Card the moon

Chapter 22 – Time marches on, and on, and on

…

Mornings, as few people realize, were not devised until after man's fall into sin. Toiling for your food isn't so bad, not really. The 'pain' of childbirth, hardly worth writing home about. Mornings though, that was just cruel and unusual and proved for once and for all; god has a sense of humor, because you just know he's laughing at you every single morning, ya clumsy, bumbling, mook.

…

Harry woke; it wasn't because he wanted to, but he'd set his alarm and it was tugging insistently on his foot.

"Harry Potter sirs. Is time to be waking up. Missy talking kitty is waiting for you."

Let her wait, and several other ungenerous thoughts passed through his mind en route to his mouth only to be diverted out his ear at the last second.

"Alright Dobby, I'm up."

"No Harry Potter sirs, you is just awake. You is needing to be getting up so you can have you's run."

The only way to start the day, according to certain evil black felines with too much to say.

"Let's go! Lift those knees!"

Evil, evil feline.

"No pain, no gain! Let's see some hustle!"

Eeeeevil!

"Harry, mate, you need to take it easy. You just got out of the hospital wing."

Try telling that to someone else, he silently cursed into his oatmeal.

It's not that he didn't appreciate the severity of the situation. The youma were lethal dangerous, he'd been lucky thus far, and it was only thanks to Clow card intervention and his ability to sneak attack that he was still alive.

That reality was hard to appreciate when his legs were screaming at him 'you take one more step and we're done buster!' In retrospect, he should have listened.

"No, no, no! I said slice, not dice. Can you not listen Potter? Is your head so overinflated it is stifling your ability to hear!"

"Bloody berk," Ron muttered as Snape stormed out of earshot.

"So what else is new," Harry muttered, looking mournfully at his useless ingredients.

"He's just been on the warpath this year. He's always bad but…"

"Yeah, but," Harry agreed.

"What ya think his problem is?"

"Hemorrhoids?"

Ron snickered at his perfectly reasonable explanation, a little too loud to avoid drawing the beast's attention.

"Ten points from Gryffindor Weasley! If you cannot take this seriously it'll be another ten."

"Greasy git," Ron growled under his breath.

"Lucky we don't have potions every day," said Harry.

"He is the bloody worst!" Ron complained loudly as they left the dungeons.

A general murmur of agreement followed obediently; no one liked Snape and he was not making any friends this year. Even Hermione who usually advocated blind respect for all figures of authority was silent.

A glance over his shoulder revealed this to be because she was gone; off to one of her other classes which she still refused to tell them how she was getting to, which did not stop 'them' from getting to her.

Even with Harry taking as many of the youma as he could, Sailor Moon still had plenty of work, heaped on top of all the other work Hermione was buried under. The girl was working herself into the ground.

Speaking of Sailor Moon, "Mrow."

"Oy! What is that bloody thing want?"

He had a pretty good idea, "You all go ahead," said Harry, picking up the expectantly purring feline, "I'll catch up."

"You know, I don't think he likes me," she said when they were out of earshot.

"And I'm sure you don't tease him ever chance you get."

"Not every chance," she cried, affronted.

"Such admirable restraint."

"It is, isn't it."

"I hope that's not all this is about," he still had class. "How bad is this one."

"It can't hide to save its life," she said. "I have to assume its heavy on combat or their just throwing trash at us to take out for them."

"Hmm, am I that lucky?"

"Probably not."

"Probably not," more like definitely not.

"I think we learned a great deal from that encounter," she said that evening.

"Like new ways to say 'owch'," he'd discovered at least three.

"Among other things. They aren't running out of bruisers, that we can be certain of."

"At least they have one less now," and he had a few dozen new ones.

"I think we'll count that as spell practice for today if that's alright?"

He wasn't about to argue. Groaning his ascent, he proceeded to haul his battered carcass back to Gryffindor tower. Bed was calling, the day was over, and thank Merlin he'd never have to go through it again.

… the next morning

"Harry Potter sirs, is time to wake up."

"Wah? Dobby, I don't have to run this morning," Harry complained.

"Is Wednesday Harry Potter sirs, you is having to run this morning," the elf insisted.

"Wednesday? No, yesterday was Wednesday, wasn't it?"

"Dobby is not thinking so," Dobby said. "Today is Wednesday. Harry Potter sirs is needing to get up for his run. Missy talking kitty is waiting."

Wednesday? No, that couldn't be right. He'd already done this. Hadn't he?

"Let's go! Lift those knees!"

"I've done this already."

"What's that down there? Is that griping I hear?" the evil drill sergeant bellowed.

"Luna, we did this yesterday."

"Yesterday was Tuesday Harry. We don't run on Tuesday. Today is Wednesday."

"No, yesterday was Wednesday, I'm sure of it," at least he was kinda sure.

"No excuses. Knees up! Come on, come on!"

It wasn't an excuse, he'd already done this, hadn't he?

"Is your head so overinflated it is stifling your ability to hear!"

"Bloody berk."

"You said that yesterday."

"Huh?" Ron stared at his friend blankly. "We didn't have potions yesterday."

"We did. I remember. It was exactly this class, I know it was," which he did, almost.

"Whatever you say mate," said Ron, "So, what ya think his problem is?"

Hemorrhoids, snicker too loud, ten points from Gryffindor. He'd already done this. It couldn't have just been his imagination.

"Oy, what is that bloody thing want!"

"You know, I don't think he likes me very much… Harry, are you alright?"

"No," he said, "no I am not. I'm almost certain I have just relived yesterday, and if memory serves, yesterday sucked."

"Really!" It was hard to tell if she believed him. He wasn't sure he believed him, but he was almost entirely sure he'd done all of this the previous day.

"Well, I think we learned a great deal from that encounter."

"Yep, sure did." Second time was no more enjoyable than the first.

"Why don't we call that spell practice for the day."

"You said that already," he mumbled, staggering out the door.

All of it, with the exception of him, was exactly the same. He'd just relived the previous day, now he was sure of it. What he wasn't sure of was why. And given all his fun new bruises, he was in no shape to go investigating. He was barely in a shape to fall into bed.

… the 'next' day

"Harry Potter sirs. Is time to be waking up. Missy talking kitty is waiting for you."

"Dobby, what day is it?"

"It is being Wednesday Harry Potter sirs."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"You want me to what?" the cat asked.

"Check Hermione's time turner. See if there's anything wrong with it."

"Why would you think there's anything wrong with it?"

"Because this is the third morning I've woken up to find that it is Wednesday, the same Wednesday I went to sleep in. Something is going on."

"Yes, well, just a moment then."

The cat scurried up the stairs, leaving Harry to pace the common room for the next ten minutes.

"Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Seems fine," she said. "Mind you I'm no expert on artifacts, never mind time travel, but there doesn't appear to be anything unusual about it."

"And Hermione didn't say anything about this?"

The cat shook her head. Well, bollocks.

… the 'next' day

"Harry Potter sirs. Is time to be waking up. Missy talking kitty is waiting for you."

"I don't want to wake up," he already knew how this day was going to go and he didn't like it.

He couldn't stay in bed though, if Dobby didn't get him up someone else would. There was exactly zero chance of him just sleeping through whatever was messing with time till it fixed itself.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up."

Under protest.

"He is the bloody worst," Ron complained to yet another murmur of agreement.

Harry wasn't listening. He'd already checked out; he knew how this day went. It sucked. Five times now it sucked. Why did it have to suck?

And then it hit him. Why did it have to suck? Why, did it have to suck? He knew how it all played out, so why not change it. Sure, there was a limit, but even a little less suck would be nice. There was no reason he had to keep doing the same thing over and over again, that wouldn't change anything, why would he even think it would.

"Harry? Uh mate? You okay?" Ron asked of his madly cackling friend.

"Not really," said Harry, "but you know what. I think I know how to change that. Oh yes. Big change."

"Uh, that's great mate, I think" he mumbled the last part.

"Mrow?"

"Oy, what is that bloody thing want!"