The uproar of the announcement died around him, as did everything else. It was if his surroundings were slowly melting away to reveal the old kitchen in Malfoy Manor underneath.
Draco span around wildly, fist clenched tightly over the slightly warm time turner around his neck.
The room was exactly as he left it, with a distinct lack of Roach which was suspicious from the get go.
"Roach?" Draco hissed, remembering the footsteps that made him leave so quickly in the first place "Are you still here"
"Master?" said a scratchy voice, rustling from the darkness
The fat old elf hobbled out of his normally well made bed sit, now that he looked, Draco noticed that the room was in a state.
Roach himself was no better, his squished little nose was crooked and blood caked his rounded face. A makeshift sling was supporting what looked to be a very badly fractured arm.
"What happened Roach" Draco asked incredulously "Merlin, here let me, just hold still"
Draco gently poked the elf's arm and nose with his wand, snapping the already incorrectly healing bones back into place.
"What happened?" Draco repeated
"Master did not change" Roach said, more fact than question "Eaters like to hurt Roach and young Master now. That is only change"
"I did change!" he crouched down "We were friends, Potter and I. We were in the same house and - "
Draco paused, frowning at the dirty floor. He had planned so much, to change things that made more of a difference.
He was going to tell Dumbledore about Quirrell, he was going to tell the man everything before it happened until he felt it was enough.
Gazing at his now much larger hands his frown deepened further. He had heard of wizards going that far back in time, some much further, but never actually swapping bodies.
Roach was looking sadly at him through his hooded eyelids, something about him always seemed to know what he was thinking even before he did himself.
Draco tugged the little gold instrument from his neck and held it out in front of them.
"This isn't just a Time Turner is it?" Draco asked
Roach looked away and shifted uneasily on his feet "Master not leave time to explain"
"We have all the time in the world now Roach"
"Master must understand, Russia dark wizards, experiment" He pointed to the softly glowing rubies and ruins etched into the metal "The Demidov family old, had too much money, had too much time"
"Okay, so you had crazy dark wizards as masters, not much has changed." Draco gestured wildly around him "I don't care what they did in the past, what does this thing really do?"
"Swap minds with past but only two weeks. The turner much too small for longer" Roach looked ashamed "Could not fit bigger when family murdered"
Draco nodded slowly. So, he only had two weeks each time before he was ousted to whatever future he had created. Apparently what he had done was much too little.
"Wait, Roach, why do you remember that I used this? Shouldn't you have forgotten the reality I came from?
Roach lifted up his blood-stained smock slightly and showed an angry looking tattoo on his abdomen, it had the same kind of writing as the Time Turner.
"Demidov family always travel, elf needs to remember." Roach smoothed the ruined fabric down again "Family have been doing long long time, learnt not to change important things. Things like burnt food they change"
Of course the old families outside of the rest of the western world would know better than to use their powerful magic that thoughtlessly.
He needed to change something a bit bigger than the bloody house Potter was in.
"Did I even change anything?" Draco asked quietly
Roach looked sadly at the floor "No"
"How is he? How's Harry?"
"The same, boy just not stupid anymore" The elf laughed darkly
Draco pulled his hair, he felt like screaming at the elf for no good reason other than to let his pent up anger out.
He racked his mind for a better event to change; in his second and third year Harry didn't need any help. The dead giant snake under the school and the escaped "criminal" was proof enough of that.
Perhaps he should just bite the bullet and stop Voldemort coming back in the first place. Their fourth year in Hogwarts, the Triwizard tournament, that was one of the most poignant moments in his revival.
"Two weeks right?" Draco put the tampered time turner back around his neck
"Two weeks" Roach agreed
Draco gave it a few twists, lining up the date of the year he was going back to "Hopefully this will be the last time we see each other" he smiled ruefully and the room started spinning
Draco opened his eyes slowly and found himself staring at the familiar dark surroundings of his dorm room. Judging by the snores of his housemates it looked like it was still early morning.
There were two weeks to go to the last challenge and he was determined to change things this time.
"Draco?"
He jolted up and saw Harry smiling softly from the bed next to him, making the other boy laugh
"You look like you've seen a ghost" he chuckled, pulling his shirt off to get changed "Are you sure you're okay?"
Draco nodded mutely, gawping at Harry's surprisingly toned figure. He had never seen him in any state of undress and now suddenly he was parading around in just his boxers.
It was lewd.
"When you've stopped leering would do you want to get breakfast together before class?"
Draco snapped out of his daze and started pulling on his uniform angrily "As if anyone would leer at you, Potter"
"Potter?" Harry let out a bark like laugh he'd never heard before "Did you get out of the wrong side of the bed today or what?"
He strutted over to Draco and pulled his tie so it was tight enough to strangle.
Strutted.
The same guy he always remembered mooching all over the castle while trying to attract the least amount of attention to him was strutting.
Slytherin had made him into a dick.
"Okay okay fine" Draco flapped Harry's hands away from molesting his tie again "I just don't enjoy seeing a specky git looking at me when I first woke up."
Harry laughed again and wacked Draco's back, which almost sent him flying "That's more like it"
Draco followed him up to the great hall in a stupor. Other students in all three houses greeted them both happily; no one avoided Draco's eyes or even tried to trip him up for once.
Even bloody Ernie Macmillan said good morning to them both while walking past the hallway to Hufflepuff's common room.
Of course, Draco thought moodily, that with the right environment Harry's temper and brashness would transform into confidence. He might as well be a different person
Harry caught him staring again while scraping eggs onto their plates "Holy hell Draco, you look like you're about to slit my throat. What's up with you?"
"You look really good Harry" Draco realised what he had said and stuffed a square of toast in his mouth
Harry blushed slightly and grinned "I wish I could say the same but you currently have butter all over your face"
He took a napkin and brushed some crumby butter from the sides of Draco's mouth "Better" he said softly
They were interrupted as Ron and Hermione sat down opposite, pointedly looking anywhere other than at them.
"Morning!" Harry quickly dropped the napkin and poured the two Gryffindor's tea without asking
"Morning" Hermione said brightly, elbowing Ron who nodded and mumbled something back "You better watch yourselves, that Skeeter woman would have loved a photo of that"
Harry sighed and abandoned his eggs. The conversation quickly changed, much to Ron's enjoyment, to the last task.
The loud ringing that was still in Draco's ears quickly drowned their chatter out.
"Come on Draco, we have Moody's class" Harry dragged him up by elbow and they made their way out of the hall
"Hold on!" a body slammed in-between and attached itself to his arm "You little shit Draco, you said you'd help me answer the last question for Moody's homework before class"
Pansy was hanging off of their arms, glaring at Draco
"Don't mind him Pans, he's been a bit weird this morning" Harry draped his arm around the girl's shoulders and playfully curled a bit of Draco's hair around his finger
"Hm, he is looking a little sick actually" she said, wrinkling her nose at him
"Stop talking about me like I'm an invalid" he flattened the finger curled hair down "I'm fine, I'm just tired"
"While I find your sleeping patterns fascinating Mr Malfoy, yourself, Potter and Parkinson are holding up the class" Moody limped past them
The man tipped back his flask before writing the class aims on the chalkboard and a wide grin spread across Draco's face.
There it is, his ticket to a better future. He just had to somehow sneak into a delusional Death Eater's bedroom and tamper with the only way the man was hiding his appearance. Simple.
Draco started writing notes down on the defensive spell they were practicing today. It was pointless; he'd never get past the wards Crouch had no doubt put around his quarters.
What if he didn't need to go that far? What if there was something he could do during the day that would ensure the disguise to fail?
Draco accidentally snapped the point of his quill with how hard he was pressing it into the parchment.
He knew what he had to do.
Draco heaved the last book that he managed to find on the library desk and pushed the monstrous pile he had collected to the side.
Apparently books on spy work and reversing the effects of an illegal to use in school potion was nigh impossible to find in the said school's library.
He stared mournfully at the restricted section that was currently being guarded by the old bat of a librarian. Ever since he had asked to go in and mumbled something about losing his permission note she had stood like a gargoyle by the locked door.
"Draco, would you stop huffing in your little corner? You're putting me off of this essay" Pansy winged
Harry leaned over and grabbed the book he had just put down "'Seeing the Why in Spy'? You looking to do some detective work Draco?"
"Don't touch things that aren't yours" Draco snatched it back "And for your information I'm just doing extra reading for Moody"
Pansy arched an eyebrow "I thought you weren't doing any work for that 'old loon'" she made air quotations with her fingers
"Well, I've changed my mind"
"Bullshit" Harry said simply "The most stubborn person I know doesn't just 'change their mind'"
"I swear if I see another finger quote I'll snap them off" Draco sent the other books back into their shelves a little too roughly, which made several people jump
"Then stop giving stupid excuses" Pansy rolled up her homework now that something else had thoroughly distracted her
"If you can't tell us what you're plotting, and you're always plotting something, why the hell are we friends?" Harry crossed his arms and sat down on the other side of him
"You're going to think I'm losing my mind," said Draco
"We already do, love," said Pansy
"Merlin, fine, but if you don't believe me I won't try to convince you" he said
Draco explained the gist of his issue. Harry and Pansy's expressions growing more and more disbelieving as he went on, Pansy had a slight slack jaw looking going on.
The only change was Harry's eyes flickering to Draco's neck and down to his chest after he explained the special time turner. He saw something click in Harry's head.
Harry let out a strangled yelp and jumped out of his seat, sending it crashing to the floor.
Pansy gave Madam Pince a pained smile and hit Harry over the head for good measure. That seemed to sedate the woman, who shuffled around the corner, staying in hearing range.
"Show her" Harry whispered "I saw a bit of a necklace when you were changing this morning, it's the time turner isn't it?"
"Why were you watching him-" Pansy was cut off as she gasped at the ornate machine "Oh Draco, that's beautiful... Wait, so you're really from the future?"
"Well it sounds a bit ridiculous when you put it like that"
Harry kept quiet for once and frowned slightly at Draco then back down at the time turner, he looked a little distressed.
Before any of them could speak a shadow crossed over their secluded table, it was Hermione, looking down at them furiously.
"Oh hi Hermione, fancy seeing you here" Pansy forced a laugh and tried to cover the time turner with her elbow
"Don't try to hide it now Parkinson" Pansy looked abashed at the use of her second name "I don't believe you Draco, you of all people meddling with time like this?"
"Me of all people?" Draco scoffed "If I remember correctly you used one in your third year to get to class"
"That was with a NORMAL time turner and I didn't actually change anything!" Hermione bristled "You're changing the course of history!"
"If you saw what was in all of out futures you'd do the same" Draco hissed back and dragged the girl down to sit at the table before Madam Pince overheard
She shook her head gravely "You have no idea what you're doing. I've read all about these kind of things in the restricted section, you can't know for sure you're bettering the future or making things way worse"
Draco shrugged "I'd rather take the risk than live in hiding for the rest of my life. You wont ever know what that's like Hermione"
She looked at Harry helplessly and he shrugged moodily.
"Thanks for the support" She said sourly "Draco, I think you're being incredibly stupid but I'm going to help you. So you don't do something stupid."
"Hermione, thank yo-"
"You do realise that after you go back we'll remember none of this conversation" Hermione sighed at Draco's expression "A tampered time line can't remember that it's been tampered with. I swear sometimes I'm the only one that ever reads"
"So I'll get my Draco back?" Harry asked quietly
Draco blinked at his unusual, for this timeline's Harry anyway, forlorn expression.
"Your Draco? I'm right here, I haven't gone anywhere" he said reproachfully
"You're not the same, not really" Harry messed his in frustration "You're not exactly the same"
Pansy and Hermione looked awkwardly back and forth between them, eyeing Draco carefully,
"Harry" Draco touched his arm gently making the other boy jump "If you all help me do this everything will go back to normal and nothing bad will happen to anyone, I promise"
Harry stared at Draco for a second then slammed his palms on the table "Then we're sorting this out tonight"
They were swiftly escorted form the library.