The Hateful Fates

2

Draco groaned in pain. The freezing cold flew through his thinner robes. There was a certain chill in the air that should not be there for a June night, no matter what. He pulled his body upwards, a certain stabbing pain in his side and ribs as he did so. His hand flew to his soulmate mark, it felt as though it were on fire. The pain from that alone made him feel as though someone set a flame to his bare skin, though he knew that was not the case. Ruffling through his robes, he noted that a wand was on his person. A wand, not his, but it was...his. It was not his original one, he could tell just from holding it before he even pulled it from his robes to look at it, but it certainly felt just as loyal as his old one, so in a way, it was his despite it not being his original one. Upon pulling it from his robes he noticed it was definitely more fashionable than his previous one. It was a solid black color, though he was not quite sure what it was made out of. Forcing his eyes around him he read the unfamiliar sign, Hogsmede. Except...it did not look like the Hogsmede that he was used to.

Of course, he knew that it was Hogsmede. There were not many places called Hogsmede, and Draco would know because he had been raised within the Magical community, and was exposed to some of the more nuanced places as well, including Knockturn Alley and a great wealth of other places. Hogsemede was interesting, but the important thing was that there was only one. Pulling his body up into a standing position, from which he almost buckled from, he pulled his gaze up further and...sure enough...the Hogwarts castle was standing still. It was lit, as well, and turning his gaze to the left he could see some of the first years had already making their way through the lake. There was only one carriage left, but if he could make it, he would not have to walk all the way to the school, which was a plus. Furthermore, as much as he may dislike having to try and figure out what he was supposed to do given the obvious time displacement-he was not stupid he knew that there was something wrong, it had barely been June when he had gotten home, but when he popped up here it was clearly September 1st and Hogsmede did not look how it was supposed to, something was very much obviously wrong-but at the moment his only goal was getting to the school. He could figure out a more permanent situation then. He would have to talk to the headmaster about what he should do. He had no way to get back home, he had no idea where or when his home may be.

Or if he could even go back to his own place. The words that the blob had spoken echoed through his mind. 'you won't be able to return'. This had to have been what they meant. He was now stuck in some...thing. He did not even know when he was, but that idiot obviously sent him back somehow. Wait...Draco's eyes widened slightly as he ripped his robes apart and jerked his tunic up staring at his Soulmark...which was all black. He let out a inhuman whine at that. He was going to die. Whatever happened they must have sent me back to when my soulmate was alive, like...for real and not some weird mass of insanity. Which means this is the Dark Lord's time. Which means the Dark Lord is somewhere around here, probably not at full power yet. How am I supposed to both find and stay away from a young Dark Lord when I don't even know their real name? Draco wanted to throw something at that mass of light. When he had agreed to the deal, he had been fairly sure that he was dreaming. Or that he had been drugged, or that it was some sort of test from the Dark Lord. However the evidence was on his pelvis.

It was definitely not some sort of test from the Dark Lord. He had to have been talking to one of the Fates then, who apparently decided that he should be given a chance with his soulmate. Except, the slight issue was...he did not want to be given a chance with his soulmate. He had thought he would be put somewhere safe, and that was what the fates had meant, at the very least at the time that was what he had thought. Clearly, he had been wrong. He couldn't even think of something more terrifying than a young Dark Lord that was not crazy.

He shook his head. He did not have time to think about that. At the moment the only thing that he had to focus on was snatching a carriage and getting into the castle. Once he got to the Castle, he could talk to the headmaster and try to figure something out. From what he knew of his grandfather's time at Hogwarts which, admittedly, was not much there were still a few things of note that he did know. For one, the Headmaster was not Albus Dumbledore, but he was fairly sure that the man still had a teaching position, or an assistant's position of some sort. That, however, meant only good things for him, because then he would not have to worry about trying to trick Dumbledore.