Three - Lily Pond

The Doctor was entirely, one hundred and twelve percent, focused on finding Amy. That was his goal, and he was definitely going to succeed, because he was the Doctor and she was his best friend and he would always find his way back to her, because that was how things worked with the two of them. But it was a little difficult to do in this particular place, a castle where the staircases moved and every corridor he went down seemed identical to the one he'd just turned out of – and he was sure that, by now, Amy had left the landing where he'd specifically told her to wait and was currently wandering about the castle, probably in the exact opposite direction to the one he was going in. Marvellous Amy Pond, the girl who waited for her Raggedy Doctor for years and yet, when she got him, never listened to his instructions.

The energy of the castle, too, was proving very distracting. The Doctor was certain he'd felt this atmosphere before, somewhere, once, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where or when. Time travel is tricky business, you know, what with all those different time streams and all of the universe to contend with. He'd seen so much of history and explored so many different worlds that after a while it got hard to remember exact details, and things started to blur together a little bit - Not people, he never forgot the people, for the people were always important and the Doctor always remembered the important things – but abstract things like sensations, yes, he was willing to admit that sometimes his memory lapsed slightly with things like that. If only he could find someone to talk to, someone fully human and not painted in oil, they could give him some answers and trigger his memories. The halls and corridors of the castle appeared to be empty, though, and the longer he walked, the more he thought perhaps he'd end up having to wait until morning to find a human to talk to – unless he found the sleeping quarters and woke someone up. Yes, maybe that would work, but, then again, people were easily startled and tended to lash out when they were woken up, and he really didn't feel like having to struggle with someone trying to punch him because he'd woken them from a good dream and they thought he was an intruder. Which he supposed he was, now that he thought about it….

The Doctor found himself suddenly in a library, a very large one with row upon row of books on all sorts of wonderful topics he would have loved to have learnt about, though perhaps not by actually reading all of the books, because that would have taken an awfully long time. Nonetheless, the whole room was fascinating – and it was made even more so when he spotted Amy, sitting by the window, red hair spilling over her shoulders and her knees drawn up to her chest, a book open but unread on the table in front of her.

"Amy!" He tried to sound reprimanding but came across instead as just relieved. "I told you to wait on the landing -"

"Excuse me?" Amy said, turning to face him, and something in her eyes made the Doctor realise that he wasn't talking to his Amy, even though this girl in front of him was physically identical to her. She was dressed differently, in a grey school uniform; but she was still wearing a short skirt – this one black and pleated – a fact which the Doctor found mildly amusing.

"Uh… Sorry, I thought you were someone else," he said, smiling awkwardly as he considered what seeing another Amy meant. "Hello, I'm the Doctor."

Not-Amy considered him for a moment, looking wary, before slowly lowering her feet onto the floor and turning fully to face him. "The Doctor?" Yes, with those legs and that tone she was definitely Amy, or a type of Amy anyway, but with an English accent and those unknowing – and more importantly, untrusting – eyes, she also definitely wasn't his Amy.

"That's me," he beamed at her now, trying to be as charming as possible. "What's your name?"

"What sort of doctor are you?" Not-Amy avoided the question, asking one of her own instead.

"A good sort," the Doctor answered.

"What's a doctor doing here?" Not-Amy stood up, folding her arms over her chest.

"Uh, I'm looking for a friend," the Doctor told her, honestly, "I'm here for something else, too, I'm sure, but I haven't discovered what that something else is, yet." Not-Amy raised her eyebrows, and even though she had her lips pressed together he could see the ghost of a smile on her strange, familiar face. He decided that he liked this version of Amy, too, and continued, "While we're on the topic, actually, would you mind telling me where here is?"

That surprised Not-Amy. "You don't know where you are?"

"Well, I know I'm on Earth, somewhere in Scotland," the Doctor said, waving an arm towards the windows. "Not sure what dimension this is, though, to be honest. The TARDIS went a bit funny and, well, we didn't crash, but we went off course a bit and ended up in your dining hall, I think..."

"What, you crash landed in the Great Hall?" Not-Amy looked really perplexed now.

"Is that what you call the hall with the big long tables and the floating candles?"

Not-Amy nodded slowly. "Uh… Yes."

"Then yes, we landed in the Great Hall. What a name, certainly makes it sound impressive, doesn't it? Well, it is impressive, with the candles and the sky – How does it do that, by the way?" The Doctor grabbed the sonic screw driver from his jacket pocket and scanned Not-Amy.

She jumped back slightly, knocking into the desk behind her. "What is that?"

"Sonic screw driver, nothing to be afraid of," the Doctor reassured, holding it up to read. "What's your name?"

Not-Amy deliberated for a moment, pressing her lips together so that they formed a thin, white line, before sighing. "Lily Evans."

"Lily Evans," the Doctor repeated after her thoughtfully, "How very interesting… Lily Pond, I see. Mhmm, what a strange thing the universe is. Or, universes, as the case may be."

Lily blinked at him. "Are you mad?"

He grinned at her. "Most definitely."

Now Lily looked really worried. "How did you get into Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts, is that where we are? Another splendid name, conjures up all sorts of nasty images. Some schools are pretty horrid though, might as well name them after horrid things," the Doctor said, absently picking a book up off the nearest shelf and flipping through its pages. "Is this a horrid school? It doesn't seem it, but you never can tell within the first hour."

"Are you working for You-Know-Who?" Lily asked suddenly, and her voice was breathless, as though she'd had to force herself to ask the question.

The Doctor pushed the book back onto the shelf, upside down, turning his full attention to Lily, who looked more terrified at her own words now than she had at hearing he'd crashed into her school. "I'm afraid I don't know who that is," he told her, his voice low and serious.

Lily's green eyes remained locked on his, searching for any signs of a lie. "You're not- you're not a Death Eater or anything?"

"Now that," the Doctor said, unable to contain himself, "is an absolutely beastly name! A Death Eater, what sort of thing is that? Who would want a title like that? No, no, Lily Evans, I am not a Death Eater. I am the Doctor."

"But what do you mean, the Doctor?" Lily glanced from the Doctor to the door and shifted sideways, looking thoroughly uncomfortable. "We use the term healer, only muggles call them doctors."

"Muggles." The Doctor paused, as though the word had made him think of something, and pulled out his sonic to once again check the readings - But then he just shook his head and said lightly, "So, how do you do it?"

It was obvious from her blank expression that Lily didn't quite know what he was asking. "Do what?"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the sonic, clarifying absently, "Make the roof look like the sky?"

"Oh, uh…" Lily took a moment to regain focus. "It's enchanted. The roof's enchanted to look like the sky outside."

"Enchanted?" The Doctor snapped his head up sharply, staring intently at this girl who wasn't his Amy and yet was so much like her. "Enchanted! Of course!" He yelled, slapping himself on the forehead and making Lily jump. "Of course, stupid Doctor, stupid, stupid, it's so obvious!" Lily had begun slowly relaxing, but when the Doctor raced up to her and gripped her shoulders, she froze with all of her muscles tensed. He stared intently into her eyes and declared, "Lily, I need you to take me to the Great Hall."

[-]

Amy wasn't one hundred percent sure what she was looking for – definitely the Doctor, probably someone to tell her where she was, and maybe an exit. Although she could see through the windows set deep in the outside wall of the castle that it was still pouring rain outside, and getting steadily darker, so perhaps an exit wasn't the best thing to be searching for. But the Doctor, yes, that was certainly a good thing to try and find - and someone to give her some answers, too, would be nice. After forty minutes, however, she hadn't found either of those things –or an exit- and had taken to wandering around the seemingly endless corridors without any real sense of purpose.

So when a life size portrait of a rather large lady in a painted archway swung open right in front of her and a boy stepped out of a hole in the wall, she jumped backwards with a sharp gasp. The boy had a smug smile on his face as though he was about to crack a joke, or was laughing about something privately funny, but when he spotted Amy his expression switched first to one of amazement, then confusion, and finally settled on something Amy would have described as cocky adoration; similar to flirty, but with more… feeling, more history than just the usual superficial, lusty type of flirting Amy was used to. But it was his features themselves - the high forehead, the nose, the unruly hair, the eyes, framed by round glasses but such a lively hazel– that really affected Amy. There was a pang in her insides, almost a stabbing sort of sensation, that took her breath away, and suddenly she felt so, so sad - as though a whole chunk of her heart had been ripped from her chest. She could sense something just on the edges of her consciousness, something important, so very important, but she had forgotten it and she just couldn't quite grasp the memory…

"Lily," the boy said, his tone light and friendly. "What are you doing out here at this hour? I didn't think you were on rounds this late." Amy couldn't bring herself to answer and the boy stepped closer to her, his brow furrowing with obvious concern. "Lily," he repeated, his voice softer now, "Why are you crying?"

Silently, Amy raised a hand to her cheek and was surprised to find that her fingertips came away wet. She hadn't even noticed her eyes watering, and yet there were tear drops streaming down her face. She looked up at the boy in front of her, more scared of her own emotions than being stranded in a strange castle, and searched his face, his face that was familiar and yet so completely new, for answers… But all she got was a strange, uncomfortable, twisting sensation in her stomach. When the boy reached up to brush away her tears with the pad of his thumb she jumped back, wary, and tried to ignore the hurt on his face.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking genuinely worried.

It was only now that she'd stepped away that she finally noticed what he was wearing. He was dressed in a school uniform, almost exactly like what the boys at her high school had worn – black trousers, a white collared shirt, a loose red and yellow tie - but, unlike the boys that Amy had gone to high school with, this boy was wearing robes over the top of his uniform, black robes that billowed around his ankles, with loose sleeves and a colourful crest embroidered on the front.

"What are you wearing?" The words tumbled off Amy's tongue before she could stop to think about them.

The boy looked almost as affronted as he did confused. "What are you wearing?" He retorted.

Amy glanced down at her thoroughly normal attire of red converse, denim skirt, leather jacket and long red scarf, and then back up at the boy. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Nothing," the boy said quickly, and she watched his gaze wander over her legs before slowly coming to rest back on her face. "I mean, I'm always a fan of you in a short skirt, but – Hang on, why are you talking with a Scottish accent?"

"Do you have something against Scots?" Amy asked defensively, her nostrils flaring.

The boy looked as though he couldn't decide whether to be bemused or afraid. "Lily, what has gotten into you?"

"My name isn't Lily," Amy snapped, resting her hands on her hips. "It's Amy Pond. And who are you?"

Now the boy looked genuinely frightened. "What-But-Who-" He stuttered over the beginnings of all the different questions that were no doubt racing through his mind, his hands held out in front of him as though he wasn't sure whether he wanted to hug her or shake her. He settled on placing one hand on either of her shoulders and asking, "What?"

"My name is Amelia Pond," Amy repeated. "Not Lily, not Miss Evans -"

"If you're not Lily," the boy asked, "then how did you know her last name is Evans?"

"Huh? Ohhh," Amy gave a small smile as realisation dawned. "So she's Lily Evans; that's her name. You and the man in the painting, you both thought I was the same person -"

"Lily," the boy said, stubbornly refusing to listen to her insistences that that was not her name, "What's happening? You're really scaring me."

"You're scared?" Amy shoved his hands off her shoulders and pushed back. "I've just crash landed from space in to a strange school full of some strange type of humans and people keep calling me by another girl's name and I've lost the Doctor, and you're telling me that you're scared? You need to toughen up, whoever you are."

The boy blinked at her, and she could see him deliberating over whether or not she was this Lily girl, playing a trick on him. She couldn't tell whether he'd decided it was a joke but he was going to play along anyway, or if he actually believed her, but she was relieved when he finally said, "James Potter. I'm James Potter."

"Hello, James," she said, "Can you tell me where I am, and then can you help me find the Doctor?"

"As a matter of fact," James said, pulling a folded piece of parchment from inside his robes, "I think I can." Amy's whole face brightened, and she watched intently as he pulled a long, pointed stick from another pocket and tapped the parchment with it, saying, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

In front of her eyes, lines appeared from nowhere and began snaking over the parchment, forming words and pictures and – "Is that a map?" Amy asked.

James had taken a blank bit of parchment from his pocket and now suddenly it was a giant map.

"It's a map of all of Hogwarts, secret tunnels and everything," he told her. When she looked at him blankly he frowned. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – that's what this is, where you are. How did you get here, if you don't know what this is?"

"We crash landed," Amy repeated. "Witchcraft and Wizardry? So all the students here, they're-you're-"

"Witches and wizards, yep. Magic," James told her, grinning as though he was showing off a party trick to impress a pretty girl. Which he kind of was, Amy thought.

"And this is a map of your entire school?" She pointed to the map in front of him, and saw now that the tiny little pictures she'd seen before were of people, and that some of them were moving.

"The entire grounds and everyone in them." James pointed to two small figures, and her eyes widened as he read out the names printed above them, "Look, here we are. James Potter and Amy Pond."

"So if I were to walk downstairs -" Amy began.

"-The you on the map would go downstairs, too," James finished.

"Can you see the Doctor?"

James studied the parchment. "What's his name?"

Amy rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh… The Doctor. That's it."

James raised an eyebrow at her, before returning his full attention back to the map. "Oh!" He exclaimed after a few seconds, jabbing the parchment with his index finger. "Here, I've found him!"

Amy leant over his shoulder to see what he was pointing at, and sure enough, there was her Doctor, running along down a corridor and a flight of steps into a room labelled 'Entrance Hall'. "Who's he with?"

"Lily Evans," James breathed, looking up to stare at Amy. "The girl I thought you were."

"So you believe me now, you believe that I'm Amy Pond?" She asked stubbornly.

"The map never lies," he told her, and then shrugged. "So yeah, I believe you. You're here with me, Amy Pond, and Lily's there with your Doctor. They're heading into the Great Hall."

"Is that the hall with the invisible roof?" Amy asked.

"Enchanted ceiling, yeah," James corrected casually. "You've been there?"

"That's where we crashed," she told him. "That's where the TARDIS is."

"The what?"

"Our space ship," Amy said, putting it as simplistically as possible.

James looked completely stunned. "Your- Your space ship. You came to Hogwarts in a space ship?"

"How can you find that strange?" Amy grumbled, "You're a bloody wizard, nothing should be strange to you."

"Oh, no, this is very strange," James assured her.

Amy shoved her hands into her pockets. "Can you take me to the –what did you call it?- Great Hall?"

James nodded, putting the map and the stick –which she assumed was his wand- back into his pockets. "I can even take a short cut."

[-]

James Potter knew Hogwarts better than almost anyone, and was particularly adept at navigating its tunnels and corridors by the dark of night. Lily Evans, although a perfectly proficient navigator, had not had quite as much experience as James, and was a bit preoccupied with figuring out who the strange man she was guiding through the school was, and whether or not he could really be trusted.

And so it was that Lily Evans and the Doctor entered the Great Hall, but only made it half way to the TARDIS before James Potter and Amy Pond burst in behind them.

"Okay kids," Amy declared, "this is where it gets complicated."

a.n. I've got uni and life stuffs to do now, so it'll probably be a week before the next update. I was going to hold off, but I thought you wonderful readers deserved Lily and James to come into the story now. So here you go! Please review and let me know what you think; one hundred percent honestly, it's so much easier to write when I have people's reviews to inspire me. So, the more reviews, the faster the update. :)
And for those of you reading my Lily and James story "Infatuation", there'll be an update for that hopefully tomorrow, maybe the next day.
Thanks so much darlings!