Chapter 18

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Rose slipped into the 7th year dormitory, shutting the door quietly behind her. Hermione was out on rounds, but Ginny was curled up in bed, snoring a little. The last member of their group popped her head out of her bed curtains, hair mussed with a smug smile on her face.

"Everything workin' out, then?"

"Yeah. Somehow."

Donna caught the hesitant tone in Rose's voice and slipped out of bed, pulling her purple dressing gown around her. Her voice was soft when she spoke. "Oi, what's this about, then?"

Rose glanced at her and opened her bed curtains, raising a sound ward after Donna joined her. "Just… wonderin' what I'm signing on for, I guess."

Donna's smile faded at that, petting Captain Jack as he wound his way around her. She focused on the sleek tom as she spoke. "I know I'm not exactly unbiased, but you could do a lot worse."

"I know I could. Blimey, Donna, I know how amazin' he is. But I can't be sure that he won't pull a stunt like last month again if he thinks it'd be for my own good."

Donna took a deep breath. "Rose, I'm sorry."

Rose let out a soft laugh. "'S not you that I needed to hear it from."

"But it is." At Rose's startled expression, she looked down and started playing with her fingers. "I may have… said some things, after Hermione put you under."

"What d'you mean?"

"I was just—I was so worried about you, and he's always off exploring 'cause he refuses to ask anybody for help, and he'll get himself killed one of these days, and god, there was so much blood."

Rose reached over and touched her knee. "Donna. Slow down. It's okay, really. It's not your fault." Her eyes narrowed. "Wait, what d'you mean about he doesn't ask for help?"

Donna paused, but then she shook her head as she leaned back against the bedpost. "He has nightmares, the Doctor does. He's had 'em for as long as I've known 'im. Why do you think he never sleeps?"

Rose frowned, remembering dark eyes in a magical room. "He's never said."

"Of course he wouldn't." The redhead sighed, tilting her head back at staring at the top of the canopy. "He hates asking anybody for help, or even showing that he needs it. Whoever his parents were, I can't decide whether I'd like to thank them for givin' him up or kill them." She met Rose's look, and a small smile tilted her lips. "Yeah, I know he's not blood family. He is my family in every way that matters, though, an' that's what's important. But he's so convinced that he should never need anyone. 'S part of why he ran off on you, 'cause he does. He needs you. He was so unhappy without you, Rose. I know what he did was daft, and I'm so sorry if I did anything to cause it, but he's nuts about you."

Rose sighed. "It's really not your fault, Donna. He'd probably have done it even if you hadn't said anything." There was a long pause, and she swallowed as she looked up to meet Donna's eyes. "But… really? D'you think so?"

She smiled softly at Rose. "I know so. He was lost without you."

The bedcurtains swooshed open, and they looked up to see Hermione standing there, looking exasperated. Rose lowered the sound ward, and the older girl sighed, crossing her arms. "Come on, tomorrow's the first day of class. The sleepovers can wait."

Donna chuckled and slid off Rose's bed. "I'm goin', I'm goin'." She glanced back. "Just… remember what I said?"

"I will."

"G'night, Rose. Hermione."

Hermione sighed and collapsed on her bed. "G'night, girls."

"Sleep well." Rose pulled the curtains closed again and pulled on her pajamas, shivering in the chill of the castle that not even thick curtains could fully stifle. She slipped under her covers and Captain Jack settled on her chest, his low purr vibrating through her, and a slow smile spread over her face.

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Rose flopped down next to the Doctor, who was firmly settled in their alcove in the library, piles of books surrounding him like valley walls. "God, I dunno why I was expecting the first week of classes to be easier. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson after September." He shot her a small smile as he rapidly scanned the moulding tome in front of him, and she leaned over and bumped his shoulder with her own. "Doctor? What're you up to?"

He paused and put the book down, pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill—yet another of Everard's Everlasting Quills, Rose was amused to see, and as close to breaking as every other one she'd seen him with—and scribbled a quick note. We're being monitored. Her eyes widened and he spoke, his voice falsely teasing. "Some of us actually do our work, Miss Tyler."

"Yeah? When? Fifteen minutes before it's due?" She pulled out her own quill, the one she'd stolen from him (it was in much better condition, she noticed absently) and wrote on the parchment. Who?

"At least I finish it, unlike some people who shall remain nameless." Not sure yet. Feels like an Auror's spell, but something's different.

"'S not my fault you didn't meet me here last night like we agreed." She shot him a glare and he winced, dropping the quill and running a hand through his hair.

"I am sorry about that, Rose. Professor Slughorn's still mad at me about Hogwarts: A History, and he's had me cleaning out the cauldrons with a scrub brush."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Wait, how did he find out about that?" Then she groaned. "Koschei."

"Precisely." The Doctor sighed and leaned back, balancing his chair on the back legs. "I should've known my bag was booby-trapped. Getting it back from him was far too easy. I found out why that was when the bottom split open right in front of ol' Sluggie, dropping his precious book that it apparently took him fourteen years to find onto the far-from-cushiony floor." He paused. "Turning that shade of purple really can't possibly be healthy for a man his age."

Rose frowned suddenly. "Wait, how come Slytherin didn't lose points?"

"We prefer to think of… alternative methods of punishment."

She huffed. "That's cheating!"

He smirked at her, his dark eyes gleaming. "I prefer to think of it as practical." Rose rolled her eyes and smacked him in the arm, and he pouted at her. "Well, if you're going to be like that, I have work to do." He picked up his quill. Don't go yet—I think I've almost got the tracking spell figured out.

She let out an exaggerated breath. "I do, too, so you won't get rid of me that easily." Her voice had lowered by the end, and he scowled and started writing.

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Rose snorted and covered it with a cough, tugging the parchment away from him. Star Wars? Really?

He leaned over, scratching away in his messy cursive. What? It's a classic! Dad and I watch 'em every Christmas hols.

Of course you do. Now, hush. I actually do have a lot of homework to do.

The Doctor leaned forward and landed with a thump, pulling his old book back in front of him. "Well, if you insist."

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