Author's Note: This was written for the prompt: NinexRose wizard AU where one accidentally Apparates into the wrong house. If you liked the story I'd really really appreciate you leaving a quick note telling me so. Reviews are the life-blood of an author, so please be considerate. They don't take long, but inspire new fic and make a writer happy.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Ouch! No, please, don't… Ow. Okay, okay, I'm goin', I'm goin'!"

Chris stumbled out of the bathroom, trying to get the soap out of his eyes and not knock over anything else. His ears were flaming and he was quite sure he wouldn't forget the embarrassment he felt at that moment anytime soon.

Taking a step back, he tried to grab something to hold onto, at the same time trying get away from the shrieking girl in the bath as fast as he could. It was a stupid mistake, really. He meant to go to Manchester, and he was pretty sure he ended up in another city starting with M, in a stranger's house no less. He knew he should have asked Jack for a lift. His head was elsewhere today, and even on his good days Apparition wasn't his forte. He shouldn't have done it. He just wanted to get home, get out of the Ministry, get away for a bit. Well, the get away part worked, he guessed.

Still rubbing at his eyes, Chris failed to notice the stairs on his left. He was edging closer and closer to the edge, blinking furiously and trying to get his eyes to work. There was shouting from below now too - another girl's shrill voice was drifting up as the blond in the shower tried to calm herself down enough to tell her friend what was going on. Not that the blond knew, he barely had enough time to open his mouth before she started hitting him with whatever she could reach. It really did hurt when she threw that book at him. Who takes books to the bath anyway?

To be fair, he did land snap bang in the middle of her bathtub, kneeling between her legs and staring at her in wide eyed shock. Before he could even register what just happened she was screaming and flailing around for anything that could be used as a weapon. A copy of Dickens did the job just fine. His head was still throbbing.

Trying to get the last of the soap out of his eyes, he didn't pay attention to where he was going and missed the first step. The second one hit his knee, the third his side, the fourth his head. After that it was all a tumble downwards. He registered a loud thud as he reached the end of the stairs, and the world slowly coming to a halt from its mad spin before he blacked out.

"What do you think we should do with him?"

"What do you mean what to do with him? Tie him up, for one! Just teleporting into the bathtub… I bet he's a pervert. Are you a pervert?"

A red haired woman was staring him in the face and he had trouble not jumping up and attempting to run away as her eyes bore into his. Nice way to wake up after falling down a set of stairs…

"Well, are you deaf? Mute? Or just feeling ashamed? Good, you should be! Don't tell me that teleporting business is so inaccurate that you can land in the middle of someone's bath!"

"It's Apparition, Donna, and I think we should let him talk," the blond girl tried to soothe her companion, but it didn't seem to work.

"Are you mad, Rose? We should run him out onto the street naked, that's what we should do!"

Rose tried to hide her smile behind her hands, but couldn't quite manage it. The red-head gave Chris a warning look then laughed with Rose.

"Alright, you can get up now," she added finally.

When he slowly sat up, keeping his eyes on this Donna woman all the way through, she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You got yourself a lunatic, Rose. He's bonkers. And not a very brave one at that."

"Oi, I can be plenty brave when I need to be! You're just scary," he replied indignantly, the throbbing in his head intensifying as he whipped it around to face her.

Donna smiled and shook her head.

"Well, seems like the cat didn't get his tongue after all. He's still mad, but at least now he can talk. Rose, darling, you've got an awful taste in men."

Rose cleared her throat and shot a pointed look at Donna.

"Alright, I'll be in the kitchen! Shout if you need a cuppa." Turning back from the doorway, she addressed him again, "And better see to that head of yours. It was quite a big fall you had. Maybe I'll bring some ice?"

Her voice sounded so much softer and almost nice that he could only nod and attempt a small smile.

She seemed to like that and disappeared behind the door to get the said item.

Rose shuffled her feet for a bit before sitting down abruptly in the chair opposite from him.

"So, erm, what's your name then?"

"It's Chris."

"As in Christopher?"

"Christoforus, actually."

"Christoforus? Really?" She gave a little smile, tongue-touched and full of mirth. "Well, that's a bit ridiculous."

"Yeah, a bit. My parents thought it was unique… People usually call me the Doctor, actually. It's been my nickname in school, so it just sort of stuck."

"I'm Rose. Rose Tyler."

She held out her hand and he took it, caught by surprise at the softness of it, the warmth of cream skin underneath his, the fluttering feeling in his stomach that awakened as a result.

"So, you've gone to Hogwarts too?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah I did. Finished the year before last."

"Me too! Did you manage to find a job yet? A lot of my used-to-be classmates are still waiting, said all the good positions were taken after the War was over, people swarming in to fill jobs, everyone trying to prove they didn't have anything to hide."

"I'm working at the Ministry. Department of International Magical Cooperation." He winced as he said the last word and tried to cover it up with a cough. Rose was quicker though, didn't let it slip.

"And you don't like working there?"

"Well, I don't mind, but it can be somewhat stressful and oftentimes boring."

"It's not what you wanted to do." It was a statement and he smiled bitterly at the truth of it, but didn't reply.

"I work at the Ministry too, you know."

"Do you?" Curiosity took the place of the bad memories.

"Yes. I'm an Obliviator. Well, and Obliviator in training."

"Oh? Nice." He didn't know what else to say, and his head was starting to pound so much he had to concentrate to make out her words.

"So, erm, Donna's a Muggle, obviously. And I'm a Muggle-born, so I tried to explain as much as I could to her, but mostly she thinks it's bollocks."

His eyes widened in surprise and Rose laughed.

"I mean she does believe me, she just thinks we're doing things stupidly and gets the terms wrong, and generally pretends she's not impressed when she sees me do magic."

She looked down shyly, and Chris realized he'd been staring at her since she first started speaking. Clearing his throat, he looked away.

"You arrived to Mansfield by the way, just in case you were wondering. Well, into my bathtub, but… The city is Mansfield."

"Oh yes. Sorry about that. I'm really terribly sorry. I'm not so good at Apparating."

"Apparently." Her tongue was peeking out between her teeth again as she grinned at him and he found himself smiling back, unable to take his eyes off her. She was like the sun - bright and warm and soothing, beckoning him to come out of his shell. He caught himself just in time though and looked at the carpet instead.

"So, erm, I'm guessing you don't want to attempt Apparating home. I can lend you a broom if you decide to head home, but Donna and I both agree that it would probably be safer for you to stay here for the night."

Chris snorted. "I'll believe it when I hear it from her," he mumbled.

"Well, then you better listen up, Mr Ears!"

"Oi!"

"Oi! I said listen!"

Chris crossed his arms and winced as the movement caused pain. He attempted to scowl at Donna, but failed miserably when he saw her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"You fell down a flight of stairs - head-first, if I may add - and what you need now is a bit of rest. So you aren't going anywhere until I say so. Got it, munchkin?"

"And here I was thinking you didn't like him," replied Rose.

"Well, the ears are a bit distracting, but I guess if you go for the eyes he's passable," Donna mused, looking him over critically.

"Munchkin?" Chris mouthed at Rose, indignation written all over his face.

She laughed and took the ice-pack from Donna, who was grinning wildly at him, apparently pleased with her word choices and his reaction; then applied it gently to the bump on his head.

He hissed at the sudden contact but didn't pull away, staring deep into Rose's whiskey-coloured eyes, getting lost in the starlight that swirled in them, wanting to reach out and caress her cheek…

Donna cleared her throat loudly behind them. "So, before you two snog the life out of each other, what do we want for dinner? Shall I go down to the chippie?"

"That would be great, thank you Donna."

The red head looked at him questioningly and he grinned at her, halfway back to his usual self now that the ice began its work on his bruises, "Chips sound fantastic!"

Donna shook her head and grabbed her coat, looking back at Rose from the doorway and stating loudly, "This one's barmy, he is!"

Rose smiled wider and blushed a bit, shrugging at her friend who exited the room with a dramatic sigh.

Turning back to Chris, Rose asked innocently, "What shall we do now?"