A Visit
A One-shot, enjoy
"SIRIUS!"
Harry Potter sat up in a cold sweat, his heart racing. It was a dream, the same dream he was getting for the last 2 weeks, the death of his Godfather. Sucking in a lungful of air, Harry wiped his brow and then breathed out very slowly.
His room at the Dursleys was still pitch black, except a glow of the moon through the thin curtains. Checking his clock next to him, it read 3:30am. He knew he wouldn't get back to sleep again, so he got up and changed quietly as possible, he didn't want to deal with a shouting Vernon Dursley this early. Placing his wand in his back pocket he crept down the stairs, picked up the spare key from the bowl and left number 4.
The air was cool, but not cold. Summer night. Looking around, Harry realised he didn't know what he was doing. Where would he go at this time of night? He couldn't go too far from the Dursleys, but he wanted to get just far enough to forget about them. In the end, he chose the local park.
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"This….is nice" Harry murmured as he pushed himself backwards on the swing. He gazed up at the stars, the motion of the swing allowed him to settle a bit. With Voldemort and his Death eaters out there, something as mundane as sitting on a swing felt great.
The wind picked up slightly, and a low humming noise could be heard in the air, Harry looked up to see if it was a plane but no little dots were obvious from his position. Then the humming got louder, he looked straight in front of him and watched as blue box appeared out of nowhere.
Harry fell off his swing in shock. A blue police box, just appeared out of thin air. A BLUE. POLICE BOX. Slapping himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming again, and not getting the waking reaction he was hoping for, Harry scrambled to his feet and pulled his wand out aiming at the police box.
Gradually, he crept closer, his wand never moving from the position it was in. When he got a few feet from the box, he stopped. Nothing had happened since it arrived, no humming, no explosions and even stranger, no wizards had arrived. Harry was slightly shaken, the fact that a police box had just slowly apparated into the area caused no alarms at the Ministry?
"Was it even apparition?"
Harry stepped closer to it and placed his hand on the door, it was wood, not plastic or metal to look like wood. Well, should he be surprised? It was after all a police box. He walked around it looking at everything, making sure there wasn't anything odd about it. In reality, Harry had never seen an actual Police Box, but he had seen them in books when he was in Primary school, so he didn't actually know if there could be something odd about it.
When he got back to the front, he sighed and looked around, nobody. No cars, no random strangers, noon-
*Click*
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Harry jumped and brought his wand up again, the sound of the door unlocking brought him back to his senses. The door opened slightly and a yellow light arched out onto him. It was bright enough for Harry to cover his eyes for a second before a shadow passed in front of him. Looking up there appeared a man. His left shoulder and head only but a man there was.
The man had quite a prominent jawline, combed hair that hung slightly over his forehead, and dark blue eyes. Which were narrowed at Harry.
"Yes?" The man asked. Harry was unsure of what he should say, he just held his wand up to him. The man raised an eyebrow and looked down at the wand that was aimed at his face.
"Is that a wand?" he asked, Harry just nodded. The door closed and opened again revealing the man completely, Harry caught a glimpse of a wide space behind him before the door was closed again, and the man just stood there with his hands behind his back. He wasn't dressed oddly, which was odd, black trousers, dark brown boots, a grey waistcoat, a white shirt, a brown overcoat and a black bowtie. Nothing too, strange, which was strange because in Harry's experience he expected something grand and…again odd.
"I haven't seen a wand in a long time," the man said smiling now, Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Are…are you a wizard then?" Harry asked, the man laughed and shook his head.
"No, but to some people, I could be considered that in fact, I have been called that a few times in different tongues" The man then walked around Harry who still held up his wand.
"The last time I saw a wand was a long time ago, two people held them up just like you are doing to me now" He arrived back in front of Harry, his wand still at his face.
"What were their names now?" The man asked himself, he looked up and closed his eyes in thought.
"Something Caw and Slippery"
"Ravenclaw and Slytherin?" Harry asked already knowing that's what the man meant.
"YES! Ravenclaw and Slytherin! They were in the process of building a school and they had a nasty issue with some of the local animals…." The man trailed off at the look of the boy's gobsmacked face.
"Did I say something?"
"Who are you?" The man smiled and bowed slightly.
"I am the Doctor" like it was self-explanatory.
"Doctor what?" Harry said lowering his wand, the man stared blankly at him from the bowed position.
"…"
"…"
"Doctor what?"
"Yes, Doctor what? Like are you Dr Smith or Dr Watson?" Harry explained further, the man stared at him still.
"That is strange," The doctor-something said, his face looking confused.
"What is?"
"You said Doctor What. No-one has ever said that before…"
"What have they said before?" Harry placed his wand in his back pocket, the man had straightened himself up and was leaning against the police box.
"Who"
"The people before, what did they say?"
"Who," The man said again, Harry scowled
"You said people said something different before me saying Doctor What, what did they say" the man rolled his eyes.
"The said Who, not What"
They said Doctor Who?" The man clapped and nodded.
"Riiight, so you don't have a name then?"
"I do, but I go by The Doctor," The man said as he twirled as if to show off himself.
"What are you the Doctor of?" Harry had raised an eyebrow himself, the Doctor opened his mouth again but didn't say anything at first, then he looked at Harry in his eyes.
"What is your name?" The Doctor asked leaning in slightly. Harry looked at the man's dark blue eyes, haunted by the way they looked, old eyes.
"Harry," He said simply not wanting to give a lot away to this stranger. The Doctor surveyed Harry's face, he glanced at the scar before spinning around and entering the police box again.
Harry stared in shock ay the way the man had just left him. What? Who?
Xxxxxxxxxx
Harry was on the swing again staring at the grass in front of him, it had been 20 minutes since "The Doctor" had vanished back into the police box.
"Doctor Who….?" Harry whispered out loud, there was a click again and he looked up to see The Doctor walk up to him with a grin on his face.
"You are Harry James Potter, Born 31st July 1980, whose parents died protecting him on Halloween the following year! Sorry had to catch up on the wizarding world's history." Harry was speechless, he ran his finger over the scar.
"Was it my scar that gave it away?"
"Yup, the part where you came into your worlds story anyway"
"Wait you said you had to catch up on my world's history, how much history did you read? I take it was just the recent stuff?"
"Nope all of it, you have had some nasty wars and Goblin rebellions over the years, that Grindelwald business wasn't pretty either however compared to Thomas Morvolo Riddle better known as Voldemort, Grindelwald was peachy..." The Doctor said casually. Harry looked at him suspiciously.
"You caught up on my worlds history within 20 minutes?"
"Yes"
"Including recent history?"
"Yes, and by the way, my deepest sympathies, to lose both your parents and your Godfather a matter of weeks ago…well…" The Doctor looked down, Harry was both in shock and slightly scared, this man knew a lot about him and he had only met him just over 20 minutes ago.
"I recently have lost a couple of people who I was close to, not family, but when you are me, you become quite attached to people quite quickly" The Doctor looked up at the stars, Harry saw that whoever he had lost, was more like family.
"What were their names?" He asked unsure if he was going too private, The Doctor continued to look up at the stars.
"Amelia Pond and Rory Williams…" Harry saw that The Doctor had lost himself in a memory so he kept quiet. He himself was thinking of his Godfather.
"When you look up into the night sky and look at the stars what do you feel?" Harry quickly looked up at the man before into space.
"Small, I feel small" The Doctor nodded in agreement.
"I along with you have been through many trials, many emotions and traumas, and along with you I have conquered many issues and problems, but as you said, when I look up into the vastness of space, I still feel extremely small. There are things we both cannot comprehend, I being the age I am have seen many things, and yet now and then, I still am surprised." Harry was unsure by that last part but he knew what The Doctor meant, his issues were but insignificant when looking up into space.
"That being said, we can take advantage of the grand scale of things," The Doctor said smiling looking down at Harry. He grabbed his shoulder and pulled him up from the swing before pulling him towards the police box and stopping in front of it.
"The advantage of being me is that I have her" He waved at the police box, harry nodded bewildered by the sudden movement.
"She-"
"Wait...her?" Harry questioned, cutting of The Doctor, who was practically grinning with excitement.
"Yes, her, anyway, she is my transportation, you have apparition I believe it's called?" Harry nodded "Well, she is like apparition but a bit bigger on scale"
"Of course it's-" The Doctor scowled" "She, is bigger, she is a police box?"
"No no no, I mean the travelling distance!"
"International travel?"
"Think bigger" Harry stared at him.
"Are you telling me, she" Harry pointed at the blue police box next to him "can apparate in space" Harry doubted a wooden box could survive in space, in fact-
"Is this a joke?"
"I'm sorry?" The Doctor looked at him with surprise, Harry looked at him in disbelief.
"You, a man who just appears in a police box out of nowhere, calls himself The Doctor of all things, recognises my wand from the past, goes back into the police box and comes back to tell me he has 'just caught up in wizarding history', is this a well-coordinated prank to cheer me up? Have the Weasley Twins paid you?" Harry narrowed his eyes at The Doctor who rolled his eyes and grabbed Harry's shoulder again.
"What's a Weasley?" The Doctor asked as he opened the door to the Police Box and pushed Harry inside.
Xxxxxxxx
Harry stumbled into the police box, caught his footing and gaped. He had seen expansions charms inside tents at the Quidditch world cup but this was on a different level.
"Wh-what?" Harry mumbled looking at the huge machine like structure in the middle. The Doctor strolled past, pressed a few buttons and spun a dial before spinning around grinning at Harry.
"Welcome to the TARDIS, " The Doctor said
"Tardis?"
"Time And Relative Dimension In Space, or Tardis for short, a bit of a mouthful, especially since I've met many people and repeating myself is annoying" Harry slowly walked forward peering at every detail around him.
"Time…wait…she doesn't just apparate-"
"Be better to say teleport, you apparate, and really, she doesn't teleport either but it's easier to understand that way" The Doctor said offhandedly
"Oookay, she doesn't just teleport, she can time travel?" Harry said as he watched The Doctor move around the control panel.
"Yup, all of space and time is at my fingertips!"
"How?"
"It's very complicated full of wibbly wobbly timey wimey nonsense that could put even the greatest of minds to sleep"
"Where did you get it from?"
"My home world"
"Of course your home worldyouareanalien?"
"What was that?" The Doctor said his head appearing over a screen, Harry walked around the control panel and looked the Doctor up and down again.
"You are an alien?"
"Yes, I thought that was clear"
"Not particularly no, you look like me, as in human" The Doctor laughed and pointed at two spots on his chest.
"Two hearts" Harry who by now realised he shouldn't be surprised by what this man is, so he just grinned.
"Wicked" The Doctor nodded and looked at a screen with today's date and place on it.
"We have all of time and space to explore, where would you like to go?" he asked Harry, Harry, of course, didn't know.
"I can't leave"
"Why not?" The Doctor asked confused
"I have to leave tomorrow to go to the Weasley's house for the rest of the summer"
"I control time and space, I can get you back here as if no time has gone at all" Harry looked at the man before him then at the control panel, a small smile crept up his face but then it left again.
"I don't know"
"You don't know as in; you don't know whether to come with me or you don't know where to go?" The Doctor asked
"The latter" The man stared at the boy who looked so confused and excited, before turning and looking at the date.
"She can go anywhere, no limits, and she is extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, however sometimes she will do something unexpectedly that is out of my hands" he looked at Harry with a strange face.
"I didn't bring myself here this morning Harry, she did…" Harry gazed at the machine before him.
"…and I think I know why she did" The Doctor then started pressing buttons on the panel before gripping a lever in front of another screen.
"Hold on Mr Potter" Harry gripped a rail as The Doctor pulled the lever down and everything started to shake, Harry felt the world move around him for a couple of seconds before it stopped gradually.
The Doctor came round and guided Harry to the front door.
"You cannot tell him Harry" Harry looked up sharply at the Doctor confused.
"Tell who?"
"You have two hours, then you must come back okay?"
"Tell who what?"
"You'll understand what I mean when you see him" The Doctor opened the door and Harry looked out, it was dark, but he saw that he was in a building, a dusty old building.
"Two hours remember," The Doctor said behind Harry before pushing him out and closing the door. Harry stood there for a few minutes, unsure before he smelt something that he recognised. A smell of old, a smell of a worn family home that hasn't been cleaned in a long time. At the other end of the room was a door, he crept towards it and opened revealing Grimmauld Place's hallway. Stepping out and he closed the door, it was night-time here as well.
"Don't tell him…." Harry said as he looked around the hallway before fumbling slightly realising what the Doctor had said and who he was talking about, looking down the hallway he saw a light on in the kitchen.
His breath hitched as he approached the door. Looking at the door knob he took a deep breath again and opened it.
There sat on his own at the table was a man with black hair and grey eyes, nursing a glass of Firewhiskey he mumbled something unconceivable.
"Sirius?" Harry whispered, Sirius looked up in surprise, before smiling.
"Hey kiddo, couldn't sleep?"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Doctor sat at a stool deep in thought.
"This wasn't just for him was it?" he said looking up, he slowly stood up and walked around the control panel his hand gliding over each section. Before stopping and looking over at the door.
"You brought me to someone who was also grieving, you can read me like a book" The Doctor laughed bitterly
"I should have known"
The Tardis hummed in response.
"The difference is, he gets a chance, well, as long as he follows my instructions he gets a chance"
The Tardis hummed.
"They are safe and happy that's all that matters really" The Doctor looked around the Tardis suddenly feeling a bit tired. Looking at the time he looked back at the door to see it open and Harry entered with a sad smile on his face.
Xxxxxxxxx
"Why can't you go and see Amelia and Rory?" Harry asked as the Tardis came to life. The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Our similarities end there" Harry looked confused at this.
"If there wasn't the paradox energy that surrounds that point in space and time that stops the Tardis and I going there, it would be me who wouldn't go anyway even if I really wanted to" Harry looked even more confused. The Tardis stopped and The Doctor walked to the door.
"I have had many faces, Harry, along with many companions, you are still very young whereas I, as I said before am very very very old. It's not that I don't want to see them, it's the fact that unlike them, they will eventually die" Now Harry looked perplexed.
"Everyone dies though except maybe you?"
"Haha, even I will die someday Harry, it's the fact they will die a lot sooner than I will. I have taken them to see the universe, my universe, and now it's time to let them live in their own small section of the universe, it has always been the same it's just that they left a bit more abruptly…" The Doctor trailed off, Harry remained quiet.
"I remember an old man with very bright blue eyes who wore some very gaudy clothes, I met him in London for a brief time, very brief, he left telling me something that has stuck with me for a long time, a kind of mantra to get me by when in this kind of situation" Harry looked into The Doctor's very old eyes.
"We are granted a limited time on this Earth, take your time to look around, and whenever it is possible, relish the memories of those who gave you joy in life," The Doctor said smiling down at Harry.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Harry stepped out into the cool night air of Surry again.
"Will we meet again?" Harry asked before turning to look at The Doctor who as leaning on the doorframe.
"Maybe, maybe not, then again, I may just pop over to Surrey again, you are an interesting person Harry Potter, I would like to hear from your own mouth the stories I read about you" Harry smiled before peering over the Doctor's shoulder then back to the man himself.
"Thank you, both of you" The Doctor nodded. Harry turned and started to walk towards number 4.
"Harry!" Harry stopped and looked at The Doctor.
"Remember what I said! Cherish the memories of those we love, they will always be with us in their own way" Harry grinned, the Doctor then looked serious.
"You face some very demanding times Harry, they will be challenging, so keep your friends close, however unlike the universe you don't need think big, what you will need to find is small and maybe a lot closer to home than you realise, he has made a few but I as well my Tardis believe in you.." Harry looked confused, he looked in the direction of number 4, lost in thought.
"What do you mean by-?" He turned but The Doctor and the Police Box were gone.
Yeah this idea came out of nowhere seriously