Much love to everyone who's returned for this story, especially to TheJoyOfZombies and denise3 for their great comments! I'm really happy to find so many great people reading this :)

Today, we're tying together what was, what changed and what new problems arise...at least to a certain extent, for now. As such, this chapter happens 1..2 days after the Quidditch World Cup (and the almost-end-of-the-world) and a day before the article from the teaserish prologue. Have fun!

Relativity: Intermission

August 24th, 1994 (8), 14:30
From Melody's point of view.

"Something's off."

Amidst the busy streets of central London, nobody seemed to mind the strange man who had come to a sudden halt in the middle of a cross-walk. "Something has been changed," he spoke to no one in particular, "Just a tiny little detail." When he started tasting the air with a deep frown and an odd humming noise, the pedestrians around him finally took notice of his presence. However, that did not apply to a small girl on the far end of the crossing.

She had been watching him all along.

Clad in a pinstripe suit and a brown coat, unmistakable thanks to freckles and sideburns, he was standing on the street and behaving just the tiniest bit out of the ordinary.

It was him. The Doctor.

If he had just walked past without noticing just as everybody else had, she might not have recognized that man as one of the time lord's many reincarnations. Unfortunately, he had noticed, and so had she.

He was the Doctor, and she would kill him.

"What's different? What changed?" he was rambling and looked around frantically. A chorus of hooting reminded him of his location in the middle of a street, and just as he resumed walking with that same deep frown on his face, she set off as well.

He was young, so very young – but that did not matter. She would kill him in any case.

"Have you noticed anything?" he wondered and once more clicked his tongue as if that would answer anything.

She stared back at him, taken aback for a moment. He was talking to her. She had been about to pull a gun out of her bag and he was talking to her.

"No?" he asked and broke eye contact to look around again, grimacing ever so slightly, "Thought so." She narrowed her eyes, but she had no chance to reply.

Thudding noises alerted her of something new, something unexpected.

They had appeared in an instant, out of thin air. Hooded, masked, unexpected.

An explosion rang through the air, and it was close. Within a blink her surroundings turned into a chaotic mess of screams and panic, and she had yet to find out what was happening.

"What are you doing!" she heard the Doctor exclaiming, but his words stayed unanswered.

One of the hooded men yelled something, and a billboard burst into flames. Marching in her general direction, the strangers raised what looked like wands and shot civilians with them.

Another yell, and eventually it was one of the aggressors that was flung backwards through the air. Her dazed gaze travelled to her unexpected saviour. The Doctor. As he took a firm stand in front of her, he was wielding a weapon of the same kind their attackers carried. "What are you standing there for?" he called out to her, "Run!"

Their eyes locked for a moment.

A curse whizzed past his ear.

Whirling around again, he pulled something silver out of his pocket – a sonic device of some kind. "Let's try the new setting, shall we?" he grinned at his current opponent and pressed a seemingly random button.

Suddenly, they were gone.

The Doctor, the hooded men, and several others.

Melody, however, still stood frozen on the same spot.

The Doctor.

She would kill him.

But not yet.

August 24th 1994, 14:35
From the Doctor's point of view

What were they thinking?
And why would a bunch of Death Eaters feel the necessity for such a foolish assault in the first place?

A wall crumbled under the sheer pressure of no less than nineteen witches and wizards appearing out of thin air at exactly the same time.

He could have chosen a better spot, but his timing had been just right for once. Before the surprise of an unexpected apparition had worn off, the Doctor had managed petrifying most of the remaining Death Eaters – except for the one who was apparently leading them and, of course, those few witches and wizards that had gotten caught up in the battle.

"So what do you think about the sonic's new setting?" he chatted with his strangely familiar yet unknown opponent, wand drawn and ready, "Selective cluster apparition. It drags anyone in the nearness surrounded by a sufficiently dense magical residual along to any place of my choosing. Quite convenient, isn't it?" Narrowing his eyes, he slowly approached the hooded man. "So, back to the matters at hand: what's your name?" he demanded firmly, "and what do you think you're doing?" He was waiting for his opponent to respond, but the wizard did not react at all. Instead, he simply stood watching the Doctor in silent apprehension.

With a sigh, the time lord allowed himself to briefly scan the small crowd of magical civilians his cluster apparition had unnecessarily taken along and met the eyes of a ginger witch. "Sorry for getting you involved," he announced and focused his gaze on his opponent again, "This is not your battle, so please escape."

The Death Eater still didn't bother reacting and several plops indicated the departure of the uninvolved wizards, but the ginger witch merely huffed. "They attacked my children, so this is my battle, as well," she replied testily and pointed her own wand at the hooded wizard, "Answer his question."

The Doctor arched an eyebrow. Her anger was justified, but he would have preferred her out of immediate danger, especially since she apparently had children to look after. But well, at the very least, the Death Eater was finally moving again. "We must acquire pure-blooded wizards," he told the witch in a monotonous voice, "You qualify." Rather than raising a wand, he extended his hand in a welcoming gesture.

"What are you talking about?" the witch retorted and stepped back incredulously, "I will never join you." Her voice was shaking. "You killed my brothers."

In slight apprehension, the Doctor looked from the hooded man to the witch and back. He was missing something, but what? To those who wanted to view it that way, it might look like a group of rampant Death Eaters recruiting new ones in quite an inopportune manner. But to him, it felt like…

The Death Eater's hand started glowing ever so slightly.

…a trap.

"Expelliarmus!" the Doctor yelled, and he almost cursed when he remembered the spell did not consider teleportation devices as weapons.

"What are you doing?" the witch asked in confusion, addressing both him and the hooded man as she stepped back defensively, "What do you really want?"

"Support and information," the Death Eater replied simply and moved to press a button on his forearm, but the Doctor activated the sonic screwdriver just in time – rather than teleporting the witch who-knows-where, the alleged wizard's arm dropped limply to his side. Turning his head to the Doctor, he produced a small gun from his hand. "You are not qualified," he pointed out, "You must leave."

But leaving was the last thing the Doctor had in mind. A clicking noise rang through the air, and he was grateful that he had bothered disabling both teleportation and gun systems a moment ago. "What are you?" he demanded as he curiously watched the creature in their midst in a new light, "What do you need wizards for? And why do you disguise like that?"

The creature tilted its head. "You are not qualified," it replied, "You must leave."

With another sigh, the Doctor turned to the witch at his side. "What's your name?" he asked her. She frowned at him, but replied at last, "Molly."

He accepted her answer with a curt nod. "Molly, can you ask him in my stead?" he enquired and added with a light grimace, "He doesn't seem to like my face."

As he busied himself scanning the creature with the screwdriver, she regarded him for a long moment, but complied at last. "What is your plan?" she asked the hooded creature.

"We must acquire magic," it replied, "We must win."

"You can't utilize it," the Doctor pointed out as he evaluated the screwdriver's readings with a frown, "Magic itself won't be of any use to you."

"We must acquire pure-blooded wizards," the creature added and raised its hand again.

"I deactivated your teleportation device," the Doctor explained, "You cannot escape, nor can you capture any wizards unless you explain your mission to us."

Once again, the creature ignored him, and once again, the Doctor sent Molly a pleading look. She frowned, but repeated his words, "Explain your mission."

The creature considered its options for a long moment. "The mission cannot be completed," it spoke at last and tilted its head to an odd angle, "emergency protocol activated."

The time lord's eyes widened, but the words' meaning was entirely lost on the witch. "Molly, get out of here!" he called out, "It's going to self-destruct!" Before she could even blink in response, he had already made a mad dash for her and disapparated both of them.

Not a second too early.

Rather, a second too late.

A part of the shockwave travelled with them, and they were literally flung onto the flowery meadow he had targeted. After a rather graceless and quite painful landing, he struggled back to his feet. "Molly, are you alri–"

As if it could be anything else, he was looking up into the pointy end of a wand and found himself sighing, "Why am I not surprised?"

"What game are you playing?" the witch asked him seriously, never lowering her wand even though she was holding it rather shakily. She had gotten up before him, but she had obviously taken some sort of damage as well.

"A game, you say? I rather enjoy chess," he replied thoughtfully as he dared standing up in spite of the threat in her demeanour, "Let's have a picnic and play a round, shall we?"

She faltered for a moment and took a deep breath. "So these Death Eaters were your pawns?" she enquired tiredly, "Were they just sacrifices to gain my trust, Barty Crouch Junior?"

With a soft sigh, he started pacing around, unsure how to answer. It wasn't as if he had forgotten his status as an enemy to the general wizarding community. He had worked together with the Dark Lord, and even though people would not understand the truth, they would always remember.

He had just not expected to be recognized so soon – as a matter of fact, he had hoped not to be recognized at all. It would complicate things a lot if people found out he was alive. They would start asking questions and demand both answers and actions he would not stand for. He had a promise to keep, and nothing would make him break it.

Admittedly, accepting Dumbledore's offer in the disguise of Alastor Moody would be troublesome, but at least he would not have to betray his principles that way.

Which was exactly why his current predicament distressed him. He had only meant to run a few quick errands in a relatively wizard-free zone. Who would have expected an actual Death Eater assault? And who would have expected quite a lot of wizards crossing Trafalgar Square in that moment?

But then again…

"Have you ever thought about how some things are basically meant to happen?" he wondered aloud, "I might not have gotten stuck in 1973 in a child's body, I might not have met the Dark Lord and I might not have survived the Wizarding World's ideas of justice, but in the end, all of it happened for a reason." He sent her a soft smile and added, "Maybe even us meeting under these strange circumstances."

Her stance had been guarded during his short speech, but she took an actual step back now. "What are you even talking about?" she stammered.

The Doctor met her apprehensive gaze with a weary one. "I would like to tell you a story, Molly," he offered simply and conjured a bench with a subtle flick of his wand, "A story I didn't even bother telling Dumbledore about."

As he casually flung himself onto the bench, the witch finally lowered her wand. He thanked her with a smile. "By the way," he told her and extended his hand, "I'm the Doctor." Once more, she frowned at him, so he could not help adding, "You might feel inclined to confuse me with what unfortunate image media provided me with, but let me assure you of one thing." His smile softened. "I love humans just as much as you do."

And so he told her about himself - about how he used to travel time and space, going on lots of adventures, meeting all kinds of creatures. But then, twenty-one years ago, he had found himself stranded in a magical world he had no knowledge of. The touch of a weeping angel had sent him back in time, both chronologically and in regards of his physical appearance. He had looked like a child, and that had gotten him adopted into the Crouch family. Amidst family and friends, within an actual home as well as the walls of Hogwarts, he had learned to walk the slow path, and eventually, he had even grown somewhat comfortable with a new name – he had become Bartemius Crouch Junior.

He deliberately left out the parts about his involvement with the Dark Lord, though. Even if he had the patience to explain the truth to her, she might not be willing to understand it, and maybe he didn't need her to; not yet, anyway. They sat in silence until she finally spoke in a thick voice, "Even if I could believe such fiction – why are you telling me all this?"

He blinked at her. Why, indeed? He could have just walked away. He could have disapparated and gone back into hiding without her knowing any more than his face, but...

"You're a mother," he offered, "I used to know a mother who was just as strong-willed as you." He smiled fondly at the memories. "You should have seen her," he mused, "No matter if food, bureaucracy or…whatever, she would do anything for her family." His voice broke, and he only then realized how he had unwillingly navigated their talk into such a sensitive topic. With a blink, he forced his thoughts back to the present. "And because you are a woman who protects her family, I think you need to know that there are more dangerous creatures out there than dark wizards."

"And yet my children were attacked by Death Eaters a mere minute ago," she pointed out testily. Her voice as full of doubt, but her stern expression had softened just a bit.

He met her gaze evenly, "The thing is - they were not Death Eaters, Molly."

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"I've had a fair share of experience with Death Eaters and other creatures alike," he explained with a light frown, "and, well, what just attacked us wasn't even human." He tilted his head. "These were not real Death Eaters but camouflaged androids. I really would have liked to learn more, but we won't find many leftovers if we go back."

Molly's face stayed blank, "…androids, as in…machines?"

"A strange concept to wizards, I know," the Doctor offered with a light, awkward shrug, "but you have to keep in mind you're not the only sentient beings in the universe. I would have preferred staying hidden for a bit longer, but the problem is…there's no telling if more of them will come your way."

He took a deep breath. That was it, then, wasn't it?

Even if he hadn't been seen in public, he no longer had a chance to do anything undercover. Something unexpected had arisen – a new challenge to be accepted, a new problem to be solved, yet not by Barty Crouch Junior…but by the Doctor.

Because that was what he did, and what he would always return to doing. Saving the day.

He would have to change his plans, then, and he would have to do it soon. With that idea in mind, he got up from the bench, only to find Molly's confused eyes still focused on him. "You have the face of a Death Eater and talk like a muggle," she observed quietly, "Who exactly are you?"

Shaken out of his thoughts, he blinked for a moment. "I'm a friend," he summarized and grinned, "but if it finally convinces you…I'm also the one who will teach your children self-defence this year."

Intermission - end

Sooo, now...well, I'm not really willing to just retell the events of the Goblet of Fire, but I'm not intending to turn this into a happy-go-lucky plot without any conflicts whatsoever, either.

The main idea hinted at in summary and title is still a bit away, though, since I'm restructuring for better readability right now. I'll have to think about that again, though, so it might take a bit until it'll be safe enough to upload the next part here.

In any case, thanks a lot for reading, and, as always, I'll be really happy about reviews!