If there's one thing I've learned from this whole mess, it's that Death has a terrible sense of humor.
See, it started right after the second wizarding war. i , Draco Malfoy, had fought on the wrong side, and as expected, paid the price. There was a trial, of course, but I was under no illusions as to whether I would be found guilty or not. I was marked, had been present at the battle of Hogwarts, and even if that wasn't enough to seal my fate, it was common knowledge that despite Severus Snape being the one to kill Dumbledore, who most revered as some kind of wizarding god, it had originally been my mission.
Now, the outcome I expected, as I've said. What I hadn't expected, was for Potter to fight the decisiion to execute me. Yeah, bloody Boy-Who-Lived-Twice Potter, slayer of the Dark Lord and hero of the war. It shocked me to the core when he cried out during the trial, begging the wizengamot to spare my life, his friend Granger beside him. Together, they presented all the evidence that my family had been forced into our roles, even going so far as to claim Dumbledore himself had been convinced that I could be saved. I'd almost forgotten that Potter was there that night, hidden under his little invisibility cloak as I tried to convince myself to cast the killing curse. It was a valiant effort, but in the end, not even their new hero could convince the public that I was anything more than a death eater and Slytherin scum.
I wish I could at least say I had a dignified end, but lying has never really been my strong suit anyways. I think it's why I was a really bad Slytherin, since i thought that was all there was to cunning. Either way, all that really happened was that I was dragged out of my ministry cell where they were holding me since Azkaban was still being secured, and taken to the Chamber of Death. Apparently, they couldn't even sully their wands even just by using a cutting curse to sever my neck from my head. No, they were too humane for that.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no ceremony, no reading of charges, not even taunting. The auror whose face I couldn't even see in the shadows of the room simply pushed me to a kneel before the veil, shimmering with darkness, and planted his foot in the small of my back, knocking me forward to be embraced by the soft and ghostly fabric.
Now, it probably seems strange to start a story with the protagonist dying, right? Or at least, it would if I were the protagonist. But I wasn't. As I floated into the darkness, the tiny portal of light back to the living world slowly growing smaller behind, that fact washed over me with all the force of a raging typhoon. I had done nothing good with my short and admittedly fucked-up life. My childhood was utterly nondescript, other than having a load of pureblood nonsense I didn't really believe shoved down my craw until all I could do was vomit it back up to anyone who would listen. Even once I hit Hogwarts, there was little to be said. The first five years, I was an utter prat, whose only merit was how loudly I could yell 'My father!' at every well-deserved insult. Sixth year, I spent most of my time planning a murder that I knew in my heart of hearts was not only wrong, but impossible regardless. And seventh? Well I spent it trying not to be noticed by the Dark Lord, snivelling in fear with the rest of my family.
Floating in the darkness, I frowned. That really was all that my life had been, hadn't it? It was sad, really. I had wished so desperately, with such utter desire, to be important, to do something I could be proud of. I wanted something my father could be proud of, for the family name. Now, all that was left of me was a miserable wretch sentenced to die with only his worst enemies to defend him. That was how the world would remember me, the last Malfoy.
It made me wonder why Potter had bothered anyways. We had never gotten along, what with me being an utter ponce, so why would he fight for me, or Granger for that matter? Unbidden, the image of both of them, shouting at the Wizengamot with tears in their eyes, came to mind, and words Granger had said rang in my ears.
"We've lost so much. This war has taken so many lives, from both sides. Destroying more just makes you as bad as them." Granger and Potter probably didn't even care about me, anyways, not as a person. I was just an antagonist, a childhood rival to Potter to toughen him up and make his story have more substance, but I was still a life. Regardless of sides, regardless of what i had done, I was still a living human being who might still have more I could do, given the chance. And somehow, those two had seen that inside me. Even their friend Weasley had voted against me, shaking his head condescendingly, but those two didn't care. The thought sent my mind careening back, sorting through all the memories I had of them. Now that I thought about it, trapped in the dark embrace of death as I was, those two really were pure souls, the kind I wished i could have been. Always, they seemed so desperate to help others, to defend people and save lives. I remembered the many rumors that had chased them around their Hogwarts careers, even those which painted them as Dark Wizards. They were always in the thick of things, fighting the good fight against Voldemort and his ilk, but they didn't even think about it. Contrary to the many insult thrown at them, most by me, Potter never seemed to care for his fame, and even appeared to loathe it at times. Granger, as well, helped others without thought as to how it would affect her, and defended those she saw as innocent like a fierce lioness. I even remembered a few rumors that had flown around at one point about how she had started a campaign to free house elves.
Merlin, I wish i could've been like them, I thought, amusement growing in me as I continued to hang in darkness, the many thoughts of Potter and Granger's exploits flooding my mind. Maybe then I would've done something worthwhile with my life. Then, without warning, a voice echoed through the space around me, and I froze in shock.
Are you certain that is your wish? The voice was formless, despite how loud it was. I couldn't even tell if the speaker was male or female, and with the way it echoed I had no idea where they were. After a few minutes of waiting tensely, I got a distinct sensation of impatience rolled through me, and i decided that maybe it would be a good idea to speak up before whatever it was decided that simply being dead wasn't punishment enough for me.
"Uh, yeah, I guess." For a moment, I wanted to smack myself for sounding so idiotic, but I was cut off by the voice speaking yet again.
Very well then. The Malfoy shall be afforded another chance to set things right. Too many were taken. It shall be your place to set it right. Before I could ask what in Merlin's baggy trousers the voice was talking about, a sudden chill swept through the darkness, which had previously been a perfectly comfortable temperature, and a sudden pinprick of light appeared in front of me. SEveral seconds later, the light had expanded to become a large portal, composed entirely of white space. A moment later, my body was no longer floating in the darkness, but instead being pushed towards the portal, panic flooding my body. What the bloody hell was this all about? I couldn't ask, however, as something seemed to have stolen my voice. I struggled to speak, to yell, something, but nothing came out. All I could do was be pulled helplessly into a giant white portal in the middle of Death's embrace, the last words of an unknown being following me out. Oh, and, don't mind the change. You'll get used to it… eventually.
XXX
So you're probably wondering what that has to do with Death and his utterly shite sense of humor. Well first, you'd have to understand what exactly happened. For those of you who aren't quited as fast as the others, I'll spell it out for you. To put it simply, I was reborn, shoved into the body of my newborn self. Yay, time travel. Don't ask me how it happened, or why. I honestly have no clue, not do I care to get one. What I do want to figure out, however, is why the fuck Death- who I suspect was actually the voice that did this to me- decided to make me a girl.
Yeah, you heard me right. I, Draco Malfoy, am now known as Artemis Malfoy, the heiress to the Malfoy name. I mean, sure, by the time I was eleven, I'd pretty much gotten used to it, but imagine being a three year old about to be potty trained, and suddenly realizing you don't have the same parts as you used bout of accidental magic from that little freak-out nearly took out the entire wing of the manor I was in at the time.
So yeah, I was a girl now, but that wasn't what I was worried about at the moment. No, i was too busy watching the door of Madam Malkin's for a head of black hair. See, That was the first part of my plan; befriend harry Potter, and do it right this time.
Oh yeah, I should probably explain what exactly I had been doing since I came back in time. Basically, my plan was to try to save as many people as possible, and limit Voldemort's reign from the very start. I highly doubted I could stop him from coming back completely, as I didn't know nearly enough of what events exactly played into that, but… I don't honestly know, really. I just knew that I had been given a chance to fix things, to save some of those lives which should never have been lost, and to do something good with my life. I'd be damned if I let something like that slip me by.
So I planned. And I planned. Until eventually, I realized that the best thing to do would just be to take things as they came, year by year. Every move I could possibly make, every action, would nullify a thousand other things i knew, making it impossible to predict anything. So I gave up on that. My only goal now was to be on the right side of the war this time, and do my best with the opportunities that came to me. And the one thing I knew would happen, the thing which could kick-start everything, was about to walk through that door, just as he had that long-ago day on my original Hogwarts shopping trip.
The sudden jingle of the bells shocked me out of my thoughts, making me jump and earning a stab in my leg from Madame Malkins. I ignored that, however, in favor of staring at the young boy who had come through the door, looking like a frightened jackrabbit ready to bolt. Merlin, he looked just like I remembered. His smallness caught me off-guard for a second though. Was he really that tiny in first year? I doubted he would even come up to my nose!
I watched with trepidation as the young boy was welcomed by Malkins, just as hesitant as before. Every thought in my head had fled at the moment i saw him, every plan gone like the wind. I knew I had to say something though, so I opened my mouth, only realizing too late the words that proceeded to spill out.
"Are you alright?" The boy's head whipped towards me, and I immediately regretted it when I saw the fear in his eyes.
"Uh… what?" He asked, his voice quavering slightly, and my heart suddenly broke. I had never really noticed during my first life, or tried not to, but now memories of rumors about Potter's home life came rushing back to me. It had been said that he lived with monstrous muggles who had mistreated him, feeding him through a cat-flap and caging him like an animal. I had no idea to the legitimacy of said rumors, especially as most had been used as an outcry for pity by his avid supporters, but looking at this scared and obviously underfed child, I could believe it. Steeling my resolve, i continued speaking, using all my pureblood training to keep the anger at his pathetic state out of my tone.
"I asked if you are alright. You appear… hesitant." I don't know if it worked as well as I had hoped, but apparently concern wasn't a bad thing, because the suspicion in his eyes seemed to fade a bit, and when he spoke again it was with a somewhat clearer voice.
"Oh, I'm fine. It's just… my first time in Diagon Alley." I nodded. That made sense, considering he was supposed to be living with Muggles. In fact, if I remembered correctly, he was being escorted by the half-giant Gameskeeper, Hagger or something. I never really bothered to learn the name, even when he was our Care of Magical Creatures Professor. Still, I couldn't act like I knew that, for obvious reasons.
"Oh? Are you muggleborn then?" I asked, with none of the disgust I would have carried at the thought from my previous life. My realizations when it came to Granger had made it perfectly clear to me that there was no way that muggleborns could actually be lesser than purebloods, and even before that I had been starting to have my doubts. Nothing I'd ever seen, regardless of how much blood-purity vitriol was shoveled onto me by my father, had proven otherwise. In fact, any time my father had started in on his anti-muggle speeches in this life, I had to completely tune him out, lest the disgust at how easily i had gulped up such horrid beliefs before make me sick.
'No, not really. My parents were a witch and wizard, but they died. I've been living with my mom's muggle relatives most of my life." A flare of anger pulsed through me at the thought, but I pushed it back down. Sure, I no longer believed Muggles were horrible as a principal, but no sane person would do something to cause the shadows that appeared in his eyes at the mention of his relatives, especially to a child. Clenching my jaw, I nodded slightly, remorse coloring my features.
"I'm very sorry for your loss." for a moment, I debated what to say next. Certainly, it did not appear pleasant for him to talk about his muggle relatives, but something compelled me to help. No child should ever look like that, but i needed to confirm that my fears were indeed true. "Do they… treat you well? They don't have a problem with you being magical, do they?" My heart sunk when the boy let out a short bark of dark laughter.
"A problem?No, I wouldn't call it that. More like an utter hatred for everything to do with magic... including me." The last two words slipped out of him in a whisper, but I still heard. Merlin, it must be even worse than I thought if his treatment at the hands of the muggles could elicit such a broken voice. Fighting the urge to look away in shame as memories of how I had so ignorantly mocked him for such things before flooded my mind, I held out my hand.
"Well, I don't hate magic, so you don't need to worry about me. Artemis Malfoy, at your service." He hesitated for a moment, but then took the hand.
"Um, nice to meet you, I guess. I'm Harry… Harry Potter." He looked like he was ready to bolt at any sign of over excitement about his name, but I surprised him by smiling softly.
"Harry, huh? That's a good name." Apparently my nonchalance was unexpected, because Harry tilted his head curiously.
"Have you… not heard of me? I thought I was supposed to be famous." My smile widened when I heard only curiosity in his tone. Just like my other life, he didn't seem to be one to brag about his title.
"Of course I have. I merely thought it would be somewhat rude to go crazy over that. I doubt you enjoy the attention you have as it is." Harry's eyes widened, but after a second of staring at me as if I had grown an extra head, he nodded, a small smile of his own forming.
"You're right. Thanks, for that. Everyone at the Leaky Cauldron went absolutely bonkers when they heard who I was." Suddenly, the image of a half dozen witches and wizards with beer mugs in their hands mobbing the small boy ran through my head, and I was forced to suppress a giggle. It was funny to think about.
"Yes, well, Malfoys don't go bonkers. We're much too refined for that." I replied, with as haughty a sniff i could manage. Harry seemed to get the joke, and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry milady. I didn't realize the Malfoys were royalty. Please don't chop off my head." When i heard his horribly fake formal voice, I couldn't hold it in anymore, I suddenly burst into laughter. It was… a nice feeling, actually. I had never before laughed like that. None of my friends in my previous life, which consisted of essentially Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and a few of the other simpering Slytherins, had ever shown really any sense of humor except mimicking my own, which was admittedly shallow. Now, to suddenly finding myself doubling over gasping as Malkins was forced to vacate the area, I realized just what I had been missing. I never really had friends, not really. They were allies, or in some cases minions, but never allies. Looking past Malkins's angry face to Harry's smiling one, however, I hoped that maybe, just maybe, I could fix that mistake as well.
XXX
Alright, I know I shouldn't be doing this. I already have several other stories going, and should probably focus my attention on them. Well,, don't worry. I won't be trying to put a heavy emphasis on this story. To be honest, I don't even know if it will go past this chapter. For now though, I'm simply doing it to remove stress and writer's block, since this requires very little planning. It is a simple time-travel story where I will attempt to simply write what happens as it comes. DOn't expect any deep worked plots or great big, overarching machinations with this story. I just wanted to do something with time travel, since it can be nice and fun and lighthearted, so here it is. Do try not to kill me in my sleep please, and I apologize for anything that may seem off-kilter with my thought processes for this. I'm sort of up past my bedtime, so if Artemis's thought process is random, I'm sorry. I will consider cleaning it up later, if necessary.
Now, i think it's time for me to sign off. I hope you enjoy, and even though this is a sort of relaxation fic, your reviews and comments are still highly appreciated. See you sometime later! Bye!