Ch. 4 Life is Plastic

The Doctor and Hermione had found themselves in the Gryffindor Common Room before ten minutes had passed. The fear of Auton Harry and Ron lay in the back of both of their intelligent minds. The Doctor sat in a big, cozy chair in front of the fireplace as Hermione paced around beside him. "Doctor, what are...Autons, was it?"

"They're pretty much plastic humanoids with a little gun tucked into their hand. Mostly used as store mannequins. I have seen them pose as someone before, though."

Hermione froze and looked at the Doctor. "You have? So Harry and Ron...will they be okay?"

The Doctor looked up at the young witch's hopeful face. "If history repeats itself, then they'll be fine."

The Doctor flashed a quick smile at Hermione, who seemed more than satisfied with his response. The Doctor jumped to his feet and began the same pacing Hermione had just stopped. "What I don't understand is how they transported everyone in the school so quickly."

"So you're sure that they've just been transported?"

"Well, Autons usually just shoot and leave. I've never seen them clean a crime scene before. But what would they need those bodies f-"

The Doctor stared at a point on the wall, his mouth hanging open. Hermione pressed him on, eager to hear the rest of his thoughts.

"What if they were replacing everyone in the school with Autons?"

"What would be the point?"

The Doctor looked down at Hermione, a wild look in his eyes. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Before Hermione could finish taking in his words, the Doctor had dashed to the portrait of the Fat Lady, ready to climb through the hole to the corridor. "Wait, Doctor! They'll kill you if you go out there!"

The Doctor turned back to Hermione. "Don't worry about me, Hermione. I've done things like this before."

"Does it always end well?"

The Doctor couldn't help but wall slowly back to his young companion. He lowered himself to his knees and, looking her straight in the eyes, said, "No, it doesn't, Hermione. But...in my experience, the way something ends doesn't really matter. You think you'll remember the last day more than the others; that you have to make that day better than the ones before it; but it's not real like that at all. In fact, the days you remember most are the ones that seemed so normal while they were happening, but now that you look back-"

The Doctor stared into space for a moment, lost in deep thought. Then he sniffed and stood quickly, making Hermione almost dizzy with his sudden burst of movement. "Anyway! Let's go talk to the Autons, eh?"

The Doctor grabbed Hermione's hand and together they walked through the portrait hole and right in between Auton Harry and Ron. "Take me to your leader."

The Doctor seemed to almost enjoy how authoritative his voice had been as Ron and Harry looked at each other questioningly. "I always love to say that!" Hermione couldn't stifle a smile at the Doctor's pure, wonderful insanity.

Auton Harry and Ron grabbed a strong hold on the Doctor and Hermione's arms, respectively, and looked up at the ceiling. Suddenly, a blue glow outlined the four of them and Hermione felt an oddly cold sensation as they were beamed up into an Auton spaceship.

The ship seemed more like a giant factory than anything else. Hundreds of people, all from Hogwarts, stood in lines against the walls as, one by one, they entered a small room, where, Hermione guessed, they made the Autons. Auton Harry kept a hold on the Doctor's arm as he menacingly stated, "Wait here until our leader is ready to see you.

Hermione looked all over, her mouth falling open from the sheer size of it all, as her eyes fell on two kids crouched down about ten feet from where she stood. "Ron! Harry!"

Hermione ran to her friends, breaking free from Auton Ron's grip easily. She hugged them each tightly before Harry said quickly, "You need to get out of here. Quickly."

Hermione looked at them both, glad to be in the company of her friends once again. "I'm glad you're both alright. I thought...never mind. There's this man, though. He knows all about them. He can help us."

Harry was peering oddly at something behind Hermione. "What is it, Harry?"

"Hermione...why isn't that Auton trying to attack you?"

Hermione glanced back at the Auton Ron, who was simply looking at her. "I don't know, I suppose they're not too bright, are they?"

Ron's eyes bulged as he looked down at Hermione's hand, on which three fingers had just slid down to reveal a small weapon. "Hermione; your hand."

Hermione looked down at her hand and nearly screamed. Terror filled her as she looked desperately from Ron to Harry. "I'm a...how? I didn't even know! You both have to get away from me. Now!"

Harry and Ron backed away from her slowly. Hermione looked over at the Doctor, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. "Doctor!"

The Doctor spun around, his left arm still stuck in Harry's grip. His hearts skipped a beat as his eyes fell on Hermione's hand. "Oh, Hermione. I'm so sorry."

Hermione accidently shot a lazer towards Harry, forcing he and Ron to jump away, mere seconds away from certain death. Hermione screamed, "You have to run! Get away from me! I can't control it!"

Harry and Ron backed up, giving their friend heartbreaking looks. "Go!"

They dashed off as Hermione's hand began shooting towards them again. The Doctor couldn't look away from his poor young friend's struggle. "Hermione. Listen to me, Hermione."

"How can I be one of them, Doctor?"

"You always have been, Hermione. All this time. I thought maybe you hadn't been changed...they did a good job creating you. Almost perfect. That's why you were the last to become an Auton."

Hermione stared at her shaking, plastic hand, then looked up at the Doctor again. "I thought I was still me."

"You still are. Somewhere in this ship, you're sitting there, still human, still alive. This is just a copy."

"So all those things you said about me being brilliant...that was just my clone."

"No, no! They may have created this plastic body that you're in right now, but the rest was all you. If you hadn't been a clever, brave, wonderful young witch, they wouldn't have made your Auton any different. But you are, Hermione. You're the brightest, bravest witch of your time. So the Autons created a clone just like that."

Hermione gave the Doctor the smallest of smiles before Auton Harry pulled on his arm, forcing him to turn around and face the door in front of him. "Our leader is ready for you now."

The Doctor gritted his teeth as Auton Harry opened the door. "Here we go."

Ooh did you guys see any of that coming? Thank you for reading and please, please, please review! It makes my day to hear feedback from you guys.