A/N: I really hope you like my story! I recently made a lot of changes to make it sound more…. Well I don't have a word for it, I'm just trying to improve the quality, and I hope you all like it! Enjoy!

Chapter One: They Meet

It was raining that afternoon in London, or so fate would have it. The streets were covered in thick sheets of water and businessmen and shoppers alike crowded in beneath the safety of their umbrellas. It was on this rainy Thursday afternoon that a family of three rushed into the city to do their weekly shopping; and it was at this that their daughter, a girl of seven, was left to wait for them in the warm sweet confines of a local ice cream parlor.

The little girl was patient and had taken up residence at a lone booth in the back of the old parlor, and away from the windows, this way she could read her book without distraction. She was smart for her age, and you could tell this by the large books that she liked to read. Other than her smarts, you could tell that she wasn't your average first grader. She didn't play with dolls, she didn't go wild for candy and she most certainly didn't believe in 'cooties'.

Hermione Granger knew that she was different, and she was always fine with that. Being normal meant that you were conforming to society, and she was having none of that. She first realized that she was 'special' when she was five. It was after dinner and her mother and father had scolded her for leaving a mess at the table. When she had returned to clean up her mess, the moment she touched it, the whole table had just vanished into thin air. An act that to this day still amazed her entire family.

So absorbed in her book, Hermione hardly noticed that a boy no older than her, with platinum hair, had walked into the parlor. Just as she, he had come alone. The boy was a bold fellow; and he wasn't in the least bit shy; so when he saw her he bravely strode across the room and flopped down in the seat across from her.

"Hello!"

Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin with freight as his small voice addressed her from across the table, her book had slammed loudly into the table causing a few people to stare. The boy laughed at her as she brought her eyes up to meet his small form. She visibly relaxed when she realized that he was only a little boy, knowing there wasn't much harm that he could do.

"I'm sorry that I scared you," The boy said to her after a moment's silence. "I thought that you saw me." Hermione was taken aback by how polite the boy was; the children she met normally insulted her, or ignored her all together.

"It's okay," Hermione told him as she leaned forward onto the table and folded her arms. "I'm Hermia by the way." She said with a smile.

"I'm Drake" The little boy told her with a warm smile as he extended his hand to her. His father would beat him if he knew he had shook hands with a muggle. "So why are you sitting all alone, Hermia?" He asked her soon after shaking any thoughts of what his father might do to him.

"My parents are out shopping for my auntie's birthday present; I'm not good at keeping secrets." Hermione admitted shyly. "How about you, where are your parents?"

"My parents are, well let's say evil. Well my dad is… This is where I come when he tells me to leave." He explained to her.

"Oh, that's horrible, Drake. I'm so sorry." Hermione didn't know what else to say to him. To know that his parents weren't the same loving people her own parents were. She'd never known another side. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, my mum always calms him down and comes to get me; sometimes it can take a while."

"Well it's good that you have somewhere you can go when your father gets angry." she told him sincerely. They were silent for a moment. After a moment Drake's eyes dropped to the book that Hermione had left abandoned on the table and he smiled.

"Do you believe in magic?"

Immediately a weird look crossed Hermione's face, as she was unsure how to answer his question. Magic had always been something that she and her family had kept to themselves. She didn't want to come across as crazy, but the moment he had asked, she knew that her face had given her away. "Yes, I guess so… I mean, if you consider being able to do things others can't to be magic."

"Can you do stuff others can't." he asked nonchalantly, but Hermione could see how intrigued he really was. Hermione began to hesitate once more. "I mean, if you can that's okay," He paused, "Because I can too."

Hermione's eyes grew wide with amazement as she watched him watch her. "You can do that stuff too!" she asked quickly, a bell chimed as a door opened. "Things like making dead flowers re bloom, causing things to fly across the room, or disappear?" Her eyes lit up with glee as he nodded.

"That and so much more."

"Really?" Hermione's eyes continued to grow, "So I'm not just mental?" For a long time she had believed herself to be insane, never allowing herself to entertain such thoughts.

He laughed, "There are even schools for people like us, schools like Hogwarts." He told Hermione as she tightly gripped the binding of her book.

"Hogwarts," Hermione repeated the name curiously, somewhere in the very back of her mind the name rang a bell… but she didn't mention it. "I don't think I have heard of it."

"You wouldn't have." He said flatly. "Your parents, they are muggles, once your eleven someone will have to come explain it all to them." Muggle…. There was another word that rang a bell…

"So both of us will go to Hogwarts? When we are eleven? Do we get wands? Do you have one?" Her eyes lit up once more. A fear had edged its way into the back of her mind; her parents didn't have this 'talent' of hers, what if they didn't like it? What if she wasn't permitted to go?

"Yeah," his smile grew wide, "We buy our wands along with all of our other supplies in diagon ally. They sell all sorts of stuff there..." He paused for a moment, "I don't have a wand of my own, but I have used my mums, and it's the best feeling in the world, it almost feels like all the power in the world is right there, trapped in your hand." Hermione closed her eyes and pictured this feeling, he humming of the power coursing through her fingers.

Her smile fell after a moment as she opened her eyes, "how did you know?" Hermione choked out as she thought about the facts… "How did you know to tell me?" She felt her heart sinking.

She watched as a grin spread across his face as he pointed to a cup of hot chocolate that Hermione had forgotten all about. "You're making the spoon move?" Her eyes widened as she glance around the shop in fear. She froze, had they saw?

She could see a pair of girls, one of who was looking at her from across the room; they were in a booth next to the window. The first, a blond, looked away quickly knowing that she had been caught. Hermione watched as she said something to a girl with long black curls, she was pleading with her. Hermione would have given anything to know if they were talking of her.

When she turned back to face Drake, she quickly removed the spoon. "So are both of your parents…" she glanced around, "magic?"

"Yeah, all my family has been," he told her quietly.

"Really? Wouldn't…" Hermione's words were cut short.

"Drake, Darling it's time to go." A woman, wearing a long navy blue cloak, said as she walked towards the table the two children sat at. She was a tall, elegant woman and she had long hair that was the exact color as Drake's, the only difference between the two of them, aside from her being a woman, were the eyes. Her eyes were a deeper shade of blue while his were a steely grey. Hermione thought she was stunning. "Oh, Hello sweetie," The woman said to Hermione upon seeing her, and she gave the girl a warm smile. She was as kind and polite as her son.

"I'm Narcissa, Drake's mother." His mother said smiling down at her.

"Hello Mrs. Narcissa, I'm Hermia." Hermione told her in a small shy voice, she was almost afraid to speak.

"It's very nice to meet you dear; it's always nice to meet one of my son's friends." Hermione smiled at this, she had never really had many friends, but now she did. It sounded nice to hear it said. "I'm sorry Hermia, darling, but my son and I have to be going." Narcissa told Hermione quietly, and Hermione nodded in understanding.

"I'll see you later Hermia." Drake said as he scooted out of his side of the booth and he stood up.

"Drake," Hermione called out to just before him and his mother had reached the door, he looked back at her. "You promise it's real?" She asked as he smiled back at her.

"It's real for us." And then, he was gone.

A/N: Well I'm updating sooner than I planned but oh well enjoy! Oh, and I changed Hermione's birthday, and pushed it up a month, its august 19th now, not sept. It worked for this story.