The initial awkwardness that Draco felt in this newfound reality didn't go away until a couple days later. He had excused himself from activities and classes with the basic lie of being ill. He needed to take a moment to try to understand what had happened.
In his mind, he had mapped every moment before he had gone to sleep as he concluded that any type of spell that might've changed his reality happened after that moment, otherwise he would've noticed some sort of magic taking over his body and transporting him to a different reality. He remembered the fight, his father screaming and him, the banging on the door, Bissy coming to check on him, and then... the earthquake. Could that moment be the key moment when everything changed?
If it was, what kind of magic could make the earth crust shake with such power?
He didn't know. He had to read about it but wouldn't even know where to start searching for it. He didn't have anyone to trust, he was now a Gryffindor which meant that he did not have any contact with his real friends. Once again, he was alone.
Or so he thought.
After a couple of days of being absent, with Hermione Granger sending him his assignments and a couple of quick visits from Potter and Weasley, he decided that perhaps he needed to accept his fate to discover what really happened to him. As far as he knew, this was a product of magic but that was all.
By the fifth day he had returned to class. Which he hated. He was once more a sixth year and besides the change of house, everything was the same. Everything but one thing… there was no threat of Lord Voldemort coming back. The air felt lighter, and the world looked less… grey.
He remembered the Howler he had seen in the memories that first night. He remembered the words said by his mother "what will your father say when he hears of this". What did she mean by that?
His first stop after resuming this new life was the library. He knew that the school kept a record of all the Daily prophet's newspapers since the beginning of it and thought that maybe there might some information.
And he was right. It didn't take long to find what he was looking for.
"Death-Eaters sentenced to life in Azkaban. Lord Voldemort is gone"
His father was in jail. But there was more than that...
"Hogwarts professor, now a war hero, Severus Snape saved 1-year old Harry Potter from death after Lord Voldemort attacked the house of Lily and James Potter. It is said that the potions professor received an intel about a close friend of the couple betraying them.
It is uncertain the conditions in which the Potter child was found but rumours suggest that if not saved he would've perished with his parents.
Severus Snape confronted Lord Voldemort and after an exhaustive duel, Snape was victorious.
It is scheduled by the Ministry of Magic for Snape to receive an award for his services to the magical community.
It is uncertain what will happen with the Potter child. "
Draco was right. Everything had changed.
In this reality the past 15 years was different from what he remembered.
Potter's parents were still dead but so was Lord Voldemort.
Everyone knew that Potter, Weasley and Granger in the time they were missing from Hogwarts and being persecuted by Lord Voldemort's followers, were attempting to find remanent of Voldemort's soul: the famous horcruxes. Draco remembered how they had to sit in the magical court and hear for hours and hours with no end how this horcruxes had kept Voldemort in an ambiguous state, not dead nor alive for years. But this new information meant that in this reality, they did not have to find them. As they might even not exist. Or so he thought.
Draco kept searching for information until the name of his father caught his attention.
"Notorious death-eater and Voldemort's second in command, Lucius Malfoy II, to be killed by a dementor's kiss in two weeks.
The man responsible for the massacre in Appleby the night of October 25, 1981, captured on September 1st, 1986. Lucius Malfoy II had been on the run and in hiding since after the news of the downfall and defeat of Lord Voldemort has been newly sentenced to the end of his life by the dementor's kiss.
After a dozen new witnesses, including two ex-death eaters that were willing to testify in exchange of the reduction of their sentence, the members of the Wizard High Court have decided to change Lucius Malfoy II´s sentence. Previously in 1987 the killer was charged with conspiracy against the magic community and murder of wizards and witches and sentenced to life in Azkaban. However, after new evidence came to light, they have sentenced him to death by dementor's kiss.
The sentence is to be carried on October 1, 1993".
"So, he is dead" – He said to himself, and as he said it, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. For years he had feared his father. He thought of the cane that was used a method of punishment against him while growing up.
Every time Draco had said something his father disagreed with, a strike of that cane made him change his mind. He still had several marks on his body that will forever remind him of the man that was once his father.
"Who's dead?" – Heard behind him. – "Oh, your dad. Yeah, that sucks. Candy?" – Draco look the bag filled with candy of different colours. Shook his head, refusing the candy and just by that he knew who was sitting next to him: Weasley.
For the past couple of days, Draco had followed him and Potter everywhere. Trying to understand what was happening and what had happened. At first, he thought he was hexed but there were no signs of that. Cursed either.
"So, Mom owled this morning. You were gone already. She's asking if you will join us for Christmas day. We know you'll spend Christmas eve with Andromeda and Ted but she wants you to come. I told her you were going to come, so … come. "– Something Draco never noticed in his real universe was how much Weasley tended to speak. Barely letting him say anything in return.
He nodded sharply which caught the attention of Weasley... again. "Are you in your grim place today?" – He asked daring to put one of his hands on his back, trying to... give him support? The way he asked the question made him think that this behaviour was not odd from this version of himself. Was this Draco a sensitive boy? Was he weak? What would his father think of this…
He's dead. You're free – The voice reminded him. His own voice.
"Yeah, I'm on my grim place. I can't believe he's dead... for so long I wanted him gone, and he is. I'm free" – Replied back this time looking at this stranger that knew so much about him. His words caused a glimpse of curiosity in Ron's face and he could tell that he was about to ask what he meant by that when another voice called on them. An ethereal voice that had never pay attention before.
"Hey guys, what are you doing here? Are you looking for your shoes too? The faeries took mine this morning. Have you seen them? "– Draco resisted the urge to laugh at the girl in front of them. He now knew who she was… Luna Lovegood.
She was one of the weirdest people he had known or known of and had never been interested in getting to know her. He remembered her screams though.
That horrible night when her aunt, Bellatrix, had taken the girl to Malfoy Manor. That horrible night when he was forced to watch not only Lovegood, but Granger too be tortured for information that they did not have or said they didn't have.
He felt suddenly guilty. He wondered if maybe he could've made a difference in his own world if he had been a little bit braver.
"You look different" – He heard her say, getting his attention. – "You're not Draco" – She added. Could she notice the difference between him and whatever version of himself existed in this reality?
"I'm just tired, I haven't seen your shoes" – Draco said, hastily leaving the room. For a second the idea of being caught triggered a panic attack that he managed to breathe through. He did not want to be caught, although he did not know what could happened if that happened. But he did not wish to be caught.
For the past couple of days, he had tasted what it felt to be in a reality where he was not abused nor screamed at for defending a helpless creature. He felt free. He felt free from Lucius, from his "friends", from the expectations of what he could do to aid a battle that was never his. He had managed to escape the war without injury and without punishment, solely because he was child. He was coerced and forced to join the dark lord by his father.
This might be his chance to see what his world could have been if only he would've been braver and reject his father's blind wishes.
Christmas was approaching them steady. He had accepted the invitation to the Weasleys home for Christmas day and Andromeda had sent him an owl confirming that he indeed was to spend the winter break with them ´as usual´.
He did not understand how the memories worked. He had a few flashbacks and surges of memories come to him in certain moments, but it was not full memories. It was glimpses of things that other Draco had done in this reality. For a moment he wondered if other Draco was living in his reality and realising what a nightmare it was too to live in a world where Narcissa and Lucius were still in his life.
He hoped not. No one, not even himself deserved that kind of life. That was he sure about.
The glimpses of memories that he had received so far showed him that after being sorted into Gryffindor, aunt Andromeda and her muggle husband had given him shelter every year when the school year was over. Narcissa kept her word, and he was not allowed to enter Malfoy manor. Literally.
One of the memories had showed him after being sorted into Gryffindor, standing outside of Malfoy manor. He had tried to go back to his childhood home, but she had put in place a strong spell that physically forbade him to set foot in the grounds of his ancestors. It had broken his young heart but Andromeda and Nymphadora had become a foster mother and sibling that he never knew he needed. That was the beginning of his life within the muggle world. Andromeda had created a life in the muggle world after marrying Ted Tonks, and he had never seen two people happier and more in love than them.
That's when he realised that he had never really seen true happiness. At least not in his parents.
His life had changed after that moment. He had grown to feel happiness and for what his new friends had mentioned, this other version of himself waited the festivities with anxiety as it was his favourite time of the year.
Since he had appeared in this reality, he had to be careful. The gaps between the memories made him feel as he was walking on eggshells. There was 6 years' worth of information that he did not have.
It was December 20th, and they had one day left before they could return to their homes for the winter break. For the first time since his arrival, had agreed to have breakfast with Potter, Weasley and Granger. Previously he had been telling them he was sick, his stomach acting up or just saying he was not hungry.
He used the mornings to search in the library for news about his family and occasional searching for what kind of magic could've brought him years in the past. He had found nothing.
"Is Andromeda picking you up from King's Cross?" – Asked Granger while she was sitting in front of him in the Great Hall. He shrugged his shoulders; he sincerely did not know. – "Mom says we can drive you to their house if you need to. I know Harry will be taking Buckbeak to Grimmauld place. So, we'll drive you." – One thing Draco had noticed now that he never noticed before was how bossy Hermione Granger was. He used to find her annoying and thought that she felt superior to everyone but her friends. He was wrong... including with her friends she was like that.
He guessed she had reasons to behave like that.
She was the favourite for most of the teachers, somehow managed to attend multiple courses every term and somehow always be the one with the higher scores. But at the same time there was kindness in her disguised as bossiness or superiority. He had noticed firstly when he decided to used homework as an excuse to skip breakfast. She had heard it from Weasley and had insisted on helping him.
Between scolding and annoyed sights, she had helped him to do his homework even thought he had done it already. One of the things that he had hated the most in this new life of his was the fact that he needed to repeat his schoolwork, again. On the other hand, despite of what everyone might´ve of thought he had done very well in school during his time at Hogwarts. At least until the war broke out.
Draco nodded to her talk, without really saying anything. Still found it hard to maintain basic conversation with her without being tempted to say something offensive towards her.
By nodding and agreeing with what she had said, he did realise that she had formed a soft smile on her lips. A weird sensation of warmth had appeared after seeing that.
In the distance, Draco saw how his old mates were laughing at the expense of some Hufflepuff that had "tripped" and fallen splattering all his books on the floor. He knew the truth. He had been part of those jokes many times in the past. He wondered if he himself had been a victim of his old friends in this reality or if the Malfoy name had some sort of respect still, even if he was in the wrong house.
On their last day in Hogwarts before them leaving they had decided that they would meet in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor's common room before using Harry's invisibility cloak to sneak past everyone and visit Hagrid.
Potter had the invisibility cloak, and that made so much sense. How during all those years at Hogwarts, he had managed to defeat danger every single year. They had been sneaking around the castle without any of the teachers noticing it. And not just the cloak, he had a freaking map that showed the location of every single person in the castle.
He wondered for a second if Harry ever questioned what he was doing in the prefect's bathroom with Pansy Parkinson at 2 a.m. every wednesday. The thought of that ephemeral relationship opened a can of worms he was not ready to open yet and that saw no point in opening. He asked himself if other Draco was in a relationship or if he fancied someone. There was no diary or any clue that could suggest that he did, but after everything that has happened, he knew that couldn't trust in the universe anymore.
Draco had no interest in seeing Hagrid, the groundkeeper. He never was interested in him, and after the incident with the beast in his third year he kept himself away from him and any creature that he might be nurturing. However, it seemed as if the golden trio loved spending time with him, and as the fourth wheeled in this unhinged reality had to follow them and pretend that the food in front of him did not taste like a boot.
Luckily, Hermione's obsession with time and control saved them from having to spend more time in the cottage. "We must not miss the train tomorrow morning" – She kept repeating while walking back to the castle under the cloak.
The next morning the whole castle was on the move. Most of the students were excited to return to their families after half a year in the castle away from them. Draco found himself in a grey area where he did not find himself excited to travel to Andromeda's house but at the same time excited he did not have to return to Malfoy manor and endure festivities filled with his father's rage.
If Draco was being honest, even though he had not been in this new reality for a month he had started seeing the silver lining of it all. Hex, curse or just a dream… it was better than anything he had before.
The train ride had not changed from what he used to remember, everyone speaking at the same time, laughing and the lady in the trolley with the infinite amount of candy. He had never bought candy before on his way to Hogwarts, found it childish and could ruin his act of "cool death-eater's son". But in this reality, he had nowhere to go but up.
His father was dead, there was no threat of Voldemort coming, all the death eaters where imprisoned or dead; he could be just a child for once. There were days where he could not, still, accept this life. And while he could finally breathe, he could not rest until he understood what happened. How he got back in time.
Back in London, he said goodbye to his new friends. If he could call them that way. He felt no friendship towards them, not really. He listened how they bickered and laugh at Longbottom's and Weasleys expense, he saw how Potter pined over Cho Chang, observed how Ginny Weasley looked at Luna and how oblivious Lovegood was. He heard how excited they were for Christmas, how on Christmas day Bill Weasley would come to visit, as well as Charlie Weasley. How the twins, Fred and George were preparing fireworks, despite Molly's warning.
He felt no friendship towards them, not really. Or so he wanted himself to believe.
The car ride to Andromeda's house was something he had never experienced before. He felt sick most of the ride and Hermione had made a couple remarks about how green he looked. Draco felt green.
He had never ridden in a car before. There was no need for that in the magical world. There was floo network and apparition, and brooms. No need for a car. Specially not when they were slower and much more unstable.
Hermione's parents kept trying to make conversation with them, but Draco didn't knew what to say. Their conversation sounded like a bunch of gibberish that he could not understand. They talked about teeth, about how he needed to visit them soon for his appointment and how Andromeda and Ted had visit them not long ago. It was all muggle talk.
He felt relieved when they finally stopped in front of a small house in a suburban area. Andromeda Tonk's house. His house. He thanked the Grangers before almost running out of the car and was ready to face the next unknown step of his new life when Granger stopped him. "Are you coming on New Years's eve? "– She asked by rolling down the window of the vehicle. He stared at her blankly, was he supposed to visit her during the winter break? – "You forgot! I asked you weeks ago if you wanted to come, you said yes. I knew you'd forget. It's alright. Just… don't forget again, ok? There's something I want to show you ". - He just nodded. It didn't seemed like he had another option but to agree.
He said goodbye to them with an awkward shake of his hand and walked towards the door. Before he could even knock the door opened aggressively. "My boy is home!" – It was Andromeda. He had never seen her in person before. After she had married a muggle, Narcissa had cut off all contact with her, but she looked exactly like his mother.
Her height was not much of a difference to his mother's. Her hair was lighter, probably she had changed it. One of the most recognisable attributes of the Black family was their black hair, contrary to the Malfoy family's hair. Narcissa had created a spell to include a piece of Malfoy hair in her own hair when she married into the Malfoy family. Andromeda's skin was pale and was decorated by a couple of wrinkles around her eyes and her mouth.
She hugged Draco without him expecting it. No, let me rephrase that. This Draco did not expect that hug. He was not used to displays of affection, Narcissa had never really been the warmest. Before his entry to Hogwarts, Narcissa was his only source of love. Narcissa and the house-elves that played with him and spent time with him whenever his parents were busy being "The Malfoys". But hugs were not part of that love display. Not really.
"I've missed you, my dear boy" – He heard her say before she let him go. She looked both ways behind Draco before taking her own wand and disappearing Draco's trunk, probably to his room.
In the memories that had come to him as flashbacks from time to time during the past days, he saw that he loved Andromeda. Like a mother. And he loved Ted Tonks, her husband. He had been responsible of teaching him everything a boy needed to learn. At least a muggle boy. He was not allowed to practice magic outside of Hogwarts due to his age, so he was taught how to shave and how to play muggle sports every summer. The Draco Malfoy that existed in this universe loved them, as his family.
Quietly he entered the home, that clearly had been enchanted to be bigger than it seemed. It smelled like cinnamon, and they had a fire started in the living room. Christmas ornaments were displayed everywhere and by the chimney were four stockings, with four names: Nymphadora, Ted, Andromeda and his own: Draco.
He felt a knot in his throat by seeing the stockings, and all the pictures above the fireplace. After other Draco, he was running out of ideas on how to call him, was left homeless and without a family to visit when he was sorted into Gryffindor, the Tonks had stepped out and welcomed him with open arms.
Other Draco was loved. He was loved.
"Go change, dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes. Nymphadora won't come home until tomorrow and Ted should be home soon. I made your favourite! "– He nodded and without an utter word he decided to explore the home that now was his home.
What had started as nightmare was no longer that. It felt... like an opportunity. An opportunity that he decided, wanted to take.
Christmas Eve's came quickly, and he had managed to survive without raising suspicions that something had changed. That he had changed.
He felt like an impostor. And he was. This was not his life, yet he did not want to go back to his own. He felt like the world was different. Was not dark and gloomy, but bright and filled with opportunities.
He had managed to speak with his uncle, Ted, about his school year and about his friends. However, everything he had said was based in the couple of days he had spent with them. Ted talked about his work, to which Draco did not understand at all. Although, to be fair he did not pay much attention. He was mostly focus on not blowing up his own cover. Nymphadora had come home and had been discussing her auror training. She spoke a lot, without much of a possibility of intervention.
He felt bad for her future.
That thought made him realise, he knew how each of them lived in his universe. Ted Tonks would be killed by Snatchers and Nymphadora would be killed by their aunt Bellatrix. Then he realised Ted Tonks was not just a muggle. He looked like one, but he was, in fact, a wizard like them.
A muggle-born wizard.
A rush of memories came into his brain suddenly. Memories from his world, not this world.
He had heard Lucius speak about how Andromeda was a blood-traitor by marrying a muggle. They talked about him as if he was a non-magical person. Ted Tonks was a wizard. They just decided to live among muggles, to avoid their own kind in fear of rejection and abuse from part of their community.
He had asked himself since he had arrived in their home, how come Ted was not freaked out by the pictures moving or the objects doing tasks like cleaning and cooking. He understood that some people might get used to magic being around them, but most of them would not be able to understand.
There was something in the brains of muggles that was different from witches and wizards. Their brain forbade them from believing in magic and understanding it. That's why simple spells for them felt like something was abnormal and most of the time muggles used the word "paranormal" and attributed magic to ghosts and the dead.
Remembering that piece of information changed his view on Ted Tonks permanently.
After they had eaten, a small gift exchanged was made. He had found in his trunk three small, already wrapped gifts a few days ago. It gave him the impression that other Draco eagerly waited for Christmas with his family and by the expression of all of them, his gifts were appreciated and loved.
He felt jealous.