Chapter Two
Cold water bathed Draco's face, and a shiver ran the length of his body. He was barely awake from his splash, but he could hear snickers in the background. He tried hard to remember where he was; yet the answer came to him very slowly. He was in an alternate universe, if all had gone according to plan. Also, he remembered fainting into sleep, and he wondered how long he had been passed out. He slightly opened his silver eyes, enough to see the shining eyes of the Headmaster.
He could hear Dumbledore's voice, "Draco? Are you awake?" Draco opened his eyes, fully, and looked up at the headmaster of the other universe. The face of the kind professor looked identical to the one he had known for so long. Yet, he could feel a slight difference in this Dumbledore, but he couldn't place his finger on what it was.
He wiped the water from his face, and the remaining sleep that lingered in his eyes. He slowly rose up from the floor, and came to his senses." Why did you do that?" he hissed, angrily.
"No one dares pour water on a Malfoy (especially myself). No matter what the reason." he thought darkly to himself.
"To wake you up, of course. You've been unconscious for at least five minutes. We didn't want to take you to Madame Pomfrey, if we did, I'd never see you again." the headmaster answered jauntily.
"You make that sound like such a bad thing." The Weasel muttered under his breath, although everyone heard. The Golden Boy nudged his dumb red headed friend, and the Mudblood giggled into her hand.
"What a bunch of nit wits." He snickered to myself.
"Except, the Mudblood, but she's guilty by association." Draco quickly added.
Dumbledore smiled at all of his students, acting oblivious to the events unfolding right in front of his well-trained eyes. He said not a word of punishment to any of them, but he gave them all meaningful looks that quickly ended their banter.
The headmaster turned to the Golden Trio, and addressed them all by name, "Harry, Hermione, and Ron, we'll finish our discussion later on. Right now, I need to speak with Draco."
At the mention of their names, Draco, for the first time, inspected them all closely. He sized each up with his eyes, and they all seemed a bit off. Draco couldn't figure out what wasn't right, at first, but there was something very familiar, yet horribly different about them. Snape's words came back to Draco, "when you get there, the people will be the same, … only different." The oxymoronhadn't made since then, but it made since now.
Ron's features seemed sharper, and almost dignified, a manner that Draco had never seen on a Weasley. Potter looked mostly the same, but the way he carried himself screamed, "I'm good and I know it." The two looked as if they owned the world, and they were just allowing Draco to live in it…If he weren't so out of sorts he'd snap their necks.
But… if the truth be told, Granger was the one that seemed nothing like the one that he knew.
Her body was made exactly like the Granger of his world, but like the boys, it was the manner that she carried herself that was nothing like his Granger. This girl's eyes were colder than the ice and held this haughty superiority that a Muggle born's eyes should not hold. Her hair was longer than his, stopping inches above her waistline, and all the strands of her oddly perfect looking hair were in their proper places. Her robes were expensive and obviously tailored to fit her trim body exactly. She looked well groomed and manicured to perfection. Her vainty was obvious to anyone with half a mind, therefore very few people were bound to notice.
"How different is different?" Draco wondered to himself. He tore his silver eyes from Granger's body, and shook his head.
The Golden Trio exited the room without another word, but the Mud blood did send Draco a look of hate.
"At least that hasn't changed." Draco whispered sarcastically.
As soon as Dumbledore was sure that they had gone, he smiled knowingly at Draco. "Well, I see your time travel was a success. Welcome to our universe."
"Thanks." he muttered. Draco at this moment really wished he was back at home, but it was a little late to be saying that, now wasn't it?
"I think that you and I should have a talk about what is expected of you, in this world. You may look like our Draco, but you certainly don't behave like him, or at least from what I have gathered from your file."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "How different are we talking about here?" He did not bother to ask about this so called "profile"; naturally he was the center of the universe but that didn't give anyone to write a book about it.
"The only explanation I can give is nature versus nurture. You are the same person, but you were born under different circumstances which explains small differences in your personalites. "
Draco's brain began to throb, couldn't he just speak in laymen's terms? "Well, thanks for explaining things to me so clearly." he mumbled in low tones.
"Okay, Draco, I'll put it in a simpler terms. You will find that here life is drastically opposite from your world. Here, Muggle borns are very respected and much adored. In our culture, if you are born of non-magic parentage, yet you're of magical blood, then you must hold special power. To rise from the dirty ashes of the Muggles, and still hold the authority of magic, is something to be celebrated."
"Pure bloods," Dumbledore continued, "are not always given the…respect that perhaps they deserve. Ironic, how in your universe Muggle borns get too little value, and in this one, perhaps given too much."
To say that Draco was shocked would be a complete lie. He simple nodded his head at the Professor, as if he heard this sort of talk everyday. In truth, Draco was in denial. He simply refused to believe that such a heinous and twisted world could possibly exist. His mind would not let him even consider the idea to be in any way valid. There was just no way. This otherworldly Dumbledore was a joker. Yes, this was all a silly prank. Well, Draco wasn't going to fall for his jest.
Because….
A society….
Where Muggle borns…
Rule…
Was…
Inconceivable.
Dumbledore saw Draco's stubborn disbelief, and sighed. He would get a large reality check, very soon. And, if his file was correct, a major dose of his own prejudice medicine.
"Now, you understand that the other Draco's behavior was much different than yours. If you are going to become him, then you must act like him. You don't want to arise any suspension."
Draco's curiosity about his other self grew ten fold. How different in actions could they be? And, was he really dead? "How do I act? Is the other me really dead?"
"To answer your first question, Draco left behind all of his things, including his journal, so you may read it to know more about him. And, between you and myself, and these four walls, I believe that he is quite alive. In my opinion, he is most likely hiding, waiting…"
"Hiding? Waiting? For what?" He asked, thoroughly interested now.
"That Mister Malfoy is what you must find out. Because, if he is in danger, then my boy, so are you." Although, he didn't want to admit it, it scared him to think that he may be in danger. Was there any where in any universe that he would ever be safe? Because, running through time and space certainly hadn't made him anymore protected.
Sensing his fear, Dumbledore added, "Naturally, the other professors and I will be watching out for you. All of the teachers have been alerted to keep an eye on you, but only Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape know the entire story. Do not worry your protection is of utmost importance to the school, and to the Minister of Magic."
Dumbledore and Draco tensely spoke for another few moments, before Draco was excused to go back to his dorm. He was instructed to wait there until the next class started, which he was expected to attend.
Draco walked throughout the school, trying to sort out how he was going to approach his new life. The biggest issue at hand was to discover the truth about what happened to his other self, but going about that was easier said, than done.
"Where to start?" he whispered, louder than he had intended. He was currently standing outside of the Slytherin House, but he couldn't make his lips move to say the Slytherin password, and the portrait was starting to look impatient…
"I'm scared to go in there," Draco realized, suddenly. He was as shocked by the thought, as anyone else would be. He never let his fear get to him, but he also had to face facts.
By walking through those doors, Draco would be sinking himself into a new life that he possibly wasn't ready for. The password of Slytherin seemed like dirt in his mouth at that moment; and no matter how much confidence he tried to muster, it just wasn't enough.
Luckily, Draco was saved from his spasm of low esteem, by voice of surprise, calling out his name. " Draco?" a feminine voice asked, incredulously.
The white haired boy turned around, at the sound of his voice to see…Blaise...sort of. The raven-haired girl, that had called his name, was Blaise, if he had been a girl. A disgusted shudder ran through his body, as he looked him…her over. Blaise was sexy, a fact that revolted him to the core.
"I always knew there was something queer about that guy." he thought.
Blaise rushed over to Draco and threw herself upon him. Draco caught her, easily, and felt awfully queer, when she hugged him. Remembering that the real Blaise was actually taller than him, and this girl was at least a foot shorter, also made him feel a bit funny, but he didn't know why.
"Where have you been?" she screamed, as she pulled away from him. Before waiting for him to answer, Blaise promptly kicked him in the shin with her shoes.
If Draco needed any proof that this was in fact Blaise, he just got it. The real Blaise used to do the same thing when he got angry, when he and Draco had been children. Apparently, girl Blaise was still in the kiddy phase.
"Bloody hell! What's wrong with you woman? No body kicks a Malfoy." He yelled in his usual coldness, as he frantically checked his aching knee for any sign of a bruise on his pale skin.
"If I have a bruise, you'll pay for that Zabini." He growled in a low and lethal tone. He instinctively slammed her against the wall and stared her down as though she were the Boy Blaise. For a long moment, Blaise looked shocked then stricken, but Draco was too thoroughly pissed off to notice or care. The young Malfoy glared at Blaise, he was waiting for the apology that he knew was coming. No one dared to openly humiliate a Malfoy, and Zabini knew it.
For about two minutes, the two Slytherins just stood watching each other, and with each passing moment, Draco's fragile patience grew thinner and thinner, until, "Well? Where's my apology? And, close your mouth, you look like a blowfish." He slowly released her from the wall, but continued to stare.
Blaise was instantly snapped out of stupor, and smiled, wickedly, "Draco, I had no idea that you could be so…controlling. I like it." She whispered the last words into his ear, but Draco showed no emotion.
"You certainly have changed since you left a month ago. Where were you?" She said, sounding slightly flirtatious.
"I've been…around." He answered, coolly, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm surprised Dumbledore let you stay, after pulling a stunt like that, just disappearing for a whole month. It was so unlike you."
Draco was puzzled by what Blaise had said, but he shook it off, and offered her one of his irresistible, mischievous smiles. He decided to forget that she was a man in another world. "You kidding, the old bag practically begged me to come back."
Blaise laughed, and smiled up at him, adoringly. She then, pushed herself up against him, and let a finger trail along his jaw line. "Maybe, we could go out for firewhiskey sometime." He simply raised an amused eyebrow, and forcefully ignored all of the memories of the boy Blaise, which were flowing through his mind like wine.
Draco simply shrugged, "Maybe." A slow smile grew on her face, and the girl started to walk down the hall, to her first destination.
He continued to stare at her for a second later, and then he turned back to the portrait, and said the password. His lost self-confidence was now in its rightful place.
Draco found himself in the boy's dormitories, and he just looked around, amazed that this room did look very close to the one he knew. He automatically walked down toward the very last bed, but stopped half way there.
"What if my bed isn't in the same place it used to be?" That thought truly rattled him, because the last bed signified power. If Draco didn't have the last bed, then he didn't have anything. He ran to the last bed, and fortunately it was still his.Draco wondered what kind of person he was in this universe, especially since running into Blaise and seeing how strangely she responded to his natural behavior.
He sat down on the bed cautiously. Draco was afraid to touch anything, he felt almost as if he were intruding on someone else's life. But when a framed photo caught his eye, Draco let the thought fade away. He reached for the picture and peered at the faces. It was a picture of his father, mother, and his other self. He studied it carefully and saw the slight difference in them. These people looked unbelievably happy: his parents were kissing in the snow, while the other Draco made a snowman.
Acute jealousy seeped into his heart, as he saw smiles on his parent's faces for the first time. Sadly, they weren't even really his parents. Draco opened a drawer on his tiny dresser, and thrust the vile picture in it, and harshly shut the drawer. He never wanted to view it again. He couldn't take all the happiness that emitted from it.
In a desperate attempt to erase the memory of the happy Malfoy's, Draco started going through all of the things that Draco two –as he had decided to call him- left behind. After fifteen minutes, he had searched through everything, and had found nothing that showed that Draco two had left intentionally.
At the moment, he made this conclusion; his dragon necklace fell to the hard ground. Draco reached down, and picked up the necklace, and slipped back around his neck, but a thought came to him…
"I would never leave my dragon necklace, or my box." He thought out loud. He looked around on his dresser and found the necklace, but after searching even more thoroughly, the box did not turn up.
"I'd never go anywhere without that bloody black box. I must have known just what I was doing." Draco thought. Tired, Draco fell on his pillow only to feel something hard on his head. He grabbed the pillow and saw a notebook concealed underneath.
