Chapter Seven: Thank Goodness

Hermione looked up and saw Drae with Harry and Ron. They had one bag altogether.

"Where's all your stuff?" Emelyn asked from across the room.

Drae walked over to her and leaned over her shoulder. "You said get bathing suits. We got bathing suits."

"One each I see," she said, peering into the bag.

"We're guys," Harry shrugged. "We don't shop."

"Well I see you guys have adapted to American teenage thinking," Hermione joked. She heard Drae let out a light chuckle from behind Emelyn. She fought the yearn to look over at him because she didn't want him to think she was staring, but turned to face Harry, who was standing just a little to the left of in front of Drae. "So let us just finish up here, Emelyn and I are going to pick out some bathing suits and we can go to the beach."

"Hm, bathing suit fashion show. This I must see."

Emelyn slapped Drae's arm.

"Hey, what was that for?" He asked.

"For turning Neo into you," she replied. Hermione giggled. It was true. Harry would never have said that before they came to New York.

Twenty minutes later Hermione's nails were done and almost dry. The five teenagers headed to a clothing store on the second floor where Emelyn headed directly to the back where the bathing suits were. She grabbed three bikinis and brought a browsing Hermione to the changing rooms, followed quickly by Harry, Ron and Drae.

"How about this one?" Emelyn asked as she walked out of the changing room she was in. She was wearing a light blue, string bikini with colorful beads on the ends of the strings. The shade went perfectly with her skin tone and hair.

"Nice," Drae told her, leaning against the wall.

"Amara, get your ass out of that changing room!" Emelyn called over her shoulder.

A self conscious Hermione opened the door and walked over beside her beautiful cousin. She was wearing a dark green tube-top bikini with a short skirt made of the same material as the bathing suit that seemed to make her legs go on forever. There was a small picture of a gold lion on the side of the skirt and another over one of her breasts.

Emelyn squealed at the sight of her knockout cousin. "Amara, you look amazing!"

Harry and Ron agreed, hoping that Hermione would get a large cover-up when they went to the beach.

Hermione blushed as she looked from Harry to Ron to Drae, who had yet to say anything.

"Now you get your butt out of that bikini and over to the cashier. I'll be right there." Emelyn told Hermione. She turned and went back into her changing room.

Hermione looked at Drae once more before turning to get dressed. He was just looking at her through his blonde locks. Harry and Ron spotted some old classmates of Harry's form primary school who were obviously on vacation, leaving Hermione and Drae so that they could talk to them.

"You look great," Drae finally said.

Hermione blushed more, if possible, and pulled on the skirt. "You think so? I kinda think I'm more of a red person."

"Absolutely," he replied honestly. Hermione could feel herself melt. "And to be honest, green is an extremely flattering color on you." Hermione looked up and saw a tint of pink come to his cheeks causing even more red come to hers'.

"Well, um, I think I had better go get changed," Hermione giggled before walking into the door of her dressing room. She heard him chuckle as she rushed into the small room, humiliated.

An hour later the group was in Atlantic Beach spreading their towels a few yards away from the ocean. Hermione was wearing her new green bikini and Emelyn was wearing a red and white, candy stripe, one shoulder bikini with black Soffees she removed immediately after deciding to race Ron to the water.

"So Neo, what was with those girls in the store?" Drae asked, removing his black shirt leaving him only in a silver bathing suit with black strips down the sides.

Harry blushed a little as he removed his own shirt, leaving him in a blue bathing suit with yellow designs down the sides. "The taller one was a classmate of mine in primary school who I had bit of a crush on the year before I left for Ho-our school."

"Nice. Good luck," Drae told him. "Did you get her number?" Hermione was expecting Harry to say that he hadn't, but when he took the piece of paper out of his pocket with a smile. "Nice."

Emelyn and Ron came back to the towel sopping wet and trying to trip one another. When Emelyn won she did a victory dance around the bright yellow towel, Ron grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall, face first, into the warm sand.

"Sore loser," she mumbled as she spit the sand out of her mouth. Everyone laughed at the two.

Everyone put on some sunscreen before running off to jump into the ocean. Everyone except Hermione and Drae. Hermione lay belly down on the towel and took a book out of her bag while Drae sat beside her with his sunglasses on, watching her head move slightly as her eyes moved swiftly from one side of the page to the other. Hermione felt a prickle on the back of her neck and turned to look up at Drae.

"Don't stop on my account," he told her. "I just couldn't help myself."

Hermione smiled as she closed her book and turned around to look up at him more easily. "Thank you. I mean, er-"

Drae chuckled. It seemed to Hermione that it was all he did when she was around. "Calm down girl. I know what you mean."

Hermione felt as though a brick was tossed out of her chest as her heart floated in her chest. "Do you want to be my date to the party this weekend?"

She was never angrier at the sunglasses on his face for hiding his eyes or her tongue for letting the words come out of her mouth. Thank goodness for the smile that came to his face and his strong hand that cupped her cheek and pulled her lips into his.