Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Now if you look closely here, you’ll see how the four planets of Justicia have a perfectly square orbit. It’s wrong, it’s manufactured. Who can tell me why the orbit would be changed in the first place?”

The Doctor pulled away from his telescope he’d been peering into, and looked out among the members of his class and waiting with baited breath to see if anyone would know. They in turn glanced away from their scopes and scanned over their charts, while some flipped through their books. But the answer wasn’t simply in a textbook. It would involve extra knowledge, from someone with a mind that leaned towards unconventional knowledge.

To his immense surprise, a blond haired fifth year Gryffindor, whose name he couldn’t recall, raised her hand, and he nodded to her,

“The orbit is perfectly spaced for the use of an amplified gravity wave to open a warp-hole, perhaps for faster travel between planets, or even further.”

The Doctor gave a rare smile to the girl, and waved a hand,

“Fantastic. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, who can tell me what the orbit should be?”

***

It was the year 1990, and The Doctor was the current professor of Astronomy at Hogwarts, for the third year running.

He was a competent enough teacher and more than qualified, but his fellow teachers disliked how unfocused he could be.

During meals in the great hall, he never seemed to be able to shut up about his curriculum, always willing to go off on tangents about this planet or that system, and what sort of creatures lived there.

None of this could be proven, and most of the professors assumed he was simply using a great imagination.

Only Professor Dumbledore knew the truth.

The Doctor, or as he was known behind closed doors among the staff, the Oncoming Storm of babble, was a Time Lord. For him, this job at Hogwarts was a temporary fixation. Something he would eventually grow bored of, and wish to leave, to continue his real career of traveling out among the stars.

Dumbledore was eternally grateful he had taken his vacation where and when he did.

He’d found himself without an Astronomy professor for the first time since he’d become headmaster at Hogwarts.

No matter what anyone said, or thought they knew about the Doctor, he was a great man.

Most of his students liked him; even a few aspired to be like him if they could use the study of stars and other worlds as a career.

Chapter Text

The student in question who’d provided such a unique and thoughtful answer in class was named Rose Tyler. She’d been forced to choose between taking astronomy as an elective of her studies, as opposed to something like Ancient Runes. But she looked on the bright side, or in the words of her father,

“It couldn’t hurt to know what’s out there.”

She wasn’t truly sure where the answer she’d given in class had come from. Usually she didn’t answer questions willingly, she preferred to sit in silence and let others do the talking, at least in class.

She’d just heard the question, and the answer had been there, in her mind’s eye, so she’d spoken.

It had been as simple as breathing.

She knew by the surprised look on the professor’s face that he’d not been expecting a response, or even a slightly correct one.

Perhaps she just had her natural magic to thank for that.

She was enjoying her time at Hogwarts very much, for being Muggle-born, she’d never dreamt about a world hidden from her own, where magic was second nature and creatures like unicorns did truly exist.

Her father Peter Tyler was a master inventor, but what he’d never told her until she’d received her Hogwarts letter, was that he’d gotten started with a bit of magical help.

Her mother, Jackie, hadn’t approved, and had been the one insistent on keeping any and all magical abilities in their family secret.

Rose, for her part, was amazed that her mother had been able to keep secret the fact she’d married a muggle-born wizard. She’d clearly been hoping and praying there wouldn’t be enough magical blood to influence any children they had, but it seemed, Mother Nature thought differently.

Rose had been angry at her for the longest time, but eventually, after almost five years of learning about her ultimate potential, she couldn’t resent her mother, and the anger subsided into a slow burn. She just hated returning home, having to listen to endless lectures about the danger of magic, of how another war was inevitable, and other complaints about things as minor as Quidditch.

Rose’s best friend from childhood, Mickey Smith, had turned out to be just as capable as she was. He’d been sorted into Hufflepuff, but tried not to let the teasing get to him.

He was pureblood, but with the stigma surrounding those like him and his family, especially after the war, he had never made Rose feel bad for her origins, not to mention the fact she’d practically had to sneak out any time she wanted to see him.

Their parents had been friendly until they both received their Hogwarts letters, and then Jackie had forbidden them to see each other. That was, until school began, when she lost any control over them.

After that, they were almost inseparable.

When their fifth year rolled around and they’d been dating for a whole year, even through a rocky summer apart, Rose had been the one who suggested keeping it out of any correspondence they sent home. Mickey hadn’t liked it, but he’d understood.

***

Once Rose had grown out of her shell a bit, she’d managed to make quite a handful of friends at Hogwarts. Despite her age and house, she had made an impression on many different people.

There was the handsome seventh year Slytherin who’d brought shame to his house by consorting with anyone like her for the last two years, which they both had a laugh over, Jack Harkness.

Although he was a couple years ahead of Rose and Mickey, he’d never given it a second thought, but liked to insist they made him feel young.

Next was Martha Jones, a Ravenclaw full of drive and ambition, one of the few of them who already knew what she wanted to do with her life before even taking her O.W.L.’s. She wanted to be a Healer. She’d been struck with conviction after losing her cousin in the war. She only wanted to help make people better. Despite being the same age, Rose was a bit jealous of her for the amount of confidence she held in herself.

Head Girl during Rose’s fifth year was Sarah Jane, a kind faced and soft spoken seventh year, luckily in Gryffindor house, so she was always around to help with anything Rose felt she couldn’t speak to her mum about.

Even if it was for tips on how to style her hair, she and Sarah Jane had many long happy conversations.

Sarah Jane had a younger brother, fourth year John Smith, who was a brilliant Quidditch player, some said good enough to take over for the Gryffindor Captain Charlie Weasley, who was also the star seeker. John hoped to be able to fill his shoes, in both positions.

All together, they made a strange looking bunch, but Rose wouldn’t have it any other way. She loved her home away from home and her second family as much as her real one.

Chapter Text

Rose was sitting in the common room, attempting to study for her upcoming Potions exam. Potions was not her best subject, and she knew she shouldn’t be still studying with so little time remaining, barely three days away. She’d just finished one page, when she heard the common room entrance open. Very few people outside the House were allowed entrance, but with Sarah Jane’s permission, Rose’s friends were among those lucky few.

She looked up to see Mickey, and she gave him a small wave and half smile.

“What’s that you’re reading?”

She held up the book, not without a small effort, as it weighed a ton, and he nodded wordlessly.

“The most fun and interesting subject of them all.”

Mickey gave a short laugh,

“I don’t know how Jack does it. Putting up with such a git for head of house. I’m just glad I’m not in Slytherin.”

Rose had to smile at that,

“You wouldn’t have lasted a day. The goodness in your heart would have died after five seconds in that house. You’d already be plotting how to overthrow all us muggles.”

Mickey shrugged,

“’Spose it’s possible. How do you think Jack got so unlucky?”

Rose set the book down, the possibility of studying long passed.

“I don’t know if it would be lucky. I think he asked to be sorted there for a reason. He wants to make a difference.”

Mickey’s eyes went wide,

“What do you mean he asked?”

Rose smiled,

“Didn’t you know? You can ask the sorting hat to place you somewhere, if it’s choosing between two. At least, that’s what Jack told me. Of course, that was almost six years ago, things have changed.”

“I think he was pulling your leg Rose.”

Rose shrugged,

“Maybe so. I don’t care. I think he’s right where he needs to be.”

“You like him don’t you? That’s the only reason you let him hang out with us.”

Mickey knew he was being a bit unfair, but his mood was clouded by the last grade he’d received. He’d practically failed his last Astronomy exam, and he was taking it out on Rose.

Rose sat bolt upright in her chair, ignoring how the fireplace seemed to crack and pop with a warning.

“What are you? Twelve? Of course I like him, we’re friends. How could I not like him? Do you think I should? Don’t tell me you’re jealous Micks. You know how he is. He’s like that with everyone.”

Rose was referring to the way Jack tended to linger a hand or an arm over her shoulder after a hug, or the way he’d kiss her hand when they would say goodnight after a long afternoon in Hogsmeade. But she was right, he did that with Sarah Jane, and Martha too. Mickey was just choosing to overlook that.

“Yeah maybe I am jealous. I’m sick of how you’ve been treating me. I’m not a dog. I’m not going to sit around waiting for you while you moon over every guy who smiles at you.”

Rose’s mouth fell open in shock, even as Mickey tried to think of a way to backtrack. He was in for it now.

“If that’s what you think, that I’m some sort of-of-” She broke off, unable to complete the phrase, anger rendering her speechless.

Mickey shrugged, and moved away from her,

“I’m not sure what to think. I think I’ll go try to find Martha. See ya round Rosie.”

He was gone before Rose mustered up the strength to throw her potions book at him. She hated the nickname ‘Rosie.’ It was right up there with French bread and Bertie Botts.

She shivered, suddenly realizing how far she’d gotten from the fireplace. She’d neglected to bring her robes with her into the common room, thinking that her pink muggle jacket would be enough.

Clearly it wasn’t.

She stormed up to her dormitory and wished she could slam the door shut.

Too many of her fellow dorm mates were making better use of their time by napping on the blustery Sunday afternoon, instead of studying for an exam they probably already understood perfectly, unlike her. Sometimes she wondered what was wrong with her.

***

“Rose? Rose. Rose! Rose wake up.”

A hand shaking on her shoulder pulled Rose from the strange dream she’d been having, something about wolves and delta waves, and she opened her eyes to see Jack’s face inches from her own. Jack Harkness was kneeling beside her bed?

“Jack! What’s wrong? Wait a minute…how did you get in here?”

Boys weren’t supposed to be allowed in girls dormitories, for good reason. Jack especially was a dangerous specimen.

Her mind was fuzzy for an instant, as it usually was when returning to the world of the living.

Jack’s warm smile spread across his face,

“Sarah finally let me in after I stood down the stairs looking stupid for a bit.”

“That’s crazy. You never look stupid Jack. Only perfectly put together.”

“Aww you do love me. I knew it.”

He winked to someone over Rose’s shoulder, and she assumed it was probably Sarah Jane.

“Now tell me what happened with you and Mickey.”

Rose rolled her eyes and fell back against the covers with a sigh.

“I don’t even want to talk about it.”

Jack frowned,

“C’mon, the guy is miserable. Martha can’t even get a reaction out of him when she starts chatting about the operations she’s going to shadow at St. Mungo’s next year.”

Rose shrugged half a shoulder and started to turn away from him, but his hand caught her shoulder, and stopped her.

“Please Rose, talk to us. If he hurt you, I want to know, and I’ll give Martha an extra assignment.”

Rose tried to smile, but that was exactly the sort of talk she didn’t want.

“No Jack. He didn’t hurt me. I hurt him I suppose. He started telling me he thought we were growing apart, or something, and that I liked you. He was jealous of you. He said I’ve been acting like some sort of slut just because a guy looked at me nice.”

Rose brought her arm up to cover her eyes when Sarah Jane wrenched the curtains open, and flooded her side of the bed with light.

“He said WHAT?”

Jack was on his feet in an instant, and this time Rose shot out a hand to stop him.

“He’s probably right. I’m too nice to every guy I know, except him. I’ve been taking him for granted. We weren’t really that great together anyway. I think we’ll be better off as friends. Once he stops hating me.”

Jack shook her off, before calming down slightly, and Rose saw Sarah Jane move to stand by him,

“It’s okay Jack. They both need space. Maybe we should let them work it out, and not get involved.”

Rose moved away, and threw a pillow over her head, but she couldn’t drown out the conversation completely.

“I think that’s a mistake. They’re our friends. At least Rose is. If Mickey actually said that, I don’t think I can be in the same room with him again.”

Rose could almost imagine Sarah Jane rolling her eyes,

“Well you’ve got to. We’ve got exams coming up, not to mention several dozen meals before the holidays. Get a grip on your chivalry Jack. Don’t look at me like that, you know what I mean.” A light smack of skin against fabric sounded, and Rose smiled against her pillowcase, of course Jack was resorting to his usual self to try and avoid promising anything of the sort.

Their voices began to fade and Rose heard footsteps going down the stairs back towards the common room.

Without moving, she fumbled around on her nightstand for her wand, and muttered a spell to close the drapes and darkness resumed around her.

A fitful sleep took over her and the dreams she’d been having before didn’t return.

Chapter Text

The Doctor was pacing around his office, going over the next week’s lesson plan in his mind, he knew their final assignment before Christmas break, and to be worked on during, should be about the lost moon of Poosh, but he wasn’t sure what to have them write about. What the effects to the system would be without said moon, or perhaps why it could have gone missing?

He knew they weren’t the usual topics for study, like star charts and memorizing names of constellations, but he didn’t care. As long as Dumbledore gave him the go-ahead, he’d continue teaching like he always had.

With the lesson plan out of the way, he could begin thinking about his own vacation and travel destination for the holidays.

Woman Wept was a traditional spot. Beautiful crystalline waves frozen in the blink of an eye by the shockwaves from the Time War. The best place to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and contemplate his lonely existence. Then again, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a good idea to go there alone.

The Doctor sat back in his chair and sighed. Someday he hoped to have a travel companion. It had been years since he had. That was the only reason he’d agreed to the teaching position at Hogwarts. He’d been so sick of being alone, visiting wondrous and fantastic places, with no one to share the adventure with.

Perhaps the next year, when term ended, he’d finally have a summer trip to look forward to, with a friend, or even just an associate. He thought perhaps he might even finally retire from teaching after this next year, and that would give the teachers someone new to gossip about in his absence.

He stared wistfully at the silver key hanging from the chain on his coat hook, beside his black leather jacket. If there was one thing he disliked about working at Hogwarts, it was the fact he couldn’t wear his ‘muggle’ jacket all the time.

He missed it.

The key glinted in the light of the setting sun and for a minute he could pretend it was because his ship was calling him, needed him.

He wanted to be needed, just once.

His ship, though sentient, remained quiet. She, for his ship was most certainly a lady, understood he needed some time to himself, but it didn’t keep his feet from itching from the lack of running. Running to or from danger, that was what he missed, with a hand to hold.

Perhaps he was becoming too sentimental in his old age.

Despite appearing in the prime of life for a wizard, very few people knew he was actually several centuries old.

He liked to joke he’d found the fountain of youth on his travels.

It was less complicated that way.

***

The last Hogsmeade trip before the holidays was with a much smaller group than usual. Only Rose, Jack, and Sarah Jane went. Rose didn’t bother asking about where Mickey and Martha were. She found she didn’t actually care.

They’d made it almost two weeks without speaking, and she knew, thanks to Sarah Jane, that he would be returning home for the holidays, so she quickly added her name to the list that would be staying in the castle over Christmas.

She’d miss her father, but not Jackie and any possibility that they’d invited the Smith’s over for Christmas Dinner.

Jack placed an arm protectively around her shoulders as they walked the stone cobbled roads, and Rose found she didn’t have the energy to protest.

She’d been up the last couple nights, not with worry for the state of her relationship, or lack thereof, but with concern over her final Astronomy paper.

How on earth was she supposed to know what had been the cause of the disappearance of the lost moon of Poosh?

What was the Doctor playing at?

Unless he wanted some sort of farfetched theory?

She’d not bothered voicing her worries to Jack or anyone else, as he had finished that class a semester previous, but not really retained much of the subject.

He’d finally decided he wanted to become an Auror, and just in time, as he was expected to submit his application by the recommencement of spring term.

Even in Three Broomsticks, Rose wasn’t able to focus completely on her cold butterbeer, and she might have downed the whole thing without noticing, until Jack snapped his fingers in her face.

She started, and slopped half of it down the front of her robes.

“Geez Jack. What was that for?”

Jack sighed and plucked the bottle out of her grip,

“It’s like you’re not even here. And I know it’s not because you’re mooning over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Thought-Of,” Jack’s cheek in referring to Mickey by referencing the recently fallen Dark Wizard was astonishing to Rose even in the midst of her zoning out.

“But you can’t keep this up. I’m leaving for the holidays too. I can’t be here to keep you from walking off the astronomy tower, gods forbid, because you’re lost inside your mind.”

Rose smiled at the concern in his voice, and shrugged her shoulders,

“Don’t worry about me Jack. I’ll be holed up in the library, going out of my mind trying to finish the Doctor’s mad essay.”

Jack finally nodded, and pulled her in for a tight hug, pulling away to plant a kiss on her forehead,

“Okay, I believe you. But about your essay, I think you should ask your teacher, maybe he could give you some pointers, without letting you get off too easy.”

A nudge and a wink were all Jack left her to ponder, and Rose found herself filing that away, if she became desperate. She’d talk to the Doctor.

Chapter Text

Desperation seemed looming ahead fast, for the second day in a row of her break, she was in the library, with her nose buried in a book, full of circular symbols that made no sense, but only seemed to aggravate her growing headache.

“What’s that you’ve got there?”

A familiar turn of phrase, but a completely different voice broke through the fog of her disorganized thoughts.

Rose looked up to find the Doctor, the current bane of her existence and cause of her misery, studying the enormous tome she had thrown open before her on the library table.

She blinked a couple times, before she realized he’d spoken to her, and the northern accent was less clipped, and more at ease than his usual teaching tone.

“Uh, well sir, I’m trying to make sense of the assignment, and this was only book recommended to me.”

The Doctor glanced at her for a moment, before a faint smile appeared on his face, vanishing the second she looked closer.

“Madame Pince is being vague and unhelpful I take it?”

Rose nodded vigorously, before looking around in horror, hoping that said librarian was out of earshot.

The Doctor chuckled, and Rose nearly fell out of her chair in surprise. She’d never heard him laugh, much less appear to be anything but perfectly professional.

As most other teachers were. Excepting Professor Snape, who always looked as if he’d consumed a particularly sour lemon.

“Rose, I would confess I prepared this paper to see how well my students could act under pressure, facing the possibility of the unknown, but that wouldn’t be fair, now would it?”

Rose looked up at him, still wide eyed with shock,

“Do you mean you gave us an impossible assignment? Are we all going to fail?”

The Doctor shook his head,

“No, no quite the contrary. This is only a small percentage of your final mark, but I thought it could be something to stimulate the mind, lest it turn completely to mush over the break.”

Rose almost collapsed from relief. Here she’d been, fretting for the last few sleepless nights that she might never make it to sixth year.

“You do realize you’re not the only one assigning break homework?” She asked him, before she noticed how presumptuous she sounded.

The Doctor shrugged, and swept into the chair opposite hers, before pulling the heavy book in front of her to face him.

“I understand that perfectly. The question is, will anyone else realize the futility of the assignment, or will they try and fake it? What will impress me is the creativity of how one goes about solving an impossible query.”

Rose opened her mouth to protest, but she was suddenly hypnotized by the way the Doctor was tracing his hands over the textbook, though it had been unreadable for her, he seemed to know exactly what every twist and turn of the circular writings meant.

“What language is that? It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before, and my friend Sarah Jane takes Ancient Runes.”

The Doctor smiled at her, with a hint of sympathy in the expression and something that Rose almost thought was sadness in his blue eyes,

“It’s Gallifreyan. It’s a long forgotten language. Older than most. It’s from another world. I’m surprised Hogwarts even has this book here. It’s full of original star charts and maps that the first generations of wizards used to chart the skies.”

Rose heard the way his voice became solemn, almost reverent, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit in awe of him. The strange man who came from the far north, said nothing about himself with words, but spoke loudly with his teachings.

She knew the rumors. She knew that most people thought him mad. That it couldn’t be possible to have traveled to all the stars, to know their names and be as young as he was. That sort of technology didn’t exist, even for muggles.

They whispered that he used dark magic to do what he did. To know what he did.

But that was all preposterous.

Professor Dumbledore didn’t allow Dark Wizards to teach at Hogwarts.

At least, not that anyone knew of.

There, in front of her, was no mad man, but simply someone fascinated by the skies above them and what they could hold.

Rose found herself captured by his spirit, and her curiosity got the better of her.

“Can you read what it says? Aloud I mean. I want to understand it.”

The Doctor looked as shocked as she had earlier, and then quickly schooled his expression back to the calm neutrality it always was.

“Well, yes. I could. Are you certain that’s what you want? It is so very old; it can be hard to comprehend without a lot of practice.”

Rose shrugged, before she got up and switched seats, so that she was sitting to his left side,

“I’m sure. Teach me what it says.”

The Doctor coughed, delaying as long as he could, before turning back to the ancient yellowed pages,

“So this is where the sentence really starts, you see? In the middle, and you work your way outside in a spiral.”

Rose remained quiet, biting her tongue to keep from making the smart remark she wanted to, (“Imagine it, reading a circle, in a circle,”) and simply nodded.

Chapter Text

As the Doctor began to read to Rose, he could feel the words echoing in his mind, with such familiar warmth, like a crackling fireplace after a chilly day. How long had it been since he’d read something in his own language?

Far too long.

The fact that one of his students, the brilliant Rose Tyler had asked him to, well, that simply took the cake.

He tried to keep his eyes on the pages, and not stare at her too blatantly, but when he reached the end of the sentence, and she moved her hand to turn the page for him, his eyes slipped over to her face. It was framed by her blond hair, beautiful, but harshly dyed, as evidenced by her darker roots. He was just barely shifting his gaze to her cheek, but then her warm brown eyes caught him, and he looked away quickly.

Suddenly he couldn’t think straight, and all he could see or smell was her. Her scent wasn’t her namesake; it was more like fresh brewed tea, along with the slow smolder of vanilla laced with cinnamon.

He was treading a very dangerous line being this close to her.

When she reached out to touch his hand, bringing him back to the present, he jolted in his chair, and stood up quickly, nearly knocking her backwards. She’d been much too near and smelled too good. He needed to distance himself.

“If you have any further questions, note them at the end of your essay and I’ll try to answer them. Good day Miss Tyler.”

That’s it. He just had to remind her of her place, and remember his.

But even when he’d returned to his quarters, and shut and bolted the door, safe, high up in the astronomy tower, he could swear he could still smell cinnamon.

***

Rose was left sitting in the library wondering what she’d done wrong.

She’d been having a wonderful time listening to the Doctor read, for some reason, the language, (Gallifreyan, had he said?) was remarkably more like singing than speaking.

Then of course she’d looked up to see him watching her, and under his pensive blue eyed stare, she knew she’d blushed bright pink.

The book’s language had a strange beauty to it, and Rose recalled in her last bout of dreams she’d had, before the insomnia had taken over, she almost thought she’d seen one of the symbols, which the Doctor had translated as “Bad.” Coupled with all the figures and forms of wolves in her mind, the phrase jumped out at her, ‘Bad Wolf.’ It only stuck out to her since she’d been a vivid reader of muggle fairy tales.

The sort of thing’s she would mention and reference with her friends, most of them wouldn’t get. They knew the tales of Beedle the Bard, but when it came to Sleeping Beauty, or Snow White, they would look at her like she’d sprouted a second head.

As she stared at her blank piece of parchment, cut specifically for her Astronomy essay, she twirled her quill about in hand, wondering just where to start.

Then she came to a decision, if there were no rules about how to answer the Doctor’s question, who was to say it had to be all facts?

Why not a story, the adventure of the missing Moon?

Rose chewed on her lip, and touched the quill to the parchment, beginning to scribble her first sentence.

***

By the time Mickey, Martha, Jack, and Sarah Jane all returned to Hogwarts after New Year’s Day, Rose was taking regular visits to the library to attempt to read the Gallifreyan book on astronomy.

Though it was much too heavy for her to take back up to her dormitory, she found she didn’t mind being on her own. She’d even picked out a corner table that faced the lake, for whenever her eyes began to cross and her head ached, she’d amuse herself watching the giant squid attempt to pluck daring birds from the sky, if they lingered too long getting a drink.

It was on such an afternoon that Mickey found her, reclining back against the window sill, eyes glazed and staring out at nothing in particular.

“Hey Rose.”

She looked around lazily, and smiled when she saw him.

“’lo Micks. How was your holiday?”

“It was right rubbish.”

“’m sorry to hear that. How come?”

“Cause all I could think was, you had to be left here, and you probably were planning a few thousand different ways to poison me.”

Rose laughed, and it was her old laugh, one that reminded Mickey of a wind chime blowing in an easy breeze,

“Oh Micks, if I’d wanted to poison you, I’d have told Jack how to do it. I’m not mad at you anymore. I know you like Martha. ‘m happy for you to be honest.”

Mickey dragged a chair over to her table and collapsed into it, sighing heavily,

“I can’t tell you what that means to me, to hear you say it. I just felt so bad that I was moving on so quickly. And everything I said, I didn’t really mean it. I was just angry. Jack got on to me about that. I reckon I owe you a couple dozen apologies.”

“And some chocolate.” Rose finally spoke up.

Mickey grinned, feeling his entire body relax slightly,

“You got it.”

“By the way, please don’t bother with the whole ‘We can still be friends’ shtick. I know you don’t want to hang around me anymore. And why would you? I’m going nowhere. I’m drifting through everything, and I still don’t have a clue what I want to be.”

“Oh Rose, don’t say that. You can’t possibly compare yourself to Martha, or Jack, or anyone else. You’ll know what you want to do when you know.”

Rose grimaced,

“I wasn’t about to compare myself to anyone really. But thanks. I’ll know when I know? That’s genius. You should have t-shirts printed. Posters even.” Rose gave him a grin, with her tongue tucked between her teeth, a sign that she had forgiven him, just a little.

Mickey rolled his eyes,

“You know what I meant.”

“Yeah, yeah. Alright well commend me for studying on a weekend then go report back to Jack I’m still alive and well.”

Mickey smiled slightly, and reached out to awkwardly pat her shoulder,

“I admire you for studying on a weekend. Although I don’t think looking out a window counts as studying anything but the Hogwarts grounds. Don’t tell me you want to be a groundskeeper?”

Rose laughed again,

“Oh Mickey. You’re such an idiot sometimes.”

“Thanks. Just for that, I’ll tell Jack you’re bawling your eyes out into a library book.”

Rose didn’t look at him, but he could tell she was frowning by the tone of her voice,

“If you don’t run, I’m going to hex you. Damn the consequences.”

Heavy footfalls in the opposite direction, following the screech of chair legs on the ground were Rose’s answer, and she grinned despite herself.

She was glad to have her friend back, as simply that, a friend.

Chapter Text

Everyone had a breather for about a month, and then the true exam studying crunch began. O.W.L.’s were suddenly days away, and even though the tempting outdoors called, even Sarah Jane was on edge, even though she had nothing major to worry about, much less dread, being Head Girl meant sharing people’s burdens.

She sat with Rose, and helped her go over the flash cards she’d made for History of Magic, and the potion ingredients list for any possible brews she might be tested on.

When Rose finally returned to her dormitory the night before her first O.W.L. she was exhausted. She considered herself lucky, Martha’s first exam would be at eight a.m. Rose had the luxury of going in after breakfast.

 

The first subject Rose was tested on was Defense Against the Dark Arts. She prided herself on the fact she’d managed to practice and study without too much stress for the exam.

The only spell that really gave her pause was the Patronus charm.

She stood frozen still, trying to recall what Sarah Jane had said.

(“Think of something happy, don’t worry about being nervous.”)

Immediately the afternoon in the library, that one in particular over the holiday, when she’d asked the Doctor to read to her from the Gallifreyan book of Astronomy, popped into her mind’s eye, and she smiled dreamily,

“Expecto Patronum!”

A stream of white smoke shot out of her wand, before it took a recognizable shape, it was a wolf! It ran about the exam room for a couple turns and then looked back at her before vanishing into thin air.

“Very good Miss Tyler!”

She tried to keep from skipping back to the Great Hall, but more likely than not, failed. She couldn’t really remember.

Before she knew it, she was at dinner, and Jack was pulling her into a bear hug, declaring her a future Auror, if her marks kept up.

She shook her head, and looked at the ground, feeling a blush heat her cheeks,

“It was just a lucky thing. You know I’m not going to ace anything else, especially since I have Potions and Astronomy tomorrow.”

Jack shrugged,

“So you won’t ace potions, who cares? But Astronomy? I know you like that subject, don’t lie to me.”

Rose caught Mickey’s curious gaze from down the table, and she managed a tentative smile,

“Okay yeah. Don’t think about saving me a corner office or anything at the Ministry now.”

Jack leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, surprising the whole table,

“Don’t make threats you don’t intend to follow through on.”

***

For the fifth year O.W.L. exam, the Doctor had set up a fairly standard formula. A complicated star chart that would need drawings of constellations here, with the name provided, or the drawing present, but no name.

It didn’t allow for cheating, and had only a small section for observations. The telescope provided for the exam was merely an afterthought. If one didn’t know what each planet looked like or was called, there would be no points given.

The Doctor felt the tower actually raise in temperature the instant he caught the scent of Rose Tyler’s perfume.

Then again, he reminded himself, maybe it was simply how she always smelled, with intent or not.

She gave him a small wave the second she spotted him, and he tried not to look guilty as he merely smiled in return.

He’d not been exactly avoiding her, but he also hadn’t sought her out after that day in the library. She’d turned in her essay on time, naturally, but the content had surprised him. She’d written a short piece of fiction about what could have happened to the moon, and not provided an actually scientific theory.

In her story, a man who traveled in space and time had come across nearly two dozen other ‘missing’ worlds, and discovered they were being stolen by his archenemy, to create the ultimate weapon, with the intent to destroy the universe.

He found it extremely inspired, and had given her top marks. There were other aspects of the story, like the theme of lost love and the reunion of two soul mates separated by a split in between worlds that spoke to him, they sounded so heartfelt he almost wondered if she could have completely thought it up on her own.

Not that he doubted her integrity; he just thought that someone like her, with her youth and naïveté could have never yet experienced such tragic loss of love.

Perhaps she, like him, had a great imagination, sometimes one that seemed just too fantastical for their world. Even a magical world.

He stood back and watched her as she worked, carefully labeling each present collection of stars, and then happily moving to draw the named ones.

He couldn’t help but notice a particular doodle she would trace as she finished each star. It was off to the side, on her extra paper, so it couldn’t interfere with the actual graded part of the exam, but he swore he knew it.

He stepped closer, until he was standing right beside where she sat, absorbed in her work, and he leaned down bringing a hand up to point to the margin,

“What is that?”

Rose jumped, startled, and she felt her quill fall from her fingers.

The Doctor could have cursed himself, how had he been so careless?

She was working, and now he’d disturbed her.

“Don’t worry about the time limit. Let me get that for you.”

He knelt down to retrieve her quill, and before he stood back up, he made the drastic mistake of looking up at her.

His eyes glanced over her trainer clad feet to slide up her legs, noting that her robes seemed a bit shorter than most, and he saw she was wearing an underskirt that seemed to be a bright pink.

Surely his cheeks were bursting into flame with the force of his blush?

He stood quickly and thrust her quill onto her desk, before retreating several steps away, a notably safe distance,

“Please, continue.”

Rose, for her part, was patting herself on the back for not moving an inch. She’d not intended to drop her quill, but when she had, and the Doctor had gone after it, she’d barely restrained herself from squealing. She saw the way his bright blue eyes widened as they took in the sight of her relatively bare legs, and she could almost swear she knew the instant he caught sight of her skirt. She watched as he swallowed hard, and resumed standing, his cheeks turning almost an imperceptible shade of pink.

Not nearly as fierce as her skirt’s color, but still an odd sight to see.

“Thank you Professor.”

She could have bit her tongue. Since when did she call him that?

Why had he decided to scare her half to death in the first place? She could only thank heavens that he had lifted the time requirement, quite an unorthodox thing to do in the first place, but then it had been his fault.

She looked back down at her paper, and she realized with a sigh that she’d gotten an ink blot where the next planet to be drawn should go.

She was moments from raising her hand, when she heard the Doctor come up behind her again.

“Erm, is there any way I could be allowed to use my wand to remove this? I know wands are forbidden for non-demonstrative exams but I accidentally got-“

The Doctor brushed past her and paused right in front of her desk, falling to his knees, and Rose gulped.

“No. As you said, they’re forbidden. But I can help.”

The tone of his voice had dropped an octave or so below what it usually was, and it sent shivers down her spine. He reached into his robes and pulled something silver out. It was shorter than a wand, and a bit stockier, with a blue light on the end, that when he flicked a switch, lit up with a pulsing sound.

He held it over her paper, and she watched, astonished, as the ink seemed to fade away, like a stain being removed with bleach.

Rose gaped at him as he withdrew the object, and replaced it inside his robes.

“What was that?”

The Doctor smiled mysteriously,

“Just what I use instead of a wand. Setting 23-J, excellent at removing stains from a pen or quill.”

Rose would have asked more questions, but the Doctor gestured to her parchment, and she remembered she was taking an exam, not simply attending another lesson.

Chapter Text

Only a week remained of the spring term, and Rose could practically feel it singing through her veins. Jack had convinced her to accompany the gang on a picnic to the lake, and she couldn’t have said no if she’d tried.

It was as if the weather was gunning for them, wanting them to be free. It was a sunny day, and just the right amount of breeze drifted across to make it cool enough to need robes, but not too cold to need a fire.

Jack was kicked back and lying on the picnic blanket beside Sarah Jane and Rose, while Mickey and Martha skipped stones across the lake, hoping to see the giant squid pluck one off the surface.

“So have you got any big plans this summer Sarah? Or did you want to start right away with an internship or something at the Daily Prophet?”

Rose was surprised to see how the older girl blushed,

“Now Jack, I haven’t even been offered anything. I think I’ll probably stay at home and work on my portfolio, if and when the Prophet calls, I’ll be ready.”

Rose grinned at her answer. Typical Sarah Jane. Always so organized and professional.

Jack turned to her next, and she lifted her hands in surrender,

“What about me? But Jack, you know I’m going to be wasting away trying to decide between Auroring with you and Mickey in a couple years, or if I want to be a trauma Healer with Martha.”

She stuck out her tongue at him, and Jack gave her a mock slap on the arm.

“That wasn’t what I was going to ask and you know it. You’re so cheeky Rose, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’d met someone. But since you haven’t asked me out, I know you haven’t.”

Rose laughed,

“As if you’re the only man who I’d ever consider?”

Jack looked overconfident,

“Well, yes.”

“Well for your information, I haven’t met anyone. I might happen to be interested in someone, but now’s not a good time.”

Jack pretended to look shocked,

“You want Mickey back, but don’t want to risk breaking Martha’s heart?”

He glanced back and forth between the two of them and looked at Rose while giving his thumb a mock nibble of nervousness.

Rose drew her wand and waved it in his face,

“Enough teasing Jack. You’re driving me bats. I’m ecstatic for them you know I am.”

Sarah raised her hand to move between them, and gently lowered Rose’s arm,

“Okay okay. Enough fighting children. Jack, leave the poor girl alone. Rose, if you ever do that again in front of me, and on school grounds, I will have to take points from you. Yes, from my own house. You’re making me go soft in my old age.”

She clasped a hand to her chest, and Rose giggled, putting away her wand in the process.

“Oh Sarah Jane, when you’re old, I’ll be ancient, so give me a call, and we can go get our grey roots touched up together.”

“I think I may get a cat this summer. I’ve always wanted a real pet, more than something I use for communication. I feel like I practically abuse K-9.”

Sarah Jane had owned the same owl her entire student life, and though he’d not been terribly old when she’d gotten him, he was nearing the end of his lifespan.

Rose shrugged, she’d gotten along fine without an owl, cat, or any sort of magical pet, considering she never needed to write home.

She’d left that to Mickey.

“Do you know what you’ll call it? Cat’s live loads more years than owls, so you’d be stuck with him quite a while.”

Jack looked as if he was about to open his mouth to make a suggestion, but Sarah Jane ignored him, looking thoughtful,

“I think Luke maybe. That’s a good name right?”

Rose nodded,

“I love it.”

Jack looked a bit pouty,

“I was gonna say Boe. But fine. If you’re dead set on Luke, so be it.”

Rose rolled her eyes,

“Jack, whatever are we going to do with you? I fear for any children you have. They’re all going to be teased dreadfully.”

Now Jack did look offended.

“Oh I’m sorry, should I be inspired by you and name my kids all after flowers? Forgive me Miss Tyler, for attempting some creativity.”

Rose chewed on her lip to keep from laughing, and simply enjoyed the look on Jack’s face.

She was going to miss her friends this summer, it was shaping up to be a lot harder to say goodbye than she had thought.

***

After a spectacular end of Term feast the friends all had a late night up with story swapping, disorganized packing, and lots of hot chocolate.

The next day at Kings Crossing Rose had bid tearful farewells to Sarah Jane, Jack, and even given John a hug, though she’d be seeing him much sooner than anyone else. Mickey and Martha nearly made her pass out from their tight hugs, and she made Mickey promise to write, even if she wouldn’t remember. He was the best at keeping in touch.

Jack had kissed her hand one last time, and she’d almost been afraid he’d try and kiss her for real, but he retreated when he saw that look in her eye.

It said something like, “You know I love you, but we’ll never be anything more than the best of friends.”

He wasn’t going to try and press the issue.

Jack did manage to kiss Sarah Jane off, and she was blushing the entire walk to rejoin her family.

Rose tried to hide the look veiled joy when she saw only her father had come to get her, and she flew into his arms, hoping she wouldn’t cry until she was safely inside the car.

“I missed you so much sweetheart.”

“I missed you too dad.”

“Do you think you did alright on the exams? You know that’s the only thing your mother’s been worrying about.”

Rose glanced up in surprise from the backseat, catching her father’s stare in the rearview mirror,

“Since when does she care about anything to do with Hogwarts?”

Peter sighed,

“She wants you do succeed, even if she doesn’t like the fact that you’re not a normal…muggle.”

Rose smiled out the window,

“Yeah. I wish she could tell me that more often.”

“She’s getting better. She even managed to listen to a whole conversation about Quidditch over Christmas Dinner.”

Rose laughed,

“Really? Shame I missed that.”

“It was a night for the history books. I think she might go along with us next year, to the World cup. You still want to go right?”

Rose nodded eagerly,

“Oh yeah. Do you think the Smith’s will go too?”

Peter shrugged,

“Who knows? But I be they’ll be there. Didn’t you talk about it with him?”

Rose shook her head,

“Nope. We broke up a while back, before Christmas.”

Peter nodded, and Rose imagined a light bulb above his head shining brightly,

“So that’s why you stayed home.”

“Exactly.”

“Well sweetheart, I’m not sure what happened, but you seem okay with it, so I won’t ask awkward questions.”

Rose laughed,

“Dad, you are just too much. Where did you hear that phrase? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say ‘awkward’ in my life.”

Peter shrugged again,

“You know, I can be cool when I want to.”

“Yeah okay sure.”

Chapter Text

Rose was walking the streets of London, hoping she’d run into Jack, although she knew very well he was probably working on the Wizarding side of town, and not the muggle side.

She’d just passed a store front window, full of display dummies, dressed in what she supposed the latest fashion was, when she could have sworn she saw the Doctor across the street.

She turned around and watched as a man who looked remarkably similar to him, if he wore muggle clothing, move at a brisk pace back towards the main entrance to Diagon Alley. She’d been trying to avoid going there, as she knew any sort of shopping she did there would make her homesick for Hogwarts.

But now? She had to investigate.

She patted her long trench coat, which had a specially designed pocket for hiding her wand, and she hurried to keep up with the mysterious man.

Even if it wasn’t the Doctor, she was going to be nosy and follow him. It was good training for her if she decided to become an Auror, right?

There was no need for her to attempt to justify herself, for when the man turned around, she knew she was caught.

“Er-hello!”

The man’s eyes swept over her face, and then the rest of her figure before his own face broke into a smile.

“Rose Tyler. I thought that was you. How long have you been following me?”

Rose felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment,

“Oh, you know, since Crestfield street.”

Technically that was when she had spotted him, the few side streets they’d crossed, she wasn’t counting.

The Doctor grinned at her,

“Well you’ve got to learn a bit more stealth, but otherwise not bad. Are you on your way to Diagon Alley too?”

Rose shrugged, before deciding,

“Yep. I just thought I’d look for a Never-Blot Quill, considering my luck, the next exam I take may not be so lenient.”

Something in the Doctor’s expression shifted, and Rose almost thought she saw his eyes darken.

It had to have been her imagination, for in the next instant, he held out his arm to her, and she eyed it cautiously,

“Would you accompany me to Diagon Alley then?”

Rose swallowed, before nodding,

“Alright. Sure.”

She was glad for the fact no one was paying them too much attention, she could imagine how it looked. A young girl like her, walking around with a man old enough to be…well, he was just her teacher. What else would people think? He didn’t even look remotely like he did at Hogwarts, so odds were no one would even care. He was wearing a black leather jacket, over a dark green jumper, with dark wash jeans and black trainers.

In a strange way, they almost made a handsome pair. She had her long tan trench, dark jeans, and a golden shirt with a faint red lion printed on it. It was her way of showing Gryffindor pride that wouldn’t cause any overt curiosity.

“So tell me Rose Tyler, how are you enjoying your summer?”

Rose thought long and hard, before replying.

“It’s been, quiet. Nothing really to enjoy yet.”

The Doctor looked thoughtful, and as they began to stroll down the cobblestone road, the hustle and bustle of the crowd seemed to disappear as he turned to consider her,

“What would you say if I asked you to come with me? On an adventure? Just to give you something to make your summer less boring.”

Rose felt her heart nearly skip a beat, as she looked up to find the Doctor watching her carefully, his arm tense beneath her hand, as if waiting to take flight.

“Ummm…”

“It wouldn’t take very long at all, and I promise to return you home safely.”

Rose tilted her head, slightly confused,

“How could an adventure not take long? If anything about you is true, the sort of things you get up to take days, sometimes weeks at a time. You’d have to have a time machine not to miss anything significant…”

Her voice trailed off as she watched his expression.

He’d listened to her, humored her, but as she began to realize what he was suggesting, he beamed at her.

“Exactly! I do. I have a time machine. I knew you were clever, Rose Tyler.”

Rose’s mouth went dry. As far as she knew, time travel was illegal! Terrible things happened to wizards who meddled with time.

That warning was on the tip of her tongue when she realized the Doctor was staring at her, an amused expression on his face. As if he was laughing at her, inside, but much too polite to do it outwardly.

“I know what you’re thinking. Time travel is dangerous. For wizards, yes. But I’ll let you in on a little secret Rose Tyler, I’m not a wizard. I’m a time lord. The last of my kind.”

Rose blinked at him, processing this new fantastical information as fast as she could.

Other than the fact that she knew he was enjoying saying her full name almost as much as she liked hearing it fall from his lips, which she also tried to avoid looking at, lest she fall prey to her insanely inappropriate line of thought for this time and place, she didn’t quite know how to respond.

“A time lord…”

The Doctor nodded,

“Yep. That means I can see how time flows, and I have the ability to travel through and around it, while avoiding the sort of catastrophe’s wizards can’t.”

“You can see time?”

The Doctor nodded,

“It’s like nothing you could imagine. People always think time is a straight line, where you can only go forwards or backwards, but the truth is, it’s not. It’s more like magic, uncontainable, and unfathomable.”

Rose knew they’d stopped walking a few minutes before, but she’d been hanging on the Doctor’s every word, and barely noticed until he stopped talking.

“What’s this?”

She frowned as she saw they were standing in front of a tall blue box, with the words, “Police Call box, call for assistance” printed on the door in white letters.

“A call box.”

The Doctor could see Rose was unimpressed, but he pulled his arm from under hers, and lifted the key from under his jumper, moving towards the door, and inserting the key inside with a soft ‘click,’ and with a turn and gentle push, the door swung inwards.

Rose moved past him and walked inside, unable to think about anything but what was inside the box.

It was magical; there was no other word for it.

“An expansion charm?” She murmured aloud, and she heard the Doctor chuckle,

“Nope.”

She whirled around and pinned him with a stare,

“Don’t tell me, it’s an illusion charm? We’re really inside a building right?”

She stepped outside again, but this time strode all the way around the box and back. She was utterly confused.

After re-entering the box, she walked over to the Doctor, who stood in front of a circular bank of controls, his hands darting here and there, flicking switches and twisting knobs.

“It’s bigger on the inside! What kind of magic is this?”

The Doctor grinned at her,

“Not magic. Time lord science. A long lost art. This is the TARDIS. My ship. It’s my time machine, and it also travels in space.”

Rose mouthed the word, and tried to say it like he had, it felt funny on her tongue.

“What does it mean?”

“TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Clever don’t you think?”

Rose smiled weakly,

“I think I need to sit down.”

The Doctor was at her side in an instant, helping her to the small bench behind the controls.

“Culture shock. It’s completely normal.”

Rose nodded wordlessly, before gesturing around the room,

“How can this all fit inside the box?”

The Doctor shrugged,

“It’s like you said, bigger on the inside. Now, do you still want to come with me?”

Rose eyed him cautiously, and she saw his smile waver,

“You’re sure this is safe?”

“Yep. I’ll even have you home in time for dinner.”

Rose looked around herself again, taking in the massive room, lit with a greenish glow, and coral rafters that reached to the ceiling from a metal grate which appeared to be the floor. She saw corridors leading off to who knew where, and she looked at the display screens on the center console, and her brow furrowed, she knew those symbols.

“That’s Gallifreyan isn’t it?”

The Doctor followed her gaze and nodded,

“Yep.”

“But you said that language was old, hundreds of years old. No one speaks it.”

The Doctor smiled,

“True, all true. It’s a foreign language, not of Earth origin.”

Rose’s eyes widened,

“But you understand it! You didn’t even need a translation…are you from earth?”

The Doctor’s smile froze,

“Nope. Is that a problem?”

Rose shook her head, once again reeling from new and strange information,

“Are you Gallifreyan?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re an alien? But they’re letting you teach at Hogwarts?”

The Doctor shrugged,

“Dumbledore knew my credentials; he knew I needed a job, so he gave me one. Don’t you trust him?”

Rose laughed nervously,

“Yes, I think so.”

“Well then, you can trust me. Trust me when I say, you’re going to have the time of your life.”

Rose grinned at him, relaxing a bit, and she leaned forward to observe just what he was doing on the control panel,

“Where are you going to take me?”

The Doctor looked thoughtful,

“I think that’s only one question you should be asking Rose Tyler,” he paused for effect, before finishing,

“The other is, when?”

Rose shrugged, before tracing a finger over one part of the console, and looked at him with a grin, tucking her tongue between her teeth,

“The future, where everyone can travel like you.”

The Doctor’s face changed imperceptibly,

“No one can travel like me.”

Rose watched him, as he moved around the console, almost in a kind of dance.

“I remember this place you mentioned, in one of your earlier lessons this last term…” She paused, concentrating on the planet’s name.

The Doctor grinned,

“I’ve talked about lots of places Rose. You’ll need to be more specific.”

Rose clapped her hands together, the name forming in her mind,

“Raxacorico-umm,”

The Doctor looked surprised.

“Raxacoricofallapitorious?”

Rose nodded, beaming at him.

“Yes! Can we go there?”

The Doctor winced, recalling his last run in with the aliens from that home world.

“I’m not sure it’d be the safest adventure…”

Rose licked her lips, and stepped closer to where he stood,

“I’m not worried. I’ve got my wand, you’ve got your…what’s-it-called?”

“Sonic screwdriver.”

“Sonic thing. I think we’ll be okay.”

The Doctor looked down at her, now so close he could almost reach out and touch her,

“If you’re sure…”

Rose closed the distance, and put her hand on his arm, and he could feel the heat of her skin through his two layers of clothing,

“Absolutely.”

“Off we go then, to Raxacoricofallapitorious!”

 

***

 

END