Terrified people sprinted past them, fleeing from whatever horror awaited them further into the market place. A child stood on the steps of what seemed to be a religious temple looking extremely lost and alone. Hermione paused and started towards the small boy, intending to take him to safety, before his exceptionally worried looking mother pushed through the crowd and grabbed him up in her arms. A feeling of relief coursed through her, though it quickly disappeared as she whipped around just in time to see the hem of the Doctor's brown coat disappear beyond a large and dusty building's corner. With a feeling of determination Hermione followed and to her horror found herself facing an unimaginable foe. Somehow the buildings and the ground itself were mutating into some kind of monstrous creature. What looked like a mouth had appeared in the centre of another market square. It had a thousand sharp teeth all in rows and the people closest were very nearly being consumed by it. The Doctor stood a few feet in front of her, looking up at the scene unfolding with a mute horror. Hermione hurried beside him, her wand still drawn, though she was not staring at the danger in front of her but rather at the erratic man standing next to her. His eyes, though horrified, seemed to have a glimmer of excitement within them. A small feeling of anger began to bubble inside of her but the feeling of fear won out. For some strange reason Hermione found that she automatically trusted this man.

"Doctor," she yelled. He looked at her as though he had forgotten she was there. "Doctor, what is it? What do we do?"

For one fleeting moment Hermione was unsure as to whether he was going to reply. "No idea." Hermione's eyes widened in fear but the Doctor looked back at the creature. "Let's go and find out." Without a second glance he was off again, leaving Hermione rooted to the spot. For a split second she wasn't sure whether she was going to follow until he called back to her over his shoulder. "Are you coming?"

Without a moment's hesitation Hermione ran after him. Just as Hermione reached the Doctor, who was pointing his laser-topped screwdriver at the pulsating mound, the creature let out an ear-splitting roar. Luckily the last of the civilians had already escaped unscathed. Adrenaline coursed through her body, fear shaking her entire form. The monster continued to rise higher and higher until the mound was taller than most of the surrounding buildings. Limbs began to form where arms should be and a huge black eye appeared above the ginormous mouth. Next to her the Doctor's laser-topped screwdriver was emitting an odd sound. Somehow he seemed to be analysing the creature with it. A strange 'Dark Arts' detector, perhaps? Hermione thought to herself. In the next instant the buzzing had stopped and the Doctor had flicked the screwdriver upright. He seemed to be reading the results.

"Oh you," he said, talking directly to the beast. "You are absolutely impossible. A new life-form right in front of our eyes. Fancy that. This is just amazing I have got to say."

"What do you mean a 'new' life-form, Doctor?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"It's evolving, right now. Right in front of us." The Doctor turned towards her with a huge grin on his face.

"B-but, isn't it… dangerous?"

"Nah, it's just a baby. Well, ok, it might be but we can't know until it does something. But you're right we should probably take it somewhere safe, away from people. The thing is, this planet is its home and this beautiful creature has as much of a right to be here as these people do." He ran a hand through his hair, for the first time the Doctor looked slightly strained.

"So… what do we do?"

The Doctor looked at her. "We talk to it." All Hermione could do was blink stupidly back at him. Talk to it… is he insane? The Doctor turned from her and walked even closer towards the creature. "Hello you," the Doctor called up to it. "How gorgeous are you? Absolutely beautiful. My name is the Doctor, and who are you?"

In response the creature gave another ear-splitting roar. "Now come on, don't be like that! Talk to me."

"Doctor, I don't think this is working," said Hermione.

She was trembling from head to toe, adrenaline coursing through her body. It was as though she were that first year girl trapped in a bathroom with an enormous troll once again. Although Hermione had faced many foes before she had never encountered anything like this and had no sense of how to proceed. Her fingers were wrapped so tightly around her wand that she was surprised that it hadn't snapped. The Doctor had moved forward still attempting to communicate with the thing but to no avail. Just as Hermione had decided to attempt a stunning spell the creature's roars seemed to be forming words.

"M- M- My name…. who are I?" the Thing asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "I'm sorry but I don't know. What I want to know is how you were created. Originally I thought you were evolving right now but surely it couldn't go this quickly?" He seemed to be talking more to himself rather than to the monster. "However, I can make you a good offer."

"Offer?"

"Yes. I could take you to a new planet, an uninhabited planet, and you could spend your life there happily without interference."

"New planet?" For a moment the monster seemed to be considering his words. "Where?"

"Well I don't know… yet but I know that I can find you one."

Another ear-splitting roar filled what was left of the market square. "No planet. I stay home.

The mound melted quickly back into the ground, leaving the square behind almost exactly as before with the exception of a few broken stalls and their wares scattered all over the place. A few of the braver children, who were seemingly dressed in dirty rags and clearly homeless, had ventured forwards to gather some of the rich fabrics and jewellery that had been abandoned by their merchants. More joined them after a few minutes as they came to realise that it was safe, in their poverty they saw not the terrifying death and despair just the riches that lay before them. Hermione stood rooted to the spot, frozen and unable to move. After a few moments of deliberation the Doctor turned quickly on his heel and began running back in the direction they had first come. It only took her a moment to follow but her entire body was numb. This... shouldn't be possible, she thought. Soon they reached the Tardis and the Doctor threw his coat over the bannister without missing a step. For a few moments he didn't speak, merely tapping on buttons and typing on a keyboard that seemed to appear out from nowhere. He shoved the buzzing dark detector into a hole beside the keyboard and flipped over some sort of screen. Numerical digits and symbols she didn't understand appeared rapidly on it and the Doctor pulled out a pair of square glasses from his breast pocket before donning them. Whatever the strange symbols meant Hermione didn't know, the Doctor was muttering to himself and not making any sense.

"AHA!" he suddenly shouted. "I was right. It was evolving right in front of our eyes. But how? How could something evolve so rapidly?" The Doctor seemed to be talking aloud for his own benefit rather than for Hermione's but either way she was fascinated. He continued to study the screen, occasionally tapping a button here or there. "Hmm, yes I see. Composed entirely of organic matter… Wait!" He ran back outside but stopped just outside the Tardis doors where Hermione stood, watching. So quickly that Hermione wasn't sure that he'd actually done it, the Doctor knelt down and licked the ground before running his fingers over it. Then he grabbed a handful of the dirt and ran back inside, pouring it into an open tube. "That is beautiful. Have a look at that! You beautiful little planet you. The question is what are you?"

The Doctor squeezed his face together with his right hand from the top of his cheek to the chin. "Um Doctor?" Hermione started after a few minutes of silence. "What's going on?"

He looked up. "Well if I had to hazard a guess… I'd say that this planet is evolving. Or, at least, certain minerals beneath the crust are," he explained. "I'm not sure what that means though…"

"So what do we do?"

"Do? I suppose we'll have to find it somewhere to go. I'll have to keep a close eye on this place in case any more pop up though. Got my thingamajig scanning for suitable planets right now. Then we can go and get it!"

Hermione saw the huge floor in this plan. "But… what if it refuses to come?"

"Then I'll have to make it." For a moment there was a dangerous glint in his eyes that was quickly overshadowed by and jovial smile. "I'm sure it won't come to that though," the Doctor stated as he walked towards the door. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" asked Hermione.

The Doctor looked back at her. "To find it, of course."