Chapter One - Down the Rabbit Hole
Peering around at the dimly lit bar, there were a few older men and women scattered about drinking and dressed in the same strange clothes from earlier. I wiped my hands on my jeans took a deep breath, and made my way over to the bartender. He was an older balding man with hair lining the edges of his head to his cheeks. He had on a white blouse with a tidy black vest and ascot gave me the idea that he was some old-time reenactor.
"Er, Hello sir"
He eyed me and scoffed "Now you really don't think a little witch such as yourself is old enough for a firewhiskey?" his thick Scottish accent almost made me wonder if I was in the wrong country
"A what? Er, No sir. I just wanted to see if I could use your phone if you had one?"
The bartender stopped polishing the glass he had "A what? Are you trying to put me out? Where's your Mum and Dad"
"I don't know," I said truthfully "I need help in finding them- I've never been here before"
The bartender visibly relaxed and nodded "Oh well you must've wandered off then! You look a little old for a first year but here- let me get you over to Diagon Alley. Your parents must be worried sick!"
"Wait sir- I really just want to use the phone" I followed him hoping I wasn't about to get brutally murdered and he may have a separate entrance for the phone.
But once we exited the last door I noticed we were in a bricked-off area outside of the pub. My stomach quickly sank to my feet. Before I could think of a way to run or fight the bartender off, he walked up to the far brick wall opposite where I was standing. He brandished an ornate-looking wooden stick and tapped on a few different bricks on the wall. The bricks melted away to reveal a lively and colorful alleyway with shops and large groups of people and children running in and out of shops.
I must be dreaming. Or maybe I'm already dead?
"Alright, then off you pop- Dinna want to see you in 'ere for another few years ye ken?" He chuckled and retreated back to his bar, and I instinctively backed up and watched in complete shock as the wall fell back up.
Turning to the cramped and bright alleyway I truly wondered what was happening as flying pieces of paper and owls flew to and fro. The colorful and lively shops that squeezed the alleyway, the bounds of different people and their children zipping in and out of shops. Eyeing the more old-fashioned and colorful robes and hats that passersby were donning I just stood in the middle of the cobblestone path dumbestruck.
I realized I wasn't scared though, my fingers were tingling with excitement. Something about this place seemed so familiar and comfortable. I slowly took in the Apothecary, the Owl Emporium, and the ice cream parlor, I noticed a bookstore called Flourish and Blotts. I saw a group of teenagers around my age laughing and carrying a stack of books in each arm and they all seemed to head to the shop across the way called Gambol and Japes.
I found myself following the group, they seemed fairly friendly with each other. Maybe I could talk to them and get sense of what I wandered into. Upon entering the unassuming shop, I saw the bright interior of orange and yellow with shelves teeming with things like dung bombs, stink pellets, and different kinds of fireworks. Half of the items I couldn't even discern what they were. I leaned closer to the group to try to hear what they were saying.
The shortest boy with dark curly hair grinned as he picked up one of the dung bombs "You think I could shove this in Percy's morning porridge?"
I edged the side of the firework display I was hiding behind to try to get a better look of the group. There were two tall freckled boys with long floppy ginger hair and the previous boy with the dungbombs.
One of the gingers chucked "Blimey he's been insufferable with all of his ministry work and apparition studying"
Their conversation continued for a few minutes and I zoned out to fiddling with the firework display again. Will I ever see Mum and Dad again? Not thinking I picked up a firework set at the bottom of the display and somehow, thanks to my magnificent luck, half of the display started to light up with bright yellows, greens, and oranges, and then suddenly they took to each corner of the shop exploding in each color while the rest of the display fell on top of me. I lay there for a moment wishing for the floor to swallow me up. Fearing the worst from the shopkeeper, I tried opening my eyes. Only to see everything had returned to where it was, however, there was a very red short man staring me down.
He was donning a purple and yellow striped vest with a white button-up. Slowly meeting his eyes I noticed his impressive white mustache and his matching yellow and purple hat. "Now" He started slowly "Just cause it's shiny don't mean you little ones should touch it! Now out! You're lucky I'm good at my reparo charm otherwise you'd be scrubbing this place top to bottom!"
I nodded vigorously and scrambled to my feet "I'm so sorry sir. I don't know what happened I swear" I rushed to say as my cheeks blistered with embarrassment and my eyes welled up with tears.
The little man sighed and waved me on my way "Well, I guess no harm done. Just be on your way then"
I nodded and apologized again as I scurried out of the store. Only to be met by the group of boys I had previously been spying on.
"Heelloo" One of the gingers smirked
"You know if you wanted my attention that badly, you didn't have to set the whole shop on fire" The other ginger wiggled his eyebrows
"Oh come off it she was clearly eyeing me" The brunette flexed
If my face could have gotten any redder at this point I might explode. It felt so hot and I started seeing tiny white spots. Not noticing my eyes betraying me and letting the tears fall, I tried to say something but my legs also gave out and the last thing I saw was the cobblestone pathway.
~~~
Coming in and out of consciousness I saw shadows and heard panicked voices. My ears rang, and my head ached and pulsed through the waves of pain. Nodding off again I just remembered how warm and weightless I felt.
~~~
Waking up a second time was not as painful as the first. My head didn't ache as much and the ringing in my ears had quieted. My fingertips were still quite warm and fuzzy though. That feeling hadn't quite stopped since I first messed with the necklace.
The necklace! Adrenaline shot through my veins, I shot up and patted my pockets. I felt the familiar metal in the last pocket I checked. Thank god. But where am I now though? I was in a house. For sure. I was on a soft and worn orange couch where a few knit blankets were just laying across me. There was a coffee table in front of me with multiple newspapers titled Daily Prophet, and there was a cold fireplace just beyond the table. There were a few rugs stretching across the floors, with many different trinkets and books littering the surfaces and bookshelves as I peered around the side I was in. There was also a wooden staircase that seemingly reached all the way to the top of the house.
Folding the blankets onto the couch I walked around the fireplace to the kitchen and dining room. No sign of life, but I did a double take to watching a multitude of dishes and mugs being invisibly washed by a brush and soap. I turned to see a large wood-green-stained grandfather clock. However each hand had a face and each face was at a different spot on the clock, home, and work, however, there were more spots like peril and school. Strange. The house was very comforting to be in. With the simple stained glass windows off the side of the sink, with random vegetables and herbs hanging neatly around the counter, I ventured to the front door of the house. It was left slightly ajar and I could see one of the tall freckled boys from earlier and a short woman with blond and ginger hair.
"Mum we didn't know what to do. She doesn't have a wand or ID."
"Yes yes very fine. I've done what I can for now, so I only hope she wakes soon."
They both turned to come back to the door, and I panicked and ran back to the couch.
"Hello? Dearie, are you alright?" The woman spoke from around the corner
Feeling my face heat up again I shuffled around the fireplace to face them in the kitchen "Yes- hi. So sorry about all of this" I apologized to my feet
She waddled over to me and pulled me into a tight hug "Oh nonsense! We were worried sick about you! Alright. Now that you're upright let me heat up some tea and you can tell us about yourself" She pulled away still holding me, smiled, and then started shuffling around in cabinets
Nodding I slowly took a seat at the table. Noticing small child-like carvings and drawings along the edges of the table and its legs I smiled and followed the carvings with my fingers.
"So mystery girl, why were you following us?" The ginger boy took a seat next to me
"Hush George! Be nice!" the woman scolded
Sighing I rubbed my temples at my previous 'show' at the joke shop "I'm so sorry about that. I'm a bit lost, and I was hoping that since you guys looked around my age I might be able to ask for help"
His smirk faded into concern but the woman beat him to the question while she placed a steaming mug in front of me "Oh Dearie, what do you need? What's happened?"
"Well, I don't quite know" I admitted honestly "But I might be able to show you" I swallowed my anxiety, and pulled out the necklace from my pocket, and gently laid it on the table
"Mum is that-"
"A time-turner. My dear, do you know what this is? How did you get it?"
I scrunched my face "A time-turner? It's a necklace I found in my Dad's things"
She eyed me took out a stick and floated the necklace in the air "This. Is a time-turner. When one turns the dials here, it's supposed to go back a few hours depending on how many times you turn it."
Still mesmerized by the floating necklace I slowly spoke "What year is it?"
"Oh, no normal turners only have a limit of five hours so a wizard doesn't suffer too much harm from traveling."
"Okay," I nodded "So it's still 2001 right?"
Her face dropped "No my dear. It's 1994."
I laughed "You're barking. That'd make me eight years old!"
George's eyebrows were so far up his forehead they just might touch his hair. The woman's face was unreadable, she was just staring at me and George as she tapped on her own mug. I felt my smile fall and my stomach twisted as I pulled my mug to my lips. How can it be 1994, shouldn't I cease to exist?
"I think it'd be best if you tell us everything from the beginning"
"Miss, I don't know what to tell you. I'm afraid I'm already going insane with the floating objects, randomly appearing signs, and a magic brick wall, it's more than enough for me to get locked up"
"Miss? Oh, don't make me feel old. Call me Molly dear"
"Right, sorry. I'm Eudora"
Molly looked as though she was going to say something but sat back in her chair and stirred her cup with her stick "Answer me this. Has any of the things you've experienced lately been things that you caused and couldn't explain?"
George picked his head up "Oh yeah! She caused a whole fireworks display to go off, the manager was fuming"
I hung my head and nodded into my tea "Yeah, sorry about that"
Molly nodded "I'll write to Dumbledore about this." and she scurried around the corner
"Who's Dumbledore?"
George grinned and stood up "Oh he's the headmaster at my school" he took my mug and cleaned it out in the sink
"Thank you- but what is a school teacher going to do about me? Am I in trouble?"
George wiped his hands on his jeans "Merlin no. No more than me and my brother tend to get in anyway. Mum'll figure it out."
He smiled again and I noticed he had a dimple when he smiled. Cute. Taking him in for a moment, he had a loose red striped shirt on, with old blue jeans with holes starting to break through on his knees.
"So Eudora, how old are you actually?"
"Fifteen"
"Lovely" He smirked and started to make his way to the front door, but before he did he titled his head at me "My brothers and I are outside playing quidditch if you want to come"
Feeling like a total schoolgirl I nodded vigorously and followed him outside. Didn't matter what quidditch was, he's gorgeous.