Camelot, 957 AD
Arthur Pendragon strode into the central courtyard of Camelot to greet his returning knights, their new squires, and Merlin's daughter. He chuckled at the memory of how the young woman had bested three of his knights in a demonstration of her battle skills. The fact that she was a powerful witch as well made her a very powerful piece in the great game between good and evil. He smiled as a plan popped into his head to cement her position in his court, even if it would be over a thousand years in the future.
Harry, Sirius, and Ginny brought their brooms in for an easy landing. Once they stopped, the young Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Gertrude Gryffindor ran to join them. Godric was beaming with pride as he hopped off of Harry's broom. Salazar slid off of Sirius' broom, still a little green around the gills. Gertrude rushed over to the smaller boy and helped him steady himself.
Arthur clapped Sirius on the back, welcoming him home. "Well, my Black Knight, what have you to report?" he inquired.
Sirius smiled at his king. "I would say we had quite the successful afternoon, my liege," he replied. "Lady Ginny and I drove back a peasant mob intent on defiling the Forbidden Forest," he stated. Arthur had never heard that particular forest referred to that way, but he liked how it sounded. "Sir Harry rescued an injured centaur colt that was about to be eaten by an ogre," he added. Sirius pointed at Godric. "Young Master Gryffindor over there slayed said ogre using the sword you gave Harry," he said proudly.
Arthur turned to look at Salazar, who looked completely miserable. "How about you, Lad? What did you manage to get into?" he asked.
Salazar looked down at the ground in shame. "I threw up on Sirius' broom," he admitted. Gertrude tightened her grip on his shoulder in support.
Arthur leaned down to put his face next to Salazar's. "I've seen my Black Knight fly that thing. You probably held your breakfast longer than I would have," he said in a conspiratorial voice. Salazar smiled at the king. He knew Arthur was lying, but it still felt good to know that the most important man in the kingdom had taken the time to try and make him feel better.
Harry stepped towards Arthur and bowed. "I hope you don't mind, Sire, but I gave the sword you gave me to Godric. He used it to kill the ogre and I think he deserves it," he stated.
"I trust my knights' judgments in these matters," Arthur said formally. He leaned in towards Harry and whispered, "For what it's worth, I sort of expected that. I remember the stories Sirius told me about you." Arthur straightened and held his hand out to Godric. "If you would be so as good as to hand the sword back to me, I can send it off to have your name engraved on it by its maker," he requested. Godric unbuckled the scabbard and handed Arthur the whole kit to Arthur.
Ginny turned her head as the scent of dinner cooking wafted her way. "We totally forgot about lunch. Come on, I'm starved," she said and started off towards the kitchen. Sirius and the Hogwarts Founders stared at her retreating back in horror. She had left the king's presence without his leave. Arthur noticed their stunned looks and laughed. "She's Merlin's daughter, that's for sure," he chuckled. Arthur met Sirius' eyes. "That combined with how well she fights makes me inclined to let her come and go however the bloody hell she feels like," he joked. The others relaxed visibly. "GO on, I can't have my people falling down from hunger, now can I," he suggested. When the small group turned to follow Ginny, Arthur put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Before you eat, I would like a word with you, Sir Harry," he said formally.
Harry bowed again and replied, "Of course, my lord." He let himself be led away to another part of the castle.
As they walked through the stone hallways, Arthur kept a friendly hand on Harry's shoulder. "I usually have this chat with my knights sometime before I actually knight them," he stated. Arthur drew in a deep breath before going on. "Harry, very few of my knights die peacefully in their beds," he said. "From what Sirius has told me about the future and your battles with Voldemort, I would have to say that the odds of you doing so are even more remote," he added. Harry nodded without saying anything. He had been having the same thoughts ever since he learned of Voldemort in his first year at Hogwarts.
The two men came to a sturdy, iron bound door guarded by two junior knights. Arthur took out the key that hung from a chain around his neck and unlocked the door. He pushed open the heavy door and ushered Harry into the room. When Harry stepped in, he saw all types of treasure ranging from paintings to chest filled with gold and jewels. Arthur turned his back on Harry and started rummaging around on a shelf lining the closest wall. "What I'm trying to say, Harry, is that a person never knows when your last day is finally upon them, my knights more so than others," he said. He found the small box he was looking for and turned around smiling. "Seize the day, Harry. Live as if each day is your last," he instructed his knight. He handed Harry the small box and waited for him to open it.
Harry opened the box and found that it housed a golden ring with a moderate sized ruby in the center. While the ruby's size was nothing to write home about, the clarity and fire it held was breathtaking. "Thank you, my king," Harry said gratefully. After a moment, he added, "But, I'm not really the jewelry wearing type."
Arthur took one step closer to Harry and playfully smacked him on the back of his head. "It's not for you, you dolt!" he informed Harry. "I think the ruby will match a certain someone's hair quite nicely, don't you think?" he asked rhetorically. Arthur pointed out the doors. "Be brave, Sir Harry. Seize the day," he commanded. Harry smiled and started to race out of the room, deciding to follow his king's suggestion. "Just make sure you follow the proper customs, Sir Harry," he called out to the young wizard.
Arthur relocked the door to his treasury and smiled at the two knights guarding it. "Now we'll see how brave Sir Harry truly is," he commented.
"My Lord?" one of the knights asked, not sure of what the king was getting at.
Arthur looked down the hall where Harry had gone. "Harry has to go find Merlin and ask him for his daughter's hand in marriage," he replied mischievously. Both guards gulped loudly, thankful their usual quest only dealt with slaying dragons or something comparatively easy like that.
A few minutes after Harry had his talk with King Arthur, the Doctor and Jack rode back into Camelot. Their ride back had been in silence, each man lost in their own thoughts. When they reached the courtyard, the Doctor broke their silence. "I wonder if Hermione figured out I tricked her yet?" he wondered aloud. She would have arrived hours ahead of them and had plenty of time to think about what had happened.
Both men looked up to a balcony that overlooked the courtyard when they sensed motion. Hermione made sure they saw her and then turned around, storming back into her room. "Yep, she figured it out," Jack told him needlessly.
They both got off of their horses and the Doctor ran his hand through his hair. "I suppose I should go take my punishment,' he muttered.
Jack stopped the Doctor with a hand on his chest. "Let me get this one for you," he offered. "It's time I explained the rules of traveling with you to Hermione," he said, his mind made up. He pushed the Doctor off in direction of the kitchens. "Go grab a snack and give me at least ten minutes before you come up to grovel for her forgiveness," he suggested.
The Doctor made a sour face at Jack. "Grovel… do you really think it will require that? I don't do groveling well," he stated.
Jack shook his head in amusement. "Over 900 years old and you still don't get women," he chuckled. "Trust me, Doctor, this will require groveling on your part," he told him firmly. Jack spun around and walked off towards the tower where Hermione was.
Harry spotted the Doctor in the courtyard and made a bee line for him before his courage failed him. "Doctor!" he called out and waved to get the old alien's attention.
The Doctor waited for harry to reach him. "Hello, Harry," he said warmly. Leaning in towards Harry he suggested, "Around here, it's probably best if you call me Merlin."
Harry matched the Doctor's smile, relieved that Ginny's birth father was in a good mood. "Doc… Merlin, do you have a moment?" he requested.
The Doctor let the stable hands lead their horses off, leaving just him and Harry alone in the courtyard. "I'm a Time Lord, I have lots of minutes – some of them actually in the right order," he replied jokingly.
Deciding the direct approach was going to be the best, harry went with his typical Gryffindor charge. "I want to ask you for permission to marry your daughter," he blurted out.
The Doctor smiled even more. "Arthur gave you his 'seize the day' speech, didn't he?" he inquired, his eyes twinkling.
Harry looked very embarrassed and replied, "Um… yes, but that's not all of it. I really do…" he started to say before he was cut off by a raised hand from the Doctor.
"I was expecting something like this from the King," the Doctor said, interrupting harry. "He always was one to look after both the physical and mental wellbeing of his people," he explained. He saw doubt starting to form on Harry's face. The Doctor put both hands on Harry's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Harry James Potter, I would be honored to have you as my son-in-law. You have my permission, for whatever that's worth," he told him happily.
Harry smiled from ear to ear. "Thank you, Doctor," he whispered.
The Doctor took his hands off of Harry's shoulders and looked around. He pointed towards a door on the eastern wall. "If my memory serves, that door leads to Guinevere's gardens," he said. "I'll go find my daughter and have her meet you there," he offered.
********DrW********
Harry paced nervously around the queen's garden. He thought back to the first time he had met Ginny on Platform 9 ¾. Over the years their relationship had gone from him thinking of her as just his best friend's little sister into the woman he loved with all of his heart. Things had become a bit complicated once she had regained her memories of her life between Messaline and Earth. Harry had been floored when she explained to him that she was actually an alien Time traveler and the Doctor was her biological father. Finding out her dad also happened to be the most famous wizard of all time seemed like par for the new course. Harry had a fleeting moment of doubt when he wondered if she would be able to lower her standards and marry a mere human.
Harry was so focused on what he was going to say, he was startled when Ginny opened the door. "Dad said there was something you wanted to talk about," she said nervously. The Doctor had been very serious when he told her that Harry wanted to see her. On the way to the garden, her mind raced through all types of possible bad things Harry might want to discuss. She was worried that the King had told Harry to set aside all thoughts of marriage and a family life or some sort of rubbish like that.
Harry took Ginny's hand and led her to a stone bench where he had her sit while he stood. "Ginny, King Arthur said some things to me that really made sense," he started out saying.
Ginny fought down the tears that were threatening to come out. She would be damned if she let some king from the past try and get in between them. She forced a smile onto her face and waited for Harry to go on.
Harry took in a deep breath to calm his nerves. He reached into his robe pocket and palmed the ring the king had given him. Staring into Ginny's beautiful eyes, he went down onto one knee. He took her hand in his and held out the ruby ring. "Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?" he requested with all of his heart.
Ginny leapt off of the bench and knocked Harry to the ground. In between passionate kisses, she managed to get out, "Of course I'll marry you, Harry Potter!" Harry returned the kisses with equal passion, happier than he could ever remember being.
The door to the garden shut silently as Sirius gently pulled it shut. He turned around and smiled at Merlin. "Thank you, Merlin," Sirius whispered. "That is a memory I will cherish forever,' he told him. His smile became bittersweet and then hopeful when he remembered a similar conversation between him and Ace in the park at Godric's hollow. Ace had reacted much the same way as Ginny had.
********DrW*******
Hermione was pacing back and forth in the tower room she had been given by Arthur. She had been tempted to go somewhere else when she overheard one of the servants referring to it as "Merlin's room" on her way up the stairs. She was furious that she had been tricked by the Doctor. The on again / off again nature of how he acted towards her was driving her mad. A knock on the door earned a cross response from Hermione. "Who is it?" she demanded.
"The most handsome man in the universe," Jack replied.
Hermione rolled her eyes and then said, "Come in, Jack."
Jack opened the door and walked into the room. He left the door open in case he had to make a hasty retreat. "So you figured out the Doctor's stunt from earlier had nothing to do with Lancelot, huh?" he inquired.
"Ooooh!" Hermione screamed and threw a pillow from the couch across the room. Jack was glad it hadn't been anything breakable or thrown at him. "I just don't know what to think. One moment he's standoffish to me, the next were sharing a romantic moment on horseback, followed by him tricking me into apparating back to Camelot!" she fumed.
Jack leaned against the door frame. "I guess it's time to tell you the facts of life when it comes to the Doctor," he said, half-jokingly. Jack held up one finger. "Rule number one, the Doctor lies," he said simply.
Hermione scowled at Jack. "I already figured that one out," she told him coldly.
"You might have, but it's not what you think," Jack told her. This made Hermione stop pacing and stare at him. "In all the years I've known the Doctor… in all three of the versions I have met… I have never known the Doctor to lie for his own gain," he stated firmly. Jack walked farther into the room and took one of Hermione's hands. "He might act like the alien he is at times, but he knows perfectly well how those of us he chooses as his Companions feel about him," he told her. "He knows we would gladly die for him," he said softly.
Hermione's anger deflated and she plopped down onto the couch. "If he knows we love him, why lie to us then" asked.
Jack sat down next to Hermione. "I'll answer that with a question of my own," Jack replied. "If the Doctor had asked you to go back to Camelot because he was afraid for your safety, would you have gone? Even if he told you he couldn't do what he needed to if he was worried about you?" he posed to her.
Hermione looked down at her hands. "No, I would have stayed by his side," she admitted.
"If he feels that protective of his Companions, how do you think he feels about the woman he loves?" Jack pressed.
Hermione sighed. She loved the Doctor and would have done the same thing had the tables been reversed. "Still doesn't change the fact that I hate that man sometimes," she pouted.
"No you don't" the Doctor said from the doorway.
Jack got off the couch and made his way out of the room. When he was next to the Doctor, he whispered, "That doesn't sound like groveling to me."
"Like I said, I don't do groveling well," the Doctor repeated.
Jack shook his head and muttered, "Probably why you've been single for so long," before heading down the stairs.
Hermione tried to be mad at the Doctor. "I'm still cross with you," she informed him. "If you didn't come up here to beg for forgiveness, why did you come up here?" she asked.
The Doctor walked into the room and stood next to the large fireplace. "First off, I will never… ever be sorry for trying to protect you, Hermione," he told her firmly. "I love you too much for that," he added in almost a whisper.
Hermione gave in and joined him by the fireplace, taking his hand. "Mother always said men act stupidly when they're in love," she told him.
That made the Doctor smile. He remembered how needlessly jealous Rory had been when it came to her mother. "Look, before I forget, I wanted to let you know that Harry just asked Ginny to marry him," he said in an offhand manner.
Hermione's face lit up like it was Christmas morning. "She said yes, didn't she?" she begged to know.
"Yes, Harry is going to be my son-in-law," the Doctor replied with a smirk.
Hermione started to pull away from the Doctor as she tried to hurry out of the room. "I have to see Ginny and get the details," she nearly screamed in excitement.
The Doctor kept a firm hold on Hermione's hand and kept her from leaving. "Ginny and Harry are sort of… busy right now," he explained. "We should give them some quiet time to just be together," he suggested. When he was done speaking, his smile faded and he dropped Hermione's hand.
Hermione saw the change in the Doctor and grabbed his hand again. From the ashamed look on his face, she knew it had nothing to do with Ginny or harry. "You, sit down and tell me what's wrong!" she commanded, sounding every bit like her mother.
The Doctor complied, familiar with what crossing Scottish stubbornness would cost him. Hermione sat down next to him, never releasing his hand. The Doctor managed to look up at Hermione. "It's my fault that we've never really had any quiet time to ourselves," he told her.
Hermione smiled at the Doctor and shrugged. "You're busy protecting the Earth and things like that," she said, trying to make him feel better.
The Doctor shook his head dismissively. "You don't understand. I do it on purpose," he said softly. Hermione leaned away from him, shocked at what he had said. "It's not you, Hermione. I'm deathly afraid of any type of quiet time," he admitted.
Hermione tried to think of what might have caused this type of fear in the Doctor. "Why?" was all she managed to ask.
The Doctor looked down at the floor sadly. "It's when things are quiet that I remember what I've done," he replied. He paused before going on. "I should have told you this from the beginning, but I was afraid of losing you," he told her.
Hermione stroked the Doctor's arm reassuringly. "Tell me what you've done and let me be the judge of things," she suggested.
The Doctor nodded once, still unable to meet her eyes. "The reason why I'm the last of the Time Lords is because I killed the rest of them. I committed genocide on my own race," he told her sadly. He looked up to see Hermione blinking in shock.
"What happened?" Hermione begged. She couldn't imagine her gentle, kind Doctor hurting anyone, let alone killing off his own people.
The Doctor pulled his hand away from Hermione, stood up, and stared into the fireplace. The burning logs reminding him of the last moments of Gallifrey. "There was a terrible war between my people and a race known as the Daleks," he started to explain. "Both sides possessed the ability to travel in Time. My people wanted to remain simple observers while the Daleks wanted nothing else but the extermination of all life other than theirs. I had warned my people about the Daleks, but they refused to get involved until it was too late," he said. "Entire worlds and sentient species were removed from existence in the war as Time and Space collapsed in the areas we fought in," he told her, guilt resonating in his voice.
The flames seemed to hypnotize the Doctor and it was few moments before he spoke again. "I could have stopped the war before it started when I had a chance to stop the Daleks from ever being created," he sighed. "I chose instead to give them a chance and hope that their race might mature," he told her. "I was wrong," he whispered while he smacked the stone fireplace with his hand.
"Because of the High Council's refusal to act in time, we realized we were losing the war," the Doctor went on. "A good friend of mine was able to sneak me the plans of what the High Council was planning to turn the tide. Something they referred to as the Final Sanction," he said. "They had discovered a way to ascend to a higher state of being by channeling energy from the higher planes into this one. The only bad part of their plan was it would require the destruction of the rest of the Universe for them to do it," he explained. I was caught between two impossible choices. Let the Daleks destroy all life, or let my own people do it," he sighed. "In the end, I chose a third path," he said sadly
The Doctor pulled out the fire poker and stirred the ashes, making embers fly up the chimney. "I had my friend on the Council disable the shields protecting my home world and I sent a message to the Daleks letting them know Gallifrey was unprotected," he said, still staring at the flames. "Davros, the leader of the Daleks, acted true to form and brought every last Dalek into our solar system to make sure he wiped out the Time Lords," he told her. "Once everyone was in one place, I used my mental link with a powerful, ancient tool called the Hand of Omega. I detonated the twin stars of our system, Kasterborous prime and minor. They flashed over into supernovae and I watched as fire burned across my home world and the Dalek ships, cleansing the Universe to give everyone else a chance at living," he admitted, tears streaming down his cheeks. . His face looked haunted by the memories. He didn't know how to tell her about "the Moment" he carried in his soul as penance. The frozen bit of Time containing the last instant before Gallifrey burned.
Hermione got up from the couch and stood in front of the Doctor. She held his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "I love you now more than ever," she assured him. She brought his face down to her and kissed him. At first the Doctor didn't respond, but eventually he relaxed and kissed her back. Hermione broke off the kiss and looked the man she loved in the eyes again. "My love, from now on, whenever the ghosts of the past start to become too loud, just kiss me. I'm sure I can distract you," she promised with a grin. The Doctor was still crying, but he was relieved Hermione still loved him after he told her his greatest shame. He kissed her for all he was worth, banishing his guilt for a while.
********DrW********
Hermione awoke fully clothed on the couch snuggled up next to the Doctor. The Doctor was stroking her hair lovingly and whispering her name. She smiled as she remembered the night they had spent in each other's arms. They had decided to wait on making the final leap in their physical relationship until they were both more emotionally rested and had stopped things at the kissing phase. Even without fully consummating their relationship, she still felt the evening had help solidify their love for each other. Hermione looked out the window and saw it was still dark outside. "What time is it?" she moaned, hugging the blanket that was over her tighter and burrowing closer to the Doctor.
The Doctor kept stroking Hermione's bushy hair, more content that he had been since the fall of Gallifrey. "Time for us to sneak out of the castle and set up a wedding present for Ginny and Harry," he told her.
Hermione instantly perked up. "What do you have in mind?" she asked happily when saw the smile on his face.
The Doctor put a finger on Hermione's lips. "Shhhh. I'll explain when we get there," he told her. The Doctor rose and helped Hermione to her feet. She saw a plate full of food had been placed on the end table while she had slept. The Doctor shrugged and said, "I sent a servant for room service."
After a quick breakfast, the Doctor led Hermione to the TARDIS. He noticed Hermione's skeptical look. "We're only making a Spatial hop; so you don't have to worry about me not getting back when I said I would," he said sheepishly. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll teach you how to fly the old girl starting this morning," he promised her while holding out a gleaming brass key.
Hermione looked at the simple key quizzically until she realized it looked like it would fit in the old lock on the doors. She snatched the key out of his hand and smiled mischievously at him. "Why Doctor, are you giving me a key to your flat?" she teased. The Doctor looked stunned for a moment. He hadn't thought about it like that. Before he could say anything, Hermione used her new key to unlock the TARDIS and walk in.
The TARDIS dematerialized with the familiar take off sounds and rematerialized inside the mouth of a large cave. The doors opened and Hermione gasped in wonder once she stepped into the cavern. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the cave were covered in beautiful crystals ranging in size from a few centimeters in length to over three meters tall. The Doctor joined her and stood still so she could drink in the beauty of the place. "Where are we?" she whispered.
The Doctor walked out into the field of crystals and spun around, his arms held out wide. "I believe the locals were a bit unimaginative and named this place 'the Crystal Cave'," he replied.
Hermione's knowledge of Arthurian legend made her look up at him in fear. "But, Doctor… isn't that where the legends say Morgana trapped Merlin inside one of the crystals for all of eternity?" she asked.
The Doctor turned around and started peering into different crystals, looking for a particular one. "I always wondered about that, but I think I finally figured out what caused that legend," he told her over his shoulder. When he saw her folding her arms across her chest in frustration with him, he wisely decided to explain more. He gestured towards the crystals with a broad wave of his hand. "These crystals were formed with the energy of a minor temporal rift. Of course this one isn't anywhere close to the size of the one in Cardiff. In fact, this one is so small, nothing but rift energy can get through," he assured her.
Hermione walked into the cave to stand next to the Doctor. "I'm not quite following you, Doctor," she told him.
"These crystals are packed with temporal energies, keying each one into a certain important event in Time," he went on, trying to explain better. "Those with the ability to see into the Time streams can see those scenes repeated over and over again inside the crystals," he said.
The Doctor was silent for a bit until he found the one crystal he was sure would be there. He stopped in front of a crystal that went from floor to ceiling. Peering into the enormous gem, he was able to make out a lake in the mountains of Utah. The Doctor spun around and forced a smile on his face. "The other neat thing about rift energies is that it can be used to fuel a TARDIS," he told Hermione. He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out something that looked like metallic coral.
Hermione tiled her head from side to side as she looked at the strange coral. "What is that?" she inquired, finding herself sucked in by the opportunity to learn something new.
The Doctor stepped around the large crystal and gently placed the coral on the ground. "It's a bit of my TARDIS," he said, patting the coral fondly before standing up. "The low levels of rift energy in this cavern will nurture and feed this bit of TARDIS, letting it grow into a fully mature TARDIS in about a thousand years or so," he said with a grin.
Hermione caught on instantly. "You're growing Ginny her own TARDIS," she exclaimed.
The Doctor leaned on the crystal. "Yep," he replied. "Now I just need to safeguard it from anyone who might stumble in here," he said. The Doctor held out his hand. "You're PHART please," he requested.
Hermione was slightly perplexed for a moment until she remembered the hologram projecting pendant he had given her. She pulled the chain off of her neck. "I thought it was burned out," she told him.
The Doctor took the PHART and worked on it for a moment with his sonic screwdriver. "For projecting a moving, adapting hologram, it is," he agreed. He finished making the adjustments he wanted and placed the crystal in between the TARDIS coral and the crystal. A quick blast from his screwdriver activated the new program. The PHART projected an image of Dumbledore looking very cross inside the crystal. The image turned to look at Hermione and said loudly, "Go away while you still can!"
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "That's why people have always imagined Merlin looking like Prof. Dumbledore. You planted the idea in the first place!" she said, excited to finally know the answer to a question that had been bothering her.
"Well, I didn't think an image of me looking like I do know would be quite as scary," the Doctor replied with a grin.