Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

_He was her best friend when they were kids.  
They did everything together, they were inseparable.  
But people change and it all become a distant memory._

Hermione knew Draco since she came to live in this neighborhood.  
He was her neighbor next door, he was her all world.  
She could still remember how they climbed the trees together, played in the local park, looked for new adventures and were there for each other.

Hermione hated this neighborhood, she decided the first time she set foot in it.  
To live there meant to leave her friends and the life she had.  
She didn't want to start over, she hated it.  
But then he came along, this little sweet boy next door.  
His grey bright eyes sparkled with excitement the first time they met and his blond hair shined in the sun, smile was occupying his features.  
He changed her world from black to pink and she couldn't be happier.  
He made her worries to go away, her fears to become irrelevant and her smile to become bigger. _He was her everything._

But not everything lasts forever.  
She was eleven at the time of the incident and after it everything changed.  
Hermione was diagnosed as a **Multiple Sclerosis patient.  
**Inflammatory disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in a wide range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems.**  
**  
At first everything was still the same. He would visit her at home and spent time with her but as she became more and more sick the option of playing became more limited.  
In the begging she could do what any other kids her age could.  
But as the months pasted she eventually lost the feel in her legs and was forced into her wheelchair that she still using since then and that was the end of their relationship.

* * *

Hermione didn't go to school because her parents decided that it will be for the best.  
If only they knew how lonely she was, all she could do is sit in the house all day staring at the ceiling. Her day usually included watching TV and reading the books she bought in Amazon into her Kindle. The books became her best friends and the imaginary world became her last resort. All the friends she made in Middle School were long gone to High School, living their lives as normal teenagers while she stuck in this mess.  
Hermione will be eighteen in a couple of days but she still felt like her old eleven years old self. She couldn't do anything for herself, always treated by her parents.  
The only thing she did herself was showering and dressing but it didn't really count.  
She never partied nor hangs out in the mall and she didn't even left the house, except maybe the garden. But she still wanted it all, she wanted to be normal, she wanted to have friend and moreover she wanted to be loved.  
Loved like those girls in her books, where the prince in the white horse swept them off their feet. But she knew that even if she will find that man she had nothing to offer him but suffering because she will always be the sick girl that need to be taken care off.  
Hermione sighed as she rolled into the kitchen to take her medicine – five types of pills which include pills against depression and the illness itself.  
Hermione had her moments of crazes but could you blame her? Life could be worse for her.

She was about to go back to her self pity thought when she heard car pull over the house.  
It was probably her mom coming back from the grocery store. Hermione hurried to the front door to help to get her mom's shopping bags as she done for years.  
She opened the door and rolled into the front garden only to find that it wasn't her mom but her old neighbor Draco. He was walking out of his black 2014's Maserati that his dad bought him for his birthday with beautiful girl beside him that looked like a model.  
She had a black her and a killer body, everything about her felt like royalty and they looked like a very lovely couple. Hermione bit her tongue from crying. The encounter with her old best friend brought some memories she wished to forget.  
It was also the first time they met face to face since four years ago and she still missed him.  
She would watch him from her room window sometimes when he left the house, watching him moving on in his life without her.  
She remembers the day that he left her and never came back except of couple occasions in which they had family holidays together. But those stopped when she told her mother four years ago that she didn't want to see him anymore. He never question her decision and she let him because it was the right thing to do- to set him free from the burden of his sick friend and move on with his life.

They were talking about something and laughing when he spotted her and their eyes met.  
He stopped in his traces, causing confusion among his partner that only then saw Hermione.  
But Hermione couldn't care less, her attention was captured by him.  
His tall and strong figure- those strong arms that indicate that he was an athlete, fact she already knew and those hypnotizing grey eyes that took her breath away and of course his flawless face that made him look like god and also the golden hair.  
She was snapped out of her thoughts when the girl next to him spoke "Who is she?" she asked and got Draco attention back to her.  
Draco looked back at the girl and said nothing, pained look on his face.  
His eyes avoid Hermione's as they just stood there in silence.  
"Well?" She asked more urgently, frustrated from all the awkwardness in the air.  
And then when she saw that he had no intention to reply she stared at Hermione, waiting for explanation. "Are you deaf too?" she asked.  
"Leave her be" Draco snapped at her, pissed, looking at her.  
"Just because she crippled doesn't mean I have to pity her, It isn't my fault she got sick" she crossed her hand over her chest, confused why Draco suddenly became so aggressive toward her, like she did nothing wrong. Before he could said something else to her Hermione interrupted their private conversation "I can take care of myself, and as for your question..we were friends once, long time ago. You don't need to go defensive because it is not like you have a competition here. We were friends once and then I became sick and he moved on" Hermione said annoyed at the whole situation.  
"Well I would have move on too..who wants to be friends with sick girl like you? I mean it is depressing to even look at you, not to talk about be friends with you" she said.  
"Are you mad? Or maybe you just stupid?.." He was about to finish his sentence before I interrupted him for the second time, his hand clenched tightly.  
"Wasn't it the reason why you left in the first place? No need to go sorry for the handicapped girl now because it didn't bother you for the last four year, so why would it now?" She said, not waiting for his replay and rolling into her house, closing the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione just sat there is the silence and have been reviewing the encounter that she just had with the man haunted her for so long.  
She didn't even heard her mother coming in with her shopping bags.  
"Honey?" She asked Hermione as she entered the kitchen where her daughter sat quietly.  
"Mom, I didn't see you there!" Hermione finally paid attention to her mother.  
Mrs. Granger set the bags on the kitchen counter and faced her daughter that sat from across of the dining table between them, worried.  
"Something wrong?" She asked, moving closer to her daughter.  
"What?..Ooo no nothing wrong mom, don't worry" she smile weakly, looking at her mother as she came to stand in front of her.  
"Come on Honey, you know you can tell me everything!" She crouched to be in her daughter level and put a hand in her daughter upper arm.  
"I guess this is the parks of being best friend with you mother, she knows you too well that you can't even keep a secret for yourself" she said a little frustrated.  
Her mother laughed and raised her brow, waiting for answer.  
"Fine! I met Draco today" she said sadly, looking away from her mother afraid to give up to much then she wanted.  
"How is he?" her mom asked happily. If only she knew that things were more complicated than that.  
"We didn't talk, we are strangers, he isn't my friend anymore. It was just awkward but it made me to realize something" she paused and looked in her mother eyes.  
Her expression became serious "Mom, I want to go back to school. I don't want to home study anymore, I want to go outside, I want to be a normal teenager" the last words came out barley a whisper.  
"I know Honey but it is too dangerous for you, we won't be there if you need us" she said petting her daughter head.  
"And I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE!" Hermione said angrily moving away from her mother touch.  
"I need to know how to take care of myself! I need to live, to meet people and to be part of this world. All I do is to sit locked in this house and I am tired of it. I love you mom and I love dad too, but you suffocate me! You need to let me live my life the way I want to" Hermione didn't even notice she was crying until the tears fall down into her lap.  
She was with her back to her mother, not looking at her, shaking from crying.  
"Dear, I know you want to, but it isn't safe, you need to understand that you a little different from other kids and that is why we are so protective. We just want our baby safe and sound. Everything we do is to protect you!" she stepped toward her but Hermione moved away again.  
"I don't care! I am eighteen next week and I can do whatever I WANT! You are not the boss of me anymore, I have a voice in the matter too! You think you protecting me but guess what! You just hurting me by locking me up in this house!" Hermione stormed from the kitchen toward the front door.  
"Where are you going?" Her mother followed her.  
"I need some fresh air, or it is now forbidden too?" Hermione answer bitterly, closing the door behind her.

Hermione sat in her front yard, crying and thinking.  
It is funny how only one look from him can change her world upside down.  
But it is always been that way as long as she could remember.  
He always made her to doubt her fears, dreams and even herself.  
He always encouraged her, supported her and made her stronger, but now all that was left of it was pain memory of the life she used to have and she will never have back.  
It is funny how much she pity herself, if he could see her now he would probably be mad at her for giving up so easily.  
_"Where is the fighter I used to know?" _she almost could hear him ask.  
_She is gone, If she ever existed in the first place_, Hermione thought bitterly.

"Are you okay?" she heard someone beside her say.  
She moved her head to the side only to come face to face with Draco Malfoy himself.  
"Perfect" she said sarcastically, breaking the eye contact they had.  
Only then she realized that he stood in her front yard, invading her personal space.  
They waited there in awkward silence, no one spoke to the other.  
"Is there anything particular you wanted?" Hermione tried to give him a hint that his presence wasn't welcome. Their friendship was beyond repair and now it was only awkward and uncomfortable.

They were strangers, what did she expected, she didn't know him anymore.  
This thought made her cry even harder and she was embarrassed that he saw her like this.  
She turned her chair away from him, her back turning to him and just wished he will go away. There is nothing left to be said and she didn't what him to say anything.  
They were too different to became friends again and she was okay with that.  
She wanted friends but she couldn't tolerate to hear about his happy life without her.  
She was selfish, she knew that but she didn't care.  
She preferred that everyone will be unhappy than happy without her.  
Maybe that was why she let him go in the first place, she decided to isolate herself from everyone in order to minimize the pain she felt.  
You know what they say, What you don't know can't hurt you.  
But in the end on the day..maybe it does, because she missed him more than she care to admit to herself and she was lonely.

The thoughts about him forced her to look at him.  
He wore a plain black t-shirt and pair of jeans, his skin was too white for her taste but it fitted his blond hair perfectly. His muscular body can be seen through his shirt and those eyes..those beautiful eye that always saw beyond her soul was starring at her.  
Everything about him made her nervous and she wondered when she started to feel that way around him. Or maybe she never stopped. Could it be that she felt about him that way since the beginning? That she loved him all along?  
She realized she wasn't caring anymore and instead was blushing.

"I just saw you crying and I thought to check on you" he said somehow shyly.  
At his words their eyes locked again, but this time there was no turning back, there was no refuge from the power he have over her..  
If only he knew, if only they stood a chance but they didn't, there was no happy ending for them and nor ever be.  
It is like there two side of the same coin.  
She wanted to yell at him, to ask him where have he been all those years when she needed him the most, why did he give up on them so easily and why he decided to stay way.  
They saw each other in occasion over the years but they never exchanged a word or a glance.  
They acted like the other one never really existed and it was fine.  
Or that was what she thought when she first met him today after all those years.  
It wasn't fair to blame him for leaving her because she knew it wasn't easy for him either, at least she believed it wasn't. That day..Four years ago, she lost him but he also lost her.  
And now she finally realized that it was inevitable and all the anger she felt toward him all this years wasn't justified.  
It wasn't his fault that she got sick, she thought maybe he wanted to be there for her but he didn't know how.

"You know.." she heard herself say to him.  
"All those years I was angry at you for abandoning me, for moving on without me" her voice was vulnerable and broke at every word.  
She didn't look at him when she spoke and looked at her hands the whole time, afraid of his reaction to the burden she carried all those years.  
"But it wasn't your fault, I guess only now I finally understood that it wasn't easy for you either and I didn't make it easier on you. When I got sick I got selfish and all I saw was my problems and my needs. I didn't even think about the possibility that while I needed you, you also needed me and maybe that why we drove apart. I still the same selfish person I was long time ago, I understand that now, all I ever did since I became sick was to pity myself"  
Her voice broke and the tears fall in her cheeks but for once she didn't care for him to see her that way.  
She looked at him now, his expression unreadable, his eyes never leaved her.  
"But the one thing.." she started to cry harder now, taking a deep breath.  
"But there was one unselfish thing that I did.. I let you go, I knew you wouldn't be happy around me and I didn't want to hold you back. So I let you go, I set you free and only now I realized that it was the right thing to do and I shouldn't be angry at you" she cleaned the tears from her eyes with her hands.  
"Please be happy for both of us" she moved toward the front door, not waiting for his response again.  
Whispering _Forever_ before disappearing into the house.

_**And now I miss everything about you**__**  
**__**I can't believe it, I still want you**__**  
**__**After all the things we've been through**__**  
**__**I miss everything about you**__**  
**__**Without you, whoa...**_

* * *

I decided to publish the second part right after the first because it is important to me that you get the full feelings they have for each other and understand how complicated thier relationship.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione was standing in front of the big gates of Hogwarts High School, school for rich and spoiled kids.  
She could feel her heart beating faster with every move she made closer to the school.  
She made it, she finally got the opportunity to be a normal teenager, to have friends.  
According to rumors all the richest kids around the world come to study here because it is simply the best school there is.  
It was built from an old castle that survived from centuries ago.  
It surrounded by forests and the ocean not far away from there.  
The building itself very high and has at least seven floors, which is why it is a good thing that it also had very advanced technology- laptops for every kids who apply the school, escalators, projectors in every class, big desks, lockers and also elevator which is a life savior for Hermione as a handicapped girl.  
All the students population divided into four houses in order to create more intimate atmosphere between the students and the teacher that belong to it.  
Every student from middle school to high school live under the same roof in the houses they been sorted into.  
There is no particular meaning to the houses names, only the ancient meaning it had.  
As Hermione entered the school her breath was taken away.  
It was like royalty house, everything shined and looked expensive.  
She move to the great hall where the welcome ceremony was held, not tearing her eyes off the armors that decorated the halls and the big ancient windows that sparked from the sun.  
She took a deep breath as her smile got wider and wider while she observed her surroundings.

"Excuse me, but are you okay?" a voice beside her said.  
Only then Hermione realized that she stopped in the middle of the corridor and stared outside through the window.  
She looked up to meet ginger haired girl, about her age, smiling at her.  
"Ginny" she said and extended her hand forward for Hermione to shake.  
At first Hermione was lost because it was long since she never been in a situation like that, stunned but the fact that someone even wanted to talk to her.  
But as she saw the question look in the ginger haired girl face she hurried to shake it.  
"Sorry, Hermione, it just I didn't really talk to people for a long time" she said with apologizing smile.  
"You was home schooling?" Ginny asked.  
Hermione nodded and moved forward the great hall.  
"Let me help you!" Ginny said and didn't wait for an answer as she started to push Hermione's wheelchair forward.  
Hermione was taken aback by the gesture but didn't say a thing.  
"I never saw you here, so I guess you new here, am I right?" she asked.  
Hermione was really nervous to answer so she just nodded again.  
It had been a while since she had communication with people, especially girls.  
She was always afraid that people would judge her and didn't accept her so she preferred not to mess things up.

"Well welcome, I hope we could be friends and have a blast year" she smiled from ear to ear as she said that.  
"You want to be friends with me?" Hermione asked uncertain.  
"Of course! Why wouldn't I? If you have me" Ginny said excitedly.  
"I would love to" Hermione whispered, more to herself then to Ginny but it didn't escaped her ear.  
"Then it settled! I also all for us the Gryffindors to stick together!" she said.  
"Gryffindors? I wasn't even sorted yet" she wondered.  
"You did, it all shown in your uniform" Ginny stopped and came in front of Hermione and showed her the red and yellow tie.  
Hermione had the same one, and then understood why students wore different ties; the ties represented the house you belonged to.  
Hermione smile and Ginny got behind her and pushed her to the great hall.

As Hermione entered the big heavy wooden doors to the hall she couldn't believe her eyes.  
The great hall was the biggest and magnificent room she had ever seen.  
It had four long tables, located in a row and the teacher table in front of them.  
Students already sat in the tables and put food into their plates.  
The table was loaded with food and Hermione wondered if it was for an army.  
Ginny moved Hermione to one of the tables and stopped as they reached their destination.  
"Guys! I missed you!" Ginny said as she ran to hug her friends.  
Meanwhile Hermione got herself up from the chair and sat into the long bench of the table.  
She started to load food into her plate, trying to avoid the stares that now she got from people around her.  
She felt really out of place and the glances from around the hall didn't help her either.  
She started to regret for coming into this school.  
It not like her parents couldn't afford it, they could. The problem was the fact that they won't be there for her to support her like they did for years.  
You see, her parents were the only friends she had for the past years and without them she felt lonely.  
Hermione sighed at the realization and started to eat the food in front of her.  
She looked to her left to find Ginny, the long ginger haired girl from earlier starring at her.  
"Oh my, I almost forgot!" she suddenly said.  
"This is my new friend Hermione, she was home schooling before and she is…a senior?" Ginny asked Hermione not sure.  
Hermione nodded again, ashamed from all the attention she got.  
She looked at the people Ginny introduced her to.  
As her eyes fall on the black haired guys that sat beside Ginny he smiled at her, nodding.  
"Harry, nice to meet you, we going to have a great year, you will see" he said, smirking.  
He had glasses and wore the same uniform as Hermione, except the skirt.  
"We going to kick some ass this year" the guy from across him said and Hermione attention was on him now.  
He had the same ginger hair as Ginny, the same smile even and Hermione was almost sure that they are related.  
"Ron" he said to her as their eyes locked, smiling seductively.  
Well he didn't really, but somehow that how Hermione saw it.  
He was pretty handsome too, he didn't have the athletic build body but he wasn't too skinny or fat. And He had very beautiful smile and bright blue eyes.  
She was lost in them almost like in the Draco's grey one.  
_Wait, what?_ How come even when he wasn't even there she thought of him.  
_Maybe this is what first love is about, it stays with you forever or maybe until you find a replacement._  
She hoped the latter was the right one because thinking about him won't do her any good.

"Well well well, the weaslette clan and potty together again, how moving! I think I am about to cry" voice from behind her said.  
Hermione froze in her place, shivers ran down her body and her muscles tensed.  
_It isn't happening! It isn't happening! _Hermione started to panic, unable to collect her thoughts, feeling like she was about to explode.  
"Get lost Malfoy, no one give a fuck about you and your opinion" Harry said bitterly.  
_Well clearly they aren't friend, according to the venom he spoke to Draco_, Hermione thought, trying to gather herself together.  
" I won't be so sure if I were you, I doesn't popular for nothing" he said cockily.  
"Dude, find someone else to torture, we are busy" Ron said annoyed.  
Draco was about to say something when he suddenly stayed quiet.  
All the eyes were on Hermione now, and she realized that Draco probably recognized her.  
"Leave her alone Malfoy, she new here and she isn't interested in your bullshit" Ginny threaten him.  
"Like I listen to you" he said coldly.  
Hermione's eyes never left the plate in front of her, she was scared to face him.  
"Every friend of yours is an enemy of mine, see you around Granger" he said in mocking voice, as he turned from their table and left.  
Everyone's eyes were on her now, but she couldn't care less.  
The boy she was in love with just declared war on her and she couldn't feel more terrified.  
_This is going to be a long year_, she thought to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

It was late in the evening when Draco headed to the library.  
He was so exhausted and he needed the quite environment that it offered.  
He dragged his legs into the far corner in the library, his escape place as he was ignoring the people around him.  
They all were just nuisances, people he had to pretend to like when in fact he couldn't stand them.  
He could count in one hand the number of people that mattered and it annoyed him.  
They all wanted to be around him because of his look and popularity, they didn't really give a damn about the person behind it all. Although he figured that this person didn't have to offer much anyway. All that left of the person he once was is a bitter douchebag that care only about his ass and his life.  
People may wonder what happened to make him like that, others will say that he is a snake and that this is only in his nature and he wasn't sure what version was the right one anymore. He couldn't remember the last time he could really be himself.  
Or maybe he just didn't want to because deep down inside it was where he left his heart, in the past.

Draco laid his head on the table and tried to think about other things, less depressing one.  
His hands were in his lap as his eyes starred at the book shelf on his right.  
He noticed that it was dark in the corner he sat and that why he chose it in the first place.  
How messed up his life became, one day everything was torn upside down and he couldn't prevent it. He was as miserable as it gets, even though he will never admit it.  
His thoughts drifted to different places and he just let them do as they wish.

_It was one afternoon in the fall, he couldn't remember the exact day but it was irrelevant.  
He was on his way back home from school, he walked through the park and enjoyed the fresh air. The park was located north to the middle school he studied in, couple of blocks away and also the direct routine to his house.  
He always was thankful that he could enjoy it twice a day because he liked the solitary atmosphere it provided him.  
He was a loner since middle school and he never minded that fact, until he met her.  
For the public he always had this happy and carefree appearance but in reality he was more troublesome then people believed. He was an A class actor, never saying too much or reviling too much. This is the person he was and he was cool with it.  
Until he met the brushy haired girl that day in the park.  
He knew she was in his class but he never paid too much attention to her, for him she was just another irrelevant person that wasn't worth his time.  
People may see him arrogant and spoiled because of his name and parents.  
By in reality he was the quiet and the loner type. He believed that he will only get hurt if he let people in. It wasn't that his parents didn't love him and was indifferent. It was because he knew that they never loved each other, they loved him like individuals and not like family.  
But he never complaint about it because that was what he knew all his life._

She sat in one of the benches in the park and ate her lunch.  
Draco at first thought just to pass by her and ignore her, but something about the way she sat there with her long wavy hair made him stop and talk to her.  
He didn't know why he talked to her but when they engaged in the conversation he realized how natural it felt to be around her. The way her brown eyes lighted up near him, the way she smiled at him that made him to feel in home.  
Also the way she said his name, like she really cared about him.  
The warm sense of familiarly that she made him feel.  
He didn't have to pretend near her, to push her away as a defense move to prevent her from coming too close.  
She was already there…in his heart.

Draco felt someone shaking him up and he opened his eyes.  
He didn't know what time it was but he suspected that he fall asleep because it was much darker. He lifted his head up and came face to face with Hermione.  
He was forced to pinch himself in order to make sure he was awake.  
The past couple of days she visited his dreams more them he cared to admit.  
He wasn't sure but he thought it had something to do with her joining to the school his year that triggered his memories of them.  
He was still sleepy but he could see her clearly, the same brown long hair and the warm eyes and smile. She always smiled at him and made his heart to flatter.  
When she saw his confusion she said "You fall asleep, it past midnight, you should go to bed" she whispered a little embarrassed and looked at her hands.  
He wanted to tell her he missed her and that he needed his best friend back but he couldn't.  
She was too pure and innocent for him to corrupt her, she shouldn't face his demons because there is too many on them.  
She deserves better, she deserves someone who will be there for her and will love her no matter what. She also deserves happiness, the thing he didn't know for 3 years.  
He needs to stay away for her, her light doesn't meant for a dark person like him, bitter and unhappy person, selfish even.  
He is an anchor that dragged everyone down while she is a safe shore.  
He became dizzy from the fight that took place in his body, his heart wanted to hold in to her and never let go while him mind knew it was wrong.  
"I didn't asked for you help, please don't bother me next time, my business is none of your concern "He tried to sound as angry as he could manage.  
He wanted to thank her, to smile at her and to ask how she was doing all those years but he couldn't. She had a lot to deal with without him and he lost the privilege to be around her the moment he let her go years ago.

Hermione was hurt, he could see it in her face.  
"You could just nod for a thank you, you know. But instead you chose to be this heartless bastard. Well guess what? Not all the world revolves around you and I just tried to be nice to you for the sake of our past friendship, but I guess I shouldn't have" tears formed in her eyes and although she tried to look indifferent her eyes gave it all.  
He broke her heart, the look in her eyes conformed it.  
He was so angry at her, at himself and at his messed up life that made it like that.  
He clenched his finger tightly while he was trying to clam himself down, to show her that she didn't affect him at all and he didn't care about her words.  
But the truth was that her words were like knifes to him and he needed to get away before they will cut him to pieces right there in front of her.  
He swallowed hard and stood up and left her there.

It was the last time she tried to speak to him..


End file.
