Chapter 4
Meeting James up at the entrance hall nearby the doors, Draco nervously ran a hand through his hair as an image of his dream last night came to the forefront of his mind, of dreaming of James coming into the Slytherin Common Room and telling him that everything was going to be okay and that he was safe before leaning over his sleeping form and kissing him.
Flushing furiously as he imagined what it must be like to be kissed by that man for but one moment before shaking his head back and forth only to cease abruptly when he heard an amused voice speak out to him from behind making him turn around to see the one and only James Potter standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face.
"Drake, why are you shaking your head back and forth like an adorable loon?"
"I wasn't. I just thought of something ridiculous was all."
"Oh, well, if you're ready let's head on down to the village for a good bottle of Butterbeer. My treat."
"You paying? Sounds good to me. Lead the way then."
"Gladly."
Walking in step with James as they left the castle, taking the long road down towards the village, Draco couldn't help but shake a little in fear as they walked past the Shrieking Shack. Remembering all the old stories of how it was haunted and believed them to be true.
"What's wrong Drake?"
"N-Nothing. Just...I heard that the Shrieking Shack was haunted. Is that true?"
"Oh no, it's not haunted. Remus, Sirius and I just made it seem like it is so that everyone will stay away from the place whenever we need to a place to hang out and not have anyone around to listen in on our conversations."
"Hmm...that does make sense. So, how long until we get to this village?" asked Draco, regardless he already knew how long it would take them to get there, wanting to continue playing on as the clueless transfer student just for laughs.
"Not long. Just about any minute actually."
Entering the Three Broomsticks with James coming up right behind him closing the door and leading him over to a table near the back made Draco suddenly feel a like he was on a date with the way everybody from school seemed to stare at them as they walked by. Ordering two butterbeers, James glanced across the table at Draco and gave him an amused grin at seeing how flushed Draco was slowly becoming.
"So Drake, what was Durmstrang like?" James asked him before taking a swing of his butterbeer.
Glancing up at James from across his own butterbeer bottle, Draco thought up of a perfectly believable lie that from a story that he had heard about the school from the visiting Bulgarians back in his fourth year for the TriWizard Tournament.
"Well, our classes were and weren't much different than yours. We had Transfigurations and Charms along with Potions for sure but along with our Defense class we were taught how to harness the Dark Arts."
"Hmm...that is interesting. Say, you want to see the Shrieking Shack up close, I mean real close?" James inquired with a raised eyebrow hoping that Draco would agree, seeing this time as being the only chance that he could have to come clean to the boy about knowing his real name, and quite possibly just where in time he came from.
"Sure, I guess so." Draco answered back not seeing any real reason not to trust James just yet or see this as a plan to try and discover facts about the future that they shouldn't know.
"Great. Finished with your butterbeer?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then, follow me."
Closing following behind James as he entered inside another pub nearby, Draco quickly attached himself to James' side as they made their way down the stairs of Honeydukes Tavern, only to instantly become surprised as he watched James unearth a large slab on the floor to reveal underneath it a large tunnel.
"Alright, here we go Drake, come on. Follow me."
"Are...are you sure it's safe?"
"Yeah, I've been taking this thing ever since my first year. It's perfectly safe. Trust me."
Hesitanting for just a moment, Draco quickly glanced back up at the staircase before turning back towards James to take his hand and with his help safely get into the tunnel and wait for James to follow through this time. Lighting his wand with a soft mumble and following behind James every step of the way as he took out some kind of map and tapped his wand to it.
"This, my dear Drake, is a secret only I and my fellow Marauder's know. We created this map and now...you are previe to it's existence as well. I humbly present to you, the one and only, Marauder's Map."
"It doesn't look like anything all that special to me." Draco scoffed before glancing down curiously at the map as he heard James chuckle at him before muttering out a simple phrase with his wand held onto the map's surface, slowly bringing the ink of the castle, the castle's grounds, Hogsmeade, and the Shrieking Shack to life.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Following down the long and dark pathway, hardly able to believe his eyes as James Potter held within his hands a map that he, Professor Lupin, that rat traitorous friend of theirs Pettigrew and his dead cousin Sirius had all made together; Draco couldn't help but feel greatly jealous that he never thought of doing something like that back in his first year.
'It sure would have made my time at Hogwarts a little easier when knowing just where everyone was at all times.' Draco thought to himself somewhat bitterly before coming to a stop at the base of a small wooden ladder underneath a hatched door built into the floor above their heads.
"Here we are Drake, the Shrieking Shack." was all that James said before tucking away the map and going up the ladder to enter into the Shack, hardly able to believe that it was still standing even after all these years that Remus has been coming here for his full moon transformations.
Taking Draco on a short tour of the Shack, James regretably decided as he showed Draco the final room in the house at the top of the stairs, that it was time for him to come clean.
Closing the door and locking it from behind himself, James slowly walked up to Draco's prone form to see him staring pensively at the old broken down piano, his hands softly ghosting over the keys. Placing his hands gently onto Draco's shoulders, James then slowly coaxed Draco over towards the bed in the room and sat him down on it's surprisingly soft surface.
Feeling the questionable expression coming from Draco, James sighed heavily before glancing up into Draco's beautiful silver grey/navy blue stormy eyes and whispered out his confession, feeling a huge weight being lifted off of his shoulders for carrying Draco's real identity and keeping it a secret from Draco himself for too long.
"Drake, I know. I know who you really are. What your name is. Where you come from. I know all about it and I can't say that I blame you for keeping it a secret from me. If I were in your place, I would do that too."
"Y-You...you know then. The whole truth?"
"Not the whole truth Draco. But enough to know who your parents are and why you've hidden your real name from us and the story behind this farce you've presented yourself to be. That you come from the future and are planning to return home soon but only after you fix something that went wrong in our world here."
"I...fix something?"
"Yes, like someone close to us dies and the world needed them to be alive, or some kind of information needed to be known and had been withheld instead. Something like that. Right?"
"I...uhhh...y-yeah. In a way."
"I couldn't take this weight of guilt of knowing that I knew who you really were and hadn't told you made me feel like a total arse. I just had to confess the truth to you even if it lost me your trust and your friendship. But most of all..."
"Most of all...what?"
"Most of all...if it lost me a chance of truly getting to know who you really are...more than as a fellow brother or...friend."
Draco for once in his life couldn't think of anything to say. He was angry that James knew who he really was and where he came from but did not understand his reason for not using that information against him like a good Slytherin would have done except other than the simple fact that he was a bloody honorable Gryffindor.
"I understand if you are angry with me or don't want to be seen with me anymore Drake but-"
"Draco."
"Huh?" James asked abruptly, not understanding where Draco was going with his words or tone of voice, not knowing just where he was going with his argument.
"My name...is Draco you nitwit. Draco Malfoy. Use it."
"Dra-of course it is. Alright then Draco, if that is what you want, then I'll call you by your name." James finished, more than slightly relieved that Draco would allow him to still talk to him, even more to use his real name.
"You were right. I am angry at you for not telling me the truth and keeping this hidden from me. Angry and hurt, I feel betrayed but...in a way...I understand the reason why you kept the knowledge that you knew who and where I came from a secret to yourself if not then to you and your closest and most trusted friends."
"Draco..."
"James...please...let me finish or else I'll never be able to get this out at all."
"Alright."
"In my time, your son Harry, is my school rival. Like unc- like my uncle Sev is yours."
"S-Sev?"
"Yes, Severus is my godfather. He's more like a second father to me actually that at times wish was my own. Cruel I know, but, there are times when I hate that my father is who he is and yet is grateful in other times that he's my father."
"I understand what you're trying to say about him. Please go on."
"Thank you. In my time, Harry, your son is my school rival. Well, was until the Final Battle where we all lost many but in the end, it was worth it. Voldemort was defeated but at the cost of so many lives that didn't need to be lost. I can't tell you just who dies for that's against the rules but just know that your son is someone of whom I'll forever be ingratituded too and thankful that he finally brought peace to our world."
James could hardly speak. The knowledge that his own son was held so highly in this boys heart made him feel...jealous...envious even of having his attentions so well freely given. He then wondered to himself, just why it bothered him so? Sure he kissed Draco, not once but twice while he was unaware of it, but that surely didn't mean that he liked the kid. Right?
Confused and now uncertain of his feelings towards this boy, this beautiful kid from the future that was the godson of his own school nemesis, James Potter roughly ran a hand through his lengthy but short locks of hair abruptly standing up and walking over towards the piano. (Think of Harry's hair in the third movie. The Prisoner of Azkaban and place that on James.) Draco followed immediately, curious but concerned for some odd reason that he couldn't fathom, coming to a halt beside him infront of the window.
"James...what's wrong?" Draco questioned, turning to face him face to face with the window and snow blowing onto it behind him, giving him almost an air of snowy beauty that instantly took away James' breath when he glanced up to see what it was that Draco wanted.
With a soft gasp, James could hardly stop his heart from beating frantically, his face flushing and his body feeling the beginnings of arousal as he took in Draco's figure standing just before the window.
Walking in almost like a trance, James knew instantly as he gazed into Draco's silver grey/navy blue stormy eyes that there was no one else that could ever fully take his place in his heart now. Not even Lily Evans, of whom he had been chasing down ever since his first year. Although her green eyes were beautiful, right now they paled in comparison to the true beauty that lay before him.
Stopping just inches from Draco's prone figure, practically forcing him against the cold window glass pane, James gazed down into his eyes once more before leaning down and shutting off Draco in mid sentence from questioning him on what he was doing before he got too cowardly to just go with his gut and heart to finally take Draco into the first kiss that they should have shared that night on the Astronomy Tower or rather...down in the Slytherin Common Room.
"James what are you-mmph!"
James held Draco with his hands pressed firmly against Draco's shoulders to the window glass pane as he passionately kissed him, silently sending out every feeling and thought to Draco through his one kiss, hoping and praying deep in his heart that he reciprocated what he was feeling for him right back.
Seconds passed with nothing. Then, just as James was about to end the kiss and forever walk away from Draco, he felt it. Draco's slim arms gently wrapped around his neck and pulled his body closer to his own, deepening the kiss they shared with a moan and a coaxing of Draco's tongue on his lips to open his mouth and play tongue hockey, as Remus liked to call it from time to time.