A/N: All right! I finally got this up. This is my first and a half Harry Potter fanfic. Yes. And a half. I didn't make any mistakes there. So this is called Draco's Designers. I have rather odd tastes in pairings. Draco/Ginny is a definite. I don't think I can handle two pairings at once though. By the way. This story will be put into the category of Humor/Romance in case you haven't noticed yet. And sorry for any grammer or spelling mistakes. I don't check this over. Just write and save.
Background info: There are quite a lot of changes from the book in this. The Gryffindor trio and Draco are in 6th year and apparently Ginny in 5th. But Sirius isn't dead. He's still very much alive. How could I kill him off? The rest will be explained in the story. I can't give too much away can I? –wink- Draco's dad is NOT in Azkaban…for the reason in the OotP that is. xD Ill try desperately hard to keep all characters in character. Sorry if they seem odd half the time.
I shall stop this blabbering and get on with the show! If anything sounds a bit out of place just tell me.
Note: You'll learn soon that I'm VERY random. That will be reflected a bit in my writing. I'm also extremely paranoid so if this is weird beyond reason, you were warned. D
Remembering Summers Passed-
Draco's POV-
It seemed like another perfect year for Potter. It was just the opposite with me. During the summer the Ministry of Magic had captured a large group of Death Eaters on one of their raids. Unfortunately for me, father had been one of the captured Death Eaters. Or maybe not so unfortunate. At least I was free from one of the bumbling idiots of my life. And besides, he had been anything but gentle or loving with me. Some father he is.
Lucius Malfoy had immediately been sent to Azkaban prison. Mother had pretended to be clueless, saying she had no idea her husband was working for the Dark Lord. Luckily, the ministry believed her, with the help of some gold of course. This year I ended up sitting apart from the rest of the Slytherins. They all blamed my family. No, not for being caught supporting You-Know-Who, but for mother denying it. They just had to be perfect little Slytherins, didn't they?
Back to Author's POV-
Draco's sneer turned nastier as Pansy Parkinson slid onto the bench beside him. She, unlike the other Slytherins, still seemed to follow Draco where ever he went.
"Hello Dracie-poo! How was your summer?" Pansy giggled at her little pet name for Draco.
"How do you think its been?" he growled. He still had no respect for her, after all she was just a giggling airhead.
"Aww. Come one. We don't hate you. Just watch. Everything will be all right in a few days. They'll blame you for a bit and then forget all about it."
Harry was glad to finally be back in Hogwarts. It was more of a home than Privet Drive had ever been. Of course, this summer had been better than most thanks to certain owl incidents. The members of The Order had kept him entertained and up to date on all Voldemort business. Oddly enough, Voldemort had been quiet all summer. Except for that Death Eater raid. Harry smiled at the memory.
Cheesy Flashback-
Harry was picking at the moldy three-week-old salad Aunt Petunia was feeding him for dinner with a fork. Summer was almost over and it had been horrible so far. Death threats, stalkers, Dudley's gang, more death threats, moldy food, and more death threats. Nothing out of the ordinary.
He sighed as he heard a tapping on the window. Harry glanced in that direction. His eyes nearly popped out as he saw one of the schools owl's. It seemed his Hogwarts letter was finally here. Too bad it came during dinner.
Uncle Vernon tilted his head at the peculiar sound. Now where was it coming from? He rubbed his chin with his hand as he pondered this very difficult question. It sounded a bit like…like tapping. On the window…Hang on a sec…Tapping on the window!
Uncle Vernon sprang up off his chair as though he had just sat on a hot coal. "GET YOUR OWL IN HERE!"
Harry quickly sprinted to the window and threw it open. He grabbed the letter from the owl rather forcefully and shoved it off into the night, leaving quite a few of its feathers rumpled.
Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry by the collar and unconsciously lifted him up about 5 inches. "What were you thinking receiving letter from those freaky friends of yours!"
"But – I didn't – It was from school!"
"Don't give me any excuses. I don't care where it came from. I don't want any more of…THOSE in my house!" He dropped Harry to the floor and sat down, back to his dinner as if nothing had happened.
Harry growled under his breath…the nerve of some people. Vernon should be thanking the owl. It was the reason Harry would be out of the house in a matter of weeks. Thinking it would be best to go with his uncle's approach, pretending as if though nothing happened, he joined the "family" at the table.
5 minutes passed…8…10…15…and Harry was still picking at his uneaten salad…how was he supposed to eat it? He heaved a sigh and put down the fork. He'd rather go upstairs to bed than watch Dudley pigging out on pie. At that same moment, something large and gray collided heavily with Mr.Dursley's head.
'Who in their right minds would throw an overused dust rag in here?' thought Harry as he gaped with his mouth wide open. Uncle Vernon's face was quickly going through all possible shades of red and quickly darkening to purple.
Harry took another look and his horror grew. What first seemed to be a very dirty dust rag was actually Errol, the Weasley family owl.
"What the hell is up with these bloody owls!"
"Sorry Uncle Vernon. I swear it won't happen again!" Harry gently picked up Errol. "May I go upstairs and put him—"
"—NOO!" Uncle Vernon roared. "You will sit down, and we will have a normal dinner! And you had better pray to whatever freaky little god your kind worship that there will be no more owls coming through my window, or else I promise to personally tear the next one apart, limb-by-limb. Then Ill take the remains and feed them to Marge's dogs, have them spit it up, and that will be your next dinner."
Harry sat back down and placed Errol on his lap hoping he would stay there until he would be able to take him up to his room. He had even tried being polite, and what had that gotten him? A very vivid owl threat. And a promise of a meal he was not really looking forward to.
Harry just sat there pretending to eat. He had long since given up even trying. A hoot came from the window as a midnight black owl with shocking blue eyes passed through.
Dudley's piggy eyes widened in horror. "DUCK AND COVER!" He dropped to the floor and crouched underneath the table. Apparently, that left no room for anyone else down there.
"Dudley! Nudge over a bit for mummy-kins!" squeaked Aunt Petunia frantically. With quite a bit of effort and mysterious grunting noises, room was miraculously made for her to be able to squeeze in. As the tablecloth hid them from view Harry was sure he heard, "You'll have to find your own place to hide," coming from a very muffled sounding Petunia.
Harry scoffed. He wasn't planning on hiding. He was going to get that new letter even if it killed him, which it probably would. Harry jumped up on the desk and tried to catch the owl, which was now furiously trying to peck out Uncle Vernon's eyes.
"No—more—" sputtered Uncle Vernon in between pecks, "—blasted—owls!"
Harry fingers closed around a soft something. Hoping it was the owl Harry yanked…hard. Uncle Vernon let out a shriek of rage, because the thing Harry had just grabbed was his head.
Harry lost his balance on top of the table and came tumbling down. The two of them rolled across the kitchen in a jumbled mess. Uncle Vernon's face now looked like an overgrown plum.
Harry stopped for a moment to admire the owl. It was relentlessly attacking Vernon no matter how much he fought…kind of reminded Harry of someone. He shook his head and snapped out of his daze. No matter how much he was enjoying seeing his uncle being pummeled by an owl, he had to get that letter…and get out alive to read it.
Harry stood still waiting for the perfect moment. As Uncle Vernon ran to the living room faster than Harry thought any human being capable of, Harry grabbed the vicious owl, which was currently in the middle of a dive.
With the new owl perched under his shoulder, and the previously forgotten Errol in his arms, Harry dashed up the stairs two at a time. The house was deadly quiet. 'Wonder what Uncle Vernon is doing now? Who cares…I'm going to be in a load of trouble anyway,' thought Harry morosely.
He took out some of Hedwig's treats for the two owls. "Lets see what we have here." He untied the scroll from Errol's leg first, leaving the mystery owl for later. The letter read:
Dear Harry,
Have you heard? Of course you haven't. You're stuck with the muggles after all. Malfoy's dad just got himself landed in Azkaban! Isn't that brilliant? Best piece of news we've heard all summer. Caught during some sort of raid. Dad won't tell me the details. Says I'm not old enough. But I'll know anyway, it's going to be all over the Prophet tomorrow morning. And Fred and George are getting their old extendable ears out of course!
P.S.- Will you stay with us for the last month of vacation? Mum is going mad with worry that they'll try to murder you or something. We're at you-know-where with Snuffles.
-Ron
Harry smiled with glee. Malfoy's dad in Azkaban. Now he just needed to know how exactly it happened, so he could replay it over and over in his dreams.
The black owl was glancing from the owl treat to Harry, looking suspicious. Harry had never known an owl that could look suspicious. Harry reached over to the scroll attached to its leg.
Harry,
It's dangerous sending such information in a letter, but we figure it's going to be all over the news anyway. No matter if it's intercepted.
As you might have heard from your friend Ronald already (nosy little prat) several death eaters were captured this evening. Yes, the git Lucius Malfoy was with that lot as well. Seems that You-Know-Who and his slimy group of supporters got overly confident. They decided to raid the ministry. Blubbering idiots. Apparated right into a room of 50 aurors holding a meeting (including yours truly). Not the best of situations. As you can imagine some dueling followed. I myself lost another chunk of my nose.
Anyway, 30 against 50. The odds were not in their favor. Twelve of their number were killed, one suffering heavy injuries, another with a tree branch sprouting out of his nose, and the rest captured. The flowers on the branch were quite colorful.
Currently sitting locked up in Azkaban. A special guard of aurors in addition to those filthy dementors guarding them. Traitorous group the dementors are if you ask me.
Nothing more to tell. You-Know-Who was with the attacking group, although he managed to escape. Looks like you still have a job ahead, eh?
-Moody
P.S. – Mrs. Weasley sends her love and forcefully requests that you join us for the remainder of the summer. If you refuse I shall come over there, gag you, blindfold you, tie you up, shove you into a potato sack, and get you here myself. If you accept…same thing.
Professor Moody. Figures. That explains the owl's strange behavior and the odd comments in the letter. Harry grabbed a spare quill from his desk and a fresh piece of parchment. Quickly he scribbled:
Professor Moody,
Please tell Mrs. Weasley that I would love to join you all for the holidays…just as long as I don't come tied up in a bag. I'm absolutely thrilled that Mr. Malfoy is finally in azkaban. Thanks for the news.
-Harry
There. That was good enough. Now for Ron's letter.
Ron,
That's brilliant! Of course Ill stay with you. I've already written that in my reply to the other letter. About that. I've gotten most of the details from Moody. He sent a letter. I'll bring it when I come over so you can read it, if you don't know what's going on by then.
-Harry
That's all. Sure, his letters were a bit short, but what did they expect? He wasn't about to write a novel. Harry turned back to the owls and saw that Moody's owl had finally eaten its treat and was nosing around for more. Errol was taking a drink from Hedwig's water bowl.
"I hope you're both ready for a trip back," said Harry. The black owl hooted indifferently while Errol gave a tired wheeze. Not the best responses but they would have to do. Harry tied on his replies, one for each owl, and sent them off out of his window.
End Flashback-
Harry smiled as he remembered this. Sure, he was in a spot of trouble with Uncle Vernon afterwards, but that hardly mattered anymore. And Moody still used a potato sack. He insisted it was for Harry's "safety". Harry would bet his broomstick that the old man just needed a laugh, and Harry was his poor unsuspecting victim.
Draco sat at the Sytherin table chewing a mouthful of roasted duck. Potter had a dazed goofy grin on his face. 'Wonder what he's on about,' thought Draco. He looked disdainfully around him. There was a good five feet on either side of him that no one dared occupy. The seats across from him and five feet to both sides were also empty.
It was all his bloody father's fault. If only he hadn't gotten caught. 'Wait, no that was a good thing.' If only he had never joined the Dark Lord. 'That's better.'
Summer Flashback-
The window was open, letting in a cool breeze and a shaft of moonlight. The sound of a quill scratching across a piece of parchment filled the room. Very expensive and high quality parchment at that. Otherwise, the room was deadly silent.
Draco Malfoy sat studiously at his desk, writing swiftly. It wasn't homework he was doing. No, he had finished that ages ago. His father had him researching "Top 50 Spells to Kill a Muggle" every evening. Avada Kedavra was right at the top of his list, along with 49 more. He had to list them all and provide a detailed explanation of how each worked. Oh joy.
Draco glanced at the clock. The red digital numbers pulsed 12:00. Midnight. He put down the quill and rubbed his eyes tiredly. That had to be enough for tonight. He had 20 curses left to research and only 2 weeks to do it. Sure there was a month until school started but father insisted that he was pathetic and should pick up the pace. So that's 10 curses per week…and 2 a night if he wanted to leave his weekends free. Great.
The door suddenly burst open with a loud thump. Moving with inhuman speed, Draco immediately whipped out his wand from within his robes, spun around, grabbed his attacker, and had his wand to the attacker's throat all within a second.
His so-called attacker turned out to be his mother. Draco sighed deeply and released her. You could never be to careful these days…especially living under this roof. His father often sprung little "tests" such as these. He would burst in unexpectedly and attacked Draco. If Draco couldn't react fast enough he often ended up sporting various wounds and bruises for weeks after, not allowed to heal them as his father claimed they were useful reminders.
"Sorry mother. I thought you were someone else." Draco took a deep breath and prepared for the verbal onslaught that usually followed these incidents. It never came.
"Oh Draco!" Narcissa wrapped her arms around Draco and hugged him fiercely. In his arms she broke down and started sobbing hysterically. That was strange. His mother never dared cry freely with his father around. Of course, he thought it as a sign of weakness…and weakness invoked violence.
Draco softly stroked his mother hair. "What's wrong mother? Is it father?"
Narcissa hugged Draco tighter. "Mhm…" She nodded her head looking ridiculously like a three year old buried in the folds of Draco's robes.
"What's he done this time?"
This time she sprang up and started laughing. 'Oh no,' thought Draco, 'she's finally snapped.'
She clapped her hands gleefully and smiled. "He's gone and gotten himself caught."
"Caught?" inquired Draco. What did she mean by caught.
"Yes caught," she was returning to her usual haughty self even though her face was streaked with black tears. Black most likely from her smudged mascara. "Didn't I say that? Caught. That idiot went on another one of his raids and got himself caught by the ministry."
She paused for a moment to let this sink in then continued. "Don't you know what this means? We're finally free!"
'Er…okay. Looks like I completely misjudged mother.' Draco gave his mother a comforting hug. "That's right. He's gone." Draco could have jumped for joy. Only…that was very un-Malfoyish. It's not that his father didn't treat him well – wait, no. That was it.
'Ha. Serves him right. Hopefully this will last.'
Draco joined Narcissa as she danced around the room, occasionally spinning her in his arms as if she were a three-year old. If these antics were ever recorded, the Malfoys would never live it down.
Flashback End-
Draco's mind wandered back to the great hall as the droning background of voices had stopped. Professor Dumbledore stood waiting until the last people quieted down.
"Ahem…toffee anyone?" Several students raised their hands. Amazingly enough a few pieces levitated across the room to said students. Faint thank yous were heard as several more students gathered enough courage to raise their hands.
"You're welcome. Very well then…off you go." The headmaster sat back down, beaming, and popped a toffee into his own mouth.
Professor McGonagall ahemed rather loudly and shot him one of her famous tight-lipped glares. "The speech Professor."
"Oh…yes. It seems in my old age, I'm getting senile. Now where was I?"
"About to start."
"Yes. Now that you've all been fed, I implore that you spare a few moments to listen to an old codgers rantings." Dumbledore paused before continuing. "As you well know by now the Forbidden Forest is of course, forbidden. Off limits to you pesky students. In more recent news the squid in the lake has become rather…hostile. Please refrain from dropping the remains of your breakfasts in the lake if you do not want to end up like our dear Nearly-Headless Nick."
"Also there will be a few changes with your dormitories this year. Fifth years and up will be each assigned their own sleeping quarters. In other words fifth, sixth, and seventh years each get their own room to decorate and furnish as they want. You'll no longer need to worry about your best friend stealing your pet chicken and insisting he was nowhere near your trunk. I'll never forgive him for that!" Dumbledore took several calming breaths. "Er…yes. That's all very nice. Rooms password protected and so on. Ahah! My awaited news. There is to be a new program this year, for fifth through seventh years. It's the reason for your new quarters. My toaster awaits! Tata!" With this odd farewell Dumbledore strode down the rows, and away, leaving the Great Hall in a mass of confusion.
A/N: Yes I know that was boring. Yes I know the end was horrible. But what do you want? It's late and I want to go to sleep now. I promise the next chapter will be more exciting and less coffee-induced. There will be a point. I just had to get the plot started out and a bit explained. Please review and tell me what you think of this mess so far! 3 Good-night.
This ended up being uploaded a week or so later. I'm so lazy.