Snape had Twinkle retrieve Dudley, and bring him to the hospital wing. That way the five could enjoy a late dinner together. With Ice Cream for dessert. The elf tried to say it was inappropriate for her to join them, but the Doctor told her it would be even more inappropriate if she didn't help the family tend to the recovering Harry.
The Doctor tried not to phrase it like an order, to dine with them... but the elf wasn't willing to argue with "Grandmaster Merlin". As all Elves could easily recognize their "god".
The group had all fallen asleep a mere hour ago. Yet the Doctor remained. He only needed an hour of sleep, once a week. So he sat there, on the bed, crowded around Harry... looking at his family...
Snape had transfigured the bed into a queen sized mattress. As they might be stuck in the hospital wing, but that didn't mean any of them were comfortable sleeping even a few beds apart.
Even Dudley was self conscious about being left alone... the boy had been weeping over his parents, a few mere hours ago. And didn't want to leave the side of his new guardian. Who had comforted him when the grief got particularly bad.
The Doctor's new family was all kinds of disfunctional... but that seemed par for the course. The shrunk Time Tot couldn't help but wonder, how he could explain things to Jack. The original Boekind would probably be happy for the Doctor... but the Doctor was a little self conscious.
It been so long since he had a family... not since Susan left for her own adventure. As all children must. Regardless, it left the Doctor alone. He had his companions, but it had been inevitable he'd lost them all... he didn't know what he'd do, now that he had family again. He couldn't help but think how truly devastated he'd be, when he lost them to.
As he thought this, there was a slight pick up to the breeze. Most would think nothing of it. After all, they were in a drafty castle, with glass covering only a few windows. However the Doctor recognized it for what it was... mainly a much better pilot then himself.
Looking at his TARDIS, seeing another such shrine, silently fading in and out of existence right next to it... the Doctor felt another stab of hope... accompanied by a great deal of fear.
Once it was fully materialized, with the softest landing the Doctor never managed to master, the shrine looked much like his own phone box. Only it didn't have any words on it... just a clan crest on the door.
when they opened, the Doctor felt his hearts stop. He didn't recognize her face, but something deep inside him, a sense he thought rusty from lack of use, recognized her... and he just couldn't take it anymore. He started crying.
The woman gracefully walked over, and began rubbing circles into his back.
"Romana," The Doctor cried, throwing himself at her and hugging her tight.
"Shush, it's okay," His former companion assured, continuing to rub his back.
"You," The Doctor was so hysterical, he couldn't help but hiccup. "You survived..."
"You saved me Doctor," She smiled. "Don't you remember."
"Va (hic) vaguely," He admitted. "B-but (hic) I-I didn't know it (hic)." He stammered. He hadn't seen her since his fourth regeneration. In a reality that technically never happened.
Much of history had been erased by the Time War. Folk tales were all that remained. Vague echoes of memory for their former universe.
So much of his life had been undone, including his time with Romana. Yet they both remembered their time together, in the universe that never was. Time Lords were funny like that.
When reality snapped back together, history worked around the changes, without anything still existing to cause those changes.
Since the Doctor's first face, he had been without a single Gallifreyian. The last of his race. Yet he was tormented by memories of what could have been, if his faces hadn't united to destroy Gallifrey. He even had a few foggy memories of saving as many Gallifreyians as he could, but he didn't know if those were merely dreams, fueled by his regrets.
"How (hic) how did you survive?" The Doctor asked.
Romana blinked, "Do you truly not remember? Well, your timeline was a bit muddier then most." She realized. "Let me explain."
• Flashback:
The Time War raged across all of time and space. Every moment in history was happening all at once...
"You can't do this!" Romana condemned, as her father prepared the final sanction.
Her sister, though by adoption, seemed just as determined to talk some sense into the man.
"The Universe is doomed," Rassillion dismissed. "No, that is not the scope of this, the MULTIVERSE is doomed! The very cosmos itself lays dying! We must preserve what we can, and what we can is ourselves! The high council has voted, they agree this is the only source of action."
The Other spoke up, "The Doctor has a plan. Why else would he take the Moment?"
"His plan is to KILL us!" Rassillion raged. "His PLAN, is to create an explosion powerful enough to reboot the universe. In order to do that, he needs to generate enough temporal energy to force the cosmos into submission. You know how he intends to do that?"
Neither woman said anything. So Rassillion exclaimed, "He intends to use US. In a universe where all reality is happening at once. WE are the only source of temporal energy!!!"
Romana reminded, "The Doctor is trying to save trillions upon trillions of lives. Your plan is no better. You want to draw on what little remains of the universe, and self destruct it, to force OURSELVES into gods. The Doctor is trying to save the universe. If you abandon your plan, we can work with him to find a third option."
Rassillion sighed, "Oh Romana, there is no third option. Either the universe dies... or we do. And I refuse to sacrifice our people for lower lifeforms."
Romana glared, "They have every bit of right to live as ourselves!"
Rassillion shook his head. "You've been gallivanting in this mess of reality, with that scarf wearing idiot, for too long. Sapients are only slightly better then animals. We are so far above them. Why should we die for them."
"NO ONE HAS TO DIE!!!" The Other raged. "The Halo rings, and Citadel stations, are still working! They are keeping the universe alive, and will do so indefinitely. My reincarnation is only acting out of panic, BECAUSE of your plans. If you stop this, we can continue looking for another solution!"
Rassillion eyed his daughters, and damned his race with a single word, "No."
• End Flashback.
Romana sighed, "It was the last night of the Time War. All of reality was a mess of temporal disturbances. Time had long since lost all meaning, as all moments were happening at once. As the War Doctor prepared his weapon. The Valeyard organized a rescue team. Saving all he could. Gallifrey was lost Doctor, but Rassillion was wrong about your plan... for the people were not."
The Doctor's eyes widened.
"Gallifrey was enough of a temporal anomaly on it's own. Well, when combined with the billion-billion Daleks bombarding the planet. Your various regenerations managed to evacuate the entire world. We've been living in nomadic Caravans, ever since. Usually hanging out in the Time Vortex Realm."
"I... I saved you?" The Doctor muttered.
"Yes Doctor, you did." Romana smiled. "And if it wasn't for Paradoxes, I would have told you that a long time ago."
"S-susan told me..." The Doctor admitted. And she had, in their psychic talk. But she didn't feel it was safe for Snape's psyche, to dump too much on him. "Regardless..."
"You didn't believe her," Romana acknowledged.
That was part of what was giving the Doctor his horrible battle with hope.
"Can I..." The Doctor briefly looked at his descendants. Then turned his eyes back at Romana. "We, come with you?"
Romana smiled, even as she scolded. "You have any idea how important that tenza of your's is to this planet?" though her smile slowly turned more sad. "Don't worry Doctor, we are uploading some coordinates into your TARDIS, as well as locking it in place until Harry's Tenza parents return for him. You'll be able to travel in space, and I highly suggest you show the kid around... but Time Travel is strictly forbidden until Harry is ready."
Romana smiled, "But, to keep you company, I have a gift for you." She gently kissed her fingers. Then applied them to Severus' forehead. Then did the same to Dudley.
"I woke the third chromosome chain, in both of them. You won't have to watch them die, Doctor. And with that eternal blood mixed in, they'll likely outlive you."
The Doctor started to tear up. With how gentle Romana was being, the newly named guardian and ward, didn't even wake up as they grew an extra heart, and a few other redundant organs. Marking them as part Time Lord.
With the regeneration energy preforming one additional kindness to Snape, as it ate away his dark mark.
A/N:
This Doctor is not from the canon universe, but rather an alternate reality. Similar but different to the show. It takes inspiration from the Audio dramas, and other media, but it's very different.
This fic is technically a sequel to "Paradox Unleashed, Saga 0: Time War of the Omniva Verse" but you don't have to read that... as it's kinda still incomplete... and very hard for me to write (blush). I'm more a slice of life author, and that fic is about a war across Time Paradoxes.