A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed after last chapter! I love reading all of your comments! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour), where I post story updates and sneak peaks, and you can ask me questions if you'd like.

So, I would love to hear what you think about chapter six, and be on the lookout for chapter seven next week. Without further ado, let the romancing commence...


The rest of the week passed much in a similar way, with Neville spending most of his mornings exploring the rainforest, before returning to the villa to take notes. Hermione spent most of her mornings lounging on the deck, reading. She'd even given a pirate romance novel a read, and had been embarrassed to be caught by Neville. He was amused, she was mortified.

By the weekend, though, both were itching to break out of their respective routines. Neville had done a bit of exploring around the port of the island, and thought that it might be a good excursion for the pair of them. "Say, Hermione, how would you like to go down the village today? They have lots of little shops about."

Hermione didn't need to be told twice about the village. "Great idea!" She gushed, before zipping off to the bedroom to change into a pale blue sundress, which showed off her new tan. Her hair tied back in a tight french braid, and she was ready to do a bit of wandering around.

Because Neville was the only one who'd been to the port, he offered her his arm so that they could just side-along apparate, rather than taking the little boat, which was quite slow as far as transportation went.

Hermione gasped as soon as her feet touched the ground, looking around the adorable little city. She thought it looked like something out of the eighteenth century, with its wood framed buildings all along the street across from beach. "This is so gorgeous!" She said, before they made their way to the first shop, which sold all kinds of rum.

The pair of them had a few samples. "This was such a good idea, Neville. I can pick up some souvenirs for everyone." She selected a package containing several drams of rum. "This will be good for Ronald don't you think?" She asked, showing him the gift.

"Yes, I think he'd like it." Neville agreed. "Though, I don't really see why you'd even want to give him a gift." He rolled his eyes as she paid for it, before shrinking it and putting it in her purse.

"This vacation is making me forget all of his terrible qualities." Hermione joked. "I am sure one day back in his presence will have me keeping the gift for myself."

They moved onto the next shop, where Hermione got Ginny a set of earrings made from polished sea shell. They were really gorgeous, Hermione thought, and would suit the redhead well. For Harry, she got him an assortment of sweets, knowing how much he liked to try unusual flavors of candies.

Before long, they were both hungry and decided to get lunch at a little restaurant overlooking the beach. This was so different from the resort's restaurant, and Hermione found she liked the low key aspect of it, though they weren't offered any free champagne to her disappointment. They both got the fish again, and talked about Neville's fruitless searches so far.

"I'm sure you will find the orchid, Neville." She said, placing her hand on his, blushing slightly when she realized how intimate the gesture was.

"Maybe...if it even exists. It could all be a made up story." Neville replied, a bit darkly, shaking his head. "I need to just accept that I might go this whole trip without finding it, and it won't be the end of the year. I will still have plenty to write about for my final paper about the flora here, but, still...it would have been nice to have a specimen."

Hermione knew where he was coming from, having felt the frustration of being so close to something, but not being able to figure it out. She knew that muggles sometimes searched for years before finding something of value, but she didn't think that it would cheer Neville up.

Once lunch was done, Neville began steering her towards a particular shop. "So, I heard that the bookstore was really great here." He started. "Want to go check it out?" He asked her with a smile. The bookstore was the whole reason that he'd brought Hermione to the port in the first place, knowing how much she loved them.

"As if you even had to ask!" Hermione said gleefully, the prospect of exploring shelves and shelves of interesting books driving her forward. "Well, lead the way Mr. Longbottom!" She urged, taking his hand tightly in her's.

Neville felt his cheeks warm, loving the feeling of her tiny hand engulfed in his own and began walking to the shop. Seeing how happy it made Hermione was exactly why he'd done it, and her attitude did not disappoint.

The bookshop looked plan enough from the outside, with just a tiny sign hanging over the door, but once they were inside, Hermione could barely contain her excitement. The change in the air was tangible, no longer the sea salt ocean smell, but instead the smell of paper from a different time, the smell uniquely of books.

There were rows and rows of books, with ladders to get to the highest shelves, as well as a little mezzanine level with additional books and a little reading nook beneath a large window overlooking the beach and the crashing blue waves in the distance. Hermione wandered between the shelves of book, totally in awe of the wide array of material they had.

There was both muggle and wizarding works represented amongst the mix, and certainly some very old works, historic really, and she couldn't wait to see what all they had. Turning the face Neville, she was surprised to catch him smiling at her. "Look, Neville, here's the herbology section. Maybe they'll have more information on the local flora." She said with a smile.

Neville looked confused for a short while, as if what she said didn't quite make it to his brain, before nodding, and stepping forward. He looked over the books, running his long fingers over the spines of the books with a reverence that Hermione rarely saw anyone but herself exhibit.

With Neville sufficiently entranced with the herbology books, Hermione decided that she could probably take a look around, do a bit more browsing. It was so rare that one of her friends didn't make a huge fuss about the time that she spent in the bookstore. Hell, since she'd been working so much, she rarely had any time at all to browse.

Still, that was the great thing about Neville, she thought. Even though she doubted that he would come to a bookstore on his own for an afternoon, he knew that she would enjoy it, so he went along with it. And, he was able to find something that he enjoyed about her hobby, as well, so he was able to participate, not just grumbling that they didn't even sell any Quidditch magazines there.

Smiling to herself, Hermione looked through the muggle literature, hoping to find something unique, but was unimpressed with the selection. She'd already brought quite enough wizarding literature - ahem, bodice rippers - that she didn't think she would enjoy anything that they had in the shop. If she ran out of her stash, she supposed that she could always come back later on during the holiday.

But the non-fiction...the non-fiction had more topics than she knew what to handle! She spent some time reviewing the potions area, as they had quite a bit about local medicinal potions and she thought that perhaps Neville might get some use out of it, especially as that is what mentioned the Death Orchid in the first place.

Then, she found the ancient runes section. She was amazed to learn that Fiji, and well all of the pacific islands, had their own system of runes, which when she thought about it, why wouldn't they? Ancient runes was something of a secret passion for her, so she found herself eagerly picking up a beginners translation book, and then climbing the ladder to get to some of the basic texts.

With the translation guide open, Hermione tried to piece together the titles, to find a book that would interest her most. She was a bit disappointed that most of the books were just discussion of ancient trade routes, but she supposed that she had to start somewhere. Seeing one that specifically mentioned Australia, she picked it up and decided she would purchase it, as it was one little thing to tie her to her parents.

Just as she was about to step down from the ladder, she heard Neville behind her. "Hermione, watch out!" Realizing her mistake too late - she'd clearly missed a rung, and got her ankle trapped on the next one - she was falling, both books clattering to the ground in a heap, as she desperately tried to grab onto the ladder.

Closing her eyes, she waited for the sickening thud that was sure to happen when she fell the considerable distance to the floor. But, she never did make impact with the ground, and when she opened her eyes, she was looking at Neville's hazel brown eyes, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Hermione, are you alright?" He asked, knowing that she was likely just scared that she'd fallen.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I think so." She gave him a sheepish smile. "I can't believe I fell down."

"I'm just glad that I was there to catch you." He said. He didn't want to put her down, thinking that it felt very right to have her in his arms, but he knew that he had to. He'd already held onto her for too long.

When her ankle had to bear weight, though, she immediately hissed. "Ooh. Guess I'm not as alright as I thought I was." Tears sprang into her eyes, and she immediately lifted her foot from the ground, leaning on Neville for support.

"Come on, let's get you back to the villa." Neville said, picking her up again, as though she were light as a feather, ready to side-along her.

Hermione resisted laying her head on his chest, though she felt so protected and safe with him. "But, Neville, what about the books?" She asked, gesturing to the heap on the floor that had fallen when she did.

Neville grinned at her worried little expression. "I think that they are used to it, Hermione. They will handle it." Without another thought, he apparated them back to the villa. When they arrived, he strode towards the couch before settling her against the cushions, placing a pillow under her foot so that it was propped up.

Carefully, he undid the clasp on the ankle of her shoe, sliding it off, apologizing when he jostled it a bit too much. "Thank you Neville, but I really think-"

He cut her off before she could finish the sentence. "It's alright Hermione, let me take care of you." He let his eyes rove over her flushed appearance, curls escaping her tight braid, and brown eyes full of lingering tears from the pain. He looked back down at her foot. "Just give me a few minutes and you'll be feeling better in no time."

Unfortunately, wizards hadn't created a spell yet to heal sprains, which Neville thought was a bit silly, but he knew that there were a few things that he could do to help her body heal it faster. First, he cast a cooling charm to help with the inflammation. Next, a modified incarcerous that would apply constant pressure to the joint, without cutting off the circulation.

Hermione watched Neville work with awe. She couldn't remember a single time when she'd been treated so carefully, with so much concern. Surprisingly, she didn't hate it at all, like she thought she would. She never wanted to be treated like a princess, but she knew that Neville didn't think she couldn't do things herself. He just wanted to help her because...

She watched the top of his dark blond head as he inspected her ankle and she thanked Merlin that she'd remembered to shave her legs that morning! The feel of his hands on her skin felt better than she could imagine, and his gentle touch didn't hurt her at all. It was comforting, soothing, and she didn't want it to stop.

Eventually, though, he did have to stop. "You wait here, and I will just go get you a pain potion from the other room." He said, settling her leg back against the pillows. He strode out of the room and reentered a few minutes later, holding a vial. "Here you are, Miss Granger."

Hermione gladly took it, uncorking the vial and downing the contents. Instantly the throbbing in her ankle all but went away. "Thank you for taking such good care of me, Neville." She said with a shy grin.

"Now, why don't you wait here, watch some television, while I go arrange to have dinner brought here?" He asked, taking his role of doctor very seriously. "Or would you prefer I got you a book?"

Hermione blushed. "No, the television would be lovely. Dinner as well, thank you Neville." She watched as he apparated away, and wondered if she would ever be able to take care of him in a similar fashion. She wondered what it would feel like to touch his body like he had. Would he feel the same way about her touch?

Before long, Neville returned to her immense surprise, carrying a pizza. "Pizza?" She asked. "I had no idea that wizards even knew about it!" It was a great choice though.

"Well, this is a bit of a tourist destination, after all." He said with a smile. "I thought it would be easiest, and you could just eat on the couch." He put a slice on a plate for her, before carrying it over.

"Care to join me? I was just about to watch a movie...it's about an archaeologist who is constantly trying to get artifacts before the Nazis do." She grinned, thinking that the action adventure genre would be most appealing to him.

She was correct, as he watched the movie all the way though, excitedly asking her questions during commercial breaks. They laughed together, drawing some parallels between looking for horcruxes, as they were kind of magical artifacts. Hermione realized she'd had a surprisingly enjoyable time with Neville.

By the time that the movie was over, Hermione was yawning, and tiredly stood up, ready to roll into bed and fall promptly asleep once she closed her eyes after the long day she'd had. She'd done more that day than she had in the previous week.

"Oh, one more thing, Hermione." Neville said, picking up something to hand to her. "While I was getting the pizza, I got this for you too."

"Oh, that was soo thoughtful!" Hermione gasped, seeing the exact book on ancient trade routes in Australia and the basic translation guide. She was so impressed that he'd noticed what books she'd selected, and that he'd gone back for them, all for her. She bit her lip, and made her decision before she could think too hard.

Standing up on her tippy toes, she wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him down, pressing her lips firmly against his. He was surprised, but it didn't take long before he kissed her back, sucking her lower lip between his, overwhelming the bit of plump flesh.

She gasped, pulling away, perhaps realizing just how much she was reacting to him. With a bright red blush on her cheeks, unable to meet his gaze. "Goodnight, Neville."