This is for round 11 of the Quidditch Leagues Fanfiction Competition.


"So you're telling me, that you can travel in time and space, in some box?"

The man walked beside him rolled his eyes, although he didn't seem annoyed. In fact, the stranger - Oliver still refused to believe he was an alien, he wanted a little bit more proof before he started believing that - seemed rather patient and excited. This was roughly the fifth time Oliver had asked that question, but it wasn't as if he could help it: he still sometimes struggled to understand muggle technology, never mind space and time travel! "Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

Oliver sighed, "Alright...Doctor. Where is it?" He asked, trying to sound as if he were at ease with the crazy situation he had found himself in. "Where is your box?"

It was at that moment that the potentially crazy man stopped. "Here!" He exclaimed and spreading his arm out wide, gesturing to...

Well, nothing. At least not that Oliver could see. It all looked incredibly normal. Boring, even. It was just an alley. Oliver looked at the Doctor dubiously - maybe the guy really had drank too much firewhiskey, as Oliver had first suspected. He wasn't even sure why he had agreed to go with him. He supposed he just wanted to know whether there was any truth to his crazy stories. Apparently, there wasn't.

The Doctor however, seemed completely oblivious to the Quidditch player's disbelief in his story. Walking down the alley. "The TARDIS! Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space," he explained, seemingly under the impression that Oliver was walking right behind him. He approached a blue police box, producing a key and unlocking the door before stepping inside. He popped his head back out a few minutes later, "Well? Are you coming or not?" He asked before ducking back inside again.

Oliver frowned slightly. He knew that the Doctor had said a box, but...he'd assumed it would be a bigger - much bigger - alien looking box. With a resigned sigh, Oliver walked forward, hesitating slightly at the front door before stepping inside.

"Merlin's pants!" Oliver exclaimed, staring around the room with wide eyes. It was massive...at least half the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts...maybe he wasn't a crazy muggle after all. Oliver had only seen this sort of magic in Hogwarts or at the Ministry - not that he was at the latter location that often.

The Doctor chuckled, "I've never heard that one before," he commented, grinning at Oliver from where he was standing by the central pillar that was surrounded by panels covered in flickering lights and muggle inventions that he was sure shouldn't really be there and random switches that he wanted to flick just to see what they would do; he'd be lying if he said it was easy to resist the urge. "Now, close the door Mr Wood - you wanted proof that I was telling the truth, yes?"

Oliver nodded, his brain whirling with so many thoughts he couldn't speak. He simply went to shut the door as the Doctor told him to.

"Good! Now, how about a trip to the past? How about the year 503?" The Doctor suggested, with a mischievous glint in his eyes that could rival that of the Weasley twins. Without waiting for Oliver to answer he started running around the console, barely pausing to slam down buttons and turn dials. The Scottish wizard could do nothing but watch in wonder as he worked. The other man finally stopped, turning to look at Oliver, his hand hovering over one last final lever. "Hold on!" He instructed before pulling the lever, giving Oliver barely enough time to grab onto the nearby railing before the room started to tilt in dangerous angles.

The odd angles they were tilting to, oddly reminded Oliver of the dangerous stunts he'd tried during Quidditch games or practices...although, at least then he'd had an element of control in the situation...and it wasn't so noisy! Really, did it have to be so loud? It wasn't even a nice sound. It just grated Oliver's ears. Although, the Doctor seemed to love it. He was grinning like a fool when Oliver looked over at him.

THUMP

Finally, they stopped, and it was only years of training that kept Oliver on his feet. The Doctor had not been so lucky though, and was currently on the floor laughing. "Eh, Doctor? Are you alright?" Oliver asked, starting to move towards the still laughing man.

It was then that the Doctor sprang to his feet, now grinning at the Scotsman. "I'm fine! C'mon, out we go! The year 503!" He prompted, gesturing to the door, his eyes wide with child-like excitement.

Oliver however, was still rather cautious. "Is it safe?" He asked, not even looking at the door.

"Of course it's safe!"

The wizard still wasn't exactly convinced, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. He couldn't help but grin as he spun on his heel, practically sprinting to the door. His heart was racing faster than it ever had before. He was about to step out into the past! The real past, the-

Strangely advanced looking past.

Oliver took a small step out of the box, frowning at the towering metal buildings around him. "Eh, Doctor, I think you took us to the wrong place?" He called over his shoulder. "Either that or 503 is very different to what I imagined it being," he muttered to himself.

The Doctor stepped out, closing and locking the door behind him before readjusting the long brown overcoat he had put on. "Nope. This is definitely the right place," he replied before starting to walk.

Oliver quickly scrambled to follow him - he definitely wasn't stupid enough to let the man that had brought him here out of his sight. "But...you said the year 503," he reminded him, starting to doubt himself. Had he heard the year wrong?

"This is the year 503!" The Doctor replied stubbornly, turning to look at Oliver as he continued to walk backwards. "The year 503 on the planet Ezekogue. In fact, we got here just in time. There's only a few minutes before it's the year 504. They're holding a big party in the main squ-what're you stopping for?" He asked, stopping himself as Oliver froze with shock.

"Ezekogue?!" Oliver repeated, slightly hysterical. "You mean...we're on a different planet..." He said slowly, digesting the information. For some reason, being on a different planet was affecting him more than the fact he had just travelled in time.

"Yeah. Sorry, should've mentioned that before," The Doctor smiled sheepishly. "I just got so excited and I forgot it was your first trip...I usually keep those trips Earth related," he continued. Although he muttered the last sentence to himself as though he was chastising himself for doing something wrong. "Do you still want to stay?" He asked anxiously.

Oliver slowly nodded - of course he wanted to stay! Maybe he had been right before and the man really was crazy. Who would want to go back now? "Of course. You mentioned a party?" He replied, raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor grinned again, "Yeah; this way!" He tilted his head in the direction they had been walking and turned, leading the way.

It turned out that the main square was not that far away and if Oliver hadn't known before that they were on an alien planet...well, the large collection of aliens around him were a big giveaway. He'd never seen such a diverse set of people; robots and people with more than one head and people with scales and Merlin, this was more than Oliver could've ever imagined. Although, the gathering itself was so familiar that Oliver found himself strangely at ease, looking at the large countdown clock that showed there was barely a minute left until the new year. As soon as it hit ten seconds, everyone joined in with the ticking clock. Oliver barely noticed that everyone was talking English as he joined in.

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

...

The screen turned red and fizzled until a new image took place, making the cheers of excitement turn to terrified silence. He felt the Doctor go stiff beside him, but Oliver's eyes were fixed on the screen.

"THE PEOPLE OF EZEKOGUE WILL SURRENDER TO THE DALEKS! ALL WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" The tinny voice terrified Oliver like no dementor had ever managed to.

It was then that the screams broke out and everyone started running and Oliver turned on the Doctor, glaring at the alien. "You told me it was safe!" He called over the screaming.

"It was!" He retorted, finally looked away from the now black screen to Oliver.

"And now?!"

"Not so much!"