November 20, 1988
Eight-year-old Draco stands with Pansy and Blaise on the fringes of the grand ballroom, their eyes wide as they watch the swirling robes and glittering jewelry of the adult guests. Theo lingers nearby, not quite part of their group but close enough to hear.
"Look at them all," Pansy whispers, awe in her voice. "We'll be just like that someday."
Blaise nods, his chin lifted proudly. "Of course we will. We're purebloods from the best families."
"Father says we'll be running the Ministry before we're thirty," Draco boasts, puffing out his chest.
He glances around at his companions, his gaze lingering on Theo. A smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Well, most of us anyway."
Theo shrinks back, but he doesn't look surprised, long since used to Draco using him for target practice.
Draco turns fully to Theo, his voice dripping with false sympathy.
"Can't exactly follow in your father's footsteps when he's hardly around, can you? And without your mother to guide you..." He shrugs his eyes moving up and down Theo's clothes, "Well you end up looking like a hand-me-down disaster."
Theo's face reddens, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. But he remains still and blank faced, knowing any reaction will only fuel Draco's taunts.
Pansy giggles shrilly, while Blaise smirks, both silently relieved not to have Draco's attention.
Draco, emboldened by his friends' reaction, continues.
"Of course, if my mother was dead, I suppose I'd have to wear last season's robes too. At least your father remembers you exist long enough to send you here."
Theo's eyes glisten, but he holds his chin high, refusing to give Draco the satisfaction of seeing him cry.
"Come on," Draco said, turning back to his closer friends. "Let's go see if we can sneak some fire whiskey. No point wasting time with those who'll never measure up."
As they walk away, Draco feels a familiar surge of satisfaction. He'd made sure everyone knew their place – just as he'd watched his father do countless times at other parties just like this one. He can already picture his father's proud face when Draco recounts the story in his office at the end of the night.
Draco gasps as he opens his eyes, his room coming into focus around him. The lyrics of "Twilight Time," drifting over the speakers, match the peaceful night outside his glass walls, giving his brain something to hold onto after that insignificant little trip down memory lane.
He scoffs internally, dismissing the memory as inconsequential. Yet, his fingers unconsciously clutch at the leather of the settee, knuckles whitening.
He wonders, not for the first time, at the connectivity between his memories of the real world and the characters in this story. The instinctual hatred Theo feels towards him and Pansy and Blaise's tendency to fall in line behind him. He didn't blame Theo for hating him, of course not. Why would he? At the same time, he couldn't bring himself to regret any of his actions towards him. If it hadn't been Draco tearing him down, it would have been someone else doing it.
A muscle in his jaw twitches, betraying the tension he's desperately trying to ignore.
And without the protection of being a bully, it might have been Draco being torn apart. It is just the way of the world, he tells himself firmly, even as his stomach churns uncomfortably.
He takes a deep breath, forcing his body to relax, to appear as nonchalant as he's trying to convince himself he feels. But the slight tremor in his hands as he runs them through his hair tells a different story.
Draco runs over what he plans to say in his mind one more time. He is going to ask Potter if he likes Forks so far and figure out why he moved here. Pansy approves of his script even if she doesn't approve of his use of it, and if she knew his real reason she wouldn't change her tune. She seemed as against killing muggles as the others are. Draco startles as a loud noise careens over the parking lot and a dangerous two wheeled muggle car blurs past him. He catches the word Firebolt etched into the side, surrounded by eerie motionless flames.
"What is that?" Draco gasps.
Blaise raises his eyebrows looking impressed, "Your boy has some taste, that is a custom Sirius Dwyer soon to be Dwyer-Lupin bike, though I would expect nothing less for his precious godson."
"Who?"
The name Sirius holds his attention because it is the name of his outcast cousin who Draco remembers hearing was named Potter's godfather, but he thought he was dead.
"He's the president of the Gryffindor Lions bike club, a mad genius motorcycle stunt man, and a god with any engine. He owns Siriusly Custom Engines in Phoenix. I've commissioned all of my cars from him since he opened." Blaise with a dreamy sigh.
"Why soon to be Dwyer-Lupin?" Draco asks, watching as Potter, dressed in torn jeans, a thin t-shirt, and a leather jacket, removes his lion helmet (typical) and tosses his messy mane of black hair.
Draco sees the shivers racking his body from over here.
"Remus Lupin, the Wolf of the Diamond?" Pansy demands.
"What part of no memory do you not understand?" Draco hisses.
Pansy sighs.
"He's one of the most underrated baseball players out there. No decent team wanted to take him because he has epilepsy and worried he would have an attack in the middle of the game. So he played for crap teams for years working his way up. Last year was his big break when he signed on with the Phoenix Werewolves. Of course Harry Swan stole his thunder by being signed on the same team. Sirius and Remus grew up together, and were estranged when Sirius was falsely accused of murder. They made up and now are engaged to get married." Pansy says with hearts in her eyes.
Draco also remembers something about Sirius being accused of giving away the Potter's location and locked in Azkaban. Though it appears that instead of escaping he got out through legal muggle means. The rules are always bent for Harry Potter Draco thinks in disgust. He wonders if Lupin is a disgusting werewolf in this world as well and that's the real reason for his little episodes. Draco tracks Potter as he makes his way up towards the school, noting with satisfaction the dejected look on his face. If Draco finds himself still stuck in this mess he wants Potter to feel just as miserable as him. The Weasel standing next to his orange monstrosity of a truck, spots Potter and a light goes off in his eyes. Draco smirks, expecting a lovely show where Potter trounces the Weasel into the ground for daring to insult Draco and his fellow Slytherins.
"Has Ron's ass always looked that good in jeans?" Blaise says, his eyes trained on the Weasel's backside.
Pansy scowls and whacks Blaise on the shoulder.
"Ow!"
"No humans! We made a deal remember." she hisses.
Blaise pouts but his eyes glance away.
The Weasel approaches Potter and Potter's face lights up in a smile. Draco growls under his breath. Maybe Potter is giving the Weasel hope only to yank it away, that is a plan that Draco would approve of. The Weasel sidles up against Potter as they walk into the school and Draco dashes after them at a human pace. He stares in amazement as Potter plays the long game and continues to talk to the Weasel.
The harsh muggle lights make the green in Potter's eyes flare like the sun with joy. Draco feels a smile pushing at the corners of his mouth and he forces himself to concentrate. Maybe Potter needs Draco's help to disentangle himself from the Weasel, he always came off as a leader in the real world, but maybe in this one he's just a hapless little follower.
"Harry!" Draco calls after him shoving through the crowd of milling muggles, ignoring the buzz of their thoughts as they brush against the edge of his subconscious, to reach his prize.
Potter looks up in curiosity and his lips forming a tentative grin as he lifts a hand in greeting. The scent of Potter hits Draco like a hot bubbling Potion being thrown down his throat and his face twists for a moment as he adjusts to the smell.
"Draco, are you okay?" Potter asks sounding concerned.
He forces himself to think around the pounding desire in his head, clenching his teeth, against the urge to yank Potter close to clamp his teeth around his throat. Draco shoves into the Weasel, hearing the angry muggle curse in his head, and situates himself next to Potter. He leans forward gagging on fire and forces a suave smile on his face.
"Never better, Harry," he purrs, his head swimming with pain as the Weasel inches around him to get between he and Potter.
"Move over, Newton, Swan knows better than to hang out with your sort." Draco says the words coming out of his mouth before he can stop them.
Draco faces away from Potter, his gaze locked on the Weasel, so he misses as Potter's face turns dark with anger.
"And what sort would that be, Draco?" the Weasel says with a scowl.
"Poor desperate no good, fame chasers. Is your family so beggarly that you need to hang off the only celebrity in town to attract business." Draco sneers, tempted to spit the bubbling venom in his mouth at Weasley to see if it would burn his face.
Potter pushes his way between him and the Weasel, his green eyes shiny with emotion.
"Harry," Draco croons, "Luna told me you wanted to be my friend. I would be more than happy to accept your hand in friendship."
He holds his hand out just like he did on that fateful day five years ago. This time though Potter reaches out his hand and….
"Ow," Draco says, jumping back in offence and pretend pain, because he knows it is expected of him to maintain his weak human mask, "You slapped me!"
"And you insulted one of my best friends! Why would I want to be friends with someone like that?"
The Weasel looks as stunned at Potter's words as Draco feels.
"Best friend? But you just met him!"
Potter's hands clenched into fists as he stares Draco down.
"And he's already better than the majority of the friends I've had in the past." Potter spits in his face.
"But-"
"But what?" Potter sneers.
"You're supposed to want me?" Draco says in a question, his world and surety burning away from him leaving ashes in its place.
That's what the book said, that Potter would fall in love with him at first sight, despite the obvious danger. Maybe because of it, the brain dead Gryffindor.
"I will never want someone who treats a person like that." Potter says with a glare, "Come on Ron, Hermione wanted to meet us in the library."
Potter and the Weasel stalk away without a backwards glance.
"Oh that was beautiful, congratulations Romeo." Blaise says coming up behind him and jarring him with a slap to the back.
"Draco, what were you thinking? That's not what we planned at all." Pansy says in a harsh voice.
Draco feels his chance to save his parents slip through his fingers as Potter disappears around a corner. He thought that after he killed Potter the storyline would correct itself if he did something wrong, but now he isn't sure. What if he only gets one chance to get this right and he used up his one redo?
"Pride goes before the fall." Theo says in a snide superior voice.
"You could have helped me!" Draco growls at him.
"My influence is temporary, you would ruin it by opening your mouth again." Theo sneers at him.
"You know nothing," Draco spits.
"I know enough to understand why you are still single." Theo spits back.
"I don't need your help."
"I wasn't offering." Theo says stalking off in the direction of his home room.
Draco crosses his arms and turns back to Luna, not needing to think about what his mother would think about his stance.
"I will prove him wrong and will win Potter."
Luna gives him a worried look.
"You don't win at love, Draco, you give it."
Draco ignores her.
"You just wait and see," he mutters.
"What was that about, man?" Ron says still laughing, Harry presumes at the stunned look on Draco's face when Harry slapped his hand away.
Harry shakes his head in confusion, "I have no idea. Luna said last week that he was shy and needed friends, so I said that I would be happy to be his friend. I don't know why he thought that attacking you would make me like him."
Ron gets a mischievous look in his eyes, "Maybe he wanted to be more than friends and he saw me as competition."
Harry thinks about the possessive glint in Draco's eyes when he looks at him and shudders.
"Maybe. It doesn't matter either way I don't plan on dating anyone." he says.
"The more you say that, the more they are going to want you. They will see you as a challenge and think that you are playing hard to get."
"But that's not it at all." Harry grumbles under his breath.
"I don't know what else to tell you man."
In the next period, Draco finds himself in AP Literature sitting next to Astoria Greengrass, a girl with a clear crush on him. Draco smirks at how obvious she is without even his ability to read minds with the way she smiles at him and bats her eyes flirtatiously. As the class delves into a discussion about the classic novel "Watership Down," Draco feels a pang of familiarity wash over him. It was one of the books he had read during his 'vampire adjustment period', as Luna refers to it as. He remembers that it bashed on muggles, but little else.
Despite being behind in class due to his time in Alaska, Draco is secretly relieved to be in an advanced class with the mudblood. He strategically positions himself to sit among his classmates, to catch a glimpse of her thoughts when the teacher calls on him.
As the teacher leads the literary analysis, she calls on Astoria to talk on the themes of the book so far, despite the mudblood's desperate waving hand.
"Watership Down really speaks to themes of hope and new beginnings despite the darkness that seems to be closing in from all sides. It's quite poignant."
The mudblood huffs in disappointment at a missed opportunity to be a complete show off. Draco nods, fighting down a sneer at Astoria's wishy washy answer. He mostly remembers the dark themes and bloodshed that happened in the book, he skimmed past anything that ventured towards real connection viewing it as boring.
Draco glares at Potter as his head tips back in a laugh, exposing the long white column of his throat. He seethes. All those Gryffindors over there with Potter at their centre, their entire universe pulled into his orbit, even here. All he needs to do is make Potter fall for him and then eliminate him, like the story calls for. Then he can go home to his parents. He feels a spike of fear shoot through him at the thought of his parents unsure how time works in this strange universe and if they are even still... He pushes the word away. He is a Malfoy…or well a Cullen and Cullens like Malfoys he decides always get what they want. What they deserve. And he deserves Potter simpering and offering his neck to Draco.
"Draco cut it out. The way you're staring it's not very…human and it's drawing attention."
Pansy whispers in his ear, breaking his concentration. He glances around noting some of the Gryffindors and other unimportant muggles looking at him with nervous expressions. Potter, his heart pounding to the rhythm of stress and fear against Draco's heightened senses, uses his distraction to make a hasty retreat, returning his eyes to the empty table.
"Does he still smell….appealing?" Theo asks with a small smirk playing around his full lips.
Bastard, Draco thinks sneering at him. He heard from Luna that Theo still struggles to control his thirst, so Draco can only imagine the thrill he gets at seeing him suffer.
"No," Draco hisses in a derisive voice,
"I just hate the way the mug-humans flock around him. He's not even that attractive."
Blaise cackles causing several nearby tables to stare.
"So you've been checking him out?" Blaise asks with a lascivious grin.
"Of course not but there is not much else to look at in this dump."
"I will drink to that," Blaise says, inciting a glare from Pansy.
He raises his bottle of muggle beverage to his lips and pretends to drink. Or Draco at least hopes Blaise pretends to drink. Draco tried a sip earlier and thought it tasted foul. Draco picks up the green apple on his plate tossing it between his hands as he thinks. Potter seems different in this world, more nervous and twitchy. More defensive. Less confident. It is as Draco suspected, now that Potter no longer has his saviour level fame to bolster him up and reassure him of his greatness he is nothing. Making him easy prey.
Harry ignores Draco as he takes the lab stool next to him and continues his conversation with Cedric, who seems to genuinely enjoy his company.
"Do you miss Phoenix, Harry?" Cedric asks with a kind smile.
Harry smiles back at him and pretends to not feel Draco's eyes boring into his back.
"Yes, my godfather and I were really close. I miss him so much. And the weather, I can't say that I am fond of all this rain."
Cedric chuckles.
"I figured that from the way you dress. Do you think you can bring out the sun with stubborn willpower alone?"
Harry laughs with Cedric but his laugh sounds hoarse with his discomfort.
"Phoenix doesn't stock much in the way of winter clothes and I haven't had the opportunity to drive to Seattle yet. Motorcycles aren't built for distance in rainy places."
A light goes off in Cedric's eye and he leans forward a little bit to give Harry a disarming smile.
"I have a car with a roof and everything if you need a ride." Cedric says.
Draco tilts his head to the side in interest. The pain hasn't subsided, but he is starting to get used to the burn the more time passes. At first Draco was taken back to see the dead boy in class, but after finding out his cousin is alive in this world, he feels less shock. Different rules must apply here since Potter should be dead after last week. His eyes narrow as the annoying Cedric Diggory slides his stool up next to Potter and starts talking animatedly. Draco feels resentful at how easily Cedric commands Potter's attention.
"I have a car with a roof and everything if you need a ride," Cedric says.
Draco's fist clenches involuntarily. That smarmy git is trying to get alone time with Potter. The thought makes Draco's blood boil. Potter is his to seduce and pursue according to the storyline he is trapped in.
He watches Potter consider Cedric's offer, feeling apprehensive. If Potter accepted, it would ruin all of Draco's carefully laid plans to insert himself into his life. He had to find a way to prevent it.
"Thank you so much for the offer, b-"
Draco scowls, jabbing Potter in the ribs with his elbow as he hears Professor Slughorn coming down the hallway. He can't let Cedric get that close, can't risk the prat winning Potter's affections first. He vows to learn to drive immediately, picturing himself sweeping in to offer Potter a ride instead. He'd make the other boy look pathetic by comparison.
Yes, he will get his way. Potter belongs to him now, whether the boy knows it yet or not. He'd make sure of that, no matter what Diggory or anyone else tries. With renewed determination, Draco begins plotting how to properly insert himself into Potter's life.
Harry blinks in surprise, not expecting the offer from someone as uninterested in his fame as Cedric. Harry stiffens, but ignores his thoughts, as his heart pounds in his chest. As much as he would appreciate the ride, without money it means nothing.
"Thank you so much for the offer, b-"
Draco jabs Harry with his elbow this time almost knocking him out of his seat.
"What do you want, Draco?" Harry hisses.
"Class is about to start," Draco says in a neutral voice, looking at the board in front of him.
Sure enough, bustles into the room a second later, calling everyone to attention. Harry frowns at him and Draco shoots him a superior grin. Luna must be blinded by familial love if she thinks that he is shy.
"The polite thing to do would be to thank me," Draco says.
"Good thing I'm not polite then," Harry mutters.
"Today we will be working on color-changing solutions. I want everyone to turn their textbooks to page fifty-six in their textbooks."
Harry hurries to comply, pulling out his notebook and rifling through his book until he reaches the correct page. He scans through the words and descriptions of PH indicators, relieved it's all review. Draco beside him continues to watch him, not moving, like a creepy statue. Harry opens his notebook to a blank page and begins to copy the words that appear on the board.
"A Universal Indicator changes colors over several pH values. Most commonly from four to fourteen….An example of this is the annual changing of the leaves…."
Harry tunes in and out of 's droning remembering doing a similar experiment as a freshman.
"Get your tray of chemicals from the back and complete the experiment on page seventy-three."
Harry lets out a heavy sigh, the sound echoing through the dimly lit classroom. He turns the page in the book and carefully retrieves their set of chemicals, lining them up on the table in front of them. From the corner of his eye, he watches as Draco reaches for the sodium carbonate and begins to pour it into the vinegar.
Without thinking, Harry's hand jolts out and wraps around Draco's wrist, stopping him just in time. The contact sends shivers down Harry's spine as their skin brushes against each other, sparks of cold fire igniting in its wake. Draco's touch is like ice, yet there is an underlying heat that makes Harry's heart flutter. He means to scold Draco for potentially ruining their experiment, but as their gazes meet - Draco's golden eyes locking with Harry's emerald ones - all rational thought escapes him.
"Do you wear contacts?" He asks instead and then curses himself for his stupidity of showing interest in Draco.
He knows from experience that causes people to read more into it than they should. Instead, a hint of confusion crosses Draco's face. It makes his sharp colorless features and piercing eyes soften. Harry thinks it almost makes him look endearing.
"No," Draco says in an unsure voice.
"I swear your eyes looked black last time you came to class."
Draco adopts a haughty grin. Smoothing over his unsurety and any trace of human emotion in his face, looking like a predator that just cornered its prey.
"You remember what my eyes looked like a week ago?"
"Yes, unlike you I can absorb what's happening around me. And thank goodness for that because you almost ruined our experiment." He growls, snatching the sodium carbonate from Draco's hands.
Draco looks at him in outrage, which Harry recognizes as a shield for his embarrassment.
Harry groans, "You didn't read the chapter for this class, did you? I know you didn't pay attention just now because you didn't write a single line of notes."
Harry pushes the vial of phenolphthalein solution and one of the five red cups towards him. Then he hands him a dropper. He scoops out an eighth of a teaspoon of the sodium carbonate and adds it to the blue cup.
"Add six drops of phenolphthalein solution to this cup," Harry instructs, giving Draco a pointed look.
Draco sneers but he does what Harry tells him to do, his eyes narrowed in irritation all the while. Harry consults the book again and picks up an empty dropper filling it with water from the pitcher. He adds three drops of water to the blue cup in front of him watching the water turn cloudy. He pulls out his journal and writes his observations down, noting the chemical reactions that he sees.
"What are you doing?" Draco asks in a snappish voice.
"We are supposed to keep a journal of what we observe during our experiments," Harry says in a dull voice.
Which you would know if you bothered to show up past the first day of class, Harry adds in his head.
"But nothing happened, what could you possibly be writing."
Harry releases a long breath through his nose.
"By dissolving sodium carbonate in water we created carbonic acid and sodium hydroxide, which increases the pH number," Harry says without looking up from his notes.
He pulls the worksheet towards him and begins to write a more involved answer.
"Well said, Mr. Swam," Mr. Slughorn says, coming up to their table.
"Thank you, sir."
"Looks like it is coming along nicely, so what are my two star students going to do next?" Mr. Slughorn says, admiring the scar on Harry's face with interest.
Harry bites back his scowl and his surprise at Draco being referred to as a 'star' student.
"Draco was just about to fill all the glasses with water and then add them back to the pitcher," Harry says feeling vengeful.
To his surprise Draco does as he asks and pours water into four glasses. He watches Draco's eyes widen as the water comes out red. He looks like a little kid who still believes in magic. Harry pours all five glasses into the pitcher and tilts it so that Slughorn sees that the water is clear.
"Fabulous boys! Now tell me why it happens." Mr. Slughorn says, directing his expectant eyes at Draco.
Draco squirms under that gaze. His eyes drove into 's as if searching for the answer there. Harry enjoys it for a moment, before realizing it's his grade on the line too.
"A pH indicator is a phenolphthalein and changes colors when it reacts with bases. Sodium carbonate is the base and by pouring the four glasses back into the pitcher the water transformed into the color red. You need acid, vinegar in this case, to turn it back."
"You are a wonder Mr. Swan. First correct answer I've gotten all day. Do you kids simply not know how to read anymore?" Mr. Slughorn says, shaking his head in exasperation.
Harry gives him a modest shrug, and Draco looks vaguely guilty, which is an improvement over smug.
"Well carry on!" Mr. Slughorn says going to the next table, where Ron looks nervous about his approach.
"How did you know all that?" Draco says, looking at him with shrewd eyes.
Harry picks up the textbook and waves it in the air.
"It's all in here," he says.
"But you are not good at school."
Harry wears an affronted look.
"Says who? I've received straight A's for the last three years and taken all advanced placement and AP classes."
Draco gives him an incomprehensible look.
"You better start reading the book, that was a review from last year or so I'm told. It will only get harder from here on out and I don't appreciate a partner who drags me down." Harry says before he can think better of it.
A strange change seems to come over Draco as if something Harry says to him sinks in for the first time. Draco leans forward, his honey eyes fierce and locked on Harry's.
"I can guarantee by the next class you will be the one holding me back, Swan," Draco says between clenched teeth.
"You wish," Harry says in a careless voice.
Draco storms into Severus's office and looms over his desk watching him rifle through what he has learned are patient files on his desk, writing down notes as he goes.
"What can I do for you, Draco, since you were so patient as to knock before coming in."
If he still possessed his human body he might have blushed, but this was not the case. Nor would he have barged in if he was still in his real life and this was his father's study.
"I need to learn about Chemistry."
Severus sighs and stops writing to look at him.
"I did warn you to at least glance at your school books to keep up appearances," Severus says in a monotone voice.
Draco clenches his teeth in frustration and embarrassment but then forces the words out of his mouth.
"I need a more entry-level text," he admits in a hiss.
Snape's eyebrows raise in surprise before he returns to his notes.
"Ask your mother, she has a PhD in Chemistry. I merely have a master's." Severus says.
As if understanding Draco's confused silence, he says, "A PhD is five and half years and a master's is two."
"And that's not enough?" Draco demands, sick of Severus's constant manipulation to force him to talk to the mudblood, "And I told you she is not my mother."
Severus magnanimously ignores his second comment, seeming to realise it's the best way to send him around the bend.
"I just thought that you wanted the best and your mother is the best person for the job, but if you want a second-rate education then…."
"No!" Draco shouts, thrusting his hand out to still him.
He imagines facing Potter tomorrow with a less-than-perfect understanding of Chemistry and shudders in horror. Severus gives him what he thinks is a pleased smile, stretching his face in a comical mask.
"I'll ask her."
"Excellent," Severus says, returning to his files.
Draco hesitates at the shut door, his father's words, Malfoys never admit weakness to anyone. He feels a flare of irritation at his father's way of thinking. If he never asked for help with the garden there is no way he would have managed to regrow it. He would still be given the silent treatment by everyone, but the mudblood and Luna and have to excerpt his own energy to get around instead of riding in the car if he followed his fathers advice.
Even if he limited himself to only asking advice of Severus or his fellow Slytherins as his father would prefer, he couldn't. Severus once again refuses to help him and Theo, Blaise, and Pansy would make fun of him the entire time. Luna, well he never knew how much concrete information he would get out of her. The mudblood was his only option. Unless he wanted to go all the way to Alaska and ask Millie….which he did not.
Draco's body tenses as he catches sight of the mudblood, but instead of standing in front of a canvas delicately painting flowers and blades of grass with precise strokes, she is in a room he had failed to notice before. The door was closed, but now it stands open, revealing a scene that unsettles him. For a fleeting moment, he sees his mother in her potion-making days, pale hair pulled back as she bends over a bubbling cauldron. He quickly pushes the memory away as he cautiously steps into the room, taking in the stainless steel countertops and strange bubbling instruments that rest upon them. He can't help but anticipate one of the inferior muggle mechanisms exploding in a mess of glass and acid. But the mudblood stands poised over a blue burning flame, her focus trained on a clear liquid bubbling away in a glass beaker. Next to her are small moulds filled with white powder. He vaguely remembers her mentioning something about making medicine for the hospital and wonders if these are some of her creations.
"I need help with Chemistry," Draco says without preamble, not knowing how else to get her attention.
A smile lights up the mudblood's face and she puts down her tongs.
"Of course, I would be happy to help you. What are you working on in class?"
Draco fights not to snap at her and grits his teeth.
"We turned water red and then made it clear again."
The mudblood's eyes light up in excitement and interest and Draco fights not to scowl at how much they look like Potter's.
"I always wondered if that chemical reaction was the real explanation for Jesus's ability to turn water into wine in the bible." she muses as she turns off her equipment.
"But it' just red water."
The mudblood gives him a kind smile.
"People see what they want to believe. Science didn't exist as a concept yet, so magic made more sense."
"But if anyone took a drink they would know it's not wine," Draco says in consternation.
"But wine makes a better story and as it's passed from person to person it changes until it's so far from the truth it is not even recognizable anymore. It's why it's important to take a closer look before you make a final judgement."
Draco thinks about the Weasel and his friends and the wild stories Luna said they told about the Cullens rather than notice that they are vampires and thinks it makes a little sense.
"Did you want to go over the experiment results then?" the mudblood asks.
"I think I need to start at the beginning," he says in an even voice his mother would be proud of, if not for the undeserving recipient of the tone.
The mudblood's face stutters for a moment and then resets itself so quickly that he wonders if he imagined it. She moves to a bookshelf that he failed to notice at first and pulls an armful of books off of the shelf. She beckons him over as she opens up the top book on the stack which is old and frayed.
"This is Severus's. It's a book on Alchemy."
Draco's eyes raise with interest as he hears the word Alchemy. It's a lost art, an old art, he didn't realise that the muggles knew anything about it. She flips through the pages covered with strange drawings. A ritual called Velamen Inter Mundos Discerpens stands out to him, but Lily turns the page before he can read all of it.
"None of it worked of course but from the lost steps of Alchemy Chemistry was born."
They just didn't have the magic to power it, Draco thinks derisively.
"Humans through their determination kept experimenting and eventually their efforts paid dividends. Pottery, perfumes, and alcohol all come from Chemistry." Lily gives him a laughing smile, the memory of the embarrassing bathtub experiment playing in her mind.
Draco gives her a look but lets it slide.
"The one that interested Sev the most was medicine."
Draco shudders at the mention of muggle medicine. It still manages to gross him out, this senseless mutilation of the body in the name of health. The mudblood notices.
"I know it's hard to imagine willing to be around all that blood. It still amazes me from time to time, but Severus is truly incredible," she says and Draco aches when he hears the love in her voice, the same love he sometimes catches in his parent's voices when they talk about each other.
He wants that for himself, but with the rise of the Dark Lord, it feels less and less likely that he will find it. She shakes her head as if realigning herself and pulls out another book. This one looks a little newer, the cover similar to his school book. She opens to the first page and Draco stares at the multi-colored stacks of blocks that greet him.
"Okay, let's start with the periodic table and then work our way from there," she says, handing him a paper and a muggle version of a quill.
Draco takes and sets his it to the paper, writing until the pesky sun rises on the horizon.
Harry's stomach grumbles as he waits in the lunch line. He wasn't quick enough this morning to steal more than an egg and a burned sausage link. His small allotted money Sirius gives him barely stretches enough for gas and a lunch here and there. And whose fault is that a voice in Harry's head says. Harry ignores it. If he asks for any more Sirius will refuse on the account that he doesn't want Harry to become spoiled or he will start asking dangerous questions, like why he needs the money. It makes Harry feel sick to think of Sirius going to bat for him after he already did so much for him just by reducing his sentence at the Dursleys to the summer instead of the entire year. He doesn't think he can risk asking for more.
Harry grabs the biggest of the green apples displayed and feels thankful that this school decided not to charge by the weight of your lunch. Hermione looks at his tray in suspicion.
"Harry, you don't seem to be eating much."
"I'm not hungry, I had a big breakfast." he lies.
Her face relaxes and he resists the urge to breathe out in relief. He is good at lying, he's done it his entire life. He pays for his apple and walks into the lunch room not noticing the shadow that looms towards him until he slams into a wall of cold stone. He pulls back and his tray tilts and jerks in his hands, spilling his apple to the ground. A white flash shoots through the air and his apple stops half a foot from the ground, showing pale fingers wrapping around his lunch. Harry tilts his head up and frowns as he regards Draco's reddish-gold eyes, his hand holding Harry's apple towards him.
"I didn't realise you were that into me, Swan you almost took quite the fall for me."
Harry grimaces at the terrible line and considers his apple. On one hand, he feels his hunger as if it is a living thing. It is only an apple, there is no deeper symbolism here, a voice says. Harry feels himself agreeing with it, but some sort of gut feeling knows this little game means so much more to Draco. Almost like taking it means that he agrees to engage in Draco's theatrics.
"Keep it." Harry says moving past him, not caring that Draco looks like a rearing, hissing snake about to strike.
Knowing Draco's determination he really shouldn't have been surprised when he finds it sitting in front of his lab table stool when he walks into Chemistry, the slight indentations from his fingers still there. Harry pushes it to Draco's side of the table with his Chemistry text, in order to touch it as little as possible. He feels like it is tainted just by coming into contact with the strange pale boy.
"Swan." Draco sneers.
Harry gives Draco an unimpressed look.
"Draco." he cuts out, refusing to be dragged into Draco's strange last names game.
"It's not poisoned, you know. It's even organic." Draco says pronouncing the word organic as if it is some strange new concept.
"I know. I bought it."
It was one of the many ways that Umbridge tried to one up Albus, through her 'Ditch the Dirty Dozen' campaign. Draco clenches his teeth and faces forward as Mr. Slughorn swans into the room. As gets deep into his lecture, he watches in amazement as Draco pulls out an honest to god eagle feathered quill, clay ink pot and crinkly edged parchment paper and starts taking notes.
Draco looks at Harry as if he is the one being strange.
"What? Unfamiliar with how people with class take notes, Swan?" he asks with a smirk.
Harry gapes at him and then shakes his head writing notes with his perfectly fine mechanical pencil and college ruled paper. What era did he think it was? The middle ages? Then Harry remembers Draco's strange outfits made up of long shirts styled with mythical beasts and far away planets, always paired with cloak-like jackets and a wild array of shoes. Maybe he did? Was that why he talked in a soft lilting British accent when none of his siblings did?
Harry later watches in astonishment as Draco raises his hand for every question, even before Harry himself can think to and answers it correctly.
He leans over the gap between them and asks in a whisper, "What are you doing reading his mind?"
Draco scowls an irritated look crossing his face, his nose scrunching up like he smells something bad, "Even if I was, he's the type to not think of the answer in his head just to screw with me, the absolute wanker,"
Harry stifles a snort, he forgets sometimes that despite the posh exterior Draco has a dirty mouth. Harry banishes that thought from his head, as his brain conjures other uses for that mouth.
"So you read the chapter last night then?" Harry asks as Draco gives him a curious glance, his nostrils flared.
He feels better about the upcoming lab today.
"I read the entire book," Draco says in a dismissive tone.
Harry looks at him in surprise.
"You…what?"
Draco gives him an odd look.
"Haven't you?"
Harry tries to remember if he ever read a book in one sitting. He can only think about novels he read, but no textbooks.
"No," Harry says, dumbfounded.
Draco gives him a self-satisfied look.
"Maybe you are not as devoted to school as you claimed to be yesterday, then?"
"Or maybe I have better uses of my free time." Harry mumbles.
Cedric snorts from the table over and Harry exchanges a grin with him. Draco glares at Cedric, his eyes going unfocused for a moment before he scowls.
"That's right, you go to Madame Maxime's Ballet school, do you not?"
Harry frowns he doesn't want that to get around because he worries that more fans than dancers will show up to practice.
"How do you know that?" Harry asks in a whisper leaning closer to Draco.
Draco raises an eyebrow, "Why are you whispering, Swan? Even you don't have the hope of keeping a secret that's already front-page news."
Harry feels a rush of panic.
"What are you talking about?" Harry demands.
Draco pulls out a gossip magazine, the Daily Forkful, from his bag and tosses it on the lab table. A picture of Harry covered in the feathers of his Odette costume next to another one wearing his Odile costume fills the front cover with the headline, "Star Turned Spare by the Swan With Many Faces Before Opening Debut." With frantic fingers, Harry flips through the pages until he gets to the one about him.
Star Turned Spare by the Swan With Many Faces Before Opening Debut.
By Guest Writer Rita Skeeter
Harry Swan, the only surviving son of James and Regulus Swan, disappeared from the public eye without a word a few months ago. Leaving his baseball team the Phoenix Werewolves without their star pitcher.
"He left without warning and we are all suffering because of it." Anthony Goldstein, an important member of the Werewolves reports.
"You are the waterboy, Goldstein, how would you know how the team is faring?" Harry mutters under his breath.
He also turned down the chance to rejoin the Paris Ballet Opera troupe, a never before seen honor offered to the one so young. The Gryffindors Lions will be going without their top stunt rider this year as well. Is America's Favorite Golden Boy too good for the priceless opportunities offered to him, despite his alcoholic reputation?
"I had one sip of a drink, you lying cow, which of course is the second you took the picture."
Dear readers, hold onto your hats, this investigative journalist believes it's so much more than that.
Our story starts in Forks, Washington, a peaceful picturesque town, known for their Sasquatch festival started by James Swan and Sirius Dwyer in their misbegotten youth. Harry Swan will take his senior year at Hogwarts High while living with his relatives and dear friends of mine Vernon and Petunia Dursley, two names I'm sure you remember from when I reported on the retrial of Sirius Dwyer and the custody battle between….
Harry scans the article, ignoring Skeeter's useless name dropping and getting to the meat if it could even be called that.
Harry Swan, unable to resist reaching for the spotlight finds it in the only place he knows how. In the shadows. Unable to get it through normal conventions like trying out for the baseball team or the ballet he instead gets paid positions as 'assistants' and 'alternates' in case one of the participants is injured. It's fitting he is cast as the Black Swan in the Swan Lake.
"He takes over every practice and the coach only pays attention to him." a source close to Hogwarts Baseball team.
"I swear he only took the role to sabotage Cedric. I'm just waiting for one of the 'accidents' to happen and for him to get the starring role."
"I didn't ask for these positions and I'm was not paid." Harry growls, at the glossy pages.
Harry pushes the article away from him and glances over at Cedric. Could he actually believe this garbage? He was friendly to Harry just moments ago, but maybe he hasn't seen the article yet. Cedric meets his gaze with a warm smile that never fails to make Harry's heart flutter.
"Cedric, I'm not-" Harry begins before he's cut off by Cedric. "It's fine, Harry. I don't read gossip magazines, and even if I did, I would never believe the nonsense they publish."
The tension in Harry's chest dissipates and he can breathe easier now.
"I believe you too," says Draco, leaning forward with an almost too-eager smile on his face.
Harry's heart races as he gets lost in Draco's golden-amber eyes. He tries to shake himself out of it, breaking Draco's hold on him.
"Do you?" he asks in a sarcastic tone, his voice slightly breathless.
Draco nods confidently, still staring intently at Harry and sending shivers down his spine.
"I guess that means I don't believe you then," Harry retorts as the bell rings, grateful that Draco can't follow him out of the classroom.
He joins Cedric and Ron in their conversation about gym class next period, glad to be distracted by Draco and his penchant to irritate him.
"What are you doing here?"
Ron's harsh voice draws him away from his conversation with Cedric about the advantages of Nikolay versus Bloch when buying pointes. Harry tenses, Chemistry was bad enough today with Draco looking smug and secretive the entire time and refusing to answer any of Harry's questions about the reason why.
He glances behind Ron and his eyes widen as he spies Draco Cullen standing a few feet away somehow managing to look like a Sports Illustrated model wearing the sad school gym uniform. His toned white skin glistens in the harsh fluorescent lights, highlighting his perfect long limbs and chiseled face. Draco preens like a peacock looking at Ron like he just puked slugs at his feet.
"For those of us with the right connections we can get into any place we desire." Draco says in a snooty voice.
Ron scowls his hands balling into fists as he charges up to Draco.
"Listen here you bastard!"
Cedric turns to Harry in panic and the rest of the class gathers around chanting fight, fight. Draco steps forward with a gleeful expression on his face, looking like nothing would please him more than to lay Ron flat on his back. Harry sighs knowing as usual it comes down to him to stand between everyone else and the chaos. Harry leaps between Draco and Ron before Ron can get anymore implicating words out of his mouth or worse punch him. He faces Draco with a cool expression and pushes Ron back behind him.
"Look Draco, I don't know what your issue is, but we are not interested in fighting with you. We don't care how or why you transferred into our class. Just leave us alone and we will as well." Harry says with a hard face.
Draco smiles as Coach Hooch walks into the gym, a resigned look on her face. She hates gym class because she thinks everyone but the sports teams are pathetically out of shape and are depressing to watch.
"You know the drill. Partner up and get your rackets, we are still on our tennis unit." she yells with a clap of her hands.
Harry takes a step towards Cedric about to partner up with him as usual, but Coach Hooch's voice stops him.
"Swan, you will partner with Cullen. He switched into this class today and I want you to show him the ropes."
"Yes, coach." Harry says, trying to keep the groan out of his voice.
Harry gives Cedric an apologetic look and watches as Ron partners with him instead. By the time Harry forces himself to go over to Draco, he has already returned with two rackets and a tennis ball. He holds one out to Harry and Harry takes it with a grim face, walking about ten feet away from him and facing Draco. Draco bounces the ball and they are off, neither one missing a single ball, though Draco makes it look effortless to swing his racket with graceful yet lazy flicks. He honestly looks bored, as Harry starts to feel his heart rate picking up from trying to keep up with the ball.
Draco starts to sing just loud enough for Harry to hear, a small mischievous smile on his face.
"Weasley is our king. He cannot hit a single thing."
Harry frowns; he is not familiar with this song, but he knows where there is Draco there is evil.
"That is why the Slytherins all sing. Weasley is our King."
Draco starts to use his superior height to try and mess Harry up and he pants as he catches the ball with the edge of his racket. Harry is not sure but he gets the sense that Draco could end this at any time and is just playing with him like a cat with a mouse. Though he performs better than poor Ron who misses half the balls that Cedric serves.
"Weasley cannot serve a thing. He cannot backhand a single shot."
"Draco cut it out." Harry hisses.
He can't prove it but he knows Draco is using the song to make fun of Ron, even if Weasley is clearly a made up name. Draco winks at him and lowers his voice as their classmates gather around to watch their ongoing battle, but Harry still sees him moving his lips. Harry's eyes lock onto Draco's with concentration, his insides warming as he gets absorbed into their yellow amber pools.
"Go Harry!"
Harry turns at the sound of the voice, his eyes catching grey as he gives Cedric a sloped smile. The next second later pain bursts over his chest.
"Point to Draco!" Coach Hooch yells as the bell rings.
A weak cheer goes through the assembled students and Harry grins despite the pain knowing that most were rooting for him. Draco blows off his racket in a self-satisfied way when Harry glances at him, posing to best show himself off. Harry scoffs as he passes by with Cedric and Ron following him to the dressing room, Draco's gaze burning into his back.
"It's been a week, and he still will not talk to me in gym or in class! And I know he's hungry. Anyone could hear his stomach growling from a kilometre away." Draco growls as he paces in the 'living room' an American term if there ever was one. His 'siblings' sit on the couch watching him with amusement, "Do you think it's because he is scared of me?"
Theo snorts but doesn't answer him, leading Draco to think he is correct.
"Have you tried giving him more apples, he seemed to like that the first hundred times," Blaise asks with a wide smirk.
Draco had hoped that Potter simply didn't like green apples and so he spent the last week giving Potter different kinds of apples. He refused to take any of them.
"Have you tried complimenting him? Tell him how impressive it is that he broke so many motorcycle stunts and baseball records." Pansy chimes in.
"Or broke so many barriers both in gender and sexuality in ballet?" Theo adds not looking up from his book.
Draco had taken the opportunity to research Potter to better understand this version of him, in the hope of cracking him. Instead, he found evidence that no matter what universe Potter exists in he always shows off.
"Yes. He doesn't care! He brushes them off like they are nothing because he is so arrogant. Then he acts all shy when someone points out how freaking lucky and skilled he is to be able to do that. It's insufferable."
Despite popular belief his mother did teach him conversational skills, he just never needed to use them. His 'friends' either hung onto his every world or he was the outcast of the Slytherins and didn't need to talk to anyone.
"Have you tried just asking him questions about himself? What his favorite book is? Does he have any pets?" Lily asks, walking into the room holding a dish towel and whipping down a clean bowl.
She told him during one of their Chemistry jam sessions, her words not his, that she misses cooking and baking from her human days because she is still relatively young for a vampire at just eighteen years old. She still makes food occasionally and brings it in for her clients or the office. Draco wrinkles his nose as the smell of chocolate chip 'cookies' not biscuits waft in from the kitchen. Human food smelled horrid.
"Yes, he shoved the apple in my mouth and told me to be quiet, so he could focus," Draco says with a frown.
"Does the apples have anything to do with your obsession with Paradise Lost?" Lily asks innocently.
His siblings collectively groan.
"Mom? Why must you mention that loathsome book?" Theo says with a dramatic sigh.
"I know! We are so lucky that it wasn't one of the few memories he managed to keep." Pansy says.
"He quoted it all the time…" Blaise says in an exasperated voice.
"What's Paradise Lost?" Draco asks in confusion.
"Nothing," Blaise mumbles.
"The origin story of the devil. It's like religious fanfiction!" Luna says merrily as she enters the room and plops down on the couch next to Theo.
Draco makes a confused face, "What is fanfiction?"
"Oh no, don't get her started, we will be here all night." Blaise says in a whiny voice.
A couple hours later after Draco has learned more than he ever wanted to about Superman and Lex Luther fics, he sits in his closet of a room listening to 'Earth Angel' on the 'stereo' system Luna showed him how to work. She assured him it was one of his favourites but Draco wonders yet again about the taste of his previous vampire self. He walks over to his bookshelf and pulls off Paradise Lost and opens the cover, his eyes jumping to the writing on the title page that says,
"To my favourite fallen angel"
-James
In neat handwriting.
Draco pushes the red delicious apple towards him and Harry looks at it like a dehydrated man who stumbled upon an oasis in the desert. He found these variety of apples far from delicious but he overslept his alarm this morning and was so rushed making food for the Dursleys that he didn't get a chance to snatch any for himself. His 'gas' money is officially gone for this month and it would be a few days before Sirius sent him more, so he didn't have anything for lunch. Harry picks the apple up with decisive fingers and feels Draco shift beside him. He glares at him as he takes a bite and forces himself not to groan in relief.
"This doesn't change anything between us." Harry mumbles, with his mouth full of apple.
Draco gives him a beaming smile that says he doesn't believe him. Harry ignores him in favor of eating.
Luna slides a CD with the title "Grease" across the front of the disk, claiming it's the best thing to listen to while learning to drive. If he were feeling more himself he would sneer at the title., as the cheesy lyrics blast over the speakers.
"I solve my problems, and I see the light. There ain't no danger we can go too far..."
Draco's fingers tremble as he fumbles with the key in the ignition, his pride taking a hit at the thought of Blaise, Pansy, and Theo judging him from the backseat. He refuses to look at Luna beside him, afraid that one wrong move will confirm their suspicions that he is not capable enough to drive. But as his sweaty palms slip on the steering wheel, he can feel their eyes boring into his back, amplifying his nerves.
Blaise yawns, "Come on lets get this show on the road.
Draco's knuckles turn white as he grips the key, his body tensing in anticipation. With a loud roar, the car jolts to life and Draco winces, feeling every vibration shoot through his bones. He curses the muggles for creating such a noisy mode of transportation.
"You are doing great, Draco," Luna says from the passenger seat beside him,"
Draco's jaw clenches as he swiftly shifts the car into drive and presses down on the gas pedal, sending the vehicle lurching forward with a surge of power. His foot hovers anxiously over the brake, ready to slam down at any moment. Every muscle in his body is tense, his mind racing with thoughts of escape as eases the car forward.
"Go grandmama," Pansy groans.
"I think I've seen grandmother's drive faster than this," Theo quips.
With a growl, Draco slams his foot down on the gas pedal, pushing the speedometer past thirty miles per hour. The roaring engine and screeching tires are like music to his ears, drowning out the sounds of the ungrateful brats in the backseat. He imagines Potter's reaction to his impressive driving skills, the very reason he had been determined to learn in the first place.
"I need to learn how to drive," Draco declares as he bursts into the living room, his eyes blazing with determination.
"Why?" Theo asks in a disinterested tone, not bothering to look up from his book as he turns a page.
"Because...I just do," Draco replies through gritted teeth, trying to contain his anger at their lack of interest.
"It's about that human boy, isn't it?" Blaise chimes in with a devious smirk. "I heard you 'accidentally' hit Cedric so hard with a tennis ball that he had to go to the nurse for smiling at Harry."
Draco's glares at them. Yes, it was all because of Potter, the one person who could make him feel such intense emotions.
Pansy glares back at him.
"Draco! Your obsession with this human is getting dangerous! Your…wardrobe is one thing," Pansy says giving Draco's outfit a once over, "but showing off in gym is going to give us unwanted attention."
Draco paces over to her, determined to get in her face but Blaise throws a pillow at him when he stands in front of the 'television'.
"Door not a window," Blaise growls at him, as he tries to see around him.
Draco huffs and moves.
"It's not a obsession! I need to him to acknowledge that I am better than him and to do that he needs to pay attention to me." Draco whines, sprawling out on the couch in an undignified manner that would cause his mother to give him a 'look' if she saw him.
Theo snorts.
"I would say there's no danger of him not doing that," he says, "All you need is a collar for your cape and you will look like a proper vampire."
Draco glares, as he wraps his cashmere cloak self-consciously around himself. He had gotten particularly odd stares wearing it today, but it wasn't his fault muggles possessed no sense of fashion.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Cedric offered to drive Harry to Seattle?" Luna asks.
"How do you know about that?" Draco hisses.
"Harry told me, we are friends."
Blaise smirks. "Ah, I see. Feeling a bit jealous, are we?"
Draco glares at him. "I am not jealous! I just...I don't want that prat alone with Swan in a car for hours."
Pansy crows as Blaise's character a green 'plumber' gets hit with a fireball.
"Take that Luigi," Pansy says with a grin.
Blaise and Pansy play some sort of strange game where men in red and green hats jump over tubes and bricks to escape a fire-spitting…monster. Both of them yell insults at each other as Pansy jumps onto a flag pole and wins the game. Blaise groans as Pansy cheers. Draco can't help but think of Slytherin versus Gryffindor with the colours.
"Are you sure you don't want to learn how to play video games next?" Blaise asks looking hopeful.
"Don't listen to him, darling, he's just a sore loser who knows how terrible you are at these silly human electronic things. Anyways your driving lessons always manage to scare Mr. Reckless himself, so this will be very entertaining." Pansy says with a winsome smile.
"Fuck you," Blaise hisses.
"Later," Pansy says taping Blaise playfully on the nose.
Draco watches the banter between his siblings with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. Their antics always served as a brief reprieve from his own tumultuous thoughts. With a dramatic sigh, he rises from the couch, straightening his cape as he does so.
"I want to learn how to drive and that's final," Draco says shutting down the conversation, hands on his hips as he scans the room, daring anyone to challenge him.
Luna looks up from where she sits cross-legged on the floor, her dreamy expression giving way to a quizzical frown. "Driving can be quite liberating, Draco. I think it would suit you."
Theo chuckles under his breath, finally closing his book and tossing it aside. "Well, if Draco is going to learn, we might as well all witness the spectacle."
Blaise raises an eyebrow. "Who's going to teach him, then?" he asks, glancing around the room at the mismatched group of friends.
"I will!" Luna says standing up and walking to the garage. They all shrug, never ones to turn down free entertainment.
"Darling for the love of God go somewhere else, we are just going in circles," Pansy says breaking him out of his recollection.
Draco squeezes the steering wheel with white-knuckled desperation, his heart racing as he inches out of the abandoned parking lot and onto the busy road. Every nerve in his body is on edge.
"Good job, Draco," Luna said with a nod. "Now give it a little more gas and-"
Draco slams his foot down on the accelerator with reckless abandon. The car jerks forward violently, causing everyone to be thrown back in their seats with bone-jarring force, well they were muggles that is.
"Finally" Theo exclaims from the backseat where he had been lounging.
Draco shoots him a withering look in the rearview mirror.
The car hurtles down the deserted side road, its engine roaring like a wild beast unleashed. Pansy smirks as she leans into Blaise, her white teeth flashing dangerously. Blaise cackles with reckless abandon, his voice matching the manic energy of their speed. Luna appears serene but inside her mind is spinning with thoughts and emotions as the scenery blurs past them in a chaotic blur. They are all consumed by the thrill of the moment, knowing that even if they crash they won't die.
"I think you should slow down!" Luna's worried tone is drowned out by the screeching of tyres as an older lady steps onto a crosswalk.
In a split-second decision, Draco slams on the brakes, sending his siblings flying against the back of the seats.
Pansy shrieks, "My hair!" her perfectly styled hair is now a dishevelled mess.
Theo glares at Draco with hatred and mutters, "I can't believe I'm stuck with you even in death."
Draco shakes as he realizes just how close he came to causing a fatal accident.
"Remember what Father says we are not dead, this is just our second life," Luna says unbuckling her seatbelt to turn around and kiss Theo on the lips.
Draco feels a weird squirm of something in his chest as he watches the two of them looking so perfectly in sync.
"He would have killed his human though, with a stop like that." Pansy quips as he allows Luna to take the wheel and turn the car back around.
Over the next few days, Luna takes Draco out in the silver Volvo, to the same empty parking lot. This time without their entourage. At first, Draco struggled with even the basics like starting the car and using the pedals properly.
"Bloody hell, how do m-humans do this?" he yells after stalling the car again.
"It takes practice. You've gone from horse-drawn carriages to this. Give it time." Luna says in her dreamy voice.
"Luna, you do understand I have no memory of my human life, I've never driven even that."
Luna nods absentmindedly, her bright hazel eyes flickering between the road and Draco's hands as she directs him to turn the key in the ignition once more. A furrow forms on Draco's forehead as he focuses intently, determined to get it right. He repeats this process for days, his knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. Finally, with Luna's patient guidance, he can navigate through town roads confidently. And after a week of practice, he can conquer the intimidating highways without fear.
Draco pulls the Volvo into a gas station and parks, turning to Luna.
She gives him a wide smile, "I think you are ready!"