Into a new world
Disclaimer: None of the characters you recognise or the Harry Potter world are mine. All belong to the fantastic JK Rowling.
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Anybody out there? 'Cause I don't hear a sound
Alone, alone
I don't really know where the world is, but I'm missing out
- Echo by Jason Walker
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Chapter 8: The intervention
It was the 7th of August, exactly a week after Harry's birthday. Draco wasn't living his best life. He was lying on his new bed, in his new room, that he hated (it was Red and Blue). But no one knew just how much he did. As it was only in here, he allowed his mask to slip. The truth - he was miserable in this new world. He missed his family. Man missed his mother like crazy; he was always close to her, she was loving and kind to him, and always looked out for his best interests. Although he was strict, he even missed his father; he was consistently honest and helped Draco out of sticky situations. And here in this new world, he was meant to hate them. How could he hate his own parents? This made him feel so alone, so helpless. So yes, his Auntie Bella was a bit mental, but she was better than the blood traitor Black.
His new 'father' literally abandoned and rejected his own family. All because they kept to the pureblood ideals, and Black didn't like it. But why? His family was right; magic should be kept within purebloods. It shouldn't be muddied by muggles. Draco was with the same bunch of people who ruined his family, and now Draco was stuck with the very people he hated, and he was meant to be happy about it? He was stuck with him and a. All because of some mudbloods?
He actually was proud that his family believed in blood purity; mudbloods were stealing purebloods magic. They apparently were not meant to ever have magic to begin with. He thought they were just diluting the magical pool. The only confusing thing about that way of thinking was Granger. She was a mudblood yet very powerful and smart. His father told him that the reason was she was adopted by muggles and was secretly pureblood. Of course, he had no proof but was believed wholeheartedly by his teenage son.
The only saving grace was that his Uncle Severus was with him. The only downside, however, was that he was not in Slytherin. Draco groaned into his pillow. Out of all of the houses, he was with the stuck up Ravenclaws. He would miss Slytherin, the way they all kept each other's back. They were like a family. The rest of the school hated them, so they banded together. He wouldn't miss Crabbe and Goyle, and he knew Blaise and Theo was with them, but he would miss Pansy. Contrary to popular belief, he and Pansy were never 'together.' Nor had they dated, but they were best friends.
'K. IK KNOCK.' Brought him out of his retrieve. "Please go away, Bl, Sirius; I don't want to talk."
"Good job, it isn't him, then isn't it." Came the silky reply. Draco knew that voice anywhere.
"Uncle Severus?"
"I'd rather not have this conversation through your door, Draco. May I come in?"
Draco nodded before realising Severus couldn't actually see him. "Ye, Yes, of course."
His Godfather (in the other world, anyway) walked into his room, "Very different deco to your other one." He commented lightly, dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and black slacks. Once he came in and closed the door, he threw many silencing spells on the room, so no one could overhear the conversation. He eventually sat down on Draco's bed, so Draco moved up the bed to accommodate him. "I here you have barely left your room since Harry's birthday party and won't talk to anyone." Severus started carefully.
Draco realised quickly that every move Severus made and every word he spoke was measured and careful.
"I hate it here," Draco said simply by way of reply.
"I see that," Severus responded dryly. "But as we don't have much of choice, it's better to accept it and get on with it.
"Are you even trying to get us back home?" Draco said accusingly.
"Draco, please don't speak to me like that. I am researching it, but even if we could get back, it will be months before we can. It's complicated; we aren't just in the past in our same timeline. We are in a completely different one. And even though I have some ideas about how we got here, a lot is unknown."
"How did we get here?"
"I am not going into the specifics, but what I can tell you is this. Have you heard of a timekeeper?"
Draco nodded, "They can move people back in time, and forward and to different worlds, oh." As he spoke, he realised Severus' point.
"Exactly, so we would need to find the timekeeper. To do this, we need to find a time guardian."
"They can tell if people are in the correct time and world, right?"
Severus nodded, "So we need to find a time guardian who we can trust to tell us who the timekeeper is. Then we need to understand how we got here in the first place, convince him or her to help us, and trust that person to get us back safely. There's a lot to go into it."
"Do you know what would happen here if we went back?" Draco asked suddenly.
"Well, I have an idea, but until I know more concretely, I am going to keep it to myself and research. What I want to know is why you hate it here so much."
"Other than the fact, I am not with my parents, and they are demonised?"
"They aren't demonised." Severus responded.
"They are acting like them being in Azkaban was a good thing."
"Do you know why they are in Azkaban?" Severus asked as gently as he could.
"For punishing those stealing our magic."
"Who are stealing magic?" He asked carefully, knowing where this was going.
"Mudbloods and muggles."
Severus closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he responded. "I am going to let that slide because I know you are struggling with this, and you don't know any better. But if I find out that you call anyone by that name, you will wish you never crossed me. Understood?" Draco gulped and nodded; he knew not to push his Godfather too much. "Good. Now, on muggles stealing our magic, this isn't possible. You have no control over whether you have magic or not."
"But interbreeding with muggles will cause the magic to be diluted like Squash."
"The fact you're arguing against muggles and magic by using a muggle invention is very ironic."
"Muggles made squash?" Draco asked, surprised.
Severus nodded, "You'll find they made a lot of inventions that we use. But let's go back to the topic at hand. Magic is not weakened when they are in muggle-borns. If that was the case, how would you explain Hermione Granger being the brightest witch of her day, or Lily Potter being the brightest witch of my generation?"
"Well, it's believed that Granger is secretly a pureblood who was adopted."
"I can assure you, she isn't."
"How do you know?"
"Because her true name would appear in the registration book at Hogwarts, and it would appear on the class lists. Once we confirm students coming to Hogwarts, we would make sure the adopted name is on the official paperwork. But because the registration book is done at birth, it doesn't take that into account. It also has the blood status of the students. Hermione Granger is a muggle-born. And single-handly smashes that unfortunate rumor into pieces."
"But I thought you agreed with this stuff?" Draco was very confused. This wasn't the Severus he knew.
"No, I don't. Draco, I'm going to tell you something, you'll need to keep a secret, especially if we will go back. I was a spy for Dumbledore. My appeared hatred for Muggle-borns was to convince the death-eaters that I agreed with them."
"You, you lied to me." Draco accused, his world was crumbling.
Severus nodded, "Yes, I did. But I did it to protect you and Harry Potter."
"How is it protecting me?"
"Think about it. I was the only person who would save you from the Dark Arts."
"And why did Potter need saving? He is everyone's favorite; he lived a cushy life in the spotlight." Draco said this even after his conversation with Severus and Harry a week earlier.
"Draco, we've gone over this; your perceptions are false; Harry lived in a cupboard under the stairs for his first 11 years. He was barely fed and often abused by his muggle family."
"See, that proves that muggles are horrible," Draco said defensively. He decided to change his tactic after his conversation with Uncle Sev and Harry coming back to him slowly.
"Harry is one of the only people I have met that has a decent reason to hate muggles. But he doesn't. He fights for their rights; one of his best friends is a muggle-born. His mother was a muggle-born. Her parents were muggles, and took me in, and were very kind to me. Do you seriously think they deserve to die just because they don't have magic?"
"Yes, they tried to kill us, to begin with."
"True," Severus allowed, "But they tried to kill us out of fear and misunderstanding. And to be honest, that is the same reason magical people think it's okay to kill them. It's the same prejudice. They think they are less than human because they aren't magical. But Draco, Magic doesn't make someone human. My own father was a muggle. Do you think he deserved to die?"
This disarmed Draco, "Of course not. He is your father."
"So why is it okay to kill Miss Granger's father then? Because you don't like her?"
"Erm, I don't know how to answer that, Uncle Severus."
"It's because the logic is flawed, son." He said gently. Knowing he was coming down very hard on the young boy. "Did you know the Dark Lord himself was a half-blood? His father was a muggle."
Draco's mind was blown, "WHAT?"
Severus nodded, "See the hypocrisy? He tells purebloods that muggles, muggle-born, and even half-bloods are less than human, but he is one himself."
"I need to think about this all, Uncle Sev. My whole world feels like it is crumbling." He admitted honestly.
"I know Draco. But you still have me, and you have your new family to help you through this. Sirius Black went through the exact same thing. His world view changed dramatically when he went to Hogwarts. I'm not a fan of the man, but he can help you through this too."
"I don't want to think of my real father as a monster, though."
"I know. And you don't have to. But Lucius' thinking is deeply flawed. To answer why your father was imprisoned. It was for killing many muggles and muggle-borns, for torturing, for being very cruel to many individuals. He isn't in Azkaban for no reason Draco."
"But why isn't he in the other world if all of this is true?"
"He managed to convince the Wizengamot that he was under the imperious curse."
"Was he?"
"No. There are no signs that he was."
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Authors note: When I write, certain music inspires me. I forgot to say in the last chapter's authors note, but Lyas' storyline was based on Taylor Swift's Betty and Cardigan. This chapter gave some answers to some of the questions raised, but certainly not all of them. Let me know who you think the timekeeper and time guardian is. I also have no set ideas on romantic pairings yet, so let me know what you want, and I'll consider it. Most of my stories are Harry and Ginny and Draco and Hermione, but I'm not sure I want to do that for this one. I love Ron, but don't always like him with Hermione, so I'll have to see about that one too. Please please review and thank you for everyone who has and who have alerted and are following along with my story. Much love, Abs xx
