Title: Cambiamenti
Author: Fantastic Mr Foxkins
Beta'd by: Currently looking for a beta reader.
Summary: Sometimes the smallest changes can have the biggest impacts. Harry's Hogwarts years in an alternative reality series. HP/DM.
Rating: M just to be safe. The rating will probably go up later in the series but for now there won't be any explicit content. Slash will not feature till later in the series.
Disclaimers: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: I've always wondered what would have happened if Harry had taken Draco's hand in friendship instead of Ron's. The series will follow most of the plot lines set out by JK but obviously there are going to be a few changes here and there. A few lines will be taken directly from the book, I'm sure you'll spot them. A few of the characters may be slightly OOC but I have a very definite idea where I want this story to go and this fanfiction will not feature a dark Harry. This is a pro – Slytherin piece of fiction and I decided from the very beginning that Malfoy family would essentially be residing on the side of the light. If anyone has a problem with these characterisations then please feel free to press the back button, no-one is forcing you to read. I'll add a short word of warning to homophobics; this will eventually include Harry/Draco Slash so if you are not comfortable with male/male relationships I suggest you also click the back button. I'm still a very green novice when it comes to writing so any criticism is gladly accepted as long as it is constructive. Flames will just be ignored and deleted; they have no purpose in the wonderful world of writing. Sorry about the long notes but I feel they are necessary. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy it and please don't forget to leave a review.
Chapter One – Ripples
"Hogwarts dear?" The woman's kind voice interrupted Harry's thought process and he glanced up at the smiling witch. The last twenty four hours had been the strangest in his life. It was all so confusing and new to him. It had been hard enough to accept that he was a wizard and that his parents had not died in a car crash like he had originally thought. It had been quite awful when he discovered that his parents had in fact been murdered by an evil wizard named Voldemort. What really stunned him though was the fact that surviving the whole experience seemed to catapult him headfirst into the spotlight of this new world, he was famous for something that he couldn't even remember.
"Got the lot here – another young man being fitted up just now in fact," Harry simply nodded to her. He felt too nervous to add kind of comment and simply followed the witch to the back of the shop. A boy with a pale pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned him new robes. Harry stepped onto the stool next to him, sending a shy glance to the pale boy. Madame Malkin slipped a long black robe over his head and started to pin it to the correct length.
"Hello," said the boy. "I take it you are going to Hogwarts to."
"Yes," said Harry quietly.
"My Father has gone to buy my books and Mother has gone to Olllivanders to look at wands." The boy sounded rather bored to Harry, bored and arrogant. "I want to go look at the racing brooms though. I wish first years were allowed to take their own brooms, it seems such a silly rule to me. I might ask Father to get me one anyway and I'll try and smuggle it in somehow."
Harry looked slightly shocked. They hadn't even got to Hogwarts yet and this boy was already thinking about breaking the rules. It wasn't that Harry never broke school rules, far from it in fact. At his old school he had always been in trouble for one reason or another although that had usually been down to two factors: his bullying cousin Dudley and his magic. The way this boy spoke strongly reminded Harry of Dudley, he seemed spoilt.
"Have you got your own broom," the boy asked him.
"No," said Harry.
"Do you play Quidditch?"
"No," Harry said. He looked slightly confused. What on earth was Quidditch?
"I do," the boy said proudly, "Father says it will be a crime if I'm not picked for my house team. Do you know what house you'll be in?"
"No," said Harry. He felt very stupid and small and he wished that he could say something more interesting then yes or no.
"Do you actually say anything other then yes or no? You're very quiet aren't you?"
Harry blushed slightly and gave a wry smile to the boy. "I do but I haven't found the opportunity to say something yet."
"Oh." Said the boy. "I say look at the man." He continued nodding in the direction of the window. Hagrid was stood holding up two ice creams and grinning indicating that he couldn't come in.
"That's Hagrid," said Harry feeling pleased that he finally could add something to the conversation. "He works at Hogwarts."
"I think I've heard of him," said the boy, "he's the gamekeeper isn't he?"
"Yes," said Harry.
"Why is he with you?" the boy asked staring curiously at Harry. "Where are your parents?"
"They're dead," said Harry dully.
"Oh I am sorry." The boy said without much emotion in his voice. "They were our kind weren't they?"
"They were a witch and a wizard if that's what you mean," Harry said wondering why on earth that mattered.
"Our family isn't too keen on the other sort. I guess it's the old pureblood fear that muggles will find out about us. I think that's why Father thinks they should keep Hogwarts for pureblood wizarding families only. What's your surname?"
"Potter," said Harry. "I'm Harry Potter." He half expected the boy to jump down off the stool and shake his hand till it hurt, like the occupants of the Leaky Cauldron had. To his relief the boy simple raised an eyebrow in surprise before letting out a small grin.
"Nice to meet you Harry. I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. You can call me Draco."
Harry nodded and held his hand out to the other boy politely, who shook it slightly. Madame Malkin tapped Harry gently on the shoulder and gave him another smile,
"That's you done dear." Harry hopped down from the stool and turned to glance at Draco.
"I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express then?" Draco asked.
"Sure," said Harry. He was grateful that Draco had spoken to him normally and treated him as if he was ordinary. He hated all the attention he had received in the Leaky Cauldron; he preferred to be in the background. The staring had unnerved him especially when it was directed at his scar. He unconsciously covered his scar with his dark bangs and exited the shop looking thoughtful.
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Harry glanced around the busy platform in dismay. He had no idea how to get onto Platform Nine and Three – Quarters and he was receiving some very funny looks from other travellers. This was due to the fact that perched on his trunk was a cage containing a snowy white owl who he had named Hedwig. She had been a gift from Hagrid for his birthday. Harry was trying very hard not to panic but according to the big clock on the wall he had ten minutes to board the train and he had no idea how to do it.
At that moment a few people passed just behind him and he managed to catch a few words of what they were saying.
"Packed with muggles, of course…"
Harry swung round at once. Muggle was a wizarding term for non magic folk. He followed them casually, his heart thumping. Surely they would know how to get onto the platform. The speaker was a plump woman with bright red hair and she was surrounded by four boys and a younger looking girl. The eldest boy broke away from the group and ran at the divider between platforms nine and ten, he seemed to disappear. Harry blinked in shocked and watched as the same thing happened to a pair of twin boys who followed each other in quick succession. He was still none the wiser on how to get onto the platform, there was nothing for it he was going to have to ask.
"Excuse me," he asked his voice shaking slightly. "Could you please tell me how to…"
"How to get onto the platform?" She said kindly and Harry nodded.
"All you've got to do is walk straight at the barrier that divides platforms nine and ten. You'd better do it at a bit of a run if you are nervous. Go on now before Ron."
"Err ok," said Harry feeling rather worried it looked very solid.
Harry started to run at the barrier and he closed his eyes at the very last minute, fearing that he was going to crash straight into the wall. The crash didn't come though and he kept on running. Cautiously he opened his eyes and stared in shock at the sight before him. A huge scarlet steam engine was waiting next to the platform, on its side in bold letters read 'Hogwarts Express'. The platform was packed with students and their families. The first few carriages on the train were seemingly full of students; some were leaning out of the windows to talk to their families.
He made his way over to an empty compartment and tried to lift his trunk from the trolley onto the train. It was so heavy that he could hardly lift one end off the floor.
"Need a hand with that?" said a friendly voice and Harry smiled in relief at the familiar tone.
"Hi Draco," he said. "That would be great."
A man who looked almost exactly the same as Draco strode over. He had long silvery blonde hair and intense grey eyes. Harry watched with fascination as he removed his wand from the inside of his walking stick and levitated Harry's heavy trunk onto the train, tucking it safely into a corner of the compartment.
"Thank you Sir," said Harry remembering his manners.
"Dad this is Harry Potter," Draco said. He smiled encouragingly at Harry who smiled back.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Potter," said Draco's Father.
"Likewise Sir."
"I must be going now Draco," said Draco's Father. "I'll expect an owl to let your Mother and I know how you are doing. Be careful and good luck for the sorting."
Draco nodded and said his goodbyes. He waited until his Father had left the platform before taking Harry by the arm and dragging him into the compartment.
"We don't want anyone else stealing it from us do we," Draco asked at Harry's slightly raised eyebrow.
"No I suppose not," said Harry settling down onto a seat.
The train started to move away from the platform slowly. Houses started to flash by the window and Harry smiled slightly, feeling rather excited. Where ever it was that he was going it had to be better then what he was leaving behind. He turned back round to face into the compartment when he saw that Draco was staring at him.
"What?" he asked in slight confusion.
"You seem really happy to be going. Are muggles really that awful?" Draco wrinkled his nose distastefully.
Harry thought about this for a moment. He had better word this right seeing as Draco had never even met a muggle let alone ventured into their world.
"Not all muggles are bad, just like all wizards are not good," he said finally, remembering Hagrid's wise words. "My aunt resented my Mother for being a witch so the Dursley's have a very clouded view on the wizarding world. That's probably why they never told me I was a wizard, they thought magic was awful and they wanted to stamp it out of me."
"You didn't know you were a wizard?" Draco asked in surprise, his grey eyes widening in horror.
"Not till Hagrid rescued me. My uncle drove us to the middle of no-where and made us hide in a shack on a rock in the middle of the sea so that I wouldn't be able to see any of those school letters."
"How barbaric," Draco said sounding disgusted.
Seeing the look in his new friend's eyes Harry thought it might be best to keep quiet about the fact he had lived in the cupboard under the stairs for most of his life. He averted his eyes from Draco's face and stared uncomfortably out of the window.
It was in that moment that the compartment door slid back and a tall gangly looking red head stepped into the compartment. Harry recognised him as the youngest boy of the woman who had helped him onto the platform.
"Can we help you?" Draco asked his voice dripping with distaste.
"Can I sit here," the red head asked looking uncomfortable, "only everywhere else is full."
Harry shot Draco a look. In the short time that he had known Draco he had found out that the blonde was often rather rude to people he felt were beneath him. Draco had opened his mouth to say something cutting but upon seeing Harry's look he closed it.
"Sure," Harry said in a friendly sort of tone.
"I'm Ron," said the red head, "Ron Weasley."
"I'm Harry Potter." Ron's eyes widened in shock and his eyes automatically performed the flick towards his forehead. Harry felt a sharp stab of annoyance like he did everytime somebody goggled at his scar. "And this is Draco Malfoy," he added wanted to turn the conversation away from himself.
Ron turned his head sharply at the name Malfoy and his eyes narrowed with instant dislike. Draco's pale cheeks blushed slightly with embarrassment.
"Something wrong with my name?" Draco asked defensively.
"Your whole family are a bunch of dark wizards," Ron said angrily, "You better stay away from the Malfoy's Harry or you'll end up in deep trouble if you hang around with them."
If there was one thing Harry hated, it was people telling him how to feel. Draco had been nothing but pleasant to him and although the blonde could be snotty and rude at times, Harry felt it was an uncalled for attack on his friend's character.
"Have you ever met any of Draco's family?" Harry asked coldly.
"No but I don't need to. My Dad told me all about the Malfoy's."
"Well I don't like it when people judge other people before they get to know them," said Harry. "And I especially don't care for your rudeness. I think I can make my own mind up on whom I make friends with."
Ron's ears seemed to turn an interesting shade of scarlet. He narrowed his eyes and glared slightly at Harry.
"Fine but you'll come to regret it mark my words."
Ron turned and walked out of the compartment. Harry let out the breath he didn't know that he had been holding and slumped slightly on the seat.
"Thank you," Harry turned to face Draco at the sound of his voice.
"What for?" Harry asked confused.
"For standing up for my family and me like that. A lot of wizards think we are all rotten to the core, a prejudice that many Slytherin families have to deal with."
"I prefer to make my own choices when it comes to friends. I've had so few of them so I'm bound to stick up for the ones I have." Harry shrugged slightly.
Draco sensed that Harry wasn't ready to talk anymore about his life with his muggle relations so he decided to change the subject completely.
"So I expect you'll want to know about Hogwarts then?" he asked.
"Yes please," said Harry. He looked very interested in what Draco had to say. "Hagrid was a bit vague when he was describing it to me."
"I'm sure he's told you that there are four houses. Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. My family has been in Slytherin for generations so obviously I think it's the best out of the four. Ravenclaw is the house for very clever people and workaholics; it's not too bad I think a few of my ancestors were in that house. Gryffindor is for people who are stupidly brave and reckless; they think they rule the whole school just because the headmaster was one. I suppose they are seen as the noble house by most of the wizarding world but that's rubbish if you ask me. Hufflepuff is for people who don't fit anywhere really most of them are stupid and childish."
"Draco!" Harry said although he couldn't stop himself from laughing, "That's an awful thing to say."
"Well it's true," the blonde said grinning. "Their house never wins the house cup or the Quidditch cup or anything."
"What is Quidditch?" Harry asked, "Hagrid told me it was a sport played on brooms."
"It's the best sport in the world," Draco said enthusiastically and he proceeded to explain the rules to Harry and how to play.
While they had been chatting about Quidditch the train had left London far behind and was now speeding through the countryside. There was a great clattering out in corridor and a smiling dimpled woman opened the compartment door.
"Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked.
Harry reached into his pocket and took out a fistful of gold. He hadn't had any breakfast so he was starving and was ready to buy as many sweets as possible. He glanced at the trolley and realised that he had never seen any of these sweets before in his life. Not wanting to miss out on anything he bought a bit of everything. He tipped it all onto the seat and saw Draco looked faintly impressed.
"Hungry are you?"
"I've never had much money to spend before now," he said honestly. "I didn't know I had a wizarding vault till the other day so it's nice to be able to spend some money. Do you want some?"
"Thanks," Draco said as he reached for a pumpkin pasty. Harry smiled he had never had anything to share with anyone before and the feeling was nice.
"The Potters were an old wizarding family so it's not surprising that your parents left you a huge vault full of money."
"It seems a lot of people in the wizarding world know more about my family then I do," Harry said quietly.
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence and watched the fields and the lanes go flying by while they munched on the treats that Harry had bought. The door of the compartment opened for a third time and on the threshold stood a bushy haired girl.
"Have any of you seen a toad," she asked in a bossy sort of voice, "A boy called Neville has lost one."
"No sorry," said Harry, "We'll let you know if we see one."
"Thanks," she said. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I know nobody is really supposed to know but a few kids have some idea. I've learnt all our set books off by heart I just hope it's enough. I'm Hermione Granger by the way."
"I'm Draco Malfoy," said Draco gruffly. He was being polite for Harry's sake he had a sinking feeling that the girl was muggleborn.
"I'm Harry Potter," said Harry.
"Are you really? I know all about you of course. I got a few extra books for background reading and you were in a few of them."
Harry blinked not really knowing what to say to that. He was in books!
"Anyway I'd better go help Neville look for his toad. You two had better change I expect we'll be there soon."
With that Hermione turned on her heels and left the compartment her hair bouncing up and down as she walked. Harry looked at Draco and the two of them burst out laughing.
"She a bit much isn't she?" Harry asked.
"I think she was muggleborn."
"Does that make a difference?"
"It's hard to explain to be honest. In the old wizarding familles, muggleborns are looked down on with distaste. They've never grown up knowing our world or our ways and they'll never fully grasp the importance of secrecy from the muggle world. They'll let all their relations know that they are a witch or a wizard and it may get to the point where we are hunted down by muggles and persecuted."
"I wasn't raised in the wizarding world." Harry said quietly.
"But you would have been if You Know Who hadn't of killed your parents."
"Yeah I guess but my Mum was muggleborn. Well she must have been because Aunt Petunia is a muggle."
"It's a complex issue Harry. I can't help the way I was raised."
Harry nodded and stared out of the window. The sky was darkening and he could see mountains and forests looming in dark shapes. He took off his jacket and pulled on his long black school robe. Draco did the same and when he had finished he eyed Harry curiously.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah I'm fine. There's just so much to learn. I'll never get the hang of it all. I bet I'm one of the worst people there." Harry said finally voicing his fears.
"Don't be silly no-one knows many spells when they first start and there are plenty of muggleborns who don't know any. You'll do fine besides you'll have me to help you."
"Thanks," Harry said with a slight smile, feeling a bit better.
The train slowed down until it finally stopped. Harry moved towards his trunk but Draco shook his head.
"The staff will move your luggage just leave it." He advised.
The night air was cold. Harry shivered slightly pulling his robes closer around him. A light bobbed over his head and he looked up to see Hagrid's hairy face grinning down at him.
"All right there Harry," he called before shouting. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon follow me firs' years!"
They followed Hagrid down a steep narrow path. Nobody spoke much.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec." said Hagrid's booming voice.
They turned round a corner and many of the first years gasped in surprise. Perched on top of a high mountain, with lights twinkling from its many windows, stood a huge castle.
"No more'n four to a boat," Hagrid called pointing to a small fleet of boats by the lake's shore. Harry and Draco were followed into a boat by a girl called Pansy and a boy named Blaise.
The fleet of boats moved off together, gliding over the water like a fleet of swans. Everyone was silent, too busy staring up at the huge castle to speak. They went into a dark tunnel which seemed to be carrying them under the castle itself until they reached what looked like an underground harbour. They climbed up a passageway cut into the rock coming out onto smooth damp grass right in front of the castle. They walked up the front steps and Hagrid knocked on the huge oak door three times.