Chapter 12 – Interloper
To Romana's surprise the Room of Requirement had turned itself into a rudimentary shelter. Hammocks were strung between the stone pillars and by the Time Lady's reckoning, some of them had been occupied for several months. Occasionally she caught snippets of conversations about life at the school over the last year, the hushed whispers about the Carrows and their liberal use of the torture curse infuriated the Time Lady. She despaired that a human could be so cruel to another member of their species, especially when children were involved. Somehow an institute of learning had turned into a prison camp.
The students inside the room were elated to see the trio and for several minutes they were bombarded with questions. Reluctantly Romana slipped back into her human guise, answering the queries exactly how Hermione would've done, inside though the alien woman wanted to shout about her true heritage to the gathered masses. She reigned herself in though, once again this wasn't the time to open that can of worms.
Eventually the constant questioning ceased, allowing Harry and Ron to mingle around the room. Romana was happy to stay in the shadows, these were the wizards peers and not hers. There was a small pang of jealousy though when it became obvious that the student body was happy to leave Romana to her own devices. She was aware that her human alter ego wasn't a social butterfly but seeing dozens of Hermione's peers largely ignore her was a little painful.
The mood soon brightened with the arrival of several members of the Order of the Phoenix through a portrait in the far corner of the room. According to the students the portrait connected The Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade. To her surprise the bar was owned by Aberforth Dumbledore, the younger brother of the deceased Headmaster. The tunnel had been used to smuggle students out during the worst of the Carrow's reign of terror.
Romana instantly recognised some of the people arriving, the rest of the Weasley family including, to her surprise, Percy. Clearly the loyal Ministry worker had seen the light and reunited with his family. There were others too, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Oliver Wood the old Gryffindor Quidditch captain along with the teams old Chasers Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell. They weren't the only former students either, Romana quickly identified Cho Chang emerging from the portal. All in all there must've been around thirty people, all willing to fight to defend the school and the students.
Internally the Time Lady lamented, it was a decent number but Voldemort's forces numbered into the hundreds. It would take more than a few brave volunteers to win this battle which was why it was important for her to put her plan into motion as quickly as possible. If her calculations were correct then it could end the battle before it even begun but it would take several hours to put together, "Hermione dear", the Time Lady was dragged from her brooding by Mrs Weasley. Before Romana realised it, the matriarch of the Weasley family had enveloped her in a tight hug, "It's good to see you looking well, I must admit that this new look is certainly a departure from your old style".
"Thank you, I think", Romana mumbled in response. Compared to the fashion choice of her previous incarnations, her current taste was fairly restrained. If she really wanted to surprise the witch then maybe she should've broken out the white dress with the long slit and fluffy white coat worn by her original incarnation. She smiled to herself, wondering what everyone's reaction would've been then, "Sorry Mrs Weasley you're crushing my ribs". That wasn't true, her denser than human muscle mass meant that she barely felt anything but it sounded like something Hermione would've said.
"Oh sorry dear", Mrs Weasley replied, "come join the rest of us".
Romana nodded, no force in the known universe would be able to resist Mrs Weasley when she was on a mission. She gave a muted wave to the other Weasley's, "Hello everyone", she greeted.
"Good to see you're safe Hermione", Bill replied, "I was just saying to Ron that you're clothes clean up well, they look as clean as the day you left". Romana nodded slowly, technically they were exactly the same clothes as when they left Shell Cottage. Everything they had done since had only taken place over a few hours for them but thanks to the TARDIS, they had been able to skip ahead a couple of weeks.
"Looking good Hermy", Fred smiled in her direction, "bet you knocked Ronny's socks off when he saw you".
Romana groaned, "Firstly Fred don't call me Hermy", her voice trailed off, there was something swirling around Fred. It took her a few moments to realise that it was his time stream and it was very much in flux, more so than his twin's or some others in the room. Seeing the potential for everything had its down side, especially this close to a major battle. A swirling timeline like Fred's told her that he was in serious danger. Of course everyone was in danger in this situation but somehow the probability of death was higher around Fred than anyone else.
"Look I know I'm handsome Hermy but there's no need to stare", Fred chuckled, slightly unnerved with the way the Time Lady was staring at him.
For a few seconds Romana felt like warning him but what could she possibly say? Neither Fred or anyone else in the room would listen to her, they knew they were taking a risk and were happy to accept the possibility of death. What could she possibly say that would make any difference to his actions? Fortunately for the morally conflicted Time Lady a voice pierced the room, "All students will report to the Great Hall immediately". Romana recognised that voice, it was the current Headmaster of Hogwarts Severus Snape.
"He must know we're here", Harry began, "we need to search this room quickly and get out of here".
Romana glanced sideways as the teen, whatever action they were going to take against Voldemort it would have to happen today, "No", she stated simply.
"What do you mean no?" Ron asked incredulously, "we still need to get the you-know-what's to finish off you-know-who".
"Does the word no have a different meaning on Earth?" Romana began stiffly, "we're done running, the time lines converge here I'm afraid. The battle with the Dark Lord will begin tonight".
The room dropped into a frantic silence as whispers of what Romana said began to travel around the room. She could see people looking at her with a mixture of fear, curiosity and indignation. She wondered if this was how Luna Lovegood felt every time she opened her mouth, "Sorry, excuse us for a minute", Harry gently ushered Romana away from the rest of the group, "do you know something we don't?"
"Yes but that's shouldn't really be a surprise", she replied haughtily, "but specifically about the coming battle, let's just say I have a sense for these kind of things".
The two wizards looked at each other, they were beginning to familiarise themselves with the unusual abilities of the Time Lady, "Look Harry we're going to have to go", Neville spoke for the students, "but whatever happens we'll be behind you, all the way".
As the students began to filter out the room Romana used the distraction to elaborate, "Time Lords have an innate sense for when events important to history are about to happen", she began, "we call them fixed points. If anyone attempts to interfere with a fixed point then the consequences could be dire".
"So let's go then", Ron stated, "jump in that box of yours and fly away".
"It's not that simple", Romana continued with her lecture, "our timelines are also interlinked with this point in time. If we left then the point would collapse and so could time itself, potentially". A grave look flashed across the teen wizards, "The good thing is that the outcome is still in flux, the fixed point relates to the battle, not to how the battle will be won".
"How's that's a good thing?" Harry asked in confusion, "that could mean that the Death Eaters win, doesn't it?"
Romana nodded, she had to agree with Harry's point there, "Well yes but that also means that maybe no one has to die at all. This battle could be won without a single spell being fired".
That grabbed the attention of the wizards, "How are we going to do that?" Harry began, "we know that You-Know-Who is already on his way, he's probably on the edge of the wards by now".
"Time Harry", Romana pleaded, "that's all I need, just buy me a little bit of time".
"Can't you use the TARDIS to go back and start whatever it is you need to do?" Ron asked.
"I can't cross my own time stream", Romana shook her head, "meeting yourself would be bad and should only happen in extremely dire situations". She had heard stories from the Doctor about how he had encountered earlier versions of himself and the situation he had described was indeed dire. She herself had met the original five regenerations of the Doctor, albeit briefly, during the incident in the Death Zone of Gallifrey. Fortunately she hadn't met her previous incarnations, not that she remembered anyway.
"So what's the plan then?" Harry began, "the quicker we find the Horcrux the better".
A devious smile flashed across Romana's face, "Maybe the Dark Lord would be hesitant to attack if he knew we were inside". She quickly straightened out her jacket and continued, "He knows we're hunting Horcruxes right?" the others nodded, "it would be reckless to charge into battle knowing that the person destroying his immortality was inside. Logic dictates that he would run and hide whilst he had the chance".
"Yeah but when has anything that You-Know-Who done recently made sense", Ron snorted, "he a few beans short of a box of Bertie Bott's if you know what I mean". Sadly Romana did know exactly what Ron meant. Perhaps it was a side effect of splitting his soul but Voldemort seemed to be much more erratic than portrayed in the books on the First War, "Still we haven't got a better plan and you haven't been wrong up until now", the red head added.
"So no pressure then", Romana smiled, "come along companions, we've got work to do".
As the trio headed out the room, they were quickly stopped by Mrs Weasley, "You can't go down down to the Great Hall?" she practically shrieked, "Snape will hand you over in a heartbeat".
Ron was about to respond by Romana placed her arm across his chest, "Mrs Weasley you can't tell me where I can and can't go", the Weasley matriarch looked stunned by the harsh words of the Time Lady, "I suggest you all prepare for a fight".
Without waiting for a response Romana led the wizards out the Room of Requirement and into the dark corridors of the castle, "Little harsh on my Mum weren't you?" Ron sniped at the Time Lady.
"Ron I really like your mother but you know that the only way to prevent a protracted argument with her is to cut her off quickly and early", Romana smiled in reply.
"It is?" Ron gasped at this apparent new information, "so that's where I've been going wrong for the last eighteen years". Romana snorted with laughter quickly, "How did you work that out?"
"I didn't, Ginny told Hermione that one", Romana replied, "you should pay more attention to your sister Ronald, you might learn a thing or two".
Harry offered a loud bark of laughter at his best friend's expense before turning his attention the Time Lady, "Do you really think we can win?" he asked.
"There's one thing my four hundred years have taught me Harry", Romana began, "no one really wins at war. There just happens to be one side who doesn't lose quite as much". Leaving her friends to ponder the future, Romana turned her attention to the present. Voldemort would soon be at the door and she had to hope that her gamble paid off. If it didn't then Hogwarts was in for a very bloody and protracted battle.
A/N – As a special thank you for over 100 favourites, here's a bonus mid week chapter. Also created a new cover photo for the story cause I was a little bored last night.
So the overwhelming response I've had to the story has inspired/encouraged me to carry on past the end of The Deathly Hallows which will mean incorporating more from the Whoniverse. This will include a visit from our favourite Time Lord in the near future. Yup I've finally decided which Doctor we shall see first...