During the final battle at Hogwarts the Malfoy family split: Narcissa and Draco favoured The Order and Dumbledore's Army, while Lucius remained loyal to Voldemort, thus Lucius was sentenced to life in Azkaban. Narcissa and Draco redeemed themselves by fighting against Voldemort and four years later Draco has become a well respected member of the wizarding community.
He threw the newspaper back onto the hotel room's dresser, the picture of a happy couple on their wedding day staring back at him, but if one looked closely they would notice the woman's tight smile and that the man's eyes were cold and harsh. Supposedly the happiest day of his and Pansy's life, yet neither of them could produce a genuine smile. The headline above it read 'Malfoy Millions to be split' proceeding to expose Draco's 'devious plan', Rita Skeeter explained how Draco had married Pansy to claim his inheritance and carry on the tradition of a pure-blood family. It also stated that he was yet to comment to the papers and how reporters had furiously searched likely haunts of the infamous Draco Malfoy with no luck.
He withdrew a small hipflask from his robes and took a large gulp before changing into a pair of jeans and a grey fitted top. Just as he'd pulled the top over his head he braced himself against the dresser as his stomach churned and a rhythmic throbbing began behind his eyes, he doubled over and felt every nerve cry in pain. Heat flushed through his body which was replaced immediately by a sharp chill. Almost as soon as it had started it was over and he raised his head to stare at his new reflection in the mirror. He admired his now tanned complexion which complemented his cinnamon brown hair and chocolate eyes. His once sharp and well defined features were much softer but his expression remained the same: his lips laced with his characteristic smirk. He removed his wand from his robes, which now lay strewn on the floor, and waved it haphazardly to gather his few belongings onto the bed. Throwing on a black bomber jacket he started placing his belongings in the left pocket which he'd used an undetectable extension spell on. He turned towards the mirror again to determine if he would pass for a muggle, thanking Salazar for Polyjuice Potion. After several seconds he decided it would do and at least no one would recognise him as Draco Malfoy. Glancing back at the dresser again, rolling his eyes and releasing an exasperated sigh, he muttered, "Incendio," pointing his wand at the newspaper and watching as it danced into flames before leaving the hotel in hope of walking off his frustrations.
Having already decided that the least likely place to be found would be amongst muggles, Draco apparated to muggle London and would make further plans from there. He arrived in a small, disused alley between two muggle pubs not far from King's Cross Station and began to walk along Euston Road, a busy muggle street. Draco was in awe as cars sped by with unimaginable speeds; he'd never been so close to muggle civilisation, he'd always tried to distance himself from muggles due to his perception that they were inferior. Draco contemplated his predicament: the papers were false, it wasn't Pansy who was divorcing Draco, but Draco divorcing Pansy; she was having an affair with the German Quidditch Team's seeker and he'd frozen their account so that she couldn't steal his inheritance, meaning he didn't have any money either. The paper was also incorrect about Draco's motives to marry Pansy as he didn't need to be married to claim his inheritance, but found he had cared for Pansy and thought she'd cared for him too. She had been very careful concealing her affair and until two days ago deceived even Draco. Once it had become clear to him that she intended to rob him of his money, create a public scandal and tarnish the Malfoy name he had frozen their shared account at Gringotts to ensure she could not cause further damage. He had thought a few days would give him enough time to find a solution, and it had, but found he didn't want to return to the wizarding world just yet and face the numerous questions that surely awaited him. Realising he'd walked a considerable distance along the same road, Draco chose to walk in a different direction, so he turned left onto another busy street named Tottenham Court Road.
Now that Pansy had manipulated the newspapers to turn any possible friends Draco had against him, not that he was really one for friends anyway, there were very few people he could go to. Of course there was still Blaise, but he was firm that asking Blaise for help would be his last resort as he did not want to meet the condescending look and 'I told you so,' that would be sure to come. Blaise had warned Draco about Pansy, advising him that she would use him for his money. Well, actually he'd said, 'She's an argumentative, spiteful, ignorant and conceited whore who is exploiting you for her own selfish gain,' but that's essentially what he had meant. Obviously Draco had ignored Blaise and was now suffering the consequences. As he continued he contemplated what he would do now that he had no money, muggle or wizarding. A thought struck him, surely muggles weren't illiterate so they must have libraries or book stores, and seeing as he was in London it couldn't be hard to find one. He was certain if he found one he would be able to occupy himself for several hours and cross the inevitable bridge of what to do next later. Right before the road he was walking along joined another Draco stopped, and asked a middle-aged muggle woman for directions to the nearest book-store.
The woman responded, "Just up there is Oxford Street, you need to cross over, head down Saint Giles High Street before turning right onto Charing Cross Road, then you should see a big book-store called Foyles. You can't miss it. Have a good day hun." She smiled before continuing up where Draco had just come from, whilst he tried to retain the directions she'd just given. Taking another swig of Polyjuice Potion Draco continued on to Foyles book-store.
Browsing the numerous shelves of books Draco picked up a copy of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, having remembered seeing a poster advertising the stage production in one of the theatres he'd passed earlier. He flipped the book over to read the blurb.
"That's a great book you know, are you planning on buying it?" A female voice asked. 'Great another one of those annoying muggle shop assistants,' he'd already been asked three times if he needed any help. He wasn't sure about muggle's incapability, but he was fully competent at finding a book he wanted to read. So instead of answering the voice he carried on reading the blurb. "You should see the stage show, and I hear they're making a movie of it as well, although I recommend reading the book first, it's much darker but I find it to be rather romantic." Realising that unless he specifically told this woman to leave him alone she would continue to pester him, Draco raised his eyes from the book. He noticed that she was unlike the previous assistants, who all wore uniforms and a silver name badge. Instead she wore a pair of brown boots, pale blue jeans and a plaid shirt. Her hair hung in loose brown curls past her shoulders and as Draco met her eyes he gasped suddenly. She smiled at him politely and held out her hand expectantly. Draco stared at it for a moment in hesitation, then grasped it firmly and shook. "Hi, I'm Hermione."
"Um hi, I'm er Drac– um Drake," he said awkwardly not quite meeting her eyes.
"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself it's such an amazing book, one of my favourites actually, and you look like you might be the type who'd enjoy it." Draco quirked an eyebrow at this assumption she'd made, it was clear she hadn't recognised him. He highly doubted if she'd known he was Draco Malfoy, who had taken great pleasure in tormenting her throughout her life at Hogwarts, that she'd be this polite. "Well, I mean, you look like you must read a lot." Draco raised his eyebrow higher, 'Where exactly was Granger going with this?' He looked at her quizzically and took in her features. She'd grown slightly since he'd last seen her, which had been just under four years ago, the photos of the Golden Trio that plastered the front page of the paper regularly did not do her justice and her figure had filled out slightly so she no longer resembled a girl. She continued, "Not that I'm saying that you look like a stereotypical geek or anything," her cheeks flushed, a stark contrast to her fair skin, "I'm sorry I…" Draco could clearly see she was flustered and then remembered that the Polyjuice Potion had not only transformed him into a muggle, but a rather handsome one at that.
He smirked, "It's okay, but yes I enjoy reading, and I've never read this book before but if you're recommending it then I suppose I must buy it." He looked back down at the book again searching for the price but sighed realising his dilemma. It was safe to say that Draco Malfoy had never been in a situation where he was unable to buy what he wanted before, and humiliated, placed the book back on the shelf.
Turning to leave Granger called, "I didn't mean to seem as though I was forcing you to buy it."
He sighed again before saying, "I think maybe I'll buy it another time," his expression pained.
"Um Drake, isn't it? Are you all right?" her voice heavy with concern, "I know it's early but, well, you look like you could use a drink." 'What was it with Granger's assumptions based on his appearance?' Although, he hated admitting it, right now a drink sounded ideal. He looked into her deep brown pools brimming with apprehension. He thought about the dangers of accepting her offer: she might tell the reporters of his whereabouts or fuel the papers with more lies. But that would only happen if he wasn't careful and let her find out he was Draco Malfoy. Her concern touched him, and he wondered when the last time was that someone had cared for his interests. He could only think of his mother and a heavy sorrow filled his heart, perhaps his mother was the only one who'd cared for him, certainly not his father who had abandoned them and was now rotting in Azkaban. But she'd been broken after the war, regret had filled her every thought and she had hated her involvement with Voldemort. Over those few months after The Battle of Hogwarts his mother had grown frail, refusing to leave the Manor, until one evening, she passed away in her sleep. Draco had been given the explanation that her heart had grown weary and could no longer cope, he couldn't help but agree.
He smiled at her weakly, "Yes please, I think I could."
A/N: This is my first fan fiction and I'd appreciate it if you could review.