Chapter 1

“Don’t you ever knock?” Hermione asked incredulously as Ron slammed the bedroom door behind him – Harry had to dive into the room to avoid getting hit squarely on the nose by it – and proceeded to stomp around the room. His knuckles were white as he muttered obscenities under his breath, too irate to think of any response.

Being angry doesn’t excuse you for having no manners, Hermione glowered at him. Ron’s features were creased into an ugly scowl as well. He looked very much like a livid boar. Harry slowly inched himself to Hermione’s bed as he eyed his scarlet-haired friend warily. He cautiously sat himself on the edge of the mattress, the squeak of the bed frame hardly audible. It was as though any sudden movement would cause Ron’s grudges to erupt with a vengeance. Nevertheless, Hermione had wrath of her own, and she demanded explanation for Ron’s insolent – and honestly childish – behaviour.

“What’s the matter with him?” she rounded on Harry. The gaze she had fixed on the bespectacled boy was sharp enough to pierce even the thickest of leather.

“Why’d you have to go and ask him what’s the matter with me?” Ron suddenly questioned, storming towards the bed. His entire head was alizarin with annoyance. “Think I can’t answer for myself or something?”

“I don’t think that at all. I simply know that you would just yell at me without reason, regardless of what I asked!” Hermione snapped. She abruptly stood to be eye level with Ron and silently cursed that she was so vertically challenged. It was hard to pull off a threatening glare when you barely reached the shoulders of your opponent.

“Guys, calm down!” Harry was on his feet by then. “Let’s just talk it out. Okay? Like civilised people for a change.”

“Oh, I’ve got that covered, Harry,” Hermione quipped icily. “It’s just this one you’d want to look out for.”

She waved her hand in Ron’s general direction.

The azure of Ron’s eyes glinted furiously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t start this again,” Harry commanded. “Sit down. Both of you.”

Hermione plopped herself back onto her bed. Her arms were folded across her chest and she continued to glare daggers at Ron, who sat himself on Ginny’s bed across the room. “So, like I asked, Harry, what’s the matter with him?”

“Mrs Weasley was nagging him about the attic-”

“She wasn’t just nagging me, Harry! She was accusing me of throwing that bloody ring away!”

“What ring?” Hermione cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head. It was a signal of part curiosity, part suspicion.

“Some stupid family heirloom I didn’t even know existed until tonight’s what it is,” Ron grumbled. The crimson of his cheeks was slowly receding.

“Well, did you throw it away?”

“Hell no! I didn’t even see the damned thing!”

“Honestly though, what if you tossed it by accident?” Hermione argued. “Oh, Ron, don’t give me that look, it could’ve happened! Rings are small enough to be easily lost.”

“Well, whatever the case, that b-”

“Ron!”

“-bat of a woman’s going to have me search for it tomorrow or something. I’d bet money on that if I actually had any.”

Ron griped as he slumped to the floor, his face returning to its regular pale pink, freckly countenance. “Merlin, I don’t want to go through that garbage again!”

“Well, it’s the price you pay for being careless,” Hermione reprimanded. “You can’t turn back time anyway, so might as well just face the music and-”

“Hermione, have I ever told you you were a genius?” Ron interrupted.

He was gazing at Hermione with unexpected puppy-eyed adoration. The swift change in emotion was enough to be considered bipolar. Fortunately, Harry caught on quick enough.

“Oh no,” he muttered. “I know that look. We’re not doing it, Ron.”

Hermione was utterly bewildered. “Doing what?”

“Harry, it’s perfect! If we go back in time, I can find the bloody ring in the stash, make sure I keep it safe and then I’ll be able to show Mum the stupid thing so I’ll be off the hook!”

“You want to use the time-turner?” Hermione’s head whipped in Ron’s direction. Her veracity was what kept her ahead in every situation. “Like hell you will.”

“Why not? It’s not like you use it anymore these days. I’m brushing the dust off it for you,” Ron said proudly.

“Can’t use it if I don’t give it to you,” Hermione huffed as she settled back properly in her bed. “I will not approve of such nonsense.”

“Come on, ‘Mione!” Ron practically pleaded. “It’s not like I’m seriously breaking the law! I’m just going to find something.”

“No.”

Ron glanced at Harry for help, but when the latter did nothing, he was stuck. He was left to continue with his petition until Ginny entered the bedroom, chasing both boys out in the process. They then had no choice but to clamber up the rickety stairs to their shared quarters before Mrs Weasley scolded them for not being in bed. As they creakily climbed, Ron turned around to face Harry.

“We’re taking that thing, even if she doesn’t want to give it to us,” he whispered.

“Why we?”

“Because I’ve stuck with you throughout so much crap for seven years!” Ron muttered urgently. “I think you owe me one favour, don’t you?”

Harry knew that Ron was still being ridiculous and that his plans would most probably backfire. All the same, it didn’t make him feel any less guilty. It wasn’t as though Ron was wrong about his accusation either, even if he probably didn’t really mean it. Harry would’ve felt the culpability without Ron saying anything.

“Fine,” he conceded.

One favour, he reminded himself as he changed into his pyjamas and got under the covers. What could possibly go wrong with one favour?

“Ow! Ron, you stepped on my foot!” Harry hissed.

“Shut up, or they’ll wake up! Now where d’you think she keeps it?”

Harry rolled his eyes in aggravation as he stood by the door, his eyes rapidly flying from Hermione to Ginny, making sure they lay asleep like well-fed babies in their cribs. “Dunno, maybe in her trunk? Just make it fast, okay? This feels strange.”

“What, being in my sister’s room at three in the morning?” Ron could barely hide his chuckle. It came out a muffled snort anyway.

“Merlin, just find the damn time-turner!”

Ron was giving his best attempt at being careful. His knobby fingers circumspectly clicked open the latches of the trunk, praying that their metallic clap would neither wake his sister nor Hermione. Searching the suitcase itself was an easy task, for Hermione was organised to a fault. Clothes were colour-coded, books were alphabetised, and any little bobs and bits seemed to be in separate compartments in the roof of the trunk. It was no trouble to retrieve the time-turner from its little pocket, but no sooner had Ron’s fingers touched the tiny hourglass did a shrill screech erupt from it. Instantly, the lamps flickered to life and Hermione sat up in bed. Her expression could only be described as one of triumph. Ginny rolled over under her comforter and groaned.

“Okay, ‘Mione, you caught ‘em, now please turn it off!”

With a wave of a wand, the strident wailing stopped.

Ginny sat up and shook her head at her brother. “I can’t believe you didn’t think she’d realise you’d want to steal it.”

“Learnt a lesson?” Hermione teased her friends.

“Her-my-oh-nee!” Ron groaned as he fell back on the rug in the middle of the cramped room. “Just let me borrow it! Please! A few hours are all I need, and then you can have it back.”

“Ron, would it kill you to search the attic again in the morning?” Hermione questioned as she got out of bed to pull him up.

“My sentiments exactly,” Harry agreed as he stepped forward to help Hermione. “I mean if you really didn’t misplace it-”

“The thing is, I’m not sure if I’m even able to find the ring later,” Ron confessed as he stood up and the three friends walked out to the landing. “I- I never checked any of the boxes thoroughly when I tossed stuff, okay? If I saw something old and half-eaten by Merlin-knows-what, it went out. The point is if I can’t find that ring by tomorrow, I’m in hot water, guys. You know it. At least if I use the time-turner, I can ensure my safety. Mum seemed really shaken up when she found out that the ring was lost. It was supposed to be for Ginny. Y’know how I got the watch and all, Ginny was supposed to get the ring. Dunno why in the hell it was up in the attic, but it was, so…” he left his sentence dangling; he’d said enough anyway.

Hermione seemed to actually think that account over. “Well, ‘meticulous’ was never your middle name,” she said harshly. However, there seemed to be an air of consideration in her words.

“And you couldn’t have mentioned all this before?” Harry inquired.

Ron ignored him. “Please, Hermione. I’ll even take Harry with me! If you think I can’t do it on my own, then I’ll bring someone.”

Hermione could vaguely hear Harry mutter profanity to himself. The question “why me?” was the most audible of his mumbles.

“Oh, you’re taking Harry, all right,” she stared pointedly at him. “And me.”

“What?” the two boys said simultaneously, clearly taken aback by her statement.

“I can’t trust you two using this on your own! What if you’re seen? It’ll end up being my fault if both you die if you attack yourselves in the past!”

“You can do that?” Ron asked in open-mouth wonder.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she went back to Ginny’s room to get the time-turner. “Do you want to use it now?” she enquired when she returned. All she got for answers were a couple of hesitant nods.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm from either party, she slung the long gold chain around each boy’s neck anyway, then around her own, and deftly held the minute hourglass between her fingers. She tried to dust the dirt off it until she took note of its reddish-brown facade. It was rust.

“Damn it! I didn’t know this thing could rust,” she garbled. “It’ll make turning a lot more difficult.”

Hermione struggled with the little handle of the time-turner, but it remained stuck. She continued to tug at it for several moments more before giving up and passing it to Harry. If Quidditch muscles couldn’t make it work, she had a feeling nothing could at the moment.

“It wasn’t this difficult in our third year as far as I saw,” Harry observed. His hands quivered as he exerted strength onto the little knob. “Unless Dumbledore was this strong.”

“Keep trying, but please don’t break it,” Hermione squeaked. “Consequences are deadly if you do. Remember what happened at the Ministry? We could end up being stuck trying to work a rusty time-turner for eternity.”

Just as she spoke, Harry managed to move the handle with a nimble pull. However, it didn’t just loosen the hourglass, it made it spin so rapidly it was hard to catch. All one could see was a burnt umber globe with tiny glints of the gold that peeked from beneath it. Before any of them knew what was going on, the world began to blur itself into splotches of colour as they travelled back in time.

A/N: Ideating this chapter was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Logic was the trump card in this case. I think I got it all right though. Next chapter, the King Kong part of the story should finally turn up. Anyway, do give your feedback! Please don't flame, though.