This summer at the Dursleys was the change I needed.

I wasn't getting beat up this time. I didn't have to do an entire list of chores for the day. It was strange and yet relaxing all at the same time. But it was still boring, despite the fact I wasn't a punching bag for Lucius Malfoy anymore.

I never really liked the summer, because I knew that I would always go back with the Malfoys every year. But things were different now that I went back with Harry and the Dursleys instead. I didn't have a choice. The Malfoy family ran off somewhere. I had no idea where they were at, but I was hoping that Draco was okay and still alive.

Draco. I missed him so much.

There were times where I thought I could still feel his lips on mine. I missed his voice, his touch, the security that he always gave me whenever we were together. I always thought I would hate him once we were older. But things had changed between us and I was glad that they did. He changed me for the better and I changed him for the better, too.

I hadn't heard from him ever since he left Hogwarts with Snape and the rest of the Death Eaters that he let inside the castle the night Snape killed Dumbledore. He never sent me a letter either. Nothing from him came to me this summer.

But even though I didn't spend my summer with Draco, I took advantage of it and spent my summer with Harry. It was the first summer me and him spent together. I didn't want it to be the only summer we would be able to spend together. We had some good times while we were at the Dursleys. I remembered when we made a cake that came from one of Aunt Petunia's recipe books.

"Are you sure we're doing this right, Harry?" I asked, smiling as I began to mix the batter in a bowl with an electric mixer.

"Of course. All we have to do is follow the book, right?" he reminded me, looking at the directions with a confused look on his face.

"You know, I wasn't sure if I would figure out how to use this thing," I told him.

"Let me have a turn, Max," Harry whined in a childish tone.

"In a minute, bro. I just got this thing."

But Harry, who was impatient, attempted to grab the mixer from me. I pulled it back as he still had his grip on it. The mixer was suddenly lifted from the bowl and the cake batter flew everywhere. It was all over the shelves, the stove, the sink, the walls, and all over me and Harry as well.

"Now look what you've done!" he shouted.

"Me? This was your fault, too!" I protested, trying not to laugh.

But we ended up laughing, anyway. We couldn't contain our laughter, even when Uncle Vernon came in, scanning his eyes around the messy kitchen that we had created. We tried to cover our mouths with our hands when he glared at us, but he had already heard us.

"Clean this mess up, will you?" he grumbled at us, then turned around to leave the kitchen. "Bloody kids," we heard him mumble to himself.

I had fun that day. For the first time since we arrived there, I was truly happy in that moment with Harry. But I went back to being gloomy and staying in the bedroom that I was sharing with Harry. I just went back to being me, really.

But what was there to be happy about? Dumbledore was dead, Hogwarts was practically taken over by Death Eaters now, Draco was missing, Voldemort was rising to power quicker than ever, a war was coming, and Harry and I were left with finding the last of the Horcruxes. The Horcruxes that we still didn't know where they were at or where they could be at.

"I can see you, Harry," I said, not looking back at him as he entered the bedroom. "I see your reflection in the window."

"I'm glad nothing gets past you, Max," he chuckled, sitting across from me by the window.

I shrugged my shoulders, looking out the window once again. I noticed that the Dursleys were leaving the house. "Where are they going?" I asked my brother.

"No idea," he replied. "But they took out their furniture and everything. None of them want to be involved in whatever Voldemort has planned for us."

He had a point. Voldemort would kill them in a heartbeat just to mess with us. But the Dursleys were the least of our worries. We still had to worry about the Weasleys, Hermione, Hogwarts, Draco, the entire Wizarding world, really. The fate of the Wizarding world was in our hands.

"Do you remember when we met for the first time, Harry?" I randomly asked him, wanting to take my mind off the idea of Voldemort planning to kill us as soon as possible.

"I think so. It was at the zoo, right? When we were talking to that snake?" I nodded. "Why are you asking?"

I shrugged my shoulders in response again. "I just thought about it."

I was almost eleven when I managed to catch a bus to the zoo when the Malfoys left me home alone to go somewhere. I was looking around in the Reptile House, watching all the reptiles in their environments. As I was walking towards a snake that I had spotted farther away, I bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going, freak!" a big, chubby boy snapped at me, shooting me a glare before walking away from me.

I rolled my eyes and continued walking to see the snake. I stood beside a boy with glasses and baggy clothes on. He looked at me and then back at the snake.

"Is he sleeping?" I asked the boy.

He nodded his head. "I feel bad for him. He has to deal with people annoying him when he's trying to sleep."

"Yeah, I know that feeling," I said.

"What's your name?" he asked me.

"I'm Max," I responded, not saying my full name, which was Maxine. "What's yours?"

"I'm Harry." Harry stuck out his hand for me to shake. I gladly took his hand and shook it. "So who are you here with?"

"No one, actually. I'm here alone," I said.

"You don't have any friends here?"

I shook my head in sadness. "I don't have any friends."

Harry gave me a sympathetic look. "I know how you feel. I don't have any friends either. Do you have any parents?"

"My parents are dead," I said.

Harry nodded his head again. "Mine, too." He paused for a moment. "Well, I'll be your friend."

"Really? You want to be my friend?" I asked in surprise.

"Of course. Do you want to be my friend?"

I nodded my head, smiling at Harry. "Let's be best friends."

Harry stuck his pinky out. "Pinky promise?"

I stuck my pinky out, linking it with his. "Pinky promise."

Little did I know that I had just met my twin brother.

"Can you believe we actually thought we were just two ordinary kids that were lonely in the world?" I asked. "It never crossed our minds that we were twins. We've been best friends since that day."

"It's crazy that it took us almost eleven years to meet," Harry said. "Not only that, but we both used magic that day on Dudley."

I laughed, remembering when we removed the glass from where the snake was in. "Yeah that was funny."

"Hey, I want to show you something," Harry said, standing up and walking out of the room.

I followed him downstairs and stopped behind him when he went to the side of the staircase. He opened the door and showed me what was inside.

"You used to sleep down here?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Until I was ten, I think. I don't remember it being this small, though. I thought it was much bigger."

The bed took up most of the space in the cupboard. There were drawings and cobwebs behind the bed, covering up the empty shelves. It seemed cozy when Harry was ten, but not anymore.

"I think my bedroom at Malfoy Manor was better," I told Harry, making him chuckle. "I miss him so much."

"Draco won't be gone forever, Max," Harry assured me. He always knew what I was talking about without asking questions. Harry knew me so well. "He'll come back for you."

"I don't know why he didn't just break up with me that night. Things would've been easier and it would've been the best for both of us."

"Are you sure about that?"

I hesitated, sighing in defeat. "No, I'm not. But even if we did break up, I would still be worrying about him."

"He cares about you too much, sis. He doesn't want to lose you."

"I know, and I don't want to lose him either, Harry. But what if Voldemort finds out about us? What happens when he knows Draco and I are together?"

"He'll kill Draco," Harry answered quietly.

"Exactly. I can't let that happen. I can't lose Draco." I stared at Harry for a moment, pausing from the talking I was doing. "I can't lose you either, Harry."

Harry hesitated before speaking again. "You won't lose me."

I stuck out my pinky. "Pinky promise?"

He linked his pinky with mine, grinning. "Pinky promise."

I smiled at him, dropping my hand and folding my arms over my chest, huffing a sigh. "Now what?"

Suddenly, we heard the sound of knocking coming from the front door.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Wooo first chapter! Are you excited or are you excited?

So, what did you think? When do you think Draco will come back? Where do you think he's at right now? What do you think will happen with Max and Draco later on? When do you think they'll see each other again? I don't even know when that will be, really. Lol jk, I've been knowing the answer to that. ;)

Ugh, I can't wait for this story! Can you? :D

Comment, vote, and enjoy reading! Thank you for sticking with Harry and Max this far. I love you all! <3

-A