A/N: Oooooookay! Here it goes! Please review when you're done. And I love it when people review EVERY chapter.
Chapter One: What is going on?
After the wedding of Bill and Fleur, things weren't getting any better for Harry. Although Hermione and Ron both wanted to be by his side while he stayed his Uncle's, Harry decided that it was best for them not to come with him. He knew they would just be a hindrance in the household, and Harry felt he did not need their help this year. Surprised at this, his friends told him as soon as Harry needed them, just to owl. Harry simply nodded at this; he doubt he would even if his uncle treated him badly. After all, Harry desperately needed to be alone, for some time to think. But just as he commenced thinking about what had occurred last year, it happened again.
Tears swelled up in Harry's eyes as he walked towards to his Aunt and Uncle's house. 'Oh not again… just what I need… more tears… now I'm sure to get yelled at…' Harry thought. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not fight them back. How could he after the loss of kind-hearted Dumbledore? After all, right when he and Harry when getting close… he had perished. First Sirius, then Dumbledore… who was next? But before he could answer himself, an angry Uncle Vernon snapped at him.
"HARRY! What are you up to, boy! Stop loitering and get inside. AND Stop sniveling you weakling." When he saw Harry look up and grab at his side, most likely for a wand, Vernon finished, with a growl, " And absolutely no funny business!" Harry had no chance to protest his Uncle's demands because an angry Dudley, who surprisingly enough wasn't quite as fat as he used to be, quickly pushed him inside. 'His diet must be torture.' Harry thought, 'but he deserves it.' With this sadistic thought, Harry quickly wiped away his tears and went straight up to his cramped room. He started to unpack all of his belongings, trying desperately to make the room at least bearable this summer. First came his school robes, which he simply hung up in his closet, then some of his favorite books on Quidditch, and soon he fell into a trance as he continued the grueling chore of unpacking. When he was just about sure he had finished, he looked back into his suitcase, to make sure it was completely empty. He saw something lying there in the black, linen-bound bottom.
Whatever it was, it broke Harry's thoughtless course of actions, and caught his interest, almost forcing him to look at it more closely. It was a small rectangle with a golden trim on the edges and a whitish interior. There was also some picture and a name written in jet-black ink. 'It seems to be some kind of trading card,' Harry thought to himself. When he picked it up and looked at it, her was flabbergasted at what he saw. Dumbledore…. Harry had forgotten that he had kept such a useless thing. His look became placid, the deluge of tears commenced once more. 'Why did I have to keep that bloody chocolate frog card' Harry thought, 'it just reminds me of… h i m,' and with that he threw the Dumbledore collector's card on the floor and started sobbing even harder, if that was even possible. It appeared Harry still had to deal some feelings left over from the past school year. Yet, what Harry felt was nothing compared to what one of the people he knew was going through right at this very moment….
A person was running through the downtown streets of London very distraught. His eyes were sullen, in fact there seemed to be a general malaise about him. He looked as though he had not gotten sleep in almost a week, as if he were to topple over if someone so much as laid a finger on him. But he would not stop running through the crowds. He had no choice. After his folly last year at Hogwarts, he was sure the Dark Lord would kill him. And at this thought he shuddered, trying to think of some way to solve his predicament. While he was lost in thought, he swore he heard a laugh behind him. He decided to look back to make sure that absolutely no one was following him. It had been like this for days, constantly moving and constantly watching to see if he was being chased. With such physical demands required at all times, he thought that paranoia might be setting in. The fact that he didn't see anything out of the ordinary behind him didn't help at all. It turned out all that was behind him was just a large group of college-age muggles, conversing with one another. He quickly thought to himself, 'pull yourself together!' But little did he know he was quite together. When he continued on, he heard another laugh, this time more like an evil cackle, which was even more out of place than what he had heard before. This time when he looked back, he was positively petrified.
Just a few meters behind him, weaving through the dense crowd of muggles, was Bellatrix Lestrange in an ugly muggle ensemble. She was one the most loyal Death Eaters to Lord Voldemort. Her loyalty may have been unwavering, but her fashion sense was definitely not. Her blouse totally clashed with the shoes and skirt she was wearing, but enough about fashion, back to important things…. As he looked over his shoulder, their eyes met. Bellatrix grinned evilly when this happened and picked up the pace at which she was pusuing her prey.
Naturally, he did not slow down, but he wondered why she didn't just kill him right then and there. Then it struck him, like a bludger in the face. 'She has to take me back to Voldemort! He wants to kill me… for the error in my ways' At this thought he realized how important it was to keep moving. If she could get an Imperius curse on him, he would be done for, completely under her control and ready to be taken to Voldemort. She did not care if the muggles around her saw the magic; he knew the more mayhem the better. Just as he thought about this, a whir of red light passed by his head. The muggles did not seem to notice or care about it, for that matter. He muttered, "ignorant fools," and kept moving.
Despite the impending situation, he handled it well. He made sure to move unexpectedly enough by weaving through the nonchalant crowd of people unpredictably. He also tried to pick up speed at an attempt to make him an even harder target to attack. But no matter what he did, he could not lose her. Even though he thwarted her magical actions, ensuring she would have to physically catch him, she seemed to always be one step ahead of what he was thinking. With a quick glance to his left, he made an attempt to lose Bellatrix. 'It's my only chance…' he thought to himself, and as slyly as he could, he slipped out of the crowd and ran up the steps into the large muggle mall. This time it took her longer to realize where he had gone. For a moment Bellatrix seemed bewildered, but she quickly caught up with him as he jogged through the entrance.
The mall was no less crowded than the outside had been; in fact, it was mobbed. This tidbit did not deter him though. 'No no, this is all for the better,' he thought gladly, but as he looked back all happiness was lost as a constantly moving Bellatrix kept gaining on him. It was only a matter of time before she overtook him and had him in her evil clutches. He surmised he had only one last chance to get away. In a gamble between life and death, he choose to enter a clothing store. 'But which one,' he thought. 'I have to go to a suiting place…' but soon he came back to reality due to the more pressing matters at hand. He decided to head into The Gap.
Immediately he was overjoyed with his choice, since there were plenty of people in here to distract Bellatrix as she tried to capture him. Although he was able to slip through the crow to the back of the store, Bellatrix still knew where he was going. However, she could net get to him quite yet since she was having trouble maneuvering through the thick mass of muggles. While he was just about to the back of the store, a brilliant idea made its way through his brain.
He had no idea why it hadn't struck him before, but that didn't matter now. He went into a dressing room, which was actually more of cubicle, and quickly uttered the incantation, "Pelandririnco," with his wand pointed at his head. Instantly, his lightning blonde hair turned into a mop of red hair, suitable for a child of the Weasley's. And his blonde eyebrows soon followed suit. 'Thank goodness for Professor Mcgonagall teaching us that remarkable incantation,' he eagerly thought with a smirk. It was when he realized he had just praised a teacher, deeply disturbing the boy, that he dropped back to earth, becoming conscious of his current situation in the dressing room. Next order of business was his clothes, he thought to himself. Since she had been following him for who knows how long, he knew she had a fairly good idea of what he was wearing. Although he had no other clothing he hoped there would be some lying around him. He swiftly looked around the cubicle, hoping to find some clothes, any clothes at all. But none were to be found. And soon he heard Bellatrix cackling once more. He knew he didn't have much time, but what could he do?
He tried to think of anything that he could do to get some clothes, but nothing came to mind. He did not want to draw attention to himself by using a summoning charm. 'That is much too obvious,' he thought disparagingly. That cackling she made pervaded his thoughts in an almost magical way, stopping him from thinking. He tried to clear his mind of it, but to no avail. He opened his eyes and looked around the room once more in desperation, hoping he missed something. Although nothing was in his cubicle, he saw some clothes sticking out from underneath one of the partitions. 'Thank you!' he thought, knowing his voice would give him away if he cried out aloud. He fled to the side of the cubicle and grabbed the clothes. 'Not very stylish,' he thought, 'but they'll have to do,' and he ripped off his clothes as fast as his could, exposing his smooth, rock hard chest and well-built legs, left with nothing but silky green boxers on. He stuffed his old clothes where he had found the other ones. As he did this, he thought that it would be a favor, if not a blessing, to the poor chap who had picked out the other ones in the first place. This mattered little however; he knew his time was rapidly waning. Just as he put the frayed blue jeans on, he saw Bellatrix's shadow approaching. This time he was not frightened by her appearance as he had been on the street. No, this time seeing her shadow just made him quicken his attempts to clothe himself in an attempt to fool the hag.
He just finished putting on the dull gray polo and let out a sigh of relief when he thought, 'My bloody face!' And just as Bellatrix knocked on his door, he saw a purse underneath the other wall and grabbed some make-up. He had a few seconds to make his face look as different as possible, so he focused his upper face and nose, which he knew could change the way the whole face looked. As he put the make-up away, Bellatrix peered over the door into the stall, and saw the head of red hair, but only that. Much to her dismay the boy was facing away from her. Surprised, she thought this boy could possibly be the victim she had been so eagerly seeking. She knew he could have easily changed his hair color, after all that would be what she would have done. So naturally, she tried to figure out if this really was him. Since there were so many ways to alter one's hair, she could not simply utter a counterjinx. She had to go about this the muggle sort of way, much to her disdain. She sang out, in an almost motherly tone, "Draco honey, is that you?"
Draco shivered with that thought. 'Damn, the hair…. Wait! How could she even try to show some kindness to me after all she had done? The brute bear had threatened to kill me just a week ago,' but with this in mind, he quickly gained his composure and angrily uttered, in his lowest voice possible. "You pervert! I was just trying on a pair of jeans, do you mind if I could finish in privacy please? I am a bit shy if you know what I mean…" and with this Draco tried his best to blush, which was difficult for a man with such confidence. He turned around with his face down, with just his newly red bushy eyebrow showing. Yet, this did not turn her away.
"Look up at me please dear, then I'll leave. He looks just like you dearest, I mean you two have the same exact hair," she responded, lying through her teeth. She eagerly waited to see the boy look up. At this, Draco knew he was done for.. If he did not comply, it would all be over. Bellatrix would know it was him simply from that. Yet there was no way to change his silver eyes, which would immediately give him away if her met her evil eyes, and then he knew exactly what she was thinking. 'Bloody Bellatrix knows I can't change those,' he realized, and he knew his death was now imminent. He paused momentarily, and with a sullen slowness looked upwards. But when he gazed up, nothing was there. She was gone.
He was surprised and in disbelief. After a moment he heard two women bickering. A lady in uniform screeched, "That's an invasion of privacy miss! I think I'll have to throw you out of the store for ignoring this simple etiquette…" How that muggle woman had apprehended the unruly Bellatrix, Draco did not care. He was thankful for the chance to escape his almost certain doom... for now at least. This was just the chance he needed to flee.
He quickly tied up his peds and walked right by Bellatrix, with her back now facing Draco. Just as he walked out of earshot, he heard Bellatrix plead, in a sad tone, " I was just looking for my… boy. Please you have to understand! He ran off! I need to find him!" She was trying her best to be as muggle as possible. She needed to as she knew she could still find Draco if she just had the chance to keep looking. This meant Bellatrix had to not draw any suspicion to herself because if she did, this women would quickly have her apprehended. Despite her excellent performance, she was reprimanded and sent to security. 'Muggles,' Draco thought jovially, 'they can be annoying but they are lifesavers… I'll give them that much.' And with that thought he walked by the front desk, overtaken with people, and out of the store. Sure he had just stolen the outfit he was wearing, but he had given up his clothes in exchange. Plus, it's not like he minded stealing that much anyway. Before he knew it, he felt sunlight showering his face: he was back on the streets London.
Despite this momentary calm, Draco realized he needed a plan and fast. But nothing came into his mind as to what he could do. He had bought himself some time, sure, but once Bellatrix had finally caught up with him, as he was sure she would, and had seen his eyes, he would be done for. He knew it was just a matter of when she would find him and he needed protection. He could not take on a witch of this power alone. Draco may be cocky, but he's not a ditz. He thought 'what could protect me,' and then a small voice in his head piped up, 'Not what, but whoooooo.' And with a look of disgust upon his face, Draco continued through the crowd, as though he was walking towards some known destination.
Harry had just woken up from a long night's sleep and felt his energy was replenished, at least physically that is. Emotionally, he was still unstable. Uncle Vernon was not making that any better either. Since Harry would only be staying a week this year, Uncle Vernon saw to it that he would be especially miserable. Whenever he could, he bossed Harry around, or yelled and spat at him. Although Uncle Vernon utterly enjoyed himself, it just worsened Harry's state. The week dragged on as he played slave to Uncle Vernon's zeal, and by the penultimate day, he felt as though an eternity had elapsed since he first arrived. The pain he felt had done that to him; it compounded the problem by seeming to extend time, making him feel the pain all the more. Gradually this subsided, and Harry started to come out of his depression. For the first time in his recent memory, Harry smiled. He thought to himself, 'after this, I'm looking forward to anything that happens to me.' Always the optimist Harry was, little did he realize what was in store for him. In just a few minutes, the course of his life would change forever. But that isn't anything new, now is it?
A/N: Hello people! This is my first story and chapter ever. If you want me to continue, please review! I need some encouragement to continue since I myself am not sure how much I like it. Hope you enjoyed it!