Thank you shouts to Tai Greywing and AmyAmidala (both for your wonderful reviews and those kind words of comfort and helpful advice, they helped a lot!), The Doctor's Tenth Companion, rosetylerrox (sorry!), Truthisbrutal, lola laflaunda and Kristina (Can't wait for Don Juan!)

Doobrey Ferkin: I have to agree with you there. That's probably why I'm kinda obsessed with using them. Well, that and the chance for a break-off point. Both good. I love Cliffies, end of story. Thanks for reviewing! Oh, and look! I continued it! ;D

josiesprx: And so you were. Thank you!

LittleGinny15: Oh, I'm so very glad to hear that! ;D I took your advice, reluctantly at first, but once I'd sat down and laughed away my blues through watching non-stop as many British comedies as I could find on TV, I felt much better, so thank you!

Apologies for the delay, but if it's any consolation, my mini-break (and all of your help and support, which I can't thank you enough for! Love you all!) has helped me to get my life back on track. I've decided that I am no longer going to play side-kick to everyone who knows me. No more will I stand to one side while everybody else holds the limelight. I won't be a pushover any more, to anyone, and the best way to start that, is to bring out the real me. She's been cooped up for too long, and writing has helped me begin to break through the bars of her cage.

Which is why I have now convinced myself that my writing is going to take a front seat in my life, and that if I want to write, no matter what the Hell I'm doing at the time, then by God I will write. Which I suppose should mean more frequent updates, but it will probably depend on my mood. I say I'll write when I want to, no matter what, but there's the guarantee that I won't always want to write … So anyway, thanks everybody, finger's crossed that my life takes a U-turn and more pleasant experiences are knocking on my door, and enjoy Chapter Twenty! (God, that many?) ;D

Disclaimer: Chapter Twenty … is it mine, now? No? Shame, I'm really beginning to get into it …

Falling into Place

"Doctor? Doctor! Where are you!"

Harry threw his hands up in frustration as he continued to shuffle through the intense darkness, eyes strained and ears pricked for any sign of movement. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing around.

Harry paused. Well, that wasn't completely unfortunate for him. He'd much rather be alone than face another abducted alien from the life of a round the bend-genius, but at the same time, he really wanted his said round the bend-genius to show his face again.

"Oh, this is just bloody brilliant, this is," he muttered to himself, irate. "Fantastic! Bloody fantastic! What now? Hell knows where I am, or what I'm s'posed to be doing here, and the one guy who might actually know has gone and lost himself. Doctor!" Harry gazed hopelessly around, his eyes betraying him as no object dared move before his staring orbs, and he sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, Doctor! Get your skinny little arse back here, right now!"

"I'd, er, rather you didn't look there if it's all the same to you, thanks, Harry."

Harry jumped and span on his heels, straining his eyes against the blackness.

"'Bout time you turned up. Where've you been?" he asked, moodily.

"Oh, you know, round and about. Where are you?" the Doctor asked, his voice low.

"Here."

"Yeah, and I've got x-ray vision, Harry," he replied, sarcastically. He paused, frowning. "Well, I suppose I kinda have, actually. It's better than yours, at any rate," he added hastily. "Still, I can't see you through this. Give me a sign, would you? I'm not really feelin' one-hundred per cent at the moment."

Feeling suddenly mysterious, as though the bizarre atmosphere was asking him to play along, Harry grinned and put on the best impersonation of Sybill Trelawney that he could.

"Follow the sound of my voice, my child," he offered, his wide smile snaking his words with skill. The Doctor could just picture it as he laughed softly, stopping a few paces in front of Harry.

"Ironic, then, that I'm over eight-hundred-and-eighty-odd years older than you, Harry, give or take a decade, or so."

Harry's eyes widened with surprise.

"How old?" he gasped.

"I'm Nine-Hundred … Or there abouts, anyway … Gosh, didn't you know?" the Doctor simpered, grinning broadly. His smile faded moments later as a shuffling sound entered his ears, floating along from somewhere behind him. "Harry, have you moved?" he murmured.

"Nope, still here," Harry replied. He waved a hand vigorously in front of himself, enough to allow the Doctor to glimpse its moving blur through the darkness.

"Well, we have company, then," the Doctor whispered, doubling his grip on his sonic screwdriver as he ceased moving, standing stock still.

"And is that supposed to surprise me?" Harry murmured back, his wand steady and waiting.

"Probably not, but, y'know, I thought it best I warned you."

"Duly noted, thanks."

"You're welcome."

"And what are we going to do?"

"Ahh."

"Ahh?"

"Ahh."

"Not very helpful, as I'm sure you already know, Doctor."

"Ssshh!" the Doctor hissed a moment later, as the shuffling sound grew steadily louder, accompanied now by slow and painfully ragged breaths. The Doctor stepped backwards, practically jumping out of his skin as he backed straight into Harry, who hissed back in indignation and raised a hand to his shoulder to hold him still. "Sorry," he whispered.

"Who's there?" Harry called, his voice strong and in no way getting across his unease. The Doctor grinned at himself.

An unearthly silence answered him, and it took Harry a moment to realise that whoever had been breathing, or struggling to breathe, as it had sounded through his ears, a moment ago, was no longer doing so.

"They've stopped," he muttered, his ears prepared to hear a pin drop as he waited for something to happen.

"So I'd noticed, thanks, Harry," the Doctor murmured back, vaguely, glancing around in every direction, but unable to see anything. "What is going on around here?"

"I wonder if the others made it back to the TARDIS alright," Harry voiced, frowning.

"Oh, I'm sure they have. The Master wants to get out of here as much as we do. He isn't about to back out of a deal if it means he has a one-way ticket out of this place. At the moment, I'm more worried about the remoteness of the chance of him returning for us. I can't make it back to my own TARDIS in this state, even with the strange energy booster that I've somehow acquired from no-where." He paused, his expression serious. "I need to find out who's keeping me alive," he finished, more to himself than to Harry.

Harry glanced at his face, or roughly where he thought the Doctor's face was positioned amidst the stark black background, and sighed.

"Must be Voldemort," he said without thinking. The Doctor turned to him, his eyes narrowed in confusion and a grim smile edging across his lips. His curiosity blanked out the sudden burst of pain as his neck throbbed, almost as though it was attempting to remind him that it was still there. As best he could, he ignored it, thinking.

"Yes, and who exactly is this guy? I know he's supposed to be, well, 'The All Evil' of the Magical World, but what does he want with me? I'm a Time Traveller who really shouldn't be here at all, and yet I'm more involved than even I can justify safely. I know nothing about him, and as far as I know, he knows nothing really about me, so what possible motives can he have for keeping me alive? No, there's something else going on, here. It isn't Voldemort who wants me. Someone else has dragged me and Rose into this War, and it's about time we found out who it is."

Harry remained silent, thinking. Feeling slightly nervous, he blinked and turned back to the Doctor, puzzled.

"Is it possible Voldemort's after your knowledge? You say he doesn't want you, but a personality like yours can't really be missed, can it? Maybe he found out about you through other means, and wants help with something that only you would know about."

The Doctor considered the little of Harry's face that he could see - which wasn't a great deal, more like a flicker of an outline - frowning. After a moment's consideration, he shook his head, sighing.

"No, it isn't that. If it were, why not draw the TARDIS into his workshop? Why drop it outside the doors of a Magical School, least of all when the occupants of said school are almost definitely after his blood? No, from what I can decipher of our situation, whoever brought us here did so under stress, and therefore only had enough energy to draw us into the same time zone, rather than where they were at the time."

Harry nodded, unsure if that had made sense to him or not. The Doctor sighed, frustrated, and ran his blood-stained hands through his hair, regretting the movement afterwards as he realised the reduced amount of blood now covering them was due to its migration to his dishevelled locks. He turned away, a tiny grimace of pain gracing his face, trying to see anything through the darkness, but failing abysmally.

"No, I'm convinced that this Voldemort guy's still involved somewhere down the line, but he isn't the one responsible for bringing us here. Perhaps if he has a hostage, that could well ex-"

"Is that likely?"

"Well, 'bout as likely as any other possibility, I guess. I know a lot of people, Harry. And as you can see, they don't all appreciate my work, but I do have a few … shall we say more agreeable members of my past who would want to help out if they knew they could. Perhaps, it's one of -"

Harry raised a hand, frowning.

"Wait, can you hear something?" he whispered, frozen to the spot. Gazing unseeingly through the blackness, Harry's heart stopped as the distant screech echoed across to them, this time catching the Doctor's attention as well.

Without warning, Harry was knocked painfully hard to the floor, his wand flying from his grasp as he raised a reflexive hand in an attempt to take the impact.

"Sh -"

"Harry, look out!"

Blinking back the blinding sting of pain as he felt a damp liquid, that he could only suspect was his own blood, begin to soak his hand, Harry glanced desperately upwards towards the Doctor, and instinctively rolled out of the way as something flashed past him, striking the ground with a loud clatter exactly where he had been lying moments before. Stumbling hurriedly to his knees, Harry jumped as a buzzing filled his ears, accompanied by a burst of blue light. Harry blinked and sighed with relief as he spotted the Doctor, his screwdriver out, ready and humming in his hand.

"Point it at the ground!" he called, quickly, scrabbling around as he tried to recover his lost wand. The Doctor obliged, though the soft beam of blue was frequently lifted and sent some four feet over his shoulder, before illuminating his searching hands again.

His heart thumping wildly against his ribs, Harry's fingers closed around the familiar, wooden handle, and before he had fully regained his balance, he was standing again, his wand pointed at something just beyond his level of vision, slinking away from the light of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

"What was it?" he whispered, panting.

"No idea, I never caught sight of it."

"That helps," Harry shrugged, edging towards it.

"No, Harry, wait," the Doctor murmured, his arm raised in warning. Harry stared at him, frowning.

"What is it?"

The Doctor shuffled forwards, the sonic screwdriver never quavering in its aim and the buzzing growing steadily louder as he moved closer. He stopped a few paces in front of Harry, who turned to face the same direction, wand ready.

"It's still here," he muttered, staring into the gloom. Straightening up as best he could, The Doctor's voice echoed out after the light from the weapon in his hand, momentarily drowning out the steady humming. "Show yourself!"

Nothing.

"What's it waiting for?" Harry whispered, eyes wide for any sudden movements.

"I'm not sure. Come, on!" he called out, again. "We're not hostile! Anything but, in fact! Show yourself! What do you want from us? What are you doing here? Who are you, might be the best question to start with, actually."

"You will follow me."

Harry instantly jumped a foot into the air and straightened his arm again, his wand steady and a stunning spell ready and waiting on his lips. The Doctor sighed.

"Why is it evil bad guys always have to be the ones to boss me about? Why can't it be me doing the bossing for a change?"

"You will follow me." The voice was low and thunderous, its eerie echoing ring sending chills skirting along his spine. Suddenly serious, the Doctor frowned into the black night before him.

"And if we refuse?"

"You will follow me. You will follow me now if you value the lives of this Universe's inhabitants. He has something to show you."

The Doctor and Harry swapped a look.

"Who has something to show us?" Harry asked, gazing towards where he envisaged the creature standing through narrowed eyes.

"He does. For perhaps the first time, for perhaps the last time, Good and Evil will combine forces. Come. You have much to discuss, and he grows impatient. The safety of your friends, of your family, of the very Universe as you know it, is at stake."

The Doctor frowned, puzzled.

"Family?" he mumbled, his eyes blank. "What family?" The Doctor glanced at Harry, who shrugged, shaking his head solemnly.

"Can't have meant me," he sighed. The Doctor studied him dubiously.

"Well how could he mean me? You know what happened to mine. You still have family at Hogwarts, Harry. Maybe he means them."

"No, I doubt it, Doctor."

The Doctor sighed, puzzled.

"Let's say we agree to accompany you to … well, wherever 'He' is. What do you mean, 'Good and Evil will combine forces'? I don't work with those who's only best interests for me are those of an early – er, earlyish – death!" he called out, his grip on the sonic screwdriver strengthening by the second.

"Follow and you shall see. He knows you, Doctor. He knows everything about you."

"So 'He' wants me alone, then?"

"No, He knows Harry Potter, too. Harry Potter has saved this world many a time, at great expense to himself. Harry Potter deserves this as much as you do. He shall join us, for he is destined to see this fight through to the end."

Harry glanced at the Doctor, stumped. The Doctor stared back, thinking, his face illuminated by the light from the sonic screwdriver, giving his already pale-from-too-much-blood-loss face an even greater ghostly appearance.

"What do you think? Can we trust it?" Harry muttered.

The Doctor sighed.

"It seems we have no choice, Harry. And then there's the fact that whoever 'He' is could very well hold the answers we so desperately need. And it isn't like there's anything else in this endless night for us to do, is it?"

Harry shook his head, convinced. "Weapons stay out, though, Doctor. We shouldn't be taking risks."

"I agree. Okay, then," he called to the voice, his tone firm and obliging, "for once in our lives, or mine at least … we'll come quietly. As the famous Earth-saying goes, 'take us to your leader'!"

Jack's groans broke the peaceful silence, bouncing around him like a chorus of singing angels, although not nearly quite as pleasant to the ears. Feeling oddly out of place, Jack forced himself into a sitting position, and frowned, glancing wearily around the room.

His eyes adjusting into an unnaturally sharp focus, Jack blinked, raising a hand to shade his face from the brightness of the room. The pure white walls boxed him in, containing him in a wide expanse of floor-space, with nothing else to attract his eye.

Remembering the fall, Jack's eyes lifted to the ceiling, but there was nothing there. No gaping hole, no wide-mouthed chasm, lying dormant and satisfied after digesting them with ease, no nothing. Just a ceiling, plain and white, clinical but somehow sinister at the same time.

Teri …

A burst of energy later and Jack was scrambling to his feet, his head pounding after the fall, although he could no longer see what he had fallen through, and his senses working overtime as he scanned the room for any sign of her.

But she wasn't there.

Unperturbed, Jack began examining the four walls. Concealed quite masterfully, slap bang in the middle of the wall in front of him, was a pure white door, the tiny key hole the only clue as to its existence. Jack shoved his hands roughly into his jeans pockets, searching for anything that could possibly work as a lock-picking device. Unfortunately for him, his pockets had betrayed him. They were empty save the laser gun, which, he reluctantly admitted to himself, would do little as a break-out weapon.

Defeated, Jack sighed with frustration and threw himself onto the floor, head in his hands and his body aching.

"Damn bloody place. Trap-doors all over, and none of them are helpful," he muttered, glaring at his knees. "S'pose they took Teri back. I swear, as soon as I get outa here, I'm gonna kill each and every one of these sick and twisted b -"

"'Bout time you woke up, it's been hours! We gave up trying to wake you!"

Jack jumped and turned to the hidden door, his eyes wide with surprise. Suddenly incredibly conscious of an unfamiliar voice calling to him amidst an empty white room, he straightened up, gun out and pointing again. 'Just to be sure,' he assured himself.

"And you can put that away, right now, you're not going to need it. We're here to help. Jack, wasn't it?"

"Y-yes," Jack murmured, relaxing his grip but not lowering it. Gazing at the key-hole with a mixture of shock and suspicion upon his face, Jack dragged himself to his feet and shuffled across the room to the door again, his eye pressed up against the tiny gap in the long and seemingly endless stretch of white. "Who are you?"

Jack jumped backwards as a wide smile swam before his eye from the opposite side of the door. "Bloody Hell! What are you so damn happy about?" he cried, eyes wider than ever.

"Oh, you know, this and that. Just nice to see a bit of action every now and again, instead of spending months and months working through theory and practice incidents."

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, confusion etched across each line of his face. The young girl's gentle laugh floated through his ears, and Jack couldn't help but grin. He returned to stare through the key-hole again, and a blur of dirty-blonde flashed across his line of vision as the girl swept her hair carelessly out of her face.

"Maybe we should get him out of there before we start our introductions, Luna," came another voice from somewhere beyond the little of the outer corridor that Jack could see.

"Of course," the girl replied dreamily, her expression vague and almost bored as she shuffled away from the door. Jack was about to ask how they had planned to do that, when two simultaneous cries of 'Alohamora!' shattered against his eardrums, drowning out the words even inside his own head.

A second later, Jack was gaping, open-mouthed at a pair of teenagers, who were grinning excitedly to each other as they replaced two similar sticks of wood to their preferred places of safe-keeping. For the boy, it was the pocket of his robes. For the girl, Jack noticed with amusement, it was behind her left ear.

"It's easier to reach, you see," she explained calmly, brushing off her robes with an unconcerned hand. Jack gaped at her.

"How'd you know -?"

"I caught you looking. You Muggles are all the same. Most peculiar … " and she trailed off. The boy beside her grinned knowingly but said nothing, shaking his head slightly.

"Right," Jack replied, his head-ache mounting to a torturous pitch. "Thanks for that, and all, but who exactly are you?"

The boy stepped forwards over the threshold, his hand outstretched and a bright smile gracing his youthful features. Jack took it obligingly. "Neville Longbottom, a pleasure to meet you. This is Luna, Luna Lovegood, a close friend of mine."

Luna curtsied politely, and for the first time, Jack fully took in her unusual appearance. Her robes hung neatly upon her slim figure, an almost floating quality about them giving her an air of unexpected grace. Her waist-length hair was sleek and straight, which was something Jack had not expected to see, for some reason. He'd imagined her to be the sort of person who had never seen a pair of straighteners before in her life. Then he reminded himself that these were wizards, and so probably wouldn't have any use for such simple, Earth items. She had a necklace of what appeared to be a mixture of various-sized bottle-corks and fangs, alternating between one and the other until they met in the centre, where a miniature dragon was sleeping peacefully. Jack started as he watched a tiny ring of smoke float away from its miniscule nostrils, unseen by its wearer.

Quickly shifting his gaze for fear of losing his sanity, Jack noticed clearly her wide and protuberant eyes. They were misted over as she gazed vacantly over his shoulder, considering the white walls with something vaguely resembling interest. She blinked suddenly, smiling at his curiosity, and her pale eyebrows gave her gaze a permanently surprised look.

He smiled uncomfortably and turned to the boy, Neville, taking in his round face, his sparkling eyes and his nervous smile.

"Quite the couple," he grinned, suddenly, leaning casually against the doorframe as he watched the colour rising in Neville's cheeks.

"Oh, no," Neville muttered, hurriedly, shaking his head. "No, no, nothing like that, or anything … We-we're just good friends."

"Yes, close friends who have faced a lot, Jack. It's nice, having friends. I hope you have some, too. If not, we can be your friends, can't we, Neville?"

Neville nodded slightly, fighting an urge to laugh, as Jack raised his eyebrows in wonder.

"Thanks," he said after a moment's pause. Frowning, he turned to her again. "How did you know my name?" he asked, curious.

"Oh, Professor Lupin told us. He was the one who organised this search party."

"Search party? Your people are looking for me?" Jack exclaimed, the unease that had vanished so quickly at the sight of such a bizarre rescue team returning ten-fold. "What do you want?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that, Jack," Neville said, quickly, shaking his head. "As a matter of fact, we were looking for our friends. We received a message from Hermione a few months ago, about them leaving in search of answers, but we haven't heard from them, since. The Order found out about you and your friend this morning, but we'd already left. Professor McGonagall alerted Professor Lupin of your presence here, in case we mistook you for Death Eaters, or something."

"Those names mean nothing to me, I'm afraid, but I'm guessing you're all good guys, yeah?"

Luna nodded vigorously.

"We need to find Harry and the others, along with their new friends. The Headmistress needs to speak to them about issues regarding the War, issues that she believes only the Doctor will know about."

Jack's pleasant smile slid graciously from his face and he stared, dumbstruck at Luna, who gazed intently back.

"The … Th-the Doctor's here, you mean he's here? He's in this building?"

Neville frowned.

"Do you know him?" he asked, suspiciously. "What do you know of him?"

"Is the Doctor here?" Jack hissed, his shoulders shaking. Neville considered the mix of raw emotion lining Jack's face, and shrugged.

"We haven't found any sign of Harry or the others, yet, nor do we believe they're still here, if ever they were. But that doesn't explain how you know about the Doctor."

Jack drew in a deep, shuddering breath, and forced himself to calm down enough to keep the few allies he had managed to find.

"We were friends, a while back. Haven't seen him for a long time, though. What's he doing here, do you know?"

"We believe he is helping us with the War," Luna commented, indistinctly. "Professor McGonagall mentioned his assistance with fighting Voldemort, but the problem is, we haven't seen him since the day after he arrived. Well, I don't mean us personally, we only heard talk of him at the Order meetings that followed. The Doctor and his lady-friend left around the same time that Harry and the others left, apparently, so we think they may have gone together."

"So Teri's magic worked, then," Jack muttered, more to himself than to the others. "She's got him. She's managed to help. I wonder if he's worked it out, yet … "

"Is Teri your friend?" Neville asked, frowning.

"Yes," Jack replied, clearly. "Do you know where she is? We … er … fell, and I must have been knocked unconscious. I don't know what's happened to her. She should have been here."

"Perhaps she's invisible," Luna put in, helpfully. Jack's eyebrows were beginning to ache from over-use, and he turned to Neville questioningly. Neville simply grinned broadly, shook his head once and mouthed, 'Luna likes to come out with these random comments, just play along, everybody else does'. Jack nodded, grinning, as he noticed Luna's vague smile as she curled a stray lock of hair around her index finger.

"Perhaps," he sighed, beaming. His smile faltered as he heard a clattering above them, and raised his eyes to the ceiling of the long, and unsurprisingly white, corridor. "What was that?"

"Might have been Professor Lupin and the Order members who came with us," Neville replied, following Jack's gaze. "Come on, we'd better go see if we can help. Perhaps we'll find your friend on the way, Jack. She can't be far away."

"Maybe," Jack murmured, unconvinced. "Just out of curiosity, where exactly are we? Where was I being kept?"

"Why, we're privileged, Jack!" Luna exclaimed delightedly. "We're the first people to ever break into Voldemort's secret hide-out! Gosh, didn't you know?"

Luna and Neville turned in time to see the odd, evil-looking grin break across Jack's face, and they swapped a look.

"No, I didn't know, as a matter of fact. Well, well, well, the encounter draws ever nearer. This crack-pot's reign is drawing to a close, and I'm going to have a front seat. Once I get my hands on him, he isn't going to know what's hit his little perfect world."

Neville shrugged, and Luna paused, smiling faintly, waiting for Jack to catch them up.

With one last look at the ceiling of his cell, Jack followed Neville and Luna out and along the pallid corridor, the gun loaded and ready for firing, a growing worry for Teri chasing around his head, and a new spurt of energy flying through his veins, as he thought of just how soon he could be reunited with the Doctor and Rose.

"Welcome back to reality, my dear."

Teri felt her blood boil beneath her skin as the piercing voice sliced through her fumbling brain. Don't open your eyes. Don't open 'em! Whatever you do, don't look!

"Oh, come now, surely you didn't want to sleep through all the fun, did you? You're awake, now, so why pretend you're not? I have something to show you."

Teri couldn't stop herself. Her whole body shaking, she forced her eyes open, blinking against the dim light of the chamber. Automatically, her dulled-by-pain eyes sought out her captor, who was standing a few paces ahead, apparently leaning against the wall, although she couldn't see him clearly.

The looming shadow beside her caught her attention, and a tiny cry of shock and horror left her throat as she realised where she was.

"Ahh, you noticed. Good. Welcome back, Time Lady."

Teri closed her eyes, internally screaming.

"How did you know?"

"Tests, my dear."

"Oh, God," Teri murmured, shaking her head. "This isn't real," she whispered frantically.

"Oh, I'm afraid it is unmistakably real. No dreams for you here. You merely live your worst nightmares."

"You know about the Doctor," Teri sighed, her head lolling onto her chest resignedly as she concluded that resisting would do nothing but increase the pain she was set for. Voldemort grinned wickedly, twirling his wand between his unnaturally long and thin fingers as though bored with the proceedings.

"Yes, thanks to you, I do. Not as much as I'd like to know, but still enough to be going along with. So, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. Another world for me to conquer as soon as I've left here, I believe, although you seem to know surprisingly little about your home planet. Why is that?"

"I –I, I've never -"

"You've never been? How odd. Somehow I just can't believe that, my dear. But not to worry, not to worry. I shall know the truth soon. I suggest you relax from here on in, otherwise it is going to become unbearably painful for you."

"No!" Teri cried, shaking her head viciously as she kicked out, suddenly realising just how securely fastened to the machine she now was. Her kick had no effect save giving her the impression that she had just torn a ligament. Hissing with pain, she watched helplessly as Voldemort paced forwards, his wand pointing at the power switch on the body of the machine beside her.

Laughing softly, he gave it a swift flick and stopped beside her as a softly glowing orange light burst into life amidst the endless grey, accompanied by a small rumbling sound. A second later, Teri was fighting desperately against the helmet that was robotically attaching itself to her head.

Once again, just as on her previous visit to Voldemort's secret laboratory, her desperate protests were drowned out as the machine stuttered into life. The swift hiss of power sliced instantly into her skull as her eyesight went black, and Teri could do nothing but scream as the probes began sifting through her memories carelessly, tossing aside those they didn't need.

"Not long now, Time Lady," Voldemort declared, delightedly. "Another few hours and you will be free. Don't fear your knowledge will be wasted, for there is no chance of that."

In response, Teri simply screamed even louder.

The Master stumbled to a halt before a wrought iron gate, glancing back as Fred, George, Ron and Ginny stopped behind, glancing nervously over their shoulders, their wands still grasped tightly and aimed directly at his hearts.

"Well, get it open, then!" Rose snapped from beside him, her eyes narrowed with suspicion and hatred.

"What with?" he snapped back, glaring.

"Well, how should I know? You're the one who's been wandering about down here; learning secret after secret about God knows what! How did you get out last time? When you had me and the Doctor to carry along as well?"

"Oh, of course," the Master sighed. With a final glance at Rose's determined expression, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a tiny knife.

"Blood donation?" Ginny asked, frowning.

"That's all that worked last time, or else I wouldn't be standing her with my hand out and a knife ready in the other one, would I?" he replied scathingly. Ginny glared back, but held her tongue. Ron stepped forwards, emphasising his wand point.

"Get on with it, already! Hermione's in there!"

Feeling suddenly apathetic, Rose reached out a hand and gestured to the knife, her expression serious.

"Let me," she said, her face set. Surprised by his refusal, Rose stepped forward. "You've done it once already, and it's only a scratch. Please, let me do this one. The Doctor wouldn't want unnecessary blood-shed, and knowing you, you'd probably cut your whole hand off, just to prove a point."

Smiling faintly, the Master sighed again and handed the knife over. "How well you know me, Miss Tyler."

"Oh, I know a lot more than you think. I can read people like a book, you know," Rose replied conversationally, as she focused on shifting her attention away from the sharp blade hovering inches above her left hand. Grimacing, she dug it as far into her palm as she dared, withdrawing it quickly as the initial sting began to wear off. "Where's it go?"

"Here," the Master pointed at a shaft on the gate which seemed to be larger than its surrounding iron poles, "this bar, here." Rose wiped her palm obediently down the bar, and grinned with an unnoticed relief as the gate swung gently forwards, allowing them to pass through.

"Okay, good. Now, where did you leave Hermione?"

"The same place you left her. Behind that statue, over there."

Rose ran on ahead, Ron tearing along behind her as the others forced themselves on, attempting to keep a similar pace but failing as they tried to keep the Master completely covered with their wands.

By the time they had reached the statue, Rose and Ron were kneeling beside Hermione, who was lying peacefully on the ground behind the cat-fairy-like statue, her auburn locks fanning out around her head.

"Here you go, then, Hermione," Rose murmured, as she uncorked the vial the Doctor had entrusted to her, and held it over the young girls' mouth. A few drops were all that remained of the orange restorative, but they were enough.

After a few anxious seconds, the onlookers watched with relief as Hermione's eyes fluttered open, her partially yellowed-eyes fading back to brown in front of them. Ron beamed, and leant forwards, dragging Hermione up into a rib-crushing hug as the young girl struggled to focus on those around her.

"That's much better," Rose smiled. "Trust me, any longer and you wouldn't have been feeling at all like yourself, Hermione. I know, I've had first-hand experience!"

Hermione blinked and turned to her, staring at Rose over Ron's shoulder as he refused to let her go.

"Why? What happened? I was looking for Ron … but then I can't remember what happened afterwards."

"I'm not surprised," Ginny answered, glaring at the Master. Hermione noticed, and frowned.

"Who are you?" she asked, suspiciously.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Call me … your ticket out of this place," the Master replied.

"Hold on, one second! We have to find Harry and the Doctor, first, remember?" Fred and George called across, wands poised.

"What's the point in trying? There won't be anything for us to trace!"

"Don't say that," Rose murmured, dangerously. "Don't you dare say that! Don't even think it! They're fine, they're alive and healthy and doing exactly what we all should be doing, right now; saving the world! Stopping the crazed mad-men who are ruining the lives of millions! Now, we're going back to your ship, we're tracing the Doctor, and we're getting the Hell away from this place, together! Any questions?" Rose finished, resolutely.

The Master sighed and shook his head.

"The TARDIS is this way," he offered, reluctantly pointing across the bridge to another ice-sculpture on the other side.

"That's more like it," Rose said, briskly, jumping to her feet, leaning down to help Hermione find her balance, and then waiting patiently for the Master to lead the way. "After you," she called, brightly, as the twins, Ginny, Ron and Hermione fell into place behind her.

Mumbling incoherently about time wasters, the Master shook his head and turned on his heel, marching off across the chamber towards the monumental bridge.

Hmm, I think I like this chapter, but I'm not entirely sure. It's kinda late, so I guess I'll know properly tomorrow. But the pieces are beginning to 'Fall into Place', now. And I can honestly say that I'm sure I can see where this is all going! ;D

Anywho, I'd like to know what you think, in the meantime! Please review, reviews make me ever so happy! Update coming soon, I hope! Thanks for reading!

xXx MissHaunted MoonLight xXx