By unanimous vote, dinner was ultimately decided to be cooked back in the kitchen rather than eaten out.
The reason was that they were afraid they might not acclimate after arriving somewhere so far away. It was a convincing reason; leaving the place one had known for the first half of one's life had no less of an impact on wizards than on ordinary people.
Magic was no help at a time like this and might even cause new problems.
After changing into casual clothes acceptable in the Muggle world, they took a stroll around the nearest Muggle town before returning to the tent.
"Why do I feel like we clearly haven't done anything today, yet it's already getting dark?"
Smelling the cream and butter wafting through the air, Severus found it hard to believe that it was nearly time for dinner.
If he remembered correctly, they seemed not to have had breakfast today, either.
They had only snacked a little in the carriage earlier.
"From Britain to here, we naturally crossed an extra nine hours. That means today has nine fewer hours of daylight than usual."
Eileen poked her head out of the kitchen. She knew something about this.
"That's why I didn't tell you to sleep early yesterday, and why I didn't let you sleep on the way here. You were unbearably sleepy when you got up this morning, weren't you? Go to bed early later. By tomorrow, you'll have adjusted to the time here a little."
"So... my life just got nine hours shorter?!"
Severus had indeed been a little sleepy, but hearing that woke him right up instead.
"Don't worry, Severus. You'll go back to Britain eventually, and those nine hours of time difference will return."
Lily reassured him with a smile.
Manus, beside them, spoke