"Are you crazy?" She protested as he dragged her to the doors.

"Of course not! They won't bite! They're quite friendly, actually. Just stay away from the ones that...er, might actually bite." He pulled her outside to reveal a scene quite un-extraordinary.

All around them was a dense, green forest. The sunlight shone through the trees and illuminated them and their and branches. Altogether, it had a very peaceful, normal look about it. It'd be impossible to tell how far back in time they'd gone, and there wasn't a dinosaur in sight.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Looks...pretty normal." She replied, staring around at all the greenery.

He rolled his eyes dramatically. "What, you think just because we've gone back in time everything would look different? It's still the same planet, Hermione."

"I know, I just sort of expected a bit more..." She pondered her response, not knowing how actually to finish that sentence. "I don't know, scary stuff. Dinosaurs are always depicted as these terrifying beasts. To some extent supernatural."

"So you were expecting fog, dark, skeletal woods, darkness, maybe a vampire or two?" He smirked and raised his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, no, obviously not, but-"

"Well don't say it like it's a ridiculous expectation! I mean, I've come across a few vampires in my time, so no need to rule anything out." He started walking further outside. "I guess this birdie that told me you were a genius hadn't really done his research,"

"Even geniuses have blonde moments." She replied snarkily. As they walked outside, the heavy air weighed down on her. It was hot and humid.

"Ouch."

"What? You're not blonde!"

"No, but I am a fan of them..." For a split second, all traces of immaturity vanished from his face as they continued venturing through the not-scary-at-all woods.

"Sorry."

"No worries! So how do you like Earth 65 million years ago?"

"I thought this was 4 billion and 65 million years ago? I mean really, Doctor, time is relative."

He beamed. "Good answer. Let's have a picnic and watch the sunset." He stopped walking. They had reached the edge of the forest and were facing a large, grass field that stretched to the horizon. He pulled out a red and white checkered cotton blanket from one of his jacket pockets and laid it out in front of them.

"Where did that come from?" She asked curiously as he sat down and gestured for her to sit beside him.

"My pocket." He said, this time reaching in and pulling out a small picnic basket. She stared at him for a few more seconds in disbelief before realisation dawned on her face.

"Ah...bigger on the inside."

"Your genius status has been restored."

"Oh, thank God." She faux-laughed as she sat next to him and leaned up against a tree behind her. "Is the basket bigger on the inside too?"

He grinned. "You got me." He opened it and pulled out a bottle of champagne and two flutes. He filled one up and handed it to her, then filled his.

"So...we're literally sitting here outside of a forest from 65 million years into my past, drinking champagne and waiting for a dinosaur to come around."

"Yeah. No biggie."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." They clinked their flutes together and drank.

It was already starting to get darker as the sun went down in front of them. Everything in sight had turned to a silhouette against the orange-pink sky. It was just as would have looked if she'd been home, so she could almost forget that she was sitting on her planet from 65 million years ago. As the sun descended, so did the temperature, but not by much. It still felt hot and muggy to her.

There was nothing abnormal about anything they were doing or anything around them. Everything around them screamed normal, peaceful night out with a friend.

That is, until a dinosaur showed up.

"Where?" Hermione asked urgently when he pointed it out, looking around them frantically.

"There. On the horizon." He pointed ahead of them. Against the setting sun, there was a silhouetted dinosaur. Even from a distance it was massive.

"What kind is it?" She asked.

"You're the genius, you tell me!"

"I don't know! Triceratops? It's sort of got that shape..."

"Right you are! Genius status maintained." He stood up, put the flutes and champagne bottle back in the bigger-on-the-inside picnic basket, and then the basket and blanket back in his bigger-on-the-inside pocket. "Let's go test its limits."

"Are you crazy?!" Hermione shrieked as they began trudging toward the horizon. Toward the dinosaur.

"That's at least the second time you've asked me that."

"Then this is at least the second time you haven't answered, leading me to believe that you are, in fact, crazy."

"It's the end of the Cretaceous period," He said, ignoring her last comment. "65 million years into your past. And...that triceratops over there just experienced her last sunset."

"You mean this is the day that...the asteroid hit?"

"I mean this is the day the asteroid will hit. You know for someone as smart as you, you should really get your tenses straight."

"Funny."

"I certainly like to think so."

"You know we'll die if we stay here..."

He shrugged it off, as if to say it was a matter of no real importance to him.

"We won't die," He said as he began walking toward the Triceratops. "At least not right away. See, we're far enough away from the collision point that it won't sweep us off our feet or incinerate us, but we'll still get to be a part of all the action."

"You say it like it's a choose-your-own-adventure book..."

"You could think of it that way." He stopped in his tracks and stared straight ahead. "Look at that..." He whispered in awe. On the edge of the forest, not 10 feet away from the triceratops, was a tyrannosaurus rex. "That is beautiful..."

"And just a little bit terrifying." Hermione added, watching anxiously.

"Ah, don't worry. Most scientists seem to think they were slow and stupid. There's actually some debate on whether they were really the fearsome hunters everyone made them out to be, or cowardly scavengers, who just fed on already dead prey."

"Looks like we're about to find out." She uttered in disbelief.

The T-Rex was behind the Triceratops, moving slowly and stealthily.

"Hunter. Definitely hunter." The Doctor theorized, gazing as the T-Rex charged at the Triceratops. If that was his top speed, it was indeed very slow. He rammed his head into the Triceratops, and Hermione couldn't help but wince.

"Ouch..."

"Oohh, and the Triceratops teeters, just a bit, but keeps her ground! Oh! She looks angry now, Rexxy better look out..."

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Narrating."

"Why?"

"Oh come on, live a little!" He paused to watch the play of events unfold before them. "Oh...oh, Tricey manages to stay up, and wheels her own head in attempt at self defense! Oh, wouldn't want to be hit by those horns, now, that looked like it hurt...Rexxy manages to juuust dodge the bullet there, and lunges for Tricey's throat, but...oh, oh, he misses! Collides with her massive frill instead..."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle. His narration of the event sounded like something of a Quidditch match.

"Personally, I'm routing for Tricey here. Always did like an underdog," He pondered. "Ah, looks like that collision has them both falling to the ground! And with a deafening roar, they're down! Come on Tricey, you got it..."

"You know, under the circumstances, I'd say Rexxy is the underdog. Considering how slow and stupid you seemed to think he was just a moment ago."

Both dinosaurs seemed to have trouble getting back up off the ground, which made sense considering they both weighed several tons.

"Looks like Rexxy's really down for the count! Oh, look at those tiny arms, requiring just a few extra seconds to get back on his feet...the battle hangs by a thread...who will get up first? Will it be Tricey, to scamper off, or Rexxy, to lunge in for the kill?" He lowered his voice dramatically. "And the winner is...is...Tricey! Nicely done, if I do say so myself..."

Once the T-Rex had gotten back up and shaken itself off, he started walking off in the other direction. The Doctor elbowed her, and she looked his way.

"What?"

"Let's follow it."

"What? Why?"

"We're here for an adventure, not to play it safe! Come on!" He grasped her hand and led her after the T-Rex.

"I really don't think following an irritated T-Rex is the best idea."

"No, you're absolutely right. That's why we're doing it."

They followed the T-Rex back into the not-scary-at-all woods, though it was slight more scary now that there was a multi-ton beast in front of them. After a minute, the dinosaur stopped, but the Doctor didn't. He got closer, and as they did, Hermione saw that the massive creature was covered with feathers. It looked sort of like a Hippogriff, and she wondered what Hagrid would do if he were here. She smiled, picturing him fan-girling over all these dinosaurs and trying to get as close as possible.

When they were less than 50 feet from the T-Rex, the Doctor finally stopped. He stared in front of them in awe. "It's...beautiful..." He whispered in admiration. "Don't you think so?"

"I'm not sure beautiful is the adjective I'd use...but for all intents and purposes, yeah, I suppose so..." She spoke slowly, trepidation etched in her every syllable. She was terrified, and her heart was pounding in her chest, and yet the creature before her mesmerized her.

"Uh...uh oh..." The Doctor said, slowly coming out of his trance.

"Uh oh? What uh oh?" Her voice rose with her anxiety.

"I...think it realized we're here."

Hermione swore.

"No, it's okay! Yeah...nice T-Rexxy, aren't you?"

"Doctor!"

"You won't eat us, will you? No, of course you won't..." Unbelievably, he reached a hand up, as though a peace offering. He was offering to peace to a tyrannosaurus rex.

"Doctor..."

The T-Rex turned toward them, slowly. She could hear him inhale, and could practically sense the change that came over his demeanor as he realized what was almost directly underneath him.

"I think...we should..." He started, slowly turning away from the T-Rex.

"Run?" She suggested in a high-pitched voice.

"Yeah."

The T-Rex let out a deafening roar, and she could feel its hot breath on her back, blwoing her hair in her face as she ran. It made her think of 4th year, when Harry battled the dragon that continually attempted to barbeque him.

"Keep running!" He screamed over the pounding footsteps.

"As if I'd do anything else under these circumstances!" She shrieked back.

"WE ARE IN A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION HERE AND YOU FIND TIME TO SASS ME?"

"And you find time to provide commentary on it! You're just as bad!"

Out of breath, they both ran. They were considerably further ahead than the T-Rex, but he was so much bigger and more ferocious that he intimidated them enough to sprint the other direction regardless. If they stopped for more than a few seconds, he'd gain on them, and then probably swallow them both whole. She didn't really feel like coming to her death by drowning in the stomach acid of a monster that went extinct 65 million years ago.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" She screamed over the pounding footsteps of the monster behind them and the ferocious pounding of her heart. "THERE'S NOWHERE TO GO!"

"UP!" He shouted.

"WHAT?!"

"UP!" He screeched louder.

"DOCTOR, JUST BECAUSE I'M WITCH DOESN'T MEAN I CAN FLY, AND IT'S INCREDIBLY STERIOTYPICAL OF YOU TO THINK SO!"

"NO! NOT UP!I FORGET WHAT YOU CALLED IT...UP...RATE..."

"APPARATE!" She screamed, realizing what he was trying to say. She closed her eyes and thought of a place as far away from the Yucatan Peninsula as one could get on Earth. She sped up until she was just in front of the Doctor, turned around, grabbing onto his waistcoat as she did so, and spun into space. She felt the familiar crushing, claustrophobic, choking sensation until they both landed in a shallow swamp with a slash and sat there trying to catch their breath. They were sitting in what was like a small pond, but the water was thick and cold and felt slimy. Entangled all around them were greenish-brown weeds and moss that smelled less than pleasant.

"Augh." The Doctor said as the both were showered in mud. He looked over at her. "Really? You couldn't have magically transported us, like, two feet to the left? You landed us right in the middle of a swamp."

"No, really? I thought we'd landed in a field of daisies and sunshine." She rolled her eyes and pulled her wand out, siphoning all the mud off with a lazy flick until they were both warm and dry again.

"You're quite mean sometimes, you know that?" He simpered in a faux-offended voice. They stood up, almost completely soaked, and stepped away from all the mud.

"Yes. But without my magic, you'd be screwed, so I'd watch what you say to me." She smirked and stared up at him through her lashes.

"Screwed, huh?" He challenged, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yes. Screwed. I could've left you covered in all that mud, and only used the magic to help myself. Or I could've not apparated us away from the T-Rex and let him eat both of us."

"But you would never do something like that." He said in an undertone, a teasing expression painted across his face.

"Try me one of these days, and we'll see." She shot back flirtatiously.

"Oh, grow up." He said it with so much immaturity in his voice that it made the whole statement ironic. She giggled. He narrowed his eyes and reached forward, dipping his hand into the goopy swamp in front of them. He held his hand in between them for a few moments, then flicked the water onto her face. She flinched, scrunching up her face in disgust as her jaw dropped with resentment.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, wiping her eyes.

"Hey me?" Hey you!" He crossed his arms and turned up his nose like a haughty preschooler.

"Hey YOU!" She scooped some of the mud off the bottom of the swamp floor and wiped it across his coat.

"You know you're acting like a five year old right now." He put his hands on his hips and shook his head like a child trying to pretend to be angry.

"You started it!" She shot back defensively.

"Did not!"

"Did so."

"I did not." He stomped into the middle of the swamp and jumped up and down several times, splashing her with all the mud and water.

"Did."

"Didn't." He narrowed his eyes childishly. She crouched down, using her arms to splash a wave of the slimy, muddy water onto him. "That's cheating!" He burst out, throwing his arms down stubbornly.

"Oh, now there's rules, are there?" She sneered, brushing some moss off her shoulder. He scoffed, reaching into the water and pulling out a gob of entangled, greenish-brown weeds and moss encased with a thick layer of slime and riddled with mud. He held it in front of her for a few moments, a tantalizing grin playing across his lips. He squeezed it, allowing the muddy, slimy water to drip down her shirt. It felt cold and squirmy...the water dripped down her front like worm.

"Ew..." She whimpered. She pried some of the stringy moss out of his hands and draped it across his coat.

"Ew." He imitated. He sounded like a valley-girl. She giggled. He smiled and cast her an admiring look, though she couldn't quite tell if it was meant to look complimentary or just immaturely playful. She smiled tentatively back and giggled more.

He stepped out of the swamp onto the grass around it, pulling her with him, but they both slipped and fell onto a patch of mud just in front of the swamp. She stuck her hand out to break her fall and slipped onto her forearm, covering the whole thing in mud. She sat up and smeared the mud from her hand onto his cheek.

"Hey!" He snapped in an adolescent tone.

"Hey me?" She asked innocently. "Hey you." She squinted at him through eyes with an evil sparkle behind their smile.

"Demon!" He rubbed his hand in the mud patch they both sat in and then smudged it across her nose and under her eyes. She laughed and swatted his hand away. He stared at her with a stoic expression on his face, but after a few seconds, he burst out giggling. He sounded like a cheerleader, which only made her laugh harder. The more she laughed, the more he laughed, and soon she was laying on her back in the patch of mud next to him, both in a hysterical fit of laughter. She raised her want in an attempt to dry them both off, but only managed to get half of it off through all her giggles. He sat up and picked a piece of moss off her shoulder. His temperate touch sent shivers racing down her spine, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was his hand or just the fact that it was cold and dark outside. She figured it was probably just the weather. She brushed his hand away and raised her wand again, this time getting the spell right.

"Thanks!" He said, jumping up and offering her his hand. She took it and stood up, but he didn't let go once she was standing, but let their hands stay clasped together.

"Anytime." She whispered. The moonlight shining around them lit everything up in very low light and made him look so much younger.

"Would you look at that..." He said mystically, pointing above them. When she looked, there was a large dinosaur soaring above them. He giggled. "It's dino-soaring. Get it?"

"You can't be serious."

He let go of her hand and looked up at the sky again. "It's defying gravity..."

"Actually, when birds are soaring like that, its wings push air down, so according to Newton's third law, the air pushes the wings up. The push comes in part from what angle the wings are held at and partly from the curvature of the wings. The air travels faster above the bird's wing than it does below, and this makes the pressure lower above the wing-"

"You can't be serious."

She crossed her arms and scoffed. "It's true! And it's also different when birds are flapping their wings, because-"

"Look..." He cut her off and pointed to the sky.

"Oh my god..." She breathed, staring at where his hand gestured. "Is that the...?"

"Yes..." He exhaled, gawking at it as though in a trance.

Streaking across the sky was an asteroid. Its tail was long and thin and colorful, and the tip, the asteroid, was shining bright white and let off a glow all around it that made the shining moon look dull.

It was hard to tell whether it was stock still in the middle of the sky or whether it was flying across the cosmos at unimaginable speeds. It appeared to be doing both at the same time, though she knew it was going approximately 45,000 miles per hour.

It was impossible to tell when it hit the Earth as a result of the light rays reaching them before the distant yet definitely present sound, like an out-of-synch special effect in a muggle movie.