Even when the night changes, it will never change you & Draco.
And even though you look like a whole new person, he still knows it's you.
~~~
Before you knew it, the summer had already come and gone. You found it both a blessing and a curse; one, because you knew classes were starting soon and you were beginning to go stir-crazy in this house, but on the other hand, you knew that this meant you had to go into the world (and into Hogwarts) as someone you had never been before, and you would be lying if you said that didn't stress you out.
But luckily, it was the day Narcissa was supposed to come help you transform into an entirely different person, and while you knew she didn't like you (and you no longer particularly cared for her) you were grateful that she was still willing to come help you out and hide you in plain sight inside the walls of Hogwarts. If nothing else, you knew it was for Draco, and not necessarily for your personal benefit.
You had hardly even been up an hour when Narcissa and Draco Apparated back into the house. You had only barely had the time to shower and towel-dry your hair when they arrived. You knew they had arrived only by the loud crack that accompanied their landing in the living room.
"I figured this is where the two of you had come," Narcissa said, her dark eyes surveying the room. "Obviously I wasn't going to ask, but this makes sense."
You hesitantly walked out into the living room, immediately feeling underdressed once you saw the mistress of the Malfoy Manor dressed in an elegant black gown. Her expression didn't change when her eyes landed on you, but she hadn't looked happy to begin with, either. "Ah, y/n," she said quietly as you entered the room more fully, "are you ready to return to Hogwarts?"
You sighed. "I don't know," you answered truthfully. "On one hand, I want to go back so badly, I've missed it a lot. But I know that it isn't going to be the same at all, and I know there's a possibility it won't ever be the same again. I'm just nervous."
"I'm sure you are uneasy," Narcissa said, and you found yourself slightly surprised at her quiet, but gentle tone. "But that's why I'm here, to try to help you so you don't feel quite as uncomfortable."
"I appreciate it," you said earnestly, though your voice was just as quiet. "Thank you."
Narcissa allowed a smile to turn just the corners of her otherwise straight mouth, before drawing her wand and turning to you. "Now tell me," she said as she came closer, running her fingers through your hair and moving your face around to get a better look at it. "What do you want to look like?"
You started. You hadn't thought of that, you thought Draco and his mother would just know what you needed. "I-I don't know," you stammered. "I hadn't really given it much thought."
Narcissa hummed, still taking in the finer details of your appearance. "Well, we need to start somewhere, so why not your hair? What color would you want?"
You twisted your mouth in thought, going over all the possibilities in your head. Pink or blue hair excited you, but you knew it would be a horrible idea to do anything that would cause you to stand out.
"Make me a redhead, but with darker red hair," you said finally. "And maybe make it a little longer?" Narcissa nodded, raising her wand and casting a non-verbal spell, leaving you wondering what spell she had actually used. But that thought quickly vanished as you looked into a mirror on the opposite wall, leaning back in shock as you saw how instantly it had changed. Thick, dark red locks poured down your back, a few inches longer than your original hairstyle had been.
"You really want to look like a Weasley?" Draco scoffed, and his mother shot him a look that made him clam up immediately. You rolled your eyes at the remark. "Their hair is much brighter than this, I'll have you know," you said indignantly, and Draco rolled his eyes but didn't say anything more.
"She's right, you know," came Narcissa's voice as she ran her fingers through your new hair once more. "The Weasleys' hair stands out a lot more than this does. This is closer to brown hair than it is to the hair of Ron or Bill or Charlie."
She rounded in front of you again, pointing her wand once more. "You need different eyes, as well," she murmured, and you felt the effects of her spell without even hearing her say a word. It felt like someone was pouring ice water into your eye sockets, but the sensation only lasted a few moments. You looked back into the mirror, befuddled at the sight of eyes that were a completely different color than your normal ones. "I could've worn contacts," you pointed out, but Narcissa shook her head. "You can only get good contacts in the Muggle world," she said coldly, and you realized she was right. "Besides, those come with the risk of you losing one, or of them falling out, or irritating your eyes. It's really much easier just to use magic. Muggle products tend to be rubbish."
You shrugged. You had thought there were some Muggle products that were useful, but you weren't going to disagree with her right in front of her. That wouldn't help your standing with her, and it would probably cause a disagreement with Draco later that you didn't want to have.
Narcissa spent the better part of a half hour transforming the rest of your appearance, and when she was finished, you didn't even recognize yourself when she was finished. Which, you supposed, was the point.
"What do you think, Draco?" she asked then, and you watched as the white-haired boy gave you a once-over that you felt he didn't have his heart in.
"I think she's beautiful still," came his response, and you felt your heart flutter at his kind words; you didn't normally hear him say things like that. "I feel like I think that because I know she's still y/n underneath. I just worry about how she'll fight off the boys."
You chuckled slightly, but you did feel a jolt of concern at his words. What if Cedric Diggory tried to come after you again? Or worse, Theodore Thorne?
You shook the thoughts out of your head as you turned back to Draco. "Don't worry about that," you said earnestly, trying to get the fears out of his head as well. "I don't plan on spending this year getting close to people."
Draco seemed satisfied with your answer, or at least, if he wasn't, he was acting like he was rather well. Narcissa gave another slight smile to the both of you, before turning fully back to you. "Have you thought about a name?" she asked then, and you shook your head. "I'd love to just keep going by y/n because it'd be less confusing, but that's going to throw a lot of people if I show up looking completely different but with the same name of the girl who was killed by Voldemort over the summer."
Narcissa nodded, her expression blank. You wished she were easier to read, but you knew her walls had been cemented by years of practice. And, you supposed, years of being married to Lucius Malfoy as well.
"Pansy, perhaps?" Draco said with a snicker, and you nearly threw your wand at him. Narcissa rolled her eyes at the boy's antics, knowing that the mention of Draco's awful ex-girlfriend had gotten under your skin.
"I think I'd like to go by Ravena Sayre," you said then, after the moment of rage at Draco's horrible suggestion had passed. "I like the name Ravena and Sayre is Irish."
Narcissa nodded. "Ravena Sayre it is then," she said with a nod of approval. "I like it. Keep using Amethyst when you write, however. It will keep up appearances at the Manor."
She turned back to Draco as she put her wand back in her waistband. "Your father is supposed to return to the Manor by the end of the week," she informed him, and you watched as his entire expression changed. He didn't appear to light up at the news that his father was getting out of Azkaban, but he certainly didn't look disappointed, either.
"Expect a summons to the house around that time," she continued then, and Draco nodded once in acknowledgement of his mother's instructions. She turned to give you one more once-over. "Keep your Mark hidden at all times," she commanded. "You'll be able to use magic to do so from now on. He won't be keeping track of anything that has to do with you."
Then she set her mouth in a hard, grim line, looking between the two of you as Draco moved to stand closer to you.
"And remember, both of you," she said then, her voice much sterner than it had been moments before. "If I send word that Voldemort has found out that you are still alive, y/n..."
Your heart froze in your chest as you awaited her next words, knowing they weren't going to be anything good.
"If Voldemort finds out that you're still alive, I am hereby commanding you to Obliviate Draco."
You felt your heart drop to your feet at her order. "Obliviate him of his memory of me completely?" you asked.
Narcissa shook her head, and you felt yourself relax. "But you are to erase any memory he has of you surviving Voldemort's attack, as well as my coming to change your appearance and hide you in Hogwarts. You will have to leave him thinking you died in the Manor a couple of months ago. And that is to keep the both of you as safe as possible."
You swallowed the lump in your throat, willing yourself not to cry. You didn't know if your new appearance would still be pretty if you cried.
"I'm going to request that you make the Unbreakable Vow for that, y/n," came Narcissa's voice, and your eyes snapped up to meet with the dark irises of Draco's mother.
"Mother—" Draco started, but she cut him off. "This is to keep you both safe," she nearly barked. "I refuse to put you in more danger. You're children."
You swallowed again, feeling the tears spring to your eyes despite your best efforts. "Okay," you said then, feeling the eyes of both of the Malfoys in front of you boring into you, even though you were refusing to look up at either of them.
"Fine," Draco spat. "Clasp hands, then."
Narcissa reached out her right hand, and you reached out your own and clasped the dark-haired woman's hand as Draco placed the tip of his wand on your joined hands.
"Y/N, do you swear to do everything in your power to keep you and Draco safe while you are hiding yourself away from Voldemort in Hogwarts?" Narcissa asked.
"I do," you said, watching as a thin strand of light burst from Draco's wand, wrapping itself around your hand and Narcissa's.
"Do you swear to keep your safety and Draco's safety at the forefront of your mind, in every decision you make during your studies this year?"
"I do," you responded. A second strand of light burst from Draco's wand, entwining itself with the first strand and wrapping around the hand you kept firmly in Narcissa's grasp.
"And finally, should all else fail and Voldemort find out that you are alive, do you swear that you will Obliviate Draco of his memories of you surviving and transforming into a different individual, so as to keep the both of you as safe as possible?"
You swallowed thickly one last time, trying to keep the tears you felt stinging your eyes at bay for as long as possible. "I do," you said finally, watching as the third and final strand of light burst from Draco's wand, shining brighter than the other two as it wrapped around the other two strands and wound itself around your hand and Narcissa's as well.
Narcissa's eyes seemed darker in the light being cast from the magical strands bound around your clasped hands. "Then so be it."
Draco removed his wand then, and you watched as the light disappeared and Narcissa removed her hand from your grasp. She clasped her hands in front of her again, her eyes appearing lighter once the light from the wand had gone.
"I'm trusting you, y/n," she said then, her voice no less stern than it had been when she first told you to Obliviate your boyfriend. "But I'm sure you know, if you break an Unbreakable Vow, you will die."
You nodded. You knew that. Your mother had made one with an old friend from her days at Hogwarts nearly five years before. You had learned of the friend's demise less than two weeks after that, for breaking her end of the bargain. Your mother swore she hadn't done it just to test the friend's loyalty, but the thought had stayed in the back of your head ever since.
Narcissa didn't stay too much longer. She gave a few more instructions on how to reintegrate into Hogwarts, but once that lecture was finished, she raised her wand and Apparated herself away, and you watched Draco's shoulders finally relax once she had disappeared.
You sighed heavily, scrubbing at your eyes. You wanted nothing more than to take a nap, but you had a lot of packing to do to get ready to go back to Hogwarts. And you and Draco were going to have to take a trip to Diagon Alley, whether you liked it or not.
"My parents are going to pay for whatever you need to go back to school," Draco reassured you. "I know you're going to have to get a lot of new clothes and such, and you can leave the old ones here. We'll be coming here over Christmas break and whatnot, so you can leave whatever you want here in this house."
You nodded. You didn't exactly have anything else to say.
"What house do you want to be placed in once we do go?" Draco asked, and you gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?" you asked. "Slytherin, of course."
"No, you can't go back to Slytherin," he said then, igniting a flame of annoyance in you immediately.
"Excuse me?" you asked. "I've been in Slytherin since I first arrived at Hogwarts, I'm not going to change it now."
"It's going to be a total giveaway, y/n," Draco argued. "You'll be found out in no time."
"Because of my house?" you asked incredulously, and he nodded vehemently. But you shook your head in response. "That isn't going to give away anything about me, Draco. As long as I remember my name is Ravena Sayre, nobody's going to give a shit. Nobody's going to notice any other similarities."
Draco rolled his eyes. "A random student showing up this year after you were killed and happening to be placed into Slytherin? That's going to be totally inconspicuous," he retorted sarcastically, even though you could hear the sarcasm in his underlying tone.
"Yes, it is, that's correct," you responded. "Nobody's going to make any correlation. I don't look a thing like I normally do. It's just going to be a coincidence. Nobody's going to read anything else into it. You're just being paranoid, Draco, and it's really unnecessary."
"No it isn't!" he cried. "I just think you should be placed in a house that doesn't get a lot of attention. Slytherin gets a ton of attention. I know it's mostly because of me, and that isn't me trying to brag, it's just sort of fact. My feud with Potter gets Slytherin more attention than it would otherwise, and you know that. You need to stick to someplace like Ravenclaw. They aren't going to stand out as much."
"But I don't belong in Ravenclaw!" you yelled angrily. "I belong in Slytherin, the Sorting Hat told me that on the first night I ever walked into Hogwarts. My appearance isn't going to change which House my loyalty lies with, and it certainly isn't going to change the house I belong in when we actually return there in a week's time."
"Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, y/n!" he yelled then. "You heard my mother, you have to do what will keep you safest! You took the Unbreakable Vow for that!"
"I'm not fucking dead yet, Draco," you hollered back. "My choice to stay in Slytherin is clearly not going to put us in any more danger."
"You're fucking unbelievable, is what you are," he snapped finally.
You didn't want to respond to that. You were over the argument. "I'm staying in Slytherin, Draco, and you can't make me change my mind."
He didn't respond to you at all, he just stalked off into the kitchen and away from you.
You turned and headed into the bedroom, angrily pulling out your wand to open chests to begin packing to return to school.
You packed so many things your chest would hardly close, and you wondered how on earth you seemed to manage to pack more things than the previous year every single year you returned to Hogwarts.
You felt like you'd been at the task for hours, trying to figure out what you could take and what you had to leave behind for the time being, when Draco entered the room again. You eyed him warily, not wanting another screaming match to break out. So when he said nothing to you, electing instead to silently wrap his arms around you, you were a bit surprised. He buried his face into your neck, breathing heavily as he pulled you closer.
"I can't lose you, y/n," he said into your neck, and even though his voice was muffled you could hear how shaky it was. "I thought I had lost you, that day back in the Manor when Voldemort tried to use the Killing Curse on you...that pain was unbearable for me. I'm not going to be able to deal with losing you again...or with you Obliviating me so I think I've lost you. I can't live without you anymore, y/n. You and I are meant to be together."
You sighed as you wrapped your arms back around his neck, pulling him in closer to you as you felt his shaky breaths against your neck. "I know, Draco," you said quietly. "But you know as well as I do that I belong in Slytherin. It isn't going to be any more dangerous for me to be in Slytherin than it would be in the other houses. But, to stay out of the spotlight, I won't try out for Quidditch."
Draco exhaled heavily into your neck. "I know how much you'll miss it," he said then, his face still buried into the crook of your neck. "But you'll make friends, and we can play pickup games whenever you want."
You chuckled as you held the Slytherin boy in your arms, swaying back and forth as he held onto you almost as if squeezing too hard would cause you to shatter.
"That sounds good, Draco. I'd like that."
~~~
A/N: Hi It's Autumn! If you already have darker red hair I'm SORRY, i just wanted to add the funny line I gave Draco about you looking like a Weasley.
This was a semi-cute chapter for me to write. But it's gonna pick back up in the next few chapters. Working on how the story's gonna start wrapping up here soon.
Now I'm not gonna start wrapping up in chapter 50 or anything, but it's still time to start looking for what's coming, that's all I mean. I just like having things planned out.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3