Outside Our World

By: IcyAurora8

Rating: R

Pairings: Harry/Draco

Genre: Humor/Angst/Fluff/Slash

Summary: Sent to live in the muggle world for a half year, Draco and Harry encounter what they would have never believed possible: A life where the Harry Potter series of books really exists, based on none other than their own lives. How did they not know! New friends, new relationships, comedy and embarrassment enter the lives of the two boys as they adjust to their new secret. Of the Harry/Draco slash variety.

Warning: This is SLASH! In other words, there are male/male relationships. If you don't like, please don't read!

AN: Unfortunately, I do not own anything Harry Potter.

This is the first story I have written for any type of fanfic… so hopefully it is worthy! I would like to thank the person who started a story where the Harry Potter series was real for muggles, and the Hogwarts' students were forced to live in the muggle world. It was an unfinished story, and quite a few years old, but if the person who wrote this is out there, thank you! Ever since I read those few chapters, this idea has been eating me alive! I have yet to be able to find another story that is even near similar, so I decided that I would write the story I would love to read. Thank you again!

And on the final note… this story is pre - HBP. I don't think my story would work very well otherwise.

Chapter 4

It was so dark in the room that Harry couldn't see his hand two inches in front of his face. His adrenaline automatically kicked in and he grabbed for his wand, prepared to fight. His mind didn't stop to process the fact that Voldemort was dead, much less that he wasn't even in Europe anymore.

He took a cautious step forward and tripped, landing on something soft.

"OW! Potter, watch where you're going!" Draco said.

Harry pulled himself back to his feet, not apologizing. It wasn't his fault he couldn't see in the dark.

"Sorry about that, boys, I didn't realize that the lights would be off in the room. Hold on, let me find them," Remus said, his voice sounding from somewhere across the room.

A moment later, light flooded the chamber. The two students noticed that they were standing in what looked like an old abandoned office. The windows had been boarded up, so even though it was the middle of the day, no light filtered into the room. The place looked rather shabby, except for the fireplace. It looked new, and had probably been installed for this project specifically.

Remus walked over to the door at the far side of the room and opened it slowly, peering down the hallway while doing so. "Alright you two, let's go. I've got quite a few things to show you, so quit dawdling," the man said.

Draco stood up off the floor where he had been sitting, and both boys dusted themselves off before following the professor. They wound their way through the corridors of the old office building, finally making it to a side door. The older man thought it would be less suspicious to exit through an unnoticeable door, rather than straight out the front.

It was a rather bright and sunny day out, so everyone was squinting their eyes at their first look of Chicago. They would actually be living in a suburb right outside of the city, in the same town as the school they would be attending. Remus walked to the edge of the sidewalk and stuck his arm out. A minute later, a big yellow car pulled up, which would be their transportation to the new apartment.

"What's that?" Draco asked Harry. The Malfoy family tended to Floo or Apparate most places, so Draco was slightly naïve when it came to muggle transportation.

"Oh, that's a taxi. It will take us wherever we need to go, which in our case, is our flat," said the dark-haired boy.

Draco looked a little suspicious of the vehicle, but he didn't get a chance to voice his protests because Harry grabbed his arm and unceremoniously pushed him through the open back door of the car. He landed on the seat next to the professor, and was followed by Harry, who slammed the door shut.

Draco scowled at the other boy and snapped, "You don't have to man-handle me, you know."

Harry ignored the Slytherin and looked to Remus, who was giving the driver the name of their apartment complex. "Pennsylvania Terrace Apartments please."

The blond haired boy looked around the space they were sitting in, small enough that the three grown men were cramped together on the seat. He whined, 'Why do we have to be in this stinky 'taxi' contraption to get the flat, why couldn't we just floo to a building closer to where this Pennsylvania Terrace place is?"

Remus was starting to get slightly frustrated with the Slytherin. "Because, you may have to ride in a taxi to get certain places while you are here, so it is best you learn about this now."

Draco's eyes widened at the thought of possibly having to get into another 'stinky taxi contraption' at some point and time during their stay. He just nodded his head, as if was saying he accepted his fate (or doom as he would call it) for all things muggle in the next three months.

The group spent the fifteen-minute taxi ride relatively quiet, each lost in his own thoughts. When the driver finally pulled up to the curb, Remus handed him an American bill and all three men slid out of the car. Harry and Draco's first look at their apartment building was quite a shock. Both had never lived any place except the dorms at Hogwarts and their respective homes, so seeing a twenty story red brick high rise with a sign on the front that said 'Home To 211 Apartments For More Than 85 Years' was a tad bit disconcerting.

A few moments later, Harry regained his composure and looked over to Draco, only to discover that the boy's mouth was hanging open. "You know Malfoy, you might want to shut your mouth before you catch flies."

The other boy shook his head wildly from side to side and looked to the professor. "You can't expect me to live in the SAME building as two-hundred-and-ten other flats!" Draco cried out. Every flat building Draco had ever seen back home was only a few stories tall, with just a few flats per floor. This would be like living in a zoo! With muggles!

"Oh, I believe that we do. You can, and you will, live in that building. There are actually quite a few empty flats in the building, but you will still have much more contact with muggles than if you lived in a house of any kind," Remus said.

The thought of living so closely to muggles didn't bother Harry that much. He just hoped that the flat was large enough so that Malfoy and he could stay well away from each other.

Professor Lupin started walking towards the door on the front of the building, the boys each taking a few moments to stare at the high rise before finally following. When they walked through the electrically opening front door (Draco thought it was ingenious and had to walk back out and in a few times) a man met them in the foyer.

He stuck his right hand out to Remus to shake, introducing himself as Robert Brown, a co-owner of the building. There were then introductions all around and it didn't take long for the slightly overweight, balding, middle aged man to start explaining the history behind the Pennsylvania Terrace Apartments. He told the trio that it was one of the oldest functional housing units in the area, and all the apartments had recently had the plumbing, electrical, and any other necessary work renovated.

While both Malfoy and Lupin were listening intently to the man, Harry ignored him to look around the foyer and admire the beautiful design of the building. Most of the room was decorated in an old Victorian style, complete with arches, potted plants, and ornately upholstered settees. Even though the building was over eighty-five years old, it was obviously well taken care of.

Harry slowly drifted back to the conversation between the professor and the older man, noticing that the men were starting to drift towards the other end of the room. He followed at Draco's heels until the group came to an elevator on the far wall. As usual, Draco was enthralled (and annoyed with himself for being so) at the process of the elevator ride. Harry had only ever been in the one at the Ministry of Magic, so he could appreciate the ingeniousness of a box that would take you to whichever floor you desired inside the building, just by pushing a button. The elevator itself was an extension in design of the foyer they had just left, complete with wooden arches and gold paneling on the walls.

It was only a matter of moments before the lift came to a stop at floor number seven, and the doors opened to reveal a long hallway with a series of dark wooden doors leading to the different flats. The small group followed Brown to the end of the hallway, stopping at the last door on the right. It seemed they would be living in the corner apartment.

"Well, I trust that Mr. Lupin will be able to show you boys the apartment, if you have any questions, just call the front desk and let us know! Feel free to move your belongings in at any time. It was good meeting you." The man handed three keys over to Remus, before waving and turning back towards the elevator.

The boys moved out of the way apprehensively while the professor fumbled to get the key into the lock of the door. When the door was finally unlocked, Draco could hardly wait for the older man to turn the knob before brushing past him and Harry, anxious to be the first one into the new flat.

The first thought that came to Harry's mind when he saw their new temporary living quarters was something along the lines of mild profanity, but in a good sense. The flat was furnished, complete with a dining set, living room set, and a 27" television/entertainment system. Harry figured that it was probably all Remus' doing when he came to set up the exchange, transfiguring the more pointless furnishings into the items useful to the boys.

The narrow kitchen was quaint, but clean. One person would be able to move comfortably in it, but it would be a little tight for two. The living room was furnished with a beige and black sofa, along with a matching loveseat and reclining chair. The coffee and end tables were polished mahogany (Victorian in style, none the less) and the entertainment system sat on the far wall. Upon closer inspection, Harry discovered a stereo and DVD system, which he was determined to learn how to use later. The fireplace, with their trunks setting in front of it, was located on the wall next to the hallway, putting it near the middle of the room. The landlord had explained that each room had a fireplace which had previously been used for heating purposes when the building was erected. In the wizards' case, it would be used for Floo'ing. All in all, it was a rather nice setup, especially for a couple of seventeen year olds.

Harry turned around to smile and thank his 'godfather' when he noticed another one of Malfoy's confused looks. He smiled to himself, reveling in the fact that the blond-haired boy was definitely out of his element.

Harry decided to check out the rest of the flat and walked down the small hallway between the kitchen and living areas. He was followed by the other two. There was a decent sized bathroom at the end of the hall, again decorated in beige and black. Harry discovered that the bathtub was a 'Whirlpool,' which sounded somewhat dangerous. He figured he would have to check that out later, too.

The bedrooms were located on opposite sides of the hallway, next to the bathroom. Both were decorated in light and dark blue tones, pretty much the same in style. Both housed full sized beds along with bedside tables and wardrobes. Neither room was exceptionally large, but at least they wouldn't have to share like they did with the dorms back at Hogwarts.

Harry was rather happy with the arrangement, the only disappointment being that the flat wasn't larger. He figured he would just have to be careful to steer clear of the Slytherin.

Draco, on the other hand, thought that the flat was a little beneath him. He was used to large, ornately decorated rooms and this flat was, well, very muggle. He couldn't believe that whoever transfigured his wardrobe actually thought all of his clothes would fit into that small area. He would need at least three more that size to house all of his belongings, but he couldn't do a thing about it because of the magic restriction for the class. On the bright side, even though he wasn't very happy with the flat, he liked the idea of three months without any adult supervision. He figured he could live with the arrangements.

The trio made their way back out to the living area and the boys each grabbed their trunk (trunks in Draco's case) and took them back to their rooms. Since the bedroom areas were identical, Harry took the one on the right side of the bathroom and Draco the other.

"Don't take long you two, you can unpack later. We need to make our way over to the school before I have to leave," Remus said.

A couple of grunts and some footsteps later, the Harry and Draco joined their professor in the living area.

"Before I forget, I took the liberty of stocking your refrigerator. Everything you need to cook with is in the kitchen cabinets. Now, let's get going. We have to walk a few blocks to get there."

The group walked out of the flat, the older man locking the door behind them before handing a key to each of the boys. They eventually made their way back down to the lobby of the building, but it took a while since Draco decided to push quite a few of the buttons in the elevator, resulting in a stop at each of the lower six floors. When they finally arrived in the lobby, the two boys followed the professor out of the building and all the way to the school four blocks over.

Harry looked up at the old brownstone building called Harrison High, which looked quite measly in comparison to the castle they had just come from. He figured that it should be a piece of cake to navigate, especially without the moving stairways.

Remus led the two boys into the school to show them where the Admittance Office was located. They had two days off, but they would need to know where to go on their first day to get their schedule. However, neither boy cared to explore the school fully while the professor was there; they would take the time to do it when their first day came around. On the way out of the school the group passed a bulletin board listing various things such as 'Band Nights,' but the most important was a pamphlet of area jobs for students. Each boy grabbed one to look at later, hoping to find something that would fulfill the requirement on their Muggle Studies list.

All three men made their way back to the flat, Harry and Remus talking about idle things while they walked. A block from Pennsylvania Terrace Apartments was a small bank, which Remus chose to stop in front of.

"Before I leave boys, I wanted to show you this one last thing." He reached into his pocket and withdrew two slips of paper, handing one to each boy. "This is a cheat sheet for the currency here. Obviously, you have your credit cards, but I'm sure when you get jobs, they will be giving you a paycheck every couple of weeks. You will need to cash them. You can just take them here and they will give you American bills in exchange for the paycheck, that way you can spend some money here without having to use the credit card for everything." Draco's eyes lit up at the mention of spending money, and Harry could already see the wheels in his head turning. Oh Great…. I get stuck with a shop-a-holic.

They continued walking and it only took a few minutes to get back to the flat. Once inside, Remus told each of the boys to sit down in the living area and then he joined them.

"Now, if anything goes wrong, make sure that you Floo the Headmaster immediately. If for any reason we need to arrange a meeting with someone here, just let us know and someone will Floo in to take care of it. Remember, wear your port keys at all times, and PLEASE go to your classes at the school. "

"What about the muggles?" Draco asked, speaking up for the first time the whole afternoon. "I don't know how to do anything here without magic!"

"You know the rules. No magic. As for questions about anything muggle-related, you just need to learn. This project is based on experience, so you better not be floo'ing me whenever you have a problem; figure it out yourself."

Remus ended his speech and stood up. "Well, I must go now, I need to get back to the school so I can make it to dinner. If you have any questions about where to find things, just ask the landlord downstairs; he should be able to help you."

Draco scowled and murmured good-bye before leaving the room to go unpack.

Harry stood up and walked with Remus over to the fireplace. They looked at each other for a moment before the older man enveloped the younger one in a giant hug.

"I'm going to miss you, Remy. At least I will get to talk to you every Friday," Harry said.

"You will be fine Harry, just enjoy your time here. Don't let Malfoy get to you!" The man smiled. "You know, you can always write me."

Harry thought of Hermione and laughed, hugging his 'godfather' harder. A minute later they separated, and the werewolf stepped towards the fireplace.

"I'll see you later Harry, enjoy your two days off." The man winked before lighting the fireplace and throwing in a handful of floo powder. "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts," he said, then stepped through the flames.

Harry watched his friend go and sighed. It was slightly after noon (because of the time difference) and the dark-haired boy decided he would unpack. He figured that maybe (just maybe) he would ask Malfoy if he wanted to grab something to eat and go exploring later, maybe even look for a job. He would much rather go alone, but since they were in a strange city, he almost felt bad for the other boy and his lack of muggle knowledge. If having Malfoy tag along with him meant keeping the Slytherin out of trouble, then so be it.

Harry walked back to his room, whistling on the way. After all, who wouldn't be excited about a new city to explore?

Alrighty… another chapter down! Thanks again to my betas Raven and Michelle! We really start getting into the nitty gritty stuff next chapter now that the boys are in the US… time to start building some relationships huh? Or should I? Mwuahahaha…..

Also… my beta brought up a good point… so I shall kinda explain it. She said that you don't find much out about the feelings of my characters as of yet… and there is a reason I am doing that. I don't want to give everything away… and I want you to get to know them as they get to know each other. You WILL find out the reasons for their actions…. but just not yet.