Hermione looked at her watch for what seemed to be the hundredth time

A/N: Well I got it up by my Sunday deadline, which is amazing because I think I re-wrote this bad boy, like 5 times. No joke. I also got sorta distracted with a Completely AWESOME story. It's called 'Love and Forgiveness' and it's definitely worth the read if you like Dramione. Anyway, I wanted to give a special thank you to MaxRideFan, who always Reviews and helps me on my story and did so last week even though she was sick. Thanks hun, your awesome. And, of course, A HUGE thank you to everyone who reads and/or reviews my story. You guys really are the best. Along with my Beta LikeLuna, who never fails to remind me to write every time we talk. Haha.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that I found another for my story and soon, she and I will be going back and revamping/fixing FTA. Can't wait.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AT THE DRAMIONE AWARDS ON LIVEJOURNAL. There are so many fantabulous stories there.

Like usual I don't own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with it…I'm just not that lucky.

Onward with the story…

Previous Chapter:

"Well, if you still want to go, I wanted to accompany you."

"Really? Why?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Because I thought it would be a good chance for us to talk." Hermione said, somewhat nervously, but determined none the less.

"Is seven okay?" He asked, trying to maintain a calm demeanor.

"Seven's great." She flashed him a brief smile, before rushing off through their adjourning door.

He heard the door click, and only then did he allow the smile to creep onto his face.

Chapter 23…Rebirth…

Hermione stopped in the doorway. The door was open and she had a perfect side view of Draco as he finished getting ready. What it was that took him so long was a mystery to her, but whatever it was had put him a tad bit behind. Not that she minded. As she stood in the shadows, watching him go about his routine, she wondered at the fact that she had no idea what his routine was. They had been married for months and she had no clue what type of bath potion he liked or if he preferred to shower in the mornings or at night, or even if he picked his clothes before he went to bed. "Not like it matters" she mumbled, and then promptly snapped her mouth shut; hoping he didn't hear. She didn't fancy trying to explain why she was hiding in the doorway.

When he didn't look up from the lace he was tying on his shoe she figured she was in the clear. Finally releasing the breath she had been holding, Hermione wondered why she just didn't go back to her room and wait for him to be done; or better still just walk into his and hurry his slow moving arse along. In the end she did neither, but slipped back into her earlier musings on what his 'plans' entailed. He had sent an elf to tell her not to change, and that just fanned the flame of her growing curiosity,

"Are you just going to stand in the doorway all night?" His voice, full of humor, shook her from her reverie.

He had finished with his shoes and was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her watch him. He had known the moment she'd gotten there, she sneaking skills were rubbish.

Realizing she'd been caught, she blushed as she walked into the room. "So, you're finally ready."

"All the daydreaming you were doing, I didn't think you were in a rush." He smiled as her cheeks went from rosy to scarlet. He was sure that if he mentioned it again she would rival a tomato for color. "Dreaming about me were you?" he wiggled his eyebrows, and was rewarded when she turned the exact color he'd anticipated.

"Actually I was thinking about bath potion." She spouted out the first thing that came to mind; because she definitely wasn't going to say 'oh I was thinking about how you were right and I don't know that much about you except that your gorgeous and make me think about inappropriate things'.

"Bath potion?" he asked skeptically

"Bath potion." She repeated. Your bath potion. She added in her mind, after making sure it was carefully closed.

"What exactly is so engrossing about bath potion that you needed to contemplate it for 5 minutes?" He refused to believe that that was what she was thinking of. There were just certain things a blokes pride shouldn't have to handle; and having one's wife contemplate the shopping list while she watched you dressed was high among them.

"I was just thinking about the possible types….can we discuss something else, please." She was running out of evasive answers and her cheeks were starting to burn.

"How 'bout we just go." bath potion… He shuddered. And to think, I use to have to fight off girls.

"Fine with me." She said; relief evident on her face. "Where are we going anyway?" She asked, as she preceded him out the other side of the room, into the main hallway.

"Out" was the dry reply.

"Oh that's loads of help" She said.

"Good"

"I was being sarcastic you git. Out where? And where are you going…the apparation room is that way." She pointed down the stairway he just walked by.

"Thanks…I'm glad you told me, would have never have known otherwise"

She thought she heard a hint of laughter in his voice, but she couldn't be sure as his back was to her. "I thought we were going out?" she asked.

"We are"

"Well then why are we walking away from the exit?" Hermione didn't bother to hide her exasperation. He was picking on her. Logically, she knew that; but she didn't have it in her to just be led around like a docile little sheep.

"Because…oh clever one…there is more than one exit."

"The floo is back that way too."

"Are you going to nag about this the whole way?" He questioned with an outward sigh of resignation, although inside he was euphoric. He had missed the little battles of wits they had.

"No…just until you tell me where we're going" she gave him a sickeningly sweet smile when he glanced back at her.

"Then you might want to take a deep breath before you start, because you're going to be at it until we get there."

"You could just tell me."

"Then it couldn't be classified as a surprise." He smirked as they walked down a flight of stairs he figured she hadn't been on. He'd opted on a round about way, just to annoy her.

"I don't really like surprises."

"Now there's a big a surprise." His sarcasm, though more evident than hers, earned him a swat on the back. "Owww…I can be as kinky as the next bloke, but next time a little warning might be in order." Her reply was to smack him again. "Oww...violent little minx aren't you."

"It's an allergic reaction to git's. I get near one, and my hand just connects" she demonstrated again, much to his amusement.

"I'm going to have bruises because of you."

"Oh I'm so sorry…I forgot how delicate you are." It was her turn to laugh. His un-amused glare would have burned holes through a lesser person.

"Come on, minx." He growled as he held open the door, and laughed as he heard something that sounded suspiciously like "git".

Lights burst into life as soon as she stepped over the threshold. It wasn't one of the more commonly used rooms, but she recognized it from the brief tour he had given her months before. "I know that wasn't the quickest way to get here."

"No, but it was the most amusing." He smiled.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat, it was that smile again; that genuinely happy smile that made her heart flutter and her blood boil. She turned to study the room, while she got the butterflies in her stomach under control.

By Malfoy standards, the room was sparsely furnished. Two antique sofas and a couple of arm chairs situated in semi circles, along with a tea table were the only pieces of furniture. Three of the four walls were decorated with richly embroidered, floor length tapestries. The fourth wall housed the most prominent fixture; a fireplace that took up the entire wall, floor to ceiling. "Are we expecting company….the entire school perhaps?" she asked.

"No, just the Slytherins…I'm joking" he added, when she snapped back around to face him, a look of utter shock on her face.

"Lucky for you…."

"Come on" he took her hand and retrieved some green powder from an ornate niche carved into the fireplace opening.

"Where are we"

"Villa Major" he shouted, effectively cutting her off.

Hermione snapped her mouth shut as soon as the green flames rose up. The last thing she needed was a mouth full of soot. She shut her eyes as empty rooms zoomed by in a hazy blur. She vaguely wondered, yet again, where they were going and why they had to take this fireplace as apposed to the one they generally used in his study. She didn't have long to worry though. They were slowing down, and she instinctively gripped his hand tighter, lest she fall out before they reached their destination.

Stepping out of the fireplace, her first thought was they were back at the manor. Upon closer inspection she realized the furniture here was indeed different, just situated the same; and instead of a large set of twin oak doors, there were open archways. She was getting ready to explore when Draco grabbed her hand again, and before she could get off a squeak of protest he turned on the spot and they were gone.

The familiar feeling of being squeezed through a straw hit her all the harder for its unexpectedness. Not that she got to mention that either; as soon as they touched ground, he turned and they were going back through again. That happened twice more in rapid succession before she was finally able to breathe normally again.

"You okay?" Draco asked, noting her pale skin and shallow breathing.

"Fine…just give me a minute." She replied, making a mental note never to floo and apparate in rapid succession again. Once the earth stopped spinning and her stomach was no longer lodged in her throat, she was able to note their surroundings. "It's a beach."

"So it is." Draco answered, relaxing a bit more now that she had regained some of her color. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda prone to motion sickness and that was a lot of motion." She joked. "So where exactly is this? It's beautiful…"

"Come here and I'll show you." he walked her towards the beach, where the pier stretched out over the water like a spectral arm. Pulling his wand from the invisible pocket in his slacks, we waved it over the surface of the water before turning back to her, "look down."

Nothing can compare to a persons first glimpse into another world. The colliding emotions, the rapture, the awe, the curiosity, were all laid bare on Hermione's face as she leaned over the pier.

"Those are water nymphs." She whispered breathlessly, afraid to scare them from their play.

"yes they are." Draco absorbed the beauty of the moment. The first time he'd come to see them he hadn't cared much as he wasn't allowed to touch or play with them. But as he got older he found he liked watching them. Like all nymphs, water nymphs were creatures of pleasure. They lived to play. They danced and frolicked through the coral, as if their life depended on it, and maybe it did. Some believed that they actually gave life to the plants, but Draco fond he didn't really care about the technicalities of them, just the carefree feelings they seemed to embody. He found himself coming here more and more during the summer breaks; he had grown attached to the little islands and was innately pleased to see that he had guessed right and she seemed to like it here too.

Tearing his gaze away from the ethereal creatures, he instead studied the one next to him. He had given a lot of thought about how he was going to garner her affections. All the way up until he had taken a shower he had had reservations at the most lavish restaurant in London, the balcony terrace to be precise. The perfect romantic dinner for two, enough to make most girls drool with envy. In fact he had been feeling pretty proud of himself until he realized that his Hermione wasn't most girls. The fact that he overlooked that was absurd, it was the reason he was so enamored with her. She was different and he loved that about her, but it also made it damned hard to impress her. After fair bit of thought, and a colorful and creative array of profanity, his thoughts had turned to his island.

He was gifted with it for his 6th birthday, became interested in it on his 13th, and had never contemplated, much less followed through, with bringing another person to his haven. To put it simply it was his haven. A world he could disappear to. He had never wanted to share his secrets with other people, but he found he wanted her to understand him, to know him, all of him. Just like he wanted to know all of her, and if everything turned out the way he planned, he would get his chance. Smiling slightly, he sat back against one of the pier posts and continued to watch her, absorbed as she was in the underwater life.

The sun had long since gone down, before Hermione finally tore her eyes from the underwater scene. She turned to her left expecting to see Draco sitting there with her, but all she saw was a note with a single orchid sitting on top.

Minx,

Follow the path back, but take the right fork instead of the left. See you soon

D

Smiling, Hermione quickly conjured a clip and attached the flower to her hair, before taking off down the path and to the right. In what felt like seconds she was standing at the base of a very large sand dune, on top of which she could just make out the shadow of a person. Deciding that apparating was the best choice, she disappeared with an audible pop and reappeared right next to him.

"Hey" He said, to the girl that suddenly appeared next to him. He noted, with no small amount of pleasure, that a single flower was added to her hair.

"Hi. What were you looking at?" Hermione asked curiously.

"You." he stated casually.

Her look of confusion gave way to understanding as she turned and saw the pier, illuminated by the full moon, trough a gap in the palm trees. "This is really one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Thank you for bringing me and thank you for my flower." she said softly.

"My pleasure. Are you hungry?"

"Starving" she replied grinning. "It's the reason I actually got up. I was afraid my growling stomach would frighten the nymphs."

Her chiming laughter echoed through the night and the sound became contagious as he soon joined in. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I got food."

Not too far from where he had been sitting, a blanket and some large pillows had been laid out, along with a wide selection of delicious looking food.

"Wow, it looks wonderful." She remarked, eyeing the food as she sat on one of the cushions.

"Of course, I slaved for hours over a hot stove to make it." He took the other pillow and started serving a little of the food on both plates. He handed her one, as he was pouring wine into the two glasses he asked, "So tell me what you think of the Water Nymphs."

She seemed to have been waiting for an opportunity to discuss it, because the topic lasted throughout dinner. Though she of course had read about them, she had never had a chance to see them. They stood about as high as a standard ruler, and lived leagues under the sea. Needless to say, they were hard to locate; especially when majority of the planet was made up of water.

Draco listened to her talk, occasionally throwing in comments here and there, or relaying a particular memory he had of them. By the time they were eating desert her curiosity caught up with her.

"But how did you find them?"

"They were here when I got the Island."

"This is your Island?" she asked, although why that surprised her she didn't know.

"Of course, it was a birthday present from my Grandfather before he died. I was six I think."

She nodded. "So he got it for you, knowing there were Nymphs here?"

"Sure, it's a protected land mass. The ministry wants to keep it a safe place for the Nymphs, but that costs money and requires constant renewal of spells and such to keep the sea urchins away." And excited 'yes they like to eat them,' interrupted him. But he laughed and continued. "Yeah they do. So with the promise to keep them protected, my grandfather was allowed to buy the island and here we sit."

"A whole entire island to yourself." She shook her head at the thought.

"It's actually apart of a chain of Islands, off the coast of Greece. The main Island, which is where the main house is, and then there are two more besides this one. One is my father's and the other belongs to my mother."

"Why do they have separate Islands, not that having an island is by any means normal, but why do they each need one. If they were vacationing then wouldn't they be together?"

"I guess. To be honest I've never actually seen them go to either one." He shrugged "they usually stay at the Villa."

Hermione refrained from commenting about the terrible waste that was. The night was too perfect to be ruined with petty bickering. On the end of that realization came another, much more serious one; the night was indeed a perfect night, but it was probably going to end in a row. They had yet to actually talk about anything involving them, which was what she had planned on doing, and she couldn't see that conversation going anywhere pleasant.

"You're quiet all of a sudden." He stated, swirling the contents of his glass.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked suddenly, hoping to hear something positive about the person that was Draco Malfoy.

"Ahh…so we've come to that." He drawled. "Well, I've got a counter question…why did you come with me?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you." she answered honestly

"We could have talked at the manor."

"I suppose, but you had said you made plans…and I realized at the time I wasn't behaving in the most gracious of manners, but you have to admit you were being a bigger git than usual, but anyway; later I figured I might have just overreacted a tiny bit and it's not like you were asking a whole lot. Just to go out that night, and I wasn't doing anything anyway. So I came. Besides I wanted to talk to you and this is where you were going."

"What I gather from that was, you felt guilty about getting mad over nothing and so decided to humor me." there was a definite bite in his tone.

"No, that's not it at all. If I had just felt guilty I would have apologized and called it a night." She corrected gently. "Like I said I wanted to talk to you anyway. And after much contemplation I thought it was a good idea you had, for us to go out…you know, just the two of us. To be honest I don't think we've ever gone out by ourselves before."

His male ego properly soothed Draco took a drink before saying. "You right we haven't. I brought you here because I like it here. It's peaceful and I thought you might enjoy it too."

"I do, thank you." there was a pause before she continued. "You were right you know." she said slowly, building up her courage.

"I usually am. What about this time?"

"Don't be a git." She chided, her tone laced with resignation but a hint of affection too. "You were right when you said; I don't know a thing about what you want. I thought I did. But I didn't…and…and I'm sorry for assuming I did…both now and then."

Draco had been expecting that, but instead of the usual joy he got out of being right, all he felt was a desire for her to be happy again. If Blaise could se me now. He thought sardonically. "Well, I can't say I gave you too many reasons to believe otherwise. So let's just call it a mutual mistake."

"No, you shouldn't have to give people a reason to want to see the truth. It was my mistake, and I'll take responsibility for it. But thank you."

"Apology accepted, I guess."

She nodded, and then asked the question that had been plaguing her all day. "So what do you want?" His mischievous grin would have warned anyone else that he was up to something. Unfortunately for her she didn't see it, as she had chosen that moment to start cleaning up some of the mess. One minute she was vanishing left over food, and the next she was sailing through the air, to land on his lap. "What in the world!!" she shrieked.

"Stop flailing, I'm not going to drop you, minx." His voice was muffled as he dodged her arms.

She looked over her shoulder at him, "what did you move me for?"

"Cause I like you better over here."

"Of all the preposterous…" her voice was slightly miffed, but you couldn't fail to notice the amusement hovering just under the surface, as she settled herself down more comfortably.

"Back to your question, I believe you asked me what I wanted."

"So I did. I thought it best to go straight to the source." Especially since no one else would give me a straight answer.

"Well I could tell you, but that might take a while and I have a better idea. I propose we start over."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard. We start over. No more assumptions, no more judgments."

"A clean slate, so to speak."

"Just so. We can get to know each other and see if we can't figure out what the other wants."

"And how would we do that?"

"Like most married people do I suppose, by spending time together…or some such, I don't know…that's your area of expertise. I came up with the idea." He groused.

"Well I think it's a grand idea." She flipped over in a rush, causing him to hiss in pain as her elbow dug into his rib. "Sorry. We could do something or go somewhere like once or twice a week, just us two. And we could study together…"

She continued on but he really didn't need to pay attention to it. He'd accomplished his goal. He now had a reason to seek her out and spend time with her, without her being the least bit suspicious. He would spend as much time with her as possible, and soon she would fall in love with him, and they would be happy. He smiled contently as he laid on his back, fiddling with her hair as she spouted off other things they could do to learn about each other. She really was doing all of his work for him.

"…And we can invite the entire Weasley family to the manor to stay for a week."

"Hold on what?" he asked more than a little shocked by her last suggestion. He wondered what other ridiculous things she'd included.

"I was just making sure you were listening." She grinned.

"That wasn't even funny." He didn't want to even think about trying to explain to his father why the Weasley's were living at the Manor. Lucius would crucio him, and he didn't think he could blame him.

"There really not that bad you know."

"Doesn't mean I want them to live with me." he retorted.

She didn't have an argument for that one, so she just let it go. "So when did you come up with this brilliant plan of yours?"

"Earlier today." He said distractedly, it had been an tiring day and the idea of closing his eyes for a moment was very appealing.

"Oh…" she laid her head down, liking the idea of having a rest.

The time past in a companionable silence and it wasn't until he felt his breathing start to even out did he think it might be time to pack up and call it a night.

"Are you still awake?" he whispered.

"Uh-huh." Was the sleepy reply that meant she was awake, but only just.

"Roll over a bit, and lay on the pillow for a sec."

"Why? I like it much better here."

Even half asleep she was inquisitive, but he was too caught up in her confession to pay much attention to her know-it-all tendencies. "Just give me a minute."

She rolled over onto the pillow with minimal fuss, and he was able to vanish the rest of their dinner. A few more deft wand motions, and a bed sat where the blanket had been, their day clothes had been transfigured into night clothes and a few protective charms had been placed around them; it was a deserted island but one could never be too careful. All in all it wasn't a bad job for someone who was on the verge of sleep himself. It beat apparating anywhere, at any rate.

Sighing with pleasure as his head hit the feather pillow, he whispered "Good night, minx" to the now sound asleep Hermione, and let himself float off into slumber.