The first time the Doctor met him was in 1879. He and Rose had just been simultaneously rewarded and banished by Queen Victoria, mind you he'd always had a… tumultuous relationship with the British Royal family some generations wanted to marry him and others well Vic I's reaction was tame compared to the last one he'd crossed paths with. He'd required quick thinking and even quicker talking to avoid the noose on that occasion. Damned wood doors honestly.
They'd hitched a lift back to the TARDIS with a passing cart seeing as the queens guards probably weren't in the mood to leave her side after being out of action for all the excitement. The queens current opinion of them not withstanding.
"Whoa." Called the driver pulling on the reigns
"Cheers, Dougal!" Said the Doctor cheerfully, jumping off the back of the cart -tugging Rose with him, and waving before starting to walk back across the grass to where they'd left the TARDIS.
"The funny thing is, Queen Victoria actually did suffer a mutation of the blood, it's historical fact. She was haemophiliac, but it's always been a mystery. She didn't inherit it, it came from nowhere." He continued as they walked.
"You're saying that's a wolf bite?" Asked Rose sceptically.
"Well, maybe haemophilia's just a Victorian euphemism." He joked
"For werewolf?"
"Could be." He defended
"Queen Victoria's a werewolf?" She asked still disbelieving.
"Could be. And her children had the disease. Maybe she gave them a quick nip." The Doctors smile grew wider.
"So the Royal Family are werewolves?"
"Well, maybe not yet. A single wolf cell could take a hundred years to mature. Might be ready by, ooh… early 21st century." Said the Doctor his eyes twinkling
"Nah, that's just ridiculous. Mind Anne.…" She smirked.
"I'll say no more." He said sagely, nodding.
"And if you think about it, they're very private. They plan everything in advance. They could schedule themselves around the Moon!" The
Doctor sniggered and Rose carried on.
"Oh, they like hunting! They love blood sports!" The Doctor was full on laughing now.
"Oh, my God! They're werewolves!" Said Rose before joining the Doctor in laughter.
As they calmed down the Doctor looked up towards the TARDIS before freezing suddenly, Rose catching his movement followed his gaze as they both stopped suddenly. She blinked twice and the turned to the Doctor in confusion.
"Was it like this when we left?" she whispered.
The Doctor, cheesy grin replaced with an assessing look shook his head once, his eyes darting over the scene in front of them.
There was the TARDIS which, yes, was expected, this is where he left her after all -good old Sexy always knew where to find her barring outside influences hmmm except that time on hafraxius prime, or getting himself lost which was his own fault not Sexy's. Oh and that car park planet that was a nightmare honestly. Bringing his train of thought back round he focused on what wasn't expected, namely about 15 feet away from his TARDIS was a tent made of materials that wouldn't be used by humans for centuries -if you're going to travel in time you should try to blend in he thought ignoring his own anachronistic suit with practiced ease- and the wooden garden furniture that sat outside the emerald green tent looked to be hand crafted from the 23rd century he'd say from the lack of tool marks.
The Doctor took all this in in a second and glanced back at Rose before grasping her hand and taking a couple of steps forward. At the third step he felt himself move through some sort of energy barrier not entirely unlike the field around his TARDIS and froze, eyes on the tent entrance. Sexy always knew when someone entered her field and if someone had se this up the surely they'd be monitoring… He cut this train of thought as a head of pitch black hair stuck itself out of the tent and looked towards them. The Doctor felt his breath hitch as unnaturally bright green eyes locked with his and he saw the age and loss and pain in them, something he was familiar with from the mirror though his did not have the fire? Spark? Inner Power that this boy seemed to. Well boy was probably the wrong word but he was unable to think of another when the face morphed into a joyful welcoming smile that lit up his whole face making him look impossibly young even as those ancient green eyes softened from alert to an ocean of soul deep peace.
The body that followed as the young(ancient) man moved out of the tent towards them was lithe but slight and he moved with a grace unmatched by any humans the Doctor had met. He wore black jeans and a white t-shirt under a vest made of the scaled hide of... something (and it wasn't often he couldn't recognise something, as opposed to having seen it before but not quite remembering what or where) that was a vaguely metallic green colour, a black trench coat made of some sort of leather (another he didn't recognise who was this boy-man) and a cloak made of some silvery flowing material (at this point he was giving up on placing anything). As he was observing the man in front of them he had approached still smiling widely and stopped in front of them, bowing slightly and making a gesture in front of his chest with his left hand. In a rich voice that seemed to resonate he began.
"Well met, Lord Doctor, Lady Wolf" the Doctors eyes widened slightly and he grasped Rose's hand tighter as he winced internally. The mans smile didn't change but the Doctor could tell he'd caught the expression. He opened his mouth to respond when Rose beat him to it.
"What did you call me?" She demanded.
A flash of confusion showed as the emerald eyes darted to the Doctor and then peered back at Rose.
"My apologies, I did not mean to cause offence Bad Wolf was there some other way you wished me to address you?"
This was it for the Doctor, as soon as the words processed he began firing questions at the diminutive figure in front of him, half curiosity half hoping to distract Rose.
"Who are you? How do you know that phrase? What are you doing here? For that matter how do you know who we are? And what was with the energy field, how does it work, where d'you get one of those in this day and age, are you aware that it's 1879 you really shouldn't be using tech like that, what are your clothes made of, where'd all this stuff come fr..."
"Peace, Lord Doctor" The man said as he stopped gaping at the sudden onslaught and looking vaguely reminiscent.
"Just the Doctor thanks never liked being called Lord" He got a smirk in response as the man held up a hand to stop him going off on another tangent.
"That is something we have in common, Doctor." The Doctors eyes lit up but the man was already shaking his head "I am not what you seek Doctor though I have... interacted with your people in the past. I meant I have held many titles" Again that familiar age-loss-pain look this time with sympathy and recognition. The man blinked and the peace returned to his eyes, it seemed to emanate from him slightly soothing the pain buried in a far corner of the Doctors mind.
"As for your other questions most can wait, our meal will be ready shortly and I will answer all your questions and then some. However i'm sure I can spare you one answer now as tribute to your insatiable curiosity. " The emeralds twinkled merrily.
"My name is Harry James Potter-Black"
It was the Doctors turn to gape before he sputtered out "It is not"
At the same time Rose, who had definitely noticed the Doctors attempts at avoiding the man -Harry- answering her question missed Harrys answer and finally ran out of patience.
"Doctor …" she growled out warningly. The Doctor glanced at her before looking imploringly at Harry who if anything seemed amused. He sighed in relief when Harry began to speak which slowly turned to a frown as he heard
"Well as I said our meal will be ready soon please sit and I'll fetch some drinks" he lead them closer to the furniture and gestured for them to sit as he reentered the tent. The Doctor scowled at his back as they sat down but turned his head when Rose cleared her throat.
"Er... yes, well..." the Doctor sighed, resigned and looked away. "I'd hoped that there would be no side affects, but you absorbed part of the time vortex. Had all of time running through your head for who knows how long. I had it in me 46 seconds2 and it burnt me up from the inside. I had to regenerate but you... (Rose Tyler. Fantastic...) you had no immediate after effects, I didn't want to say anything and have you worry about nothing so I waited, was waiting to see if there were any issues. I promised Jackie I'd keep you safe. Id been hoping... but if what Harry says... but how would he..." he trailed off muttering but Rose cut him off biting her lip.
"So if Harry hadn't said anything... Would I ever have known?"
"Of course!" Said the Doctor offended. "If we hadn't seen any effects then I would have done some scans on the TARDIS and we would have talked about it then, although I'll probably do that anyway now that I think about it... once I find the Ramos Spectrometer... hmm maybe in the laundromat? Or the cricket club?"
Rose eyed him suspiciously but shook her head fondly choosing to let it go for now.
They both looked up as a smiling Harry came out balancing a tray with a pot of tea, a can of coke and a banana daiquiri, placing the drinks in front of each of them and sitting down. They both stared at him. He stared back not appearing at all discomforted. The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
"So who are you really? I mean the attention to detail is great but you appear to know who I am so you can't be thinking I haven't read one of the most popular book series of all time?" The Doctor said almost condescendingly.
"Harry James Potter-Black" he repeated smirking. Rose who had been looking confused at the Doctors words jerked and peered closely at the man.
"As in...?" She tried to ask without asking. Harry rolled his eyes grinning again.
"As in the boy-who-lived-chosen-one-man-who-conquered, indeed."
Rose pouted "The word spoiler mean anything to you?" Harry couldn't stop his eyes darting to the still disbelieving Doctors face at the word until he realised the timeline, luckily the Doctor misread his glance and filled in.
"Not all of the books are out in Roses home time. And that's what they are, books! Fiction! There are no wizards"
Harry just shook his head at the disappointment that leaked into the Doctors voice at the last, still smiling.
"And you would know because you looked?" The Doctor blushed. "You of all people should know, Doctor, where stories come from."
"Stories are where memories go when they're forgotten1" the Doctor breathed then blinked unsure where that had come from but Harry just nodded.
"I'm not from round here you could say. Not this Universe I mean. Whether it was a Universe before this one or an alternate one I can't remember." His smile took a contemplative edge.
"So many memories it's hard to keep track, I guess you can relate huh?" The Doctor nodded but his mind was racing.
"So say we believe you're Harry Potter..." Rose started, Harry tilted his head and waited. "How and why are you here?"
"I am here, Rose Tyler, Lady Wolf," at Harrys words Roses eyes flashed gold "because I too created myself and thus have always existed."
The Doctors jaw dropped as his mind connected the pieces "He who shall unite the hallows will become..." his words were cut off when Rose spoke in a voice he'd heard only once before.
"Well met, Master of Death" At her words Harry was on his feet at almost the same time as the Doctor who got up a second later, but where the Doctor started scanning Rose with his sonic Harry once again bowed making a gesture in front of his chest.
"My Lady you honour me with your presence" he said not straightening from his bow.
"Peace Time Lord. My vessel is not harmed and shall not be. We are one but separate. Only joined when there is need of me." The Doctor didn't appear to comforted but reluctantly sat down watching Rose closely. Lady Wolf turned back to Harry and smiled.
"Master of Death you shall join us and be seated. We are equals, you and I, I would not have you bow before me."
Harry straightened and sat back down.
"Please Lady Wolf call me Harry, as I mentioned to the Doctor I have no attachment to my titles." Lady Wolf nodded genially.
"Of course, Harry."
"Thank you My Lady. I apologise for calling you here and revealing you to your... vessel, it was unintentional I assure you. I only wished to... touch base with the locals as it were"
Lady Wolf laughed, a pleasant tinkling sound, at the turn of phrase.
"Oh I dare say it matters not, many things can be forgotten."
At this they seemed to have a silent conversation which raised a small flag in the Doctors mind as Harry nodded but he ignored it, instead using the break in conversation to try and get this entity to release Rose, he was getting some unpleasant flashbacks to their encounter with Cassandra.
"Will one of you tell me what is going on?!" He burst out and they both turned to look at him. "You what have you done to Rose? Who are you both? I have been extraordinarily patient with you so far but will one of you please explain?"
It was slightly unnerving to be fixed the with identical contemplative looks from eyes of emerald green and glowing gold fire but the Doctor shook off the shiver that ran down his spine. Harry glanced at Lady Wolf questioningly before turning back to the Doctor when she gestured for him to proceed.
"Have care how you speak, Time Lord. Your companion is destiny's child, she created herself and thus has always existed. Bad Wolf is the name They chose for when she is... channeling shall we say, the Lady Time! She who your own people worshipped!"
"Wait a minute Time Lords do not worship anybody" he said sounding offended. Harry just looked amused.
"What else would you call it? Even your biology has evolved to sense her." The Doctor opened his mouth to respond but closed it again when Harrys eyes flashed and the pressure of the air against his skin, unnoticed until now apart from being earth norm, intensified slightly.
"As I was saying, Rose created this connection. I won't go into detail as i'm sure you remember but she retained the smallest fraction of the Time Vortex and now she iswaswillbe" the Doctor jerked at the Gallifreyan word. "Rose Tyler, Bad Wolf. She is not and will not be harmed by this connection but there is no opt out option." He grimaced. "If there was I would have long since crossed to finally rejoin my family." A wave of bitterness washed over his face before he shook it off and smiled a little sheepishly at Lady Wolf and cleared his throat.
"Anyway, the Lady Time is one of the highest... personifications shall we say. More so than her Sister, Lady Death, who is my patron. For what else holds power over Life and Death, if not Time?" They both looked to Lady Wolf with something akin to awe, who smiled beatifically.
"My sisters and I each have our own role none more or less important than another. All are equal in Time, dear boys. And speaking of, our time together grows short Master Of Death, I am not used to constraining myself to a vessel. Was there anything pressing you needed to discuss?"
"No My Lady." Harry replied respectfully.
At his words the gold eyes closed and Rose sagged slightly, when they fluttered open again they were a warm brown colour. The Doctor was immediately on his feet again gripping her hand and scanning her with his screwdriver.
"Rose! Are you okay? Can you hear me? Can you hear voices? Do you have a headache? Can you taste sounds? Do you..?"
Rose blinked a couple of times and then snorted cutting off the stream off questions.
"Shut up ya loon! I'm fine, just like Bad Wolf told you" she rolled her eyes. The Doctor stopped scanning her but didn't drop her hand or move away instead examining her closely.
"You were aware this time then?"
"Well Yeah, I am part of Her and she is part of me. I remember last time as well now." The Doctor looked as if he was going to question her further but before he could a throat clearing from Harry brought their attention. They turned and gaped.
The table in front of them which until now had been bare apart from their drinks was now laden with food. Dishes from all over 21st and 22nd century Earth, grouped by continent it the Doctor thought, were spread before them and three place had been set, one in front of each of them. They shared a look and the simultaneously turned to a grinning Harry.
"I must admit the food has been ready since before you got here, but I had it in stasis so we could get the theatrics out of the way first" he sniggered at their still confused faces.
"Right so there are various personifications of each of the constant natural forces and they arewilldid choose avatars of sorts to fix any issues that might go against the natural order. Some like Rose here are part time?" He nodded to himself "she can and will live her life as normal and Bad Wolf will step in if and when required. For me it's a bit more complicated, I mentioned before that my world might have been before this Universe or a parallel universe or I suppose it could be somewhere here and I haven't found it yet or have forgotten where it is and the reason that is possible is I am immortal." The Doctor reached his senses out towards Harry but he didn't feel unnatural like Jack, in fact he felt like the most natural thing which if what he said was true and the Doctor didn't have any reason to doubt him, he was meant to exist. Harry apparently noticed this and tilted his head at the Doctor who smiled sheepishly.
"Now we've done all the faffing about and such required by the boss ladies we can get down to the important things." Harrys eyes glinted with mischief and life, covering the almost forgotten age-loss-pain look though the Doctor could tell it wasn't gone merely hidden like the shadows in his own eyes. How odd that some one chosen by death would be forced to endure so much life he pondered but couldn't help feel a matching grin of his own at the joy the ancient boy was exuding.
"Tell me of your adventures, after all you've read about mine. Fairs fair."
The Doctor and Rose both laughed at this and the Doctor was about to launch into a definitely not exaggerated story Rose asked.
"How come you're different now? I mean when we got here you were all posh and yoda and you had like green sparkles dancing round you when I was Bad Wolf but now it's like you're 17?" The Doctor looked between them and Harry grinned.
"That would be because I am 17" he said cheerfully. "Well technically anyway. I stopped ageing at 17 when I united the Hallows so biologically I will always be 17. As for the posh Yoda thing you just watch yourself i'm taller than you! Ha i'm sorry just kidding around I had to do the official bit with the good Lady Wolf so I acted respectable but now that's done I can talk to a master of mischief and adventure! Now dig in, i'm sure we can talk and eat!" He was practically vibrating as they both turned to the Doctor and as they all started loading up their plates the Doctor launched into his story.
"...so I ran back across the city to the TARDIS all while trying to dodge the palace guards -which you can only tell apart from the civilians from behind because of the patterns on their shells- and convincing those I couldn't avoid that I needed to collect something from my transport pod and no I really don't need an escort and that I'd see them at the wedding." All three of them were nearly in tears as the Doctor finished his tale. They had long since finished what they could of the food managing a good half of the spread they'd started with. Harry was the first to start to calm and he gestured from the dishes towards the tent and the Doctor and Rose watched in awe as the table cleared itself and the plates zoomed into the tent.
"Well I think it's about time you pair headed out, i'm sure I've delayed your adventures for long enough." He stood and his new friends joined him as he walked them back to the TARDIS. They stopped when they reached it and Rose turned and pulled Harry into a hug.
"You stay safe, you hear?" She ordered as she released him. "We'll see you again sometime yeah? And thanks for telling me about Bad Wolf no doubt this lug would've forgotten to tell me" she turned to send a suspicious look at the Doctor who was studiously avoiding her eyes and so they both missed the flash guilt in Harrys eyes. She turned back to Harry gave him one last smile and went into the TARDIS leaving the two men by themselves.
"You could come with us if you want?" The Doctor asked hesitantly. Harry grinned at him.
"No. But thanks for offering. I'm afraid I have my own things to do. "
"Ah well it was worth a shot " the Doctor smiled back at him.
"I have a gift and 2 requests for you Doctor. "
"Oh? Well I love presents me although you're making me look bad, I haven't got you anything so I suppose that I'll have to see what you're after" he joked. Harry dug his hand into an inside pocket on his coat for a minute before bringing out a mirror that shouldn't have fit in the much smaller space. "What? How did you... bigger on the inside!" Harry just rolled his eyes and grinned.
"I'm a Wizard, Doctor, we could do that too. Now then, This is a communication mirror, I have the other. Just say my name and we'll be able to talk. Don't worry about the timey-wimey distortion I've take care of it. This is my gift and first request." The light in his eyes seemed to dim and the familiar age-loss-pain look that made the Doctors heart ache for the ancient young man was back. "Would you call me sometimes? It's just," the pain in Harrys eyes seemed to be causing an almost physical pain in the Doctors chest. "Everyone is so young Doctor, and their lives are so fleeting and i'm always so alone and I can't..." The Doctors face had softened and he cut Harry off.
"I'd be honoured, Harry." He smiled and tried to lighten the mood. "So that's to out of three, what else can I do for you?" Harry seemed to shake off the despair, although the Doctor knew better, and seemed almost embarrassed before he spoke again.
"...can I talk to the TARDIS?" The Doctor had to stop himself from his instinctual denial. This was Harry Potter. If anyone could be trusted with his Sexy it was this boy.
"Can I ask why?"
"Of course! She's alive, sentient, I can feel how much she loves you from here. She's... she feels like Hogwarts." He started hurriedly though the last was said rather wistfully. The Doctor relaxed and nodded once, watching as Harry stepped forward and reached out towards the blue doors. He hesitated and glanced back at the Doctor, who nodded encouragingly, then closed the gap and touched the wood. He immediately relaxed, tension that the Doctor hadn't noticed draining out of him and a small smile played across his face as that sense of peace once again exuded from him.
The TARDIS had felt the being on the edge of her senses since they had landed. He was the reason she brought her thief here. She knew that her thief needed this strange one. She waited as they talked and watched the possibilities shifting, new paths unfolding with choices and decisions spanning millennia, things that once were now no longer could be and her thief would have more happiness in his future. She could seefeelremember her thief and the stranger and her child in her control room laughter and joy and love echoing through her corridors once again.
And the He touched her and she felt his mind reach out to her and her time rotor purred in joy. He was like her. Ancient and brand new. A constant. And so like her thief all fire and ice and rage and pain and joy and so much love but so alone in a Universe full of souls. She reached out the barest touch of herself and created a connection between them. He would not be alone anymore. He was hers now.
She felt his joy at the connection. Something he'd been searching for since he parents were killed as a small child, so long ago even he couldn't remember. She knew what he needed her to do before he asked. She would'vehashad done it beforeagainafternow. Her stranger had seen how her soul was entwined with her thief, knew he could not make him forget the things he needn't remember, that would cause issues in the timelines. Bad Wolf would do the same for her thief's flower and in the future her thief would be happier. She soothed the guilt here stranger was feeling for asking this of her and sent feelings of warmth, love and thanks. Fond farewells and an image of his flowermother that he knew but could not quite remember.
The Doctor standing watching Harry only felt a flurry of emotions through his telepathic connection to the TARDIS welcome and love peace and joy were all he could separate out of the flood before he opened his, when exactly did he close them, to find himself looking at a pair of glistening emeralds and the brightest smile Harry had worn yet.
"She's... breathtaking. " he choked out through his tears and smile and the Doctor just grinned back deciding to work out what just happened later and patted the TARDIS frame fondly.
"She gets me from A to B. Granted sometimes four months late after stopping at Q, X, F, Z and L, but the journey is half the adventure and who'd want to be on time anyway. Boring people that's who and I for one..." he rambled as Harry gathered himself. Once he had he cut the Doctor off by pulling the taller man into a hug before releasing him and stepping back smiling.
The Doctor cleared his throat and waved, then slipped into the TARDIS shutting the door behind him. He looked up and saw Rose leaning on the railing waiting for him and grinned clapping his hands.
"Right then, let's be off. Where'd'you fancy?" He started pulling levers and pressing buttons darting around the console. "Psychics of Harkol? Florana, most beautiful planet in the Universe? The oceans there are effervescent yknow, like swimming in coke!"
As Harry was packing up his tent and shrinking the table and chairs he heard the TARDIS dematerialising behind him and smiled to himself. A sound that brings hope to all that hears it, even him.