Title: Flip Side
Author: CuriousDreamWeaver
Summary: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter are one of a kind. Maybe. Alternate worlds are meant to stay separate but not everything turns out the way they're supposed to. How much trouble can two Draco Malfoys and two Harry Potters get into? Especially when someone decides to up the ante and make things a whole lot worse for them all. Slash, het. HP/DM, HP/DM, RW/HG and more.
Warnings: There will be slash, mostly from the HP/DM department, um, violence in later chapters, and maybe a few lime scenes (very mild though). This fic is not HBP compliant.
Pairings: HP/DM, RW/HG, JP/LE, LM/NM, SB/RL/SS
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it. J. K. Rowling does and she's more the richer for it. Or Tenchi Muyo for that matter.
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Flip Side
Chapter Seventeen: A jump from here to there.AUHPverse
There were only a handful of people Lucius was afraid of. Unfortunately, half of them happened to be in the same room as him.
He grit his teeth and steadfastly ignored the mocking snickers from James and Sirius. His agile mind began to list the different ways he could hurt them without anything permanent being done. Well, not too permanent. Okay, without them dying.
"What do you mean she's disappeared?"
Lucius was jolted out of his pleasant daydream by a piercing cry and tried to cower, without it looking like he was, behind his wife as his mother-in-law rounded on him, her brilliant blue eyes blazing. She was second on his list of people to fear. His wife was the first, but that didn't matter, considering she wasn't angry with him. Well, not at the moment. "She came into contact with a World Turner and-"
"Don't be stupid, there's no such thing as a World Turner," Hypatia, First Princess(1) of the House of Lumina(2), snapped. Her long blonde hair hung in soft curls around her mature face, her eyes narrowed angrily.
Lucius cast his father-in-law a pleading look, but the older man just shrugged. "I can't help you, she's gone off on a tangent of her own," Markus said apologetically, his honey blond hair brushing his shoulders as he shrugged, though he hoped his comment would divert his wife's attention from Lucius. He was rather fond of his son-in-law. He had excellent liquor and was a funny drunk.
Hypatia sputtered and smacked him upside the head. "What was that? How can you say something like that about your wife?"
"Mother, please, you're not making this easy," Narcissa said, trying to calm her mother down, shooting her father a look that was a mixture of exasperation and thankfulness. "And you, Father, are not making this easier."
"If it was a World Turner, how did it get past the wards?" Bellatrix asked lazily, smoothing back her long black hair as she crossed her legs.
Lucius scowled. He didn't like his sister-in-law much, but he had to admit, she was very astute. "We haven't been able to find that out yet."
"What have you done, then?" Hypatia asked angrily.
"Mother, calm yourself," Andromeda said softly. She gave Lucius a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure that Lucius has tried everything in his power."
"Lucius is working very hard, mother," Narcissa said quickly. She grabbed her husband's hand and squeezed it tightly. "It has not been easy on any of us, so please don't blame him."
Hypatia finally took a good look at her daughter's husband and noticed that Lucius did indeed look terrible. His normally shiny silvery hair was dull and lank, pulled back in a messy ponytail; his exotic eyes were tired and had dark circles beneath them. His posture too, was something of a worry. His shoulders were hunched with worry and stress and his clothes hung untidily off his lean frame.
Her eyes softened immediately. "I'm sorry, Lucius."
"It's all right, I understand." He gave her a strained smile.
"Now we've calmed down a bit," Albus said cheerfully as he clapped his hands together, "would anyone like a lemon drop?"
Hypatia gave Albus an indulgent smile, while Bellatrix looked at him as though he was deranged. She even said so, but was hushed by a reprimanding look from Andromeda.
"You haven't changed one bit, Albus," a rich husky voice purred from the doorway as a tall, willowy brunette walked into the room, Severus following after her. The woman wasn't beautiful like Hypatia and her daughters were, rather, she was more handsome with an air of proud dignity.
"Lucinda!" Hypatia cried, as she immediately moved towards the other woman.
"Hypatia, it has been too long," Lucinda said ,as she returned her warm hug. "It's a shame it had to be under such circumstances."
"It can't be helped," Hypatia replied. "Do you have any new information?"
The expression of every other person in the room lit up with hope.
Lucinda shook her head regretfully. "Unfortunately, there hasn't been any word of anything like this floating around the other Clans, not to mention the underground. Lucian is trying to find information from his contacts so he won't be here for a while."
"Then where could he possibly have found a World turner?" Lucius asked, frustration making his voice harsh. "They cannot just randomly pop out of nowhere! Someone must know something about it."
"If they do, they're keeping quiet," Severus said tiredly. Like his brother, his appearance screamed of weariness. He sat down heavily in a chair that Sirius pulled out for him.
"And the werewolves haven't heard anything either," Remus added. "Maybe Macnair actually made it himself..." he trailed off and shrugged.
"That would require a lot of power. Power he doesn't have," Severus redplied.
"I know, but how else can you explain it? If something that powerful was on the market, someone would know about it," Sirius pointed out after Severus's disagreement.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Sirius did have a point. For once.
"No, no. Severus is right. Macnair does not have the kind of power needed to make a World Turner. If he made one, he'd have to find a magical hotspot, and there are very, very few of those in the world. Not to mention he'd need the help of several other wizards or witches in order to bind all that power to one specific object," Lucius replied.
"But that still-"
"Unless he used them as conduits for all that magical energy and then sucked every ounce of magic out of them and bound that magic to the object as well," Lily said thoughtfully.
Lucinda grimaced. "That would work."
"We would have noticed a whole lot of powerful wizards disappearing," Remus pointed out. "And there haven't been any missing persons reported that would fit in that description."
Severus rubbed his hand over his eyes as something occurred to him. "Not everyone who goes missing is reported."
Remus frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Think about it, Remus," Severus replied. "There are people that aren't noticed and if they disappeared..." he trailed off and gave Remus a meaningful look.
"You mean... like orphans or homeless people? Criminals?"
"Exactly."
"Even if he did do that, he'd still have to have found a magical hotspot," James said with a frown.
Albus frowned thoughtfully, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands. "Not necessarily."
Narcissa looked at him in surprise. "Not necessarily?"
"Albus is right, you don't have to have a magical hotspot," Hypatia said slowly. "The only reason magical hotspots are easy to cast magic and create magical artefacts in is because of the sheer amount of pure magical energy that's infused itself into the area. But if you found a... patron from outside the boundaries of this world, you can access the same sort of power."
"Patron?" Narcissa ventured warily. "What do you mean by patron?"
"A patron is a term used to describe an entity that is caught In Between," Lucinda murmured in explanation. "It's very rare for someone, human or otherwise, to even attract the attention of a patron." Her brows furrowed thoughtfully. "And for them to consent to their power to be used in such a fashion is very unusual."
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Hermione sighed and pressed her face tiredly into her hands. Her short brown hair bobbed around her face and she pushed it back impatiently. "There has to be something here. Maybe we're just not looking hard enough."
Pansy bit her lip and looked down at the book in front of her, her shoulders slumping. "But we've looked over all these books twice. Some of them three times. We haven't gotten anywhere." Her lower lip began to tremble.
"Please don't cry," Ron begged tiredly. He hated seeing girls cry and was incredibly useless when it happened, compounded by the fact he was dead tired, he didn't think he could take it.
"Pansy, it'll be all right," Blaise said firmly. He gave his girlfriend a look over the rim of his thin wire glasses. "We'll find a way to bring them back, don't worry. And I'm sure they're doing fine, wherever they are."
"But... But what if Dee isn't eating right? She's so delicate!" Pansy almost wailed.
Ron's expression of weariness melted into horror as she started to sniffle. Merlin, no. Not Pansy crying. Please, have mercy.
"I'm sure J.P.(3) wouldn't let Dee eat badly. Knowing him, he'd probably be trying to feed her enough to bloat a horse," Blaise replied calmly. The best way to treat one of Pansy's crying attacks was to act as though she wasn't having one. Sympathy would only encourage her.
"You-you think so? J.P. would never let anything happen to her! You're right!" Pansy immediately brightened.
Hermione let loose the breath she'd been holding and jabbed Ron with her elbow. "Stop looking like that, you'll make her cry again."
Ron straightened and nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah, I'll bet that they're doing just great. Knowing Dee, she's probably found a library or something to spend her time in and J.P.'s probably playing some sort of sport or something."
"Dee's probably looking for a way to come home, don't you worry. And you know how she is. She'll keep looking until she finds what she wants," Hermione said with an encouraging smile.
"Yeah, Dee can look after herself," Ron said. "And if she can't, J.P.'s there to fuss over her like a mother hen." He chuckled at the mental image of J.P. in a frilly apron fussing over an exasperated looking Dee.
"There a few more books in the restricted section," Blaise mused as he skimmed a page thoughtfully. "There might be some more information in them."
"You can come and check the library at Snape and Malfoy Manor, if you wish."
They all turned to the large doors of the library and jumped to their feet when they saw the group of adults. Markus, Bellatrix and Andromeda were absent, having left to return to the Palace in hopes that new information could be found in their libraries.
"We can?" Hermione asked Lucinda hopefully. The Malfoy Manor was the ancestral home of the Malfoy family and the library it contained was legendary. The Snape Manor, similarly, was the home of countless generations of Snapes, and the number of books pertaining to obscure spells and artefacts was staggering.
"Yes, we need more people to go through the books and scrolls there," Lucinda replied.
Narcissa nodded. "We'd appreciate it if you could help us."
"You don't need to ask us to help you," Blaise replied shaking his head. The others nodded in agreement.
"That's good. You're all such good friends!" Narcissa said with a tired smile.
"We want our friend back," Hermione said firmly as the others nodded their heads in agreement. "We'll do what we need to do." She frowned slightly and looked at the adults. "If you don't mind my saying so, but you should all rest. You look very poorly."
"They wouldn't have wanted you to work yourselves sick," Pansy added.
The boys nodded in agreement. "You should rest some. Otherwise, they'll kill us when they get back," Ron replied.
"Thank you for your concern," Lily murmured with a smile.
"The Headmaster has given us permission to take you to Snape and Malfoy Manor. Do you think you'll be ready to leave in a few hours?" Lucinda asked.
Pansy shook her head and looked determined. "We can be ready earlier than that!"
The adults watched the teenagers practically run from the room in their haste to prepare, and they let small smiles tug at their lips.
"Dee and J.P. are fortunate to have such caring friends," Lily said fondly.
The silence that settled over them was slightly lighter than before, but still heavy with anxiety.
"Do you really think that there's something in the library?" Narcissa asked hopefully. She'd never looked through the Malfoy and Snape libraries. It had been more of Dee's interest that had brought them to visit them, but Narcissa had always found a way to stay out of them. She wished she had taken the time to look.
Lucius rubbed a hand through his hair. "It's bound to have something useful. Father always had the most informative books, and Mother Lucinda's library is just as useful."
"We need young eyes. They may find something that we have missed or deemed unimportant." Lucinda replied. "And with Hermione and Blaise, there's a good chance that they may find something we can work from."
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HPVerseLucius tipped back a generously filled crystal glass of golden liquid and hissed as it burned down his throat. He let his head loll back against the plush back of the high-backed chair he sat in and couldn't help but revel in the soft, warm, safe feeling that enveloped him. His silvery eyes slid shut and he allowed himself to relax.
He'd been home, yes, Malfoy Manor was his home, for a little over a day and the feeling of peace it had always brought him had hit him like a ton of bricks. In fact, he had spent the night curled up at the base of the large pillars that rose from the floor near the door. He never wanted to leave again.
Of course, the enormity of his situation had come back and he proceeded to try and drink himself into oblivion. It wasn't working very well.
"You're not going to make yourself feel better drinking all that."
Lucius ignored the smooth, silken voice that came from in front of him. He defiantly raised the glass and was about to take another drink when it was plucked out of his fingers.
"I was drinking that!" Lucius muttered as he glared balefully up at his dark-haired visitor.
"No, you were about to spill it in your face," Severus said with a smirk. He gently set the glass onto the small round table next to Lucius's chair. He shook his head as Lucius continued to glare at him.
"You of all people should know that your tolerance for alcohol is a lot higher than a normal person. And even in your state, you're still more tolerant than the average person."
"Would you kindly leave me alone? You're ruining the effect here."
Severus snorted and wrinkled his nose. "You aren't even drinking the good stuff. This is poor quality, nothing more than backyard moonshine."
Lucius was not willing to admit that he was too weak to open the large, spelled cabinet that held the finest liquors he owned. That and he had no wand. "Leave me alone," he said as he sulked.
"No, come on, get up, I have that balm for your face, you vain bastard." Severus tugged him to his feet and grunted when Lucius, out of spite, leant his entire weight on him. "You're being a spoiled child."
"I was a spoilt child, if I remember correctly," Lucius muttered back.
"No, you were just too stupid to shut up. Your parents bribed you to keep quiet," Severus drawled back lazily and ignored the outraged sputtering in his ear.
"That's just rude!"
"It was meant to be. Now stop leaning on me. You're heavy."
"Why are you here? Aren't you meant to be teaching the future of the Wizarding World?" Lucius asked petulantly, but stopped leaning on his friend.
"I came to give you some potions for your wounds, you ungrateful fool," Severus muttered. He carefully manoeuvred them down the hallway and to Lucius's quarters. He nudged the door open and sighed when he noticed Lucius panting from exertion.
Lucius flopped tiredly onto his bed. "Merlin, I'm so damn tired already."
Severus shook his head and pulled small jar and vial from inside his thick cloak and set them down on the bedside table. "What do you expect? You barely moved in that cell of yours, not to mention that you're malnourished and you've drank a fair amount of low quality alcohol. I'm surprised you're still conscious." He prodded Lucius's prone form mercilessly until the blond rolled over with a groan.
"Stop poking at me!"
"If you'd rather me leave with my potions, then I'll gladly stop poking at you."
Lucius fell into a grudging silence and allowed Severus to pull off his shirt, hissing softly when his left wrist got caught in the sleeve.
Severus murmured an apology and picked up the small jar. He scooped some of the balm into the palm of his hand and smoothed it over Lucius's ribs.
"That cold!"
"Don't be such a child," Severus snorted.
Lucius subsided, grumbling but appreciating the warm, soothing sensation that radiated over his torso. He sighed and slowly relaxed. "Thanks."
Severus nodded and nudged him. "Roll onto your side."
"Why can't I just drink something? It hurts to move." Lucius winced as Severus spread more of the balm on the dark purple bruise at the base of his shoulder blade. It must have happened when he'd thrown himself onto his back the other night in a vain attempt to block out the pain.
"I'll give it to you in a minute, stop whining." Severus worked quickly but as gently as he could. "Don't worry, it'll stop hurting soon. You'll be as healthy as you were before Azkaban."
Lucius made a soft sound of agreement and fell silent. Severus wondered what was going through his friend's mind as he finished spreading the healing balm. Severus cleaned off his hands and handed Lucius the vial. "Here, you can drink this. It should help with the chest pain and help you get some of your strength and stamina back."
Lucius was quiet for a moment before turning slowly and looking up at him with a troubled expression. "Severus, what have I missed while I was away?"
The dark-haired man regarded him for a moment as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Life has become more interesting."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Severus wondered if he should tell his friend about the two new students at Hogwarts and the disturbing developments between Draco and a certain raven-haired boy. He vaguely entertained the idea of sending Lucius into an apoplexy, but rationalised that it would be more troublesome to treat him. He settled on a compromise. "Draco has made a new friend that he seems to be very close to."
Lucius perked up at the mention of his son. "A new friend? What's his name?"
"Her name is Dee. She's incredibly intelligent and Draco seems to be very fond of her."
"A pureblood?"
"As pure as Draco's."
Lucius nodded, pleased. "That's good to hear. What are her connections?"
"She's not from around here, though she has relatives in France," Severus replied, making assumptions about Dee's family being close to Lucius's.
"What is her family name? Surely I would have heard of them."
Severus changed the subject as though he hadn't heard him. "Your son has developed an interest in someone."
It was very effective, Lucius latching onto the new subject eagerly. "Draco? And who has caught my son's interest?"
"I'm not entirely certain," Severus hedged. Well, Severus was sure he wished he didn't know.
"Then how do you know he's interested in someone?"
"He's acting like you did when you were infatuated with someone." Severus paused and added as an afterthought, "Except he's more discrete."
Lucius scowled. "I was discrete."
"Compared to what?" Severus snorted. "You made everyone know who was the subject of your affections. Of course, considering how popular you were, I suppose that it was a good thing for the girls you decided to love for any particular brief period of time."
Lucius scowled. "You make it sound so cheap. You're just jealous that you never had so much attention."
"Please, even if I did prefer the fairer sex, I wouldn't want to be saddled with a brainless twit as a partner as you seemed to enjoy."
"They weren't brainless. They were..." Lucius paused, unable to think of a suitable adjective. "They were beautiful," he finally finished.
"They were indeed, but they were as beautiful as their heads were empty."
"All right, so they weren't the best of conversationalists, but they were a lot more pleasant to be around than Narcissa."
"Almost anyone is better company than Narcissa," Severus snorted.
"True. But still, they weren't that bad."
"Whatever makes you happy, Lucius." Severus replied.
"But we digress. How is my son?"
"He is doing well, all things considered. His grades are as impressive as ever."
Lucius smiled in pride. "He's always been bright."
"Unlike his father."
"I resent that."
"That was the point."
"How is everyone treating Draco?"
Severus shifted slightly. He wondered if Lucius would be suspicious if he cut the conversation right there. "They're treating him well enough, not much differently from before."
"No one is giving him a hard time?"
"No, his friends keep them away rather effectively."
Lucius sighed. "He wrote to me, did you know that?"
Severus nodded. "Of course he did. The boy adores you, Lucius."
"I could never find the right words to tell him what that meant to me." Lucius grimaced. "I always told him to uphold the family honour, or something similar."
Severus stayed silent. He knew that while Draco was relieved to know his father was still coherent enough to reply, the words had always seemed so cold and he'd seen the light dim a little in the boy's eyes. "He understands that there are obligations he is expected to fulfil," Severus replied carefully.
"I could have at least shown that I appreciated his concern," Lucius said, his voice sharp with self-loathing.
"I'm sure he knew, on some level," Severus said in an effort to make his friend feel slightly better, though his words sounded hollow, even to him.
Lucius gave a bitter chuckle and rubbed a hand over his eyes tiredly. "Draco is about as emotionally maladjusted as I am. There's no reason for him to believe that I appreciated his concern, he'd find it hard to believe even if I said to his face. I brought him up the same way my sire did me."
Severus shifted uncomfortably. He'd never been very comfortable around Lucian Malfoy. The man was incredibly cold, bordering on cruel. While Lucian had provided Lucius with anything and everything he had desired on a materialistic level in a manner fitting the Malfoy name, he had neglected Lucius on an emotional level. It was no wonder that Lucius had no idea how to respond to the way Draco idolised him other than to treat it as his due as his father had before him. This led to several problems, one of which was Draco's lack of emotional support and stability. Narcissa's cold treatment of Draco hadn't helped matters, and Severus was fairly certain that Draco's fear of rejection stemmed from those combined factors. It was no wonder Draco was still dancing around his feelings for Potter. He just hoped that Dee would be able to help him, even if only a little, before it was too late.
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(1)Hypatia is not the Queen of the Veela. Her father is still alive and is the ruler. She is the first born and heir to the throne, thus First Princess. Actually, to be honest, I nicked that from Tenchi Muyo. LOL ;;
(2) Lumina is the Romanian word for light. At least, that's what the dictionary told me... LOL
(3) Yeah, I'm still referring to their scarless Harry as J.P. Easier that way. LOL
Thanks so much for waiting patiently for this chapter. I had my major assignments, my finals and some work problems in the past few months, so I couldn't get it out as quickly as I would have liked. I'm really sorry, but here's the new chapter!
A wonderful thankyou to my beta, lucidity.
Thanks to all my reviewers from the last chapter:
CrystalKniGhtInwAitiNg
Guess
Heart and Soul
PaDfOoT Da GrEaT
Dulce Psycho
tarzoniangirl
MidNite Phoenix
veela princess
EriksLuv
lady shadowsinger
Mara202
Myr
thrnbrooke
iNsAnE nO bAkA
Netty
Pippinspen
Purple Raveness
lucidity
I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday season with many blessings!
Take care, savvy?
CDW