By the end of my first day of classes, I'm a strange mix of fatigued and energised. A dull ache spreads across my skull, my eyes are heavy, but my mind is alight and racing with ideas. I have to remind myself that I've been awake for nineteen hours. And in that time I've studied Shakespeare, building code requirements, Adlerian psychology basics, second world war battle strategies, business marketing strategies, Spanish conjugations and alchemy. But it's as though my mind is feeding on itself — the more I learn, the more I want to learn. Or maybe it's a coping mechanism to keep me from having a nervous breakdown about the time-turners.
I can't think about it too deeply. I have to consciously try to forget my mishap, and push it from my mind. Pretend that other versions of me don't exist. I wonder if I will ever be fully comfortable with the idea, once the shock wears off.
"I usually try to nap after a day of class," Pansy tells me, helping me cart my (very few) belongings to the Slytherin girls' dorm. Her earlier hostility towards me has mostly evaporated. I suppose she must be willing to make peace with the only other member free of testosterone. "The most important thing is not to be in two places at once. So you can nap for a few hours, then re-do that time and go out somewhere, or study in the common room, but you can't go up to the dorm until you know you're finished sleeping. And you can't double up on sleep, either. Unless you want to sleep in someone else's bed," she smirks. "But we also have like, a code of ethics around that. If we're re-doing time and we bump into each other, we have to say what time and date we're coming from. It can get a bit confusing, so try not to do it too often. It's usually easier to power through and do your stuff first, then go back and nap later and just sleep the whole night through."
"Got it," I say, though I'm more confused now than before she said anything.
"We each have our own rooms, and then there's the common room, too. Kitchens are just down the hall, just get your grocery order in before nine on a Monday, Theo's job is to get the food. If you do eat someone else's food, just be sure to replace it at the same time. No excuse not to," she smirks, tapping the time-turner beneath her blouse. "You'll find a routine that works for you soon enough. Phones are just down the hall."
Pansy lingers while I unpack, chatting about classes I've missed. My new room is more than twice the size of my old one, with a large four-poster bed crafted from mahogany, vines and roses carved into the framing and polished to perfection. The bedspread is emerald green, the headboard plush velvet. I have sheer curtains and a chandelier, a walk-in closet and en-suite, and an elegant desk with bookcases either side. I frown, wondering how many rooms like this are going to waste up here, while other students are being turned down for accommodation.
Pansy seems to notice my judgement. "We only fit out a room when somebody joins us," she says. "This is all vintage, but cleaned and upholstered. Would have cost the fund a fair amount."
"The fund?" I ask.
"Salazar's fund. It's how we get free housing, an allowance, things like that."
I find myself desperate, craving some sense of normalcy. "I actually need to make a call. I'll see you later?"
Pansy's more than happy to leave. I wait until she's gone before heading down to the phones. I'm nervous as I dial, as though my day as a Slytherin has tainted me. What if my friends won't like me anymore?
"Hello?"
"Ginny? It's Astoria." I hesitate. "Do you want to go out for a drink?"
I choose not to change my clothes before heading out, deciding I'll leave my dorm vacant so I can use the time-turner to come back and get some sleep. I'm getting the hang of this, I think. I choose to walk to the Three Sticks, a local pub just off campus. The night air is welcome, cool and refreshing against my bare face.
The place is packed with students when I enter, and I have to fight through the crowd to find Luna and Ginny, already sat and waiting for me at a table. They say nothing out of the ordinary at first, but Ginny's eyes narrow with suspicion, and she pulls back to examine me after a quick hug.
"You don't turn into a snake or anything now, do you?" she asks.
I laugh, somewhat nervously, and her grin reassures me nothing's changed. Luna puts a hand on my arm to ask what I'd like to drink.
"Lemonade," I say.
I suppose I can afford it now, but with no knowledge of when my allowance will begin, it still pains me to scrape my purse for the last of my coins. Luna makes her way to the bar to order and it's just Ginny and me.
"Where's Harry?" I ask.
"He's gone to see Hagrid."
Shit. I bite my lip, realising I forgot to let Hagrid know I wouldn't be at work anymore. My fingers move absent-mindedly to the pendant beneath my sweater, tracing the grooves along the edges. I wonder if I could go back an hour or two, hurry down to Hagrid's and let him know. I try to do the math in my head, struggling to recall the exact time Pansy and I combed through my Ravenclaw dorm, unable to risk my past self glimpsing me hurrying across the grounds.
"Astoria, are you okay?"
Ginny's lips are pressed together in concern. Before I can reassure her, Luna returns with the drinks, and I'm grateful for the distraction. I don't want to re-hash my day with Snape — I came here to get some sense of normalcy, to escape from the dark rooms with time-turners and unrelenting sheets of parchment. And besides, I don't trust myself not to let something slip. I recall Snape's first words to me that morning, already feeling like a lifetime ago. You will inevitably need to lie. To protect the others in this room, as much as yourself. How could I lie convincingly enough to deceive Ginny, with her suspicious manner, or Luna, who already knew more about Salazar's Seven than anybody else?
"What did you learn today?" Luna asks politely, breaking the silence as we sip our drinks.
"A little of everything," I say carefully. "The literature program's the same. We're just re-hashing Danté."
"Oh! That's come up in my Philosophy classes, too," Luna says. "I imagine for different reasons, though."
"And what's Snape like as a teacher?" Ginny asks. "Different than Flitwick or McGonagall, I can imagine."
I try not to laugh as I picture Snape, with his billowing, black trench coat and unimpressed stare, beside the tiny Flitwick in round spectacles and a permanent beam on his face.
"Very different." I find myself unable to offer much more detail, and slurp at my drink instead. "What did you guys do in class?"
"McGonagall gave us the biggest essay yet. You're lucky you missed out on that one," Ginny says darkly.
I think about the stacks and stacks of textbooks waiting for me in my new dorm, the six-inch scroll of parchment almost black with my cramped handwriting, taking down notes for all the homework due by the end of the week.
"Yeah," I agree half-heartedly. "Lucky."
"My classes were pleasant," Luna says. "I had to get Professor Lupin to sign my absence papers."
"Another adventure with your dad?" I ask.
"Yes. In Egypt, this time. There's a lot happening around the pyramids we're hoping to investigate."
"And what does the…"
My sentence trails off as I catch a flash of black and green through the crowd of bar-goers. I frown a little, craning my neck, and sure enough, the other Slytherins are weaving their way through the bar.
Ginny sighs. "Go on."
"Sorry," I mumble. "I forgot what I was saying."
"No, go. Go sit with them."
I blink, amazed as always by her perceptiveness. "No way. I'm here to see you."
"Actually, we need to head off." She stands to her feet, layering up once more in her coat and scarf. "Hagrid doesn't want any of us walking alone, so I need to escort Harry."
The thought brings a small smile to my face. We hug goodbye, Ginny's perfume like cinnamon and cloves, while Luna's scented oil of patchouli and lavender cuts through.
"Dinner at mine tomorrow," she says to me. "Before we leave."
"Potluck?" I ask, somewhat fearfully. I spent my last coins on the lemonade.
"No, actually, we'll need to cook up everything in the fridge."
"I'll be there," I promise.
We all wave eagerly, and before I know it, they're gone. I suck a deep breath into my lungs. It's time to find the other Slytherins.