The last weekend of the summer holidays was gloriously sunny, and perfect for the Malfoys end of summer picnic. However, one family who hadn't been invited to the picnic were the Parkinsons. Instead, Mr and Mrs Parkinson were trying to deal with the new reality they were faced with, while Pansy was curled up in her bedroom dreading returning to Hogwarts in a few days' time.

After Voldemort had discovered Pansy's part in what had happened to Hermione, the Parkinsons had genuinely feared for their lives. Stuck in the small house The Dark Lord had placed them in they were convinced that their days were numbered, especially after Voldemort and his daughter had paid them a visit. However, out of the blue Voldemort returned yet again and informed them that they were free to go with a warning that he would be keeping an eye on them and he wouldn't be so generous if they tried to hurt Hermione again. His only stipulation was that they were not to leave the country and try and build a life for themselves elsewhere in the wizarding world.

Initially Voldemort's stipulation made little sense to the family. Wizarding Britain was their home and they'd never once thought about leaving it and moving abroad. However, it soon because clear why The Dark Lord had issued such an order when they found their lives were dramatically altered, and they were no longer considered loyal supporters of The Dark Lord.

Mr Parkinson was the first to discover the new way of things when he attended a Death Eater meeting and found himself shunned by his fellow witches and wizards. He was merely a foot solider among The Dark Lord's supporters and was now considered so lowly that Voldemort didn't even bother to react to his presence at the meeting. The meaning was very clear to Parkinson, he and his family were now at the bottom of the pecking order.

Shortly after her husband's humiliation, Mrs Parkinson suffered her own reminder of how low the Parkinsons had fallen. All of her life she'd been part of the elite pure-blood set, and as a pure-blood wife she spent her days socialising with the other wives. One long standing arrangement was afternoon tea with several other high society pure-blood witches, but when Mrs Parkinson went to attend the monthly meeting she discovered the date had been changed to an earlier day and she hadn't been invited. Nor was she invited to any other soiree or meeting between the witches and when she tried to arrange her own dinner party, all she got were rejection owls. The Parkinsons were well and truly out in the cold, and they were certainly no longer at the heart of the social scene.

Witnessing how her parents were being humiliated and shunned, left Pansy feeling worse than ever. Even though neither of her parents had blamed her for their predicament, she could see the accusations in their eyes whenever they looked at her. Her actions were destroying her family, and she had no idea how to fix things. After all, she was being shunned just as much as her parents and she hadn't heard from any of her friends all summer. By now she suspected her friends would have been to Diagon Alley for their school things, and she certainly knew that while she was curled up in her bedroom sometime over the weekend the Malfoys would be having their annual picnic.

Feeling a surge of anger at Hermione, Pansy picked up a glass from her bedside table and hurled it across the room. As the glass shattered against the wall, sending sharp shards of glass tumbling over her floor, Pansy began to cry. Deep down she knew blaming Hermione for her suffering was pointless. She'd brought it all on herself by being so jealous of the other witch that she didn't stop to think over the consequences. As much as she hated Hermione and despised the way she'd been pushed out in favour of the former Gryffindor, she should have had the sense to control herself. After all, there was only ever going to be one person who suffered by messing with The Dark Lord's daughter, and it wasn't going to be Hermione.

Hating herself even more than she hated Hermione, Pansy curled up on her side and burying her head in her pillow she cried herself to sleep. Although sleep was only a brief reprieve for the raven haired witch. All too soon it would be time for her to return to Hogwarts, and only then would she really appreciate how badly she'd messed up. Her life was about to become a living hell, and worst of all, she only had herself to blame.

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The Malfoys end of summer picnic was a huge success, and no-one really missed the Parkinsons. The younger Slytherins had been just as appalled as Hermione and Draco to learn that Pansy was behind the cursed bracelet, and without needing to be informed of Hermione's plan, several of them vowed never to talk to her again. When Hermione did mention her plan for Pansy, all the Slytherins were agreed on it and they all vowed to make sure the rest of Hogwarts learnt the truth about Pansy.

Aside from the resentment towards Pansy, the rest of the day passed with lots of laughter and good times. All of the Slytherins were looking forward to returning to Hogwarts, and they were all looking forward to seeing what was going to happen now Voldemort had more supporters around him. The breakout from Azkaban had been big news, especially as several of the newly escaped Death Eaters, including Draco's aunt Bellatrix Lestrange, attended the picnic. Now it was just a case of seeing what The Dark Lord's next move would be.

The day after the picnic, Hermione returned to Malfoy Manor to spend the day with Draco. It was going to be there last chance to spend any real time together, just the two of them, and they intended to make the most of it. After spending the morning in the gardens, they headed up to Draco's room after lunch.

Settled on Draco's bed their talking soon led to other things and before too long things were turning hot and heavy between the couple. Draco's t-shirt had been discarded, and his hand was exploring under Hermione's top. Lying entwined together it was also impossible for Hermione to miss just how aroused Draco was.

"We should stop," Draco muttered reluctantly, briefly tearing his lips away from Hermione's.

"Do you want to?" Hermione asked in a slightly breathless voice.

"I think it's wise, before we get carried away," Draco replied, pulling back from Hermione.

"What if I want to get carried away?" Hermione returned, trailing her fingers down Draco's pale torso.

"Don't tease, Hermione," Draco warned as his girlfriend's fingers danced around the waist of his trousers.

"I'm not teasing Draco," Hermione replied seriously. "I was this. I want you to make love to me."

"Are you sure?" Draco checked, gazing hungrily at his gorgeous girlfriend, who was slightly flushed and dishevelled from the kissing session they'd just ended.

"I'm sure," Hermione answered with a firm nod. "Don't you want me?" she asked with a pout.

"You know I want you," Draco returned in a low voice as he pressed himself back up against Hermione and watched her eyes flash lustfully when she felt his erection against her thigh.

"Then take me," she urged.

Gently connecting their lips the pair once again began to kiss. As it had previously, things soon began to heat up between the couple, only this time neither of them backed off. When they did finally part for air, Hermione gave Draco a small smile before she pulled her top over her head. Left in just her skirt and lacy purple bra she watched and wondered what her boyfriend was thinking as his grey eyes roamed over her freshly exposed skin.

"Don't look so worried," Draco urged her, noticing the wary expression on her face. "We can stop whenever you want."

"I don't want to stop," Hermione replied honestly. "I'm just a bit nervous."

"Me too," Draco confided. "I don't want our first time to be a disappointment."

"I'm sure it won't be," Hermione answered with a small smile, feeling slightly less nervous now she knew that what they were about to do was making Draco nervous as well.

Reaching for the zipper on the side of her skirt, Hermione pulled it down and wriggled out of the light material. Clad now in just her underwear, she nervously bit down on her lower lip as Draco unbuckled his trousers and removed them in one swift motion. The black boxers he was wearing did nothing to hide how aroused he was and Hermione couldn't help but stare at the bulge.

"Like what you see?" Draco asked in a teasing voice.

"I don't know, I haven't seen anything yet," Hermione retorted cheekily.

"That's soon changed," Draco replied. Giving Hermione a sinful smirk he yanked his boxers down and throwing them over his shoulder, he knelt on the bed in front of her in all his glory.

"Wow," Hermione muttered, gazing at Draco in awe. She'd never seen a naked man before and she really had no idea how Draco would stack up against other wizards, but to her he was rather impressive.

"Now that's always good to hear," Draco laughed. Even though he'd never been naked in front of a witch, he had no worries about his body and after spending the last five years sharing rooms with his friends he knew he had nothing to be ashamed about in the trouser department.

"Let's hope you're as impressed with what you're about to see," Hermione returned as she reached behind her and popped the catch of her bra.

"I'm already impressed," Draco said softly, reaching for Hermione and sliding the straps of her bra down her arms. "You're gorgeous."

Once Hermione's bra was removed, Draco got well and truly distracted by the firm globes of her breasts and it was nearly ten minutes later before her knickers joined the growing pile of clothes beside Draco's bed, leaving them both completely and utterly naked. Once they were naked the pair spent a long time kissing and exploring each other's bodies. Even though they were both eager for the main event, they had no intention of rushing things and they only paused when Draco was forced to remove Hermione's teasing hand from his erection.

"If we're not careful, I'm going to be no use for anything else," he muttered, aware that he wasn't far off losing control.

"I thought you would have stamina," Hermione said with a slight laugh.

"I have," Draco returned. "But I'm also a teenage boy, naked with his girlfriend for the very first time. Do you really think I have that much control?"

"Okay, I'm sorry for tormenting you," Hermione laughed, looping her arms around Draco's neck, well away from his privates.

"Pressed up against me the way you are, it's still tormenting me," Draco retorted with a slight moan.

"Sorry," Hermione laughed again. Moving away from Draco she lay back on his sheets, careful not to touch her boyfriend. "I'll just lie here until you can control yourself."

"I'm not sure I'll ever be able to control myself around you," he admitted, his fingers reaching out and tracing circles around Hermione's nipple. "You don't happen to know the contraceptive charm, do you?" he suddenly asked, halfway to lowering his head to his girlfriend's torso. "Your father will kill me if I get you pregnant. Hell, he'll probably kill me if he knew what we were doing right now."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from father," Hermione laughed as she rolled over and grabbed her wand, which was sitting on Draco's bedside table. "And as it happens, I do know the charm. I memorised it this morning."

"Did you come here today to seduce me?" Draco asked as Hermione muttered the incantation that prevented them from falling pregnant.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Hermione questioned as she threw her wand back on the bedside table and once again reached for her boyfriend.

"Not at all," Draco replied, reconnecting their lips in a searing kiss.

Even though it was the first time for both of them, what happened next came incredibly natural to the couple. Naturally things were sometimes awkward and initially it was a bit uncomfortable, not to mention Draco freezing almost as soon as he'd entered Hermione so as to not embarrass himself, but because they were together and trusted each other implicitly, they fell into a good groove. After a pretty short first outing, they went for a second round and found themselves in perfect harmony as they moved together.

"Wow," Draco gasped, once they were fully sated and unable to do nothing but lie in each other's arms, recovering from their exertions.

"You can say that again," Hermione said. Propping herself up on her elbow, she ran her fingers through Draco's slightly damp hair. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For giving me the perfect first time," Hermione replied, lowering her lips to her boyfriends. "I love you, Draco."

"I love you too," Draco returned as he wrapped Hermione in his arms and the pair lay basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

By the time Hermione left Malfoy Manor several hours later, both she and Draco knew their relationship had changed forever. They both sensed they were on the brink of something new and exciting, and whatever the future held, they knew they would face it together.