This is the first book of a five-part series. I originally wrote this story before Half-Blood Prince came out, but decided it was time to give it an honest shot now that I've grown as a writer.

The AU part of it is that there were no arrests of Death Eaters made in the Ministry at the end of Order of the Phoenix. While events from HBP are mentioned, such as Slughorn being the Potions professor and Snape teaching DADA, the overarching plot didn't happen because Voldemort is up to something else. Horcruxes are not a thing, and the Deathly Hallows is disregarded entirely. It uses the concept of arranged marriages, in the sense that the more traditional pureblood families try to keep their bloodlines pure (although still require consent). There is also some crossover into Norse mythology.

I prefer to write sex-positive, healthy relationships in an inclusive environment.

This story also has OCs, but I have a general personal rule that I will never write an OC if a canon character suits the role better.

The Wizards, Gods, and Doppelgängers series:

1. Schism
2. Reign Without a Crown
3. Chasing the Storm
4. Black Halo
5. Equilibrium (in-progress)

Chapter 1: The Hesitant Slytherin

The late June sun streamed in through the History of Magic classroom windows, where a Hogwarts student named Dagmar Ramstad wrote her sixth year final exam. Despite the smothering heat and vague smell of body odour, she focused on the cramped writing that crept ever-closer to the bottom of her parchment. Students had been slowly filing out for the past half-hour, handing their scrolls in to Professor Binns on their way by. At the end, the only student left other than Dagmar was Hermione Granger.

"Time is up," Professor Binns said in his usual droning voice at the front of the classroom. "I'll take those."

Dagmar's scroll rolled up by its own accord and flew to the front, along with Hermione's. Feeling as though she'd done all that she could, Dagmar gathered up her quill and inkwell. The quill ended up in the classroom bin, spent.

Hermione stood out in the hallway, exam questions still in her hand.

"So what did you write down for fourteen B?" she asked, falling into step beside Dagmar. "I feel like I missed something about which countries partook in the Doppelgänger Genocides."

"Britain was one of them," Dagmar replied, counting off on her fingers. "Norway and Sweden, then Germany, Finland, and Russia."

"Russia?" Hermione blinked. "Are you sure? There was only five."

"Norway and Sweden were the same country at the time," Dagmar said, although she doubted herself now. "Still, missing one won't affect your mark too much, right?"

Those words were little comfort to Hermione, who looked with pressed lips in direction of the library. Curious herself, Dagmar started them that way.

A strange feeling came over Dagmar that she and Hermione weren't alone. She heard the echo of footsteps stop when she turned around to face the way they had come from. A heel disappeared behind a corner. Frowning, Dagmar carried on. Since Hermione didn't seem to notice, Dagmar didn't say anything about it. It was most likely just someone passing by, or perhaps one of the ghosts.

Something jabbed Dagmar in the back of the head when she and Hermione reached the other end of the corridor. Her hand shot up. Dagmar looked around the air before her gaze dropped to the floor. A piece of parchment folded up like an aeroplane laid at her feet.

Hermione stopped too. "What's that?"

"Dunno. Just hit me."

Dagmar picked it up and unfolded it. It only had two words in a cramped, rushed hand: Common room.

"Hm." Dagmar slipped it into her pocket. "I guess I'll see you later. Find me if you figure out if Russia was in on the Genocides, ja?"

"Oh—yeah." With reminder of her initial goal, Hermione took a step on and raised a hand. "See you around."

Dagmar headed back in the direction she'd come from. She had a feeling that whoever had sent this note would be the same person she'd spotted hiding behind the corridor corner. She took it wide and stopped when she saw Draco Malfoy leaned against the wall with his arms folded. He studied her with pale grey eyes.

"Your note, or were you passing on a message?" Dagmar asked.

"Mine," Draco replied. "I was waiting outside the classroom to catch you. You took the entire time?"

"Didn't realize I should rush."

Draco idly nodded, gaze averted. A silence fell between them, in which Dagmar twirled her fingers around a pleat in her school skirt. She and Draco were the same age, in the same house, and their families were quite close—but they never had been.

"You wanted me in the common room?" Dagmar asked. "Why?"

"Need to talk to you." Draco unfolded his arms and jerked his head toward the front of the castle.

That he was so subdued put Dagmar on edge. Draco tended to sulk and turn into a recluse on his own. He was cordial with her in passing out of respect for their parents. His head, while held as high as usual, was used more to keep an eye out for anybody that might approach this section of the castle.

Dagmar assumed they were heading for the Slytherin common room, so stumbled to a halt when Draco put out an arm to stop her.

"Over here should be fine." He pointed at a nook.

Dagmar followed him with waning enthusiasm.

"I don't like how you're acting." She stood at the mouth of the nook. "You're making me nervous."

Draco leaned against the wall again. "My mum passed me a message from yours to give you. Your parents were going to meet you on the train platform tomorrow?"

Dagmar nodded warily.

"Change of plans." Draco cleared his throat. "You're coming with me instead."

Dagmar's face scrunched up by its own accord. "Where?"

"My home, I assume." Draco shrugged. "That's where I was going."

"Why?"

"My mum didn't say."

"So. . .we get off the train, and then what?"

"Apparate," Draco said. "I passed my test earlier this month."

Dagmar eyed him with renewed wariness. "Have you apparated since your test?"

Draco smirked. "Nope."

"My parents must be desperate then. I wonder what's going on that they can't be there themselves?"

Draco didn't say anything when Dagmar turned to leave. She came to a halt, head bowed, then faced him again. Sure enough, Draco's lips worked in thought. When he noticed her looking, they came to rest and he reassumed a passive expression.

Dagmar stepped back into the nook and lowered her voice. "What do you know?"

"I don't know anything." One of Draco's eyebrows rose. "My mum only said—"

"Bollocks. Your parents tell you everything."

Draco pursed his lips, a rare habit but one Dagmar witnessed on the sparse occasion he cared enough to hide a smirk. "I don't think you want to spend your last day at Hogwarts worrying about it."

"My last—?"

"I don't mean ever," Draco hastily said with a roll of his eyes when Dagmar's widened in alarm. "Just relax."

"Tell me what you know," Dagmar demanded. "If you know, then I have a right to."

Draco raised his chin in better attempt to look down at her, even though they were the same height. "Is that so?"

"Are you serious right now?"

Draco shrugged. "It's not my news to tell."

"So then why tell me all this now, when I have to agonize over it until tomorrow?"

"I wasn't sure if I'd catch you on the train." Draco peered down the corridor when he heard something, but nobody was actually there. "I didn't think you'd take to me pulling you away from the sorts you sit with. Based on what's going on, you wouldn't want to be too closely associated with me. Or, maybe, I wouldn't want to be too closely associated with you."

A lurch of annoyance pulled like a hook in Dagmar's stomach. She narrowed her eyes. "Okay, you've lorded enough. Tell me what's happened."

"The Ministry raided your manor."

Dagmar twitched as if her nerves had been strung like a bow. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "They can't have found anything?"

"They must have. It sounds serious."

For all his arrogance, no hint of it showed on Draco right now. He'd turned properly solemn to match this news with a hint of relief underneath it. Surely he was glad it wasn't his family caught up in this.

"So, what now?" Dagmar's eyes grew heavy. "Are my parents okay? Did the Ministry take them?"

"No," Draco quickly said. "They're fine. Mum said they're both at our manor."

"Then. . .what? What do they do?"

"Mum mentioned something about damage control." Draco shrugged. "That's really all I know."

Dagmar was grateful that Draco at least waited until after her last exam to pass along this information. She wouldn't be able to study with it on her mind, and she certainly wouldn't have been able to focus while sitting through another one. The idea of leaving this conversation and catching up to Hermione in the library was out of the question. Hermione was in with the people that most prominently opposed You-Know-Who. Would she somehow learn about this through them? Had Dagmar's parents' quiet support of You-Know-Who—and perhaps even their presence in his inner circle—suddenly been exposed?

"Right." Draco pushed off the wall. "I suppose you want to get back to the mudblood. I'm sure she'll take your mind off things."

He stepped past Dagmar, leaving her alone in the nook. Draco wasn't much for company, but he at least understood what Dagmar was currently dealing with. None of her friends would. Such was the pitfall of not associating with fellow children of Death Eaters. Reaching out to Draco—or Crabbe, Goyle, or Theodore—was about as impossible as any of Dagmar's friends.