Heartfelt thanks goes out to SuNoYo for taking this one in hand and making sure that I did it some justice. She also was nice enough to correct my grammar, Britpic and all that other stuff that awesome betas do.
A very big thanks to YenGirl, who read this and doesn't even know Doctor Who. She found a few more of my mistakes.
Now, on to something that I do not normally write... a crossover. This story came about due to the fact that if you look at the right pictures of Alan Rickman and Jon Pertwee, they almost look the same. Then you look at the personality of both the Third Doctor and Severus Snape...This seed for this story was planted due to that contemplation.
Not the Safest Hiding Place
Severus watched as two of the three children almost stumbled down the hall towards Dumbledore's office. Closing his eyes, he quietly sighed with relief, his hand loosening its death grip on a pocket fob watch tucked deep in his pocket. His Companions were safe as can be. 'One is in the Infirmary, petrified, and the other two are fresh from defeating a basilisk. They were in danger, but I couldn't help them!'
Growling, he pushed off the wall and stalked towards the dungeon and the safety of his quarters. Of course he knew that the Golden Trio were not his Companions, but they reminded him of three Companions that sometimes accompanied him in his dreams, Nyssa, Adric, and Tegan. His dreams themselves were strange – filled with high-tech devices that were as magical as his wand, a defunct police box whose interior was magically expanded much further than any charm could truly accomplish, and adventures that could outstrip his real ones easily.
Slamming his door behind him, he found the sofa and sank into it as his legs gave out on him. How he hated seeing those three endangering themselves! They might not know it, but it didn't change the fact that he felt responsible for them. It was his job to keep them out of danger. A flick of his wand summoned a glass of whisky. 'They stay out of danger just as much as any of my dream Companions.'
Downing the whisky, he waited to be summoned by Albus, grateful that brats were safe.
(o.o)
Astounded, Severus' gaze darted between Minerva, Albus and the time turner sitting on the Headmaster's desk. "You are seriously considering giving this to a third year?" Disbelief coloured his words.
Minerva tipped her head slightly, "Yes, Hermione Granger should be able to handle using it."
"You expect a child, barely a teen, to be able to navigate the perils inherent with travelling through time?" He shot a questioning look at Albus to see what his opinion was.
"She will be well aware of what she needs to do, and how to manage if she accidentally does appear near herself," said Albus.
"Why have you called me here, if it was not to tell you that you were both wrong?" Severus' frown etched a deep line across his forehead. How dare they help his Companions out? They dared to give them the means to create even more havoc, to place themselves in further danger! Danger he might not be aware of until long after it occurred.
Minerva glared over at Albus, waiting to hear his answer. She had been against this idea. Severus didn't truly need to know, Hermione wasn't one of his Slytherins. This was strictly a Gryffindor affair.
Albus sipped his tea for a moment as he looked at the other two. "It is Severus' job to keep Harry safe, and since Miss Granger is a close friend of Harry's, he will need to know just in case something occurs."
Aggravation burned through Severus, Albus was too casual about making his life harder. Not that the time turner was the best time technology out there, from what he could determine from his dreams the TARDIS was much better, but it was more than enough to give him a hard time since at this moment he didn't have access to the dream technology.
Minerva sighed and nodded. "Severus, do not take your aggravation out on them, not about this."
Severus lifted an eyebrow at that. "Minerva, the students only feel my wrath and scorn when they are dunderheads in my class, the hall, the Great Hall, and the grounds. I do not vent my spleen on the ones that are attempting to better themselves, unless they become a dunderhead while doing so. Of course, if I must maintain my cover, then I will have to act accordingly."
"Of course," Minerva picked up the time turner and started fiddling with it.
Severus watched as she carefully looked at the hourglass, before directing his attention to Albus. "If you do not need me for anything else?"
"No, that was all, Severus." Albus was watching Minerva, as well.
Standing up, Severus resolved to keep a closer eye on his Companions as he swept out the door. Even though he felt the time turner was archaic knowledge,it could still be dangerous.
(o.o)
Severus watched as Lupin slipped off to the Shrieking Shack. A quick check proved that the Wolfsbane potion he had just delivered sat right where he had left it, right next to that joke parchment that Lupin had confiscated from Potter. Cursing under his breath, he went to remind the wolf to take his medicine.
He drew his wand the moment he heard voices inside the Shack. What were his Companions doing here? 'Of course they are here - danger is here, there was no way they would miss it.' Flinging the door open, he held Lupin and Black at wand point. A quick glance assured him that Weasley had a hurt leg, and that Potter and Granger were fine. His relief was not evident as he started in on his two enemies.
Severus had not expected Potter to attack him. He came to sometime later, lying under the collapsed canopy of the bed he had landed on. Banishing the mess, he stood quickly. 'How long have I been out? Did Lupin ever get his potion? Have they already killed Potter?'
Rushing through the tunnel, he heard the wolf's howl. He burst out into the moonlight and relief coursed through him when he spotted the Golden Trio alive and as well as he had last seen them; at least until Lupin's snarl reminded him of the danger present. Whipping about, he forced the three children behind him as he pushed his own fear away.
The blow that came was not unexpected. He knew he would be attacked and had hoped that the three would find their way back into the Shack where he was attempting to push them. The Willow would keep the wolf out as well as it had been at keeping the wolf in.
Stunned, he sat where he had fallen, his body sore where Lupin's blow had connected. He was feeling lucky that he wasn't bitten and spells were starting to run through his mind. None of them would work on the wolf. It was then that a Grim attacked the wolf.
He struggled to his feet and put himself between his Companions and the fight. Potter slipped out from behind him and ran after them when the wolf took off with the Grim followed him. "Potter, come back here!"
For a moment he thought that the boy would listen since he paused in his headlong flight. That hope was lost the moment the dog hit the ground hard. He watched with mounting dread as Potter attracted the wolf's attention. It was only Potter's unbelievable luck that saved him. The wolf took off into the woods, leaving them all alive.
(o.o)
Severus pried his eyes open and stared at the familiar ceiling. He was in the Infirmary. Actually, he was in usual bed. Forcing back a groan, he looked at the bottles that lined the bedside table. Poppy always left them there so he could tell what he was taking when he woke up - it saved time when she came to check on him.
'Not too bad this time. Looks like the Cruciatus Curse wasn't as strong as it has been. I have to improve on my punctuality.'
The curtains flew back as Poppy bustled through, a tray of potions floating behind her. "You're awake. You must be building up a tolerance or You-Know-Who must have gone easy this time." She set the tray down and opened the first potion.
Severus smirked as he swallowed it. Even though he had been under Poppy's care for years, he was still nervous every single time she examined him. He didn't know why, but he was worried that she would find something amiss with his anatomy. Taking the second potion, he scanned her face, looking for any clue that something had popped up. 'Nothing. Not that I know why I would think so...'
Sinking back into the bed, he was glad it was the weekend. He could hide in here, protected by Poppy, until till he felt like he could move. He wasn't sure if he would be ready to face the students, but then again, he never really was. 'If only I had a group that wanted to learn. Then maybe I wouldn't be so irate with them. They are just so dense. It is not like I am asking them to memorize how to use a sonic screwdriver or build a robotic dog.'
His eyes drifted shut as Poppy positioned the privacy curtains once again. He was glad that he was capable of blocking the Dark Lord from seeing his dreams, or there would not be any such thing as going easy. Not when his dreams were filled with him saving Muggles left and right.
(o.o)
Blood leaked out of his throat at an alarming rate as Severus stared into those bright green eyes. He knew he was dying, that there was nothing he could do at that moment but pass to his favourite Companion the information that he needed.
Closing his eyes, he mentally wailed at the injustice of it all. He had to send the one he was protecting into danger, to willingly die. It wasn't something that he did. He tried to rescue everyone and his dreams showed that he typically succeeded. Just this once, for everyone to live. That was what he had hoped for, but Dumbledore had already told him that it wasn't to be.
Severus fumbled in his pocket after he heard the footsteps fade away and pulled out the pocket watch that he was never without. A trembling hand lifted it up to his face, his fingers on the clasp that kept it closed. He knew that he shouldn't open it. He had known that for longer than he could remember. This watch had been his constant companion, he was surprised that the etching was not worn smooth from all his worrying it, but he had never, ever opened it. Deep down in his bones, he knew he wasn't supposed to do that. 'What could happen now? I am as good as dead, and I want to see the face just once.'
Clicking the clasp, the fob watch popped open, but Severus never got to see what was inside. Instead, the pain that pummelled him was worse than that of any curse or wound he had ever experienced as a wizard. Gasping, crying, and screaming Severus rode out the pain and then the memories that flooded behind it.
A trembling hand moved to his chest, resting on one side then the next. 'Both are beating. There are two still.' The hand then moved up to the recently gashed neck, pale fingers traced over the place where there had once been blood spilling free, now he couldn't even feel a scar. 'The change back, the alteration of my biology healed me. I basically regenerated without changing bodies. Well, Doctor, what are you going to do now?' Sighing he ran a tired hand over his face. 'The Wizarding World will think that Severus is dead, and I think that is a good idea.' He had to leave before someone tracked him down. He didn't feel like standing trial, the Mark on his arm would convict him even if eyewitnesses of Dumbledore's murder and the last school year weren't believed.
A sudden thought struck him. 'I wonder if it healed as well?' Peeling his eyes open, the Doctor brought his left arm to eye level and pulled back the sleeve. There was only white skin to see. Letting out a shaky laugh, the Doctor let his head rest against the wall. He could show them that he wasn't connected to the Dark Lord any more, but he honestly didn't want to face a trial. A trial was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place.
The Time Lords had forced the regeneration on him and then sent him to Earth as his punishment, again. They had locked the TARDIS – tampering with some of the instruments, damaging others, but they didn't know the temperamental ship like he did. They didn't know even half of the instruments and devices that didn't work, or the way he had to repair the ones that did. Not quite by the book didn't even begin to describe it. There typically wasn't a TARDIS repair shop when he needed to fix something. Make do and that'll work for now were far more likely to happen.
Those makeshift repairs slipped by the Time Lords who were punishing him. He couldn't stop his trip to Earth, not that he wanted too, but he could control the where and when. Well, as much as he ever could. The TARDIS was unique to drive, and the damage and new controls the Time Lords had placed on her had made steering her a novel experience.
Since he hadn't arrived on Earth where they wanted him, he had gone into hiding. The Chameleon Arch was a torture device created by someone who loved to see how much pain a Time Lord could endure, of that he was sure. Besides the pain, it did its job well. He had been able to hide away growing up as a Snape. He had no clue how he had ended up as a four year old, but he had. Somehow Eileen and Tobias thought he was their child. 'I wonder if that was due to the Time Lords' tampering with the console.'
He pulled himself to his feet using the wall. Taking out his wand, he looked at the black piece of wood, wondering if he would be able to use it, but a single flick told him all he needed to know - he couldn't. Tucking it back into his robes, he patted his pockets, hunting for anything that might help. He found a bag of jelly babies. Popping one into his mouth, he crossed the room, heading for Hogsmeade, he had to find a way back to Spinner's End and his TARDIS. Fingering the time turner he had purloined a few years ago in his pocket he wanted to see if the sand could counteract the Time Lord's tampering.
A gasp that came from within the room he had just vacated made him spin about quickly and move into the shadow of the door. There, standing over the puddle of blood, was Harry Potter. The Doctor's mind raced as ideas and plans ran one after the over, tumbling over themselves as he watched the young man collapse on the dirty floor. Nodding to himself, he stepped back into the room.
"Harry? I thought you were walking to your death?" He let a smile grace his lips when the dark head popped up and the green eyes stared at him, shock paling the face they were in.
"Snape? You are alive - but I saw you die." Harry stood slowly on trembling legs.
"Not Severus Snape, not any longer. I am the Doctor." Watching Harry, he knew the moment that his Companion drew the wrong conclusion.
"Changing your name - that is a good idea, but, why doctor? That is more of a title." Harry searched the pale face that was for once not hiding anything.
"It is what I have always been called, except here recently." Realizing he was still holding the bag of sweets in his hand he offered it to Harry, "Jelly baby?"
Harry blinked for a moment, then crossed the room and took one out of the bag. "Thanks. How did you survive?"
The Doctor waved the question away. "How we survived is of no consequence, what matters is that we did." He studied the young man for a long moment, the thought, now presented, would not fade. Harry was his Companion, one of the three. They had been on many adventures together, even if Harry didn't know it. The other two were about to settle down together, and that left Harry as the third wheel.
Narrowing his eyes just briefly, he decided to ask. "How about you come travelling with me? I can show you places and times that you have never dreamed of." At least he hoped he could, it all depended on if the time sand would work like he thought. If so, he could repair all the damage done to the TARDIS. Then all he would have to do is work around the new instruments the Time Lords had added. If the sand failed, they could at least travel to different times here on Earth.
"I have to..." Harry waved a hand towards Hogwarts.
"No, you don't. Neither one of us has any family here, no true ties, and there are plenty of people we would rather not see again. So, it is a perfect solution." The Doctor flashed Harry a mischievous smile.
Harry blinked – that smile almost looked wrong, but the fact that it looked right was scarier. "The Weasleys, and Hermione. I can't just leave them without at least a letter. I should tell them goodbye in person."
"If you tried to tell them goodbye in person, you would never leave. They would convince you differently. So, send them an owl, you can write it at Spinner's End." He made for the exit and Hogsmeade. "Come on, let's go."
"Go? Aren't we going to Apparate?" Harry stopped and shook his head. "And I never said I was coming."
"Of course you are. You are too curious not to, and you don't really want to deal with all the fame that your victory will bring you. Not yet at any rate. So, travel with me and put a few years behind you, then you can come back and face them happily." The Doctor opened the Shack's door and peered about looking for both stray Death Eaters and Aurors alike. "As I am no longer a wizard, we have to get there by other means. I'm willing to attempt the floo, so shall we?"
Harry stared at the man for a long moment before striding out the door behind him. "Not a Wizard? Did the venom make you a squib?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow before holding out the pocket fob watch out towards his Companion. "Venom can't do that. No, I opened this." He dropped it into Harry's hand. "It is called a Chameleon Arch. I am a Time Lord, Harry. That is an alien species. The other Time Lords attempted to trap me here once again, but I succeeded in foiling their plans. Even though I didn't end up where they wanted me, they could find me unless I hid, and hid well. The Chameleon Arch allowed me to change myself, down to my cells, into a Human. I just happen to be a Wizard as well. All my memories were locked away in that watch, as was the ability to become myself again."
"So, when you opened it, it turned you back into a Time Lord, healing you so that you lived, but taking away your magic?" Harry stared at the innocent looking watch. He knew that he was taking this too well, but considering the strange things that had happened too him in the last several years, this was just one more.
"That's right. So, shall we see if Time Lords can floo?" The Doctor lengthened his stride, heading into village.
Harry studied the Doctor, taking in his light step, quirked smile, and mischief filling the dark eyes. This might be better than facing funerals, long speeches and whatever else the Ministry had planned for him. No matter why Snape's people had attempted to banish him, he trusted the man. "I can Apparate us."
The Doctor smiled. That one sentence told him all he needed to know. His Companion was coming with him. "You don't know the location."
Harry ran a hand through his hair, flattening it over his faded scar. "Then let's find out if Time Lords can use the floo."
They found Hogsmeade empty, and both were thankful that there was floo powder in the Three Broomsticks. What made the Doctor happier was that he could use the floo even though he wasn't a wizard.
Standing in the worn out living room, the Doctor let the memories that had haunted him as Severus Snape fade into the mass of other memories that were now filling his mind. He watched as Harry spun about trying to take in all the books that lined the walls. He didn't want to leave those books behind. Once more he regretted the loss of his magic. "Come on, we have to pack them up. No sense in leaving them."
Harry watched in amazement as Snape started loading a box with books. Pulling out his wand, he cast a packing spell and watched as the books filled box after box.
The Doctor beamed at Harry. "Ah! Wonderful. Now, if you can shrink them down, we will be heading out."
A few moments later, Harry was following the dark-haired man down a narrow lane and into a stand of trees. Before long they had wound their way deep into the woods.
The Doctor found the cluster of trees that had teased the edges of his memory and had figured in his dreams. It was a place he had loved to play near as a child, but had never went into. Pushing through the brush and past the small scrub trees, he saw the blue police box – his TARDIS. He dug through his robe pockets, looking for the key that he had always had. Pulling it out, he fit it into the key hole on the door. A soft smile filled his face as he unlocked the door – he was finally home.
Opening the door, he gestured for Harry to proceed him. "The library is down the hall, turn left at the fourth corridor and it is the fifth door on the right. You can find a bath and a change of clothes in the third room in the second corridor. I'll clean up after I've finished the repairs."
Harry looked about, awe filling his face. "Nice enlargement and expansion charms."
The Doctor shook his head. "There is no magic used in here Harry. You just stepped into a different dimension. Now, head on back and put those boxes into the library for me. I need to check on the control console."
"An advanced enough science looks like magic..." Harry headed down the hall, letting his sentence trail behind him.
After watching his new Companion head into the depths of the TARDIS, the Doctor started to remove a multitude of panels off the control console. It was the time to attempt to repair his ship using whatever he could lay his hands on.
Pulling out the Dematerialization circuit, he checked his previous repair work. Finding that it was fine – the other Time Lords most likely had no idea how he had repaired it- he pulled out a long clear tube from the centre of the time rotor. Studying it closely confirmed his suspicions, the Court had emptied the Time Colloid to keep him trapped in a single time and place on Earth. 'I was luck to have been able to manipulate dredges they had left. That tiny bit was all that was needed to get the TARDIS to Earth. I hope the Colloid and the Time Sand are compatible.' Using the sonic screwdriver, he opened the top of the tube and carefully poured in all the sand from the time turner. Closing the tube back again, he swirled it to mix the last of the Time Colloid with the Time Sand. Being careful not to tip the tube, he inserted it back into the centre of the console.
Digging through his spare parts cupboard, he found the bits and pieces he wanted to fix the other parts of his ship. He also bypassed the new controls that they Court had wired in. He was just putting the console back together when Harry came back into the room.
"This place: it's huge. You could get lost in it." Harry stopped and stared at the mass of bits and pieces that were scattered about on the ground. Some of the pieces looked like insides of the electronics he had repaired when he was at the Dursleys.
Flicking three switches, turning two knobs and then pushing one lever, the Doctor watched in satisfaction as the centre of the console rose and fell. They were off. "Yes Harry, you could." A smile crossed his face as he remembered the time that he and his Companions had lost someone in the maze-like corridors until they could lock them up and jettisoned them out. He had lost such a wonderful room that time. "Welcome to the TARDIS."
Harry looked again at those dark eyes, the cold, hateful stare he was used to was gone; a happy forthright expression in their place. "So, where are we off to?" He decided not to ask how they were going, the scattering of electronics made him sure he would understand it as well as he understood potions.
"I was thinking some place simple to start with, somewhere peaceful, so I chose Freedonia. It's been a while since I've been there." Making sure that the scanner was on, he headed for the doors leading into his ship. It was time to get cleaned up. "You can watch if you wish, but don't touch anything. I'll be back in a moment."
Harry watched as a vortex twisted outside before he focused on the pillar rising and falling in the console that dominated the centre of the room. Footsteps behind him made him turn about. A smile slipped out. The man before him was still the Potions Master he knew, but the absence of the robe made him look less intimidating.
Silence permeated the room as the centre pillar stopped moving.
Grinning, the Doctor pushed the levers that opened the door. "Shall we?"