*Hello one and all! Welcome, to my new AU, The Year of the Doctor! This is going to be a nice, cheery, fluffy and hopefully smutty AU, set in 2014. The set up is fairly easy, one chapter for every month of 2014, plus this prologue. This means the chapters will most likely be longer (maybe 4000/5000 words we'll see). I'm going to post the chapters ASAP, but at most one a day. The next one (January) should be up tomorrow but no promises. Anyway, I really hope you guys like it, thanks for reading and please please let me know your thoughts on this prologue. Lots of love: The Potter Doctor*

December 31st 2014

The last time Clara had been to this New Year's Party, she had been single, dragged along by her flat mate. Now…now she was going with a date. The word 'date' seemed so trivial after everything that had happened but she supposed that was what it was. They arrived at the party together, linking arms as they stepped out the back of the taxi, Clara blushing slightly as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. She moved in to straighten his bow tie. And then they were moving inside. The location was different to the previous year, but it all had the same feel to it, a bit stuffy, a bit lethargic and Clara still felt like an outsider. She clung a little closer to her date, who kissed the top of her head as she did so. He went to grab them drinks and suddenly she was alone in the insanity of the party, people locked in conversation, nobody so much as giving her a second glance. She wasn't surprised. She wasn't special or well-known. She only felt special when she was with him.

He was coming back towards her now, his black suit undone and two champagne glasses, one in each hand. He was grinning like a twelve year old child, the grin that she had fallen in love with. He handed her a glass and she sipped from it tentatively, blushing slightly as his hand lingered on hers for just a moment longer than it needed to, extenuating the contact between them. As she sipped, he took a deep breath and hopped up and down slightly. She raised an eyebrow at his odd behaviour.

"You alright?" she asked, putting her free hand on his shoulder. He didn't quite flinch away from the contact, but she had no doubt in her mind it still had the same electrifying effect on him that it did on her, even after so long.

"Fine," he replied with a shaky smile. "I'm just nervous."

"Nervous about what?" Clara laughed. "Don't tell me you believe this nonsense about 2015 being the end of the world?" she snorted and he chuckled nervously.

"Don't be stupid!" he sounded genuine, so clearly it was something else bothering him. Clara looked him up and down, trying to assess exactly what was wrong with her boyfriend. She could normally tell, so it was slightly frustrating that her radar was so off. "It's just…tonight is a big night is all."

"Okay then," Clara rolled her eyes. He could be very cryptic when he wanted to be. But that was alright, he could be as cryptic as he wanted. She didn't care, she loved him. She was hungry, so she shot over to the food stand to grab some nibbles, collating Pringles like they were fairy dust. She could see him watching her and blushed, grabbing a handful of pigs in blankets and passing them to him. He shovelled them into his mouth and muttered something completely unintelligible. Clara patted his arm playfully. She glanced up at the clock. It was 9:25. Just over two and a half hours until midnight.

Clara set about mingling, looking for Nina. Her friend was always fashionably late; it was one of the many things that infuriated Clara about her. Still, she would have hoped that Nina would be here by now. She spent the next hour or so looking for Nina, whilst her better half chatted with some of his colleagues. It still weirded her out when he talked technical, it was like he was an entirely different person. And, as ever, she only understood about half of what he was saying. She had felt out of place last year and she didn't feel less out of place this year. Then, Nina came crashing in, a glass of champagne in hand and she squealed when she saw Clara, the two colliding in a fierce hug.

"I've not seen you since…" Nina trailed off with a grin. "How the fuck are things with that handsome man of yours?"

"Amazing," Clara replied, a smile lighting up her face. "Truly amazing. I can never thank you enough for…"

"For dragging you to this same shitty party this time last year?" Nina snorted. "Don't mention it. It was my pleasure. I've never seen you happier Clara."

"I've never been happier," she admitted. "It's good to see you Nina, it's been too long."

The two girls chatted away for what seemed like forever and before Clara knew it, midnight was approaching. It was 11:50 and she crashed into his arms, having had maybe one too many glasses of champagne. He chuckled as he caught her, smoothing out her dress and moving a stray strand of her fringe out of her eye. She smiled sweetly up at him and moved closer to him, so that they were barely a hair's breadth apart, completely oblivious to anyone else in the room. In the world. 11:52.

"Ready for 2015?" he asked with a cheeky look on his face.

"It can't be better than 2014," she answered, the smile creeping wider so that it almost consumed her face. He blushed at that, as she had expected him to. One whole year of knowing him, it hardly seemed possible. As the seconds ticked down, she felt him gradually moving away from her, giving himself a bit of breathing room. At first, she felt a touch disappointed. Then, as the clock hit 11:59, he stepped back properly and got down on one knee. Clara stopped breathing. Her heart stopped working. Everything stopped and there was only him, pulling something out of his pocket and saying words that barely registered in her brain.

"Clara Oswald. I may have only known you for a year, but it has been the best year of my life and I would not trade a second of it for anything in the world. I know you feel the same way that I do. So, Clara Oswald, I think you know what's coming next. Will you marry me?"

The clock struck midnight. Happy New Year.

Twelve months earlier…

Clara Oswald sat in her bedroom, curling her hair lightly. As she wrapped another strand of chocolate brown hair around the wand, tugging at it gently so that it fell perfectly into place, she once again considered making an excuse to not go. It wasn't as if Nina needed her to go, not really. Nina insisted that she didn't know that many people, but Clara sensed it was something more than that. It had been six months since she had kicked Danny out and moved in with Nina, and in that time, her oldest friend had spent a long time trying to convince her to get back on the horse. But Clara hadn't found anyone else. She didn't want to find anyone. She'd been on a handful of useless dates Nina had begged her to try, but they had all been disasters. The truth was, none of them were Danny and Danny had been perfect. On paper. Then, he'd slept with Lucy from down the shop and everything had unravelled. Clara was 27 and she had been with Danny for almost three years, living with him for over 18 months. Losing him had been a setback.

But she'd coped. She'd thrown herself into her work. Clara was a teacher at Coal Hill School and she loved it. The kids were great, the teachers were all nice and she'd made a good set of friends there. The only problem was Danny still worked there. Part of her had selfishly hoped he'd had the shame to quit after cheating on her, but she had never really expected him to leave. At least he was staying out of her way, desperate not to incur her wrath in front of the entire staffroom.

Nina had other ideas about what coping involved. Clara was happy, for the most part. She didn't feel as if anything was missing. Yes, there would be nights of staying up late, eating too much ice cream and crying at sad films, but she had been doing that before. Just with Danny. Nevertheless, Nina was determined to set Clara up with some bloke and she was convinced that that was what this party was about. However, Clara was sceptical of the quality of man she'd find at the New Year's Party for the Chemistry and Physics Departments at University College London. Nina worked in the Chemistry Department over at UCL; she had finished her Masters and was doing a PHD. Clara was invited to her party as Nina's plus one, though mostly it was just so older professors could bring along their partners. Clara highly doubted that there would be many faculty members young enough or eligible enough.

And yet, even as she reasoned out all the rational thoughts that were convincing her not to go, she figured that it couldn't hurt. After all, it was New Year, the biggest party night of the year and if she didn't go, then she'd just be sitting in her bedroom alone with a glass of wine. Whilst there was something inherently appealing to the idea, it would merely serve to perpetuate the idea that Nina had of her, as some lonely old spinster. It had been so long since Clara had dressed up nicely and gone out to drink and have fun.

Nina rapped on her door and Clara looked up. Her friend looked stunning, her jet black hair cascading down her back, the cream of the dress perfectly contrasting with her dark skin. She hadn't done her makeup yet, Clara noted, but Nina's eyes were still dazzling as they ran up and down Clara.

"Are you nearly ready?" Nina asked, a casualness to her voice. Nina was never the type to worry and Clara strongly suspected that even if she was ready, they wouldn't be leaving for another hour or so, because Nina was a firm believer in the idea of being fashionably late to everything and dragging Clara along with her mediocre pacing. It was somewhat infuriating.

"Nearly," Clara replied cheerfully. Her hair was almost finished now, hanging in ringlets around her shoulders and she was wearing her long, strapless crimson dress, shooting past her knees but clinging tight to her body. "Are we doing each other's makeup?"

"Nah," Nina rolled her eyes. "You never put enough on and then you always whine that I put too much on. Nice dress by the way."

"Ditto," Clara grinned, running a hand through her hair, trying to muss it up a little bit more as she scrunched mousse into it. Nina shot a look down at herself and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"This old thing?" she was smirking now. "I just threw it on. Okay, I'll be doing my makeup in my room, come get me when you're done."

And then she left Clara alone to her thoughts. Clara focused on her makeup, allowing herself not to get torn up in another internal battle about how she was going to spend her night. It was too late to back down now. She'd go to Nina's stupid party and maybe flirt with a bloke or two to keep Nina happy and then tomorrow she could go back to being anti-social. She was back to work in a few days anyway, the Christmas break was almost over. She focused her energy on not stabbing herself in the eye as she applied eyeliner and mascara, flecks of black sticking to her eyelashes.

It took Clara another fifteen minutes before she was grabbing her handbag, slipping into her high heels, red to match the dress, and knocking on Nina's bedroom door. She heard a muffled shout of a response from Nina and about a minute later, her door flew open, almost knocking Clara clean out. She'd almost forgotten Nina's violent treatment of doors and just managed to step back in time. She looked incredible as Clara had expected, her makeup perfect. Whilst Clara didn't like it when Nina put that amount of makeup on Clara herself, she had to admit that it worked really well for Nina. Nina eyed Clara up and down, training her eye over every element of Clara's body. Clara hated it when she did that, it always made her feel so self-conscious. Eventually, Nina nodded.

"You look hot," she announced. Clara flushed red at that.

"Thanks," Clara replied with a weak smile. Compliments always disarmed her. "You too."

They left their flat and took the steps down to the bottom floor of their block, where the taxi Nina had booked was waiting for them. Their driver complained about them taking their time but Nina merely rolled her eyes and promised him a decent tip. The drive to the bar that had been rented out by the university consisted off Nina listing off blokes for Clara. It seemed that now she actually had Clara in the taxi, on her way to the event and it was too late for Clara to back down, she was going to relay her true purpose for the evening, as if Clara hadn't already guessed exactly what was coming.

"And then there's Steve!" Nina nattered. "He's really handsome, but maybe not the best track record, so perhaps play it cautionary with that one…"

Clara zoned her out, listening to the sounds of the streets of London instead, occasionally nodding when Nina mentioned a bloke that she considered especially viable. The names kept coming; one after the other, and Clara suspected that even if she had been paying attention, she still wouldn't have been able to remember over half of them. Eventually, the taxi pulled up outside the bar, Nina paid him and Clara was finally able to escape the conversation. She was eternally grateful for it.

Once she was into the bar, into the bowels of the party itself, she had to admit that she didn't feel any better, even locked arms with Nina, who seemed right at home. There were so many people, it was almost packed to the rafters and Clara recognised almost none of them, except one or two people that she'd met before, friends of Nina. She was hoping Nina wouldn't leave her to sink or swim, but she strongly suspected that that might be the case; her friend was very good at leaving her out to dry.

The two girls picked their way to the bar, where Nina ordered fancy champagne and Clara stuck with a cheap glass of wine, shrugging when Nina raised an eyebrow. On a teacher's salary, Clara wasn't exactly loaded. Neither was Nina, but she liked the finer things in life and wasn't about to let her overdraft stop her. As Clara sipped on her wine, Nina was going to town on her champagne. Clara tried to stick close to her friend, but Nina was like a ghost and very good at ditching Clara. The amount of house parties they had attended when they were younger that Clara had ended up alone at was unreal. One moment, Nina had been by her side, the next she was gone, probably making out with some bloke and Clara wouldn't see her again until the next morning. She had a strong suspicion that Nina was gone for good, but you could never tell with Nina.

Clara worked her way back, away from the bar, wine in hand, desperate to find a friendly face among the strangers. She felt hopeless and was starting to miss the idea of sticking on a shitty film and curling up in bed. Most of the people she was edging her way past were a lot older, most in their 40s at least, with the odd 30-something pegged around. They were all talking science as well, snippets of conversation shooting right over Clara's head. This was rapidly turning into her worst expectations of the night and cursed herself for letting Nina drag her into it. She eventually managed to find a quiet corner, with a handful of people and a loo. She finished her glass and threw herself into the Ladies, desperate for a piss suddenly and wanting to get out of that stuffy, alien atmosphere.

Clara caught sight of her reflection as she washed her hands. She had to admit, that she wasn't looking half bad. But she felt so small, that feeling multiplied when there were so many people around. She sighed and stepped out, back into the party. She looked around, despairing for anyone to start a conversation with. She caught sight of a man, around her age by the looks of it, sat alone with a beer and she crossed the distance between them, lingering awkwardly by his chair for a moment before thrusting herself into the chair next to him. He glanced awkwardly at her and then went back to staring at his drink. She took a deep breath and shifted her chair slightly to face him and stuck out a hand, going red as she did so.

"Hi!" she greeted. "Clara."

The man looked up, startled almost. He struck her as a physicist. He was wearing a purple tweed jacket and matching bow tie and he had crazy hair and an even crazier chin. He shuffled nervously with his bow tie and cleared his throat before shaking her hand.

"John," he replied in a quiet voice. "Most people call me the Doctor."

"Why do most people call you the Doctor?" Clara asked. This wasn't the way she had expected the conversation to go, but her interest was piqued.

"Because whenever anyone in the department needs anything fixed…" he shrugged. "I'm your guy. I'm guessing you're Chemistry, I've not seen you around the department and I have a pretty good memory for faces."

He didn't strike her as a confident person. He was still talking in that fairly quiet voice, so low that Clara strained to hear him. He rarely looked at her, far more interested in his knees and he kept fiddling with his bow tie, as if it would ever be straight. Clara almost wanted to straighten it herself, it was infuriating her so much, but that would probably startle the complete stranger she had desperately tried to grapple into awkward conversation.

"No I'm not Chemistry," Clara replied in a conversational tone, checking her watch to see how long it was until midnight and until she could make her excuses and leave. Too long was the answer. "I'm an English teacher, I'm just here for a friend. Who has left me to rot, so it seems." Clara hadn't meant to unleash her frustration at Nina onto this Doctor, but it was impossible to keep the frustration out of her voice. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and Clara bit her lip. "Sorry, it's just annoying, I've been left alone on New Year's."

"I know how you feel," he replied with a sigh. "I was sick of being alone, so I came to this stupid party and look how much of a failure that turned out to be. I wished I'd stayed at home, watching rubbish online and trying to quantify some coordinates. Life sucks."

Clara found herself nodding at that. It looks like they had something in common then. He managed to pluck up the courage to look her in the eyes and she was able to pick out the gold flecks in his startling green eyes. She felt her cheeks pinking up and smiled at him warmly, a smile he returned.

"Well we're both here," Clara said, more bravely than she felt. "We might as well make the most of it. Can I get you a drink?"

It was his turn to flush, but he didn't stammer or flail his words, as Clara had half-expected.

"That is a wonderful attitude to take, Clara," he said her name delicately, like it was a rose petal. "I wish I had your optimism. I will however, take you up on your offer for a drink."

They crossed back to the bar and Clara ordered two glasses of champagne, suddenly feeling more adventurous and hoping that Nina wasn't watching her or she'd never live it down. She chinked glasses with the Doctor and they started drinking. She half-expected him to choke on the champagne but he saw it off quickly, a look of distaste in his eyes. Clara knew the type. He'd been a heavy drinker in the past, maybe some time recently. There were only a handful of reasons one turned to alcohol like that. She didn't want to pry, but she made a mental note to ask Nina about it later, maybe she knew John from the Physics labs, called himself the Doctor.

"So John," she tried, watching his face to judge his reaction. He looked surprised but pleasantly so. Maybe he was so used to people calling him the Doctor, that he'd almost forgotten people called him by his real name. "What do you do at the university?"

"I'm an experimental physicist," he explained. "I finished my PHD five years ago, the university pays me a lot of money to occasionally publish a paper and spend my life developing technology for them. I get a lot of freedom to do what I love, which is really why I'm doing it."

"Freedom to do what you love," Clara repeated, mulling the words over in her head. "That sounds nice," she mused. He had a concerned look on his face and she snapped back to reality, returning to her champagne glass. "I love what I do," she clarified, to answer his unasked question. "But sometimes it can be a pain. The paperwork, the regulations…sometimes I wish teaching was simpler, just you and the kids," she admitted.

"You must really love children," John thought out loud. "To dedicate your life to them the way that you do."

Clara thought over that comment. She did love kids, she supposed. But she also knew what it was like to be a teenager and have your entire life collapse around you. She wanted to give something back, try to stop anyone feeling the way she felt at that age. She swept her hair out of her eye and smiled, nodding as she did so. She and the Doctor, as she took to calling him as he clearly looked uncomfortable when she called him John, talked for another hour or so, mainly about work but about other, more interesting topics as well. Then, Nina came crashing over, the clock struck midnight, and the evening was over.

Clara wasn't sure what to make of this John, the Doctor, whatever he called himself. He didn't ask her for his number and she didn't want to make the first move, so she awkwardly waved him goodnight and then followed Nina to the taxi. By the next day, she had almost completely forgotten him. He was just another nice guy, nothing special, nothing to think about again. She had absolutely no idea just exactly how wrong she was. Because she would see the Doctor again. And when she did…he would end up changing her life.