A .N~ Hopefully the spaces between updates will be relatively even! Severus is still a jerk, sorry! Bear with him and his attitude, things will start to kick off the longer they are stuck here 😉 Thank you for all the amazing reviews, you guys inspire me and it amazes me that people read my work. Happy reading!

The next morning, Severus was awoken by a deep rumbling in his stomach. Damn, he was hungry. Hungry enough to eat that awful sloppy porridge Albus was so fond of and insisted on eating every morning. Hermione was asleep next to him, messy hair strewn about her face. Her lips were cracked, and bleeding. A deep frown line occupied her freckled face. The sunburn had lessened somewhat, giving her a golden look. He shook her awake roughly.

"We need to find food."

She reached into her bag and handed him the bar of chocolate.

"That isn't going to keep us alive."

Having just woken up, with sand in her ears and stinging lips, Hermione was rather irritable.

"I know that." She snapped. "It could give us some energy to find food though. If you don't want it, give it back."

He supposed he deserved that, but by gods did she irritate him. He broke a piece of chocolate off and tossed the bar into the sand in front of her without offering his thanks.

They decided to head in the direction of the water as they searched for food. Well, Severus decided, and Hermione decided not to argue. The pair reached the small spring without finding anything of note. Each drunk their fill and Hermione washed her face, before refilling the bottle.

"It's a shame the water is so far away, but I suppose I should be grateful there is fresh water at all. We'd be in trouble by now, otherwise."

Severus ignored the small talk, intent on acknowledging her as little as humanly possible. They continued beyond the spring and deeper into the jungle, Hermione growing more anxious with each step. As the undergrowth got thicker, it blocked out more and more of the dappled light. She felt relieved when Severus finally suggested they head in a different direction. The light level increased again and before long, the two stumbled upon another patch of beach. This one seemed much more sheltered than the area which they had been in, the sand was clearer, and the trees didn't have that characteristic lean from being perpetually blown on. There was a small cliff, part of which had been eroded over time and formed a small cavern. It was little more than a depression in the bank but would protect them from the strong winds and harsh sun.

Scanning the stretch of beach, something dark and round lying in the sand caught Severus' eye. Was that what he thought it was? He strode along the beach purposefully and realised there was more than one. Coconuts. There was a small grove of coconut trees at the very end of the bay, covered in large green fruit. Littering the ground below them were fallen coconuts, their husks long brown and dried. Hermione had followed along behind him, and she piped up cheerfully.

"Good spotting, Professor!"

Ignoring her once more, he took out his penknife and stabbed it through one of the small, circular holes at the top of the fruit. He lifted it to his lips and swallowed the sugary juice greedily, feeling it seep into his system almost instantly. Hermione's heart sunk slightly, and she reached for a coconut, looking around for something sharp to break it open with. He snatched it from her hands and again, stabbed the knife into its top. This time however, he handed the fruit back to her before turning away to pick up another.

They had collected an armful of coconuts each when the first thunderclap sounded, reverberating the trees. Looking up, Hermione and Severus were met with big, round raindrops falling against their cheeks. Clinging to the coconuts, they stumbled through the sand toward the small depression in the bank. They sat pressed up against the wall as the rain fell in a heavy, unforgiving curtain.

"All of our things are going to be absolutely saturated now."

"Indeed. That is how rain works, as far as I am aware."

She rolled her eyes at his attitude, however this time it was accompanied by a barely visible upward quirk of her lips. He noticed it though. They sat huddled beneath the grassy overhang, uncomfortably close but neither was willing to get wet. Severus split a coconut open fully, handing one half to Hermione and peeling the creamy white flesh off his own. The witch scraped at hers with her teeth, manners be damned. Severus raised an eyebrow as she gnawed at the fruit like an animal. He finished cutting strips of coconut, and then handed her the knife, making a point of shuffling backward as if he didn't trust her not to slit his throat with it.

It was an hour before the heaviest of the deluge finally relented. Hermione didn't think the sky could possibly have anything more to give, but at Severus' insistence they scrambled hurriedly through the jungle to retrieve their bags. On the way back, Hermione suggested they follow the beach around the island, rather than cutting through the jungle. She claimed it was a more efficient way of exploring the land further. Really, it was getting dark and she loathed the thought of being stuck there, unable to see who or what was observing her.

The sky was purple and dusky by the time they made it back to the sheltered bay and its tiny alcove. It was silent this side of the island, the only vague noise was the gentle woosh of waves as they tumbled across the sand. The sound lulled both Severus and Hermione to sleep, tired enough that even the hard ground below felt soft.

Hermione woke first, rolling over to look at her potion's professor. The deep frown characteristic of his harsh face had vanished in his sleep, giving the false impression of relaxation. She knew better. His face was long and drawn, but not unhandsome, the witch decided. Shame he's such a nasty man. Turning her attention to the water bottle, she saw that only a few sips remained. Rising from the sand, she groaned softly as her stiff muscles protested.

The jungle was extra humid after yesterday's downpour, and it made her think that they should get some materials together and build some form of shelter before the rain inevitably hit again. It had been chilly last night, cooler than it had been the entire time. They needed fire. Merlin, what she wouldn't do for a quick incendio right now. She had very limited experience with how to start a fire the muggle way, aside from what she had read in survival fiction. There was something to do with rubbing sticks together, and another method using sunlight and glass. Both seemed rather farfetched in her opinion.

After filling the bottle, Hermione decided to risk giving her clothes a quick wash. She dug a small hole near the spring, deep enough to slosh her clothes around in. The water was murky, but at least it would clean the salt off. A rash was starting on her arms and legs from the combination of salt, wind, sand and dehydration. She peeled off her clothes, relishing the condensation as it gathered on her skin.

Severus had awoken to find the girl nowhere to be seen, realising she had gone for water when he saw the bottle was also missing. He should drink too. He wandered tiredly through the jungle, noting as he went that moving beaches had been the correct move. They were much closer to the spring this way. Today, he would search for a more sustaining food source and think about how they were to seek help. He was lost in his own mind when his thoughts were interrupted by a soft humming and the sloshing of water. He had made it to the spring and through the greenery he could see Hermione. Though the large tropical leaves obscured most of his view, it didn't take much of his brain power to deduce that she was naked. He watched for a moment longer as the sunlight played across her skin, before turning and heading swiftly and silently back the way he had come.

When Hermione returned to the beach, she found Severus angrily hacking at a tall, slim tree trunk. He had a small pile already collected and proceeded to snap this one the rest of the way, lifting it with a grunt and tossing it onto the pile.

"I brought water. You should drink."

He looked over at her, then outstretched his hand. She walked forward, passing it to him. Today was starkly different to yesterday, in that the sun was sweltering down on them. Hermione had put her clothes on sopping wet, yet they were already dry. She didn't understand how the man before her still wore his teaching robes, looking rather obscure against the sunny beach.

"You ought to take off a layer Professor, you might get heat stroke."

He snorted derisively. "Thank you, Ms Granger, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself."

"Suit yourself, I'm only trying to help."

She waited for a biting remark at her cheekiness, but none came.

"If you would like to help, find a way to chop some vines so that we may tie these trees together and make a lean-to."

"Sure" She was feeling agreeable, well hydrated, and considerably cleaner. The inquisitive witch wandered over to the coconut grove, noticing a small series of rock pools curving round into the next bay. She picked her way over them carefully, scanning for anything useful. Looking closely, she spotted a small black rock made up of many layers. Aiming attentively, she tossed the rock into one of the pools, where it broke into three pieces. She pocketed two and still clutching the sharpest one, headed back toward Professor Snape, eager to help him with the shelter.

After two hours of shredding vines and braiding them into something which vaguely resembled rope, Hermione was growing exhausted. She was hungry, and already sick of coconuts. Beggars can't be choosers, Hermione. Sighing tiredly, she took her small makeshift knife and dug into the fruit, drinking the water and wandering over to the rockpools to throw it, in the hopes of splitting it the rest of the way. It broke easily, and she scooped up the pieces. As she bent to retrieve them, Hermione noticed strange shellfish stuck firmly to the rock. She considered bashing a couple off and eating them but, what would she do if they were poisonous? To survive the war and die to a fish would be more shameful than she could fathom, so she left them where they clung.