Upon finding her the blue eyed Doctor couldn’t help but grin, in a way it was a relief to find someone he ‘semi-recognized’ considering she was John Smith’s student and had spent some time with him. So in a way it was a bit comforting for the Doctor to have Rose by his side and he was even soothing to have another person with him. The Doctor remembered what it was like to be alone especially after what he’d done that was something he’d never be able to get over. Was it still eating away at his regenerated self? So many questions was burning through the man’s mind he wanted answers but right now that was the least of his worries, he needed to find his TARDIS.
“I couldn’t do that to you. Plus with the times we’ve spent the past few days? You’re fun to hang out with, it’s nice having someone not from this time to talk to” the Time Lord grinned “Don’t get me wrong I do love Hogwarts and everything about it but some new but comfortable company is really fantastic if you want my honest opinion” Thankfully with Rose by his side which was in fact quite a fun adventure of sorts, as they walked the Doctor heard her mention of the Marauder’s map. He stopped for a moment and pondered then immediately shook his head “Well even with the TARDIS having a soul that isn’t an exact foot print she isn’t human or anything of the sort, the map can’t trace her which is a shame really. But no worries we’ll find her” as the two headed up and reached the first floor he could hear his sonic emitting a noise and slowly he reached into his leather jacket pocket and pulled it out. Holding it up to his ear he heard the call of the TARDIS and then messed with the frequencies of the device before following it down the hall.
Heading up to a regular closet door the two stopped as the sonic was pulsating rapidly with light and beeps. Switching the signal off on the sonic the Doctor opened the door and before his very eyes was his TARDIS. The look of absolute amazement showed in the Time Lord’s eyes, reaching out he pat the wooden box “Glad you’ve been safe” reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out the key and unlocked her, opening the door and heading in. A feeling of pure relief washed over the blue-eyed man as he headed over to his control panel “Nothing wrong at all… minus a few bumps and scratches but all is still fully functional" he beamed. It was then Rose’s voice reached his ears, the Time Lord turned his attention to her “I have my TARDIS I can go anywhere in the universe” he stepped back and leaned against it, his arms over his chest as he smiled to her “You don’t have to if you don’t want to” seeing her glance toward the exit the Doctor pushed himself off the panel and stepped toward her. "It's all up to you, Rose"
“You can come with me, if you’d like. Being stuck in this stuffy school having to do homework, getting detention… quite the awful year, yeah?” turning his gaze to the TARDIS for a moment he brought it back to her "So, shall we?" he waited for an answer and soon a cheerful grin formed upon his lips "Fantastic!" not needing another word the man raced for the controls "It's time to break her in again.. poor ol' girl she's been in hibernation mode for more than a year and a half. I'll show you the stars, planets anything and everything, Rose" the man held such enthusiasm in his words as he spoke about what lay beyond the stars of this world "I'll take you see something amazing then if you want… I can take you home but…" he slowly turned his brilliant blue eyes to her with a smile "for now? Let's take the TARDIS for a spin before you make your choice."
The Doctor held quite the confident smile as he set a course for the TARDIS and with a final switch a lever the machine wheezed and huffed as they took off in flight. "somewhere other than a stuffy hall for supper, shall we? I can take you to one of my favorite places to eat and have a nice proper meal. How's that sound to you?" After taking her to a different time but still on earth to a restaurant in the early 1800's they were then boarded on his TARDIS once more soaring through space and finally after arriving to where he wanted to show her "I told you I'd show you something amazing, Rose" he walked up to her taking her hand as he led her to the doors and threw them open to reveal the birth of a
new star forming in the galaxy on the earth's constellation.
- - -
After explaining the Time Paradox and the threat that was to come, the brown eyed Time Lord didn't really have much of an appetite after that so he stuck to drinking his tea while he and Luna conversed. To his surprise she wasn't afraid, or at least he couldn't pick up any traces from her body language or a look in her eyes from where he was sitting yet her words of comfort reached his ears. It seemed that was the calm aura he'd been needing. Her words of encouragement soothed the feeling of dread that had been rising in his hearts at the realization of a Time Paradox but after hearing Luna speak in such a way? A definite calm washed over the worried Time Lord's body as it showed in his body language. His shoulders eased and his whole posture was a bit more lax, which had been something he hadn't done after finding out who the other Time Lord was, yet this? it was nice. "You're right, Luna, more than right" a calm and comfortable expression crossed the man's face as they continued to talk.
Time had passed and it was soon supper, the two heading to the Great Hall where they'd began normal discussion and were joined by two other professors as time went on and thankfully no Umbridge which was a relief for them all. As dinner came to an end the Doctor headed out with the Luna the two making their way up to the astronomy tower. As they headed up the stairs the Doctor's eyes looked in tower as a whole as he headed over to the railing and slowly leaned against it as his eyes looked around at the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts the clouded sky which he hoped it had been clear to see the moon and stars better. Mainly for Luna's sake than his own. As he leaned there his eyes scanned the area below and to his surprised he could see the TARDIS in her resting spot. That warmed his hearts for a moment, then it came, Luna's voice. It was then the Time Lord turned his focus to her as he listened to her words carefully.
So she knew? She understood? Could she sense his worrisome uncertainty about the ordeal that was to happen in due time? Was he that easy to read or was she just that observant? Well whatever the case may be, she certainly read him without much effort, perhaps it was the unexplainable connection they held? It wasn't long after that she question reached his ears, slowly the brown eyed Time Lord turned his attention to the silver eyed witch at his side. At first there was a look of uncertainty within those dark brown eyes but soon a spark shone bright within them, a smile tugged at his lips "Luna, you are brilliant!" his smile formed into a Cheshire cat type grin "That's a marvelous idea, a vacation, a simple yet luxurious vacation away from all this dread and darkness. I know the perfect place" reaching out he held out his hand and took hers before heading down the stairs, even further down all the way to the first floor of the castle.
Once out of the castle, still keeping a hold on her hand, a rather frantic though enjoyably frantic Time Lord raced through the forest toward his TARDIS. Not even reaching for his key he snapped his fingers, the door swinging open and once inside with Luna he released her hand and slid toward the control panel "An vacation to lighten the mood, yeah?" at this point the man's breathing was a bit of a pant as they'd hurried the entire way from the astronomy tower to the TARDIS which he had to admit was quite the distance but it was worth it. "Somewhere nice, comforting and a delicate pace? …" his mind wandered. Would he be able to sit long? Well he supposed perhaps he could for some alien desserts, the Doctor did love his sweets. "I have the perfect place in mind" setting the coordinates for his TARDIS and with a gentle hum of the machine they were off and into space.
A nice cozy
bistro on the planet Barlene which held a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Walking in with Luna the Doctor asked for a table for two and once seated he began to explain the different desserts to Luna and finally ordered an array of sweets and drinks native to the planet but still edible for humans and in his opinion quite delicious as well, his favorite of the them all being 'nastro zuppa' which looked like colorful ribbons of noodles with glowing violet and aqua speckles in a creamy pudding like substance the flavor sweet but slightly tangy in a candy type way.
- - -
The talking over tea and cookies was nice for a change, sure they could do that at Hogwarts at any time, but this? this right here in the muggle world with Hermione? It was something that Harry couldn't argue with, it was quite comfortable beyond compare to be honest. No sense of magic, no sense of dreading doom it was actually quite peaceful for the green eyed boy as he sat there with his best friend. When she mentioned the park and cinemas, after making his choice and watching Hermione get to her feet and head off to get something for the cold weather. Harry moved to the coat rack and plucked his winter sweater from earlier, it wasn't long after when Hermione joined him again and the two were on their way outside.
After Hermione locked up the door Harry couldn't help but smile to her words about spells "Yes, magic is quite useful and becomes a habit to use and depend on" as they walked Harry took in a deep breath, drawing in a fresh breath of clean crisp cold winter air and to him it was nice yet it didn't smell as clean and pure as it did at Hogwarts, that was one of the downfalls of the muggle world, the air pollution. When she mentioned plans for the next day Harry smiled to her words "Both of those ideas sound great, Hermione" he glanced to her with a calm and collective, ease of comfort upon his face a smile upon his lips. Just being with her. Hermione, his best friend, the one who was with him every step of his journey so far, she was absolutely brilliant and he truly cared about her so much. Being with her during this time? It was more than he could ever ask for, Hermione Granger, she brought out the best in him, as they walked memories, good memories of their previous years began to run through his mind.
As they walked Harry noted (after snapping out of his own thoughts) that Hermione had gotten strangely quiet but why? What could possibly be bothering her? Turning his gaze to her a somewhat worried expression crossed his facial expressions and on reaction to her silence the boy reached out to take a hold of her hand but she had pulled it away before his even got close and she crossed her arms over her chest as they walked. Whatever it was that was swimming through her mind, was it really that bad? Oh Harry, how oblivious he was, sometimes too oblivious which was a shame. Then again, he did sense that something was wrong, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was at the current moment in time, he hoped to figure it out later.
Still the boy wanted her to know that he was there, for whatever it was that she wanted to discuss and moved closer to her, an arm going around her as they walked, gliding into step with Hermione so they walked comfortably side by side. Within no time at all the pair made it to the park, it was a very nice, snow patched area, it was enough to ease the boy from the slightly tense aura that had hung in the air during the last few moments of their travels to get there. As Hermione pulled from his grasp to go sit on a swing, Harry walked over and took a light hold of the chains of the swing and moved back to give her a slight push, "Tree hunting tomorrow? well that sounds like fun" he thought back to growing up "it'll be a first for me. I was never allowed to accompany the Dursleys during their tree 'shopping'. So I’m actually looking forward to this" he gave a light laugh as she joked about the caroling, he was being sincere about the topic as well. having lived the life that he had, many of these 'family' things were new to Harry.
After a few pushes he moved close and hugged Hermione from behind, resting his head against her shoulder as he stood there enjoying the feel of her in his arms. He didn't think of it as bad, it was actually quite comfortable at that moment. "Thank you, Hermione" his words nothing more than a whisper "for inviting me to spend Christmas with you and your family" leaning in the green eyed boy placed a kiss upon her cheek "It means so much to me" he squeezed her ever so gently his arms before smiling to her as he sat down in the swing beside her.