What a Handshake Can Do (Drarry)

Year 6: Part 8

Draco didn't know what time he had come back, nor did he really care. Everything was falling apart around him, no matter how many times he went back to fix it. There had to be about fifteen different Dracos running around in 1991, all looking for either each other or the famous "Harry Potter".

He'd tried and tried again, but no matter what he did, he kept coming back to an even worse future. He curled up into a little ball, trying his best not to cry and failing.

No matter which timeline he was in, the Room of Requirement was still the best place to go if he wanted to be alone, and right now he really wanted to be alone. Tears began to pool at his lids and he felt little wet droplets falling down his cheeks.

Tears just kept falling and falling. His body rocked back and forth, shaking. Dumbledore couldn't help him anymore, now he was stuck. He had to find a way to stop Voldemort, and if using Merlin's Time-Turner wouldn't work, what would?

He remembered Dark Harry running through the library, holding a book dogeared to a page on something called a Horcrux... Dumbledore hadn't really talked to him about it. He lifted his head up, eyes going wide. Horcruxes were somehow connected to Voldemort and he needed to find out what they were, and Dark Harry had the answers. 

-_-_-_-_-

Harry Apparated back into Hogwarts, glad that Voldemort had keyed him into the castle wards. He smiled, tucking his wand into his school robs and looking around the empty dorm room, not sure why he felt a sudden wave of sadness. 

It was almost as if he wanted someone to be there. 

His head had been feeling fuzzy lately. He sighed, rubbing his forehead and trying to remember what he'd been doing. Something about carrying out Voldemort's plans. He couldn't quite remember what those plans were or why they were important, but he knew he needed to get them done.

He began rummaging through his trunk, memories buzzing through his head. Harry didn't remember ever playing Quidditch for Gryffindor, or a roaring crowd chanting his name along with some chant about "Weasly is our king"? 

Suddenly he was back in 1991, running into the Hogwarts Express for the first time. 

His heart pounded in his chest, hundreds of children surrounded him. He felt so... alone. 

That's when he saw it, the blonde head of hair...... Red head of hair?....Blonde?

It kept switching back and forth between pale or freckly and red or platinum blonde. 

Then he was surrounded by blondes, all with the same face, pointed and glaring at him. 

Then he was back in the present, heart pounding in his ears, sweat trickling down his forehead. What was happening to him? He reached out to feel Voldemort's presence in his mind but it wasn't there. He only withdrew himself during sensitive meetings, meaning Harry would be alone for who knows how long. 

He took a deep breath, trying to focus his mind, but the past kept blurring between two different realities. 

Or were they realities. 

In the back of his mind, he heard the knock of a door opening. He looked up through his blurred vision, seeing the same face from the train station, cold and empty. 

Draco's eyes were slightly puffy, as if he had been crying. "Draco?" he said, all his walls suddenly collapsing. 

He stood up, practically running into Draco's arms, who caught him easily, eyes widening. He chuckled, picking up Harry, who had lost a lot of weight recently, in his arms.