This is my first fic, so do be kind, and review, so that I know where I can improve on. Anyway, if you're a sucker for happy endings and all things that make you smile, this is the right story to read! (: This story has all the fantasy you need… time-travel, new friends and new families…alright I think I'm giving the story away. Ok enough chat… enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter… but yea, I own all Zoe and the story. The made up stuff. Hmm.
CHAPTER ONE: Meeting Zoe
Harry Potter was having a particularly rough day. Yet it wasn't the usual Dursley vexing which was bothering him, heavens no. No girl problems, no skeeter woman, best friends still loved him... it wasn't even that bitter memory of Sirius, plucking at his heartstrings. And no, not even the bully-of-the-century Voldemort could have put the boy-who-lived into such a livid state.
"Damn you…DAMN YOU…"
To an innocent bystander, Rita's delightful rants on the sanity of the Griffindor would have seemed rather promising, if one were lucky enough to witness this peculiar sight. Harry was on his bed, shirtless, sporting a bearded bellybutton, and wearing what seemed suspiciously like Aunt Petunia's pantyhose on his head. Yet what was even more surprising, would be the two abnormally thin trunks sprouting out of his nose…with, what was it, Chinese carved on it? Indeed, a pair of ivory chopsticks seemed to have wormed their way up the young boy's nostrils, truly a sight to behold.
"…I am going to MURDER you, I am I swear…"
In case the reader was wondering, it was in fact the rather innocent-looking brown stick lying on his bed that was getting his wrath. Ah, I do pity that piece of wood. Good wood put to waste. Such an attractive piece of inanimate object…
"…you BLOODY STICK…"
You see? He was blaming the wood!
"…NOTHING BUT A PATHETIC LITTLE FLAT-FOOTED…"
Woah.. harsh. The boy's got a way with words, hasn't he?
"…UP YOUR BUTT…"
Now we're workin the body…
"…ALWAYS MESSIN MY LIFE UP DAMMIT…"
Yes dear we do pity you along with your stick…
"…MALFOY!"
Alright, so maybe that wasn't quite expected, yet as they always say…if you're the boy-who-lived, anything can happen…and ladies and gentlemen, that means ANYTHING.
It turns out that Draco Malfoy had had a rather eventful morning. Since retired house elf Dobby had failed rather miserably (in his opinion) to damage the reputation of named nemesis H.J. Potter in second year, he had taken it his personal mission in life to do so, personally. Indeed, the boy-who-lived was blessed in so many ways, all the honour in the world always fell upon his bony shoulders, Master Malfoy's petty insecurities being no different. This particular morning, the young Malfoy had intended, to turn Harry into a walrus – he found the thought rather amusing. Unfortunately for both of them, Draco's transfiguration skills were worse than Dudley Dursley's (afterall, Dudley does excel in transfiguring Harry's face magnificently, you have to give him credit for that), and that's really saying something. He somehow ended up turning himself into a stick. The type you throw at dogs, if you catch my meaning. And Harry? Well you could sort of tell that there had been an attempt to turn Harry into a creature of some sort. Though the stockings really spoiled the effect.
'Well at least he's got tusks, walrus or not...' thought the miserable Malfoy as he grimaced at his own state. He suddenly realized that this could be the single most embarrassing moment of his life. A Malfoy! Stuck in a stick! And in front of Potter, too. He sneered.
For a few seconds, Harry Potter stood alarmed. You see, the sight of a sneering stick was not a friendly one to behold. It gave the effect of two brown slugs twisting together in the most awful manner imaginable…argh there's no better word to describe it other than repulsive.
Anyway, on with the story. Harry quickly got a hold of himself, and remembered the angry teenager he was supposed to be.
"Dammit Malfoy, do you realize how serious this is! The damn ministry's gonna think I was the one who used magic you asshole!"
The stick turned into slug stew again. Harry grimaced.
"Argh stop that will you! I'm gonna…"
But then a brilliant idea slipped into Harry's mind. He rumbled through his trunk, until he came across the camera Colin Creevey had bought him the previous Christmas. 'Maybe fans aren't all that bad…' He chuckled to himself as he sent several flashes towards the grimacing stick. And the best part was, all Malfoy could do was squeak. Like a ferret. His curses came out as squeals, which amused Harry to no end.
This went on for some time until Harry was disturbed by the familiar tapping of the window, and turned to find Hedwig carrying a handful of worn-looking letters. He let her in and gave her a ruffle, receiving an affectionate nip on the fingertips, before reaching for the pile that had just been delivered, all the while ignoring the exasperated squeaks and squeals coming from the stick lying innocently on the bed.
He sighed, and ruffled his hair as he opened the first letter. It was from none other than Ron Weasley. He grinned at the thought of his best mate, who was currently staying at his grandparent's home. It turns out little Ronniekins had always been nanna's favourite little boy, and this summer, she had made it her personal request to have Ron over for the summer so that she could spoil him silly. Surprisingly, Ron didn't argue, although he did blush silly when the twins bought him truckloads of menopause vitamins so that "he wouldn't have to worry about buying them for himself." Harry laughed out loud at the wrestle that followed; Ron had pinched Fred so hard, his cheeks are now uneven.
The letter looked rather rushed. Confused, Harry adjusted his glasses and squinted as he tried to decipher Ron's second grade handwriting. He doubted any of the Weasleys had ever received their pen licenses.
Harry – LOOK OUTSIDE! Up the tree, you dolt.
Puzzled, Harry scampered towards the window, and thought he saw a glimpse of red, though he wasn't sure if they were Aunt Petunia's new roses. Without a word, he rushed towards the front door and burst it open, ignoring yells and curses from the Dursleys, whose lunch party had just been ruined by his stampede. He ran into the front yard, and momentarily lost footing, tripping over a hose and falling flat on the floor.
The sound of laughter welcomed his embarrassment. He looked up to find Ron and Ginny beaming and holding what looked like… a furry frog?
Nah. It was only Pig, the owl.
Harry chuckled to himself as he watched Ginny eye his less than tidy room with a look that clearly said, 'I'm trying to keep my mouth shut', all the while muttering to herself about boys and pigs and wild boars. She took one look at the stick lying on his bed and threw it in the bin, covered with flies. This put Harry into hysterics. The Weasleys looked at him as if he were raving mad.
"Harry what's wrong?"
This made Harry laugh even harder. Soon, he had tears flowing out of his eyes, and was crouching down gasping for air when another round of hysterics hit him. "Mal….foy…..stick….you chucked him…"
Ginny and Ron froze as they heard a peculiar sound coming from the dustbin. It sounded like a ferret was being skinned alive.
"Say sorry to Harry."
"No way you Blood Tra-"
"I said, say sorry to Harry!"
"Never!"
"Draco Malfoy, if you don't apologise to Harry this instant, I will-"
"Alright alright! Damn Weasleys…"
Harry bit his lip to stop himself from cracking up. Draco's spell had worn off, and the blonde boy was now cowering by the desk, shivering in fear. Ginny Weasley was doing an impressive imitation of Molly, whose temper always intimidated the most honourable of men – some say it's a gift.
"Potter."
"Hmm?" Harry was enjoying this moment immensely. This was one heck of a benchmark. Who would've guessed the daywhen a Malfoy apologises to a Potter? He grinned down at the annoyed figure standing a few feet away from him. Draco mumbled a few inaudible words, all the while shivering – this time in anger.
"Pardon me? I don't think I heard you?"
"I SAID I'M SORRY."
"Oh."
Harry was slightly taken back by the lack of protest. He had expected at least a string of insults, and maybe even a couple of hexes. Harry shrugged. Maybe times have changed…
"No worries."
This time, Draco was the one standing shocked. He looked up at the Griffindor. He was smiling at him! No, not even a smirk, a smile! Freaked out, Draco left the room without a word and walked himself out the front door.
Ron just stood at the side, mouth slightly open. He stood like that for the longest time, until Ginny snapped that if he kept at it, a fly might fly in. This got Ron slightly flustered, and he momentarily forgot about the miraculous scene which had just happened before him. There was no other word for it – it was magical.
Draco jogged past the perfect lawns and smooth pavements of Little Whinging, all the while pondering the unexpected reaction he had gotten from the boy-who-lived. As he passed the park, a couple of muggle girls whistled and waved at him. Enjoying the attention, he flexed his muscles as the girls giggled and swooned. He winked and flashed his killer smile with ease and confidence– whilst rolling his eyes at the back of his mind in disgust. Oh wouldn't father murder him if he saw him now…
"Can't help being drop dead gorgeous…" he muttered to himself
Out of nowhere, a tinkling laughter rang in his ears. He swept around.
A girl with wavy black hair was shaking her head and walking right past him. He couldn't see her face but he could tell she was mocking him when she yelled, "Get over yourself!" and waved her hands over her head as if fanning away a fly.
He was struck dumb for a couple of minutes as he watched the retreating figure, still chuckling to herself and flicking her hair around. Draco was stunned. Either she was really ugly, or really weird – how dare she? She was resisting the Malfoy charm! Which is ten times more effective than the so-called Potter charm, a familiar voice chuckled at the back of his mind. His mind felt a tug of jealousy as he found his thoughts travelling to the large pile of "POTTER-HOTTER!" leaflets he had consficated from a disturbing number of Slytherin girls...
Malfoy shuddered at the memories, and quickly shook himself out of his thoughts when he realized he had just let a girl - a muggle no less, get away with insulting him. Puffing out his chest, he broke into a sprint and headed towards the girl.
"Oei, you! Stop right there"
The girl continued walking as if she had heard nothing at all. Getting really irritated, Draco tapped her on the shoulders and decided to teach her a lesson.
"What do you think…."
She turned around and raised her eyebrows. Draco went stiff.
"Got a problem, buddy?"
Draco just stood there stupidly, mouth wide open, staring at her. She looked way too familiar. Her eyes! He looked deep into those …emerald eyes… he could spot them anywhere. There was no mistake.
"P…Potter…"
"Huh?"
If Malfoy had not been gaping like a goldfish, he might've felt very embarrassed indeed. She gave him an "urgh" look as she took off her earphones, from which unbelievably loud music was blaring out of.
"Sorry…errr...Could you repeat that?"
She waved her hands in front of his eyes as if he were blind and rolled her eyes in disgust when there was no response. She looked at him distastefully.
But Malfoy was too distracted to notice this. He was still staring at her eyes… no -Potter's eyes! I've heard enough to know that nobody else can have eyes like that….His eyes widened in horror.
"Potter."
The girl froze.
"Do I know you?"
Draco shook his head.
"Then..how…how the hell do you…"
Her face twisted in confusion. She leant forward and her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Dra...Draco Malf -."
"You're a wizard, aren't you?"
"Yea…I –"
"What do you want with me!"
The girl whipped out a wand and menacingly pointed it at Draco's chest, eyes flashing.
For a few seconds, Draco actually felt scared. The girl was actually quite pretty. With her wavy black hair dancing down her back, and emarald eyes...no let's not get into that.He gawked at her threatening pose, before quickly pulling himself together. After all, he was a Malfoy. He cleared his throat.
"Who are you?"
"Huh? I thought you knew?" Now she was really confused.
"You….you can't mean you…you're not REALLY Potter, are you? Harry's got no living relatives! Besides those muggles…" Draco realized he had just called Harry Harry.
"You mean you know Harry Potter!" the girl looked ready to do a victory dance.
Draco rolled his eyes. "You and the rest of the wizarding world…"
"Oh you see I'm looking for him."
"Why? To get his autograph? Fancy a snog with Potter?"
"Wh-What?"
Draco just rolled his eyes again and shrugged. " That's who you're looking for isn't it? The pretty boy-who lived." He exaggerated that last few words with his sarcastic drawl.
The brunette just gave him an incredulous look and turned around. She started walking away from Draco.She quickened her pace as she called over her shoulder.
"Well you see, I'm his sister, and I'm looking for him"
At this, Draco's heart did a double take. Did he hear correctly? Was this some sort of sick joke? What was Potter playing at….He ran to keep up with her quick pace.
"Wh-What. Did you say?"
"Oh what now…"
"What's your name."
She stopped walking and looked him in the eye. Draco shuddered as he felt her eyes burn into his skin. Her eyes….they're so…
"It's really none of your business buddy."
"No, really."
"Fine. I'm Zoe."
"Zoe…Zoe? You're…"
"Zoe Potter."
Draco's mouth flew open. Again.
Ok..so how was that? Please review ok? I'll try update soon. That's if I get any response...
-nina
