I have read quite a lot of stories where Harry ends up in another dimension/time/reality. In fact one of my favourite fanfics written by a friend of mine is one. Black Coat, go read it. Also, it has cats. So I decided it's Draco's turn because I like messing with Draco, and I threw in Neville (god, I love him!) and a random OC for the heck of it. You're welcome internet. Here you go, Numbingly Exhausting Wizarding Time-travel. NEWTime-travel or NEWT for short. Yes, it is a parody of the Wizarding examinations. We have fun here.
Rated T for a reason. Further warnings when necessary.
No non-canon pairings. So no Dreville, Dramione, Drarry, Drapple, DracOC (heh, Draco/OC), NevOC (it doesn't work as well), OC/anyone (she's only thirteen, gross) or Neville with anyone but Hannah Abbott. There won't even be that much romance. I'm boring like that.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot and any original characters and even then it's iffy. I make no money from this, never will and even after that.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: In Which Draco Malfoy is Not Depressed
Draco is not – I repeat, not – depressed. Malfoys do not get depressed. Especially not the Draco Malfoy. But let's just say that he is. If he is, which he is not, then there would be a perfectly understandable explanation for it. And there is one.
You see, poor dear Draco lived through a war. No, his family suffered no causalities. No, none of the Malfoys ended up in Azkaban or any other prison for that matter. Even Draco can acknowledge Lucius Malfoy is a slippery git. With effortless utilisation of his powerful connections and shameless offerings of inside information, Lucius used his still razor sharp Slytherin cunning to manoeuvre the Malfoys out of every single charge against them. Sure, most of the Wizarding community still hated them but soon the Malfoys would again come to their former glory. They always did, after every fall from grace. That's the magic of high society breeding and money. A delicate art practiced by the Malfoy family for generations.
So Draco's family was relatively unscathed by the war. However, there is more to his story. By more I mean none other than the infamous, terrifying Lord Voldemort, previously known as Tom Marvalo Riddle before he became nose-less, pale, bald and extremely homicidal. Nasty business, being evil and immortal. Nasty business indeed.
As you may or may not be aware of Voldemort stayed with the Malfoys for a brief period of time in Malfoy Manor. He also conducted Death Eater meetings and other such doings in the esteemed Manor, due to Lucius' failure to get the much needed prophecy concerning the Boy Who Lived and the Dark Lord. Though Lucius was freed from Azkaban some time later he and his family became the lowest of the dastardly bunch that was Voldemort's followers.
Murders, plotting, torturing and all-round unpleasant activities took place in the Manor. Draco, sixteen then seventeen at the time, bore witness to only the surface of it. The surface was horrifying to the teenage boy. A teacher was killed in front of him. A classmate tortured in front of him. People imprisoned in the cellar. He had been raised on the view that those with Muggle blood were inferior. Draco had bullied, seen the distress of his targets and relished in it. He thought he wanted them dead; the Mudbloods, the blood traitors and those who opposed the Dark Lord.
It all changed when he saw the true pain and suffering inflicted by Voldemort and his followers. The year spent attempting to assassinate Dumbledore was fraught with the desperate fear that he would fail and forfeit his life and his parents'. Yet, facing down Dumbledore at wand-point, Draco knew he did not want to be a killer or a torturer. Being a Death Eater became a fight for survival and that of his family. He hated it and hated himself for being a coward. Draco did nothing except to help himself and, for the first time in his life, he realised the atrocity of it. How selfish, weak and wrong it was. Try as he might to justify it, most instances he could not do that.
Thus, if Draco is depressed it would be all Voldemort's fault. Draco reasoned that if Voldemort never did any of his whole coming-back-to-life bit then none of the drama would of happened and Draco would be a relatively trauma free teen. Though Voldemort was destroyed two years ago by none other than legendary Harry Potter – who Draco still hated but grudgingly respected for saving his life twice and ridding the world of the Bastard Who Will Not Be Named – Draco was now touched by this newfound conscience. It is terrible for him. All the backstabbing moral repercussions of his actions he never knew before! Draco does not bully, taunt or mock for fear of hurting someone's feelings. He does not engage in duels in case of injury.
It is infuriating to not be able to take his frustrations out on his enemies. Privately his arrogance, though shaken, cuts his pillow deep with verbal barbs. It is hardly enough. How he longs to take fools down a peg or two with his sheer superiority. Utterly annoying. He can barely believe it but he misses having Potter around. Potter is an excellent target to torment when stress runs high. Too bad he is off being an Auror and protecting the Wizarding World and all that. The day Draco becomes a hero is the day Hermione Granger fails an exam.
Draco smooths back his hair in the mirror, scowls and messes up the shiny blonde perfection. He then proceeds to kick his dresser, swear and hop around on one foot before collapsing into a heap and trying not to wail. Okay, so Draco is depressed. But only a teensy bit and with absolute right to be so shut up you bloody prats! He is also working through some anger issues. Nothing to be alarmed about. Average, run of the mill stuff so don't you dare feel sorry for Draco. Yeah, he may be having a crisis at the age of nineteen after a major emotional and spiritual upheaval, shattering his entire worldview and way of life. So he may be having nightmares on a regular basis and curling into a ball more frequently than a young man should whilst loathing himself and wishing it could all be over. So what? Just because he is paler, thinner and a mere shell of his former self after two years following the bane of his existence, Voldemort's defeat doesn't mean- Dear Lord, Draco is going to cry.
He wipes his eyes determinedly. No Dark Lord or haunting past experiences will get Draco Malfoy down! He has a weapon so potent that Malfoys learnt it from birth as their defence mechanism since the dawn of time itself. A blank, collected sneer only pulled off by the most emotionally guarded and sly of people – the Malfoy Mask. Damn right you better believe Draco is the master at it. One does not grow up in the Malfoy household without complete control of the technique. I doubt you understand, unless you are a Malfoy yourself.
With Malfoy Mask in place, Draco mentally slaps himself. Twice. That is it, he tells himself resolvedly. No more breaking down. You are a Malfoy and shall act as one even if I have to freeze your face like this. It has been two years since the war. Pull yourself together, Malfoy!
After his rather frightening pep-talk, Draco is ready. None shall stand in the path of Malfoy. Not even Voldemort himself back from the grave. With a confident swagger indigenous to the Malfoy breed, Draco picks himself up and walks to his mirror. He restores his hair to its flawless, shiny glory; brushes imaginary particles of dirt from his immaculately tailored, expensive black robes and heads to work. What? Surprised Mr Malfoy has a job when daddy's bank account could have him sitting pretty for the rest of his life? Draco launched himself into the Ministry months ago. Partially as a distraction from his awful feelings, partially to rebuild the Malfoy name and create connections and partially to cultivate more money. One can never be too rich after all.
Look out witches and wizards. Draco is on a warpath and lest of all his pesky feelings will be in his way.
If only things went according to plan.
A/N: This was kind of the prologue. The action begins next chapter. It also contains Zabini. Look out ladies (and gentlemen, I don't judge. I'll probably ship it). Hey, if you want to read Draco angst go to my other story - Tattered Reputations. That is all angst. All angst. See you next time! Review, thanks dearies.