Chapter 07
Harry slipped the bookmark into the the page he'd just finished writing, about their visiting the King, their journey into Diagon, the meal they'd had...and his feelings about the Doctor as a small ball in the form of a charm he was testing alerted him to someone approaching where he was sat.
He'd transfigured a table and chair to sit outside of the TARDIS a short ways away from it, just...because he wanted to sit outside. Draco had suggested they might need brooms to properly survey the property, Harry'd left a message for the Doctor for a map, the King must've provided one he suspected.
"Hey," the sound of Alison's voice behind him brought him out of his musings. "Mind if I join you?"
Harry gestured at the second chair opposite him on the other side of the table and smiled as she sat down. "You alright?"
She nodded. "Thanks," she looked to him. "He, the Doctor, he told me, that you were worried."
Harry nodded, wondering how much the Doctor said.
"Had this thing, happen, early travelling with him, there was this vampire thing, the Doctor turned off the Master, to deal with it," she explained in halting tones.
"And now? He claimed he was protecting you from the TARDIS," Harry wondered in a neutral tone.
Alison looked at him. "You've known him longer," she looked to him trying to gauge his response "what's he like? Should I trust him?"
"You've been travelling with him longer than I have, fought plenty of stuff before I dropped in," Harry began.
"Sounded like he knew you as well," Alison wondered.
"We've met in the past," Harry answered easily.
She shook her head. "Not like that, like he knew you, something, when I first met him I-"
Harry cut her off. "I know, and I don't know," he sighed. "Maybe stick close to him with all of this."
"Even if I won't remember it?" Alison asked.
"Get a diary off him like he gave us, it's all weird, maybe because of him keeping you in the TARDIS' dimensions when we landed you'll remember this?" Harry wondered.
Alison narrowed her eyes at him. "Will that work?"
Harry shrugged. "No idea."
-/
Draco looked around the room of Clarence Hall, it had been maintained relatively well and there were now muggles from the King's household, or something, the Doctor had been irritatingly vague when he'd asked, whoever they were they were preparing the spaces here at Clarence Hall.
This room was a short walk from the servant's quarters, although still part of the main house, and was clearly a laboratory of some description. There were areas for burners where potion making could be conducted, sinks for cleaning. The Doctor had suggested this estate had been used for scientific explorations in the past. It would suffice.
Turning as he heard the footsteps of Potter, and a moment later the doors opened to reveal the man himself.
"I heard you walking," Draco explained before Potter could ask.
Harry Potter smiled at him. "Do you need me to help? I'm relatively adept at potion making-"
He cut him off. "I'm sure you are Potter but-"
Potter than cut him off with a grin. "In the past thank you Malfoy."
Draco glared at him. "Thank you Potter," he paused. "For now I will manage."
Potter nodded and turned to leave,
"What will you be doing while I toil here?" Draco asked.
"Having a wander, and to check things," he paused "and interrogate the Doctor about specifically who's going to be turning up," Potter explained casually with a slight tone of a threat as he walked away.
-/
Harry looked at the list of who was coming to this Armageddon Convention, or the update of.
Nestene Consciousness, Sontarans, Rutan Host, Quill, Chelonians, Metatraxi, Jalaphron, Q'ell, Shadow Kin, Zebrednik, Vilip.
"Not all of these came to the last convention," Harry observed as her turned he paper over in his hands and slipped it into a pocket, he'd transcribe it into his diary later. "I guess it wasn't your idea to have these groups together, the way you told me the Sontarans and Rutans have been at war for..."
"For longer than anyone can remember, it makes the Daleks and the Thals' war look like a tug of war at a village fete," the Doctor mused as he looked through the wine cellar, where Harry had found him after hunting through much of Clarence Hall. "It wasn't my decision to hold this convention."
"That was the mission by your people?" Harry queried curiously.
The Doctor looked up from his wine study raising an eyebrow at him. "Yes," he replied without elaborating further.
Harry remained silent for a moment.
"Do you trust me Harry?" The Doctor wondered in a somewhat sombre tone for a moment.
Harry looked over to him in some surprise. "You need to ask?"
"You've been standoff, cynical even," the Doctor mused.
"The Master once told me that a good cynic is someone who looks to the world before them with intelligence, not bounding in like a fool expecting the best of everything," Harry paraphrased as he watched the Doctor.
The Doctor looked to him. "That does sound like him, and you trust the Master?"
Harry smiled carefully. "I've travelled through time Doctor, and done some things in the past," the Doctor looked like he was going to say something but Harry continued "to preserve the web of time, I've met the Master with many faces, many guises, I trust him enough to know when to be careful."
Looking to the Doctor it felt like the question of 'are you careful of me?' was on the Doctor's face.
"I trust you Doctor, I always have, you've visited me throughout my life, and your lives," Harry smiled to him. "Your stories, your tales of your life, your companions' lives, they've tantalised me, informed my life, I'll always trust you," he chuckled and covered the short distance between them pulling him in a half hug. "Whatever past that was, that wasn't me," Harry wondered softly to the man who was hundreds if not thousands of years older than him.
The Doctor shifted, seemingly slightly uncomfortable. "What do you think of the wine down here?"
"Looks like wine?" Harry shrugged. "I was more for having a pint of beer with Sergeant Benton down the local near UNIT HQ, or having a stiff drink with the Brigadier than you and your wines Doctor," Harry chuckled caught in a memory for a brief moment. "Draco's more about the wine," he paused not wanting to mention Boney and his vineyard, then he frowned curiously at the Doctor. "Will the Nestene have a body or will they come as just an energy unit, or an amorphous-"
"Cephalopod? No" the Doctor shook his head. "A suitable representative will represent each of them, not just the Nestene, so says Irving's notes."
"And we just get to stand around and make sure nothing untoward goes on?" Harry wondered, the Doctor had been a bit vague on what they were actually going to be doing.
-/
We've been going around checking the warding, just some basic stuff to stop anyone wondering in. The Doctor said that the temporal ley lines and the fact that Clarence Hall is meant to be haunted tends to keep away the casual passer-by.
Most of the staff arrived a day or so ago, they're all under some sort of psychic field so the Doctor says the TARDIS is projecting it, or he's got some gubbins out, tuned to the contemporary people, so it won't affect Draco and me. Means they won't freak out when they meet the Sontarans, or the Shadow Kin.
The Doctor gave me, Alison and Draco a holographic presentation to make sure we're all ready, I think Draco would have preferred to just be lounging around reading it in our little lounge room or in the library or something. Not much point exploiting the library to learn more interesting facts if this is all going to evaporate.
Supposedly stuff learnt or done in the TARDIS will latch in our memory more because the interior of the TARDIS is in a different state to the rest of the world, or the universe, the Doctor mumbled that explanation a little bit.
Draco's brewed up a bunch of potions some he remarked would be quite difficult to source and much more controlled in our own time, but it'll give us much more liberal control of wards around the house. Apparently after the second world war the Ministry locked down use of a couple of potion ingredients which seems to be really useful, we've used it on the wards around the property as well. And a little goes a long way, although Draco did say that for outside we had to use a lot of salt, which will probably kill the grass quite badly. I've charmed and transfigured some rocks around those areas and hopefully the King, or more likely whoever maintains this property won't notice anything.
Mentioned to the Doctor the King and I assume the Queen consort? wish to visit, the Doctor merely nodded and said he'd see to it. Hopefully they turn up near the end when everyone's not at each other's throats. The Doctor said it's not like that, the more difficult parts have already been agreed to, this is the final agreement where everyone gets to put their hand on the document and agree to it, in the full knowledge they're doing it wilfully, but won't be judged or for that matter remember any of it, save for the photos I'll be taking. Contemporary evidence and all that, that's the point of holding this thing in the relative past, so the Doctor says. When the last one was held back in the 1600s. But this is just an update with new people, and old friends, or something like that.
The Doctor said there'll be a bunch of fields already in place to ensure 'everyone behaves themselves'.
Magic won't be affected, that's different. I know some stuff will be affected by magic, I've warned Draco to be careful apparating around. We've pretty easy with the apparation recently as we check the cardinal points of the boundaries. But we've both felt a change now that the Doctor's turned all his gubbins on.
We've both talked about going back to London, but...there was a tension when we were there, especially in Diagon Alley, and given when and where, but mostly when we are I'm not sure we should tempt history too much.
I've already danced through history twice, Draco too, and now with a bunch of dangerous aliens about to descend on Clarence House, maybe we should take the kitchen staff up on their offer and have a fine meal for the night. I'm not sure what they're going to serve for the delegates. The Doctor's apparently provided suggestions.
"I think we're going to end up eating a lot of the finer things," Potter mused as he sniffed the wine they'd been poured.
"Indeed, what do you think?" Draco wondered as he sipped the very fine vintage. At Potter's suggestion he had ventured down into the cellar with the Doctor.
"It's wine, after Boney's estate, got a better appreciation for it I guess Draco," Potter said as he swirled the wine in the glass and sipped it. "It's very..." he trailed off. "It reminds me of something..." he trailed off "Like the benches when we'd watch Quidditch practice after the rain, and the smell of the lake in summer, sort of earthy with a woody hint and there's a slight acidic tinge, like a memory of a coal fired train."
Draco smiled at Potter. "You do have a unique appreciation Harry."
Potter gave him a look. "You're warming to me Draco?"
Draco looked to him. "You and I are superior, ultimately Potter, we will witness something not seen since the 1600s," he paused to broadly genuinely smile "all of this is something no other wizard has or will experienced, it lends perspective."
"And" Potter raised his glass to him "It wouldn't have happened if you didn't get curious," he chucked.
-/
He'd spent the day going around taking photos, the Doctor had suggested the bulk of them stay here as a document and evidence of the meeting, only a few notable ones should they take with them.
There were flags outside on poles on stands that had come from, presumedly the Doctor had brought them out from the TARDIS, Alison had posed in front of a few of them. She had an energy scanner the Doctor had provided, although he'd not gotten a closer look at it.
The delegates for the Armageddon Convention would be arriving soon.
There was an official record book, which the Doctor had tasked Draco with recording the delegates' arrival with, Harry'd be in charge of photographing them. They would supposedly all be arriving along the temporal ley line that the TARDIS had landed on. 'I've put her landing lights on' so the Doctor had answered gruffly when he'd asked how any of them will know where to land, and why they would listen to him 'because they have told them and they all know what this means to them'.
All very oblique, all very...it wasn't like how the Doctor ever told him about his travels...except when he'd talked to Sarah, she'd mentioned a couple of times when she'd been travelling with the Doctor the one 'all teeth and curls' had landed the TARDIS and then gone outside shouting to the sky about 'not doing their dirty work'.
Now that he was here, with the Doctor and doing their work, it felt a bit like that, another job for the League of Paranormal Investigations, just sans the LPI, and the magical component. He idly wondered if this was a job UNIT could have done, except it couldn't because they were here before UNIT, before ICMG and while Torchwood was active they probably couldn't abide the fact the Doctor was here, and aliens would be here as well. He and Draco had made sure that the approach road was warded very tightly and would alert them if anyone arrived unannounced, and had told the Doctor as much just so they didn't accidentally severely wound the King. He was relatively sure that wasn't a good thing to do, possibly treasonous.
-/
"It speaks to the situations we have been interacting within Potter," Draco Malfoy mused to him as they watched the delegates arrive in a ponderous tone. "That their arrival is somewhat underwhelming."
Harry laughed and had to agree. Most seemed to have arrived via the same sort of portal technology the Doctor had used to get them to Rishik. The Sontaran craft which looked like a huge silver golf ball dropped out of the sky and landed next to the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor was there to greet the Sontaran who emerged, and he'd looked pointedly at himself and Draco who were watching from a respectful distance, with an appropriate zoom lens.
"It is all weird, in a sort of mundane way, weirdly meeting the King was more intimidating, suppose," Harry paused in thought to briefly look to Draco "that there's security in knowing that they're not going to harm us, in theory they're all here to sign or whatever," he sighed.
"You enjoy the danger Potter," Draco observed.
"It has been said Draco," Harry smiled "by more than a few, there's a frisson to it."
"When we are returned to Earth, our Earth Harry, I wish for no frisson like this," Harry could see Draco shaking his head in his peripheral vision. "Although I do not regret following my curiosity."
"You've got that superior tone in your voice again Draco Malfoy," Harry teased.
-/
Predictably few of the delegates wanted the food, although a handful did appreciate the wine.
The Quill, Chelonian, Metatraxi, Shadow Kin and Zebrednik did have some of the food, so it wasn't entirely wasted.
Harry'd only heard previously of the Nestene, Sontarans, Rutan Host and he was sure the Doctor had mentioned the Chelonians in the past.
The Doctor had warned him (and Draco) not to interfere, that he couldn't probe them on questions he might have.
If anything he had too many, and not enough.
Why did the Nestene come to target Earth in the 1970s and then return in 2005? That was one he really wanted to ask.
"What are the humans here for?" Enquired the Sontaran.
Harry hadn't learnt any of their names, he looked over to Draco who are looking towards the door trying to ignore what was happening and then to the Doctor who looked at him and then to the Sontaran in surprise.
"Specialist security," the Doctor answered.
"This is a low technology planet what possible influence could there be here?" The Quill...lady? Harry wondered was relatively sure she was as she sneered at him.
The Auton who seemed to be the body for the Nestene looked over at him curiously, and walked over to him, inclining its head to him.
"We provide security for the esoteric, the upper Silverberg and higher psychic ranges," Harry explained in a soft tone to it.
The Auton looked him up and down, smiled in an odd way and walked away from him to have words with the Rutan Host, it paused whatever the blob was doing and looked to him.
Harry waved at it.
The Doctor looked at him as he finished talking to the Shadow Kin who just seemed like he wanted to eat his food in peace.
"You're interacting with the delegates Harry," the Doctor commented.
"That's not allowed?" Harry asked innocently.
"It's discouraged," the Doctor answered immediately, then added "they want this dealt with as swiftly as possible, lower key than Braxiatel's last time."
"Is he the same guy as the Braxiatel Collection?" Harry asked as he suddenly realised he'd heard the name before when they'd been in Vryemya.
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "Irving has his fingers in a lot of pies Harry I-"
The Doctor was interrupted by Draco coming over. "Potter, I saw a flare outside."
Harry nodded looked to the Doctor,
"Go, I will be diplomatic," he said as though he was cursing.
Outside Clarence Hall there was glowing orb. It was part of a complex mess of potions, spells, charms and loadstones they'd crafted to alert if someone tripped the wards. Nothing lethal, just more of an alarm system, albeit magical. It had taken both of them to brew and craft.
"South west wall," Draco reported.
Harry gestured with his wand, again checking for the conditions to apparate, worried that the arrival of the aliens had interfered with the environment here, but it still seemed not, which was interesting. "All looks fine."
-/
There was a woman trapped up to her knees where the ground where she'd been standing had turned to a quicksand-like substance.
"You know this is crown land?" She demanded looking at him and Draco. "Magicals can't be casting any wizarding systems on this location without crown approval!" She exclaimed in a tone of voice that reminded Harry of a certain high inquisitor.
"Is that so?" Draco mused.
She reached around her back to pull out a gun as the spell that transfigured the ground around her shifted, liquifying a bit more. "You will-"
"Accio gun," Harry muttered, effortlessly catching the weapon rolling his eyes as he did. Emptying the bullets and shoving them into one pocket and handed the gun to Draco.
"You will release me!" She exclaimed.
Harry took a step forward to look at her carefully.
"Your magical methods will not work with me!" She stated defiantly matching his gaze.
"Good, that wouldn't be interesting," he said as he concentrated and held her gaze.
"Good...that's good, I...you..." she trailed off.
"Yes, I am, and you are...?" Harry said in a slow tone matching her gaze and mouthing her words to her figuring the 'I am the master' line might not work as well with someone who may or may not be familiar with the renegade Time Lord.
"I..." She seemed to fight who she was.
No matter. "I was sent to..." Harry prompted slowly.
"I was sent to observe Clarence Hall, message passed by Lydia Childs," she wrinkled her nose. "Didn't think we could handle it, Torchwood's dealt with aliens and everything."
"You came prepared for everything?" Harry asked in a slow even tone as he continued to hold her gaze despite the slight crick in his neck as he held her gaze down low. "Magical included?"
She shook her head slowly. "Godmother, told me what to look for, thought Torchwood could use them, secrets into secrets," she paused. "Watched for the signs."
"And did you find anything?" Harry wondered.
"Watched the aliens appear, invading the Earth! Have to get access to them have to," she began, her voice rising.
"Enough," Harry cut her off.
-/
Draco watched in silent appreciation as Potter seemed to, without utilising his wand or any apparent magical methods interrogated the muggle woman in front of him. He was obviously utilising some form of advanced mesmerism, the slow methodical way he was interrogating her, the intense gaze he was holding on her. It was yet another indication he had drastically under estimated him, and a side to him that he'd barely seen.
"Enough-" Potter cut off the woman's ramblings.
"You came to Clarence Hall and found nothing, do you understand? You fell in a ditch and then returned to your car to warm up, do you understand?" Potter ordered firmly.
"I understand," she repeated in a monotone.
"When you hear the engine you will awaken," Potter ordered.
"I understand," she repeated in the same level tone.
Then Potter stunned her.
"Let's get her out of this," Potter ordered in a level tone.
"Your level of professionalism is interesting Potter," he commented as he began to dismantle the charms around her.
Potter looked to him. "I run a league that interacts with several elements of the Ministry and the muggle security services, I have to be," he answered as he levitated the woman. "This is just another, different situation."
"You're sure she has a vehicle, you didn't ask about it?" He wondered.
Potter shook his head. "Fewer obvious questions like that, means if she wondered about it, she'll fill the gaps in with having spoken to someone or writing notes to herself, only someone who doesn't know she came by car," he looked to him briefly "or those who don't consider cars a method of travel would ask, but she doesn't look like she's hiked for ages, so there must be a car around here somewhere. I'll just pop off and see if I can see something from above," he said simple and disapparated.
Draco didn't bother to look up in exasperation, Potter had used that...'method' already, insane as it was.
He apparated a moment later, his hair ruffled from wind and falling through the air presumedly. "Found it."
"And a point me spell couldn't have sufficed?" Draco asked in a deadpan tone.
Potter gave him a look. "What, 'point me muggle woman's car'? Hardly." He rolled his eyes. "There's a few roads around here, but only one where the car's been pulled over and carefully parked."
-/
Harry flicked the ignition with his wand and disapparated a short distance away, he'd lifted the spell on the woman only after he'd carefully replaced her gun with all its bullets, ensuring there were no fingerprints or anything like that. While it was tempting to search her car it would've just made her paranoid, he knew it would were it him.
Potter apparated beside him, he'd watched him disapparate having triggered the muggle's vehicle through a pair of muggle binoculars that Potter had procured within the Doctor's craft as part of his "kit bag" he'd constructed when they'd been scouting the grounds.
Potter removed a similar pair of binoculars from a bag stuffed into one of his pockets.
"And what if she tries to investigate further?" He wondered.
Potter shrugged. "Stun her and drop her back to Torchwood, maybe Torchwood Three that's in Cardiff, that's far enough that she hopefully won't trouble us," he answered, fast enough that he'd obviously considered the possibility. "It'd be too complicated to explain all this, we barely do and we've been briefed by the Doctor," he paused and then added "sort of."
"Alternatively we could have modified her memory Potter," he countered, he hadn't raised this and wondered why Potter hadn't explored this route, unless he was squeamish about modifying muggles' memories. Although considering what he knew and had seen of the man he doubted that was a possibility.
Potter shook his head. "The weird Torchwood deal with, she'd have to be pretty thick to miss the memories," he turned and have him a look. "I've not done a lot of it either. It'd need to be pretty perfect."
"And your method...?" He queried leaving the question hanging,
"No one should even encounter that method until the 1970s when the person who taught me makes a splash," he answered "It leaves more options for the mind to fill in the gaps, it's...an organic seclusion of the mind, unless you're trying to get someone to blow something up or kill someone, then apparently the mind rejects it as a foreign concept."
"And this individual who taught you had done that?" Draco enquired looking to Potter to gauge his response.
"Of course, and much more direct things," he answered with a half smile of remembrance. "Look, she's driving off."
Draco peered through the muggle binoculars cursing he hadn't procured a pair of omnioculars and watched as the small conveyance left a plume of blueish smoke as it departed.
-/
"Where'd you two disappear off to?" Alison asked as they sat down to an evening meal in one of the smaller dining rooms.
There was a place for the Doctor but he wasn't around.
Harry stood by the side of the table with a corkscrew. "Red or white?" He asked Alison and Draco as he looked at the assorted bottles of wine.
"What I'd love is a pint if I'm honest," Alison answered looking around.
Harry looked around the room and pointed. "Chill box?" He wondered and opened it, it held what appeared to be chocolate mousse. "Wine it is"
"Just a security issue," Harry explained as some of the servants brought their meals, he didn't know why they'd been left to sort the wine themselves, he suspected it was a directive from the Doctor.
"I think these are some of the better wines," Draco mused as he sniffed his glass.
Harry gave Alison a look as he sipped his glass. "It's nice, what about you and the Doctor?"
"He's been with them all day, I wandered around making sure nothin's 'leaking' so the Doctor says," she explained.
"And it isn't?" Harry wondered.
"Nah," she shook her head "all's fine, he said it should be over by tomorrow, and he said the King-"
"The King will be here the following day, no reason for him to meet the delegates," said the Doctor as he breezed into the room. "Ah you chose the red," he said as he picked up the bottle and poured himself a large glass. "Wonderful bouquet," he said as he sniffed and proceeded to sip a large gulp and toasted them.
"Draco chose it, I just opened it," Harry commented.
"The reverse would be less suited," Draco said with a smirk.
"I'll make sure to have cameras and film on the ready since you want proper documentation of this all happening," Harry looked to the Doctor. "I assume it's going well? Nothing's exploded so far."
"No," the Doctor mused. "Nothing amiss?" He looked to Harry and Draco.
"Just local curiosity, it's dealt with," Harry paused as the Doctor gave him a look. "Painlessly."
"Good, and no, they're all agreeable, this isn't about peace, which is why they're all agreeable," he said as he drained the glass and refilled it. "I'll leave you to your meals, goodnight," he called as he walked out of the dining room.
-/
All his clothes smelt of chemicals and he'd developed dozens of rolls of film, he'd used so many rolls today as the Armageddon Convention had closed. Apparently successfully, the Doctor hadn't explained and none of the delegates, save for the Nestene had wanted to chat.
He'd taken several group shots with them all, with the Doctor, with himself and Draco and the Doctor with the camera on a timer and a mix of those two.
Plus individual photos of all the delegates inside Clarence Hall. The Doctor said none of them would want a keepsake. None of them were sentimental in that way.
Harry instead had said he'd put the best in a frame and hang it in Clarence Hall for when he and Draco got back here, along with all the photos, negatives and everything else.
Earlier when he'd finished taking the photos the Auton of the Nestene Consciousness approached him.
"You are very dedicated to documenting this Convention," they praised.
Harry wasn't sure if it was the Nestene or the Auton speaking. Based on what he'd heard of the Convention, which sounded incredibly detailed to a boring level the others present had at times raised their voices and called them it, he and they, much as the others referred to the Rutan Host, which he supposed made sense as neither had a gender.
"Given where we are, it's wise," Harry answered noncommittally.
"I understand your sovereign wished to visit?" They asked inclining their head to Harry.
Harry nodded unsure how to answer. "He's not my sovereign, I'm as much a traveller as you and everyone else."
"Except you are a native to this planet," they countered.
"Geographically not temporally," Harry countered.
"Of course," the Auton said extracting what looked like a flower from a pocket. "A gift, for your sovereign of our appreciation."
Harry eyed it. "Is it an assassination method?" He wondered our loud and then apologised as the Auton looked curiously at him. "Your energy units come to this planet in 40 years."
They nodded. "I am from the relative far future, the era of casting energy units has passed," they explained obliquely as they offered him the flower.
"Does it do anything?" Harry asked gingerly taking it.
"It will not harm anyone of this planet," they explained calmly in a reasoned tone.
"I'll show the Doctor first," Harry said simply.
"It will offer limited psychic protection to your sovereign, as acknowledgement of the Armageddon Convention's successes here," they continued.
"I don't really know even what was discussed here, we did as the Doctor requested, maintained security here," Harry admitted.
"As it should be," then they inclined their head and walked away.
"What was that about Potter?" Draco asked as he walked over from where he'd been observing.
"I have no idea."
Turning the lights back on, now that everything was fixed and safe there was a knock on the door and the Doctor walked in.
"Draco informed me you wanted to see me."
"After everyone left you looked busy," Harry observed.
"Making sure the flags are ready for the King," he looked to him. "I wasn't expecting he would wish to visit."
Harry shrugged. "I couldn't say no to the King."
The Doctor wrinkled his nose as he looked around at the couple of hundred photos hanging drying. "You were prolific today Harry."
"I want to have memories of this Doctor, feels a little weird, doing all this, knowing that it all evaporates when we leave," he admitted.
"As it should be," the Doctor intoned.
"Was that a phrase for the Convention?" Harry wondered as he turned away from the Doctor to pick up a glass holding the flower, where what seemed to be a Lilly of the Valley (at least according to Draco) sat. "This is what I wanted to ask you about."
"It's a flower," the Doctor said as he held it up.
"The Nestene asked me to give it to the King for letting the Convention happen here, after what happened," he paused. "Will happen? In the 1970s I wanted to check."
"What did they say?" The Doctor took it from him and proceeded to sniff the flower deeply, it bobbed as he did so.
Harry relayed what the Auton had said.
"It's not an autojet," the Doctor said in a short tone. "It is as they described, should be fine."
"Should?" Harry asked in a concerned tone. "And when they turn up in the 1970s and the other times?"
The Doctor shook his head. "As they explained they are from a point beyond that, it's like comparing the primordial ooze to you," the Doctor looked him up and down. "Completely different."
"As long as I'm not going to be contributing to the downfall of the monarchy," Harry looked at the flower critically.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at him. "Not with the flower you won't."
-/
This time he had made sure he was dressed slightly better, Draco was still dressed better than him. As it should be he supposed.
They were the only ones waiting out the front of Clarence Hall, the Doctor was off somewhere, Harry liked to think he would've said 'I don't wait around for anyone'. But he simply told them when the King was arriving and then didn't actually turn up for the arrival.
The staff had apparently been told, rooms prepared and all of that. Hopefully he and the Queen would eat some of the food that the delegates didn't. He and Draco had eaten well, much better than they had in the TARDIS weirdly.
Harry looked to the flags again, those and the Doctor's TARDIS was the only indication anything weird had gone on, and only the Sontaran's flag with its twin pronged flag and the Shadow Kin's banner really looked alien-esque. The others seemed to just have sigils or symbols on vaguely flag or banner shaped pieces of material. Taking photos of them each when the breeze caught them Harry had wondered whether it was the Doctor who'd requested they have it, just so there could be something outside on display.
"I'm glad I don't have to do this pomp too much if I'm honest Draco," Harry admitted as they waited for the cars to approach. "I think I prefer being shot at and working out things."
"Hopefully when this matter concludes we both will be returned Potter," Draco said in a soft tone.
"Yeah, Alison said the Doctor was saying he's got everything fixed properly, just this formality to sort out and then we can be off," he said as the cars approached and drove up the drive way to them.
-/
"Odd flags," the King observed after the introductions, 'your majesties' and all that guff were gotten through.
"Only things left from the delegates, your majesty," Harry answered.
"Oh, they're already off are they?" The Queen queried curiously.
"Yes your majesty," Draco answered.
"And it was a success, the Doctor's convention?" the King enquired curiously.
Harry nodded. "As much as we understand, yes."
"And who were they, these flags and banners?" The Queen asked curiously.
Harry briefly looked to the King, who looked to him, chuckled and nodded.
"Sontarans," Harry indicated the twin flagged pole, "Rutan Host, those two have been at war for...a while so we tried to keep them apart as much as possible, Quill, Nestene Consciousness, Chelonians, Metatraxi, Jalaphron, Q'ell, Shadow Kin, Zebrednik and Vilip," Harry finished as he walked along the line of the flags and banners. "Some of them were at the last convention, while there were some new ones."
"And when was the last convention of these groups? The Doctor was vague on the particulars Mr Potter?" The King asked as they headed inside Clarence Hall.
"The 1600s," Harry answered.
"Good lord! You've taken some photos I see," the King exclaimed.
Harry had forgotten he'd blown up a large photo of the group photo at the end of the convention, evidently the Doctor had set it in a frame and behind glass.
It was his favourite photo as it had everyone, Draco, Alison, the Doctor and himself, plus all the delegates.
"Your majesties, sorry I couldn't greet you when you arrived," the Doctor breezed into the room taking the King's hand like an old friend and embracing the Queen like a forgotten relative.
Then the King was talking animatedly to the Doctor and Harry found the Queen taking his arm. "You Mr Potter are going to take me on a tour and show me what repairs you've done, and if you've met the Lady Winchester."
Harry looked over Draco who just smiled and tried to ignore the Queen's eye.
"Come along Mr Potter," she was saying as she led him towards the doors.
-/
Later Harry was again in 'his' dark room that he'd set up, developing and printing the photos he'd taken today. He admitted to the King that he had gone a bit mad, but it wasn't any day, unlike the Doctor that you got to meet monarchy. He didn't say what he was thinking that he was meeting the King.
Just before they were to leave, as he learnt they wouldn't be staying the night, not here anyways he gave his majesty the flower.
"You say one of the delegates gave this, for me?"
Harry nodded as he held the flower.
"Looks like Lilly of the Valley," the King looked to him for confirmation.
"The delegate said it would offer a small protection against..." Harry trailed off trying to think of an era specific word.
"Against Mr Potter?" The King asked rubbing the plant's leaves between his fingers. "Remarkable texture of this."
"Psychic influences," Harry cringed as he said it as the King looked at him. "Adjacent to magic, sort of, the Doctor assures me that it's safe."
"And this delegate, which one from your photo?" The King asked curiously.
"The Nestene, the smooth faced one you remarked on," Harry answered.
"You know of them do you?" He asked watching Harry's face.
"The delegate who was here for the convention is from a point in our futures that makes statements like knowing them difficult to ascertain," Harry answered obliquely and then added "Your majesty."
The King laughed. "You'd make a good politician with a way with words like that Mr Potter."
"The delegate said it was by way of thanks to you, for allowing the convention to be held here, it was as much as we understood quite momentous to hold this convention," Harry explained.
The King nodded and breathed out. "We hope this is but one highlight for the coming years, that we have helped bring peace," he looked to him "and hopeful that peace will be maintained here in Britain and Europe beyond," the King turned away from him.
Harry was glad he'd done so, so he would not need to lie or answer in a obstructionist way.
-/
Harry adjusted the enlarger to make a few smaller pocket sized photos of himself with the King and Queen, and also Draco in a similar pose. As the Queen commented "photos like this are better than any other sort of credentials".
Slipping the final photos into the fixer he turned the lights back on, then moments later there was a knock on the door and the Doctor walked in.
"Be ready to go in a day or so, just finishing packing up," he said leaning into look closely at the photos that were hanging up drying.
Harry washed his hands again. "And then?" He paused and turned around to look at the Doctor curiously. "Will you be able to take us home? To our time and place?"
"No parallel universes," he muttered to himself. "No!" He said loudly. "No," he repeated softly, "That was my doing," he looked to Harry with a sad look. "Wanting some time, travelling with you," he smiled "And Draco, away from my people, now that I-" he cut himself off "we, have done as they wished they'll stop looking over my shoulder for a bit, and I will be able to return you and Mr Malfoy to 2008, Earth, no more detours," he paused to look at him.
"I didn't even know where I was going to rescue him, running into you and then River Song was unexpected," Harry paused and frowned "and weirdly expected since she told us about our first meeting during our first and her second."
"Time travellers do love that sort of thing," the Doctor commented, Harry wasn't sure if he'd mentioned River before this time.
"I've found all this intriguing and interesting Doctor, but..." he trailed off.
"Things left at home?" The Doctor wondered wistfully. "The League of Paranormal Investigations waiting?"
"Always something to address, something to look into, plenty of things on my to do list," Harry added.
"Indeed Harry, of course, and Draco isn't quite the adventurous type of traveller," the Doctor chuckled.
Harry laughed. "No, but it could be worse, Draco's astute," he paused thinking of the psychic woman who followed Draco across planets, and everything he'd observed but not said to his friend, they were proper adult wizard friends, things could be left unsaid. "I'll make sure we've got everything packed and ready to go."
The Doctor nodded. "Good," and then he left the room.
Harry looked at his photos which had managed to dry in the time he'd been talking to the the Doctor. "Good," he said to himself as he started un-pegging the now dry photos, slipping them into two envelopes for himself and Draco to take with them.
-/
A/N:
Tone has been the hardest thing for this chapter, and writing a not too cynical Harry compared to post-chapter 90 Harry who's a lot more mature than this version of Harry.
Fortunately I can have him a little more cynical within the confines of the chapters set in 1930s Britain as it's all on the temporal ley lines, so only recorded in his and Draco's diaries.
I've skipped over the convention itself, which is probably very boring, very powerful races discussing likely what weapons they're allowed or which specific ones they're allowed to use to blow up planets or whatever.
The Armageddon Convention and the events in the 1600s feature in the novel The Empire of Glass. There's fewer delegates in this chapter because they're mostly just affirming changes / alterations. Have added one or two more recent aliens to the mix.
Next chapter is the last, and will be a mix of old and new content, ending where chapter 53 of Visited by a Doctor begins.
Thanks for reading.