�Day 182 or 3, I�ve lost count. Point is it�s been about six months. Yet, according to my father�s theory, 700 years have passed on earth. Whether or not he�s right, this one thing is probably true. Those who sent me are long since dead and gone. You who read me now are a different breed, not likely a better one. Ha, ha, ha, oh�what�s the point? I�m talking to a freaking computer!
�Anyway, as I�m out here staring into that space which is boundless, I begin to wonder. Are we really so different from those that we so blatantly call Muggles? And, if not, have our people realized it yet? Does man, that marvel of the universe, still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor�s children starving?�
Draco thought about this for a moment before shaking his head. These thoughts were too deep for him. He didn�t even know where they�d come from in the first place. He pulled a flask filled with a powerful sleeping draft out of his pocket. The potion was strong enough to send a person into a sleep that can last anywhere from several hours to several centuries. With one last look at the clocks, which recorded earth�s year as 2698, he drained the bottle.
�Well, that about does it,� Draco said. Then, right before shutting off the recorder, he added, �I leave the 20th century with no regrets,� on impulse. After all, he wasn�t leaving much behind that couldn�t be bought back. He flicked the off switch and walked back towards the hibernation berths.
There were only four berths, three of which were already filled. On the right, the top one contained Seamus Finnegan, and the bottom contained Dean Thomas. Draco had protested when that Mudblood Thomas had been accepted for this mission, but his father had insisted that Draco had to go, to honor the Malfoy name. Draco scoffed. The �Malfoy name� was probably little more than a legend on Earth by now.
On the left, in the top berth, was Ginny Weasley. Draco had always thought of her as just a little Mudblood-lover, but now as he watched her in her sleep, he realized how beautiful she was. Maybe when she woke up he could ask her out. That is, if they ever woke up. Sleeping potions could have nasty side effects, especially when the users weren�t monitored by at least one conscious person.
The bottom berth belonged to Draco. He climbed in, noticing that it was very tight, made for someone much shorter than him, maybe a midget. This was the kind of treatment he got, in spite of his family�s wealth. He slammed a fist against the top of his berth. A small dent appeared in what was the bottom of Ginny�s berth
�Oops,� Draco muttered. He hoped he hadn�t damaged her berth. The slightest leak could prove fatal. He panicked for a while for final reassuring himself that the crime had plenty of deniability. After all, no one else had seen what he�d done.
He pushed a button to close the lid and strapped himself in. Then, he closed his eyes, feeling himself slip into a deep, unnatural sleep. As he did, he hoped that Ginny would be all right, and, amazingly, not just for his own sake.
* * *
Draco woke up. A tremor was running through the ship as it was obviously making some sort of emergency landing. The sound of a splash echoed through the ship and all was quiet. The lid on Draco�s berth slid open and he climbed out, stretching his stiff limbs. On the other side of the ship, he could see Finnegan and Thomas climbing out of their berths, Finnegan jumping down and almost falling on Thomas. Draco snapped his fingers. If Finnegan hadn�t regained his balance, he could�ve had a good laugh.
Suddenly, he remembered the Weasley girl. She hadn�t come out yet. He turned to see if she was awake yet. When he saw her, he jumped back, horrified by the scene that met his eyes. All that was left of her was a skeleton-like form, the skin stretched and rotting. Her once bright red hair now lay in brown clumps that looked like they would disintegrate at the slightest touch. A large crack ran along the top of her berth, which had now become a tomb.
�It wasn�t my fault,� Draco muttered to himself, backing up slightly. The crack had been in the top. The dent in the bottom couldn�t have caused it, could it?
�What the hell�� Thomas started, but never got to finish.
An alarm sounded through the ship. A few seconds later, water started pouring in from all sides. Draco fought to keep from panicking, trying to remember what had been said at the seminars.
�Thomas, read the atmosphere!� Draco yelled. �Finnegan, help me with the packs!�
�What about Ginny?� Finnegan yelled as he ran to get the equipment.
�We can�t save her!� Draco shouted, feeling a sharp pang of guilt as he said this. He grabbed a pack from Finnegan and ran toward the hatch. �What�s the read, Thomas?�
�The air is fine,� Thomas said, taking his pack from Finnegan.
�Okay,� Draco said. He grabbed the emergency life raft from its shelf. �Blow the hatch!�
Thomas nodded and pushed a button. The top part of the ship exploded, revealing a narrow escape path. Draco pushed the others out of his way, wanting to get out first. He poked his head out of the ship and looked around. They seemed to have landed in a lake, or some other body of water. The shore wasn�t that far away, but, from where he was, Draco couldn�t see any sign of civilization.
Draco had a sudden impulse and went back into the ship. He handed the raft to a confused looking Thomas, who nodded and exited the ship, quickly followed by Finnegan. Draco went back to the front of the ship, looked at the year for earth, and almost fell over. It read 4104 A.D.
Draco then went back to where Ginny lay. He didn�t know why. She was still lying there dead and nothing could change that fact. Yet, he couldn�t help but feel bad that she wouldn�t at least be given a proper burial.
Just then, a large section of the wall crumpled, letting in what could only be described as a tidal wave. Draco rushed back to the front of the ship and climbed out, jumping into the water. The raft was heading steadily toward the shore, away from the ship.
�Hey!� Draco yelled, swimming after the raft. �Wait for me!�
Finnegan snickered and stopped rowing long enough for Draco to catch up. Thomas grabbed Draco by the shirt and dragged him into the raft. Draco doubled over, coughing up what he felt must be half the water from the lake.
�Hey, hey,� Finnegan complained, �watch it. You�re gonna tip us over.�
�Ha, ha, very funny,� Draco wheezed. �You wouldn�t be so brave if my father was here.�
�Yeah, but he�s not,� Finnegan said. �And, if I remember correctly, if his theory is right, he should be gone by now, shouldn�t he? You went back to see the log, what year is it?�
�4104,� Draco muttered. He hated it when people outsmarted him. �I wouldn�t be laughing if I were you. I�m not the one who went gray at the age of 19,�
�Actually, one and a half years have gone by in our time,� Finnegan said matter-of-factly. �I�d be 20. And besides that, I�m actually 2,126 by earth time.�
�Arithmancy nerd,� Draco muttered under his breath.
�I heard that,� Finnegan said. Draco would have aggravated him further, but he didn�t see any need to. Finnegan was already running a nervous hand over his head, staring in disbelief at the loose strands that came out.
Draco ran a hand over his face. He needed to shave. He�d always wanted a beard, but, now that he had one, he wasn�t sure he liked it. He watched as Finnegan and Thomas worried over their own hair and decided he�d had enough of this.
�Okay, enough screwing around,� Draco said, ignoring the snickers that came from the other two at his odd choice of words. �We need to figure out where we are.� He picked up an oar and the three of them started rowing toward the shore.
�Wait!� Thomas shouted, turning back to look at the ship. Draco stopped, wondering what the hell was wrong now.
Finnegan looked back at the ship too. �Going, going, gone,� he said as the ship slowly sunk beneath the surface.
�Okay, got that outta your system now?� Draco asked, disgusted by their behavior.
�Hey, that�s my friend�s sister we left back there,� Finnegan said, turning on Draco. �How do you know we couldn�t have saved her?�
�Air leak,� Draco muttered, starting his rowing again. He really didn�t want to talk about this. �She died in her sleep.�
�You don�t seem very cut up about it,� Finnegan muttered, taking up his oar.
�It�s a little late for a wake. She�s been dead nearly a year,� Draco said, though he didn�t really mean it. Then, as a way of changing the subject, he pointed to the shore. �We�re almost there!�
The raft reached the shore and the three proceeded to drag the raft up onto the shore. The pulled out their supply packs and started rummaging through them.
�Got the sensors and the Geiger counter?� Draco asked Thomas.
�Yeah, I got �em,� Thomas muttered, holding up his pack.
Draco opened his own kit and start muttering to himself. �Three wands, a spell book, and enough food and water to last us three days. My, we seem to be set in threes now, aren�t we? Hey Finnegan!� he yelled at Finnegan, who was a few feet away, daydreaming, no doubt. �Join the expedition!�
Finnegan came over, looking very nervous. �Well, where are we? You have any notions, Skipper?�
Draco ignored the joke on his official rank from the ship. �We�re some 320 light years from Earth on an unnamed planet in orbit around a star in the constellation of Orion. Is that close enough for ya?�
�So basically, you don�t know,� Finnegan said, smirking at Draco.
�Of course I know,� Draco said, trying to convince himself that this was true. �I�m just�not exactly sure, at the moment� Aw, shut up! Hey, Thomas, got those readings yet?�
�The soil here is radiating with leftover magical vibrations,� Thomas said, jumping up suddenly. �Nothing could grow here. If we don�t leave within a few days, we�ll be permanently disfigured.�
�Well, since we only have three days worth of food, that shouldn�t be a problem,� Draco muttered. �All right men, if you can truthfully be called that, let�s get going. Whatever life is out there, we only have three days to find it. That�s when the groceries run out.�
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Author's note: I know I have these characters saying things that they'd never say in other stories, but that's 'cause I need to keep it along the same lines as the original Planet of the Apes story. But I assure you, it won't end up being exactly the same in the end. After all, Draco will be Draco.
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