A Second Chance

P&Z Hotel

Author's Note: so, when I was writing this, I realized that I completely forgot about Hugo...oops. I guess no Hugo...

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Her mum pulled the car into the hotel's parking lot. Her dad pulled in beside them. It was a really good thing that they had two vehicles now instead of the one. She, Draco, Rose, Scorpius, and Angelina rode with her mum while the others rode with her dad. It had been an interesting feat since half of them had never seen a vehicle let alone rode in one before.

"A broom is safer!" Draco exclaimed as he fell out of the now parked car.

"You and Harry had more accidents on those brooms than most people have their entire lives in vehicles."

"Dad, I thought you were really good at quidditch."

"He was. He was just clumsy and cared more about embarrassing Harry than paying attention." Draco's pale face flushed a deep scarlet causing the women in the car to snicker.

Her dad came over to them. "I hope you had an interesting ride over here. Maybe we could switch on the ride back?" He asked her mum. Her mother just laughed and shook her head. Hermione felt sorry for her dad knowing that he had to endure Arthur's questioning, George's pranks, and Molly and Narcissa's grumbling.

Draco walked around from the boot of the car, carrying their suitcase in one hand. "Does this place remind you of anything?" He asked when he was by Hermione's side. The hotel was grand on the outside with a stone fountain that had four snakes coming up to meet in the center. The outside of the hotel was painted in an off-white that gave off a silvery shine in the morning sunlight. The columns near the entrance were carved to look like basilisks. The outside was grand and very pretty and it did leave a tingling impression in the back of Hermione's mind though she wasn't sure why. She shook her head at Draco's question. "It has a Slytherin touch." He sighed.

"I don't see it. Besides, we're in the muggle world, the architecture for the hotel probably was into mythology, not a wizard."

Draco continued to stare at the hotel's entrance. "You're probably right."

"I know I am."

"Come on you two, quit dawdling!" Narcissa clapped her hands at them from where she stood on the front steps, everyone else already milling around her. Hermione and Draco chuckled but did as they were told.

Hermione's mouth gaped open when they entered into the hotel. The walls were painted in the same silverish-white as the outside and the carpet was a dark green. The furniture was dark stained oak wood that had snakes carved as the arms of the chairs. Everything was painted in the Slytherin colors and there were subtle hints of snakes in the decor but that wasn't what gave Hermione pause. What had her, Draco, and the rest of the group, even her parents, glued to their places with their mouths hanging open was the Slytherin insignia that hung behind the front desk. The architecture or the owner of the hotel must have attended Hogwarts and must have been a Slytherin. The Slytherin decor of the hotel was subtle yet not at the same time. It would have gone by unnoticed to muggles but would have been painfully obvious to those who knew of the wizarding world.

"Tell me who owns this place," demanded Narcissa to the person behind the front desk.

"Mr. And Mrs. Zabini." The girl answered in a polite voice.

"What!" Everyone from the wizarding world exclaimed.

The eyebrows of the receptionist twitched. "Do you know the owners?" She asked in that same polite voice though her words were more hesitant.

"We're old school mates." Draco told her. "Who the hell did Blaise marry? Why the hell didn't he tell me?" He muttered.

Hermione placed an arm on his shoulder. At least she could answer these questions. "He married Pansy ten years ago. Since I was the head of the ministry during that time, I officiated their wedding. I'm not absolutely sure o
why they didn't tell you but if I had to guess, it was because that was when you had first found out about Astoria's illness."

The clerk let out a relieved smile. "We surprisingly don't see many wizards here." She explained a little more in detail at their baffled look. "I'm a squib. When Mr. And Mrs. Zabini decided to build this hotel, it was for the purpose of bridging the gap between the muggle and the wizarding worlds. Everyone who works here are muggle relatives of witches and wizards, muggleborns, squibs, witches and wizards, and even house elves. It's to help teach wizards about the muggle world and vice versa."

"Do the house elves get paid?" Rose asked with genuine curiosity though her eyes held a glare to them.

The woman nodded. "Everyone is paid slightly above the muggle minimum wage in either muggle or wizarding money, whatever the employee requests."

"Bloody hell, didn't know Blaise was that smart."

The receptionist laughed at Draco's words. "Mr. Zabini likes to take the credit though Mrs. Zabini isn't afraid to put him in his place and give credit to an old friend of theirs. What is your name?"

Hermione cleared her throat. "We're actually here for the Granger reunion, but." She waved to her small group. "We're the Malfoys."

"And Weasleys!" George and Molly chimed.

The young receptionist's mouth dropped. She gazed at the small group in shock, her eyes betraying her to be star-crossed. It wasn't everyday that you would get to meet those of famous and infamous names.