52Chapter 4
Chapter four: Past
Harry's POV
"You think …we're what?" Malfoy asked, spinning his spoon around in his bowl. The blonde didn't take a bite, just seemed to need something to do.
"In the past." He said, slowly moving to sit across from his rival. Although he was freaking out over the possible time travel, he was also trying to work out what the hell was different about the blonde. Ever since he had woken up confused with the other teen over him, there was this feeling like something was off. Not to mention they hadn't been fighting or arguing, which they had always done before.
"Potter." There was a draw to the way the blonde said his name that hinted it wasn't the first time he had said it. Harry shook his head and looked at the other teen.
"Well, the freaking portal thing for one, but the fact that no one has recognized either of us. I mean you're Draco Malfoy and…." He took an annoyed breath, "And I'm the boy who lived. Either one of us should draw attention. The two of us together." He stopped talking. Not really needing to finish that sentence.
"And the man downstairs thought I was my father," Malfoy added after a moment.
Harry just nodded and started eating his stew again. He wasn't really hungry and it had grown cold, but he knew he should eat.
"How much money do you have?" Harry asked when he finished as much food as he was going to be able to keep down. The blonde looked up at him and raised his eyebrow, making Harry want to roll his eyes.
"We don't know how long we are going to be here," he pointed out, letting to blonde fill in the rest.
"Why don't we just tell someone?" Malfoy asked pushing his half-empty bowl again.
"We can't," Harry said, looking away.
He swore there was a growl from the other teen, but when he looked back, there was no sound.
"Why not?" Malfoy asked, leaning back in his chair, and crossing his arms over his chest.
Harry pressed his lips together and tried to think of a way to explain things to the other student without revealing too much. He knew it needed to be believable and with Malfoy's knowledge about magic far outweighing his, he needed to be careful of what he said, because the blonde could possibly catch a lie.
"What if us telling someone, messes up the future?" he asked as a distraction.
The blonde studied him. "Whoever we told we could obliviate after," the blonde pointed out. Harry groaned. That was a good point.
"What if something went wrong?" he asked. He was debating telling Malfoy about Hermione time turner and the warning Dumbledore had given them, "or we needed more than one person's help?'
Again, he noticed the blonde was watching him, he felt his skin tingle and tried hard not to fidget at the uncomfortable feeling that started to grow. Being around Malfoy has always irritated him, but this was different.
"What aren't you saying?" the blonde asked.
Now it was his turn to lean back, with a huff of air, he started to talk, "Remember in third year, Hermione took just about every class possible?" the blonde nodded, slightly irritated look on his face. It almost made Harry smile, thinking about how pissed the Malfoy heir must have been to know that Hermione was showing him up again, then he remembered that she wasn't the person he thought she was and the humor faded. "Well turns out she had a time turner."
Malfoy opened his mouth, but Harry was fast to cut him off, "She was using it to attend classes, but…" he hesitated, would Malfoy tell anyone what he was about to say. Were his uncertain fears enough to put Sirius and Buckbeak in danger?
"Potter?" the blonde said, sounding a little curious.
Surprised, he looked up. "You have to swear not to tell anyone."
The blonde frowned at him, but like Harry hoped his curiosity got the better of him. Because he nodded.
"We used it to save Buckbeak."
Malfoy glared at him for a moment and then gave a smile. "You and the m… Hermione pulled one over on the ministry and my father." Then he laughed. "Perfect," the blonde muttered when he stopped laughing, then he waved Harry on.
"Dumbledore warned us. Beforehand. That messing with time could be dangerous and that interacting with ourselves or others, could have really bad consequences."
Again, the room fell into silence, Harry was trying to think of what to do next. If Malfoy believed him then they would have to work together to find a way back to their own time. If Malfoy didn't then he would have to continue trying to make him believe, or at least stop him from running off to tell Dumbledore about them.
"Potter," Malfoy's voice broke through his thoughts, and he looked up at the other boy, "If we can not seek help, what is your plan?"
Malfoy didn't look smug or mocking as he asked the question, in fact he looked concerned.
"If we have enough money, I would think we start at Flourish and Blotts, see if there are any books mentioning time travel or portals." He stopped, "we have to figure out how long we can stay here without drawing attention and a plan for if we can't stay here or don't have enough money," he finished.
"I may have an idea about how to get money," Malfoy said, "but first, we will go search for books. Though I doubt we will have much luck." The last bit was muttered. Then Malfoy got up and headed for the door, never once looking back to see if he was being followed. Harry rolled his eyes at the blonde's attitude, of course, he was used to people doing what he wanted and following his lead.
With a huff of annoyance, Harry pushed himself to his feet and tried not to chase after the blonde.
It was strange walking along Diagon Alley, and not having people notice him. No one came up to shake his hand or to call him mad. No one was staring or muttering as he walked passed. He simply got to go about his walk undisturbed, except for an annoying blonde that kept yelling at him to hurry up.
Once inside the bookstore, he intentionally went a different direction than Malfoy. He has a feeling they were going to be stuck with each other for at least a few days and he was going to take any chance he could to be alone.
As he skimmed the bookshelves, he has a feeling of sorrow. Research was always Hermione's thing and he missed her. He knew he shouldn't, that her and Ron had been faking their friendship with him, but it has been real to him. He has truly thought that he found two friends that would always be there for him and that they would be in each other's lives forever. Now all he has was himself.
He shook his head, that wasn't true, he has Sirius and Remus or at least he hoped he did. Sirius has to disappear again after the fight at the ministry and besides a single letter, he received at the start of summer he hadn't heard from his godfather. He felt pain in his chest as he started to wonder if Sirius really cared about him. What if his godfather, was like his friends and it was all just a lie? No, Sirius had warned him about Dumbledore, so he had to care, right? What if Remus really didn't care about him?
He felt his eyes start to water and had to reach up and wipe the tears away with the sleeve of his robe.
Clearing his mind off the depressing thoughts he went back to scanning the books. After all, he has bigger things to worry about at the moment then whether more of his so-called friends were lying to him.