A/N So after a long wait, I've finally got Part 1 of Hermione's first meeting with the 10th Doctor finished! Part 2 will be up around New Years. Thank you to everyone who's subscribed for being so patient. I wanted to wait on writing this until I'd finished 9's story line in Rejected Bonds. So as a Christmas present to anyone who likes HP/DW crossovers, and this series and/or story specifically, here's a nice long chapter! I'm also posting a really long chapter in Rejected Bonds today, which is 10's first chapter. I'm hoping this chapter here will help balance out some of the angst of that story a bit! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Doctor Who.

Episode Spoilers: The Fires of Pompeii, S4E2

First Meetings - The 10th Doctor, Part 1, The Fires of Pompeii

[Hogwarts, Astronomy Tower - January 1, 1994]

The bells had just finished ringing in the New Year, but it was not a time of joyous celebration for Hermione Granger. While her friends, Harry and Ron were down in the Great Hall enjoying the celebrations with the other students and staff that had remained behind for the holiday break, Hermione was sitting alone at the top of the Astronomy Tower, stargazing. She had been keeping away from the boys because they just glared at her and gave her the cold shoulder. But that was okay with her because for the first time all year she wasn't having to repeat her day two and three times with her time turner. Their snubbing of her allowed her plenty of time to study ahead in all of her classes. Not that she was pleased, in fact, she was miserable.

Tears trickled down her face as she stared at the blinking stars. So far from the light pollution of muggle cities, there were millions of stars to be seen. The tower was kept under a climate control charm, so while it was a bit breezy, it wasn't as cold as the dark January weather should have been. The petite, curly-haired witch sat on the edge of the tower, feet dangling with her arms crossed on the guardrail in front of her, chin on her arms. The wind kept blowing her loose hair into her face, and she knew it was going to be horribly tangled, but she just couldn't bring herself to care in her misery. I'm only trying to keep Harry safe. That broom has to be from Sirius Black. But the boys are being so cruel. Why can't I ever have friends who care about me for more than homework? I'm sure they'll get over the damn broomstick when they need me to look over their holiday homework for them. Prats.

Seeing a shooting star she closed her eyes tight and made a desperate wish. I wish I had someone who was there for me and loved and appreciated me for just being myself.

Hermione didn't notice as a soft golden glow surrounded her, or that the breeze of the cold January night was gone. She did, however, notice the shout of alarm from two people behind her. Opening her eyes she was confused to find not a dark view of the castle grounds and sky, but a wall with strange circular shapes that were surrounded by hexagonal spiky...things. There were support beams that looked like coral every few feet as well. Pulling her arms off the railing in front of her and putting her hands down to push up she realised she was no longer seated on stone, but a metal grate. She slowly got up and turned around to find the strangest console she'd ever seen, with a random assortment of the oddest buttons, levers, and switches. Finally, her attention was drawn to the two adults standing off to the side, staring at her with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

After a moment both shouted at the same time, "Hermione!" The man sounded thrilled if a bit confused, but the woman just sounded alarmed and confused. She carefully looked them over, the man was tall, with shaggy brown hair tousled attractively, dark brown eyes that glittered with happiness, a nose that slanted ever so slightly to the right and was extremely thin. He wore a brown pinstripe suit with a blue shirt and a coordinating tie, and oddly enough a pair of Converse sneakers. He was grinning brilliantly at her and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a bit pleased, for reasons she couldn't name.

Looking over the woman she noticed the redhead was again taller than her petite frame, green eyes, and looked a lot like an older version of her cousin Donna. Well second cousin, but that can't be Donna, can it?

The man pulled Hermione into a tight hug and spun her around. "Oh, I haven't seen you in ages! How is my favourite little witch?" He beamed down at her but his smile dimmed slightly when he saw the confusion on her young face. "Oh, oh no," he stepped back but held her shoulders with his hands, "Have we not met yet?" The young witch just shook her head. "Oh. Right then!" He took her hand in his and shook it vigorously, "I'm the Doctor! And you're Hermione Granger! Brightest Witch of Her Age!" Hermione nodded dumbly, words utterly failing her.

"Donna, come meet Hermione! Wait, you said Hermione too, how do you know her?"

"That's my baby cousin. Well, second cousin. But, but Doctor, Hermione is 29, this girl is like what, 12?"

"I'm 14 thank you very much, Donna! And what about you? You're 25, but you look so much older!"

"Gee, thanks."

"Er, sorry. I just mean, last I saw you, you were in your mid-20s, what happened? Where am I? How did I get here? What's going on!?" The young girl started to panic.

The Doctor couldn't help himself as he pulled her into a gentle hug this time and soothed her, "Shhh, it's alright. I promise everything is okay. I don't know how you got here, but you're meant to be here, with m-us."

Hermione didn't notice the slip but Donna raised an eyebrow at him. She was definitely going to be having words with the Doctor if he thought he could claim her baby cousin!

"Hold on, wait a minute, Hermione, I thought your cousin was Rose?"

"Rose?" She asked bewildered. At his nod, she said, "Yes, I have a cousin named Rose, but she's seven years younger than I am, she's only 7 right now, in my time, this is time travel isn't it?"

He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled a large breath. "Blimey, talk about robbing the cradle." Donna elbowed him, hard and he winced. Oops.

Hermione explained further, "Rose is my cousin on my mum's side. My mum is the sister of Rose's father Pete…Wait, did you say the Doctor?" At his nod, she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! I remember you! But you looked so different! And you were with an older version of Rose! Oh is she here? Did you take some polyjuice potion, or were you transfigured? Is it a glamour? Oh, are you a metamorphmagus? I've read all about them!"

He held up his hands to get her to stop, blimey she's so young and exuberant, "How do you remember me? For you, we've only met once at the wedding and you were only, what, 8? No one was meant to remember that day once the paradox had been corrected."

She shrugged, "I dunno, but I remember a tall man in a leather coat, with big ears, short hair, and blue eyes. That was you wasn't it?"

He frowned at the comment on his ears while Donna muffled a chuckle at his expense. "Yes, that was me. That's the face I had before this one. I've regenerated since then. Changed every cell in my body."

"Oh, well that's handy. Why, though?"

"I was dying."

"Oh, I'm sorry, that was rude of me-"

"No, no, it's alright, you didn't know. And besides, I'm still here!" He smiled at her fondly.

"Wait, if you died, what about Rose? You were with her, right? Is she okay?"

Donna put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy and he marvelled at Hermione's concern for her cousin. The last he'd seen of them together they had a rather hostile relationship, but apparently this younger version of Hermione held no grudge against her seven-year-old cousin. Yet. "No, Rose is fine. It's a long story, but she's alive and well, I promise."

The young girl breathed a sigh of relief, "Good."

"So I know how Rose is your cousin, but what about Donna here?"

"Oh, she's my second cousin, through my Dad's side. Dad is Donna's cousin I think, right?" Donna nodded and smiled.

"I never knew you were all related. Well, sort of. Well through marriage."

Donna laughed and Hermione just smiled at the not-quite-so-strange-stranger she was now being reacquainted with.

"But how did you get here? Were you in any trouble? Did something happen?" He scanned her with his sonic screwdriver but only picked up the faintest traces of time-vortex energy, but that couldn't be right, could it?

"I don't know. I was up on the Astronomy Tower, it was just into the New Year, and I saw a shooting star…" she looked down quickly and tried to wipe the tears from her face, but the Doctor gently pushed her chin up so she was looking him in the eyes.

"Did you make a wish?"

"I did. You see, the boys have been horrible, I was just trying to keep Harry safe, but they won't listen! And now they don't want anything to do with me. They hate me." She tried looking down again but he kept up the gentle pressure. "So I made a wish. I wished I had someone who was there for me and loved and appreciated me for just being myself," she said sadly, forcing her chin out of his grip and wiping at the tears leaking from her eyes.

"Oh, Hermione, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He pulled her into the gentlest hug yet and kissed the top of her tangled and unruly curls. "I'm not sure how you got here, but you're right where you should be. Donna and I both love and appreciate you for just being you." He ignored the raised eyebrow of the redhead.

Pulling away he smiled at the girl, "Now then! Down that corridor, fifth door on your right is a washroom. Go get yourself cleaned up and come back. We're going on an adventure!"

Her eyes brightened, "Really!?"

"Really."

As Hermione rushed off, Donna leant in close. "So what's all that about? You're awfully chummy with my baby cousin, Doctor." She was giving him a dirty look and he was scrambling to think up an explanation that didn't make him sound like a dirty old man.

"Well you see, I've travelled with her before. Well, older her. This is her first time meeting this version of me in her timeline."

"Okay, that still doesn't explain all the hugging. What about Rose?"

He grimaced. "Rose, I loved Rose. But she's gone and she can't come back. Hermione is special, though. I can't explain how just now, but trust me, I'd never do anything to hurt her." Internally he was kicking himself for lying to Donna. In fact, he had hurt Hermione, he'd hurt her very badly indeed, but it had been the older version of her. Right now was his chance to give her the history together and memories she deserved. It was his chance to begin his penance, even if the witch didn't know it yet. He desperately regretted what had happened the last time he'd seen his soulmate, and yes, now he could admit that that amazing young girl would grow up to be his amazing and beautiful soulmate. So it was his job to show her just how loved she was now, in hopes that he could someday make up for his mistakes to her in her future. "It's complicated, Donna, and I'm sorry but she'll be back in a moment and I don't have time to explain."

She narrowed her eyes and just nodded once. Hermione came back into the console room and eagerly asked, "So where are we going?"

"How about Ancient Rome?"

"Oh yes please!"

He ran around the console and entered coordinates, set levers and pushed buttons. "Then off we go! Allons-y!"

Once the TARDIS had landed with a small thud he grabbed his trench coat and ran to the doors, both Hermione and Donna following excitedly. This was the first trip for both of them in the TARDIS.

He flung the doors open and took a peek outside to view the small curtained alcove the TARDIS was parked in. As the group left the ship they saw the streets were lined with vendors of a wide assortment of goods. "Ancient Rome. Well, not for them, obviously. For all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome."

Donna was wide-eyed and looked around in amazement. "Oh, my God. It's, it's so Roman. This is fantastic. I'm here, in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome. This is just weird. I mean, everyone here's dead."

"Well, don't tell them that."

"Hold on a minute. That sign over there's in English," she said while pointing to a sign on a nearby cart. "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"

The Doctor's eyebrows raised, realising what he hadn't explained yet. "No, no, no, no. That's the TARDIS translation circuits. Just makes it look like English. Speech as well. You're talking Latin right now."

"Seriously?"

"Mmm."

"I just said seriously in Latin."

"Oh, yeah."

"What if I said something in actual Latin, like veni, vidi, vici? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said veni, vidi, vici to that lot, what would it sound like?"

He made a face at her. "I'm not sure. You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?"

"I'm going to try it," she announced as she marched over to a fruit seller.

The vendor smiled at her. "Afternoon, sweetheart. What can I get you, my love?"

"Er, veni, vidi, vici."

"Huh? Sorry? Me no speak Celtic. No can do, missy."

She just gave him a strained smile and walked away. Hermione was laughing and the Doctor was biting his lip, trying not to laugh as well.

"How's he mean, Celtic?"

"Welsh. You sound Welsh. There we are. Learnt something. So what do you think Hermione?"

The young girl was still looking around in wonder. "This is brilliant Doctor! Just brilliant! I mean I've time travelled before, loads of times now-"

"How?" he asked curiously.

"My time turner. A teacher gave it to me this year so I could take extra classes," she mumbled sheepishly.

The Doctor and Donna laughed. "That's brilliant, Hermione. You just keep up all that hard work and you'll be doing amazing things before you know it," he beamed at her.

Donna paused. "Don't our clothes look a bit odd?"

"Nah. Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger."

"You've been here before then?"

"Mmm. Ages ago. Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me. Well, a little bit. But I haven't got the chance to look around properly. Coliseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus. You'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything? Try this way."

As they walked through the streets, Hermione noticed a young woman with a painted white face and fiery red hair following them. She decided to keep an eye on her casually.

The group came out into a piazza and Donna looked critically at the large mountain nearby. "Not an expert, but there are seven hills of Rome, aren't there? How come they've only got one?"

Right then the ground started shaking and vendors grabbed onto their stalls and wares.

Donna paled. "Wait a minute. One mountain, with smoke. Which makes this-"

The Doctor looked horrified. "Pompeii. We're in Pompeii. And it's volcano day." Oh of all the places we could have gone and I wind up taking Hermione to Pompeii?! I have to get her out of here!

Hermione noticed that the mysterious young woman had vanished but was trying to dust herself off from the tumble she'd taken when the earthquake hit. The Doctor grabbed her hand and tugged her along at a quick trot back to the TARDIS. But the TARDIS wasn't there.

Donna's shoulders slumped. "You're kidding. You're not telling me the TARDIS has gone."

The Doctor was pacing back and forth quickly. "Okay."

"Where is it then?"

"You told me not to tell you."

"Oi. Don't get clever in Latin," she sniped at him, glaring hard. Hermione tried not to giggle. Now was not the time.

"Hold on," the Doctor mumbled before he ran back to the fruit seller. "Excuse me. Excuse me. There was a box. Big blue box. Big blue wooden box, just over there. Where's it gone?"

"Sold it, didn't I?"

"But it wasn't yours to sell," he cried exasperatedly.

The vendor just shrugged. "It was on my patch, weren't it? I got fifteen sesterces for it. Lovely jubbly."

The Doctor scowled at him. "Who'd you sell it to?"

"Old Caecilius. Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa. Can't miss it."

"Thanks," he ran off but returned quickly. "What'd he buy a big blue wooden box for? You know, never mind! Thanks for your help!"

After running down a few streets and asking a few more people questions, he figured out where to go. Now he just had to find Donna and Hermione. Where had they wandered off to? Turning a corner he saw Donna with Hermione's hand in her own. "Ha. I've got it. Foss Street's this way."

Donna protested, "No. Well, I found this big sort of amphitheatre thing. We can start there. We can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?"

The Doctor was confused. "What do you want a bell for?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "To warn everyone. Start the evacuation. What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?"

"It's 79AD, twenty-third of August, which makes volcano day tomorrow."

"Plenty of time. We could get everyone out easy."

"Yeah, except we're not going to."

"But that's what you do. You're the Doctor. You save people," she protested.

He just shook his head. "Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

Hermione felt like she was watching a tennis match.

"What, and you're in charge?" Donna asked.

Nodding his head with a wobbly motion, he replied, "TARDIS, Time Lord, yeah."

Donna straightened her spine and narrowed her eyes. "Donna, human, no. I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself."

"You stand in the marketplace announcing the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer. Now, come on. TARDIS. We are getting out of here."

"Well, I might just have something to say about that, Spaceman," the redhead sneered.

"Oh, I bet you will."

Hermione had mixed feelings. She wanted to save people, it was in her compassionate nature. But she also understood about fixed points in time, after all, she'd spent half her Third Year so far time travelling, so she'd read up on the subject quite extensively. She had a feeling that magical time travel might differ from what the Doctor was capable of with his TARDIS, but some things were always meant to happen. She didn't think Donna would want to hear that, though.

The trio finally found the villa they were searching for just as another earthquake hit. The Doctor managed to catch a marble bust before it fell to the floor, and handed it back to Caecilius. "Whoa! There you go."

Caecilius smiled in thanks. "Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor."

"But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello."

"Who are you?"

Quickly thinking up an alias the Doctor went with, "I am Spartacus."

Donna went with it as well, "And so am I."

Caecilius spread his hands in welcome, "Mister and Mrs Spartacus."

The Doctor's eyes went wide. "Oh no, no, no. We're not, we're not married."

"We're not together," Donna denied.

"Oh, then brother and sister? Yes, of course. You look very much alike."

The Doctor and Donna looked over each other in confusion. "Really?" they asked in stereo.

"Ah and this must be your daughter, Miss Spartacus?" Caecilius asked, gesturing towards Hermione who was hiding a bit behind the Doctor, grasping his coat.

The Doctor went a bit green at that idea and shook his head vehemently, "No no no no, oh lord no! This is Hermione, she is so not my daughter. She's um, er, she's our assistant!"

Their host nodded at this but then said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade."

"And that trade would be?" the Doctor inquired.

"Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man."

The Doctor nodded and flashed his psychic paper. "That's good. That's good because I'm the marble inspector."

Caecilius' wife Metella groaned, "By the gods of commerce, an inspection. I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son," as she poured away Quintus' goblet of wine, much to his dismay.

Caecilius then introduced his wife to the trio and expressed that they were not prepared for an inspection. The Doctor just assured them that he was sure they had nothing to hide, but that the large wooden box in the corner was worrisome. "I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection."

Donna was determined to save someone, anyone. "Although while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?"

Giving her a look telling her to stop, the Doctor replied, "Don't know what you mean, Spartacus."

"Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?"

Caecilius was confused. "Why should we do that?"

Donna was getting frustrated. "Well, the volcano, for starters."

"What?" asked Caecilius.

"Volcano."

"What ano?"

"That great big volcano right on your doorstep," Donna nearly shouted, gesturing in the direction of the mountain.

The Doctor stopped her before could go further. "Oh, Spartacus, for shame. We haven't even greeted the household gods yet." He took her aside to explain to her, "They don't know what it is. Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow."

Donna glared at him. "Oh, great, they can learn a new word as they die."

"Donna, stop it," he warned.

"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flying around with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up. That boy, how old is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he burns to death."

"And that's my fault?"

"Right now, yes."

They turned around as a man walked in and said pompously, "Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government."

An older man wearing a cloak that hid his right arm walked into the room, and Caecilius promptly greeted him. "Lucius. My pleasure, as always. A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house." He held out his hand but Lucius merely looked at it and raised an eyebrow.

The new man, Lucius, said, "The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west."

Caecilius was utterly lost. "Quite. Absolutely. That's good, is it?"

"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow."

"There now, Metella. Have you ever heard such wisdom?"

"Never. It's an honour."

Turning back to Lucius, Caecilius apologised, "Pardon me, sir. I have guests. This is Spartacus and, er, Spartacus, and their assistant Hermione."

Lucius gave the Doctor a sneering once over. "A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind."

The Doctor merely raised an eyebrow. "But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark."

"Ah. But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?"

"I concede that every sun must set. And yet the son of the father must also rise."

"Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently, a man of learning."

The Doctor smiled, "Oh, yes. But don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo."

Caecilius then unveiled a slab of marble that Lucius had previously commissioned, and the Doctor sighed as he realised there was no chance of them leaving now. "Oh, now that's different. Who designed that, then?"

Caecilius was beaming proudly at his work. "My Lord Lucius was very specific."

"Where'd you get the pattern?" the Doctor asked Lucius.

"On the rain and mist and wind."

Donna commented quietly, "But that looks like a circuit."

"Made of stone," the Doctor confirmed.

"Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?" she asked Lucius.

"That is my job, as City Augur."

"What's that, then, like the mayor?"

"Oh, ha. You must excuse my friend, she's from Barcelona." Turning to her he explained softly so they would not be overheard, "No, but this is an age of superstition. Of official superstition. The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future. The wind will blow from the west? That's the equivalent of ten o'clock news."

Evelina, the daughter of Caecilius entered the room, swaying and pale. "They're laughing at us. Those two, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us. And the young one doesn't believe in prophecy at all."

The Doctor rushed to smooth things over. "No, no, I'm not. I meant no offence."

Metella apologised for her daughter, but Quintus was horrified at the state of his sister. "Oh for gods, Mother. What have you been doing to her?" His father tried shushing him but he ignored the command. "But she's sick. Just look at her."

Lucius looked consideringly at Evelina. "I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift."

Metella quickly explained, "Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions."

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception," Lucius sneered.

Donna made a disbelieving face and commented to no one in particular, "I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate," causing Hermione to snort a giggle.

There was another small aftershock and Lucius warned, "The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful if I were you."

The Doctor meanwhile was looking Evelina over. "Consuming the vapours, you say?"

"They give me strength," the girl claimed as she swayed on her feet.

"It doesn't look like it to me."

"Is that your opinion as a doctor?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Doctor. That's your name."

"How did you know that?"

Turning to Donna, Evelina continued, "And you. You call yourself Noble." Then facing Hermione, "You, you have a lion inside of you."

Her mother tried to shush her, "Now then, Evelina. Don't be rude."

The Doctor was intrigued, though. "No, no, no, no. Let her talk."

"You three come from so far away," the young prophet said.

Lucius sneered, "The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries."

The Doctor just shook his head. "Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been out-soothsayed."

"Is that so, man from Gallifrey?"

"What?" the Doctor asked, completely shocked.

"The strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?"

Donna was growing worried. "Doctor, what are they doing?"

"And you, daughter of London and Hogwarts," Lucius said turning to the redhead and brunette.

"How does he know that?" Hermione asked, pale and a bit frightened. Divination is utter rubbish, so how are they doing this? Unless there are real soothsayers and prophecies.

"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth," Lucius announced pompously.

"That's impossible," Donna denied.

"Doctor, she is returning," Lucius warned.

Now he was confused. "Who is? Who's she?" He glaced at Hermione, wondering who he could have meant.

"And you, daughter of London. There is something on your back."

"What's that mean?"

Evelina was stepping towards the Doctor, "Even the word Doctor is false. Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord of Time." She fainted after her proclamation, much to her mother's dismay and concern.

Evelina was soon brought to rest upon a bed, and her Mother unwrapped the dressing around her arm. She looked to Donna and Hermione, who were standing in the doorway. "She didn't mean to be rude. She's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her-" she trailed off.

Donna was looking at Evelina's arm, though, and asked what was wrong with it.

"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night. Evelina said you'd come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like it?"

Both Hermione and Donna stroked the dark rash gently and Donna gasped, "It's stone."

Hermione was amazed and horrified at this partial petrification of the skin. It was so unlike her own experience with petrification, though.

Soon her long day caught up with her, however. She had appeared on the TARDIS just after midnight and they had been running around for hours. Exhaustion weighed down her eyelids and soon Donna had her placed next to a sleeping Evelina where both girls were allowed to rest.

A couple hours later, Evelina had recovered, but Hermione remained asleep. The young soothsayer was laughing softly as Donna donned a purple robe and shawl. "You're not supposed to laugh. Thanks for that. What do you think? The Goddess Venus."

Evelina gasped, shocked but delighted, "Oh, that's sacrilege."

"Nice to see you laugh, though. What do you do in old Pompeii, then, girls your age? You got mates? Do you go hanging about round the shops? TK Maximus?"

Evelina just gave a small smile. "I am promised to the Sisterhood for the rest of my life."

"Do you get any choice in that?"

"It's not my decision. The Sisters chose for me. I have the gift of sight."

Donna saw an opening. "Then what can you see happening tomorrow?"

"Is tomorrow special?" Evelina asked curiously.

"You tell me. What do you see?"

The girl closed her eyes for a moment before once more looking at Donna and shrugging. "The sun will rise, the sun will set. Nothing special at all."

Donna bit her lip, considering her options. Finally, she decided to try. "Look, don't tell the Doctor I said anything because he'll kill me, but I've got a prophecy too." Evelina covered her eyes, revealing the eyes painted on the back of her hands. "Evelina, I'm sorry, but you've got to hear me out. Evelina, can you hear me? Listen."

The girl shook her head, though. "There is only one prophecy."

"But everything I'm about to say to you is true, I swear. Just listen to me. Tomorrow, that mountain is going to explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is going to fill with ash and rocks, tonnes and tonnes of it, and this whole town is going to get buried."

"That's not true."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but everyone's going to die. Even if you don't believe me, just tell your family to get out of town. Just for one day. Just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out. You've got to leave Pompeii."

"This is false prophecy," Evelina said, denying Donna's claims.

A rumbling underground interrupted them and woke Hermione from her slumber. She quickly woke fully and jumped up and grabbed her cousin's hand. The three girls entered the main room to see what was happening.

Metella and Caecilius were also wondering what the cause of the rumbling was but determined it wasn't the same sound as those that came from Vesuvius. They were pondering what was happening when suddenly the Doctor and Quintus ran into the room. "I think we're being followed," the Doctor explained as the grill flew off the hypocaust. "Just get out!" he yelled to the family. No one moved, however, staring at the floor as it cracked and a stone and fire creature appeared, tall as the ceiling. "Water. We need water. Quintus. All of you, get water. Donna!"

Evelina and one of the servants were amazed and thought the Gods were among them, but when the creature breathed fire onto the servant and turned him to ash, the Doctor addressed it. "Talk to me. That's all I want. Talk to me. Just tell me who you are. Don't hurt these people."

Donna was returning with a bucket of water when women in strange garb grabbed her as Evelina and Hermione watched.

The Doctor's attention was on the creature, though. "Talk to me. I'm the Doctor. Just tell me who you are."

Hermione knew she should be reaching for her wand, but she was frozen in shock. She'd never seen or imagined such a creature!

Quintus and another man returned with buckets and scooped water from the pond in the centre of the room, throwing the water at the creature. The fire inside of it went out, it solidified, cracked, and finally crumbled to the floor.

After a stunned moment, Hermione crept towards the Doctor and took his hand. "What was that?"

He glanced down at her and squeezed her hand. "Carapace of stone held together by internal magma. Not too difficult to stop, but I reckon that's just the foot soldier." Hermione paled at that.

Metella sat on a bench, still in shock. "Doctor, or whatever your name is, you bring bad luck on this house."

He stood up and faced her. "I thought your son was brilliant. Aren't you going to thank him?" Turning away he talked to himself, "Still if there are aliens at work in Pompeii, it's a good thing we stayed. Donna? Donna? Donna!" He'd finally noticed that Donna was missing, and Hermione quickly told him about seeing her taken by women dressed in strange red robes.

[Temple]

The Doctor and Hermione quickly found the temple Donna had been taken to after getting directions from Caecilius. They could hear Donna snarking at her captors. "Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I've finished with you. Let me go!"

The woman in red holding a knife raised it high. "This prattling voice will cease forever."

The Doctor stepped in then. "Oh, that'll be the day."

Hermione giggled quietly. She was using the Doctor as a shield to hide from these crazy women. Normally she was braver, but suddenly finding herself with her older second cousin, a strange man she'd met with a different face, and in Pompeii the day before the volcano erupted had thrown her for a loop and she was anxious for contact with the two people she felt she could trust.

The priestess shouted, "No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl."

The Doctor shrugged and smirked at the group of women. "Well, that's all right. Just us girls. Do you know, I met the Sibyl once. Yeah, hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella. Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last. She said, I know. Well, she would. You all right there?" He asked of Donna's wellbeing.

"Oh, never better," she snarked.

"I like the toga."

"Thank you. And the ropes?"

"Yeah, not so much," and he quickly used the sonic screwdriver to cut them and free Donna.

Hermione was curious about his device. He hadn't had a chance to properly explain it to her, other than calling it a sonic screwdriver, and she wondered if maybe it was magic like her wand or just such incredibly advanced technology as to seem magical.

"What magic is this?" the head woman in red asked. Hermione flinched and reminded herself not to grab for her wand just yet.

"Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?"

They were interrupted by the High Priestess, however. "Show me this man."

The priestess wielding the knife turned to the figure behind the gauzy curtains. "High Priestess, the stranger would defile us."

"Let me see. This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake," said the High Priestess in a strange, strained sort of voice.

The Doctor's eyebrows raised into his hair. "Oh, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

"The gods whisper to me."

"They've done far more than that. Might I beg audience? Look upon the High Priestess?"

Two sisters drew the curtains aside to reveal the High Priestess, a woman seemingly made of living stone.

Donna gasp, "Oh, my God. What's happened to you?"

"The heavens have blessed me."

The Doctor gestured towards her hand, "If I might?"

When she acquiesced and held out her hand for him to touch he looked it over carefully. "Does it hurt?"

"It is necessary."

"Who told you that?"

"The voices."

Donna couldn't help but ask, "Is that what's going to happen to Evelina? Is this what's going to happen to all of you?"

The priestess who was about to kill her held out a stone arm, much like Evelina had. "They're stone," Donna said in horrified wonder.

"Exactly. The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"

The High Priestess tilted her head a bit, as much as her stone body would allow. "This word, this image in your mind. This volcano. What is that?"

The Doctor had a disbelieving look on his face "More to the point, why don't you know about it? Who are you?"

"High Priestess of the Sibylline."

"No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into, what?"

"Your knowledge is impossible."

"Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are."

When next she spoke, the High Priestess had two voices, her own strained one, and a deeper one that was taking over. "We are awakening."

The other priestesses fell in supplication and began to chant, but the Doctor would not be deterred. "Name yourself. Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation."

"We are rising."

"Tell me your name!" he shouted.

"Pyrovile," the creature cried out.

"What's a Pyrovile?" Hermione asked quietly.

The Doctor explained, "Well, that's a Pyrovile, growing inside her. She's a halfway stage."

Donna asked, "What, and that turns into?"

"That thing in the villa. That was an adult Pyrovile."

The High Priestess then said threateningly, "And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor."

The Doctor stepped back quickly, putting himself between the Pyrovile Priestess and his companions. He pulled a yellow plastic water pistol from his jacket pocket and pointed it at the creature. "I warn you, I'm armed. Donna, get that grill open."

"What for?"

"Just do it. What are the Pyrovile doing here?"

He saw from the side of his eye that Hermione had steeled herself, and drawn her wand. She was ready to fight, and he couldn't have been more proud of his young soul mate, even if he was scared for her at the same time.

The creature answered his question, "We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust."

Nodding, he said, "Right, creatures of stone shattered on impact. When was that, seventeen years ago?"

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."

The creepy dual voice was giving Hermione chills, but she just gripped her wand tightly and prepared herself.

"Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves. But why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts."

"Okay, that's fine. So you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that, I get that, yeah. But seeing the future? That is way beyond psychic. You can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

Donna shouted from the grate she'd been struggling with, "Got it."

He quickly told her, "Now get down."

"What, down there?"

"Yes, down there. Why can't this lot predict a volcano? Why is it being hidden?"

The priestess who had been holding Donna at knife point butted in. "Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless."

He merely shrugged, winked at Hermione and squirted the water pistol at the High Priestess. "Yeah, but it's got to sting."

Hermione quickly cast an aguamenti charm at the creature, causing her to shriek in pain. But the Doctor was quickly ushering her down the grate Donna had disappeared down, "Get down there!"

The Sisters rushed to help their High Priestess and the Doctor joined Donna and Hermione. Donna was grinning at him. "You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you."

He grinned back, and gestured further along the hypocaust, "This way."

"Where are we going now?" Donna asked.

"Into the volcano."

"No way."

"Yes, way. Appian way."

Hermione was running on adrenaline. This is insane! But so exciting! Oh, clever reference to the famous ancient road, her thoughts were racing as they moved quickly through the tunnels. She kept quiet, but she was paying close attention to the Doctor and Donna's conversation.

"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right for you to stop it?" Donna still wanted to save the town if possible.

"Still part of history," he shook his head.

"But I'm history to you. You saved me in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different?"

Hermione wondered what would happen in 2008 but knew better than to ask.

"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed."

"How do you know which is which?" Hermione asked quietly.

He gave her a fond smile. "Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord. And I'm the only one left."

Hermione felt a pang in her chest at his sad expression and his devastating loss. She couldn't fathom how painful it would be to be utterly alone in the universe. She took his hand as Donna asked, "How many people died?"

Looking from Hermione to Donna his face hardened. "Stop it."

"Doctor, how many people died?"

"Twenty thousand."

"Is that what you can see, Doctor? All twenty thousand? And you think that's all right, do you?"

Hermione glared at her older cousin for causing the Doctor this pain. Can't she see he'd change it if he could?!

There was a terrifying roar nearby and the Doctor hurried them along. "They know we're here. Come on."

The group surveyed the heart of the mountain and noticed a pod of some sort in the centre. "That's how they arrived. Or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship? Genebank?"

Donna asked, "But why do they need a volcano? Maybe it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?"

The Doctor had a sinking feeling in his gut. "Oh, it's worse than that."

"How could it be worse? Doctor, it's getting closer," she said, referring to the loud roaring sound.

Lucius appeared on a ridge on the other side of the cavern and addressed the Pyrovile that was nearing. "Heathens defile us. They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods."

"Come on," the Doctor ushered the girls towards the pod.

"We can't go in," protested Donna.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, we can't go back."

"Crush them. Burn them," Lucius was ordering. As the Pyrovile reared up in front of them, Hermione darted in front of the pair, shouted, and a blast of water extinguished the creature.

The trio ran to the pod and the girls entered while the Doctor stood in the doorway. "Now then, Lucius. My lords Pyrovillian, if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish. Once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?"

"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself. An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilisation."

"But if you've crashed, and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?" Donna asked.

"The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone."

The Doctor was confused, "What do you mean, gone? Where's it gone?"

"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise."

"Yeah, I should warn you, it's seventy percent water out there."

Lucius glared at him. "Water can boil. And everything will burn, Doctor."

With a nod, the Doctor remarked, "Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you. That's all I needed to know." He sealed the door with his screwdriver and set about examining the circuit board made of marble slabs.

As the Pyrovile outside of the pod breathed fire on it, the interior was quickly heading up. The Doctor admired the genius of the aliens plans. "See? The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions."

Hermione asked, "But can't you change it with these controls?"

"Of course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're going to use it to take over the world."

"But you can change it back?" Donna wondered.

With a grimace and a nod he replied, "I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But, that's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world."

"Oh, my God," the redhead gasped.

"If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen."

"Doctor, the Pyrovile are made of rocks. Maybe they can't be blown up."

"Vesuvius explodes with the force of twenty-four nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it. Certainly not us."

"Never mind us," Hermione murmured, taking his hand and squeezing it tightly. I don't want to die, but if we don't do this there won't be a world left for me to go back to. No Harry, Ron, Ginny, no one. At least I'm with Donna and the Doctor.

"Push this lever and it's over. Twenty thousand people," the Doctor explained. He was in agony over this decision. Not only would he be killing twenty thousand people, but he'd effectively be murdering his soulmate, who he'd dragged into this mess. He pulled Hermione into his side with one arm, kissed the top of her head and put his other hand on the stone lever. Donna joined her hands over his, and Hermione placed her hands on top of theirs. They all looked at one another, and then pushed the lever.

There was a violent rocking and feeling of weightlessness as they fell, and finally with a loud crash they stopped. The door opened and the trio got out of the pod. "It was an escape pod," he murmured in wonder. But looking back they saw a huge avalanche of ash and fire rolling down the mountain quickly towards them. The eruption soon blotted out the sun and the trio ran for their lives back into town, hoping against hope they could reach the TARDIS in time.

Ash was falling over the town, making it hard to see where they were going, and even harder to breathe. Hermione, having read ahead in all of her courses, attempted a bubble head charm for the first time while they ran. As she took gulps of clean, fresh air, she quickly repeated the charm on the Doctor and Donna. If they noticed anything amiss, they didn't care to mention it right then.

Finally reaching the Villa they raced to the TARDIS. Caecilius and his family were cowered in a corner and pleaded desperately. "Gods save us, Doctor. No! Doctor, you can't. Doctor!" He shouted for them as the Doctor started up the engines and they all went into the box in the corner.

Donna and Hermione both shouted at him, "You can't just leave them!"

He glared at Donna but grimaced in pain at the hurt shining in Hermione's eyes. "Don't you think I've done enough? History's back in place and everyone dies."

"You've got to go back. Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back. It's not fair," Donna cried.

"No, it's not."

"But your own planet. It burned."

"That's just it. Don't you see, Donna? Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them, then I would. But I can't. I can never go back. I can't. I just can't, I can't."

"Just someone. Please. Not the whole town. Just save someone," Donna cried brokenly.

Hermione had tears streaming down her face, cutting tracks in the ash. "Please, Doctor. We can't leave them. It doesn't have to be everyone, just them. They helped us! Please!"

Her tears and pleas broke him down, quickly setting the return coordinates and raced to the door. He held out a hand to the family and told them, "Come with me."

On a nearby hillside, still a safe distance away, the group watched in muted horror as Pompeii was filled with ash and rock spewed from the mountain.

"It's never forgotten, Caecilius. Oh, time will pass, men'll move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found again. In thousands of years. And everyone will remember you," he tried to assure the man.

Donna turned to Evelina, "What about you, Evelina? Can you see anything?"

After closing her eyes briefly, "The visions have gone."

The Doctor nodded. "The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time, just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not anymore. You're free."

Metella addressed the Doctor, "But tell me. Who are you, Doctor? With your words, and your temple containing such size within?"

He smiled gently and shook his head, "Oh, I was never here. Don't tell anyone." She nodded her agreement.

Stepping forward, Caecilius was struggling to find words. "The great god Vulcan must be enraged. It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of volcano. All those people."

The Doctor, Donna and Hermione slipped back into the TARDIS, Hermione brushing away tears. I never thought I'd be there at the invention of a new word in an ancient language. It was horrible. She was in awe and grieving for the thousands of lives lost.

In the TARDIS once more, Hermione felt an urge and ran into the Doctor's arms, grateful when she wrapped her in his long arms and hugged her tightly.

Donna just told him, "Thank you."

"Yeah. You were right. Sometimes I need someone. Welcome aboard." He was happy to have a companion, once more, even if Hermione couldn't stick around for too long, Donna would be great friend.

The older pair put Hermione into a room to sleep for several hours and caught up on sleep themselves. In the morning they would talk about what to do next, and how long Hermione wanted to stay. But he refused to take her home until he knew she was alright with what she'd witnessed. He had so much to make up for with his soulmate, or at least the future version of her, that he didn't want to needlessly traumatise her as only a young girl.

Unknown to the occupants of the TARDIS, Caecilius and his family would go on to live in Rome. Caecilius would be soon signing a contract for the marble granaries of Alexandria, Evelina was socialising with people her own age and living a normal life, and Quintus was studying to be a physician. The family also had a new altar and new household gods. The shrine depicted the TARDIS on a set of steps, with the Doctor and Hermione standing to one side, clasping hands, and Donna standing proudly on the other.