what to do with this kind of scrap."

"Yeah, like he always does. Maybe we'll get some reward, you know," James agreed. "Bring the locket Moony!" They both moved towards the door.

"There's a problem," Moony called from behind in a worried tone. He had a sneaking suspicion that something had gone horribly wrong.

They both turned to see him panicking.

"Where's the locket?"

"What do you mean where's the locket?" Sirius asked raising an eyebrow.

"I mean that the locket is not here! I told you it was a bad idea!" Remus yelled at Padfoot and Prongs.

"Calm down Moony," James put his hand on his shoulder, "take a deep breath in and let it out easy." Remus did as he was told and tried to calm his erractic breathing.

"Now, where did you put it?" James asked him as if he was a toddler trying to find his pencil. Remus who had calmed down, got back into panic.

"Why the hell are you asking me? He was the one playing with it!" he pointed at Sirius.

"Oh! Yeah. Sorry about that. Padfoot, where's the locket?"

"How am I supposed to know? It started spinning itself, remember?" Sirius spoke in his defense.

"But why did you have to cast a spell on it? Didn't you see it was barely holding together?" Replied Remus.

"Relax guys. It's got to be around here somewhere," said James as he started searching the dorm room.

They looked on and under the trunks, inside the trunks, under the beds, in and over the fireplace, under the cushions, on the desks and chairs but there was no sign of the time turner. At last they gave up and slumped back on their respective beds.

"Maybe that stupid thing transported itself to the future," muttered Sirius.

"You should get that book back to the library before Madam Pince notices that it's missing and Sirius and I will get back to our game of chess where Sirius was losing," suggested James to Remus.

"Incase you don't remember, I won!" Sirius told him making himself comfortable by laying back and adjusting his pillows.

"You cheated!" cried James.

"Doesn't matter." Sirius shot back.

"You-" James was about to say something when-

"Guys! Come on! We have got to see Professor Dumbledore."

"Why? What now Remus?" Prongs asked looking over at him, forgetting the fight he and Sirius were having just a second ago.

"The book is not here," Remus answered simply.

"WHAT! How can this be?" Sirius asked.

"That is exactly what I would like to know and the only person who can answer that is Dumbledore," said Remus and both James and Sirius got up.

They all made their way to the secret passage way that lead to the corridor right outside Dumbledore's office. Sirius still remembered the last time they went to Dumbledore's office a month ago, because of the prank they played on a Slytherin. They all had a quite interesting conversation with him.

Finally after fifteen minutes of walking, the reached the tapestry that opened up into the corridor to the Headmaster's office. They could hear voices before they even got out, and so, remained hidden until they could safely get out. From the edge of the tapestry, they could see a young man standing in front of the Headmaster's office, with Minerva McGonagall, their Transfiguration teacher.

"Alright professor, I'll see what I can do." The man turned and left the corridor. Something about that man reminded them of the beater of their team, Frank Longbottom.

When they looked back to the witch, Remus couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. McGonagall, as they knew her, was no longer a middle aged stern proffesor who terrorised her students by catching them unaware by turning into a cat. She was now a very elderly stern proffesser who terrorised her students by catching them not so unaware by turning into an elderly cat.

Remus's gasp of surprise however, was enough to make her feline ears perk up and she turned towards the tapestry with a graceful move quite unlike her age, and pointed her wand at them.

Before they could so much as blink, they were simultaneously tied up in Full Bodybinds, on the corridor floor, unable to move their bodies except their heads, with professor McGonagall standing above them with her wand pointed towards them.

"Who are you?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

"What's going on Proffesor?" Remus asked, panic setting in his eyes as he started to realize the implications.

"I asked who are you? You're not students here! Are you wearing disguise? What is the meaning of this? Sneaking near my office. Listening to conversations. I will not tolerate this!"

"Your office! Where's Dumbledore?" Sirius asked stupidly.

"Dumbledore?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow, her expression otherwise unreadable. "What do you want to say boy? Speak up!"

"He's the Headmaster, of course... Isn't he?" James furrowed his eyebrows as he replied.

There was a pause from McGonagall as she eyed them suspiciously. "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore hasn't been on the post for the past 8 years, not to mention in this world," the witch replied coldly, looking behind her for just a moment towards the gargoyles that guarded the Headmaster's office.

"As you seem to know who I am, would be so kind as to introduce yourselves?" McGonagall's voice remained cold, her eyes hard. She was on her guard though they still couldn't understand why.

"Remus Lupin."

"James Potter."

"Sirius Black...?"

The stern witch stared hard at them. She then waved her wand and a wave of dizziness came over them. It ended as soon as it started and they were left confused again. "Repeat."

"But why?" asked James, even more confused.

"Repeat your names."

"I am James Potter..."

"And I am Remus Lupin."

"Sirius Black...?"

This was the first time Minerva showed any expression. She frowned, then paled, then pursed her lips and let out a sound halfway between a grunt and sigh.

"How did you get here boys?" She finally asked them in a weary voice mingled with impatience.

"What do you mean here? Did we go somewhere? Were we supposed to?" Said Sirius.

Minerva McGonagall let a very impatient sigh. "For your first two questions, we may never know the answers if you don't stop interrupting, Mr. Black. As for the last, I'm almost completely certain that you were not supposed to do whatever it is that you did. Will anyone continue!"

"Umm... Remus found a book about Time Turner and brought it in the common room," started James nervously. "Sirius and I were playing chess and Sirius was losing," he looked over at Padfoot who glared at him.

Sirius continued from there, "When I saw the picture of the 'time turner', it looked familiar and then it occurred to me that I found something like in... Somewhere. I took it out and they were both similar except that the object looked old and rusty... and the rest you can figure out," Sirius ended.

"Professor, what year is it?" Remus asked cautiously, even though he was quite convinced he now knew the answer.

"Well Mr. Lupin, I would say welcome to the future," said Minerva, her expression softening a little because of Remus, "but it would be quite inappropriate at the moment since you all seem to have travelled to 2004 stupidly and may I mention, illegally."

"You mean to say it actually WORKED!" cried James. In his agitation he tried to stand, and as he was still in a Bodybind, he unceremoniously shifted himself ontop of Sirius.

"HEY! GETOFF!"

McGonagall sighed yet again and released her spell. The boys broke free and stood up. She gestured them to follow her and, quietly muttering the password, let them up to her office, through the circular stairway and the heavy door.

Can I retire early? She thought wistfully and wondered yet again at the ever broadening adventures of the Marauders.

There you have it folks! The edited new story's first chapter. Do let me know your thoughts!