James opened his eyes to find himself staring straight into the sun which was directly above him. That’s funny. Last I remember the sun was just rising, he thought as he propped himself up on his side, rubbed his eyes, and straightened his glasses. Looking around he could see that he was in a large open field, there was a road and some houses in the distance, but what really caught his attention were the objects around him. Closest to him was a crumpled paper, wet from the damp grass it had been laying in. He unfolded it and began to read:

Dear James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter,
I miss you all terribly. Headquarters has been so boring without you. Dumbledore stopped by a little while ago and told us that you are going to start a new mission tomorrow. He said that you all should be home in no time, but he wouldn’t tell us what you were doing. I guess it is for the best, just be careful.
The Death Eaters killed nearly twenty muggles in a town just outside of London. They think that Voldemort may have even been there.
I better wrap this up, another meeting is about to start. Stay safe!
Lots of Love,
Lily

James smiled at the signature then skimmed through the letter again. Sirius, Remus, Peter…Time… Muggles killed…Voldemort. He looked at the objects around him again with new understanding. The long chain of a time-turner hung loosely around his neck, the time-turner itself had broken off and was laying inches from his shoulder. Remus’ textbook lay open in the grass with pages bent and torn; Peter’s satchel was a couple of feet away. A few quills and James’s invisibility cloak were poking out; a bottle of ink was spilling out into the ground below. Next to the satchel was the map Dumbledore had given Sirius, it was similar to the Marauder’s map in that it could only be revealed by a certain spell. Dumbledore had asked them to charm it so it would show people, but with the complications in their last mission and Voldemort’s sudden outbreak of muggle killings, they had never gotten around to it. James recapped the ink bottle and repacked the satchel with the textbook, letter, and map. Carefully he removed the chain from his neck and put it in his pocket, then picked up the time-turner. He inspected it for cracks, aside from a few scratches it was in good condition. James could only hope that it would actually work, he could not test it out and leave his friends stuck in the past.

He saw movement far off in the field and instinctively reached for his wand but all he found was an empty pocket. His heart began the race, it has got to be around here somewhere, he thought as he checked all of his pockets. Dropping to his knees he felt around in the grass. Finally, his fingers wrapped around a familiar piece of wood. James stood back up with his wand outstretched and began to walk in the direction in which he had seen movement. Maybe it would be Sirius, Remus, or Peter, or even just a muggle… anyone but a Death Eater, he thought to himself as the distance between them grew smaller.

James could now see that it was a man nearly the same height as himself and that he was limping. He relaxed and began to lower his wand. But what if it’s a trap? What if this man is a decoy for the Death Eaters? He raised his wand again and ran through a list of every spell he could possibly need if a duel were to occur. As the gap closed and they could see each other more clearly James spoke, “Remus? Remus, is that you?”

“James? Oh thank God.” Remus stopped walking and began to rub his leg, looking as though he was in severe pain.

“What happened to you?” James did a few healing charms and Remus appeared to be much better.

“Thanks. Sirius and I are alright, my leg was twisted in some awful positions and Sirius drifted in and out of consciousness for awhile. We ‘landed’ not too far from here. When he was back to normal, we split up to look for you guys. He went into town and I went this way.”

“So you weren’t with Peter?”

“No, we assumed that he was with you.”

James shook his head, “Well, I guess we can just hope that he ran into Sirius.” They continued in silence as they walked through an alleyway into the village. Just before they stepped onto what appeared to be a main street Remus pulled James back.

“Look at them.”

“You’re right. We look nothing like them.” James performed a spell and his clothes changed from robes to a t-shirt and jeans, Remus did as well.

“Good idea, but that wasn’t what I meant. James, we’re supposed to be in a little urban town outside of London in 1979. This sure as hell isn’t 1979 and we are not just outside London.”

“How can that be?”

“I’ve read about time-turners. We should have ended up in the desired time period, not in some random village. Let’s backtrack a little,” Remus began to pace back and forth in the alley, deep in thought, “We were in Hogsmeade on our last mission when Dumbledore showed up and told us that we were going to start a new mission. He gave us the map, the textbook, and the time turner which he told us to turn it nineteen times-“

“Dumbledore probably set it up this way. You never know what he’s got up his sleeve.” James interrupted with a smile.

“Anyways, so this morning we got up and were about to leave when Peter showed up. He was supposed to be on a mission with Frank who was called back to the Order to help track Bellatrix. We let Peter join u-”

“That’s it!”

“Can you please stop interrupting me?” Remus said slightly annoyed.

“No, I’m serious. The time-turner was only meant for you, me, and Sirius. Not Peter. Maybe time-turners have maximum occupancies and-“

“Having too many people caused it to malfunction. That could be it.” James and Remus watched the locals pass by.

“What the f-”

“What’s wrong?” Remus cut James off.

“What the hell is he doing here? We don’t even know what year we’re in and he’s here!” James’s tone grew angry and his hand gripped his wand tighter.

“Who?”

“It’s Snape. The slimy git is here to!” James made a move as if to go after Snape who was walking down the street quickly towards an old pub, but Remus held him back. Snape attracted the strangest of looks with every step he made- after all, muggles weren’t accustomed to greasy men running around in long black cloaks with a ‘stick of wood’ in their hand.

“He’s a death eater James! Besides, if we are in a different time period then it could be his dad or an uncle or someone.” Just then a man brushed alongside Snape as he tried to weave his way through the crowds of people. When he brushed against him the left arm of Snape’s robes moved up, just enough for James to see the tail end of the Dark Mark. James turned to Remus and gave him a smile that clearly said I-told-you-so. “Fine! It is Snape! Since you know everything, tell me why he’s here!”

“Well it would help if I knew why I was here. Until then, I can’t really help you.”

James hastily dug through Peter’s satchel throwing its contents on to the dirty ground of the alley. He threw his invisibility cloak at Remus then repacked the satchel.

“We can’t follow him! That’s just asking to be killed!”

“Like he could kill us.” James took the cloak from Remus and put it over himself then held it out for Remus to go under it too. Reluctantly, Remus put on the cloak. They expertly weaved their way in and out of the crowds of people on the street finally reaching the old pub. Once inside James took a good look around, “Remus! Remus, I know where we are! This is the Leaky Cauldron!”

Remus looked around trying to figure how this could possibly be the Leaky Cauldron. Sure it was jam packed with wizards and when they were outside none of the muggles seemed to notice it, but they were supposed to be twenty miles outside of London. Not in the heart of it. James punched him, “There he is and he’s not alone.”

Snape now had his hood up and was sitting across from another hooded figure in the far corner of the room. They each had a firewhiskey in hand and were deep in conversation.

“Let’s get closer.” Remus went to protest but James grabbed his arm and pulled him just two feet away from Snape with their backs turned to him.

“-The Dark Lord fears that some of his Death Eaters are not as loyal as they say they are.” Snape hinted at the hooded man across from him.

“Severus-“

“No names! Someone could be listening!” Snape snapped back.

“Yes, of course. The Dark Lord is wrong. You know I am loyal. I am forever loyal to our Master!”

“You insult the Dark Lord?”

“No, no I didn’t mean it that way-”

“This is exactly what he is talking about! You know that he chose the two of us for this mission specifically. Me for my intelligence and loyalty and you because you wouldn’t mean anything to him if he lost you. Time travel is a tricky and dangerous thing. That’s why you are accompanying me on this portion of the journey and will be alone for the second part.”

“You’re making me travel forwards in time…alone? But it’s never been done before! I could die!”

“When you swore your loyalty to the Dark Lord and were branded with his Mark, you made a promise to dedicate your life to serving him. Are you going to back out now? I’m sure the Dark Lord will have something to say about that. Perhaps if you’re lucky he’ll just kill you, but you don’t deserve that honor. It’s very likely that you will just end up suffering a life filled with torture eventually to be killed by another Death Eater just as unimportant as yourself. I believe that we should get going.” James heard the sound of coins dropping on the table and chairs scraping across the floor. Not too long after the door to the Leaky Cauldron opened and closed. Remus took the cloak off of the two of them.

“So they’re on a mission too. I wonder what that could be.” James said as he stood up, “Let’s get a drink. I could do with a butterbeer.” They took their seats at the bar and ordered their drinks. It felt so good to have the warm liquid run down his throat. James smiled; it was exactly what he needed.

“Well, look what the kneazle dragged in?” An icy voice echoed behind them making James cringe.

“Hello dear Snivellus!” James slowly turned in his chair to face his foe.

“What brings you and the werewolf here?”

“I could ask you the same, but clearly you’re here on business for your dear Master. Oh Master! Master! I’ll do anything for you! I’ll give you my worthless life!” James mocked Snape whose now red cheeks stuck out on his pale skin. His anger rose and he reached into his robes for his wand, but James was just as fast. Snape sent a spell at James who ducked; the spell instead broke a bunch of bottles behind the bar. James sent a spell back at Snape suspending him upside down in the air.

“Doesn’t this bring back memories?” Snape held out his wand again; ready to cast a spell at James. “Expelliarmus!” Snape’s wand flew out of his hand and landed near the door of the pub. “So Snivellus, why did your Master send you here?”

“Did Dumbledore send the werewolf here to infect the people of the past, so in the future everyone will be one of his beloved half-bloods?”

“At least I’m not here to kill a bunch of muggles to help the evil wizard that you worship take over the world.” The two stared each other down communicating through legilimency. “Fine,” James let Snape drop from the air, “Accio wand!” Snape’s wand flew to its owner’s hand.

“Petrificus totalus!” James fell to the floor like a board, his wand landing a few feet away. Shit, James thought, he had expected them to duel properly, not for Snape to cheat. Then again, neither of them had ever played by the rules.

Remus yelled the counter-curse before Snape could cast another spell. James jumped up and stared helplessly at his wand, as if willing it to come to him.

“We’re working on picking off the Order one-by-one. The two of you and your friends head the list of the next off. I wonder what the Dark Lord would think of me if I completed half of that task right now.”

“You wouldn’t.” The murderous look in Snape’s eyes and the ferocity with which he was holding his wand told James that maybe he actually would kill them. James looked at his wand again, if only he could distract Snape so he could get it. Then he had another thought, maybe I could fight him. It wouldn’t be hard to beat him in a fist fight.

Snape let his anger fill him and he yelled out a spell. Seconds later Remus was laying on the floor, blood was pouring out of the large gash that ran from the side of his face all the way down his left leg. James punched Snape in the nose and ran over to grab his wand. By the time Snape had recovered from the hit, James had his wand pointed in his face.

“I’ll make you pay! Cruci-”

“Expelliarmus.” James looked a Remus, he could not believe it: Remus had disarmed him. “Don’t. Just let him go.” Snape ran out of the pub, holding his bleeding nose and James sprinted over to Remus’ side.

“Is anyone here a healer?” James called, he tried a few charms himself but none of them were strong enough.

“I am.” An old witch came over; she pulled a vial out of her bag and poured its contents down Remus’ throat.

“What is that?” James asked.

“Don’t worry. It is just a little something to stop the bleeding.” She was right; no more blood was coming out of Remus’ wound. The old woman launched into a complicated series of charms, James tried to follow what she was doing but her hands were moving so fast it made him dizzy. The door to the pub opened but James didn’t notice he just wanted to make sure his friend was okay.

“What the hell did you do to yourself Moony?” Sirius kneeled down next to James. He looked tired and worn.

“It was Snape. We got in a bit of a fight and…” James trailed off.

“Did you get him back?” James looked down at the floor.

“Well, I was going to… um. See I was going to…”

“Yes…?” Sirius looked at his friend impatiently.

“I was going to… oh, alright… I was going to use the cruciatus curse.”

“I thought you said you’d never use an unforgivable curse. That you hated all forms of Dark Arts.”

“I do! There were so many other things I could have done.” James looked mad, not at Sirius but at himself. He had seen what evil that curse could do, but Snape, as always, got to him.

“It’s alright, mate. Everybody loses it sometimes.” This was clearly not what James wanted to hear. He refocused his attention on Remus and the healer. She was now putting on a few more bandages and sewing his shirt back up.

“He’ll be fine. That was a nasty curse whatever it was. I’ve never seen anything like that.” She got up and made her way back over to a table where an old man, presumably her husband, was waiting for her.

~*~

Remus swore he would be fine as he stood hunched over unable to stand up straight. He was barely a foot away from where he had landed. The short journey to where he was now had required a lot of pain, very slow movements, and a great deal of help from his friends. James and Sirius knew that he was too weak to do anything so they got a room upstairs. Besides, they could really have used the rest.

It was now what James guessed was five o’clock in the morning. He was blinded by the light of the rising sun that was flooding in through the rips in the curtains. As he rolled on his side to escape the sun he felt something crunch beneath him. James groaned and fished his now bent glasses out from under him. He bent them back and placed them on his face. Sirius and Remus were both still asleep. There was a faint snoring coming from Sirius’ bed, just as he always had; even in the early years at Hogwarts. James pulled off his thin blankets and rolled off his cot and onto the floor. There were only one bed and two bed rooms, so they got a two and James slept on a cot. It really wasn’t that bad- after a few magical improvements. He stood up and put on his shoes, he was still wearing the same clothes from the day before. Grabbing his invisibility cloak and wand he left the Leaky Cauldron.

Under the cloak James had always felt peaceful and as though he could just take a break from the world. It wasn’t uncommon for James to be out wandering the halls of Hogwarts at early hours of the morning, just as he was now in this strange town. He walked down the middle of the empty street, not sure where it led to. Not that he really cared, anyway. James looked in a store front window. There was a beautiful bouquet of flowers filling a large vase in the center of the display. He smiled when he saw a bunch of lilies and remembered him and Lily’s second date. It was during their seventh year at Hogwarts and James could not believe how lucky he was. For the past few years all James had wanted was for Lily to like him. When she agreed to a date he was shocked, but nothing surprised him more than after that first date when she said, “So what are we doing next weekend?” On that second date they went to Madam Puddifoot’s teashop, after that they went on a walk through Hogsmeade. James stopped a picked a lily just like the ones in the vase and handed it too Lily. She gave him a kiss and James never forgot that flower. A gust of cold wind blew nearly blowing the cloak off and bringing him back to reality.

After taking one more look at the flowers he continued on down the road. The storefronts turned into houses and James finally saw another person. It was the old healer; she was watering the flowers in her garden and talking with her husband. As James passed he could hear that she was talking about him and Snape, recounting every detail of what had gone on in the Leaky Cauldron the day before as though her husband hadn’t been there. James remembered what she had said, “I’ve never seen a curse like that before.” It made him realize just how lost he was. James didn’t know when that spell was created but like most other spells he assumed that it was pretty old. He kicked a pebble and it hit a wall causing it to skid down an alley. James looked down the alley. He saw four hooded figures a good ways down. They removed their hoods and James stumbled back in surprise. Snape and Avery were standing behind Lord Voldemort who was talking to the fourth person. The fourth person was short and chubby, and he looked nervous and afraid. The fourth person was Peter Pettigrew. James turned and ran back down the street. He stopped, pulled off the cloak and sat down under a tree. I can’t have just seen that. I must be hallucinating, James thought as he leaned back against the tree.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he remembered was Sirius shaking him yelling, “James! James! Wake up!” When James opened his eyes Sirius breathed a sigh of relief and pulled him onto his feet. “What were you doing?”

“Just walking…” James said, still half asleep.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re crazy?”

“A few people.” Sirius laughed and pushed James in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. They walked by the alley and James stopped. He stood staring down it for a minute.

“What are you looking at?” Sirius turned his head in all different directions trying to see whatever James was seeing.

“Must’ve been a dream…” James said out loud to himself.

“You definitely are crazy.” James laughed and they kept walking. Sirius turned right down a side street.

“Isn’t the Leaky Cauldron the other way?” James stopped walking.

“No, it’s this way! Come on!” James looked down the street in the direction that he thought was correct, then in the direction that Sirius was headed. He followed Sirius, Maybe he is right.

The farther the pair walked the less like London their surroundings looked. There were fewer stores and houses were more spread out.

“Uh, Sirius? I don’t think this is right.”

“It has to be. I know it is!” Sirius’ voice showed signs of uncertainty, but he continued to lead the way as they followed the curve in the road. “It can’t be…”

“What’s wrong?” Sirius didn’t need to answer because James saw them too. Avery, Snape and Voldemort were standing on the edge of the field in which the Marauders had first arrived. James searched for Wormtail but he was no where in sight. He breathed a sigh of relief; maybe he had just imagined that. “Let’s get closer.”

Hiding behind the large rocks and occasional trees that lined the field they got within hearing range.

“You assure me that this will work, Severus?”

“Yes, Master. I tested it myself just before you arrived.” Snape maintained eye contact with Voldemort while next to him Avery looked everywhere but at the Dark Lord. Instead, he scanned the area around the field.

“And without it?” Voldemort looked expectantly at Avery, whose eyes went wide as he shifted his gaze from a spot dangerously close to where Sirius and James were hiding, to the ground in front of him. “Well?”

“I haven’t tried it.” Anger flashed on Voldemort’s face.

“Then what are you waiting for? Severus.” He held his hand out to Snape who pulled a time turner out of his pocket and handed it to Voldemort. Avery held out his shaking hand and took it from Voldemort. “If you’re not back in the next minute I’ll assume that all did not go well.”

Avery hesitantly turned the time turner and disappeared.

“Do you think he will return, Master?”

“I wouldn’t bet on it.” A strange grin played at the corners of his mouth as a look of amusement spread across his face. “The potion?” Once again, Snape fished through the pockets of his robes, this time pulling out a small vial of purple liquid. “So you claim that this potion will make time travel to the future possible, because clearly it’s not possible on its own.” Voldemort nodded in the direction where Avery had stood before and took the vial.

“I am positive that it works.” Snape explained the finer points of the potion to Voldemort.

“I didn’t know that there was a potion for time travel.” Sirius whispered to James.

“There isn’t. It must be another ‘Snape original.’” Back at Hogwarts Snape was known to earn extra points in Potions for inventing potions. James looked at his watch. “It’s been four minutes.”

“You know what this means: We’re stuck in the past.”

“Unless we get some of that potion.” James focused on the vial in Voldemort’s hand. Snape pulled two more time turners out of his pocket and pointed to something on one of them. He said something that James couldn’t hear then handed it to Voldemort.

“I’ll see you back home.” Voldemort downed the vial, turned the time turner, and then he disappeared. Snape pulled another vial out of his pocket.

“Let’s get out of here.” Sirius began to walk back to the side street; he lost his balance and fell into one of the trees causing the branches to move noticeably. Snape’s head whipped around to where Sirius stood barely hidden.

“Stupefy!” Snape called and Sirius stopped moving.

“Enervate!” Sirius unfroze as James dropped his invisibility cloak and came running over to him. James was now completely exposed and Snape came at him with his wand at the ready. Snape began firing spells at them. Moments later the three of them were engaged in an intense duel. The different colors emitted from their wands would certainly have woken the muggles in the area, but none of them seemed to care. Snape dropped the vial and Sirius lunged for it. Before Sirius could reach it Snape called out a curse that neither James nor Sirius had ever heard before, causing Sirius to collapse in pain. “Accio potion!” James called just as Snape went to pick it up. It was inches from James’s fingertips when Sirius screamed out in a cry of pain. James let the vial drop next to him and he ran to Sirius’ side. Snape pulled another vial from his pocket. He smiled at James as he downed it and turner the time turner, disappearing from sight.

James tried every spell he knew trying to stop the pain Sirius was in but nothing helped.

“Nothing will stop it.” Sirius said when the pain died down. He was breathing heavily.

“There has to be something!” James was starting to panic.

“It was dark magic. It can’t be cured.”

“You don’t mean- no! I can’t!” James stood up and took a few steps away from Sirius.

“It’s the only way!” James looked at his best friend who began twisting around as the curse sent another more violent surge of pain through his body. He couldn’t do it. He knew he couldn’t.

“I can’t!” Sirius let out another cry of pain.

“I need you to. Please, stop the pain.” Tears welled up in James’s eyes.

“I- I- I…” James choked on his words. He looked away from Sirius; he couldn’t bear to see his friend suffer, but he knew he couldn’t do it.

“James-” before he could finish his sentence the curse strengthened again and sent a new and harsher wave of pain through Sirius’ body. James shook his head trying unsuccessfully to ignore the screams. He couldn’t let him suffer. He swallowed hard and looked at Sirius: he knew had to do it. He had to end it.

“A-A-Are you sure?” His voice shakier than it had ever been before.

“Yes.” James closed his eyes as he recalled every hateful thought that had ever crossed his mind. He took any bottled up anger from the past that he had had toward anything or anyone. Sirius let out another scream of pain and James raised his wand. His arm shaking he pointed his wand at Sirius.

“Avada Kedarva!”

And the screaming stopped.

James opened his eyes and fell on his knees at the side of Sirius’ body. What have I done? He let the tears fall freely as he tried to figure out what he would tell everyone back home. Then he remembered Remus. James sprinted back to where they had been hiding; never taking his eyes off Sirius as he picked up his invisibility cloak. He draped it over Sirius’ body and arranged some twigs in a pattern to remind his of Sirius’ exact location. “I’ll be right back. I promise, Padfoot,” James whispered.

He took off running as fast as he could back to the Leaky Cauldron. More people were out than there were before making his journey back a bit more difficult. But none of that mattered, he had to tell Remus. He took the stairs two at a time until he reached his floor. The door was unlocked and he burst in startling Remus who was flipping through the history textbook. Remus slammed the book shut, “What’s wrong?” He got out of bed, walking much better than he had the night before, and went to James’s side.

“I killed him.” Remus’ eyes went wide in shock. James breathed heavily from his run as he leaned against the wall for support.

“Who?”

“Sirius.” The room went silent. Remus just stood there. He had so many questions to ask but he knew it wasn’t the right time. He wasn’t entirely sure that he was ready to know answers right now anyway.

“Where is he?”

“The field.”

“Let’s go.” Remus retrieved his wand from a bedside table and led the way out of the Leaky Cauldron. From that point on James led in silence, keeping two feet in front of Remus the whole way. He was deep inside his own mind; the thoughts were spinning so fast it was just noise. One side of his brain kept repeating one thought over and over: I just killed my best friend. The closest thing I ever had to a brother. The other side tried to calm him and reassure his that it was the best thing he could have done: He asked for it. He would have suffered until the curse became so powerful it killed him. It could have taken hours of torture, but you ended it and saved him. James tried to push all of his thoughts to the back of his mind, to think of anything but that. As they turned down the side street James knew that these efforts were futile.

They reached the field and Remus broke the silence, “I don’t see him.” James ignored him and continued out across the field. Finally, kneeling down in the grass he reached out and grabbed what looked like air. Seconds later the cloak was removed and Remus gasped at the sight of Sirius’ body. His eyes scanned the lifeless body in front of him; they looked away suddenly when they reached his face. He closed his eyes and tried to forget the image but it wouldn’t go away. The handsome face would now forever be morphed into a pained and tortured expression.

Remus was interrupted by a spray of dirt that covered him from the knees down. He looked to his left and saw James digging with his hands in the dirt. Remus conjured two shovels with his wand when he realized what James was doing.

They worked in silence until the hole was deep enough nearly an hour later. Together they levitated Sirius and lowered him into the hole. Then they magically covered his body with dirt. Remus wanted to stay a little longer but James couldn’t wait to leave. He wanted to get out of this place. He needed to go home. As he turned to begin walking back into town he noticed a small vial on the ground. Examining the vial more closely he remembered what it was.

“What’s that?” Remus asked as he looked curiously at the purple liquid.

“It’s a potion that’s supposed to make time-travel through the future possible. Snape created it and it’s the only hope we have of getting home.” James explained quickly as Remus took it from his hands.

After careful inspection Remus spoke, “Snape didn’t create this. Well he altered it slightly, but still he didn’t create this.” James looked at his skeptically but let him continue. “Many years ago an old wizard was playing with time turners and got stuck, as we are, in the past. This wizard concocted a potion that he thought would let him go back home safely.”

“Did it work?”

“No. Though several attempts have been made to perfect the potion since then. The ideal potion is exactly this color but no one has been able to match it-“

“-until now.” James finished his sentence for him.

“If only I had the instructions for the potion…” Remus said bitterly, “I think I have an idea as to what it needs.”

“And why didn’t you tell us any of this before?”

“Because I just read it in that book. It said that nearly every possible ingredient has been used in it, but I was thinking; maybe it works like a polyjuice potion. Maybe you need something that relates to the future that you long to rejoin.”

“That is genius, Moony. But wait… we don’t need to make any more potion. We have it right here.” James pointed to the vial in Remus’ hands.

“I assume that this is enough for just one person and we are two people. You do the math.”

“Oh…well, then there has to be instructions somewhere.” James began to pace trying to think of places, “The healer! Healers are supposed to know all sorts of weird potions and things.”

“It’s not likely. These instructions are extremely rare. But, we have no other option.”

“Let’s go.” James started to jog, but slowed to a walk when he remembered Remus’ still recovering injuries.

“Do you even know where she lives?”

“Actually, I do.”

“I don’t want to know how you found that out.” The pair laughed for the first time since they arrived in this place.

Within ten minutes they were knocking on the old healer’s door. She opened it and smiled, “Hello! How are you feeling?”

“I’m doing much better.”

“That’s wonderful! Come in, come in!” She ushered them into a living room that was cramped with books. Remus smiled in delight at the sight of them. “How can I help you?”

“We were wondering if you had any information about time traveling potions?” James asked, he didn’t really care what this woman knew about where they were from. He just wanted to get the hell out of that period.

“I had a feeling you weren’t from here. What year are you from?”

“1979.” They replied in unison.

“You’re a long way from home, but you came to the right place. My husband used to be a potions professor at Hogwarts. Do you know that place?” She saw the smiles on their faces and took it as a yes. “Ever since he left there he’s turned our basement into his own personal potions laboratory. I’m sure you can find whatever you need down there.”

“Thank you.” They said as she led them down the stairs into the basement. They passed by a room where her husband was stirring a cauldron, “It’s best not to disturb him when he’s with his potions.” They continued down the long corridor until they reached a room. When she opened the door all James and Remus could do was stare in disbelief. It was covered floor to ceiling in scrolls. “Here you are. Let me know if you need anything.” Then she walked out of the room.

“This is going to take days.” Remus took a scroll of the rack.

“Years.” James began reading through scrolls rapidly. It was impossible for them to remember which ones they had already read and what exactly the potion they were looking for would be named. They spent the next twenty minutes rummaging through the scrolls, skipping from section to section. They reached the far back wall, their backs facing the door, when they heard a loud bang behind them. James had his wand at the ready in record time.

“Wormtail! You nearly gave me a heart attack.” He put his wand back in his pocket and threw some scrolls at Peter. “Help us out. We’re looking for time traveling potions.” Without any questions Wormtail began rummaging through the scrolls with them.

It had been nearly four hours and the boys were about to give up, when Remus pulled a particularly large scroll from the shelf. James groaned to himself, that better not be it. If it is we’re going to be here forever. None of them had ever seen a scroll that big. Remus took a breath and didn’t let it out until he saw the title of the potion, “This is it!” Remus let the scroll unroll and it was a lot longer than they had ever thought it would be.

“We’re never going to finish a potion that long.” James said losing hope. He just wanted to get the hell out of here and no one blamed him. After the events that morning everything about this town sickened him and filled him with guilt. He knew what he had done was for the best but it still pained him to think about the look on everyone’s faces back home when he told them of his… passing.

Remus’ eyes flew back and forth along the old parchment. Then smiling he looked at his friends, “We have nothing to worry about. See?” holding the parchment up to James’s face, “The potion is relatively short. The reason it’s so long is because it has all of the failed ingredients on it.” Sure enough, over two-thirds of the scroll was covered in scribbled out words

“That’s good… but where will we get the ingredients.” James said oblivious to the obvious answer.

“We’ll help you with that.” The three of them jumped at the voice. Hands gripping their wands they looked at the door. James let out a nervous laugh at himself when he saw who it was.

“I hadn’t heard any crashes in awhile. I figured you either died or you found it, so I came to check.” The old healer was standing there. She looked surprised, not that we had found it but that the room was not ripped to shreds. They weren’t exactly the neatest with the ancient scrolls. As time went on they grew anxious. This caused “avalanches” of scrolls to fall every so often as they eagerly tore through them.

“Thank you.” Remus said rereading the instructions for the potion, “The ingredients aren’t too complex and the brewing time is only an hour.”

James looked at him skeptically; a potion this important couldn’t be that simple. He knew potions that did absolutely nothing of significance that took weeks to make. Remus saw his expression and held out the scroll to him. Satisfied, James looked back up at the woman, “Lead the way."

She brought them back to the room with the cauldrons. Her husband was now cleaning up the contents of his last potion; filling large vials and disposing of the extra. He didn’t notice when they walked in. “Brian? They’re ready.” He nodded and took the scroll from Remus. The woman went upstairs and the man began pulling ingredients from the shelves of a large cabinet. Within minutes there was a fire under the cauldron and some ingredients were already brewing.

“This potion is easier than I expected…” He said trailing off into his own thoughts. James had never heard is voice. It was strong and commanded respect, it was easy to see how he had been a professor. Especially, if he had students like the Marauders. James smiled at the last thought and remembered his mischievous activities. The good old days… he would give anything to return to his seventh year at Hogwarts. It had all been so perfect: the war hadn’t hit too close to home, Lily finally liked him, and he had his friends, Moony, Wormtail, and… Padfoot. He forced himself to think of him. It wasn’t easy, the picture of him that morning was forever burned into his memory, but he knew that it would be an insult to his memory if every time he thought of him he would picture a pale, lifeless corpse. No, Sirius was to vain for that James laughed, he guessed that it was out loud because every one turned to look at him.

“So how is Hogwarts in 1979?” Brian looked up at the boys. James was surprised, though he knew it was stupid. He should have known that the woman would tell him everything.

“Fantastic.” James said, a grin he had been famous for at Hogwarts spread across his face as he looked at Remus and Peter.

They swapped Hogwarts stories while the potion brewed. Even the woman had joined them, adding in details that Brian had purposefully left out, making the stories much more enjoyable. Too soon the potion was nearly complete.

“It shouldn’t be long before its done brewing. Have you an idea as to what the final ingredient is?”

“Yes.” James said still trying to figure out what he would put in his. A memory from home… of home… why you want to go back…That’s it! James knew the perfect item. He fumbled through his pockets searching for something.

“What are you looking for?” Remus said, fairly amused by his friends’ sudden and strange behavior.

“Money.” He said almost incoherently.

“It’s in the satchel back in the room. I’ll go with you. I have to get something too.” The pair left the healer’s house, moving at a very fast pace.

They reached the room and James tore threw the satchel happily pulling out a knut. “What did you need?”

“I don’t really have anything that reminds me of home. And the only thing I could really think of-“ Remus was looking at the floor nervously, “is the letter. I couldn’t think of anything else, unless you want it, she is my friend too, and I do miss her, and I want to see her, and I think that will work, unless you want it.” Remus mumbled on. Truthfully, James hadn’t even thought of the letter. He thought of something else, something better.

“Take it.”

“What?” Remus looked confused.

“I have another idea. We should go; the potion should be finished by now.” Remus pocketed the letter, then they made their way through the crowds on the street until James reached a certain store. He looked in the window and smiled before going inside. Remus stayed outside, not really sure what his friend was doing. When he came back out the door he was holding a flower. A flower that Remus remembered very well.

They entered the healer’s house; she had left the door unlocked for them. From the moment the walked through the door they knew something wasn’t right. They heard a crash and a cry of pain from downstairs. James and Remus simultaneously grabbed their wands and ran downstairs. What they found was something they certainly weren’t ready for. James had expected to find a cauldron tipped over in clumsiness, or ingredients crashed to the floor caused by Wormtail’s usual clumsiness. On a darker side of things James thought of Snape or even Voldemort returning. This was the furthest thing from his mind.

“Wormtail? What the hell are you doing?” James yelled; he was thoroughly confused. Peter was standing over Brian, his wand pointing at him. Brian lay terrified on the floor clutching two vials. James looked around trying to find the third one. He advanced across the room toward where Wormtail was. He heard a crunch of breaking glass under his foot. He panicked as he looked at the floor.

“It was already broken before you stepped on it.” Remus said, sensing James’s fear. He was freeing the healer from whatever invisible ropes that were holding her back in the corner of the room. James looked relieved but only for a moment. He turned back to Wormtail.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Wormtail?” He repeated his question.

Wormtail ignored him, “Give me the vials.” There was something about his voice that sent chills down James’s spine. This was not the Peter he knew. Then something in Wormtail’s hand caught James’s attention.

“Peter, why do you have a time-turner? Where did you get that?” James was growing more confused by the second.

“He’s with them! The man you fought with in the Leaky Cauldron. They have a mark.” The healer said from behind Remus.

“Lift up your sleeve, Wormtail!” James demanded.

All eyes were on Peter as he lifted his left sleeve. A fresh looking mark was etched into his skin. The snake’s tail was moving. He was one of them. He was a traitor.

“Why?” James growled at Peter. He was furious; the only thing James hated more than the Dark Arts was a traitor. Clearly, Peter now fit into both categories. “I asked you why. Why give up your friends? Why fight a battle on the losing side?”

“See that’s where you’re wrong. I’m not on the losing side. You are. My mission is nearly complete.” Peter said with charisma and confidence that James did not know he possessed.

“What mission?” He knew that it was exactly what Peter wanted him to ask, he was playing into Peter’s game.

“See for yourself.” He sent a piece of parchment flying at James. He read it. It was strikingly similar to what he was trying to do: Perfect a way to travel forward in time. There was a line though that one. Snape had finished that part on his own. It was the next part that scared James. Its words were simple, but the message clear: Kill your friends. The four of them.

“Four.” James could barely say it in more than a whisper.

“Sirius- you’ve already taken care of that one,” He said smugly, “Remus, yourself, and of course, Lily.” James stared at Wormtail. He had known all along that Lily’s position in the Order put her at the same risk as James. If anything, she was in greater danger because of her blood status. Even though he had always known this, it sounded so much worse when stated the way Wormtail did. James couldn’t let her get hurt, not by this evil worshipping traitor. He raised his wand to Wormtail.

“What’s the flower for?” Wormtail said laughing at the lily in James’s left hand, completely ignoring the wand that was being pointed directly at him.

“Why do you care? I’m sure your Death Eater friends have already told you.”

“Oh! I get it and yes, they have. You think that this is all you need to add to the potion and you can get home safely.” A look of amusement was still on Peter’s face; he relaxed his position and put his wand at his side. Brian seized the opportunity and began to slide along the floor away from Wormtail. Not removing his eyes from James, Wormtail forcibly pointed his wand back at Brian who stopped moving.

“Is there more to it then?” Remus spoke up.

“There is one more part, but I don’t think I should tell you. That wouldn’t exactly go along with my mission. But, I will show you.” Wormtail pulled a time-turner from his pocket and held it up so everyone could see. At first glance it looked the same as the one in James’s pocket. On closer inspection it was easy to see that the change was in the color of the sand: Wormtail’s was green and James’s was blue. He dropped the time-turner while trying to shove it into his pocket. James nodded at Remus, “Expelliarmus!” Wormtail’s wand flew out of his hand. “Accio Wand!” The wand went to Remus who gave it to the healer. Seeing this as his chance, Brian got up and ran to his wife’s side; dropping a vial along the way. By now Wormtail had the time-turner safely in his pocket. He pounced on the vial trying to get it before someone with a wand could. He overshot his jump and his leg brushed the edge of the glass sending it rolling in James’s direction. James picked it up and put it in his pocket. He was surprised to find that there was something in it already. He could have sworn he put the time-turner in his other pocket. James pulled out the object: it was another vial.

After careful thought James spoke, “Now there are three vials. That’s enough for all of us. It was Snape’s so I’m sure there is a piece of Voldemort’s cloak in it or something. That’s not the reason we’re going home, but clearly it’s why you are. I’ll give you the vial,” Remus shot him a look questioning what he was doing. James ignored it and continued, “If you tell us what else we need to do.” It was the only option they had in getting Wormtail to tell them.

“Fine!” Wormtail said without any thought. This action reminded James of what Snape had said in the Leaky Cauldron about disloyal Death Eaters. If Snape was right then Wormtail should be Voldemort’s next victim.

James pulled his time-turner and the chain from his pocket. “Reparo!” The chain and time-turner reattached. He looked at Wormtail, “What’s the spell?”

Peter walked over to the woman and help out his hand. She tightened her grip on his wand and pulled it closer to her body, she looked up nervously at James. “Give it to him.” She handed him his wand and he walked over to James. Remus followed with his wand pointed at Wormtail. He placed his wand on the time-turner and said the spell. The sand in the time-turner turned green, Wormtail held his up so James could compare them; they were a perfect match. Wormtail held out his hand to James who gave him the vial. “Get out of here.”

Wormtail downed the vial and turned the time-turner twice, then disappeared. Brian walked over to Remus and handed him the other vial.

“Thank you both for everything. We really must be going.” James said putting the time-turner around his neck and heading for the stairs. Brian picked up the scroll with the instructions for the potion and handed them to Remus.

“Keep it.” Brian said.

“Good luck!” The woman called as she followed them up the stairs.

James grabbed his invisibility cloak then walked out the door. He held out the chain to Remus. “We have to get the rest of our stuff from the Leaky Cauldron.”

“Oh. Right.” James said disappointedly as he led the way down the path. They went in silence until they reached the pub. It was unusually quiet, there was only one person sitting at the bar. The barkeeper stared at them as they entered. Then James had a sudden thought, “Do you think that’s why he sent us here?”

“What’s why? And I thought that getting here was an accident.”

“Maybe he knew what Voldemort was up to and he wanted us to find out how to travel through time.” They neared the stairs next to the bar that led up to their room.

“Perhaps. But that still doesn’t explain why we’re here.”

“Maybe we were never going to save those muggles. Maybe we were coming here all along.”

“Then why wouldn’t he just tell us that?”

“I don’t know. Dumbledore is a strange man.” James said laughing.

“Excuse me. Did you say Dumbledore?” The barkeeper said.

“Yes.”

“I had a feeling it was you.” Remus and James exchanged a glance while the barkeeper searched under the bar for something. He emerged a minute later holding a wooden box, which he handed to them, he also had a photograph. “Albus told me to give that to the people in the picture. That’s you right?” He held out the picture to James and he nodded, “He also said to tell you that two turns should do it.”

James took the box and replied, “Thanks.” They took off up the stairs eager to see what was inside. They opened the door to their room and placed the box on the bed. James opened the lid; inside there was a letter and a time-turner. James pulled out the letter and read out loud to Remus, “Dear James, Sirius, and Remus. First, I would like to tell you that I’m sorry I never told you where you were going, but I wasn’t sure if you were going to involve Peter in this. He has been acting strangely and I fear his involvement with Lord Voldemort and this is one mission I did not want leaked to him. By now I assume that you have already run into Lord Voldemort and whatever Death Eaters he brought along with him. I also hope that you have discovered Lord Voldemort’s way of traveling through time. I have experimented with my own way, which is how I was able to bring this box to my good friend the barkeeper and return home safely. If you were unable to get his way then this time-turner is ready to go. Just two turns should do it. Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore.” James put the letter back in the box and pulled out the time-turner. He handed it to Remus, “I think we’ve put the other one through enough. You take this one and I’ll use the other.”

“Why can’t we both use this one?”

“Someone should try out this one to see if it works.” James packed the satchel with the textbook, the wooden box, Dumbledore’s letter, the potion instructions, and his invisibility cloak. He handed it to Remus, then put the flower into the vial and Remus put the letter into his. They both dissolved and the potion turned the perfect shade of purple. Remus put the time-turner around his neck.

“I’ll see you at home!” Remus downed the potion and turner the time-turner over twice.

James played with the time-turner in his hands, “Well, here goes nothing,” he said out loud then he drank his potion and turned the time-turner over twice and the scene around him changed. He was standing outside of a very familiar house. Smiling, he turned the knob and opened the door.

“James!” Lily came running over. She threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss.

“I missed you.” He said as he walked into the living room with her. Already seated were all of the other members of the Order of the Phoenix. James sat down next to Remus and Lily sat next to James.

“So what happened? Tell us everything.” Lily said.

“Okay. So Dumbledore showed up in Hogsmeade and told us…” James and Remus took turns telling the story. When they finished a thought struck James, “Where’s Wormtail?”

“I don’t know. Unless it wasn’t something of Voldemort’s that was in there. But what else could Snape have put in there?”

“It doesn’t really matter. I’m just happy that we’re finally home.” James put his arm around Lily and gave her a kiss on the cheek. It definitely feels good to be home.