Angel Eyes

Angel Eyes

~Part One~

Death is such a funny thing. One moment, you're alive and kicking, and then suddenly the next moment- BAM! You're not.

When Draco Malfoy went to sleep one night, he never dreamed that he wouldn't wake up the next morning. But he didn't. He couldn't tell you what exactly happened, even if he wanted to, because Draco didn't remember dying. Not properly anyway. There was no tunnel of light, no staircase stretching into the sky, not even a sudden drop into the fathomless depths of hell. In fact, one moment he was sleeping, safe and sound in his bed at school, with Crabbe grunting to his right and Goyle snoring to his left, and the next moment he was lying spread-eagled on the ground. On sand, to be exact, and above him stretched an endless, azure blue sky.

'Draco Malfoy?'

Two faces peered down at him. And Draco knew, although he couldn't say how, that there were two angels standing in front of him. They did not look like angels. No feathery wings, golden harps, or glowing halos. They seemed just like ordinary wizards; the man was dressed red and gold robes, and looked his face looked disturbingly familiar. Draco sat up.

'Potter?' he spat in disbelief. It is an incredibly difficult thing to spit with surprise, but Draco somehow managed it. What can I say, the boy was talented.

James Potter glared at him irritably. 'Malfoy.'

Draco was stunned. 'Am I dead?'

'Yes,' said James. He didn't sound at all sorry.

'How did I die?'

'In your sleep,' answered the lady kindly. She had lovely, flowing, red hair and piercing green eyes. Eyes that Draco knew well, and hated.

'Yes, but...why did I die?'

'Er...' said James, glancing at Lily. 'You were suffering from...Evilbastarditis.'

'Evilbastarditis,' repeated Draco in a dull, disbelieving voice.

Lily glared at her husband. 'Erm...yes, dear. James,' she said pointedly. 'Why don't you go back to the others. I'll take care of Draco.'

'But-'

'We'll see you later, come on dear,' said Lily, and she helped him up onto his feet and started leading him away.

'Where are we going?' asked Draco suspiciously.

'There are some very important people who want to see you,' said Lily, as they crossed the curving stretch of beach. Clear blue waves lapped quietly at their feet, the movements smooth and unbroken.

'Oh. Will they be able to fix this problem?'

'What problem?' asked Lily, surprised.

'This!' said Draco. 'This! Me! Dead!'

Lily looked sympathetic. 'It's hard to get your head around, but in the end you'll see it's not so bad. Something wonderful has happened. I know you miss your family and friends back home, but-'

Draco snorted derisively. 'Miss them? Crabbe and Goyle? My father? I don't think so.'

'Well,' said Lily uncertainly. 'I suppose...that's a good thing. All the other angels miss their families terribly at first, but then they-'

'The other WHAT?' he cried in a strangled voice.

'The other angels,' said Lily. 'See, you're an angel now, Draco.'

Draco would have died on the spot if he hadn't been dead already. He was speechless for several moments, spluttering incoherent sentences and clutching onto Lily Potter's sleeve so as to stop himself from collapsing to the ground. Lily smiled. She must have thought he was happy, or something.

'I can't be an angel!' said Draco frantically. 'I'm the son of a bloody Death Eater! The Dark Lord has Big Plans for me! I can't be an angel! You've got it all wrong! Somebody's made a mistake, I tell you!'

Lily was a little alarmed now. The boy was now clearly hysterical, waving his arms about and gesturing like a lunatic.

'Draco, calm down-'

'I order you to send me back! NOW!'

'You will get sent back,' said Lily.

'YOU CAN'T STOP ME-what?' said Draco.

'You will get sent back,' Lily repeated coolly. 'Back to Hogwarts.'

'What?' said Draco. He seemed to be saying that a lot lately. In an attempt to get a hold of himself he added, 'I mean, why am I going back to Hogwarts?'

'It's your special assignment.'

Draco's heart sank. Great. Not only was he dead, but these people were going to make him work.

'But more about that later. Here we are.'

They had come to a little wooden hut with a straw roof. It was more of a shelter really, with a straw roof and four hammocks swaying in the breeze. Draco detected a vague scent of coconuts and frangipani flowers as they drew closer.

'Lily, is that you?'

They turned around to find a small group of people coming towards them. The speaker, a tall woman in a white bikini and bright pink sarong tied around her slim waist smiled and offered them coconuts with a straw.

'Hello,' she said to Draco kindly. 'Is this the young master Malfoy?'

Draco stared. Her hair was wavy and golden blonde streaked pale by the sun, she had big, sparkling brown eyes and an exotic pink flower tucked behind one ear. Draco was beginning to think being dead wouldn't be such a bad thing if all the other angels looked like this one.

The blonde woman laughed. 'This must be Draco, then. How did you find him, Lily?'

'He was lying on the beach,' said Lily. 'Draco, this is Helga. I'm sure you've heard of her.'

'No, I don't think so,' said Draco, as another angel appeared beside Helga. She was wearing a pretty blue skirt and a wreath of bright, sweet-smelling flowers.

'Hello,' she greeted them all, taking a coconut drink. 'Where are the others, Helga?'

'They're coming soon. This is the boy.'

The dark-haired angel smiled at him. 'And how are you?'

'Not too great, actually,' said Draco. 'I'm dead.'

Helga put her arms around him comfortingly. Draco cheered up a just a little bit.

'We have something in common, then,' said Helga's friend. 'I'm Rowena. You must be Draco.'

Something twigged in Draco's brain. 'Hold on a minute...aren't you-'

'Here come the boys,' said Rowena.

'I'd better go,' said Lily. 'They're probably waiting for me at the gates. Should I come back for Draco later?'

'He'll be fine with us,' replied Helga. 'Go ahead. And thanks for picking him up, Lily.'

'Send James our love,' added Rowena.

'I will. Bye Draco. Have a good time.'

'Bye,' said Draco, wondering what in the name of Merlin was going to happen next. This had to be a dream. It was very simple. He had gone to sleep, and was now having a very strange dream.

That was the only reasonable explanation.

Draco told himself firmly that he was dreaming, and so when Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin walked up to him chatting and joking with each other like the closest of friends, he wasn't in the least surprised.

'Why, hello,' said Godric cheerfully. 'Isn't that one of yours, Salazar? What's he doing here?'

Slytherin surveyed Draco through narrowed, dark eyes. 'Young Malfoy.'

'Er,' said Draco.

'He would have made a great Head boy,' said Salazar proudly to Helga. Helga smiled as if she didn't really agree, but was too nice to say so.

Gryffindor snorted. 'I don't think so, Salazar. What about Harry Potter?'

Salazar looked sour. 'How could anyone ever forget the great Harry Potter?'

Godric beamed.

'Stop it,' said Rowena crossly. 'I wish you'd both stop arguing about it!'

'You're just bitter, Rowena,' said Godric. 'Hermione Granger is going to beat out Padma Patil for Head Girl, and you know it.'

Rowena sniffed. 'You're so immature, Godric.'

'I think we should explain to Draco why he's here,' said Helga in a firm voice.

'I wasn't doing anything,' said Salazar sulkily.

'Why exactly am I here?' asked Draco. 'And I'm seriously supposed to be an angel?'

'A guardian angel,' Rowena corrected.

'But...' said Draco helplessly. 'I'm bad. I'm evil. Shouldn't I be...I don't know...in that other place?'

'Hell?' inquired Salazar.

'Yes,' said Draco in small voice.

'Well, Salazar's here, isn't he? Why shouldn't you be?'

'Hey!' said Salazar irritably. 'Just because I talk to snakes...you people are so judgemental.'

'Oh come on,' said Godric. 'Admit it, you were a backstabbing bastard. Keeping a filthy great basilisk in our school like that...'

'I just don't get it,' said Draco, confused.

'It doesn't matter how good or bad you are,' explained Rowena. 'In the end, everyone ends up in the same place. Who can be bothered being decent or wicked here? There's no point, we're all dead anyway.'

'And so the sons of Death Eaters turn into angels? Wow, the universe suddenly makes so much sense,' he drawled. 'So is everyone bestowed this celestial honour, or am I just a special case?'

'Oh yes,' replied Helga. 'Angels are very special. That's why we wanted to talk to you.'

'Oh. Alright then,' agreed Draco. He liked being special. 'About what?'

'All guardian angels are assigned a mortal,' said Rowena.

'Someone at Hogwarts?'

'That's right.'

'And...er...will I be...guarding...this person? That's what angels do, isn't it?'

'Each angel has his or her own different tasks, which you'll figure out along the way.'

'Sounds like a lot of work,' said Draco unhappily.

'It is,' agreed Godric cheerfully.

The Founders glanced at one another. Salazar smiled rather grimly.

'Not a lot.'

'And I don't get a choice? I have to do this, don't I?'

'Pretty much.'

'Oh,' said Draco, hoping he would be assigned to watch over Blaise Zabini. Oh please, please...if only he could get into the Slytherin girls' showers...

'So who am I going to be assigned to?'

Helga smiled her pretty smile and said sweetly, 'Ginny Weasley.'

'WHAT?' yelped Draco.

*

Time doesn't exist in the afterlife, but if it had, Draco would have spent approximately the next forty minutes trying to convince the Founders to change their minds.

'A Gryffindor!' he spat at Salazar. 'I can't believe you're letting them assign me to a Gryffindor! A Weasley, of all people! She's friends with Harry Potter!'

Helga sighed. 'I'm sorry, Draco, but that's just the way things are.'

'You're a traitor!' Draco howled. 'You're betraying your own house, Slytherin!'

Salazar shrugged. 'Well, I am a backstabbing bastard after all...'

'How much longer is this going to go on?' asked Godric. 'We're running late for Grindelwald's Luau.'

Draco was livid.

'You should take a rest,' suggested Helga. 'Relax in a hammock for a while. When you wake up, I'm sure things will start to look a little better.'

'Unless you want to come to the Luau with us,' offered Godric.

'No thanks,' sneered Draco.

'Alright, have it your way.'

'Goodbye, Draco,' said Rowena.

Draco said nothing. He took his coconut and left them standing by the water. The founders smiled at each other knowingly, then Salazar slipped his arm around Helga's shoulders and Godric and Rowena followed them down the beach. A few moments later they had disappeared, leaving Draco alone with his angry thoughts.

After a while, Draco began to feel a little calmer. Alright, so he was Ginny Weasley's guardian angel. No biggie. He'd drink this delicious coconut drink, then fall asleep in this hammock, and when he woke up again all this would have just been one of those one time only nightmares. Besides, the sound of the waves breaking on the shore was soothing, and Draco felt snug and warm and comfortable. Soon, he was drifting off to sleep.