The One

It's Magic!

The 20th of June 1986

How my hair always managed to get in my face was a question that I asked myself every morning. This summer day, I was especially angry at the mess of chestnut hair tousled around my heart shaped face. If my curls would just- There, perfect. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror, straightening out the blue sundress I had gotten from my aunt the previous day, happy with my looks. The sun shone in through the bathroom mirror, making the contrast between by pale skin and freckles stark, but it didn't matter. I knew that I was pretty, my mother and father had always ensured me of that. My gaze traveled from the brown eyed girl in the mirror to the window, and to the clear sky outside. I couldn't remember the last summer day we'd had when it had not rained, and I knew exactly what I had to do. I threw one last look at the willow tree outside the window and jumped out of the bathroom. Sprinting down the stairs, I couldn't help the wide beam spreading across my face. As soon as I had run down the stairs, I quickly grabbed my cardigan and rushed to the front door, not even bothering to search for my shoes. Just as I was about to open the door, I heard someone stomping their foot behind me. It could only be one person. Oops. I hadn't been quick enough. I turned around slowly and gave my mum an innocent smile, playing with my long locks.
   "Sally, where are you going?" She looked at me suspiciously, her forehead in a tight frown, tapping her fingers against her crossed arms. People always said how much I resembled her, but I didn't agree. Her green eyes were far too obvious in contrast to my warm brown ones.
   "I'm just going out to read in the meadow, mummy." She kept her eyes on me for a long while, seeming to contemplate whether or not to let me go, before finally sighing. The creases on her forehead instantly disappeared as she smile, making her look much younger.
   "Alright, alright, but be back before 7.30 and don't ruin your dress! Put on your shoes too, we don't want you to get a cold, do we?" My mother scolded me playfully, and I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.
   "Yes, mum I will be back before 7.30 and I will put my shoes on." I let out a deep sigh, turning around towards the door again, ignoring my mum laughing behind me. Adults could be so annoying. I decisively opened the white front door and shut it behind me, perhaps a bit too loudly. But my temporary annoyance was instantly forgotten when I looked to the hill with the willow tree and let out a giggle.

The deception was probably written very clearly across my forehead when I arrived to the large tree and realized that there was no one there. Draco wasn't there. Sure, he had been an annoying prick, but... It got lonely out there, living so far away from other people. Besides, I didn't have many friends at school either. Once, in the first year of primary school, I had accidentally set the popular girl in my class's hair on fire, and everyone had ignored me since then. They also thought that I read too much. I'd always preferred the company of books to the company of other children, which apparently wasn't a very attractive trait. Sighing, I looked around me on the hill, before coming up with a great plan. Draco wasn't there yet, but I knew he would come. So I grinned for myself as I grabbed one of the lower branches and started climbing. Only I had forgotten how clumsy I was. I was almost up on the large branch when my foot slipped and I fell to the ground with a loud thud. I closed my eyes, hoping that the humiliation would go away then. When I opened them again, a blonde head was peering down at me.
   "Hello." I greeted, not moving.
   "Why are you on the ground?" Draco asked with a frown, cocking his head to the side.
   "I fell." I replied. When we both grew silent, I opened my mouth again. "I wanted to scare you like you scared me yesterday. But I'm not very good at climbing."
   "I'll teach you some time." Draco smiled, and I sat up from the ground, grass falling off my cardigan.
   "Really?" I beamed, glancing up at the tall tree.
   "Sure." The boy said eagerly as I stood back up, brushing the dirt and grass off of my dress. "Do you want to be my friend, Sally?" He asked and jumped up on the first branch on the tree, swift as a cat. The branch that I had just struggled to get up on for 10 minutes. It almost made me want to renounce his offer of friendship. But I smiled instead, crossing my arms.
   "Okay." I said. Draco pondered for a few seconds, before directing his grey eyes at me from above, still perched on the branch.
   "You're my first muggle friend, you know." He stated, clapping his hands on his knees. I didn't know whether to laugh or to frown, so I did a mixture of both.
   "What's a muggle?" Draco answered my question with an equal frown. Okay, he maybe he was off his trolley after all. He had seemed relatively normal at first, but-
   "Well, a muggle is someone who's not a wizard, of course." He wasn't laughing now, rather looking at me as if I was the crazy one. I scoffed and crossed my arms.
   "Are you completely off the wagon? A wizard?"
   "Of course." Draco looked offended now, before his frown cleared up with understanding. "Let me show you something."

Five minutes later, I was staring at him open-mouthed and weak in my knees. Draco was standing a few feet away from me, and between us, floating in the air, was a daisy. I repeat, floating in the air. And as he moved his hand, the flower followed the motion.
   "That's amazing." I exclaimed, still not quite believing what I was seeing. Then again, some part of me had always believed that supernatural creatures existed. "So you're a wizard?"
   "Well, I'm going to be one, a great one, once I've gone to Hogwarts." The blonde boy grinned, and I once again furrowed my brows at him.
   "What's Hogwarts?"
   "It's a school of magic, where all the great wizards have gone." He moved his hand, and the flower flew over to hover above my outstretched hand. Slowly, he let the delicate daisy sink to the surface of my palm, before smiling at me proudly. I closed my hand on the flower, not returning his smile. A sadness had filled my heart, and I couldn't help but pout.
   "I wish I was a wizard too."
   "A witch. Since you're a girl." Draco corrected me, and I rolled my eyes. He shrugged and closed the distance between us with a few steps. "You know what, you're not so bad for a muggle."
   "What's that supposed to mean?" I replied angrily, glaring at the boy in front of me while crossing my arms. Draco pondered for a few seconds before answering.
   "Well, my father always talks about how daft the muggles are, and how they're nothing like our kind. But I don't think you're daft. I like you." He let out a small laugh, before a malicious grin spread across his face. "Tag, you're it!" He exclaimed suddenly, patting me on the shoulder before running away. I gasped in surprise but let out a giggle. Fine. If he wanted to be outrun by me, I'd let him. And so I set off after my new friend, laughing as I started chasing him.

When I got home, I was bursting with the want to tell my parents about my encounter with he boy who knew could make magic with his hands. And so as soon as I stepped in through my front door, I kicked off my shoes before bursting into the kitchen.
   "Well, you're in time." My mother chuckled, her eyes fastening on the clock on the wall, which showed 7:29 p.m. I jumped to my chair and tried to get my breath even, panting from the run back home.
   "What's up, sweetie? You look like you're bursting with happiness." My dad chuckled, his deep voice filled with humor. I looked into the familiar brown eyes and felt the glee starting to bubble out of me.
   "I have a new friend. His name is Draco, and he's a wizard!" I exclaimed, too excited to touch the food on my plate. My parents exchanged a glance across the table, both stopping to eat. Then, a smile spread across my mum's rose-painted lips.
   "A wizard, you say?" She beamed, bringing the fork with broccoli (yuck, I was not going to eat that) to her mouth. I nodded eagerly, moving my gaze over to my father, with his slightly greying hair and prominent nose.
   "Dad, he did the most amazing thing! He made a daisy fly from the ground into my hand!" Mum and Dad once again exchanged glances, and I got a feeling that they weren't as enthusiastic as they should have been.
   "Will we get to meet his Draco?" My mother asked me again, her smile getting wider. My breathing was finally starting to regulate itself, even though I was still very agitated.
   "No. His parents don't want him to spend time with muggles. Except me, because I'm a good muggle." I shrugged, finally looking down at my plate. Broccoli, spinach and beef. None of it looked very appetizing. I only looked up again when my parents started chuckling quietly.
   "What?" I frowned at them, offended. Mum shook her head slowly, strands of her brown hair falling off her messy bun.
   "Nothing, sweetie. Eat your dinner." She answered, but I saw her giving my father a knowing look. I didn't know then that they thought that Draco was an imaginary friend. That would come back to bite me in the arse later, I tell you.