12 Grimmauld Place
As Hermione used the Doctor's sonic screwdriver to fuse the last connection inside K-9, she thought about how she had spent the past three weeks since the Battle of the Burrow. Truth be told, the past few weeks had been some of the happiest times she could remember since the start of the magical civil war. Hermione glanced out of the corner of her eye to watch the person who had made things so special for her... a nearly millennium old alien who still got flustered whenever she managed to sneak in a quick snog.
The Doctor had insisted that Hermione help him rebuild K-9. He had been patient and explained everything they were doing to his robotic pet. Luckily for Hermione, Advanced Quantum theory was similar enough to Advanced Magical theory that she was able to follow along well. When they weren't working on his robotic dog, the Doctor taught her High Gallifreyan, the language of the Time Lords.
The Doctor leaned over Hermione's shoulder and examined her work. "You're really getting the hang of using that screwdriver," he complimented her.
Hermione smiled at the praise and handed him back the tool. "It's almost as useful as a wand," she teased. "So when do I get my own sonic screwdriver?" she inquired playfully. Hermione wasn't expecting the sad, far away expression he gave her in response to her question.
The Doctor shook himself out of his painful memories and forced a smile on his face. "Some day that is hopefully far, far in the future," he replied cryptically. Wanting to change the subject, the Doctor pointed at K-9. "Before we reconnect his power supply, why don't you tell me what we changed inside my old friend, hum?" he suggested.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Doctor. We've been working on K-9 for nearly 3 weeks," she sighed. "Do we really have to go over this again?" she asked.
The Doctor gently put his hand on her shoulder. "There may come a time when I'm nowhere near and you have to repair the old dog yourself, so humour me," he insisted.
Hermione sighed and started pointing towards different things in K-9's interior. "We've replaced his crystalline power pathways with plasma conduits that carry a quantumly neutral plasma. Having a neutral charge should keep K-9 from shorting out near everyday magic," she told the Doctor. She tapped several small cubes attached to the conduits at various points. The cubes had a second set of conduits that ran to a cylinder just under K-9's neck. "If K-9 is exposed to high levels of magic, these phasic dampers shunt the excess energy to the probability capacitor," she said. "K-9 can use the stored energy to either power up a null entropy field around his processors or overcharge his weapon system," she stated. Hermione pointed to a cylinder that was mounted vertically near K-9's tail. "And that is a blatant rip-off from 'Return of the Jedi'," she pointed out. Hermione grinned as she realized that thanks to her Muggle upbringing, she was probably the only witch at school who would get the reference.
The Doctor double checked the sealed cylinder. "I thought it was a neat trick and you never know when I might need something like that," he countered, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He poked and prodded around the inside of K-9 until he was satisfied everything was connected to Hermione's usual standard of excellence. "Looks good," he stated and resealed the exterior panel. He grabbed a large cable than ran to the TARDIS' control panel and attached the free end to a port under K-9's collar. "We'll leave him to charge for a couple of hours and then switch him on," he said.
Hermione glanced at an old clock strapped to the underside of the control console. Her face lit up when she saw they had finished early. "I promised Jack that I would practice in the dungeon with him after lunch, but that's still a couple of hours from now," she told him. Once Jack had seen Remus' Pyramid of Pain, he had insisted that Remus make a practice wand in the shape of a sonic pistol. It took both Remus and Hermione to come up with a way of enchanting the new practice pistol so that it shot out a spell when the trigger was pulled instead of a verbal incantation. After the practice pistol was built, Jack worked with Hermione every night on improving her aim and other firearm skills. "But with these extra hours before lunch, Ginny and I should be able to finish that potion we were working on," she said happily.
"What type of potion are my two favorite women in the universe concocting this time?" the Doctor asked playfully.
Hermione basked in the warmth of what he said for an instant before answering him. "We've been looking through Sirius' library and found some potion books that were banned at Hogwarts. In one of them we found a potion that induces a hypnotic state in the recipient," she replied. "What's really interesting about this potion is that it's absorbed through the skin instead of ingested like most other potions," she added.
The Doctor loved how Hermione's eyes lit up when she got excited about learning something. Lucky for him, that happened very frequently. "If it's a contact potion, you and Ginny must have to be very careful with it or risk hypnotizing yourselves," he pointed out while he brushed his finger down the bridge of her nose.
Hermione glanced from side to side as if she was making sure they were alone so she could let him in on a secret. "That's the brilliant bit about this recipe," she stated. "The person brewing the potion has to add a drop of their blood near the beginning so that the potion keys to them, making it not work on them," she explained. "The blood also makes it so that the person who brewed it is the only one who can make suggestions when the victim is hypnotized," she added. "The only thing Ginny and I have to figure out is a way to deliver the potion in way that people won't suspect," she told him. Both young women had realized the tactical benefit a potion like that would have in the war against Voldemort.
The Doctor started chuckling and then laughing out rite when he realized what Hermione was describing. River had used it on several occasions. Hermione cocked her head to the side and waited for the Doctor to finish. "Beeswax," the Doctor said simply.
Hermione thought for a moment and then clapped her hands in excitement. "Of course, hypnotic lipstick!" she shouted. Hermione raced forward, kissed the Doctor on the lips, and then ran out of the TARDIS to tell Ginny what they had come up with. The Doctor chuckled to himself as he adjusted the power flow to K-9 and wondered just how many men he had condemned to being tricked by River Song.
It was mid-afternoon before the Doctor saw Hermione again. She and Jack came up from the Black family dungeon with Hermione looking pleased and Jack looking a little disturbed. Jack walked over to the Doctor and whispered, "Trust me when I tell you that you never want to piss her off."
The Doctor had already come that conclusion long ago, but he wanted to see what Jack was talking about. "Go on," he suggested.
Jack looked over his shoulder at Hermione and wondered about what he was helping create. "I'm going to have to have Remus reset the safeties on the pyramid again," he told the Doctor. "She's already to the point where she is able to take on three Death Eaters by herself," he stated. "I wouldn't be surprised if she makes it up to five," he mused.
The Doctor smiled as he remembered flirting with River in the Silences' ship. "Actually, it's seven," he corrected Jack. "Eight if she's trying to impress me," he added. "That really shouldn't turn me on, but I can't help it," he admitted in a whisper to his dear friend.
Jack nearly choked and let out a sharp, bark like laugh. Everyone turned to look at him, but he waved them away while saying, "Don't ask."
Jack and the Doctor were spared from having to explain themselves by a high pitched squeal from the living room fireplace. Sirius ran to the fireplace and called out, "Some one's trying to force a connection on the private floo." The rest followed him into the living room and saw a green tornado struggling to form in the fireplace.
When the swirling cloud flashed gold and red for an instant, Harry made a snap decision. "Open the connection," he ordered. Sirius looked at Harry for a brief moment and decided to trust his godson's instincts. He put his hand on the stone mantel and whispered the passwords that would connect the floos.
The floo cloud was finally able to form the green vortex that allowed communication between two floos. The cloud shifted again and blossomed into the form of Neville Longbottom's face. Even though it was just a shape made out of smoke, everyone could make out Neville's black eyes and swollen lip. Harry knelt down in front of the fireplace. The face relaxed when Neville saw Harry's face on his side of the connection. "Thank god, I found you, Harry!" he swore.
"What's happened, Neville?" Harry demanded. "Who beat you up?" he inquired, vowing silently to pay back who ever had done that to his friend.
Neville reached up and touched his swollen lip gingerly. "The Carrows took turns working on me after I got detention for trying to stand up for Prof. McGonagall," he told them proudly. "Harry, the Carrows finally got tired of Prof. McGonagall trying to protect the students and had her shipped off to Azkaban," he told a shocked Harry. Neville looked over his shoulder at something and then back into the fireplace, his face worried. "The Carrows are coming to lead me to an extra detention," he explained quickly. "Harry, you and the Doctor need to save Prof. McGonagall. I don't want to think about what they're doing to her there!" he pleaded. Neville's head snapped around to look over his shoulder once again and then his hand swept through the floo cloud, severing the connection.
Harry jumped up to his feet, his face flushed with anger. "I'm going to tear down Azkaban brick by brick if I have to!" he swore. He looked up at the Doctor when the old alien put his hand on the young wizard's shoulder.
"No you won't, Harry," the Doctor ordered. "It's obviously a trap. The Brickyard knows you and knows that you'll risk anything to protect those you love," he pointed out. "I'm sure he has every available Death Eater laying in wait for you there," he added.
Harry angrily brushed the Doctor's hand off his shoulder. "Are you saying we should just leave Prof. McGonagall to rot there?" he demanded. Harry swallowed hard when he saw the hard look in the Doctor's eyes. It was the same look that had sent whole armies packing. It was to Harry's credit that even though his insides felt weak, he stood his ground against the Doctor.
The Doctor finally relaxed a bit and gave Harry a small smile. "Not at all, Harry," he said. "All I'm saying is that youwon't be the one to break her out," he told the young man gently.
Ginny stepped up to her father and boyfriend and took Harry's hand. "The Doctor's right, Harry," she told him.
Harry squeezed Ginny's hand, but he wasn't about to concede defeat yet. "I can't just sit here while someone else risks their life to do something that I should," he countered.
Vastra had listened to the conversation and walked into the center of the room to gain everyone's attention. She had heard about the hellish prison from their host at Grimmauld Place and a plan was forming in her mind. "Nor would any of us expect you to," she said simply.
Jack grinned at Vastra. "I know that look," he said. "You're up to something," he pointed out.
Vastra nodded her head. "Whomever we send to rescue your friend will be facing terrible odds unless we cause a large enough distraction somewhere else to draw away the extra Death Eaters," she stated.
The Doctor leaned towards Vastra, intensely curious as to her plan. "What do you have in mind?" he inquired.
Vastra smiled, something that gave her reptilian face a frightening aspect. "Not only does this Voldemort fellow know how Harry will react, he knows how you will as well, Doctor," she said. "We will do something that is not in either of your natures. We will take revenge on them, strike out to hurt them like they have hurt us," she told the group. "They took one of the Order of the Pheonix, so we shall remove a Death eater from the midst," she explained. "I think one or both of those barbaric Carrows the boy in the fireplace spoke of will do nicely," she added, licking her lips.
The Doctor saw her hungry expression and put his foot down. "I won't allow any one to be killed if we can avoid it," he told her strongly.
Vastra pretended to pout before responding to the Doctor. "Fine, we let the prisoners live," she conceded. "Other than that, do you see any faults in my plan?" she pressed.
The Doctor thought for a moment and then said, "The only thing I can think of is the trouble taking care of a prisoner will be." He guessed what Vastra was thinking and added, "No, eating them is not acceptable."
Vastra nodded to the Doctor. "Of course, old friend," she replied. "As to taking care of a prisoner, I know the perfect place to put them so they won't be a bother to us and won't be able to break out," she bragged. "As many of you have figured out, my kind prefers our meals to still be alive as we eat them," she stated. "Underneath the stasis chamber where my sisters and I slept is a separate chamber used for keeping livestock in suspended animation in case we felt peckish when we were revived," she said. "As far as I know, it was undamaged when the main stasis chamber was violated," she told them.
Jack clapped his hands and rubbed them together in anticipation of mischief. "So what you're suggesting is we snatch some of the bad guys and toss them in the fridge for later," he paraphrased. Vastra simply nodded in response. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I love this plan," he said happily.
The Doctor had yet to be convinced. "How stable were your livestock stasis chambers?" he asked.
"Not quite as stable as the ones we used for ourselves," she admitted. "After about 4,000 years, the subject's neural pathways began to degrade," she told him. "However, I doubt anyone we place in there will be there for that long," she said.
The Doctor thought things over and then nodded his head. "Right, sounds reasonable," he conceded. He spun around and pointed at various people. "Vastra, Jenny, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione," he called out. "You five go to Hogwarts, kidnapped the Carrows, and make enough noise to draw off some of the Death Eaters from Azkaban," he ordered. "I'll lead the other team to break out Prof. McGonagall," he said. The ones he had pointed to nodded their heads and then broke away from the rest of the group to makes plans for assaulting Hogwarts.
The Doctor turned around and pointed at the twins and then Jack. "Since I don't care about breaking anything at the prison, you three will be the perfect team to help me," he laughed. The twins gave each other a high five and Jack winked suggestively at both of them.
Ron stood up from the couch he was sitting on. "What about me? I'm not useless!" he asked indignantly.
The Doctor turned to look at Ron. "Sorry, Mickey... I mean Ron," he corrected himself. "You, Luna, and Sirius will act as magical backup for Ace as she gets the stasis chambers on line," he stated. He had actually forgotten about Ron, but had already planned on sending Ace and Sirius to keep Sirius from having to go back to the prison that had stripped so much from him. The Doctor caught Ace's eye as she mouthed the words, "Thank you," to him.
Hermione came back to the main group and grabbed the Doctor's hand. "The sooner my team leaves, the sooner yours can rescue prof. McGonagall," she told him. "All though I am a little nervous about letting you out of my sight," she joked.
The Doctor smirked and said, "Don't worry. The Universe's best prison escape expert will be with me," he assured her.
Hermione misinterpreted what he was saying and looked over at Jack. "You better watch out for him!" she ordered. Jack stood at attention and saluted her. Hermione smiled at him, assured Jack would look after her boyfriend. She stood on her toes, kissed the doctor's ear, and whispered, "Be careful, my love."
The Doctor pulled her to him for a warm hug. "And you do the same, my beautiful Gryffindor," he whispered into her hair.
Hermione stepped back after the Doctor loosened his arms,and turned look at her team. "Let's get this over with," she instructed. Hermione walked over to the fireplace, threw in some floo powder, and said, "The Hog's Head Inn, basement floo." She stepped into the green flames and was whisked away to Hogsmeade. Ginny demonstrated how to use the floo powder to Vastra and Jenny and then went herself after the Victorian couple disappeared.
Before Harry used the powder, he stopped to look the Doctor in the eyes. "Bring her back in one piece, please Doctor," he begged and then disappeared into the green flames.
The Doctor motioned for his team to come over to him. Jack, George, and Fred hurried over to join him, smiles on their faces. When they were standing next to the Doctor, Remus' breath caught in his throat as he recognized the smiles the four men were wearing. It was the same smile James, Sirius, Peter, and he got whenever they were plotting mischief so many years ago. He tipped an imaginary hat to them as he muttered, "Welcome to the New Marauders."
The Doctor looked at each member of his team and then said loudly, "You can come out of the closet now!"
Jack shook his head in amusement. "Sorry, Doc, but I was never in the closet in the..." he started to say before he was interrupted from a voice coming from a closet near the door.
"I hate it when you do that!" a woman's voice said as the closet door opened. A woman dressed in tight black pants and a white jacket stepped out.
"No you don't," the Doctor countered, his face smug.
Jack stared with his mouth open. He finally managed to choke out, "River? What are you doing here?"
River Song walked confidently to where her lover and his friends stood. "You heard the Doctor. He promised me the Universe's best person at breaking out of prisoners would help him, so here I am," she said, her face as smug as the Doctor's. "Excuse me for a moment," she said and then kissed the Doctor passionately.
It was the twins' turn to look dumbstruck as this strange woman kissed the Doctor. They certainly wouldn't want to risk pissing off Hermione and it looked to them like the Doctor was enjoying the kiss. They hoped for his sake, Hermione never found out.
River broke off the kiss with a whispered, "I've missed you." She turned to face the twins and messed their hair with both hands. "Hello, boys," she greeted them. She looked over their shoulders and then pushed past them to get to Arthur and Molly who were just as dumbstruck as their sons. She hugged first Arthur and then Molly.
Arthur awkwardly returned the hug. When Molly was done being hugged, she gently lifted her hand to touch River's frizzy hair. Recognition dawned on her as she muttered, "Hermione?"
River nodded her head. She smiled as she replied with a simple, "Yes."
Arthur creased his brows as he tried to figure out what was going on. River helped him sit down in case he forgot how to stand while his mind tried to grasp things. "I'm madly in love with a Time Traveler," she told him. "Didn't you ever think I would learn how to do it myself?" she teased. She turned around again to look at the Doctor. "Ready when you are, Sweetie," she said eagerly.