Prologue
The first time they met each other, she had gotten lost and took shelter at a park. She was sitting in a corner of a gazebo crying her eyes out. Her legs were pulled up close to her body in a tight ball. It was raining hard that day.
So of course she wouldn't have heard him walking towards her. A boy the same age as her had also gotten lost - go figure - and when he also stumbled across the park, he, too, decided to go to the gazebo to get out of the rain. When he spotted her in the corner, he went over to her and tapped her twice on the knee.
Startled, she gasped loudly and her eyes flew wide open. She tried to shuffle backwards more but her back hit the fencing immediately, so there was nowhere for her to go. The boy had a curious expression on his face. He stared at her tear-stained cheeks, puffy red eyes, and messy hair. She looked past him, scared of what he might do.
"My name's Draco," the boy said. Her body shook as she was once again startled by him. "What's your's?" This time, she looked at the boy named Draco and sniffed. Draco had blond hair that was almost white, and grey eyes that looked like the sky at the time.
"My- my name's Her-Hermione," she whispered. However, she was so quiet that Draco couldn't hear her.
"Your name's... Her-muh-nee?" He burst out laughing. "What kind of a name is that?" Hermione stared at him in shock, huffed, and crossed her arms. She pouted at him.
"No, it's Hermione. Her-my-oh-nee, not Her-muh-nee!" Draco stopped laughing but still had a smile on his face.
"Well, gee, Her-my-oh-nee," he said, "that's kind of a long name. How do you spell it?" The quizzical look on his face almost made Hermione giggle, but she held it in.
"H-e-r-m-i-o-n-e. Hermione. You can call me Mione for short. That's what everyone calls me except for Gram and Gramps."
Draco nodded before sitting down next to her. They were both staring at the floor for a while before Draco started talking again.
"So how old are you, Hermione? I turned six in June."
"I turned seven just last week."
"Oh... Do you live near here?"
"No," Hermione's eyes started to water, "I ran away from home and got lost." Draco looked at Hermione and patted her arm.
"I'm lost, too, but I didn't run away. I sort of got distracted and ended up here."
"How?"
"What?"
"How'd you get distracted?"
"Butterfly."
"Oh."
Hermione leaned against Draco and placed her head on his shoulder. Her eyelids fluttered shut as her breathing slowed. Draco leaned his head on hers, and eventually, they both fell asleep to the steady beat of the rain.