Chapter One: 1990
Ten-year-old Hermione Granger was sitting in the wet sand of a beach in Paris with her parents. They had gone on vacation so they could spend some time together. Between elementary school for Hermione and the Dentistry for the adult Grangers, they rarely spent time together. She snuck off that morning so she could get some alone time. Her parents had been smothering her, and she was sick of it. She stood and ran along the edge of the water, not seeing the pale, blond boy running the other way. She was looking back at her footprints in the sand and he was looking out at the sunrise when the ran right into each other!
"Ow!" they both complained, holding their heads. Hermione stood up and held out her hand for the boy. He looked at it and took it to stand up.
"Hello. I'm Hermione, who are you?" she greeted.
"Draco." he replied. You see, ten-year-old Draco Malfoy and his family were, too, on vacation in Paris. Since he was a wizard, they went to Wizarding Paris, but he got bored and decided to see the sunrise in Muggle Paris. His father despised muggles, so he wasn't allowed associate with anything muggle. But, his mother didn't mind them, and she had taken him to see the sunrise in Muggle Paris last year. It was always prettier in the muggle section, so he snuck of to see it.
"Do you live here?" Hermione asked him.
"No, I'm from Britain, you?"
"I'm from Britain too." she said.
"Oh. Wanna watch the sunrise?" he asked.
"Sure." they sat down in the wet sand and watched it rise. They talked and became great friends. "Meet me here around 7 tonight to watch the sunset."
"Okay." she replied, and hugged him goodbye.
"See you." he said and ran off, back to his parents. She too ran back, only to find her parents still blissfully asleep. She sighed, today was gonna be bore-ring.
Every morning and every evening, Draco and Hermione would meet on the beach to watch the sun rise and set. Then, one day, after about 2 weeks, Hermione's parents told her they were going home the next day. She began to cry and told them about her new friend. They told her they would come back next year and she could write to him if she really wanted to.
"Hey, Dray." She greeted, hugging him.
"'Mione, what's wrong?" he asked.
"We're leaving tomorrow." then she began to cry.
He comforted his new friend, saying they would keep in touch. She took out a piece of paper with her name and address on it and said he could write to her there. Last week he had told her he was a wizard, so she knew to respect an owl. Together they watched the sunrise and said goodbye one more time.
They sent owls back and forth all summer but when school came, the letters got shorter and shorter, until one day stopping all together. Hermione had a horrible year in school. The other students were horrible to her and made fun of her for always reading, or having bushy hair, or even for being super smart!
Draco's mother had discovered his new friend. One day she found a letter Hermione had sent to Draco and she thought it was adorable. She hoped her son wouldn't get all of the prejudices that the Malfoy family had. She wanted him to be a good boy, who loved everyone and was loved by everyone. Her husband thought different. He thought muggles were scum and were to be treated as such. If he were to find out about these letters he might do something drastic, so he kept her discovery hidden.
Draco wanted to be friends with Hermione, but was afraid of what his father would say if he ever found out. His letters became shorter and shorter due to all the pre-Hogwarts training his father put him through, until he stopped sending some and receiving some in turn all together. He needed a friend. Sure, he had Blaise, Pansy, Gregory, and Vincent, but they were always so prejudiced about muggles he didn't like it. They were just like his father and he got enough of his father just at home, he didn't need it from his friends too. That's why when he met Hermione, he felt so free. She was kind, compassionate, and didn't care who had what blood, even though she didn't know about it, it still was very refreshing.
He asked his mother if they would go back to Paris next year, but she said they couldn't because he had to go to Hogwarts next year and Paris would be too hectic if they went there too. He was upset at first, but understood. It was around Christmas when he wrote Hermione telling her this. She told him she was upset too, but understood. They wouldn't see each other again, but would try to keep in touch anyway and maybe, when they were big enough, find each other again. The only thing they didn't know was they would be seeing each other much sooner than they thought.