A/N: Here is my first ever Fanfic. I welcome constructive criticism but no flamers. This is for all my fellow Dramione shippers. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but all the magnificent world that is Harry Potter belongs to the awesome J.K. Rowling. I am not making any money out of this, so don't sue me.

PROLOGUE

Soul mates. Some say they only exist in romance novels or rom-coms. Others say they do exist in reality (although these people are generally the ones in a relationship themselves). The general idea of soul mates is that there is someone for everyone, a person that makes you feel whole and you do find them eventually. Most people though will wait years, even decades, to find The One. Some never do.

Two people however, only had to wait seven years.

One is Hermione Granger. A bushy dark-haired girl with caramel coloured eyes. She has a compassionate, but sometimes feisty nature, and an intellect that far exceeds her years. At seven years old, she has no knowledge of the heroic witch she will turn out to be. Heck, she doesn't have any knowledge of wizards and witches yet. Well, we all know she was born into a normal family. What most wizards call a Muggle-born.

And others call a Mudblood.

The second person is Draco Malfoy. A boy with striking silver eyes and hair so blond it's almost white. He too, at seven years old, has yet no knowledge of the path of his future, that he will one day become a very important part of Lord Voldemort's grand scheme. Unlike Hermione however, he was born into a wizard family. A Pureblood.

This is a story of how these two met, both blissfully unaware of what fate had in store for the two of them. Both as enemies, and as lovers.

Chapter 1

Hermione gazed out of her bedroom window to the forest beyond, wallowing in self-pity and utter boredom. It was the fifth day in a row she had been left with old Mrs May, while her parents went off to work. Hermione understood they had to work in order to pay for the house, the food she ate, the clothes she wore. But she was an energetic five-year-old for goodness sake! An eighty-something year old woman was not an ideal playmate. It occurred to Hermione that she should maybe phone one of her school friends to invite them round, but she quickly dismissed the idea, she got tired of always playing dumb around them. It was the second week of the summer holidays, most of them were probably abroad with their families. But as the snores of Mrs May filtered through her door over which ever soap-opera she was watching downstairs, an idea came to Hermione. She ran out her bedroom, grabbing a white cardigan on the way and throwing it on over her yellow sundress. As she was about to open the door, she paused. She quickly retrieved a pen and paper, and proceeded to write a hurried note, in case the old lady woke up. Then, smiling at her sudden bravery, Hermione quietly opened and closed the door, and set off down the path that led her to the dense, green forest.

On the other side of the forest, Draco sat staring out of his own bedroom window, but for different reasons. His father had once again yelled at him for reasons young Draco couldn't understand. He tried not to let it get to him. His mother had explained to him that it was only because his father was still upset over the sudden downfall of the Dark Lord, which had caused the family to flee and live in this house in the middle of a muggle neighbourhood. They had to live here until his father was freed from all charges as a death eater, much to his father's dismay.

But that was a stupid reason. The downfall of Voldemort had been, what, six years ago? Why couldn't his just lighten up already and stop yelling?

Draco decided he couldn't stand being cooped up in his room any longer. He ran downstairs and just as he was about to reach the door his mother called out,

"Draco, where are you going?"

"Out." He replied bitterly before slamming the door behind him.

Narcissa, having noticed her son's foul attitude, stood up and made for the door that connected the living-room to the hall, but as she passed Lucius, he grabbed her wrist without even looking up from the Daily Prophet. Narcissa winced at his firm grip.

"Leave him." Lucius told her.

He then let go. Not wanting another argument to break out, Narcissa sat back in her seat. She knew the reasons why Draco had left in such an abrupt manner and she honestly couldn't blame him.

Hermione giggled to herself as she skipped between the trees. Her parents had often advised her against going into the forest alone, and she couldn't see why. The air was thick with the smell of pollen and grass, sunlight filtered in through small gaps in between the many branches of different trees. What looked like millions of tiny flowers suddenly seemed to bloom as she approached them. Hermione thought it was just a trick of the light. Bird songs were being sung from all around her. This had to be one of the most beautiful places Hermione had ever-

THUNK!

Hermione froze. She realised she had come to the edge of a clearing in the middle of the forest. There stood a grand oak tree. It was so big; Hermione had to crane her little neck in order to see the top. To add to this, at the base of the tree, stood a boy with shockingly pale hair.

She didn't even know hair could be so pale.

THUNK!

Hermione managed to tear her eyes away from the back of the boy's head long enough to discover the source of the noise. To her great confusion, she saw he was hurling stray rocks at the tree.

What can he be so angry about, that he feels the need to throw rocks at trees?

THUNK!

She jumped back in fright.

CRACK!

Hermione winced. Looking down at her feet, she saw she had accidently stepped on a branch. When she looked back up, a pair of stormy grey eyes were staring back at her.

Draco had been so wrapped up in his anger; he hadn't even noticed there was someone behind him until he heard a branch snap. Spinning round on his heels, he came face-to-face with a startled looking girl. He noticed immediately that she was roughly the same age as him, maybe a bit older. Her bushy brown hair reflected the sunlight, making it look as if her head was glowing. Her caramel-coloured eyes seemed to be fixed in a state of shock.

Hermione simply couldn't tear her eyes away from his. She thought they combined beautifully with his white blond hair. Suddenly, before she could stop herself, she broke the silence.

"Why are you throwing rocks at trees?" she asked rather bluntly.

Draco was slightly taken aback at this abrupt breach of silence, but decided to answer anyway.

"I'm angry."

"Why?" She inquired.

"I believe the term is none of your business." He drawled.

He saw the startled expression on her face turn into a scowl.

"There's no need to be rude, I was only asking." She huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

Both children attempted to stare the other one out, until the silence was once again broken.

"Who are you?"

Draco was again surprised by the girl's bluntness. Suddenly, a thought struck him. This girl didn't know who he was, or what he was called. He didn't need to tell her his real name, which, in his opinion, made him sound like a stuck-up snob. He could use a really cool name, like Jason, or Lee, or-

"My name's Ace." He found himself replying.

Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What's yours?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to be taken aback. Should she really tell this boy she just met her name? Her mother had already gone to the trouble of explaining to her about dangerous strangers. Should she make up a fake name, and then go by that said name until she fully trusted the boy? She began to rack her brains for a name other than her own. Then she remembered the name of the heroine from a book she had recently read.

"Stella." she said, giving him a look which she hoped said I'm braver than I appear.

Feeling it would be the polite thing to do (as his mother had brought him up on good manners, being a Malfoy and all), Draco stuck out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Stella."

Hermione glanced down at his hand, and then took it.

"Nice to meet you to Ace."