Chapter 3

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The door to the compartment rolled open again, and Rose looked up to see a beautiful black girl in Ravenclaw robes, a neat suitcase in one hand and a small owl cage in the other. She glanced around at them before smiling hopefully at the Doctor. "Hey, guys. Is it all right if I join you? I just finished my patrol, and the rest of the Prefects wanted to stay together."

Donna piped up, rolling her eyes at the girl's expression. "Sure, Martha. We've still got room."

"Oh, good." She put her luggage away and sat next to the Doctor, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Hi, Doctor. I didn't see you much this summer."

He edged away from her, leaning back against the window. "Yeah, Wilf and I did some traveling."

Donna snorted. "What he means is, he escaped Mum. She's been a right terror lately, and they were lucky enough to get away. I, on the other hand, wasn't as fortunate. Instead I got to listen to her complain about how everyone was abandoning her. For months."

He winced. "I did say sorry about that, Donna."

"Yeah, well." She sniffed. "I'm still not tired of hearing it." Rose shifted in her seat, and Donna looked at her. "Oh, right! You two haven't been introduced yet. Rose, this is Martha Jones—we grew up together. Martha, this is Rose... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your last name."

"No, it's all right. Rose Tyler. 'S nice to meet you." She shook hands with Martha, who was looking thoughtful.

"Rose Tyler… that sounds familiar. I could've sworn you weren't here last year, though."

"Oh, I wasn't. I was here for my first year, but when things started to go bad Mum pulled me out." She shrugged. "We're all each other has, really, so she wanted to keep me safe."

Donna shook her head. "I don't blame her. The Doc and I didn't go last year—Granddad taught us at home. Martha here, though—she was here through all of it."

Martha shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. "Seriously, be glad your mum did what she did. I know Headmaster Snape was supposed to be on our side, but the Carrows definitely weren't. They were completely mad." Her eyes hardened. "Serves 'em right that they're in Azkaban. I only wish they'd been taken out in the last battle."

Rose frowned. "What happened with Professor Snape, anyway? He always used to creep me out, with all his swooping and glaring."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "You really don't know?"

"No. Mum's a Muggle, an' when she pulled me out, she cut off all contact. My neighbor used to get the Daily Prophet, so I heard about him killin' Dumbledore, but I haven't heard anything since."

Martha tilted her head, curious. "What year are you, then?"

"Fifth. My boyfriend Mickey's—" she paused, and corrected herself—"well, ex-boyfriend's grandmum's a witch, an' she taught me." The Doctor sat up a little straighter at that, his eyes brightening behind his thick-rimmed specs.

Donna nodded enthusiastically, leaning closer. "Well, apparently Snape was a double agent the whole time. Even when he killed Professor Dumbledore, he did it on Dumbledore's own orders."

Rose shivered. "I can't believe Professor Dumbledore planned his own death. Poor Professor Snape, to have to do that."

The Doctor sighed. "He really did have a rotten lot in life. I know he was a bit rough on the others, but he was always good to us—tough, but good."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "To us?"

"To the Slytherins."

She blinked, disconcerted. "Oh. You're a Slytherin?"

He smiled crookedly. "Yup. What house are you?"

"Gryffindor."

Donna smiled. "Same as me. I'm glad we met up, then—a lot of my friends haven't come back. Their families are still too freaked." She paused, looking thoughtful. "Though I think Hermione and Ginny are comin' back, at least."

Martha frowned. "Hermione Granger's coming back to Hogwarts? I though the Golden Trio could do pretty much whatever they wanted, now."

Donna shook her head a little, grinning as she petted Captain Jack. "Why else do you think she's comin' back to school?" She paused. "Gotta say, though, it doesn't really surprised me that Harry and Ron ducked out of school early."

Rose cocked her head, curious. "You know them?"

Donna shrugged. "Ginny's in my dorm, so yeah, I know 'em a little. Hermione better than the boys, though. I think they're already at Hogwarts, actually. Gin said they were helpin' rebuild the school this summer."

Martha leaned back against the seat, her eyes distant. "I'm glad they've been working on it. It was torn apart by the battle—Mum was completely thrown when I got the owl about the school re-opening." She looked down at her hands. "I'm glad, though. At least this way I don't have to decide between her and Dad, the way Tish and Leo did."

Donna made a sympathetic noise, and Rose shifted uneasily in her seat. The Doctor caught her eye and cleared his throat. "So, what happened to the school? I mean, I've seen the pictures in the Daily Prophet, but they've never been too good at showing what's really going on."

Martha sighed. "Picture a paper lantern. Now imagine somebody decided to chuck a bunch of stones at it. It's not pretty." She looked away, eyes on the doorway without registering the students that passed outside. "They'll have to stretch a bit with the faculty. Dunno if you ever took her, but Professor Marston was killed in the battle, and Professor Bellsworth died later. Took him a few weeks, from what I heard."

Donna looked down. "I'd seen that they weren't offering Musical Theory this year. I was hoping it was for some other reason, though."

Martha glanced up, and a crooked smile flashed over her face. "No such luck. From what Mum said, Professor McGonagall had enough trouble finding substitute teachers for the core courses. I think elective'll be off the table for a while." She glanced down at her watch and yelped. "Oh, crap. Right—you guys had better get changed, we'll be arriving soon. I'm off to remind the others."

Rose collected her rucksack and followed Donna to the lavatory, slipping in before it could get crowded. As she was folding up her jeans after changing into her uniform, Donna glanced over at her and cleared her throat.

"You don't mind, do you? That the Doctor's—John's—in Slytherin?"

Rose shrugged and zipped her suitcase shut. "Why would I? He's not done anything to bother me. He's been lovely, really."

"Good." Donna closed her own suitcase and glanced into the mirror, twisting her hair up with a grimace. "It's just, he doesn't have all that many friends—his housemates aren't very fond of him, and most everybody else just don't like Slytherins. And yeah, I can see why they're not exactly popular—I've had enough trouble with 'em over the years—but the Doctor's not like that."

Rose followed Donna back to their compartment, smiling as she saw him waiting for them, his uniform slightly rumpled. "I know he's not. He seems... better than that."

They slid the door open and entered, and the Doctor winced. "Rose? I'm sorry, but I think your cat's mad at me. I may have accidentally sat on him."

Rose looked at Jack, who was sitting across from the Doctor, full of disheveled dignity. She giggled. "It's all right. He gets himself into tight spots sometimes, he's so desperate to be loved." She picked him up and settled him in her lap, rubbing him under his chin. "You're a regular Casanova, aren't you?"

Martha opened the door and glanced 'round at them. "Oh, good. You're all ready. We'll be pulling into the station soon, so you might want to get your stuff."

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