"That explains so much!" he said excitedly, just as he realized that he was facing a half-naked, furious, and magically powerful woman whose mental privacy he had just violated. His smile faltered slightly and he thought that now might be a really good time to apologize and explain. He held up his hands in the (almost) universal sign of surrender.
"Hermione Granger, please lower your wand. I apologize. I shouldn't have looked in your mind, but I wasn't getting the answers I needed. I didn't know if your secrets were dangerous. I have a lot of enemies and I needed to be sure. I was hoping to find out more, but I should have waited until you told me." Just then his grin came back. "Your response was fantastic by the way!" He met her eyes and she saw his own blue ones gleam with interest and excitement. "Again, I apologize, but it's just been a really strange encounter so far."
It was the gleam that decided her. She lowered her wand slightly, but still held it ready - just in case. "Tell me about it!" she exclaimed, a bit ruefully. "At least you aren't the one standing here in your underwear."
"Oh!" he murmured, and actually looked embarrassed for a moment as he realized just how exposed she was. She got the feeling that he was not used to noticing the feelings of others and that he had not realized that she might be uncomfortable in such a state. Just then a light humming sound filled the room. "Yep! I agree, Old Girl," he said aloud while Hermione looked around in confusion. Who was he talking to? she thought before he turned towards her again. "We will get you a room and let you get cleaned up and dressed. I think that you must have been through a lot today. Therefore, what do you say to a shower, clean clothes, and some food? Then we can talk. Does that sound agreeable to you?"
With these words, he plucked a dressing gown, which she was positive had not been there before, off of the bed. She accepted it without a word – even though she didn't think that it had been summoned with magic. After all, she had seen much stranger things in her life. He waited for her to put it on and then offered her his hand. She was a bit startled at the friendly gesture, but allowed her small hand to be enveloped in his larger one. The simple contact felt nice and very natural, and they just stood there and looked at each other for a minute. After a moment, the Doctor cleared his throat and then gestured towards the door. However, she noticed that he didn't relinquish her hand and, since she liked it, she decided not to mention it as he led her out of the infirmary. As they walked over the metal grating floors and down the corridor, she wondered just what kind of building they were in. She put the thought out of her mind, though, for the time being when he stopped at the first door that they encountered.
"This will be your room while you are with us," he said softly. "You should find everything that you need in there. Take your time and do what you need to do. When you are finished, just follow this corridor back out to the console room." He pointed out the direction with his free hand. "I will be waiting there for you." He received her quiet thanks with just a serious look before he relinquished her hand after a quick reassuring squeeze and gestured for her to go into the room.
He waited until she had shut the door behind her before he leaned his head against the door frame for a moment as he tried to regain his internal momentum. Something about that young woman had thrown him completely off balance. It was probably just because he had not had real company in such a long time, he rationalized. Therefore, he just shook his head and headed towards the console room in order to wait for his intriguing visitor. There was a new bounce in his step, though, that had not been present in quite a while. After all, it had been a long time since he had met a magical being and he found that he was eager to hear her story.
...
Hermione eyed the comfortable room, in which she found herself, with pleasure. It was simply and tastefully decorated – much like a boutique hotel. The large bed in the middle of the room was almost irresistibly inviting, but she knew that she needed to clean up first. However, she became confused the more she looked around. It was not a magical room, but it was not muggle, either. There were no outlets, switches, etc. How do things work? How do you turn the lights off and on? she then the lights turned off leaving her in darkness for just a heartbeat. Then they came right back on. Did I do that? she thought to herself and she set out to test it. Lights off, she thought, and they complied. "Lights on," she suggested out loud and they flicked back on immediately. "Lights at 50 percent, please," she whispered and the lights adjusted themselves. So they are thought and voice controlled. That's interesting. That's neither magical nor muggle. So what is it?
This thought was interrupted, though, when she found the well appointed bathroom and the thought of a hot shower overwhelmed everything else. She had not had a real bath or shower for a very long time and cleaning spells were only meant for short term purposes. It had been quite a while since she had felt really clean. Therefore, she wore a real smile as she stripped down to nothing and entered the spacious shower stall. Even through the delight, however, she noticed when the water temperature adjusted itself to what she considered to be perfect, when the shampoo and other shower necessities appeared on the shower shelf, and when a set of fluffy warm towels were waiting for her when she finished. All of that was odd, but not extremely concerning. It felt similar to House Elf magic, but not quite. Whatever it was, magic or otherwise, it seemed benevolent enough and she was determined not to worry about it. She would simply ask the Doctor about it when she saw him again.
She thought about that enigmatic man who could read minds and smelled of Time as she walked back into the bedroom, wrapped only in her towel, and wondered what she was going to wear. At that thought, the closet door opened on its own, displaying a rack full of perfectly sized clothing. "Thank you!" she said aloud politely and heard a pleased hum in her mind. Then Hermione grinned as the puzzle pieces clicked together! "Oh, you're alive! You're sentient!" she exclaimed to the room specifically and to the building in general. "The Doctor calls you Old Girl, doesn't he?" She received a pleased affirmation directly in her mind again. "Telepathic, too, huh?" She was answered with another feeling of confirmation. "You know, I don't find this as weird as you might think since I actually lived in a sentient castle for the better part of six years. I'm Hermione, by the way, and you are…?" She left the question hanging, but was pleased when she received a definite answer delivered directly to her mind, I am the TARDIS.
Hermione continued to converse with the TARDIS while she dressed, and she realized with interest that her questions were answered mainly in feelings and pictures, rather than words. Hermione could also tell that even though she was quite fond of the man, the "Old Girl" was quite pleased to have someone to communicate with other than the Doctor. When Hermione was completely ready, she viewed the final product in the mirror. She thought that she looked much better cleaned up. Her hair was not quite as wild as it had been before. Plus, the simple jeans and a soft jumper (that didn't irritate the half-healed carving on her arm – especially since she had put a slight expansion charm on the inside of the sleeves in order to hide her wand, as well) fit nicely and looked good with a pair of boots that she also found in the closet. She then looked longingly at the bed, but thought that her host had probably waited for her long enough as it was. I can always sleep later, she silently hoped. She spoke aloud, however, when she politely thanked the TARDIS for opening the door for her before she headed down the corridor in the direction that the Doctor had indicated earlier.
...
Meanwhile, the Doctor pondered the young woman on his ship. Where had she come from? She was human and British. However, she had not denied being a witch when he had named her as one. The problem was that the Doctor did not know of any magical societies on that little planet. Therefore, if his suspicions were correct, then she was not really from this Earth. In fact, he doubted that she was from this universe, at all - especially since he really could not think of even one single planet where the inhabitants had real magic.
If that was the case, how did she get here, and how did she end up on the TARDIS in the first place? he wondered. Unfortunately, if she had accidentally crossed the Void from another universe, and another Earth, then he would not be able to take her back home. He just did not have that capability anymore - not without help from other Time Lords. What was he going to do with the fascinating little witch then? Based on her earlier reactions, he gathered that she had been fighting a war, was on the losing side, and was now all alone. She probably did not even have a home to go back to, anyway. That particular scenario was way too close to comfort for him, and brought back too many of his own bad memories of his own lonely situation. Therefore, he found himself fighting back his own tears when he heard the young woman approaching the console room.
He ceased his unhappy musings and turned toward the corridor so that he could see her when she arrived. He could not help but to smile when she walked in because she looked so much better than she had when she arrived. She was quite pretty, he thought, even though she was too thin. He had a feeling that that was a result of whatever situation had brought her to him, however, rather than her natural look. He had to force himself to look away from her fascinating hair, which had caught his attention because it almost seemed to have a life of its own, in order to bring his eyes back to her face. He wanted to see her reaction to the TARDIS.
He had expected her to be amazed, but he had not anticipated that she would stop in her tracks and exclaim in surprise, "This is a control room...We are on a ship...You're a ship!" This last statement was not addressed to him, though, and he was confused for a minute until he realized the TARDIS was humming with delight. The woman, Hermione, was talking to his ship and the Old Girl was responding!
"A sentient ship," Hermione muttered delightedly. "Well, that explains a lot, I guess." She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I don't know of anything like you in either the magical or muggle world, so I am guessing that you are not of this world." She fell silent for another moment while she pondered the implications of this idea. Then she placed a hand on the coral strut closest to her. "You're alien," she whispered to the ship - who responded in a pleased affirmative. Hermione then turned to catch the extremely surprised Doctor's eyes with her own before she walked over to stand directly in front of the stunned man. "That means you are probably alien, too… and if I combine that fact with the smell of Time…hmmm…I guess that means that you are a time traveling alien! In fact, I think that you are a time traveling alien with two hearts!"
Despite his respiratory bypass system, he found that he could barely breathe as he stared at her in surprise for a moment. "Yes…Is that alright?" he asked tersely, when he finally found his voice again. Who exactly was this fascinating woman and how had she come to that very unlikely, but extremely accurate and specific, deduction so quickly?
"Yeah, it most certainly is!" she answered enthusiastically and her eyes lit up as she smiled. He could not help but to return that look with a grin of his own.
