Time Management

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"Wait, Draco! What are you doing?" Blaise asked frantically as Draco jumped off his bed and ran over to his trunk and threw the lid open.

Draco stood up straight with a pair of trousers in his hands and gave Blaise an exasperated look. "I'm going to change the past! You said it yourself."

"No, I said you couldn't change it! How will you do this?"

"I'm going back in time," Draco said in a tone of explaining something to a 4 year old.

"But how? Potter and his friends smashed all the time-turners in 5th year at the ministry, remember?"

Draco was still digging frantically in his trunk. "AHAH!" he cried as he surfaced with a very old looking book. Blaise eyed it with suspicion. Draco patted Blaise consolingly on the shoulder. "My dear Blaise, there are other ways of going back in time, better ways."

"What do you mean? And what is that book?" Blaise asked in confusion.

"This, my friend, is a book my father gave to me many years ago. It contains many dark spells, and one..." Draco paused as he flipped through the pages, looking for a spell. "That transports the castor to a certain point in time. Unlike with time turners, you don't have to wait all the time to get back to the present. This spell will take me there and back in a matter of a few words."

Blaise watched as Draco found the page he wanted and set the book down on the table. "Uh, Drake, I don't think this is such a good idea," Blaise warned cautiously. Draco shot him a warning glare before turning back to the book. Blaise silently panicked. "Wait!" He yelled as Draco raised his wand to perform the spell.

Draco stopped, his wand in midair. "What?" he asked impatiently.

"This is going to affect everything! You, me, the whole school, the dark lord, are you sure you want to do that?"

Draco paused, looking thoughtful. He really didn't care about the rest of the school, but he didn't want himself or Blaise to change, that would be too difficult. He bent over the book and reread the instructions. At the bottom of the page in tiny print was a message. Draco squinted to make it out.

"'If castor wishes to remain in the same mind, simply substitute your name and any others.' There!" Draco smiled at Blaise as if that had solved all the problem. Blaise frowned and also read the line. Draco raised his wand again.

"If you're going to do this, you'd better include my name in that spell," Blaise warned him darkly.

Draco rolled his eyes at him. "Of course, Blaise. I can't go losing my best friend."

Blaise nodded and stepped back to give Draco a clear shot.


"When time is dark and need is great,
Breathe this spell and rid us of hate.
Bring me the past to fix what's done
Let us restart from where we'd begun.
Draco and Blaise need to remain
As we always were, we rest the same.
Change the past and let us see
If it was truly meant to be."


Draco waved his wand and in a flash he was gone. Blaise looked around in worry, hoping it had gone alright...

***

Draco landed suddenly and stumbled a bit. He caught himself though and steadied himself. He glanced around and recognized himself to be in Diagon Alley. Everything looked the same, although perhaps it was a bit more cheerful than it was in the present time, and the obvious lack of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Draco wandered cautiously out of the alleyway he'd landed in and peered around the corner, not sure what to do. He was about to walk out of the alleyway when he spotted a tall man with white blond hair and sneer on his face.

Draco ducked quickly out of sight and watched his father carefully. Lucius Malfoy was strolling along the street, sneering at passersby. Draco wondered vaguely for a minute where he was when his father spoke.

"Draco, do not dawdle. We have much to do."

Older Draco nearly left his place hidden in the alley to obey his father, but he stopped himself in time. A smaller boy came hurrying quickly up the street. Draco smiled slightly at his younger self. His hair was slicked back still and he had an arrogant attitude around him.

Lucius swept up the street, young Draco hurrying to keep up. Older Draco sighed, wishing he hadn't been so bent on following in his father's footsteps. He watched as Lucius instructed young Draco to wait outside of a shop as he handled some business.

Older Draco saw his chance and seized it. He darted out of his alley and snuck up behind young Draco.

"Hey," he said quietly. His younger self turned around and his eyes widened in shock. Young Draco's eyes took in the appearance of his older counterpart. Older Draco's hair was cut short and styled into spikes. The spiked were tipped with green, a tribute to his house.

"Who are you?" young Draco asked in feigned disdain, while really he was scared witless, it showed in his silver eyes. Older Draco cringed. It was going to take a lot to convince himself. He remembered being especially stubborn when he was younger.

"Okay, I don't have a lot of time. Father will be out any minute," older Draco started, and younger Draco's expression became even more nettled. "Today, you are going to meet Harry Potter in Madame Malkins. You HAVE to be nice to him, unless you want to spend the next seven years wasting valuable time being mean to him."

Young Draco had lost all of his sneer and he was watching older Draco in incredulity. "You're crazy," he stated firmly.

"Maybe," Draco muttered to himself. "Just trust me, Draco, it would be in your best interest to be nice to him. Don't insult Hagrid, shake his hand NOW, and offer to be his friend. When you get to the Hogwarts Express, find him first and help him. Offer him a seat, do not let him sit with Weasley. Do you understand?" Draco said it with so much force that younger Draco nodded his head violently. "Good." Draco saw his father coming toward the door through the corner of his eye. "I'll be watching," he added before disappearing back to his alley.

Once there he watched as Lucius led younger Draco down the street. Younger Draco glanced over his shoulder at older Draco, concealed behind the wall. Older Draco stole after the pair and Lucius directed younger Draco in Madame Malkins. Lucius left.

'Probably to go to Knockturn Alley,' Draco thought angrily.

He watched through the window as his younger self was put on a stool and someone started measuring him. He glanced down the street and saw a huge someone parting the crowd. 'Hagrid,' he thought. Sure enough, soon he was able to make out Hagrids massive form followed by a tiny boy in clothing way too big for him.

Draco watched as younger Harry made his way up the street in Hagrids wake, looking around wonderingly at everything around him. Draco smiled at how innocent he seemed. He only hoped his plan worked. He saw Hagrid leave Harry at the robe shop, giving some excuse about Gringotts carts and needing a drink.

Young Harry entered the shop. Draco watched on pins and needles, hoping to Merlin everything went according to the plan. He couldn't hear what was being said, but he saw Harry laugh at something his younger self had said. He felt the knot in his chest lessen considerably.

He saw himself offer a hand to Harry, and it was, for the first time, readily accepted. Draco felt as though something had finally gone right in his life. He saw Hagrid sidle back up to the shop, holding two dripping ice creams. Young Harry smiled happily at Draco and hopped off the stool, waving him goodbye.

He left the shop and walked off with Hagrid. The pair didn't talk about Harry's new companion, just continued down the street. Older Draco thought he saw a glow of something surrounding Harry, as though he knew a secret no one else did. He did in fact. He had his first friend ever and was not about to share with anyone.

Draco was sufficiently pleased with his younger self’s actions. Young Draco came out of the shop and saw him standing half concealed. Older Draco gave a small nod, to signify everything was going to plan. Then he turned and disappeared, with younger Draco looking after him with a curious expression on his face.

Draco stole into a deserted corner of the market and pulled out the book with the spell.


"Return me now to whence I came,
Where nothing will be the same.
Bring light to dark and dark to light
Continue to take me to the fight.
My work is finished, done, and sealed,
Take me to the future healed."


And Draco was gone in a flash of gold light.

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A/N: Poetry is mine. :) Glad you guys seem to like it so far! Please Review!