Chapter 2: Kindergarten
"Mommy, do I have to go to kindergarten?" Five-year-old Hermione said as her mother tied the bows in her hair.
Mrs. Granger turned her daughter around and put her nose to the little five-year-old's. "Don't worry honey. I'll be there with you"
"Really?" Hermione asked
"Yes. Just think of me and I'll be right beside you. Besides, you're going to a very special school where you'll learn all of the wonders of the world" Her mother said. A honking was heard from outside. "There's the bus dear. Go get your lunch box and get on the bus. I love you!" Hermione raced out the door, excited to learn the wonders of the world. Her mother sighed as she watched the bus drive off, seeing her daughter's excited face as she took a seat in the middle of the bus. "Someday Baby, and I'll tell you." She closed the door and remembered the night five years ago when she was woken in the middle of the night.
Flashback
Knock! Knock!
Mrs. Granger opened the door wearing her favorite purple bathrobe. In front of her stood a man she knew at once.
"Nick! What are you doing here? It's one in the morning!" She hissed before her husband woke up.
"Alexandra, I need your help" Nick said. It was then that Alexandra Granger noticed the bundle of blankets in Nick's hands. "Is Robert awake?"
"No, no person in their right mind should be. Come in" Alexandra motioned for Nick to come into the house, but he did not.
"I cannot. Please, I cannot explain why, but my daughter is in danger. I need to keep her somewhere where I know she will be safe. Please, please can you take care of her? You know that I would not trust her with anyone else and that I love her dearly and would rather die a thousand deaths that to do this but I must" Nick pleaded
"Nick-"
"Please Alexandra," A tear slid down Nick's face as he pleaded once more to the woman at the door "I don't want to do this, but I must for her sake. I know that she will be safe her and I know that you can provide her the love that she needs"
"Of course Nick," She took the bundle "but one day you must tell me why, but for now I will not, seeing how hard this is already. I swear that she will be loved and safe as long as I am alive, and if possible, after."
Nick was about to leave, but he turned around to say two more things. "Please though, do not remove her necklace. And keep her name, so that one day when I call it, she will answer" with that he was gone and Alexandra was left with a bundle of blankets, and a baby in the middle. The little girl then woke up and began to cry. Alexandra rocked her back and forth singing a lullaby as she closed the door.
End Flashback
"I promised that I would take care of you Hermione." Alexandra walked into the kitchen and thought about weather she had done the right thing sending her to the school that she did. It was a school where magic and non-magic children went to school together. It was like a regular kindergarten other than that. It was highly thought of because of the high levels that the children were taught. She sighed as she picked up the newspaper and drank her coffee.
On the school bus
Hermione walked onto the bus and saw an empty seat in the middle. Older kids were throwing paper balls and laughing around her. The bus made another stop after hers.
A blond boy walked on the bus, followed by two bigger boys following close behind. The boy looked around until he saw the seat next to Hermione and the seats behind her. He walked over and sat down with the two boys following close behind. (A/N I bet you're all stumped about who the boy is)
"Hi! I'm Hermione" Hermione said as she turned to face the boy
"Hello, my name is Draco (A/N who would have seen that coming?). How old are you?" The blond boy asked
"I just turned five a few weeks ago. How old are you?"
"I'm five and one quarter. I guess that we're going to be in the same class"
"I don't know. My mommy told me that there are two different kindergarten classes," The little girl said, hoping that they would be put in the same class.
"Do you have any friends at this school?" Draco asked
"No, I used to go to another school, but my mommy said that this would be a good change for me" Hermione said
"Well now you do" The boy smiled at the girl, who smiled back.
The bus then came to a stop in front of a large brick building. There was a beautiful garden in the front. Draco walked next to Hermione as they were led to the main entrance with the two bigger boys following close behind.
"KINDERGARTENERS OVER HERE PLEASE!" a motherly voice called from the side of the large crowd. The group of four kindergarteners joined a group of children their age. In the front of the group was a woman who looked about thirty-five years old. She was wearing a light pink skirt with an off-white sweater set. Her hair was a honey blond and her eyes were blue. "Hello children, my name is Miss Honey (A/N I think that's the teacher's name from Matilda) and I will be the kindergarten teacher that some of you will be having this year. Now, I want two straight lines when I call your names. On my right an done on my left" she signaled where the lines were supposed to be formed. "Abigail, Tracey, Jonny, Hermione, Chett, Drew, Bernard, Elinor, Frederick, Gazelle and Draco please form a line on my left, over here. I will be your teacher. Iago, Karin, Vincent, Goyle, Mabel, Penelope, Tasha, Stu, Rory, Nadine and Edward please form a line next to the other one. Your teacher will be Mrs. Smith. I will take all of you to the classes now. Please stay in your lines."
The children walked silently through the building. Hermione noticed that Draco looked nervous so she quickly ran to the back of the line.
"What's the matter Draco?" she whispered.
"Nothing" He whispered back
"Is it that your two bigger friends aren't in our class?"
"Well, they've always been with me and that made me feel protected, and now I'm not with them" he said slowly.
"Don't worry Draco. I wont let anything to happen to you. That's what friends are for" Hermione said as she took his hand in hers.
"And I'll do the same for you" Draco said as he smiled at the small brunette. 'I think I might actually have a good year after all' He thought.
The group then stopped at a door and a teacher took the other line. Crabbe (Vincent) and Goyle looked at Draco with sad and confused eyes. Miss Honey then took their line into a classroom next door. It was big with a piano, an arts and crafts center, toys, cubbies desks for everyone and other stuff that made the children look in awe.
"Now everyone, I want you to pick a desk to sit in." Miss Honey instructed. The seats were arranged two by two. Draco quickly led Hermione to two seats in the back, but she was leading him to the front. They settled on the seats in the middle. "OK everybody. Now I want you to take out a piece of paper and your crayons. We are going to start the year by doing an art project!" Everyone excitedly took out their supplies and awaited the next instructions. "Now I want you to draw a picture about the person sitting next to you. Ask them about themselves and show it in the picture."
"What's your favorite color?" Hermione asked.
"Ummm, blue. What's yours?" Draco replied
"Yellow" The two of them took out the blur and yellow crayons.
"What's your favorite game?" Draco asked
"Skip-It. What is yours?"
"Go Fish!"
"I like that game too. What's your favorite food?" Hermione said
"Who cares as long at it has chocolate!"
"And sugar. Like Pixi-Stix" Draco looked at his new friend confused
"What are those?"
"They're like colorful sugar that you eat. I snuck some from home if you want one"
"Gee, thanks"
The two continued to draw and ask questions about each other, some that weren't even for the picture. When they were done they held up their pictures. Hermione picture was Draco in a blue shirt and red shorts with a chocolate bar in one hand and a picture of a card with a fish on it in the other. He was smiling in it. ("You said that you love badgers," Hermione said explaining the blob) (A/N badgers are the Hufflepuff animal, right?) There was also a little girl standing next to him.
"Whose the little girl?" Draco asked
"You said that you always hang out with a girl named Pansy, so I drew her because she's your best friend" Hermione said
"But she's not my best friend" Draco said
"Who is then?"
"You" Draco said. Hermione smiled and he smiled back. The two of them hugged each other.
"You're my best friend too. Hold on a second then" Hermione said. She changed Pansy's hair color from blond to brown and changed the eyes from blue to brown too. "Ta da!"
"Wow!" Draco said. "That looks just like you"
"It is me silly. Now let me see yours"
"It's not very good, but ok." He held up his picture. Hermione was standing there with a pink stick in her hand ("It's a pixi-stix") and a skip-it on her leg. She was wearing a yellow shirt and green shorts. Her hair was in pigtails and yellow and green ribbons. There was a blob on the bottom There was a picture of a bird on it in the background ("It's an eagle," Draco said. "You said it was your favorite bird"). Next to her was a blond boy.
"Is that you?" Hermione asked
Draco nodded his head, proud of himself. Hermione gave him a big hug.
Miss Honey then instructed that it was time to share the pictures and for everyone to tell the class a little about the person they were sharing the desk with.
After School
Hermione walked into her house with a big smile on her face.
"How was your first day of school sweetie?" Mrs. Granger asked as she helped Hermione with her stuff.
"It was great! I made a new friend! And I learned how to write! And I have homework!" Hermione said excitedly
"Wow, it sounds like you had a very fun day." Alexandra said
"UH HUH! Mommy, can my new friend come over after school on Friday?" Hermione asked.
"How about this. You can ask your friend to sleep over if you want" She replied, assuming that the friend was a girl
"Yay! Thank you mommy!" Hermione kissed her mother and went into the kitchen to do her homework.
The school bus going home on Friday
"I'm so excited I get to sleep over your house!" Draco said
"This is going to be my first sleep over," Hermione said. "We're going to stay up late and watch movies and play games and eat pizza!"
"I've never had pizza before" Draco said
"Really? Well now you're going to have it. This is my stop. C'mon!" Hermione said as she led Draco off the bus. They ran into the house and to the kitchen to say hello to Mrs. and Mr. Granger.
"Hi mommy. This is my friend Draco" Hermione said as she took off her book bag
"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you. Why don't you two go up into Hermione room to get all ready to go to Blockbuster to pick out a movie" Mrs. Granger said, surprised by her daughter's new friend.
That night they ate pizza, ice cream, popcorn, candy and sweets with soda, watched movies and TV, and went to sleep at 11:30.
The next morning Draco's limo drive came to pick him up at lunchtime. The two said goodbye and that they would see each other on Monday.
Over the entire year the friends were inseparable. They had a sleep over almost every weekend, but always at Hermione house. The end of the school year came quickly for Hermione and Draco. Before they knew it, school was over and Draco's parents were putting him in another school.
"Sniff I'm going to miss you Dragon" Hermione said (she called him that when he was upset because he told her that that was what his name meant), trying not to cry
"Sniff sniff and I'm going to miss you too hermit crab (He gave her that nickname because Hermy sounded like hermit and he saw a hermit crab when they went to the aquarium together)" Draco said, also trying not to cry. "I have something for you." He took out a piece of string with a dragon charm. Hermione smiled at him as he tied the string around her wrist.
"I have something for you too" Hermione said. She took out a string with a crab on it. She tied it around his wrist. The two hugged and walked to their cars because on the last day of school the parents had to pick up the children.
As soon as they got into their cars (or in Draco's case limo) they couldn't hold it in anymore and cried. Draco couldn't give Hermione his phone number because he didn't have one, but Hermione gave him his. He put the phone number in a special box he made which he filled with all of their memories (it was a very big box). Hermione also had a box, which she kept their memories in (it was an even bigger box).
"You're the best friend I ever had Hermione/Draco. I'll never forget you," they said at the same time as the two automobiles drove away.