AN: okay so it wasn't Borgin but the other guy that made all the appearances in the book…oh well, to err' is human
Chapter
Harry drug Draco even further into the darkened alley before applying a rather complicated and secure concealing charm on them. Draco watched all this with a raised eyebrow; obviously adding to the questions he had in his head.
Harry took a deep breath before starting with, "I have to ask you to take an oath."
Draco nodded slowly. "Okay." His eyes widened when Harry pulled a thin pocketknife from his pocket. He just watched as Harry slit his own hand before holding the knife out.
He took it tentatively and drew it across his own palm. They grasped hands, the blood mingling between them, and Harry muttered the spell quickly. As the last word left his lips, a bright flash of white blinded them.
Harry shook his head, trying to get the flash dots to disappear and his normal vision to return as he wiped his bloodied hand off on his cloak. The spell healed both their palms and Draco looked at his own palm in wonder.
"Okay, you may want to sit. This is going to be a long story…"
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"…and so now I'm training under a 'ghost' stuck in a book, trying to get good enough to beat the son of a bitch in my timeline." Harry stopped his monologue and looked at the blonde who was sitting on the dirty ground next to him. They had been there for well over two hours.
They were both leaning against one of the buildings and Draco was now staring at the opposite wall with a shocked expression on his face. He hadn't said a word the entire time Harry had been explaining and now Harry was waiting for it to sink in enough for Draco to form his myriad of questions into words.
He took a deep breath and seemed to find his voice. "So…you're not from this timeline? So where is the Harry that's been my best mate for most of my life?"
"Well…" That wasn't exactly the first question Harry had expected. "I think I am him. You see, I have all of his…er…my memories from this life and from the other. I don't really know…" He scratched his head. "Couldn't you pick an easier question?"
Draco chuckled lowly. "Alright, how about, How do I know you're not just crazy and I should lock you up in St. Mungos as soon as possible?"
"How do you explain me then?" both boys jumped as Dante materialized in front of them, sitting in the air cross-legged.
Harry glared at the transparent man. "Don't do that!"
Dante's lips quirked up into a smirk. "Eh, you're too jumpy." He leaned forward on his elbow and studied the blonde whose eyes were wide. "Your friend's a bit jumpy too…"
"So, you're telling the truth." Draco said weakly.
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They met the girls at the Three Broomsticks around 2:30 for lunch. Emily was looking rather smug and Harry belatedly remembered that he had allowed them to pick their Halloween costumes.
"So, what is it this year?" he asked, trepidation clear in his voice.
She just smirked. "Nope, not goin' tell you. You will have to wait till Friday night."
Harry and Draco both groaned in despair, picturing what torturous outfits the girls could have come up with.
"Did you get done what you needed to get done?" Hermione eyed them suspiciously, not completely buying that they had errands to run.
Harry nodded. "Yup." He took a big bite of his stew and asked thickly, "So how's mum?"
Emily shrugged. "You know her. The shop's going fine but she nit picks at every little thing."
Harry propped his chin up on the table, a thoughtful look on his face. "Yeah, but you know she's always a little more stressed this time of year."
She nodded in agreement as they returned to their meals.
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That night, around midnight, Harry let himself and Draco into the Room of Requirement. Once inside, with the door adequately locked and barred behind them, Dante materialized as Harry began pulling ingredients from the cabinets. Once everything was laid out, Dante began dictating the instructions.
"…No, not 348 grams, 384 grams."
Harry neatly rewrote the last line. "How do you remember all of this stuff?" he asked exasperatedly.
"I have a photographic memory. Anyways it needs to steep for two minutes and four seconds before you add the Dragon Tears."
Draco looked over Harry's shoulder at the list of instructions. "Not too complicated. But this is you we're talking about…"
Harry shot him an annoyed look. "That's what you're here for. Besides I can follow instructions well enough."
Under Draco and Dante's careful watch, Harry brewed the potion to the exact specifications. As the last drop of the Dragon Tears entered the slowly simmering cauldron, the mixture turned a startling blue, casting rays of blueish-green light on Harry's anxious face.
"It's done." Dante said simply and motioned for Harry to pour the hot liquid into the waiting flask.
No one spoke as the liquid cooled, turning a deeper blue as it did so. When the mixture was no longer hot but merely warm to the touch, Harry dipped the calligraphy brush into the mixture.
While Draco held the conjured mirror, Harry carefully painted the design over the left side of his face. His entire left eye was encircled in the blue mixture, including the lid. When the last of the mixture was scraped from the bottom of the flask he set down the brush and began the long incantation that he had written down earlier.
As the last word left his lips, a pain that felt like his eyeball was on fire made him clutch at his eye and fall to his knees. He vaguely heard his name being called and he could feel the tears streaming down his face, mixing with the blue design and smearing it.
After several minutes the pain lessened to only a dull throb and he managed to lift his head and look out of his right eye at the two concerned faces, his hand still clamped over the left.
"I'm okay." He assured them, a bit shakily. He hesitantly dropped his hand and opened his left eye. The first thing his mind could compute was that everything was glowing different colors; even the air had streams of color wafting around. He shook his head a little but the colors didn't disappear. A half beat later he realized it was magic he was seeing.
"It worked." He said, a grin stretching across his blue stained face. He squinted his left eye back and grimaced slightly. "But the colors are really bright."
"Let me see your eye." Draco demanded, holding Harry's chin up so he could get a better look. His own grey eyes widened. "It's not just green anymore…you have blue swirling around the pupil."
"Interesting." His eye dropped closed again as Draco released his chin. "Now I've got to rope Severus into backing my, 'potion's accident' story…"
AN: so… Any ideas how I should dress them for Halloween?