George Weasley and the Time Turner Folly

George didn’t mean for any of this to happen. He wasn’t even sure how it had happened. All he knew was that it was happening.

It had been just a regular day for himself and his brother Fred. They had opened up the shop in the morning after breakfast, and a few shoppers had perused the store before George decided he needed some fresh air. This was probably the biggest mistake. No, scratch that, the biggest mistake was playing with something he wasn’t supposed to. Though, it’s hard not to play with something as tempting as a Time-Turner just sitting there in the street.

He had just touched the thing, for Merlin’s sake. One tiny prod of the finger. And he has whizzed back in time at such a speed that he almost got sick. He didn’t know how Time Turners exactly worked, but he was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to make you change locations, and yet here he was, back in the school he had just left a few months ago. But when was he… that was a good question.

So far though, he had prevented himself from being seen. His knowledge of the secret passages around Hogwarts was aiding him in avoiding the general student population, but of the glimpses of students he did see, he didn’t recognize anyone. But he hoped that he could keep this up until he got to the Library. Surely there was some sort of book in there that would explain this Time Turner nonsense to him.

“So Moony, you sure?”

George stopped and threw himself into an empty classroom. The voice stopped just outside the room, and he pressed his ear to the door, eager to hear more.

“No… no doubt of it, Prongs.”

Prongs and Moony… George had heard those names before…

“Well mate… you know I’m here for you. I’ve got your back.”

“Fur and all.”

The voices exchanged a small chuckle. And then it hit him – Prongs and Moony were two of the creators of the Marauder’s Map. Excitement built inside of him. Maybe he could get a glimpse of these two, and then Wormtail and Padfoot as well.

“Right mate… I’ll see you after dinner then.”

“Sure. Bye, Prongs.”

“Bye, Moony.”

George waited until their footsteps were very far away before poking his head out into the hall and slipping out. He sort of wanted to follow one of them, but knew that would be stupid – they were probably off to a highly populated area, and he didn’t want to deal with the consequences of getting caught. So he went back into the room and shut the door, locking it with a wave of his wand.

Then he realized that there was a slight weight in his other pocket, and reached in to feel the Time Turner. But the moment his fingers touched the cool metal, he was spinning through time and space again, and found himself right in the doorway of his shop.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered, leaning against a table to prevent his knees from giving out.

“Georgie! There you are,” said Fred, chipper, as he set down a stack of Skiving Snackboxes and started refilling the shelf. “Where’d you pop off to?”

“Fred!” cried George. “I found this Time Turner in the alley—”

But that was as far as he got, because without thinking, he reached back into his pocket to pull the device out and show his brother, but once again, he was transported back to Hogwarts. This time, he recognized that he was just down the hall from the Library. He looked down at his pocket and said, “I don’t know what the bloody hell this is about, but I’m telling you, I don’t deserve this.” Then he set off for the Library, determined to figure this out. Who knew, this might actually be their next best-selling prank product.

Luckily, it seemed to be around dinner, so the Library was very empty. The only people there he could easily dodge by either slinking behind bookshelves or hiding his face with thick volumes. Eventually, he worked his way over to a section that looked promising. With every turn of the corner though, he half-expected to see Hermione Granger with her nose in a book.

He pulled out the first book he saw with the word “time” in the title and started flipping through its table of contents. Nothing about Time Turners. The next three books didn’t have anything either, and George was getting increasingly frustrated to the point where he considered just touching the Time Turner again and going back home.

“Time Turner, Time Turner, where are you?” he mumbled to himself, pulling a fifth book off the shelf.

“If you’re looking for stuff on Time Turners, I suggest Tennant’s Guide to Time Travel. It’s got a whole section on fixing them as well.”

George nearly jumped out of his skin. He dropped the book he was currently holding (Time Travel for Trolls) and spun to see a boy standing there with sandy blonde hair and a tired but extremely familiar expression on his face. He boy’s eyes were looking him over and he bent down and handed the fallen book to George.

“Thanks,” George managed to get out.

“Who are you, anyways?” the boy asked. George really didn’t like the way he was looking at him. “You’re not wearing any robes, but you look my age.”

“I… forgot them,” George lied. “They’re up in my dorm.”

“Right,” he said carefully, pulling the book he had recommended off the shelf. “What house are you?”

“Ravenclaw.” The lies were just flying off his tongue today.

“Hmm. Well, here you are,” the boy said, handing George the book. Their hands touched as he did so, and George had the suspicion that this wasn’t an accident. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“Thanks,” George replied hurriedly.

“I’m Remus, by the way. If you need any more help…”

“I’ll be sure to ask you,” George finished for him, considerably weirded out.

“Okay. See you around.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Remus left, casting George one last look that George swore was one of wistfulness. When he was certain no one was looking, George reached into his pocket and touched the Time Turner, the book Remus had given him still in his hand. After the spinning finished, he found himself back in his room above the shop. He dropped the book onto the bed, pulled out his wand, and levitated the Time Turner out of his pocket. In a daze, he walked downstairs, where Fred greeted him with surprise.

“What in the name of Merlin’s baggiest Y-fronts happened?” Fred asked.

“There was this Time Turner in the alley,” George replied shakily. “It kept taking me back to Hogwarts, and I…”

“And what?”

“I think I met Lupin when he was at school…”

“Wicked,” Fred said, grinning.

“He was hitting on me. I think. Or at least giving me the eye.”

Fred promptly dropped the Headless Hat he was holding in his hands. “What?”

“Yeah. No joke.”

“But… what?”

“It didn’t make sense to me either.”

Fred was quiet for a few moments while he picked up the hat and set it on a shelf. “So… this Time Turner… do you still have it?”

“Yes,” George replied with a mischievous grin, and they both charged upstairs to consult the book and the Time Turner, plotting what may be their most ingenious prank invention to date.