A/N before we begin! Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, as Alice in Wonderland belongs to Lewis Carroll, I only own portions the dialogue and fanmade content within this work, hence it being on fanfiction. All other portions are quotes from the work itself and are recognized here as being not my own as much as I wish they were. Alrighty then! Onward march! :3
Chapter One: From the workplace to the Wonderland: Where to begin?
"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop"
-Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Draco sat alone in the study that he had been given, a frown curving his delicate features. His silver eyes narrowed, he glanced out the window forlornly before packing up his work papers. He was taking over the family business, but sadly, he had not gotten much done that day. A year after the fall of the Dark Lord, and both his parents were jailed with a life sentence. To be quite honest, Draco was more than capable of operating the trading business, but it felt off to him. Such a boring, confined life at the young age of eighteen was not suited to a boy who had traveled most his life. Perhaps he should go take a walk, to clear his mind, before the maids finished dinner.
As he strolled down the well-manicured path, his mind calculating numbers, remembering important names. It was so difficult to live in the real world sometimes, but he had been raised to squash out foolish notions like escaping the harshness of the real world. Suddenly, he was brought out of his thoughts by a flash of orange and white streaking across his lawn, and he followed hastily after the footsteps it had left. He caught a glimpse of the intruder, and found himself gawking at a waistcoat wearing, bespectacled version of Ronald Weasley, white rabbit's ears atop his shaking head. What on earth was a bloody Weasley doing on his property, let alone with such ridiculous garb on.
"Oi! Weasley! What on earth are you-" Draco didn't get to finish, because the Ron-Rabbit was already sprinting away, calling over his shoulder that he was late for a very important date. Swearing, Draco sprinted after him, and his dress shoe was caught on a root. Waving his arms comically, he was thrown down a hole right where the rabbit had just been, and he gasped as he realized what had just happened. Trying to grab onto anything was useless; Draco was hurtling at a breakneck speed straight at the blackness below him. Suddenly, he felt himself slow, and the world went black just as he flipped upside down.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a room with a small door that had a clever face carved into it, and he couldn't quite figure why it looked so familiar to him. Inching closer, he saw the knowing smile, the alert eyes, the air of smugness… of Hermione Granger. Stranger still, he looked down and with horror regarded the blue dress that came down just past his knees, the white frilly apron adorning his waist. White stockings covered the rest of his legs, and below those, black Mary -Janes. Surely this was a bad dream of sorts, and that was why he was in a dress. But, if so, when had he fallen asleep? He had been awake the entire time in the office, he had been well rested the night before, and as far as he knew, he had yet to fall asleep while standing. So when?
There was a significant problem with this door, beyond the fact that it had a blinking, quite alive face inside it. It was the appropriate size for a doll, perhaps, but not so much a six-foot tall grown boy. A small table sat in the middle of the chamber, apparently empty. Draco stepped around it to the door, and tried turning the door's handle.
"Oh my, you can't pass through at your current size! Why, it's simply impassible!" cried the Hermione-Door in such a way that caused Draco to jerk; it was that normal tone of know-it-all that usually accented her voice. How odd to find something so familiar here.
"Why, don't you mean impossible," corrected Draco, eyes trained on those of the door. (What odd things to be thinking, to be staring down a door!)
"No, I do mean impassible," the Hermione-Door laughed, "Nothing's impossible!"
"What utter nonsense," Draco muttered, quite unhappy with his situation. "Then how do I get through?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? After all, there's a bottle saying Drink Me on the table right behind you! One would usually find it to be quite self-explanatory," huffed his wooden companion, and he turned slowly, already knowing that she was right. The once empty tale now held a bottle bearing the words Drink Me on a tag attached to the neck. Draco blinked a couple of times, then sniffed the mixture to check for any sort of poison. If you drink much from a bottle of poison it is certain to disagree with you sooner or later.
Taking a deep breath, he drank the liquid, and shivered. Suddenly, a great feeling of plain wrongness spread throughout him, and he found himself the perfect height to fit through the door now. He walked over and grasped the handle once more, expecting it to open. Instead, the door giggled strangely and looked back towards the table.
"I believe you've forgotten your key, I'm locked, you see?" Draco gritted his teeth, and made a few desperate attempts to hop back up onto the table. No such luck, as expected, and that's when he saw it. A small biscuit, bearing the words 'eat me' in pink cursive on it lay before him, and he took a suspicious bite. He shot up again, and was able to easily grab the key off the table, then suddenly found himself wondering how he would get through the door now that he was large again. Frustrated, he slammed his fist against the wall, and his fist came into contact with a protruding rock. Blood began pouring from his hand, and the room was soon submerged. The door gasped and choked, opening up to the bloody sea. Grimacing, he grabbed teh bottle and drank from it, choking on the bitter taste of his own blood. He was a Malfoy; he would do what he had to do if it meant survival. Whatever this nonsense was about, he would get to the bottom of it, no matter what.