Hey, I think I forgot to add a disclaimer to the first chapter, but I'll do it now. I do not own Harry Potter. I am not richer than the queen, and I do not live in England. Now, on with the story . . .
Chapter 2: The Party
The girl looked like she was trying to figure something out. Draco started walking toward the press table without a word when it dawned on the girl.
"Draco?" she asked.
The blonde turned around at the sound of his name, and found himself face to face with another face from the past. A girl of about 23 was standing in front of him. She was tall and slender, but still shorter than him, with her sandy brown straight hair that reached halfway down her back. Her eyes were still the same green, but her skin was a little paler than he remembered from the summers. "Maggie," he whispered softly. She shook her head in agreement. He couldn't believe that he never thought about her being there. Of course, it was her older sister's engagement. "Man, seeing you again sure brings back a lot of memories," he told her.
"Yes, of course, I didn't think I would be seeing you here. The wizarding world isn't that small, is it?"
"No," he replied laughing. "I'm just the lucky reporter from the Daily Prophet that gets to come to this extravagant party to write a column about it. Who is your sister marrying, anyway, to be able to afford such a lavish party?"
"For a reporter, you sure don't have all your facts, Mr. Malfoy. Dean Thomas, but he's not paying for this alone. My sister has ways of making her own money, you know ingenuity is not only a Malfoy family trait."
Draco's work was soon forgotten as he began talking to Maggie as if the years had never passed and they were still on summer vacation. Draco and Maggie had met at a Muggle beach villa in Australia after Draco's fifth year at Hogwarts. Maggie was a Muggle only 2 years younger than him, and although his father disliked anybody in his family associating with Muggles, Draco was allowed to when away from wizards. There was something his father didn't know about her, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him.
Maggie and Draco had spent three summers in a row at that villa together. When summer was over after seventh year, Draco did what was expected of him and got a job and moved out of his parents house. Draco and Maggie went their separate ways but promised not to forget each other. They both thought this was just a standard parting of ways, but Maggie didn't know how much Draco meant it. He would never be able to forget Maggie, mainly because of how much he cared for her sister but was never able to show it. Of course Draco did like Maggie, but she could never compare to her sister. Draco met Maggie on his own, but once he found out who her sister was, he was sure to spend all his time with Maggie so that he could at least be near her sister. Maggie liked hanging out with Draco, but that was all. They would never be anything more, but Maggie sometimes wondered who the girl constantly on his mind was.
The summer after his final year at Hogwarts, she found out. Her sister hadn't gone on vacation that summer, so that she could find a steady job and be settled by the time fall came around. That summer, nothing changed between Maggie and the boy, but he did not seem as distracted when he was around her family. Maggie had a feeling that it was because her sister was gone, because she had never liked the fact that they spent time together. One day when they were watching the sunset from the pier, Maggie asked him about her sister. She had always gotten weird vibes when they were in the presence of each other. Draco knew that he could no longer keep it a secret, somebody had to know how he had felt for almost 4 years. So he told her everything. He told her how he had loved her for a long time, but how he treated her at school because he was expected to by his friends and father. He told her how much she probably hated him and the front he had been putting up for years. Maggie just listened and took all of this in. She knew that Draco had been wanting to tell somebody for years, but could never trust anyone enough. She was glad that after three years she could be trusted.
The two old friends talked like it was just the next summer and it hadn't been eight years since they last saw each other, but only one as was standard. Maggie was telling Draco all about her life from where they left off, and about how her sister and Dean Thomas had met again after school and their whole ordeal. This information, although vital, was very painful for Draco to hear. She had shown Draco around all of Phoenix Hall, and basically they had told each other their life stories of the past eight years; how he had become a reporter for the wizard newspaper, and how she had become a grade school teacher in Muggle London, but worked in her sister's shop in Diagon Alley on the weekends. Maggie did leave out most of her sister's past, hoping that she would tell Draco herself.
The guests from the dinner party began arriving while they had been talking, and around 8:15, Dean Thomas and his bride to be finally arrived. The sight of her was breathtaking. She was exactly how Draco had remembered, except a little bit older. She was exactly as he had imagined her being; elegant, petit but strong, radiant, but above all extremely, breathtakingly beautiful. After they had meet - and - greeted all of their guests, those who had come from the dinner party, and the "less important" ones also, Maggie went up to talk to her sister and left Draco alone with his thoughts.
Draco wandered aimlessly around the decorated hall, taking in all his surroundings. He was memorizing the hall, the people, the bride and groom to be, everything, not only for an accurate description for the newspaper, but for his memory. He wanted to remember this day forever, because he got to see her again, if only for a fleeting second. She was so radiant that it was impossible to just forget about her - about how he felt about her.
When he was wandering around, he met up with many people from his past, especially those from Hogwarts. Every person he talked to seemed to have grown up a lot, but it was to be expected. Ginny Weasley was now Virginia Potter, and was pregnant with the third child of many more to come. Ron was there with his fiancée, a younger looking witch who said she had attended Beauxbatons. There were many other couples he met from his school days, some to be expected and some not. Luna Lovegood was there with Colin Creevey. That was an oddly perfect match. One thing he did notice was that with each person he talked to, their faces were almost identical. Each person had wandering eyes and a very forced smile as if they were trying to figure out why he was talking to them, or what he was even doing there. "Gosh," he wondered, "Was there anybody I didn't offend in school?" "Probably not," his conscience answered him.
After about forty minutes, Draco was ready to leave without even getting a good look at "her". He was heading towards the coat closet when Maggie found him again. "Hey Draco, come with me to talk to my sister," she said as she approached him.
"Uh, I don't know Maggie. It's been a long night and I don't really know that she'll want to talk to me."
"Aw, come on! You know you want to, and besides, 20 more minutes wont make a difference. Apparate straight home instead of a few blocks away. You can clear your mind while lying in your bed."
"After all these years you still know me too well. I guess I'll go for a few minutes, but I can't stay long. I've got an article to write," he said. "And if I stay too long I'll fall in love all over again," he added silently.
When he walked back inside, Dean and his fiancée were dancing on the open floor. Many couples had left by that time so they could be home in time to put their kids to bed. Maggie decided they should wait until that song was over for them to go talk to her sister. Since it was a long song, Draco decided he would do something to pass the time.
"Maggie," he said turning to face her and sticking out his hand. "Would you like to dance?"
"Of course, for old times sake," she said remembering how she learned to shag from Draco at the beach. They danced through that song, which happened to be a waltz. They were just leaving the dance floor when the next song came on and just happened to be the exact song Maggie learned to shag to. Draco couldn't resist that song, so he and Maggie kept dancing. By the time they were done dancing, another hour had passed, and they still hadn't talked to the guests of honor.
By then everybody was beginning to leave. "Draco, we do need to go talk to my sister before the night's over. She really does want to speak with you again," stated Maggie simply. Draco knew the pain this would bring, seeing Dean so happy with the girl of his dreams, but he knew he had to do it to heal. He could never have her, he had come to grips with that, but he could also never stop loving her. He would just have to find closure somehow. Maggie took Draco's hand and led him over to where her sister and Dean were sitting at a table talking.
"Sis, look who I found here tonight," Maggie said to get her older sister's attention. The witch looked up and Draco Malfoy found himself face to face with his love, Hermione Granger.
She was even more beautiful than he remembered, especially. Seeing her after eight years brought back so much for Draco. So much pain, so much hurt, and so much love. "Hello, Draco," Hermione said with a smile, this one not forced like the others. "It's good to see you met up with Maggie again."
"Oh, yeah. I'm just here reporting for the Daily Prophet. Quite a nice party you had here," he told her. Then looked at his watch. He had been there a lot longer than he had expected, and the time was a perfect excuse to make a quick escape. "Sorry, Hermione, but I have to go. I've got to write up this article tonight. Congratulations," Draco said quickly. He hoped they couldn't tell he was lying, but he couldn't stay any longer. "Bye Hermione, Dean," he said waving as he started for the door.
He was hurriedly grabbing his coat and scarf and gathering his things when Maggie walked up to him. "Draco," she hesitated. "I know this seems a little odd, especially with everything going on right now, but I had fun talking to you tonight. Do you want to go out sometime and catch up some more?"
"Yeah, sure. I had fun with you, too. It was like we were back at the beach. I'd love to go out sometime. Are you doing anything next weekend? I'm free."
"Next weekend's great. Come and pick me up at that new bookstore in Diagon Alley. I have work until 5."
"Great. I'll pick you up around 5:30." He gave Maggie a quick hug and walked out the door. To his surprise, it had started snowing while they were in the hall. He hugged his coat tightly to him and wrapped his scarf around his neck while he began walking down Phoenix Place. He had too much to ponder to apparate directly back to his place yet
Chapter 2: The Party
The girl looked like she was trying to figure something out. Draco started walking toward the press table without a word when it dawned on the girl.
"Draco?" she asked.
The blonde turned around at the sound of his name, and found himself face to face with another face from the past. A girl of about 23 was standing in front of him. She was tall and slender, but still shorter than him, with her sandy brown straight hair that reached halfway down her back. Her eyes were still the same green, but her skin was a little paler than he remembered from the summers. "Maggie," he whispered softly. She shook her head in agreement. He couldn't believe that he never thought about her being there. Of course, it was her older sister's engagement. "Man, seeing you again sure brings back a lot of memories," he told her.
"Yes, of course, I didn't think I would be seeing you here. The wizarding world isn't that small, is it?"
"No," he replied laughing. "I'm just the lucky reporter from the Daily Prophet that gets to come to this extravagant party to write a column about it. Who is your sister marrying, anyway, to be able to afford such a lavish party?"
"For a reporter, you sure don't have all your facts, Mr. Malfoy. Dean Thomas, but he's not paying for this alone. My sister has ways of making her own money, you know ingenuity is not only a Malfoy family trait."
Draco's work was soon forgotten as he began talking to Maggie as if the years had never passed and they were still on summer vacation. Draco and Maggie had met at a Muggle beach villa in Australia after Draco's fifth year at Hogwarts. Maggie was a Muggle only 2 years younger than him, and although his father disliked anybody in his family associating with Muggles, Draco was allowed to when away from wizards. There was something his father didn't know about her, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him.
Maggie and Draco had spent three summers in a row at that villa together. When summer was over after seventh year, Draco did what was expected of him and got a job and moved out of his parents house. Draco and Maggie went their separate ways but promised not to forget each other. They both thought this was just a standard parting of ways, but Maggie didn't know how much Draco meant it. He would never be able to forget Maggie, mainly because of how much he cared for her sister but was never able to show it. Of course Draco did like Maggie, but she could never compare to her sister. Draco met Maggie on his own, but once he found out who her sister was, he was sure to spend all his time with Maggie so that he could at least be near her sister. Maggie liked hanging out with Draco, but that was all. They would never be anything more, but Maggie sometimes wondered who the girl constantly on his mind was.
The summer after his final year at Hogwarts, she found out. Her sister hadn't gone on vacation that summer, so that she could find a steady job and be settled by the time fall came around. That summer, nothing changed between Maggie and the boy, but he did not seem as distracted when he was around her family. Maggie had a feeling that it was because her sister was gone, because she had never liked the fact that they spent time together. One day when they were watching the sunset from the pier, Maggie asked him about her sister. She had always gotten weird vibes when they were in the presence of each other. Draco knew that he could no longer keep it a secret, somebody had to know how he had felt for almost 4 years. So he told her everything. He told her how he had loved her for a long time, but how he treated her at school because he was expected to by his friends and father. He told her how much she probably hated him and the front he had been putting up for years. Maggie just listened and took all of this in. She knew that Draco had been wanting to tell somebody for years, but could never trust anyone enough. She was glad that after three years she could be trusted.
The two old friends talked like it was just the next summer and it hadn't been eight years since they last saw each other, but only one as was standard. Maggie was telling Draco all about her life from where they left off, and about how her sister and Dean Thomas had met again after school and their whole ordeal. This information, although vital, was very painful for Draco to hear. She had shown Draco around all of Phoenix Hall, and basically they had told each other their life stories of the past eight years; how he had become a reporter for the wizard newspaper, and how she had become a grade school teacher in Muggle London, but worked in her sister's shop in Diagon Alley on the weekends. Maggie did leave out most of her sister's past, hoping that she would tell Draco herself.
The guests from the dinner party began arriving while they had been talking, and around 8:15, Dean Thomas and his bride to be finally arrived. The sight of her was breathtaking. She was exactly how Draco had remembered, except a little bit older. She was exactly as he had imagined her being; elegant, petit but strong, radiant, but above all extremely, breathtakingly beautiful. After they had meet - and - greeted all of their guests, those who had come from the dinner party, and the "less important" ones also, Maggie went up to talk to her sister and left Draco alone with his thoughts.
Draco wandered aimlessly around the decorated hall, taking in all his surroundings. He was memorizing the hall, the people, the bride and groom to be, everything, not only for an accurate description for the newspaper, but for his memory. He wanted to remember this day forever, because he got to see her again, if only for a fleeting second. She was so radiant that it was impossible to just forget about her - about how he felt about her.
When he was wandering around, he met up with many people from his past, especially those from Hogwarts. Every person he talked to seemed to have grown up a lot, but it was to be expected. Ginny Weasley was now Virginia Potter, and was pregnant with the third child of many more to come. Ron was there with his fiancée, a younger looking witch who said she had attended Beauxbatons. There were many other couples he met from his school days, some to be expected and some not. Luna Lovegood was there with Colin Creevey. That was an oddly perfect match. One thing he did notice was that with each person he talked to, their faces were almost identical. Each person had wandering eyes and a very forced smile as if they were trying to figure out why he was talking to them, or what he was even doing there. "Gosh," he wondered, "Was there anybody I didn't offend in school?" "Probably not," his conscience answered him.
After about forty minutes, Draco was ready to leave without even getting a good look at "her". He was heading towards the coat closet when Maggie found him again. "Hey Draco, come with me to talk to my sister," she said as she approached him.
"Uh, I don't know Maggie. It's been a long night and I don't really know that she'll want to talk to me."
"Aw, come on! You know you want to, and besides, 20 more minutes wont make a difference. Apparate straight home instead of a few blocks away. You can clear your mind while lying in your bed."
"After all these years you still know me too well. I guess I'll go for a few minutes, but I can't stay long. I've got an article to write," he said. "And if I stay too long I'll fall in love all over again," he added silently.
When he walked back inside, Dean and his fiancée were dancing on the open floor. Many couples had left by that time so they could be home in time to put their kids to bed. Maggie decided they should wait until that song was over for them to go talk to her sister. Since it was a long song, Draco decided he would do something to pass the time.
"Maggie," he said turning to face her and sticking out his hand. "Would you like to dance?"
"Of course, for old times sake," she said remembering how she learned to shag from Draco at the beach. They danced through that song, which happened to be a waltz. They were just leaving the dance floor when the next song came on and just happened to be the exact song Maggie learned to shag to. Draco couldn't resist that song, so he and Maggie kept dancing. By the time they were done dancing, another hour had passed, and they still hadn't talked to the guests of honor.
By then everybody was beginning to leave. "Draco, we do need to go talk to my sister before the night's over. She really does want to speak with you again," stated Maggie simply. Draco knew the pain this would bring, seeing Dean so happy with the girl of his dreams, but he knew he had to do it to heal. He could never have her, he had come to grips with that, but he could also never stop loving her. He would just have to find closure somehow. Maggie took Draco's hand and led him over to where her sister and Dean were sitting at a table talking.
"Sis, look who I found here tonight," Maggie said to get her older sister's attention. The witch looked up and Draco Malfoy found himself face to face with his love, Hermione Granger.
She was even more beautiful than he remembered, especially. Seeing her after eight years brought back so much for Draco. So much pain, so much hurt, and so much love. "Hello, Draco," Hermione said with a smile, this one not forced like the others. "It's good to see you met up with Maggie again."
"Oh, yeah. I'm just here reporting for the Daily Prophet. Quite a nice party you had here," he told her. Then looked at his watch. He had been there a lot longer than he had expected, and the time was a perfect excuse to make a quick escape. "Sorry, Hermione, but I have to go. I've got to write up this article tonight. Congratulations," Draco said quickly. He hoped they couldn't tell he was lying, but he couldn't stay any longer. "Bye Hermione, Dean," he said waving as he started for the door.
He was hurriedly grabbing his coat and scarf and gathering his things when Maggie walked up to him. "Draco," she hesitated. "I know this seems a little odd, especially with everything going on right now, but I had fun talking to you tonight. Do you want to go out sometime and catch up some more?"
"Yeah, sure. I had fun with you, too. It was like we were back at the beach. I'd love to go out sometime. Are you doing anything next weekend? I'm free."
"Next weekend's great. Come and pick me up at that new bookstore in Diagon Alley. I have work until 5."
"Great. I'll pick you up around 5:30." He gave Maggie a quick hug and walked out the door. To his surprise, it had started snowing while they were in the hall. He hugged his coat tightly to him and wrapped his scarf around his neck while he began walking down Phoenix Place. He had too much to ponder to apparate directly back to his place yet