June 25, 2019 *Present Day*
Harry's POV
I trailed after Ginny and Nina as they joined the crowd exiting the Longbottom's ballroom. Keeping track of my beautiful wife's emerald green dress as the bottom swayed and sparked in my equally emerald eyes.
A small smile spread across my face as I remembered the first time she showed me her dress. She had walked out of our bedroom closet, nose scrunched up like it does whenever she's deep in thought, and pulled something from behind her back and held it up to my face.
When I tried to look at it she quickly grabbed my face and turned it back, shushing me before I could even ask what she was doing.
Nodding her head in satisfaction, she quickly shoved it behind her back, but I had already caught a peak. I told her how it was a good thing she was a Gryffindor because she's not very good at being sneaky like the snakes.
She snorted at me and as she hung up her dress in the walk-in closet told me, "Everyone's always complimenting your eyes, so I decided to get a dress to match them. Besides, now everyone will know who your eyes belong to."
I shook my head at the memory, feeling my heart warm towards Ginny, just like it did when I first fell in love with her.
I remember staying over at the Burrow back when were still at Hogwarts, playing exploding snap with the Weasleys and sneaking glances at Ginny from across the room. I can still recall the look on her face as she walked into the kitchen after the twins had thrown a dung bomb into her room. My first thought was how she looked adorable with her face screwed up in an angry pout, the second was how strong I thought she was as she gave them a nasty bat bogey hex. She truly was a Gryffindor, but then again she has to be brave when she has six older brothers to deal with.
The swish of her dress stopped, snapping me out of my memories, and I joined my wife with our friends outside of the Longbottom's apparition wards.
"Everyone ready to get back to the kids?" George asked after finishing his mini reunion with Lee Jordan. The group all mumbled their agreement when I had an idea.
"Actually, why don't you all take the night off?" I hesitantly looked over at Ginny and seeing her look of approval I continued, "The kids haven't had a family sleepover in a while and Gin and I have more than enough room at Grimmauld Place."
"Are you both sure you're alright with this?" Hermione furrowed her brows.
"Of course, the kids haven't done this since Albus and Rose both started at Hogwarts. They'll love it!" Ginny reassured.
Hermione, Ron and Nina beamed and started chatting about how they were gonna spend their night of relaxation. When Cole growled out,
"No way. I don't trust your son to keep his grubby hands off my angel."
I rolled my eyes, a retort on my tongue when Nina whispered in Cole's ear and his frown turned into a smirk. I really don't wanna know what she just promised him.
"On second thought," Cole grinned, "you're Harry Potter! I'm sure that you are more then capable of protecting my daughter from a flirtatious, handsy..."
Cole's grin started drooping with each thought of James and quickly started shaking his head no. Nina quickly whispered and his ear again and he sighed in resignation.
"You better watch her Harry. I want them six feet apart at all times! No, that's too little, 10 feet apart!" He pointed sternly, "I don't care if she's choking and James is the closest one to her! Yell for Rose, I'm sure Hermione made sure she knew CPR-
"It's actually the-" Hermione shook her head.
"My point is, if he touches her I don't care if he's my godson Harry, I will not hesitate to hex him."
"Oh relax." Ron rolled his eyes, "You were sixteen once don't you remember what that was like. Everyone was-"
"Ron!" Hermione chided, "You're not helping! Now look he's growling again."
Everyone looked towards Cole and sure enough he was growling, just like the mini Padfoot he is. Nina quickly bid everyone a goodnight, saying she had to leave now or Cole will send Davina to a convent far far away from James and all boys.
Everyone soon followed after, not wanting to waste anymore of their night of freedom and fun. Leaving me and Gin to apparate back home.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I felt the familiar churning in my stomach before wobbly landing outside our front door. Before we could even go inside I froze, I had a bad feeling and I'm usually never wrong.
I drew out my wand, Ginny furrowing my brows at my actions but doing the same none the less. Pushing her behind me I slowly walked into the house, the clacking of Gin's heels the only sound to echo throughout the house.
We rounded the corner at the end of the long hallway expecting to see all the children passed out on the floor but instead the room was empty. Snacks littered the floor and the chess pieces set in the middle of a match laid unplayed.
"I knew we shouldn't have named him after two trouble makers" Ginny whispered harshly, a worried glare set on her face.
Ginny quickly checked the kitchen, double checking, as we knew the one place James and the others most likely had gone. I started up the stairs, Ginny catching up to me with her heels in the hand that didn't hold her wand.
Upon reaching the second floor, my eyes immediately noticed the open office door and I sighed. I changed the wards on my office weekly, yet James is so cunning I'm not surprised he figured it out. A very minuscule part of me almost thought he would end up in Slytherin but the millisecond that the batty old hat laid on his head it roared Gryffindor. Which can be just as troubling for me. Exhibit A.
Creeping up to the room I softly pushed the door in further and peaked inside.
Empty.
Taking a tentative step inside, my feet crunched on glass and I immediately looked down. My breath caught in my throat as flashes of my third year at Hogwarts appeared in my mind. A hand reached out to touch the broken necklace on the floor and I quickly snatched it back.
Ginny looked at me wide eyed, but I just shook my head. I intwined our hands and walked back out into the hallway, closing the door behind us and sending out a patronus to Hermione, Ron, Bill, Fleur, George, Percy, Cole and Nina telling them to come here right away.
"Harry what's going on?" Ginny squeezed my hand, worry and fear written all over her face.
I shook my head, waiting for the others to get here so I could explain. Buying myself sometime to think before Ginny's expression turned into the angry face I loved and people feared.
"Harry! Ginny!" Ron's voice screamed from the Floo. Hermione's call following shortly after.
"Up here!" Ginny called back, just as more footsteps could be heard coming through the front door.
I waited until everyone arrived, all of them asking what was wrong and where the kids were. Ginny unhappily blocking them from entering the office, no doubt going to ream me out for keeping her in the dark as well, but still helping me. I swear I love that woman.
Finally Percy's curly head of hair came into view and I knew I couldn't wait any longer.
"What's going on Harry?" George asked.
"It appears someone, I'm guessing James and Fred, broke into my office." I sighed, this wasn't going to be easy, "When Gin and I got home the children were all missing."
Everyone gasped and I watched as Hermione grasped Ron's hand.
"What do you mean missing? Isn't Ty here? I sent him over here three hours ago?" Percy furrowed his brows.
"Our babies!" Nina cried, hugging an anxious Cole.
They all looked at me, waiting for me to answer. I shifted anxiously in my place not liking this much pressure. After years of being the Boy Who Lived they all looked at me to lead but I am and always had been just as scared as they are.
"Mione, do you remember how McGonagall gave me her extra time turner for safe keeping about a month ago?"
Her eyes went wide already piecing it together and finally nodded slowly. Everyone else paled knowing how perilous the item was. They all knew the tale of how Hermione and I saved Sirius.
"Well, it appears the children must've found it and gone somewhere in time." Everyone gasped but before they could say anything I twisted the knife, "Except, they broke it. The necklace is in pieces and the sand is everywhere."
George and Cole pushed ahead and tried to open the door but Hermione moved in front of them and threw her hands up.
"Wait, you can't just rush in there!" She chided, "You don't know how dangerous this necklace is!"
"I know it's dangerous enough that I need to save my kids!" Cole persisted and George cried in agreement.
"If you even touch the necklace right now it could send you to who knows when and we'd have no way to get you back. " Hermione explained, "We all want to get them back but we can't do that if you get lost too."
"What are you talking about it only sends people back a few hours. For all we know they're just an hour behind us and are laughing all about it." Nina stated.
"Yes, it's supposed to only send people back a few hours but that's when it's whole. If a time turner is broken it could send people anywhere, years or decades into the past...or the future." Hermione gulped at the idea.
"Ok, we won't touch anything now can we please go in there?" Bill pleaded.
Hermione and I shared a look but none the less stepped out of the way. We all filed into my office and were careful to step around the sand. Everyone stared at the pieces on the floor, talking worriedly about where they could be and if we'd ever get them back.
I caught Ron and Hermione's eyes and subtly nodded back to the hallway. Nodding back we all slipped out of the room and took a breath.
"What do we do now?" Ron worried.
"We can't do anything until we figure out what time period they went to." I sighed and mussed up my hair. "But I have no clue how we're bloody supposed to figure that out."
"McGonagall." Hermione muttered.
"What?"
"When McGonagall first gave me the time turner I read up all about it. In one of the books it says how if broken, a time turner sends back the user to the day it was created." She gasped.
She quickly summoned up a quill and parchment and began writing furiously. Knowing better than to try and ask Hermione what she was thinking while she was seeing out a plan, Ron and I leaned over her shoulder and read the parchment.
Hermione was writing McGonagall inquiring about the time turner's origins and I remembered once again why she's the brightest witch of our age. Merlin knows I would never have survived past first year if it weren't for her.
She quickly ran down the hall towards the window, beckoning my owl Ophelia and catching the attention of the others in the room.
"Can you please tell us what's going on and not leave us in the dark?" Ginny seethed at me.
I winced knowing she was also referring to all the times the three of us discovered things on our own and got in trouble during Hogwarts.
Not wanting to sleep on the couch, I explained everything we've figured out. Everyone sighed in relief that at least we were getting somewhere. Appeasing and increasing our fears of discovering what time period they went to.
"What do we do once we finally found out what year they're in?" Fleur asked, twirling the tips of her golden hair anxiously.
"We need to know they're safe and find out where in that time they are." Nina nodded her head, slowly convincing herself that was the right plan, "But how do we reach them? Is it even possible?"
"I think is." Hermione gasped. Her eyes flittering back and forth lost in thought, "A while back I read in the paper how a man was charged with tampering with time when he sent a quill back three days. That way when a woman asked him if he had anything to write with he could talk to her. It was just a quill and it changed time immensely! He was supposed to never meet her again, but by sending the pen back he's now dating her!"
"Great he got laid, what does this have to do with anything Mione?" Ron rolled his eyes.
Hermione just sighed and shook her head as if this was a daily occurrence,
"Well, Ronald" She scowled, "I've never heard of being able to send things back in time so I did some reading-"
"Mione? Reading? I'd never guess." George teased, eliciting a smile from everyone and easing their stress.
"As I was saying, I found a book that had loads of information on time travel. I didn't get the chance to finish it yet but it may be a good place to start. If we can figure out what spell that man used, then we can contact them."
"Didn't he get charged?" Percy asked appalled at the idea of doing something illegal.
"Yes, but the kids already disrupted time by going back. If we send a note it can't do much harm, besides, you forget we're all friends with Minister Kingsley. I'm sure he'll understand." I smiled, but internally I was praying to Merlin he wouldn't slap me in hand cuffs.
"Now what?" Cole asked.
"We wait."
************
I had just arrived back from my meeting with Kingsley and luckily he only threatened putting me in Azkaban twice.
He agreed to keep this quiet and to allow us to use the spell, IF, we managed to get them back within two days. After that the ministry will have to take over and we'll be charged.
To say this helped boost the morale would be a complete utter lie. When I told the others they all paled and went right back to pacing, binge eating, and crying.
The only people doing anything constructive was Hermione, Bill and Fleur. Mione had just summoned the time travel book and casted a spell to make duplicate when she called out,
"Nina, come help take a look at this."
Nina rolled her eyes and stepped away from Cole's side and said teasingly, "Of course, you ask the Ravenclaw to help research."
Hermoine smiled and watched as she waltzed over and plopped down beside Bill by the fireplace. Seeing everyone grouped together I decided to go find Ginny when a soft tap sounded from the window.
I walked over and untied the letter from Ophelia's foot, handing her an owl treat and quickly retracted my hand before she could bite off my fingers.
I rushed back to the living room and caught everyone's attention. Skimming the letter, I looked up and paled.
"1995." I whispered.
"What?" George gasped.
"McGonagall said it was made in 1995."
Nothing good came from that year, many people got hurt and we even lost someone we loved dearly.
"That's the year You-Know-Who..."Percy trailed off in fear.
Our kids had all gone back to the very start of the war. Of the reassembling of the Order of the Phoenix. Of the years of mourning and loss. Of the very thing we wanted them to live without.
"We have to get them now!" Cole commanded and stood up from the couch. Determination set in his grey stormy eyes.
"First, we have to make sure they're safe." Hermione sighed, rubbing her temple to relieve the stress.
Nina stood up from the floor, clutching the book in her hand and looked up smiling, "I think I know how we can do that."