I've taken a look at the numbers and WOW! So many followers, reviewers, and support! I can't thank you enough, you and my dear Magzillasaurus for her beta work. Enjoy the Aqua-gym!


Day Thirty-Seven

*Thirty-Six part three*

The knowledge of Draco's mindset changed her spirit tremendously; no matter how much she wanted to push it into the background, it kept crawling back to the forefront. During the little thing at the bar, during dinner at the Meridian and while they were soaking away today's sweat in a foamy bath.

"Something bothering you, love?" The object of her mind-troubles rubbed his thumb over her cheek after he turned her face to him. She was unusually silent for her doing, and he wondered if she was still ruminating about the waterfall incident.

"No, just overthinking things as usual." Hermione gave him a watery smile, "You know me…"

He tickled her a specific point on her neck, "Is this the turn-off button?"

She jerked, laughing, sending a wave of water over the edge, "No...haha...stop Draco...please…oh, shit...damn it! Have mercy!" He kept tickling to raise her spirits and shut down whatever was disturbing her.

"A Slytherin gives no mercy. Will you stop overloading that brain of yours? Whatever you're worrying about, it will sort itself out. Share it with me so I can help you."

"Nah...just something Diana said." Her face flushed while she sought an excuse to divert his attention. Grabbing the loofah, she caught his leg lathering it with a thick layer of bubbles.

"She reminded me of Potterette with her red hair." Content with the attention of his leg, he offered the other limb for equal treatment.

"She did…" Hermione chuckled, "But Ginny's hair looks more on fire than Diana's. We should get out of the water, your fingers are wrinkling."

"You don't want to share your bothers?" He saw right through her, his witches' suggestion was instead a subtle change of subject than concern for shrivelled fingers. Standing up with her, he grabbed a fluffy towel to dry her first, then him.

"Nothing important, Draco." She pulled lacy nighty over the head after stepping into a pair of knickers. He chose to wear only sleeping shorts in bed.

Nestled between the sheets, the last kiss was shared before sleep took over, at least for him. Hermione faked closed eyes, slowing down her breath as if she was also resting with his bicep as a pillow. Once the little snore came to life, the sign that he was out like a light, she turned in his arms and subjected his face to an in-depth assessment.

A single pack of hair fell before over the brows, and she shoved it away, admiring in the meantime the laugh wrinkles at the edge of his eyes, the perfectly curled eyelashes - as if he was a Michelangelo creation.

Mrs. Malfoy… or Mrs. Granger-Malfoy. Either way, both resonated with her awakening a glowing feeling inside her heart instead of disgust. It was like Diana suggested, if he popped the question, her answer wouldn't be a denial. Yet, she had to watch out for dreaming too much ahead, because what if Diana had it wrong and misinterpreted Draco's reaction? She had to take some gas back before she got away with fantasies and ending up empty-handed just like with her previous wizards…

Going back to reality without Draco in it? The idea frosted her heart colder than an iceberg. Why wasn't she better at Legillimens?

*Day Thirty-Seven*

Aqua-Gym.

Who knew that exercising in the water was so damn complicated? Swimming lengths was a piece of cake, but walking in water? Not so much.

Claiming more than half of the big pool, the large group of women entered the water giggling in excitement beforehand, Hermione included. A few men like Draco joined the group more to do their counterparts a favor than for their personal satisfaction, the majority oblivious to what awaited them.

The first impression for the blond wizard threw him back to the memories of the clip-dancing lesson, a few weeks ago.

The pumped-up music yelling in the air raised the blond's spirit, who warmed up under the given instructions, scissoring the legs or stretching the arms in the front, shoving as much water as possible to your neighbour ahead of you. But as Angelo started to shout commands as 'shake that booty, people'... 'let us make it wet around us', and Merlin only knew what else, Draco found his personal opinion of exercising inside a big pool a little less impressive than before. Somehow, each time the wizard heard one of those lewd remarks he spotted the beefed-up guy staring at him. Why couldn't the tennis girl lead this class?

Hermione did giggle at Draco's uneasiness towards Angelo - the two allies exchanging a conspiratorial wink - but she grew used to the coach's antics and loved the way he mentored a lesson. So her giggles were partially at Draco's discomfort but also because she had a thrill dipping under water when she had to scissor her legs or jump up and down. On the contrary of Draco, she barely had footing, it was the toes only that touched the bottom.

At some point, the Italian coach passed these big sausages around - calling them swim noodles - until everyone had a foamy tube in their hands. Following the instructions and fighting a weird battle with the damn thing, the wizard finally succeeded into changing it in a pretzel of sorts, discovering that it did its job just like the weight bar at the fitness room. Pushing the noodle into the water required more force than one initially would think.

No matter how much he loved to have her around, his devilish side was never far, and he mocked her struggling to push the godforsaken pretzel below water, "Where are your muscles, princess? See what I mean, that bird food gives no energy to consume, lovely? Eat some eggs with bacon next time..."

She gritted her teeth panting, "This isn't a walk in the park for you either, pumpkin." Hermione's ponytail dripped water, from going under one too many times. As if the devil himself planned it, the noodle did a salto in the air, nearly collided with her nose and shoved a wave of water into her open mouth while she yelped from the scare. A coughing attack followed promptly.

Grinning widely at the display, Draco showed-off, "Watch me!" He took care to flex his biceps extra tight while dipping the tube in the water, "As easy as riding a bro-bike…" amending just in time his train of thought.

The dirty remark on Hermione's lips was drowned out by Angelo's next command, "Now I want you to put the swim noodle between your legs."

"Huh?" Draco eyed the tube warily but followed reluctantly Hermione's example, minus the probably twentieth dip underwater. "I don't like this thing so close to my..."

"Don't whine so much, babe. Get used to losing to me, darling, I'll beat you in the race to the other side." Holding the noodle steady with both hands, the witch leaned back on the rear end of the tube, batting her eyelashes, though she ended up flipping hundred-eighty degrees once again, "Argh…"

"You were saying?" Draco caught her hand to help her above the water, though his belly shook from laughing. "Fuck, Hermione, this shit is too close to my balls, I don't like it one bit." He kept shifting, so his crown jewels didn't feel squashed against the foamy structure, but the move almost made him lose balance a few times, barely avoiding a dive like his girl.

"Pedal as if you were on a bike and move forward, people!" Angelo shouted the start sign, "Let your arms help you move forward! C'mon, be the first to reach the edge! Hop! Hop! I want to see you panting, ladies and my brave blond stud!"

The challenge appealed to him, but Draco felt really dumb between all the ladies; realising thanks to his biggest male admirer, that he was the only bloke left. Ha...fuck, this stupid thing is too close to my nether regions... my balls are suffering… why did I agree to this imbecilic activity, for Salazar's sake?

He won easily against Hermione, with a length of distance but decided to call it quits, before his Slytherin pride would suffer an extra dent if forced to do more ridiculous movements. Most likely my best decision for today, thought the wizard, as Angelo pushed his herd of women into swimming only by the arms to the opposite side.

Splashing, laughing and coughing, the women did as told, under the loud cheers from their other halves, "C' mon love, move those arms!" He taunted her while following her struggle; pacing alongside the pool edge, "You can do it, love… Hey, Gryffindor of mine, you're falling behind, lady! It's so unworthy of a lioness! Hop, you go! And one...and two...and three..."

Her gaze carried a warning look, but he wasn't in the slightest troubled by it. Taunting her was his reward, a little payback for making him join such an absurd lesson, imagine if any of his Slytherin mates were here to witness

Yet, he would check the schedule for more of these Aqua-Gyms and persuade her to join them, the way her tits jiggled each time she jumped, was a sight to behold.

-oOo-

"And, are we doing the fire-walking demonstration tomorrow?" He couldn't witness any longer how hard she was pulling on her tresses and snatched the comb from her grip, straddling the lounger behind her to take over her job detangling her knots with a much softer approach. "My lioness has no patience, I see…"

Smiling covertly, she hid from him how she was mistreating her hair on purpose so he would take over. The way he took care of her hair, with his slow movements always watching that he didn't pull too hard, it felt like heaven, intense relaxation. Instinctively, she leaned back with a moan. "Do I sense a snake who would love to test his pain limits thanks to flames under his feet?"

"Technically, a snake has no feet." He leaned forward to bite her lobe, delighting in the way she was melting against his chest, totally turning to putty from his ministrations.

"The activity ends with shopping... I'm just saying…" Inching the booklet closer with the aid of her feet, she managed to get it on her lap and open it to the right section, "It's a folkloric show about the legends and the history of the Fiji islands, demonstrated by tribesmen. Won't it be boring for you?"

"At next port, Port Vila, we can do an introductory scuba diving lesson, and that spikes my sense of adventure enough to compensate for the lack of activity at Lautoka… but they speak about finding Nemo at this Port Vila excursion… what is that?" The comb was set away, but the hands moved to the shoulders, drawing tantalising circles on her soft skin. He wasn't quite ready to release her from her position.

Hermione moaned, staring dreamingly into the sky while a bird or two passed through, "I've read something about an animated movie that will be released this year, Finding Nemo, I wonder if there's a connection. It includes fish, but that's all I know…"

"Animated movie? What kind of beast is that?" He accio'ed the cinema programming, "Is that you want to watch tonight at the Globe?"

"No, tonight's viewing is a thriller, Panic Room. It's highly praised according to the critics." She pointed at the short reviews.

"I'm lost, lecture me please on the difference between animated and thrillers?" He leaned slightly away to face her fully. The entire subject seemed like Mandarin to him.

"Like in books, you have different types of movies…" She taught like in old times, turning around inside his cradling arms.

"Yes, my mother loves those juicy romantic novels, full of overly romantic blokes with no ounce of respect for male pride. I like an adventure one if I'm not reading anything academic."

Shaking her head, she refrained from commenting. There's nothing wrong with wishing for a little fluff in your life. "Well, thrillers are like crime novels, where they keep the suspense until the end, get it?" Stealing his glass of cola, she sipped, "Animated movies are like moving cartoons."

"Cartoons?" It was getting weirder by the minute, though the concept of a thriller triggered this curiosity.

"Ah...cartoons are stories told through drawings. I have a few at home, Harry might have some from his time at the Dursleys. Animated movies are a series of cartoons created by Muggle artists, shown so quickly that you can see them move…" Her hands motioned in circles, it was hard to describe a thing that if seen would make sense in a heartbeat.

He grabbed her hips and set her straighter on the lounger, heading inside their room to refill his glass - wondering at the same time why she kept stealing his drink instead of sipping her own, just a hand's length away. "So these cartoons come to life because you move them very fast?"

He barely took a sip before his glass was stolen once more. "What's yours is mine, remember?" Hermione huffed when he didn't give up his drink straight away.

"Did we seal a vow I don't know about?" He looked at her from beneath his eyelashes. "Stealing from a Malfoy is a first-degree felony." This time, he straddled the lounger facing her, standing literally before her sunlight.

"Blah blah blah, there's the Malfoy law again, only evoked when it fits your need." Her hand snapped open and close as if he chatted too much.

"Are you making fun of me?" The grey stare was her first warning, the enclosing of his thighs around her the second.

"I wouldn't dare." Hermione readied for whatever came next; she would never grow tired of fooling around with him, anyway.

He promised, "Tomorrow, I'll drag you personally through the firestones! See if you can deal with burning feet, witch!"

She was twisting in his hold, falling prey to his tickling. The loud screams that were heard below deck caught the attention of several passersby towards a balcony they couldn't look into. Nevertheless, it made everyone laugh at her fun.

"Argh, Draco! Stop! Damn you...please!"