"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this," Draco grouched as he entered the spa resort the reunion was being held in alongside Blaise and Daphne.
"You let us because deep down you wanted to come," Blaise replied.
"More like I'm too soft," Draco grumbled.
"Think of it as business research," Blaise suggested. "You can spend a weekend here, and see if there's anything they do we might want to incorporate in our hotels."
"Yeah, because research makes the whole weekend so much more bearable," Draco muttered with a roll of his eyes.
However, despite his protests, Draco did take in the reception was fresh eyes. While he and Blaise had spa facilities in a few of their hotels, they'd never created a hotel around the idea of a spa. So it might be good to get a feel of the place and see if it was something they wanted to maybe try and do in the future.
Moving over to the reception desk, the trio checked in. They also found out that the reunion bookings took up over sixty percent of the hotel's occupancy, so there was only a handful of people at the resort that weren't there for the reunion. The friendly witch on reception also handed them an itinerary, informing them of what special events the reunion had planned. Draco also picked up a brochure highlighting what the resort had to offer, before joining Blaise and Daphne in the lift as they headed up to their rooms.
"So, we've got a formal dinner tonight," Daphne said, glancing at the itinerary they'd been handed. "And then tomorrow evening there's a large party in the ballroom. The rest of the time is ours to enjoy the facilities and catch up with old friends."
"I suppose it's not too bad," Draco conceded. At least he didn't have to spend two days doing activities with people he hadn't seen for a decade.
"How about we go exploring once we've unpacked?" Blaise asked as they alighted from the lift on the correct floor.
"Sure," Draco replied with a nod, as they reached his room, which was slightly down the hallway from Blaise and Daphne's room. "Give me an hour or so. Just knock on your way past."
"Will do," Blaise called as he disappeared down the corridor with his wife.
Letting himself into the room he'd been booked into, Draco dropped his bag on the bed and took a look around. The room was decent size, boasted a large comfortable looking bed, and was decked out with every amenity a guest might want. The en-suite bathroom was sleek and stylish, containing a shower and a large sunken tub. There was also a rack of free toiletries, which when Draco looked he found they were all made at the spa itself.
"Good move," He muttered with a nod.
If the resort was clever, he figured they would have a shop where you could buy the products as well. It was certainly what he would do, introduce the guests to the products with freebies and then charge them to have large versions they could take home.
Returning to the bedroom, Draco quickly unpacked his bag and picking up the leaflet about the resort he'd grabbed a reception, he settled down to leaf through it. On a whole Draco was impressed by what he'd read, although a couple of times he couldn't help but think about how he would have done something differently. Although he really wouldn't get a good idea if the spa business was a good idea until he'd checked the place out for himself. It was one thing to boast about your facilities in a glossy brochure, but another to actual deliver the sort of service that had people returning for more and spreading the word that your place was the place to be.
Strolling out onto the balcony, Draco admired the grounds of the resort. One of the things he always tried to do with the hotels he and Blaise created was ensure the grounds were stunning. Even if they weren't very big, he always put a lot of effort into the grounds, as he knew people enjoyed themselves more if they were in nice looking surroundings. And Draco had to admit, there wasn't much better surroundings than the ones he was in. He'd grown up in the countryside, so he loved the outdoors, and the grounds of the resort were definitely on Draco's list to explore. He might also check out the local surroundings to see if they were out on their own, or if they were near any other civilisation.
Just as Draco turned to leave the balcony, he caught sight of a witch standing on a balcony at the far side of the hotel. Even though it was quite a distance, he recognised the witch as his former girlfriend, Astoria Greengrass. As he was watching, Theo emerged from the bedroom and when he wrapped his arms around Astoria's waist, Draco turned and stalked back into the bedroom.
It wasn't that Draco was jealousy of Theo, because he'd already decided that he'd wanted to end things with Astoria before she'd dumped him, it was just that he knew that everyone at the reunion would know what had happened. As a Malfoy the press were interested in him and his love life, and he and Astoria had certainly made a splash over the two years they'd been dating. And of course that had led to the papers lapping up the news that Astoria had dumped Draco and married Theo a week later. Even in the papers, Draco had been portrayed as the poor loser, and he knew that was how his former schoolmates would see him. They would look at Theo and Astoria together, looking so happy and in love, then look at him all by himself, and pity him for being so pathetic that he couldn't even hang onto his girlfriend.
Although what no-one aside from Blaise and Daphne knew was that Draco could have held onto Astoria if he'd really wanted to. If he'd really wanted her, she would have already been his wife, and Draco knew Astoria well enough to know that even if she had fallen in love with Theo when they were together, she wouldn't have left him if they were married. There was no way Astoria would have given up being Mrs Malfoy, but luckily for Draco he'd never married her before she ran off with Theo.
There had been a time when Draco had honestly thought marriage was on the cards for him and Astoria. When they first got together, he thought she was everything he wanted in a witch. Draco had always used his parents as an example of what he wanted his own marriage to be like. He knew most people saw his mother as the typical pureblood wife, attractive, loyal and happy to play second fiddle to Lucius. However, Draco knew the other side of their relationship. He knew that his parents were very much equals, and that there was no-one's opinion more important to Lucius than his wife's. Narcissa had never worked, instead she'd devoted her time to being a wife and mother like most pureblood wives, but she'd still played a crucial role in Lucius's business dealings as she offered her husband valuable advice and helped him make the tough decisions. Even now, Draco knew his mother was every bit as involved in the success of the family business as his father, who still fronted the business.
In Astoria, Draco had genuinely thought he'd found someone like his mother. Astoria was the perfect pureblood princess, not that blood mattered much to Draco but he knew his father was still old fashioned and preferred it when Draco dated purebloods. She was beautiful, charming, knew how to handle herself in public and she never let Draco down. In private she was interested in Draco's business and how he spent his days. Draco had been so convinced that Astoria was the one for him that he asked her to move in with him after just six months of dating, with the promise that a proposal would soon follow.
Looking back Draco could now see it was the mention of a proposal that had prompted Astoria to move in with him. However, the second she'd moved into Draco's luxury penthouse, she'd started to change and show her true colours. Her interest in Draco's life and his business faded fast, and it quickly became that she was only interested in how having him on her arm benefited her. Even their sex life, which had been hot and heavy in the early days, started to diminish and by the end of their relationship Draco got the distinct impression she would rather be anywhere else than in his bed.
Still, Draco had persevered with the relationship far longer than he should have for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he hadn't wanted to give up on Astoria before he was sure the girl he fell in love with wasn't still in there somewhere. And secondly, he didn't want to deal with a potential problem with Daphne. It had been a bit awkward dating the sister of his best friend's wife and knowing that it wasn't going to work. When things were good with Astoria, it didn't matter that Blaise was married to her sister, but when things started to go south, Draco had worried that his best friend would be put into the difficult position of choosing between his wife and best friend. Fortunately, it had never came down to that, and Daphne had even reassured Draco that even if he'd been the one to end things with Astoria, it wouldn't have affected their friendship. Daphne was under no illusions as far as her sister was concerned and she knew just what Astoria was capable of.
Although, Draco doubted even Daphne could have predicted that her sister would run off and marry Theo just a week after dumping him. The move had taken Draco completely by surprise, and he'd been genuinely stunned when Daphne had appeared at his penthouse and broke the news about her sister's marriage. Of course Astoria and Theo denied that anything was going on before Astoria ended things with Draco, but Draco wasn't stupid. It just wasn't feasible that they'd ended up married so soon after he and Astoria had split if nothing was going on beforehand. Everyone knew the quick marriage meant that Astoria had been cheating on him, and Draco knew that the people at the reunion were either going to pity him or find it amusing that the one time 'Slytherin Prince' had been dumped from such a great height.
"Who cares what people think," Draco snarled as he shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. Now he was here, he was determined to enjoy himself and not let Astoria and Theo ruin his weekend.
Fortunately for Draco, before he got a chance to dwell on things too much, Blaise and Daphne appeared so they could explore the resort, which was exactly what they spent the rest of the morning doing. The resort was every bit as good as the brochure had claimed, and by lunchtime, Draco could see the appeal of a place like this. It was definitely something he and Blaise needed to think about, maybe for their next hotel.
The trio decided to have lunch at the small restaurant beside the large outdoor pool. A few of the other guests had chosen to do the same, and sitting at the table with Daphne and Blaise, Draco found he recognised almost everyone at the other tables. However, it hadn't escaped his notice that everyone from school that they'd seen over the course of the morning, was with someone. So far, he seemed to be the only single person at the reunion.
As they were finishing lunch, they were approached by Ernie MacMillan. Draco had seen Ernie earlier, with one of the Patil twins, and from what a few people had said, he was the one bankrolling the reunion.
"Hello," Ernie greeted with a beaming smile. "I hope you're all enjoying yourself."
"Yes, it's a lovely hotel," Daphne replied.
"So I take it the rumours are true, you're behind this reunion," Blaise said.
"Parvati's done the organising, I've just paid for it," Ernie replied. "I sold my business last year so we've got more than enough money to splash out and reunite all our old friends."
"Funny, I can't remember being friends with most of these people," Draco muttered.
Ernie gave Draco a distasteful glare, before pasting the smile back on his face. "We're never too old to make new friends. Anyway, I just popped by to tell you about this evening's meal. It's taking place in the blue dining room at the back of the hotel, and the dress code is formal. We've gone for four long tables, and we're going to sit everyone and their partners at their old house table. So all you Slytherins will be together."
"Great, dinner with my ex," Draco grouched, rolling his eyes.
"I just want to check numbers," Ernie said, not hiding the malicious smirk that had formed when Draco mentioned his ex. "Blaise and Daphne, you're together, aren't you?"
"We are," Blaise answered. "But how is this going to work with couples that were in different houses? What about you and Parvati, you weren't in the same house as each other?"
"We'll be sitting at different table tonight. That's why I want to speak to every couple, to check how they want to sit," Ernie answered. "Now Draco, do you have anyone with you?"
"No, I'm alone," Draco replied through gritted teeth.
"Such a shame," Ernie replied insincerely. "But never mind, you'll be surrounded by friends."
"I can't wait," Draco grumbled as he got to his feet.
"Where are you going?" Blaise asked.
"For a walk," Draco answered. "You and Daph enjoy the afternoon. I'll catch you later."
Leaving his best friends to enjoy the rest of their afternoon, Draco headed back into the hotel. Finding the nearest bar that was open, he asked the wizard serving for a bottle of their finest firewhisky and a glass.
"I'm sorry sir, we don't sell by the bottle," The barman replied.
"Will this help?" Pulling out a bag of galleons from his pocket, he thrust several of them across the bar. The money was more than enough to pay for an entire bottle of even the finest firewhisky, and both Draco and the barman knew it.
"Just this once," The barman replied, quickly scooping the coins off the bar.
Armed with a bottle of firewhisky, Draco headed into the grounds looking for somewhere to grab some peace. He was not looking forward to dinner, and already he was thinking of ways he could get out of it. Or at the very least, he was thinking of ways he wouldn't have to sit at the same table as Theo and Astoria and pretend as though nothing had happened. He could kill Blaise for persuading him to attend the reunion. So far it was shaping up to be a disaster and Draco couldn't see it getting better any time soon.