twilfit, tattings & tardis, Ten/Rose, G
The look on his face was so familiar, and so dear to her. It said, “I am about to show Rose Tyler something completely fantastic.” Or maybe, “I am about to prove to Rose Tyler, once again, what a very impressive individual I am.”, 1573
A/N Crossover with Harry Potter, in case you had to ask :)
Rose couldn’t help but giggle at the expression on the Doctor’s face. He was watching her expectantly, eyes bright, positively vibrating with excitement.
“What?” she laughed. She glanced over her shoulder at the TARDIS, now parked in a dark alleyway and then across the street at a nondescript pub.
“Why’re you looking like the cat who ate the canary? S’just London, isn’t it? You can’t possibly be that excited to visit Jackie.”
The Doctor still didn’t speak, but jerked his head emphatically in the direction of the grimy little pub. Rose blinked. It had an odd appearance, now that she tried to look at it more closely. Her eyes wouldn’t quite keep it in focus.
“The pub?” Rose asked, turning back towards him, bemused. “You’re taking me out drinking? I am not letting you get drunk again. No one in there wants to hear your rendition of My Heart Will Go On.” She poked him in the chest, giving him a stern look.
The Doctor’s face fell a little. “First of all,” he began, “I wasn’t drunk-”
Rose opened her mouth to protest, but he went on quickly before she had a chance. “And secondly, they love me on Theta Apple Slash Nine! I’ll have you know I could have had a very successful recording career there.” He raised his eyebrows, as if daring her to contradict him, tapping the tip of her nose with his index finger for emphasis.
“But you’re missing the point. Look again.” He took Rose by the shoulders, turning her back in the direction of the pub. Grasping her chin with a finger and thumb, he tipped her head up to direct her attention to the sign above the door.
Squinting, Rose read the name over the shabby pub. “The… Leaky Cauldron? What, is this Epcot? Are we at Harry Potter World?” She spun to look at the Doctor, who was grinning from ear to ear. Rose’s eyes widened in comprehension. “You mean - not… Harry Potter World, but actually Harry Potter’s… world?” She laughed out loud. “But that’s impossible!”
“Rose, what have I told you about using that word? Impossible!” he scoffed. “Have I taught you nothing?” The Doctor shook his head, still beaming.
Rose grinned. The look on his face was so familiar, and so dear to her. It said, “I am about to show Rose Tyler something completely fantastic.” Or maybe, “I am about to prove to Rose Tyler, once again, what a very impressive individual I am.”
“So magic’s real, then?” Rose asked.
“Well.” The Doctor scrunched up his nose, scratching his head. “Call it what you like - magic, science - ends in the same result, really. Anyway, Rose Tyler - would you care to accompany me on a shopping trip to Diagon Alley?” He extended his arm to her.
“Shopping and Harry Potter? Do you even have to ask?”
He tugged at her arm and they crossed the street at a run, crowding each other through the door of the tiny pub. Rose swallowed down a giddy laugh. Charles Dickens was one thing, but quite honestly, she’d never been a fan before meeting him in person. This was like stepping straight into a childhood fantasy.
“Oh, hello! Tom, is it?” the Doctor flashed the psychic paper at the barman, who nodded as he and Rose made their way into the small courtyard behind the pub.
“Who’d he think we were, then?” Rose nudged the Doctor as he dug in his pocket for the sonic screwdriver.
“Oh, professors Smith and Tyler, teachers at TARDIS School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” He turned to wink at her. “Small, private school.”
Finding the proper setting on the sonic, the Doctor glanced around to make sure no one was watching and pointed the screwdriver at a brick above the dustbin. He stepped back to watch Rose’s face as the bricks spun and twisted to reveal the entrance to Diagon Alley.
Rose’s jaw dropped. “Oh, that’s just…”
“I know!” the Doctor grinned. “C’mon, then!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
According to the Doctor, they’d only come here for some obscure bit of TARDIS he couldn’t find anywhere else, but as Rose watched his eyes light up at the first taste of his ice cream cone at Florean Fortescue’s (“Banana Boggart, Rose - alliteration makes everything taste better!”), Rose thought that he appeared to be having even more fun than she was.
Moments later, they were strolling down the street again.
“Oh, Rose, smell that!”
Rose sniffed. It really was a mouthwatering aroma - warm, buttery toffee and chocolate.
Rose steps faltered. “That’s not right, though!” She pointed to a sign above the store near where the Doctor was still inhaling deeply, his eyes now closed in appreciation. “Honeydukes - that’s in Hogsmeade, not Diagon Alley.”
“Blimey, how many times have you read those books?” the Doctor frowned, momentarily distracted from his olfactory appraisal.
Rose shrugged noncommittally, averting her gaze.
“You’re right, though.” (“Course I am,” Rose mumbled.) “We are…” he bounded over to a newsstand, plucking a Daily Prophet from the display. “About two years post your Harry Potter. Sometime during book nine.”
“Book nine?” Rose laughed.
“Yup!” he handed the paper back to the wizard tending the newsstand. “Things’ve changed a bit. Well, a lot. No more Death Eaters, for one thing. Business is booming everywhere, the whole wizarding world’s in a bit of a renaissance, really. So - Honeydukes?”
Twenty minutes later they emerged back onto the narrow street, pockets bulging with Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, Fizzing Whizbees and Honeyduke’s own chocolate (“Only in case of Dementors,” the Doctor had explained in a muffled voice, his mouth full of free chocolate samples). Rose had politely refused the ice mice, which were suspiciously reminiscent of the Krillitanes’ vacuum packed rats. The Doctor had pulled a face at the Toothflossing Stringmints (“Time Lords don’t need to floss, Rose.”), but was immediately enamoured of the Pepper Imps (“Breathe fire for your companions,” he’d told her, waggling his eyebrows. And then, taking in the look on her face: “I’ll save it for later, shall I?”)
Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes was just as Rose had imagined. After she’d batted the Doctor’s hand away from the Ton Tongue Toffee (“Do you want them to call in the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad?”), he’d wandered off towards the back room. She was inspecting the love potions when the Doctor returned, his arms full of decoy detonators, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and headless hats. “Do these really work, then?” Rose asked, glancing over her shoulder at a suddenly headless Doctor.
Removing the hat, he took the bottle from her hand and unscrewed the cap, taking a whiff. “I expect they would. Why, have you got your eye on a Weasley? That George is a bit pretty. Ginger.” He sniffed.
Rose shook her head. “Nah, I always kind of had a thing for Harry. You know, all that angst, weight of the world on his shoulders… Selfless, brave, always saving people. Plus, he’s got that geek chic thing going.” She tilted her head at the Doctor and grinned. “S’kind of sexy.”
He gaped for a moment. “Has he got a time machine, though?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was setting by the time they made their way back onto the streets of Muggle London, footsore and laden with packages, but still giddy with excitement. The Doctor carefully passed his sneakoscope to Rose as he juggled the rest of his purchases, searching for his TARDIS key. Once inside, Rose deposited her own bags and boxes on the floor, stretching her tired arms.
“Mmm, that was brilliant.”
“Yeah?” The Doctor grinned.
“Yeah... So...” Rose began.
“So what?” The Doctor moved towards the console, flicking a switch here, twisting a knob there.
“D’you fancy a trip to Hogwarts?” Rose asked hopefully.
“Well,” the Doctor paused, considering, “we really shouldn’t… established events and all that.” He looked sorely tempted.
“Yeah,” Rose nodded. “Besides, Hogwarts? Always something odd going on there. We’d probably just end up getting caught in the middle - you know, having to solve mysteries, maybe run for our lives…” she trailed off, watching the Doctor carefully out of the corner of her eye. She almost had him. “And, then, you know… there’s sure to be magical creatures…”
The Doctor rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment. “Oh, all right, then!
He pulled out his psychic paper and studied it. “What d’you think, visiting professors?”
He held the psychic paper out for Rose’s inspection. She frowned. “Doctor, that just says you’re single and you work out,” she told him, straight-faced.
He blanched and his eyes widened as he snatched the paper back again “I - um…” he stammered.
“Kidding!” Rose giggled, laughing harder as he swatted her with the psychic paper before tucking it back into his coat.
He bounded back to the console. "Hogwarts?"
"Hogwarts!"