A/N: the song is Annie's Song by John Denver.

Part Twelve

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It got to eleven o'clock and Donna started to feel a bit stir crazy inside their rooms. She stood and gazed anxiously out of the window, wondering if she could risk walking in the garden now that John had seen Mr Baillie off the previous day. The sun coming out in that moment made her mind up for her, and she rushed to grab her coat. She'd be blowed if she'd allow that excuse of a man stop her from enjoying some welcome fresh air!

With renewed vigour, she practically skipped down the stairs and out into the school grounds. The gentle breeze graced her face as she stepped outside, and the smell of freshly cut grass wafted up to greet her. Oh how she loved such moments.

Then a naughty thought crossed her mind, and she wondered if she should go and take a peek at John through his classroom window. Of course she had absolutely no reason to seek him out, beyond just wanting suddenly to see him. Surely just a quick look would be okay? Deciding to chance it, she had edged towards a large shrub that stood near the end window of his room when she became aware of someone watching her.

Her blood ran cold as she stood stock still and slowly turned to see who could possibly be doing so. Expecting it to be Mr Baillie in need of a slap, she was totally surprised to see the Headmaster standing there.

"Good morning, Headmaster," she cordially greeted him.

Mr Rocastle nodded back. "Good morning, Mrs Smith-Noble," he replied without smiling. "May I have a word with you, please?"

"With me? Oh! I am so sorry if it isn't allowed to walk near the classrooms while a lesson is taking place," she blustered. "I was erm…" She quickly looked around for an excuse and then lied, "I was following a robin."

He quirked a disbelieving eyebrow but did not call her on the obvious lie beyond saying, "I am sure your husband will confirm it's progress. Would you accompany me to my study, please?"

She couldn't do anything more than agree with him, and meekly followed the Headmaster into his study whilst feeling as though she had committed a grave offence. Once there, he waved towards a chair in invitation and sat himself down next to her. That shook her; was he about to tell her someone had died? Not that she had any living relatives to report, or even a pet, come to think of it. Until panic gripped her, squeezing her tightly.

"Has something happened to Dr Smith?" she anxiously asked, expecting the worse.

Mr Rocastle scared her then by smiling consolingly and patting her hand. "No, Mrs Smith-Noble. I assure you no harm has come to your husband. Instead I wanted to talk to you about my brother-in-law."

Who?! Why would she care about his brother-in-law, if she knew who the hell he was? "I'm afraid I do not understand, Headmaster," she told him as calmly as she could. Perhaps he was trying to set her up with a new job? Or...? No, she had no idea other than that.

"Presumably you are aware that Mr Baillie is my brother-in-law, Mrs Smith-Noble," the Headmaster began to explain. "Mrs Rocastle was most adamant that I found him some employment when I first became Headmaster of Farringham School and I have tried to retain that promise."

"Of course," Donna found herself agreeing in sympathy. But a part of her wanted to shout at him for keeping Mr Baillie on the premises, now that she knew his true identity. Was Baillie the family idiot who was too stupid for the army or the clergy? It was a possible.

"I understand from what Alfred…I mean, Mr Baillie has said, he has been unduly attentive towards you, Mrs Smith-Noble, and I cannot apologise enough for that. We had thought keeping him within a predominantly male environment would have halted his predilections. Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case, and I cannot excuse his actions anymore," he told her sternly.

"What have you done to him?" she asked, wondering if Mr Baillie had been caned, chained to the gym climbing frame or dragged behind the local hunt's horses. Alright, they definitely wouldn't have done the last one, but she could enjoy imagining it for a few seconds, couldn't she? Only a few, mind you.

"He has been dismissed from this establishment," the Headmaster stated. "Mr Baillie has returned to the care of his mother on the family estate for now and an arranged marriage later this year."

A lovely image of him howling in the west wing comforted her for some seconds before compassion found her; especially for the unwitting bride-to-be. "Will he be alright?"

"At this precise moment I neither know nor care, Mrs Smith-Noble. He has brought disgrace upon us all," he admitted. There was a hesitantly knock on the door and he exclaimed, "Ah! Tea!"

She couldn't agree with him more when a tray of tea things was brought in for them both to enjoy. After that they pleasantly chatted about the progress she had made with John's notes, the significance it would have on future research projects, and the connections it would forge between the school and the university. All of it totally made up by Donna, but she was sure a lot of it could have been true from what she remembered from school history lessons. Who knew she could have such a nice time with a stuffed shirt like the Headmaster? It was turning into a wonderful day.

"Where did you get to?" John petulantly asked her when he found her later on and they walked in the gardens together before dinner. "I tried to meet with you lunchtime, and you were not in our rooms."

"I was taking tea with the Headmaster," she eagerly informed him.

He eyed her suspiciously. "What a strange thing to joke about," he commented.

"No, really! I did have tea with the Headmaster," she assured him. "He came and found me to explain about Mr Baillie being packed off out of the school."

"He did?! So he did not accuse me of assault?" he sought to confirm as he gripped her hand resting on his arm.

She smiled with delight. "Not at all. In fact he apologised for Mr Baillie's behaviour." She stopped walking at this point and tilted her head up in invitation. "Everybody agrees that you are my hero."

"Am I?" he coquettishly wondered.

"Stop being such a tart," she admonished him. "I'll forgive you if you kiss me."

"Here?" he queried, casting his gaze around the deserted garden.

"Kissing out here with your wife; what a terribly role model you'd be," she teased. "Unless you don't really love me…?"

He edged nearer. "I think we can take that as read," he countered, wrapping his arms around her waist. "But public displays are frowned upon, especially in these circumstances."

"You mean with all the millions of invisible students around us? Yes, I can see how that is off-putting," she agreed, bring her lips to within a hair's breadth of his. "Whatever will we do? I wonder if there is anywhere we can go that is more private."

She was pleased to see him gulp. "We could… perhaps… make our way back to erm…"

Holding in her amusement at his predicament, she asked, "Will there be lots of erming?"

John frowned. What the heck did she mean? Then he smiled broadly when he realised she was teasing him again. "I can but try," he vowed, and led her back towards their rooms.

They pulled off their hats, scarves and gloves as they ascended the staircase, giggling when they accidentally bumped into each other. "Why did you come looking for me lunchtime?" Donna suddenly thought to ask when they approached their rooms.

John shyly smirked back. "I was hoping to meet up and…"

"What?" she whispered next to his ear. "Are you actually telling me you felt frisky?"

"I am not a horse, Donna!" he protested.

Want to bet on that, she wondered. Plastering on a mischievous grin, she leaned in again to ask, "Would you like to own up to being a little bit of an animal?"

He gasped in shocked indignation as he fumbled in his pocket for the key to open their door. "What are you implying?"

Good grief, he was so easy to tease. "I am implying," she murmured, adding in a nibble on his earlobe that sent his senses reeling for a second, "that you are secretly wild."

"Wild?" he pondered as the door swung open and she stepped in before him.

"Just don't say you are livid. Oh look; a guitar!" she exclaimed with delight when she spotted it sitting in the corner of the room. "I didn't know you had one of them."

"You did not know?" he queried in disbelief. "Donna," he groaned, clearly exasperated.

Oh dear! Was she supposed to know he was musical? Or had she missed another important life event? "Not that particular one," she lied, hoping she had covered her tracks.

Relief appeared on his face. "I acquired it this very morning, in the post. I hope you do not mind that I purchased it but I found myself missing my old faithful terribly."

Now that she bothered to look it did look rather new and shiny. "Why would I mind? We all need our hobbies."

A broad beaming smile lit up his face and he stepped close to take hold of her hands. "I should expect you to always astound me with your generosity." He then leaned forward and brushed a kiss onto her cheek.

"Well? Aren't you going to try it out?" she wondered. "I'd love to hear you play." Assuming of course, that he actuallycould play and wouldn't make a pig's ear of it.

"For you, anything," he declared; and released her to grab up the acoustic guitar.

Several minutes crawled by whilst he adjusted the strings, twanging and then tweaking the pegs until it sounded pitch perfect to his sensitive ears. Donna merely heard the same sounds over and over again; but she smiled as sweetly as she could when he looked at her for encouragement.

When it was clear he was about to begin she garnered every cheerful thought she could muster in order to stay positive in case what was about to happen was worse than the Queen suddenly turning up on the doorstep only to find you've run out of tea.

As it was, she needn't have worried, because the most beautiful sound came out of the guitar; one that she recognised immediately, and she clasped her hands over her mouth in glee. He had remembered! Part of him had remembered that this was her favourite song from her childhood when she had confessed it to him late one 'night' in the TARDIS when they had swopped stories. Her dad had often sung it to entertain her.

Then to top it all, he began to sing. "You fill up my senses like a night in a forest. Like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain," he crooned the obvious words of Annie's Song to her. But she was deeply affected when he sung, "Come let me love you, let me give my life to you, let me drown in your laughter, let me die in your arms. Let me lay down beside you, let me always be with you. Come let me love you, come love me again."

It was inevitable after that; she couldn't avoid it, and she unashamedly cried.

"Donna?!" He immediately put the guitar down and flew to her side, horrified that he had upset her. "What is it? Why are you crying?"

Her snivelling didn't stop, but she was able to give him a watery smile whilst slightly shaking her head. "You have no idea what this means to me; you wonderful, bloody fantastic man!"

There was no way she could stop herself, she had to kiss him. So she did; clasping his head to gaze tenderly into his soulful eyes before gently bringing their lips together and tasting him.

There was a momentary token protest from him before he reciprocated, moving his mouth with hers, pressing and enjoying every second.

Her hands lifted from where they rested on his warm chest to his tie. "Let's get rid of this," she suggested and immediately followed through.

Keen to help, John undid the button at his throat and dispatched the collar, his jacket and then the rest of his shirt. "What about you?" he asked.

"Oh I can do this," Donna purred seductively at him as she undid the buttons on her dress. "But I will need help with my undergarments."

Fighting to bring his breathing under controlled, he flung off his trousers and then sat waiting for his chance to learn the mechanics of her corset. With muted concentration, he set about vanquishing the intricacies of the lacing, telling himself he could do this, it was merely another challenge that filled life his with Donna.

At that point, as the corset slipped off and into his hands, he looked up at her standing in front of him. "I still cannot believe I have been blessed with you," he babbled. "This is like one of my fanciful dreams, having you stand here before me, gazing at me with love in your eyes." He then reverently fingered the hem of her chemise. "Tell me this is true, please. I could not bear it if this was another vivid dream that steals you away in the night."

Donna was caught out by the tone of his words for a moment, and readily eased forward to first bend down and then sit on his lap so that she could stare right into his eyes. "Shall we test how good your imagination is then if this is all made up?"

His eyes went wide. "What do you propose?"

"Let's see if I can surprise you," she suggested and resumed their earlier kiss while pushing him backwards onto the bed. "And when were you going to tell me you had requested this double bed?"

"What?!" His head shot sideways to find that, yes; they were now lying on a double bed instead of the two single ones that had been there that very morning. "I didn't… I do not understand."

"It must have been our house elf," Donna reasoned as she took possession of his mouth; that wonderful, talented mouth with the full bottom pouty lip and delicious tongue that glided so enticingly over hers.

Who cared about the logistics of it all when you have the person you desire kissing you? She certainly didn't in that second, that minute or even that hour. Funny that…