Time Turners were not fun. The wrenching sensation that came when you made the shift was in no way soothed by the irritating number of people running around that you could not interact with. And Draco was getting sick of trying to get all of the versions of himself sorted in his head. His brain was sore.
He and Older Draco were standing in a shadowed hallway, just outside of the Slytherin common room. Older Draco pulled out a large piece of cloth from beneath his robes. Good-Looking Draco choked.
"Is that Potter's invisibility cloak?"
"Yes,"
"Where did you get it?"
Older Draco shrugged, "Harry Potter dies trying to kill He Who Must Not Be Named. Ron Weasley dies with him and seeing as Potter didn't have any family, Hermione ended up with it,"
Good-Looking Draco gaped, "Wait, what? Potter dies? But he's the Boy Who Lived! He's like a bloody cockroach,"
"Yeah, well someone squashed him. No one's invincible,"
Older Draco threw the cloak over himself and then held it out for his younger self to climb under as well. Good-Looking Draco frowned.
"I am not squishing under that blanket with you,"
"We can't let us see ourselves,"
The younger version of Draco had to stop and untangle that sentence for a moment. Older Draco took full advantage of that time and threw the cloak over him. Good-Looking Draco swore. The cloak wasn't quite big enough to cover them both properly unless they pressed against one another and squatted while standing hunchback. It was highly unpleasant.
"Why can't Draco from this time slot see us?" Good-Looking Draco asked as they began to move, "You revealed yourself to me,"
"Do you really want to have to deal with another Draco Malfoy? Let's face it kid, we're a pain in the ass. I can barely stand you and you're me,"
"Ugh,"
"I said it," said Older Malfoy with a grin, "By which, I mean you said it,"
"Shut the hell up, Malfoy,"
"Yes sir, Mister Malfoy,"
Both fell silent as they entered a busier hallway. It would have been quite awkward for the students to begin hearing disembodied voices. The Dracos wound their way carefully through the throngs of people and finally emerged out onto the grounds.
Present Draco and Hermione were sitting together under a tree, enjoying their free time. She was knitting little misshapen woollen hats. Surprisingly, he was helping her, laughing.
"You've been going out for a year," Older Draco said solemnly, "She changes you for the better. Before we started dating, I was a self-centred little punk,"
"Watch it,"
"Hey, I'm just being honest with myself,"
Good-Looking Draco huffed, "So what? I love her, she makes me a good person. I fail to see what the problem here is. Why are you bothering me?"
"I haven't shown you the problem yet,"
"Why are you wasting time then? Just cut to the chase!"
Older Draco looked at him gravely, which was a difficult and impractical thing to do beneath the cloak.
"I need you to fully comprehend why what happens is a problem. You won't unless I show you all of this first. I need you to love her now,"
Good-Looking Draco rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Did our friends disown us?"
"Hers don't, although they didn't approve. Ron gets jealous. He'll try and beat you up later but she ends up breaking his nose. It's pretty funny, actually,"
"And how about my friends?"
"Oh, they hate you; but they always did. You've always been more of a ringleader than an actual friend. Anyway, you make new friends. Watch,"
Just as Older Draco finished talking, Ginny Weasley joined the pair on the lawn. She glanced uncertainly at Draco and made some kind of scathing comment. Draco, to his credit, laughed good-naturedly. Bemused, Ginny sat down.
"Believe it or not," Older Draco said, fond amusement colouring his voice, "You actually end up being reasonably close to Harry and Ron, as soon as you and Ron finish fighting over Hermione,"
Good-Looking Draco scoffed.
"No, really," Older Draco said, "You feel terrible when they die,"
Good-Looking Draco watched himself laughing with Hermione. Did he love her? An odd warmth spread through him. He looked so happy there. How could any of this be a problem, when his future seemed so bright? He had to know how this could possibly be wrong. Determined now, he turned to his older self.
"Okay," he said, "Show me what comes next,"