Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters contained herein, I merely make them dance in what I hope is true to their rhythm.

Chapter 14

Back in the Box

Ron nudged Harry. "Looks like you're not the only one to survive the Killing Curse anymore, mate," he said, pointing at Envy.

"Okay, we may need to get the other gods here now," muttered Jack.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. "Patronuses?" said Ron.

Harry nodded and raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" he yelled, and an enormous silver stag burst out of it and cantered past the gathered homunculi and out of the palace.

Ron and Hermione both raised their wands and copied him. A Jack Russell terrier and an otter burst out of their respective wands and followed the stag out.

"Ooh, magic," said Lust, licking her lips. "I bet I can work some magic with your wand, Hades."

Harry stared at her with a disgusted look on his face. "Don't flatter yourself," he said. "The wand chooses the wizard, and mine wants to get as far away from you as possible."

"Where's Stormageddon?" asked Pandora suddenly.

Envy raised an eyebrow. "You mean your horse friend?" she asked. "Why don't you ask Gluttony?"

Pandora looked at Gluttony, who grinned at her. "He tasted like chicken!" he said excitedly.

Her eyes widened as tears filled them. She looked away, her heart broken.

Envy smiled. "Now that's what I like to see," she said. "Despair."

At that moment, they heard a flutter of wings outside. Pandora looked back up, hardly daring to hope.

But it was not to be, for the one that stepped inside was not her Pegasus friend, but Hermes. "What's all this?" he asked. He looked around at the two groups gathered in front of him: the homunculi closest to him and the audience of the battle. He saw the two fighters as well: Ares, standing there with two swords still bloody next to him, and a soaking wet, but squeaky clean Wrath still slumped against the wall.

"Oh, are we doing this now?" he asked. "I'd better get in position then." He flapped his wings and flew right over the homunculi to land next to Greed, who was still bound, gagged, and unconscious. "We must make this a fair fight," he said, and he took the sock out of Greed's mouth and untied him.

"Ennervate," said Hermione, and Greed woke up.

"Hey, put me down!" he said. "My head hurts!"

"Liberacorpus," said Hermione, and Greed dropped to the ground.

"Yeowch!" he cried. "Now it really hurts!" He sat up, rubbing it. He looked over at Wrath. "What happened to him?" he said, jerking a finger at the dripping figure. Then he looked over at the other homunculi, noticing them for the first time. "Oh," he said, standing up slowly. "Hi guys."

"Don't give us that, traitor," said Envy. "We know that you just wanted us all to kill each other so you would have all the power to yourself."

Greed laughed. "Haha, what exactly did you expect?" he asked, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Ow," he said, rubbing the spot where he hit himself. "I'm Greed! It's in my nature to want to be the big shot, and if I can get all the money and women in the world along with the power, then so be it!"

Envy frowned. "Our Master wouldn't really like that, now would he?" she asked.

Greed raised a hand to his eyes as though shielding them from the sun while peering into the distance. He looked around in this way, mockingly. "I'm looking, I'm looking," he said. "I don't see any Master here, do you?"

Pride stepped forward. "I'm as good as the Master," he said. "Who do you think got left in charge if he wasn't here besides me?"

Greed raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting," he said. "Hasn't Envy been doing all the talking so far?"

Pride looked at Envy. "Only because I've been letting him," he said. "You have to give the peasants something, you know. They get ever so jealous of all that the rulers have."

Envy glared at Pride. "You think that you let me speak?" she growled. "Nobody lets me do anything. I am my own Master!"

Pride raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I do believe that you are wrong about that in this instance," he said. "You see, our Master has made me your master for the time being. So, in a sense, you have two masters at the moment. You answer not to yourself, but to me. And that goes for the lot of you!" he said, turning to his fellows around him.

Gluttony let out a belch. "Master said I could eat you if you got to uppity," he said, putting a finger in his mouth. "And I'm so hungry. Can I eat him, Lust?"

Lust smirked. "I can tell you what to do no more than he can," she said. "You must follow your own instincts on what to do with no Master around."

Gluttony smiled, and his tongue hung out of his mouth. Drool ran down it to the ground like a stream. "I think I will!"

Pride narrowed his eyes at Gluttony. "You must realize that I am the greatest among you," he said. "Only I know what is best. How will you survive without me?" He looked over at Lust. "How can you sit there and just let him eat me?" he said. "I mean, look at me! Don't you want me? You, who will screw anything that moves, won't lift a claw to keep this alive?"

Lust laughed at him. "You seem to be confusing Lust with Love, dear," she said. "Just because I used to be love doesn't mean that I feel it anymore."

"No," said a voice. "That's my job."

In through the palace doors behind the homunculi walked Aphrodite.

Lust smirked as she saw who had become her former self walk forward. "I can't believe I could have chosen someone as hideous as you," she said. "How could anyone be the goddess of beauty and fertility and look like that?"

Aphrodite only smiled calmly at the creature who had been her predecessor. "You used to understand that beauty was something all beings could achieve, no matter what kind of looks they were born with," she said. "What has happened to you is abominable, and you have become a hideous creature, who possesses no love. Even as you are though, you may still be redeemed."

Lust scowled at her. "You fool," she replied softly. "All I need is a hand wrapped around a…"

"Whoa!" shouted the Doctor. "We will not be having any of that suggestiveness around here! It's a family show!"

Aphrodite ignored him. "In any event, you did not choose me," she said, and she nodded at Pandora. "She did."

Pandora raised her eyebrows. "I did?"

The blonde woman nodded. "You knew that it was unlikely that you would be able to continue as Aphrodite, so you needed a successor. Nobody that was present would have been eligible, and you didn't know of anyone suitable. That's where Miss Granger came in."

Hermione nodded. "I thought of every character in every book I've ever read, and I was trying to come up with someone who exemplified all that Aphrodite is known for: beauty, love, and fertility." She shrugged and smiled. "Who would be better than the mother of dragons?"

Daenerys Targaryen smiled coolly and turned around. Right outside the door of the palace, three dragons landed and roared in unison.

"Hagrid, eat your heart out," muttered Ron.

"My children are here," said Aphrodite. Her eyes narrowed at Lust. "I dare you to try something."

Lust's eyes flashed. "They can't come in here though, and if their flames enter the doorway, they will have to pass you to get to me." Her hand shot out, and her index finger's nail extended as quick as lightning.

Captain Jack Harkness hadn't just been chosen to be Zeus for his good looks and charm though. Living up to his name as the god of lightning, he pulled his sidearm and shot Lust's forefinger off before the nail got halfway to Aphrodite.

Lust howled in fury and pain, and raised her other, nonmangled hand. The nails of her index, middle, and ring fingers shot out.

Luckily, there were three battle-hardened wizards there. Harry, Ron, and Hermione raised their wands, and three cries of "Diffindo!" later, three more fingers dropped to the ground.

Lust curled up on the ground, clutching her bleeding appendages to her chest. Envy scowled at the gathered gods.

"Can't you let her fight her own battles?" he asked, and leered at Aphrodite. "It figures that someone who claims to be all about the strength of love would be so weak."

"Stay your weapons, friends," said Aphrodite, holding a hand up. "He is right. I am to fight this battle with what I alone possess." She strode forward and stood face to face with Envy. She lowered her voice. "You will see how weak I am," she said, and turned to look at her dragons. She nodded her head slightly.

Jack saw what was coming and hauled Pandora out of the way, just as Harry, Ron, and Hermione dove aside.

An instant later, flames erupted from the collected mouths of the three dragons, who had gathered their heads right next to the door to have better aim. The homunculi and Aphrodite were all engulfed in fire.

Steve Zissou had known what was coming, but instead of diving out of the way, he had encased himself in a large shield of water. He found it necessary, however, with the heat of the fire, to move aside. The fire was hitting the water and evaporating it quickly. When he had reached a safe distance from it, he threw up a shield of water between the burning homunculi and him and his fellow gods as an added protection.

In a few moments, the fire had dissipated as the dragons stopped shooting the flames out of their mouths. Aphrodite stepped out of the ashen remains of the homunculi, and through the wall of water that Poseidon had created. She was, of course, unscathed, and there wasn't even the smell of fire on her person. She smirked. "Weak, huh?" she said, and Poseidon let the water drop.

They all watched the homunculi carefully. Wrath was still unscathed on their side, as he was still leaning against the wall.

It took a while, but the ashes started to come together and solidify into humanoid forms. The ashes themselves fell away from the bodies, revealing shiny pink skin.

Lust was the first to emerge, and Pandora for one was glad to see that she had come back fully clothed. She didn't like to think of what kind of effect the sight of her naked body would have on the males in her group.

Lust opened her mouth, but she didn't get a chance to speak. Jack hurled a bolt of lightning at her, and it branched out six more times to the other homunculi on impact. There was a slightly comic moment when you could see the skeletons of the homunculi, like the negative of a picture, and they dropped to the ground again.

"What does it take to kill them?" asked Steve as they started to move again, still smoking slightly. Jack shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "We've given them all we've got. Kid, where's your mother?" he barked at Ron.

"Right here, sorry I'm late!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, swerving into the palace on a broomstick. "I was just checking up on the rest of the Weasleys. Ginny misses you something terrible, Harry."

Harry blushed, but smiled. He had missed her too.

"Now are we dealing with these creatures again?" asked Mrs. Weasley, coming to a landing. "What let them out of the box?" Then she spotted Pandora. "Pandora dear! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" And she swept Pandora up into a bone crushing hug. "Maybe you can fill me in. How did these creatures, and yourself for that matter, get out of that infernal box?"

The Doctor stepped up, speaking for the first time in quite a while. "I'm afraid that's partially my doing, Mrs. Weasley," he said, straightening his bow tie. "And I must say, it is absolutely smashing to finally meet you."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"This is the Doctor," said Jack. "I may have mentioned him once or twice to you before. He's that higher authority that I answer to."

The Doctor grinned at Jack. "Ha ha!" he said. "You talk about me? That's too sweet of you, Captain."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened. "You're the man who can keep this one in check?" she said, pointing a finger at Jack. "Well, the pleasure is all mine then!"

"Hem hem," said Hermione, and they all jumped. "I believe we were getting to the bottom of how the Doctor led to the homunculi and Pandora being released."

"It's actually all my fault," said a voice, and the ever increasingly large group turned to the doorway of the palace.

The Doctor stood up straight to face the voice. "Hello, Master," he said.

The Master smiled. "Oh, I do ever so love it when you use my name," he said. "The good Doctor let a human enter my home and open the box. He claims it was because that it was because it was a fixed point in time, so it couldn't be changed. While that was true, he had another motive for that box being opened, didn't you, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked at his nemesis coldly. "If you know so much, why don't you explain it to them?" he said in a soft voice.

The Master inclined his head. "I will, and gladly," he said. "Budge over, there's a good girl," he said, strolling past Aphrodite and her dragons to stand with his now fully healed homunculi. "Aside from the obvious of letting Pandora finally free, would you believe that the good Doctor here actually wanted to release the evils back into the world?"

The assembled gods all turned to the Doctor. "Doctor," said Jack slowly. "Is this true?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes," he said. "It is. And now I have all of them right where I want them, along with all of you!" He danced around gleefully, looking all at once like a drunken giraffe.

"Um, Doctor?" said Martha, who also had been silent for a very long time. "What are you so happy about?"

The Doctor looked at them. "Don't you understand?" he said. "Oh, you people, you're all so thick. What must it be like in your funny little minds, it must be so boring!"

"Oh!" said Hermione. "Oh!" she said again. "Of course, that's it! That's the answer!"

"Are you going to let us in on what he's raving about, Hermione?" asked Ron.

She looked at him. "We can go home soon, Ron," she said. "We can go home!"

"But Doctor," said Martha. "I thought you said we needed Hope to get the homunculi back in the box?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not back in the box, Martha Jones, not at all!" he shouted, and with a flourish he pointed in Pandora's direction. "And we've got Hope right over there!"

Pandora looked at him, confused. "What have I to hope for?" she asked, a little tearfully. "My friend is dead! He ate Stormageddon!" she yelled, pointing at Gluttony, who burped.

"Oh come on, girlie," said Greed. "Get with the program. They lied to you!"

"What?" she asked. "You mean he's still alive?"

"Yes, your horsey is still alive," said Greed, rolling her eyes at her.

"Where is he then?" she asked. "Why hasn't he come? How do I know you're not lying to me?"

He grinned toothily at her. "I guess you'll just have to trust me, won't you?"

There was a fluttering of wings from outside. "Sorry, Greedy, old boy, but seeing is believing in this case, and that's where the Hope comes from!" the Doctor said.

And then the entrance to the palace went black for a moment. The darkness outside came closer, and revealed itself to be Stormageddon, the Pegasus. He had a rider that was very familiar on him too.

"Sean!" shrieked Martha. "I don't believe it?"

Stormageddon came to an easy landing next to Pandora and leaned his head close to her. "It is good to see you again," he said softly.

She couldn't speak, though her eyes filled with tears. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

Sean hauled himself off of Stormageddon's back gingerly. He winced as his feet hit the ground. Martha rushed to him at once.

"Are you all right?" she asked, and she immediately started checking his wound. "You shouldn't be up yet, you need rest!"

He smiled weakly at her. "The TARDIS didn't seem to think so," he said.

"What happened?" asked the Doctor.

"A few minutes after you left, the TARDIS switched itself on, I guess," said Sean. "You know, I'm not sure that time machine is just a machine."

"Oh, she definitely isn't," said the Doctor, grinning. "Where did she go?"

Sean shrugged. "She seemed to think she was needed elsewhere, because she made that whining noise, and levers and buttons were working themselves. Then I saw something very odd."

"What was it?" asked Martha.

"It was this… this Pegasus," said Sean. "He just kind of faded in, flying around the control room. He got spooked, landed, and asked me where he was."

"I bet that was a shock," said Pandora, who had finally peeled herself away from Stormageddon's neck.

Sean nodded. "I certainly wasn't expecting to see a Pegasus, let alone one that could talk," he said.

"Well, this is a touching reunion," said the Master. "But I'm afraid it's quite pointless. What do you hope to achieve now?"

Pandora turned to the Master. "You don't listen very well, do you?" she asked. "We don't just have hope now. I am Hope personified!"

The Master raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to scare me?" he asked skeptically.

"Not a bit," said the Doctor, stepping forward to stand next to Pandora. "Although it will stop your plans. You see, if you put the Hope of the human race against your seven deadly sins, the human race is going to win every time."

The Master sneered. "The human race," he said, spitting the words out as though they disgusted him. "How pathetic they are, with their short lives, and their hope."

"Ah, but it's the short lives that's the trick," said the Doctor. "I know that the Time Lord lives too long. We live too long to really appreciate the beauty of life. The human race treats life as precious, as something to treasure and protect. They know that their lives in this universe are short, so they seek to make them meaningful. They hope that when they leave their world behind, they will have made a difference! They! Hope!"

"And what good will that do, Doctor?" asked the Master. "I see only two members of the human race among you. The rest are gods."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, my lord Master," said the Doctor. "You see, these people, these gods, are more human than you will ever understand. The tests that they passed to become what they are now only further affirm their humanity! They had to show that love, and compassion, and family, and hope are the most important things to them! That's why they were chosen!"

"And what will your humans do now?" asked the Master softly. "They have already proven that they can not kill my homunculi. They are ideas, and you of all people know, Doctor, that an idea is immortal!"

"And do you think you are immortal, now that you are rid of all those ideas, Master?" asked the Doctor, in a voice as soft as the Master's. "Did you truly rid yourself of them?"

"Of course I have," the Master said disdainfully. "Do you think I would go through all this trouble only to fail?"

"Yes," said the Doctor. "Because I detect Pride in your words. I detect Greed in your actions. I detect Envy in your heart."

The Master narrowed his eyes. "Beware of what you say, Doctor, I will show you my Wrath."

"You're about to have all of them back," said the Doctor. He turned to the gods around him. He looked at each of them in turn. Zeus, who was really Captain Jack Harkness. Hera, who was really Molly Weasley. Poseidon, who was really Steve Zissou. Aphrodite, who was really Daenerys Targaryen. Ares, who was really Sun Tzu. Dionysus, who was really Ron Weasley. Hades, who was really Harry Potter. And Athena, who was really Hermione Granger. The Doctor held each of their eyes in turn. "You're free," he said finally. "You have only to let yourself go."

Then, without so much as an explanation, the gods each walked to their counterparts. Jack walked to Pride. Mrs. Weasley walked to Envy. Steve walked to Sloth. Daenerys walked to Lust. Sun Tzu walked to Wrath. Ron walked to Gluttony. Harry walked to Greed. They each held out their hands to the other. The homunculi inexplicably took them, and there was a wave of power that shifted into the homunculi from the gods. Then each homunculus stood up and moved over to the Master.

"What are you doing?" he asked them as they approached him. "Stop it! Obey your Master!"

"They have no Master but themselves now," said the Doctor softly. "They are simply giving themselves back to you."

The seven homunculi now laid their hands on the Master, and there was what seemed to be a power transference again, only this time it was from the homunculi.

When they were done, the homunculi stepped away, no longer homunculi, but gods. The Master fell to his knees. "I'm mortal again?" he asked, looking at the Doctor.

The Doctor walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You were always mortal," he said gently. "Maybe you'll appreciate what that means a little more now. And I hope," he added, placing emphasis on the word, "that you'll hope to be better." The Doctor stood up and walked back to stand next to Pandora.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"Oh, we take everybody home," he said. "It's time."

"Doctor?" asked a small voice, and he looked over at Hermione. "What about me? I'm still Athena."

"Have you chosen a successor?" asked the Doctor.

Hermione considered for a moment. "I think I have," she said. "Someone that I think has always embodied the qualities Athena must have treasured most. But what will that do? I have to die, or something else terrible has to happen to me for the successor to become active, and there's no telling how long that will take!"

The Doctor looked over at the gods. "What do you think, Zeusy?" he asked.

Zeus walked over to the young woman who had become his daughter and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You have chosen a successor," he said in a deep voice that was so different from what Pride's had been. "You may also choose when they begin."

Hermione stared up at him. "You mean," she started. "You mean that I can choose to stop being Athena, and leave? I can go home?"

Zeus smiled and nodded at her. "Just make sure that you make the test for your successor be a fair one, but challenging enough that they will prove to be worthy of your name, Athena."

Hermione smiled at him. "I will," she said, and turned to Harry and Ron. "Let's go home," she said. "I need to speak to a teacher."

"There's a surprise," muttered Ron, and Harry smiled.

Pandora looked around. The wizards would get to go back to Hogwarts, the marine biologist would get to back to studying his creatures, the warrior would go back to China, and the captain would get to go back to Torchwood. She had no home though. "Doctor," she said timidly. "Where will I go?"

"I have an idea," said Hermione. "Come here," and she handed Pandora her wand. She walked over to Stormageddon and bowed.

"What do you think I am, a hippogriff?" asked Stormageddon.

She smiled at him. "It pays to show respect to a beast as magnificent as you," she said.

Pandora could have sworn that Stormageddon smiled at this. "What do you require of me, young witch?" he asked.

"I wonder, could I please use one of your feathers?" she asked.

Stormageddon's nostrils flared for a moment, and he snorted. "You may," he said after a moment. "Thank you for asking."

She reached for a wing, and plucked a feather. Stormageddon didn't even wince at it, though he did flutter his wings a little as she moved away.

Hermione turned to Pandora and placed the feather on the ground in front of her. "Point the wand at the feather, and imagine it floating in the air," she said.

Pandora didn't know what Hermione was playing at, but she closed her eyes and envisioned the feather rising into the air.

Hermione's voice entered her thoughts again. "Now swish and flick the wand," she said. "Show her, Ron."

Pandora opened her eyes and looked at the young man who could no longer shoot wine from his hands. He showed her the wrist movement that she was required to do, and helped her to do it herself.

Harry added his help in as well. "Say the incantation now," he said. "Wingardium Leviosa. Make the 'gar' nice and long, and remember, it's Levioooosa, not Leviosah."

"Wingardium Leviosa," said Pandora, swishing and flicking the wand like she was taught. To her amazement, the feather fluttered up into the air, and then slowly back to the ground.

Hermione grinned at Pandora. "I'm pleased to announce that you're a witch, Pandora," she said. "And it is my recommendation that you study the magical arts at the finest wizarding school in the world."

Pandora grinned, and the others around her clapped and whooped. Pandora would have a home after all.