A whirring, wheezing sound filled the night air as a shape slowly materialized in strobe-light-like flashes. A blue, old-fashioned police public call box had landed in the middle of a small London street.

Two houses down, a small girl was fast asleep. Her bushy brown hair lay on her pillow as if she were underwater, and a shaft of moonlight shone down from her bedroom window. Her name was Hermione Granger, and her dreams were tormented by monsters.

Down on the street, the doors of the police box opened. Golden light shone out onto the pavement for a second as a figure slipped out. Then he closed the door, and it was dark. He looked ordinary, or, at least, he didn't look like anything special. He was in his late-30s-early-40s, and his black hair was cropped very close to his head.

There was a sadness in his dark eyes. A deep, horrible, all-consuming sadness that filled them and encompassed them. But his mouth was set resolutely, and no one in the universe could stop him. He had destroyed his people. Now, it was time to be the hero. His name was the Doctor.

When the Time War ended, he had flown as far away as possible. He had landed on planet Earth, and all he knew was that something was going to happen. Something big.

Hermione twisted and turned. Her covers wrapped around her in a tangled mess, and her eyes were squinted shut. A dim light pulsed at her window, and then the window slid open silently. The Doctor pulled himself into her room, and the branch he had been perching on snapped back to its original position. He made his way to the closet, whose door was perched open a sliver. A single, dimmed red eye peeked out. Then, it disappeared.

"Oh no, you don't!" the Doctor hissed to himself. He had a strong Northern accent, obvious even in a whisper. He swung open the door fully, and came face to face with...something. It had bat-ish wings with long, gleaming claws. Its head was wide and flat on top, and tapered down to a sharp chin. Very sharp. Its skin was a marbled reddish-brown, stretched thin over spindly bones and a protruding stomach. And in its hand, it held a small device, rather like a transistor radio.

Around the same time he saw the "radio", the Doctor was hit with a horrible feeling. He saw in front of him burning buildings and running beings against a smoky, orange sky. He heard shrieking lasers and the cries of terrified victims. And then it ended, and he was curled up on the bedroom floor.

He looked up, and saw the creature twisting its thin lips into a smirk.

"That's a telepathic thought communicator, isn't it?" the Doctor asked. "Isn't it? You've been sending her her worst fears in her sleep, but why? She's just a human child! What could she do to you?"

The horrible feeling returned, and his vision went black. An ancient, gravely voice filled his head, pounding and reverberating.

She is powerful. She will be great. She will use her powers to return our kingdom.

"What kingdom?" And then it dawned on him, and a look of surprise, hatred, and disgust filled the sharp lines of his face.

"You're the Somniat. You're going to haunt people's dreams, tell them what to do. And when they wake up, they won't remember it! You're going to try to take over this world, but you know what? It isn't going to happen! Because you made a very large mistake, and do you know what it was? You let me get in your way!"

The Somniat suddenly looked behind the Doctor, an expression of terror on his face. Hermione Granger was sitting up in bed, her eyes wide and staring. With a horrible wail, the Somniat looked to the ceiling and disappeared.

The Doctor looked from Hermione to where the Somniat was a moment ago and then back to Hermione. He looked stunned for a moment, then smiled. A huge, joyous grin, because something, finally, had turned out well.

"Of course", his muttered to himself. "A Somniat can't be seen by it's victim. Then it is no longer reality. It is only a dream. And he was the last one." The Doctor's face looked sad for a moment, but it passes as he remembered that there was a child who has just seen a strange man and a now-imaginary creature in her room. She was shrinking back into her sheets, her blanket pulled up to her chin, revealing wide, chocolate brown eyes fringed by long, thick lashes.

The Doctor hesitantly stepped forward, then halted to see if Hermione would shrink back any more. She didn't. Her eyes remained wide and curious. She wasn't scared as much as confused.

The Doctor knelt down at the foot of her bed.

"Hello," he said softly.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked. Her voice was soft and just a little bit pompous.

"Just a friend, passing through"

"But what's your name," Hermione insisted.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor. I'll be leaving now, because you seemed to have taken care of things. But I'm going to give you this ring, first. It will protect you."

"From what?"

The Doctor paused for a split second, then replied, "Monsters."

"Don't be daft, there's no such thing as monsters."

"How old are you again?" the Doctor asked, taken aback.

"I'm seven years old, I'm the smartest in my class, and I know there are no such thing as monsters. So, answer me. What will the ring protect me from? There was a creature in my closet. Will it protect me from things like that? And while we're on the topic, what was that creature? I'll take a scientific explanation, and a scientific explanation only."

The Doctor stared.

"Well?"

The Doctor coughed, then said, "The creature in your closet, it was from another world. From the beginning of the universe, in fact."

"But that's not possible. Nothing can live that long."

The Doctor ran his tongue over his teeth. He was about to argue that yes, something can live that long, but he decided against it. And then he changed his mind. This girl was one of the most brilliant human children he has ever met. She deserved to know whatever she wanted to, because he could tell that she would use it. She wouldn't tell anyone. So he sat down, cross-legged, on Hermione's floor, the moonlight beaming onto him, and started to talk. He talked about time and space and universes and creatures. He talked about stars and Time Lords and a planet named Gallifrey. Hermione listened. And she believed.

As dawn broke, the Doctor stood up. "Well, I've got to go. Other worlds to save. Other people to meet."

He turned and walked toward the open window, but before he could climb out, Hermione spoke.

"Doctor, will I ever see you again?"

"Yes. Hermione Granger. You will." He ambled, long-limbed, out the window. A second later, he popped back up.

"Oh, and don't lose that ring! Seriously, it is imperative that you wear it. Goodbye!"

A moment later, a man stepped back into his box. He was still sad, but his heart was a bit lighter.

"Thank you, " he whispered, before he blinked out into the universe.