Hermione woke up early the next morning and headed outside before anyone was awake. She headed up onto the beach with a bag of her personal items and took a seat in the sand outside the ship, leaning back on her arms and looking up at her big, beautiful ship. After this mission was over, she was keeping it. She would be a cargo ship, or she would take missions on the ocean. But she wanted to keep her ship. The Constellation. She stood up and, with a wave of her wand, in perfect script, the word "Constellation" was scrawled across the side of her new baby.

Then she stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, headed up the beach and into the brush. She knew everyone had told her not to go alone, that there were cannibals in here, but she couldn't help it. She smelled awful and she needed at least a short dip in some fresh water. She didn't want a spell, she wanted an actual bath. She was a girl; so what.

She listened hard – for both rustling around her and running water. She heard the latter, but it didn't seem that there were any other people around, so she let her guard down. She looked around once more before she set her bag down on a rock near a huge pool. She smiled giddily and jumped up and down, excited for finally getting to wash off. She unbuttoned her jacket and threw it onto the rock and then moved to unbutton her shirt, which she left on as she stripped off her pants and underwear. Then off came her shirt and her bra, and she crawled up onto her rock and did a cannonball into the water. She popped up and closed her eyes as she pushed her hair back, then dipped in further and hugged herself, relaxing.

After a few moments she moved over to her bag and pulled out a bar of Castile soap, which she rubbed over her body in every place she could, and then she lathered it into her hands and she scrubbed her hair and her face.

It felt beautiful.

She rinsed off in a very small waterfall and then leaned against her rock, content to just rest.

Then –

A rustle.

And her wand was just out of reach.

As fast as she could, she ducked under the water, hoping her breath would hold out until whoever it was went away. Just go away.

…

Draco was up far before the sun. He headed out on deck and climbed up to relieve the lookout and stared out at the beach, watching the trees sway and the little animals scurry along the beach, occasionally turning to make sure there were no other ships around and thinking all about the information he and only two other people knew.

He'd talked to Lily Jane and Madge last night and they had their plan all figured out.

"I'm not sure…" Lily Jane had said, hugging her arms close to her. "I really don't want to deceive Harry like this…"

Madge had only rolled her eyes. "He's just a stupid boy, Lily Jane. One you met - what? Two days ago? Just forget about him and stick to the plan, or everything is going to go bad."

Draco glared at Madge. Lily Jane had been one of his best friends since he knew her at practically birth, and he had a huge soft spot for her. Madge was a close friend of Lily Jane's and very protective, but she had no emotions, if Draco's opinion said anything. She was harsh.

"It'll be alright, Janey," Draco said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Harry will understand – trust me. Once everything happens, he'll understand why we needed to do this."

"Why can't we just let Harry do it?" Lily Jane replied, staring at her lap. "I mean, it doesn't have to be us, does it?"

"It's your inheritance," Madge replied, shrugging. "You deserve it. You need to do it, or your mum will have control over you for the rest of your life."

Lily Jane scratched her dark mark with a sigh. Then she nodded.

"You're right, of course," she replied. "I just want to get it over with."

And after much more reassurances that Harry wouldn't hate her after all of this, he had gotten Lily Jane into bed, Madge had pinned up her hair and tied her bandana around it, and Draco had placed a minimum of five protective charms around their tent. Then he slipped off to bed, and had woken up only a few hours later.

And here he was now. He rested his chin on his hands and was halfway asleep when he saw movement.

"What's she doing up?" he mumbled to himself before curiosity got the better of him and he climbed down from the lookout, ready to follow her.

She sat down on the sand just as he made it down from the lookout, and he had just enough time to duck down before she noticed him. He heard a strange, ripping sort of sound and assumed she'd used some sort of spell on the ship. Then he heard shuffling as she stood up, and he heard her humming to herself. So he stood up as well and, quickly as possible, he climbed off of the ship and ducked beneath the rail as she turned to make sure she wasn't being followed.

Is she crazy? He demanded of himself. There are cannibals in there! Better follow…just in case.

He followed along behind her, the skills he gained as a Death Eater coming in really handy. Quiet footsteps, quiet breath. She never even suspected him.

Especially not when she stripped down and jumped into the pond.

Draco closed his eyes, the only thing he saw her smooth back. He opened his eyes when he noticed the splashing had stopped and saw her just resting there, her skin glistening, only her neck up visible to him.

His thoughts flitted momentarily to that day, the Final Battle, the moment after he'd decided to make his own way. After he'd done something he'd been wanting to do for years, but still shocked him to this day.

He wondered how she felt about it. He wished he would have just asked her about it when he'd had the chance.

He mentally slapped himself in the face.

What is wrong with me? He snapped at his self.

Then, rustling. Out of the corner of his eye he saw him, a dark man with a spear, staring firmly at Hermione, unaware that Draco was here.

He turned around and headed off, supposedly to get more men, and Draco, not sure how much time he had but willing to take his chances, leapt into the pool, grabbing Hermione's towel along the way. He wrapped it around her body, which was completely submerged in water, and then pulled her above the surface. She opened her mouth to scream, but Draco quickly and firmly placed his hand over her mouth and glared at her. He put a finger to his lips.

"Draco?" she screamed, and Draco slapped his hand over her mouth again, his eyes widening angrily.

"Shut up, you twit," he snapped in a whisper. "We're surrounded. We have to get out of here."

"What?" she replied, still too loud, and Draco was sick of it. He pulled his wand from his pocket and had her silenced in seconds. She glared at him, appalled, but he waved his wand and all of her belongings were packed. He lifted her from the pool and threw her over his shoulder, handed her her bag, and he began to move – fast.

"What on Earth were you thinking, coming out here by yourself?" Draco demanded, not entirely expecting an answer. "We'll be lucky if the cannibals don't come out and attack us now. You're just lucky I saw you and decided you needed a body guard. And that I noticed that cannibal watching you. Otherwise you might have been stew already."

They reached the beach and Draco set Hermione on her feet, removing the spell from her so she could talk. Her face was angry, like she was about to start screaming at him, but then she sighed and clenched her eyes shut tight. "Thanks. For that. I'm sorry to have put you through the trouble. Good day."

Draco only smirked as she turned and walked away in nothing but her towel, her bag hanging from the hand that wasn't holding up her towel.

That girl was just something else.

…

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