Two hours later, Draco was positively knocking down their bedroom door with his fists. Hermione had left to pack right after breakfast and he'd assumed that she'd had enough time to pack for a four day trip. Besides, what did she have to pack besides clothes and basic sanitary devices? Perhaps some books too, considering she wouldn't be able to survive without them. He'd never thought of her as someone who would fill up a bag with hair and face products, or shoes, or something else that wasn't a necessity. Yes, knowing Hermione, she would be all packed and ready by now.

So why did it sound as though she was still moving things around in there? And why was the door locked?

"Hermione!"

It became quiet inside, but no response came.

"Open the door, Hermione!"

Still no response.

"I know you're in there! Don't make me use magic."

Nothing.

"Fine, you asked for it. Alohamora."

It didn't budge. Of course, this was Hermione's doing as well. She would never use a common locking charm; she had to use the most complex one in existence. She had to be really mad at him to ignore him so completely.

As a last resort, he started kicking the door. It was a good way to vent, too.

"What do you think you're doing? You'll knock the door down!" said a voice behind him.

Draco turned in alarm as he recognized the voice.

"Hermione! What are you doing out here?"

She shrugged. "I was in the kitchens with the house elves. And why is the door closed?"

Draco looked to the door, as if to find an answer. If Hermione was out here, then who was rummaging inside our bedroom just moments before?

Hermione ignored his lack of an answer and marched forward herself to open the door, discovering it to be locked.

She looked up at him questioningly. "Why is the door locked? Alohamora."

"I already tried that," Draco finally said. "Are you sure you didn't accidentally lock it before you went down?"

"No, why would I lock the room? I didn't even know it could be locked," Hermione muttered.

"Must have been me then," Draco said quietly.

Sighing, Hermione brought her wand out of her robe and waved it toward the door. It instantly flew open.

As soon as they stepped in, they felt a breeze, looking in its direction to find an open window.

"Did you leave the window open, too?" Hermione asked, giving him a look.

Draco could only nod. Inside, his mind was reeling with the possibilities of what had just happened. And the most obvious one was that someone had broken in. Someone had gotten through their security wards and flown into their room. Of course, they had been looking for something, but they had looked so neatly that even Hermione couldn't tell that anything was off. Had they taken anything? And what had they been looking for in the first place?

"Draco? Are you okay? You seem a little dazed," Hermione commented. She was looking at him strangely again.

Draco immediately straightened up. "I'm fine. If you're done packing, I think we can floo over now."

"Sure. Just let me grab my-"

Draco interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "The house elves will take care of the luggage. If you don't hurry, we might lose our booking." He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of their room and towards his study where the floo network was set up. Hermione, irritated, grumbled beside him.

"They're not little slaves. Can't even pick your own bag…and what do you mean, we'll lose our booking? Whatever happened to the power of the Malfoy name?"

He rounded on her so fast that she almost fell back while stopping.

"What do you think happened to the Malfoy name? It was besmirched. First by my family, and now by my own upcoming trial. Or have you forgotten the reason we are even going to in the first place?

Not only was that last phrase uncalled for, but it stung. However, Hermione did not let him know. She just snatched her arm out of his grip and stormed back to their room, leaving Draco standing in the middle of the hallway.

Not again! Draco thought. If she freaked out on him now like she had after he had insulted Weasley, then there would definitely be trouble in paradise and that was not something that he could afford at the moment (literally, considering he'd already paid for half their honeymoon).

He did NOT need this sort of stress right now what with the mysterious break-and-enter still fresh in his mind.

Thankfully, Hermione reappeared within seconds, her arms full with their bags.

"If I'm going to be living here, then I expect better treatment for the elves and you to not be a lazy arse." She said this without looking at him and pushed past him towards the study.

Sighing, Draco followed her.

-!-!-!-

Hermione could see why was such a tourist attraction. Quite simply, it was beautiful. The view from their veranda overlooked white-sand beaches, clear blue water, and a myriad of people enjoying the sun.

"You know, you should check out that beach later – it might help with you with your 'skin condition'," Hermione to Draco, who had just joined her.

To her surprise, he laughed. They had joked about his unusually pale skin back in Hogwarts with Hermione referring to it as a "skin condition" that he should get looked at. Hogwarts seemed like a lifetime ago now, yet they had only graduated three months ago. Even so, it was the relationships that she made there that were still with her today, namely Draco.

Beside her, Draco was also reminiscing. He remembered that Hermione would often tease him when she felt too uncomfortable to have an actual conversation. He liked to think that she picked it up from him, and it always happened after a spat so he took it to mean that she was over it.

He smiled at her. "Only if you join me."

Relieved that he had also let their earlier incident go by, Hermione smiled back. "This place is just gorgeous; I love France. My parents used to bring me here for the holidays all the time. One summer after Hogwarts, they took me to Paris where we visited the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and a few historical landmarks. I wonder if there are any here... We should have a look around, go explore the town! Oh, and we must visit the souvenir shops, its always interesting to see the stuff that they have there. I always end up buying the weirdest things that are only good for placing on a mantel or something."

Draco shook his head, "Perhaps you shouldn't be spending on souvenirs at this time, and I say this with your best interests at heart so don't look at me like that. I was thinking that we could be productive during this vacation." He winked at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Don't worry, you'll get a few pictures for the Prophet; raise your popularity and all that. But more importantly," she said with a frown, "I think we should also start preparing for your trial."

Nodding pensively, Draco took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips. "Truly, Hermione, you are the best thing that could have happened to me. Thank you."

Truth be told, Hermione felt like she should have been the one thanking him. Instead of battling about "thank you" and "you're welcome" as her reply, she chose to kiss him instead.

If his enthusiastic response was any indication, she'd say he rather preferred the action to the words.

-!-!-!-

Back in London, there was a flurry of action taking place in the Ministry of Magic's Justice Department. The trials for anyone who was associated with You-Know-Who, including one Mr. Draco Malfoy, were fast approaching. Coincidentally, many of the files for these cases had gone missing this morning and if they were not soon found, then the whole process of charging them would have to begin again, allowing for weaker cases that could either lead to unwanted acquittals, or unwanted convictions.