A.N: This isn't exactly my usual type of fic, but I simply found myself feeling very happy and bubbly for some un-known reason, with an uncontrollable urge to write something! And thus, this little innocent one-shot was born!

Hope you guys like it!

Jess:)

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own the wonderful world of Harry Potter. It's all J.K's and not mine…and it won't ever be mine…ever…will you excuse me a second while a burst into tears?

A Child's Tale

Little Hermione Granger had always been a very curious child.

Even at the age of three, it wasn't unusual to hear Mrs. Granger's shrieks sound out from their back yard, ranging from, "Hermione, don't eat that!" or, "Get your fingers out of there!" or, "Get the heck away from that thing!"

Young Hermione was in fact a very inquisitive girl.

At the age of five, one could undoubtedly say that the curious little girl had in fact grown up to be one of the most inquiring little toddlers around.

Every single day Hermione set out to discover something new. In fact, her kindergarten teacher, Ms.Fonte, had been forced to take a week off due to Hermione's constant stream of never-ending questions. One day Hermione might've been facing the problematic pondering, "Why is the sky blue?" or the next day, she might've found it fit to ask her Professor why her hair was blond when her own was light brown. Queries never ceased to occur to the small girl!

And that is why, on a bright and sunny Saturday morning, little Hermione Granger awoke with one single and very vital purpose in mind: go to the park.

The small park right down the road was Hermione's favorite place to be. The reason? Quite simply, the park in question was home to dozens of different flower species, tiny critters of all sorts, and insects of every kind. In other words, the perfect discovery location for Hermione!

So, after asking her Mum and Dad permission of course, Hermione set off down the road with her little detective kit, (which included a butterfly net, a magnifying glass and an assortment of jars).

Upon getting there, Hermione instantly set to work on chasing a particularly attractive purple butterfly that had captivated her attention.

"Oh, can't you just stay put for one second." She panted, running after the butterfly in all directions, until the insect decided to soar upwards and settle itself in an enormous tree.

Hermione sighed sadly, staring up at the creature who seemed to be mocking her from up there.

"I won't let you get away that easily." She said, fisting her tiny hands with a look of determination.

She carefully secured her little blue sundress around herself before grabbing the lowest branch she could find and begin climbing.

She had only just set her foot down on the second branch when she heard a tiny voice sound out from beside her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A boy's voice called.

Hermione glanced down and spotted a young boy, about her age, staring up at her with wide silver eyes. His hair was white blond, just like Ms.Fonte's, and his skin was extremely pale. He was dressed all in black, which made him look slightly scary in Hermione's opinion.

Hermione promptly hopped down from her branch and faced the boy.

"Why not?" She asked him.

"Because if you fall, you might get hurt." The boy replied simply.

"Well, I knew that!" Hermione said crossly. "But, I wasn't going to fall, you know."

The boy shrugged.

"Don't get mad, I just didn't want you to hurt yourself." He said.

"It's okay, I guess." Hermione said. "I just wanted to catch that butterfly up there." She explained.

The boy looked upwards. "What butterfly?" He asked.

"The one right up…" Hermione looked up to see that the butterfly had in fact flown away.

She sighed again.

"Oh well, it's gone now." She said unhappily, sitting down under the tree's shade.

The boy sat down beside her. Hermione turned around to face him.

"I'm Hermione." She said. "What's your name?" She asked.

"Father says I'm not supposed to tell Muggles what my name is." The boy mumbled.

"What did you say?" Hermione asked, confusedly.

The boy shook his head fiercely.

"Nothing." He said. "My name is Draco."

"Draco?" Hermione repeated. "That's an unusual name." She stated.

"Well Hermione's unusual too, you know." The boy replied, blushing slightly.

"I know." Hermione shrugged. "I don't like it much, but Mum says I'll get used to it."

"I don't think it's that bad." Draco said earnestly.

"Thanks!" Hermione exclaimed with a smile.

"So, why are you here? I've never seen you before." She said.

Draco looked down at his shoes.

"My father was being mean to me so I decided to run away." He said shyly.

"That's not very nice of him." Hermione said with a frown.

"No, it isn't, but he's always like that. He likes to yell a lot most of the time." Draco explained.

"Is your Mum nice to you?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. She doesn't think it's right that Dad treats me so bad, so she always stands up for me because I'm too young to stand up for myself. I can't wait to be big and tall though, so I can protect her too and not just hide." Draco said sadly.

"Well, don't worry, you will grow up soon." Hermione said comfortingly.

"I guess so." He said with a sigh.

"What about your parents? What are they like?" He asked.

"They're always nice." Hermione said with a smile. "But sometimes they get mad at me."

"Why?" Draco questioned.

"They say that I'm too curious for my own good." Hermione said, as if this were the most ridiculous thing on Earth.

Draco grinned.

"Well, that's not so bad." He said.

"What about your Dad? Why does he get mad at you so much?" She inquired.

"I'm not like he wants me to be." Draco said quietly.

"Why? Are you mean too?" Hermione asked with a scowl.

Draco laughed sadly.

"No, that's the problem." He said.

Hermione was now very confused.

"What do you mean? He wants you to be bad!" She exclaimed.

Draco shook his head.

"Forget about it. It's too hard to explain." He said, but Hermione noticed to tears welling up I his eyes.

She bit her lip as the tears began to fall.

"Don't cry." She said sadly, but to no avail.

She therefore decided to comfort him by taking the poor boy in her arms.

They hugged for several minutes before Draco finally stopped crying. Once his breathing became regular once more, Hermione thought it was safe to pull back.

"Don't be sad Draco." She said consolingly. "Your Dad will come around some day. And if he doesn't, once you're a grown up you'll be able to decide things on your own and not be scared anymore. Your Mum will protect you in the meantime! And I'll always help you too if you need me!" She said.

Draco looked her straight in the eyes before saying, "Thanks. I'll remember that Hermione."

Hermione smiled warmly before noticing a certain something perched onto a blade of grass right next to Draco.

A purple certain something.

Hermione put a finger to her lips, silently telling Draco to keep quiet, before reaching over and grabbing one of her jars.

Slowly, she descended to jar onto the unsuspecting butterfly before plopping it down onto the grass around it, thus capturing the tiny creature inside the glass jar.

She quickly screwed the lid on before handing it over to Draco.

"Here." She said. "Now, whenever your Dad gets mad at you, you'll always have a friend with you!" She exclaimed happily.

Draco took the jar and stared at the butterfly for a long time, before looking back up at Hermione, a large grin spreading across his face.

"Draco!" Someone suddenly called from the other side of the park.

Hermione turned around to see a tall woman with long blond hair, just like Draco's, staring at the pair of them with her hands on her hips.

"I have to go." Draco said sadly, still staring at Hermione.

"Thank you." He said with a grin before bending over and giving Hermione a kiss on the cheek.

Hermione smiled back at him, a slight blush creeping up her face.

"No problem." She said, beaming up at Draco.

He gave her one last smile before running over to the woman and grabbing her

out-stretched hand.

Hermione watched them leave sadly.

"I really hope that I'll see him again some day." She whispered.

A.N: And the verdict? Hope you guys liked it! It's kind of short and innocent, but I'm hoping that you still enjoyed it! And, as always, if it isn't too time consuming on your behalf, I'd like to request a sweet little review!

Pwetty pwease?