The Doctor smiled down at Hermione's eager expression as they wound their way back through the console room and up another corridor.
"Just how big is this ship?" she asked in a mixture of interest and awe.
"She is as big as you want her to be," he answered honestly. "The TARDIS can usually provide whatever you want, whenever you want it! She is not restricted by the regular rules of dimensional space."
"Wow," Hermione replied, as she thought about how similar the TARDIS was to the Hogwarts castle. She repeated that word much louder and with a lot more emphasis just a moment later when she saw the library for the first time. "Wow! Oh, sweet Merlin!" she also exclaimed as her knees almost gave out again. "No, it's okay," she reassured the Doctor as he turned to grab her. "It's not from weakness. I have just…never…seen…anything like this ever before!"
With those words, she turned her attention back to the huge, multi-storied room with row after row of beloved books. The Doctor watched her delighted expression as she turned around in a full circle to take it all in. It was the happiest he had seen her since she had joined him in the TARDIS and the emotion just transformed her. He thought that she was beautiful in her joy and he just could not take his eyes off of her.
"Not even the British Library can compare with this!" She exclaimed as she turned to see him just smirking at her. "You think you are so impressive," she replied teasingly.
"I am so impressive!" he answered petulantly, as if she had wounded his pride by casting such an aspersion. She let out a small laugh in response as he led the way to a nearby secluded alcove where a couple of soft armchairs and a very comfortable looking couch were located. A fully loaded tea tray also awaited them on a side table.
"Oh," Hermione breathed. "This is heavenly, Doctor! It is just what I needed. Thank you so much for sharing this with me!" she exclaimed and her voice full of emotion as she surprised him with a hug. He surprised himself, as well, when he returned the excited woman's affectionate embrace with a gentle squeeze of his own and then again when he felt the absence of her in his arms keenly as she left him in order to make the tea.
"How do you take it?" she asked, breaking into his thoughts as she gestured towards his cup.
"Just milk, please," he replied calmly, even though his mind was still a bit bewildered by his reaction to Hermione. He had never been one to desire physical closeness. Yet, he found that even though they had just met, he had already experienced (and enjoyed) more contact with Hermione than he had with anyone else for a very long time. Not only that, but he had even initiated quite of bit of it himself!
Perhaps it is just a quirk of this new body, he reasoned.After all, it had not been that long since he had regenerated. The reason for the necessity of that change was not an area he wished to examine any deeper, however, so he turned his attention away from it and back to her. He eventually decided that maybe her air of mystery had something to do with his fascination, too. He had just never met anyone like her and once she felt able to explain herself and her situation, he should go back to normal.
Yes, that must be it! he decided with relief, as she handed him the prepared cup and he sat down in one of the chairs with it. He found that he was pleased, however, when she chose to sit down with her own cup on the end of the sofa closest to him - rather than in the other chair that was further away.
"What language are these books written in? Could I read some? Would you mind?" Hermione's breathless questions dragged his mind back to the present again. He grinned at her obvious eagerness and he realized that it might be a good idea to focus on her questions about him and the TARDIS now. Hopefully, she would then feel comfortable enough to open up about her own situation. Therefore, he truthfully answered all of her verbalized questions and even anticipated some of her unspoken ones, too!
"The books are written in all kinds of languages – some are Earth based, but most are not. Nevertheless, you should be able to read any of them that you choose because the TARDIS uses her telepathic abilities to translate for you. She does the same for spoken languages, as well."
"Oh! That sounds wonderful – and convenient – especially for the type of traveling that I am sure you do." Her eyes practically gleamed in anticipation of seeing what those shelves had to offer…and at the thought of cultural adventures without language barriers.
"Yes, it is!" He smiled knowingly before that genial look faltered as he guessed what her next question was going to be.
"Where are you and the TARDIS from, Doctor? What is your relationship? Are you friends, partners, or something else? Is it just the two of you or are there others aboard? What do you do? Do you have some sort of business that you handle or do you just travel?"
Even though she had indeed asked the dreaded question, the Doctor could not help but to smile at her enthusiasm. He was also pleased with her curiosity. It was one of those qualities that he always liked about the humans who had traveled with him in the past. However, most people just asked "Where are you from?" and then left it at that. Hermione, though, seemed to want to know everything!
The Doctor found that he could not bring himself to talk about Gallifrey, yet, not even to say the name - so he gave her the generic version of his tale. "What you see, Hermione, is what you get. You've already basically figured us out. I'm just an alien with two hearts journeying through time and space together with my magnificent sentient ship. We help out wherever we're needed and often get into trouble along the way." Here he stopped and grinned again. "Occasionally, we pick up strays, as well."
Hermione had listened attentively to the Doctor's explanation until he uttered his last sentence. "Helping out wherever you are needed and getting into trouble along the way," she repeated musingly before she looked up at him with an indecipherable look on her face. "Doctor, you have just described my life perfectly - up until now at any rate." She then met his manic grin with a shy smile of her own. "Am I one of your strays, by the way?"
Her question took him by surprise, but his answer was instantaneous, nonetheless. "Hermione, I don't know you very well, yet. However, I can already tell that you're much too important to be just a stray!" This thought came out a bit too seriously for his liking - even though he was rewarded with a beaming smile from the lovely woman. That smile seemed to reach down right into what was left of his crushed soul in order to soothe it a bit. The Doctor did not know how to react to such a unexpected feeling, so he decided to quickly change the subject instead. To take their minds off of the conversation, he jumped up and offered her his arm. "Right then! Would you like to go browsin' among the stacks?"
Another beam of delight from her direction threatened to do away with the perpetual gloom in his heart as she placed her hand in the crook of his leather-clad elbow. "Oh yes!" she whispered breathily and, as her warm brown eyes met his cool blue ones, he suddenly realized that he was in trouble! However, it was not from a ruthless dictator, man-eating monster, or vengeful enemy this time. No, but it was something just as dangerous: a fascinating, young, bright-smiled, warm-eyed, and lively-haired witch who apparently really loved a well-stocked library!