"Doctor! Wake up!" the Doctor could hear Rose faintly through the nightmare he was trapped in. "Please! Doctor!" Rose sounded on the verge of tears, but the Doctor couldn't get himself out of the dream however hard he tried. Something kept forcing back into it.
"Expecto Patronum!" an unknown voice roared, and suddenly the mental assault was lifted, allowing the Doctor to start pulling himself out of the nightmare.
"Are you alright?" the unknown person asked.
"No he isn't." said Rose impatiently. The Doctor was curled up on the ground with his hands over his ears and his eyes shut. A single tear was slipping down his cheek. Jack then turned to the stranger.
"What was that thing?" he demanded.
"It was a dementor. Foul beings, they are the guardians of Azkaban, the wizard prison. They were searching the train for Sirius Black. I'm Professor Lupin, by the way. New Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. First-years, are you?"
"Erm...yes." said Rose, as she didn't fully understand the situation yet. "We're really looking forward to Hogwarts though."
"Oh!" said Lupin. He pulled out two large bars of chocolate, handing them to Rose. "This will help with the after-effects of the dementors. You two can share," he gestured to Jack and Rose, "but he should have the whole bar." Lupin glanced at the Doctor, who was still curled up, and he seemed to be muttering to himself now, his eyes all screwed up in intense concentration. Lupin made to leave, but before he did, he turned and asked "What are your names?"
"I'm Rose and that is th- John." Rose finished firmly gesturing to the Doctor.
"I'm Captain Jack Harkness."
"A captain?" Lupin asked curiously.
"He just likes to pretend." Rose laughed nervously.
"Oh." said Lupin, but he could clearly see there was more going on here than was said. "Make sure he eats that chocolate, and if he doesn't recover fully before we get to Hogwarts, find me. I have others to attend to. Goodbye." Lupin left the compartment, and Rose and Jack went to sit near the Doctor, whose face was slightly wet from tears.
"You okay?" Rose asked, sitting down on the ground next to the Doctor and stroking his arm comfortingly.
"I saw them all burn, again." said the Doctor in a hollow tone. "Every last one of them."
"Here." Rose said, breaking off a bit of the chocolate and handing it to him. "Lupin said this would help."
The Doctor took the chocolate and nibbled it cautiously. "That does seem to help." he said. "Thank you."
Rose then pulled the Doctor into a hug, and the Doctor reciprocated, resting his head on Rose's shoulder. They only stopped when Jack cleared his throat, and they let go of each other suddenly and stood far apart, awkwardly. Jack let out a laugh, and then pulled the Doctor into a hug too. "Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you, but I'm still a bit frazzled. I don't know how something can get through my mental blocks so easily." the Doctor said, sitting down in defeat.
"You'll figure it out." said Rose. "You always do." she smiled at him.
Just then, a girl in black robes with a badge inscribed with a small "P" on stuck her head into the compartment. "You first-years might want to get your robes on. We're nearly there."
"Right." said Jack. "Thanks for telling us."
"You're welcome." the girl said, "It's my job."
"We better get into our robes then." said Jack. They took down their trunks, and Rose took her robes to the bathroom to get changed.
After Rose left, Jack said, "You have no idea who sent us here, do you." I was a simple statement of facts.
After a moment's hesitation, the Doctor said, "Yes. And it worries me. I wonder who had the power to do this, or if we did this to ourselves." he sighed, and sat down after he finished changing.
Rose returned, and said, "I think you should look out the window."
Rose, Jack, and the Doctor crowded around the window to see a beautiful castle looming on the horizon.
