Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter etc, please don't sue me!

A huge thank you to the 84 people who are following my story and the 20 who have added it as a favourite - every addition is fantastic inspiration to keep writing!

Also a massive thanks to shaymars [I love writing Luna so hopefully she will join in soon] and the dragon and the rose [hmm you have given me a great idea, keep an eye posted for some comeuppances in the future] for the reviews!

Thanks also to my awesome beta reader foreverandeversimplyme!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!


Recap:

'Hermione gave him a smile and rose onto her tip toes and, pulling his head down slightly, kissed his cheek. 'I would like that very much, owl me the details and I will see you tomorrow.'

With one last smile, Hermione stepped into the apparation location and disappeared. A grinning Draco transfixed as he watched her disappear.


When Hermione stumbled downstairs the next morning around ten o'clock in her beachwear, she was hoping to would avoid her mum.

'Morning, sweetie,' her mum chimed.

Swallowing a groan, she replied; 'Morning, Mum.'

'What time did you get in last night?'

'Umm, three-ish, I think.'

'Good time then?'

'Yes, Draco's friends were actually very friendly people, bit dark-humoured, but as I'm as well it was good.'

'Did you stay at the club until three or did you come from somewhere else?' Helen asked suggestively.

Oh Merlin, Mum is not asking if I slept with Draco, please no!

'The club, of course,' Hermione snapped in embarrassment.

Helen just smiled and ignored her daughter's tone. 'So, you're heading to the beach today with Draco and his friends?'

'Yes,' Hermione grumbled, feeling like she was twelve instead of an adult.

'Well,' Helen said, collecting her handbag from the counter, 'have fun, and don't forget to ask Draco when he is free next weekend. I'm off to meet some friends and your father for brunch, see you tonight… unless you get lucky.'

Hermione dropped her head and let it bang against the counter as Helen left the room. Her mum's teasing wouldn't be so bad if the thought of her getting lucky with Draco didn't stir such intense desire throughout her body. Her mum had always been supportive, but after the disaster with Ron, the memory charm, and telling them about the war, her mum treated her like an adult and wasn't fazed by Hermione in a mature relationship, or whatever made her happy. Hermione appreciated her mum's new approach - in a way - but at times like this it was extremely embarrassing.

Rubbing her now sore head, Hermione hurriedly ate some juicy fruit and then collected the rest of her things for the beach, ticking them off mentally as she placed the items in her bag: towel, yes; sunscreen 40+, yes (damn hot sun in this country); book… hmm maybe not; hat, yes; sunglasses, yes…

When everything was gathered in her bag, Hermione grabbed a book; just for the trip to the beach, she reasoned at the last moment and headed to the bus stop to see Bondi Beach for the first time.


Thirty minutes later she stepped out of the bus and a salty wind rushed through her hair. The sunshine glittered on the waves and the golden sand looked warm and inviting. Perfect beach weather. Hermione began to walk along the water, looking for the others.

When she finally found them, Pansy was in the waves with Blaise, while Theo and Draco were playing frisbee. Dropping her bag next to where their bags were obviously piled (quidditch towels a dead giveaway), Hermione kicked her thongs off her feet and decided to creep up behind Draco to surprise him. Theo saw her and, grinning, threw the frisbee long so Draco started running backwards to catch it, allowing Hermione the perfect opportunity to pounce and snatch the object away.

Laughing they fought over the disc before Hermione eventually won, jumping up and down in victory… she never had claimed that humbleness during triumph was one of her strong points. Draco just watched transfixed, until he noticed the attention she was garnering from the other males nearby, at which point he quickly wrapped his arms around her and carried her back to Theo, who was sniggering.

After lying in the sun to get swelteringly hot, they joined Blaise and Pansy in the refreshingly cool surf. Pansy was delighted for some female company and the two started chatting. Meanwhile, Theo regaled the frisbee game to Blaise, before Draco interrupted them with a water fight, which soon progressed into a seaweed fight.

Eventually they all headed back out of the ocean, Hermione and Pansy still talking avidly while casting glares at the boys as they tried to untangle seaweed from their long hair.

Arriving back at the towels, Hermione cooed, 'Theeoo.'

The man in question looked up, 'Mm?'

'It's time to be buried.'

'Fine, you can bury me,' he sighed.

'Actually, it will be all of us burying you.'

'I didn't agree to that,' his clarified.

'You agreed to be buried and didn't specify it would only be me. I thought Slytherins were supposed to be the cunning ones,' she mused, tapping her finger on her lips in false thought.

'Un-noble Gryffindor aren't you.'

Hermione sniffed in response. 'No need to get tetchy just because you didn't specify restrictions.'

Theo glanced around nervously, eyeing Hermione's glinting eyes and Draco's smug look. 'Pansy, I insist you dig me out when it's done,' he ordered, voice pitch rising slightly.

Pansy just shrugged her shoulders and, throwing her arm around Hermione, said, 'Depends on the agreement really, I wouldn't want to upset my new friend here; I find I require some level-headed company after being in the company of you lot.' Pansy grinned at Hermione as the men gasped in feigned outrage.

Theo watched as his friends and sneaky Hermione dug a deep hole into the sand. When it was ready, Hermione turned to Theo and gestured for him sit in the hole.

He lowered himself into the hole slowly, as if prepared to launch back at with a moment's notice.

Immediately the others started pushing the sand piled nearby on top of him. Pansy had managed to borrow a bucket from some kids nearby and was fetching water to make the sand more compacted and less moveable.

'Okay, ten minutes is up.'

They ignored him.

'Guys…'

Only the girls' giggling answered him.

Theo tried to move, but he quickly found that he couldn't shift with his arms and legs completely buried. He then started to crane his neck, trying to see what they were doing.

Blaise, Hermione, Draco, and Pansy had been working on the details of the sand pile; it was now shaped like a female mermaid. Draco grinned as Hermione added some shells for a bikini top and seaweed as long locks of hair.

When they all stood to admire their work an hour later, Theo said, 'Okay, very nice, bravo, now you've had your fun so it's time to let me out.'

'Just one more touch,' Draco replied, producing a camera from his bag.

'Don't you dare!' Theo snarled in an impressive imitation of Severus Snape.

Draco shrugged. 'You're welcome to stop me… if you can.'

Theo tried to struggle free, but he still couldn't move. 'You are all rotten friends.'

'And yet you always forgive us,' Draco replied, taking photos of his sand-mermaid friend.

Glancing around, Draco went over to a couple of passing people and asked they take five photos of the group for him. The strangers agreed with good humour when they saw Theo, so Draco handed over the camera and then he, Hermione, Blaise and Pansy gathered around sand-mermaid Theo and began waving at the camera. Draco's arm dropping to encircle Hermione's waist.

Photos taken, the strangers handed Draco back his camera, which he carefully tucked away in his magical bag (a bag designed to ensure only he could access it, which would stop Theo from destroying the camera in an attempt to hide the evidence). Hermione decided that Theo had probably endured enough humiliation for the day and so dug out one of his feet: he would be able to break free from there…eventually.

The group then left the struggling sand-mermaid Theo to 'guard the bags' and headed back into the ocean to cool down after their hard work.

Theo eventually joined them with the grumble of having sand down his board shorts, a comment which got him more laughter than sympathy.

When Draco focused his attention solely on Hermione, Theo muttered to the others that their plan to get Hermione to join them had not resulted in less pranks by Draco, in fact it had spectacularly back-fired with the two bonding over the tricks. Blaise and Pansy assured him it would work, they just need to give it longer.


Eventually the boys headed to a cafe to buy fish and chips for lunch, leaving Pansy and Hermione to sunbathe (with a thick covering of sunscreen). Once the boys were out of sight, Pansy turned to Hermione and asked, 'So, what was your question from earlier again?'

'You were saying that you had French and British clients and I was wondering why you had British clients in France.'

Pansy tilted her head, as if considering what she could say without breaking confidence, 'Pretty much all of the British clients are from pureblood families or closely linked to them. They learnt the risk of having all their assets tied to one government during the post-war trials; now they split it all between Britain, France and Switzerland, although it's largely the latter two.'

'What risks?' Hermione asked with a puzzled expression.

Pansy raised an eyebrow in surprise. 'I mean the risk of confiscation for war reparations and breaking the law. The Ministry of Magic brought in new laws during the war trials. The laws outlined that if 1) a person was found guilty of being a Death Eater, being sympathetic to that cause, or having assisted that cause, and 2) if they were sentenced to more than ten years imprisonment, then the entire immediate family's assets could be confiscated. In addition, if someone from such a family is found guilty of a serious post-war crime, any new assets of the immediate family can be confiscated.'

'No!' Hermione gasped in stunned outrage. 'My co-worker Cate mentioned that, but I thought she was mistaken!'

'She wasn't. That is why Theo, Blaise and I live and work overseas now. Many families remained in Britain, however they don't want to risk the Ministry finding them guilty of some trumped up charge and taking everything they have worked for.'

'That's horrible, I'm flabbergast that such a law was passed.'

'It was passed when a lot of people were suspended pending post-war investigations, so it was only a small group of people who were strongly on the 'light' side needed to vote in the law.'

Hermione shook her head in disappointment. 'Wait, you said Theo, Blaise and yourself. What about Draco and his mother?'

'He hasn't told you yet? I suppose you have only seen each other three times since you ran into each other here, and it's a bit of a delicate issue for him. I won't tell you the full story, that's his to tell, but I think he would tell you if you asked… Cissa—'

'Cissa?'

'It's what we call his mum, Narcissa.'

'Oh, sorry, you were saying?'

'Cissa, as she never had the Dark Mark and was a spy, was given a choice. The choice was pay a massive fine and be exiled for fifteen years from Britain, or be sentenced to five years in Azkaban and have heavy limitations on her magic for the rest of her life. Draco insisted she chose exile. He was furious at the treatment towards Lucius and Cissa, so joined her when she left Britain.'

'But she was on our side!'

'And to make matters ever harsher, all the Malfoy assets in Britain, except Malfoy Manor, had already been confiscated due to Lucius' life imprisonment, so the fine was a massive amount in addition.'

'What! Why was Lucius sentenced to life imprisonment?' Hermione demanded, unsure why she was so angry.

'For assisting the Dark Lord, allowing him to live in their home, and being sympathetic to the cause, and because Draco (who was underage at the time and therefore Lucius was legally responsible for him) and Lucius were Death Eaters. The Ministry said that, while they would normally confiscate everything due to their war activities, they could keep the manor as thanks for their assistance during the war.'

'But they were all spies! This is despicable treatment!'

'It was, if there is ever another war I think they will be hard pressed to get any spies,' Pansy replied bitterly.

'Does that mean they had to start from scratch when they moved here?'

'Thankfully no, the Malfoy's hail from France and the Ministry have been after their money for years, as a result they have long had funds and assets in France.'

'And this happened to many families?' Hermione asked, concerned.

'Oh yes, every family the Ministry could link to the charges they did, and they delivered the maximum punishments.'

'Well, that must be reducing post-war tensions,' Hermione said sarcastically. Thinking back to when she was in Britain, she recalled the homeless people on the street and the bias against Muggle-borns. The bias now made much more sense given that people had lost their money and homes; any who had kept their property would not want to work with the Muggle-born who helped the new Ministry take control.

'I'm staggered the Ministry would be so thoughtless,' Hermione admitted.

'Greedy and vengeful is probably a more apt description,' Pansy remarked sadly.

'Did they get all of your assets too?'

'Yes, Parkinson Manor is now a ministry official's summer home.'

Hermione grimaced.

'And Nott Manor is used as an Auror headquarters,' Pansy added.

'Dare I ask about Blaise's property?'

'He, like the Malfoy's, isn't British, so most of his assets were in Italy and he was neutral and in hiding with his mother during the war. They tried, but couldn't find anything. It didn't stop the Ministry for holding him and his mother for a week in Azkaban while they "searched" his home. Blaise was released with three broken ribs and a shattered arm.'

Hermione almost growled aloud at the injustice. 'I'm so sorry! I had no idea this was happening. Thank you for putting the past behind and still being my friend after I worked alongside the people who did this,' Hermione asked in a sotto voice.

'Oh, you are nothing like those people. You gave us all a second chance. And Draco is smitten with you. Are you two officially dating yet?'

Hermione blushed, 'Yes.'

'Yay!' Pansy exclaimed as she clapped her hands together with a grin. The conversation quickly moved onto happier topics, but Hermione did not forget the injustices that had and probably still were occurring. She needed to begin her law reforms as soon as possible.


A/N: What did you think? Anything you particularly like/dislike? What scenes to you want to read in the rest of the story? Thanks for reading!