You didn’t mean to fall through time. That much was clear. The Time-Turner felt warm and delicate in your hand, its golden hourglass spinning wildly as you tried to steady it. You hadn’t anticipated this kind of chaos, the world blurring and bending before your eyes until you found yourself standing in the middle of the Hogwarts corridors—only this wasn’t your Hogwarts. Not the one you knew, anyway.

The air felt different, heavier somehow, filled with the echoes of students’ laughter and the distant clatter of cauldrons. Your robes looked strangely modern compared to those around you, the crests on their chests subtly unfamiliar. You clutched the Time-Turner tightly, your heart pounding as you realized you had no idea how to reverse what you’d done.

And then you met him—James.

The first time you saw him, he was lounging against a wall near the Gryffindor common room, twirling his wand between his fingers like a baton. His glasses sat slightly askew, and his hair stuck out at odd angles, giving him the look of someone perpetually caught in a strong gust of wind. He noticed you immediately, his hazel eyes lighting up with mischief.

“Oi, you lost?” he teased, pushing himself off the wall and strolling toward you with the kind of confidence that could only belong to someone who knew they were charming. “You look like you’ve just walked out of a Muggle fashion catalog.”

You stammered out an excuse, something about being a transfer student, but James wasn’t convinced. Not entirely. Still, he seemed intrigued, and before long, you found yourself pulled into his orbit, swept up in the whirlwind that was James and his band of merry troublemakers—the Marauders.

You didn’t expect him to become your anchor.

At first, James was all bravado and playful arrogance, constantly teasing you about your “weird” habits and making outrageous claims about his Quidditch prowess. But there was a softness to him, too—a kindness that revealed itself in quiet moments.