Chapter 3 – Shell Cottage
The wardrobe room of Romana's TARDIS wasn't as substantial as she hoped and truthfully the Time Lady was a little disappointed with the selection. This Type 80 TARDIS hadn't seen a lot of action prior to Romana commissioning it for her purpose. Primarily it had been used as a battle TARDIS during the Time War so the need for a vast array of clothes wasn't necessary. There was still more than enough for Romana's needs but the fact that the wardrobe didn't stretch across several the area of several football pitches was something she was going to change in the future.
Romana was still feeling out what this regeneration preferred in terms of tastes. Her first two incarnations were very fashion conscious, especially her first body. Her third incarnation was definitely more practical but then again she was more concerned about leading her people during the war with the Daleks. Her human self was certainly not concerned with fashion, Hermione Granger was very much a jeans and jumper kind of girl.
The first thing Romana did after taking a very long shower was try to tame her wild hair. She didn't want to get rid of all the frizz, the Time Lady felt keeping some of it would honour her human side. Instead of a wild mane the brunette's hair fell against her shoulders in roughly straightened waves. Since she would probably be involved in some kind of battles against Voldemort's forces, Romana settled for a practical pair of fitted brown trousers tucked into a matching pair of brown knee high boots. She had teamed that with a light blue blouse, keeping a couple of top buttons undone and rolling the sleeves half way up her arm.
The outfit didn't feel complete and that's when the Time Lady spotted something on one of the racks. It was a red knee length jacket with several golden buttons adorning the cuffs. Instantly Romana fell in love with the jacket and quickly slipped her arms inside the sleeves. The red and gold matched the Gryffindor colours so perfectly that finding it must've been fate.
Filled with a renewed sense of hope after her wobble earlier in the day, Romana thrust her hands into the pockets and practically skipped into the console room. To her surprise Harry and Ron were already waiting for her. She was almost certain they would get lost inside the maze of corridors. Their jaws almost dropped at the transformation in the Time Lady's appearance, bringing a small smile to her face, "Close your mouths boys, you'll catch flies like that".
"S-sorry", Harry stammered in response, "still getting used to all these changes. Hermione wasn't real much of a girly girl".
"Yes I remember", Romana sighed, "a shame really, she really would've turned heads at school with a look like this".
"She did turn heads", Ron shot back, feeling a little put out by the Time Lady's choice of words.
Stung by the harshness of the youngest Weasley boy, Romana took a couple of moments to gather herself, "I didn't mean it like that", she began, "this incarnation appears to be a little ruder than previous ones".
"Previous incarnations?" Harry asked in shock, "do Time Lords get reincarnated or something".
"Close", Romana cursed her slip of the tongue, she could do without explaining regeneration at this point. Leaning on the console and putting on her best teacher voice she stated, "A Time Lord gets thirteen lives. When they reach the end of one of those lives, either through old age or physical injury we undergo a process called regeneration. Everything about you gets rewritten, appearance, likes, dislikes and things like that. Underneath you're the same person but externally everything is different".
Romana allowed them a couple of moments to absorb this information before adding, "Before you ask this is my fourth incarnation so I still have nine lives left". To distract herself from the gaping stares, she began inputting their destination into the flight computer, "Maybe I'll show you my other three incarnations one day but now isn't the time".
"Erm yeah, great", Ron eventually replied, "anything else you want to surprise us with?"
"Probably but then again it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you right now", the Time Lady replied with a bright smile. She clapped her hands together and brought up a map of the United Kingdom on one of the four screens adorning the console, "Any idea where we should go next?" she asked the two teens.
"So you're really going to help us fight Voldemort?" Ron suddenly slapped his hands over his mouth, he had forgotten about the taboo on the name.
"Relax Ronald", Romana chuckled, "if any Death Eaters manage to track us into the Time Vortex I'd be amazed". She had a quick thought and tapped a button on the console, "but just to be sure I'll change our arrival time to a few days after we left Malfoy Manor, that'll give plenty of time for the tracking charms to wear off". Once again she pointed at the map, "So where shall I take us?"
Ron looked closely at the map on screen, "Dobby said he was taking Luna and the others to Bill's place", he circled an area on the northern tip of Wales, "but I can't work out where it is, the map's too small". Romana rolled her eyes at the naivety of the wizard and pushed a button on the console. Ron squeaked in surprise as the map began to zoom in on the area he indicated, "How the bloody hell did you do that".
"Magic", Romana deadpanned, drawing a snort of laughter. The map began to automatically scroll across the coastline, "Touchscreen technology, this'll all the rage fifteen years into your future. Just tap the screen when you see something you recognise".
The red haired wizard studied the map carefully for a few minutes until he spotted something he recognised, "There, I remember it being a few miles outside the nearest muggle village". The map stopped moving and the Time Rotor began to hum gently. With a small grin Romana pulled down on a large lever on the console and the wizards felt the ship begin to vibrate, "Hey what's going on".
"Just relax Ron", Romana sighed, "we'll be at your brother's place in a few seconds", she counted a couple of beats in her head before throwing the lever the other way, "in fact we're here".
As Romana led the teens towards the main door, Harry reached out and grabbed her arm, "Could you", he paused and took a deep breath, "could you pretend to be Hermione when we meet Bill and Fleur".
"Harry Potter, I'm not going to hide who I am", Romana snapped, offended with the suggestion from the messy haired teen.
"That came out wrong", the Time Lady glared haughtily at Harry, "what I meant was, this will be a hard enough encounter without having to explain this as well", he held his arms out and gestured at the TARDIS.
Romana considered the request for a moment. Harry made a valid point, even if his way of explaining it had been pretty poor, "Fine", she reluctantly agreed, "I'll play along but I'm not going out of my way to conceal it either. I'm a Time Lady, possibly one of the few left in the universe and I'm bloody proud of that fact".
Without waiting for their response, Romana opened the doors and was immediately hit by a strong sea breeze. She took a quick look at the TARDIS and sighed, "Still a phone box, really". The bright red box stood out against the natural shades of the long grass overlooking the stony beach below, "Brilliant I've encountered the only other stubborn TARDIS in the fleet", she grumbled. Moments later Harry and Ron exited the box, both of them shooting wary glances at the Time Lady. Perhaps she had been a little harsh with Harry. He certainly wasn't implying that she should deny her Time Lord heritage, merely that she play along with everyone's expectation. Only a handful of people were aware of her existence, unfortunately most of them were on the opposite side of the war.
Romana locked up the TARDIS and hiked up the trail towards the only house. Shell Cottage certainly lived up to its name. The four outer walls of the property were embedded with hundreds of tiny shells that glistened in the late evening sun. That wasn't the Time Lady's most pressing concern though, marching in their direction were a very weary looking Bill and Fleur Weasley. "Ron?" the eldest Weasley sibling called out, his wand pointing at the trio, "what game did Mum used to make you and Ginny play when you were five years old".
"Bill, really", Ron groaned but his oldest brother kept his wand trained on him. Letting out a deep sigh he answered, "Miss Polly's afternoon tea shop, I got to play the part of Miss Polly". Romana couldn't help but snort with laughter, Harry looked close to breaking into hysterical laughter, "Did you really have to bring that up Bill", Ron added with a low whisper.
"Had to use something that only you would've known the answer to", Bill replied and carefully lowered his wand. His stone suggested that he was anything but apologetic for embarrassing his kid brother, "Good to see you again Harry and Hermione". He shook them both by the hand but recoiled slightly when he touched Romana's skin, "Blimey Hermione we need to get you inside, your hands are freezing".
Romana smiled politely at the eldest Weasley but said nothing in response. Time Lords had lower body temperatures than humans so her skin would feel much cooler to the touch, "Where have you three been", Fleur exclaimed, "you've been missing for five days, Dobby's been frantically searching everywhere for you".
"Five days, six hours and seventeen minutes", Romana stated idly, "that's how long we've been gone for". Everyone turned to stare at the brunette who coughed and shook her head, "I mean, I hope Dobby hadn't overworked himself looking for us", she added quickly.
"We managed to overpower the Death Eaters", Ron tried to cover for Romana's slip, "made a run for it and apparated into a muggle town, that's where we got the clean clothes from". Bill and Fleur frowned, considering the tale they were being spun, "We hid for until we were sure that no one had followed us and came straight here".
"I see", Bill said slowly, not fully convinced by his brother's story but he didn't want to push the issue too much, "clearly life on the run hadn't done you too much harm".
"Especially you Hermione", Fleur interjected, "I don't remember seeing you look so radiant before", the blonde haired woman frowned curiously at the Time Lady.
"Not bad for my age I suppose", Romana shrugged, "shall we get inside, it is a little cold out here", she quickly changed the subject but not before Harry shot her a warning glare.
Bill led the group up the garden path but not before his wife spotted the disguised TARDIS at the far end of the wards, "When did the muggles install one of those boxes in the area?" she mused out loud. Harry, Ron and Romana struggled to reign in their sniggers at the comment.
Fortunately Bill came to their unintended rescue, "We've patched up Luna and Griphook as best as we could. They're all resting now so best not to disturb them until morning". The eldest Weasley pushed the door to his cottage open, revealing a cosy kitchen with a small living room just in sight through a door at the far end, "We've got a spare room where Harry and Ron can sleep", Bill continued, "you're more than welcome to share with Luna", he said to Romana, "I assume you've had enough of sleeping next to these two".
"Thank you Bill", Romana faked a tired stretch, "I'm not feeling that tired at the moment, I might stay up for a bit".
"You need all the rest you can get", Fleur said firmly, "I don't care if you've been living comfortably in that muggle town, you should have a quick health check up-".
Noticing Fleur producing her wand, Romana quickly grabbed Ron and Harry by the arm and practically dragged them away, "Actually I am feeling a little tired, we'll do that check up in the morning". The trio stumbled away, leaving a very confused and bemused Bill and Fleur behind.
It wasn't until they were upstairs that Romana finally let go of their arm, "Blimey you're stronger than you look", Ron commented and rubbed his arm.
"Unique Time Lord biology", Romana waived his concerns away, "which is exactly why Fleur or anyone else can come near me with a wand, especially if you want to keep up this little charade".
Ron found the spare bedroom and pushed the door open. There was only room for one small bed but another one could be easily conjured, "You can take the bed Romana", Harry offered.
"Thanks but I wasn't lying I'm really not that tired", the Time Lady shrugged, "Time Lords only need to sleep about three or four times a month. I should be good for sleep for at least another few days". She heard the teens grumbled something about more surprises but she chose to ignore their complaints, "I need to figure out how to get us into Gringotts without starting a war with the Goblin Nation, that should keep me quiet for a few minutes at least".
Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged. The dark haired teen took the bed whilst Ron conjured a sleeping bag and climbed inside. Soon enough the room was filled with their gentle snores. Romana meanwhile sat on the floor, her back resting against the wall. She wondered if there was a way to avoid a huge scale battle between the light and dark. Something like that would see a serious loss of life on both sides. A small idea began to form in the back of her mind but she would need to check the TARDIS before committing down that road. With nothing to do until everyone in the house was asleep, Romana quietly mediated and watched the sun set over in the sky. She had a busy night ahead of her.