Chapter 15 – Fury Of The Storm
The Great Hall of Hogwarts was eerily silent with only the occasional whine of a sonic screwdriver to break up the oppressive silence. Romana had been working patiently and alone for well over an hour now. Around the doorway to the Great Hall was a large free standing metal frame. It was a simple three beam construction that stood around four to five inches away from the stone wall. The lack of conductive material in the castle was making it extremely hard for the Time Lady to get full power through the arch.
The ambient magic in the area also provided a complication but Romana's own personal computer was probably protected against the phenomenon. It wasn't making the calculations any easier though, "I really wish K-9 was here right now", she sighed, "he would have this worked out in a matter of seconds". When Romana chose to leave the Doctor and remain in E-Space, the robotic dog had become her loyal companion. Even after she returned to Gallifrey, K-9 stayed by her side until the very end. Out of everyone lost to her during the Time War, the loss of K-9 probably affected her the most.
For the last fifteen minutes the castle vibrated to the sounds and explosions of a raging battle. Romana was concentrating so hard on blocking out the noise that she was losing focus. Even thought she wasn't trapped in the Great Hall, the stony walls and distant battle sounds reminded her too much of her imprisonment during the final days of the Time War. K-9 was an impassionate machine, he didn't have such trivial concerns like emotions to worry about when making tricky calculations.
The flashbacks weren't helped by her feelings of guilt. Her Voldemort gamble clearly hadn't paid off as the Dark Lord had begun an attack on the castle. Either he had lost the last of his common sense or the wizard was extremely confident about overwhelming the school's defences. Romana thought the wards around the castle would hold out longer than they did but everything had its breaking point.
Stepping back from her creation Romana held her breath as her finger hovered about the activation button. The sequence had been typed in but she was a little hesitant to fully boot the system up. Using this on Earth as opposed to Gallifrey threw up enough variables. Trying to get it to function in a medieval castle soaked in magic was almost asking the impossible. She had to try though, the battle had already begun but if she could save someone then it would be worth it, "Fingers crossed", she mumbled.
Romana pressed the button and took a few paces back. The circuits began to hum into life and for a few glorious seconds she believed it was going to work. Suddenly sparks began to fly from the metal cross beams and her computer warned of an impending failure. In her haste the Time Lady didn't bother with the shut down sequence, pulling out her screwdriver and triggering the emergency cut out. There was one final flash of light and the archway turned silent again which was fortunate. The worst case failure scenario involved an unstable and uncontrollable black hole in the centre of Hogwarts.
The brunette sank to haunches and held back a couple of tears. What good was a triple first degree from the Academy if she couldn't put it to practical use? Her travels with the Doctor had exposed her lack of experience but she was much older now. She had survived a war with the Daleks but assembling this device was apparently too much. She suddenly felt like a helpless Time Tot struggling to put a few Roentgen blocks together.
From her slouched position on the floor, Romana could hear the sounds of battle and they were getting closer. Whatever defences had been placed in the Courtyard had evidently been breached by the Death Eaters. Harry, Ron and Ginny hadn't returned from the Room of Requirement either. With her device a failure and the Dark Lord's forces inside the castle, the need for a peaceful solution seemed a little irrelevant. Her friends could be in trouble and she needed to see if they were alright.
Romana was just about to stand up when a loud shriek pierced even the heavy wooden door of the hall. The Time Lady sprung into action, her blaster out of its holster and ready if needed. Stepping out into the entrance corridor the sounds of battle suddenly became significantly louder. Barely a second went by without the sound of spell fire reaching the Time Lady's ears.
Cautiously she moved towards the sound of the cry and immediately found the source. There was a fallen student and crouched over her was a burly figure in a torn black cloak. The creature appeared to be mauling away at the student like a wild animal. Romana didn't even give the beast a warning cry but the charging up of her sonic blaster appeared to catch its attention. It quickly spun its head to reveal the animalistic features of a werewolf. The beast's mouth was stained with blood and the substance dripped off its fang.
Righteous anger filled Romana and she quickly fired off two shots from her weapon. They were just stun bolts, albeit extremely powerful ones but the werewolf was catapulted several feet into the air before crashing into the great staircase. There was a horrific snapping sound when the beast slammed into the stone steps, it had impacted spine first with the unforgiving structure.
The Time Lady sprinted to the student's aid and immediately noticed it was Lavender Brown, one of Hermione's old roommates. Her human alter ego didn't have much time for the blonde but she wouldn't have wished this fate on anyone. Her face had been badly scratched and there were savage cuts along the width of her torso. The most concerning injury though was the puncture marks in her neck. Blood was haemorrhaging quickly out the wounds, pooling around the fallen teenager.
Romana crouched down and inspected the injuries and even with her limited knowledge of human medicine, she knew these wounds were fatal. Her knowledge of the magical world gained from her human self told her that werewolf wounds were cursed and unable to be treated through magical means. The rudimentary scientific breakthroughs in the medical field in this part of the twentieth century would probably make treating them beyond non magical methods too.
The brunette could see Lavender trying to move but her efforts were weak and feeble, "Don't move Lavender", Romana grasped the blonde's hand tightly, "just conserve your strength". The Time Lady had watched many of her fellow Time Lords die during the war. None were quite as young as Lavender though. She watched helplessly as her breathing became shallower until it eventually stopped altogether. The human's grip slackened on her hand until it fell limply to the ground, "I am so sorry Lavender", Romana whispered to the deceased girl.
As she stood up, Romana's anger flooded to the surface. Two words kept rolling around her mind, two words that were often spoken by her good friend, "No more", she growled and marched towards the stairs. On the way she passed the fallen werewolf who had taken Lavender's life. The creature's legs were horribly mangled from the landing and its spine appeared to be out of alignment. Fuelled by rage Romana pointed her blaster at the skull of the monster, her finger hovering near the trigger.
After a few seconds she slowly lowered her weapon, "No, a quick death is too good for you", she said coldly. With a sharp jab of her foot, she nudged the werewolf's injured back and rolled it down the steps. It landed at the bottom with a pathetic whimper, unable to move, "No one else is going to die tonight", she hissed and bounded up the steps.
Romana barely remembered the next minute or so. The half dozen Death Eaters that dared cross her path were dealt with swiftly as she continued her quest deeper into the castle. Somewhere on the fourth floor she heard the familiar sound of a magical duel. Moving her legs as quickly as possible the Time Lady soon came across the demented features of Bellatrix Lestrange who was engaged in a fear battle with her niece, Nymphadora Tonks. Magical duels hadn't been Hermione's strongest point but as Romana fished through her memories, something told her that Tonks was close to defeat.
A few seconds later she was proved correct as a purple curse caught Tonks on the lower leg, sending her sprawling to the ground, "Looks like I get my wish", the dark witch cackled, "one less poisoned branch on my family tree".
Not wasting a second Romana jumped into the room, her weapon firmly trained on Lestrange, "Step away from her", the Time Lady commanded fiercely, "now".
Confusion flashed across Bellatrix's face before she broke down in fits of laughter, "Oh it's you", she snorted, "for a moment I thought I was in trouble". Romana moved protectively in front of the fallen Tonks, she would do her damnedest to make sure that young Teddy wouldn't lose his mother tonight. "Look at you, fighting with a muggle weapon", Bellatrix continued", I always knew that your kind stole magic from proper witches and wizards. Something like that is so inferior to magic-".
"Tell that to Greyback", Romana was in no mood to hear a rant from Bellatrix Lestrange. Something like that would surely push her over the edge, "Assuming he can ever move again that is".
Bellatrix's confidence began to fade, filling Romana with immense satisfaction, "You lie", he cried, "a filthy creature like you couldn't defeat him so easily".
"Filthy creature", Romana sniffed, "our society stood for ten million years. Compared to that you lot are practically swinging through the trees still". She could feel Tonks's confusion but chose to ignore it, "You were there are Gringotts a couple of weeks ago", she paused, keeping her weapon focused on the dark witch, "well two weeks for you, a mere couple of hours for me". She inched as close as she dared, "Now that's something even your mighty magic can't do yet".
At that moment Romana realised she had no real escape plan. She was in a room with one of the most dangerous witches for centuries with an injured human to protect. Romana couldn't back down now, she would have to fight this one to the very end. Typically Bellatrix threw the first curse but Romana deftly ducked out the way.
Unfortunately Romana's blaster couldn't create a shield, if she was going to survive then she would have to use whatever cover was available. The space they were in appeared to be a disused classroom. Several desks had already been destroyed, presumably in the fight between Tonks and Bellatrix. Speaking of the metamorph, Romana had to get her out the line of fire as quickly as possible. She spun around and dragged the woman behind the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom, "Sorry for the roughness, can you move at all?" she asked Tonks.
"Possibly", Tonks winces as she moved into a crouch to test how much weight she could put on her leg.
"Good we're going to have to keep this moving", Romana stated, "and I need you to shield me as much as possible".
Tonks didn't get a chance to question the Time Lady as they were quickly on the move. Romana looked over the desk long enough to fire a shot at Bellatrix. It was off target but the powerful shockwave destroyed a desk, showering the witch with hundreds of splinters. Grasping Tonks by the hand, the Time Lady dragged her out the classroom and into the corridor. She had hoped that the first attack would be enough to dissuade Lestrange from continuing the duel but Romana was wrong. A couple of jets of light skimmed past her head, clearly Bellatrix had decided to make this personal, "Keep shielding", the brunette ordered.
"Why can't you do that yourself?" Tonks cried over the sound of shattering masonry.
"Really bad time for stories Tonks", Romana shouted back. She fired another shot towards Bellatrix but once again her aim was off. Even so the blaster was powerful enough to slow her down which was good because Tonks was beginning to struggle, "In there, quickly", she directed the metamorph towards a doorway.
Romana nudged the door open and the pair fell into what looked like the trophy room. The Time Lady cursed there was no way out of this room, "I'm sorry Hermione I can't carry on", Tonks wheezed, "just leave me and save yourself".
"Not going to happen", Romana replied firmly, "and its Romana, if we're going to die then you should at least call me by my real name".
"Your real name?" Tonks frowned.
"Yes really interesting story, if we survive then I'll tell you all about it", Romana smirked at the witch, "now isn't that an incentive to stay alive".
Moments later a frazzled looking Bellatrix stumbled into the room, "Well look who we have here", she chuckled, "finally caught up with you".
"Took your time, we've been here ages", Romana sniped back, "isn't that right Tonks". The metamorph gave a weak smile and nod, "shall we get on with this, I'm not in the mood for small talk with the likes of you".
Bellatrix frowned at the backhanded insult and readied her wand. Romana prepared to fire her blaster but they were both interrupted by a voice from the doorway, "Save some for me", the cultured female voice said. A feeling of dread washed over Romana and it proved to be well founded when the owner of the voice stepped through the door. The different face and witches robes might fool the two witches in the room but Romana knew that the Rani had decided to grace Hogwarts with her presence. The question now was; who's side was she on?
A/N - Weird coincidence someone mentioned K-9 in a review and I already had a mention of the robotic dog in this chapter. If I recall there was technically two K-9's on Gallifrey at one point as the Doctor gifted K-9 Mk 1 (I think) to Leela and then Romana's (Mk II) when she returned from E-Space.
So you get a glimpse at an angry, vengeful Romana which carries over from her Time War incarnation. I'll be honest I haven't read/listened to much of the Big Finish material covering the Time War, therefore, everything covering that period will be part of my own AU. Basically I'm going to make it up as I go along. I am going to use Romana III voice actress (Juliet Landau) as a basis for her looks (see story picture) but the personality will be all mine.
It would be fun to see Romana III interact with her current incarnation...but that's something for the future.