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batsutousaiTitle: The Perfect Sky is Torn
Part: 2 of ?
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta:tsuki_no_suzu
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Harry Potter/Eleventh Doctor (Jack/Ianto, Amy/Rory)
Warnings: Slash, spoilers for the fifth Christmas special of New Who and season 4 of Sarah Jane
Summary: Sequel to Dust in the Sky. Between the Doctor's companions throwing themselves all over him and Harry's life on Earth, their love always manages to bring them together.
Disclaim Her: I own none of the characters of Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures, or Harry Potter. The worlds belong to their respective creators/controlling entities and I am only borrowing them for my own amusement. No money is being made off of this piece of fan fiction.
Some quotes in this fic are taken directly from episodes in Doctor Who, others have been changed to better fit Harry's inclusion.
A/N: At the end of the last chapter, I got a lot of whimpers and tears over River's parting line. Sorry if that made people upset? But that was me trying to keep this fic cannon. Especially since we don't know what's going to happen with River and the Doctor. (Though it seems we'll be finding out soon enough. XD)
So, there's a bit in this chapter which I... yoinked... from The Sarah Jane Adventures, which is another shoot-off series, like Torchwood. I've made mentions to the series before, but nothing concrete. But there was an episode set this season that took place when Harry would have been on the TARDIS, so I sort of had to add it. This episode is titled 'Death of the Doctor'.
For those who don't watch this show, Sarah Jane Smith travelled with the third and forth Doctors and reappeared in the New Who episode 'School Reunion' before getting her own show, where she, her adopted son, Luke, and some neighbourhood kids, Clyde and Rani, attempt to use the Doctor's more peaceful measures to deal with alien threats.
This particular episode also stars Jo Grant – now Jo Jones – who travelled with the third Doctor before Sarah Jane.
In the canon of this fic, Harry helped Sarah Jane at one point shortly after he joined Torchwood and ended up almost getting Clyde killed, so Sarah Jane isn't really happy with him, and Rani and Clyde aren't quite sure how they feel – on one hand, he's Harry Potter; on the other, he's a bit reckless and Sarah Jane's ticked.
Hope that helps!
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
Harry grunted and tried to cover his head with a pillow. The TARDIS had been trying to wake him for almost ten minutes, now, but he was tired. He knew Amy and Rory weren't about – the Doctor had left them on some planet that had just gotten married to an asteroid for their honeymoon – and the Doctor was probably outside, causing his usual amount of mayhem on some poor, unsuspecting planet; Harry recalled his lover mentioning something about a battlefield when Harry started off to bed, but he couldn't remember for certain.
The TARDIS let out another loud, obnoxious sound and Harry sat up, glaring at the nearest wall. "Damnit, woman! I'm trying to sleep!"
Harry got the distinct feeling that the TARDIS had just shot him a rude gesture.
He huffed and climbed out of the bed he and the Doctor shared. "I'm up," he told her, summoning his trousers. "Is this emergency requiring of a shirt, or am I fine without?"
He got the sense that the ship could care less one way or the other. Clothing was not a concept she fully understood, as she didn't need to cover anything up.
"Don't need to," Harry retorted, summoning a shirt on his way out of the room, "but it's polite to wear one if you're in questionable company. Like if there are other sentient beings around."
Harry just knew the ship would be rolling her eyes at him if she had any.
Harry tugged his shirt on over his head and stopped next to the screen of the TARDIS. "You gonna show me what he's done this time?"
The TARDIS sent him a sense of urgency.
Harry sighed and wandered over to the doors. He tugged them open and found himself facing the backs of three large vulture-like aliens and one human in a UNIT uniform. Also in attendance was Sarah Jane Smith and another woman he didn't know, both of whom were strapped down. "A battlefield's about right," he muttered.
The three aliens and the UNIT woman all turned to look at him, shocked. "Who is this?"
"Harry!" Sarah Jane called. "Thank god!"
Harry cocked an eyebrow at the lot. "What's going on here, then?"
"Who are you?" the UNIT woman snapped, hand reaching down to the gun on her hip.
"Destroy the control panel," Sarah Jane said hurriedly. "They're trying to use it to create a TARDIS key from our memories."
"Never good, that," Harry replied, then pulled his wand out and pointed it between the aliens and human in front of him. "Reducto."
The console exploded into sparks, which was echoed by the contraptions holding the two women, freeing them.
Harry shot out a couple more spells to imprison the three aliens and the UNIT woman, then walked past them to where Sarah Jane and the other woman were trying to get the doors to the room opened. "Here, move," he said and zapped it with his sonic screwdriver.
Three kids and the Doctor tumbled in, all looking a bit surprised.
"How did you–?" the Doctor started.
"You might remember how I'd decided to have a bit of a lie down?" Harry replied drily, giving the Doctor an unimpressed look. "The TARDIS woke me."
"Oh, I never thought I'd say it again, but I'm so glad to see you," Sarah Jane said, extracting herself from Clyde and Rani.
Harry gave her a grimace of a smile and shared a hug. "Good to see you again as well, Sarah Jane." He glanced past her to where Clyde and Rani were watching with nervous expressions. "All right, Clyde? Rani?"
"Yeah," they both agreed, and, after a glance at Sarah Jane's smile, both broke out into grins and stepped forward to hug him or shake his hand.
"Where's Luke?" Harry asked, glancing between the three.
"Off to uni a year early," Clyde replied with the faintest hint of sadness disguised as annoyance.
"Good on him," Harry said, gripping Clyde's arm, since he was still in reach, but looking at Sarah Jane.
Someone cleared their throat and they all looked over at the other woman who'd been strapped to the machine. The third kid was standing just behind her, looking a bit awkward. She stuck her hand out towards Harry and said, "Jo Jones. And this is my grandson, Santiago."
Harry smiled, bemused, and took the offered hand. "Harry Potter. Pleasure to meet you both."
There was a moment of stunned surprise, then Jo and Santiago were both demanding if he was the Harry Potter while the others all laughed at the reaction that Harry always got.
Harry just grinned and said, "The one from the books, yeah. Went to Hogwarts, defeated Voldemort... All that."
Once they quieted down a bit, the Doctor commented, "Harry, you'll know Jo as Jo Grant."
Recognition dawned in Harry's eyes and he smiled again at Jo, this time with real warmth. "It is a pleasure, then."
"You travel with the Doctor?" Jo asked.
"When he can talk me into it," Harry agreed, laughing when the Doctor scowled at him. "Oh, don't look at me like that, you loon."
"So, what're we going to do with them?" Clyde wondered, looking over at where the UNIT woman and the three aliens were trussed up.
"Colonel Karim can be dealt with by UNIT," Sarah Jane said sharply, giving the woman an acidic look.
"We should be able to deliver the Shansheeth to the Shansheeth Nest for them to face trial," the Doctor offered.
"Better than letting UNIT have them," Harry agreed drily. "You'd be picking their pieces up off the laboratory floors." He glanced over at Sarah Jane, who had pressed her lips together with disapproval. "And, yeah, I know, Torchwood's not much better."
"Torchwood?" Jo asked.
"Local organization with the same basic goals and principals as UNIT," Sarah Jane explained. "Harry works for the Cardiff branch."
Harry shrugged. "Like Torchwood better than UNIT, myself. It's smaller, so there's more to do. Less paperwork."
"Well!" the Doctor said, bouncing in place a bit to draw attention to himself and, with luck, keep Harry and Sarah Jane from getting into a new fight so soon after making up. "Harry, could you separate the Colonel and, I dunno. Leave a note?"
Harry snorted. "Yeah. No problem." He wandered over to set about doing that while the Doctor directed the rest of the motley crew into the TARDIS. Rani and Clyde held the doors open for Harry as he levitated the three Shansheeth inside, then took them deeper into the ship. The TARDIS, clever girl that she was, supplied Harry with a locked room to keep the aliens in. "Cheers, luv," he told her as he deposited the pile in and closed the door.
They'd mostly finished exclaiming over the redesigned inside by the time Harry got back, so the Doctor flipped a few levers and pressed a switch and they were on their way back to Sarah Jane's place, arriving in the attic.
The kids all shuffled out, shouting their good-byes over their shoulders.
"Still the same old TARDIS," Jo commented, coming around the central pillar from where she'd been standing during flight. "It doesn't matter what changed, it still... smells the same." She smiled for a long moment, then seemed to snap herself out of it. "Nope! Gotta say good-bye, or else I'd stay with you forever. Besides, I probably couldn't keep up anymore." She chuckled and glanced over at Sarah Jane, who smiled back. "Get you into trouble with the Time Lords."
The Doctor coughed uncomfortably while Sarah Jane and Harry eyed him. "Yeah, I'd probably better go. You know me... Stuff to do." He turned and poked at the console a bit.
Sarah Jane took a deep breath and commented, "It's daft, though, because, well..." She reached over and wrapped her arm around Jo's back. "Well we were both saying... If, you ever died, we'd feel it somehow. We'd just know. But that's just silly, isn't it?" She glanced at the Doctor, almost hopeful.
The Doctor glanced over at the two women with a troubled look. "I don't know. Maybe not. Because between you and me, if that day ever comes..."
Both women leaned forward, nodding, while Harry considered them from the other side of the console.
"...I think the whole universe might just shiver," the Doctor continued in his serious, sad voice. After another moment, he exclaimed, "Bwuh!" and both women jumped.
"Loon," Harry muttered as the Doctor started laughing.
Jo and Sarah Jane laughed too and Jo stepped forward to hug the Doctor while Sarah Jane shook her head and looked over at Harry. "You knew what he was up to."
Harry rolled his eyes. "This incarnation can't be serious for more than two minutes. Even when flying himself into an explosion."
Sarah Jane blinked and glanced back at the Doctor. "He didn't."
Harry smiled bitterly and shrugged one shoulder, then came around the console. "Are we okay, now?"
Sarah Jane sighed. "Clyde almost died, Harry."
Harry nodded. "I know." He rubbed at the back of his head. "I have nightmares, sometimes, about what might have happened if Luke and Rani hadn't chased after me like they did." He glanced up at her with eyes filled with self-recrimination. "I'm sorry."
Sarah Jane reached out and touched his shoulder. "You're used to working with adults who can take care of themselves," she offered. "And I was a bit harsh."
Harry's lips curled with a smile. "I recall you telling me you never wanted to see my face again, even if the world was ending."
Sarah Jane laughed and drew him into a hug, which Harry gladly returned. He'd always liked the older companion, and although he knew it never really worked, he respected her need to deal peacefully with aliens. UNIT and Torchwood could both learn from her.
They drew apart after a moment and Harry asked, "So, is it okay if I ring you once I'm back in real time again? I sort of miss having someone else with kids to talk to."
Sarah Jane smiled and nodded. "Of course. How are yours, anyway?"
"They're doing pretty good. James is going into his second year of primary and Albus is about to start his first."
"About to?" Sarah Jane repeated.
Harry blinked, then sighed. "It's after the first of September. Of course."
Sarah Jane laughed. "It's the end of October. If you get back before now, just remember that I'm still not talking to you."
Harry chuckled and shook his head, then glanced over at where the Doctor and Jo were watching them with sheepish or knowing grins. "Oiy, git. If you don't get me back in time to see Albus off on his first day, I'll curse your bits."
The Doctor winced. "Noted."
The two women both laughed, then traded places; Sarah Jane went to hug the Doctor while Jo walked over to Harry and hugged him. "It was wonderful meeting you," Jo said.
"Same here," Harry agreed. "If you're ever in England again, look me up. Or look Sarah Jane up and she can call me over."
"Of course," Jo agreed.
Harry and the Doctor stood next to each other at the top of the stairs and waved as the two women shuffled out the front door. Once the door closed, the Doctor looked over at Harry. "I have a vague recollection of you asking me to teach you how to drive the TARDIS."
Harry cocked an eyebrow at him. "River can drive it," he replied, as if that explained everything.
The Doctor grimaced. "Still not too certain about that."
Harry chuckled and leaned up to plant a brief kiss on the Time Lord's cheek. "Come on. At least someone should know how to pilot this poor girl when you're detained and need a last-minute rescue."
The Doctor snorted, but turned towards the console and started explaining what the different knobs and levers did.
-0-
They picked Amy and Rory up from their honeymoon, then sent them off on part two of Merlin knew how many. While the newly-weds were enjoying the sights of the Seefra system – a nine-planet system known as the 'Amusement Land of the Galaxy' – Harry managed to talk the Doctor into taking him back to September first, where he got to see Albus off for his first day at school and give his excuses to his family and boss. Ginny had rolled her eyes, far too used to Harry's long absences with the Doctor, even if she hated them, and Jack had demanded a detailed report on all planets/times/aliens/sexual encounters Harry enjoyed while on his journeys. Harry had politely told the immortal where he could shove his insatiable interest in Harry's sex life, then let the Doctor take him away to pick up Amy and Rory for another honeymooning spot.
Harry and the Doctor were enjoying a quiet moment near a supernova when the distress call came through.
"Worst timing," Harry complained, getting up from his spot on the floor with a groan.
"They've had worse," the Doctor pointed out, shutting the doors of the TARDIS and heading for the controls.
Harry grimaced, recalling one time that Amy and Rory had called while the two men were having sex. Luckily, the Doctor had only given Amy a crap communicator, so they had been no chance in the younger travellers thinking anything was up. Not that Amy and Rory weren't completely aware of the Doctor and Harry's relationship.
The Doctor whistled as he set them in flight towards the space liner they'd left them on that time. "Should send them a message when we're within sight. See what's gone wrong."
"Probably crashed or something," Harry muttered, taking over the flying as the Doctor typed out a message to the younger two passengers to let them know the Doctor and Harry were ready and willing to assist if they could.
"They haven't crashed," the Doctor reported as the small TARDIS screen picked up the craft in the cloud-cover of a planet.
"Yet," Harry replied. "Look at that engine." He nodded to where one of the engines was sputtering.
"You are getting to know far too much about alien spacecrafts for my piece of mind," the Doctor replied even as he sent out his message to Amy and Rory.
Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Your own fault, git."
The Doctor grinned and reached around Harry to fiddle with the controls himself. "Message delivered. Scans show that the cloud-cover is an almost solid mass and there’s little space to land. The liner has sent out a request to the governing body to be allowed to land, but they haven't gotten an answer yet and there's been more than enough time."
"Planning to go down and check it out?" Harry replied.
The Doctor nodded. "Link your mobile to the TARDIS, would you? I want to know right away if Amy needs us for anything."
Harry shifted out of the way, letting the Doctor take over flying again and pulled out his mobile. Previous adventures away from the TARDIS in the past weeks had made him a master of linking his mobile and the ship together and he barely had to think about it to do it. They'd tried finding some way to just let Amy and Rory connect to Harry's mobile direct, but it wasn't working for some reason. The Doctor blamed it on faulty technology, Harry blamed it on his lover losing his mind.
They finally landed with a jerk and hurried out to see where they'd landed.
"A roof," Harry said, looking around. Above them, the sky teemed with clouds shot through by a beam of light from the building they were on the roof of. Below, he could faintly hear the sounds of Christmas-time in the teeming streets.
"I'm feeling adventurous," the Doctor explained, approaching the chimney.
"No. Not a chance."
The Doctor grinned madly and climbed on top.
"Doctor, no," Harry repeated.
"Live a little, Harry!"
"I am not going to play Santa Claus with you!"
The Doctor's grin widened. "Suit yourself," he replied, then dropped down.
Harry sighed and looked back at the waiting TARDIS. "Bloody lunatic," he told her and she hummed in agreement. He couldn't help but smile at her, then apparated to the general vicinity of the Doctor, earning him some mildly terrified looks, but the Doctor helpfully distracted them all by blabbering madly about having met Father Christmas once, leaving Harry to observe the large room around them and fade back against the wall. Previous experience had taught him that he was often best off just letting his lover talk and the Time Lord would get around to the point.
Eventually.
Harry sighed as the Doctor went on about the flashing control panel, then got distracted talking about the clouds, the frozen girl in the middle of the room and returned to trying to figure out the controls that controlled the clouds, only to find out they were isomorphic.
The fellow in charge of the estate, Kazran Sardick, finally decided he'd had enough and ordered his men to see them out.
The Doctor ducked the man that grabbed him and Harry stepped into the way of the man when he started back towards the Doctor, who walked up to Kazran and said, "There are four thousand and three people I won't allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?"
"Where?" Kazran asked, looking unimpressed.
"Four thousand and four."
"Doctor," Harry warned.
Kazran just looked sort of amused. "Was that a sort of threaty-thing?"
"Whatever happens tonight, remember... you brought it on yourself," the Doctor said.
"Yeah, yeah right. Get him out of here," Kazran ordered, but Harry was already leading the Doctor away, frowning at the butler/guard who looked ready to drag them out.
And then the young boy in the family of poor people who'd been in the manor threw some coal at Kazran.
Kazran almost hit the boy, but he stopped himself without anyone interfering and that got the Doctor thinking. Wondering.
Finally, the Doctor and Harry showed themselves out. "Anything?" Harry wondered.
"Not a thing," the Doctor admitted and reached shamelessly into Harry's pocket for his mobile. "What have you got?"
"Bitter old man who needs a taste of what it's like to be in the shoes of the people he apparently controls," Harry muttered.
"You don't think he knows what it's like to be controlled?" the Doctor wondered, dialling the number to the make-shift phone Amy had. (They still hadn't managed to find Martha's old phone – the Doctor thought it might have been burnt up when he'd regenerated, and after six summoning spells, Harry was inclined to believe him – which meant Amy and Rory were stuck using whatever mad thing the Doctor could piece together that day.) "Amy!"
Harry rolled his eyes and left the Doctor to his phone call, turning to look around at the town, which was very old-world Earth. Or, at the least, very Diagon Alley-esque. "Cute," he commented, eyeing a large clock face that was inscribed with an elaborate 'S'. A glance at a near-by light pole showed another scrawled 's' on the side, but also something far more curious. "Doctor," he called, walking up to the light.
The Doctor was busy dividing his attention between the mobile and the father of the family they'd met inside.
Harry reached up and cupped his hands around one of the tiny fish circling the light pole. He brought it down to eye-level and grinned at it. "You're cute," he decided, snorting as the little creature tried nibbling his palm and only really tickled.
"Fish that can swim in fog," the Doctor murmured, walking over to Harry and glancing down into his cupped hands. Another couple fish floated down and and nibbled at his hair. "I love new planets."
"They sort of tickle," Harry commented, holding the fish out to the Doctor.
The older man grinned and and let it nibble at his finger. "Why would anybody fear you cute tiny fish?"
Harry grimaced and let his hands fall away from the fish. "Maybe they're not all so tiny and cute. And if they're interested in eating fingers..."
The Doctor grimaced and turned back to the mobile. "Careful up there," he told Amy.
Amy, of course, demanded that he do something to save them.
"That child..." Harry muttered while the Doctor smacked his forehead and paced, trying to come up with something.
The clock ticked over to eleven at night and Christmas carols came through the speakers. Amy evidently asked what the music was because the Doctor repeated a few times that it was, "A Christmas carol," before inspiration stole across his face.
"Uh-oh," Harry said.
The Doctor grinned up at the sky. "Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick."
"What are you plotting?" Harry asked.
The Doctor grinned at him.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted through the phone.
"Come on. Tell me."
"Do you trust me?" the Doctor asked Harry, closing the mobile.
"Do I–? What sort of barmy question is that?!"
"Do you trust me?" the Doctor asked again, still grinning, but there was something a bit more serious in his eyes now.
"Course I trust you," Harry agreed. "What are you planning?"
The Doctor handed the mobile back over, leaning forward so he was practically nose-to-nose with Harry. "Do you know Charles Dickens' story A Christmas Carol?"
"The one where the man is visited by ghosts to change his mind about how he treats people during Christmas?" Harry replied.
"That's the one!"
"Yeah, I know it. Went and saw a production of it with Ginny and the kids a few years ago. What's that got to do with..." Harry trailed off, eyes widening.
The Doctor's grin was back, mad as ever. "Ready to play a ghost?"
Harry's lips curled with amusement. "I was born ready," he declared and the Doctor laughed.
-0-
Harry agreed to stay behind and keep an eye on Kazran. Make sure nothing bad happened to him while the Doctor was off mucking about in his past and changing it around. The Doctor didn't think anything particularly bad would happen, but he didn't want to take any chances.
Considering how adventures with the Doctor usually went, Harry thought he was probably right to worry about the psychological effects on Kazran.
Other than some denial, Kazran didn't seem to be having much trouble with his changing past. It probably helped that things were being recorded, which also allowed Harry to keep up. It wasn't until the shark broke into the cupboard and the connection was cut that Kazran started having trouble and Harry was immediately there with a calming charm and a summoned cup of tea.
Harry helped Kazran back into his chair and conjured one of his own across from the man. He sat there and watched as Kazran sipped his tea, looking stressed. "Will you tell me?" he asked after a moment.
Kazran attempted to focus on him, but he was still trapped in his memories. "I... can't..."
"Talk to me," Harry said again, smiling. "It might help."
Kazran was silent for a long moment, then he started narrating the attack of the shark, how it had swallowed the Doctor's screwdriver. How the Doctor had dared to reach inside the shark's mouth to get the screwdriver back. How they had to save the dying shark. How they freed Abigail Pettigrew.
They were interrupted, briefly, by the Doctor's quest for a code to open the door to the freezing chamber.
Kazran pulled out a box of photos and he waved Harry down to the floor, where they looked through them and the older man spoke fondly of his Christmas Eves with the Doctor and Abigail. Harry laughed with him, enjoying stories of riding a shark-drawn carriage and visiting far-off times and places.
And then, suddenly, Kazran got really quiet and all of the joy seemed to bleed away from him. Harry reached out and touched his arm. "Kazran, what is it?" he asked.
Kazran pulled away and quickly set about shoving all the pictures back in the box.
"Kazran?"
"Leave," Kazran snapped. "You just–" He turned to Harry and a terrible sadness and heartbreak flooded his eyes. "Just leave!" he shouted.
Harry climbed to his feet. "Okay," he said. "Okay, I'll leave." And he apparated away to where he knew the Doctor would be waiting, just outside Kazran's bedroom window. There, they stood and watched as the old man reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the other half of the sonic screwdriver, staring at it.
"He's not going to free them," Harry said, watching the man inside the house.
"Why?" the Doctor wondered. "What happened?"
"I don't know. He wouldn't say."
The Doctor nodded to himself and pulled Harry's mobile from the wizard's pocket. "We'll see what Amy can do."
"On to the present?" Harry asked.
The Doctor gave a bitter smile and quickly outlined the plan to Amy and Rory. Then the two men on the rooftop leaned over the phone and listened as Kazran explained that Abigail would die after one more day. And then he refused to free the ship.
"Time for the future," the Doctor murmured, glancing up at Harry.
Harry nodded and led the way into the TARDIS. They piloted the TARDIS back into the past and, with a little cajoling, the Doctor managed to talk a young Kazran into coming along with them, then he left them in the TARDIS and walked out to meet the older Kazran. To talk to him while Harry and the boy stood just inside the open door.
"Do you know why I'm going to let those people die?" older Kazran said to the Doctor. "Not a plan; I don't get anything from it... It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you. I don't and never, ever will care!"
"And I don't believe that," the Doctor replied.
"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."
"The future is right here and now," Harry offered, ushering the younger Kazran out of the TARDIS. As the older Kazran turned back to look at them, surprise on his face, Harry asked, "Kazran, is this what you want?"
The two Kazrans stared at one another, then the younger murmured, "Dad?" and the elder stepped forward to strike him, fury in his eyes.
But he managed to stop himself and Harry pulled the young boy into an embrace as the elder whispered apologies.
The Doctor met Harry's eyes over the hunched form of the elder Kazran and said, "Kazran, we don't have much time."
The four of them raced up the stairs, intent on saving the ship, but the controls wouldn't work. Kazran was too different. Too willing to be kind. The machine didn't recognise him.
They figured out that they could send music through the sonic screwdriver to calm the clouds, but they needed Abigail. They needed to use her last day.
They made their way back down the stairs, no one quite willing, but all of them needing to save the lives of the people on the ship.
Standing in front of Abigail's box, the elder Kazran asked, "Could you do it? Could you do this? Think about it, Doctor. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you chose?"
The Doctor looked over at Harry and the wizard smiled and suggested, "An ordinary day." And the Doctor smiled, but it was so very painful.
"Christmas," Abigail offered in response, stepping from her frozen prison. "Christmas day."
Harry entwined his hand with the Doctor's and the Doctor pulled the younger Kazran into a friendly half-hug. The three watched as Abigail and Kazran were reunited at last.
And then they were running, running up the stairs and out into the street. The Doctor hooked up the screwdriver to the sound system and Abigail started singing.
And the two Kazrans, Harry and the Doctor stood back and watched as it began to snow.
"A last day to remember," Harry said and the elder Kazran looked at him with a sad but wonderful smile. Next to Harry, the Doctor wrapped an arm around his shoulders and they both smiled at one another.
After a time, they took the young Kazran back home.
"Let's make snowmen!" the Doctor demanded as the landed again in the present. "Snowmen!"
Harry touched his shoulder and the Doctor turned to look at him, grinning. "Snowmen?" Harry asked.
"Snowmen!"
"You're barmy."
The Doctor grinned all the wider and went dashing off to start his snowman making.
They made quite a few snowmen together and started a small snow-war with some passers-by.
"Think Amy and Rory will ever be back?" Harry wondered after an hour or so.
"Eventually," the Doctor agreed and threw another snowball at Harry, hitting him in the face.
"You–!"
The Doctor laughed and dodged all return fire, which was quite the feat, seeing as how Harry was using his magic to double the amount of snow he could throw.
Finally, Amy and Rory caught up to them. Some snarky jokes were made about their choice in clothing and they started back towards the TARDIS, Rory asking about another honeymoon spot, which sent the Doctor blabbering on about a carnivorous moon made of honey.
"Are you okay?" Amy asked Harry as they trailed behind.
Harry glanced over at her, then back up at their men. "If you could pick the last day you had with Rory, what would it be?"
Amy swallowed and slowed to a stop, shivering in the snow. "I don't...know..." she replied.
Harry nodded.
"What would you...?"
Harry smiled. "The most ordinary day in the universe," he replied and pulled out his wand to cast a warming charm on her. "Come on. Let's get you inside."
"No complaints from me," Amy agreed and they hurried over to where the Doctor was waiting for them.
Before they could speak, Rory poked his head out and said, "Ah, your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like the Marilyn."
The Doctor looked a bit shifty.
"Doctor?"
The Doctor glanced briefly over at Harry, who had an unamused look on his face. "Tell her I'll phone her back," he told Rory. "And, and that was never a real...chapel..."
Harry pulled out his wand and rested it against the skin between the Doctor's eyes. "How badly do I need to curse you this time?"
"I–! It isn't–!"
"Painful, then," Harry decided.
The Doctor cleared his throat and hurried past Rory into the TARDIS, letting out a rather undignified squeak when a jet of light shot past him.
"Are you really going to curse him?" Amy wondered as Harry shot a few more jets of coloured light after the retreating alien.
"Tempting," Harry replied, then ducked past Rory and picked up the phone himself. "Hello, Marilyn Monroe?" He smiled a bit evilly when the woman on the other end responded. "If you ever call my lover again, I will hunt you down and kill you very, very slowly. Understood?"
"You're a bit scary when you're angry," Rory mumbled, shooting Harry a disturbed look.
Harry hung up the phone. "I think I'll let him stew for a bit. Anywhere you two want to go?"
Amy glanced over at Rory, then turned to Harry with a smile. "How about a day off?" she suggested. "Just one day in the TARDIS."
Harry smiled a happy smile. "Brilliant," he replied and set the controls.
But before he could set them off, the Doctor poked his head around the window into the hallways of the TARDIS. "Can I make a suggestion?"
"You've done nothing but make suggestions," Amy pointed out a bit drily.
The Doctor looked pleadingly at Harry. "As an apology?"
Harry raised an eyebrow, then looked over at Amy, who seemed almost amused. "This should be good," the wizard commented.
Amy shrugged. "Alright. I think I'd enjoy the Doctor's version of an apology."
The Doctor cleared his throat and stepped out into the console room, eyeing Harry with some concern. "Yes, yes, fun. Enjoyable..." He turned and looked at Amy and Rory. "You'll want to change. I mean, Rory might fit in, but you should probably change anyway." He turned to Harry, who was opening his mouth, and said, "Warmish climate, I think. Early June. Might be a bit of a breeze, but it should be lovely. Good view of the stars."
"Night-time?" Harry clarified.
The Doctor took a moment to think about it, then nodded. "Night-time. Bit of a breeze. Lovely night, though."
"Come on," Amy said, taking Rory's arm and dragging him towards the TARDIS wardrobe.
"Is this his idea of romance?" Rory whispered to Harry as the wizard joined them to find more weather-appropriate clothing.
"It's his idea of an apology," Harry corrected.
"You should just curse him and be done with it."
"He tends not to learn his lesson too well."
"No," Amy agreed, eyeing a cowering Rory, "I don't think he would."
Harry snickered.
-0-
The Doctor was practically bouncing when they landed and the three humans shot him mildly worried looks. "This is going to be great!" he declared. "Best apology ever!"
"What would he know about apologies?" Amy wondered.
The Doctor ignored her and, taking Harry's hand, dashed over to the door. "Open it," he said to Harry.
Harry sighed and did as he was told, then let out a quiet breath at the sight of the castle rising before the ring of mountains that protected it. "Hogwarts..." he whispered.
"What? Hogwarts?" Amy hurried over to Harry's side and stared out at the castle. "I can see it," she realised.
"I parked us inside the wards," the Doctor informed them, clearly proud of himself.
"What have I told you about driving the TARDIS through wizarding wards?" Harry demanded, giving his lover an irritated look.
"Materialised inside them. Not the same thing. But it's Hogwarts! See, best apology!"
"It's pretty good," Amy agreed.
Harry raked his eyes over the castle, observing. "Late June," he murmured. "School's still in session." He glanced back at the Doctor. "When are we?"
The Doctor grinned. "Take your best guess."
"After my parents went here, before the second war," Harry reported without pause, having already picked out details like the existence of the whomping willow and the lack of rebuilding from after the final battle. "Knowing you, it's probably during my years at the school. I don't sense any dementors, so it's definitely not my third year, no maze, so it's not my fourth. Not feeling the tragedy of my sixth year, and I doubt even you would be mad enough to take my back to the end of my fifth year. So that leaves my second and..." Harry trailed off, eyes widening.
"Your first year," the Doctor agreed.
"We've got company," Rory commented from behind Amy, pointing at where a group of people were walking towards them, wands drawn.
"Excellent!" The Doctor slipped past Harry and Amy and started towards the approaching witches and wizards. "Hello! I'm the Doctor! Beautiful night!"
"He's going to get himself killed," Amy commented.
"Saves me the trouble," Harry replied, but there was no feeling in his words and he moved to catch up to his lover, not quite going for his wand, but prepared to protect the lunatic against any spells sent their way.
"It is a most lovely night," Albus Dumbledore agreed from the head of the procession. "I'm Albus Dumbledore. Might I ask how you appeared on our grounds?"
"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that," the Doctor replied agreeably.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "You..."
"Potter!" Snape shouted in horror from just behind the Headmaster.
There was a rather sudden cacophony of voices as all of the wizards and witches there turned to stare at Harry, awed. They seemed mostly confused about who he was, though, as James Potter was ten years dead and Harry Potter was not yet twelve.
"In the future, let's aim not to cause a panic?" Harry muttered to the grinning Doctor as Amy and Rory hurried up behind them. "Perhaps just materialise in the Headmaster's office?"
"How are you going to explain that?" Rory wondered, looking back at the TARDIS.
Harry grunted and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a card that shimmered uncertainly, the information obscured, but the picture was clear. Since the Headmaster was the only one not shouting, Harry held the card out to him and Dumbledore took it with an interested look, which quickly turned to understanding.
"What's that?" Amy whispered.
"Unspeakable identification card," Harry muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Was supposed to get rid of it when I resigned, but it had gotten lost on the TARDIS. Found it a couple days ago."
"So does that mean you can cause as much trouble as you want in the name of the Department of Mysteries?"
Harry grinned. "As long as it's before I would have resigned and they have no way to see if I should have been there? Totally."
"Brilliant."
Dumbledore had finally managed to get the professors under control and handed Harry back his card. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Unspeakables. Now, might I ask what you're doing here?"
"He's a lunatic," Amy immediately offered, pointing at the Doctor.
"Certified," the Doctor agreed.
Harry sighed and slipped his card away. "Headmaster, I'm afraid our business here is a bit confidential. Might we speak in your office?"
"Of course, my dear boy," Dumbledore agreed and motioned for the guests to follow them.
"Close the TARDIS door," Harry suggested to the Doctor as a few of the professors looked hopefully back at the TARDIS.
"Hm. Good point." The Doctor snapped his fingers and the door snapped shut behind them, earning the man some awed looks.
"Couldn't they just use magic to open the door?" Amy wondered, having seen Harry use an alohomora once to get them inside, since he didn't have a key. Honestly, considering how close Harry and the Doctor were, she still wasn't quite certain why the wizard was without a key. Even Rory had one.
"The TARDIS is smarter than that," the Doctor said by way of explanation, then hurried forward to blabber on with Dumbledore about some muggle sweet or another.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Lunatic."
Amy and Rory laughed a bit nervously.
Harry glanced back at them, concern in his eyes. "Okay?"
"It's not often we get to walk into the plot of a novel we've been reading our whole lives," Amy replied. "You said this is your–"
Harry cleared his throat and gave Snape a dark look, since he was a bit too close for comfort, then silently cast a charm to let them speak freely. "My first year," he agreed. "If the Doctor's timeline is right, Voldemort will have just tried to steal the Stone and I will have stopped him."
"So you're in hospital right now?" Rory clarified.
Harry nodded. "Pretty much."
"What's so great about your being in hospital?" Amy wondered. "Is he going to apologise by going and hugging your eleven-year-old self?"
"Don't give him any ideas," Harry muttered.
Once they reached the Headmaster's office, Harry again found himself requesting that the meeting be confidential with just Harry's group and the Headmaster, but Snape wasn't going to have it.
"Let a bunch of unknown wizards and witches alone with you, Headmaster? This is not a good idea. What if they've come to kill you?"
"I think the Headmaster is more than capable of holding his own if we suddenly decided to come here and kill him," Amy pointed out, glaring at Snape.
Harry made a mental note that Amy was a Snape-hater, then realised he'd been spending too much free time at his desk paying attention to the fandom.
"Headmaster, you are not infallible," Snape continued, ignoring Amy.
Harry sighed and offered, "First off, I'm the only one of us with a wand–"
"What?!"
"How can that be?!"
"Muggles? In Hogwarts?"
Harry gave the Doctor a pointed look and he smiled a bit sheepishly. "Sorry?"
Harry sighed and shook his head, then pulled out his wand and intoned, "I swear on my magic that I have no intention to harm Headmaster Dumbledore and, should it come to it, I will do everything in my power to protect him from any harm."
Dumbledore smiled. "Is that sufficient, Severus?"
Snape looked almost furious, but he nodded and stalked away. Slowly, the other Heads of House followed his example until it was just the Headmaster and the time travellers.
"Tea? Sherbet lemon?" Dumbledore offered, summoning a tea service and waving one hand towards the sweets on the desk.
"I'd love some of both, but I don't suppose you have any green tea?" the Doctor said, snatching a handful of candy.
"The candy is laced with a calming potion," Harry quietly warned the two muggles as Rory reached for a sherbet lemon. The Doctor had already stuffed two in his mouth, but Harry figured his lover could use a bit of calming down, and previous tests had already proven that the potion wouldn't do anything harmful to the Time Lord.
"Green tea?" Dumbledore replied, frowning. "You know, I don't think we do."
Harry silently summoned some from the TARDIS and handed it over to the Doctor, who grinned. "Cheers!"
"Have more sherbet lemons," Harry replied and the Doctor blinked in surprise.
Dumbledore handed out tea to his other guests while the Doctor popped another candy into his mouth. Once they were all served, the Headmaster asked, "So, what is it I can do for you? And are you all Unspeakables?"
"I'm the only official Unspeakable," Harry replied easily, relaxing back into his chair, "but the Doctor is a part of a muggle organization which works with the Unspeakables and he tends to pick up strays."
"Are you calling me a stray?" Amy demanded.
Harry grinned at her. "A lovable one," he assured her and got smacked for it. Rory just sighed while the Doctor grinned and popped another sherbet lemon in his mouth.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Mr Potter?"
Harry glanced over at him, one eyebrow raised in amusement, but saw no point in denying he was of the Potter line; he knew he looked like his father and Albus looked so much like him. "Headmaster Dumbledore?"
"What brings you here?" the Headmaster wondered.
"Sir," Harry said quietly, "this very night, a brave boy collected something from behind a mirror of dreams that most people would crave very much."
Dumbledore looked over his half-moon spectacles and pierced Harry with the look he'd often received in school. "You came for the Stone," he murmured, and there was disappointment in his voice.
Harry shrugged. "To crave that which we cannot have... is it not the greatest curse of humanity? Have not you, yourself, succumbed to such a fate?" He held up his own wand for inspection.
Shock flashed in Dumbledore's eyes and then he closed them, looking so very tired. "It is because I have succumbed to temptation that I wish to protect you from it," he said.
The Doctor cleared his throat, eyes sharp. "I thought you got rid of that," he said to Harry.
Harry smiled. "It found me again. Or, more specifically, it refused to let me go. Remember when I broke my old wand?"
"Ah." The Doctor leaned back in his seat and eyed the sherbet lemons in his hand oddly. "Calming potion."
Amy snorted.
Dumbledore leaned forward on his desk. "And the last?"
Harry shrugged. "Perhaps."
Dumbledore nodded and leaned back in his chair, absently drying his beard, which had ended up in his tea. "What use have you for the Philosopher's Stone?" he wondered. "The Potters are not a poor family, and if you have all the Hallows..."
"The Hallows are fine if you want to live through any wound," Harry said and he couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Perhaps they would let me live past my natural life-span, but I've seen what happens to someone who ages without death, and I wouldn't wish such a fate on even Voldemort."
The Doctor shuddered in his seat and returned to his tea with a vengeance, only pausing to pop another sherbet lemon in his mouth.
Dumbledore considered his guests. The younger two looked almost confused by the subject matter, though they were keeping up far better than Dumbledore thought a couple of muggles should have been able to. The elder two had shadows in their eyes from seeing too much, but there was a fighting spirit there, too; a light that couldn't be stopped.
And Dumbledore smiled.
Harry narrowed his eyes, suspicious of that smile. "Yes?"
"If I gave you this Stone, what would you use it for? To live forever in peace?"
"My life is anything but peaceful," Harry returned drily. "And I have no interest in living 'forever'. I only wish to live for so long as there is someone there for me to live with, and that's going to be for a long time now." He glanced over at the Doctor, who smiled, then looked back at Dumbledore. "And I wouldn't keep it just for myself. I have another friend who... I suppose you could say he has his own version of the Hallows, but he didn't get a choice in the matter. He's lived a very long time and seen so many people die. I would like to give him the chance to live with someone for longer than just the blink of an eye."
"You think Ianto would take you up on the offer?" the Doctor wondered, sitting forward.
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously? Anyone who spends ten minutes in Jack's presence would take me up on the offer." He smiled and added, "Even if it was just for the chance to say, 'I'm the one who finally killed Jack Harkness!' "
The Doctor laughed. "Your weapons officer?"
"And about half of UNIT."
"Only half?"
"Mm. Good point."
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "And who would you spend your life with, my boy?"
Harry and the Doctor traded looks, then pointed at each other. At Dumbledore's curious look, the Doctor offered, "I'm not human. Alien, me, and my people live a long time."
"He's already well over nine hundred," Harry agreed.
Dumbledore found himself more than willing to believe that, in spite of the Doctor's young appearance, and he reached into a drawer to pull out the Stone. Before he held it out, though, he asked, "Will you tell me? Your name?"
And Harry smiled. "Sir, you already know my name."
Dumbledore smiled back and handed over the Stone. "Use it well, Harry."
"Thank you, sir."
They all stood and said their good-byes.
And just before Harry let the door fall closed behind him, Philosopher's Stone clutched in one hand, he turned back to the old wizard at the desk. "Professor?"
"Yes, my boy?"
"I forgive you," Harry said and then hurried off after his lover and friends.
"Are we going the right way?" Rory wondered as Harry slipped his arm into the Doctor's.
"Yeah. The staircase is just 'round the next corner," Harry agreed.
"All right?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm not sure," Harry admitted, then smiled up at the Doctor. "What do you say to a day off?"
The Doctor smiled. "Sounds fantastic," he said in a poor Northern accent.
Harry rolled his eyes and laughed.
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
A/N: Considering the sort of lives Harry and the Doctor live, it seems only right that Harry would think an ordinary day would be the best day ever.
The last bit was practically demanded by Shara. It wasn't as funny as she'd wanted it to be, but I had a lot of trouble making it funny. Couldn't see Albus just handing the Stone over, no matter who Harry was. Or, perhaps, because of who Harry was.
And I felt that this Harry could finally forgive Albus for everything. For all the secrets, because this Harry has children of his own now, and he's known some wonderful and terrible people and he's done some wonderful and terrible things.
Had a bit of trouble fitting Harry into this episode, but I hope I managed well enough.
Hope you enjoyed it, and that the Sarah Jane bit didn't confuse too many people. Like my beta. XD
See you all in the summer!
Have a fantastic New Year!
~Bats ^.^x
Harry & the Doctor Series:
Hanging By a Thread
Dust in the Sky Chapters:
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six
The Future Doesn't Scare Me Chapters:
One | Two | ???
The Perfect Sky is Torn Chapters:
One |Two | Three
DISCONTINUED
Adrenaline Rush
Part: 2 of ?
Author:
batsutousaiBeta:
tsuki_no_suzuRating: PG-13
Pairings: Harry Potter/Eleventh Doctor (Jack/Ianto, Amy/Rory)
Warnings: Slash, spoilers for the fifth Christmas special of New Who and season 4 of Sarah Jane
Summary: Sequel to Dust in the Sky. Between the Doctor's companions throwing themselves all over him and Harry's life on Earth, their love always manages to bring them together.
Disclaim Her: I own none of the characters of Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures, or Harry Potter. The worlds belong to their respective creators/controlling entities and I am only borrowing them for my own amusement. No money is being made off of this piece of fan fiction.
Some quotes in this fic are taken directly from episodes in Doctor Who, others have been changed to better fit Harry's inclusion.
A/N: At the end of the last chapter, I got a lot of whimpers and tears over River's parting line. Sorry if that made people upset? But that was me trying to keep this fic cannon. Especially since we don't know what's going to happen with River and the Doctor. (Though it seems we'll be finding out soon enough. XD)
So, there's a bit in this chapter which I... yoinked... from The Sarah Jane Adventures, which is another shoot-off series, like Torchwood. I've made mentions to the series before, but nothing concrete. But there was an episode set this season that took place when Harry would have been on the TARDIS, so I sort of had to add it. This episode is titled 'Death of the Doctor'.
For those who don't watch this show, Sarah Jane Smith travelled with the third and forth Doctors and reappeared in the New Who episode 'School Reunion' before getting her own show, where she, her adopted son, Luke, and some neighbourhood kids, Clyde and Rani, attempt to use the Doctor's more peaceful measures to deal with alien threats.
This particular episode also stars Jo Grant – now Jo Jones – who travelled with the third Doctor before Sarah Jane.
In the canon of this fic, Harry helped Sarah Jane at one point shortly after he joined Torchwood and ended up almost getting Clyde killed, so Sarah Jane isn't really happy with him, and Rani and Clyde aren't quite sure how they feel – on one hand, he's Harry Potter; on the other, he's a bit reckless and Sarah Jane's ticked.
Hope that helps!
-0-0-0-
Harry grunted and tried to cover his head with a pillow. The TARDIS had been trying to wake him for almost ten minutes, now, but he was tired. He knew Amy and Rory weren't about – the Doctor had left them on some planet that had just gotten married to an asteroid for their honeymoon – and the Doctor was probably outside, causing his usual amount of mayhem on some poor, unsuspecting planet; Harry recalled his lover mentioning something about a battlefield when Harry started off to bed, but he couldn't remember for certain.
The TARDIS let out another loud, obnoxious sound and Harry sat up, glaring at the nearest wall. "Damnit, woman! I'm trying to sleep!"
Harry got the distinct feeling that the TARDIS had just shot him a rude gesture.
He huffed and climbed out of the bed he and the Doctor shared. "I'm up," he told her, summoning his trousers. "Is this emergency requiring of a shirt, or am I fine without?"
He got the sense that the ship could care less one way or the other. Clothing was not a concept she fully understood, as she didn't need to cover anything up.
"Don't need to," Harry retorted, summoning a shirt on his way out of the room, "but it's polite to wear one if you're in questionable company. Like if there are other sentient beings around."
Harry just knew the ship would be rolling her eyes at him if she had any.
Harry tugged his shirt on over his head and stopped next to the screen of the TARDIS. "You gonna show me what he's done this time?"
The TARDIS sent him a sense of urgency.
Harry sighed and wandered over to the doors. He tugged them open and found himself facing the backs of three large vulture-like aliens and one human in a UNIT uniform. Also in attendance was Sarah Jane Smith and another woman he didn't know, both of whom were strapped down. "A battlefield's about right," he muttered.
The three aliens and the UNIT woman all turned to look at him, shocked. "Who is this?"
"Harry!" Sarah Jane called. "Thank god!"
Harry cocked an eyebrow at the lot. "What's going on here, then?"
"Who are you?" the UNIT woman snapped, hand reaching down to the gun on her hip.
"Destroy the control panel," Sarah Jane said hurriedly. "They're trying to use it to create a TARDIS key from our memories."
"Never good, that," Harry replied, then pulled his wand out and pointed it between the aliens and human in front of him. "Reducto."
The console exploded into sparks, which was echoed by the contraptions holding the two women, freeing them.
Harry shot out a couple more spells to imprison the three aliens and the UNIT woman, then walked past them to where Sarah Jane and the other woman were trying to get the doors to the room opened. "Here, move," he said and zapped it with his sonic screwdriver.
Three kids and the Doctor tumbled in, all looking a bit surprised.
"How did you–?" the Doctor started.
"You might remember how I'd decided to have a bit of a lie down?" Harry replied drily, giving the Doctor an unimpressed look. "The TARDIS woke me."
"Oh, I never thought I'd say it again, but I'm so glad to see you," Sarah Jane said, extracting herself from Clyde and Rani.
Harry gave her a grimace of a smile and shared a hug. "Good to see you again as well, Sarah Jane." He glanced past her to where Clyde and Rani were watching with nervous expressions. "All right, Clyde? Rani?"
"Yeah," they both agreed, and, after a glance at Sarah Jane's smile, both broke out into grins and stepped forward to hug him or shake his hand.
"Where's Luke?" Harry asked, glancing between the three.
"Off to uni a year early," Clyde replied with the faintest hint of sadness disguised as annoyance.
"Good on him," Harry said, gripping Clyde's arm, since he was still in reach, but looking at Sarah Jane.
Someone cleared their throat and they all looked over at the other woman who'd been strapped to the machine. The third kid was standing just behind her, looking a bit awkward. She stuck her hand out towards Harry and said, "Jo Jones. And this is my grandson, Santiago."
Harry smiled, bemused, and took the offered hand. "Harry Potter. Pleasure to meet you both."
There was a moment of stunned surprise, then Jo and Santiago were both demanding if he was the Harry Potter while the others all laughed at the reaction that Harry always got.
Harry just grinned and said, "The one from the books, yeah. Went to Hogwarts, defeated Voldemort... All that."
Once they quieted down a bit, the Doctor commented, "Harry, you'll know Jo as Jo Grant."
Recognition dawned in Harry's eyes and he smiled again at Jo, this time with real warmth. "It is a pleasure, then."
"You travel with the Doctor?" Jo asked.
"When he can talk me into it," Harry agreed, laughing when the Doctor scowled at him. "Oh, don't look at me like that, you loon."
"So, what're we going to do with them?" Clyde wondered, looking over at where the UNIT woman and the three aliens were trussed up.
"Colonel Karim can be dealt with by UNIT," Sarah Jane said sharply, giving the woman an acidic look.
"We should be able to deliver the Shansheeth to the Shansheeth Nest for them to face trial," the Doctor offered.
"Better than letting UNIT have them," Harry agreed drily. "You'd be picking their pieces up off the laboratory floors." He glanced over at Sarah Jane, who had pressed her lips together with disapproval. "And, yeah, I know, Torchwood's not much better."
"Torchwood?" Jo asked.
"Local organization with the same basic goals and principals as UNIT," Sarah Jane explained. "Harry works for the Cardiff branch."
Harry shrugged. "Like Torchwood better than UNIT, myself. It's smaller, so there's more to do. Less paperwork."
"Well!" the Doctor said, bouncing in place a bit to draw attention to himself and, with luck, keep Harry and Sarah Jane from getting into a new fight so soon after making up. "Harry, could you separate the Colonel and, I dunno. Leave a note?"
Harry snorted. "Yeah. No problem." He wandered over to set about doing that while the Doctor directed the rest of the motley crew into the TARDIS. Rani and Clyde held the doors open for Harry as he levitated the three Shansheeth inside, then took them deeper into the ship. The TARDIS, clever girl that she was, supplied Harry with a locked room to keep the aliens in. "Cheers, luv," he told her as he deposited the pile in and closed the door.
They'd mostly finished exclaiming over the redesigned inside by the time Harry got back, so the Doctor flipped a few levers and pressed a switch and they were on their way back to Sarah Jane's place, arriving in the attic.
The kids all shuffled out, shouting their good-byes over their shoulders.
"Still the same old TARDIS," Jo commented, coming around the central pillar from where she'd been standing during flight. "It doesn't matter what changed, it still... smells the same." She smiled for a long moment, then seemed to snap herself out of it. "Nope! Gotta say good-bye, or else I'd stay with you forever. Besides, I probably couldn't keep up anymore." She chuckled and glanced over at Sarah Jane, who smiled back. "Get you into trouble with the Time Lords."
The Doctor coughed uncomfortably while Sarah Jane and Harry eyed him. "Yeah, I'd probably better go. You know me... Stuff to do." He turned and poked at the console a bit.
Sarah Jane took a deep breath and commented, "It's daft, though, because, well..." She reached over and wrapped her arm around Jo's back. "Well we were both saying... If, you ever died, we'd feel it somehow. We'd just know. But that's just silly, isn't it?" She glanced at the Doctor, almost hopeful.
The Doctor glanced over at the two women with a troubled look. "I don't know. Maybe not. Because between you and me, if that day ever comes..."
Both women leaned forward, nodding, while Harry considered them from the other side of the console.
"...I think the whole universe might just shiver," the Doctor continued in his serious, sad voice. After another moment, he exclaimed, "Bwuh!" and both women jumped.
"Loon," Harry muttered as the Doctor started laughing.
Jo and Sarah Jane laughed too and Jo stepped forward to hug the Doctor while Sarah Jane shook her head and looked over at Harry. "You knew what he was up to."
Harry rolled his eyes. "This incarnation can't be serious for more than two minutes. Even when flying himself into an explosion."
Sarah Jane blinked and glanced back at the Doctor. "He didn't."
Harry smiled bitterly and shrugged one shoulder, then came around the console. "Are we okay, now?"
Sarah Jane sighed. "Clyde almost died, Harry."
Harry nodded. "I know." He rubbed at the back of his head. "I have nightmares, sometimes, about what might have happened if Luke and Rani hadn't chased after me like they did." He glanced up at her with eyes filled with self-recrimination. "I'm sorry."
Sarah Jane reached out and touched his shoulder. "You're used to working with adults who can take care of themselves," she offered. "And I was a bit harsh."
Harry's lips curled with a smile. "I recall you telling me you never wanted to see my face again, even if the world was ending."
Sarah Jane laughed and drew him into a hug, which Harry gladly returned. He'd always liked the older companion, and although he knew it never really worked, he respected her need to deal peacefully with aliens. UNIT and Torchwood could both learn from her.
They drew apart after a moment and Harry asked, "So, is it okay if I ring you once I'm back in real time again? I sort of miss having someone else with kids to talk to."
Sarah Jane smiled and nodded. "Of course. How are yours, anyway?"
"They're doing pretty good. James is going into his second year of primary and Albus is about to start his first."
"About to?" Sarah Jane repeated.
Harry blinked, then sighed. "It's after the first of September. Of course."
Sarah Jane laughed. "It's the end of October. If you get back before now, just remember that I'm still not talking to you."
Harry chuckled and shook his head, then glanced over at where the Doctor and Jo were watching them with sheepish or knowing grins. "Oiy, git. If you don't get me back in time to see Albus off on his first day, I'll curse your bits."
The Doctor winced. "Noted."
The two women both laughed, then traded places; Sarah Jane went to hug the Doctor while Jo walked over to Harry and hugged him. "It was wonderful meeting you," Jo said.
"Same here," Harry agreed. "If you're ever in England again, look me up. Or look Sarah Jane up and she can call me over."
"Of course," Jo agreed.
Harry and the Doctor stood next to each other at the top of the stairs and waved as the two women shuffled out the front door. Once the door closed, the Doctor looked over at Harry. "I have a vague recollection of you asking me to teach you how to drive the TARDIS."
Harry cocked an eyebrow at him. "River can drive it," he replied, as if that explained everything.
The Doctor grimaced. "Still not too certain about that."
Harry chuckled and leaned up to plant a brief kiss on the Time Lord's cheek. "Come on. At least someone should know how to pilot this poor girl when you're detained and need a last-minute rescue."
The Doctor snorted, but turned towards the console and started explaining what the different knobs and levers did.
They picked Amy and Rory up from their honeymoon, then sent them off on part two of Merlin knew how many. While the newly-weds were enjoying the sights of the Seefra system – a nine-planet system known as the 'Amusement Land of the Galaxy' – Harry managed to talk the Doctor into taking him back to September first, where he got to see Albus off for his first day at school and give his excuses to his family and boss. Ginny had rolled her eyes, far too used to Harry's long absences with the Doctor, even if she hated them, and Jack had demanded a detailed report on all planets/times/aliens/sexual encounters Harry enjoyed while on his journeys. Harry had politely told the immortal where he could shove his insatiable interest in Harry's sex life, then let the Doctor take him away to pick up Amy and Rory for another honeymooning spot.
Harry and the Doctor were enjoying a quiet moment near a supernova when the distress call came through.
"Worst timing," Harry complained, getting up from his spot on the floor with a groan.
"They've had worse," the Doctor pointed out, shutting the doors of the TARDIS and heading for the controls.
Harry grimaced, recalling one time that Amy and Rory had called while the two men were having sex. Luckily, the Doctor had only given Amy a crap communicator, so they had been no chance in the younger travellers thinking anything was up. Not that Amy and Rory weren't completely aware of the Doctor and Harry's relationship.
The Doctor whistled as he set them in flight towards the space liner they'd left them on that time. "Should send them a message when we're within sight. See what's gone wrong."
"Probably crashed or something," Harry muttered, taking over the flying as the Doctor typed out a message to the younger two passengers to let them know the Doctor and Harry were ready and willing to assist if they could.
"They haven't crashed," the Doctor reported as the small TARDIS screen picked up the craft in the cloud-cover of a planet.
"Yet," Harry replied. "Look at that engine." He nodded to where one of the engines was sputtering.
"You are getting to know far too much about alien spacecrafts for my piece of mind," the Doctor replied even as he sent out his message to Amy and Rory.
Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Your own fault, git."
The Doctor grinned and reached around Harry to fiddle with the controls himself. "Message delivered. Scans show that the cloud-cover is an almost solid mass and there’s little space to land. The liner has sent out a request to the governing body to be allowed to land, but they haven't gotten an answer yet and there's been more than enough time."
"Planning to go down and check it out?" Harry replied.
The Doctor nodded. "Link your mobile to the TARDIS, would you? I want to know right away if Amy needs us for anything."
Harry shifted out of the way, letting the Doctor take over flying again and pulled out his mobile. Previous adventures away from the TARDIS in the past weeks had made him a master of linking his mobile and the ship together and he barely had to think about it to do it. They'd tried finding some way to just let Amy and Rory connect to Harry's mobile direct, but it wasn't working for some reason. The Doctor blamed it on faulty technology, Harry blamed it on his lover losing his mind.
They finally landed with a jerk and hurried out to see where they'd landed.
"A roof," Harry said, looking around. Above them, the sky teemed with clouds shot through by a beam of light from the building they were on the roof of. Below, he could faintly hear the sounds of Christmas-time in the teeming streets.
"I'm feeling adventurous," the Doctor explained, approaching the chimney.
"No. Not a chance."
The Doctor grinned madly and climbed on top.
"Doctor, no," Harry repeated.
"Live a little, Harry!"
"I am not going to play Santa Claus with you!"
The Doctor's grin widened. "Suit yourself," he replied, then dropped down.
Harry sighed and looked back at the waiting TARDIS. "Bloody lunatic," he told her and she hummed in agreement. He couldn't help but smile at her, then apparated to the general vicinity of the Doctor, earning him some mildly terrified looks, but the Doctor helpfully distracted them all by blabbering madly about having met Father Christmas once, leaving Harry to observe the large room around them and fade back against the wall. Previous experience had taught him that he was often best off just letting his lover talk and the Time Lord would get around to the point.
Eventually.
Harry sighed as the Doctor went on about the flashing control panel, then got distracted talking about the clouds, the frozen girl in the middle of the room and returned to trying to figure out the controls that controlled the clouds, only to find out they were isomorphic.
The fellow in charge of the estate, Kazran Sardick, finally decided he'd had enough and ordered his men to see them out.
The Doctor ducked the man that grabbed him and Harry stepped into the way of the man when he started back towards the Doctor, who walked up to Kazran and said, "There are four thousand and three people I won't allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?"
"Where?" Kazran asked, looking unimpressed.
"Four thousand and four."
"Doctor," Harry warned.
Kazran just looked sort of amused. "Was that a sort of threaty-thing?"
"Whatever happens tonight, remember... you brought it on yourself," the Doctor said.
"Yeah, yeah right. Get him out of here," Kazran ordered, but Harry was already leading the Doctor away, frowning at the butler/guard who looked ready to drag them out.
And then the young boy in the family of poor people who'd been in the manor threw some coal at Kazran.
Kazran almost hit the boy, but he stopped himself without anyone interfering and that got the Doctor thinking. Wondering.
Finally, the Doctor and Harry showed themselves out. "Anything?" Harry wondered.
"Not a thing," the Doctor admitted and reached shamelessly into Harry's pocket for his mobile. "What have you got?"
"Bitter old man who needs a taste of what it's like to be in the shoes of the people he apparently controls," Harry muttered.
"You don't think he knows what it's like to be controlled?" the Doctor wondered, dialling the number to the make-shift phone Amy had. (They still hadn't managed to find Martha's old phone – the Doctor thought it might have been burnt up when he'd regenerated, and after six summoning spells, Harry was inclined to believe him – which meant Amy and Rory were stuck using whatever mad thing the Doctor could piece together that day.) "Amy!"
Harry rolled his eyes and left the Doctor to his phone call, turning to look around at the town, which was very old-world Earth. Or, at the least, very Diagon Alley-esque. "Cute," he commented, eyeing a large clock face that was inscribed with an elaborate 'S'. A glance at a near-by light pole showed another scrawled 's' on the side, but also something far more curious. "Doctor," he called, walking up to the light.
The Doctor was busy dividing his attention between the mobile and the father of the family they'd met inside.
Harry reached up and cupped his hands around one of the tiny fish circling the light pole. He brought it down to eye-level and grinned at it. "You're cute," he decided, snorting as the little creature tried nibbling his palm and only really tickled.
"Fish that can swim in fog," the Doctor murmured, walking over to Harry and glancing down into his cupped hands. Another couple fish floated down and and nibbled at his hair. "I love new planets."
"They sort of tickle," Harry commented, holding the fish out to the Doctor.
The older man grinned and and let it nibble at his finger. "Why would anybody fear you cute tiny fish?"
Harry grimaced and let his hands fall away from the fish. "Maybe they're not all so tiny and cute. And if they're interested in eating fingers..."
The Doctor grimaced and turned back to the mobile. "Careful up there," he told Amy.
Amy, of course, demanded that he do something to save them.
"That child..." Harry muttered while the Doctor smacked his forehead and paced, trying to come up with something.
The clock ticked over to eleven at night and Christmas carols came through the speakers. Amy evidently asked what the music was because the Doctor repeated a few times that it was, "A Christmas carol," before inspiration stole across his face.
"Uh-oh," Harry said.
The Doctor grinned up at the sky. "Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick."
"What are you plotting?" Harry asked.
The Doctor grinned at him.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted through the phone.
"Come on. Tell me."
"Do you trust me?" the Doctor asked Harry, closing the mobile.
"Do I–? What sort of barmy question is that?!"
"Do you trust me?" the Doctor asked again, still grinning, but there was something a bit more serious in his eyes now.
"Course I trust you," Harry agreed. "What are you planning?"
The Doctor handed the mobile back over, leaning forward so he was practically nose-to-nose with Harry. "Do you know Charles Dickens' story A Christmas Carol?"
"The one where the man is visited by ghosts to change his mind about how he treats people during Christmas?" Harry replied.
"That's the one!"
"Yeah, I know it. Went and saw a production of it with Ginny and the kids a few years ago. What's that got to do with..." Harry trailed off, eyes widening.
The Doctor's grin was back, mad as ever. "Ready to play a ghost?"
Harry's lips curled with amusement. "I was born ready," he declared and the Doctor laughed.
Harry agreed to stay behind and keep an eye on Kazran. Make sure nothing bad happened to him while the Doctor was off mucking about in his past and changing it around. The Doctor didn't think anything particularly bad would happen, but he didn't want to take any chances.
Considering how adventures with the Doctor usually went, Harry thought he was probably right to worry about the psychological effects on Kazran.
Other than some denial, Kazran didn't seem to be having much trouble with his changing past. It probably helped that things were being recorded, which also allowed Harry to keep up. It wasn't until the shark broke into the cupboard and the connection was cut that Kazran started having trouble and Harry was immediately there with a calming charm and a summoned cup of tea.
Harry helped Kazran back into his chair and conjured one of his own across from the man. He sat there and watched as Kazran sipped his tea, looking stressed. "Will you tell me?" he asked after a moment.
Kazran attempted to focus on him, but he was still trapped in his memories. "I... can't..."
"Talk to me," Harry said again, smiling. "It might help."
Kazran was silent for a long moment, then he started narrating the attack of the shark, how it had swallowed the Doctor's screwdriver. How the Doctor had dared to reach inside the shark's mouth to get the screwdriver back. How they had to save the dying shark. How they freed Abigail Pettigrew.
They were interrupted, briefly, by the Doctor's quest for a code to open the door to the freezing chamber.
Kazran pulled out a box of photos and he waved Harry down to the floor, where they looked through them and the older man spoke fondly of his Christmas Eves with the Doctor and Abigail. Harry laughed with him, enjoying stories of riding a shark-drawn carriage and visiting far-off times and places.
And then, suddenly, Kazran got really quiet and all of the joy seemed to bleed away from him. Harry reached out and touched his arm. "Kazran, what is it?" he asked.
Kazran pulled away and quickly set about shoving all the pictures back in the box.
"Kazran?"
"Leave," Kazran snapped. "You just–" He turned to Harry and a terrible sadness and heartbreak flooded his eyes. "Just leave!" he shouted.
Harry climbed to his feet. "Okay," he said. "Okay, I'll leave." And he apparated away to where he knew the Doctor would be waiting, just outside Kazran's bedroom window. There, they stood and watched as the old man reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the other half of the sonic screwdriver, staring at it.
"He's not going to free them," Harry said, watching the man inside the house.
"Why?" the Doctor wondered. "What happened?"
"I don't know. He wouldn't say."
The Doctor nodded to himself and pulled Harry's mobile from the wizard's pocket. "We'll see what Amy can do."
"On to the present?" Harry asked.
The Doctor gave a bitter smile and quickly outlined the plan to Amy and Rory. Then the two men on the rooftop leaned over the phone and listened as Kazran explained that Abigail would die after one more day. And then he refused to free the ship.
"Time for the future," the Doctor murmured, glancing up at Harry.
Harry nodded and led the way into the TARDIS. They piloted the TARDIS back into the past and, with a little cajoling, the Doctor managed to talk a young Kazran into coming along with them, then he left them in the TARDIS and walked out to meet the older Kazran. To talk to him while Harry and the boy stood just inside the open door.
"Do you know why I'm going to let those people die?" older Kazran said to the Doctor. "Not a plan; I don't get anything from it... It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you. I don't and never, ever will care!"
"And I don't believe that," the Doctor replied.
"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."
"The future is right here and now," Harry offered, ushering the younger Kazran out of the TARDIS. As the older Kazran turned back to look at them, surprise on his face, Harry asked, "Kazran, is this what you want?"
The two Kazrans stared at one another, then the younger murmured, "Dad?" and the elder stepped forward to strike him, fury in his eyes.
But he managed to stop himself and Harry pulled the young boy into an embrace as the elder whispered apologies.
The Doctor met Harry's eyes over the hunched form of the elder Kazran and said, "Kazran, we don't have much time."
The four of them raced up the stairs, intent on saving the ship, but the controls wouldn't work. Kazran was too different. Too willing to be kind. The machine didn't recognise him.
They figured out that they could send music through the sonic screwdriver to calm the clouds, but they needed Abigail. They needed to use her last day.
They made their way back down the stairs, no one quite willing, but all of them needing to save the lives of the people on the ship.
Standing in front of Abigail's box, the elder Kazran asked, "Could you do it? Could you do this? Think about it, Doctor. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you chose?"
The Doctor looked over at Harry and the wizard smiled and suggested, "An ordinary day." And the Doctor smiled, but it was so very painful.
"Christmas," Abigail offered in response, stepping from her frozen prison. "Christmas day."
Harry entwined his hand with the Doctor's and the Doctor pulled the younger Kazran into a friendly half-hug. The three watched as Abigail and Kazran were reunited at last.
And then they were running, running up the stairs and out into the street. The Doctor hooked up the screwdriver to the sound system and Abigail started singing.
And the two Kazrans, Harry and the Doctor stood back and watched as it began to snow.
"A last day to remember," Harry said and the elder Kazran looked at him with a sad but wonderful smile. Next to Harry, the Doctor wrapped an arm around his shoulders and they both smiled at one another.
After a time, they took the young Kazran back home.
"Let's make snowmen!" the Doctor demanded as the landed again in the present. "Snowmen!"
Harry touched his shoulder and the Doctor turned to look at him, grinning. "Snowmen?" Harry asked.
"Snowmen!"
"You're barmy."
The Doctor grinned all the wider and went dashing off to start his snowman making.
They made quite a few snowmen together and started a small snow-war with some passers-by.
"Think Amy and Rory will ever be back?" Harry wondered after an hour or so.
"Eventually," the Doctor agreed and threw another snowball at Harry, hitting him in the face.
"You–!"
The Doctor laughed and dodged all return fire, which was quite the feat, seeing as how Harry was using his magic to double the amount of snow he could throw.
Finally, Amy and Rory caught up to them. Some snarky jokes were made about their choice in clothing and they started back towards the TARDIS, Rory asking about another honeymoon spot, which sent the Doctor blabbering on about a carnivorous moon made of honey.
"Are you okay?" Amy asked Harry as they trailed behind.
Harry glanced over at her, then back up at their men. "If you could pick the last day you had with Rory, what would it be?"
Amy swallowed and slowed to a stop, shivering in the snow. "I don't...know..." she replied.
Harry nodded.
"What would you...?"
Harry smiled. "The most ordinary day in the universe," he replied and pulled out his wand to cast a warming charm on her. "Come on. Let's get you inside."
"No complaints from me," Amy agreed and they hurried over to where the Doctor was waiting for them.
Before they could speak, Rory poked his head out and said, "Ah, your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like the Marilyn."
The Doctor looked a bit shifty.
"Doctor?"
The Doctor glanced briefly over at Harry, who had an unamused look on his face. "Tell her I'll phone her back," he told Rory. "And, and that was never a real...chapel..."
Harry pulled out his wand and rested it against the skin between the Doctor's eyes. "How badly do I need to curse you this time?"
"I–! It isn't–!"
"Painful, then," Harry decided.
The Doctor cleared his throat and hurried past Rory into the TARDIS, letting out a rather undignified squeak when a jet of light shot past him.
"Are you really going to curse him?" Amy wondered as Harry shot a few more jets of coloured light after the retreating alien.
"Tempting," Harry replied, then ducked past Rory and picked up the phone himself. "Hello, Marilyn Monroe?" He smiled a bit evilly when the woman on the other end responded. "If you ever call my lover again, I will hunt you down and kill you very, very slowly. Understood?"
"You're a bit scary when you're angry," Rory mumbled, shooting Harry a disturbed look.
Harry hung up the phone. "I think I'll let him stew for a bit. Anywhere you two want to go?"
Amy glanced over at Rory, then turned to Harry with a smile. "How about a day off?" she suggested. "Just one day in the TARDIS."
Harry smiled a happy smile. "Brilliant," he replied and set the controls.
But before he could set them off, the Doctor poked his head around the window into the hallways of the TARDIS. "Can I make a suggestion?"
"You've done nothing but make suggestions," Amy pointed out a bit drily.
The Doctor looked pleadingly at Harry. "As an apology?"
Harry raised an eyebrow, then looked over at Amy, who seemed almost amused. "This should be good," the wizard commented.
Amy shrugged. "Alright. I think I'd enjoy the Doctor's version of an apology."
The Doctor cleared his throat and stepped out into the console room, eyeing Harry with some concern. "Yes, yes, fun. Enjoyable..." He turned and looked at Amy and Rory. "You'll want to change. I mean, Rory might fit in, but you should probably change anyway." He turned to Harry, who was opening his mouth, and said, "Warmish climate, I think. Early June. Might be a bit of a breeze, but it should be lovely. Good view of the stars."
"Night-time?" Harry clarified.
The Doctor took a moment to think about it, then nodded. "Night-time. Bit of a breeze. Lovely night, though."
"Come on," Amy said, taking Rory's arm and dragging him towards the TARDIS wardrobe.
"Is this his idea of romance?" Rory whispered to Harry as the wizard joined them to find more weather-appropriate clothing.
"It's his idea of an apology," Harry corrected.
"You should just curse him and be done with it."
"He tends not to learn his lesson too well."
"No," Amy agreed, eyeing a cowering Rory, "I don't think he would."
Harry snickered.
The Doctor was practically bouncing when they landed and the three humans shot him mildly worried looks. "This is going to be great!" he declared. "Best apology ever!"
"What would he know about apologies?" Amy wondered.
The Doctor ignored her and, taking Harry's hand, dashed over to the door. "Open it," he said to Harry.
Harry sighed and did as he was told, then let out a quiet breath at the sight of the castle rising before the ring of mountains that protected it. "Hogwarts..." he whispered.
"What? Hogwarts?" Amy hurried over to Harry's side and stared out at the castle. "I can see it," she realised.
"I parked us inside the wards," the Doctor informed them, clearly proud of himself.
"What have I told you about driving the TARDIS through wizarding wards?" Harry demanded, giving his lover an irritated look.
"Materialised inside them. Not the same thing. But it's Hogwarts! See, best apology!"
"It's pretty good," Amy agreed.
Harry raked his eyes over the castle, observing. "Late June," he murmured. "School's still in session." He glanced back at the Doctor. "When are we?"
The Doctor grinned. "Take your best guess."
"After my parents went here, before the second war," Harry reported without pause, having already picked out details like the existence of the whomping willow and the lack of rebuilding from after the final battle. "Knowing you, it's probably during my years at the school. I don't sense any dementors, so it's definitely not my third year, no maze, so it's not my fourth. Not feeling the tragedy of my sixth year, and I doubt even you would be mad enough to take my back to the end of my fifth year. So that leaves my second and..." Harry trailed off, eyes widening.
"Your first year," the Doctor agreed.
"We've got company," Rory commented from behind Amy, pointing at where a group of people were walking towards them, wands drawn.
"Excellent!" The Doctor slipped past Harry and Amy and started towards the approaching witches and wizards. "Hello! I'm the Doctor! Beautiful night!"
"He's going to get himself killed," Amy commented.
"Saves me the trouble," Harry replied, but there was no feeling in his words and he moved to catch up to his lover, not quite going for his wand, but prepared to protect the lunatic against any spells sent their way.
"It is a most lovely night," Albus Dumbledore agreed from the head of the procession. "I'm Albus Dumbledore. Might I ask how you appeared on our grounds?"
"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that," the Doctor replied agreeably.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "You..."
"Potter!" Snape shouted in horror from just behind the Headmaster.
There was a rather sudden cacophony of voices as all of the wizards and witches there turned to stare at Harry, awed. They seemed mostly confused about who he was, though, as James Potter was ten years dead and Harry Potter was not yet twelve.
"In the future, let's aim not to cause a panic?" Harry muttered to the grinning Doctor as Amy and Rory hurried up behind them. "Perhaps just materialise in the Headmaster's office?"
"How are you going to explain that?" Rory wondered, looking back at the TARDIS.
Harry grunted and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a card that shimmered uncertainly, the information obscured, but the picture was clear. Since the Headmaster was the only one not shouting, Harry held the card out to him and Dumbledore took it with an interested look, which quickly turned to understanding.
"What's that?" Amy whispered.
"Unspeakable identification card," Harry muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Was supposed to get rid of it when I resigned, but it had gotten lost on the TARDIS. Found it a couple days ago."
"So does that mean you can cause as much trouble as you want in the name of the Department of Mysteries?"
Harry grinned. "As long as it's before I would have resigned and they have no way to see if I should have been there? Totally."
"Brilliant."
Dumbledore had finally managed to get the professors under control and handed Harry back his card. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Unspeakables. Now, might I ask what you're doing here?"
"He's a lunatic," Amy immediately offered, pointing at the Doctor.
"Certified," the Doctor agreed.
Harry sighed and slipped his card away. "Headmaster, I'm afraid our business here is a bit confidential. Might we speak in your office?"
"Of course, my dear boy," Dumbledore agreed and motioned for the guests to follow them.
"Close the TARDIS door," Harry suggested to the Doctor as a few of the professors looked hopefully back at the TARDIS.
"Hm. Good point." The Doctor snapped his fingers and the door snapped shut behind them, earning the man some awed looks.
"Couldn't they just use magic to open the door?" Amy wondered, having seen Harry use an alohomora once to get them inside, since he didn't have a key. Honestly, considering how close Harry and the Doctor were, she still wasn't quite certain why the wizard was without a key. Even Rory had one.
"The TARDIS is smarter than that," the Doctor said by way of explanation, then hurried forward to blabber on with Dumbledore about some muggle sweet or another.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Lunatic."
Amy and Rory laughed a bit nervously.
Harry glanced back at them, concern in his eyes. "Okay?"
"It's not often we get to walk into the plot of a novel we've been reading our whole lives," Amy replied. "You said this is your–"
Harry cleared his throat and gave Snape a dark look, since he was a bit too close for comfort, then silently cast a charm to let them speak freely. "My first year," he agreed. "If the Doctor's timeline is right, Voldemort will have just tried to steal the Stone and I will have stopped him."
"So you're in hospital right now?" Rory clarified.
Harry nodded. "Pretty much."
"What's so great about your being in hospital?" Amy wondered. "Is he going to apologise by going and hugging your eleven-year-old self?"
"Don't give him any ideas," Harry muttered.
Once they reached the Headmaster's office, Harry again found himself requesting that the meeting be confidential with just Harry's group and the Headmaster, but Snape wasn't going to have it.
"Let a bunch of unknown wizards and witches alone with you, Headmaster? This is not a good idea. What if they've come to kill you?"
"I think the Headmaster is more than capable of holding his own if we suddenly decided to come here and kill him," Amy pointed out, glaring at Snape.
Harry made a mental note that Amy was a Snape-hater, then realised he'd been spending too much free time at his desk paying attention to the fandom.
"Headmaster, you are not infallible," Snape continued, ignoring Amy.
Harry sighed and offered, "First off, I'm the only one of us with a wand–"
"What?!"
"How can that be?!"
"Muggles? In Hogwarts?"
Harry gave the Doctor a pointed look and he smiled a bit sheepishly. "Sorry?"
Harry sighed and shook his head, then pulled out his wand and intoned, "I swear on my magic that I have no intention to harm Headmaster Dumbledore and, should it come to it, I will do everything in my power to protect him from any harm."
Dumbledore smiled. "Is that sufficient, Severus?"
Snape looked almost furious, but he nodded and stalked away. Slowly, the other Heads of House followed his example until it was just the Headmaster and the time travellers.
"Tea? Sherbet lemon?" Dumbledore offered, summoning a tea service and waving one hand towards the sweets on the desk.
"I'd love some of both, but I don't suppose you have any green tea?" the Doctor said, snatching a handful of candy.
"The candy is laced with a calming potion," Harry quietly warned the two muggles as Rory reached for a sherbet lemon. The Doctor had already stuffed two in his mouth, but Harry figured his lover could use a bit of calming down, and previous tests had already proven that the potion wouldn't do anything harmful to the Time Lord.
"Green tea?" Dumbledore replied, frowning. "You know, I don't think we do."
Harry silently summoned some from the TARDIS and handed it over to the Doctor, who grinned. "Cheers!"
"Have more sherbet lemons," Harry replied and the Doctor blinked in surprise.
Dumbledore handed out tea to his other guests while the Doctor popped another candy into his mouth. Once they were all served, the Headmaster asked, "So, what is it I can do for you? And are you all Unspeakables?"
"I'm the only official Unspeakable," Harry replied easily, relaxing back into his chair, "but the Doctor is a part of a muggle organization which works with the Unspeakables and he tends to pick up strays."
"Are you calling me a stray?" Amy demanded.
Harry grinned at her. "A lovable one," he assured her and got smacked for it. Rory just sighed while the Doctor grinned and popped another sherbet lemon in his mouth.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Mr Potter?"
Harry glanced over at him, one eyebrow raised in amusement, but saw no point in denying he was of the Potter line; he knew he looked like his father and Albus looked so much like him. "Headmaster Dumbledore?"
"What brings you here?" the Headmaster wondered.
"Sir," Harry said quietly, "this very night, a brave boy collected something from behind a mirror of dreams that most people would crave very much."
Dumbledore looked over his half-moon spectacles and pierced Harry with the look he'd often received in school. "You came for the Stone," he murmured, and there was disappointment in his voice.
Harry shrugged. "To crave that which we cannot have... is it not the greatest curse of humanity? Have not you, yourself, succumbed to such a fate?" He held up his own wand for inspection.
Shock flashed in Dumbledore's eyes and then he closed them, looking so very tired. "It is because I have succumbed to temptation that I wish to protect you from it," he said.
The Doctor cleared his throat, eyes sharp. "I thought you got rid of that," he said to Harry.
Harry smiled. "It found me again. Or, more specifically, it refused to let me go. Remember when I broke my old wand?"
"Ah." The Doctor leaned back in his seat and eyed the sherbet lemons in his hand oddly. "Calming potion."
Amy snorted.
Dumbledore leaned forward on his desk. "And the last?"
Harry shrugged. "Perhaps."
Dumbledore nodded and leaned back in his chair, absently drying his beard, which had ended up in his tea. "What use have you for the Philosopher's Stone?" he wondered. "The Potters are not a poor family, and if you have all the Hallows..."
"The Hallows are fine if you want to live through any wound," Harry said and he couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Perhaps they would let me live past my natural life-span, but I've seen what happens to someone who ages without death, and I wouldn't wish such a fate on even Voldemort."
The Doctor shuddered in his seat and returned to his tea with a vengeance, only pausing to pop another sherbet lemon in his mouth.
Dumbledore considered his guests. The younger two looked almost confused by the subject matter, though they were keeping up far better than Dumbledore thought a couple of muggles should have been able to. The elder two had shadows in their eyes from seeing too much, but there was a fighting spirit there, too; a light that couldn't be stopped.
And Dumbledore smiled.
Harry narrowed his eyes, suspicious of that smile. "Yes?"
"If I gave you this Stone, what would you use it for? To live forever in peace?"
"My life is anything but peaceful," Harry returned drily. "And I have no interest in living 'forever'. I only wish to live for so long as there is someone there for me to live with, and that's going to be for a long time now." He glanced over at the Doctor, who smiled, then looked back at Dumbledore. "And I wouldn't keep it just for myself. I have another friend who... I suppose you could say he has his own version of the Hallows, but he didn't get a choice in the matter. He's lived a very long time and seen so many people die. I would like to give him the chance to live with someone for longer than just the blink of an eye."
"You think Ianto would take you up on the offer?" the Doctor wondered, sitting forward.
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously? Anyone who spends ten minutes in Jack's presence would take me up on the offer." He smiled and added, "Even if it was just for the chance to say, 'I'm the one who finally killed Jack Harkness!' "
The Doctor laughed. "Your weapons officer?"
"And about half of UNIT."
"Only half?"
"Mm. Good point."
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "And who would you spend your life with, my boy?"
Harry and the Doctor traded looks, then pointed at each other. At Dumbledore's curious look, the Doctor offered, "I'm not human. Alien, me, and my people live a long time."
"He's already well over nine hundred," Harry agreed.
Dumbledore found himself more than willing to believe that, in spite of the Doctor's young appearance, and he reached into a drawer to pull out the Stone. Before he held it out, though, he asked, "Will you tell me? Your name?"
And Harry smiled. "Sir, you already know my name."
Dumbledore smiled back and handed over the Stone. "Use it well, Harry."
"Thank you, sir."
They all stood and said their good-byes.
And just before Harry let the door fall closed behind him, Philosopher's Stone clutched in one hand, he turned back to the old wizard at the desk. "Professor?"
"Yes, my boy?"
"I forgive you," Harry said and then hurried off after his lover and friends.
"Are we going the right way?" Rory wondered as Harry slipped his arm into the Doctor's.
"Yeah. The staircase is just 'round the next corner," Harry agreed.
"All right?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm not sure," Harry admitted, then smiled up at the Doctor. "What do you say to a day off?"
The Doctor smiled. "Sounds fantastic," he said in a poor Northern accent.
Harry rolled his eyes and laughed.
-0-0-0-
A/N: Considering the sort of lives Harry and the Doctor live, it seems only right that Harry would think an ordinary day would be the best day ever.
The last bit was practically demanded by Shara. It wasn't as funny as she'd wanted it to be, but I had a lot of trouble making it funny. Couldn't see Albus just handing the Stone over, no matter who Harry was. Or, perhaps, because of who Harry was.
And I felt that this Harry could finally forgive Albus for everything. For all the secrets, because this Harry has children of his own now, and he's known some wonderful and terrible people and he's done some wonderful and terrible things.
Had a bit of trouble fitting Harry into this episode, but I hope I managed well enough.
Hope you enjoyed it, and that the Sarah Jane bit didn't confuse too many people. Like my beta. XD
See you all in the summer!
Have a fantastic New Year!
~Bats ^.^x
Hanging By a Thread
Dust in the Sky Chapters:
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six
The Future Doesn't Scare Me Chapters:
One | Two | ???
The Perfect Sky is Torn Chapters:
One |
DISCONTINUED
Adrenaline Rush
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