A/N: Thank you again to all the support! Someone asked when dramione will happen, and I have to admit it is a slow burner, but it will come eventually! This chapter is delving more into Draco trying to find a way home, it's a little out of context in comparison to the last chapter but has a bigger impact on the overall story (which is getting more serious and closer to the ending of the Half Blood Prince, making its way into the Deathly Hallows). I hope you enjoy this chapter, Draco and Theo have a heart to hear;)

NOTT'S WISE WORDS OF WISDOM

...

The sixth year Slytherin boys' dormitories was practically silent as Draco's fellow housemates slept soundly, except for the low din of Crabbe and Goyle's snoring. Draco, unlike the others, was sat up in bed, his covers over his head as he flicked through a book he had recently picked up from the library on time-turners and their properties. He'd been back and forth from the library ever since he had landed in this alternate universe, desperate to find a way out or at least an explanation as to why he was stuck here.

Carefully shutting the heavy book, finding nothing related to moving to different dimensions, Draco slid the book back under his bed, out of view from his other housemates, and settled back under his covers in defeat.

Until he spotted something glinting out of the corner of Potter's, Harry's, half-open trunk.

Checking around to make sure nobody had heard him, and everyone's curtains were still drawn, Draco crawled to the edge of his bed and reached forward, trying to grab hold of the invisibility cloak. He had guessed what it was the second he saw it shining, looking completely unlike anything else Potter wore - namely worn jeans and creased grey t-shirts - and his heart had skipped a beat. He'd been living in the Slytherin dorms alongside Potter for about a month now, everything had just rolled together and there was no way Draco could mention his predicament to a teacher.

Gripping onto the cloak, he eased it out of the trunk with little effort. Slipping on his slippers, to hide the sound of footsteps, Draco lifted himself off his bed and draped the cloak around him. It was weird to think he was now invisible, he just felt like he looked stupid hiding under a giant clock that he could see out of.

Sneaking past his sleeping friends, Draco managed to open the door without a sound and crept out of the dormitory, making his way down the steps towards the common room. It was silent, the green light from the Black Lake creating haunting images on the green wallpapers walls. He had never noticed how dark the common room was without the lamps on.

He had just about reached the entrance when he heard a noise behind him, then a voice called out.

"Draco?"

Looking around, he saw Theo running down the steps, wearing signature Slytherin green pyjamas, his brown hair messy, as if he had been running his hands through it anxiously. It took Draco a couple of seconds to register he was invisible until Theo spoke again.

"I know you're down here, I saw you put Harry's cloak on and leave the room." Theo had now walked over and sat down on one of the plush emerald sofas, he pulled his wand from his pocket and lit the fireplace, immediately spreading heat into the room. Theo rolled his eyes at his still 'absent' friend. "Would you take off the cloak already? So I can talk to you?"

Reluctantly, Draco pulled the cloak off his head and sat down next to Theo, draping the cloak over the back of the chair. He crossed his arms impatiently.

"Fine, you got me."

"We've all used the cloak before, you get used to it," Theo chuckled. "I'm pretty sure Harry just pretends it hasn't been taken, even though he knows it has."

There was an awkward silence for a second. Draco still wasn't used to Harry Potter being brought up in conversation so regularly about anything other than his fame and popularity. Clearly he was still popular in the world, he seemed to have lots of friends (aside from the Gryffindors, but that was a given considering he was in Slytherin. Although weird since they were his best friends in Draco's world) but didn't seem to be so het-up about his blasted scar. In fact, Draco was pretty certain nobody had mentioned it once since he had arrived here.

"So you heard me wake up? And you've just been spying on me?" Draco asked, gazing into the fire. The flames danced with each other, embracing their warmth.

"Not exactly," Theo started. He sighed. "It's hard to explain, I have this thing I have to do but I'm so worried I'm going to fail, and it'll put everyone I love in danger."

Draco froze. That was exactly how he felt about his mission for Voldemort. Like he had no escape, no chance for failure because if he did fail, Voldemort would kill his family, and then he would kill him. With all the havoc from landing in this alternate world, Draco had forgotten all about his mission for Voldemort. Maybe he didn't have it before. Maybe it had been passed on to somebody else.

Theo.

"Draco, you were going to the library weren't you?"

Draco frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I saw you stuff a book under your bed. And you've been going there quite a lot without taking your bag or any parchment, so I know you're not doing homework. Besides, you never usually do homework without Hermione or Harry around." Theo finished. He seemed to be debating in his head, then asked, "Can I come with you?"

"To the library?" Draco was confused but Theo looked serious.

"You can do whatever research you're doing, and I can just gather my thoughts."

Draco was still frowning. He was absolutely positive Theo was going through the same mission he had been forced to do in the other world. He had all the symptoms, spying on everyone, slacking on work, hanging back and not getting as involved as everyone else. Draco had dropped Quidditch because of his mission, wanting to spend as much time fixing the vanishing cabinet and not having any distractions.

"Can I ask you a question Theo?" Draco treaded carefully, he hadn't told any of his friends about Voldemort's plans for him, but of course, they hadn't understood him or gone through the same thing. Not like he had with Theo.

"Ask away?" his friend replied, looking up from his lap at Draco.

"Do you have a mission? From…" he paused, not sure what Draco from this world called The Dark Lord. Most likely not the Dark Lord, considering he was friends with the 'boy who lived' and his muggleborn friend. "From… you-know-who?"

Theo's eyes widened in shock. In seconds his wand was in Draco's face, ready to cast an unforgivable. Draco understood completely, he had been on constant guard whenever anyone brought up Voldemort, worried they would out his mission to everyone. But for his to actually ask Theo about the mission itself, that was an accident waiting to happen.

"Who told you?" he hissed, pressing the tip of his wand harshly into Draco's cheek. Draco held up his hands in surrender.

"Nobody, I swear. But I have something to tell you as well! If you come to library with me I'll explain everything." He kept his hands up, preferring not to threaten Theo by pointing his wand in his face. Slowly, Theo lowered his wand - still looking wary - and nodded, reluctantly.

"Okay, we'll go to the library and you will explain everything. Or I swear I will hex you."

"I don't doubt that for a second, believe me." Draco answered, picking up the cloak and throwing it over the pair of them as they left the common room in silence.

...

The library was dark, both Draco and Theo had lit their wands with 'Lumos' but were still hidden under the cloak, afraid Filch might catch them and report them to Professor Snape. Draco had found another book on transportation through time, but nothing on transportation through worlds. He was still wondering if there was such a thing written down.

Theo was still hostile, his wand grasped tightly in his hand, ready to hex Draco at any second.

"Why are you reading about time turners and time travel?" he finally asked, peering over at what Draco was reading.

"Because I need to find a way home," Draco replied absentmindedly. Theo glanced at him as if he had grown two heads.

"A way home? As in Malfoy Manor?"

"No," Draco answered, still skimming the open page for anything or transportation to other worlds. "As in to my world, not this alternate universe where I'm friends with boy-wonder Potter and Hermione Granger."

Theo was now looking at him as if he was mad. "Draco, are you feeling okay?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm fine Theo. And telling the absolute truth." He paused his reading, turning to Theo. Draco let out a sigh. "There's a reason I know, or guessed, about your mission from Voldemort." Theo winced at the name, something Draco found odd. "It's because I was set the same task in my other world. The world where I'm not friends with Potter and Granger, where they're friends with Weasley and I'm their enemy. The world where I have the dark mark and have a mission I have to complete for the Dark Lord otherwise he'll kill my family, first my mother right in front of my eyes." Draco pulled up his sleeve to show Theo a faint outline of the dark mark etched onto his skin, something the transportation to this alternate universe hadn't been able to completely erase. Theo's eyes widened as he too pulled up his sleeve, revealing a darker, more deadly looking dark mark that was burned onto his skin with pure dark magic. Draco could remember the pain as it was carved into his inner arm, cutting into all his veins and binding him to Lord Voldemort. His Aunt Bellatrix had praised him after receiving the mark, brandishing him a true member of the Black family. His mother had fawned over him for days, soaking his arm in cold water to dull the pain. Bellatrix had called her weak. Draco had refused to say anything, he had regretted that everyday after. Seeing his mother being called weak and doing nothing about it made him the same, weak.

"He threatened my parents. And Daphne." Theo announced, wringing his hands together as he opened up to Draco. "We're in an arranged marriage and my father told him. He threatened to kill her in front of me if I didn't finish the job he set me." Draco could see tears forming in Theo's eyes, exactly like he had felt after watching Katie Bell enter the Great Hall just a mere month ago.

"I know what you're going through. And I promise, I won't tell anybody, I know how on edge I was about telling people that the Dark Lord had given me my own personal mission." He paused, taking in Theo's gaunt expression as the other Slytherin boy just stared at him, a lone tear dribbled down his left cheek, Theo brushed it away, averting his gaze from Draco.

"How do you manage to hide it?"

"I didn't?" Draco supplied, letting out a sigh and shrugging slightly. "I became more distant, quit the Quidditch Team - they'd asked me to be Captain but I turned it down, my mother begged me not to but I didn't really have much choice - I ignored my friends more, focusing only on the Dark Lord's plan for me." He paused, taking in Theo's weak statue. "You're doing better than me. I couldn't even get through one attempt of murder before I broke down."

Theo looked at Draco in confusion. "Murder?"

"Yeah," he looked around, even though he knew the library was empty and there were no ear wigging portraits in sight. "Of Dumbledore."

Theo's eyes grew as they widened in shock. "The Dark Lord asked you to… murder… Dumbledore?"

"Is that not your mission?"

"No. I only have to fix a blasted Vanishing cabinet." Theo's face became startled. "Draco, you have to promise you won't go blabbing about this to Harry or Hermione, you know how they feel about the dark side. In fact, I know how you feel about the dark side. I know how to cast unforgivables."

Draco was still gobsmacked by the Dark Lord's request for Theo. His threat was forgotten as Draco continued to pry.

"So, you don't have to… murder anybody?"

"Not that I know of. My job is to bring the Death Eaters into…" he trailed off, finally decided to stop telling what he supposed was the 'enemy' his mission. "I mean it you know, about the unforgivables."

Draco eventually nodded. "I know. Don't worry, I won't go 'blabbing' to Potter and Granger. What am I meant to say? 'By the way, Theodore Nott is a Death Eater but he only told me because in my alternate life, which is where I've appeared from, I'm your enemy and I'm a Death Eater." He snorted, shaking his head in mirth. "Yeah right."

Silence followed. Draco returned to his book, scrolling through the paragraphs to find something on different universes. They had to exist if he had been able to get here. It was a total mystery. Theo had also picked up another book from the shelves, assisting Draco with his search for an escape.

"Maybe you should." Theo interrupted the silence, not looking up from the page he was reading on 'the dangers of forward time travel'. Draco rose an eyebrow in his direction.

"Maybe I should… what?"

"Tell them."

Draco frowned. "About you?"

Theo lifted his head. "No. About you. You know, being from another universe, if that's what you think has happened. Hermione's the brightest witch in our year, she might be able to help you?"

Draco looked at Theo with a torn expression on his face. Theo did have a point, with Granger and Potter on his side he could find a way home a lot quicker, who knows what Granger kept up in that head of hers. She quoted 'Hogwarts: A History' for Merlin's sake. And he didn't have to tell them everything about the other universe, not the part where he was a Death Eater enemy, he could just tell them he was in Slytherin at Hogwarts, and that they weren't as close in that world as they were here. He didn't have to go into every little detail.

"You think they would help me?"

"Draco, I don't know how close you were to them in the other world. If you had the Dark Mark, I'm guessing not that close?" - Draco nodded half-heartedly in response - "But I do know that the Hermione and Harry in this world would do anything for their best friend, whether he was from this world or not."

Draco flicked through a couple more pages, contemplating Theo's suggestion. It would be the most logical approach. And if they thought he was their friend in the other universe they would most likely help him out immediately, especially boy wonder Potter who, although had mellowed, still seemed to want to be Hogwarts' number one hero.

"The least you can do is ask?"

There was the sound of a cat meowing outside the library. Theo and Draco froze, extinguishing 'Lumos' and putting their books back, throwing Harry's invisibility cloak over them in the process. It seemed that Mrs Norris had simply continued on down the corridor, but the two Slytherin's were never too sure how far away Filch was from his beloved cat.

...

As they trekked down towards the Slytherin dungeons, Draco turned to Theo with a sympathetic look on his face.

"I wish I could tell you not to continue with the Dark Lord's plan, but I know from personal experience that it isn't that easy." Theo nodded in response, looking down at his feet. "However, I can tell you that if you ever need help, make sure to let me know. I may not be loyal to the Dark Lord in this world, but I'm still loyal to my friend."

The common room door opened in front of them as Theo muttered the password under his breath. Once they were inside the green, murky waters common room, Theo shrugged the cloak off himself and his roommate, turning to face Draco.

"Thanks, and remember to tell Harry and Hermione. I promise it will help, talking about this to somebody has helped me."

"I will. First thing tomorrow. I promise."

...

A/N: I liked writing this chapter, it was nice to write something with Draco and another Slytherin from his past. At first I was a bit concerned that Theo would definitely not tell Draco about his mission, but then I though 'no, they are friends and I reckon Theo is more open than Draco was sixth year, he trusts him and wants help' so decided to roll with it. The character of Theo will become a lot more evident in future chapters and I like writing him!

Next week is another flashback, to Harry, Hermione and Draco's detention in the forbidden forest!

Remember to review, favourite and tell me what you think!

Thank you x