Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own anything.
A/N This is a secret santa gift for blueboxoflegends on Tumblr. I am sorry your original Santa did not have a gift for you. Hopefully, you will enjoy this one!
Part 1 of 2. There will be only more chapter after this.
This is loosely based on the Big Finish Audio 'Winter for the Adept'.
A massive thanks to Vampiyaa for the beta.
Happy Reading!
Chapter 1
"Beth, don't be an idiot," said Anne. "Out of all your absurd ideas, this one takes the prize."
Beth Patton, bane of everyone at Greyfield finishing school, shot her friend a wicked smirk. "Come now, Anne," she said. "It's hardly the first time I'll be doing this. It's Christmas Eve, for crying out loud. The two of us deserve more than being stuck here over the holidays."
"There's a blizzard coming in later," said Anne, shaking her head at once. "It's hardly even midday and it's already getting dark. We'll be lost getting down to the village, let alone all the way to the Salford Academy."
"Andrew promised we could sneak in some port from their Headmaster's study," said Beth. "Come on, Anne, it will be fun. And who's going to miss us? Headmistress Carpenter listens to Wagner after lunch and takes supper in her rooms instead of coming down to the dining room. And Ms. Thompson spends every bit of time she can find in the chapel. If she does discover us missing, the most she will do is pray for our return."
"And what about Lily?" asked Anne.
The two girls glanced at the other end of the common room where a quiet girl with untidy wiry curls was sat hunched over a book. They hadn't bothered to keep their voices down, so the girl had heard every bit of scorn that Anne had poured into her name and her face was slowly turning red behind her book.
Beth's lip curled with the familiar cruel sneer. "Oh, she won't say anything," she said. "Will you, Lily?"
Lily Wilton looked up with frightened eyes. Bad things tended to happen when Beth Patton spoke in that voice. "We aren't supposed to leave the grounds over the holidays," she said, unable to help it. "You'll get in trouble, Beth."
"Christmas is a time for friends but since you have none of those, I don't suppose you would understand," said Beth sweetly. "And from the look of things, your family does not want you around either. Can't say I blame them, really. I wouldn't want to spend Christmas with you either."
"You and Anne are here too," said Lily, tears of humiliation and anger gathering in her eyes.
"Yes, but unlike you, Anne and I are not unwanted by our own family," said Beth, chuckling as she spoke.
"Beth's parents are in America right now for a very important conference and my family is hosting the winter gala in England for London's High Society," said Anne primly. "Not that your family would know what any of that is," she added as an aside. "What was it that your father did again?"
"I heard Ms. Renford once tell Ms. Johns that Lily's father was a drunken wastrel and the only reason they were allowing her to come here was because an old aunt from the family line had attended Greyfield," said Beth, eyes glinting as Lily's face crumpled.
"You aren't supposed to know that," said Lily, tears falling down her face.
Beth and Anne laughed. "Then I suppose we know your secret now, little Lily," said Beth patronisingly. "If you breathe a word about where Anne and I are, then we will make sure that every single person knows your family history when they come back from the holidays."
Lily let out a sob and ran from the common room. Beth and Anne shared a giggle over it but their laughter was interrupted by the soft notes of Fur Elise coming from the piano in the corner of the common room. The girls glanced at it warily when they realised that the keys were moving of their own accord, without anyone actually playing it.
"Very funny, Beth," said Anne shakily. "You got me."
Beth shook her head slowly, looking very pale. "It's not me," she said.
"Stop it, Beth," said Anne. "It's not funny."
"I'm not doing it," shouted Beth as the two girls got to their feet, looking to bolt out of the common room. "We should run. Come on."
They had barely taken two steps when the music stopped abruptly, plunging them into silence. The girls looked at each other in fear, too petrified to move.
Suddenly, Beth started sniffing. "Do you smell roses?" she asked.
Anne opened her mouth to say that she didn't, but then she smelled it too. "Yeah," she said, her voice trembling. "Beth, what's happening?"
"I-I don't know," said Beth. "Let's just…"
Beth's suggestion was drowned out as the glass frames on the oil paintings in the common room burst with a massive crash. The girls screamed in terror as they were showered with broken glass. The piano started playing Fur Elise again, but this time, the notes were harsher, angrier somehow.
The smell of roses became overpowering and the girls didn't stop screaming.
Lily was already regretting it. After defying her cardinal rule of never going up against Beth Patton, she had stupidly tried to argue with her. And now, Beth had something to hold over her head. It was so stupid.
She was also regretting her anger as she kicked at the knee-deep snow through which she was wading. Running off in anger was all well and dramatic but walking out of the school grounds when it was expressly forbidden and trying to make it through snow on the Swiss Alps in the middle of December was just plain dumb. But she had run out of the common room without thinking and hadn't stopped until she had left the school far, far behind.
Lily wasn't even certain which way the school was now and it was getting darker, as Anne had predicted. She was going to be lost in the mountains because of her own inability to keep her head down. Her Christmas was just getting better and better, she thought moodily, as she stopped and tried to see if she could find even one signpost or landmark that would give her some idea of where she was. But everywhere she looked, she could only see the pile of snow and the rapidly darkening sky...until she saw something blue in the distance.
Lily squinted through the dark, trying to gauge what it was. If she didn't know any better, she would think that it was a police box like the ones they had back home in England. Either way, it was the only thing she could see and she headed towards it with a purpose. As she got closer, she saw that it was indeed a police box but it was so absurdly out of place that she did a double take. Hoping it had a policeman too, or at least a working telephone, Lily waded through the snow to go up to it and knock tentatively.
No one answered the door and Lily couldn't hear any sound coming from the box, and she had raised her hand to knock again, when the door swung open unexpectedly. She was so startled that she jumped back in shock and landed on her bum in the snow. The man who had opened the door smiled at her brightly.
"Hello!" he said.
Lily stared at him, her mouth falling open at the sight of the handsome man with the sticky uppy brown hair and charming grin. He was dressed in a very fitting brown pinstriped suit and was wearing a long brown coat that hung all the way to his ankles. She also realised that she was sitting in snow, gaping at him like an imbecile, so she hastily got to her feet. "Hello," she said, turning bright red with embarrassment.
"Who is it?" came a woman's voice from the box and Lily turned redder. What exactly had she walked into?
"Not entirely certain yet," said the man. "I'm the Doctor. Who are you?" he asked, smiling curiously at Lily.
"L-Lily Wilton," she said, cringing internally when she stumbled over her own name.
"Nice to meet you, Lily Wilton," said the Doctor.
There was a scuffle behind him and Lily's eyes went wide when a woman squeezed past the Doctor and stepped outside the box. She was very pretty and only a year or two older than Lily herself. Unlike the Doctor, she was wearing layers appropriate for winter and the sight of her bright red winter coat and matching hat and gloves reminded Lily of the Red Riding Hood.
"Hi," she said, smiling in a friendly manner. "I'm Rose. Are you alright?"
Lily nodded quickly and then shook her head. "No, no, I am not," she blurted out. "I'm lost."
"We can help with that," declared the Doctor quickly, shutting the box's door behind him and stepping up next to Rose. "We have an excellent sense of direction, don't we, Rose?" he asked, nudging her shoulder with his.
Rose snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah? Does this look like Hyde Park to you?" she asked, nodding towards the snowy mountainside.
"Oi!" protested the Doctor. "I promised you a winter vacation. How does this not fit the bill?"
"You promised ice skating in Hyde Park," said Rose, laughing at his pouting face.
Lily watched their interaction with wide eyes. "You ended up in the Swiss Alps instead of Hyde Park?" she asked, disbelievingly.
"It's his rubbish driving," Rose told her, ignoring the outraged expression on the Doctor's face. "You wander off from your school then, did you?" she asked.
Lily seemed a little baffled as to how she would know that, before remembering that she was wearing the Greyfield uniform. She blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I sort of ran away in a bit of a huff," she confessed. "Now I don't really know where I am."
Rose nodded sympathetically and looked at the Doctor, who drew out a curious-looking device from his coat. It was the size of a pen but lit up blue at the end and made a weird buzzing sound. He spun around once in a circle holding it out in front of him like a magician's wand with a contemplative look on his face. Rose seemed to think nothing of his odd actions but Lily was beginning to question the wisdom of asking them for help.
Just as she was about to start backing away slowly, the Doctor let out a triumphant 'Aha!'. "That way," he said confidently, pointing somewhere to the right. He looked at Lily and tilted his head. "You really did wander off a bit, didn't you?"
"I wasn't thinking about where I was going," said Lily defensively.
"Doctor," said Rose in a warning tone and he looked at her. She shot him a look that only the two of them understood and he nodded once.
"Right then," he said, turning back to Lily. "We'll walk you back to the school, if you like."
"Alright," said Lily at once, thankful for the company even if it was a rather odd one.
The three of them set out towards the way the Doctor's odd device had pointed, which he did periodically pull out of his pocket and wave around to ascertain that they were going the right way. By the time they had left the blue box behind, Lily had got used to it and stopped questioning the actions of her curious rescuers.
"So," asked Rose, falling into step next to her. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen," said Lily and then realised why Rose would have asked that question. "Greyfield is a finishing school," she added, smiling ruefully.
Rose nodded in understanding. "Well, it must be fun going to school here," she said.
Lily shrugged. "Not really," she said. "I miss London, to be honest. Especially at Christmas."
"It's Christmas?" asked Rose in surprise.
"Christmas Eve, yeah," said Lily. "You didn't know?"
"We travel around a lot," said Rose, nodding towards the Doctor who had stopped walking to check directions again. "Sort of easy to lose track of time."
"That sounds nice," said Lily wistfully, not noticing the concerned glance from Rose in her direction.
"Why aren't you home for Christmas?" asked Rose finally, after they had walked in silence for a while.
Lily flushed and didn't answer for a few moments. "I didn't want to go," she said slowly.
There was no judgment in Rose's eyes when Lily glanced at her tentatively. "Why not?" she asked simply.
"It's my dad," she blurted out, words rushing out before she could stop them. "Ever since my mum died, he hasn't been himself and god, it sounds horrible, but I can't be around him. It hurts too much." At Rose's growing look of concern, Lily shook her head. "He doesn't hurt me or anything, but it's like a part of him died when mum did and he's just so sad all the time. Nothing I can ever say or do makes him feel better and I am tired of trying now."
Lily was breathing heavily as she finished and had tears in her eyes. "'S why I ran out here today," she said, her proper accent slipping a little as she started holding back sobs. "The other girls, they know I'm not rich like them. Even the teachers mutter about how my dad's a drunk and that I could only come here 'cos an old aunt on my mum's side was a famous graduate from Greyfield. And I hate it. I hate every minute I spend here, but I hate going home even more because it reeks of alcohol and my mum's old perfume. I'm just so tired of everything."
"Hey, hey, it's alright," said Rose, grasping her arm in comfort before pulling her in for a hug. "It's okay."
Lily sobbed into Rose's shoulder, unable to remember the last time when someone had hugged her. She hugged Rose back tightly, grateful for the comfort. She felt Rose stroke her hair comfortingly and shush her soothingly and for the first time since her mum had died, Lily felt like she wasn't completely alone in this world.
She heard footsteps crunching in the snow and looked up to see the Doctor coming towards them, with a look of concern on his face. Embarrassed, she disentangled herself from Rose's arms and crossed her arms over her torso protectively. She barely even knew them and she had just blurted everything out in front of them and then proceeded to cry all over Rose. She did not dare look up to see their looks of pity, or worse, mockery.
The Doctor cleared his throat. "The school's just around the corner," he said.
Lily nodded without looking up and started walking. She could feel Rose looking towards her, but she stubbornly refused to meet her gaze and kept walking. They rounded the corner and Lily's heart soared briefly when she saw Greyfield in the distance. It had started snowing a while ago, but it was really coming down heavily now. She noticed the Doctor take Rose's hand as they walked and the two of them would frequently shoot worried looks towards her as they reached the school.
She entertained a brief thought of just sneaking into the school, hoping no one had noticed that she had been gone for hours, but as luck would have it, Headmistress Carpenter and Ms. Thompson were waiting at the main hall's door. They looked relieved when they saw Lily being brought in and rushed out quickly towards them.
"You are in so much trouble, young lady," said Ms. Thompson, fixing her with a stern glare. "Do you know how worried we have been? What could you have possibly been thinking?"
Lily lowered her gaze and stared at the ground, her lips quivering. "I am sorry, Ms. Thompson," she said.
"Your behaviour was unbecoming of a Greyfield student, Lily," said Headmistress Carpenter sternly. "And who are these people?" she asked, looking towards the Doctor and Rose.
"They helped me find my way back after I got lost on the mountains," she said quickly, before anyone else got a chance.
Headmistress Carpenter smiled politely at them. "You have our gratitude," she said. "I am Andrea Carpenter, headmistress of Greyfield. This is Ms. Thompson, our English literature teacher. I don't believe young Lily told us your names."
The Doctor smiled widely, just as he had at Lily when he had first met her, but Lily noticed the glint of wariness in his eyes. "I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler," he said. "We are travellers of sorts."
Headmistress Carpenter nodded. "Thank you for bringing Lily back," she said. "Would you like to come inside?"
"Oh, we should be on our way back," said the Doctor at once.
"Nonsense," said the Headmistress. "We have a blizzard on the way. You would be lost trying to navigate these mountains. The school is empty for the holidays and I am certain we can offer you lodgings until the storm passes."
The Doctor glanced at Rose, who nodded. He turned back to Headmistress Carpenter and smiled. "Alright," he said. "Thank you."
"Of course," said the Headmistress. "This way, please." She turned to Ms. Thompson. "I trust you will take Lily to the sickbay and make sure she gets into dry clothing?"
"Of course, Headmistress," said Ms. Thompson. "Come along, Lily, before you get sick."
Lily nodded quietly and hurried after Ms. Thompson. The Doctor and Rose tried to catch her eye but she didn't look at them as she left.
"I apologise on Lily's behalf," said the Headmistress as she led the Doctor and Rose into the main hall. It was a cosy parlour with a blazing fire in the fireplace and walls lined with paintings and certificates. "She is one of our troubled students."
"She was no trouble," said Rose, irritated by the implications.
"That is good to hear, of course," said the Headmistress, smiling patronisingly at Rose. "Regardless, she should not have left the premises. It is hardly appropriate and I am sure Ms. Thompson will punish her accordingly."
Rose opened her mouth to argue but they were interrupted by the arrival of two other girls in Greyfield uniform. They looked a little subdued and one of them had a bandaged arm.
"We have finished cleaning up the common room, Headmistress," said the girl with the bandaged arm.
"Very well, Anne," said the Headmistress sternly. "Hopefully, you have both learned your lesson and there will be no further stories made up to cover up your mischief."
"We didn't do anything," protested the other girl ignoring Anne's whispered 'Beth!'.
"Elizabeth Patton, do not make me rethink your punishment," said the Headmistress. "Especially not in front of our guests."
"We didn't break all the glass," said Beth, undeterred. "We told you, it just happened. And before that the piano was playing by itself…"
"Enough," said the Headmistress sharply. "You will both join Ms. Thompson and Lily in the sickbay. The three of you are officially under Ms. Thompson's eye for the remainder of the holidays. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Headmistress," said Anne meekly and pulled Beth away before she could do any more damage.
The Headmistress shook her head as the girls left. "I apologise for them," she told the Doctor and Rose. "Holidays are difficult when you are away from family."
"They said the glass broke by itself?" asked Rose curiously.
"They were just making mischief," dismissed the Headmistress. "Beth Patton enjoys her little jokes far too much. It is high time she outgrows them."
"Still, bit of an elaborate mischief to make up, isn't it?" asked the Doctor lightly. "I saw that Anne had injured her arm."
"They littered the entire common room with broken glass," said the Headmistress. "One of them was bound to get hurt."
The Doctor and Rose exchanged a quick look at that. "Headmistress Carpenter," began the Doctor in his most charming voice. "Could we trouble you for a tour of the school?"
Headmistress Carpenter beamed at him. "Oh, it would be no trouble at all," she said.
"We'd love that, wouldn't we, Rose?" asked the Doctor, looking at Rose.
"Wouldn't want to miss it," she said, smiling in agreement. "Lead the way."
"...running off like an uncultured tramp. No sense of decorum…"
Lily tuned out Ms. Thompson's lecture, which was full of religious repercussions for behaving in a manner unbecoming of a young lady. She had heard it all before, because Ms. Thompson would use the same lecture for every student who misbehaved. She was still in the sickbay, despite not being injured, and now that she had dry clothes on, she just wanted to go to bed and stay there.
"...not to mention, the two of you making up stories," said Ms. Thompson, glaring at Beth and Anne who looked just as irritated as Lily.
From what she could gather, an invisible force in the common room had attacked Beth and Anne. Lily had rolled her eyes at that. Those two were probably up to something.
"When you make up stories like those, it gives the Devil incentive to send real demons after you," said Ms. Thompson. "I have told you…"
And on and on it went, and the three girls listened silently with minimal sighing until they were interrupted by the arrival of the Doctor and Rose with the Headmistress who was giving them a tour. Lily noticed the way Beth and Anne sat up straighter when they entered and the slight giggle they exchanged when they looked at the Doctor. Lily just about rolled her eyes again, knowing that it was obvious to anyone that the Doctor and Rose were together.
"Ah, Ms. Thompson," said the Headmistress. "The girls have not been any more trouble, I hope?"
"No, Headmistress," said Ms. Thompson. "I hear they are to be under my supervision for the remainder of the holidays?"
"I'm sorry it takes away from your time, Betty," said the Headmistress sincerely.
"Oh, that is quite alright," said Ms. Thompson. "I can pray here, of course."
"I could wait with them if you wanted to go pray, Ms. Thompson," spoke up Rose, smiling her most charming grin.
Everyone in the room looked at her in surprise, except the Doctor, who was beaming. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Rose," he said. "No reason why poor Ms. Thompson has to be punished too."
Headmistress Carpenter looked like she very much disliked that idea, but there was a slight hopeful glint in Ms. Thompson's eyes, so she nodded. "Very well," she said. "Ms. Thompson won't be long, will she?"
"No, of course not, Headmistress," said Ms. Thompson eagerly.
The Headmistress nodded and left with the Doctor to continue their tour. Ms. Thompson smiled gratefully at Rose before leaving her with the girls in the sickbay.
"Thank God, that's over," said Beth, rolling her eyes. "She was driving me batty."
"Would be nice if someone believed us rather than think we were making it all up," muttered Anne.
Rose turned to them. "Tell me what happened then," she said.
"Don't," whispered Lily, but Rose kept looking at Beth and Anne expectantly.
"Why?" asked Anne suspiciously. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Oh, I'm Rose," she said. "And if you want someone to believe you, then trust me, I can believe a lot."
Beth snorted derisively. "Not unless you know about ghosts," she said.
"What makes you think I don't?" asked Rose.
"If you did, it would make you a nutter," said Beth, sharing a giggle with Anne. "For all we know, you are one already. What else do you know about? Goblins? Vampires? Werewolves?" The two girls laughed.
Rose shrugged casually. "Right now, you two are the ones coming across as nutters," she pointed out. "But hey, feel free to mention more imaginary things. I'm sure your teachers will be thrilled by that."
The girls sobered up at the easy manner in which Rose shrugged off their mocking and the implication behind her words. They really had no choice but to accept help from someone who was at least willing to listen rather than call them a troublemaker or worse, insane, without even hearing them out. Lily, on the other hand, was staring at Rose with something akin to admiration.
"Well?" prompted Rose.
"It happened after Lily stormed out of the common room," said Anne. "It was the piano first. It was playing Fur Elise by itself."
Rose nodded. "Go on," she encouraged, her tone far gentler than before.
"Then it stopped and we…" Anne trailed off and looked at Beth.
"We smelled roses," said Beth, rolling her eyes slightly. "It was overpowering, like cheap perfume."
"And the music came back on," said Anne. "But it sounded...angry, somehow. And then all the glass frames ju-just burst."
"How?" asked Rose.
"What?" asked Beth.
"How did the glass break? Did it crack into shards? Or shatter completely?" asked Rose.
"It shattered into tiny pieces," answered Anne. "Why?"
Rose didn't answer. "Did you hear anything else? Apart from the music?" she asked.
"No," said Anne, but Beth had a contemplative look on her face.
"Beth?" asked Rose, noticing the look.
"It's probably nothing," she said immediately.
"Tell me anyway," said Rose.
"Well, I could swear I heard the wind," said Beth reluctantly.
"What's odd about that?" asked Lily curiously.
"The windows were shut, you stupid girl," said Beth.
"Oi, none of that," said Rose. "Just because you are at some posh school doesn't mean you get to act like children. Now, Beth, did you feel the wind or just hear it?"
"I just heard it," said Beth. "And don't ever tell me how I should act. You are just some girl who can barely remember to use her 'H's. What are you doing with that Doctor, anyway? Did he take pity on you and take you on as his charity case?"
Rose glared at her. "Watch it," she said. "I have faced down things you have barely dreamed of and I'll not have a stuck up little princess telling me how I should talk. And don't you dare assume anything about the Doctor and I. Just because putting others down makes you feel better about yourself, doesn't mean everyone will lay down and take it."
Beth stood up angrily and walked up to Rose. "Listen to me, you…"
"Beth," interrupted Anne.
"Not now," shouted Beth, still glaring at Rose.
"Beth, it's happening again," said Anne insistently and the four of them realised that the smell of roses was getting intense around them.
"Stay close," said Rose, and for once, all three girls obeyed without question and moved closer to her. "And keep an eye out."
The four of them looked around the sickbay warily, expecting something to happen, but a loud scream pierced the air followed by a hard thud. They exchanged confused looks and ran to the large sickbay window where the noise seemed to have come from. The window overlooked the school's inner courtyard and as they glanced outside, simultaneous shrieks of fear escaped the three girls and even Rose had to stifle a gasp with her hand.
Lying down in the middle of the courtyard with her head twisted all the way backwards, was Ms. Thompson's body.
A/N End of Part 1 of 2. Thanks for reading.
Part 2 will be up in a few days.