Chapter Two

Fourteen years later

Fourteen years of travelling the world, never staying in one place for longer than a month and making sure he knew exactly where the wizarding part of each country he visited was so that he could avoid it, and he always made sure to return to Britain at least once a year, normally for Christmas though occasionally for Neville or Luna's birthday.

At first he had always made sure to change his looks before coming to Britain, especially after the Ministry put out a warrant for him, claiming he was dangerous and needed to be locked away for his own safety as well as the safety of others. That news hadn't exactly shocked Harry, though he had been a little surprised at how soon after he had disappeared that it had been released. Still, in more recent years, Harry hasn't really had to change his looks at all. After all, the wizarding world were looking for thirty-odd year old looking Harry Potter, not an eighteen year old.

So Harry had always made sure that he kept in touch with Neville and Luna, visiting when he felt it was safe, or when something big was happening. Like Luna's wedding to a nice young man called Rolf Scamander and then later for the birth of her twin sons. Both of which had come as a surprise for both Neville and Harry, even more so when they were both asked to be godfathers for each of the boys.

After that, Harry had ensured that he visited for Christmas and Lorcan and Lysander's birthday, he didn't want to let them down like he had been forced to let Teddy down - Andromeda apparently believing the vitriol the Ministry had been spewing out about him and had taken Teddy into hiding.

He had also stayed in touch with Death, every so often calling the being to him to have a chat and not as often but on occasion running into trouble and unfortunately dying, which gave them even more opportunity to chat. During those times, Harry had occasionally felt the loneliness of outliving everyone he knew and had asked Death if he knew of anyone that was like him. Only a couple of times had Death told him of a few people. Though there was one person that Death had mentioned more than once. And he had told Harry that perhaps one day they would meet.

Which brought him to now. Back in Britain, having just visited the Scamanders for the twin's birthday and now he was taking a week break to the Peak District, as, if he was being honest, he missed England a little. He had decided to visit the quaint little villages and towns that were dotted around the large National Park and of course go rambling to take in the sites.

Harry had been walking along the edge of a lake, thinking about where he would be going next - Lysander had told him to go to New Zealand, but Harry had taken that advice with a pinch of salt given Lysander was currently obsessed with the place - and silently making plans as to whether he would stay a bit longer than a month this time. He was, if only admitting it to himself, getting a little fed up of never staying in one place longer than a month. He loved travelling but he was getting the point where he felt like he'd visited everywhere. Well, on planet earth.

It was during these thoughts that Harry heard a strange wheezing, whirring sound from behind him and he turned to find out what the noise was - because it wasn't anything he had ever heard of before - and was stunned to see a large blue box spinning towards him at great speeds. So fast in fact, that he didn't have time to move out of the way and was consequently hit by the box. Before everything went black, he had the last thought that it looked a little like the old police phone boxes you could still see dotted around England

Harry groaned as he came to in the regular green and black toned sitting room and saw an amused Death sitting in his usual chair in front of the fireplace in the room.

"What the hell just hit me? And come to think if it, what the bloody hell?!" Harry exclaimed, glaring when Death just chuckled at him and motioned for Harry to take a seat opposite him. "You know, if you wanted to talk, you could just come see me without killing me in confusing manners."

"I know I can visit you whenever I wish to talk, this was not caused for that reason."

"So you admit to causing it?!"

"I did. The item you were just hit with is called a TARDIS. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension In Space and the being that was driving it is one of the ones I was telling you about. The one I thought you would be most interested in meeting."

"What?!"

"I told you I would take you to him, however I felt it would be easier to bring him to you."

"So this is the immortal guy you told me about?"

"No one other than ourselves are truly immortal, even Captain Harkness and the Doctor. However you asked to meet one with a seemingly immortal life and I brought him to you. I would have taken you to Captain Harkness but I fear you would have found the way around his apparent immortality the moment he first groped you."

"You're bloody right I would have. So the guy who just killed me is The Doctor?"

"Indeed."

"Great way to first meet. Why now?"

"I... In his linear timeline, I have just taken two people very dear to him. He is not coping with it very well and was about to go into exile. I rerouted his plans and brought him to you in hopes you could help him. You know how to deal with loss."

"True but I don't think he's going to be impressed that it was my servant that took his friends."

"I had no choice, it was their time. Help The Doctor, Harry. Help him to move past his guilt."

"From all that you've told me about the man, I don't think he will ever get over his guilt. It's too heavy and large a burden."

"Then help him carry it. It's time to go back."

"Okay. And if you want to visit me, just pop up, don't set out to kill me again. It hurts."

Harry felt the uncomfortable feeling of being revived once more, wincing as the sunlight hit his eyes even though they were closed. It took a few minutes to orientate himself before he heard the sound of someone sobbing quietly over his body. It was then that he realised the same someone was holding him close to their own body.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I bring death everywhere I go. I'm so so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Harry said before he could really think of a better way to let the man know he was alive. A result of this was the man gasping harshly and then pulling away from Harry which resulted in Harry's head banging on the floor causing him to groan in pain. "Ow."

"What? How? You were dead! I saw the gash on your head! No one could survive that!"

"That explains the headache. And it really wasn't your fault. It seems Death wanted us to meet," Harry told him, wincing as he carefully stood up and then turned to finally look at the man.

A man that was dressed in corduroy trousers, a plaid jacket and a red bow tie and suspenders. Harry blinked at the odd clothing then shook his head. Really, it was no weirder than what some wizards wore.

"You must-" Harry didn't have chance to finish what he was going to say because at that moment the man grabbed a hold of his arm and started tugging him towards the blue phone box, waving a strange metal wand at him as he did. "Er..."

"What are you? This says you're human but I know you died!" The man - The Doctor - exclaimed opening the door to the box which Harry assumed was the Tardis and pulling him inside.

As soon as Harry entered, he was overwhelmed by feelings that weren't his own washing over him. Feelings of amusement and greeting that made him gasp a little and look around him. The sensation reminded him of what he felt whenever he entered Hogwarts only it felt even older somehow.

Harry tuned out what the man was saying, though it seemed he had stopped waffling about impossible humans, and walked past him to the centre of the room where a large cylindrical post surrounded by a console of some sort stood. Looking up at the console, Harry reached forward and placed his hands on the pulsing cylinder, gasping happily as even more feelings washed through him, complete with what he could only describe as echoes of words.

"Hello, Death's Master…"

"What are you doing?" Harry glanced at The Doctor, who had moved to stand next to him and was staring at him in confusion.

"Talking to your Tardis. She's rather cheerful, isn't she?" Harry asked, smiling widely as a teasing sensation washed over him.

"Is that it? Wait, you understand what she's saying? No one can do that! It's impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible. More so when I'm involved it would seem. So, this is the Tardis, huh? Gotta say, I'm impressed. She's lovely!" Harry grinned once more as the Doctor gaped at him and the Tardis sent waves of appreciation and joy through him.

"You... I..."

"Yep. I have that affect on people."

"Aren't you shocked that it's bigger on the inside?"

"To be honest, that's not new to me. I'm more shocked that I can feel what she's feeling. Only had that with one other building before. It's quite nice actually," Harry told him with a grin before finally removing his hands from the console and looking around him, chuckling at little at the eager look on the Doctor's face.

"You've seen something that's bigger on the inside?"

"You make it sound dirty," Harry said with a grin, which widened when the Doctor stated at him before blushing a little, "Ah relax, I was only joking. And in answer to your question, I'm a wizard, there's quite a few things that are bigger on the inside. My school trunk was for example."

"A wizard? Like Harry Potter?"

"I knew I should have changed the name in that book. Yeah, like Harry Potter. In fact, I am Harry Potter."

"Are you really?! How did I not know you existed?! How did I not know magic existed?!"

"Hmm. We're pretty good at hiding from those we don't want to find us. Plus our numbers are getting smaller by the decade. Chances are in years to come we'll be few and far between, if not extinct. Sad but true. It's the way of life. And Death," Harry added with a grin and a shrug, ignoring the slightly horrified look on the Doctor's face.

"How can you be so blasé about the death of your kind?"

"They haven't done much to ingratiate themselves to me. Many of them would rather see me imprisoned or dead than free and happy. In that world, if you have more power than they feel you should, then you can't be allowed to be free just in case you totally lose your mind and turn on them. Even if you did rid them of a Dark Lord. It's a fickle world and I've found I no longer care to be involved in it."

"You sound bitter."

"Oh no. They can do whatever they like as long as they realise that I'm no longer going to be around to bail them out. I've got my own life. I don't need them to live it. Live and let live I say," Harry told him with a shrug.

"Live and let live? And yet, you don't seem to care that your species is one day going to become extinct? This doesn't bother you at all?"

"All things must eventually come to an end. Sometimes you have to just let it happen. You should know this. You are the last of your kind after all, are you not, Doctor?" Harry said with a smirk, which widened when the Doctor stared at him in shock.

"How did you know that? Who are you? What are you?" The Doctor demanded, making Harry roll his eyes.

"I told you who I am. I'm Harry Potter. Did you not read the books? I left the clues in there, though admittedly I changed things a little and for some reason my publisher made me write that annoying epilogue. Trust me, I did not marry that freaky stalker."

"What do you mean?"

"I left clues in there for anyone wondering why I disappeared. Dunno if anyone got them other than Luna, though I think she knew even before I published the books," Harry admitted with a shrug.

"I've read the books! I still don't know what you are!" The Doctor exclaimed, clearly not used to not knowing something, which made Harry grin at him.

"What did I collect? I changed some things that happened. It wasn't Dumbledore in Kings Cross for one and for another, certain items returned to me. I have them on me now, in fact," Harry told him, taking a step back when it looked like the Doctor was actually about to strip search him to find said items.

"So… either you're keeping hold of horcruxes or…" The Doctor gasped and then exclaimed happily, jumping about and pointing at Harry.

"I'm gathering you've worked it out… or you have some sort of illness that makes you act spastic," Harry added dryly, snickering when the Tardis sent him a feeling of great amusement. Clearly she agreed with him on that.

"I know! I know what you are! Though, if I'm right, it's a little scary," The Doctor admitted, looking at Harry warily, which made Harry sigh.

"Really? Why are you wary of me now? You've already brained me with your flying phone box!"

"I did say sorry. And are you really Death's Master?"

"You know, your Tardis reached that conclusion much faster than you did. And yes, I'm the Master of Death. Quite the pleasant fellow," Harry added, smiling as he thought of Death, who he strangely considered one of his closest friends.

"You… how… why?"

"Why? Why what? Why am I Master of Death? Because I was stupid enough to collect the Hallows and get accepted by them. Trust me, it's not out of choice. Well, technically it is."

"Technically?"

"Well… I was given a choice without a choice so to speak. If I didn't want to become Death's Master, then I should have let Voldemort kill me the second time. But as we all know, I couldn't let that happen. So, a choice without a choice. Simple," Harry explained with a shrug, hoping that he came across as uncaring as he wanted. That he wasn't still bothered - fourteen years on - about being the immortal Master of Death.

"Huh. Why didn't you write it as it happened then?"

"Because! I don't want every Tom, Dick and Draco coming after me for the Elder Wand. As it is, they all think it's in Dumbledore's Tomb behind the ever numerous wards of Hogwarts. And the wizarding world already wants to kill me for being powerful - plus they aren't too impressed that I published the books in the first place - let's not give them more rope to hang me with, ay?"

"So… you have the Hallows on you at all times?"

"Yep. I don't have a choice. They don't like being left alone. Why?"

The Doctor fidgeted a little, before edging closer to Harry - which made Harry eye him warily, he was trapped in a big blue box with the crazy man after all - and grinning widely at him, rocking on his feet. "Can I look at the invisibility cloak?"

"Er… sure. But if you run off wearing it, it'll stop working for you," Harry pointed out to him, before taking his long black trench coat off and handing it over to the Doctor with a grin, which widened when the Doctor slumped a little and looked at the coat in disappointment.

"Is this it?"

"You don't think I kept it looking like it's described in the books, do you? Death told me how to change it to look like a normal coat, and to not always make me go invisible. Just put it on and it should make you invisible. I'm letting it at least. It doesn't always listen to me though," Harry admitted with a rueful grin. The Doctor just stared from him to the coat in the his hands and then eagerly put the coat on, happily crowing in delight when he went invisible.

"This is incredible! Amazing! Look at me! Wait, you can't, I'm invisible!" Harry didn't want to tell the Doctor that, as the cloak's master, he knew where the man was at all times whilst wearing it.

"Yep. Well done. When you've finished prancing around in that, do you think I could leave?" Harry asked after the Doctor had run around the control room with the cloak on a couple of times. His question made the Doctor come to a halt as he tugged the cloak off and stared at Harry in shock.

"You… you want to leave?"

"Well… what else was I going to do? I mean, I don't have to, but I figured you only dragged me in here to find out what I was, and well, you've found out," Harry pointed out, confused and not sure why the Doctor looked quite so upset over Harry leaving. It wasn't like they really knew each other.

"I was wondering if, perhaps, you would like to travel with me! You see, I'm currently travelling alone and could do with another companion," the Doctor told him, smiling slightly with a look of hope on his face. Harry stared at him silently, thinking back to what Death had told him and wondering if this is what he meant.

"You don't do well being alone, do you? Well, I don't really have anything better to do, so I might as well join you! Could be fun! Death seems to think you get into more trouble than I do, so who knows what we'll get up to together!" Harry said with a grin, getting an even wider one from the Doctor, who ran over to the console and began pressing seemingly random buttons. "Wait!"

"What? What? I didn't do anything!"

"Yet. I do have stuff I need to collect before I up and leave. I need to go pack up my tent! Can't have any old muggle coming across it, can we?" Harry explained, rolling his eyes when the Doctor just stared at him. "Coming, Doctor, or are you just going to wait here until I get back?"

"Ooh! Coming! I want to see inside your tent!" The Doctor exclaimed excitedly, making Harry laugh at him and walk out of the Tardis.

"Well, I've seen inside yours, it's only fair," Harry drawled, smirking at the man and deliberately giving him the once over, enjoying flustering him.

"Stop that! Stop it!" Harry muttered an apology under his breath at the Doctor's exclamation, deciding to stop making the poor man uncomfortable even if it was amusing him.

"Come on then. I'm pitched up not far from here. Technically, I'm not supposed to be, but hey ho, who cares about silly little things like rules?" Harry asked as he walked in the direction he thought he'd pitched his tent. Well, he was nearly certain that was where he'd put his tent, but he'd actually been looking for it when he was taken out by the Tardis.

"Do you know where we're going?" The Doctor asked after they had been walking for about twenty minutes in a seemingly random direction.

"Possibly."

"So not exactly?"

"Well, not if you want to be pedantic about things. By the way, what's with the bow tie?" Harry asked, giving up on searching and pulling out his wand and murmuring a point me charm, being watched closely by the Doctor.

"Bow ties are cool!"

"Whoever told you that was lying. And cruel. Not sure what it says about you that you believed them though. You're over a thousand years old and you can't see when someone is lying to you about your bow tie?" Harry asked him, though he immediately regretted it when the Doctor looked at him with hurt and slowly took his bow tie off. "Oh, no. No, don't do that. If you like bow ties, don't let a miserable bastard like me tell you otherwise. Come on, put the tie on."

Harry sighed and winced when the Doctor just stared at him in confusion, clearly wondering if Harry was bipolar or something. Harry was wondering the same thing. And feeling bad for picking on someone who was already feeling pretty shitty.

"No one seems to like it," the Doctor muttered, looking at the tie in his hands, then looking up when Harry took it from his hands and wrapped it around his neck like a scarf.

"Points to you for even know how to tie the thing. And seriously, don't listen to me or anyone. If you like wearing something, just wear it. I mean, have you seen what I'm wearing? I wear a previously invisible trench coat that makes me look like a midgetty flasher. So, wear the tie, okay? You look cool," Harry added with a small grin, chuckling when the Doctor tugged at the bow tie now back around his neck.

"I don't think it's supposed to be worn like this," the Doctor told him with a wry grin, which just got a shrug and a wide grin from Harry.

"I think it looks snazzy. Which is much better than cool. And come on, my tent is this way!" Harry added with a wink as he walked in the direction of where his wand was pointing, looking over his shoulder and stopping when he noticed the Doctor wasn't following him. "You coming?"

"Oh, right. Yes. You think I look snazzy?" Harry chuckled and turned to fully face the Doctor.

"Amongst other things. You look very dashing, now come on, then we can get back to your delightful mistress, I have things I want to ask her!" Harry added with a mischievous smirk, which got him an anxious look from the Doctor, even as the man followed him.

"I do look dashing, don't I?" Harry chuckled and shook his head at the antics of the man following him, though he was quite aware now that even the smallest thing could push him over the edge. The man was mourning and he wasn't going the greatest of jobs of it. Not that Harry could say anything. He sucked at mourning.

Though given the amount of mourning he had in his future, he figured he had time to work on it.

Eventually they came across a small tent and Harry made a triumphant noise, punching the air with his fist. "Gotta love magic! Right then! Welcome to my humble abode, Doctor," Harry said with a swooping motion just before unzipping the flap and entering the tent.

Harry only had to wait a few seconds before the Doctor followed him inside and came to an abrupt stop, gaping as he looked around him at the living room of the tent.

"It's bigger on the inside," the Doctor paused for a moment and frowned, "Never thought I'd be one to say that."

"Magic doesn't really have any limits beyond what your imagination is limited to accept. I suppose the same could be said for certain types of Time Lord technology, am I right?"

"That's the second time you've implied that you know what I am. How do you know what I am? How do you know about me?"

"Master of Death here. Death knows everything there is to know about the ones whose souls he will be taking. Which is basically everyone. And what Death knows, I know. Therefore, I know all there is to know about you, Ras-" Harry was stopped from speaking as the Doctor lunged across the room and slapped his hand over Harry's mouth.

"No! We don't speak that name. We never speak that name!"

"A Doctor afraid of his own name. Man, the people I meet. I swear…" Harry muttered with a shake of his head. "Well! Ignoring your bizarre fear, I should pack up and then we can head back to the Tardis. Ooh, that reminds me, haven't you given her a name yet?"

"I… She… Yes! She's called the Tardis."

"Er… nope, that's like saying I'm called human and you're called Time Lord. Tardis is not her name. Come on! Give her a proper name, like Christine or Prescilla! Okay, maybe not those two names, but call her something!" Harry exclaimed, smiling when the Doctor looked at him strangely.

"You know, it's a very human thing, naming your mode of transportation," the Doctor pointed out, which just got him an unimpressed look from Harry.

"I find it very hard to believe that of all the billions of different beings out there, that humans are the only ones capable of caring for a basically inanimate object. Actually, I know it's not true because I knew a vampire with a mini copper called Clarence. Definitely not human. Sanguini would have issues with being called human."

"And you think I should name the Tardis?"

"I do. She loves you very much, you know. Even I could grasp that much even with the small amount of time I spent in her. And boy does that sentence sound creepy," Harry added, wrinkling his nose at the exact same time the Doctor did the same thing.

"Very creepy. And give me a little while and I'll come up with a name for her then, just for you."

"Ah, not for me! For her! And stop dawdling and help me pack!"

"What? Me? I don't pack," The Doctor said with a shake of his head, looking around him and then jumping when Harry threw a backpack at him.

"Well now you do. We all learn new skills all the time, deal with it," Harry told him, already moving into the bedroom of the tent, the Doctor following swiftly behind him. Harry just glanced at him and rolled his eyes when he saw that the Doctor was just looking around the room and occasionally picking items up, but not actually packing anything. "Change of plans! I'll pack and you just dither and be nosy."

"I like that plan," The Doctor told him with a cheeky grin, picking up his sneakoscope from the bedside cabinet and then putting it back down and opening the drawer.

"You have absolutely no concept of privacy, do you? For all you know, that could have been my personal naughty drawer. What would you have done then?" Harry asked with amusement, placing the last of his clothing into the backpack and turning to look at the Doctor, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Naughty drawer?"

"It's the next one down. Surely you know what that is, I refuse to accept that a man as old as you is as innocent as you seem," Harry said with a leer at the now furiously blushing man.

"I think I'll leave that drawer alone then," the Doctor muttered, closing the drawer he had opened rather quickly and spinning around to face Harry with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Probably for the best. Right! I'm all packed! Well, the things I might need without having to set up my tent again that is. So shall we head on out?"

"Okay! Any idea of where you might want to go when we get back to the Tardis?"

"Not a clue. Shall we let your mistress decide?"

After two months of travelling with the Doctor, during which Harry had been given his own room, had been taken on a tour of the Tardis by said Tardis and had found his favourite place to be on the floor below the main control room, where Harry found that his connection with the Tardis was the strongest. Plus he could amuse himself by listening to the cursing and muttering of the Doctor above him.

They had also travelled to places Harry had never even dreamed of. Sure, he knew that there was much more out there in the universe than Earth, he was the Master of Death, he knew of all lifeforms if he gave it some thought, but he had never really dreamt of visiting those places. Well, not yet. It was wonderful and Harry was so happy that he'd accepted the Doctor's offer to be his new companion.

Currently, Harry was once again sitting on what he had claimed as his spot. He'd even conjured a bean bag - with permission from the Tardis to do so - and had placed it with a sticking charm so that it didn't fly all over the place when she was feeling a little mischievous and took off the gravity. Or made travelling a little less comfortable than normal.

He was reading a book that he'd taken from the huge library that the Tardis had led him to, which was about the Time Lords and their technology - something he technically shouldn't even be able to read given it was written in Ancient Gallifreyan, but as he repeatedly told the Doctor, there was nothing Death didn't know. Admittedly knowing every language there ever was when he needed it had been quite a nice thing to learn at the time, but now he possibly just took it for granted. Hence reading a book about time lord technology. Though only the basics and Harry was beginning to suspect was for teeny tiny Time Babies. Or at least Academy students.

Probably a good thing as Harry wouldn't have had a clue what it was about if it had been advanced. Sure Death knew everything, but it didn't mean he actually told Harry everything, Death had a sense of humour and it meant he was more amused by Harry's seemingly cursed relationship with technology. Something the Doctor had found out when he'd accidentally made his sonic screwdriver fall apart. Thankfully the Tardis fixed it pretty swiftly or Harry had the feeling he never would have heard the end of it.

"Harry? Harry?! Where are you?" Harry sighed as his peaceful moment was interrupted by Hurricane Time Lord heading his way. "Stop diverting me! You're my Tardis! Stop listening to him more than me!"

Harry chuckled as the Doctor argued with the Tardis, before he ran a hand down the wall of the Tardis, mentally telling her that it was fine for him to be found. Really, he quite liked the Doctor. More than liked actually, not that he was ever going to admit that.

"I'm down here, Doc. What's the problem?" Harry asked, standing up and placing the book on his bean bag before heading up to the mean control floor.

"Harry! There you are! Have you always been in here?" The Doctor asked him, looking around possibly for where Harry had been hiding.

"Er… yeah, pretty much. Down there," Harry pointed to where he'd been, the Doctor walking over and then looking at Harry in shock.

"Why is there a bean bag down there? What's wrong with the sitting room on the Tardis?"

"She let me! And the sitting room has moving chairs, what is that about?"

"It was boring. Anyway! That's not what I was looking for you for!"

"Oh? So what did you want?" Harry asked, leaning against the console and looking at the Doctor in interest. "Oh! And when can I drive her? She said it'd be fine for me to learn!"

"You broke my sonic screwdriver when I let you play with it, do you really think I'm going to let you drive the Tardis?"

"Oh come on! That is completely different! She's forgiven me!"

"Yes, well, she's inordinately fond of you for some reason. I've yet to forgive you. Well, maybe I've forgiven you a little but I haven't forgotten. Besides, you've only been with me for two months! You're still a newbie companion!" The Doctor pointed out, ignoring Harry's pout at his exclamation. "Anyway!"

"Oh right, yeah, you actually did want me for something, what's up?"

"I'm bored."

"You're bored? What did you want me to do about it? You sound like Lorcan and Lysander," Harry pointed out with a grin, which widened when the Doctor just pouted.

"I thought we could get to know one another some more seeing as we won't be going anywhere until the Tardis has fully refuelled," the Doctor said with a shrug and Harry wondered if there was an ulterior motive behind the get to know you.

"Right. Get to know you. Oh, by the way, we need to make sure that I don't miss Christmas 2012, my godsons really won't forgive me if I miss Christmas. And you get to meet my family!" Harry added with a wide grin, which faded a little when he took in the surprised expression on the Doctor's face.

"I get to meet them?"

"Well yeah! It's Christmas, and I'm not going to be leaving you alone for Christmas! Then we can spend Boxing Day with the Tardis! It'll be great! Luna will love you!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, even though in his mind Christmas wasn't for another month - though he did realise they could go to Christmas morning once the Tardis was finished refuelling. Still, he had asked the Doctor in the first week of living on the Tardis if they could keep things slightly linear when visiting his timeline as he left it.

"And I'm invited?"

"Well, I haven't asked them yet, but I don't see why not! I've never brought anyone along with me before but they're always telling me I should. You can be my plus one!"

"In that case, I suppose I can't say no, can I?" the Doctor said with a weaker than normal smile. Clearly Harry had thrown him for a loop with his invitation, which made Harry wonder just how many Christmases the Doctor had spent alone. Though he did suppose that Time Lord's didn't exactly celebrate Christmas given they weren't Christian. That thought then made him wonder if they did celebrate something similar and what it was called.

"Good! I'll contact Luna sometime this week to make sure she knows! You're sure the mirror will work and won't contact her like a hundred years in the future, right?"

"Yes, the mirror should stay on the same linear timeline as you are. It won't register that we've gone into the future or the past. Don't worry."

"Okay then! So, I guess we should go and learn a bit more about one another, hmm? We can't have you bored all the time, after all, can we?" Harry said, looping his hand around the Doctor's arm and tugging him further into the Tardis. The Doctor only gave a moment of resistance before he gave up and followed behind Harry.

Harry clung onto the console of the Tardis as the Doctor flicked switches and pressed buttons, taking them to the coordinates Luna had given Harry over the mirror and hopefully to the right time. Though Harry had had a word with the Tardis, letting her know how important it was to him that they made it on time, so hopefully she would work with the Doctor for once. A thud and the Tardis coming to a stand still was Harry's clue that they'd arrived.

"Right! We're here! Where did we put the presents?" Harry asked, darting around the control room aimlessly before the Doctor grabbed his arm as he passed and pulled him to a stop.

"The presents are in your room. They'll love them. Stop panicking. It's me that's meeting people for the first time! In my experience, the family members of companions don't like me because I take them away!" The Doctor told him, panic rising in his almost visibly which calmed Harry down and made him smile, placing a hand on the Doctor's face and making him look at him.

"I've been travelling the world, never staying in one place longer than a month for over fourteen years. I was taken away from them long before you came along. Hell, they were the ones that told me to run. If anything, they'll love you because you've made it impossible for the Ministry to ever find me. So you should stop worrying too, help me find the presents and come meet my family. I promise, they'll love you. You're very hard not to like after all," Harry added with a light tap to the Doctor's face before he pulled away and went to search presents, grinning when he heard the Doctor following behind him.

"So who will be there?" the Doctor asked him as he grabbed the presents Harry had bought for Lorcan and Lysander and turned to face Harry, who was making a small pile of presents on his bed and hunting down a bag to place them in.

"Oh, you know, Luna, Rolf, Lorcan and Lysander, Neville and possibly his partner, Hannah, Luna's father, Xeno and maybe Neville's gran, Augusta. I think that's about it, really. No one else knows I'm still around, or even alive, so it's not safe to invite anyone else. Neville was dating Hannah for four years before she was told the truth," Harry told him with a shrug, before muttering under his breath and finally conjuring a bag to put the presents in. "Right! I'm ready to go! Let's go meet the family, shall we?"

Harry didn't wait for an answer from the Doctor before he grabbed the sack of presents and walked out of his room and to the control room of the Tardis, before he came to a stop and made sure the Doctor was still behind him. The Doctor, still carrying the gifts for Lorcan and Lysander, looked at him questioningly, wondering why he'd stopped.

"I feel a bit bad about leaving the Tardis alone," Harry admitted as he nibbled his lip, smiling weakly when the Doctor rolled his eyes and the Tardis sent him a wave of amusement and reassurance.

"She'll be fine. Come on, they'll start wondering where you are," the Doctor told him, walking over to nudge him out of the door. Harry just gave the wall a quick stroke before he walked out of the Tardis and smiled upon seeing that they were at the bottom of the Scamander's garden.

"Come on then! Let's get inside!" Harry said with a bright smile, leading the Doctor down the garden path and to Luna's house, walking around to the front and knocking on the door.

They only had to wait a couple of minutes before the door was opened and Harry was attacked by two tiny terrors, the Doctor thankfully steadying him and preventing him from falling over.

"Uncle Harry!" Harry grinned down at Lorcan and Lysander who were both clinging to a leg and chattering happily at him about who knows what.

"Hey guys, think we could come in?" Harry asked, getting their attention and thus bringing their attention to the Doctor.

"Who's he, Uncle Harry?' Lorcan, the quieter of the two twins, asked him, hiding behind Harry's leg and looking up at the Doctor, who smiled widely at them and balanced the presents on one hand so he could wave.

"Oh! This is my friend! I'm travelling with him. Let us inside and I'll introduce you properly!" Harry said, trying to urge the twins to let go so he could enter the house. It might not have been snowing, but it was bloody cold.

"Lorcan, Lysander, let Uncle Harry and the Doctor inside." Harry smiled at the dreamy sound of Luna's voice before she appeared at the door, smiling brightly at them all. "Come on, inside. We've got presents to open."

The magic word seemed to get their attention and the twins let go of Harry's legs and ran back inside. Harry gave a small sigh of relief and reached back to tug the Doctor behind him before walking inside. The door closing behind them once they'd both entered.

"Hey, Luna-Loo! How have you been?" Harry asked as she led them through the house and into the large family room where all the people Harry had mentioned were sitting, along with a surprise trio that Harry hadn't expected to see ever. "Er…"

"Everyone, this is Neville's cousin, Rafe and his erm… partner—"

"Theta," Harry interrupted, smiling awkwardly at the attention this brought him and the shocked look the Doctor gave him before he quickly blanked his face and waved silently at the staring mass.

"Right, this is Rafe and Theta. Rafe, Theta, you know my family and Neville's of course, the others are Ginny, Hermione and Ron Weasley. Ron works with Neville as an Auror," Luna added, silently telling Harry why they were there when they had never been at a Scamander/Longbottom Christmas ever.

"Hi everyone," Harry said with a weak smile, moving into the room and not letting go of the Doctor's sleeve.

"I didn't know you had a cousin, Neville," Hermione said, looking at Harry with narrow eyes which made Harry so happy he currently had green and blue hair courtesy of a visit to the seemingly endless party planet of Hulea and thus looked nothing like Harry Potter did when she last saw him.

"Yeah, there's a Longbottom branch of the family living in Norway. They got in touch with me after the war and Rafe has been visiting every Christmas," Neville told her, smiling widely at Harry and motioning him over. "I haven't met Theta yet though! Glad to finally be able to put a name to the face! I've heard a lot about you!"

"He's told me a lot about you as well. Nice to finally meet you all. Oh! And merry Christmas!" The Doctor added with a bright smile, finally putting the presents he was carrying down on the floor and sitting down next to Harry.

"Yes! Merry Christmas! How have your travels been?" Rolf asked eagerly, him and Luna had both been very interested in Harry's travelling around the universe and time, and both - at different times - had asked him to get them photos of dodos.

"Oh, you travel?" Hermione asked them, and Harry absently noted how Ginny and Ron were both silently sitting there watching him with some suspicion. He could guess why they were there. Probably seeing if they could find out where he, Harry, was.

"Oh yes, all over!" Harry said with a nod, looking at the Doctor and grinning widely at the mischievous look on the Doctor's face.

"Your hair is rather… unusual, isn't it?" Ginny asked, finally speaking up and sneering at him slightly, which amused Harry as he wondered what she would do if she knew who she was thinking less than pleasant things about.

"Oh yeah! This is due to a visit to a er… country during the party season. Everyone there had different hair colours and styles. Theta here refused to colour his hair orange. Though you did look good with a mohawk. Shame you changed it back," Harry added with a fake pout, which got him an equally fake glare from the Doctor.

"So you say! I like my hair how it is! You told me I look dashing like this!"

"I believe I said snazzy," Harry pointed out, grinning widely and noticing his family looking at him with pleased expressions on their face. Clearly happy that he was no longer as alone as he had been.

"I'm so happy you've finally found someone! I knew you would!" Luna told him dreamily, smirking when Harry blushed.

"Er… thanks. Actually, Luna, Nev, can I speak to you both in private for a moment?" Harry asked, standing up from his chair when they both nodded at him, before leaving he quickly turned to face the Doctor. "Be right back! Maybe you could give Lor and Ly their presents!"

"Okay! Presents are great, aren't they?" The Doctor asked the kids as soon as they crowed around him for their gift. Harry smiled and then followed Neville and Luna out into the hallway.

"So… two things. One, what are they doing here? And two, why did you say the Doctor was my partner?" Harry hissed as he threw up a quick silencing charm so they wouldn't be overheard.

"Well you want him to be your partner," Luna pointed out, and Neville chuckled when Harry sputtered and turned bright red at the insinuation.

"He doesn't need to know that! And stop getting your nargles to tell you my secrets! It's not fair!"

"Sorry, Harry. As for those three, I mentioned I was going to Luna's again for Christmas this year and they just turned up this morning without any warning. They're trying to find out what we know about where you are. It's no secret that you're the godfather of Lorcan and we haven't hid the fact that we have stayed in touch with you, but no one can do anything about it because we aren't harbouring you. Plus you haven't done anything illegal so they don't really have anything to pin on you," Neville added with a grin and a shrug.

"Why do they still want to find me? I don't get it. We didn't exactly part on friendly terms. And it was fourteen years ago, haven't they moved on?"

"Apparently not. Ginny is still under the delusion that you're waiting for the right time to come back and marry her," Luna told him with some amusement

"That woman is going to be single for the rest of her life. Right, well, let's not let them ruin Christmas. Plus we should get back and save the Doctor from any questioning Hermione might give him. She never could accept not knowing everything about everything," Harry said with a roll of his eyes, feeling a little bad for leaving the Doctor alone with her.

"She's only gotten worse since leaving Hogwarts. Let's go save the Doctor. By the way, I like him, Harry. You could do a lot worse," Neville told him, laughing at Harry's stammered denials as he walked back into the family room. Luna just patted Harry on the back before following. Harry gaped at them and the shook his head and muttered under his breath about busybody friends who needed to stay out of his business.

"So that was Ginny Weasley, huh? She came across slightly more sane in the books," the Doctor told him as they entered the Tardis, closing the door behind them.

"Yeah, she was nice enough at school, but I didn't really pay her any attention. When I wrote the books, I decided to keep my personal feelings out of it and just write her how I thought of her at that time. She's apparently only just gotten crazier as the years have passed," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

"I do like Luna though," the Doctor added with a grin even as he started pressing buttons and pulling levers. Harry just rolled his eyes and moved to stand next to the Doctor.

"I did say that you would. So where are we headed now?"

"I thought we could go somewhere to bring in the new year!"

"Uh huh. Which new year?"

"How about the year four thousand? Some of the best celebrations around that year!" The Doctor told him excitedly, before he suddenly turned and pinned Harry with a narrow eyed stare. "One question before we arrive."

"Oh?"

"How did you know about the name Theta? And why introduce me with it?"

"That's two questions," Harry pointed out, before sighing when the Doctor just looked at him pointedly. "Fine, I know everything about you, remember? That includes past nicknames. And if I'd introduced you as the Doctor, then Hermione would have left and looked you up. And let's be honest, there's quite a bit out there about you to be found. So… yeah, that's why. That a good enough reason?"

"I suppose. You really know everything about me? Everything?"

"Pretty much. There's really nothing you can hide from me as I'll just find out, Death will tell me if I really need to know, and he's already told me so much about you, even before we met."

"Why?"

"I'm immortal. It gets lonely. And occasionally I would ask Death if there was anyone out there that had a seemingly immortal life. He told me about you. About how lonely you were even though you had companions a lot of the time, about how you made a difficult decision that no one should ever have to make and yet still carried on. And he told me how much you love the human race, how you always return to earth no matter when you are or what you're doing. He brought you to me because he felt bad for taking Amy and Rory away from you, even though it was their time, and because he worried about what you would do if left alone. And I think he worried about me as well," Harry added quietly with a small shrug.

"You? Why was he worried about you?"

"I may have gone bungee-jumping without the rope. And possibly tried to end my life a few more times as well. I think I lost my way and he wanted to show me a new path. He thinks we can save each other," Harry told him with a small, sad smile.

"He… he's sorry about Rory and Amy?"

"Yeah, he is. I think that's why you haven't met him yet. He normally visits me at least once a month, yet he's kept away. It might be our job to ferry the souls on to the next great adventure and what not, but it doesn't mean we aren't thankful for all the souls you saved from ending too soon. You're the last Time Lord, and he's always got a soft spot for one of a kinds."

"Death… likes me?"

"Yep. Don't get me wrong, he didn't particularly like the Time Lord race for their ability to cheat death with each regeneration, but he's always liked you because of the good you've done."

"And he wants us to save each other?"

"Neither of us really needs saving, he wants us to help each other stay sane," Harry told him matter of factly, before grinning and leaning over to pull down a lever.

"Hey! You! No! No driving her!"

"Too late!" Harry said with a cackle, laughing loudly as the TARDIS spun away through the time vortex, taking them who knows where.

A/N - So sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted! I don't really have much of an excuse other than real life! Though I had actually intended to get this posted around Christmas as a present (and the next chapter of Bitter Hug) but that all went tits up when I got a stomach virus on Christmas Eve. It was an awesome early present, let me tell you. Heh. So yeah, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped, hence everything being late. I didn't get better until just before new years and just in time for my holiday (to Iceland, it was amazing!) and given my shitty immune system, of course I got ill on the way back. *Head desk* Seriously. So finally I'm better! And I'm finally getting around to posting this! I'm making no promises on when the next chapter will be up but hopefully it won't be as long. Though given my etsy shop seems to be popular recently, I may be busier than usual. Fingers crossed. I just bought a puppy, I need the money (he's a basset hound/cocker spaniel cross and is the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Hence me, a cat person who only ever considered getting another border collie if I ever got another dog, buying him. He's coming home with me tomorrow! He's so cute!)

*Coughs* Right, so anywho, new chapter and I did say the Doctor would be in it! Actually, I kinda had a different chapter planned that was set in the years between this chapter and the last when Harry and the Doctor crossed paths but never actually met, but I got writers block on it so decided I'd write them separately and just post them as mini oneshot extras for this. Didn't really help the wait though… *sigh*

So I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you thought (You know, if you liked it. If you didn't um… lie? XD) And I'll make a start on the next chapter! Oh! And for those wondering, hopefully it won't be too long a wait for the next chapter of Bitter Hug either. It's nearly finished, just need to find the time (i.e. Escape my psychotic baby niece by going to Costa and actually end up playing Pokemon Go because it's right next to a Gym. Yeah… I have my priorities sorted.)