Chapter 25 – This Is Your Life
Allowing the gaggle of witches and wizards into her TARDIS first, Romana allowed them a couple of moments to look around. The impact of the 'bigger on the inside' nature of the ship was lost on the group, the wizarding world's expansion charms made the internal dimensions of the TARDIS seem normal. The centre console and time rotor though was gaining some attention, the circuitry and technology was probably more advanced than some had seen in their entire lives. As she carefully closed the door she heard a comment from Mrs Weasley, "Doesn't feel very homely".
Romana had to laugh, that probably wasn't something anyone had said about a TARDIS ever. "This is just the control room Mrs Weasley", Romana replied, "there's further living spaces through the door over there", she pointed towards the opening at the far end of the ship.
"How big is this thing?" Tonks asked.
"Infinite, in theory at least", Romana shrugged, "some Time Lords were know to get lost inside their ships". The Time Lady slowly approached the console and flicked a couple of switches which illuminated the walls of the TARDIS, "So the boys said you wanted to talk", she perched herself on the console, "where did you want to begin?"
The Time Lady watched as the older members of the Order looked amongst themselves, clearly deciding who was going to speak first, "Time Lords and your home planet", Kingsley spoke for the group, "can you tell us more?"
Breathing a sigh of relief that their first question wasn't about the War, Romana lifted a small panel on the console. The Type 80 TARDIS had a special feature which allowed her thoughts to be projected onto the walls of the ship. It would be much easier to show everyone than using her words. The walls changed to show the surface of Gallifrey with its long red grass and silver trees. A stab of pain shot through Romana's hearts, seeing images of her lost home was going to hurt for a long time, "It's beautiful", Luna gasped.
"I've never seen anything like this", Bill marvelled, "this is truly spectacular".
"Oh you should've been the view over the mountains when the suns rose", Romana gave a watery smile. Almost on cue the images change to reflect her thoughts, "Wait for it", he pointed at the second sun about to rise. The inky darkness of the sky gave way to a flash of red as the first of the morning rays hit the surface, "Truthfully though Time Lords never ventured too far out from the city", she continued, "we preferred the comfort and security of the dome".
Zooming out from the mountains, the group found themselves looking down over the domed capital of Gallifrey, "Merlin", Mr Weasley wheezed, "this place is enormous".
"Yes it was", Romana sank into herself, "the shining world of the seven galaxies they called it". She held back a tear, refusing to show weakness in front of this group, "But as I said it's gone now, taking most of my people with it".
Romana felt Harry and Ron close ranks but she mentally pushed them away, this was part of her healing was for her to experience alone, "You mentioned a war", Kingsley continued, asking the question Romana knew was going to come up at some point.
"A terrible war yes", Romana took a couple of deep breathes, "between my people and the Daleks". Her thoughts drifted towards those days which unfortunately had an effect on the projection. On the walls a couple of Daleks appeared, their eye stalks glowing menacingly as they seemed to roll in her direction.
Instantly Romana recoiled and went for her weapon, a habit brought on by years of battle. Her arms were shaking violently but the Daleks didn't get any closer. The Time Lady suddenly remembered that she was safe in her TARDIS and these weren't real Daleks. Lowering her weapon, she hung her head, "I'm sorry but could we talk about something else", she whispered, "I'm not ready to relive the death of billions just yet".
There was a tense silence as Romana carefully re-holstered her weapon but their thoughts were easy to read, a mixture of pity and shared pain. She slowed her heartbeats with a couple of deep breathes and forces a few loose strands of hair back into her ponytail. Ready to face everyone again she slowly raised her head. Most were looking at her with sympathy, especially Mrs Weasley. Kingsley was proving harder to read, his occulmancy shields must be strong to resist a Time Lady, "I'm sorry for shouting at you", Tonks mumbled, "I don't think we truly understood".
Romana wanted to shout at the woman, berate the metamorph for disbelieving her suffering. She held her tongue though, remembering that it was a difficult time for everyone. Death and grief wasn't something that only she could experience, "Heat of the moment, all forgotten about", she said quickly.
"Tell them about regeneration", Ron injected, saving Romana from further embarrassing questions, "this bit is really cool".
"Alright", Romana gave him a warm smile, "regeneration is something unique to Time Lords. When our body dies, either through old age or physical damage, we can repair or regenerate ourselves into something new".
"When your body dies?" Mrs Weasley gasped, "so you've died before?"
"Three times technically", Romana shrugged off the woman's surprise, "Time Lord's get thirteen lives, I am the fourth incarnation of Romanadvoratrelundar".
Deciding it would easier to show everyone, she focused on her original incarnation. A striking beautiful brunette appeared on the walls dressed in a long flowing white gown which gave the air of a Disney princess. Romana gazed longingly at her original body, although the arrogant smirk on the projections face made her feel a little uncomfortable, "Wow, is this you?" Fleur asked with an air of awe, "you were absolutely striking".
"And I'm not now?" Romana half chuckled, drawing a defensive reaction from the Frenchwoman, "it's fine Fleur I was joking but yes this is my original incarnation". This Romana had probably been the most academic of her lives so far and wasn't afraid of letting everyone know it, "An overachiever at school, fairly bossy and disappointed if she didn't get full marks on her homework", she turned to the group, "sound familiar?"
"Just like Hermione", Bill nodded, "you said that you turned yourself human, could you explain that a little more".
Romana nodded, "Time Lords created a little known piece of technology called a Chameleon Arch. It rewrote your genetic structure and memories to make you appear human". She reached into her pocket to retrieve the golden fob watch, "Your Time Lord essence was locked away inside this until the moment was right to open the watch". She fondled the brass watch in her hand, "I'm sorry that Hermione had to die, I created her life just so I could survive".
"I'm sure she wouldn't have objected", Neville interrupted the Time Lady's tirade, "she was extremely selfless and would've given her life to help others".
"Thank you Neville", Romana smiled weakly and placed the watch back into her pocket. Turning her attention back to the image on the walls of the TARDIS, the Time Lady finished recounting her personal history, "Not long after graduating the Academy, I was selected for a mission to reassemble the Key to Time". The image updated itself to show a near translucent cube made up of several segments, "It doesn't look like much", she continued, "but this key could rewrite the very fabric of the universe".
"What happened to it?" Mr Weasley asked in awe of the small yet apparently powerful cube.
"Scattered throughout the universe", Romana answered, "it's simply too powerful to keep fully assembled in one place". The image of the first Romana disappeared from screen and another image began to form, "Unfortunately several events involving the key and other influences which are too complicated to explain led to my first regeneration".
A slighter shorter woman appeared on the walls, slightly younger than the first Romana with strawberry blonde hair. She was 'cuter' than the brunette Time Lady but still very attractive, "My second incarnation", Romana smiled, "oh I did love that outfit". She still remembered picking it out, a rough approximation of the clothes commonly worn by the Fourth Doctor except in different shades of pink and with a long white scarf.
"How many times did you trip over that scarf?" the usually clumsy Tonks asked with a half smile.
"Not as much as you'd think", Romana shrugged, "not as many times as the Doctor tripped over his". The image shifted to include the Fourth Doctor standing alongside Romana, "Not that he'd admit it if you asked him", she added with a small chuckle.
"Wow regeneration has definitely been kind to the Doctor", Harry whistled.
"Oh the images I could show you about that man", Romana smirked evilly. She checked the door, making sure that the aforementioned Time Lord wasn't about to enter, "Maybe when we get through this I can show you". She paused to allow herself to regain her original train of thought, "This Romana has been the longest lived so far and went through many adventures".
Various different events from the second Romana's life flashed up on screen, everything from Paris and the Mona Lisa's through her time in E-Space. She glossed over her twenty years in captivity at the hands of the Daleks, instead focusing on her ascendency to the Presidency of Gallifrey. Everyone had a good laugh at the ceremonial robes and headdresses associated with the office. Even Romana had to admit they looked pretty ridiculous on her.
With tales of the second Romana running out, it was only natural that conversation would shift back to the Time War. Romana paused and steeled herself for revisiting that dark period of her life, "With War on the horizon I knew this version of Romana would never be able to lead a planet into battle", she sighed. "I wasn't decisive or ruthless enough to be the right leader for my people and with my current body wearing thin, I opted to regenerate into someone better suited for the role".
The second Romana disappeared and was replaced by a taller woman with jet black hair. She was the oldest looking Romana, somewhere in her late thirties or early forties by human standards. This Romana wore olive green Army style trousers with a heavy looking pair of boots. A tan coloured jacket covered a plain black top and in her hand rested the same sonic blaster that currently rested on the TARDIS console, "I give you the War Queen of Gallifrey", Romana stated bitterly, "I wanted to be a powerful warrior and I was but the expense was my humility and compassion for all living things".
"She's scary", Ginny commented, "surely that's an exaggeration Romana".
"I wish it was", Romana chewed on her lip for a moment, "that woman is probably responsible, directly or indirectly, for the deaths of more sentient life forms than Voldemort and his Death Eaters".
Romana allowed that to sink in for a moment, all the time waiting for the inevitable looks of revulsion. The Doctor might have the destruction of Gallifrey on his conscience but Romana's felt just as guilty. Her sole focus was total victory, no matter the cost and in the end, it cost her almost everything she held dear. "War does terrible things to a person", Kingsley deep voice rumbled throughout the TARDIS, "I might not know much about these Daleks but judging by your reaction earlier, they must be pretty terrible".
"That's an understatement", Romana snorted, "during one battle a Dalek wiped out an entire Time Lord legion and then half the population of the planet we were fighting on". She shifted uncomfortable on the console, "We didn't even destroy it in the end, Dalek Command decided that it would be better used slaughtering another planet". She chuckled darkly, "Can you image that, those people were deemed too insignificant but one Dalek still slaughtered a billion people".
A dark silence fell on the TARDIS as Romana waited for a reaction. Eventually it was Mrs Weasley who stepped forward and the Time Lady braced herself for a verbal tirade. To her immense surprise the matriarch of the Weasley family wrapped her up in one of her trademark hugs, "You poor thing", she whispered. Romana didn't know how to react, standing stiffly throughout the embrace, "I can't begin to imagine what you've been through".
"Thank you Mrs Weasley but at the risk of sounding impolite I'm not looking for sympathy", Romana responded, "all I want to do is live my life and help out where I can".
"Well I might be able to help with that", Kingsley began, "I will need a new liaison with the muggle government, perhaps that's something you'd be interested in".
"Me?" Romana responded sounding a little confusion, "I'll be honest Kingsley I'm not overly familiar with human politics".
"But it sounds like you were a politician of sorts", he countered, "it's clear to me that the wizarding world doesn't understand the planet as a whole. What better person to cut through the political spin than a former President of an entire planet".
Romana was too stunned to respond for a moment, after everything she explained they still wanted her to perform some kind of role in the rebuilding process. A small tear of happiness welled up in the Time Lady's eye which she tried to subtly wipe away, "Alright but I do have one condition", Kingsley nodded for her to continue, "I want the freedom to come and go as I please. I don't fancy getting tied down to a desk and working nine to five".
"As long as you're there when I need you Romana, you can do as much or as little as you can", Kingsley nodded. She reached into his robes and retrieved the small metal sphere which contained the pocket dimension housing the Death Eaters, "Which brings us on to this", he continued.
"I was wondering when we'd get on to this", Romana nodded, "have you thought of what to do with those inside".
"I have a few ideas", Kingsley began, "as participants in the Battle of Hogwarts they will be automatically sentenced to life imprisonment. The true question is what to do with the prison", he held up the object and handed it over to Romana, "I trust you can find a somewhere suitable in the universe to put this".
The Time Lady smiled, "I have an idea or two", almost immediately she began thinking about some of the worst places in the universe to keep this little sphere, preferably somewhere far away from any potential Death Eater wannabes.
"Right now that's settled", Ron clapped his hands together, "I believe you promised us some dirt on the Doctor".
Once again Romana smiled evilly, "I did", she began to think very hard, "shall we begin with his fashion choices over the years". She didn't want to admit it but the Doctor was right, surrounding herself with people was definitely the best way to begin the healing process.