Chapter 1 – A Time Lady Reborn

Every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire. Her bones groaned and ached under the pressure of the dark curse. A small part of her mind wanted to beg for the pain to stop but her mouth refused to move. Or maybe she was passed the point of being able to control her physical responses. At this point all Hermione Granger knew was pain, being delivered with relish by Bellatrix Lestrange.

Finally the curse was lifted and Hermione felt her muscles relax onto the cold stone floor of Malfoy Manor. She numbly turned her head and noticed something carved directly into the flesh on her forearm. Her eyes struggled to focus but after a few moments she recognised the word 'MUDBLOOD' standing out on her pale skin.

Slowly but surely the rest of her senses began to return to normal. Hermione vaguely registered the dark witch herself, strutting around her fallen body like a vulture stalking its prey. Twisting her head the other way she spotted Draco Malfoy, looking paler than usual, holding the jacket she had been wearing when she was captured by the snatchers, "Is she", Hermione heard the Malfoy heir stammer, "is she, you know".

"A dribbling vegetable", Bellatrix sniffed and drove her boot firmly into Hermione's ribs. The brunette wanted to play dead but the sharp pain from the assault drew an involuntary yelp. "It would appear there's still some life in the mudblood yet", the dark witch sounded almost ecstatic that she would get to continue the torture. "Did you find anything in her pockets?" she turned to her nephew sharply.

Startled by the question, Draco fumbled over his words before stammering, "Only this", his hand trembled as he handed something over to his Aunt.

Bellatrix studied the item in great detail. It was a brass pocket watch, very worn and dull looking. There was something unusual about the markings across the front surface, a weird jumble of circular patterns. They could be decorative but the dark witch suspected they could mean something else. Crouching down next to Hermione she got close enough to allow her tangled black hair to brush the teen's cheek, "These markings", she began in a husky whisper, "is this some kind of Order code?"

Hermione examined the watch closely, it had been in her possession ever since she was born but somehow, she had failed to spot the engraved markings. Her brown eyes flickered over the patterns, they looked familiar and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew exactly what they meant. Those distant thoughts wouldn't come to the forefront of her mind though and instead she spluttered, "It's just a pattern, there's no meaning". Her head sagged back against the stone floor, exhausted from the effort of talking.

The dark haired witch's gaze bore into Hermione, trying to use Legilimancy to ascertain the truth from the teen. Hermione felt the tendrils of a mental invasion and made no effort to resist, not that she probably could in her current condition. "She knows more than she's letting on", Bellatrix declared, "but someone has hidden them away". Leaping back to her feet she turned to Draco and said, "This will require more persuasive measures", she thrust the watch back into the blonde's hand, "watch her, I'll be back soon".

Hermione vaguely registered diminishing sound of Bellatrix's boots on the stone floor and finally allowed herself to relax. No doubt the dark witch would be back in due course, there was no way she would resist the chance to inflict more pain on an individual. Her thoughts quickly flicked towards Harry and Ron, who were locked up in the dungeon of the Manor. The trio had escaped from tighter spots in the last six and a half years but this one looked almost impossible.

Suddenly she felt a warmth around her body, Draco had placed her jacket across her torso, "I'm not dead yet", she croaked out but the blonde Death Eater didn't respond, "if you wanted to help me, you'd let me go".

"Aunt Bella would kill me", "Draco said numbly, "but she's convinced this watch has a hidden meaning. Tell me something about it and I'll ask her to call off the torture". He crouched down and placed the watch into her hand before standing back up again. The brunette witch felt the sincerity behind Draco's words but she doubted he had that much pull with Voldemort's second in command. She wanted to appreciate the gesture but after nearly seven years of abuse at the hands of Draco Malfoy, it would take more than this to redeem him in her eyes.

She felt the cool metal on her skin and turned it over a few times. Hermione didn't know where she had gotten this from. Initially she thought it had been a present from her parents but they denied ever seeing it. Sometimes she even forgot that she had the pocket watch, going several months without laying eyes on the device. She was pretty sure that it was broken, "Broken", Hermione whispered, "why would I carry a broken watch around with me?"

"You tell me", Draco snorted, "I thought it was a muggle thing, carrying around a faulty watch all the time". A bony finger pointed to the catch on top, "The catch is stuck, maybe it's not even a watch at all".

Another thought flashed across Hermione brain, had she ever tried to open it? She had just assumed that it was broken and hadn't made any effort to investigate, that didn't sound like her. 'It's time', a faint whisper echoed in Hermione's ears. At first she thought she had been hearing things, Draco's lips definitely hadn't moved. The voice sounded feminine, a little regal in tone like how she imagined the Royal Family would speak.

Her finger rubbed over the catch and she applied a small amount of pressure. Seconds later her mind was assaulted with hundreds of images that didn't make sense to her. Metal creatures with small circular pods on the outside and a sink plunger for an arm, the searing heat of fire and an emptiness that threatened to drown her soul. Then she got images of a strange blue box and a man that kept changing his face. This man wasn't a stranger to her, an old friend, maybe a lover or even both.

Gasping for breath the images stopped and it took Hermione a few moments to regain her senses. The first thing she noticed was Draco's face looming over her, "Granger, don't go dying on me", he called.

"That almost sounded like concern Malfoy", Hermione snorted, "probably for your own skin if Auntie Bella finds me dead on your watch". The Malfoy heir paled and the brunette suspected she had hit the nail on the head. There was silence before Hermione had a moment of clarity. She looked at the watch again and suddenly she was acutely aware of what it was, "A chameleon arch", she wheezed, "that's what this is".

Draco frowned, "What on earth is a chameleon arch?"

"Simple really, it rewrites your DNA to change your appearance not just as a physical level but also at a biological level. Developed during the golden age of Rassillion to protect Time Lords against their enemies-", Hermione suddenly stopped her lecture. She had no idea where this information had come from and more importantly, she was speaking like the voice in the watch. Her finger rubbed over the catch again, "I've let the genie out, no going back now", she sighed.

"Granger", Draco began cautiously and reached for his wand, "please don't make me do something I'll regret".

Hermione's brown eyes met with Draco's grey one, "Typical, the last person to see Hermione Granger alive is Draco bloody Malfoy". She thought about Harry and Ron again, she would never get the chance to say a proper goodbye. She hoped that would still like her real self once her true heritage had been unlocked.

With a sad sigh, Hermione Granger accepted her fate and pushed down fully on the catch. A stream of golden light poured out the watch and engulfed the brunette. Draco staggered back and shielded his eyes against the bright light, dropping his wand in the process. Hermione let out a loud scream as the light tore apart her DNA and began rewriting it back to its original form. Her arms extended outwards and her body allowed more of the golden energy to seep into her pores. As quickly as it had begun, the light vanished and the person previously known as Hermione Granger crashed back to the ground.

Alerted by the loud scream Bellatrix burst back into the room with her wand drawn, "Draco what did you do?" she spat with acid in her voice.

"N-nothing", her replied, "she opened the watch, got attacked by some golden light and then collapsed". Before the pair could continue their discussion, they were thrown off their feet by an invisible force and sent skidding across the ground.

Two teenage boys emerged from a dark corner of the room and gathered around Hermione's body, she was completely still, "What did you do to her ferret?" Ron hissed angrily.

Harry crouched down and placed two fingers against her neck, "She's alive", he frowned though as he continued to check her pulse, "This doesn't feel right, too many beats".

A thin wisp of golden energy escaped from Hermione's lips and suddenly her eyes burst open. She sat up bolt upright with a start, her eyes flicking across every corner of the room quickly. A look of confusion began to form on her face as her eyes began to focus on some of the lock of frizzy brown hair that dropped into her line of sight. She grasped at the lock and tugged at it violently, "More hair than last time, not a fan of frizz but that can be corrected".

She quickly leapt to her feet and began to pat herself down, "Hmm still feel underdeveloped but everything appeared to be in the right place, I sound really young too", she turned sharply towards Ron and grabbed him by edge of his top, "how old do I look?"

Flummoxed by the question, the red head stumbled over his words for a few seconds, "Well you are eighteen but I suppose you could pass for twenty at a push", he answered nervously.

"Eighteen", she gasped, "really, eighteen", she took a couple of paces back, "dear Rassillion, the Council would have a field day if they could see me now", she added in shock. Her hands got tangled in her mane of brown hair and she struggled to free herself, "Stupid hair, I can calculate Pi to forty thousand places in my head but I have to do it whilst looking like I just got out of bed".

"Erm Hermione", Harry began hesitantly, "are you feeling alright?"

The brunette turned slowly toward the messy haired teen. With a look of sympathy she placed her hands on his shoulder, "Harry I'm sorry", she sighed, "I'm so very sorry". Before she could continue her apology, a flash of green light whizzed over their heads. With lightning reactions, the brunette bent down, grabbed Draco's fallen wand and with a lazy flick, disarmed Bellatrix Lestrange, "Huh, wasn't sure if would still be able to do that", she muttered in surprise, catching the tumbling wand easily. At the same time something felt like it was escaping from her body. The wand had previous hummed to her but now it felt cold and lifeless, "Curious, these humans have the ability to manipulate energy at its purest", she continued to ramble, ignoring that empty feeling, "this is the greatest evolutionary step in thousands of years".

"Maybe I did scramble your brains mudblood", Bellatrix sneered, "now give me back my wand so I can teach you to respect your betters".

"Give you back the object that could be used to kill me", 'Hermione' snorted with laughter, "I've been locked away for a few years but I haven't lost my mind".

"Err", Harry began, "Hermione?"

"Respect your betters, you don't even know who you're talking to", 'Hermione' ignored Harry's pleas and held her head up confidently. She took a couple of paces forward, walking with the grace of ballet dancer before continuing, "Perhaps a proper introduction is in order. I am Lady Romanadvoratrelundar of the House of Heartshaven, former President of the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous". The assembled group looked blankly at the brunette until she smiled sweetly, "But that's a bit of a mouthful so you can call me Romana".

A stunned silence descended on Malfoy Manor until Bellatrix started laughing hysterically, "I really did drive you insane Granger, you almost had me going for minute". She reached into her robe and pulled out a large silver dagger, "Last chance, give me my wand or one of you dies".

Instead of looking scared Romana stared back, looking distinctly unimpressed with the dark witch's threat, "Oh Bella, I've run from Cybermen, battled Daleks and suffered torture from Davros himself so if you expect me to feel threatened by you then you're sorely mistaken".

A few seconds passed before anyone could fully absorb the words, this person calling themselves Romana but wearing the skin of Hermione Granger, had uttered. Even Bellatrix herself couldn't believe the disdainful way she had been dismissed by the brunette. She was prepared to throw the blade in her direction but Romana held up a hand, "Before you do that I'm going to give you a chance", she said imperiously. "Let me and my friends go and I won't come after you but if you throw that blade I will do everything in my power to stop your reign of terror".

To everyone's surprise Bellatrix actually appeared to be considering her options. She twisted the point of the blade against her finger, drawing a small amount of her own blood, "I think you know what my answer's going to be muddy", she taunted in response.

"I know", Romana shrugged, "but I had to try and also it brought me a few extra seconds for this to happen". A soft wheezing sound echoed inside Malfoy Manor and to everyone's shock, a red muggle telephone box slowly appeared between Bellatrix and the golden trio. The dark witch cried in anger and threw the blade but it bounced off the now solid phone box and hit the stone floor with a clang.

Romana breathed a sigh of relief and gently rubbed the surface of the box, "Really a phone box, that's the best you could do?" Harry and Ron frowned, was their friend really talking to this box like it was alive, "Alright I'm sorry I know you're out of practice, that's hardly my fault".

"Hermione", Ron tapped her on the shoulder, "why are you talking to that box?"

"It's not just a phone box Ronald", Romana snorted, "that's a type 80 TARDIS, it's chameleon circuit is fully working, although you wouldn't know it". A loud cry from the opposite end of the room heralded the arrival of more Death Eaters into the main reception room, "Come on you two, get in the box", she added more forcefully. Romana pushed the door to the TARDIS open and bundled Harry and Ron inside. She contemplated dropping Draco and Bellatrix's wands on the ground but the Time Lord thought it could be useful for further research. Without a second thought she jumped into the time ship and slammed the door shut.

A/N – So yeah this idea came out of nowhere. I've been recently watching a lot of classic Doctor, in particular the episodes featuring the original Romana (played by the late Mary Tamm). Whilst watching I noticed a lot of common mannerisms between Romana and Hermione Granger (bossy, brave and obscenely smart) and this is gradually evolved from there. More to come but don't expect regular updates, just a bit of advanced warning.