Mr. And Mrs. Hewitt of Little Haven were as normal as one could imagine and any neighbour would tell so, a common family they’d say. They were good friends of old Mrs. Rees from down the road and she would happily talk about them as if they were her own children.

Mr. Hewitt was an accountant, young but very capable with numbers, he was a tall blond man of aristocratic features. Mrs. Hewitt was a preschool teacher, shorter than her husband, she had long red hair and freckles on her face, quick to laugh she often contrasted her husband more reserved personality.The Hewitts had two children, a small daughter and an older son, and on their off days one would usually see the small family spending time together.

The Hewitts had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that someone would discover it.

But it wasn’t on that day that the story began, it started many years in a different time, on a dark night, when a boy of sixteen ran from a tower.

Spells were flying by but Draco didn’t care any more, he had failed, he couldn’t kill Dumbledore, would the Dark Lord even care that he brought the Death Eaters into Hogwarts? Or would he kill him for having Snape do the killing and not fulfilling his mission? And if he didn’t kill him, what did he have to live for?

He wanted to lie down, to forget that terrible year, pretend that he wasn’t going home to a wand to his throat and all that he had to worry about was school grades and how to be better than Potter.

Nothing made sense any more and no one could save him.

Snape was rushing him away but he barely registered it, even less when the man let him go, something behind them that Draco didn’t care about, he continued on the path almost stumbling.

“YOU!”

The voice reached him as if it was miles away, if I could be miles away, his mind whispered in pain but he forced himself to pay attention, to come back to where he actually was. In front of him was Weasley, the girl, he remembered she and some others of Potters friends had come and somehow survived the attacks.

She glared at him and he raised his wand at her but his hand still trembled from before, Draco hoped she didn’t notice, being arrested by them, by her, didn’t sound much better than life in the mansion.

“You disgusting, treacherous...snake!” she screamed while running, getting closer to him.

“Stay back, I’ll kill you!”

Big words for the one who couldn’t kill an old man before he pushed those thoughts down, together with everything else, Bellatrix made sure he could push everything away, playing with his memories as she went.

“You let them in!” he tried to hex her but couldn’t control his hand and missed “How could you?!”

The Weasley girl didn’t care for his attempts at magic, failing as he was to actually hit her general direction, instead she grabbed him by the collar, forcing him to look at her, righteous fury shining in her eyes. She hated him, and he remembered the one from her side that he had stumbled upon before.

He didn’t have anything to say, feel sorry for the ones he had spent his lifetime hating? Even if he did, what good would it do now? Draco didn’t have anything that he could offer, money and power had failed him, he was nothing.

He was alone.

She opened her mouth to speak or to curse him, he had no idea because it was then that a stray spell hit them.

He felt a push, not unlike what he’d expect from a portkey but he was sure that what hit them was a spell not any object, Weasley couldn’t apparate, and it wouldn’t matter if she could, they were still within the confines of Hogwarts. Did death feel like a portkey?

But when the feeling stopped, they were definitely somewhere else, and it wasn’t the beyond, it was...a road?

It was stupid going after Malfoy as her luck was running out, Ginny thought as she looked around them, stupid gets you alone with the enemy.

The road they were on didn’t have many people in it, or any really, aside from her and Malfoy there was an old couple entering their home and a man but he soon left too, in the distance on other roads she could see some kids, in costumes? She wasn’t sure.

She turned her wand back on Malfoy she asked “Where are we?!”

“Do you think I know?!” he looked as perplexed as she felt but after the night they had she wasn’t about to trust he was telling the truth.

“Why did you bring us here?”

She tried again but Malfoy didn’t felt like answering her, choosing instead to walk toward one of the other roads. He didn’t go far however, almost tripping on his own feet he instead decided to sit on the pavement.

“Malfoy!” It made her so mad, after all he had done he just sat on the ground? Nothing to say? Doing nothing?

“Answer ME!”

He finally looked back at her, she hated that defeated look on his face, it wasn’t like the one he would have after Quidditch or when he didn’t get what he wanted, when he would sneer and insult the closest person he could find, he looked... lost, ready to give up, no sneer, not even hatred.

Just blank silver looking back at her.

With a groan of irritation she sat down on the same spot, not by his side, she rationalized as he stared at her actions.

“Well then,” Ginny began “how do we get back?”

He turned away from her, and she thought that this new introspective Malfoy was too strange, someone she didn’t know.

“Is there really anything to go back?”

Her eyes still on him, her voice turned quiet “Hogwarts, family, friends”

He sneered at that and she couldn’t help but smile despite everything, that was the person she knew “Is there anything for me to go back to?”

“Facing the consequences of your actions?”

She didn’t expect him to laugh, but he did, and in that complicated night, she shared his laughter.

Having a quiet conversation with a Weasley and laughing with her, were not things that he expected would ever happen, but at the moment he truly had nothing else anyway. Going back meant either escaping to be killed by The Dark Lord or being arrested and being killed by The Dark Lord later. Might as well believe in the impossible.

When a voice came from behind them.

“Are you two lost? Do you need help?”

He turned and found a young woman, dark red hair he wanted to joke about a long lost Weasley but didn’t have much energy for that, her clothes spoke of someone that had expected a peaceful night and he realized he must look terribly dishevelled.

“We-” his companion began, unsure of how to continue and he watched as her face showed every frase she considered before settling on “We are confused, we weren’t supposed to be here”

The woman smiled at them, deep green eyes softening at the teenagers in front of her “It’s quite late now, I live nearby, you can stay the night and in the morning we can think about it, sound good?”

It sounded way too good for Draco, it was hard to believe that someone would just open their house to strangers, especially in difficult times, what could they want? But even as he thought about it his whole body protested, somewhere warm where he could rest sounded fantastic at the moment, what did he have to lose?

He looked at Ginny questioningly, she answered with a nod before turning to the woman and accepting the hospitality. They followed her to a cottage but he couldn’t make out anything too specific about the place, it was dark and he was just too tired.

They entered the home and followed the woman to the living room, he and Weasley awkwardly sat on the couch when sounds of giggling came from the upstairs, the woman looked up and smiled.

“My husband, he’s taking care of the baby, they will be here soon” she explained gently. “I will get us some tea”

“Uh, Thank you” Draco said, unsure of what to do, if she asked what they were doing alone out there he didn’t know what to answer.

She smiled at them and moved to the kitchen, probably understanding their defensive behaviour.

He was still looking at the closed door when Weasley turned to him, her expression a determined seriousness.

“Will you come back to Hogwarts with me or will you run away to them” she didn’t need to specify the them and he felt the dread creep back, told himself to ignore it.

Draco looked at his hands “I don’t know” he said the truth.

“We’ll think about it tomorrow” she conceded, as tired as him.

The door to the kitchen opened again, the woman now holding two teacups walked back to the living room and put the teacups on the coffee table in front of them.

“Thanks” said Weasley before drinking her tea.

Nothing happened so he felt it was safe to drink, taking in the warmth of the beverage and feeling less tired now.

“Better now?” the woman asked gently and they nodded, “Well then! I’m-”

“Hey, Lils, do you know where is Harry’s toy car?” a man asked going down the stairs, his young son on his hip.

“It should be in the toy box” she replied calmly.

“Already checked, think Harry moved it?”

“It’s possible, want me to look?”

“Nah, we’ll look later, you have guests... something wrong? Do I have something on my face?”

Draco was sure his look of horror was mirrored by Weasley, because standing on the stairs was Harry Potter, only it couldn’t be.

One was the man, he looked almost identical to the boy they knew but the man had brown eyes instead of green, so similar the differences screamed at them, like a puzzle with pieces in the wrong place, it made no sense.

The other was the baby, bright green eyes on an innocent face, no scars to mar the skin, just a smiling baby with his parents, it was impossible.

There had to be another explanation because how could they be looking at James Potter and an infant Harry Potter?

“Uh, We need to talk, can we use your kitchen?” without waiting for the answer he dragged a still speechless Weasley to the room he glanced at before.

Draco paced around the room, he stopped to look at Weasley. She was looking at the door aghast, as confused as him. Whatever had happened to them, they couldn’t stay, he turned to speak to her, end the stupor. “We need to run”

“Run? We can help them!”

Of course, leave it to a Weasley to be foolishly righteous at the worst moments.

“Help? It’s already the day!! You saw the people outside!” he tried to make her understand his terror, she had to see the urgency “For all we know he’s already outside and we are targets, no one aside from Scarhead survived!”

“Always YOU! They have been betrayed, they need to know!” the weariness from before was gone, she looked as battle-ready as before, of course, Draco thought, that will only get her killed.

“NEED? They are already dead, we should not have to follow them!” he felt he had raised his voice too much on that one but nothing seemed different, he could vaguely tell that the family was just enjoying their time, he felt the heaviness of how peaceful they were and what he knew was about to come.

Heaviness was not all he could feel, Weasley was still talking but he ignored it, focusing instead on the other feeling, a dread starting from his left arm and spreading to his whole body.

He was here.

Draco turned to the Weasley girl and pulled her to him, his hand on her mouth and the other to prevent her from moving.

He held on to her even as she kicked and bite him, desperate to free herself and do something impulsive and destructive, even as she cried.

He held on to her even as outside of that room the voices became frantic, a little too loud, probably as a warning to them, and he hoped the Potters were the only ones that knew they were there.

He held on to her even as outside of that room The Dark Lord continued his murderous path.

The spell rebound and the world seemed to come to a stop for a moment.

Malfoy let her go then and she sobbed into his shirt, somehow they had done something no one else had thought possible, gone back to the past without a time-turner, so many opportunities and chances in front of them for better.

And they still couldn’t save a family.

She wanted to scream at him, hex him, anything if she could stop feeling as she did in that moment. What did she expect to achieve? A fifteen-year-old against Voldemort at the height of his power?

Draco moved toward the door, she followed and side by side they exited the kitchen.

The first body they found was James Potter, his eyes still open, glasses lopsided. They continued up the stairs, the spell had blown part of the house and the roof was ready to cave in but they carried on towards the nursery, as they got closer the cries of the baby got louder. The second was Lily Potter, her body still in front of her child, a protector even in death.

And to their horror, a third was Voldemort himself, although that didn’t leave them at peace, they knew that body was just what was left behind when the spell separated him, they knew too well that he was still alive. So instead they turned to the only one alive left.

Harry looked at them, a scar now on his forehead, his eyes still full of tears but he quietened as he looked at them, hoping for care he extended a small hand to them.

“We can’t leave him like this”