Chapter One
"Oi! You two! Stop mucking about! I made tea!"
The Doctor and Rose giggled as they heard Donna's cries, but neither moved from where they were, too absorbed in what they were doing.
Donna was somewhat suspicious of what they were up to. Rose had just been reunited with the Doctor after spending two years in a parallel universe, and they were inseparable. They were always holding hands and cuddling and kissing and being cute… it sometimes made Donna want to gag (not to mention she felt like the awkward third wheel). She had to admit; Rose had a very keen sense for these moments, and knew exactly what to do to cheer her up. They would go tend to the TARDIS garden, insist on the Doctor to take them to some intergalactic spa for the day, or they would just sit and talk. Not surprisingly, they became the best of friends almost instantly.
Donna pulled the kettle off the stove in the "galley" (the Doctor just refused to call it a kitchen) and set out their usual mugs. Her shoes tapped at the grates on the floor as she walked around the generously sized area to the pantry. She pulled open the cupboards and took out the tin of biscuits, setting them on the table. Then she put out the sugar cubes, a pint of milk, and some lemon. She smiled to herself, quite pleased at her work. Suddenly, a look of irritation crossed her face, as she realized she did not hear two pairs of feet traipsing towards her. "If you aren't out here in 30 seconds, I'm gonna come in after you!"
The Doctor and Rose were reading in the library. They were both sitting on the long couch, back to back, with their feet going over either arm of the sofa (The Doctor's legs, being considerably longer than Rose's, stretched over the arm and hung near the floor). Using each other as back rests; they were enjoying a nice afternoon together while re-reading some of their favorite Harry Potter novels.
"Do we have to go?" the Doctor whined, "This is the part where they find the Fat Lady's portrait all cut up!" Rose leaned her head back, resting it on the Doctor's shoulder and looking up at his face. His hair was stuck up at impossible angles, and he was wearing those darn specks again. He knew what they did to her, and he smiled as he felt her pulse quicken. "We could just stay here, you know…" he suggested playfully, and he bent his head down to give her a quick kiss on the nose. Rose giggled, and his hearts quickened as he remembered just how lucky he was to hear her laughter again, after more than two years without it.
Rose would have been content to sit there all day, leaning back against the Doctor with her head on his shoulder. Yet, she also was eager to have afternoon tea with Donna.
"C'mon you, we better get goin'" Rose said as she stood up quickly. The Doctor let out a loud "Oof!" as he fell backwards, suddenly losing his back rest. She stood over him, and he glared up at her from his new spot lying down on the couch. He couldn't be very comfortable, Rose thought, with his legs still swung over the arm of the sofa and the rest of him laying down flat, but he didn't move a muscle. She knew he would give up soon, the awkward angle he was lying in and the thought of tea enough to move him. The Doctor finally gave in, grumbling something about Donna ruining everything, until Rose grabbed his hand and pulled him up into a sitting position and out of the library. The Doctor pulled Rose in closer to him, his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, and the spontaneous action left her with a flush on her cheeks. She knew she was way past the point of blushing whenever the Doctor did something like this… but she couldn't help it. Every gesture just reminded her that she might still be trapped in a parallel world without her Doctor, and her TARDIS. Thinking about this made her hug his waist tighter.
She and the TARDIS had a unique bond, unlike any other companion that she had previously bonded to. The Doctor questioned why, but Rose was just pleased that the TARDIS liked her enough to do that.
They walked together into the kitchen, where Donna awaited them. Afternoon tea had become a constant since Donna had started traveling with the Doctor in the TARDIS, and it was a tradition that she was more than happy to welcome Rose into. Donna didn't mind, she had been with the Doctor while he was without Rose, and knew everything was much better this way. Not to mention, Donna genuinely enjoyed Rose's company.
"Sorry to hold you up, Donna" Rose apologized, smiling sweetly at the ginger that she had come to see as a role model, and a treasured friend. Donna tried to give Rose a disapproving look. Judging by the flush oh her cheeks, she assumed without asking what they had been up to. Despite what she thought, she couldn't help but smile. Rose was just so darn adorable, no wonder she and the Doctor were always holding hands and giggling and cuddling.
And snogging.
Instead of letting Rose know this, she told the younger woman "Yea, just don't make a habit out of it, alright?"
The Doctor saw right through Donna, and told her as he added two sugars to his tea, "You know you can't stay mad at us for too long"
"Oi, watch it, space man!" Donna snapped, glaring at the tall, skinny excuse for a time travelling alien Lord of space and time. "You have yet to face the Wrath of Donna"
"Now that," he exclaimed, staring wide eyed at Donna as he munched on a biscuit and sipped his tea "that is a terrifying thought". Rose laughed at Donna's look of astonishment and sat down at her place, adding a sugar and cream to her tea. Donna managed to control herself from further entering this rather dangerous territory, and instead sat down to her tea. She added one sugar and a hint of lemon (She didn't used to drink her tea like this, but that's how her granddad took it, and it reminded her of home). They sat in companionable silence in the warm kitchen as they sipped their tea and munched the assortment of biscuits.
"While we were in the library…" Rose began to say, until she was quickly cut off by Donna.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she pushed away from the table, looking at the both of them. "Whatever happened in there is fine with me, but I DO NOT want to know the finer details, thank you very much!" she finished with a flourish, and munched on a biscuit.
A smile spread quickly across the Doctors face as Rose looked from him to Donna, clearly confused. "What exactly do you think we were doing in there, Donna?"
Rose finally caught on, and started laughing like a mad woman. Donna stared at Rose, thinking she had lost her mind. Maybe this was a side-effect from crossing the void or something…
"What the devil is wrong with you?" Donna questioned, and she looked suspiciously at the Doctor. Was this a symptom of weird alien…she didn't want to think of those details. He scooted his chair over to her and pulled Rose close to him. Donna went to the tap and poured a glass of water and gave it to Rose. She took three deep breaths, drank the water, and then sighed. She looked at Donna with laughter still etched in her eyes.
"Donna, we were reading Harry Potter." Rose explained. She could feel the Doctor's silent laugh rock through her as he held her close to him. The look on Donnas face was priceless, and she couldn't help but start laughing a little again. The Doctor decided that it was his turn to take over and explain.
"You see, Donna," he started "Rose and I used to sit in the library every day, and her favorite series was always Harry Potter. It happened to be a favorite of mine, too, so we always read them together. Before…" he looked at Rose. He didn't really want to think about that right now, so he continued, "well we decided to re-read some of our favorites. That's what we were doing in the library this afternoon." He finished with a low chuckle.
Donna could do nothing but stare at the pair of them. How could she assume that all they ever did in their free time was snog and have a go at each other? Surely she had sensed that their relationship was much more than physical. She looked at how he held her now, like she was the most fragile, precious thing in the world. To him, she supposed, she was.
"I'm so sorry for assuming…" she started. She was quickly cut off by Rose.
"Don't worry about it" she said. "If I was in your place, I would assume that too." The young blonde smiled up at her, and Donna felt her heart melt a little bit. How could she think so lowly of Rose Tyler? The girl who crossed universes just to be with the man she loves. Donna looked down at her tea, and played with her teaspoon.
"As you were saying, before…?" Donna questioned.
"That's right!" Rose exclaimed. Then curiosity filled her voice. "I wanted to ask if we could go to where Hogwarts would be." The Doctor's eyebrows shot up as he thought that over. "Oh c'mon, it'll be fun! We can imagine where everything would be, maybe find the Lake or something like it? It's not like anyone will be there to see us messing around. Just one day to relax, no running, no aliens, just the three of us near a would-be Hogwarts."
Donna was immediately won over by this idea. She was a huge fan of J.K., and would love nothing more than to actually be in the place that the story was based on.
"Welllll, judging by the length of time it took them to get from Kings Cross Station in London to Hogwarts, they would be somewhere in Scotland" the Doctor concluded. He sipped his tea, looking over the rim of the mug at the two women seated with him. They excitedly looked at each other and squealed excitedly.
"We're going to Hogwarts!" Rose exclaimed.
"Remember," the Doctor warned "don't get your hopes up. The TARDIS can travel through time and space, but it can't make a fictional book real. We can go to where it might be, if it were real, but that's all it's going to be. If it makes you happier, though, we can dress up in proper robes and scarves and have a nice picnic by a lake in the hills. How does that sound?" he leaned back in his chair, expecting them to continue squealing with excitement.
He was dumbfounded at the sudden silence.
Donna and Rose looked at him with disbelief.
"You, oh great Time Lord, have a stash of wizard robes?" Donna asked, astonished.
Crap he thought. He hadn't thought about how that would sound to them. "Wellllll, some would consider them collectors' items, and extremely valuable…"
Donna and Rose both shot him the same look. The 'we-know-you-too-well-for-that-to-work-on-us' look.
"Also," he drawled out "It gives me something to do when you two are both sleeping. Honestly, you spend so darn much of your time asleep when you could be doing so much!"
"Like playing dress-up wizard in that giant wardrobe of yours?" Rose teased. He sat up and shot her a hurt look, but she was forgiven instantly as soon as he saw her smile, that same smile with her tongue in between her teeth. That little quirk of hers had always gotten her out of trouble. He wasn't about to show it though.
"Oi, watch it, you! I could do other things while you slept…I could set all your alarms to wake you up early, I could take us to Raxacoricalfalapatorius, which could be fun. I could convince the TARDIS to hide all your clothes and replace them with outfits from the '60's…your choice". He smiled smartly as he leaned back and popped another cookie in his mouth.
The two women seemed to have nothing to say to this, and just sipped their tea. The Doctor, satisfied, helped himself to a jammy dodger (they would always be his favorite cookie).
"Well now that that's all cleared up, why don't we go get dressed?" He looked at the two girls.
Donna gulped the rest of her tea, and stood. The Doctor and Rose followed suit, and they walked out of the galley together, towards the wardrobe room.