Harry Apparated into his girlfriend's sitting room with a smile on his face. He could almost feel the slight weight of the paper in his pocket. The Chudley Cannons had made it to the finals of the league championship for the first time in living (and most unliving) memory, and he had two seats in the top box. Luna would love that. He pictured her sitting beside him, whispering her version of commentary in his ear while the players whizzed around the pitch, and smiled at the thought.

The sitting room was empty. "Luna?"

"In here." Harry obediently trooped down the corridor into Luna's study. Harry thought it wasn't so much a study as it was a storage room that happened to have a desk in it. Dozens of objects lined the shelves. Luna had tried to explain what some of them did, but her explanations usually gave Harry a headache and he had learned to stop asking. An African mask, a souvenir from one of Luna's many attempts to locate the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, hung on the wall. Luna herself sat at her desk, writing. She had tied her hair back. Several strands had escaped and were now brushing tantalizingly against the corner of her mouth.

Harry leaned against the doorframe. "How's the article coming?"

Luna dipped her quill into ink and didn't look up. "Fine. The revisions are almost finished. I should have it done in plenty of time to make the spring issue."

"I'm sure it will be brilliant." This was going to be Luna's first article for the British Journal of Magizoology. She'd discovered evidence of a colony of Mackledons living a hundred kilometers south of where they had previously been found. Luna insisted that the discovery had the potential to revolutionize understanding of the species. Harry didn't quite understand how, but he hoped she was right. Being an Auror was dangerous, but he thought he would rather face down criminals than a peer review board. "You think you can take a break for a bit? I have a surprise."

Luna did look up at that. "What kind of surprise?"

Harry brandished the tickets. "Kingsley's friends with one of the owners of the Cannons. He gave me these. Lucky break. They've sold out for months. Even Ron can't get tickets. It'll be just you, me, and ten thousand other screaming fans next Saturday."

Luna frowned, and her gaze flicked downward. "Next Saturday? I'm sorry, Harry. I can't. I'm meeting someone. An old family friend is visiting."

"Can't she postpone her visit a day? Who knows when the Cannons will have a winning season again?"

"I'm afraid not. The Doctor is very busy. I don't even know how to get in touch with him. He just pops in at two o'clock in the afternoon every year on June 23."

Doctor? Harry hadn't even known that Luna knew any Muggles, let alone any doctors. He wondered why she had never mentioned him. "Can't you just call him up at his hospital and tell him to come a bit later?"

"He's not that kind of doctor."

"At his university, then."

"Not that kind of doctor, either."

Harry groaned. He was pretty sure he loved Luna, but that didn't mean she wasn't exasperating sometimes. "Fine. What kind of doctor is he?"

"He's a time traveler."

Harry froze. He couldn't have heard her correctly. There was no such thing as time travel, not anymore. The Department of Mysteries had never created any more Time Turners. Even if there were, one couldn't habitually travel through time enough to be called a time traveler. "He's what?"

"A time traveler." Her brow furrowed. "Well, technically a time and space traveler. The TARDIS can go all over the universe. He's actually from the planet Gallifrey. He doesn't like to talk about that, though. I wouldn't bring it up when you meet him."

Harry massaged his temples. She had to be having him on. Even Luna wasn't foolish enough to believe in aliens, for Merlin's sake. They were alone in the universe. Everyone knew that. But she didn't look like she was having him on. Luna wore the same polite, slightly eager expression that she had whenever she spoke to colleagues at conferences. She was serious. "If you don't want to go, just say so. I'm sure Ron will be thrilled to."

Luna set her quill down and walked to him. "I'd very much like to go, if it were a different day. But the Doctor only comes once a year. He traveled with my mother a long time ago before she married Dad. The Doctor had to leave her to fight in the Time War. He always tells the best stories about her. They visited a planet that's nothing but books, once." She tilted her head to one side. "You really ought to stay and meet him. I've told him so much about you. He's very keen on meeting you. Says you're famous even a millennium from now."

Harry stared at her. "You want me to miss a championship game to meet an alien?" Who doesn't exist.

"I know that it's a sacrifice. But it would mean a lot to me. I love him dearly and so did Mum. He's been so gloomy lately. Last time he was here, he said that a childhood friend of his had just died. He seemed even sadder than he normally does. Maybe meeting you could cheer him up."

Harry looked from her to the pair of tickets. Luna was doing her best to keep her expression neutral, but there was something almost pleading about the look in her eyes. This was important to her, more important than the game was to him. She would be hurt if he refused. "I'll give both tickets to Ron. Maybe he and Hermione can make a date of it." This Doctor might not be a real alien, but his relationship with Luna definitely existed. It was better to have her happy. If he were lucky, he could catch most of the game on the wireless.

Luna patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you. I'll make treacle tart for the three of us. You deserve it."

Harry thought he deserved rather more than that for going along with this, but treacle was an excellent start.

"Do you want some more pumpkin juice? I just bought a fresh batch."

"No," Harry called. He waved his wand in a counterclockwise motion over the wireless. This had to work. He turned the dial with his free hand and took a deep breath. Static erupted, and he hastily turned it off. "What does it take to get you to work?"

Luna appeared from the kitchen, bearing the promised dessert. "It's been temperamental since yesterday. Mrs. Tonks brought Teddy to visit, and he didn't like the string quartet that was playing. He must have done some accidental magic. Someone's coming to fix it, but that won't be until tomorrow." She set the tart down and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know you don't believe that the Doctor exists. That's all right. I wouldn't believe in him, either, unless I had heard Mum talk about him. You can leave if you want. The game's probably on at the Leaky Cauldron."

"I'm not leaving." Harry twisted so he could cover her hand with his own. "I'm going to stay until this Doctor chap shows up."

"Because you promised?"

"Yeah."

Luna blushed and smiled slightly. She was, Harry thought, exceptionally pretty when her face turned red like that. He knew that Skeeter and the other gossip columnists thought he was insane to date her when some of the most beautiful witches in Europe were throwing themselves at him. They had never seen her in these quiet, unguarded moments or when her eyes shone with excitement at a new discovery. He didn't want any girl. He wanted this one. "I love you, too," she whispered.

Harry couldn't think what to say to that, so he kissed her instead. Luna's mouth always tasted faintly of oranges. Harry skimmed his tongue over her lower lip. Luna made small, appreciative sounds in the back of her throat, and Harry preened inwardly. This was something he could do that had nothing to do with being the Boy Who Lived or the Man Who Conquered or whatever people were calling him these days. Luna appreciated him for himself, and that was worth a dozen missed Quidditch games.

There was a sound like a cross between a gust of wind and a siren. Harry jumped away from Luna. "What the hell was that?"

"See for yourself." Luna was grinning broadly as she spun him around. Harry could only gape. A perfectly ordinary police box was... materializing in the sitting room. After a moment, it became completely solid. Harry glanced at Luna. She was gazing at the box like it was every Christmas present she had ever wanted or ever would want.

The door opened. "Come on, Donna," a man's voice called. "I've got a friend I want you to meet."

Two people stepped out of the police box. The first was an unremarkable-looking middle-aged woman with long red hair. She shot Harry and Luna a friendly smile. The man, though, gave them a blinding grin that would have put Lockhart to shame. His blue suit looked sharp enough, but the effect was spoiled by his ridiculous trainers. He shook Luna's hand as if she were an old friend. "Oi! You have grown, haven't you?" He turned to Harry and looked him over, sparing only a cursory glance at his forehead. "And you must be Harry Potter! Must say I thought you'd be taller. The bloke who plays you in the holovid must be six feet, at least."

Harry held out his hand, bewildered. "I'm Harry."

The man shook it. "I'm the Doctor."

Later, as the Doctor and Donna were helping themselves to the treacle tart, Harry took Luna aside. "Remind me never to doubt you again."

Luna only smiled.