My first HP fanfic. Judith (my character) thinks the Harry Potter books are just fiction, but she soon discovers otherwise. This is set about two years after HP and co. have left school.

This is PG-13 for swearing, slash implications, and what comes in later chapters.

Warning: this fanfic contains slash implications, which may (probably) develop as the story goes on. If you have a problem, go away.

Disclaimer: Judith is mine. All the other characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and are in this fanfiction just for a brief holiday. Percy, Dean and Seamus own my heart, the theiving bastards ;o). Climbing Up The Walls is a song by Radiohead with a title that suits Judith's current frame of mind perfectly.

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Judith walked a lot. Every evening she would go out walking anywhere near to wherever she was staying at the time. Given that she was currently researching her family history, she was likely to be in at least five different places every fortnight - the Davis family and all of its various branches had moved around a lot.

On this particular evening, Judith was walking around a small town she could barely remember the name of - something North, she thought vaguely. She had been there for four days, and would have moved on if the chemists had actually bothered to develop her photographs in the twenty four hours she had paid for. Something Norton fell asleep about seven, and the quiet and comfortably warm weather was calming. She was about to turn around and head back towards the bed and breakfast when she heard voices from a side alley. Intrigued, she stopped to listen.

"I've told you a million times, Crabbe, no," a voice said quietly. "Fuck off and leave me alone."

"My master wants you, Malfoy," a stupid-sounding voice replied bluntly. "Your father is very angry with you, and you owe my Lord much service."

"I owe nothing," the first voice replied coldly. "I made no oath."

"Your father made an oath."

"I am not my father."

"The oath was made on your behalf."

"Then it doesn't count anywhere except for the twisted corridors of Voldemort's deranged mind."

"My master said to me to bring you into his service or kill you."

"You're looking forward to the second part." Still calm, somehow.

"Very much." Smug.

Judith peered cautiously around the corner. She had heard those names before, and their origin was familiar enough to her to know what master Crabbe was referring to, and for her to be surprised at Malfoy rejecting him. What she saw confirmed her thoughts. Two men in long black robes pointing their wands at each other. The wider one - Crabbe, it had to be - had his back to her. Further down the alley, facing her, was a shorter, thinner man with blond hair and a pale face with cold eyes for Crabbe. This was Malfoy, she was certain. She had read the books, but that was the problem - booka. It wasn't supposed to be real, and yet Judith knew it was. The next few moments happened while her common sense was looking the other way.

Crabbe raised his wand. Malfoy just glared coldly, pretending not to notice Judith although he must have. Judith stepped properly into the alley behind Crabbe.

"The second you kill one of us the other will kill you," she said coldly.

Crabbe twitched as if to turn around, but must have realised what would happen if he did.

"The second you turn around, I will kill you," Malfoy confirmed, noticing Judith's lack of anything like a wand.

Crabbe shook with anger and disappointment. "I'll see you and your girlfriend again, Malfoy," he spat and disappeared. Disapparated, Judith corrected herself.

They both stood in shocked silence. Judith's common sense returned and made her sit down suddenly.

Malfoy hurried over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Are you?"

"I'm fine. I heard you round the corner ages ago, and I knew that he wouldn't dare attack with a Muggle around. You don't look alright."

"Physically I'm fine," Judith replied weakly. "But I think I'm about to have a nervous breakdown."

Malfoy sat down in front of her. "Why's that? You just saved my life. You can't bugger off to St Mungo's after that."

Judith buried her head in her hands.

"Lost your wand?" he asked.

"No, I just don't have one."

Malfoy looked puzzled.

"I'm a Muggle, Malfoy. We tend not to."

"How does a Muggle know my name? Hey, how do you even know you're a Muggle?" he asked, looking even more puzzled.

"Have you heard of someone called J. K. Rowling?"

"Should I have?"

"She's a Muggle author. She's written a whole series of children's fantasy books all called 'Harry Potter and the something-or-other'. I've read them."

"Are you joking?"

"I wish I was. I know that you're Draco Malfoy, and that that overgrown slug was Crabbe, and that you were talking about Voldemort."

Malfoy just stared.

"I was also under the impression that Crabbe answered to you and that you were everyone's favourite son of a Death Eater, although the books only go up to your fourth year at the moment so I may have missed something somewhere."

Malfoy was now engaged in the much-practiced art of fly-catching.

"I was," he replied eventually, "But about half way through sixth year I ended up friends with Harry. Since then I've been less popular with Voldemort than Snape is."

"I don't suppose you could fill me in on everything else I've missed, could you? I'd feel slightly less confused."

"Well, Seamus and Dean got together in fifth year, then Ron and Hermione, so Harry and I ended up talking. I'd been having doubts for a while, then he convinced me that Voldemort is in the wrong. In seventh year we got closer than friends and my father threw me out of the house. That's all there is to it, really."

Judith soaked all this in without thinking about it too much. "Where do you live?"

"Here. I think you should come back and meet the others, and tell them about these books."

"Won't you get in trouble?"

"It's not like you don't know about us already," he said wryly. "Besides, I happen to be living with the best friend of the Minister for Magic's brother, so I'm sure we can get away with it."

"Percy?"

"Merlin, no! Percy Weasley left the Ministry last year and went with Neville Longbottom to go around the world. Neville's a herbologist and Percy's a travel writer now."

"Who, then? Not the twins?"

"Nope, they're too busy becoming millionaires from their joke shops. The Minister for Magic is Bill Weasley. He got all political after Fudge refused to have to admit how Cedric Diggory died, and suddenly everyone realised how pathetic Fudge was. He got voted in about two years ago."

"Arg," said Judith, wishing J.K.Rowling had written faster. "What's everyone else doing now? How old are you, anyway?"

"Twenty. I'm a music hack, Harry plays Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons, Hermione's a Professor of Arithmancy, and Ron's supposedly training to be a lawyer. You?"

"I'm nineteen. My great-uncle's paying me to research our family history in my gap year." Malfoy looked puzzled again. "Between ending school and starting university," she explained.

"Oh." He tapped the wall beside them with his wand, and an archway opened just like in Diagon Alley. He stood up and helped Judith up. "Coming?"