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Martha and Jack were near the point of despair when The Doctor turned up a day before Christmas. They had sat down to the midday meal and had begun to eat when The Master came downstairs, chatting animatedly with The Doctor. Martha and Jack stared at this for a few seconds before realizing that The Doctor and The Master were actually having a civilized conversation and not trying to kill each other. Martha was about to spring out of her seat to retrieve The Doctor, who was surely hypnotized, from The Master, when Jack put a warning hand on her shoulder. "No," he said. "We're not sure what's going on here. And don't you think he looks better?" Martha had to admit that was true. The terrible pain and regret was gone from The Doctor's eyes, and he was certainly excited, if his violent hand gestures were anything to go by. As the two walked closer Jack and Martha could hear the conversation.
"No, Koschei, I'm telling you, Nyolthela venom is useless as soon as it's diluted beyond fifty parts per million! I've tried!" "I've tried too, Theta, and I'm serious-it'll still disintegrate copper!" "Well, sure, but how thick was your copper sheet?" "I don't know, two millimeters?" "Exactly! You could disintegrate two millimeters of copper by breathing hard enough! It's useless-oh, hi guys!" The Doctor saw them and ran over. "He says Nyolthela venom is usable when diluted 'till it's ten parts per million. I say he's crazy! Jack, whaddya think?" This situation was so crazy that Jack actually thought for a moment. "Well, it depends what it's used for. It'll still rust gold at twenty parts per million, but I don't think ten parts per million is useful for much of anything." The Doctor turned to The Master triumphantly. "And there you have it! Even he agrees!" The Master sniffed. "Well, you insisted it was useless beyond fifty parts per million!" "So we're both wrong." The Doctor concluded. The Master nodded. "I'll deal with that. Bye, Theta!" "Bye, Koschei!" The Master left to the teacher's table, and Martha and Jack were still in shock. The Doctor looked at them.
"What?" Martha recovered first, stood up, and started yelling. "RON WEASLEY, DON'T YOU 'WHAT' ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH WE WORRIED ABOUT YOU?! ANY IDEA AT ALL?! WE WENT INTO THE FORBIDDEN FOREST THREE TIMES-" "Thaaat's enough, Martha." Jack had clamped his hand over her mouth, as people had started to stare. "Let's go outside." They went into the hallway, and Jack took his hand off Martha's mouth. "Yes?" he said pointedly. Martha took a deep breath. "Doctor, are you alright?" "No." The Doctor answered honestly, perhaps for the first time. "But I'm better. Much better." Jack nodded. "That's good." He stepped on Martha's foot when she opened her mouth again, and she closed it promptly. "Now, Doctor, why don't you eat lunch with us?" The Doctor nodded enthusiastically. "Blimey, I'd love to!" They went back into the Great Hall, following The Doctor, and all were silent during the eating of their mashed potatoes and beef. As soon as they were all done The Doctor sprang to his feet. "Let's go play!"
Nobody mentioned what had happened for the rest of that day, and perhaps that was the best thing to do. The Doctor seemed alright, after all, and they were really just quite relieved to have him back in one piece. They played most of the day, went into the Forbidden Forest after dinner to talk to the Thestrals and give them food (they could all see them), and went to bed tired.
Jack woke up the next day before even the sun was up. This was because a ginger blur had jumped on top of him. "WakeupwakeupwakeupitsChristmascomeongetupgetup!" The blur squealed. Jack groaned. "Doctor… Stop acting like you're four!" The blur stopped, resolving into The Doctor. "But Jaaaack! It's Christmas!" "Holy shit it's Christmas!" Jack bolted out of bed. "Hey, let's go down to the common room and wait for Martha!" "Splendid idea, Jack." They both dressed quickly and ran downstairs. The Doctor flicked his wand and Martha was down soon after holding packages, rubbing her eyes and looking grumpy. "Doctor, did you cast a tickling spell to wake me up?" "Yep!" The Doctor said happily. "Meh." Martha then sleepily cast a hex on The Doctor which made him covered in worms. "GAAAAAHHHHH!" Martha and Jack both laughed at this. "You really ought to know by now not to wake up Martha without coffee, Doctor." Jack chuckled. The Doctor made a grumpy face, waved his wand, and made the worms disappear. "Riiight. Now, presents!" Martha chuckled. "Somebody sure is excited." "You should be too! This is the first proper Christmas in which I haven't had to save the Earth from extraterrestrials!" All of them laughed at that. Then gave each other presents.
"Ladies first!" said Jack, grinning that grin, which of course made Martha blush. "Umm… Thanks… Yeah. This one's from The Doctor!" It had TARDIS-blue paper with Gallifreyan symbols on it. And enough tape to mummify someone. Inside was a white coffee mug. "If you choose a word, whenever you say the word it'll fill with coffee." Martha visibly brightened. "Sweet!" She then looked at the mug and said very clearly, "Coffee!" It immediately filled with rich brown coffee. She happily drank it as Jack said, "My turn!" His was from Martha, with red paper. It was a pair of silly sunglasses and a pink wig. "It'll make you the center of attention at parties," she said. Jack grinned. The Doctor squealed. "My turn now!" His was in black paper, from Jack, and was a box of banana cookies. He hugged Jack and promptly began eating the cookies. "My turn, I guess?" asked Martha, smiling.
Martha's present from Jack, in black paper, was a beginner's guide to Quidditch. "Yes! Now can I borrow your broom?" "Noooo!" Cried Jack. Martha frowned and held up her wand. "ACK! Yes you can! Don't cover me in worms please!" Martha smiled. "Thanks!"
Jack's present from The Doctor, in blue paper with symbols, was a sparkly ribbon. "Um, thanks?" The Doctor looked up from his cookie. "Oh, yes! That ribbon, when tied onto your broomstick, will make all jinxes, curses, and otherwise malevolent spells null and void! Made it myself," he said proudly. Jack was genuinely touched. "Thanks! Yeah, that'll be useful with that match coming up…" They exchanged grins; Quirrell wouldn't know what hit him.
The Doctor's present from Martha, in red paper, was a pin that said GINGERS UNITED! The Doctor was extremely happy and hugged Martha.
They all got a Weasley jumper, being able to tell by the lumpiness of the package. They grimaced and opened them in unison, then just stared. "…My gosh, they're even uglier than I thought!" Martha finally said. They then all put theirs on, and The Doctor put his pin on his.
Jack finally had a package in grey paper, which they knew was the Invisibility Cloak and had fun playing with. But Martha noticed that The Doctor had one more present, too. "…Who's that from?" Martha said curiously. The paper was green, with Gallifreyan symbols. The Doctor read them. "It's 'from The Master, because I know you insist on celebrating this tiresome Earth holiday.'" They were all curious. "…You sure it's safe?" "No." He then opened it, and it overflowed with bubbles. "Gah!"
After cleaning up the bubbles, The Doctor commented as they sat together. "Y'know, it really makes me feel better about sending him a present that'll explode into permanent pink dye.
They looked at each other and cracked up.
Yep. They were friends at Uni, after all, and probably the Time Lord equivalent of troublesome frat boys.
Sorry for inconsistent chapter size! Hope it was all right… Oh, and sorry if I got the Quidditch game dates wrong. I can never remember.
Mwahaha! Please review!