Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

Chapter 1: Not A Time for Jokes

"The Great Pyramid of Giza is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and is believed to be the tomb for a pharaoh that lived in the second or third century..."

"Remind me again why we're here, Forge?" Fred Weasley yawned loudly, causing their tour guide to glare. His twin brother and partner in crime shifted his weight and rolled his shoulders before answering. He seemed stiff from walking and boredom, which made sense, as they had been on this tour for over two hours.

"Business." George replied, not sounding too thrilled about it. "The more we know about Egypt and its history, the better we can develop the Egyptian Escapades line."

"None of the other lines had such a boring tour guide though. Remember the bird from Italy? She was hot."

"True." George agreed.

"Here, we have the mysterious Stone of Tempus, which is said to have magical properties. Of course, this is just a myth, but it has astounded archaeologists for centuries..." It didn't help that all of the tours were done with and by Muggles. Fred perked up. He loved a good mystery.

He and George hung back from the group a little bit to observe the mysterious jewel. No bigger than Fred's fist, the jewel was a deep crimson color, and a white, ethereal light shined from inside of it. It was protected by a glass display case, but Fred and George knew their ways around that. "Don't touch that!" The tour guide scolded, reminding Fred of his older brother Percy.

"This bloke is really starting to get on my nerves." George grumbled to his brother out of the corner of his mouth.

"Agreed." Fred replied. "What do you say we ruffle his feathers a bit?"

"I like the idea already." George grinned.

"AND STAY OUT!" Fred and George were rather unceremoniously thrown out of the museum they had been touring.

The twins stood and dusted themselves off, grinning like madmen.

"Home, then?" George asked, seemingly satisfied with the mischief they had managed.

"Home." Fred agreed. With that, the twins ducked behind a nearby building, and the only sound you heard was the distinct pop! of Apparition.

Little did George know, Fred had taken more than information from their tour.

Hermione Granger, over the course of her life, specifically her time at Hogwarts, had become rather accustomed to surprises. Being associated with magic folk will do that, especially when those magic folk and Fred and George Weasley.

"Hermione!" Fred's voice carried through the room, and then he appeared directly in front of her, making her drop her tea in surprise.

"Fred! Look what you've made me do!" she complained. Taking out her wand, she fixed the mug and cleaned up the mess, but despite the easiness of the action, she continued to glare at Fred.

"I've got something to show you!" Fred sounded very excited about something. Eyebrow arched, she looked at him contemptuously. "It was just a cup of tea, relax." he muttered. She pursed her lips. "Anyway," Fred looked both ways, as though he had some huge secret. "I'm going to show you something that not even George knows about."

Hermione watched him expectantly, and he reached inside his jacket to reveal the Stone of Tempus.

"What is that?" Hermione asked, unsure whether to be struck by its beauty or mystified by its past, a past that the bookworm in her itched to investigate.

"A stone that George and I found while touring Egypt." Fred grinned. "Impressed?"

"You found this? Are you sure you didn't steal it?" Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

"Positive. I acquired it. Completely different." He nodded, still grinning. Hermione cast him a glance and then looked back at the stone.

"I wonder what it does." she said curiously. She reached her hand up. It was as if everything slowed down, but when she finally touched the cool surface, some peculiar things began to happen.

First, the stone began to warm, the light in the middle becoming brighter to the point of nearly being blinding. Once she had put her hand on it, Hermione found herself unable to take it back. The white light expanded from inside the stone to envelop them both in a strange, disillusioning vortex.

Hermione wanted to scream, but she found that she couldn't move her lips. Some gravitational force kept her from speaking, let alone screaming, and it felt as though the rest of her body was in a Full-Body Bind. She cast a panicked look at Fred, who was along for the ride, but found he couldn't speak or move either. They were floating in a strange sort of tunnel.

Are we moving backwards, or forwards? Hermione thought, darting her eyes around, as she couldn't move her head. Her body was being pulled somewhere, that much was clear.

Suddenly, they were dropped in the middle of what seemed to be a field. Hermione quickly recognized it to be the grounds of Hogwarts, which sent her mind reeling right away. They had been in her flat before, not Hogwarts.

"What in the world...?" Hermione muttered, getting her bearings and looking for Fred. The Weasley twin had stood where she was lying on her stomach. He was shielding his eyes from the sun, and looking toward the castle. "Fred, what exactly was that stone?" She asked him.

"Well, we...acquired it on a tour of Egypt. Our tour guide was exceptionally boring, though, so we didn't catch what the stone was. All he said was the stone of tempus, or something like that."

"Tempus? You're sure?" Hermione searched her brain for the English translation of the Latin word. Before Hogwarts, she had attended a prestigious Muggle primary school, and it was one of the few who didn't view Latin as a dead language. "Tempus...tempus means time! It's the Stone of Time!"

Fred's eyes went wide. "Do you realize what this means?"

"Not entirely." Fred said uncomfortably.

"We've been sent back in time." Hermione explained, blinking to try and comprehend what was coming out of her mouth. "Bloody hell!" she swore, surprising Fred.

"Didn'tknow you had it in you!" the prankster congratulated. Hermione stood and smacked him on the shoulder.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Fred Weasley!"

"It's always a good time for jokes." Fred argued. Hermione rolled her eyes. They were quiet for a few moments.

"I guess the first thing to do is figure out where we are."

"We're at Hogwarts." Fred said.

"Well, obviously." she said, glaring at him. "I meant what time period."

"Oh." Fred said intelligently. "Hey, look! There are some people coming. We should ask them!" He went off to do just that.

"Fred!" Hermione said exasperately. If asked what year it was, these people would probably think that he was mad. Of course he doesn't realize this. She went after him, her legs feeling strange after being locked in that strange time tunnel.

Where had the stone gone, anyway? Shouldn't they still be holding it? She didn't see it go anywhere on the ground when they landed. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen it since she first touched it. Perhaps it had gone back to wherever in Egypt Fred and George had found it? And how in the world were they supposed to get back to their own time, if her suspicions were proven true and they had gone back to the past.

"Hermione!" Fred barrelled toward her. "You'll never guess who I've just met!"

"Who?" Hermione asked, feeling tired and confused, but also curious. If Fred said some names she knew, maybe she could pinpoint what time period they were in.

"The Marauders!"

Hermione blinked. The Marauders? As in James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew?

Oh sweet Merlin. We've been sent back to 1977.

A/N: Tadaa! In case you're wondering, this story idea was not originally mine. A fanfiction member sent me a private message last night and suggested it. I really love the idea of time travel, and I find it hard to believe that Time Turners were the only way it was possible in Harry's world. You'll find out why they've been sent to 1977 later on.

Thanks so much for the idea, nsheldonb! I'll be sure to write it as well as I can and give the awesome idea justice!

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write!

Please review!

-Charmy