AN: After that long time in between, I have another chapter! Remember to review :D

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Hermione asked disapprovingly as the TARDIS made another shuttering sound.

"I'm trying to figure it out," the Doctor said from under the console, and even though his face was hidden, she could detect the frown in his voice.

She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly she was thrown to the grating by a lurch to the left.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing to this thing?"

"Oi!" he protested. "It's not a thing, it's a TARDIS, a lovely space and time ship, isn't that right, old girl?" He patted the underside of the console quite fondly, and Hermione found herself rolling her eyes.

"Would you two like a moment alone?" she asked. "Just like Harry when he's polishing his broom."

"Who's Harry?" he asked her. "And do not compare my magnificent ship to a piece of wood with some twigs on the end of it."

Hermione giggled. "Don't let him hear you say that, he might put you in a body bind!"

The Doctor scoffed. "Like he could."

She laid down next to him on the floor, trying to make herself comfortable. She sighed. "Harry is...my best mate, and we're...sort of together," she said, cheeks flushing red.

"Sort of together?" he asked, coming out from under the console and arching his eyebrows at her.

"He's interested," she told him, "and I am, too. It's just...complicated."

"Complicated 'cause you're best mates?" the Doctor asked her, eyes softening at the familiarity of the situation.

"Not just that. Harry has been handling the end of the war better. He's an Auror, everyone hails him as the Boy Who Lived, and I, am handling it…considerably less."

He smiled at her. "You two will work it out."

A lound sound erupted from the monitor on the console, and the Doctor sprang up from the floor immediately. "What?" he asked, brows furrowing in confusion. He pulled a pair of glasses from his suit pocket and slipped them over his nose.

"Do you have vision problems?" she asked. "Thought with superior Time Lord biology and all…"

He sniffed. "I do not have vision problems."

"Do you think they make you look smarter?" she grinned at him, teasing tone in her voice.

He flushed red, and Hermione knew she had hit her mark. He cleared his throat. "Well, the more pressing matter is, we've landed somewhere."

"We've landed?" she asked confusedly. "You didn't even use the controls!"

"Mind of her own, remember?" he asked.

"Do you ever fly her?" she asked.

"Oh, loads of times," he told her. "But right now, we are apparently needed in-" the Doctor looked at the monitor, "Raxicoricofallipatorius, 2134."

"Raxicoricofallipatorius?" she asked, and he frowned slightly at something, although she wasn't sure what. "What's that?"

"That," he told her, "is an alien planet, Hermione! Let me show you something truly impressive." He held out a hand to her, and she took it cautiously, her other gravitating towards her wand.

…..

"They certainly look alien," she said as they moved through the town square. "Big, green, and claws."

"They tried to take over Earth once," the Doctor told her wistfully.

"They did?" she asked, mouth tiliting into a frown. "Think I'd remember that."

"Nah," he told her. "Only attacked Downing Street. Big mess to get rid of."

"The nuclear bomb!" she exclaimed, getting them a few nasty looks from the passing Raxicoricofallipatorius. "That was you?"

"Well," he said, fingers tightening around hers. "That was, ah, Rose's boyfriend at the time, Mickey."

"He thought of that plan all himself, did he?" Hermione asked.

"Well, no," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "Might have moved it along."

"Was Rose there?"

"Yes," he said sadly. "She was with me. In the cabinet room. I almost chose her over the world."

A food stall was wafting delicious smells towards them, and Hermione grinned at the Doctor ann tugged him towards it.

"We're going to sample the local culture," she told him.

…..

"How was I supposed to know it's bad taste to throw up on the grand bralank?" she asked irritably later. "I didn't even know what that was until they said!"

"Well, you shouldn't have threw up!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"I'm sorry I can't control my body when I eat something that doesn't agree with me!" Hermione shouted. "You said it was safe for humans!"

He sobered up at that. "I'm sorry, I should have run some tests over it."

She sighed. "It's not your fault. I'm the one that did it, after all." She flopped onto the small cot inside the Raxicoricofallipatorian jail cell they had to share, placing her arms under her head and closing her eyes.

"Don't suppose you've got any ideas?" he asked her hopefully.

"Thought that's what I had you along for," she said.

"Well, I thought maybe you had a spell or something," he told her.

"Oh, so now my magic's useful?" Hermione smirked at him.

"I didn't say it wasn't," he grumbled.

"To answer your question, I don't have my wand. The guards made me empty my pockets."

He sighed. "I thought as much, but doesn't hurt to ask."

"Don't suppose you've got any ideas?" She turned the question around on him.

"Ah, well. Not as such right now. I'm working on it."

At that moment, a large Clang! sounded from their door and they turned to face it, only to be met by one of their emprisoners.

"Doctor," the alien said. "Where's that little blonde human of yours?"

"Blon Fel-Fotch?" the Doctor asked. "Is that you?"

"At your service, Doctor," the alien said, bowing her head slightly.

"You remember me?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Hermione interrupted. "Do you two know each other?"

"Hermione," the Doctor said, "Meet Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen!"

The alien extended her hand in what Hermione assumed was a handshake so she walked forward to grab it.

The texture of the alien's claws were rough, but the skin was quite smooth if not a little slimy like a reptile.

"Hermione Granger," she introduced herself.

"Now that we've gotten through the pleasantries, we've got to go!" Blon told them. "The guards won't be knocked out for long."

"You want to help us?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

"There's no time to explain!" she insisted. "Follow me!"

The Doctor grabbed Hermione's hand once more and the three of them took off at a run towards the entrance.

~to be continued~