"Hello, are you okay?" a small brown-haired girl asked that blond boy that looked uncomfortable sitting on the bench.
The boy turned to her, his grey eyes annoyed. "I'm not allowed to talk to Muggles." He turned away from her.
"Muggles?"
"Filthy non-magical people like you," he said.
Hermione cocked her head to the side curiously. "How old are you?"
The boy looked up, rather taken aback that the girl was still talking to him. "I turned seven last week," he said slowly. "And you better leave me now, before you get dirt on me."
The girl looked down at her arms, her curls partly covering her face. "Why do you keep saying that I'm dirty? I take a bath twice a day and I always wash my hands."
The boy sniffed. "Your blood is nothing special. You are nothing special."
The little girl frowned angrily. "That's not a very good thing to say to anybody! I bet you don't have friends, not with that attitude."
The boy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. His expression turned confused.
"You would have more friends if you were polite," the girl continued.
"My father always said that Muggle blood is dirty," he tried to explain. "You're a Muggle."
The girl calmed down. "I don't know what a Muggle is, but your father is wrong. Everyone's blood is the same. My blood is just as clean as yours."
The boy thought about this. What the girl said went against most of what he learned over the years, but she made more sense than his father.
"Okay…" he trailed off. "I will talk to you. Is that better?"
The girl smiled, flashing big teeth, and nodded.
The boy couldn't resist smiling too, and flashed an adorable white smile. "So, what's your name?"
The girl pursed her lips. "I'm not allowed to say my name to strangers when my Mum or Dad isn't here. Maybe we can make up pretend names? You can call me Mia."
"That's a pretty name," the boy complimented her. He thought hard about his pretend name. "I suppose you can call me by my middle name. Lucius."
Mia giggled. "Now we have to shake hands." She extended her hand. Lucius hesitated, but took her hand and shook it.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Just the same as you," Mia said. "I turned seven last September. I can't wait until I grow up. I want to learn about the world."
"I can't wait until I turn eleven. Then I can go to school and make my father proud," Lucius shared in a low voice.
"Eleven? That's strange. Where do you study?" Mia asked.
The boy pursed his lips. "I'm not allowed to tell Muggles. I'm sorry."
Mia grimaced. "Okay… What's a Muggle, then?"
The boy thought hard about his answer. He didn't want to offend Mia again. "A Muggle can't do magic like us."
Mia jumped up excitedly. "But I can!"
"I'm sorry?"
Mia smiled. "I can do magic. Does that mean that I'm not a Muggle?"
"You are lying," Lucius said with his voice full of doubt. "Muggles cannot do magic."
Tears started to well up in Mia's eyes. "I'm not lying. It's true. I can do magic."
Lucius tensed up. He didn't want Mia to cry, even though he was certain Muggles like her couldn't do magic. "Um, okay. Let's talk about something else."
Mia sniffed.
"I wish I had a brother, then I would have someone to be with at our house other than the servants," Lucius shared with a smile. "Do you have siblings?"
"I had a sister," Mia said. "She died three years ago. She was just a baby."
Lucius felt guilty for bringing the subject of siblings up. "I'm sorry."
Mia smiled. "It's okay. I don't really remember her."
She turned around. A pretty, curly-haired woman was gesturing for her to come. "My mother is calling me. I have to go now."
Lucius was reluctant to let her leave him, but he wasn't keen on meeting another Muggle. "Okay. I'm sure Mother will come for me soon enough."
Mia glanced back at her mother, and then whispered into Lucius' ear. "My real name is Hermione." With a giggle, she ran to her mother, leaving her new friend looking at her in wonder.
Lucius smiled. "And mine's Draco."
The boy named Draco eventually put Mia at the back of his mind.
And Mia never saw her friend Lucius again.
Or so she thought.