A/N: Hope you like it!

Tiredly blinking her eyes open the following morning, Hermione forgot for a moment where she was and why in Merlin's name she felt as though she'd fallen down the edge of a cliff.

Only as she glanced down to find an arm wrapped warmly around her body, pulling her in closer, did she remember.

Cheeks flushing with heat, she fell deep into the memory of what happened the night before. The way he ran after her, told her exactly how he felt and then kissed her on the beach, in the warmth of the shower and on top of the bed, giving her a night that she wouldn't soon forget. Tingling all over at just the thought of it, she closed her eyes to live in those memories just a little longer.

I suppose there's no denying it now, she thought to herself in the quiet of her mind. I have real … genuine feelings for you, Draco Malfoy.

Deep down she was terrified of what that meant.

It was no secret that her last relationship had ended badly. Although she and Ron had reached an agreement once everything was said and done, she knew in the back of her mind that things were never going to be the same between them. Not only had she lost a boyfriend that night … she had also lost her closest friend.

She couldn't bear the thought of going through that again.

Getting close to someone, building a life together and then holding on for dear life as it fell apart.

With a deep breath she turned around, facing Malfoy as he slept, his arm still draped comfortably around her waist. There were so many things she wished she could have said just then, countless thoughts running through her mind as she looked to him, inches away.

Did it mean as much to you as it did to me?

Was it just the heat of the moment?

Are you going to hurt me now that you have me?

She hated that those were her first thoughts after such an amazing night together, but if there was one thing for which this particular wizard had always had a talent, it was knowing exactly how to hurt her.

The past had felt so distant earlier, but looking at him now, the past was all she could think of.

What are Harry and Ginny going to think?

What are my parents going to think?

What are his parents going to think?

Swallowing at the thought of the last bit, she set aside her worries, knowing deep down that was getting a little carried away. They had only just had sex together for the first time. He hadn't even asked her on a date yet.

I suppose I could always ask him …

But I don't want to come on too strong.

Especially after what I said last night.

Why did I say that?

Let's hope he doesn't remember.

She tensed up a little, hurriedly snapping out of it to find that he was awake, the grey of his eyes fixed squarely on her as if he'd been awake all along.

"What's on your mind?" he asked her in the quiet after, the slight roughness of his morning voice rendering her silent for a couple of seconds.

Parting her lips to tell him it was nothing, she swiftly stopped herself, knowing in the back of her mind that it was best to simply tell him the truth no matter how embarrassing it was. "Do you … do you still feel the same … after last night?"

There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "Of course," he uttered, without the smallest trace of a smirk on his lips. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I-I don't know. I just thought … I just thought after what happened you might … you might lose interest in … in …"

"Hermione," he cut in gently, locking eyes with her before he said the rest. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but … it's going to take more than just one amazing night together in order for you to get rid of me."

She waited for him to turn it into a joke, the knots in her chest slowly unraveling as the sincerity in his words came through. "I'm glad to hear that."

Without wasting another second he gave her a small kiss, the faintest smile on his lips afterward. "You're quite cute first thing in the morning."

"Cute?" she repeated, laughingly. "That's one word I never thought I'd hear from you."

"What would you prefer?" he inquired. "Beautiful, sexy … ravishing …"

Smiling a little, she bit her bottom lip as he gently pulled her in closer. "Ravishing has a nice ring to it."

He smirked in response, smoothly kissing her again. "I'm taking you on a date."

"Now?"

"Unless you'd rather spend the day in here … in which case, I'm more than willing to make that happen."

Chuckling at that, she sat up just as he was about to lean in for another kiss. "As much as I would love to go for round two, I've got to take my potion and wish Parkinson a happy birthday."

He flopped onto his back, exhaling deeply. "If you must."

With that she arose, giving him full view of her body as she climbed out of bed and proceeded to the bathroom.

"Speaking of love …" he called out all of a sudden, making her throat swiftly clench as she froze in front of the bathroom mirror, her vial of weekly potion nearly slipping through her fingers. "I would love to explore the city before we leave tomorrow. What do you think?"

Insides jumbling up, she hurriedly downed her potion, setting the empty vial down after. "Th-that sounds great. I'll … have a look through Daphne's travel booklet to see what we can do."

"I would love that."

Quietly stirring sugar into his morning coffee, Theo avoided looking at her as best he could.

In part he still had no idea what was going on, but he knew better than to scare her away with the questions that were floating through his mind. He wanted to know what was wrong, why she had jumped to the bottom of the pool in the middle of the night for a necklace that she had thrown in his face just a few hours prior to that, and most importantly why she had cried on his shoulder for nearly the entire night.

Deep down it broke him a little bit to see her like that.

Not once in the past ten years, had he ever seen her cry.

He wasn't sure when it had started or ended, just that he'd risen in the early hours of the morning in bed beside her, the towels still bundled around her wet clothes and her head still resting on his shoulder.

For a split second he'd thought to stay, eventually deciding that it was best to give her space.

With effort he'd managed to climb out of bed and get ready for the day without waking her up. It was only a couple of hours later at the breakfast table, as Blaise, Tracey and Daphne came down to eat and to chat about their plans for the day, that he realized maybe he should have at least said something before he left her in the room alone.

She quietly climbed down the steps, showered and dressed and just a bit puffy around the eyes as if she had stayed up most of the night.

"Happy birthday!" Blaise cut in, rising from the table and giving her a big, brotherly hug, swiftly followed by Tracey and Daphne.

Cheeks flushing a little, Pansy forced her lips into a believable smile. "Thanks."

Moments later they were all settled at the breakfast table, discussing the arrangements that they'd made to go shopping and then to go on a dinner cruise through Phang Nga Bay later at night. To Theo's knowledge, Tracey and Daphne had also prepared a birthday cake for Pansy, but they had decided to keep that bit a surprise.

"I was thinking we could split up in the city, do a bit of exploring on our own or in pairs and then meet back here later to go on the dinner cruise," Daphne suggested, glancing around the table as the others collectively nodded. "Good. If anyone needs a map, I've left a few in the lounge."

Blaise couldn't help but snort. "Could you be any more of a mother?"

Rolling her eyes, Daphne calmly continued cutting her pancakes into neat little pieces. "We both know you have no sense of direction, Zabini."

He glanced quickly at his girlfriend after that, catching a swift yet telling glimpse of the laughter that tickled her lips. "You told her?"

"Oh, don't be like that," Tracey said to him, cutely. "It's perfectly normal for wizards your age to … er … not know where certain things are on a witch's body."

"I've always known where it is!"

"Then why did you try to stick your entire tongue inside me the first time we had sex?"

Well, there goes my appetite.

"I thought you liked that!"

"No one likes that."

"You liked it enough to ride my face after I did it!"

"Only because I knew that was the only way I was going to get off that night!"

On the other side of the table, Daphne pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, darting a quick look at Pansy afterward to see whether she was laughing, too.

Suffice to say she wasn't.

In fact she was completely out of it, staring off into nothingness and just sitting there, poking at her pancakes without putting a single piece into her mouth.

It was only then that Daphne glanced to Theo, realizing very quickly that he'd not said a word to anyone all morning. The moment she opened her mouth, either to ask him what was going on or to insert her opinion like she always did, the latecomers came wandering into the kitchen slowly and discreetly as if trying to conceal the fact that they'd spent the night together in more than one way.

Everyone knew.

The walls in the villa were thin and they'd neglected to silence their room.

"Good morning, everyone …" Hermione greeted them politely, settling into the seat beside Theo as Draco settled into the seat on the far end of the table, beside Blaise.

Tracey was the first to speak, smiling brightly at the brunette. "You look especially nice today … glowing as a matter of fact."

Swallowing a bit, Hermione tried not to make it obvious. "I, er … I've switched to a new toner."

"Does this toner contain … snake extract?" Daphne inquired, in no particular way.

"Er …"

Blaise set his coffee cup down, loudly. "I can't hold it in any longer," he decided, looking to the latecomers. "How was it? Are you together now? Will you be naming your first child after me?"

Choking on the mouthful of water that he'd tried to swallow, Draco's face drained of colour as he glanced to his friend. "Good morning to you, too."

"We're going on a dinner cruise for Pansy's birthday tonight," Daphne gently cut in. "So, er … if anyone here wants to have alone time with anyone else … you've got until five o'clock."

Tracey could barely contained her excitement. "For what it's worth, I think you two will make an absolutely beautiful couple," she said to the latecomers, bringing a warm flush to their cheeks as they glanced to each other and then down at their breakfast.

Later That Day

"Oh, let's try that one!" Granger blurted out loud, letting go of Draco's hand as she rushed to one of the food stands at the outdoor market, ordering two skewers of what appeared to be some sort of grilled, squiggly creature.

Stomach lurching a little bit, he tried not to show it in his face as she came rushing back, handing him one of the skewers. "Er … you have it. I'm still a bit full from breakfast," he uttered, trying not to look her directly in the eyes as he said it.

She snorted with laughter. "It's just squid. You'll be fine."

"Do you know what squids look like?" he asked, his eyes widening as she devoured hers in just a few bites.

"One bite," she said to him, encouragingly. "If you don't like it, we can go to that sit down place you were talking about earlier."

Tightening his hand around the shopping bags that he had so kindly carried for her, Draco stared down at the skewer, imagining what the squid must have looked like when it was alive and all … squiggly. "The things I do for you," he sighed, scrunching his face and slowly tilting his head for a small, practically non-existent bite.

In front of him, Granger couldn't help but laugh a little bit, the vendors around them joining in as Draco slowly but surely bit off a piece of the squid.

Hurriedly chewing and swallowing it, he opened his eyes afterwards to find that he had survived. "That … wasn't bad," he confessed, hesitantly finishing the rest of it so it didn't go to waste.

"I told you," Granger chuckled, sliding her hand in his and then standing on her toes to give him a small kiss on the cheek once he was finished. "So, what do you want to do next? I heard there's a drink stand somewhere around here that sells the best guava juice in all of … of …"

Draco couldn't tear his eyes away from her no matter how hard he tried, knowing deep down that he should have just told her how he felt that first night. That way they'd at least have had another day together in Phuket.

"I don't have squid on my face, do I?" she asked, hurriedly wiping at her lips.

With a small laugh, he shook his head. "No, I just …"

"You just?"

"I've never had a first date like this," he admitted, walking through the market with her, hand-in-hand. "Usually it's balls, fine dining, opera …"

She fixed her gaze ahead, slightly embarrassed. "Right."

"I prefer this," he smiled, giving her hand a small squeeze.

"You're sure you wouldn't prefer a night of Puccini?" she asked, curiously.

"Not a chance."

She smiled, softly. "Good."

"Verdi on the other hand …" Unable to keep it going once her mouth fell open, he laughed. "I'm joking, Granger. Honestly I'm just glad to be here with you. I wish we had more time."

"I was thinking the same thing," she agreed, once the embarrassed flush in her cheeks had faded. "What do you think it's going to be like at The Academy? Surely people are going to talk once it becomes clear that we're … whatever we are."

He glanced to her, calmly and in no particular way. "What would you say we are?"

"Er …" Swallowing the lump in her throat, Granger shrugged. "I suppose we're … dating."

"You're cute when you're nervous, you know that?"

"Maybe I'm just cute all around," she inserted, unable to keep a straight face.

Laughing alongside her, Draco gave her a hand another small squeeze. "Squid breath and all."

Later That Night

To no one's surprise, Phang Nga Bay was absolutely beautiful at night.

The skies were dark and beautiful and decorated in stars, and the waters down below were steady and relaxing. In the distance there were a couple of other boats floating around, the glow of them dancing across the surface of the water.

"I can't believe it's already our last night here," Tracey uttered once everyone had settled into the dinner table inside.

There were nods around the table, from everyone except Pansy.

Deep in thought, she forced herself to eat a few bites if only to keep her friends from worrying. It was her birthday and yet, she felt completely outside of herself. She'd felt that way all day, since the previous night as a matter of fact.

"We should come back once the term is over," Blaise suggested. "Get a bigger villa, maybe bring some more people …"

Daphne scrunched her lips in thought. "That could work. I'll get started on the planning."

"No, no. I'll take care of the planning," Tracey went on to say, earning a surprised look from the other witch. "I want you to focus on meeting someone."

"Not this again," Daphne sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you lot? I have no interest in dating right now."

Tracey fixed a knowing look on her friend. "It's been a year since your last relationship, Daph."

"So?"

"So, maybe it's time to get back out there," she furthered, bouncing a look at Theo after. "There's a perfectly dateable wizard sitting at this table as we speak."

Only then did Pansy snap out of her thoughts, glancing around at everyone to find that they were staring between Theo and Daphne, the music on the boat humming faintly in the background as their server for the night came around with another bottle of wine.

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Blaise agreed, breaking the silence that had fallen over the table. "Now that I think about it, Daph and Theo would be quite good together, wouldn't they?"

"I've always thought so," Tracey smiled.

Draco chimed in as well. "They do have a lot in common," he shrugged.

It was only Granger who remained silent, looking to Theo as if she knew something that perhaps the others didn't know.

Without a word Pansy downed a mouthful of wine, deciding in the quiet of her mind that if she was going to feel like shit on her birthday no matter what, she at least had the right to get a little bit drunk along the way.

Don't think.

Don't feel.

Just be.

Once they'd finished eating and once the lights had been dimmed so they could dance and have a bit of fun during their last couple of hours on the boat, Pansy cleaned her third glass of wine, the lack of food that she'd eaten that day, coming back to kick her swiftly in the gut. Normally she'd have been fine after three small glasses, but the swaying of the boat and the feelings that she had held in all day, had only added to the manner in which the wine had branched through every inch of her body.

At some point it had all just faded.

She wasn't sad anymore.

She was smiling, laughing, dancing with her friends.

She had even snapped a photograph with Granger.

There was only one person she had avoided, even in her drunken state. She couldn't bear to look at him, not after having woken up in his bed alone. What was I thinking last night? Jumping into the pool for that stupid necklace. He probably thinks I'm a crazy person now. Setting aside those feelings she took a shot with Granger and Daphne, distantly aware that the lights had grown even dimmer in the moments after.

It was then that she turned around, following everyone's line of sight to find Tracey walking over to her slowly, a beautifully decorated cake in her hands.

Happy 20th Birthday, Pansy!

The others were singing, smiling, their faces bright and full of excitement.

Glancing down at the cake as Tracey placed it front of her, the candles glowing and the flash of a few different cameras blinding her vision for a moment, Pansy tensed up. She couldn't think. She couldn't feel. She could hardly remember what she was supposed to do, let alone do it believably enough.

"Make a wish!" one of them urged, brightly and happily as ever.

Right.

A wish.

Have I got one of those?

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, trying her absolute best to think clearly. To form even a single coherent thought without falling into those dark places again.

He watched in silence as she blew out the candles, the others clapping and cheering and snapping photographs as if all was right in the word.

At first he'd not immediately noticed that she'd been drinking so much. In fact she had only had a few glasses and a shot, no more than any of the others. Were it not for the emptiness in her eyes as she danced and laughed and smiled for photographs, he would never have known how bad she was struggling.

It was only after they'd finished the cake and continued dancing, that he saw her duck away from everyone else, pushing through the doors and stepping out onto the bow of the vessel.

Without thinking twice, he followed her.

The winds outside were brisk, rippling through his hair and the skirts of her flowy black dress as he quietly approached her, slowing just a few steps away.

She was grasping onto the railing, breathing in and out as if trying to gather her senses.

For a split second he parted his lips to say something, the words he'd held onto all day, plunging all the way down his throat as he watched her open her clutch and pull the necklace out of it. The necklace he'd given her for her birthday. He wondered if maybe she was going to toss it into the ocean, but she didn't.

Instead she held it, allowing the silver pendant to dangle from her fingertips as she glanced down at it, almost longingly.

Setting aside the confusion that had been grappling at his chest since the other night, Theo came forward a step, slowly. "Pansy?" he uttered out loud, cutting a hole through the silence so swiftly, he sent a jolt of panic through the witch.

In an instant she jumped around, stumbling backwards into the railing and grasping onto it as she lost her footing. "Merlin's sake, Theo. Y-you scared me half to … to … to …" Her chest fell, the realization hitting her quickly as she glanced down at her hands and at the flooring and then over the rail. "No … no, no, no! I dropped it in the … in the … I have to get it … I-I have to … to …"

"Pansy, no!" he shouted, racing over to the witch and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her to safety before he'd even had a moment to make sense of what had nearly happened.

He stayed like that, holding her until she stopped struggling.

Only then did he loosen his hold on her, fully prepared to back off and to tell Daphne or Draco or one of the others to keep an eye on her, when suddenly she sunk into his arms in such a way that he didn't dare move.

Instead he held on, the voice in his head reminding him that she was drunk and that she probably had no idea what she was doing.

Slowly he pulled away, glancing down at her as she blinked up at him.

"You probably think I'm crazy," she uttered to him, practically whispering it. "Trying to jump off the edge of a boat for a necklace …"

Quite a few words came to mind when he thought of her, but crazy wasn't one of them. "I guess now is a good time to tell you that it's caught on your dress."

"Wh-what?" Cheeks flushing with embarrassment, she glanced down to find that he was right.

It was there.

The necklace was right there, clinging to her dress.

Without a word he knelt down in front of her, carefully separating the necklace from the skirt of her dress without tearing it. She turned around in the moments after, brushing the hair away from her neck and leaving it bare for him as he rose to his feet, inches away from her.

There was a soft hitch in his chest as he realized what she wanted him to do.

Hovering there in silence, he draped the necklace along her collarbone, allowing the pendant to rest down the middle as he quietly fastened the clasp in the back.

Only then did she turn around, slowly facing him.

Wordless for a moment, he uttered the first and only words that felt right, the only words that he had neglected to say. "Happy birthday."

She glanced down as if to hide the colour that warmed her cheeks. "Thanks."

In just a day things had changed so much.

He could hardly process it.

"Do you … do you want to go back?" he asked, nodding to the door beyond which the rest of the group was still dancing the night away.

Parting her lips for a moment as if to say something, she eventually shook her head no. "I, er … I think I'll stay out here for a bit longer. Y-you can go back if you want. I'll be fine."

His mouth dried a little as he opened it, trying to form a response.

Truthfully he wanted to stay.

It was like that morning all over again, except this time he followed his instincts.

Sliding his hands in his pockets, he stood right there with her, looking out into the calm waters as they fell deep into their thoughts.

"Do you want to know what I wished for?" she asked, after a moment or two of silence.

He hesitated, a brush of uncertainty in his eyes. "If you tell me, it won't come true."

Breathing in deeply at that, she allowed those words to sink in a little deeper before she gave him a few of her own, focused on the waters ahead. "I wished that you and Daphne would fall in love and be together from now until the end of time."

There was a beat of silence after she said that, during which time he glanced to her, not a word of response escaping his lips.

He had no idea what to say to that.

He had no idea what to think.

He had no idea at all.

All he could really do in that moment was stay right there with her, the music from inside echoing faintly in the background.

Somehow, somewhere along the line, her birthday had ended in a much different way than it had started.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Thoughts?