Guardian Angel
Chapter Two
A/N Here we are! Chapter two! I apologise for any mistakes, but I'm too lazy to read through it. That's why I need a beta reader. Any offers?
I'm also very sorry this has taken so long, but I had it all finished, then the disk I saved it on decided it wasn't going to let me access my files. So it was lost forever. This is the best I could remember it all, and is really awful quality compared to the other one which I poured my heart and soul into, but like I said; I'm lazy. Oh well, this'll do.
~*~*~
Draco felt the world stop spinning around him as he fell back onto the cold ground with a 'thump.' He leaned forwards and put his head in his hands, swallowing down the nauseous feeling the impromptu trip had brought on. When the feeling passed, he looked up, his silver eyes awash with confusion. The last thing he remembered was being sucked into the little globe. He was sure this wasn't supposed to happen; Lily would have told him if it was.
He looked around and an awful sight met his eyes. He gasped involuntarily as he saw a ring of black-clad figures surrounding him, masked and silent. He'd never been to a meeting before, but he knew enough about it to know who they were. Death Eaters.
They were standing in a circle that enclosed him, each clutching a wand at their side. But the ring was a lot bigger than Draco had ever imagined, at least twice as many people as his father had ever told him. And they were all staring at him, well, their masked faces were, but their eyes could have been looking anywhere.
Draco's mouth went dry. Could his father have somehow found out he didn't want to be a Death Eater? Maybe he'd told the others and they were going to kill him!
He glanced around in panic and saw, in horror, a tall, skeletal thin figure standing behind him. His vivid red eyes were narrowed and his abnormally long fingers were pressed together in the trademark 'evil' position so accurately portrayed in many Muggle films. Voldemort.
Draco gasped and stood up hurriedly, backing away from the figure. Voldemort didn't move, but stayed still, lost in thought. Draco carefully moved towards the edge of the circle, hoping against hope they wouldn't notice him trying to escape. Finally, Voldemort's head snapped up.
'Remove your masks.' He said quietly, his high, cold voice cutting through Draco's head. The Death Eaters shifted uneasily.
'I said take them off!' Voldemort snapped, glaring around the circle. 'Before they were a means of protection, the Ministry could not recognise you and you could not turn in each other. But now we are in control of the Wizarding World, 'Draco gasped, 'There is no need. Remove your masks and know your kin.'
Slowly, each Death Eater removed their mask, throwing it at the ground. Draco looked towards his father, who didn't seem to approve of this idea, if the scowl twisting his features was anything to go by. Draco's gaze flicked to the shorter figure at his father's side and he gasped as he saw the it. It was pale with a pointed face and silvery-blonde hair. Him.
Draco's head was spinning again. Him, a Death Eater? He examined his alter-ego's face more carefully and realised it was older. So he must be in the future. Voldemort has taken over the world!
He glanced again around the circle, glancing in horror at a few of the figures in it. Of course there were the obvious ones, Crabbe and Goyle, Millicent, Pansy and most of the other Slytherins, but some of the figures shocked him. Glancing around the circle he noticed a tall red-headed man, freckled and looking remarkably like a Weasley. Draco shook his head. He must be mistaken. He looked at the other side. He noticed a few Ravenclaws, and some Hufflepuffs he had seen around the school. Draco looked around, nervously. The Death Eaters didn't seem to have noticed him, neither did Voldemort. He must be invisible. He heard a muffled yell, and looked around, startled, but the others didn't seem to have noticed it.
'Draco!' came the shout again. Draco looked around him, startled, before he recognised the voice. He saw Voldemort start talking again, his twisted face alight with cruelty, but Draco couldn't hear him. All he could hear was Lily's voice, distant and echoing, calling his name.
'Lily! Get me the hell out of here!' he yelled, stretching his voice as far as it would go.
'I can't!' came a distant reply, 'This wasn't supposed to happen! You'll just have to wait until you can come back out!'
'When will that be?' Draco yelled back. He had butterflies in his stomach, but they weren't the butterflies that brought about a nervous fluttery feeling. These were big, sumo-wrestling butterflies with lead boots on. He was dreading the answer.
'I don't know!' Lily's voice sounded helpless. 'Either you'll get seen a load of stuff from the future and then it'll kinda spit you back out, or ....'
She left the answer hanging in the air, but Draco knew what she was going to say. He'd be stuck in this world, invisible and helpless, forever.
'Great.' he muttered to himself, kicking the grass with his heavy black boot.
'Draco...' Lily's voice echoed through the air again, but it sounded fuzzy, as though he was listening to a radio that wasn't tuned properly, 'Draco, I...keep...you'll have t...' he strained his ears, but he could only hear snatches of what Lily had been saying. Her voice faded out suddenly, and he could hear his surroundings him again.
Suddenly, the scene around him began to tip, he fell to the floor as the sound went fuzzy again. Voldemort was yelling, his cruel, high voice piercing through Draco's very bones, and everything went black.
When Draco opened his eyes again, it was silent. He looked around himself, but he was no longer surrounded by hooded figures. He was still in a graveyard, but it was daytime, the sun was dazzling him. He looked to his left and saw, to his great surprise, a crowd of black-clad people. But their faces weren't masked, and their eyes were fixed in front of them, and most had tears running down their cheeks. Draco looked at the point where all their eyes were fixed. A coffin was in front, and people were coming forward quietly to lay their flowers on top of it. He froze, a panicked look in his silvery eyes. This couldn't be his funeral, could it? He glanced at the crowd. No, the Weasleys wouldn't be here if it was.
He stepped towards the coffin cautiously, dreading what he was about to find. He gasped as he looked inside the silk-lined wood. Harry Potter lay motionless in the bottom, eyes closed, pale as death. He heard a strangled sob from beside him, and saw Hermione standing there, her face thin and pale. She laid the rose in Harry's hands and leaned forward. She kissed him gently on the forehead, then stepped back. She walked to the left, still carrying a rose. Draco saw with a start that three more coffins were beside Harry's.
He stepped up to the next, the fear of finding his coffin gone. I'm not dead, he realised, I'm a Death Eater, remember? I probably killed them.
He leaned over the next and immediately wished he hadn't.
Ron lay there, his fingers curled as though he had been clutching tightly onto something, probably a wand. A long scar stretched across the side of his head, it looked as though he had been cut with a large knife or a sword. Draco turned away. He didn't really want to see what was in the next coffin, but he didn't have to. At that moment, the world tilted again, but he kept his balance this time. The same miserable blackness enclosed him, and he clenched his eyes shut.
When he opened them again, he saw a rather comforting scene. A roaring fire had been started in a shabby fireplace and two chairs were pulled around it. Draco moved closer trying to get some heat to penetrate his icy fingers.
'Shame about Hermione though,' he heard someone say. He whirled around and saw a woman sitting in one of the chairs. He vaguely remembered seeing her on Platform 93/4. Mrs Weasley, although her hair wasn't as vibrant, it was now a dull, rusty red and greasy. Her face was streaked with dirt, but she didn't seem to care. He heard another voice answer her, timid and halting.
'Mum? How did she...because I was away, and no-one told me.' Draco whirled around to see the second speaker. her hair was wispy and tangled and her hair so dirty that he found it hard to recognise her. Then she glanced his way and he saw the woody brown eyes he had so often made fill with tears. Ginny.
'Oh yes, you were in France. ' Mrs Weasley's voice sounded pitying. 'Well, you know when...Ron and Harry were...'
Ginny nodded, her eyes filling up with tears.
'Well, they wanted to fight him together, all three of them, they thought they were strong enough if all three of them were there. But she didn't make it. She was captured by Malfoy.'
Draco and Ginny gasped, and Draco's hands clenched into fists.
'Draco Malfoy?' Ginny asked uncertainly.
'Yes, Draco Malfoy.' Mrs Weasley spat out his name as though it tasted bad, and her whole face was contorted with rage. Draco had a vague feeling he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that rage.
'Anyway, she escaped, but too late to save the boys. After that she was so upset. She wouldn't eat, she just sat there and dreamed about what it could have been like. No, she didn't starve herself,' she added, seeing Ginny's horrified look. 'No, she just wasted away. Poor dear.'
Ginny's tears poured down her cheek and Mrs Weasley got up and put a comforting arm around her. Draco buried his silvery head in his knees as the world began to tip, determined not to fall over this time.
When he re-opened his eyes, he was standing somewhere he knew well. The hill over Hogwarts. He remembered the first time he had seen it, it had seemed so majestic and tall. It didn't anymore though.
The building was blackened and evil-looking. Where the flags of the houses had once flown, were four black flags with a green skull and serpent on. The Dark Mark.
This must be Voldemort's headquarters. The world began to spin again and he shut his eyes, but it wasn't as drastic this time. He opened them a few seconds later and immediately knew where he was. The Dungeons. Well, he had spent a lot of time down there. But now there were walls dividing it up into tiny cells. He walked down the middle of them and grimaced as he saw one person being whipped. He glanced uncertainly into the next and saw the red-headed man he had thought was a Weasley. He was advancing on a person who was backing into a corner screaming. The Weasley look-alike laughed, cruelly and stretched out his wand.
Draco turned away, feeling ill. He reached the end of the room and turned to go back. But something caught his eye as he turned. Or to be more precise, someone. Him.
He stepped into the cell, next to his other self, who was laughing as he twirled his wand. Draco looked over at the wall and saw why. Ginny was chained to it, bruises covering her elfin face. Draco was horrified, but the other Draco clearly wasn't.
'So, little Miss Weasley,' he said, walking towards her. He bent down to look her in the face but she turned away.
'Have you considered your answer?' he asked in a mocking voice.
Ginny was struggling to speak. 'I will...never...join you.' she managed to say, and her quiet, firm voice sent chills down Draco's spine.
'Such a pity,' the older Draco said, running a pale thumb own her cheek. Ginny shivered and shook her head to try and get his hand off it. Draco raised his wand.
'Perhaps this will change your mind. Crucio!'
A jet of light flew out of Draco's wand towards Ginny. She screamed, a high-pitched, ghostly scream that echoed around the dungeons. She fell to her knees, pulling on the chains which held her to the wall, but to no avail. Draco lifted the curse and she stayed kneeling on the ground, tears pouring down her cheeks.
'Pathetic,' The other Draco said, sneering at her. 'The least you could do is stand up. Come on, die with honour.'
Ginny struggled to her feet, tears still coursing down her face.
'You know, it's no wonder Potter never liked you,' Draco mused, 'You're so pitiful. Did you think he didn't know? No, he knew. He just thought of you as Weasley's whiny little sister. No, Potter the Golden boy never had time for you, did he? He only had eyes for Chang. At least she had enough sense to tell him where he could shove it.'
'Rubbish.' Ginny spat at him, 'You always were jealous of Harry,' She managed to say all of this without hesitating once, which seemed to infuriate Draco more. His elfin face was contorted with rage, and he curled his pale hand into a fist. He drew it back and punched Ginny, knocking her backwards into the stone wall. He advanced on her, threateningly.
'Never say that again,' he hissed, 'I wasn't jealous of Potter. Look where all his fame got him. No, I wasn't jealous of him.'
Ginny looked up at the older Draco, another bruise already forming on her face.
'Rather be dead than like you,' Ginny whispered, and Draco (the original) wondered why she was trying to annoy his other self. She was taunting him, teasing, and he was getting more annoyed than ever.
He hit her again, and she fell to the floor, a small cry escaping her as his fist collided with her jaw. She pulled herself to her feet again, blood dripping out of her mouth.
Draco turned away, horrified, as the other hit her again.
The world began to tip again, and he saw white light swirling around him. He closed his eyes, a single tear trickling out of one, and prepared himself for whatever he had to see next. The dizzy feeling lasted a long time, and then he felt himself being thrown forwards and he landed, facedown with a crash.
~*~*~
'Draco? Draco, can you hear me?'
He heard the voice again, muffled and quiet, and faint pictures were swimming in front of his eyes. They were fuzzy and hard to make out, but he blinked, and his vision cleared. Lily was leaning over him, a concerned expression in her emerald eyes.
'Draco, thank the Gods, you're alive!' Lily exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. She let go and he fell back onto his pillows.
'How'd I get here?' he asked, motioning to his bed.
'Oh, well you were in that globe thing for ages, I got really bored. But then it spat you out, just like I said it would! But, unfortunately,' she grimaced, 'Being a little ball, it doesn't have very good aim. Instead of spitting you onto the bed, you landed on the floor and hit your head. And passed out. Again,' Lily stressed the word 'again,' but there was a twinkle in her eye which told him she was only playing.
'So, did you decide what you're gonna do?' she asked, her face turning serious.
Draco nodded, weakly. 'I can't be like that,' he said, motioning to the globe. 'The things I did! You have to help me be different Lily,'
'Why I'm here!' She replied with a grin, and Draco could tell she was delighted at his decision.
'So how do I change?' Draco asked, pulling himself up to a sitting position. Lily smirked.
'That's the fun part. You have to start being nice to people, especially Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys.'
Draco groaned. 'Why is this part fun?'
'Oh it isn't for you,' Lily told him with a grin, 'But it's going to be fun to watch!'
Draco put his head in his hands and sighed. This was going to be impossible.
'Anyway,' Lily continued, 'You can't just start being nice straightaway, or they're going to think you're up to something. So just start by calling them their real names.'
'Potter is his real name!' Draco protested, 'And they call me Malfoy.'
'You know what I mean, call him Harry. And they aren't going to stop being nasty to you unless you stop being nasty to them. If you want to change, Draco, you're going to have to work for it.'
Draco nodded reluctantly.
'And, stop teasing Ron, you just get him worked up.'
'But it's fun!' Draco said with a smirk, but a look from Lily wiped it off his face.
'Just walk away, even if he does insult you.'
'You know, this is about the exact opposite of what my dad used to tell me.' Draco mused.
'Draco,' Lily said, 'You have to take this seriously. Do you really want to end up like that?' She said, motioning to the globe, which lay, forgotten, on the floor.
'You're right. OK, I'll be nice. Can I go to sleep now?' Draco asked, remembering that it was the early hours of the morning.
'Yup, I'll leave you to it.' Lily said, getting off the end of his bed.
He crawled into the covers and a thought struck him.
'Lily,' he said with a yawn, and she turned around from the doorway, 'Is there anything else I have to do?'
'You have to stand up to your father.' Lily said, a very serious look on her face.
Draco groaned as he closed his eyes. This wasn't hard, it was impossible.
~*~*~
A/N Hehe. Next time, you get to see Draco trying to be nice. That should be...interesting! Please tell me what you think, there's this cool little box at the bottom that lets you. See it?
~Snidget