DISCLAIMER: Draco Malfoy and all things in the Harry Potter Universe are not mine…

A/N: Just wanted to quickly thank Winddance for doing a wonderful job as my beta-reader and muse whenever I'm stuck for ideas… Which is quite often. Check out her story "Undead" - It's a great fic featuring Harry's relationship with - a ghost? There's your plug, m'dear. On with the story!

Chapter 2

Malfoy Manor

            As soon as Draco flung the Zoyan cloak over his shoulders, he regretted his rash decision. Then again, he hadn't had much choice. The Aurors would have found him quickly since he didn't know how to Disapparate and he'd lost his wand. He was sure they wouldn't believe him if he told them he was framed. They would probably assume he had discarded his wand on purpose after torturing the Muggles and conjuring the Dark Mark.

            As soon as Draco put the cloak on, he felt a throbbing sensation in his stomach that traveled downward and upward, spreading everywhere until he felt the throbbing pain all over his body. He looked down and gasped as he saw the cloak melting into his skin, causing it to start changing, turning slightly darker, almost as if he was getting a rapid tan. His head prickled and he saw one of his blonde locks, which had fallen into his eye, shortening. He didn't see what color it changed into. As his hair was changing, so was his face, and it felt as though a hot pressure was rearranging it. He felt a burning at the front of his eyes until finally the hot pressure lessened on his head- but then it moved to his body.

            Looking down once again, he felt the pain shooting through his bones and muscles as they changed. He could see beneath his tanned arms the muscles increasing slightly, making them look stronger than they had looked before. As soon as it had come, the searing pain left. He knew now that he could escape quite easily because he looked completely different. The Cloak of Identity had given him an easy getaway. He didn't worry about how he was going to get it off at the moment- he was too preoccupied with just trying to get out of Diagon Alley.

            Draco stepped out of the side alley cautiously, observing the chaos and looking around nervously to see whether anyone would pursue him. As he looked to his right, he saw a group of Aurors running towards him. He panicked and thought the cloak hadn't worked. He didn't have a chance to flee- but it didn't matter as the anxious Aurors ran right by him, not pausing to give him a second glance.

            He wandered over to Fluorish and Blotts and pushed through the frenzied crowd to the store window- and inhaled sharply, astonished. Staring back at him was a wide-eyed young man with tan skin and dark brown hair. It was nearly black. He looked nothing like the adolescent with the small, skinny body and pale, pointed face he had been moments before. He looked quite the opposite.

            He was bigger- he had become more muscular and slightly taller. He grinned at his intimidating physique. He wouldn't need Crabbe and Goyle to back him up anymore. He had a completely different face as well. He had a strong jaw and cheekbones and his straight nose looked very Roman. His eyebrows were as dark as his hair. He leaned in closer to the store window and saw his eyes had turned dark brown with yellow flecks in the irises. He had to admit he looked good. He smirked, and was glad to see it looked very much like the sneer he would use on his old face. He glanced down at his clothes- they had remained the same, except they had altered to fit his new body, as most magically manufactured clothes do. Still looking down, something caught his eye.

            It was his wand! The long, black piece of wood was lying very close to the building- so close, it would have been impossible to see unless you were very close to the building. He looked around quickly, bent down and picked up his wand hastily while no one was looking. He put it in his robes and strode away from the bookshop.

            But where was he to go? A million questions were running through his mind while he walked through the still-panicking crowd on Diagon Alley. Aurors were everywhere, checking all the blonde-haired wizards and a few witches with short hair.

            Who would frame him? Who would pose as him and torture those Muggles? Were the Death Eaters responsible? Draco didn't think so. His father would have told him. Unless this was some sort of test… He didn't know what to believe. He decided to ask his father, he would know what was happening, and if he didn't, well, he didn't want to think of that right now.

***

            Ten minutes later Draco was stepping into the sitting room of Malfoy Manor, having just traveled by floo powder. He glanced around the luxurious space, expecting to see his parents sitting on the expensive sofas taking their tea. They weren't there. A house-elf appeared a second later with a loud crack!

            "May I help you, sir?" The elf asked in its high pitched voice, looking very anxious. He looked down at the elf with a mixed expression of disdain and annoyance.

            "Where are my parents?"

            "I is begging your pardon sir, I do not know who you are. Do you wish to speak with my master, sir? Or perhaps you is hoping to see master's son, sir?" The elf asked, clearly terrified.

            "Alright, alright. Please bring me to Mister Malfoy." Draco said, annoyed that he had to address his father in this way.

            "Please stay here, sir. I will go get my master."

            The elf disappeared and Draco shook his head in disgust at its fear. He sat down on one of the expensive leather sofas, settling himself in the way he was accustomed to.

            Lucius Malfoy appeared a moment later, staring down at the boy who used to be the spitting image of himself with great dislike and annoyance. Much as the boy had been looking at the house-elf not two minutes earlier.

            "Who are you and what do want?" the elder Malfoy snapped. "And get up from the sofa. You have no right to be sprawling about in my mansion, as you are an uninvited guest."

            "Relax, father. It's me, Draco. That little spectacle you and your friends pulled earlier in Diagon Alley was great fun," Draco said, referring to the Death Eaters. "Although I still don't understand why you wanted to frame me."

            "I don't know what you're talking about, young man, but I'm an inch away from calling M.L.E.S. on you for trespassing." He said, eyes flashing.

            Draco gave him a sardonic smirk. "You won't call the Magical Law Enforcement Squad."

            "I won't?"

            "No, you won't. If a real intruder came here, you would torture him until he told you why he came, and if he intended to harm you in some way, you would kill him." Draco said matter-of-factly, enjoying the look of surprise on his father's face. Lucius quickly recomposed his face – Malfoy's were never caught off guard, and if they were, they wouldn't let on that they were.

            "Who are you?"

            "I told you. I'm your son, Draco. When you or one of your colleagues pulled that stunt, I had to take drastic measures. It looks as though I'll be this way for a while, if not permanently," until I find my 'true love' anyways… Draco thought, but didn't tell his father this information. He knew his father would react badly to such a horrible cliché.

            "Where is my son? Do you want some kind of payment?" Lucius now demanded. He obviously thought the person he was talking to was his son's kidnapper, not his actual son.

            "I'm your son." Draco said, exasperated. "I know it must have been the Death Eaters' who framed me today. Is it some kind of test?"

            Lucius pulled out his wand and pointed it at Draco's chest. "I don't know what you're insinuating, but unless you tell me who you are, I will not hesitate to extract the information myself. And I will not be gentle." He said, the fury radiating off of his body. Draco knew he wouldn't be able to convince him, and that he would soon be dead. Lucius raised his wand and opened his mouth, about to curse him.

            "Lucius?" His mother's voice floated down from the next floor, inadvertently saving his life. Lucius looked away and in that moment, Draco sprinted away from him.

            Barely pausing to grab a handful of floo powder and throwing it into the flames, he ran into the fire, not looking back at the hexes being shot at him.