I looked at my watch. 7:55. I was to be down in the front room in 5 minutes. Narcissa had given me a dress to wear. It was really nice but I thought it was a bit too fancy for a dinner party. It was green and came down only to my knees. It was strapless and it had matching green shoes and earrings to go with it. I looked at myself in the mirror. Not bad. I thought I looked quite good. I didn't quite know why I wanted to look good in front of a Malfoy but here I was fixing every little strand of hair out of place. I heard Malfoy enter the room but took no notice.
"Oy Granger, hurry up. I haven't got all day you know." he said with annoyance lingering in his voice.
"Wait a minute you bloody pinhead!"
"Excuse me? This pinhead happens to be your fiance incase you haven't notice. You'd better start being nice to me or you'll pay!" he retorted with smugness written all over his slimy face. I didn't care if I was engaged to him. He was still the boy I had hated since I was 11 years old and no marriage was going to stop that.
"Yes Malfoy I noticed. Do you think I would ever come within 10 feet of your range if I didn't?"
"Watch it Granger. I despise you as much as you despise me. Actually I think I hate you more. I don't want you as my wife either. You may be a pure-blood but to me your still filth and scum. Now if you don't mind my family are waiting." he snarled. I was sightly taken aback but nonetheless I followed him out of the room and down the stairs. I really hated him but I had to go through with it. I entered the front room to see about fifty unrecognizable people sitting down at a long table. It was rather like a table from the Great Hall at Hogwarts. I noticed the only two seats left were next to each other. I felt all eyes upon me and Draco as we took our seats. I was beside Narcissa, Draco was beside Lucius. The dinner only lasted about 15 minutes. Draco and I had been introduced to all the family but after that I was rather silent. Narcissa spoke to me but other than that I kept to myself. I felt so out of place there. I admit I did perk up a bit when dinner had finished and now it was just like a small party. Champagne was handed out to everyone except of course to two little kids I saw who looked remarkably like Draco. One was a boy, the other being a girl. They both had white/blonde hair and grey eyes. The girl walked over to where I was sitting and introduced herself to me.
"Hi, my name is Charmaine."
"Um...Hi Charmaine I'm Hermione. Nice to meet you." I said.
"Draco's my cousin." she said a little out of the blue.
"Is he?" I asked. "Do you see him often?"
"No but I will this year. I'm getting to go to the school he goes to because I'm 11 now!" she said. I couldn't help but think this girl was really polite and cute even for a Malfoy. I think that was the first Malfoy I actually liked. Well I suppose Narcissa was ok.
"So you are going to Hogwarts then? I go there as well."
"Yes. I already knew you went. Draco told me of you last time I saw him!"
"He did?" I asked curiously. Why the hell would he mention me to his cousin?
"Yes. He spoke of you and two other boys. Harry and Don or something. I can't quite remember. It was when he was 14 and just finished 3rd year. I stayed here for the summer."
"Yes, Harry and Ron are my friends. No doubt how he was going on about me being a know-it-all mudblood and Harry thinking he was a super hero and Ron being poor. Am I right?" I asked flashing a grin.
"Yes," she said giggling. "Do you still hate each other?"
"Yes but we are slightly more mature now. We can handle our hate without killing each other!"
The girl started laughing again. She looked so pretty for an 11 year old.
"Yes he told me you slapped him in 3rd year. I couldn't stop laughing when he told me. He got angry with me and stormed off!"
It was my turn to laugh now. At least there was a truly decent kid in this family. I had a question which was really annoying me. I decided to ask her.
"Do you have anything against Mudbloods or poor people or anything?" I asked biting my lip.
"No I don't. That's why I remembered you. I kept telling Draco that Mudbloods were ok and its what was inside that counted. Of course as you can see, he did not listen. Just like I said, you're actually a pureblood but are no different from when you were thought to be Mudblood."
I was shocked for words. A Malfoy actually had nothing against Mudbloods. I really liked this little girl. We talked until about 10pm. I said goodbye to her because the party had finished. I didn't realize how quickly it had happened. I didn't even speak to any other Malfoy's nor did I see Draco the whole time. I couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts the next day. I said goodnight to everyone and headed for my room. To my surprise Draco was already there. I ignored him and zapped myself into my pajamas and climbed into bed. Draco ignored me also and got into bed. I fell asleep thinking about the little girl I had met.