A/N So seeing as this chapter covers the Christmas Invasion episode, I couldn't resist trying to post this a bit early on Christmas! The next chapter will still be up on Thursday, though. And just a reminder, this story is Angst/Romance. Angst is first for a reason! So don't hate me! But I still hope you enjoy this extra long chapter, a bit earlier than scheduled originally. To help balance out the angst I've posted Part 1 (of 2) of Hermione's first meeting of the 10th Doctor in First Meetings! It's a nice long chapter, too, and it connects to this story and this chapter especially. Merry Christmas!

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

Episode Spoilers: Born Again Webisode, The Christmas Invasion S2E1

Rejected Bonds - Chapter 6, The Christmas Invasion

[TARDIS]

The new Doctor was madly dashing around the console of the TARDIS, flicking switches, pulling levers, and pushing buttons. Checking the monitor he started to set new coordinates. "6 PM... Tuesday...October... 5006... On the way to Barcelona!" he declared, looking up and grinning at Rose who was half concealed behind one of the coral-like pillars. She looked frightened. Hermione was next to her with a hand on her cousin's shoulder, trying to repress her look of wonder and hope.

The Doctor stepped around the console towards the girls and asked, "Now then... what do I look like?" But he didn't give them a chance to respond, holding up a hand to silence them. "No, no no, no no no no no no no. No. Don't tell me." The girls watched bemused, Rose slightly frightened and Hermione with a fond expression, as the Doctor inspected his new body and ran his hand over his face, head, and torso. "Let's see... two legs, two arms, two hands... Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle. Hair! I'm not bald! Oh, Oh! Big hair! Sideburns, I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin. Little bit thinner... That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it. I... have got... a mole. I can feel it. Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole." He turned a little bit and was grinning widely, excited at his discovery. Hermione repressed a grin, she was very familiar with that mole. "That's all right. Love the mole."

He smiled at Hermione but fully grinned at Rose, standing up straight and ready for assessment, with his hair ruffled sexily. "Go on then, tell me. What do you think?"

Rose slowly stepped from behind the pillar and asked in a very timid voice, "Who are you?"

Hermione winced in sympathy as the Doctor slumped, crestfallen. "I'm the Doctor."

Rose shook her head, she didn't want to believe him. "No... Where is he? Where's the Doctor? What have you done to him?" Her voice was starting to take on an edge of panic.

The Doctor grimaced. "You saw me, I, I changed," he pointed to the spot he'd regenerated, "Right in front of you."

Rose continued to shake her head in denial. "I saw him sort of explode, and then you replaced him, like a- a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something." She stepped towards him, still keeping her distance, but pushed him in the chest. "You're not fooling me."

The Doctor rocked back on his heels, he couldn't believe that Rose was doubting what she saw with her own eyes. He looked helplessly over at Hermione, knowing she was familiar with his regeneration process from the few discussions they'd had, but she just shrugged and gave him a sad smile.

Rose continued, "I've seen all sorts of things. Nano genes... Gelth... Slitheen... Oh, my God, are you a Slitheen?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, but calmly assured her, "I'm not a Slitheen."

She was getting upset and began to shout. "Send him back. I'm warning you; send the Doctor back right now!"

The Doctor stepped forward, reaching towards Rose but she pulled away. He pleaded, "Rose, it's me. Honestly, it's me." Rose was staring hard at him, chest rising and falling rapidly in her panic. "I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell, but... it's still me."

She whispered, "You can't be."

As he stepped even closer he looked straight down into her eyes. "Then how could I remember this? Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies... oh... such a long time ago. I took your hand," he took her hand to emphasise his point. Rose glanced between his hand and face. " I said one word... just one word, I said 'Run'."

He was gazing fondly at her, pleading silently for her to understand. She looked into his eyes, her own swimming in tears as she finally recognised him. "Doctor," she whispered.

He grinned brilliantly at her and gently said, "Hello."

Rose sighed and stumbled backwards as the impact of everything that had happened hit her. Meanwhile, the Doctor took off for the other side of the console, passing Hermione and squeezing her shoulder with a smile. Her own smile faltered a bit but went unnoticed. He still doesn't know, she thought sadly to herself.

"And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running," he rambled, flicking switches as he went. "One time we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives." He was hopping up on down on the spot, smiling and trying to get Rose to laugh, but she'd leant back against the pillar and was just watching him cautiously. "Yeah? All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah?! Hop? With the-" he trailed off, enthusiasm ebbing at her lack of reaction. "No?"

"Can you change back?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," he winced.

"Can you?"

"No," he said sadly, glancing down at the floor briefly. "Do you want to leave?"

Shocked, Rose asked, "Do you want me to leave?"

He glanced back up and her and quickly rushed, "No! But... your choice... if you want to go home…"

She still looked upset so he went back to the console to change the coordinates again. "Cancel Barcelona. Change to... London... the Powell Estate... ah... let's say the 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present," he said, looking at her with a very small, sad smile.

Rose edged closer to the console as Hermione hung back, leaning against a pillar. She knew her cousin needed to work through seeing the man she was interested in suddenly change completely. While this was the first actual regeneration Hermione had witnessed, she'd travelled with and met four incarnations of the Doctor at this point, so she wasn't nearly as shocked as Rose. She also had the advantage of coming from the magical world, where changing your appearance was not difficult or uncommon in the least, glamours, transfiguration, charms, polyjuice, and metamorphmagi all coming to mind. But Rose didn't have any kind of experience with this abrupt of a change, and Hermione wasn't sure how she would handle it.

"There," the Doctor announced, stepping back from the controls and tucking his arms under his armpits in a defensive manner. He was disappointed Rose was taking this so badly. Rose looked at him, to the console, and noticed the TARDIS shudder as it changed directions.

"I'm going home?"

"Up to you. Back to your mum... it's all waiting. Fish and chips, sausage and mash, beans on toast... no, Christmas! Turkey! Although... having met your mother... nut loaf would be more appropriate."

Rose looked down quickly to hide a smile from this stranger.

"Was that a smile?"

"No."

"That was a smile," he said knowingly.

"No, it wasn't."

"You smiled," he teased.

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, come on, all I did was change, I didn't-" but he was cut off, gagging as the TARDIS shuddered.

Rose looked at him questioningly, "What?"

Hermione stepped closer, concern etched across her face.

"I said I didn't-" but he gagged again and made retching noises. "Uh oh."

"Doctor?" Hermione asked gently, worry coating her tone. "What's wrong?"

A golden mist came out of the Doctor's mouth and his eyes widened. "Oh... the change is going a bit wrong." He fell to his knees, face contorted in pain.

Rose was concerned. "Look... maybe we should go back. Let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do."

"Gah, he's busy! He's got plenty to do rebuilding the Earth," the Doctor explained impatiently. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. Which is it? Is Jack alive or dead? Did he lie to me, or to Rose?

A lever on the console caught his eye and he mumbled, "I haven't used this one in years."

With a flick, the TARDIS shuddered violently and all the occupants were nearly knocked to their feet.

"What're you doing?!" Rose cried out.

The Doctor was looking a bit manic. "Putting on a bit of speed! That's it!" He turned more knobs while the girls tried to grip the console more securely. "My beautiful ship! Come on, faster! That's a girl! Faster! Wanna to break the time limit?!"

At his increasingly erratic behaviour, both girls were looking angry and scared. Rose shouted at him, "Stop it!"

"Ah, don't be so dull... let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!" He sounded crazy. Catching Rose's eye for a moment he forced himself to calm. "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself," he grimaced in pain, "Ah, my head-" he spang up to a standing position again, voice crazed once more. "Faster! Let's open those engines!"

An alarm bell started ringing loudly, echoing in the large console room. Rose looked around, frightened, "What's that?"

The Doctor appeared next to her and sounded delighted as he exclaimed, "We're gonna crash land!"

As he laughed maniacally, Rose shouted over the alarm bell, "Well then, do something!"

The Doctor was running around giggling, though. "Too late! Out of control! Oh, I love it! Hot dawg!"

"You're gonna kill us!"

"Hold on tight, here we go! Christmas Eve!"

[Powell Estate]

Jackie and Mickey ran into each other outside of the apartment buildings, both looking around wildly to find the source of a very familiar sound. It had been a month since they'd last seen or heard from Rose and they were frantic with worry over what might have happened to her and Hermione.

"Mickey!"

"Jackie, it's the TARDIS!"

"I know, I know, I heard it. She's alive, Mickey. I said so, didn't I? She's alive!"

"Just shut up a minute," Mickey tried to shush Jackie.

"Well, where is it then?" the blonde woman asked impatiently.

Suddenly the TARDIS came shooting out the vortex in mid-air, flying crazily and knocking into buildings and bouncing off a block of flats. Finally, it crashed into a set of waste bins and the door opened, revealing a tall, thin man, with shaggy brown hair, dressed in the Doctor's clothes. The pair stared at him in confusion as he spoke. "Here we are then, London. Earth. The Solar System. We did it. Jackie. Mickey. Blimey! No, no, no, no, hold on. Wait there. I've got something to say. There was something I had to tell you, something important. What was it? No, hold on, hold on. Hold on, shush, shush, shush, shush. Oh, I know! Merry Christmas!" With that, he collapsed onto the ground.

Rose and Hermione came out of the TARDIS, locking it behind them. Rose looked between the man on the ground and her mother and boyfriend. "What happened? Is he all right?"

Mickey shrugged. "I don't know, he just keeled over. But who is he? Where's the Doctor?"

Nodding to the man on the ground, Rose replied, "That's him, right in front of you. That's the Doctor."

Jackie frowned. "What do you mean, that's the Doctor? Doctor who?"

[The Tyler's Flat]

Mickey and Rose managed to carry the Doctor up to Rose's bedroom in the Tyler flat, with Rose glaring at Hermione periodically for not using magic to help. But Hermione just shrugged at her. She'd explained that she wasn't allowed to do magic in front of muggles, and while she could explain about the magical world to Jackie seeing as they were family, out in the courtyard was entirely too open to be using magic.

Once they had him on the bed and Jackie had gone off to find a stethoscope Hermione used magic to change him into a pair of pyjamas and tucked him in. It didn't take long for Jackie to return. "Here we go. Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it. Though I still say we should take him to hospital."

Rose shook her head. "We can't. They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race. No! Shush!" She urged her mother to be quiet while she listened to both of the Doctor's hearts. "Both working."

"What do you mean, both?"

"Well, he's got two hearts."

"Oh, don't be stupid."

"He does, aunt Jackie. Rose is telling the truth."

"Anything else he's got two of?" Jackie asked looking at him consideringly. Hermione chuckled at her aunt but Rose frowned at her mother and told her to leave him alone.

The two blonde women left and Hermione sat on the edge of the bed, carefully sweeping his fringe from his face. As he exhaled from a particularly deep breath some of the golden energy from the TARDIS escaped his mouth and flew out of the flat. She ran a diagnostic spell on him but found that while he wasn't doing well there wasn't anything she could do for him with magic. Feeling helpless she made herself comfortable on the bed next to him and just held his hand. She didn't want to leave his side. She could feel her end of the bond thrumming from the close contact.

It was fairly quiet in the flat, she could hear Jackie and Rose talking quietly in the kitchen, and a news report on the television in the living room. She could just make out the sounds of a press conference about the Guinevere One Space Probe that had been launched back in May. It was due to reach Mars, finally, and there was a great deal of excitement and pride that British workmanship was exploring the solar system. Eventually Rose came back to the room to check on the Doctor and let Hermione know she was going out with Mickey for awhile. Mickey asked if Hermione wanted to go shopping with them but she just shook her head.

An hour or so later there was a knock on the door and a Christmas tree was delivered, fully decorated. The delivery people placed it in the living room and Jackie began the process of taking down her tree and putting away all of the ornaments. Both Hermione and Jackie assumed the tree was something Rose had purchased and had delivered, and didn't give it much thought.

Hermione gently played with the Doctor's hair, lost in her thoughts.What if he still can't sense the bond? Is there something wrong with it on his end? I know I have an ache on my end, but that's probably from him chasing Rose. She shoved aside her increasingly bitter and morose thoughts, they weren't going to help, and ran another diagnostic on him only to find he was in the same stable but unwell condition.

Jackie was wandering around the flat, putting away ornaments and putting up extra decorations now that she'd have company for the holiday, all the while she jabbered on the phone. She put two mugs of tea on the bedside table next to Hermione, patted her on the shoulder and left the room as another cloud of energy was exhaled, only noticed by the curly-haired witch sitting guard on the bed.

Suddenly Rose and Mickey burst through the front door of the flat, Rose shouting at her mum to get off the phone. As Mickey and Rose rapidly discussed where they could go to hide out Hermione entered the room. Jackie was irritated at Rose for hanging up on her friend and upset at the talk of leaving suddenly. "No, it's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?"

Rose had been looking around the room trying to think up a plan when she noticed the new tree. "Mum. Where'd you get that tree? That's a new tree. Where'd you get it?"

"I thought it was you."

"How can it be me?"

Hermione had a sinking feeling in her gut and stepped back into the doorway of the Doctor's room, pulling out her wand, ready to protect him if need be.

"Well, you went shopping. There was a ring at the door, and there it was!"

"No, that wasn't me."

"Then who was it?"

The new tree lit up by itself and started playing Jingle Bells. Rose just groaned, "Oh, you're kidding me." As sections of the tree started to rotate in alternating directions the tree started to move towards the group. But it didn't just move, it started chopping through the coffee table.

Mickey pushed the Tyler's behind him. "Get out! Go, go! Get out!" He picked up a nearby chair to fend off the spinning tree as Jackie and Rose ran for the door, but Rose stopped as she remembered the man laying in her bed.

"We've got to save the Doctor."

"What're you doing?" her mum demanded.

"We can't just leave him."

Jackie was looking back at Mickey in the living room as the tree shredded the legs of the chair. "Mickey! Leave it! Get out! Get out! Get out of there!"

Jackie tried to drag Rose out the door but she was fighting a losing battle. Mickey soon dragged both women into the room as the tree headed for them. Blocking the door with a wardrobe they didn't notice Hermione casting charms to keep the tree out. She was ready to blast it to bits, but her family was in the way and she didn't want any debris to hit the unconscious Doctor. Rose ran around the bed and leant next to the Doctor's head, whispering, "Help me." She was shocked when he suddenly sat up and aimed his sonic screwdriver at the tree and it exploded. Hermione threw up a shield to protect them from the flying mess.

"Remote control. But who's controlling it?" Leaping from the bed the Doctor reached for a dressing gown lying nearby and led the group outside where they saw three Santa's on the ground, gazing up at them. One was holding a radio controller.

Mickey recognised the Santa's from the shopping plaza that had tried to kill himself and Rose. "That's them. What are they?"

Rose shushed him while the Doctor looked sternly at the Santas and aimed his screwdriver at them. They backed away slowly and were beamed up into space.

Mickey laughed. "They've just gone. What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off."

The Doctor, however, looked grim. "Pilot fish."

"What?" Rose asked.

"They were just pilot fish." He soon cringed in pain, though.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, kneeling down next to him.

"You woke me up too soon. I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy." As he said this he exhaled yet more golden energy. "You see? The pilot fish could smell it a million miles away. So they eliminate the defence, that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of ow!"

Jackie was worried and looking around for anything that might help the Doctor.

"My head! I'm having a neuron implosion. I need-"

"What do you need?"

"I need-"

"Say it. Tell me, tell me, tell me," Jackie coached.

"I need-"

"Painkillers?"

"I need-"

"Do you need aspirin?"

"I need-"

"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know, Pepto-Bismol?"

"I need-"

"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"

"I need-"

"Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup. A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?"

"I need you to shut up," he finally managed to get out, completely irritated with her interruptions.

Jackie looked affronted. "Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?"

"We haven't got much time. If there's pilot fish, then. Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?"

"Oh, that's Howard. Sorry."

"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"

"He gets hungry."

"What, he gets hungry in his sleep?"

"Sometimes."

"Argh! Brain collapsing. The pilot fish. The pilot fish mean that something, something, something is coming." He passed out and collapsed on the floor of the hallway. This time instead of making Rose and Mickey carried him back, Hermione looked around to check there was no one else around and cast a mobilicorpus to levitate him back to the bed. Jackie's eyebrows rose into her hair and her mouth gaped open.

"I'll explain in just a moment aunt Jackie, let me just get him settled back into bed."

Back in the flat, Rose was tending to the Doctor in her room while Hermione explained magic to Jackie. She was worried her aunt would be upset by the news, and she was a bit wary of magic but in the end she decided, much like Mickey had, that given time travelling space aliens and everything they'd seen, magic wasn't too much to accept. She was, however, a bit upset that she was only learning about Hermione being a witch now. Hermione shrugged apologetically and explained that only close family are allowed to know the secret, and they hadn't been all that close when Hermione herself had discovered she was a witch.

Mickey was looking up pilot fish on the internet when Rose came back into the living room from tending to the Doctor. "He's worse. Just one heart beating."

Hermione sagged, upset that there was nothing she knew of that could help her soul mate.

In the background, the television was still on, and a broadcast of the progress of the space probe was being reported. The man in charge of the mission was making an announcement. "We're back on schedule. We've received the signal from Guinevere One. The Mars landing would seem to be an unqualified success."

A reporter asked, "But is it true that you completely lost contact earlier tonight?"

"Yes, we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope, but it was just a blip. Only disappeared for a few seconds. She is fine now, absolutely fine. We're getting the first pictures transmitted live any minute now. I'd better get back to it, thanks."

Mickey piped up when he found the information he was looking for. "Here we go, pilot fish. Scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless. They're tiny. But the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish."

"Do you mean like sharks?" Rose asked.

"Great big sharks. So, what the Doctor means is, we had them, now we get that."

"Something is coming. How close?"

"There's no way of telling, but the pilot fish don't swim far from their daddy."

"So, it's close?"

Meanwhile, Jackie was watching the first images coming from the space probe. "Funny sort of rocks."

As the image cleared by degrees, Rose looked up. "That's not rocks."

The newsreader announced, "This image is being transmitted via mission control, coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning."

As the image cleared it showed a red-eyed alien with a head like a goat's skull that made growls at the screen. The image cut away quickly and a series of announcers across different channels reiterated that the face of an alien had indeed been broadcast live across the world on BBC1 and that the human race now had proof that alien life exists.

Mickey was still at work on his laptop. "Rose. Take a look. I've got access to the military. They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and it's coming this way."

"Coming for what, though? The Doctor?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's coming for all of us"

Mickey managed to pull up a clear image of the group of aliens and asked if Rose had seen them before, but she just shook her head.

"I don't understand what they're saying. The TARDIS translates alien languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am."

"So, why isn't it doing it now?" Mickey wondered.

"I don't know. Must be the Doctor. Like he's part of the circuit, and he's, he's broken."

Hermione was impressed her cousin had made that connection.

Several hours later Jackie had gone to watch over the Doctor while Rose, Hermione and Mickey stayed in the living room. While Hermione fidgeted with her wand and the pendant she wore, Rose paced the room growing increasingly frustrated with the situation. "The Doctor wouldn't do this. The old Doctor, the proper Doctor, he'd wake up. He'd save us."

"You really love him, don't you?" Rose turned to Mickey and hugged him but Hermione got to her feet, furious with her cousin.

"That is utter shite, Rose! Of course, he's the proper Doctor! Just because you refuse to accept the fact that he's changed his appearance doesn't make him a different person!" She knew it was more complicated than that. In fact, he was a different, new person, but underneath it all, all the faces he'd ever worn, he was still the Doctor. The heart of him as a person would remain constant.

"Oh, what would you know about it, Hermione? You've only been travelling with us for what, a month?" Rose scoffed.

"You don't know the first thing about the Doctor."

"Yeah I do! It's you who don't know nothing about him! You're just some new hanger on."

Hermione scowled at her cousin. "I know more about that man than you could ever hope to understand. I've also travelled with him before-"

"No, you haven't! Don't lie. The Doctor would have told me, and he said he didn't know you."

"That's because he didn't know me yet. I've travelled with future versions of him!"

"You're just mental you are. And jealous. You're jealous because he likes me and not you!"

At that Hermione held back her tears, knowing that it was true in a sense, the Doctor didn't feel anything for her as far as she could tell, and she was jealous. She stormed out of the flat and leant against the rails of the walkway outside, struggling to get her emotions under control. Deciding she needed some space from her cousin she went down to the TARDIS to monitor any new broadcasts from there. The ship would pick up a larger number of signals and more information from confidential sources than the television in the flat, or even the internet. While watching the monitors she watched in horror as roughly one-third of the population of the planet proceeded to climb to the top of tall towers, buildings, anything tall enough that a fall would likely kill them. Merlin, I wonder if this is affecting the magical population as well? I wish the TARDIS scanners could pick up the enclaves, but the magic creates too much interference for a clear signal. I hope everyone is safe.

Soon a broadcast was airing around the world. Harriet Jones, the British Prime Minister was making an announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech. I'm afraid that's been cancelled," here she paused and looked off screen, "Did we ask about the royal family? Oh. They're on the roof. But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request. Doctor, if you're out there, we need you. I don't know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor. If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him, the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us. God help us."

Suddenly a sonic wave hit the city and glass shattered everywhere. The TARDIS felt the blast but Hermione was safe inside. Wondering what was going on she headed to the doors to look outside for herself. People were cowering in fear, amidst huge messes of glass all around, pointing at the sky. Looking up she felt a lead weight in her stomach. A gigantic spaceship that looked partly like a huge rock formation was hovering over the city of London.

Hermione wondered if she should go back up to the flat and check on the Doctor and her family, but soon she saw them heading towards her and the TARDIS. Mickey and Rose were struggling under the dead weight of the unconscious Doctor once more, and Jackie was lagging behind carrying what looked like bags of food. She held the doors open as the group brought in their burdens.

Mickey looked towards the console and then to Rose, "No chance you could fly this thing?"

"Not anymore, no."

"Well, you did it before."

"I know, but it's sort of been wiped out of my head like it's forbidden. Try that again and I think the Universe rips in half."

"Ah, better not, then."

"Maybe not."

"So, what do we do? Just sit here?"

"That's as good as it gets."

Mickey then turned to Hermione, "Do you happen to know how to fly this thing?"

"Yes, he taught me how, but she's not responding. It's like she's sick, just like the Doctor. They're connected and something is wrong with both of them."

Rose scowled at her cousin and Mickey while Jackie was pouring cups of tea for everyone. "Right, here we go. Nice cup of tea."

Rose sneered, "Mmm, the solution to everything."

Jackie chided her, "Now, stop your moaning. I'll get the rest of the food."

Mickey took a sip from his cup. "Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British. How does this thing work? If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered. What do you do to it?"

"I don't know. It sort of tunes itself."

Hermione went over to the monitor. "Here, let me." She fiddled with some buttons and they picked up an odd pattern on the scanner. As they were looking at the monitor they never noticed that the TARDIS had been beamed up to the alien spaceship.

Mickey mused, "Maybe it's a distress signal."

Rose was feeling extremely cynical. "A fat lot of good that's going to do."

"Are you going to be a misery all the time?" He glanced over at Hermione who was purposefully ignoring Rose.

"Yes."

Mickey just rolled his eyes. "You should look at it from my point of view, stuck in here with your mum's cooking."

"Where is she? I'd better give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there."

"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine."

"Why don't you tell her yourself?"

"I'm not that brave." Hermione chuckled at that. She wasn't that brave either.

"Oh, I don't know-" Rose said as she stepped outside, but she was cut off suddenly and screamed in fright.

"Rose?!" Mickey and Hermione called. He dropped the flask of tea he'd been about to pour a second cup from and ran out the doors.

Rose was shouting at the Sycorax, "Get off! Get off me!" When she saw Mickey chasing after her she warned him, "The door! Close the door!"

Mickey barely managed to close the door before a Sycorax grabbed him, too.

Hermione watched the doors slam shut from further back in the console room and ran her hands through her unruly curls. What to do, what to do! She went to the monitors to see if she could see a feed of what was happening, but the TARDIS was still malfunctioning with the Doctor out of commission. She startled badly when the Doctor sat up quickly, not having noticed him stir. Hand to her chest to calm her racing heart she played with her pendant as she peering cautiously at the man. He was looking around, a bit bewildered as to why he was on the floor of the TARDIS and not in the Tyler's flat.

"Doctor?"

Looking up at her he grinned brilliantly. "Hermione!"

At his lively response, she felt her heart sing with joy. Soon she was next to him on the floor and hugging him tightly, kissing his face all over.

Embarrassed and uncomfortable, he pushed her away gently at the shoulders. "Erm, Hermione, I'm happy to see you too, but what's going on? Why are we in the TARDIS?"

She felt her heart clench at the uncomfortable look on his face and schooled her emotions. Now wasn't the time to go feeling rejected. Rose and Mickey were in danger.

Hermione quickly filled him in on the alien spaceship they had been teleported to, and bracingly told him of Rose being captured. He frowned fiercely at her, like it was her fault her cousin had stepped out the doors without paying attention, stood up and straightened out the dressing gown he was wearing. "Well then, let's go get her back." Hermione merely nodded and they went to the doors.

He threw both doors open dramatically and strutted out standing tall. Smiling at Rose, he asked cheekily, "Did you miss me?"

The head Sycorax cracked a whip at the Doctor, but he caught the end and pulled it out of the hand of the alien. "You could have put someone's eye out with that."

The alien was outraged. "How dare!"

The Doctor just ignored him and grabbed a club off another nearby Sycorax and broke it across his knee. "Now, you, just wait. I'm busy. Mickey, hello! And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it's like This Is Your Life. Tea! That's all I needed, a good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses. Now, first thing's first. Be honest, how do I look?"

Rose looked at him bewildered. "Er, different."

"Good different or bad different?"

She shrugged. "Just different."

A very serious look settled on his new features. "Am I ginger?"

"No, you're just sort of brown."

He spun away in disappointment. "I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger. And you, Rose Tyler, a fat lot of good you were. You gave up on me," he looked shocked at himself, "Oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude. Rude and not ginger."

Harriet Jones interrupted him. "I'm sorry. Who is this?"

The Doctor spun around to her and gave a winning smile. "I'm the Doctor."

Rose just nodded, "He's the Doctor."

"But what happened to my Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?"

"I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face. Well, new everything."

Harriet shook her head. "But you can't be."

He smirked at her. "Harriet Jones, we were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens, it wasn't the war, it was the thought of your mother being on her own."

"Oh, my God," she gasped.

"Did you win the election?"

"Landslide majority."

The Sycorax in charge was annoyed at being ignored. "If I might interrupt."

The Doctor continued to smile as he turned to the alien. "Yes, sorry. Hello, big fellow."

"Who exactly are you?"

"Well, that's the question."

"I demand to know who you are!" the alien shouted.

The Doctor just shouted right back, "I don't know! See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob. And how am I going to react when I see this, a great big threatening button. A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right? Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix, hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?" He paused in his rambling to open the base of the pillar under the big red button. "And what've we got here? Blood? Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron. Ah, but that means blood control. Blood control! Oh, I haven't seen blood control for years. You're controlling all the A Positives. Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. Because I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a great big threatening button which should never, ever, ever be pressed, then I just want to do this." With that, he slammed his hand down on the button as Rose and Harriet both shouted a protest.

Alex, Harriet's aide was horrified. "You killed them!"

The Doctor turned to the alien with a smirk. "What do you think, big fellow? Are they dead?"

"We allow them to live," the Sycorax said, narrowing its red eyes.

The Doctor scoffed, "Allow? You've no choice. I mean, that's all blood control is. A cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis. You can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise them to death. Survival instinct's too strong."

The alien sneered at him, "Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force."

"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that, of course, you could. But why? Look at these people. These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than. No, hold on. Sorry, that's The Lion King. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!"

Hermione had to force herself to smother her giggle at the Lion King reference. Now is not the time for hysterical giggling, get it together!

"Or what?" the alien asked belligerently.

"Or," he started, pulling a sword from a nearby alien and running back towards the group standing in front of the TARDIS. He held the sword aloft and announced, "I challenge you."

The assembled Sycorax all laughed at him.

"Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"

"You stand as this world's champion."

"Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up." He quickly doffed his dressing down and tossed it to Rose. Facing the leader of the Sycorax once more, he asked, "So, you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?"

At the apparent insult the leader's mind was made up. "For the planet?"

"For the planet," the Doctor agreed.

A moment later they were clashing swords and Rose cried, "Look out!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, that helps. Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks."

It was obvious that the alien was the more experienced swordsman, forcing the Doctor to retreat up a tunnel where he pressed a button on the wall. "Bit of fresh air?"

They fought fiercely, swords clashing and glinting in the sunlight. A breeze ruffled the Doctor's shaggy hair. He was driven back to the edge of the ship and hit on the nose, but called out to the others, "Stay back! Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet."

He was knocked down and the Sycorax hovered over him, making a mighty slash with his sword. The Doctor's right hand and the sword plummeted towards the ground far below, and he gaped at his sleeve, now missing its appendage. "You cut my hand off."

He managed to get up using his left arm and stood tall, facing his combatant. "And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. Because quite by chance I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle, which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy to do this." A moment later, with a glow of golden energy, a new hand was grown in place of the missing one, astonishing everyone.

The alien leader backed up a step. "Witchcraft," he accused. Hermione just smirked from near the doorway.

The Doctor smirked, waving his fingers. "Time Lord."

Rose shouted, "Doctor!" as she threw him another sword, which he deftly caught in the air.

"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?"

She beamed, "No arguments from me!"

The Doctor took up a fighting stance, both hands on his new sword and smiled ferally at his opponent. "Want to know the best bit? This new hand? It's a fighting hand!"

He charged forward, disarming the Sycorax and knocking him to the edge of the ship, London far below them. "I win."

"Then kill me."

"I'll spare your life if you'll take this Champion's command. Leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?"

Taking a moment to weigh his options, the Sycorax reluctant agreed.

"Swear on the blood of your species," the Doctor demanded.

"I swear."

"There we are, then. Thanks for that. Cheers, big fellow."

Harriet clapped in happiness. "Bravo!"

Rose was beaming proudly at the new Doctor. "That says it all. Bravo!"

With a confident smile the Doctor shrugged one shoulder, "Ah, not bad for a man in his jim-jams," he stated as Rose helped him put the dressing gown back on. "Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man. Hold on, what have I got in here? A satsuma. Ah, that friend of your mother's. He does like his snacks doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas? You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?"

Behind him, the Sycorax leader got up, grabbed his sword and ran at the Doctor's back. He didn't make it very far before the Doctor threw the satsuma at the control panel on the hull of the ship, causing a wing to open up and the leader to fall to his death.

With a scowl, he kept walking, "No second chances. I'm that sort of a man."

Once back inside in front of the assembled aliens, the Doctor addressed the crowd. "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when go you back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of its riches, its people, its potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this: It is defended."

With that, the Doctor, Harriet, Alex, Rose, Mickey, and Hermione all entered the TARDIS which was quickly beamed back down to London.

[London Street]

Stepping outside, Rose was looking around. "Where are we?"

Mickey recognised the area. "We're just off Bloxom Road. We're just round the corner, we did it!"

The Doctor shushed everyone, "Wait a minute, wait a minute." They all looked up and watched as the spaceship flew away.

The group cheered and hugged. The Doctor walked up to the smiling Prime Minister. "My Doctor," she simply said.

"Prime Minister," he replied and then hugged her.

"Absolutely the same man. Are there many more out there?"

"Oh, not just Sycorax. Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself. Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals. This planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed more and more. You'd better get used to it."

This sounded ominous to Harriet, who frowned.

Jackie came running around the corner shouting for her daughter, who ran up and hugged her tightly. The Doctor smiled at the pair fondly, "Oh, talking of trouble."

"Oh, my God! You did it, Rose! Oh!" Jackie gushed.

"You did it too! It was the tea. Fixed his head," Rose explained as Alex answered a phone call a little bit away from the group.

"That was all I needed, cup of tea," the Doctor confirmed.

"I said so," Jackie nodded.

"Look at him," Rose said proudly, going to stand next to him.

"Is it him, though? Is it really the Doctor? Oh, my God, it's the bleeding Prime Minister!"

"Come here, you," he said, pulling the two blondes in for a group hug. He glanced up to see Hermione standing a few feet away, a sad smile playing at her lips. His own smile faltered briefly, recalling her enthusiastic greeting when he'd awoken. He knew he'd have to talk to her soon.

Alex stepped up next to Harriet, "It's a message from Torchwood. They say they're ready."

Watching the cheerful group, Harriet debated with herself for a moment. "Tell them to fire."

Alex stepped back and told the person on the phone, "Fire at will."

A moment later a series of five green beams lit up the sky, met, and fired into space, destroying the Sycorax ship with a mighty boom.

The assembled group had looks ranging from horror, confusion, and rage. The Doctor stomped over to Harriet. "That was murder."

She stood tall and tilted her chin up, "That was defence. It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."

"But they were leaving."

"You said yourself, Doctor, they'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today. Mister Llewellyn and the Major, they were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves."

"Britain's Golden Age," the Doctor sneered sarcastically.

"It comes with a price."

The look in his eyes was colder than ice. "I gave them the wrong warning. I should've told them to run as fast as they can, run and hide because the monsters are coming. The human race."

Harriet was outraged. "Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf."

"Then I should have stopped you."

"What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?"

He glared at her. "Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, because I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your government with a single word."

She shook her head, not believing him for a moment. "You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think you're quite capable of that."

He nodded, a serious look etched in his features. "No, you're right. Not a single word, just six."

"I don't think so."

"Six words."

"Stop it!"

"Six."

He then stepped over to Alex and whispered in his ear, "Don't you think she looks tired?"

With that the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jackie, and Hermione left, heading back to the Tyler's flat.

Harriet raced over to her aide. "What did he say?"

"Oh, well, nothing, really," Alex said, looking confused.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. I don't know," he insisted, looking consideringly at the Prime Minister.

Harriet turned back towards the retreated group. "Doctor! Doctor, what did you? What was that? What did he say? What did you say, Doctor? Doctor! I'm sorry."

[Tyler Flat and TARDIS]

Back in the Tyler's flat, a Christmas dinner was being prepared, a small turkey with trimmings. Mickey was carving the turkey while Rose and her Mum pulled on Christmas crackers.

Hermione and the Doctor, however, were in the TARDIS. He'd asked her to come with him while he picked out a new outfit. Both were browsing through the stacks and stacks of clothes in the multi-level wardrobe room until Hermione ran across a familiar brown pinstripe suit. She pulled it off the rack and held it out to the Doctor who looked at it for a moment before his face lit up. Glancing around he pulled a long brown coat off a rack and went to change.

He came back, hands in his pockets and checked himself out in the mirror, catching Hermione watching him in the reflection he smiled, "What do you think?"

"Perfect."

His smile faltered at the hopeful look on her face. "So, you were, um, enthusiastic earlier. You know, when I woke."

"I was relieved to see you were alright."

He heard multiple meanings in her words. He figured now was the best time they would get for having this discussion, with Rose up in the flat with her mum and Mickey. "Who are you to me, Hermione? Because you know me. You knew about my regenerations, you knew I'm a time lord, you know a lot. But how? You've evaded answering anytime it possibly came up, but I need to know."

She smiled sadly. "Spoilers."

"Not good enough. Who are you to me?"

Frowning, she quickly schooled her face and worked to keep it frozen in a blank state. "You don't want to know. Trust me."

"No, if you want to keep travelling with us I'm demanding some sort of answer."

Biting her lip, she looked at her shoes and her hand drifted towards her pendant. But she dropped her hand and gripped them together tightly, gathering her Gryffindor courage to look him in the eye. "I'm your soulmate."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's a myth. And you're a human, you can't be my soulmate."

"Well, it's true. You told me yourself, a long time ago. Well for me. It obviously hasn't happened for you yet."

"And it won't. Time can be rewritten," he said coldly.

Hermione froze in place, fighting to keep still as she felt strands of her end of the bond jerk sharply, snap and recoil. She wanted to scream in agony and fall to the ground but she locked her knees and gripped her hands together so tight they turned white. "I see."

He raked his hand through his shaggy brown locks and looked pleadingly at her. He'd felt a twinge in his chest and wanted to take back his harsh words, but he couldn't. He passed off the feeling as guilt at hurting a friend. "Look, I know you're working on repairing your time turner, right?" She nodded, lips going thin as she tried to not blink. She didn't want to shed any tears in front of him because she knew she'd never stop. "You're welcome to travel with me and Rose until it's repaired, but then I'd like you to go. Or I can just drop you off back in your correct time? It was what? Four months or so ago from when we are?"

"The T.A.R.D.I.S-turner will be repaired in another week or two, the wards will let me know when. Then I just have to cast the portkey spell on it. I'll leave then. I got into this mess with magical time travel and I don't want to risk creating some sort of paradox by returning through other means if it can be helped." Her voice was flat, belying none of the screaming emotions she was feeling. He'd cringed at the name of her device, knowing she'd obviously taken the name from his ship.

"Look, I'm not saying I know what my personal future holds, Hermione, but I can't promise it will all work out the way you remember it. You somehow remember the paradox from when we first met, when Pete Tyler died, and no one but Rose and myself were meant to remember that happened. You're an enigma. So you may remember things that happened to you from before, or it might change. I really don't know."

She shook her head, glaring at him. "I don't care. Honestly, right now I don't even know what I want to have happen. But I'll be gone in a couple weeks." She then turned around and walked away with a stiff gait as quickly as she could manage.

He looked sadly at her retreating figure, knowing she was hurt, and feeling a coldness settle in his chest. "I'm sorry Hermione. I'm so sorry."

Taking a deep breath, he straightened his new coat and went up to the flat to enjoy some Christmas dinner with Jackie, Mickey, and his Rose. He wasn't sure if Hermione would join them or not, now.

Hermione had returned to her rooms in the TARDIS to check on the time turner. The diagnostic spells said that it needed at least another week before the magically condensed protective spells were solidified. She knew she risked magical exhaustion when it came to being the sole caster of the modified portkey spell, but she wanted to leave as soon as possible. Wiping tears from her face she saw her psychic paper had started to glow. It was warm to the touch, meaning she had a message! But Jack is the only one who could message me this way. She quickly flipped it open and the tears she'd been partly successful holding back began to stream down her face.

"Kitten, I saw what happened in London, are you okay? Are you with the Doctor?"

She cried in relief knowing that Jack was alive! And near enough to have seen what had happened with the Sycorax!

She quickly responded, Jack! I'm so pleased to hear from you! The Doctor told me you were dead, but he told Rose you were rebuilding the Earth in 200,100. I wasn't sure what to believe!

"Oh Hermione I'm so glad you're alright! You are aren't you?!"

Yes, I'm alright. I'm still with the Doctor. Oh my god Jack, I'm so sorry! We left you on Satellite 5!

"It's okay, kitten, you didn't know. I was dead but something brought me back to life. I just missed the TARDIS as it dematerialized."

How did you get back to the 21st Century?

"I used my vortex manipulator. But it malfunctioned. I wound up in 1869 and was stuck when it burnt out."

But Jack, that's 136 years ago...How, how are you still alive?

"Long story short, I can't die."

Oh, my god. I'm so sorry-

"No, don't apologize. You did nothing wrong you wonderful witch! I've been waiting around and biding my time until I might run into you and the Doctor again."

I'm not sure if he knows you're alive or not. He either lied to me, or to Rose…

"I don't know either. But Hermione, I've wanted, no, needed to tell you this for a very very long time. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you when you said Rose tried to kill you."

Jack that was yesterday for me, I'd really rather not talk about it right now-

"No, I need to apologize. After I was stranded I went back through the archive footage, I watched the broadcast. I saw what you were trying to tell me, but it was too late and I couldn't apologize."

Jack-

"NO! I should have believed you. I was wrong to doubt you like I did, and I've had an incredibly long time to regret my actions. I'm sorry Hermione."

It's okay Jack.

"Not yet it's not, but this is a start. I tried to contact you with the psychic papers but you never responded, I wasn't sure if there was a limit to the distance or time that they would work."

No, no limits. But it was in my room while I was running around helping after the Doctor's regeneration-

"Wait, he regenerated? As in YOUR Doctor now?"

Yes…

"That's great! Does he recognize your bond now? Is he going to carry you off into the sunset? ;)"

Jack, he's asked that I leave as soon as the T.A.R.D.I.S-turner is repaired...which will be in a week or two. He wants to rewrite time and have nothing to do with me…

There was a long pause. "Oh kitten, I'm so sorry Hermione. Is, is there anything I can do?"

No, Jack, but thank you. Just talking to you and knowing you're alive and potentially accessible helps.

"You'll be returning to when you left right? It was August 2005 right?"

Yes

"Well, after you've caught up to now, Christmas 2005, contact me again. I know that will be a few months for you yet, but we don't want to cause any unnecessary paradoxes."

I'd like that Jack. I'm sure I'm going to need a friend.

"I'm working for Torchwood in Cardiff, it's actually right underneath where the TARDIS parks to refuel on the rift."

So you were there, below us when Margaret tried to blow up the planet?

"Yes, but I knew I couldn't interfere. Timelines. But you know where I am now, and I want you to come and find me, kitten. I love you, and I'm here for you, even if your soulmate is being a fool."

I love you too, Jack, and I've missed you, even if it's only been a day for me since I've seen you. I'll find you when Christmas 2005 comes around again.

"You take care of yourself, Hermione. xoxo"

You too, Jack. xoxo

Back up in the flat, the group ate and laughed, and Hermione decided to join them, burying her feelings. I've had seven years of no contact with him, I'm used to feeling unwanted by him at this point, I guess he really did decide he wanted nothing to do with me. But no matter, she tried to reassure herself. I'll survive this too.

On the television they saw a conference being held, with Harriet Jones defending herself from reporters:

"Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?"

"No. Now, can we talk about other things?"

"Is it true you're unfit for office?"

"Look, there is nothing wrong with my health. I don't know where these stories are coming from. And a vote of no confidence is completely unjustified."

"Are you going to resign?"

"On today of all days, I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine."

The phone rang and Jackie answered it, quickly hanging up and addressing everyone. "It's Beth. She says go and look outside."

"Why?" Rose wanted to know.

"I don't know, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!"

The group put on warm clothes and made their way outside and downstairs, where they admired the white flakes covering the ground and falling from the sky, as streaks of light crisscrossed the sky above.

Rose looked up in wonder. "Oh, it's beautiful. What are they, meteors?"

The Doctor couldn't smile, however. "It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow, it's ash."

Rose's smile fell. "Okay, not so beautiful."

Taking a deep breath the Doctor remarked, "This is a brand new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new."

"And what about you? What are you going to do next?"

"Well, back to the TARDIS. Same old life," he said with a shrug.

Biting her lip, Rose asked what she was scared to know the answer to. "On your own?"

His eyes widened, "Why, don't you want to come?"

"Well, yeah," she said, relieved.

"Do you, though?"

"Yeah!"

"I just thought, because I changed."

"Yeah, I thought, because you changed you might not want me anymore," she murmured.

He beamed at her, "Oh, I'd love you to come."

"Okay." She smiled at him shyly.

Mickey had a sad frown on his face. "You're never going to stay, are you?"

Rose turned to him to explain, "There's just so much out there. So much to see. I've got to."

Jackie just rolled her eyes. "Well, I reckon you're mad, the three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble."

The Doctor ignored the twinge he felt at the reference to Hermione. He glanced over out of the corner of his eye and saw her hastily wiping a few tears from her cheeks. He forced a smile and told Jackie, "Trouble's just the bits in-between. It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and it's brand new to me. All those planets, and creatures and horizons. I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes. And it is going to be fantastic."

He held out his hand to Rose, pretending he didn't hear the small sniffle from the petite witch standing back from them.

Rose looked warily at his hand. "That hand of yours still gives me the creeps." But she took hold of it anyway. "So, where're we going to go first?"

Looking up at the sky he considered the unlimited options. Finally, he pointed, "Er, that way. No, hold on. That way."

Rose stepped closer under the guise of seeing where he was pointing and snuggled into his side. "That way?" she asked, pointing.

He smiled down at her and hummed an affirmative. Words failed him with the chill in his chest. Off to the side Hermione felt another strand of the bond snap.