XV.

Dorathea slept poorly that night, which surprised her. Hogwarts had always been a refuge after the Dursleys. It had been the first place that Harry felt truly safe, his first real home. Now, as Dorathea laid stretched out under crisp, anonymous sheets, listening to the shuffles and murmurs of girls and not her twin, in the dark unilluminated by her unicorn tapestries, she wondered if Harry had been feeling the magic of Hogwarts.

He had never been to the Potter home, had never known the comfort of family magic, so of course the feel of any magic would be amazing. But being in Hogwarts after two weeks at Nott Keep?

Dorathea sighed and shifted in her bed, glancing through the crack in her hangings as her restless mind kept whirling. Hogwarts magic was nothing like Nott magic. It was grand, absolutely. She could feel the magic in every stone, every grain of wood in every piece of furniture. It hummed in the background- immense and impersonal. But not hers. Not Nott magic which felt familiar and safe and personal in a way magic had never before.

And this was the magic that Lisa said was dark?

The night passed slowly and painfully. Dorathea was awake when Padma and Mandy settled in for bed and turned off their lights. She was awake when Morag finally left the bathroom and slipped into her own bed, only to have glow of a Lumos shine through the cracks of the tapestry.

It was late when what must have been Su Li slipped into the room, but Dorathea didn't see much of her beside a round figure in the dark who collapsed on her bed quietly. If Lisa returned after that, Dorathea didn't hear.

. . . . . . . .

"Should we wake her up?"

Dorathea blinked awake to the half-whispers outside her bed. The slice of light that cut through her curtains was a bright, morning light- nothing like the soft glow of candles. Dorathea scrambled to her knees- alarm building in her throat.

At Nott Keep, there had been no need to keep track of the time. The sun barely penetrated into the thick-walled Keep and clocks were few and far between - relegated to the grand rooms. Dorathea had grown used to the comfortable feeling of waking up only when she and Theo felt like it- never to an alarm clock.

Now though- Dorathea thrashed around, looking for a watch, before remembering that Dorathea didn't have one and Harry's old watch- a hand me down from Uncle Vernon- was still in the Gryffindor dorm. Sheepishly, she pushed aside the blue, velvet hanging and blinked out at where Padma and Mandy were standing- fully dressed, buffed and ready for the day.

"Good morning- what time is it?"

"Almost breakfast," Mandy said, "And about an hour before classes start." She looked nervous to be off as if she was worried that the food might all be gone by the time they arrived.

"We weren't sure if we should let you sleep," Padma said kindly, "I'm not sure how Muggles do it, but at Hogwarts, the House Elves don't bring you breakfast in bed."

"Muggles don't have house-elves," Maddy reminded her friend and Padma frowned- wrinkling her nose.

"Ah. Then. Mech-ines? Muggles have Mechines, right?"

Machines, Dorothea realized. Padma apparently thought that Muggles had robots bring them their breakfasts in bed. The image of a sleek, silver android bringing a covered tray into Dudley's dirty room almost caused her to giggle.

"Not quite, but thank you. I'll be down in a moment."

"We'll wait!" The girls promised and Dorathea gave them a grateful smile before hurrying to the bathroom.

. . . . . . .

"Alright." Dorathea gave her reflection one last, critical glance in the mirror and then nodded to herself. Her hair was carefully done up in the style that Lady Malfoy had taught her over the holiday- held in place with spells, bobby pins, and one of Theo's ribbons braided around her head. Her uniform was neatly tucked into her skirt. Her socks were pulled up around her knees. Her blue and bronze tie was tied in a complicated knot that she knew would make Theo smile when he saw it. All in all, she had taken more time and effort with her appearance this morning than Harry had ever done in an entire month.

She may be in a new house, the entire school might be gossiping about her, her new family might be a Dark one and working for her alter-self's sworn enemy, but at least she looked good! That was some comfort at least. Dorathea gave her reflection and cheerful smile and stepped out of the bathroom.

Last night she had been too overwhelmed to meet most of the Ravenclaw house, but today was a new day. If nothing else, she was going to go out and put to rest some of the rumors that the Notts were a Dark family or that she was a time traveler from the future- or whatever other ridiculous rumors were going around.

"Oh my go…."

Dorathea almost missed the half-whispered breath of astonishment as she exited the bathroom. But even though Padma had managed to pull her face into a neutral expression, Mandy didn't have the same skill of camouflage. The blond girl's expression shifted between confusion, shock and - incongruously- glee as she stared at Dorathea.

"Is everything alright?" Dorathea asked, running a nervous hand over her skirt to make sure she hadn't somehow forgotten an essential garment in the bathroom.

"Yes- yes-" Mandy said brightly, "It's just. Um. That's such an unusual hairstyle. Is it Muggle?"

"No- It's- Lady Malfoy taught me. . . " Dorathea's hands flew to her hairstyle, "Did I do it wrong?"

Padma's expression had smoothed into one of understanding, "Of course. It must be the traditional style of the Ancient and Noble houses."

Dorathea suddenly realized that both girls had their hair pulled back in neat, but rather plain styles- nothing like the elaborate braids she had made. Also, both their uniforms, while neater than the Gryffindors, had a certain casualness that her knife-edged pleats of her skirt, her intricate knot and tight-laced shirt lacked. Her confidence in the new day fled. Tears threatened the corner of her eyes.

"I can go take it down."

"There's no time!" Mandy protested, reaching out to grab her arm. "You took ages in the bathroom and now we only have 40 minutes to eat before we have to go to class!"

"But-" Dorathea tried to protest, but the other two girls were already herding her out of their dorm room and down to the hallways towards the Great Hall. Dorathea ducked her head - convinced that everyone was looking at her and giggling.

Why had Harry never paid attention to what the other girls wore at school? Hermione had never done anything special with her hair- had actually complained a few times about being unable to do anything with her curls. Dorathea had assumed that doing something with her hair was better than not - but apparently, she'd been wrong.

"Does it really look that bad?" She asked Padma meekly as she caught sight of her reflection in a trophy box. The tall girl hesitated, clearly trying to weigh her words carefully. Mandy had no such hesitation.

"It looks like you stepped out of a history book," She giggled and then huffed as Padma elbowed her with a glare, "A relatively recent history book."

That didn't help Dorathea's confidence in the least. She wished she was back at Nott Keep or, for the first time in two weeks, that she was Harry one more. No one cared whether the Boy Who Lived had messy hair. Or, Dorothea amended quietly, no one was brave enough to bring it up.

They rounded the corner and Dorathea spied practically the only person she wanted to see at the moment. Theo stood near the door to the Great Hall peering around worriedly, his pinched face looked broke into a run, "Theo!"

A/N: Thank you all for your reviews, follows, and favs! They keep me inspired to keep writing.