An important Author's Note before you read. First, I don't own Harry Potter, Doctor Who, or Abhorsen. Secondly I realized that I never gave a time frame for when this story was supposed to be taken place. It takes place on the night when Harry was supposed to be taken by the Order, but instead he is whisked away by the Doctor, hope that didn't cause too much confusion. Also this takes place after the "Runaway Bride" but before Season 3 of Doctor Who. A last also is that, when Harry and Dudley are attacked, in the movie they where in a tunnel thing, but I'm not sure where they were in the book. Oh well.
It took Harry all of three seconds to realize two things. One: he was about to face an enemy he had probably never even heard of before, let alone fought. Two: he should probably start running. And that's what he did; he ran. He never even looked back to see what was chasing him, but he could hear it. Its claws (or something like that) were scraping against the trees and ground. It sounded like it was taking impossibly long strides and that the few precious seconds that Harry had in front of it were saving his life.
As he ran, his feet once again took up the path that had brought him here in the first place. Somewhere in the rational part of his mind, he thought that it was ironic that the very same trek of land that had landed him into trouble was currently saving his life. He could laugh about it later.
The back of his mind tingled and somehow the message 'Duck!' implanted itself in his brain. He hit the ground hard and fast, landing on his back. He didn't see the creature, but he did see an ivory hook, seemingly glowing in the moonlight, swing right where his head had been literally seconds before. There was a loud Thunk! as the claw struck the tree. He didn't stop to gawk; he picked himself up and ran on again. Behind Harry, the thing let out a horrible screech of frustration as it occupied itself by prying its hook out of the trunk. Harry had to struggle not to cover his ears.
Harry suddenly let out a cry, not of pain, but of horror. He now saw that when he fell and ran on again, he had veered off the path and was now running right for a fence with no hole in it. The fences around here had barbed wire around them, to prevent any hopefuls from destroying the wood. It didn't really work, but it would make getting back into the park a pain.
He put on a burst of speed and leapt at the fence clinging onto it about halfway up and began to desperately climb. He reached the wire and ignored it as it ripped through his skin and clothes. He jumped onto the over side when he was high enough and landed with an Umph! It was now that he stood up, caught his breath and saw the creature running up to the fence.
Harry gasped as he looked at the creature, taking in its form. It was tall, taller than anyone he had ever seen before in his life. It also looked like a naked woman, but it moved almost fluidly. Its forearms were as long as it's legs and were bent backwards with great claws on the ends, like a praying mantis. When it opened its mouth, Harry saw double rows of teeth so dark that they made the night sky look pale. But it was none of these that really frightened Harry. It instead was the creature's eyes, eyes that had a silver fire in them, and they were the most terrible thing that Harry had ever seen. Had Harry known what this creature was, he would have known that it was called a Stilken, a horrible creature of Free Magic. (1) (A/N: For my own sake, I'll be calling it the Stilken, even though Harry doesn't know what it is yet)
The Stilken raised its arm and Harry realized that it was going to tear right through the fence. He now knew that this creature was not the one that had made the other hole in the fence. Not only because of its chosen way to mangle the fence even more, but because of the way it… felt. He was running again before the creature even moved another step forward to bring down the hook.
Harry found himself in the tunnel where he and Dudley had been attacked. He leaned against the wall and waited, catching his breath. He heard the creature prowl around the outside and Harry began to silently beg whoever was listening to help him. The Stilken came dangerously close to where Harry was hiding and he could practically see the thing smirk. 'No, this can't be how I die, after all I've put up with? This can't be the end.' He closed his eyes and waited.
He suddenly felt a hand on top of his and he opened up his eyes and did a double take. Barty Crouch Jr. Flipping Barty Crouch Jr. has holding his hand. The only difference was the hair. His hair was no longer blond, but brown. (2) And for some reason he was wearing a Muggle pinstriped suit. (A/N: Gee, wonder who that is) He looked at Harry and said the simple word, "Run."
Harry heard the shriek again and made his choice. Better killed by Voldemort than by some strange thing he had never seen before. He ran with Crouch.
Just as they started to run, the Stilken brought down its claws, taking chunks of the cement wall with it. It shrieked and proceeded to run after them. Neither looked back.
Crouch continued to hold Harry's hand (3) and drag him throughout Little Whinging, the Stilken chasing after them. "Hurry up!" Crouch was shouting at him now.
As Harry opened up his mouth to ask what was going on and where they where going, he saw a blue Muggle Police Box on the street corner. Crouch ran up to it, unlocked the door, and shoved Harry inside.
If Harry thought that he was confused before, he was in a real state now. The inside of the Police Box was huge. And he could see more rooms branching off through it. "What," he sputtered. He ran outside and saw that he was indeed in a Muggle Police Box. He then ran back inside and the first thing on his mind was 'Magic. That's the only explanation, magic. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen something look bigger on the inside than on the outside.' Harry thought of the Quidditch World Cup when they had slept in those magically enlarged tents.
He looked at what looked like a weird control panel and saw that Crouch was flipping switches, pulling levers, and spinning a spinney thing.
Crouch paused in what he was doing, looked at Harry and said in a cheery voice with a smile, "Hullo there I'm The Doctor, and who might you be?"
Author's Notes: Yay! Dialogue! And the Doctor! Review!
1) The description that I used was adapted and mangled from the one that Garth Nix uses in Lirael or Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr, depending on which one you know it by.
2) The book describes Crouch Jr's hair as being blond, though in the movie it is David Tennant's own brown hair. To distinct between Crouch and the Doctor, Crouch will be described as a blond.
3) No this is not a slash fic!
