Changing the Picture
Overview: In this (AU) story, Draco Malfoy (23) and Harry Potter (22 1/2) are best friends sharing a house in Muggle London, not far from where Harry grew up. Draco and Harry became best friends after the Second Great Wizarding War, after Draco joined the Order of the Phoenix. With Harry not being all that comfortable with using magic, he convinced Dumbledore to drain most of his magic, turning him into a Squib. He now studies at the local Muggle University. Draco decided to continue to use his magic though this time it is for the greater good. He established a school for Muggleborn Wizards and Witches that could teach them about the ways of the Wizarding World before they attended Hogwarts…
Characters: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Implied Drarry more towards the end, definitely Drarry at the end.
Warnings: Emotional Self Abuse
A.N: This story decided to pop into my head after about the 20th time of me listening to Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) by Silversun Pickups. I did the Overview because I felt that it would be awkward for me to establish everything up there into the story. It's been awhile since I've written a fanfic, so please tell me if there's anything wrong with it or confusing. I'll try my best to fix it. Constructive Criticism is always appreciated. Other than that I hope you enjoy it.
"Harry, what's this?" Draco Malfoy called out from across the attic. Harry poked his head curiously from behind a bookcase.
"What's what?"
"This." Draco held up a dusty and surprisingly light photo album. Harry stepped from behind the bookcase, squinting to try to see what Draco held. He maneuvered himself between old pieces of furniture and moldy boxes until he stood right in front of him.
"Oh…that." Harry said as he stared down at it. There was a pregnant pause as Draco waited for Harry to say more.
"It's just an old album…." Harry said. He snatched it away from Draco's hands and turned away from him, preparing to go back to his side of the attic with it. At Draco's cry of surprise, Harry turned his head towards him, though the rest of his body remained forward.
"What?"
"If it's 'just an old album' then why won't you let me see it?" Draco stood up (he had been sitting down as he hunted through the box that he had retrieved the album from) and tried to lung for it. He landed on Harry's back and extended his arms in an attempt to wrestle it from his grip. Harry managed to toss him off his back, making Draco land on an old mattress, and then proceeded to walk away, heading for the trap door of the attic.
"I'm just going to get rid of it." Draco heard Harry's voice, then his footsteps fading away as he left the attic. Draco stood up, wiping away dust from off his body and glared at the place where Harry just was. He left the attic a few minutes later, slamming the door behind him.
In the darkness of the living room Draco stared at a picture in the photo album. (He had found it in the cupboard underneath the stairs of their two story house. That was an odd place to keep things but whatever) It was a simple Muggle photo, very faded around the edges and it had absolutely no color. The photo only showed a small boy, wearing clothes too large for his size, with messy black hair. A small door was visible in the background with the door being opened slightly. He had a large grin on his face, but that wasn't what made Draco stare. What made him stare was the seemingly emptiness in the child's eyes. They were simply…dead. That was the only word to describe it. Draco flipped the photo around to the back to see if there was an inscription on it. In large, loopy letters, it read: Me, Age: 5.
Draco knew in an instant that the child in the picture was Harry. He frowned and carefully set the picture back into the album before selecting another. This one seemed a little newer as it was not so faded. It showed a Harry being put into an arm hold by a much larger, fatter boy. Harry was still smiling, yet the sense of deadness in his eyes was still there behind those gray eyes. Draco flipped this one around. It simply read: Popkins and The Boy. Ages: 7 and 6.
Draco continued to flip through the photo album until he got to the very last page. It didn't show any people in the photo, instead it only showed that strange door that had been present in the background of every photo. Suddenly Draco felt sick as his hand, which had suddenly gotten shaky, carefully flipped around the last photo. The Cupboard under the Stairs, my room.
Draco threw down the album and watched in a sort of frightened daze as all the photos scattered themselves across the floor. He stood up, not attempting to clean up the mess, and made his way upstairs, to Harry's room. He quietly stepped inside and watched as Harry slept. Draco frowned and made his way over to Harry's bed and took his wand out of the waistband of his jeans. He pointed it at Harry's temple, and whispering a spell a shining gray light enveloped his body. A feeling similar to traveling by Apparition and Portkey at the same time consumed Draco as he slowly dissolved away into Harry's thoughts.
Draco lay there in his room, staring blankly up at the ceiling. He had just dived into Harry's thoughts and childhood memories and to put it at an understatement he was not pleased. The things that Harry had to go through…..it was awful. Draco felt anger and sadness and another emotion that he couldn't place coil and ripple through his heart, and he gritted his teeth.
He was snapped out of his revere when he heard a creaks and groans of protest from the stairs. He stepped out of his room and looked out into the hallway yet he saw no one. He stepped out onto the landing of the first stair just in time to see the front door to the house open and to hear the crack of Apparition, although he hadn't actually seen anyone leaving, yet he somehow knew that it was Harry. Draco jogged down the stairs, stopping by the living room in the process. The photo album was gone.
Draco opened the decaying door of Number Four, Privet Drive. Everything inside the house was dark but with a whispering of Lumos the area in front of Draco was illuminated, allowing him to see what had become of Harry's childhood home. Draco stepped inside, wincing slightly at the loud creak of the floorboards underneath his weight.
A quiet gasp greeted his ears and Draco, somehow drawn to it, whether by magic or some other force, stepped towards the Cupboard under the Stairs. It sounded like it had come from everywhere rather than the cupboard, yet somehow he knew that it came from that place. He grasped unto the small doorknob, grimacing at the feel of spider webs underneath his hands as he turned the knob and opened it, gasping at who he found inside.
Harry was practically stuffed inside of it- the cupboard was only big enough for a small child, after all- and was gasping for air, the photo album clutched in his hands. How he had managed to get the door closed behind him had escaped Draco's thought process, but that's not what mattered right now. Draco pointed his wand at the cupboard, practically shouted Engorgio, and watched as Harry tumbled out of the cupboard. Draco knelt down next to a gasping Harry and gently picked up his head, cradling it in his lap. Tars fell down from his eyes as he gently ran his fingers through Harry's hair.
"Why?" His voice cracked slightly. Harry's eyes flickered beneath closed eyelids as his breathing returned to normal.
"I guess it's just the masochist in me." He replied with a wispy voice. Then he fell asleep.
"Drowned you out
And left you with the sounds
Of spoiled goodnights
Replacing lullabies
…..
See you laughing in a picture
But I know what's out of frame
You barely cried
But you made it out alive
And I'm so proud
That you're in my hands now.
If we grew up together
You would find it's not the same
I want to jump inside a picture
And show you the one who came"
Draco looked down at the time turner in his hand; saw the delicateness of this precious object. It reminded him of Harry. He looked down at Harry, who was currently sleeping in his bed. He gave a soft smile before looking at the time turner. He stared down at the photo in hi shand. It was the one that he first saw. "I will change this" He thought as he flicked the time turner and it began to spin...
"I'll never let them get closer
Or shower you with any blame
Now we dance in our own picture
Were the rules have changed."
He watched Harry grow up.
He saw Harry's adventures.
He saw Harry's failures and his triumphs.
He saw himself also.
He saw himself change and grow into a responsible young man.
He saw their wedding photo, and he smiled.
And through it all he protected Harry.
A.N: Um….I don't have too much to say about this. I don't think that this is my best work honestly but the plot bunny was rushing me. Um…leave me a review. Let me know what you think; is it good, bad, need improvements? I would love to know ^-^. R&R!