"Did we just come out of a portrait?" the Doctor asked. He had wonder in his voice. Sirius was reminded of his first time at Hogwarts (well, not him so much because he was so used to it, but of some of the other first years). It was strange to see a full grown man in such wonder.

Sirius heard Remus sigh. They both turned around. The Doctor was looking at the Fat Lady with glee. He reached into his pocked and pulled out... well, Sirius didn't know what it was. It was a metallic looking... thing. Remus could describe it better.

"What's that?" the Fat Lady asked, shrinking to the side of her frame. "Don't touch me with that! I'll scream!" The Doctor and Donna looked at each other.

"Oh, that's brilliant!" the Doctor said.

"Did that portrait just talk?" Donna asked Remus.

"Yeah, that's the fat lady. She sings really loud," Sirius said. He had a feeling that Remus and the two Muggles had been talking before he had woken up, and he wanted them to know that he could talk too! It was stupid, he understood this, yes, but he couldn't help himself.

"That's fascinating!" the Doctor said, lifting his metal thing.

"Don't even bother," Donna said. "Your screwdriver doesn't work here, remember?"

"Oh yeah." The Doctor pointed in the direction of Sirius. "You... Sirius, wasn't it?"

Sirius nodded. Couldn't Remus have woken him up earlier? He can never talk well when he's first woken up.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm the Doctor."

"Well that's rather vague, innit?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, just leave it!" Remus told him.

"No, it's okay. Yes, it is very vague, good observation," the Doctor said. Sirius felt like an idiot. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut from now on.

"Alright, that's enough, mister know it all!" Donna barged forward. "I'm Donna Noble. I travel with this smart arse." She stuck out her hand.

Now this he could deal with. "Why hello, Donna Noble. I'm Sirius Black. Very nice to meet you." He took her hand and kissed it.

"How old are you?" she asked sort of indignantly with a slight blush. Sirius just winked.

"Sirius," Remus warned. Oh, bullocks, he's angry, Sirius thought.

"I was only saying hello!" Sirius told him and swung an arm around Remus's shoulders. "Come on. Don't be mad at me, you know I can't stand it when you're mad at me. I'll die!"

"Oh, stop being so melodramatic," Remus said. "I'm not mad at you. Can we just go see Dumbledore now?"

"Typical," Sirius heard Donna whisper not so discretely to the Doctor once they started their hike. "I should probably just give up ever finding a man."

"Probably," the Doctor agreed.

"You're not supposed to agree with me, you stupid Time Lord!" she pointed out. "You'd think with all this traveling, you would have learned some sort of chivalry, but no, of course not!"

Remus whipped around nearly causing a collision. "Excuse me for barging in," he stated, not sorry at all, "but Time Lord?"

"Why won't my screwdriver work?" was the retort. This man was sure caught up on his screwdriver.

Remus groaned softly. "Why does your screwdriver need electricity in the first place?"

The Doctor said nothing. They were quiet for a little while after that.

The Doctor broke the silence. "This place really is beautiful."

"Yeah," Remus said warmly, "it really is." Sirius didn't need to look at Remus to see the smile on his face, but he did anyway. "We only have a term left here," Remus said. "I can't imagine not coming back next year." He looked up examining the architecture and promptly tripped over a stair.

"Just a couple more flights and we'll be there," Sirius made aware to Donna and the Doctor.

Sirius and Remus stepped over the fake stair. The Doctor, curious as ever, asked why.

"Nothing," Sirius made up. "Just a silly superstition. Come on, then." He looked over at Remus who, being the moral paragon that he is, rolled his eyes like he didn't think this was The Right Thing To Do. But Sirius saw the smile in his eyes.

Donna went right ahead and sunk. "Oh my God! It's eating my leg!"

The Doctor automatically, as if it was a reflex, got onto his knees and started looking at and touching the stair. It was apparently solid under his hands. Sirius wondered why nobody else had ever bothered to see if they could touch it with their hands, but he supposed it just never occurred to them.

"That's brilliant! What technology did you use?" the Doctor asked.

"Uh. I didn't make it," Sirius said. Remus went to help Donna out of the stair.

"No, of course not, but-" the Doctor was interrupted when the hallway suddenly went dark. The torches were out, and there wasn't a sun nor a star in the sky.

"Oh my God, what did you do?" Donna yelled to nobody in particular.

"Well now," the Doctor whispered. "That's interesting. Does your school do this commonly?"

"No," Remus said. "It's never done this before. We should go back to the common room."

"Aw," the Doctor said, "come on. Let's go see, shall we?"

"See what, exactly?" Remus asked. His voice got a little higher. Sirius groped around before finding his hand and held it. Remus gripped it harder than necessary.

"The cause of the darkness, of course! Let's go!"

"Yeah, Moony, it can't be anything too bad, right? The wards would protect us from that. It's just a little fun. And it's not like you'll be late for any classes."

Remus sighed a dramatic sigh. "Fine, but if I get killed, I'll be haunting you, Sirius Black."

"And I look forward to it," Sirius grinned.

"So how are we going to get around," Donna asked. "Your screwdriver doesn't work," she told the Doctor, "and I doubt either of you have flashlights. And I am not going to risk falling into one of those stairs again."

"Oh," Sirius said, pulling out his wand. "Didn't we mention? We're wizards."

"Lumos!" he and Remus yelled at the same time, their wands lighting up the corridor. The Doctor and Donna stared at them.

"No. Way." Donna yelled. "You- but that's impossible!"

"Nah," the Doctor said. "I mean, I knew that witches existed, but I thought... the last time I met one was after I met Shakespeare- nice bloke- and they were all double double toil and trouble! But you two don't seem like that. But maybe witchcraft and wizardry has evolved since then... anyway, let's go. Before it ends!" He strode off in the direction of the entrance.

Sirius and Remus exchanged glances and swiftly followed him.