Chapter 6

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Rose stared down at the list of homework she'd been assigned and groaned. "I can't do this."

Donna was sitting next to her in the library, her own list in her hands. "The start of the first weekend, and I'm already swamped with work. So much for them easing us back into school."

"Oh, come on. Easy wouldn't be half as much fun." Donna crooked her neck to glare at the Doctor, who was leaning against the entrance to the small alcove they'd adopted.

He grinned at them, and she snorted. "Like you'll actually end up doing the homework. You'll ignore it, like always, and barely scrape by with a passing grade just 'cause you aced the tests."

He flopped into the chair next to Rose, pouting indignantly at Donna. "Oi! There's no way I'm that predictable." She raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, and he slouched lower in his seat. "I can do the homework, you know. I just get caught up in other things." He glanced at Rose, and perked up as he saw her list. "Ooh, we've got all the same classes! We should study together. After all, I've already gone through this year, technically."

Rose raised her eyebrows at him, grinning. "Oh, yeah? If you had to take it again, though, should I trust you with my homework time?"

"I don't know what you mean. Old Reliable, they call me. Or is that a geyser?"

"Thought you were just sayin' how unpredictable you are?"

He paused for a moment. "Ah." Donna began to laugh, and he shot her a look. "Oh, be quiet. I did read through all the textbooks. I just found more interesting things to read at the same time."

Donna rolled her eyes. "That, and you couldn't be bothered to wake up on time for the placement exam." She grinned at Rose. "I swear, this bloke doesn't know how to use a clock. He never gets places on time."

He sniffed haughtily. "Clocks are simply a mechanism that humans use in an attempt to harness the incomprehensible concept of Time. It's like mistaking a Chocolate Frog card for Merlin himself."

"Oh, please. You just can't be arsed with a schedule."

"Donna!" The Doctor's ears were violently red by now, and Rose was giggling helplessly.

She snorted. "Don't pull the offended innocent on me. I know for a fact you're heard worse from Granddad." She checked her watch and gathered her things. "Well, kids, I've got a meeting in ten minutes." She winked. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, eh?"

Rose blushed furiously, and the Doctor coughed and tugged on his ear. Donna swept out, leaving an awkward silence in her wake. After a moment, he looked up and caught Rose's eyes. "I did mean it, you know."

She blinked. "Mean what?"

"About studying together." He shrugged lightly. "Might make the year a bit easier, yeah?"

She grinned, her tongue peeking out. The Doctor's eyes flickered down to her mouth before moving back to her eyes hurriedly, a light blush making his freckles stand out like a constellation. She cocked her head. "I think I'd like that."

"Yeah? I mean, yeah. That's good." He leaned forward. "So what do you want to start on first, Rose Tyler?"

"Surprise me."

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Several hours later, Rose heard a low growl and realized with a start that it had come from her own stomach. The Doctor paused in his reading, blinking at her from behind his thick-framed specs. She flushed. "Sorry! I'm still listening, really I am."

"No need to apologize, it's fine." He checked his watch, and his eyebrows flew up. "Especially since dinner started a few minutes ago."

She blinked, stunned. "Really? Blimey, I never woulda thought I'd find history that interesting."

The Doctor grinned. "It's all about your sources. First time I sat through one of Professor Binns' classes, I thought, 'This can't be right. People are mad and brilliant and scary and amazing—there's no way Wizarding history is actually this boring.' So I decided I'd find out on my own. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've found." He slung his bag over his shoulder, gesturing with his chin at the portrait of the stuffy-looking wizard peering out of the Astronomy section. "Urtobrand the Inimitable over there? Yeah, he may've created the first Wizarding telescope, but he also left his wife to marry her mother."

Rose stared at him as she packed her bag, wrinkling her nose. "Oh, my god. You're kiddin', right?"

"Nope." He popped the 'p', looking pleased at her response. "Found out about it in Wizarding History of the 1400s. You can bet that Professor Binns would never mention that."

She snorted. "Class'd be a hell of a lot more interesting if he did."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" He grinned at her, bumping her shoulder with his own.

They headed down towards the Great Hall, with the Doctor narrating the portraits as they went. Margery Kempe glared at them as he told Rose about how she had accidentally brewed the first batch of Butterbeer. "Of course, that wasn't what she was actually going for. But the rest, as they say, is history." Rose paused, reaching out for his hand, and he broke off, blinking down at her. "What?"

She laid a finger against her lips, looking at the portraits. The ones near the corner were eerily silent, their ears cocked towards the next corridor. She grinned up at him. "Come on."

They slunk closer to the corner, holding their breaths. Two voices drifted towards them, carrying further in the dinnertime quiet. The man spoke first. "And you're sure it's them?"

A woman replied, her voice tired. "Of course I'm sure. I've had enough encounters with them, over the years. Damn people are like cockroaches—they just won't go away."

"Have you told the Ministry?"

"Told 'em as soon as I saw them, but I haven't heard back yet. If Kingsley was still with the Aurors at least I'd know that someone was listening, but the new Head Auror's so determined to do things his way it'll be a mercy if anything gets done at all."

"So the Death Eaters are back at Hogwarts." Rose's eyes widened, and she tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand. He squeezed back, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. The man continued. "Any idea why they're back? Potter's off with the Aurors, after all."

The voices were drawing nearer rapidly, and Rose back up against the Doctor, gesturing for him to move. He shook his head and tapped them both on the head with his wand, and Rose shivered as she felt a disillusionment spell run down her spine. He stepped closer, breathing into her ear, "Hold still." She froze as the witch and wizard turned the corner, still talking. She recognized them, vaguely—they were the Aurors that had escorted the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross to Hogsmeade.

The witch spoke, a frown furrowing her brow. "They might be after Granger. She was integral to Potter's victory, after all, and she's a Muggleborn."

The wizard scowled. "Seems a shame. She's a bright kid; she shouldn't have to put up with stuff like this."

Her voice sharpened. "She won't have to. We'll get this figured out before anyone gets near her. I've had enough of them seeing children as acceptable targets."

He sighed as they continued down the corridor, turning a corner away from Rose and the Doctor. His voice carried back to them. "It's a bit late for that, Celeste."

Rose waited a few minutes, her heart still beating like a drum. With how closely she was pressed to the Doctor, she imagined he could almost feel it pounding against his front. He whispered a word into her ear and they blinked back into sight, both of their eyes wide.

He stepped back and ran a hand through his hair, and Rose tried not to feel the sudden chill of his absence. "Oh, this is not good. This is very, very not good."

Rose coughed lightly and tucked her hair behind her ears, willing down her flush. "Which part, exactly?"

"All of it. Wilf, my dad, he used to be an Auror before he started work as a guard at Azkaban. He never told me about it, but I woke him from enough nightmares to know exactly how cruel the Death Eaters could be."

Rose looked down. "Well, I know that."

The Doctor froze, his glasses sliding down his nose. "Rose, they didn't…?"

She shook her head quickly. "No. I've never faced 'em myself." She looked away, trying to ignore the portraits that were now paying close attention. "When I was a baby, though, they went after my dad, Pete, five on one." She swallowed. "He never stood a chance."

He winced. "Rose, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"'S okay. It was a long time ago." Rose cleared her throat. "An' now they're comin' after Hermione. I don't care what that Auror thinks, we've got to tell her."

"Yeah." He shook himself out of his reverie and glanced down at his watch, grimacing. "But first, maybe we should make an appearance before dinner is completely over."

They slunk into the Great Hall, the Doctor heading off for the Slytherin table as Rose made her way over to the Gryffindors. Professor Smith was watching them from the Head Table, an eyebrow arched consideringly.

Donna snickered at her. "Well, well. Look what Captain Jack dragged in."

Rose flushed. "We just got really caught up in homework, is all."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Donna's smirk didn't seem like it was fading anytime soon, so Rose ducked her head and hurried through dinner. As they were leaving the table, she caught up to Hermione.

"Hey. Can I talk to you for a mo'?"

The older girl blinked at her and nodded. "Sure. What's going on?"

"Not here." She glanced at the students milling around them. "Is there somewhere more private we could talk?"

Hermione's eyebrows drew together. "Follow me." She led Rose down several hallways before spelling a door open, checking for watchers before leading her inside. The room was dim and dusty, and one of the walls had fallen in. She glanced around and settled herself on an overturned desk. "So, what is it?"

"Well, the Doctor and I weren't just late because of homework." Hermione raised an eyebrow, and Rose blushed and hurried on. "No, it wasn't anythin' like that. We were just on our way down for dinner when we heard some people talkin'—and, well, it'd be rude to interrupt, wouldn't it?" The older witch snorted at that, her brown eyes sparkling with amusement. Rose took a deep breath. "They were Aurors."

Hermione winced. "Oh, yes. Headmistress McGonagall wanted them to stay away from the students, so they wouldn't cause any panic. They're really not here because of any trouble, so you don't need to worry about that."

"But you do."

Hermione paused. "What do you mean?"

"What they were talkin' about, it wasn't just patrolling the school. The witch—Celeste something—said she'd seen Death Eaters hanging around the school, an' she thought they might be after you." Rose faltered as Hermione paled, her jaw tightening spasmodically. "Just… thought you ought to know."

Hermione cleared her throat after a moment, a hard glint in her eyes. "Thanks for telling me. You might want to head on up to the common room, now."

"Sure, yeah." Rose paused on her way out the door, looking back at Hermione. "What are you going to do?"

Hermione twitched a perfunctory smile at her. "I'm going to go find Celeste Hopkins. Apparently we have quite a bit to talk about."

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