To the reviewer who told me that Hermione seemed too much like Donna last chapter – sorry, and thanks for telling me. I'll try to fix it in this one.
Oh, and did you know that if you set the zoom to 50% on Microsoft Word, you get like, three or more pages at once? I never knew that until I started to work on this. :D
Metella passed the fabric to Hermione, who assumed it was a blanket for Evelina, who was lying in her bed, passed out and pale, "She didn't mean to be rude. She's always such a good girl, and the gods…well, they speak through her. She can't help what she says."
"It's fine," Hermione reassured, unfolding the fabric and blinking when it turned out to be a dress. She scrunched it up and held it behind her back, "I've heard far worse."
"Yes," Metella glanced at her arm, "It seems so." She bit her lip, unraveling a bandage on Evelina's arm, "Maybe you can help. We bathe it in olive oil every night, but it doesn't seem to be getting better. Please, please help my daughter."
The desperation in her voice made Hermione crack, rushing over to kneel next to Evelina's sleeping form. It would be completely useless, unless Metella wouldn't freak out if she got out her wand. Even then, what could she do?
Knocking on the doorframe made them look up, her frowning at the Doctor as he shifted from foot to foot.
"Is she alright?" he asked.
Hermione stood, walking over to him and punching him squarely in the shoulder. He gaped at her and held it as she crossed her arms and frowned at him.
"You know what that was for and you know you bloody well deserve it, so don't even try yelling at me for it!" she said, glaring up at him as he shut his mouth and frowned at her.
"Fine. Maybe I'll just dump you off somewhere."
"It'll still be better than being your ruddy wife!" she called out after him as he left. She shut the curtain that was used as a door and glared at it before turning back to Metella, who was smiling up at her. She could've slapped herself for what that must've sounded like. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything to help her. I've never really seen anything like it before."
Metella sighed, folding a thin sheet over Evelina and smoothing the hair back from her face. "Yes, well…thank you for trying." She looked back up at Hermione and frowned, "Why aren't you dressed yet?"
"Dressed?" Hermione blinked back.
"You can't go running around in…" she shot a wary glance at Hermione's jeans and shoes, "Those. I think you and Evelina might wear the same sized shoes. I'll go check – and when I get back, I expect you to be dressed."
Hermione opened her mouth to stutter a few objections, but was left standing there, watching as the curtain shut. She glanced at the dress and sighed, glancing at Evelina to make sure she was asleep before pulling out her wand, adding a small pocket to the dress before shoving her jacket in there. She did the same to the rest of her clothing, shoving her shoes and socks in it as well before pulling the peachy colored material over her head.
"At least they're not fans of corsets, Hermione, remember that," she muttered to herself as she stowed away her wand in her hair.
Metella, by that time, had returned and was smiling at her as she handed over the brown roman sandals. Hermione smiled back and sat on the table, slipping her feet in place and wincing when she realized that she had absolutely no idea how to tie these. But Metella reached down and did so quickly, leaving Hermione to look down at her feet as Metella stood and offered Hermione a skin-colored paste.
"What is this?" she asked, curious as to whether she was supposed to eat it or what.
"Make-up," she answered, "The Sisterhood gave us some to cover Evelina's…blemish when it was small. For your arm."
Hermione glanced back at her arm and noticed that her scar was visible in the dress. She dabbed her fingers into the paste and spread it over, smiling when the 'M' disappeared, "Brilliant, thank you."
"I suspect you do not want your husband to know just yet."
Hermione blinked, "My what?" She then frowned, before wincing at Metella, "Ahh, we're not really married. He just said that."
Metella blinked, her eyebrows arched, "Really? I wouldn't have suspected. You go so well together."
Hermione let the snort escape before she could stop it, "I don't believe that."
"What a man says without thinking is sometimes the truth," she told her, smirking at her surprised expression.
Evelina stirred, her eyes flitting open, "Mother?"
"Oh, Evelina," Metella rushed to her daughter's side, pressing her hand to her forehead, "Are you alright? How do you feel?"
Evelina groaned, closing her eyes again, "Sick."
Hermione stood, biting her lip, "I'll just…go outside, get some air."
Metella nodded absentmindedly, worrying over her daughter.
Hermione went through the curtain and sighed, making her way warily through the house, keeping an eye out for the Doctor. She was going to have to talk to him, and before they left too. This family simply couldn't die the way they were meant to.
She stepped out onto what we'll call a porch and smiled up at the stars, "They look so pretty without lights washing them out." She searched for a star and stared up at it once she found it.
"If we ever feel alone," Harry whispered, his back resting against Hermione's bunk in the tent, her doing the same, "We'll find the Dog Star. It's the family star."
Hermione smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, "Alright, Harry." A comfortable pause settled over the two before she nudged him, "Does this make you my big brother?"
He chuckled and nodded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "I thought I always was."
She smiled wider and hugged him back.
Hermione sighed, looking sadly at the star before gasping when somebody wrapped a cloth around her mouth. She inhaled to scream but instantly wobbled on her legs, her brain becoming foggy until she finally fell. The last thing she remembered seeing was red robes swishing around her.
"What is that? What's that noise?" Metella asked as she and Evelina ran into the entry room, Caecilius doing the same as the Doctor and Quintus ran in as well.
"Doctor, what is it?" Caecilius asked as the Doctor spun around in one spot, looking for something.
"We're being followed, footsteps underground," he turned more before turning to Metella, "Where's Hermione, where is she?"
"She went to get some air – what's following you?" Metella asked, screaming when the grate of the fire pit flew off, the siding crumbling as a big fiery stone monster stepped out of it.
"The gods are among us," one of the family's servants said before stepping forward, "Blessed are we to have the gods visit us!" The servant then was turned into a pile of ash, forcing the Doctor to step forward and draw the monster's attention onto him.
"Hey, look at me, not them, tell me who you are!" he yelled, hands up as if to stop any oncoming attack.
The monster made a strange hissing sound before Quintus splashed it with water. It began to crumble, the fire dying out as the stones fell to the floor. The Doctor stared at the stones before frowning and walking outside, looking around as he paced.
"Doctor, what was that?" Quintus asked as he and his family followed.
"Bits of rock held together with magma," he answered, still frowning, "Not the hardest to stop, but then again that was probably just a foot soldier. Where are you, you silly girl? Missing out on something as big as this – honestly, I can't believe you - !" He was cut off as he was sent to the ground, the wind knocked out of him as Quintus and Caecilius grabbed his arms and helped him up. The Doctor looked down to see what had tripped him and gaped before lunging and picking up the stick with intricate familiar carvings, "Oh no. Oh no, oh no."
"What? What is it?" Quintus asked, looking curiously at the stick.
"This isn't good, she'd never leave this," the Doctor said, holding the wand protectively with both hands, "Hermione's been kidnapped." He counted only one feminine gasp, turning and frowning at Evelina, who had gone pale, "Do you know who took her?"
She gaped before shutting her mouth, "Mother was getting olive oil for my arm, I looked out the window and…."
"Who has her, Evelina?" the Doctor asked frantically.
"The Sibylline Sisterhood," she murmured, eyes downcast, "I thought I'd been hallucinating so I didn't…I'm sorry."
"Where's their temple?" the Doctor asked, eyes hardening.
"Men aren't supposed to enter," Evelina said.
"Yes, but your arm isn't supposed to be turning into stone, Hermione's not supposed to be gone and there aren't supposed to be monsters like that popping out of your fire pit," he frowned at her, "I don't think we're going to be taking too keenly with rules for a while, not until I get my companion back. Now where is the temple?"
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Hermione bellowed, struggling against her restraints, "Most women never have to go through with this, and you're telling me I've got to do this twice in only – what's it been – seven years? Oh that's so bloody stupid! I want a new yarn, Fates, you hear me? A new thread, now!"
The Sisterhood ignored her, one raising a sword, "The witch must surrender with her blood!"
"Oy, I've done that! Got the scar on my arm to prove it!" Hermione wriggled more frantically, practically growling at her captors, "And you know what? I still didn't surrender! I won that bloody war and kicked so many arses – and I'll do the same to yours if you don't let – me – GO!"
"You will be silent," the sister with the sword frowned at her, as if annoyed that she wasn't getting to stab the woman on the table with her sword yet.
"Oh, good luck with that," the Doctor said, leaning casually against the mantle as the woman gaped at him – except Hermione, who rose her head up and glared at him before thunking it down on the table and huffing.
"No man is allowed to enter the temple of the Sibylline!" the sister with the sword insisted as Hermione glanced at him dully and rolled her eyes at the woman, still struggling.
"Love, I don't think he follows rules too often," Hermione told her, making the Doctor grin down at her. She found herself fighting to not smile back as he walked past the sisters and stood up above her face.
"Too right. Love the dress," he said, reaching into his jacket and digging around.
"Why, you want to try it on?" she frowned, "I still don't enjoy being your wife, you know."
"Oh, come now, Darling, we make an excellent pair," he said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver as Hermione snorted, "Now don't be like that. I could leave you on this table, you know."
"I'm sorry," she said quickly, making him grin more as he pointed the screwdriver at her restraints. They popped off, making Hermione sigh as she sat up, smiling as she flung her legs over the side and jumped down.
"You know I knew Sybil," the Doctor said, frowning at the girls, "And she would be ashamed of you. Is this how it comes about? Blood spilled on a knife?"
"Yes," the woman said, raising her sword, "And your blood will join the witch's as well."
"Over my dead body, Sweetheart," Hermione stepped between the two, her hand reaching up into her hair. Her expression immediately changed, "Oh shit, where's my wand?"
"Ahem," the Doctor twirled it around in front of her face, making her blink and grab it back to point at the woman.
Before she could cast a spell, a raspy voice called behind a curtain, "Show me this man."
"Who, me?" the Doctor blinked at the curtain, pointing at his chest. Hermione snorted and turned around to look at him disbelievingly.
"High Priestess, the stranger will defy us!" the woman with the sword said as her sisters dropped to floor around her, heads bowed.
"Let me see him," the raspy voice demanded, "The witch as well."
"So they know?" the Doctor asked as Hermione tied her wand back up in her hair.
"You were right," she said in a clipped tone, "They really don't like witches."
The Doctor made their way forward, pushing back the curtain to see a woman entirely made of stone, her legs crossed. There were no teeth in her mouth, no hair on her head, no whites to her eyes. Hermione gasped and reached for the Doctor's hand once more, hating how it was becoming such a common thing.
"What's happened to you?" Hermione fretted.
"The heavens have blessed me," the High Priestess answered.
The Doctor gently pulled himself out of Hermione's grasp, looking at the Priestess inquisitively, "If I might…."
She lifted her arm and he stepped forward, running his hands over hers, "Does it…hurt?"
"It is necessary," she gasped, looking as if it were difficult to breathe.
"Who told you that?" Hermione asked gently, taking a tentative step forward.
"The gods," she answered.
"Is that what's going to happen to Evelina?" she asked, already thinking of the girl and her mother. She turned to the woman who'd previously had the sword, as she was holding back her sleeve to show her that her arm was stone as well, "This is happening to all of you?"
"The people of Pompeii are turning into stone before the volcano," the Doctor said, stepping back from the High Priestess and moving back to Hermione.
"This word, this image in your mind, this…'volcano,'" the Priestess said, "What is that?"
"More importantly, why don't you know about it?" the Doctor asked. "Who are you?"
"High Priestess of the Sibylline!" she shot back.
"No, no, I'm talking about the creature inside of you," he said, moving towards her, "The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, the dust in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into…what?"
Hermione looked over at the Sword Sister, shrugging, "I'm so bloody lost." The Sister nodded and they turned back to the Doctor and the Priestess.
"Your knowledge…it is impossible!" she insisted.
"Oh, you can read my mind, you know it's not," he frowned, rolling his eyes, "Now why don't you tell me who you are?"
The voice coming out of the High Priestess was now raspy, and had a deeper tone underneath her normal one, sounding like it was screeching, "We are awakening!" The Priestess and the Sisters began to sway, chanting about something as Hermione stepped away from the Sword Sister and towards the Doctor.
"Still so bloody lost, but a little bit scared," she mumbled to him.
"Name yourself!" the Doctor demanded, "Planet of origin!"
"We – are – rising!" the High Priestess screeched.
"Tell me your name!"
The High Priestess flung off her hood, "Pyrovile!"
The Sisters then began to chant that, still swaying on the floor.
"Very lost," Hermione admitted to her toes, rubbing the back of her neck, "I hate being kidnapped, I miss out on everything exciting."
"She's a Pyrovile, or turning into one," the Doctor muttered to Hermione, "She's already half-started."
"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor," the High Priestess told him with a smile.
"I warn you," the Doctor said, pulling out a water pistol from his jacket and holding it with the most serious expression Hermione had ever seen him wear, "I'm armed!"
"Oh, you're barmy," Hermione shook her head as she took her wand out of her hair.
"Hermione, can you get the fire pit open?" the Doctor asked. She nodded and flicked her wand, the grate flying off in a wayward direction, the sound of a yowling cat marking that it had landed on the creature's tail. "Right, forgot, you can do that." He shook his head and turned back to the Priestess, "What are the Pyrovile doing here?"
"We fell from the Heavens," the Priestess said as she stood, "We fell so hard and so fast that some were turned into dust!"
"Right, stone breaks on impact," he looked thoughtful, "When was that, seventeen years ago?"
"Seventy-four thousand years," she answered.
"Alright, seventy thousand years ago you went ka-boom," he said as Hermione glanced at him, wondering if he'd completely fallen off his rocker when she was gone. "You're turning humans into Pyroviles to get back your empire – but why the psychic powers?"
"We looked inside their minds and found such difference," she answered.
"Right, already another voice in there, why not just override that one?" the Doctor snorted. "But seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, they can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"
The High Priestess only glared at him, obviously feeling that he'd asked enough questions.
"Right, Hermione, get down the grate," the Doctor said, still wielding his weapon.
"What?" she blinked at him.
"Just do it!" he ordered.
She sighed and walked over to it, throwing a leg over before slipping down, scoffing when part of the dress got stuck on the metal and just tore it off at the knees.
"Why can't they predict the volcano, why is it being hidden?" the Doctor asked, moving to the grate slowly.
"Sisters!" the Sword Sister exclaimed, "I see into his mind! The weapon is harmless!"
The Doctor grimaced and glanced at Hermione, who only had her head peeking up, and was grimacing too.
"Yeah, but it's got to sting," he admitted before squirting the High Priestess, shooing Hermione down the grate and slipping in after her as the High Priestess wailed over the water.
Hermione let out a laugh and turned to him as he appeared beside her, "You fought her off with a water pistol!" Another laugh as he grinned at her, her shaking her head at him, "I bloody love you."
He chuckled, patting her back before crawling over to a tunnel where they could stand, "This way!"
Hermione stowed her wand in her pocket, crawling after him, "Where are we going now?"
"Into the volcano!" he said happily.
She frowned at him, "I take back my previous statement."
"Can't! It's nonrefundable! It's mine now!" he said as he led them away.
"We're right in the heart of it," the Doctor said, pulling Hermione behind a rock and peering out at the Pyroviles that clomped their way around, "And right there is their ship…or, rather, what's left of it." He pointed, but Hermione only glanced back, as she was digging around for her wand in her pocket. So far she'd found both of her shoes and a sock, but she couldn't fend for herself with a ruddy sock.
"Maybe the tremors are them trying to get back into space or something," she said, still looking.
"Oh, it's worse than that," he told her.
"Of course it is," she mumbled, growling in annoyance before brightening as she plucked her wand out of the pocket, "Got it!"
"Brilliant, 'cause I think you're going to need it," he muttered as the shaking got closer.
Hermione glanced up and hissed when she saw Lucius opening his mouth, pointing at them. She flicked her wand, sending him onto his back. She slapped her hand over her forehead when he tumbled rocks down, still telling the Pyrovile that they were there.
"Great going, Hermione, you really done it," she muttered to herself as the Doctor pulled her away. They were stopped by a large Pyrovile blocking their path. The Doctor reached for his water pistol, but Hermione pointed her wand and said "Auguamenti" and a stream of water sailed onto the monster.
The Doctor grinned at her, "You're useful."
She frowned back at him, "I tell you I love you when you squirt somebody with a bloody water pistol, but when I have a gallon of water pour on a giant bloody monster, all you say is 'you're useful'?"
"I appreciate you," he patted her cheek before grabbing her wrist and pulling her along.
"There's nowhere to run, Doctor!" Lucius called out, a bump on his head.
"I knew Lucius wasn't a name for a good guy!" Hermione yelled at him, flicking her wand again, turning him blue, "Now be a good Smurf and go away!"
"What was the purpose of turning him blue again?" the Doctor questioned with a grin.
Hermione shrugged, "I don't really know, but let's say it'll teach him a lesson."
He shook his head and pulled them along, towards the ship, Pyrovile clumping along after them. The Doctor was saying something to Lucius, but Hermione's head was spinning far too much to listen. Blood was rushing in her ears and she felt as though her eyes couldn't focus on anything, like the room was spinning and the only two things that were stable were her and the Doctor. She really didn't do well in the heat, she decided. But then again, who could in the heart of a volcano? Oh, that's right, the ruddy man who she willingly followed there.
"If you've crashed and you've got all this technology, why not just go home?" the Doctor yelled back at Lucius as Hermione slumped against him and closed her eyes, trying to think properly.
"Pyrovilia is gone!" Lucius called back.
"What do you mean it's gone, where's it gone?"
"It was taken! Pyrovilia is lost!"
"Boys, boys, you're both pretty, but – Doctor, I believe we have much more important matters on our hands besides finding out where their home is," Hermione interrupted, making the Doctor blink at her and smooth her hair back to look at her worriedly.
"There is enough heat here for a new species to rise!" Lucius continued as if he hadn't heard Hermione.
"Yeah, I should warn you, it's seventy percent water out there," the Doctor said dully as he held his hands to Hermione's face, making her frown at him and wave him off.
"Water can boil and everything will burn!"
"Merlin, you're hard-headed for a blueberry," Hermione muttered, making the Doctor grin at her before looking worriedly at the ship behind them.
"Then…everything is at stake." He grinned at her before giving a little bow to Lucius, "Thank you, Mister Blueberry, that's all I needed to know. Come along, Darling." He reached for Hermione and began pushing her into the ship, using his screwdriver to shut the door as the Pyrovile roared at him.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as he began looking over some of the controls.
"You have a choice," he said, glancing up at her, "Pompeii or the world."
"What?" she panted.
"They're using Vesuvius to turn everyone into Pyroviles using a fusion matrix. The matrix will bleed off so much of Vesuvius's pent up energy that there won't be enough for the eruption. Hermione…if we do this – "
"We all die here," she blinked at him as he nodded. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Not the first time I nearly died, but at least it's in better company than that horrid woman." She shot him a smile, "You're far nicer."
He gave a shaky laugh before going back to the controls, looking at them a little nervously, "We push this lever and it's over. Twenty thousand people…."
Her hands covered his on the lever, and she was still smiling at him when he looked up at her, although she was pushing back tears. "You're a madman." He blinked at her and she gave a little laugh, "I'm beginning to believe it's a good thing. It suits you, at least." He gave a laugh to match hers and turned his gaze back on the lever.
"One for the money?" he asked.
"Two for the show."
"Three to get ready."
They both took a deep breath and looked at each other, "And here we go."
The two were thrown back against the door, being shaken inside the escape pod. Hermione cursed madly as they tried to hold on to whatever they could.
When the shaking stopped, they looked at each other curiously before the Doctor opened the door and scrambled out, helping her out before they gaped at each other.
"We're alive!" she exclaimed before he wrapped her up in a hug, messing up her hair before they stopped and gaped at each other once more.
"Get to the TARDIS!" he yelped before dragging her along.
"Sweetheart, come here, come on, we've got to get you – " Hermione began, reaching for the child before a woman ripped him away and ran off with him. She stared after them before the Doctor grabbed her hand and dragged her away, back towards Caecilius's home, where the family was huddled in a corner and trying to hide from the ashes and smoke.
Hermione saw them and stopped in her tracks, the Doctor stopping once he saw that his companion had stopped following him.
"Doctor, Doctor please, not them," she pleaded as he grabbed her hands and led her towards the TARDIS, "Doctor, no, what about them!"
"Hermione, please, don't do this to me!" he pleaded with her, "Please, just get in the TARDIS!"
"Doctor, you can't leave them!" she repeated as he pushed her in, slamming the door behind them before he made his way to the controls, "Doctor!"
"Don't you think I've done enough?" he snapped, "History's back in place!"
"It's not fair! It's not…not fair," she argued pitifully, slumping against the floor and leaning her head against the cool metal of the controls. He sighed and kneeled down next to her, running his hands through her sweaty curls.
"I know, it's not."
"But your own planet," she cried, turning to look at him as his hand froze in her hair, "It burned too."
"But that's just it – don't you see? If I could go back and save them I would but I can't, Hermione, I can't!"
"Just four people," she was still crying, "Doctor, please, just four people."
He sighed and winced at her, standing and going back to the controls as she went back to putting her head on the metal. The TARDIS was taking off again, the same weird grinding noise. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down, tried to calm her breathing. While she was doing this, she completely missed the Doctor going towards the door and opening it.
"Come with me."
She raised her head and looked at him as he helped Evelina and Metella in, making her bolt up and pull them in as well. When Caecilius and Quintus got through and the door was shut, he went back to the controls again, Hermione following him. When they landed and he turned around, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
"Thank you," she murmured to him.
"Only four," he insisted.
"Only four," she repeated with a smile before letting her arms hanging limply in between them, as he wasn't done hugging her, "You smell like ash."
He chuckled, "You don't smell much better."
"I still can't believe they aren't really married," Metella murmured to her husband, Evelina and Quintus glancing between each other before trying to stifle grins and giggles.
And we'll be done with that!
I don't think I'm going to do too many episode-based chapters. They take forever and I have to try not to go word-for-word, which is really hard to do when you're simultaneously watching the episode. Plus you can kind of guess what will happen if you've seen the episode. I enjoy the element of surprise.
Please review and be patient with me, because I've got not clue what I'm doing most days. Just ask Mom.
Love,
Ava