BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
Chapter Three
Draco’s POV
I put down my book on the dark
ages. It was one o’clock in the morning, and I had to get some sleep for
tomorrow because Mother was hosting a cotillion and she wouldn’t be very happy if
I fell asleep during it. I picked up my wand and made the candles go out by
magic.
I had graduated from Hogwarts and
was now able to do magic legally, without getting my butt hounded by ministry
officials. A light shone through my bedroom window and I looked outside. There,
racing across the sky and leaving trails of silver in its wake, was a shooting
star. I had heard the saying that if you wished upon a shooting star, your wish
came true.
I closed my eyes and prayed to
whatever gods were out there to do all in their powers to provide a way for me
to be healed of my ailment. I had been sick for a year with some unknown
disease that had been researched by healers and a cure could not be found for.
Words suddenly came to my head,
as though I had known them.
You know what my pops used to
tell me? Every time he saw one, it was a soul going to heaven.
I had no clue where the words
came from, but as I observed the shooting star, I couldn’t help but wonder who
was going to heaven? A wild thought came to me. What if I was? It would
probably be better than the life I had now. Much better. I slumped down onto my
pillow and lay there thinking.
Suddenly, everything went white
and I couldn’t see anything around me. I could feel my body, though, and I felt
like I was going up. I wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating or what, but I was
seriously freaked out. I squinted, trying to see through the fog. Out of the
fog came a glorious being, its skin glowing a golden color.
"Who are you?" I asked
defiantly.
The being just looked at me with
icy blue eyes that looked a lot like mine. "I am a deceased passenger of
the Titanic," he told me in a haunted voice.
"The muggle ship that was
believed to be unsinkable and then sank?" I asked.
The figure nodded. "I know
who you are, Draco Malfoy. My destiny on the ship was not fulfilled. You and
another one of your kind must work together to make history right again,"
he said.
I said something really clever.
"Me…and another one of my kind?"
"Yes. I will send you back
into time as me so you can rewrite history."
"Okay…" I said, not
sure if this was a dream or a hallucination. I decided to just accept it, since
it would be easier.
"Before I send you back, is
there anything you wish to ask me?" the being asked.
"What is your name?" I
asked.
"Jack."
*****
A kind of mist spread around me,
so thick that I couldn’t see anything. The figure of the Titanic passenger--
Jack, as he called himself--disappeared, and I wondered if I had been
hallucinating. The mist rose and I stood in a noisy, rowdy building--a pub.
What looked like an Italian immigrant came up to me.
"Buongiorno, Jack!" the
immigrant said.
My lips moved as if someone else
were speaking. "Buongiorno, Fabrizio. Are you ready to do this?" I
asked, my lips still moving as if I was not in control of my own body.
"As ready as I’ll ever be,
Jack. Hopefully, we will pick up some good cash."
I nodded, and we both sat down at
a circular table.
Don’t ask me how I did it; I
don’t know how to play poker. But by some miracle, I was at my last hand with a
full house. As I looked up to sort through my hand, I caught sight of a
familiar mess of busy hair. What was Granger doing here? But as I looked
closer, I noticed that the curly luminescent auburn hair did not belong to
Granger. She wore a white suit with violet trimmings and a huge, matching hat
on her head. Definitely not something that Granger would wear.
Something was wrong.
She looked over her shoulder at
me and stared, almost open-mouthed. I stared back. Her face looked extremely
like Granger’s, yet different. This stranger had a perfect face, free of any
blemishes, freckles, or moles. For all I knew, Granger had freckles. Definitely
not Granger.
Yet something told me it was.
However, whether it was Granger or
not, she turned her head, hiding her face behind the monster hat and obscuring
my view. I turned back and concentrated on my poker game.
"All right. Moment of truth.
Somebody’s life is about to change. Fabrizio?" I asked the immigrant. He
showed me his hand. "Niente?" I asked.
"Niente," he agreed.
"Olaf?" I asked one of
the other men at the table. He laid down his hand. "Nothing," I
confirmed. He shook his head sadly. "Sven?" I tried. He laid down his
hand. "Uh-oh. Two pair. I’m sorry, Fabrizio." He started yelling a
bunch of strange curse words in Italian, saying something about his mother.
"I’m sorry!" I said, cutting him off. "You’re not going to see
your mom for a long time…" I slammed my hand down onto the table.
"…because we’re going to America! Full house, boys! Wahoo!" I yelled.
We grabbed the money and started putting it into our pockets. "I’m going
home!" I yelled, grinning. I hugged Fabrizio and we both grinned. On the
other side of the table, Olaf was threatening his brother, shaking his fist at
him and swearing in whatever language he was talking in. French, Italian,
Spanish; I didn’t really care, as long as I knew I was going back home.
"I’m going home!" I repeated, as if someone else were speaking,
controlling my own lips.
"I go to America!" cheered
Fabrizio happily.
"Wait!" the bartender
said. "Titanic leaves for America in five minutes," he told us.
Fabrizio and I looked at each other.
"Shit!" I exclaimed. We
both hurriedly put the rest of our winnings in our pockets and rushed out of
the pub, the bartender giving us hearty good-byes.
We ran through the streets, our
bags slung over our shoulders, marveling at our good luck. "We’re going to
be practically goddamn royalty, Fabrizio!" I exclaimed.
Little did I know how much I was
wrong.
When we got to the boarding ramp,
they were already closing the door.
"Wait!" I yelled.
"We’re passengers!" I showed the officer our tickets.
He looked at me curiously.
"Have you been through the health inspection?" he demanded.
"Yes, of course," I
lied. "Anyway, we don’t have lice. We’re both Americans," I lied
again.
"Very well, then," said
the officer, shepherding us into the ship.
And I boarded the ship that would
change my whole life.