A/N Today has been insane, but here's the promised chapter! Enjoy! Next chapter will be on Monday.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Doctor Who.

Episode Spoilers: The Empty Child S1E9

Rejected Bonds - Chapter 1, The Empty Child

[Two Weeks Later]

Hermione sat on the bunk of Jack's Chula warship reading a book from her beaded bag. He was out schmoozing and whatnot and since it was an officer's club she couldn't tag along this time. Which was unfortunate because before he'd left she'd been admiring the way he filled out his uniform. She'd been in 1941 for two weeks now, and couldn't help but admit that her fellow time traveler was easy on the eyes. His strong jaw, sparkling blue eyes and neatly trimmed brown hair were only further accented by his military uniform. He hadn't kissed her again since that first night, at least not on the lips. Frequent kisses to the cheeks, temples, hands, and the top of her head were not uncommon, or even unwanted. She was lonely and had fast become good friends with Jack.

She was startled out of her musings when he suddenly appeared and rushed to the controls. "Jack! What's going on? I heard the sirens for the air raid but why'd you come back?"

"Hey sweetheart, there's a blonde hanging from a barrage balloon, I figured I'd save her."

"Oh, well, okay then," Hermione chuckled, not what she'd been expecting.

"Now, uh oh, she's falling!" He worked quickly at the controls and soon had the blonde woman caught in the tractor beam, much like he'd caught Hermione two weeks previously. "What is it with pretty girls falling from the sky around me?" he asked over his shoulder, winking at the witch. Hermione just rolled her eyes and sat back to watch.

"Okay, okay, I've got you," he announced over the intercom.

"Who's got me? Who's got me, and you know, how?"

"I'm just programming your descent pattern. Keep as still as you can and keep your hands and feet inside the light field."

"Descent pattern?"

"Oh, and could you switch off your cell phone? No, seriously, it interferes with my instruments."

"You know, no one ever believes that." Hermione could hear the annoyance in the girl's voice which she thought it sounded familiar but didn't think much about it.

"Thank you. That's much better."

"Oh, yeah, that's a real load off, that is. I'm hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with the Union Jack across my chest, but hey, my mobile phone's off."

"Be with you in a moment."

The computer reported to Jack, "The mobile communication device indicates non-contemporaneous life form."

"She's not from around here, no," he commented, then keying the intercom once more he told the girl, "Hold tight!"

"To what?"

"Fair point." Hermione just chuckled to herself.

"I've got you. You're fine, you're just fine," he reassured the girl as he caught her from the beam inside the ship. "The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little," he explained, glancing over at Hermione as she quirked an eyebrow at him. She slid off the bunk and off the side in case the girl needed to lay down.

"Hello," the dazed blonde mumbled.

"Hello," he replied with a smile. Hermione bit her lip, smiling at his ever present need to flirt.

"Hello. Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but you know, thorough."

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," she replied as he set her down. "Why, are you expecting me to faint or something?"

"You look a little dizzy," he commented.

"What about you? You're not even in focus," she slurred as she fainted into his arms. He put her in the bunk and Hermione moved closer to get a look at their new guest. She gasped when she recognized the girl.

"Rose?!"

"You know her?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes, she's my cousin."

"Is this going to be a happy family reunion or not so much?"

"Probably not so much," she admitted with a grimace. "We don't get along all that well, unfortunately. She's my cousin through my mum's brother, and I'm seven years older than her so we were never really close. She doesn't know about magic," she warned Jack. "So let's try to keep that to ourselves?"

He nodded his agreement. "Any idea what she's doing in 1941?"

Hermione's eyes widened when she realized what this meant, "Yes! That means the Doctor must be nearby!"

Jack's eyebrows rose, "You mean the soulmate you were telling me about? He travels around with your cousin?"

"Well, kind of. If he's traveling with her it means he probably doesn't know me yet," she admitted, a sad look crossing her features.

Jack pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay, time travel is tricky like that."

Hermione nodded and gave him a half-hearted smile. "So how are we going to play this Mr. Conman?"

"You don't want to just tell them the truth and see if he'll take you back to your time?"

Thinking it over carefully, she shook her head, "No, no I doubt he'd know me yet, and I haven't seen Rose in nearly a decade. I really only know her from pictures her mum sent my mum, you know, before…" she trailed off, not wanting to think of her obliviated parents, "So she probably won't recognize me either. For now, just play out your con like you planned, and we'll see if they do know me or not yet."

Jack nodded in agreement, "Okay, we'll play it by ear. You'll play the part of my partner." She just smirked at him and he grinned back. He'd gotten to know Hermione pretty well over the last couple weeks and he was looking forward to meeting the Doctor, she'd talked so highly of him. Although the fact that he might not know her yet was a complication, and he hoped Hermione wouldn't be too hurt.

Not long after, Rose began to stir, so Jack asked her, "Better now?"

Nodding to herself, she inquired, "You got lights in here?"

He turned on the lights and turned to her, "Hello."

"Hello."

"Hello."

Hermione scoffed from the wall she was leaned against, "Let's not start that again."

Rose startled a bit, not having seen the woman beforehand. "So, who're you supposed to be, then?" she asked, looking between the two.

"Captain Jack Harkness, One Three Three Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer. This is my co-pilot, Mia." Hermione tried not to grimace at the nickname. She hated nicknames. She didn't mind Mione too much since Ron and Harry had use it so often, but she figured that Rose might recognize that name, so Mia it would be for now.

Rose smirked at Jack, reading his ID, "Liar. This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."

"How do you know?"

"Two things. One, I have a friend who uses this all the time, and two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out," she said smugly.

Jack grinned, "Tricky thing, psychic paper."

"Yeah. Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over," she smirked as she handed it back.

Looking at it, he smirked back, "True, oh, it says here you sort of have a boyfriend called Mickey Smith but you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy-free." Hermione scowled at that. She may not have seen Mickey in a really long time, but her first friend didn't deserve to be played, she fumed at her cousin silently.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Actually, the word you use is available."

Eyes widening, Rose stammered, "N-no way."

"And another one, very," he smirked at her deviously, catching sight of Hermione's frown. He made a mental note to ask about that later.

"Shall we try and get along without the psychic paper?" Rose rushed, slightly embarrassed.

"That would be better, wouldn't it?"

"Nice spaceship," Rose commented, looking over at Hermione.

"Gets us around," the curly-haired witch commented.

Standing and turning to survey the area, Rose touched a cable and looked back at Jack, "Very Spock."

"Who?" he looked puzzled.

"Guessing you're not a local boy, then."

Jack scanned Rose and rattled off, "A cell phone, a liquid crystal watch, and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades. Guessing you're not a local girl."

Smiling, Rose quipped, "Guessing right." She hissed as she leaned against the control panel to look out the windows and looked down at her hands.

"Burn your hands on the rope?" asked Jack, looking over at Hermione to see if she wanted to use a healing spell or if they should go the more techno route. At her slight head shake, he asked to see Rose's hands.

"Why?"

Putting on an adorable pout, Jack reached for her hands. "Please? You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away," he lied, knowing exactly who she was thanks to Hermione.

"Time Agent?"

"We've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?"

"Sometimes I get swept off my feet. By balloons. What are you doing?" Hermione rolled her eyes at Rose's attempts at flirting and went to the bunk to sit and pretend to read her book once more. She watched over the top of the book as Jack pressed a button and a glow surrounded Rose's rope burnt hands.

"Nanogenes," he explained, "Sub-atomic robots. The air in here is full of them. They just repaired three layers of your skin."

As Rose admired her newly healed hands she smiled at him, "Well, tell them thanks."

"Shall we get down to business?"

"Business?"

Reaching for a bottle of champagne and two glasses, he handed Rose the glasses as he ascended a ladder, he gave a quick wink to Hermione who smiled at him, "Shall we have a drink on the balcony? Bring up the glasses."

Rose stepped carefully onto the invisible hull of the ship, "I know I'm standing on something."

With a click of his remote, the ship became visible to only them.

Impressed, Rose noted, "Okay, you have an invisible spaceship. Tethered up to Big Ben for some reason."

With a cocky smirk, Jack opened the bottle of champagne with a pop, "First rule of active camouflage. Park somewhere you'll remember."

After a couple glasses of the drink, the alcohol was starting to get to her head, so Rose stood up and wobbled a bit, "You know, it's getting a bit late. I should really be getting back."

"We're discussing business," Jack said, still relaxed against the hull.

"This isn't business. This is champagne."

Standing and setting down his glass, he walked over to her. "I try never to discuss business with a clear head. Are you traveling alone? Are you authorized to negotiate with me?" As he spoke he grabbed her by the arms and brought her near.

"What would we be negotiating?" Rose was a bit distracted by his nearness.

Jack then laid the bait for his con. "I have something for the Time Agency. Something they'd like to buy. Are you in power to make payment?"

"Well, I, I should talk to my companion."

"Companion?" he asked with a sexy quirk of his eyebrow.

"I should really be getting back to him."

"Him?"

"Do you have the time?"

Jack pulled out his remote once again, pushed the button and pointed it at Big Ben, which lit up and struck nine thirty.

"Okay, that was flash. That was on the flash side."

"So when you say your companion, just how disappointed should I be?" he purred seductively.

"Okay, we're standing in midair."

"Mmm-hmm," he hummed, pulling her against him.

"On a spaceship, during a German air raid. Do you really think now's a good time to be coming on to me?"

Hermione, listening from below using a sensory charm was giggling at his flirtations and showing off.

"Perhaps not," he sighed, backing away.

Rose pouted at the loss of contact, "It was just a suggestion."

Trying again, he asked, "Do you like Glenn Miller?" He used his remote again and Moonlight Serenade began playing from below. Taking Rose in his arms he started swaying in time to the music. "It's 1941, the height of the London Blitz, the height of the German bombing campaign, and something else has fallen on London. A fully equipped Chula warship. The last one in existence, armed to the teeth. And I know where it is because I parked it. If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal. Now, shall we discuss payment?"

Pulling back, he looked at Rose and saw she was dazed, slightly aroused, and not at all paying attention.

"Do you know what I think?" she said rather breathily.

"What?"

"I think you were talking just then," she leaned into him more.

"Two hours, the bomb falls. There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater."

"Promises, promises," she glanced at his lips.

"Are you listening to any of this?"

"You used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer."

Stepping away a bit, Jack scoffed with a smirk, "Well, that's a little harsh. I like to think of myself as a criminal."

"I bet you do."

From the tone of her cousin's voice, Hermione was sure Rose was making moon eyes at Jack. She was steadily growing more and more irritated with her flirty cousin.

"So, this companion of yours, does he handle the business?" Jack inquired, stepping away from Rose completely.

"Well, I delegate a lot of that, yeah," she lied.

"Well, maybe we should go find him."

"And how're you going to do that?"

"Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech," he answered, looking at his wrist device.

Off to the side, Rose smiled in triumph, "Finally, a professional."

"It looks like he's at Albion Hospital, I'll go grab Mia and we can all teleport over."

Rose looked disappointed to hear that the other woman would be joining them.

[Albion Hospital]

The trio arrived at the hospital and were walking down a corridor when a tall man with big ears and very short hair stepped out of a set of double doors. Judging from his appearance Jack took an educated guess and held his hand out to introduce himself to the Doctor, "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

Rose gave the Doctor a look, "He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock," Jack said, walking towards the ward doors.

Hermione held out her hand in turn, "Mia, nice to meet you, sir." As they shook hands both felt a tiny jolt. The Doctor raised an eyebrow but soon dismissed the sensation as only static shock. Hermione felt a jolt in her chest, knowing her soulmate didn't know her. It hurt.

The Doctor nodded in greeting at Hermione, then asked Rose, "Mister Spock?"

Rose waited till Hermione stepped into the ward as well and complained, "What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll."

"Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid," Rose scoffed and turned towards the ward doors.

"What?!"

"Listen, what's a Chula warship?" she asked as she joined the others in the ward.

Left behind, the Doctor asked with no one to hear, "Chula?"

Inside the ward, Jack was going from one patient to another, scanning them with his vortex manipulator, which also had a built-in computer. "This just isn't possible. How did this happen?"

Hermione was following him, surreptitiously casting diagnostic charms only visible to herself, just as mystified at the results as Jack. Somehow, all of these people were dead, with identical wounds and gas masks that weren't molded to their faces but were their faces.

The Doctor crossed his arms, looking at Jack he asked, "What kind of Chula ship landed here?"

"What?" Jack asked, spinning around to face the Doctor.

Rose looked irritatingly smug, "He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?" the Doctor asked again, frowning.

"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this." Jack was starting to look alarmed so Hermione took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?"

Exasperated and baffled, Jack confessed, "An ambulance! Look," showing them a hologram from his wrist device. "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait-"

"Bait?" Rose interrupted.

"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk," Jack cried, running a hand through his hair.

Rose looked at him accusingly, "You said it was a warship."

Jack frowned at her and decided to come partly clean, "They have ambulances in wars. It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you."

"Just a couple more freelancers," Rose said bitingly.

"Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain?" he scoffed, gesturing to the Doctor's leather jacket. "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."

Hermione turned to the Doctor and asked softly, "What is happening here, Doctor?" Immediately she realized that the Doctor hadn't been introduced by that name yet, but no one seemed to notice the slip-up.

"Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, alarmed.

"I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?"

Suddenly all of the patients in the ward sat up and turned to the group. "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy? Mummy?"

Rose looked panicked and went to stand behind the Doctor, "What's happening?"

"I don't know," the Doctor almost whispered, looking alarmed himself.

The patients all stood up at started to slowly walk to the group, all repeated the same thing, "Mummy."

Shuffling backward towards a wall, the Doctor told the others, "Don't let them touch you."

Rose grabbed the back of his jacket, "What happens if they touch us?"

"You're looking at it," he nodded to all of the gas mask people.

As the horde of patients closed in, the group stepped back as far as they could. Hermione drew her wand. To hell with hiding her magic from the Doctor and Rose. But what would stop people who weren't technically alive? Could they be saved? Would injuring them help or hinder the situation, her thoughts raced.

"Help me, mummy."

As chills raced down the spines of the Doctor and the group behind him, the patients just pleadingly asked, "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."