Hi, thanks to angelcandi for the review.
Disclaimer: If only I owned something, wouldn't that be cool.
"Hermione, hello, earth to Hermione…." Mary trailed off. " I know it's hot out, but it's not that bad, is it? I mean I know it's cooler in England, but still.."
"Oh, it's not that, I can't get this guy out of my head, I bumped into him when I was coming to get you, he looked so familiar, but I can't place him…" she said, perplexed. "He was really hot."
"Oh, really? What did he look like?" Mary asked eagerly, leaning forward from the tree she was leaning against. They were sitting in the wonderful shade of a couple of ancient oak trees, waiting for the dining hall to open for the opening diner.
"He was tall, about 6'2", platinum blond, lightly tanned with silvery blue eyes, "she told her, sighing. "I wish I knew who he was."
"Sounds like you two are getting along, " she heard a guy say, looking up she saw a guy about the same height as her mystery guy, and he had the same body type, only this one had longish black hair, and dark brown eyes. "Hi, I'm Dougal McGowan, and you are?''
"Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you," she said.
"Oh I assure you the feeling is mutual," he said bowing with a flourish.
"Dougal that is quite enough, don't mind him, he tends to be an idiot," said Mary, as she elbowed Dougal in the ribs.
"Oh, Mary, my love, you wound me," he said with a pout. He sat down next to her, leaning against the tree. "Now, what was it you two were talking to avidly about?"
"As if you weren't listening, we were talking about this guy Hermione bumped into," she told him.
"Oh? What's he look like? Maybe I can recognize him." So Hermione described the guy she had bumped into. "Sounds like my newly acquired fried from Hogwarts, Draco. He's on his way over here now, he had to go put away some supplies he bought while I showed him Salem."
"Draco? As in Draco Malfoy?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"Why, yes, you know him?"
"That's one way of putting it," Hermione said. "Let's just say that we have never gotten along, constantly being called a mudblood for six years by a person doesn't make you like them very much."
"Oh, well, maybe you can reconcile your differences, being in a new place with new people can change things," said Mary. "At least be civil, as he'll be sitting with us at diner."
"I will be if he is," Hermione said. " But I've always known him to be incredibly rude."
"That's all we ask," said Mary. "After all, you don't want your first night here to be horrible."
"Mary, there you are! We are going to sit together, right?" said a girl, walking toward them with a rather large group.
"Of course we are, sis," Mary said, exasperated. "Hermione, meet my sisters, Fiona," she gestured to a blond the same height as herself, "Aislinn," gesturing to a redhead, " and Shaina," she said, gesturing to a light brunette. "Then of course, there are Dougal's brothers, Andrew, Finlay, and Kenneth," she said gesturing to a group of tall dark haired guys.
"Think there are enough of you? How did each of your mom's have four at a time? I seriously pity them. I mean really, ouch," Hermione said, wincing at the thought. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, I'm Hermione Granger."
"Granger? What are you doing here? And without your protectors?" said an extremely familiar voice. Draco Malfoy had arrived.
"Draco, I promised Dougal I would be civil, please, do try to do the same, I wouldn't want to ruin their dinner by hexing you in to oblivion. I also don't want my own dinner ruined, by hearing someone call me names all through it." She turned away from him, talking to Mary, and her sisters.
A bell clanged, announcing the beginning of dinner. As the students filed in, Hermione and her new friends moved toward the far end, where they pushed the tables together till they had enough room for all of the siblings and their "charges". Once they were seated plates and silverware appeared. "Good evening all," a voice boomed. "Welcome to all of our new international students, we at SWI sincerely wish you a good summer here. Thank you to all of the SWI students who decided to come over the summer. Now without further ado, let's eat!"
The food appeared in the middle of the table, hamburgers and hotdogs, salads, chips, fries, fried chicken, rolls, rice, nachos, and taco makings. As everyone spooned food on to their plates, Hermione noticed that Draco was sitting next to her, How had that happened? She noticed that Mary was sitting on the other side of him next to Dougal. Oh she's gonna get it.
"Could you pass me the chips, please?" Draco asked.
"Ok. Here you are," Hermione said, passing them to him. "Thank you for being civil. You know, Mary thinks that, since we're in a new place, with new people, we can make a new start together."
"Interesting." He leaned forward, putting the chips in front of her. Hermione noticed a bruise on his shoulder. "That's a nasty bruise, how'd you get it?"
"My father felt that since I'm going to be here for the summer, I needed to have something to remember him by, so that I wouldn't misbehave and ruin the family name."Draco turned away, taking a bite of his food.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Draco, I didn't know.."she trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"How could you? No one knows, other than my family and now you, I don't even know why I told you. At Hogwarts I have to act how he wants me to, because all of my "friends" will tell him if I don't. I don't even like them, they are acceptable, because they are pureblooded and rich, that doesn't mean I like them," Draco told Hermione.
"Well, it's nice to know that you aren't an asshole by choice. So why don't we try being friends and see if Mary is right?"