they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Prologue

Draco was in his room flying a small black car across it when the letter came. 

He knew he wasn't allowed to use magic before starting school but since he had gotten his first wand earlier this summer, on his 11th birthday to be more specific, he just couldn't resist it. He had seen his father use the levitation charm before and after a few days of trying, Draco finally managed to get a grip of it too. Besides everyone knew they were all wizards in the Malfoy Manor so even if the Ministry would see somebody using magic in the house, they would probably think it was their parents. At least nobody had yet come to scold him about it. He had absolutely nothing to worry about. 

Not that the boy ever let himself worry. His father had taught him to be confident above everything. Draco knew better than to ever show he was worried or distraught. Malfoys were powerful and to show worry would be a big sign of weakness. Something that none of the Malfoys were.

He heard his mother call his name from downstairs and by the tiniest elation in the tone of her voice he knew it must've been the letter. 

The car dropped to the ground with a thud as Draco rushed downstairs. He tightened the tie around his neck and straightened out his clothes as he skipped down the steps of the grand staircase. The boy had loosened his tie in the comfort of his room but he knew he had to be well put together for an occasion like that and especially in the presence of both his parents.

The boy had been dreaming of going to Hogwarts ever since he had turned five. The idea of running around a huge castle causing mischief with his friends and learning magic every second of every day appeared wonderful in his childish mind.

Draco slowed down his pace once downstairs and straightened his back as he walked into their huge living room with much more grace and poise than he had showcased just seconds ago.

"Yes, mother?" the boy asked his eyes skimming over the woman and then landing on his father. The elder Malfoy stood in the corner of the room his eyes cold but a small girn tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Your letter has come, my dear," Narcissa said as she held a relatively small envelope in her hands. She was the complete opposite of her husband as she watched her son with a warm, proud smile.

Lucius took a step towards his son placing his walking stick into his other hand to place the now free hand onto Draco's shoulder.

"Very well, Draco. This Friday we're going to go take down your measurements to preorder the robes."

He patted his son on the shoulder then proceeding to walk out of the room.  

Draco looked up at his mother again who was still beaming. She stepped forward handing him the parchment and hugging him tightly as he skimmed over the words.

An uncharacteristic grin came over the young boy's face as his mother told him she was proud of him. 

Suddenly Draco was more than certain his years at Hogwarts would become some of the best in his life. It would be his time to shine. His time to learn and explore. But most importantly his time, as his mother always told him, to be the brightest young wizard of them all.

Complete certainty can be satisfying only up to a point...

Astrid on the other hand was quite confused. She had gotten the letter just a few days back and was still convinced that the whole affair might be a very complicated attempt of kidnapping. Though she couldn't quite figure out how somebody could convince and owl to carry a letter. The girl found it thoroughly weird. 

Her mother had tried phoning the headmaster because she had some questions, but that had proved to be unsuccessful as the headmaster only knew how to communicate through owls and letters. Astrid found that weird too.

The girl understood Hogwarts could be no ordinary school or anything even remotely similar to the one she had been attending for the past few years. First, there was that old-hag headmaster who thought he was too cool for the newest technologies. Second, there was that train that if you missed it, you wouldn't be able to attend at all. It baffled her that she couldn't just get there by the Tube. Was London really so big that she had to take some special train? She didn't understand any of it. And then, the most baffling - she would have to learn magic... like that was a real thing. 

She had once heard her mum speak of something called shrooms that made you hallucinate and stuff. Astrid was sure that the person who sent her this weird letter must've definitely been on those uncanny shrooms. Definitely. 

Her dad had said it was all very real, and she considered maybe he had been using the shrooms too. When the girl had asked him that though, he and mum had only laughed. Astrid didn't find it funny at all. She thought maybe the both of them had also gone completely mental.

Anyhow, a week or two later, Eric, her dad, had taken her to what he said was Diagon Alley. It was filled with all these people with those weird hats. They spread so wide over their heads it was hard for the young girl to fight the urge to just pull their hats down over their eyes. She had voiced her itching to her dad who had just chuckled lightly and said that if she ever even attempted that she would be hexed into oblivion. Whatever that meant, Astrid didn't like the sound of it.

She got her wand, her robes, her books - everything that she needed for the following school year. She was nervous, definitely, but she was also excited. Just the thought of a new unexplored world brought a smile to the young girl's face.

Astrid had always liked uncertainty and changing schools to go to a supposedly magical one was one of the most uncertain things the girl had ever done. 

Where one would find anxiousness and fear for what laid ahead, Astrid was excited. Where for one such change would bring stress and worry, Astrid marvelled in the rush the thought of such change brought her. 

An adventure, as she loved to call it, surely laid ahead, and the girl had no idea what it would bring. She loved the feeling of it.

For uncertainty can inevitably be two things.
In so many ways it can be beautiful. It's excitement. It's adrenaline. It's a sudden rush of happiness. If all things were set in stone in life, what would be the point of doing anything?
But on the contrary – uncertainty can be bad. It can make you the unhappiest. It is stress and worry. One doesn't know what could happen just the day after. What if it's something bad?

Astrid was a person who loved uncertainty. She loved the idea of running wild, getting the rush of adrenaline for being unsure whether she'll be caught or not. She loved playing in the snow, sitting on the icy ground, not even paying mind to the fact she might just get a cold. 

She liked uncertainty and she was more than willing to be a little uncertain in order to have some fun.

The girl was willing to be thrown in a whole new world not having a single certain idea of what she might see or experience. But there were two certain goals she had set for herself and devoted never to break.
If she had to be pulled out of her ordinary life to devote it to magic, she would be nothing less but the best. And she most definitely would not let a little uncertainty stand in her way.

Certainty and precision were what Draco Malfoy had known for the entirety of his life. 

Uncertainty was what Astrid Ninomae had always liked to search for.

Where Draco was a predicted snowstorm, Astrid was an unexpected ray of sunshine. Where he was a peaceful Christmas morning, she was the spontaneous decision of running down a grassy hill at dawn.

Astrid was everything Draco had been certain his life at Hogwarts would be like. 

Draco was everything Astrid had not expected.