DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or Doctor Who, or Narnia for that matter, although this plot is mine. I have no real desire to own the three series, although I rather wish I had my own TARDIS.
Author's Note: Here we go with the another chapter of You Are Not Alone. ALLONS-Y!
Chapter Thirty Six: Task the Second
Flashback
Prefect's Bathroom
Hogwarts, Scotland, Earth, 1994 CE
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And recover what we took,
But past an hour - the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
Harry heard the clue and returning to the surface, he shuddered as he considered just what that could mean.
Hogwarts Lake
Hogwarts, Scotland, Earth, 1995 CE
'They took Lucy! They took her!' Harry was suitably distressed to find his bondmate was gone, especially when he found that he could not contact her through the bond. Cysgod appeared at Harry's shoulder, trilling a song of peace that calmed Harry down enough that he could prepare for the task and take his place at the edge of the platform. He would be relying on gillyweed, but if it ran out, his respiratory bypass system should give him enough time to make it back. For now, he fidgeted as Ludo Bagman, showman that he is, introduced the task and the competitor's "treasures"; Lucy, Cho Chang, a Durmstrang student named Clara Fofonova and Fleur Delacour's younger sister Gabrielle.
Not a moment too soon as far as Harry was concerned, the cannon sounded and Harry swallowed the gillyweed, and as he felt it start to take hold, he dived into the lake, just as his neck started burning and he sprouted gills, looking down to find he now had webbed hands and feet. Once the gillyweed had taken full effect, he set off, swimming into the depths of the lake towards the mer-village.
Just over twenty minutes later, Harry reached the mer-village and thanked his lucky stars that he had decided against using just his respiratory bypass, he would've run out of air by now. Slowly and cautiously (something he had learnt to do because the Doctor rarely does) Harry swam forward into the village, and there in the middle of what looked like a plaza or town square were four pillars, and to each, was tied a champion.
Harry very nearly panicked when he took in Lucy's pale face and her waxy complexion until he realised that they were under some kind of sleeping enchantment. Carefully, he removed a knife from his thigh holster and cut through the cloth tying Lucy to the pillar, despite being waterproof, Frœkn was entirely too cumbersome for this task, and so remained back in his TARDIS/trunk. He reholstered the knife, and wrapping his arm around Lucy's waist, he returned to the surface.
As he ascended towards the surface of the murky, and aptly named, Black Lake, he caught sight of Grindylows moving closer through the gloom. He pushed Lucy ahead of him and kicked several of the pesky water demons away, which simply led to more attacking him. He watched as Lucy reached the surface near the platform and was pulled up, as he continued to fight off the Grindylows, eventually managing a Lumos charm, as the Grindylows reviled against the light, giving him enough time to incant 'Ascendio' and send himself hurtling out of the water just as his gills faded away.
Back on the platform, Harry was wrapped up in a blanket even as he found that Lucy still seemed to be under the enchantment. Assuming that the enchantment had to be manually removed, Harry settled for putting up with Madam Pomfrey's treatment for the gashes given to him by the Grindylows. However, once Cedric and Cho arrived on the surface, and Harry noticed Cho had woken immediately, he marched over to the judges, and started remonstrating with them. 'WHY HASN'T LUCY WOKEN UP YET?' He yelled ferociously, causing some of the nearby students to take a step back in fear.
Dumbledore moved over to the still inert Lucy and cautiously cast several obscure diagnostic charms. What he said when he stood and returned to the other judges and Harry was not the answer Harry wanted to hear. 'It's seems Harry, that the caster of the enchantment performed it incorrectly and it failed. There is no way to wake Lucy up...she's gone.' Dumbledore finished, looking down.
Harry struggled to repress his rage, and even as Viktor and Clara returned to the surface, Harry was demanding to know which of the judges performed the enchantment, growing angrier as Ludo Bagman raised his arm slightly. 'YOU! You cast a difficult enchantment on school children when both Dumbledore, Maxime and Karkaroff are all capable enchanters? You better hope what I'm about to try works, or you will not see the light of day again!' Harry yelled at the now cowering Ministry employee, even as the three heads agreed with Harry, each had wanted to perform the charm on their own students, but as a chief organiser, Bagman had pulled rank, and it was a miracle only one of the enchantments had been botched.
The judges watched as Harry's eyes flashed milky white for a moment, and behind them, the Doctor realised what Harry was about to try and quickly relayed the information to the Master and Romana. Most of the people on the bottom level of the platform, including the newly returned Fleur and Gabrielle watched as Harry's hands started glowing with milky white energy. No one heard what he said as he bent down and whispered, 'I can't live without you Lu. I love you.' Before kissing her, his hands placed on her cheeks, and he let the energy take over, enveloping both their bodies, and most of the observers had to avert their gaze, the three adult Time Lords watching rapt as the energy started to coalesce over the pair before a blast of the energy knocked everyone backwards slightly as Harry collapsed into unconsciousness.
The Hospital Wing
The three adult Time Lords were later huddled in a corner of the hospital wing, watching over both Harry and Lucy. After Madam Pomfrey had tutted something about Lucy's heart rate being double what it should be, the Doctor had cautiously removed his stethoscope from his pocket and placed it, first on the left, then on the right side of Lucy's chest, beckoning both the Master and Romana over to listen as well.
'I didn't think it was possible.' The Doctor said in disbelief. 'I have seen Time Lords sacrifice their regenerations to save other Time Lords, but never seen a Time Lord give his regenerations to a human.'
'Even when I was Lady President, we never believed it possible that regeneration energy could transform a person into a Time Lord, almost as if the energy is part of the Time Vortex.' Romana added.
'What of Harry? You told us, Doctor, of River Song doing the same for you and losing her power of regeneration. Is there anything we can do?' The Master asked, looking on concerned at the boy that was literally his family.
Romana's face lit up as she had an idea. 'I have something that may work, but we can't do so until Lucy wakes.' Seeing the confused looks on the faces of her friends, she huffed and continued. 'The High Council of the Time Lords has the power to regrant regeneration cycles. We have the minimum three for the council, but we also require a Lord Cardinal as witness, Lucy can be a Lord Cardinal, she needn't say anything, we've all been on or near the High Council enough to know what has to be said.'
As Romana explained, the Doctor and the Master began nodding in agreement, and the two men left Romana, telling her to bring Lucy to the History office when she awoke, they could send for Harry by psychic paper.
Five minutes later, and Lucy slowly came out of the sleep that had, at one point, ended her life. She looked up at Romana groggily, then across to Harry, still out in the bed next to hers. 'What...happened?' She asked, blinking rapidly to try to adjust to the light. 'Why does my heart feel like it's going to bounce out of my chest?'
'There was...an incident at the second task. Come on, I'll take you to see the Doctor and Master and the three of us will explain it to you.' Romana said as she guided the girl towards the exit, watching as she strained slightly, wanting to go see Harry. 'Harry will be fine, Lu, but we need you to help us with something, and we can explain it all to you then.'
History Professor's Office
'So you mean I'm a Time Lady now, I have two hearts, I'm like Harry?' Lucy asked three questions at as close to the speed of light that she could.
'Yes Lu, you are a Time Lady, you have two hearts and you can regenerate. But we need you to help us with something first. When Harry revived you, he passed his power to regenerate onto you, but also removing his own. However, as the last Time Lords and Ladies in existence outside the time lock, we are the High Council, and the High Council has the power to revoke and confer the power of regeneration, but for the Council's decisions to be legitimate we need at least the President, Chancellor and Castellan and one Cardinal as witness.'
Twenty Nine Hours and Forty Seven Minutes Later...
Harry had just woken up with very stiff muscles and no one at his bedside other than a small moneybox with a note stuck to it with the word TARDIS and a set of temporal coordinates on it. Touching the moneybox led to him falling into his TARDIS and he stiffly set the coordinates and sent it in motion, stumbling out around 15 seconds later into the arms of his bondmate Lucy, who he blearily noticed was wearing ornate red robes with golden thread, as were the Doctor, Romana and the Master, the two men also wearing red skull caps. Before Harry could ask what was going on, Lucy lowered him into a chair, and spoke to him formally, but fondly, 'My Lord Harry, may I present Lord Castellan Master, Lord Chancellor Doctor and Lady President Romana. The High Council of Time Lords in Exile.'
Romana, putting on the powerful and regal voice she had used as Lady President back on Gallifrey spoke to Harry in the forms of the ancient rites of Time Lord society. 'My Lord Harry, Duke of Gryffindor and Time Lord, we the High Council having observed you giving up your own regeneration cycle to save the woman that you love, the Lady Cardinal Lucy the Valiant, have come together to vote on the reconferral on you of said regeneration cycle. In my power as Lady President, I say yea!'
'As your guardian since birth, it was an act I was proud to witness. In my power as Lord Chancellor, I say yea!' The Doctor said looking at his charge whom he had watched grow and learn the Time Lord way.
'As your ancestor, teacher and friend, I was amazed at your love and demotion to the Lady Cardinal Lucy. In my power as Lord Castellan, I say yea!' The Master said, an enigmatic smile on his face.
'In the presence of the necessary witness, the High Council has voted. My Lord Harry, we the Council shall reconfer on you as on all Time Lords since the fall of our High Society, a complete unlimited regeneration cycle. So we spoke, so mote it be.' Romana finished and the whole room flooded with light as the universe returned the power of regeneration to Harry at the High Council's request.
Harry finally stood after the energy faded away and was instantly enveloped in a group hug by two Time Lords and two Time Ladies.
Three Months Later
Hogwarts Lake
'They want us to get through a maze, Lu! A maze! And not just any maze, no sir! A maze where the walls move and Hagrid(!), Hagrid of all people is providing obstacles!' Harry ranted under the privacy of their favourite willow tree as he paced back and forth for five minutes before Lucy finally pulled him down and shut him up with a soft kiss. He soon took the hint and Lucy rested her head against his shoulder as they watched the sunset, before heading back to Gryffindor Tower.
Author's Note: For anyone who's wondering this chapter chapter came about from a plot bunny I had after the Doctor Who episode Let's Kill Hitler and all the discussion about whether regeneration energy affects humans and all that jazz, and it also gets around the slight detail of a soul bond that if one member of the bond dies the other will shortly follow (kinda defeats the purpose of a Time Lord if he dies/regenerates just because his wife died)