SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Hey! This is my first fic.
I'm WARNING now! :::::THIS WILL BECOME SLASH IN A NEAR FUTURE::::: You have
been warned…I don't want flames later on, complaining 'cause it's gross, ok? 'Cause
I DID warn! Oh yeah, rated PG- 13 for slash and language!
Summary: Harry and Draco both end up going to a muggle school…How you
ask?…read!
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except the plot, and the really
pathetic names (you'll see) later on in the story. Everything that has to do
with the magical world of Harry Potter belongs to the goddess of literature,
J.K. Rowling.
/…/ Are thoughts
*…* Is for something really emphasized (though, I'm trying out the bold and
stuff near the end…I hope it works! *crosses fingers*)
*****…***** Are flashbacks and when they end (duh. I explain it in the story,
but just to make sure…)
I know...I've disappeared for ages and ages, but...err....well, I'll explain it at the author's note at the end of this chapter, ok? By the way...please excuse this chapter...I haven't even looked at this story in a really long time, and I don't think this will be very good, but here goes!
Ashtrona Hills
-Chapter 4: Life In A Strange Land-
Three weeks had passed since Harry and Draco's first day, but nothing was new. No owls, no news from the wizarding world…nothing. It was as if they'd simply been completely forgotten, which amazed Draco. The funny thing is, Draco wasn't even amazed at the fact that people had forgotten about *him* (true, he was a Malfoy... but for all he knew, they thought him dead.), it was that they'd forgotten about Potter. The Boy Who Lived...Savior of The Wizarding World...Golden Boy...whatever you wanted to call him. The point was, nobody seemed to remember his existence, and, with Voldemort so very close to the height of his powers, he'd have thought the wizarding world would be a bit more preoccupied about keeping Potter close.
As for them.... well, they were surviving. Not necessarily getting along, but surviving. Potter'd had detention that very day, after school, and had refused to help Draco in the least ever since. Not that it mattered, Draco always had somebody willing to help him... *always*.
At the moment, however, he would *grovel* at Potter's feet for help.
"Drakie-poo!!! You're doing it *wrong*!"
/Oh, Merlin, why must you punish me?/ Draco thought, trying very hard to count to ten so he could at least try to speak with that numb-skull sitting next to him.
"What did I do wrong now?" He said, in a low, steady voice.
"You're plugging the numbers into all the wrong places of the formula!" Cindy exclaimed, scooting closer to show him where the numbers were supposed to go. Of course, Cindy couldn't pass up the opportunity, and brushed her hand up against his thigh.
He hissed at her, and she giggled, misinterpreting the hiss.
This had been going on for as long as their tutoring lessons (which had been since the first day of school, after he'd taken one look at his homework and decided he *really* didn't get what muggles did with those numbers) began. She'd always try to feel him up... *always*. Generally, Draco didn't care much. He loved being the center of attention... after all, he *was* a Sex God. But Cindy was... well, Cindy. And as beautiful and stunning as she may be, she was difficult to talk to. Draco absolutely hated girls that giggled on and on and on, and that was exactly what Cindy was.
"Just get me through the damn thing, and quit that giggling!!" He yelled at her, turning red. /What the hell is wrong with this world? I actually wish Potter was here, instead of this...this...eck!/
She started explaining, once again, where all the numbers were supposed to go. But Draco wasn't listening to her... he never did /Hence the fact that I don't understand it and *she* does./. Draco couldn't help but think about that conversation he'd had with Potter on the first day of school. His father was out there... somewhere. Was his mother alive as well? Why were they doing this? And why had they gone to Potter instead of him? If it *was* because of the fight he'd had with his father, why didn't they just say something…*anything*! /Ugh…all of this because I had to 'rethink' my choices. I wasn't 'ready' yet. I'm such an *ass*!/ He thought angrily.
Before he knew it, his emotions started to close in on him and he yelled out in frustration, lifting his hand and knocking the book roughly off the desk. It flew across the room and into a stack of building blocks the younger kids had just completed. Said kids started to cry out, mourning their fallen "castle", and Cindy stared at Draco, shocked. But he neither saw nor heard anything, as he stormed up the stairs to bed.
One day he'd find his father... and when he did, he'd be sorry for everything he was making him go through. One day...
***
A few blocks down, Harry Potter sat in bed, finishing that very same homework. Well, he was trying to finish it. These last three weeks had been hell on him, that was for sure.
The Dursleys were worse than usual, giving him more chores to complete and forcing him to make more meals for that mini killer whale they called a son. (/I really *did* rather enjoy being ignored. I hate these stupid chores!!/) Then, he had to finish homework. On top of that, he had Malfoy trying to annoy him whenever they ran into each other. To Harry's luck, they had practically the same schedule. The only thing that changed was English, which they had during the same period but with different teachers.
If Harry thought Malfoy might change after what they'd had to go through these past few weeks... mostly what *he'd* had to go through (after all, the guy had just been abandoned by his parents)... he was wrong. Malfoy was still the same annoying prat. Except he had less authority here. For obvious reasons, the guys at school weren't particularly fond of Malfoy, and…who would want to mess with a pack of angry football players? Apparently, Malfoy had enough sense in his head to agree with him on that one. But he still went out of his way to make sure Harry tripped whenever he got up to hand in a paper, or slammed his locker door in his face every time he tried to open it. Harry just tried to ignore him most of the time.
Fortunately for Harry, there was no Dudley in this school... therefore, no one to keep him from making friends. And for the first time in his life, Harry had muggle friends. They weren't the crème de la crème of the school, but who was complaining? Somebody liked him for himself, and even though he had Ron and Hermione to reassure him that he was liked (and not for being the Boy Who Lived), it was nice to have an outside circle. Jack, Jordan, Becky and Kenny were his lunch buddies. Every day they'd meet up near the first tables to the left and eat, talking about anything and everything. No mention of Voldemort, of wars, of Golden Boys or Rita Skeeter... just trivial stuff. It felt good to be out of the limelight for a while.
Malfoy, however, was another story. He'd constantly be surrounded by girls, while all the boys looked on, jealous... and most possibly plotting Malfoy's sudden, but very painful, demise. The funny thing was, Malfoy actually looked unhappy amidst all this attention. And (for some strange reason that Harry couldn't even begin to ponder) Malfoy always looked at him, almost pleadingly, as if he wanted Harry to get him out of there.
What? No way... Harry was going crazy. Why would Malfoy want that? There he was...the ever-popular leader, surrounded by the most beautiful girls in the school.
Harry didn't mind, though. About anything... not even the girls. In fact, Harry himself received unwanted attention from Cindy Cunnings every once in a while. He'd duck his head and blush, of course, while Kenny and Jack snickered, and Jordan and Becky giggled.
He sighed. /Wow... my life sure has changed since the beginning of the summer./ He thought.
So much had happened... there he was, a muggle for what it was worth. What was going to happen? He didn't know... but he decided to enjoy this moment of peace that he'd unexpectedly stumbled upon, and not worry about what was to come; for something *had* to be going on, he knew. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, completely devoid of contact from the magical world, forced to live as muggles. He didn't know what role Malfoy was playing in this whole thing, but either way, it smelled fishy to him. And Harry had learned, the hard way, that he should trust his instincts.
He suddenly began to feel weary. /Ugh...why did I think of that?/.
He shook his head, and started to get his things ready to go take a shower.
So much had changed, and it wore him out. His chores, the different school work, Malfoy… Ugh.
And he'd had gym that day.
He had a bad feeling about everything. /Constant vigilance/.
He snickered.
***
While Harry and Draco where thinking about their current situation, an old, wise man up in Scotland was running a hand through his beard, thinking.
Albus Dumbledore was confused…which was confusing in itself, since he was hardly ever confused.
Two of his students were presumably missing (for he knew Draco Malfoy was indeed alive. They kept track of that through magic at the Ministry), and nobody had a concrete explanation as to how this had happened…particularly concerning Harry. The Dursley household was probably the most protected place in England (considering that Hogwarts was in Scotland), and somehow, the family that had been living inside had gone missing. As soon as Albus had received Arabella's letter, he'd immediately sent some members of the Order to check the house and make sure the Dursleys weren't trying to keep Harry from school again. Bu they'd come back saying the house seemed empty. Nobody was inside. *Nothing* was inside.
It was as if they'd moved.
Strange.
He immediately set to writing Harry…see if they had, indeed, moved. But the Dursley's *knew* the importance of that house. They *knew* that Harry had to live *there*, because it was where all of the wards were placed. If they were to move, Dumbledore would've assumed that they'd write, so he could go set up new wards on the new house.
But every owl had come back empty handed…just as the one with Harry's Hogwarts letter had (the reason why he'd assumed Harry had received his letter).
And Arabella hadn't seen him since that day he'd gone by her house.
So what was going on?
Then there was Mr. Malfoy.
He'd disappeared directly from the train station, and the fact that Malfoy Manor had apparently been torn down hadn't reached the Ministry until later on…after an official had read it in a muggle newspaper.
Why hadn't they been aware of it the instant it happened? And where, pray tell, was Draco?
The Daily Prophet had been having a field day with the cases of both missing boys. Of course, in Harry's case, the frenzy had been much worse.
It had been a long time since Albus had been puzzled about something…and this time, he really didn't have a clue of what was going on…but he suspected it couldn't be anything good.
***
Harry had just walked out of English talking to Jordan, who shared that class with him, and headed for the cafeteria, since it was lunch time.
"Did you know that Kenny's schedule was changed?" The pretty blonde girl asked.
"No. Was it really?"
"Yes…he doesn't have Chemistry this period anymore. Instead, they changed him to History. Now he'll be in B lunch." (1)
"Oh…that sucks! Does he know anyone in B lunch?"
"Yeah…his younger brother's in B lunch."
"Oh…well, that's OK then. We'll still see him in the morning, right?"
"Oh yeah…no-"
"POTTER!!!" Someone rudely interrupted their conversation. He turned around with an annoyed expression, having recognized the voice
"What do you want, Malfoy?"
Malfoy was giving him that pleading look again, as he ran towards him, bag swinging at his side.
"Potter…you've got to help me."
Suddenly, a voice drifted down the hall. "Oh, Drake! Why are you running…didn't you hear me calling you?"
Malfoy looked over his shoulder and back at Harry. "Oh Potter, show some compassion! Hide me!!" He hissed in desperation.
All the while, Harry was smirking and looking at Malfoy with amusement. "Oh…I don't think so, Malfoy. Cindy! Malfoy, here, was just asking me about you." He said, turning to look at the girl, who was just reaching them.
The patented Malfoy Glare was executed in Harry's direction, but didn't have its desired effect. Harry just grinned.
"Thanks Harry, dear." Cindy tweaked Harry's cheek, and Jordan giggled at Harry's blush.
As Cindy began to drag Draco by the arm back own the hall, he yelled at Harry. "Potter! POTTER!!! This is not something a Gryffindor would do!! What would McGonagall think?!"
His voice trailed off, and Jordan looked at Harry in question. "Gryffindor? What does he mean?"
"Oh, nothing. That was just something from our old school." Harry said.
Jordan laughed. "I still can't believe the coincidence! That you two would end up in the same school!"
"Oh yeah…coincidence…" He faked a chuckle, as they entered the cafeteria and spotted Becky and Jack.
***
Later that day, our heroes were in their last period of the day: Chemistry.
Luckily for Draco, he wasn't stuck with Cindy here. He did, however, have to deal with Sabrina…one of Cindy's equally ditzy friends.
The teacher, Mrs. Jones, was saying something or another…but Draco wasn't paying attention. He never did…which is why he was probably going to have to talk to Cindy later on today to ask for help on his (almost positive) homework. /Not that that helps, anyhow. I think I understand this stuff better than she does. And she actually *listens*. / He thought. /In fact…it's quite similar to potions, in it's own way./ He snorted. /Potter must be having an absolute *ball* with this!/
As his thoughts turned to the dark-haired boy, his eyes seemed to seek him out.
There he was…sitting next to some brown-haired kid with glasses. He wasn't part of his usual gang, Draco noticed.
Something that really bugged him to no end about Potter was the fact that he had absolutely no difficulty making friends. Apparently, everybody liked him. Here…at Hogwarts…he bet they treated him like a king at home, too. Probably waited upon…
Potter was laughing about something. He'd just thrown his head back and laughed. The other kid was grinning at him, having just told the Gryffindork some sort of joke.
Suddenly, he was pulled out of his thoughts as the annoying girl next to him shook his arm and whispered something at him.
He angrily knocked her hand off his arm and glared. "*Don't* touch me!
But the girl simply ignored his comment, and repeated what she'd just said.
"Oooohhh…I hope we get paired together!!" She was bouncing in her seat. Her would-be mantra was whispered over and over again.
Her words seemed to have affected him, after all, since he immediately looked up to the board, only to see his teacher writing on the board.
"You will have to create a product, along with completing all the requirements a manufacturer needs to complete in order for his product to hit the market." She was saying, as she wrote the list of requirements.
"Now…if you think you'll be paired to the person sitting next to you, don't get too excited." At this, she looked directly at Sabrina, who'd stopped bouncing and was staring at Mrs. Jones with her mouth opened in protest. "I want you all to get to know one another…so, I will be mixing the class up!"
The class groaned, staring at their friends on their sides longingly.
"Now, now…no need to whine! This way, you'll know someone new by the end of the week!"
She stepped away from the board, setting her chalk down, and grabbed the small Teacher's Book where she kept their grades.
"Right…the project will be due by the end of term, so that gives you three months to complete it. That should be more than enough time to do everything, so I don't want anyone to- yes, Mr. Conner?"
The boy that was sitting next to Potter had raised his hand. "Do we have to actually make the product, or just list the ingredients?"
The entire class groaned. It *had* to be Potter's friend.
"Oh, yes!! Did I forget to mention that? Dear me!" She picked up her chalk again, setting down the opened grade book on her desk. "You will have to make the actual product," she said, while writing this as a reminder at the top of the board, along with the due date: December 17th.
Everybody turned to glare at the Conner kid and throw mean comments at him. "Did you have to open your mouth, you nerd?" Some kid near the back yelled.
Potter turned to glare at the boy Draco recognized to be the captain of the football team, Robert Miller.
"Now, Mr. Miller…it wouldn't have mattered. Either way, you would've ended up having to make the product! And don't insult your classmates!" The professor glared at him." Actually…Mr. Miller, will you head down and get me a cup of coffee in the cafeteria? I was up quite late last night grading papers."
As soon as Mrs. Jones turned around again to pick up her book, Miller flipped her off. Then he got up and made his way out of the room. Despite the fact that Draco hated that bastard with a passion (then again…he pretty much hated everyone with a passion), he snickered.
"Alright then," the professor said, once again turning to face the class, "the pairings will be as follows (and no complaining!): McDougal with Blake, Geller with Truman, Wills with Tobias…"
Draco tuned her out for a bit…he had a bad feeling about this. If his luck was anything like it usually was (and that wasn't very good), then he should be getting paired with…
"…Malfoy with Potter…"
Yes, that sounded about right.
Apparently, to Potter it didn't.
"What?! There is absolutely *no way* I am going to partner up that snob!"
"Mr. Potter-"
"Hey!!! Who are *you* calling a snob, you good for nothing Scar Head?!"
"Mr. Malfoy!"
"Shut up, you stinking Slytherin!"
"Mr.-"
"Gryffindork!"
"M-"
"Pampered nancy boy!"
"M-"
"Bleeding Golden Boy asshole!"
"…"
"Fu-"
"THAT'S IT!!!!" Mrs. Jones was positively fuming, and everybody in the class was staring at them, mouths agape in absolute shock. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, immediately head down to Professor Nottingham's office! This instant!! And you *will* work together, end of discussion!!"
"Bu-"
"End. Of. DISCUSSION!"
Draco made a mental note to slip a laxative into her coffee if she ever sent him down to get one.
***
Harry couldn't believe this. He just couldn't believe it!!! /Stupid Malfoy. He's such an ass…ugh, I hate him!/ As he thought this, he turned around to glare at the boy, who was standing up from his seat and swinging his bag over his shoulder.
He stood up and left the room, not looking back.
About 10 seconds after he stepped into the hall, he heard footsteps behind him and knew Malfoy had just come out. /Of all the people that I had to be stuck with here, it had to be him! It *had* to be him!!/
***
It was 15 past 3, and most students had already gone home, excluding the ones that stayed back for sport and other activities…and, of course, Harry and Draco, who were just barely getting out of P. Nottingham's office.
"I can't believe she gave us Saturday detention…for 2 weeks…*2*! Ugh…well, this sucks."
Draco looked over at Harry, as they walked side by side, heading towards the exit.
"Actually, this is great…an excuse to be away from Cindy for the next 2 weeks on Saturdays."
Potter looked over at him. "You really don't like her, do you?"
"No…I really don't. She annoys the Hell out of me. Why else do you think I'd rather talk to you, instead of her?" Draco rolled his eyes.
Potter seemed to think this over for a bit, then faced forward again. "Where are we going to get together for that project?"
"Your place, of course." Draco rolled his eyes again, then turned to Potter, surprised, having just seen the expression on his face. "What Potter…don't fancy a Malfoy meeting your precious family? Well, too bad…there's no way in *Hell* we're doing this at the home. I'm getting away from Cindy every minute I can."
"No, it's just…err, I…err…never mind. Yeah…well, I'll have to tell my Aunt and Uncle that you're coming over, though. So tell me beforehand." For some reason, Potter seemed nervous."
"Yeah, yeah…whatever, Potter," Draco drawled out, even though he was very curious as to what Potter of all people, could be nervous about. "I'll go over tomorrow…might as well start on it now."
"Yeah...sure. See you, Malfoy." And with that, Potter practically ran down the street.
/Mmm…well, that was strange. I wonder what he was so nervous about? Well…I'll find out tomorrow./ Draco shrugged and walked crossed the street, towards his "home".
***
~~Hogwarts~~
"Would everybody please calm down!!!" Professor Dumbledore yelled over the racket. He would've expected children to react this way…not grown adults.
Everybody seemed to settle down a bit, until Professor Flitwick (to the other's surprise) jumped out of his seat and phrased the question the rest were too intimidated to ask: "What do you mean you couldn't find him??? He isn't in Privet Drive? Oh, dear Merlin…what are we going to do?"
Well…that triggered them off again.
He'd been wondering that very same thing himself. Shortly after Arabella had sent him that letter, informing him of Harry's attendance to a muggle school, he'd sent aurors to Privet Drive…he couldn't possibly leave Harry out there, unprotected (because, even though Harry was protected inside the house, once he stepped off that curb he was exposed to the world. And if it was true that he was being sent to school in the muggle world, then he couldn't allow Harry to stay there…it wasn't safe. Besides, Hogwarts had started another year, and he wasn't going to allow the Dursleys to keep Harry away from his world…it wasn't right!). There was one slight hitch in that plan, however…
He wasn't there.
He couldn't understand how they weren't able to find him…he trusted Arabella, and she'd seen him…what more was there to it?
Apparently, a lot more.
The aurors had come back, saying they'd gone to the house they'd been instructed to go to, but had found nobody inside. They'd looked in, knocked…they waited for somebody to show up…
Nope. Absolutely nothing.
Of course, Dumbledore had doubted that that could be the case…he had to see #4 Privet Drive himself before anyone could convince him that Harry Potter wasn't there…were he'd been safe and sound ever since he was 1 year old.
He went…he saw…he was convinced. Harry Potter wasn't at #4 Privet Drive. In fact, nobody knew where the bloody hell he was.
His first suspicion had been Voldemort…but Severus Snape (who'd been attending Death Eater meetings the last couple of months) hadn't heard anything at all about any plans involving an attack on Harry…not so soon. Sure, things were being discussed…but it seemed Voldemort was bidding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to attack Harry. He discarded that idea.
He looked over at Severus, the only one out of the bunch acting normal…simply glaring at everything in sight.
Dumbledore had decided that it was time to tell the rest of the staff about Harry's disappearance. They'd been informed before, but only random details (like the fact that the Dursleys had no desire of sending Harry back to Hogwarts). Today, though, he'd decided to give them the full story…and hope somebody could help him come up with a plan to retrieve Harry from…wherever he was.
"I'm requesting your silence for the last time! I need everyone's cooperation…could you please just CALM DOWN!!!!" Mmmmm…he should use that loud tone more often…it worked rather well.
"I'm afraid…that no, Mr. Potter is not at Privet Drive. Apparently nobody is…the house is empty." He quickly started up again, as he saw the other professors take in deep breaths, looking like they would start to yell any moment. "However, Voldemort doesn't seem to be involved in this. Severus has informed me that there have been no plans made to harm Harry as of yet…so we can safely assume that Death Eaters aren't the problem." He took a small pause. "The only plausible excuse that I've managed to come up with is that Harry's guardians may have decided to move without informing us of anything." He held up a hand to silence Minerva McGonagall, who'd attempted to speak. "But, this doesn't seem to be the case either, as we've researched local records, and no sales have been made regarding #4 Privet Drive for nearly 16 years…and all the payments for house services have been made (A/N: such as water, gas, electricity…etc.). We've attempted to trace Harry through Magic, but we've had no luck as of yet. He seems to be…untraceable."
"So…nobody has a clue as to where he is?" Professor Sprout asked, alarmed.
Dumbledore tried to prepare himself for the outbreak. "I'm afraid not."
As he expected, the room began to get filled with the noise of unrecognizable words again.
He sighed…for the first time in his life, he was completely stumped.
- End Chapter 5 -
(1) – That's how it's in my school…we have 3 lunches (A, B, and C), and the one we go to depends on the class we have for 4th and 5th period (we have 8 periods total, but the day's divided in half, I guess you could say…A days, are periods 1, 3, 5, and 7, B days are the rest).
Author's note: yes, I'm aware it's been…what?…2 years, almost?…since I updated last. I know…I'm almost killing myself for just leaving this hanging, but…well…it's been a very difficult time for me…you guys have no idea. I'll explain it all in my bio…in the meantime, thanks to anyone and everyone who reviewed and supported me with all the troubles my family's been through. I've been through Hell and back, my world's upside down, and I'm quite close to starting college (already got accepted to the University of Wyoming!)…but I'll try my hardest to finish this up.
I just got an idea for the rest of the plot…I'm sort of doing this as I go, and that's the reason it's been a bit disastrous, but I got this plan that might just work…and go along with what I've already written. I really, really hope this hasn't been written before, though…if it has, I had no clue it existed. Anyway, it won't be too long until you guys know what I'm talking about…I hope it's original enough. I know many of you probably already know where Harry and Draco are going, but I'll try to make the rest more interesting and original…I hope.
What else was I going to say?? I'll try and update soon with the whole project meeting thing…let Draco see Harry's Not So Wondrous World, so he won't be such a dick anymore. And…well see Ron and Hermione! Hehe…anyway, I love you all, thanks so much!!!
Oh yeah…I fixed all the other chapters that got all wonky and posted them back up again, in case you want to know. How in the world did they get like that????