Once Upon a Twisted Time

Chapter 1

We need somewhere to hide this broomstick ... We need somewhere to hide this broomstick ... We need somewhere to hide this broomstick ...

After walking three times back and forth in front of the Room of Requirement, a door appeared.

"Lily, why do I have to take part in this?" Fifteen-year-old Lysander Scamander groaned.

"You know perfectly well, Lysander, you're Ravenclaw prefect, you've got to help me." Lily Luna Potter (also fifteen), replied briskly, adjusting her own Gryffindor prefect badge, pulling open the door of the Room of Requirement, and dragging Lysander along with her. Lysander gave up and allowed Lily to pull him in. He couldn't quite believe that a tampered broomstick that had probably been meant to be a joke was taking up so much of their time . . . was there any need to go all the way to the Room of Requirement and hide it?

"Yes, of course, tampered broomsticks can be really dangerous, and as much as I'm reckless, I still don't want anyone to get hurt!" Said Lily. Oops. Had Lysander really said that out loud?

Lily and Lysander decided to work together (well, more Lily decided) and find a good and sturdy hiding spot. As they walked down the Room of Requirement, Lysander noted that this was quite a good space to hide something, big or small. That was because it was, quite literally, a mess. Everything was all over the place, and once you hid something, there was probably no chance that anyone would ever find it.

"Ooh! I know where we can hide it!" Said Lily, her eyes bright. When Lysander wondered where, his eyes followed where Lily's finger was pointing: to a large pile of old brooms.

"This is perfect! That way no one will see any difference between them." Said Lysander, and the two hid the tampered broomstick in the pile of old broomsticks. After they were done, the two friends made their way back to the door. As they walked, Lysander nearly tripped over a small, necklace-like trinket that was scattered on the floor. He got up and picked up the trinket, looking it over.

"Hang on . . . LILY!!!" Lysander realised what he was holding, and immediately called for Lily. Lily hurried back to him, wondering what was wrong.

"Lys? What's up?" Lily asked, confused because Lysander seemed perfectly fine.

"Lily . . . I think this is a time turner!" Said Lysander excitedly. Lily took the trinket that Lysander passed to her and inspected it.

"But . . . time turners have been banned a long time ago. They're illegal!" Said Lily.

"Exactly!" Said Lysander ecstatically, seeming very proud of himself for discovering this item, "That's why it's here! Someone wanted to hide it because they're illegal!"

"Well . . ." Said Lily, she knew that this was most definitely a genuine time turner as she had learned the words engraved on it from her Aunt Hermione, but she was afraid that it might have been tampered with, or dangerous.

"Come on, Lils! You know this is a time turner, and I'm guessing it works!" Said Lysander proudly.

Lily knew the words engraved on the time turner by heart, and read them out loud: "I mark the years, every one, nor have I yet outrun the Sun. My use and value, unto you, are gauged by what you have to do." Even though Lily had memorised the words previously, everyone forgets things. So, even though she felt something was odd, she couldn't directly point out that this time turner wasn't like others . . .

"All right, Lily," Said Lysander impatiently, "Let's use it! I got a few questions wrong on my Transfiguration pop quiz yesterday, so I can go back and change the answers!"

"What?!?" Said Lily, "Absolutely not! We're going to get in trouble!"

"Lily!" Said Lysander incredulously, "You're always so adventurous! Since when did you care about getting in trouble?"

"Since now, when we're dealing with an illegal object!" Said Lily defensively.

"But Lily! My pop quiz was only a day ago! Yesterday afternoon, two o'clock!" Pouted Lysander.

"Exactly, Lys!" Said Lily, calculating quickly, "That was twenty-nine hours ago!"

"Still! It's just a pop quiz! Besides, you said yourself earlier that you had James's invisibility cloak with you!" Countered Lysander.

Lily took a deep breath and felt a tiny reckless voice in her head say: Why not? Lys is right, it's only yesterday. Besides, Lys is a Ravenclaw and this is one of the only times he hasn't gotten 100%, he must feel really bad!

"Well . . . I mean it's only a pop quiz right?" Lily said slowly.

"Yeah!" Exclaimed Lysander, glad that Lily was finally coming around.

"And it'll help you with your O.W.L.s this year?" Said Lily, thinking that it couldn't hurt, she'd always wanted to try using a time turner before.

"Yup! Absolutely!" Said Lysander, not thinking, for he had also always wanted to use a time turner before.

"Then . . . What are we waiting for?" Said Lily, a smile slowly spreading on her face. She had inherited her headstrong and adventurous streak from her mother, Ginny Potter.

Lily put the chain of the time turner around her and Lysander's necks without hesitation and twisted twenty-nine times, twenty-nine hours, or so she thought. The two kids started disappearing into time, and she realised at the last moment that the time turner had said 'I mark the years' instead of 'I mark the hours.'

Merlin, Lily thought, this is going to be bad.

Mwahaha! I left you guys on a cliffhanger! Did anyone else notice that the time turner said 'I mark the years' instead of 'I mark the hours' before Lily? I tried to make it obvious! Anyway, was this chapter any good? Anything I did well or can improve on? Tell me in the comment section! Don't forget to vote! Chapter 2 coming soon!

💜lessi xx

PS don't worry guys! There'll be more Lilander in the next chapter! (Lilander is what I've decided to call the ship of Lily x Lysander.)