Preliminary author's note: Hello, everyone, and thank you for reading! Before we begin, I would just like to note that I wrote this some time ago, so it's not quite up to my usual standards, but I thought I might as well get some feedback on it to see if it was worth going over it one more time. That being said, some constructive criticism would be lovely, and if any of you lovely people would like to beta-read this, it would be much appreciated! Enjoy!
Book One
Prologue
The six-year-old boy ran across the marble floors of the main floor, nearly colliding with a heavy oak display case in the hall. Seeing a door opening in front of him, he skidded to a stop, almost falling over. The man exiting the room looked disdainfully down his nose at the child. "Draco, how many times must you be told? No running!" he snapped.
Draco looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry."
Turning, Lucius Malfoy called over his shoulder, "Go play in the backyard. But don't get dirty!"
Hunching his shoulders, Draco slinked out to the large yard, making a circuit around the edge, hugging the tall bushes that bordered it. About half-way around, he stopped. He thought that he could hear something. Looking around, he heard it again, coming from beyond the bushes. Through a gap in the branches, Draco could see to the yard of the house behind his. Sneaking a look back at the doors and windows of his house, he carefully pushed through the bushes.
Once he got past the bush, Draco was surprised to see a swing set. The source of the strange noise he had heard revealed itself to be the creak of a swing going back and forth, carrying the little girl on it higher and higher. Spotting him, the girl hopped off the swing and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Where did you come from?" she asked curiously.
"I- I live in the house next door," Draco stammered in reply. The girl smiled, hesitantly at first.
"I thought I was the only kid in the whole town!" Her smile widened as she added conspiratorially, "I am glad I'm not." She turned and went back to the swing. "Come play!" she called over her shoulder. Draco hesitantly went over to the second swing and stood next to it. The girl giggled. "It doesn't bite!" Draco scowled half-heartedly and started swinging. They went back and forth a few times before she finally burst out "I'm Ariana. What's your name?"
"I'm…" Draco paused, steeling himself for the laughter at his ridiculous name. "I'm Draco," he finished quietly.
"That's nice."
Draco looked at Ariana in shock.
"Draco's a 'dragon,' right? I love dragons." Ariana stopped swinging and looked at him seriously. "I saw a dragon once. It was flying over the forest a long way away. I was camping with Mum and Uncle Bill." Suddenly she switched topics. "How old are you?"
"Six," Draco replied, pushing off the ground to gain height again. Ariana gave him another dazzling smile.
"Me too! I'm almost seven." Just then, a female voice called out from an open window.
"Ariana! Time to come in now!"
Ariana got off the swing quickly. Before going into the house, she turned back to Draco. "Come back tomorrow!" she called. With that, she ran back inside and left Draco to make his way slowly back through the bushes to his house.
Two years later…
Draco pushed through the bushes, noting how much more difficult it had gotten as he grew. As soon as he was through, he grinned at Ariana and shouted, "Happy birthday!" Ariana winced and then resumed her sulky expression. Draco stopped in surprise. "What's wrong?"
Ariana stomped around the swing set, green eyes flashing, russet ponytail swinging. "Mum got me they worst dress I've ever seen!" She stopped walking and stared exasperatedly at Draco. "It's pink! With ruffles!" She spit the words out like they were poison.
Draco nodded wisely. He had known of her hatred for the color pink for one and a half years, ever since he had arrived at her house and seen her sitting on the ground, scowling as she rubbed dirt on her matching pink shirt and skirt. Her hair was in a bun, pinned with a pink ribbon, which she then ripped out of her hair.
Draco returned to the present in time to hear Ariana finish complaining about her party dress. She took a big breath and stomped back to the swing and sat down, staring moodily ahead. Draco cleared his throat. "I got you something. And it's not pink." Ariana smiled a little at that, her expression softening.
"I told you, you don't have to get me a present."
Draco shook his head. "I wanted to get you something. You're my best friend."
Ariana smiled and relented. "Ok, fine. What'd you get me?"
Draco grinned and held out his hand. He dropped his present into Ariana's outstretched hand and waited. Ariana stared at the glittering metal in her hand. "Silver?" she asked incredulously.
Draco shook his head and clarified, "Platinum." Ariana's eyes widened until it seemed they would fall out of her head. Draco took his present from her palm and fastened it around her right wrist, the emeralds set in the precious metal links echoing the deep green in her eyes. Ariana looked at it for a moment and then threw her arms around him.
"Thank you," she whispered. "It's beautiful."
The pair played until it got dark, and then Ariana's mother called her in. Ariana jingled her bracelet at Draco and smiled before bouncing inside the house.
Draco waited two days before going back to Ariana's, as his parents had insisted that he go with them to dinner at some completely boring place with absolutely nobody to talk to. When he finally had time to slip away, he ran out to the yard and pushed through the brushes, completely unprepared for the sight waiting for him on the other side. Ariana sat on the ladder up to the treehouse portion of the playset, bracelet gleaming around her wrist, tears glistening on her cheeks.
When she caught sight of Draco, she jumped down from her perch and walked over to him, wiping her nose with a tissue. "What's wrong?" Draco asked urgently. "Is your mum sick?"
Ariana shook her head and burst out, "We're moving!"
Draco stared incredulously. "What?"
"We're moving," Ariana repeated.
After a second of dumb silence, Draco gathered his thoughts and asked quietly, "Where?"
"France!" Ariana sobbed out, fresh tears making their way down her face.
"When?"
Ariana shrugged. "A few days. Mum kept it secret for a 'birthday surprise.'" She kicked at a stone and sat down on the ground, leaning against a wooden support for the playset. Draco sat down next to her and hugged her.
"It'll be okay," he tried.
Ariana wiped her eyes and sniffed, shaking her head. "I don't wanna go."
Confused and at a loss for words, Draco just whispered soothingly, "I know."
After a few minutes of silent comfort, Ariana sniffed again and stood up waveringly.
"I should go." She pronounced it like a death sentence. "Mum said I needed to gather things to pack."
Draco nodded and stood up as well. "Ok. I'll see you later." He waited until she had disappeared inside the house before making his way back through the bushes.
