Chapter 41
The TARDIS floated in front of the tear in space-time that connected two universes. The Doctor peered through the open door into the field of stars beyond the rift. He took a small golden sphere from his pocket. It was attached to a thick spool of string. Suddenly, a small pair of wings sprung out from the sphere. The snitch hovered in air, tugging at its tether. The Doctor let the string unspool slowly, and the snitch passed through the tear. He let it go for a hundred meters before breathing a sigh of relief. He gave M's shoulder a squeeze, then began to reel the snitch back in.
M's face went pale. Suddenly dizzy, he gripped the doorframe for support. The Doctor saw him lurch towards the edge, and pulled him a few steps backwards into the TARDIS. "Hey, it's alright. It worked."
"If it didn't. If it didn't...if their brand of magic didn't work in our universe and my wards went away and there was a chance...even a small chance of the Time Lock failing and the drums getting to me again..."
The Doctor waited a while, then said, "But it does work. And just in case, I had Ashley teach me the spell she used on you. I put in loads of practice at St. Mungo's and I can do it, I promise."
"When did —no, I know— while I was sleeping. You get up to a lot while I'm sleeping."
"You're one to talk! I still can't believe you took Tom to the parallel timeline without asking my permission."
M narrowed his eyes. The Doctor hurriedly added, "Not that you need my permission."
"The other Tom is cut off from everyone he knew, well, everyone except Albus and Arabella. He'll never see our Harry, Hermione and Ashley again. Imagine seeing people from your childhood, and they have no recollection of you? I couldn't leave it like that, and I figured Tom could explain it to himself better than I could."
"That was kind of you. Kind and dangerous."
"It was worth the risk."
The Doctor did his best to look disapproving, but he was also burning with curiosity. "So...how was it? The other timeline?"
M grinned.
They dropped Jack off (the Doctor thanking him for all his help, while simultaneously disabling the time-travel functionality of his vortex manipulator), then parked the TARDIS in the kitchen of Amy and Rory's place.
They spent quite a while unloading books. "This is good, I'll have a project now...building shelves," said Rory.
"Your dad will want to help," said Amy.
Rory scoffed. "Help? He'll take over. He thinks I can't even screw in a lightbulb."
He thought of his family, of his life here, and how close he'd come to losing it...but the bitter anger he'd felt earlier was now replaced by gratefulness. "Doctor, I'm sorry about what I said-"
The Doctor waved him off and hugged them both. "Goodbye for now," said Amy. "Just for now."
M was surprised to be invited into the group hug as well, but he received the affection eagerly. "Sorry I ate all your biscuits," he mumbled into Amy's hair.
"That was ages ago. How long's it been, our time?" she asked.
"A week," said the Doctor.
"Ah, so there's a chance the yogurt and milk hasn't gone off."
They all took a step back and looked at each other, delaying the inevitable separation. "Hey, what book did Harry give you?" asked M.
"Oh, right!" said Rory, and retrieved the wrapped package.
He ripped off the paper and read the cover. "Secrets of the Darkest Art."
Rory turned it to examine the spine, and it made a muffled rattling noise. He threw it to the ground in shock. When nothing else happened, he carefully opened the cover. The inside had been hollowed out, the pages excised. In their place was a bundle of silvery fabric. Rory unfolded it to reveal a wand carved to resemble an elderberry branch, along with a small, smoke-coloured, eight-sided stone. "Harry gave me the Deathly Hallows," he said. "Harry gave me the Deathly Hallows?"
"Rory Weasley, Master of Death," said the Doctor.
"There's a note," said Amy.
Rory unfolded a slip of paper and read aloud, "'Dear Rory, I thought these would be safer in another world. Especially with you. I renounced ownership of the wand so it should take to you just fine if you want it. I don't know much about your version of Earth, but maybe it's different enough that you won't need a Statute of Secrecy, and magic can be for everyone's benefit. If you do decide to change the world, I know it will be for the better.
Love, your friend,
Harry Potter.'
P.S. Just in case you're wondering, I destroyed the horcrux instructions so nobody will ever try that again (hopefully).
P.P.S. Good luck with everything.'"
"Um...uh...this is too much responsibility," said Rory, carefully putting everything back into the book.
"Nonsense! You were chosen by the Chosen One...you can't be unchosen," said the Doctor.
"Well, I'm putting it on the shelf for now...er, I'll build a shelf, then put it on it. Maybe a safe instead. I'm putting it down for now, going to have a nice tea, a leisurely shower, possibly see a psychiatrist for a couple of years, then think about irrevocably changing the future of human history. Yeah...let's...have that tea."
Rory crossed to the kitchen and started fumbling with the kettle. "Ah, you'll be fine. This is really cool, Rory," said the Doctor.
"Cool, right, not terrifying in the slightest."
The Doctor clapped once. "Okay! Goodbye! Don't become a dark lord."
Rory groaned and sat down heavily at the kitchen table. Amy laughed, and then said, "Goodbye! Take care of each other."
Once they were in deep space they switched the TARDISes around, so the Doctor's police box was nested in the storage room of M's TARDIS, which currently looked like an asteroid from the outside. "If you're going to be my companion, there's just a few rules," said M, smiling playfully. "Use the chameleon circuit for maximum stealth and safety. Make sure and release the parking brake before dematerialising. Never fail to mention a good place to get root beer floats."
The Doctor laughed. "Really? That's a rule?"
M nodded earnestly. "I've had such a craving for one."
"I hear there's this restaurant at the end of the universe..."
"That's impossible."
"Oh, yes. In a million ways."
"Your kind of place, then. Help me drive?"