Right, so getting started on this now as opposed to letting it lag like last chapter. This is it, guys. Thanks for all the feedback, follows, favorites, and C2s for the previous chapters, and now here's the last. Enjoy!

Dobby's Polka-Dotted Sock

Chapter Twenty-two

She walked with them only far enough to point out the marker on a secluded hill of the cemetery allotted to UNIT personnel whose families could not or did not buy a private plot somewhere else. Technically, that hill was supposed to be kept clear for the foreseeable future, but being the Director, Kate had had very little trouble accomplishing this task. Had it been difficult, she would have done it anyway, because it was only a small gesture of kindness toward the man who had proved to have a nearly limitless amount when humans were concerned.

Now, she stopped and watched the gaze of two Time Lords fall on the distant stone. Both were solemn, and the male of the pair finally nodded decisively, seeming to be the go ahead to approach. But first, the female—the only one he'd allowed to accompany him on this very first trip—leaned into him, and he almost unconsciously wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight into his side. In this way, the pair began their walk up the hill.

Kate turned her back to allow some semblance of privacy. She could return to the jeep and 2nd Lieutenant Jenkins, but she also wanted to offer any amount of support she could. To her knowledge, this was the first time the Doctor had ever done something like this before.

The difficulty in setting this up had not been in securing the spot on the hill, but securing what had been placed in it. For a while, it had been something of touch and go, fulfilling his last request before imprisonment.

Though the Tribunal had taken most of her time, Kate had also been dealing with the matter of the Warden; or rather, the Warden's body. The Doctor's first wife had been something of a legend all on her own for some time, if only because of the near absolute silence regarding her on the alien's part. And then her body was placed into Gregory Jenkins arms, right into UNIT's care.

She'd been set to commence the cremation almost immediately after the briefing that had taken place after the Doctor's arrest, but alarming protests from the government liaison, not to mention her own staff, had proved a stumbling block. Did she mean to tell them she was currently in possession of an alien body? And she was planning to simply destroy it?

Under her leadership, science led. And a deceased extraterrestrial being held limitless possibilities. And their reasoning was correct that she could technically order an autopsy on the sly and have no one who didn't need to know any the wiser.

But she had refused. Not only would that be breaking the trust of her father's oldest friend and UNIT's greatest ally, but it went completely against her conscience. As the husband, or rather widower, the Doctor was the only one with any right to decide what should be done, and he had, so that was simply that. Besides, it had all smacked a little too much of a certain Wilkins' Institute.

That had shut up the arguments almost entirely; her people at UNIT prided themselves on treating aliens the right way, or at least nearest to right as they could manage, and the government—from what she could gather from the liaison—was still rather embarrassed about that whole affair. Apparently her Majesty had been displeased when she had learned of the trials her favorite alien and the savior of Buckingham Palace had undergone last spring. According to Jack, no one had had the heart to inform her of Torchwood just yet.

After that minor headache had come the Tribunal itself, and that had put everything on hold while she morbidly wondered if they'd have two cremations to complete by the time everything was over. That was the darkest her thoughts ever turned, and only in the dead of night as she tossed this way and that, as she tried her hardest to hold onto hope.

That hope had paid off, and so she had quietly had the procedure done. The Warden's ashes had been placed into an urn, and that urn had been placed in the ground beneath the honorary spot, and fresh grass had been planted over the recently overturned dirt.

She'd pulled the Doctor aside two days after the Shadow Proclamation's departure to inform him, regretting spoiling the somewhat lighter atmosphere, but knowing that it was best to see if he should like to visit the site. He'd not given her an answer straight away, instead choosing to consider it, which she had admittedly expected. The whole reason Jenny was a fairly new addition to the TARDIS crew, she'd heard from Martha, was that the Doctor did not do graves, funerals, and above all goodbyes.

So she had been pleasantly surprised when he'd approached her this morning and asked to be taken to the site. When they met shortly after at the jeep, Susan was in tow. Appropriate considering she was the only one to know the woman to who they were going to pay their respects. She hoped she wasn't creating resentment amongst the members of the Doctor's newer family members, but she'd stand firmly by this decision. The Warden, part-Dalek or not, had been a part of these two Time Lords' lives, and would be missed.

Chancing a quick look over her shoulder, she was forced to do a double-take when she noticed the Doctor crouched in front of the stone, some sort of tool in hand. It was clearly an instrument with a sharp point, too, as he was currently scratching and chipping away at the flat surface of the stone. Susan stood and watched, and Kate, unable to tear her eyes away, observed as well until the alien finished. He leaned back but did not move to get up, tucking the tool away in a pocket. As their backs were turned she could not read either of the Gallifreyans' expressions, but she thought she caught a faint murmur of voices on the wind.

After a moment, the Doctor reached out a hand, placing it gently on the top of the stone and gripping it like one might the curve of a shoulder. His head was bowed and she was willing to bet his eyes were closed. His own shoulders shook once.

And then Susan was kneeling at his side, arms around him but not forcing him to pull away, instead just leaning her head on his shoulder. It took a minute for him to relax his hold on the stone, his hand falling away and lightly brushing over the newly carved writing. He then let Susan guide him to standing, pulling her into his arms properly. They stood just like that for some time, her hands rubbing soothing circles on his back and one of his hands at the back of her head, fingers trailing through red hair.

He'd tucked her in under his chin and had pillowed his cheek on top of the short strands, a deep frown on his face until he breathed in and clearly took in the other's scent. Then a true smile graced his lips for a moment until at last the expression seemed to equalize between the two polar-opposite emotions as ancient eyes opened and met hers.

She should have felt ashamed for staring, but Kate could not even seem to blush as a sigh escaped the Time Lord and he withdrew one arm from his granddaughter. The two then made their way together back down the hill and drew right up before her.

"There, there, Kate," the Doctor said, his voice a bit softer than normal as he reached out and with a thumb wiped at tears she hadn't realized were freely falling down her cheeks. "She wouldn't like you to cry."

"If that's so," she managed, though her own voice came out a bit thicker to her ears, "then I can see how you got along."

An actual chuckle was the initial response as he remarked, "Now there's the Stewart in you."

"I can assure you, you made us this way," Kate returned, glad to be on something of a safer topic. She was still grateful when Susan offered her a handkerchief. With her eyes once more dry she suggested, "Perhaps we should get back to the jeep. I can't imagine how Jenkins is keeping busy."

"Oh, I'm sure Gregory thought of something," the Doctor replied agreeably, but began steering his granddaughter in the direction of the car park. "Good of him to be so patient, not to mention bringing us in the first place."

She heard the unspoken thank you in that and smiled briefly to herself, already falling into step with the other two. They chatted about this and that on their way to the vehicle, like how long it might take to restore the Leadworth golf course now that the portable base had been nearly taken down or what she was going to do to keep busy once back at HQ.

"Gregory!" The Doctor hailed as soon as they caught sight of the soldier standing before the car and waiting to open the doors for them. The older Time Lord released the younger in favor of walking forward to engage the other man in conversation, actively putting the emotional visit behind him. Neither woman called him on it.

"I hope you don't mind, what Grandfather did," Susan instead spoke up softly. "To the stone, I mean."

"No, of course not," she reassured. After all, she hardly considered it her place to tell him what to do with his late wife's gravestone.

"It's just, it was blank, and he thought something ought to go there. He worried if he left it you might have someone else write something, and he didn't want it—Warden—to be on there. He didn't want to have her remembered like that; we both didn't."

"I see," she nodded. "Do you mind me asking…?" She let it trail off, and the redhead gave a small smile.

"Her name, her real name, in Gallifreyan. Grandfather thought that would be enough."

"Well your Grandfather usually knows best," she noted.

Susan laughed, "Oh, try not to let him hear you say that; once things are better he won't need the extra praise!"

She gave a short laugh of her own. "No, he probably won't." Then, stepping forward and dropping most of the amusement from her tone she stated, "Let's return, all."

"Yes, ma'am," Gregory responded almost immediately, opening first her door and then showing the two Time Lords into the backseat. Once in the jeep, the lieutenant then made good time getting them back to the golf course. It was just past dinner and still light out.

It was by this light that they could see both River and Jenny standing out before the TARDIS doors. They'd likely heard the jeep's approach and come out of the police box. Kate got out of the vehicle but waited and watched as the Doctor and Susan approached the other two, a bit curious and slightly wary of what might happen. She hadn't exactly consulted with anyone else before taking the grandfather and granddaughter on this trip.

But no slaps or loud words were to come. Instead, the blonde pair met them about halfway, Jenny jogging slightly ahead of her surrogate mother. She stopped right in front of her father, looking up at him with some concern before simply wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He folded her into his embrace for a long moment and then let her go, reaching up to gently tap her on the nose. Jenny smiled.

River had joined them by this point, and the Doctor turned to her as she murmured something, likely a sort of greeting. He took one of the professor's hands and brought it to his lips. Smiling warmly, his current wife brought her other hand up to cup his face. Jenny in the meantime had moved on to hug Susan, and the other girl was reciprocating just as tightly.

The doors of the blue box were apparently opened by Rory for Amy, but instead of some intrusion on this moment the Ponds stood there silently, two fresh cups of tea in the Scottish woman's hands clearly for the returning Time Lords.

She could just see the smile that spread over the Doctor's lips before his back faced her completely as he placed one arm around River's waist and one around Susan's shoulders, who almost simultaneously grabbed Jenny by the hand. Together the four entered the TARDIS, the too-narrow doorway somehow still accommodating them all.

Kate turned to find a mirror of her own smile on Lt. Jenkins' face. "I think everything might just turn out fine," she noted aloud.

"Yeah, they look plenty happy—er, if it's alright for me to say so," the young soldier corrected himself belatedly.

Kate's smile morphed into a smirk. "Of course it is, Jenkins, provided you return that jeep immediately and fetch me some tea of my own."

Despite the order, Gregory Jenkins grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

OoO

The next day fresh dirt was brought in and grass planted, fences came down, and the Doctor moved the TARDIS next to the golf course, rather than on it. Brian watched in amazement as the blue box first faded out with a wheezing grinding noise, only for an echo of that noise to sound almost instantaneously just a little way away. They all made their way over just in time for the alien to practically burst forth from the doors.

"And there you all are!" The Time Lord beamed, a bit more enthusiastic than half a minute warranted, in Brian's opinion.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought so, for Sarah Jane asked wryly, "Alright, where did you go?"

"Who says I went anywhere?" The Doctor shot back rather fast.

No one was buying it if Donna's brash, "We are," was anything to go by.

The alien scratched at his cheek for a moment, then said as he patted the wooden doors, "You know how she gets."

"So you did go somewhere," Jack accurately guessed.

"No. Yes. Maybe. There might have been an incident with a Slitheen."

"A Slitheen?" Susan questioned in some interest. Brian was just trying to wrap his head around the idea of more aliens.

"Ah, you wouldn't have liked the Slitheen, Susan, they're rather rude not to mention smelly. Craig certainly wasn't having the best time. Alfie quite enjoyed it though," the girl's grandfather remarked offhandedly.

"Is he ever going to leave that poor man alone?" Amy muttered, though an amused smirk tugged at her lips.

"So what gave me away?" The Doctor was asking meanwhile.

Mickey Smith now wore a smirk as he answered, "Different bowtie." The alien's hand went up immediately to the treasured accessory, looking rather surprised.

"Rookie mistake, mister," Martha commented with a smile and a tilt of the head. "That's like wearing the blue suit instead of the brown."

"Well, it's not as if I could compare the colors, the other one caught on fire," the alien retorted.

"Dad," Jenny groaned in some dismay.

"What? I never said I did!"

"Well you never said you didn't!"

"Alright, alright," River interceded, stepping between the pair who seemed to be quickly gearing up for a display of primary-schooler debate. "From now on, at least two pilots, even for the little trips. Why I let you out, I've no idea," she added with an exaggerated look to the sky, as though asking it what she'd ever done to deserve it. The Doctor rolled his eyes, clearly not buying the act.

"Er, while you are letting him out," Ron Sherwood spoke up, "maybe we should actually head over for lunch?" He nodded toward the pavilion, funnily enough the same one Rory had appropriated all that time ago at the beginning of this first of adventures for Brian. Everyone else gave various signs of assent and so the whole group made their way to the pavilion that UNIT had kindly reserved for this purpose.

Everyone was mixed up and chatting together, though thankfully Amy and Rory stayed on either side of him. He wasn't quite ready to just dive into a conversation with people he'd only recently met under the most unusual circumstances.

The Doctor had given River's hand a squeeze before dropping back and was currently keeping pace with the Cambridge professors, Ian and Barbara who were walking arm in arm, and he said something that made both he and the woman laugh while her husband gave something more of a chagrined smile.

Jack, Martha, Mickey, Donna, and Wilfred Mott were all talking together, and he heard the names of the married pair's children once or twice.

Sarah Jane, ever a proud mother, was telling Kate Stewart, Molly Pines, and Ron all about Luke's latest term at University.

Aaron Wood was asking something about Time Lords and food, which Susan politely answered while Jenny laughed behind her hand. The boy turned a bit red until the blonde girl nudged him with her shoulder, causing him to grin instead.

"Remarkable," Brian, bringing up the rear, couldn't help saying under his breath as he saw it all.

Rory looked at him curiously. "What is, dad?"

"All this," he stated simply. "All these remarkable people, here, right now. They're all so different, and from so many different times and even places! And yet, we're all about to sit down to lunch, great friends. How did it ever happen?"

Amy smiled as her eyes flitted to the eldest of the Time Lords briefly. "That's the Doctor. That's what he does. And he's always good at what he does."

He observed again the deceptively young-looking man, who had once more drawn his wife, a woman he'd have been more likely to peg as a kid-sister than a granddaughter at first glance, to his side. His gaze then fell on each additional person, a vast range of age, background, and experience, as well. "For an 'ancient being' who's supposedly a danger to the universe, he's got an amazing gift," Brian intoned.

"Yep," his son nodded once, before his expression turned somewhat thoughtful. "Reckon we should've just invited the Architect to lunch?"

"Shut up," Amy said good-naturedly, and the nurse grinned right back at her.

"Thanks so much for all this, Kate," River spoke up as they reached the pavilion and were met with a long table, benches running down either side, laden down with food.

"No thanks necessary," the other woman replied as she took a seat, "the Crown was only too happy to provide the necessary funds."

"Ah, got to love an Elizabeth," the Doctor stated fondly.

"Oh you do, do you?" Amy inquired with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"Stop," the alien warned, though an amused smile came to his face and his eyes seemed to twinkle for a moment.

"Still, it'll be nice not driving back on an empty stomach," Molly came to the rescue in terms of changing the subject.

"That's right," Jenny breathed in realization. "Thanks again, you guys. I'm sorry we stole your whole holiday."

"Hey, we spent it with friends," Aaron countered with a shrug as he added, "can't think of a better week, to be honest."

"Aw, thanks Aaron!" The girl threw her arms around the ginger boy in a hug, which he belatedly returned with a pleased smile. Susan eyed the pair for a moment, before seeming to pick her spot on the bench with care, pulling Jenny down with her. Aaron ended up on the blonde's other side as Molly and Ron had left a space next to them.

"It all does look delicious, doesn't it?" Sarah Jane was the first to walk around to the other side of the table, and he and the two 'Ponds' as they were most often referred to as followed. Everyone began piling food onto their plates.

"And that's not even the best part," Jack acknowledged the woman's comment, but with an odd sort of smirk that said he was probably up to something.

"Oh?"

And then down at the other end of the pavilion, 2nd Lieutenant Gregory Jenkins emerged, pushing a cart with what was unmistakably a birthday cake on it.

"What's all this, then?" The Doctor, one of the few still standing, went up on his toes to read whatever the icing spelled out as the soldier wheeled the cart closer. "Oh, you're not serious!"

But Gregory just stopped the cart next to the Time Lord. "It was the Captain's idea," he muttered. For the words did indeed say Happy Birthday, Doctor!

"It's not even my birthday," the alien said in almost the same tone as the soldier, brows drawn down over his eyes and a puzzled quirk to his lips as if not sure what he was feeling about this.

"Oh yeah? When's your birthday?" Jack asked from his seat at the table on Rory's other side. When the time traveler merely shrugged, the immortal man smirked. "Then today's good as any. Give him the rest, Gregory."

"Please don't hate me," was all the young soldier said to the Doctor as he reached under the cloth that hung over the sides of the cart and removed a rather large, lumpy-looking sack and handed it over.

"What is this, Santa's sack of gifts?" The Time Lord queried as he peered inside. Faster than Brian could blink, however, the other man then clenched the bag shut again, a rather peeved expression coming to his face.

"What is it?" River inquired with a raised eyebrow and the beginnings of a breathy laugh escaping.

"Birthday candles," the Doctor ground out, turning a glare the Captain's way. "How many, Jack?"

"Honestly?" The immortal man gave a casual half-shrug. "I lost count. Bought out like five grocery stores, though." A laugh that seemed to struggle not turning into a giggle at the Time Lord's incredulous look came from Jack Harkness' mouth, but he wasn't the only one.

"He had me drive him, and then told me to bring the stuff out, I swear," Gregory was saying to his shoes, an embarrassed flush to his cheeks. "I'm sorry, sir."

"I'd appreciate it if next time you didn't involve my staff in a practical joke, Captain," Kate remarked, though her lips were twitching in an attempt to contain her amusement.

"Oh sure, Gregory," the Doctor was saying lightly at the same time. "You're forgiven—for now. Just you wait till your fiftieth, then we'll see who's laughing!"

"You don't even have to wait, what with the time machine," Jack added helpfully, causing the alien to whirl back in his direction.

"That's it," he snapped, stabbing at the immortal man with a finger for emphasis. "Next stop I make is New Earth!" This, for some reason, caused Martha to burst into peals of laughter that she smothered in her husband's shoulder. Mickey, for his part, waited it out and rubbed the female doctor's back with a bemused smile.

"Oh come on, dad, it's just a joke," Jenny attempted to calm her father down, though a thought seemed to occur to her as she tacked on, "though Jack better not try that on my birthday if he knows what's good for him."

"Nor mine," Susan agreed for good measure.

"Ladies, I wouldn't dare," the Captain defended, getting up from his seat to slowly approach the currently offended Time Lord. "All joking aside though, Doc, I just thought we ought to celebrate all those years, however many. Because I doubt you did."

The Doctor's shoulders relaxed somewhat as he admitted, "No, I didn't. Didn't think there was anything worth celebrating—course, I was wrong," his gaze swept up and down the table, lingering on each of them, and Brian felt oddly touched when the alien's eyes met his for just as long as the rest. "Thank you, Jack," the man said at last, and didn't resist when the Captain brought him in for a hug.

At several "Awws," from various women—and Mickey, even more mocking than the rest—the Time Lord squirmed a bit, arms flailing when the immortal man didn't immediately let go.

"Jack, I think that's good," River spoke up with a laugh, taking pity on her husband.

"No chance, Song, he's mine now," Jack growled playfully, literally lifting the Time Lord off his feet for a moment—producing quite the startled yelp—and swinging him around so he was placed down further away from the curly-haired woman.

"River!" The Doctor exclaimed in clear panic.

"Not to worry, Sweetie, he knows I have a gun," the archeologist told him calmly, returning to the salad she'd been working on previously.

Jack laughed at her nonchalance and finally released the Time Lord, who staggered away—even stumbling over the sack of birthday candles, which he somewhat viciously kicked under the table—and promptly dove for a seat next to his wife, likely deeming it as 'safe'. The others all chuckled, or in the case of some—particularly Brian, Ian, Barbara, and Susan—stared at the Captain oddly as he too returned to his seat.

"He's on the other bus," Donna was muttering helpfully in the redheaded Time Lord's ear. "Well, both buses. Every bus, really," the temp amended, causing Susan's eyebrow to rise higher with each one.

"You know, Jack, I really hope you didn't buy out the grocer near us," Martha commented, indicating herself and Mickey with a tilt of her head.

"I didn't, why?" The immortal man replied before taking another bite.

"Seriously? July 15th, two weeks," the dark-haired woman said, and when many of them looked at her blankly she shook her head with a smile. "That's Mandy's birthday, which we did agree to meet on. And I'll need candles for the cake."

"You can have those," the Doctor spoke up, not even looking surprised when River elbowed him.

"Thanks," Mickey replied with a wry smirk. "You lot don't have to come, though, I know we've sort of met up already. It's just, we sort of promised Mandy—"

"Then we'll be there," Jenny interjected for the whole group. Several of the others nodded. "Mandy's Martha and Mickey's eldest daughter," she added for the benefit of some of those who looked confused, particularly Susan next to her.

"Well great then," Martha said with a wide smile. "I'll be hard-pressed to find a spread good as this, though. Oh, and you're welcome to come, Professors," the woman said to the pair from Cambridge. "And Kate, and—ok, let's just make this simple; if you're in the pavilion right now, you're invited."

Brian wasn't the only one surprised by this declaration. Gregory looked questioningly at Mickey for a moment, who nodded, and then the soldier smiled to himself. Ron, Molly, and Aaron were all grinning now as well, and Ian and Barbara nodded their thanks. For his part, Brian felt something warm settle in his chest at the inclusion, something that seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence.

"Thank you, Martha," Barbara said aloud as well, "How old will Mandy be?"

"Five, but you don't need to get her anything," the other woman was quick to say.

"That's for us to decide, I think. A birthday's a birthday," Ian quipped rising from his seat. "And I think I'll take the liberty of cutting this particular cake."

"If you must, Charterton," the Doctor waved a dismissive hand, though Brian had been certain the man's name was Chesterton. Judging by the knowing smiles on the two professors' faces, it was.

The cake was passed around the whole group and enjoyed, with the Doctor grudgingly placing a single candle in his piece first and lighting it with the strange device called the sonic screwdriver.

"How did you do that?" Brian couldn't help wondering aloud.

The alien still answered him, however. "Oh, manipulating the sounds waves, mostly. It created a spark, which was enough to light it."

"That's amazing."

"It's hardly that. There's much more that's amazing out there," the Time Lord told him, fixing him with a strange sort of look that somehow seemed both open and considering. "Much more, Brian Pond."

"Williams," he corrected quietly, almost half-heartedly at this point. A smile spread over the Doctor's face.

"Oh, but it's Pond."

The ringing of a phone distracted everyone then, and Wilfred drew his mobile out of his pocket. "That'll be Sylvia wondering where I am. Said I'd be coming home today, she takes that to mean before noon," the older man chuckled as he shook his head.

"Well tough, you're sticking round, Wilf, and she can slap me for it if she wants," the Doctor responded flippantly. "Think I might be immune, by this point."

"Want to test it, Spaceman?" Donna said in a tone that seemed to indicate threat.

"No thank you."

Wilf chuckled again as he stood and walked away, flipping the phone open to ask, "Sylvia, love, what is it?"

Jack gave a loud sigh as he stood as well from the bench. "Guess that's my cue to start thinking about heading back to Cardiff." He stretched somewhat lazily though, taking his time.

Ron was the next to get up. "Yeah, I'd like to get going before dark myself." Molly and then Aaron, rather reluctantly, got up to join him.

"That's more of a problem for me," Sarah Jane teased, and the others all chuckled at her good humor.

"We've got a bit of a drive as well," Ian remarked, which Barbara nodded in acknowledgement of.

"And a quieter home to return to, I think," the history professor added softly, meeting Susan's eyes.

The redhead nodded. "Yes. I'll miss you both terribly, but I- I'd like to stay with Grandfather."

"If that's what you want, Susan," Ian told her with a warm smile. "You're always welcome, though."

"And visits are an option," the Doctor interjected quietly. "I do tend to get the destination right these days, most times."

"Nearly all the time if he lets me drive," River put in, causing the Cambridge professors and Susan to smile in amusement as the alien grumbled.

"Well, all this talk of driving reminds me we need to head up to Leo's to get the kids," Mickey spoke up, and Martha nodded.

"Mind if we take a half day, Kate?" She turned a slightly joking smile on the Director of UNIT.

The blonde woman merely raised an eyebrow. "You think I was paying you to sit around and eat?" The two soldiers laughed openly at this, causing her to let her smile show. "No, go and pick up the girls. Lieutenant, I think we ought to see about packing all this up," she gestured to what remained of the meal and the young man nodded. "Have someone put the leftovers in the lounge at HQ."

"Yes, ma'am," Gregory Jenkins smiled briefly before turning to speak into the radio almost always attached to his shoulder.

"Ah, that'll be a nice treat for the boys in whatever color it is you lot wear these days," the Time Lord remarked, "almost as good as Benton's coffee. Though nothing beats a cuppa made by Donna Noble, eh? Donna?"

The temp was looking down at her hands in her lap, possibly for some time which would explain the alien's bringing her into the conversation. She looked up at the Doctor before her eyes darted to the side. "Sorry. It's just, I'm thinking I might- I might stay behind this time."

"What?" Jenny exclaimed with no small amount of dismay, causing the woman to wince.

"Not forever, sweetheart," she hurried to say. "It's just, after everything, and I could have lost him…" her eyes fell on her grandfather, who was some ways away still patiently on the phone. "And anyway, I ought to check in with my mum. I'll join up with you after the party, how's that?" She finished with a soft smile the girl's way.

"Ok," Jenny agreed slowly, and in between the two Susan also nodded her assent.

"That's perfectly alright with us," River gave a more solid answer. But Donna looked questioningly to the Time Lord, who put a smile on his face and nodded, but didn't speak.

"Thanks," the redhead said. "Course, I might just call you up tomorrow, knowing my mum. And if I do, I don't want any lip, alright? Just come get me," she pointed a warning finger at the time-traveler, who was now grinning.

"Of course," he promised.

Donna then joined the group of standing people, and everyone exchanged pats on the back, handshakes, and hugs. Then people began to depart for their cars, though Donna returned briefly with Wilf so the man could give proper goodbyes as well.

There was left then the four Time Lords, Amy, Rory, and him.

"Well, got quite the busy schedule ahead of us, what with all the promised visits," the Doctor started, and Brian noticed he didn't clarify who 'we' was. "We'll space them out, of course, but let's see—Donna will be first, so that's Chiswick, then the party at the Smith-Jones house, then Ian and Barbara. How'd you like to see them on, Christmas, Susan? Oh, no wait, Christmas is with the Ponds, sorry," he babbled on, not appearing to have the intention of stopping.

Amy interjected to complain, "Oi, how come I'm always the one cooking Christmas dinner?"

"We could come early and help, mum," River offered.

"No, it's not that," Amy sighed. "Just, I guess I'm tired of only seeing you for emergencies or the obligatory 'Christmas with the in-laws'. Wouldn't mind getting to know Susan, too, by the way." Rory nodded to this as well.

"Then come along, Pond," the Doctor said, a soft smile playing at his lips. The redhead's wide eyes darted to him. "Christmas on the TARDIS is always an adventure, not to mention every other day. Plenty of days to spend with Susan, not to mention the rest of us, across all time and space."

The Scottish woman's eyes were alight now with excitement, at least until she and Rory turned as one to look at him. "What?" Brian asked in bewilderment.

"Sorry, Doctor," Rory sighed, "but Amy and I can't just leave dad after all this. It's like Donna said before." He felt shocked by this unexpected move and more than a little moved by their kindness. They were willing to give up such wonders for him.

The Doctor, however, just flatly stated, "Then bring him along." Now Brian felt absolutely stunned.

"Wait, really?" His son asked, causing the Doctor to sigh, though he seemed a bit amused by the nurse.

"Yes, really, you can bring your dad along, if only since he's a decent chap. I'll not be making a habit of this, though."

"Why didn't you just offer to take Wilf, though? You like him," Amy pointed out.

"Yes, but Sylvia would kill me if I stole her dad again," the Doctor answered with a grimace, "and there's certainly no way I could convince her to come, not that I'd try." Jenny gave a snort of amusement at that, which the Doctor gave his best impression of a stern frown at before simply grinning back at her. He then looked back to the three of them. "Brian, however, well you're a free man. What do you say?"

Now there might be the question of his life. Could he do this? Could he just go running right into a mad blue box with a mad man, knowing just what sort of a life he led and all the dangers that went with it? The rest of his family—the Ponds—had.

Brian Williams thought he would actually quite like to be a Pond.

"Well, I- I think I might give it a try," he finally answered, causing wide smiles to appear on all the others' faces, even Susan's despite her barely knowing him.

Amy, meanwhile, leapt up and punched a fist in the air. "Yes! Got my TARDIS, got my boys, got my girls—Doctor," she leaned over the table toward the Time Lord with something of a purr, "alien planet. Now."

The alien himself somehow managed to stand, spin completely around on his heels in a circle, and wind up at her side within seconds, taking up her hand. "For you, Amelia, anything." River and Rory both stood with remarkably similar smiles, and Jenny took her turn pulling Susan up out of their seats. Brian got up from the bench as well, following the whole group from the pavilion and back to where the TARDIS had been parked.

"Amy knows how to pick them," Jenny was saying excitedly to Susan. "I like Earth and all, but the other planets are so much fun!"

"I know what you mean, it's been ages for me," the other girl said in a rush. "Oh, we should go to Akhaten, they have the most wonderful markets!"

"Thanks for this, dad," Brian was once more thrown for a loop to see his son actually grinning at him, truly completely thrilled and happy. He hadn't seen that expression directed towards him since Rory had been a boy. "You won't regret it, I promise."

"I don't see how I'd be able to, Rory," he replied truthfully.

"We'll give you a full tour after the first trip—mum's a little eager," River said over her shoulder as they approached the police box. "For now, the console room's all we'll need. Don't be worried by all the controls, though, she flies like a dream. Depending on who's behind the wheel."

"Hey," the Doctor automatically objected, though not putting much heat in it. "Thought I'd let Susan give it a bit of a spin this time, and Jenny can help her. Actually," he turned and seemed to do mental count of them all. "Blimey, seven passengers! That's more than enough for a full crew. And Rory's already learning maintenance so piloting lessons are next. Maybe I ought to start teaching another one of you as well."

"You better mean me and not Brian," Amy warned, dropping the Time Lord's hand to poke him in the shoulder.

"I make no guarantees," the alien bopped her on the nose with a grin, then darted into the ship.

"Hey! Get back here, Raggedy Man!" And just like that his daughter-in-law was in hot pursuit.

River sighed. "Alright, we might have time for a tour after all." She then stepped into the TARDIS with her head held high.

"I wonder if we'll find my old room," Susan puzzled aloud, "I can't imagine it's survived all the remodeling."

"If we can't, you could always move in with me," Jenny suggested with a friendly smile, making Susan grin right back. The two girls followed after the previous three, talking animatedly to each other.

Brian turned a raised eyebrow on his son, who seemed to be expecting this. "I know. My wife and my best friend are a couple of big kids, my daughter acts more like 'mum' than anyone most of the time unless she's in a flirty mood, and my granddaughter and great-granddaughter act like normal teenagers just to weird people out when they go all super smart and science-y on them." Rory then shrugged. "I'm used to it." And with that, he entered the ship as well.

Brian thought over this, then took a deep breath and followed as a smile crept over his lips. He felt he was going to have a lot of fun getting used to it all, too.

OoO

"You don't actually do this every night," the Doctor asserted from his position on the bed, on his back fully-clothed with his feet crossed at the ankles and hands folded together behind his head.

"Of course not," River agreed soothingly and with a slight mocking lilt, not even turning her head. "I only do this when you're here, just to annoy you."

"Ha-ha," he enunciated the syllables, not really a laugh at all. "But seriously, River, one-hundred strokes? That's a myth, got started in the—"

"I know, Sweetie, and it does more harm than good. But if you were actually counting and not complaining about boredom, you'd notice I'm not even near that number." She shook the hairbrush at him, but still made no move to turn her head.

The Doctor scowled to himself, then pushed himself up into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. "Then how come it still takes forever?"

She shook her head with a sigh, but indulged his whining, at least for now. "Because curly hair tends to get a lot of knots in it, that's how. So I try to make sure that's kept to a minimum. You like my hair, yes?"

He stood and slowly approached her, watching her expression for mischief as he cautiously agreed, "Yes…"

But his wife merely met his reflection's eyes and smiled. "Then let me make sure you keep liking it. Now shush," and then she returned to her task.

She was seated at the stool in front of her vanity in their bedroom on the TARDIS, a concept that was still somehow befuddling to him. River was such a contradiction in and of herself, but a major one was how she'd seemingly domesticated him enough to marry and yet still riled him up enough that he'd face down whole armies with just her and her gun despite his more pacifist leanings.

And so he placed his hands on her shoulders just to test that she really was before him, and was met with her soft yet solid warmth along with the cool slide of the silk of her robe, a paler green this time, that she'd put on over whatever nightclothes she'd chosen to wear to bed. He judged that he'd been silent for about a minute and a half, which was a new record. She ought to be proud. "I'll always like your hair," he murmured, ducking around the brush to drop a kiss on the top of her head and take a deep breath.

She paused just as long as he lingered and then continued brushing. "Well, thank you Sweetie, but you're not the only one who has to like it. I can't be happy not being at least presentable, and for some of us that takes more work than simply rolling out of bed and running our hands through to make sure it's parted on the right side."

"Oi, I put in a bit more effort than that," he argued indignantly. Not only did the Doctor care about his appearance as well—being admittedly rather vain—he also had taken her opinion of him into consideration rather early on.

"Hm? Oh, I was thinking of dad. Poor man didn't meet a comb till he was twenty. Remember than shaggy mop he had?"

"Oh. Ah, yes, yes I do," he agreed been caught out with his protest. She'd probably planned it that way.

"Because goodness knows I'd never marry a man who can't be bothered to look in a mirror," she chose rather gracefully to just continue on, with something of a compliment thrown in to boot. He didn't know he was that lucky.

"Course not," he agreed readily, fingers gently batting at one of the many ringlets adorning her head.

"Then you'll let me carry on," she stated brightly, scooting forward in the stool so that his hands fell from her and resuming her task. "So glad we've reached this understanding."

He nearly groaned aloud in frustration, but that would mean that she'd won, which was so not happening. Instead he leaned forward and slipped his arms under hers in order to wrap them around her waist and spoke into her ear, "Any chance I can persuade you otherwise?"

"You might." He smiled and kissed her cheek for the positive answer. "What has you so determined to distract me anyway? You told mum and dad you'd be doing maintenance all night. Didn't think I'd even see you in here."

"Oh so this is just casual wear is it?" He asked in some skepticism, picking at a green silk sleeve.

"A girl can hope." River smirked at him in the mirror for a moment. "The question still stands, Doctor."

"So it does," he acknowledged. She didn't push, thankfully, just waited and brushed out the last couple curls as he tried to gather some sort of reply. It wasn't that he had no answer; he just wasn't sure he wanted to really say said answer. "Well I suppose, after the day we've had, first trip with the Ponds and Susan all together, I just thought it might be nice to, ehm…" He trailed off and removed one of his arms to flail a bit signifying his distress.

"Nice to what, Doctor?" She prompted softly.

"Wish you goodnight. Maybe," he tacked on at the end, as he often did, but she still favored him with a warm smile, which he actually got to see with his own eyes for she turned in his arms to look at him.

"It would be nice," she agreed, mercifully choosing not to poke fun at his difficulty in voicing such a request. One of the many wonderful things about his wife was that she knew just when and how far to push him, and about which things. She tilted her head up and met his lips in a tender, yet chaste, kiss.

He pulled away with a smile and straightened back up. "Well, goodnight, dear." But as he turned, something snagged one of his braces. Which turned out to be River's hand.

"Oh, you thought that was it?" She asked rhetorically, one of her smug smiles on her face now. "No, no, Doctor."

"What do you—"

"Well here I thought I was going to have to physically tear you away from the console, but you came and found me. Makes things much easier." At his continued confusion, her teasing smile dimmed some and her voice turned a bit more serious. "You haven't slept since the Tribunal, which was enough in itself to exhaust anyone, and that's without me even knowing all the details of whatever trip you took to Craig's not to mention today's adventure. You'll run yourself into the ground at this pace."

"I'm fine," he started to insist, but she simply stood up, scooting the stool aside with one leg in order to step in close. Her one hand remained gripping the strap of his braces, though less tightly, while the other pressed into his chest, between his hearts.

"I'm not saying you aren't," she told him, which was neither agreeing or disagreeing with him, but it was respecting the fact that he was trying. More than he might've gotten from someone else. "But it'll be much easier to be fine if you take care of yourself. Come to bed, my love."

"You know, that might be only the second time in my life you've said that with absolutely innocent intentions," he said so he could delay trying to refuse her, even as his hands came to rest on her hips, thumbs tracing the smooth silk.

River's lips turned up in a wicked smirk and she slid both hands up to loop around his neck. He obligingly loosed his hold on her hips to instead wrap his arms fully around her so she could shift in even closer. "Well, if it's my intentions you're seeing fault in, maybe I need to change tactics."

"Maybe you do," he breathed, thinking it might not be so bad to give in. Just this once. He leaned the rest of the way in to brush her warm, soft lips with his own, but River had decidedly different ideas about how this kiss was ending and, as usual in these matters, he followed her lead, leaving his head spinning.

"'Some other night', you said," she reminded, a soft gasped whisper in his ear, and he nodded vigorously, a bit too busy wondering where his jacket had gone when he didn't think she'd even moved her arms to verbally respond. "If this is 'some other night' I've no objections, but you are actually sleeping tonight, Doctor."

He couldn't help grinning into her neck, which was stretched out before him as she had to strain to reach his ear in her slippers. Pulling her in a bit more snugly against him to take most of her weight, he kissed the cream-colored skin there, making up his mind to actually answer her in the next breath.

But the door banged open and a familiar voice said, "And this is mum and dad's room in case you need to find them, but they're not usually in here—oh! Except now." He didn't need to look to know Jenny now wore a rather surprised and sheepish expression. He did check, however, to see that Susan was staring at the pair of them with wide eyes and a rapidly reddening face not quite the shade of her hair, but getting close. "Sorry," his daughter added in a mutter.

He dropped his head to rest against River's shoulder in a desperate attempt to just ignore this was happening, but wasn't helped by the slight tremble to her body that indicated she was trying to hold in laughter, either for his or Susan's benefit. Probably Susan's; she would have laughed out loud had anyone else caught them.

Wait, caught them? It was their bedroom on his ship, for crying out loud! "Knock, Jenny, you're supposed to knock," he gave the somewhat muffled command.

"I know, I said sorry!" The girl exclaimed, clearly embarrassed, and with a steadying exhale he finally stepped away from River and looked to see her cheeks, too, were pink. Both girls were dressed for sleep, Jenny in her favorite blue robe, and Susan in one of pale yellow.

"Ok, ok," he said, holding up both hands in a gesture for her to calm. He hadn't meant to upset either of them. And it really could have been much worse.

"What's all the noise?" First Rory then Amy poked their heads around the doorframe, and he had to wonder just why the TARDIS had deemed it necessary to place them right down the hall tonight. Probably to express her displeasure at being stuck on the golf course for so long.

He ignored the two Ponds in favor of turning to place one hand to the nearest wall and silently pleading with Sexy to forgive him; she really could have locked the door in the first place. Of course, neither of his two friends were idiots and easily read the situation, and Rory predictably started stammering causing River to have to actually press a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing.

Amy, for her part, grinned and stepped fully inside. "Uh-oh, Doctor, disturb the children? Figures you have the equivalent of the penthouse in this ship," she added as she shuffled about to look at everything, eyes lingering on both the vanity and the walk-in practically room of a closet.

"You think this is for me?" He huffed with a laugh. "And yes, do come in, Pond."

"Thanks, you shouldn't have," she returned just as sweetly for his snark.

"Actually, we only were checking to see why somebody yelled," Rory excused, "so maybe we ought to go."

"What's everyone doing in the hall?" Brian was heard before he, too, appeared in the doorway, also dressed in nightclothes, and the Doctor decided that yes, it was indeed worse.

"Er, just talking. What are you doing up, dad?" Rory asked the rather sensible question.

"I was looking for the bathroom."

"But there's one attached to every room, Jenny told me," Susan spoke up, seeming to be able to ignore her mortification in the face of a new topic.

"Is there? I didn't want to open any doors, I didn't know what all I was allowed to use."

"Were you expecting to find a sign for a public restroom?" The Doctor couldn't help demanding incredulously, to which Brian simply shrugged.

"Right, well speaking of bathrooms, I think I'll just go put away the rest of my things since somebody made me move out and back in again this past week," River said, moving her mother, who was examining the polished mirror on the vanity, in order to grab up a bag of toiletries. As she passed his wardrobe, however, she also reached in and grabbed a set of his nightclothes, which she handed off to him before going into the bathroom and shutting the door.

He looked up to find everyone else still standing there, simply looking at him. No one seemed sure what to say. "What?"

Brian was the first to speak up. "I didn't know aliens had pajamas."

"Yes, we do," he answered flatly, "and we have bedrooms which, just like all of yours, come equipped with both closet and en suite, so this particular one isn't all that interesting. The only remotely interesting thing about it is that is mine, and my wife's, so if you are not her," he chose to merely make some shooing motions, not really trusting himself to remain polite.

"Of course. Goodnight, Grandfather!" Susan yanked on Jenny's arm and the two practically fled the scene.

Amy pouted and took plenty of time crossing back over the threshold. "Alright, Mr. Grumpy Face, Rory and I can tell when we're not wanted."

"Right. Um, goodnight," the nurse said, following after his own wife.

Brian was still standing there, however, and when the Doctor just fixed him with a look he said, "Sorry, it's just, I don't quite remember where my room is."

Slapping a hand to his forehead, the Doctor snapped, "Wait there, give me half a minute," before shutting the door in the man's face. He could sense that exhaustion River had been talking about setting in. He took the time specified to change, stopping over by the closet for his own red bathrobe and slippers. Taking a deep breath and feeling much calmer, and a little badly for the somewhat harsh treatment he'd given Rory's father, he opened the door, somewhat surprised to find the man actually waiting just as he'd directed. Any other companion would have just stormed off in a huff intent on finding the room themselves, only to end up lost for the next two hours until he found them.

"Ok," he said. "Let's try that again, shall we? Now, the actual placement of the rooms isn't fixed, it can change." He explained a bit about the TARDIS' telepathic capabilities, to which Brian nodded along, seeming genuinely interested and impressed by the information. They came to a stop before the man's door and he gave a grand sweep of his arm. "And here we are."

"Thank you. Goodnight, Doctor." The other man opened the door and stepped in, but looked back at him for a moment.

"Goodnight, Brian," he replied, and they each turned away. He certainly was much more relaxed after the brief walk with the other man, and already regretting his waspish behavior from earlier. Amy and Rory could take it, he knew, but Jenny and Susan…

No doubt reading the direction of his thoughts, the next door the Old Girl placed in his path was in fact Jenny's. "Thanks, dear," he murmured before reaching out and knocking twice.

"Come in!" Jenny called, and so he opened the door, pleasantly surprised to find two beds now in the room and Susan sitting on the other one. He'd been unaware of that development. "Dad!" Jenny said in some surprise of her own.

"There, you see, Jenny? That is how you knock," he decided to begin. "Your dear old dad, teaching you something new every day."

"Please don't rub it in…" the blonde almost moaned as she flopped face-first into her pillow. Susan was intently studying her toes.

"Hey, it's alright," he walked over to the daughter's bedside and touched her gently on the shoulder. "You didn't mean any harm, it was an honest mistake." When she chanced looking up at him, he gave her his own sheepish smile. "I'm sorry if I snapped."

"Oh, that's ok," she smiled, getting up on her knees to hug him. "Tell mum I'm sorry, too."

"I think she found it more funny than anything," he remarked with a roll of his eyes. River Song refused to be embarrassed in such situations, but she would take great pleasure in his own embarrassment.

"So is the ban on your room lifted?" Susan inquired from her bed, and he let go of Jenny to look and see her worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

He patted the bed to indicate that Jenny should sit, and as she did he beckoned Susan over. When both girls were seated he took the spot between them, wrapping one arm each around them. "Yes. There is and never will be a ban. If you ever need me, I want you to come find me straight away, wherever you are or wherever I am. That goes for both of you, understand? You're my girls." They each smiled warmly and almost in unison kissed his cheeks. Blinking back a sudden wetness at his eyes, the Doctor cleared his throat and reminded, "Just, you know, knock."

Jenny and Susan both laughed and hugged him, which he returned for a long moment. "Right then, lights out. Plenty to do and see in the morning."

Susan returned to her bed and she and Jenny got under their covers as he opened the door and turned out the light.

"Goodnight, dad."

"Goodnight, Grandfather."

"Goodnight, girls."

His hearts feeling all the lighter, he shut the door and continued on his way. He supposed he could always make things up with the Ponds tomorrow, though perhaps it might not be prudent to wait. Their room happened to be on the way back anyway, and so he paused outside and knocked lightly, only to be met with Amy's groggy yell of, "Ugh, you're forgiven, just let us sleep!"

Chuckling to himself, the Doctor finally returned to his room. "And what sort of time do you call this?" His wife was sitting up under the covers, reading some archeology tome or another.

"Now who's impatient?" He teased, toeing off his slippers and hanging his robe off the bedpost, pulling back the covers enough that he could get underneath as well.

River raised as eyebrow at him and set aside the book on the nightstand. "What, no cajoling you to think of your health, no striking tempting poses, no lulling you into unconsciousness by reading aloud? I had rather liked where we were going before all the interruptions," she remarked.

"Sleep, River," he said, leaning over her to turn off her lamp and leaving them in darkness as he settled in under the covers and she slowly slipped down until she was lying on her back.

"This is married life, then, is it?"

"This is old people life," he mumbled into his pillow before rolling onto his side to address her properly, "I'll show you married life tomorrow."

"Ooh, looking forward to it, Doctor."

"I quite agree, Mrs. Doctor." He pecked her on the lips before wrapping her once more in his arms, for the first time in ages perfectly content to shut his eyes and drift off to his dreams.

OoO

Mandy was five and she was quickly deciding five was the worst. Sure, most of the guests had arrived, but they were all chatting about grown-up things and only chiding her to be patient for presents and cake, and all Mummy had done for the past half-hour was show off how Michelle was starting to toddle when you held her hands and went really slow. Big deal, Mandy had been walking for nearly forever.

But it wasn't the lack of presents or cake or even everyone paying attention to Michelle that had her in a bad mood. Her Mummy and Daddy had promised and it was her birthday. So where were they?

"Oh, Donna, she held out about a week before calling him back for her, bless her heart," old Mr. Mott was chuckling as he talked to Captain Jack and Lieutenant Gregory.

"Well of course people wondered where we went all of a sudden, but it wasn't as bad as coming back after being gone for two years," the nice lady Mummy had said was a professor was saying to Mummy and Daddy's boss while the nice man, who Mummy had said was also a professor and like how Daddy was to Mummy except they didn't have any kids, stood with them.

Three of the other nice people were chatting with Miss Sarah Jane, and she seemed to be telling the ginger one about being an investigative journalist, whatever that was. The boy seemed really interested.

But Mandy continued to sigh and tap her foot. At least, until a wind started to whip at her party dress and a funny wheezing sound drowned out the noise her shoe made on the floor. A grating, groaning soon followed, which everybody looked up at.

It was Grandmum's deep frown and roll of her eyes, though, that let Mandy know for sure. It was them.

A grin on her face, she quickly rushed out onto the back lawn where the blue box now stood. The doors open, and out came Miss Donna, who spotted her and smiled.

"Oi, Spaceman! You got it right!" She hollered back into the ship.

"Course he did," Jenny's head was the next to poke out the doors, followed by the rest of her. "I'm the best at calibrating the distance coordinates."

"It's hardly my fault we're now using an old yardstick to do so," Miss Susan, the girl Mummy had mentioned would be coming, stated as she emerged as well. "We used to have the proper instrument, but I'll get used to it eventually."

"Well, I can't imagine parts for a spaceship time machine are easy to come by," Mr. Brian added to the funny conversation happening on her back lawn.

"Never mind that there seems to be an endless supply of thermo couplings," Mr. Rory stepped out next, quickly followed by Miss Amy.

"I don't even get to touch those, let alone the yardstick."

"It's probably for the best, mum," Miss River hedged as she joined everyone out on the grass.

A general muttering rose up as everyone started to speak again now that they were all assembled. At least, almost all of them.

And that was when his voice rang out from inside the strange box. "Are you lot still going on about driving?" And suddenly the funny man—who wasn't always funny, but that made the times he was funnier—from all Mummy and Daddy's stories burst out of the blue doors. "And why does this look more like a book club meeting? Waiting on us doesn't have to be a chore. And the TARDIS gets enough attention the rest of the time." All of the adults in the house had finally followed her, and he fixed them and the ones on the lawn with a stern look. "Shame on you! That's not important right now."

Walking forward, the Doctor crouched down before her with a wide smile. "Happy Birthday, Mandy."

He got her first five year-old hug; it was far from the last she'd give that day. And suddenly being five was wonderful.

So yeah, that is the conclusion of the trilogy. It's incredibly long, I know. Sorry about that if it dragged, couldn't seem to find a good ending point, or perhaps it was just reluctance to let it end. I don't really know what to say, really. This is a journey for me, and those of you who've been reading since the start, two years ago. Just when I was running out of creative stream as far as writing (fanfiction or otherwise), I took a chance one summer and watched a show called "Doctor Who" and was hooked. "It Can Come Back" was the first thing I ever tried to write for this fandom, and it just took off. I've hardly ever had more fun for writing for any audience than the people on hear who read and review Doctor Who stories. So thank you. This is by no means the end of my fanfiction career, but it's the end (as far as I can see) of an ongoing project that I've tried to place my best effort in. Whether you've been along for the ride since the beginning, picked it up somewhere in the middle, or just read the whole thing in a rush and finished right now (or even parts, I won't judge), I just want to say thanks. Thank you all so much for every positive word, every show of support by broadcasting on your profile you thought this was worth reading, or even just letting me know you were following along and wanted to know immediately when the next installment came out. It all means more than I can say. And so I must now make one more request for this series, that you let me know your thoughts on this completed work. Thank you so much for reading, and please review!

Many thanks,

Dobby's Polka-Dotted Sock