Disclaimer; the characters were created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plot. :D
Oh, and if you find any mistakes in this story, can you please point it out to me?
Please and thank you. :)
Enjoy.
It was a normal July day at the park. The sun was shining brightly, a couple of white fluffy clouds floating through the sky, and young children were running around merrily, without a care in the world. Parents laughed as they watched their children run around, reminiscing on their childhood years. It seemed like a normal day, but to two young children, it was a day that would change their lives forever.
A small, 8 year old, girl with brown, bushy hair sat alone in the sandbox, as she did every Saturday morning, making a sand castle. She hummed a tune her mother sang to her at night as she tucked her into bed. She grinned, happy that her hard work had paid off, and her sandcastle was now complete. She continued to make all sides of her sandcastle perfect until her mother came back from purchasing some ice cream.
At the other end of the sandbox, another 8 year old child was playing alone. This 8 year old was a male, with messy platinum blonde hair. He smiled sadly as he looked at his mother. She was reading a book on the bench as her son played in the sand. He had to beg her to take him to the park. It was his last request, since they were leaving the town the next week. He wanted to feel normal for once, even if he was alone. He threw his toy airplane into the air and watched as it crash landed into a large mound of sand.
"No!" a shrill voice screamed. "My castle's destroyed!"
The blonde boy ran up to the girl, who was on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry, miss. It was an accident, I swear!"
The brown haired girl sighed, and lifted her head up. She smiled at the boy, and brown eyes met grey. "Its okay. It only took me all morning to make it."
"I'll help you rebuild it to make it up to you," suggested the boy. He truly did feel bad.
"That'd be great," the girl smiled toothily at the boy. Well, not quite so toothily. One of her front teeth were missing. "My name is Hermione." She put her hand out for the boy to shake.
"I'm sorry I ruined your castle, Hermione. I'm Draco," he smiled back, and shook her sand-covered hand.
They worked together, and they made an even bigger sandcastle. They had been working together all morning to create this masterpiece. Their clothes were dirty, sand filled their shoes, and they had the most fun two 8 year olds could have together.
"What should we call it, Draco?" Hermione asked with wide eyes to her new friend.
Draco paused for a moment. After dramatically tapping his index finger on his chin, he said, "We should name it after ourselves! 'Hermione and Draco's Castle.' How does that sound?" Simple.
"It's perfect," Hermione beamed. She hugged Draco tightly. Once she let go, she leaned in toward his left ear and whispered, "Draco, I have a secret."
"Really? Can I know that secret?" he leaned back and said quietly, obviously curious. He had never been trusted with anything before, as he was still an irresponsible little boy in his parents' eyes. "I promise I won't tell anyone."
"Pinky swear?" Hermione pulled away from Draco, and stuck out her pinky in front of her. What was he supposed to do with that?
"Um," he said confusion evident in his voice, "What am I supposed to do?"
Hermione stared at him quizzically with one hand on her hip, as if to ask, 'Are you serious?' Draco blinked, obviously still very confused. She finally sighed, and explained the concept to him. "You're supposed to intertwine your pinky with mine, to promise you'll keep the secret and not tell anybody." She learned the word 'intertwine' from her grandmother the first time they pinky swore.
Draco blinked again, and when he opened his eyes, the confusion transformed into happiness. "Oh, I knew that." Hermione just rolled her eyes.
He paused for a second, stared into Hermione's chocolate brown eyes and said, "Pinky swear."
And they locked pinkies.
Hermione squealed in excitement before she leaned into Draco's right ear and whispered, "You're my best friend in the whole world."
What did she just say? Best friends? Surely she wasn't serious! "Really? But we only met today!" Draco exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Yes, I know, but there are no rules as to how long you have to know a person to be their best friend, silly!" Hermione laughed. Her eyes shined when she laughed, Draco noticed.
Draco contemplated the best friend concept for a moment. I've never had a best friend before! He grinned at the girl, and said "Oh, okay. In that case, you're my best friend, too!"
Hermione shouted, "Yay!" and twirled around in a circle. During that simple act, something clicked in her mind. "Pinky swear we'll be best friends forever, no matter what?" she asked.
He didn't hesitate for a second. "Pinky swear!" Once again, they locked pinkies.
The two best friends embraced. They separated, and Draco looked into Hermione's eyes. "I need to tell you something," he paused. He breathed in deeply. "I'm moving next week. I don't know where, but I don't think I'll ever see you again. But, I have a secret. You have to pinky promise not to tell anybody."
She nodded, and locked pinkies for the third time that day.
"Okay, you might not believe me but…" Draco inhaled deeply and continued, "I'm a wizard. You know, magic? My whole family can do it. I'm not allowed to do it yet, but I will, in about 3 years."
"WOW, magic?! I thought it was a myth! I wish I could do magic," cried Hermione in delight. "I've read a some books on magic, but I'm pretty sure they weren't about the real thing." They laughed together, and fell into a comfortable silence. Then something registered in Hermione's mind. He was moving.
"You're moving?! What? No, you can't be! I just met you today! We're best friends. This cannot be happening," screamed Hermione. She was sobbing in the sand, and all Draco could think to do was watch. What else could he do? He didn't know how to fix this. He's never had a best friend before. He embraced her, though.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I can't control it. I will definitely miss you, a lot," he thought for a second. Suddenly, he smiled brightly at her. "Because you're my new best friend, I want to give you this." Draco held out his wrist, and proceeded to take off the gold bracelet he was wearing. "I received this on my 5th birthday, from my grandmother. She said it has been in the family for generations. It's huge; I have to wrap it around my wrist twice, but I think you should have it, so you can remember me." He pulled her wrist lightly, and wrapped the golden chain around her wrist, twice. They looked into each other's eyes, and laughed.
She observed the bracelet for a moment. It was gorgeous! "This is so nice! Won't your grandmother miss it?" asked Hermione.
"She won't, I'm sure of it. It was a gift," he said confidently.
"Oh, well, thank you so much." Hermione tapped her head a couple of times, and pointed her finger up in the air. "Aha! I know!" She reached behind her neck, and unhooked her necklace. "Here you go. This is my favorite necklace in the whole wide world!" She showed him the necklace she was wearing. It was long, and grey. The pendant was a small golden heart. "The chain is real silver, and the heart is real gold. My father gave it to me for Christmas." She went behind Draco, and put the necklace on him.
He stuck his tongue out at her. "Its so girly!" he cried. "And, I'm a man." He winked at her.
Hermione groaned in disgust. "Well, tough luck. It's pretty, and it's yours now. Don't you want to be reminded of your best friend every day?" Draco nodded, and they shared smiles. "And you're as much of a man as my teddy bear is." Draco laughed sarcastically. Their moment was interrupted by Draco's mother's voice.
"Draco! Say goodbye to your friend; we have to go."
"All right, mother! I'll be there in a moment," He smiled sadly at Hermione. "I guess this is goodbye."
Hermione couldn't take it. Oversized tears flowed from her eyes, and down her cheeks. Why did he have to go? Its been a day! "No! Not goodbye, just…see you later. At least, I hope so," Hermione said. They laughed, and looked away from each other. Hermione couldn't take it. She ran into Draco's arms, and sobbed. "I'll miss you so much!"
Draco broke down as well. "I'll miss you, too!"
Hermione pulled her head away from Draco's shoulder and looked into his eyes. She wanted to remember them. They were absolutely gorgeous. Unconsciously, she started inching closer, and closer to his face, and finally—
Their lips connected.
It was a short peck on the lips, and it wasn't mind blowing. It couldn't mean anything, at least, not yet. They were eight. The word 'cooties' showed up in both of the children's minds. It was just a sweet, innocent kiss between two friends.
They stepped away from the embrace, and Draco started walking toward his mother. "Bye, Hermione! I'll think of a way to see you again! I promise."
"Pinky swear?!" she cried, with tears in her eyes.
He ran toward her, and locked pinkies. "Pinky swear," he whispered, hugged her, and retreated back to his mother.
The other didn't know it, but they both cried themselves to sleep that night. The only thing they had hope in seeing each other again was that they pinky swore.
Childhood friendships. As the years go by, you forget to appreciate them. The memories you make last forever, even if the friendships don't. They form you into the good, or bad, person you become. You'll always remember the feeling of having a good friend, even if in the future, their name slips your mind. During your adolescence, you learn about what kind of person you'd like to 'hang out with,' the kind of person you'd like to tell secrets to, maybe the kind of person who would make things seem better in your life when things don't go according to plan. You might meet a million people, and maybe only a handful will turn out to be people worth holding on to. Maybe, just maybe, Hermione and Draco were one in a million to each other.
They'd just have to wait and see.
I hope you liked it(:
Read and review, please. I'm working on the sequel now. :D