Chapter Text
Imagine being an average office worker who just wakes up one day, minding his own business as usual, but then accidentally learns that there is real magic in this world, and was told that he is a wizard, like, a wizard wizard.
Imagine the confusion, the doubt, the thoughts that quickly circulate in your mind. Just…imagine it.
If you cannot imagine it, that’s fine. Just ask Draco Malfoy, he would be able to describe those feelings for you: surprised, nervous, confused… and many more.
Why? Because Draco Malfoy is experiencing these feelings right now, shit tons of these confusing thoughts per seconds entering his head, he would say.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck.”
***
“When I say jump, you jump, alright?” A stranger says to him with a solemn look. Somehow his ridiculous round frame glasses doesn’t make him look ridiculous at all, which is weird, but maybe because he looks so solemn and the air of the authority around him helps, Draco guesses.
“Are you crazy!?” Draco widens his eyes. He straightens his sweater and looks at the person who, not only told Draco that he’s a wizard but also called himself a wizard.
“We don’t have much time. They might be planning something big…” He looks around, worried. Draco blinks. Is he accidentally getting himself into a prank vlog? This is the only likely explanation. He looks around for the camera, but the only thing he sees is the bloke in front of him looking down at his wristwatch with impatient.
“Let’s just… Don’t let go of my hand, alright? 1 2 3—” The stranger suddenly grabs his hand. Draco’s confused at the sudden coldness touching his hand, but before he can do anything, they both disappear in thin air.
Again, What. The. Fuck.
***
Everything in front of him turns so bright that he has to close his eyes. Draco hears the pop sound, and then he feels the change from the surrounding even with closed eyelids, so he opens his eyes again, and there’s no crowd lining up for the bus, no stairs to the Tube. In fact, there’s no bus stop at all.
When he opens his eyes, Draco is surrounded by a lot of trees. The smell of damp grass is too realistic for it to be a dream. He notices a light tug in his right hand, so Draco turns to the direction. The owner of the hand that stills covers his own coughs lightly. He grumbles a little about the ‘Apparition’ and something that doesn’t make sense.
When he notices that Draco is staring, he smiles a little and says,
“I’m Harry. Harry Potter.”
“You already introduced yourself to me back there. I don’t want to know your name, I want to know where the hell we are and how did you even do that? What trick are you using? What channel are you from? Are you one of those dimwit influencers that always doing prank videos just to feel something—”
“Woah, calm down. First, I’m a wizard.”
“And I’m a graphic designer. Nice to meet you.” Draco sneers. He sarcastically shakes the hand that still holds his own hand. He raises his eyebrow challenging Potter, who doesn’t appreciate his humour and acts offended.
“Listen, this is not the time to be joking. What I said about the magic, it’s real.”
Draco blinks. The first time he heard this Potter bloke spouting weird statements like how ‘Draco is a wizard’ and ‘Magic is real’ when he just came out of the Tube, he just ignored it and quickly walked to the direction of his office. However, the other guy just did some weird trick and brought him here, whatever ‘here’ is…
Don’t panic, Draco. You have Google Maps.
Draco nods to himself. He frees his hand and grabs his phone from his pants pocket, opening Google Maps.
“Highbury? What the—How? I was just walking to Victoria Station. What’s happening?” Draco moves around to make sure that the GPS is working correctly and that what he sees is true.
Potter shrugs. He looks down at his wristwatch again and asks, “Are you done? I am busy trying to save your life here.”
If he is not having a mental breakdown over the real-life teleporting, Draco will find Potter pretty rude.
“Saving my life?” Draco repeats instead and saves the talking back later when he understands what’s happening.
His life is so mundane until this weird ‘wizard’ appearing before his eyes. And what’s with that bizarre lightning-shaped scar on his head? Is it a fashion statement… or something? And don’t get him to start on the odd-looking black robe, is Potter an actor? What’s with the ‘saving his life’?
“Look, I have to go to work, otherwise the people at the agency…” Draco mumbles, picking up his phone to check the time. “I don’t know what kind of trick or sorcery you used, but I am in a hurry. If there is real magic, please travel back in time or at least send me to Vauxhall street—”
“If you are Draco Malfoy, the only son of Narcissa Malfoy, then you need to listen to me.”
Draco stops in his track. He looks up at Potter. His mother changed her last name to Black long ago, so not many people call her Narcissa Malfoy anymore.
And how did he even know Draco’s name…
“Listen, I can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust me.”
* * *
“To put it simply, I am like a police officer.” Potter sits down on the bench, in the middle of the park that they teleported to. (It’s called ‘Apparition’, not teleportation—Potter complains explains after Draco asked.) “Bellatrix… Your aunt, she’s conspiring with Lucius Malfoy, your father and other dark arts wizard, to bring you back to the wizarding world for a forbidden rite using your blood.”
“Wait, you’re trying to say my estranged father is in some kind of cult?! And my aunt? What?” Draco throws his hands in the air, sitting beside Potter.
“I heard from a source that Narcissa doesn’t tell you anything about magic and let you live in the muggle world—”
“What world again?”
“Muggle. It’s what we call people with no magic.”
“Oh, so you wizards are classist then. Good to know.” Draco nods.
“It’s funny you say that, because I’d say your family is kind of the mother of all classist, but we don’t have time for that yet. So you have no experience with magic at all? What school did you go to?”
“Do you want my resume? No, no magic or whatever. My mother brought me up normally. Thank you very much.” Draco sneers. “The only magical thing about me is my hands. I’m good at art and craft, and…”
“And…?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Draco smirks, raising one of his eyebrows playfully. Potter blushes a little, but he covers his awkwardness with a cough, then continues to ask with professionalism.
“Do you know anything about House Malfoy or House Black?”
“No, my mother doesn’t talk about that. She raised me on her own. Why are you speaking like we are in Game of Thrones? Are we in some kind of Game of Thrones drama?”
“Malfoy, is this a joke to you? I am trying here.” Potter sighs. He rubs his hand on his forehead. “Can you be serious for at least 5 minutes.” Potter rolls his eyes.
Draco doesn’t like Potter’s attitude, and he decides he has enough.
“No, it is not a joke to me. But what do you want from me? You are saying that magic is real, my estranged family members are trying to kidnap me, and that my mother has lied to me all this time? You want me to believe you, a stranger whom I just know for a mere 20 minutes? Sorry for treating this as a joke or else I would probably have a mental breakdown!”
In fact, Draco is probably having a mental breakdown right now. It’s a bit upsetting for someone his age to lose temper over stranger’s words like this, but Potter’s been rude for a while now.
“If they’re going to bring me to the wizarding world or the bloody Buckingham Palace, then let them! I don’t care. If they need my blood then go ahead, I always do blood donation anyway.” Draco shrugs. Potter sputters for a bit before he regains himself and talks back.
“It’s not like that. The wizarding world might be in chaos if—”
“And I am not even a part of it! How can I trust you? This is not a young adult story where the protagonist believes in the stranger’s words and follow them around anywhere. I am not even a protagonist! I’m just a mere 24-year-old graphic designer who’s trying to survive in this shitty world. Your muggle world.” Draco spits. He stands up, checking his phone.
“If you are not going to sending me back then I’m going back on my own. Good day.”
So Draco Malfoy, the graphic designer, takes a bus to work, and he leaves dumbfounded Harry Potter, the wizard, alone.