31st of July 1991 - Diagon Alley

Harry looked on at the retreating form of Hagrid with a frown. The day so far had been brilliant, the best birthday he could ever imagine. Secure in Hagrid's guidance, he had been free to take in the wonders of Diagon Alley without a care in the world. But alone, Harry found his earlier confidence evaporating into nervousness as he looked around the unfamiliar streets and its strange people, wondering how many of them might be bad like Voldemort.

'Did Hagrid really need to go for that pick me up?' he asked himself with some irritation.

Harry shook his head, that thought was unworthy of him, and it wasn't fair on Hagrid. The giant of a man had already done so much for him in their short time together, he had no right to expect more. With a renewed look of determination, Harry pushed open the door to the shop. The sign above marking the place as "Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions" swinged slightly as he entered along with a bell that seemed ring of its own accord.

Inside, Harry was greeted by an impressive assortment of robes, cloaks, and fabrics. The sheer spectrum of colours was baffling, including some he couldn't recall seeing before. While the blacker robes seemed more common than the rest, even their dark strands seemed to have a richness to them like something out of the pictures from the recently launched Hubble Space Telescope. Many had a distinct emblem attached to them reminiscent of the seal on his Hogwarts letter, while some of the school robes on display even seemed to change the colours of the tie and inlay between red, blue, yellow, and green before cycling back.

"Hogwarts dear?" asked a kind looking elderly lady dressed in a striking pale purple robe.

Harry nodded and answered, "Yes please," smiling at her friendly greeting feeling more reassured he could get some of his school shopping done on his own.

Malkin beamed, "such manners! If only everyone was as polite," she said, whispering the later part as she cast her gaze at the back of the shop, before schooling her expression back into a smile. "Why don't you wait in the back? Another young man is being fitted right now."

Harry nodded and went ahead until he came across a blond boy his age. Malkin followed behind him and gestured to a nearby stool to sit on as she began to take his measurements. The boy cast an irritated look at a younger woman, or witch as the magical world liked to call them, as she went about finishing up his own fitting "Watch where you're sticking that pin!" he snarled as one brushed against his skin.

The witch mumbled an apology but continued her work which seemed to come along quite nicely. Harry thought the boy was being a bit ungrateful but decided to reserve his opinion about the process until he got fitted himself. Perhaps it was more painful than it looked?

The boy's gaze meanwhile wandered to Harry. "Hullo, Hogwarts too?"

Harry was tempted to answer as laconically as possible afraid he would give away how much he didn't know if he said too much. But then again, he had yet to speak to another magical child and felt all the excitement and the fears of the past few days flowing through his chest into his mouth until finally he could not longer restrain his curiosity and the desperate urge to make friends.

"Yes! I finally got a hold of my letter last night, did you actually manage to get yours by owl?" asked Harry, holding up his Hogwarts letter.

Harry never had any friends at school, not for any length of time at any rate. It was mostly thanks to Dudley's bullying scaring them off but also because many other kids found him weird. He hoped that magical children would prove to be more approachable.

The boy's expression dashed those hopes when it immediately folded into a suspicious frown, "I don't recognize you, and I'm at least acquainted with most of the kids getting sorted in our year, those from our kind anyway…" he clarified with a sneer until it was dispelled by another prick from the pin.

Harry was getting the impression he wouldn't get along with the boy, one that only became more evident when he broke off from his mutterings about the 'incompetent service' to give him a long stare.

"What's your surname anyway?" he asked after a brief silence, with a note of accusation if he got it wrong.

Harry was nervous at first that he might run afoul of the test, but then he relaxed at the memory of his earlier awkward reception at the Leaky Cauldron. Hagrid hadn't really told him that much about his parents other than they had attended Hogwarts, but they had been important enough to amass all that gold in Gringotts, and clearly his name carried weight.

"Potter, Harry Potter," he replied, trying out some James Bond dialogue for size. Both the young witch attending the blond boy and Madam Malkin briefly stopped their work dead in their tracks as they stared in shocked wonder making Harry regret revealing his identity. To Madam Malkin's credit, she soon carried on with her work without making any more fuss over him.

The pale boy's eyebrows shot up like the boosters of a space shuttle. His eyes soared to Harry's forehead, as if searching for something, until Harry realized they were looking for his lightning bolt scar. He brushed aside his messy hair to reveal it with a sheepish smile. He didn't really feel all that comfortable being known for something out of his control that he could scarcely remember, but he didn't see the harm in using it to prove he wasn't lying.

A strange shadow of some incomprehensible emotion seemed to pass upon the boy's face, but he quickly schooled his features into a conspirative smirk.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. I planned to look for you on the train ride to Hogwarts, but it looks like this is my lucky day." he introduced himself, offering his available sleeved hand now that the witch had recovered her composure just enough to finish fitting it. Not wanting to appear impolite, Harry quickly shook it with a firm hand like he'd seen his uncle do on occasion.

"Don't take this the wrong way Potter, but that's a little on the strong side for a handshake, it's a way of greeting, not an arm-wrestling match," muttered Malfoy as he let go of his hand prompting Harry to mutter an apology. It was obvious he still had a lot to learn.

"Forget it… actually don't, first impressions and all that," said Malfoy with a dismissive air that made Harry think he didn't really believe it. "Where in Merlin's name have you been all this time? Half of Wizarding Britain has been looking everywhere for you for years. Apart from reports on isolated sightings, all we were told was that you were safe with your family out of the public's eye. But…that can't be right, I don't know of any other surviving Potters."

Harry's heart sank at the news he might never encounter any other relatives. He had often dreamed of some unknown relative rescuing him from the Dursleys, but it made a depressing sort of sense; as a magical child, wouldn't he have gone to them had there been an option?

"I've been living with my aunt's family down in Surrey…" he explained but got only a blank questioning expression in response.

"Er - from my mother's side… Dursley? Evans?"

"No… You mean to tell me… that THEE Harry Potter, the BOY WHO LIVED, vanquisher of the DARK LORD, has been living all this time… with MUGGLES?!" exclaimed Malfoy with an incredulous expression and a volume that was close to incendiary. Even the witch attending him seemed startled enough by the news to stab him with the pin again. "Mother, did you hear all that? Ouch! Watch it!"

A lady in an exquisite green dress robe twinkling with silver stars emerged from an area of the shop which seemed more dedicated to women in search of more of the same. She was a tall slender woman with long flowing blond hair and walked with an aristocratic-like confidence Harry had only ever seen on the telly on one of his aunt's high society programs. Dudley's hand me downs might as well have left him with the emperor's new clothes when he compared them with apparent wizarding royalty.

"Draco dear, did you say something? I was miles away I am afraid," she admitted holding several items folded over her left arm. "Madam Malkin, you have outdone yourself this season. Carkitt Market has no riposte to these exquisite cloaks. Tell me, is this real Welsh Green?" she asked prompting a smile from the proprietor who was only too happy to confirm it was.

"Are you quite finished here dear?" asked the woman once she had completed her order for the cloaks, smiling proudly as she saw Malfoy stand up in the now finished Hogwarts uniform.

She quickly frowned, noting his gaze wasn't aimed at her. "I see you aren't alone, who is…" her eyes stopped dead in their tracks at his still exposed scar.

"He's Harry Potter mother… he said he was living with muggles!" confirmed Draco and then turned his attention back to Harry. "Has anyone told you anything about our world? What house do you want to go to? Which Quidditch team do you support? What happened during the Wizarding War?"

Harry felt himself reel under the scrutiny of the three witches in the shop and Draco's questions, while also absently wondering about the boy's priorities, having listed a war third after these seemingly more mundane topics, though then again, perhaps they were more important than they sounded? What was certain was that he shouldn't have said anything about the owl post since clearly it was typical here.

Unsure how to respond to this situation, Harry shook his head, "I don't really know anything about those things, but I'd love to learn whatever you can teach me!" He pleaded, offering his hand to the Mrs. Malfoy "Er, I am Harry, Harry Potter, a… pleasure to meet you."

The brief awkward silence immediately told Harry he had done something wrong, but before he could retract his hand, Lady Malfoy smiled and took it. "The pleasure is all mine Mr. Potter. I am Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother. My husband and I had expected you would attend this year as your public beautillion, but we weren't aware it would be under these… circumstances."

Harry felt his cheeks redden as the last word seemed to linger in the air like an indictment against him. He hadn't meant to show just how out of his depth he was, but in hindsight, it was hard to see how he couldn't make some inadvertent slip about a world he knew nothing about. Why hadn't Hagrid told him more about it? Perhaps this was an opportunity to learn and avoid similar mistakes?

"At any rate, while my son means well, it isn't considered polite to discuss the war in public. As for the rest, Hogwarts is divided into four houses, each representing one of the founders of the school and personality traits associated with them. Hufflepuff is the house of the loyal and the hard working..." explained Mrs. Malfoy, ignoring Draco's snort. "Ravenclaw is a house for the more academically inclined, Gryffindor is associated with bravery and daring, while Slytherin is the home of resourcefulness, leadership, and ambition. It isn't widely known, but each one of the houses used to represent a smaller magical school created by one of the founders to cater to their followers in the then divided political landscape of Wizarding Britain in the years before they merged them into Hogwarts. You will find that many old families still tend to have loyalties to one of these houses and most Malfoys have gone to Slytherin."

Not wanting to feel left out, Draco broke into the conversation with his own field of expertise. "Quidditch is the wizarding sport of choice, and it's downright criminal we first years can't even bring our own broom, let alone actually play in our House teams."

"Perhaps you could explain the rules of the game dear?" suggested Mrs. Malfoy.

Draco opened and closed his mouth several times in rapid succession before he managed to speak. "This is so odd; I've never had to explain the rules to anyone before. Everyone knows Quidditch. Well, there are three ball types, you score goals with the quaffle, you take down rival team members with the bludgers, and the game ends when the seeker catches the snitch. The Magpies are the top team in the league, but Puddlemere is the oldest and obviously the best."

Harry didn't see anything obvious about the oldest team being necessarily the best, since clearly whatever team was top of the league would objectively be the best, but if Quidditch teams were anything like football, he knew better than to argue. At any rate, he liked the idea of a flying sport, even if a game played with three balls made it sound very complicated.

"Sorry… I didn't even know I had magic until yesterday night. I knew something was off when all those owls kept trying to get me that letter no matter how hard uncle Vernon tried to stop them, but if Hagrid hadn't arrived to deliver it, I wouldn't have known anything at all."

Lady Malfoy's well-crafted smile briefly broke into a nasty sneer. "Dumbledore!" she muttered before her smile returned in all its brilliance. "We certainly can't have the famed Harry Potter attend Hogwarts without knowing something about his birthright. Will you be free to join us for dinner later today? We will be able to talk at length about what you might expect to from our world."

"Er, I came here with Hagrid, the grounds keeper of Hogwarts, but I think I am going back to my aunt and Uncle in Surrey afterwards and… I don't think they will let me. They don't like magic; they think its freakish." Said Harry guiltily, feeling like he made the Dursleys sound worse than they were. Things were never great living with them, but they rarely hit him an the no meals punishment was one he routinely ignored by sneaking out of the cupboard.

"Magic… Freakish?! Just who do these bloody muggles think they are?!" exclaimed Draco only shushed by his mother with a gentle squeeze of his shoulder.

"Don't worry Mr. Potter… Harry if I might call you by your first name?" she asked and waited for his nod before proceeding. "We will send one of our servants to collect you discreetly later this evening without any of them the wiser. Might I have your address to arrange it?"

Harry didn't feel entirely comfortable with giving out his address to complete strangers, but he soon relented, deciding that such a meeting was hardly likely to be any more dangerous than Uncle Vernon's insane attempts to escape the owl post. Mrs. Malfoys looked like a proper lady straight from the royal garden party, even if her son Draco was a bit of a git.

"Sure, its Little Whinging, number 4 Privet Drive. We have been on… a holiday recently, but I think we'll all be there tonight. Do you want me to write it down?"

"No need, but thank you for the offer, Harry." said Lady Malfoy, pointing to a floating quill and parchment hovering to her right much to Harry's amazement.

Casting a glance to the shop entrance, she spoke once again. "If I might ask one more favour of you, could you please not mention this invitation to your Hogwarts… guide? I am afraid we do not have any chair that might fit such a large man in our dining room in short notice. I rather not cause him unnecessary embarrassment by implying he is unwelcome or put our servants on the spot without fair warning. Dinner in our manor house is a rather grand affair."

Draco looked at his mother with a perplexed expression, "but mother, surely you could resize…" but Harry's eyes were too busy following Hagrid's movements through the crowd in the street outside the shop's window to take notice of Draco shutting up beneath the weight of his mother's glare. While Harry would have liked him to come with him, Mrs. Malfoy did have a point if it merely inconvenienced everyone.

"Er… alright. We still have a lot of shopping to do and Hagrid hasn't been feeling too well today."

"Then I look forward to this evening. Welcome back Mr. Potter," replied Mrs. Malfoy, handing Madam Malkin and her assistant what even Harry knew had to be a very generous tip before taking Draco's hand only to vanish without a trace mere moments before Hagrid entered the store.

"Oh, aren't ya done yet Harry? We still have lots to buy. Was there a line to get fitted? Great way to get to know other kids going to Hogwarts!"

Harry looked at the empty air beside him with surprise, "Hagrid… they just disappeared!"

Hagrid beamed, "Course they did, dey are probably trying to avoid rush hour! Good to see you're already making friends. What were they like?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by Madam Malkin as she finished her work on his fitting. Considering Mrs. Malfoy's request, perhaps it was for the best, and by the time they paid and left the shop, Hagrid forgot all about it.

Perhaps he'd been right about rush hour; shortly after the Malfoys left, Harry noticed that there was a growing number of people moving about the alley. Most of them seemed to be parents with children his age or older, sending a familiar ache through his heart at the sight of a boy his age begrudgingly holding his mother's hand as she dragged him away from a broom store window. Harry would trade all the gold he now possessed to be in that boy's place.

"Make a wish Harry," he whispered, closing his eyes, hoping against reason that this magical day might reward him with yet another miracle.

"Alright there Harry?" asked Hagrid, noticing he had slowed his pace.

Harry sighed but quickly forced a smile to his face as he caught up to Hagrid.

"Yes, it's just still strange to take all of this in, what are we buying next?"


A few moments after leaving Madam Malkin's, Narcissa and Draco apparated just outside Flourish and Blotts's main entrance. Draco immediately let go of his mother's arm with a long look on his face, "mother, you know I hate side apparitions, why did you do that?!"

"I couldn't risk Dumbledore's creature seeing us. If my assumptions are correct, he has just given us the opportunity your father has been waiting for."

"But I wanted to stay and talk with Po…" a sharp glance from Narcissa put an end to Draco's complaints. While she adored her son, she lamented he hadn't yet learned how to be discreet. She would have to speak to Lucius about involving him more in family affairs so that he might learn by doing.

"Do not mention his name in public, at least not until your father makes sure it's safe to talk."

Lucius was already waiting for them outside the shop with an elf at his side carrying all of Draco's schoolbooks as well as a few new additions to their library.

"A long line at the store Cissy? You would think the madam Malkin would have learned that our business is more than worth such niceties." he greeted his wife, before turning to look at his son with a stoic expression that nonetheless seemed to hold a glint of pride in his eyes.

"I see you have your Hogwarts uniform Draco. I am sure you will look even better once the sorting ceremony completes the fit with the Slytherin linings and tie." The final note of the sentence seemed to suggest a certainly that this would happen, that nothing short of Slytherin would be acceptable.

Draco's expression seemed to fall for a split second but it quickly recovered into a smirk, "I asked Madam Malkin to do it already to save time, but she couldn't." His smile fell leaving behind a questioning look at his mother, unsure how she wished to proceed.

"Lucius dear, do you recall our conversation over dinner last Sunday?" she asked.

Lucius narrowed his eyebrows with some measure of consternation, "After Nott's... impressively detailed tirade about the boy's Dark potential? How could I forget?" he drawled out the last sentence, prompting Draco to snort, pausing when he noticed his wife was being vague on purpose.

"Draco and I had a rather interesting meeting at Madam Malkin's today. I believe our dinner plans will have to change and that we will have to regretfully inform Mr. Nott and our other guests that we will be unable to entertain them this evening." said Narcissa, casting a quick levitation spell to move a small piece of parchment towards Lucius containing the address she had received from Mr. Potter and her own comments on the margins explaining the matter.

Lucius's gaze sharpened, understanding the seriousness of the situation, and took care not to make his grab at the note too obvious. His expression hardened as he read the brief note until he also felt the need to take out his wand from his cane and cast a series of powerful privacy spells.

"Are you certain of his identity? Did anyone see you speak with him?"

Narcissa smiled, "Oh, I am quite sure," she noted, subtly gesturing with her eyes to the sight of Dumbeldore's half-breed servant and Mr. Potter entering the bookstore. "He looks just like his father. I imagine Severus will have quite the fit once he lays his eyes on the boy."

Lucius saw them and turned in Olivander's direction, "It would be prudent not be seen staring at the boy in public. Dobby... Take these books home."

"Yes Master," replied the frightened house-elf and vanished away.

Once they were a safe distance away, Narcissa continued her tale, "Only Malkin and her assistant saw us, and I made sure to tip them both very generously for their excellent work on Draco's uniform. Nobody else was there, save for the boy himself. I think I managed to convince him not to mention our meeting without giving him reason to doubt my motives."

Lucius's hard look remained, "I am not convinced it would be wise for us to directly to approach the boy at this stage Cissy. Not everyone in our circle agrees with Nott's theory and some might perceive such a connection as proof of our disloyalty to the cause. Having Draco approach the boy at Hogwarts one school-child to another would be the safer option and one that leaves us with plausible deniability."

"If I have my way, I plan to take this a lot further than a few visits, look at the address again," pressed Narcissa, smirking as she saw the spark of realization in her husband's eyes.

"I don't know of any magical families in the vicinity of that area. Too close to those dreary muggle suburbs and too far away from the more powerful secrecy wards that make our life here in London possible. Do you mean to tell me that Dumbledore left him with Muggles?!"

Narcissa nodded, "with his mother's family I suspect," she said with distaste. "His clothes looked tattered, and I didn't get the impression they cared much for his wellbeing. Think about it Lucius! If not for the boy's sake, for the embarrassment to Dumbledore."

"I don't understand, why would Dumbledore put him with Muggles? Isn't it the Ministry's job to deal with these things?" Asked Draco.

Lucius smirked at his son, "If the ministry knew, I would have known long ago. Dumbeldore is many things, but he is certainly no fool. He did well to hide the boy in this way at the limits of my influence. Hogwarts does have certain legal rights when it comes to mudbloods that are occasionally extended to muggle-raised half-bloods. But an orphaned wizarding child would usually come under the Ministry's preview until they made arrangements for him to live with his closest living magical kin..." Lord Malfoy's gaze remained on his son making it clear it was a test in which he expected Draco to make the connection on his own.

Narcissa caressed Draco's head as she noted his struggle to piece together the information, "I trust you remember all our lessons on the Black family tree?" she offered as her own clue to the puzzle.

Clearly, that was enough, "wait a minute! Doesn't that mean that we…" exclaimed Draco.

Narcissa nodded, "us, and at least in theory, also the Weasleys and Andromeda's family."

"The Weasleys barely have enough money to take care of their own children let alone another while your sister barely has any surviving connections in pureblood society let alone the ministry." said Lucius with a scowl. "It should have been an open and shut case in our favour in normal circumstances, though one I couldn't press in the years right after the war while I was still under suspicion."

Draco frowned, "I still don't understand how Dumbledore fits into all this."

"It was a chaotic time Draco; the Ministry had almost fallen to the Dark Lord's influence and the Order of the Pheonix had practically usurped the auror office. Its small wonder Dumbledore used the opportunity to create a fait accompli before we could act. I wouldn't be surprised if he made the switch on the day the Dark Lord fell. By the time we tried to press our claims, the case was cold and nobody in the ministry felt confident enough to challenge Dumbledore's assurances. Minister Fudge still felt like he owed his position to Dumbledore, and I fear he still does, but perhaps after this…"

Narcissa nodded, this was what she had concluded as well. "How far do you want to pursue this, Lucius? As you said, there are risks, but the rewards…"

"Allow me to meet the boy and we will decide from there. People would question our motives if we were seen to act alone, but if you are right, and Dumbledore's blunder is as scandalous as I think it is, we might be able to find unlikely allies in this fight."

Before his son could prod further, Lucius changed the subject. "Would you like to purchase your first wand Draco?" he asked, smiling only once his son's back was turned rushing into Olivander's shop like he'd spotted the Golden Snitch. Draco was a smart if spoiled child. Perhaps such a change would be good for him as well. A father could only hope.

Narcissa looked on as their son entered the shop but stayed outside. "How do you think Draco will handle it once he realizes what this all means for him?"

Lucius sighed, "Not very well, but he will do his duty as a Malfoy," and entered the shop.

"Just as I will do my duty as a Black. No child with Black blood in his veins, not even a half blood, will be left alone in our world with nothing but muggles for family on my watch." whispered Narcissa once her husband was out of earshot, and then followed him inside.


Note 1: I have been trying to puzzle out a way I could write a Harry Potter fanfic that would express the majority of my interests in this franchise for a while. My previous attempt, while interesting, quickly became a mess of contradicting ideas I found too unwieldy to continue as is. I have several other more experimental projects in this franchise but this is the one that is advanced enough to share. My aim is to produce a more targeted AU attempt of changing certain things in small ways with more far-reaching consequences to both story and characters. I'd rather not give too much away (though I am not exactly being subtle about it either) but suffice it to say Harry's introduction to the Wizarding world is going to be markedly different than in canon and that it will effect others.

The period between the 31st of July and the 1st of September which was covered by barely a few lines in the book will assume its own pre-Hogwarts story-line, and one I expect will take about a dozen chapters to complete before starting the First Year story proper. I already have the next 3 chapters written at least in their 1st or 2nd draft versions and a pretty good idea of where this pre-Hogwarts storyline is going. That said, having learned the difficulties of publishing a fic from chapter to chapter, I aim to release the next chapters on a weekly basis, with a backlog to edit and refine further or hold in reserve so that I might continue to update the story during busy periods IRL. As a Masters student, I have plenty of other things I need to write, and as this is going to be a years long project, I expect my interests will change and that from time to time it will go on a hiatus (though I plan to conclude ongoing story arcs before I do.)

I will end by stating that characters will NOT be bashed in this story, or at least, that bashing is not the intended goal even in instances it might come across as a consequence. Characters will always have a plausible reason for why they are behaving in a different way than canon. I'd rather leave Dumbledore's motivations to the audience's imagination, but I hope that it is clear from this chapter that what the Malfoys are saying represents their perspective first and foremost and that they have their own agenda. I can't say I will be loyal to canon, but I can say I do aim to be faithful to it in spirit, and the same applies to the Malfoys. This isn't a Good!Malfoys fic, but nor is it necessarily an Evil!Malfoys fic either. It is quite simply the Malfoys as I understand them from reading the books.

Finally, romance will not be relevant to this year and while crushes might develop in the background, they will only go further around 4th year. Thank you for reading and I hope this scenario, while not very original, will prove interesting. I believe what I am working towards will prove to be more unique.

Note 2: Fixed a few writing errors, spelling mistakes, and moved some sentences around to make the chapter a bit clearer.

Note 3: More minor corrections. It has also been suggested to me that I make it clear that Harry won't be the only new addition to Slytherin house. Who, why, and how I will leave to the story to explore further, but it seemed prudent to prepare the readers for more surprises down the road. This point will be repeated in the notes for the next chapter for anyone who has read the first one already in case they missed this edit.

Note 4: Changed Lucius Malfoy's dialogue a bit when Jason Isaacs's version of Lucius Malfoy expressed his displeasure with it.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK Rowling and any organization empowered by her to that effect own the Harry Potter title and its related products.