𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 -- 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐢𝐢 was a troublemaker. It was a trait which he'd most likely inherited from his namesake and predecessor. It wasn't like he tried  to get in trouble, but nonetheless, trouble always seemed to find Fred wherever he went. It'd caused far too many problems for him recently, which was why his parents had arranged a family night for him and his many, many cousins. 

"Hugo! Give back the remote!" Lily complained, accidentally elbowing Fred in the stomach as she reached for the aforementioned remote. The two were currently arguing over which movie they should watch while Roxanne tried to help negotiate. "You picked last time!" The redheaded girl whined, grabbing the remote from Hugo's hands. 

Fred rolled his eyes, shoving his sister's legs off of his lap where she'd draped them. Roxanne shot him a dirty look before focusing back on the movie debate. "Hey! Lily! Stop smacking Hugo with the remote!" She cried, pushing the two teenagers apart. "Victoire, Teddy, aren't you supposed to be chaperoning us?"

"Figure it out yourselves. I don't particularily care what movie you want to watch," Victoire replied, waving her hand dismissively as she turned back to her fiance.

Louis grabbed the remote out of Lily's hands at his sister's words. "How about we compromise and let me choose for once?"

The argument resumed with a vengeance. Fred shook his head wearily and rose to his feet, dodging his twelve cousins as he made his way to the door. "Fred? Where are you going?" Lucy's voice echoed through the hall behind him. Hurried footsteps sounded and his sixteen-year-old cousin appeared at his side. "What are we doing?" She asked cheerfully, linking her arm through his own.

Fred raised his eyebrows at the redhead. "We?" 

"Yes, we. Your mother told me to keep you out of trouble tonight, so it's we." Lucy said firmly.

"Fine," Fred yielded, shaking his head. "We're going upstairs to look through Aunt Hermione's safe. I heard the adults whispering about something important in there, but when I asked what it was they wouldn't tell me."

"Well, see, I'm supposed to keep you out of trouble... But this seems much more interesting." Lucy said, a grin spreading across her face. "Where's the safe?"

Fred smiled conspiratorially at his cousin as he led her up the stairs. "In her office."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at Fred as he knelt down and began picking the lock on Hermione's office door. "Is it sad that I'm not surprised you know how to do that?" She asked, shaking her head. Fred smirked as the door swung open.

"But thank god that I do."

The two crept into the office, cautiously glancing around for any sign of a security precaution set in place to protect whatever it was that was in that safe. "All clear," Lucy straightened up, exhaling in relief. Fred shot her an amused glance as he squatted in front of the safe.

"What, did you think it'd be booby-trapped? This is her home office, who would think she'd store something valuable here?" The fifteen-year-old smiled deviously as he examined the lock. Lucy scanned his face quizzically.

"And how exactly do you plan to open the safe?"

Fred glanced up at his cousin as he pulled out his wand. "By being a wizard." The boy muttered a spell under his breath and waved his wand with a flourish. Lucy rolled her eyes as the safe popped open. "Luce, get over here. Help me look through this stuff."

Fred pressed his mouth into a firm line as he shuffled through the documents. "Useless, useless, useless..." He muttered.

"Hey, what's that?" Lucy interrupted, pointing at a small, black, velvet box. Fred reached into the safe and pulled it out. "Well, it looks promising," The redhead said as her cousin examined the box. "Are you gonna open it or not?" She said impatienly. Fred shot her an annoyed glance as he flipped open the lid.

"Is this what I think it is?" Fred asked breathlessly as he lifted the golden necklace from the box.

"If you think it's a motherfucking time-turner, then yeah, it's what you think it is," Lucy gaped, mesmerised as the necklace swayed slowly from side to side. "We have to show this to everybody!" The sixteen-year-old exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Fred followed suit, and the cousins hurriedly made their way back down into the main room.

"YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE-- oh hey, Scorpius-- WHAT WE FOUND IN AUNT HERMIONE'S SAFE!" Fred exclaimed excitedly as they rushed into the room. Several heads shot up at his words.

Rose gaped at her cousin. "Why the fuck were you in Mom's safe?!"

Teddy stood up braced himself against the couch. "One: Fred, you can't just break into people's safes. Two: Lucy, why would you help him?! And three: What'd you find?"

Fred smiled gleefully as he extended his hand, the chain of the time-turner wrapped around his fingers. Several moments of silence ensued, and then the room erupted into chaos. "HOLY FUCK-- IS THAT A FUCKING TIME-TURNER?!

"OH MY GOD, BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!"

Victoire scrambled to her feet as she realized what he was holding. "PUT THAT DOWN, NOW! CAREFULLY, FRED!"

Hugo decided to take a different route and lunged for the necklace. "LEMME SEE IT, FREDDIE!" The teenager shouted, grabbing at the delicate piece of jewelry. Fred stumbled back into Lucy, who in turn began to flail her arms around in search of something to hold onto.

And then the time-turner fell from Fred's hand. It happened in slow-motion-- at least it felt like it did. 

Dominique was the first to notice it falling. "OHMYGODSOMEONECATCHITRIGHTNOW!"

Every single person in the room dived for the necklace.

Moments later it shattered against the floor, the sand from within the hourglass flying in all directions as everyone crashed to the ground. Fred stared at the shards of glass on the floor as the world began to spin, at first slowly, but then faster and faster until he couldn't see what was happening around him.