QL, Wigtown Wanderers, Beater 1, Finals Round 1. Theme: The Time Machine — H.G Wells Prompts: [word] Mindless [colour] Antique White [colour] Coral.

Word Count: 1187

Betas: Aya

Uncle Percy's Encounter With A Time Traveller

"Kids, sit down, I want to tell you a story about your Uncle Percy," Bill said to his three children gaining their instant attention. Stories about their family members were the most exhilarating in their opinion. It wasn't long until there was silence in the living room.

Bill smiled at the intrigued faces before taking a breath and beginning; "Percy Weasley was not the wizard one would expect to find in Brighton, more specifically, the muggle part of Brighton. To onlookers, he looked to be mindlessly walking around the seaside. But this Weasley was on a mission, sent by the Ministry, to find a time traveller. This wasn't any normal time traveller though, it was a muggle one.

"You're probably wondering how that is possible. How could a muggle possibly possess the power to travel through time unless he managed to get ahold of a time timer? Well, kids…" Bill paused with a half smile. "It was made with pure science."

"Really?" Louis, being the youngest at 6 years old, questioned.

"How?" Victorie inquired.

Dominique didn't look as convinced. "I thought science was just accidental magical, Dad?"

Bill smiled at the questions but chose to not answer them, instead, he continued the story. "Percy was following the intel the Ministry had received but presumed he wouldn't find anything. You see, this wasn't too long after the war and things were still tense. Everybody was on edge. Everybody looked suspicious. Everybody was in mourning. But, Percy, as a highly trained Auror knew what to—"

"Wait… since when was Uncle Percy a highly trained Auror?" Dominique interrupted with a confused expression.

"Fine, Percy as a highly trained individual," he paused just long enough to ensure he wasn't going to be interrupted again, "knew exactly what to look for. He knew the signs of a time traveller, of somebody messing with time. So, as dusk began to set—"

"Is he about to find the time traveller?"

"Dominique, if you keep interrupting the story it'll take longer to find out the ending," Bill said to his 9-year-old daughter. "Where was I?"

Louis piped up. "Dusk!"

"Right. The sun began to set and Percy was thinking about retiring to his hotel room when a figure caught his eye. While everybody around him was wearing normal muggle clothing, there was a male wearing antique white and coral robes. The thing that Percy found strange was that they weren't wizarding robes. It could almost be mistaken for a dressing gown had Percy not known any better. With his senses high and his hand hovering close to his wand, he began to follow the unknown individual cautiously.

"After twenty minutes of keeping hidden in shadows, the male finally stopped and walked into a building. Quickly, as to not lose his target, Percy followed him in only to be caught. 'Why are you following me?' the male demanded of your uncle."

Louis gasped and covered his eyes.

"Uncle Percy calmly explained that he'd heard about a time machine and was curious. The two of them got to talking about time travel and the pros and cons. I think the man nearly lured your uncle into agreeing that the positives outweighed the negatives… nearly. As the man, who had introduced himself as Dave, finished his explanation of how he made the machine—"

"The time machine," his eleven-year-old daughter, Victorie, corrected.

"When Dave finished describing his time machine he offered your uncle a trip to the future."

"No way he said yes!" Dominique interjected.

"You're right Dom, he said no. Dave didn't like that, he got angry, accused Percy of wasting his time and not understanding. He wouldn't listen to your uncles' reason about the negative consequences of time travel. Then…" Bill paused for dramatic effect, "as Percy took a hold of Dave's jacket, the world around them changed. The once bright green walls of the room had dwindled. 'What happened?' was all your uncle could say before taking in the sight that was in front of him. Dave had taken Percy to the future."

Victorie's eyes were wide with surprise, hanging onto her fathers' every word.

None of his children spoke as they waited for him to continue. He also noticed that his wife, Fleur, was also listening from the doorway.

"It didn't take him too long to discover he had been taken five years into the future. Percy remained calm and told the time traveller to take him back to his own time. Instead, Dave took him further into the future, so far in the future that the world around them changed before his eyes. The building was knocked down. The surroundings became bare before new structures were built. Finally, they stopped. Everything had changed. Even the seaside had been replaced with a steady ocean.

"Percy was shocked. Even he couldn't think of a valid explanation besides time travel. Dave wandered away from him but thankfully stayed in sight. That's when Percy noticed that his travel partner's clothes had become a brighter shade of coral. Did travelling through time do that? Or was the lighting in this time different? Glancing up at the sun for a split second he knew that had been the wrong decision. Even he should have known that looking at the sun directly was a bad idea. He looked down to the ground as he regained sight in his eyes and noted that his normal white shirt was now more of the antique shade that Dave had been wearing earlier. Time travel definitely had something to do with this.

"But your uncle couldn't stay and examine everything. He knew that simply by participating in time travel he could be sent to Azkaban, even though he was unwilling from the start. He pulled out his wand. Of course as Dave was a muggle he didn't seem to care."

Bill paused and looked at each of his loved one's faces as he decided to skip over part of the story.

"He never did tell me how he managed to convince Dave to bring them back nor did he say how long he had been there, but they finally returned to the present day." Bill paused again, this time just because he could. "Percy wasn't able to apprehend the time traveller, he somehow managed to get away. Percy thinks he's just in hiding. I think he's hiding in the future."

"Wait… you've got to be kidding me!" Dominique exclaimed. "After all of that, he didn't even get Dave? That's stupid!"

"Are you sure that even happened?" Victorie asked.

Bill nodded with complete conviction. "I don't expect you to be mindless and believe me. Percy still has the clothing. Check his wardrobe, there will be one antique white shirt amongst his other shirts and trousers which look a bit too coral. You can go and see the proof yourself."

His three children stood up and ran out of the room quicker than when they call 'dinner'. Perhaps he should have warned Percy about telling them that story. It was a true story after all… but it doesn't mean he was allowed to share it.