Hey guys, I added an ending to this chapter. My Fiance was out of town for a week, and he came home so I rushed it. I'm sorry, let me know what you think! Enjoy!
It was Seven O'clock sharp when Mrs. Malfoy stepped through the gate. Despite traveling through a burning fire, she looked unscathed. Her black hair was perfect, and her clothes crisp and clean. She greeted the Casselman family, immediately inquiring about Persephone. Before her parents could respond, there was a loud crack and a blonde haired boy stepped through the gate. All the redhead could see was the back of his head, but she did notice he was tall. Mr. Malfoy came through close after and all three stood together, looking like the perfect family.
"Good evening Marcha," Lucius greeted, taking the woman's hand and kissing it lightly. The woman bowed in response. He greeted Mr. Casselman with a formal handshake.
"Lucius," they both greeted kindly, looking at their daughter. She liked her vantage point, but watching from behind was probably considered rude. And, quite frankly, she did want to see her future husbands face, even if he was too skinny for her taste.
She stood up quietly, but didn't go unnoticed. Lucius turned first, eyes bright with excitement. Narcissa and her son looked at once, both silent and unreadable. 'Sephone strode gracefully to the older blonde and took his hand in a small shake, mutually breaking the ice.
"Miss Casselman, it is so great to see you," he said warmly. She smiled sweetly at him, and blushed lightly for show. She could feel his wife glowering from her side. She looked at Draco and gave her most elegant smile. He really was a handsome boy with soft white skin, but sharp manly features. He took her hand and gave it an indifferent squeeze.
"It's a pleasure to meet you…?" she started, waiting for him to give her his name. He stared at her blankly, not sure how to respond.
"Draco," he stated simply with a remarkably mosaic face. She sighed internally, not pleased with his lack of concern. "Persephone, right?" he asked in a monotone. She smiled extra sweet.
"You might as well call me honey," she said, batting her eyes at him. His stone face dropped for a second, embarrassment seeping through his dull gray eyes. She even saw a hint of a blush. Quickly, though, the guard came up again.
"That won't be necessary, Persephone will do," by now he put a few more inches distance between them in uncomfortable movements. Sephone shrugged, and turned to his dad and smirked internally. He was pleased and she was going to have fun this summer. Win, win.
"Would you like a glass of tea, dear?" Marcha asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Draco nodded, turning to face his parents and away from the redhead. His parents were talking happily with Mr. Casselman about politics and the war that had previously passed in Europe, but Draco was pretending to listen like he was interested. Persephone was use to these kinds of talks, so she stood by her father and observed Draco gingerly.
He was certainly a very handsome man, she thought. His blonde hair was perfect, not too short that it aged him, but not too long that it was messy. And lord was he tall, at least six foot 3 inches. He was a little too skinny for her, but maybe some good cooking could fix that. He wasn't too interesting on an intellectual so far, but she could probably get past that. Dumb boys were more fun to mess with, she thought happily. All it took with him was goo-goo eyes and stupid pet names.
"So, Persephone, where are you all going tonight?" Lucius asked, trying to get the conversation back on them. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"I hadn't really thought of that," she said honestly. Her father took over, suggesting they go to a really nice restaurant downtown. She blanked out of the conversation when it got off topic again, and started watching her mother wheel in the cart with a tea pitcher and cups. She poured a glass and handed it to the blonde boy, who stared at it in confusion.
"Its cold tea, son," Lucius said, trying to persuade him. "Drink it," he ushered again quietly, but by now everyone was watching in amusement. He boy took a timid sip, then a giant one. After a few seconds he blinked blankly, swallowing hard. His face looked green, and everyone laughed loudly.
"First time drinking sweet tea, huh?" Mr. Casselman asked, slapping the boys back in glee. Persephone was laughing so hard she was gasping for air, making everyone else laugh even more. The only person who wasn't laughing was a pissed off Draco Malfoy.
"That's hardly funny," he snapped, passing the glass to his mother. She sipped it gingerly, obviously not her first glass.
"It's different, dear. It's different from even what I drank when I lived in California," Marcha said understandingly. But the boy looked even more confused at the mention of an unfamiliar area, so he just nodded. Everyone talked happily for a few more minutes, cracking tea jokes at Draco every once in a while, to his dismay. It was close to seven forty-five before Sephone grabbed her purse and the two said their good byes. Everyone wished them a good time, and walked them to the door. They last thing the youngest saw when she walked out the door was their parents popping a bottle of Champagne.
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It was a beautiful June night, nice and warm. Most people hated the weather in South Carolina, but Persephone loved it. She hated the cold. They walked in silence towards the garage until Malfoy grabbed her arm. She looked at him in surprise as he turned her towards him, unsure of what to do.
"Where is the apparition point?" he asked, not able to make eye contact. She blushed slightly, pulling her arm away gently from his firm grasp.
"The nearest apparition point is in Atlanta. We are just going to Columbia," she said blandly, disappointed to lose the contact. He stared at her in confusion.
"I don't understand," he frowned, not grasping how they were supposed to get where they were going. She turned around and started walking again, heading across the yard. He followed in stride, making up the space quickly with much longer legs.
"I have a car, you know," she drawled, digging through her purse for her keys. Draco was silent, obviously still confused. She pushed the button on her garage opener, and the door creaked open. Draco raised an eyebrow at the moving door.
"Americans have strange magic," he snorted, taking a crack at the girl. The red-head chose to ignore him, clicking on the light. In the garage were two cars; a black charger and a candy apple red 1969 427 Corvette convertible Roadster. Persephone threw him the keys.
"You have a license, right?" she asked carefully, eying him. He threw her keys back and frowned.
"Of course not! Wizards don't drive anything but brooms…unless this car flies," he drawled, walking towards the pristine Vette. Persephone rolled her eyes, opening the driver's side door and ducking in. She pushed a button and the convertible top pulled back, a new feature on an old car. Malfoy buckled himself in, as did she.
"It's a little bit different here then it is in Europe," she started up the car. The engine roared to life, surprisingly making the blondes heart race in excitement. He had never been in a muggle car before, but he could feel the power from the purr of the engine. "We don't have many apparition points, and its illegal for us to just go where we want. If there isn't a designated place, we have to drive. In America, all witches and wizards are citizens. My dad is even a politician for muggles." She put the car in drive, and slowly rolled out of the garage.
"Why?" Draco asked, borderline disgusted. Persephone, keeping her eyes on the long driveway, sighed.
"I don't know, because we have to. Think about all the wizards just in England," she said, giving him a second to think. "How many do you think there are?"
"Mmm, maybe a million. Probably even more, really," he said thoughtfully.
"There might be twenty thousand in all of America," Persephone said with a shrug. "There were 7 girls in my class that were from America, everyone was from everywhere else. I mean, think, we have been a country from what; three hundred years?"
Draco was silent, not really knowing what to say. There had turned onto main road, and he started observing all the different cars that drove by. He was trucks, SUV's, Vans.
"That one kind of looks like yours," he said, pointing to another car. Sephone looked and smiled slightly.
"Yeah, it's a newer one. It's a 2009," she said. "Guess you really don't know a lot about cars."
"I mean, I've seen them before once or twice," he said nonchalantly, as she sped up. He clenched the seat.
"Sorry, we're about to hit the interstate. I'll show you what a car is all about," She gave him a mischievous wide-ways glance, her eyes twinkling. He felt a mix of slight arousal and fear.
"That really won't be necessary," he managed to get out as the car jerked forward, picking up speed fast. He pressed his body against the seat and clenched his eyes shut. The red-head laughed, hitting the empty highway like a bullet. She drove fast for a minute, and then slowed down.
"We'll be there in less than twenty minutes," she said, pulling into the middle lane. She knew the traffic on the Camden side of the interstate would only be slow for a few miles.
"Twenty minutes?" He asked wide eyed. Surely she had to be joking. The ginger haired girl sighed slighting but chose not to pick this battle.
"So, tell me about you." She asked, trying to keep the conversation alive. Maybe talking to him would keep his mind off of the time.
"Depends on what you want to know. My favorite color? Gray. My favorite food? It was scallops, but I'm going to start taking up clams now. Chocolate or Vanilla? Let's go with chocolate." Persephone knew he was trying to be sarcastic.
"Well, how about what you do for fun." She interjected, trying to get him serious.
"Fun? Study mostly. Travel. Spend money," He gave her a sideways glance, "Normal noble family type things."
The redhead snorted in slight disgust, veering back into the fast lane as she came up behind a slow car. Draco gripped his seat again, his anxiety getting the best of him.
"Do you have to steer like an idiot?" He demanded as she pulled directly in front of the car she just passed.
"You mean drive..?" The young girl asked like he was speaking a foreign language. He snorted, looking out his window. She took a second to look at him. He was a beautiful creature. His bad boy hair was moving sexily in the wind, his eyes were actually quite beautiful compared to what she originally though.
"Well, what do you study?" she asked finally, knowing they were close to the restaurant.
"A lot of things." He stated simply. She let it go, maybe that was dinner conversation. She pulled off the interstate and to the red light to take a left turn. The Malfoy boy looked curiously at all the people walking on the sidewalk. It reminded him of home. More people and less cars.
"We're almost at the restaurant." The girl said, downshifting gears and coming to a stop. The light finally turned green and she pulled onto the main road.
"It's really not too bad here." The blonde said lazily with a disinterested gaze out the window. It was small, and more spaced out then what he was used to. Persephone wondered where they would live if they got married. She wanted to ask him about London, she had never been outside the country before. But she had always wanted to travel.
They pulled into the parking lot of The Melting Pot and she turned off her car. Draco slumped when the strong humming of the engine suddenly stopped.
"Look," she said making direct eye contact with him for the first time that night. "I don't like you, and you don't like me. I get that." Draco shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "But we have to try and make this work."
"Why?" He asked. "Because our parents say so?"
"I don't know about you, but I don't want to be put out on the street. I have lived the good life since I was born and I'm not giving it up now." She snorted, making it obvious.
Draco frowned, knowing it was the truth. He couldn't live without the money. The clothes, the fancy brooms. He complained about the parties, but he loved to be the center of attention, he loved being from the most rich and well known families in the wizarding world.
"Plus, no one marries for love anyways, right?" she said sadly, opening her door. Draco followed her, feeling quite the same.
So yeah, just let me know what you want to happen. I like to have input on where you want the story to go. Do you like mean, grouchy Draco? Do you want Persephone to change his mind and make him fall for her and make him sweet? Do you want him to do that to her? Or do you like it when they hate each other? Just let me know! THANKS.
-Han