Title: Lindin Pass

Summary: Two polar opposites. Two eternal rivals. Twenty years into the past. Harry Potter is locked in a deadly duel to survive with his fiercest rival, one Draco Malfoy. A freak accident or a coincidence sends them hurtling back in time. MWPP

Disclaimer: Any characters you don't recognize are most probably of my own invention, but everything else belongs to JK Rowling.

-

"Must you act so completely…" Malfoy's mouth worked as he attempted to find the right word.

"Ditzy?" Harry asked, and giggled.

"Well…that's not a word I'd have used, but essentially, yes."

"Because I want to be underestimated." Harry said airily. "If people look at me as a ditzy teenager, they'll be flabbergasted when I turn around and kill someone."

"Oh. I see." Malfoy said dryly.

The boys were in their room for the night. It was small, but comfortably done in Slytherin colors. It was in the dungeons, but there was a warm fire in the grate and two large four-posters in the large bedroom, as well as, Harry noted, a pair of robes for each of them.

Harry suddenly went serious.

"Malfoy, listen up. We've got to get our story straight and following."

"Yes, what is going on with that?"

"Well, we're sixth year students from a private school in…"

"Cornwall."

"…Cornwall, and we moved here because…"

"We're orphans?"

"Bugger. Yeah, all right, we're orphans. Hmmm, school name?"

"It's Cornwall Secondary Academy. It's for people that can't afford Hogwarts. Its educating system isn't up to par with Hogwarts either."

"Ah." Harry paused, and looked apprehensive. "Will we have to act dumb?"

"I'm not." Malfoy said flatly.

"Oh, good, then I'm not either." Harry said in relief.

"Why did you say that we were both in Slytherin?" Malfoy asked, turning his head to look the darker boy in the eye.

"Because we have to be in the same house." Harry was suddenly utterly serious. "Can you imagine the uproar if we were interrogated by housemates and gave different answers under pressure?" No playful sparkle danced in his eyes, no smile hovered on his lips. His eyes were icy chips of emerald, and his face was taught and drawn. Malfoy suddenly realized what he was looking at. Not the Golden Boy persona that Potter projected, but the boy under the façade…the Slytherin he was meant to be.

"All right, Potter, I get it." Malfoy said. "But what if the Hat tries to put us in different Houses?"

"It won't." Harry said calmly. "I fought tooth and nail against Slytherin, so unless you did the same against another House, which I doubt, we'll be together."

"No, if you remember, the Hat never touched my head. How did you 'fight tooth and nail against Slytherin'?"

"The Hat didn't talk to you?"

"Talk?"

"Yeah. A little voice that speaks to you. It told me I'd be great in Slytherin, but I'd already met you, who reminded my of my fat cousin, Ron, who was nice to me and aiming for Gryffindor, and Hagrid, who filled my head with his own opinions."

"That oaf!"

"He was kind to me." Harry said, an underlying hint of steel in his voice. Malfoy subsided with a snarl.

-

"I can't ruddy believe this." Malfoy, now called Drake Mallard, was snarling in disgust as he peered apprehensively through the door that was cracked open. On the other side, the Hall was full of students at breakfast that were chatting enthusiastically, as Dumbledore had just announced Draco and Harry's presence.

They were in the anti-chamber off the Great Hall, and Malfoy was peering with one eye through the crack in the door, and Harry was hovering rather nervously behind him. Both were dressed in black school robes over the standard school uniform.

"Wouldn't you want to go into Gryffindor with your parents, Potter?" Malfoy asked curiously.

"No." Harry replied. "I would probably make a slip, and I can't be around Pettigrew for very long knowing what he does in the future."

"I see." Malfoy said, and his gray eyes skimmed the hall and landed on a head of hair much like is own. Lucius Malfoy was smirking at a tall, black haired boy across the table. When the dark boy turned his head, Malfoy immediately recognized the sharp, cruel profile of his godfather, Severus Snape.

"Snape's here." Harry said from over his shoulder, also peering out the door. To Malfoy's surprise, there was no hate in his voice, but rather a bitter and sympathetic apathy.

"Of course, Potter." Malfoy said scathingly. "He's in the same year as your parents. My father's a year older."

"I know. He's another reason I can't be in Gryffindor."

"Why not?"

Harry didn't answer, just turned away, straightening his robes and running his fingers through his messy black hair. Malfoy scowled, but didn't press the other boy, also straightening his appearance and waiting for the signal.

"I'd like to introduce Mr. Drake Mallard and Mr. Harry Porter." Dumbledore's resonating voice carried to their ears, and Harry stepped forward and pushed open the door, striding out with a long, languid stride that reminded Malfoy, ironically, of his godfather.

Malfoy followed the darker boy, unconsciously copying his own father's straight, confident walk, his practiced smirk falling effortlessly onto his face. The hall quieted as Harry lead the way, with his silent, prowling walk, towards the old, ratty looking hat in front of the hall.

McGonagall motioned to Malfoy first, calling his name.

"Mallard, Drake." And Malfoy swept forward towards the stool. He sneered at the though of sitting at the stool, so he stood beside it with a warning look in his eyes. McGonagall said nothing, just handed him the Hat. Again, even before it touched his head, the Hat screamed out the House.

"Slytherin!" And Draco handed the hat to the Deputy Headmistress and stalked his way towards the Slytherin table. His silvery eyes swept the table, searching for a place to sit, and unsurprisingly, it was Lucius Malfoy who beckoned him. Draco knew that his own silvery hair would have intrigued his father, and so it was no unexpected that the older boy had offered a place near him to sit.

"Hello." Lucius said in his cold, familiar drawl. Draco was suddenly struck, however, by the naiveté that he could see in his teenaged father's eyes. War had not shadowed him yet, for the older Lucius would not have offered a word of greeting. Draco found himself copying his father's, not this boy, but his father's familiar greeting, a cold, curt inclination of the head and a superior sneer. Lucius looked startled for only a moment, before he recovered admirably and introduced himself.

"I am Lucius Malfoy. It is a…pleasure to meet you."

"Drake Mallard." Draco responded. He did not miss the pause in the sentence, and he knew that it was to plant uncertainty in the other. He retaliated in kind. "The…pleasure…is all mine."

"Indeed." The startled look was in Lucius's eye again. He turned to the dark-haired boy. "This is Severus Snape, potions extraordinaire, that is Theodore Nott, Richard Avery, Bowie Goyle, and Linny Crabbe."

"Pleasure." Draco said coldly, and resolutely turned towards the front of the Hall, where McGonagall had just called, "Porter, Harry!"

Harry stepped forwards, and, remembering the plan, smiled a small, bright smile and plopped down on the stool. A student in Hufflepuff gave a quiet giggle as the Hat was settled on Harry's black hair.

"I have never sorted you before, but you have been Sorted by me. Now that is strange, isn't it? Well, lets look at you. Ah, sly, cunning, smart, brave, and loyal. Now that's interesting."

"Slytherin, please." Harry whispered under his breath.

"Are you sure?"

"What?" Harry asked, again out loud but very quietly. He furrowed his brow and frowned, shaking his head slightly. "Yes, of course I'm sure."

"It seems that I sorted you into Gryffindor before."

"Yes, but I need to be in Slytherin this time."

"And why is that?"

Harry frowned, suddenly feeling irritated. "Listen up you spoiled excuse for a Hat." He snarled. "You're being unexpectedly resistant, and I do not appreciate it." To late, Harry realized that he'd talked a little to loud, and his voice carried throughout the hall. The Slytherins and Gryffindors snorted, realized what they'd done and glared at the opposite house, the Hufflepuffs giggled and the Ravenclaws smiled. "Oops." Harry muttered.

"Well, you're being unexpectedly vehement." The hat said, amused. "So that will put you in…"

"Slytherin!"

-

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