S U R V I V O R

Based on the book 'I Will Survive' by Samantha Connolly.

A/N: Wow! Thanks, everyone, for all the reviews! Didn't expect so many... it was actually more than the reviews I first got for 10WtKDM. A lot of people said the chapter was funny, even though I didn't really try for a humor fic. Lol. I suppose that's a good thing.

And I know you guys were probably hoping for a 10WtKDM update, but I'm currently writing the first few paragraphs, so no update yet.

Here are the thanks that you guys deserve:

EvilsmileyfaceofDOOM: Lol, of course. 10WtKDM is my first priority.

AttackingHentaiChibisLoveFluff: Really? Thank you! I hope it'll turn out great too...

Karana Belle: Yeah, I can see Draco being a host for a show. He sure is an attention-seeker, hehe. :D

Gi Xian: Eeeeuuck, falling into the toilet ditch? XO

Sayaku-chan: Hahaha, don't feel too bad. Most of us write that in a review at least once...

ElizabethV: It's unusual (you think)? But this is such an obvious plot, I'd have thought lots of stories would have been written about it already... O.o Thanks for your comment, btw, I'm hoping it'll work out too.

xoKaSsIeox: Whether Hermione went to Hogwarts or not doesn't really matter, so you can just pretend she did/didn't. XD But for this story it's AU so we'll be working with real money and no spells or magic.

Zekintha: 'course I'll keep up my other fic! Lol. So many people have said that... XD I'm glad you think it's a good idea. I was afraid it wouldn't be so popular.

Christi-McIntyre: Thank you. Yup, this certainly is a slightly more serious story than my other one, but I'll try to keep some humor in it. :D

jesska-14: Yeah, I'd love to watch the show too, hehe.

MegTao: Nope, they don't have their powers, or you probably would have read about it already. :D

MisticElf: Thanks for your rather in-depth review! Hehe. I enjoyed reading it. And thanks for the compliment! -Blushes- I am unworthy!

heavenssecrets: Haha, I think I would hide under a rock too if I were Hermione when Draco picked up the condoms! XD Thanks for the review!

Terry Moon: Thank you, Terry Moon! I always like reading your interesting reviews. XD I'm hoping this'll turn out popular too, but I think it'll be easier for this fic because I already have a lot of D/Hr readers...

Thanks also to:

The Gryffindor Drummer, goodybad, ShortStuff10, teletubies, MidNyteOwl, palindrom, cutekitten, Redberry Greenleaf, lilithofunderworld, Crystallized Snow, Prankster Perfect, Michelle Felton, EmilyEB

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Chapter Two

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"Right, listen up people," Julia announced when Kenny had the camera properly installed on the tripod. "Hermione, Draco, I love this sexual tension you have going on. It'll be a great boost to our ratings when the viewers see that. People always love to watch others squabbling like you two did, so we'll be building more on that later."

Hermione was horrified at the idea, and even more so when Laurie raised an eyebrow at her, winking. "There's no sexual tension," she and Draco said at the same time. Hermione glanced over at the blonde and noticed him smiling good-naturedly at the camera. Jeesh. He really was keeping up a friendly front for all his fans.

Julia grinned wickedly. "Sure. Of course there isn't." She pointed to Kenny. "Kenny'll be the main cameraman here on the island. He'll be the one following you around as you do your daily challenges or whatever, unless you guys split up. Then backup cameramen will be filming different people. All cameramen will be gone by nightfall."

Everyone nodded to show they understood this.

"Good. Now, in addition to the footage taken by Kenny, we also have hidden cameras installed everywhere on the island. We call them Island Eyes. Don't wear yourself out by trying to look for them and tear them down, and please, no paranoid behavior. Just act naturally and pretend they're not there. We obviously won't put Eyes at places where you do your business, so don't worry about that." Julia thought for a moment. "Oh yeah. There's also the confession hut in the middle of the island, near the shelters. You're expected to go there and pour out your thoughts to the camera for 10 minutes, twice a day at least. Talk about anything. If there's something on your mind, we want to hear it."

"That's probably where the backstabbing happens," Laurie said casually. Hermione saw Alex shoot her a nervous look. Personally, she felt the same way. She hoped that Laurie wouldn't say too much about her, and vowed to herself to be as friendly as possible to the other two.

Julia gave Laurie an appraising look before continuing. "That brings me to the audience. Now, the confession hut is where you can sway the viewers to vote for you in the end. As winning the challenges on the island only give you an advantage over less than half of your total result, the rest depends on the votes of people who watch the show. So the more the audience loves you, the more chance you have of winning the million-dollar prize." She cleared her throat. "That's about it, I think. Good luck to all three of you. OK, now we're going to shoot the formal introductions to you guys. Don't forget to smile."

Kenny walked up to each of them. When he reached Hermione, he gave her a little round, black object on a string. "Put it around your neck," he said. "It's a mike." She nodded and put it over her head. Her dress was too low at the neck for her to tuck it in, so she just had to settle for it hanging in plain view.

When Kenny was behind the camera again, Hermione, Alex and Laurie all beamed like they were supposed to and did their best to tidy themselves up as he turned on the camera. Laurie smiled warmly at him and struck a pose before breaking into giggles. Hermione just waved, while Alex gave the camera a grin. They all turned to Draco as Julia mouthed at them and pointed towards the host.

"Alright, everyone. Welcome to Castaway Island," Draco started, turning towards Hermione. Alex mouthed 'Wiiiiiiiilllsoooon' at her and she giggled. Both of them shut up as Julia gave them a glare, but judging by how Draco's mouth was twitching at the side he had heard it too. "I already know the others -" he nodded at Alex and Laurie, who smiled back. "- so that leaves you. I'm Draco Malfoy." He offered a hand to Hermione after a slight hesitation, smirking.

Hermione had to admit that he was good with the camera - he knew when he could pull faces and when to beam at the viewers. He smirked freely because the camera was now filming a 3/4 angle of her face, so Draco's was unseen. She tried to make her smile look sincere and ended up with an odd expression on her face. "I'm Hermione Granger, from London," she said as amiably as she could.

"Just say your name," Julia mouthed. Hermione blushed and nodded. Draco looked amused at this as the other two grinned.

"OK, Alex, Laurie," Draco said, clapping his hands together. "Tell Hermione what you learned about making shelter and boiling water."

"Oh, oh, I know this!" Alex said excitedly. "Um, the best places to build a shelter against is a rock face or a slightly hollowed out tree trunk. You have to make sure it's firm, so it won't fall down during a storm." He went on to explain the types of plantation that was good to use to build the shelter. Hermione's stomach rumbled quietly.

Draco smiled at the other man as the four started walking. "Good. Laurie, explain how to make water drinkable?"

"Uh... er... is it filter the water?" she tried, looking like she was desperately going through her memories of the previous day for the answer. "I forgot."

"That's right," the host said, frowning slightly at her forgetfulness. "Do try to remember next time, OK?"

"Sure," Laurie replied, batting her lashes provocatively at him. "Anything you say, Draco."

He didn't seem to notice her flirting as he turned to Hermione and explained to her how to get clean water. She nodded like a good girl but her mouth was watering for food. She hadn't eaten since she got off the plane last night, because she was too caught up in preparations. "Got any food?" she asked Draco as they reached the shelters. "Coconuts? Crabs? Anything? At this point I'm not going to be too fussy."

Draco grinned. "Great, because the only food I have around here is grubs."

She froze. "Did I just hear you say 'grubs'?" At her words Alex stopped to stare at Draco, and Laurie looked like she was going to be sick.

"That's right. They're not poisonous or anything, so don't worry," he laughed.

Personally, that was the least of her concerns. "Uh, don't we have coconut trees or anything normal to eat?"

Draco tsked. "We're on an island, what can you expect? You can't just hang around hoping that you'll find your favorite dishes somehow magicked to your shelter. You'll have to make do with whatever you have."

"So... our lunch is grubs," Hermione said weakly. "I think I'll pass."

He raised an eyebrow. "Passing on your first challenge already?"

Hermione glared. "Well, you should have told me it was a challenge. Of course I'm not going to go down without a fight. I mean, it's just a few grubs I have to get down, right?" Even as she spoke, she knew she didn't sound very convincing.

"That's more like it," he said, and walked over to a pile of timber where a few glowing embers resided. "Well, let's get started. You first mission is to find the grubs and bring them back on a leaf or something like it. They're called fruit grubs, and are fat and white in color. You'll most likely find some on fruit trees, hence the name." He looked up to the sky. "Your time starts... now!"

Hermione cursed under her breath as she followed the others into the forest and started her search. "Just so you know," Kenny's calm voice said from behind her, making her jump. "the microphone you're wearing is very sensitive."

She blushed again and told herself to shut up.

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"Is this thing on? OK, I'll just pretend it is." Hermione glanced at the red light coming from the confession cam and licked her lips to wet them. She missed her lip balm. "Um, hi everyone. I'm Hermione, as you probably already know." She waved at the camera, beaming. "A big hello to my friends and family. Mum, Dad, don't worry, I'm fine. Karen, thanks for catsitting. I hope my cat is still alive and well. Remember not to let it near your leather furniture. Tony and Alison, try to keep my job at the library and don't cause too much trouble." She paused. "And uh... Krum. Thanks for taking me to the airport. I appreciate it. I'll... er, see you when I get back."

She played with a lock of hair as she thought of what to say next. Self-consciously she fingered the hem of the dress, and grinned. "I probably look a mess, don't I? Oh well, I can't wait to get a proper bath here. I'm hoping there's a warm spring here or something at least."

"Right now, things here on Castaway Island are great. Alex, Laurie and Draco are making dinner." She made a face. "That reminds me of the grub lunch. It wasn't too bad, actually, for those of you who have a sensitive stomach. It tasted kinda like very fatty pork. After it was cooked, I mean." She made a face and laughed. "I wouldn't want to eat raw grubs!"

Hermione looked to the ceiling before remembering Malfoy. "Oh yeah!" she laughed again. "Well, you girls must be yelling at me to get to the good stuff already. I'll tell you this - Draco is... as charming and good-looking in real life as he is on the shows." She almost wanted to gag but kept a small smile on her face. "He's cooking potatoes at the moment, I think." She grinned. "That's something he's good at. Cooking potatoes, I mean. Mmm, I can smell them from here," she said, making a big show of sniffing the air and putting on a I'm-in-heaven expression. "I bet it'll be great. Anyway, there's a lot of sunlight here, good for tans, I suppose. Let's hope I don't get sunburnt... but shade is nice too!"

Realising that she was babbling, Hermione giggled to herself. "I think I've said enough for today," she said, standing up. "Well, look out for more confessions from me. Sorry if I rambled, I'm nearly delirious with hunger." She laughed. "See ya guys!"

She stayed for a moment to wait for the red light to go out, or anything to suggest that her time was up, but when nothing happened she shrugged and headed back towards the shelters.

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"No, break the moss up more and put it to the side!"

"Why don't you rub the sticks together faster? You're just banging them together uselessly."

When she got back to camp, she found Alex and Laurie attempting to light a fire while Draco watched, sitting in the sand next to them with an exasperated look on his face. Kenny crouched nearby, slowly zooming in to their failing efforts to light a fire for their dinner. When Hermione sat down beside them, he glanced at her and smiled. "Hi," he said innocently. "Just been to the confession hut?"

"Yeah," she nodded, and pointed towards the other two. "They look like they're having trouble, aren't they?" Inwardly, she was grateful that Draco hadn't said anything about their rather scratchy 'first' meeting. It was embarrassing enough just thinking about it by herself - she didn't need him to talk about it too.

The corner of Draco's mouth curved upwards slightly. "Yeah, they are. At this rate, dinner'll be a long wait yet." He gestured towards a pile of pots and pans, and shells placed near the would-be fire. "At least we found some treasure around the beach. We won't have to eat out of our hands. That is, when we have a dinner to eat at all."

"Great," she muttered, thinking of her waterproof matches sitting in her bag, which was next to her right now. She counted to thirty, and when Laurie and Alex still hadn't even produced any smoke, grabbed her handbag and produced the lipstick tube. Kenny noticed this, and, bored of the two attempting to make the fire, panned towards her.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Preparing to look good for the camera?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No - for this," she said triumphantly as she opened the top of the tube and gathered the matches and they fell onto her lap. Draco's eyes widened and Kenny looked amused behind his camera. "Ta-daa! Easy fire. Next time you can start a flame from scratch, but today I'm really hungry."

Alex and Laurie stopped to look at her in wonder and cheered as Draco scraped the waterproof wax off a match and struck it, making a fire immediately. Hermione smiled in satisfaction as she watched. Dinner was going to be ready very soon.

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After she finished her last sweet potato and threw her shell back to the pile, Hermione lay on the sand and sighed. It was a pretty good meal, considering their location. A bit of flavoring and it would have tasted perfect.

As she lay there, she thought on what she had gotten herself into by coming here. She was enjoying herself so far and wondered what would be coming up, the challenges that lay ahead and the obstacles to the prize. Also there was a certain blond man to consider. She had to admit, Draco's behavior was better than she would have expected from him. Then again, she had last talked to him properly about four years ago. Four years was a long time - enough for someone to change their personality for the better.

And what of the other contestants? Alex was obviously the one that every man could relate to - not very rich or handsome, but friendly as hell and very enthusiastic. Laurie, on the other hand, was the wealthy, beautiful young woman who was most definitely a city girl - and was proud to play the part.

If the judges had picked people based on stereotypes, then what about Hermione herself?

She couldn't answer that.

"Don't fall asleep on the beach," Draco's voice floated into her thoughts. "You'll catch a cold."

"Like you'd care?" she replied sarcastically. Kenny had gone for the night so Hermione didn't care too much about their 'sexual tension' being caught on film. There was the Island Eyes, but she was too tired to care about them.

Draco smirked. "Aw, don't be like that," he said cajolingly. "What did I ever do to you?"

Hermione recalled all the times at school when he'd bullied her and her friends and chose not to answer.

At that moment Laurie bounced towards them. "Hiya! I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" she said wickedly when she sat down to join them. Alex had gone to sleep already, complaining straight after dinner that he was dog-tired for some reason, so they had been alone. Hermione was annoyed to find herself turning pink and shook her head.

"Interrupt anything?" Draco answered lightly. "Why would there be anything to interrupt?"

Laurie smiled. "It's all good, then." She yawned. "Man, I'm beat. Should we call it a day and go to bed?" She glanced at the makeshift leaf and grass beds inside the shelters and grimaced. "Well, what I guess we'd call a bed."

Hermione laughed. "I'm not too eager to sleep on those myself," she said, grinning. Then she realized that there were only three tents. Was one of them going to sleep outside? Maybe she would have to catch that cold anyway. "Uh, Draco, where do I sleep? Am I meant to make my own shelter?"

Draco shook his head. "You'll be sleeping with me," he answered.

"Did you hear what you just said?" Hermione frowned at him, wondering if it was a slip of the tongue.

"Yes, I did," he said, looking irritated. "I said you're sleeping with me. In my shelter, I mean. Your clothes are still wet, and if I share my clothes with you while your dress dries, we'll just be a little underclothed, that's all." He looked at her. "Don't worry, I won't take advantage of you or anything. I promise. It's just a basic survival tactic - otherwise you'll be all damp when you wake up tomorrow morning." His eyes added, not that I'd want to take advantage of you, or anything.

"I'm not sure I trust your promises," she muttered. "Can't I sleep in Laurie's shelter?"

"Sorry, Lois' orders," Draco said, grimacing. "She said because you guys are competing, it's better to keep the contestants away from each other."

Hermione shut her eyes and then opened them again. Draco was already walking towards his shelter. She guessed that he expected her to follow.

"Well, aren't you a fast mover, girl," Laurie said with a nudge and a grin. "You sure knew what you were doing when you wore that dress, didn't you?"

"I didn't..." Hermione winced and started to protest that she didn't pick her outfit, but decided not to bother. It was unlikely Laurie would listen, anyway. "Urgh."

Laurie winked at her as she left for her own shelter. "Sleep tight."

Sighing, Hermione headed into Draco's shelter. Inside the bed was larger than it appeared, she was relieved to note. At least this meant she wouldn't have to get too close to Draco without sleeping on the sand. "You tired?" he asked her as she came in. Hermione shrugged and glanced around for an Island Eye. There was bound to be one in here. Brash as she was, Julia sure knew how to make good television. "Well, try to sleep. It'll be even more of an exhausting day tomorrow." He grinned at her.

Hermione made a face. When Draco quietly covered his microphone with his hand and indicated she do the same, she gave him a questioning look as she obeyed. "What is it?"

"Let me just clear things up. Sorry about Julia and her 'sexual tension' thing. You don't have to worry about it."

"Oh, um, of course, you neither," she gabbled. "I mean, you shouldn't worry about it either."

He smirked. "Sure." He uncovered his mike again and started taking off his shirt. The sight of his bare chest made Hermione's pulse quicken in alarm. Was she wrong about this show? Was she going to be forced to have sex with Draco on camera? The very idea made her shudder and she involuntarily took a step back. "What's wrong?" he asked as he gave her his t-shirt. "Here, put this on. It'll warm you up."

She was mortified by her assumptions as she took the shirt. "N-nothing - thanks," she said quickly, turning around to change. "Don't you dare peek!" She unzipped the dress and pulled it off, putting the t-shirt on as fast as she could.

"I wouldn't," Draco said airily behind her, amusement in his voice. "Are you still insecure about your body? Let me assure you, you've filled out quite nicely since the last time I mocked you about your lack of curves."

Hermione blushed, thankful for the darkness. "I don't need you to tell me that," she said as confidently as she could. "Now let's just get to sleep."

"Whatever you want," he replied softly, and lay down. She hesitated, then decided just to lie wherever was comfortable. However, this meant she had to sleep against Draco's chest, because it was the warmest spot. Sighing in surrender after trying out several other spots on the 'bed', she gave up and rolled back towards Draco, making sure to keep her back to him.

When Hermione found a snug spot against his chest (she could feel his heartbeat calmly beating against her back), an arm draped itself around her. The other arm found a position under her head. Now her head rested comfortably in the crook of his shoulder. She thought about struggling away, but couldn't be bothered and closed her eyes, breathing in the faint smell of Draco as she slept. A smiled stole onto her face as she snuggled backwards unconsciously in her sleep.

If this was how she'd spend her nights here, it wouldn't be so bad after all.

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That was a pretty long chapter! I would have ended it earlier but decided not to. It's always cute to end a chapter with the characters falling asleep, lol. But that's just my opinion.

And I realize Hermione and Draco are a bit OoC when it comes to their past - but I can't have them carrying out a hugely complicated and long romance like 10WtKDM, so I made them more tolerant to each other.

Tell me what you thought of this chappy in a review, please. :D