AN: So I told some people that I would update today and Wednesday, and I am nothing if not a creature of habit. Hope all of you in the United States enjoyed having a day off to celebrate civil rights.

Rocko woke the couple with a loud squawk that he apologized for once both of them sprung out of bed and rubbed their eyes. Hermione threw on some proper clothes and went to bolt out of the penthouse to avoid Draco as much as possible, and Rocko shouted after her, "Don't forget the luau at 10 o'clock after breakfast!" She slammed the door in his face before she could sigh at the prospect of having to spend more time with Draco. Well, maybe he would be hungover. And maybe he had run out of personal questions to ask her.

Zelda at the restaurant smiled at her, ready to escort Hermione to a table with a view again, but the brunette shook her head and started to walk past to the Starbucks before the waitress grabbed her arm. "What's up, Hermione? I thought you liked it here!"

"It's just... Draco... I have a few things to do. I'm sorry. I'll be back tomorrow hopefully."

The girl started twirling her around poking at her stomach with an inquisitive look on her face. "Did he hit you or anything?'

Hermione rolled her eyes behind closed lids but replied no before excusing herself. She took herself to the beach without a towel or even sunblock for her pale skin in order to experience nature as it was meant to be experienced without the drama of commercialism trailing all around her like garbage in the ocean. She lay back in the sand and even took off her flip-flops, exposing her feet to the elements.

In England, they had beaches, sure, but none of them were like this. None of them had so many relaxed tourists sunning themselves as hot surfer buffs rode the waves even the crests dipped lowed than their normal six-foot height. She closed her eyes and could make out the sound of Rocko yelling at Draco via webcam farther down the beach, children playing catch with a beach ball, and most importantly the sound of waves that was so unique to this place. They were so rebellious, like the cries of the quidditch team before a match or the screams of that underground Wizarding band that Ron was obsessed with for a year.

Ah, Ron,

She closed her mind off to him as if using occlumency.

Hermione returned to the reality of Hawaii with a slight burn on her forearms and a sleepy feeling coming over her as she checked her watched. With ten minutes until it started, she started walking back towards the hotel where a bellhop led her to an outdoor conference area where the performers were setting up for the luau.

Polynesian Luau

10:00

Maui Conference Room

Please enjoy the performance at the beginning and a

Traditional Polynesian lunch afterwards

Including a stuffed pig!

Enjoy!

Courtesy of the Chula Vista Resort.

Hermione shuddered at the thought of that pig, but Rocko had assured her that there would be plenty of vegetarian options for her. She found her place at a table festooned with a rainbow of flowers next to where Draco was already lounging in khakis and a black, silk polo unlike most of the other men there who sported gauche floral prints that were more garish than anything Hermione had ever seen on Project Runway.

He nodded a curt hello to her as she sat down, and she returned the favor but did not initiate an apology for her behavior last night because she felt like it was him and him alone who has at fault for the failure of an evening. A waitress wearing a full grass skirt and a skimpy bikini top came by to hand them fruity drinks with umbrella straws that she assured them, with a wink, were nonalcoholic.

Hermione pushed hers to the other side of a table, and Draco did likewise, citing bad experiences in the war that led to a high awareness of possible poisoning, but he really just did not want to be caught drinking something so frilly; the couple across from them sat down and took the drinks with matching smiles before launching into small talk with the two wizards. "Hi! We're Fred and Wilma! We live in Florida most of the year with our twenty hairless cats, but we come out here after ten full moons to relax. How about you?"

Without planning it, the two responding, "Eu, nous ne parlons pas anglais," telling the Floridians that they didn't speak English. Although they had sentenced themselves to talking solely in French, it would be alright because both of them were still recovering from last night, or so it seemed.

The performance started with a canopy being lowered around the spectators and a fire ball exploding. Even though sights such as these were common in the Wizarding world, Hermione let herself get carried away in the euphoria as a hula dancer led the guests in a conga line around the center stage where muscled men were blowing fire at each other and tumbling around the space while still carrying torches. A man covered in feathers arrived to serenade the spectators with songs that had words in a language even he did not understand, and a dozen little girls ran through the legs of the adults carrying leis that they distributed to each of the conga-line participants. The dancers waltzed to seats around the stage as nature music set in while the guests meandered back to their tables.

Hermione beamed at Draco who remained stoic, but his eyes gave him away. A waiter in a pair of board shorts and nothing else brought them plates and escorted them to the buffet where their Floridian neighbors exclaimed as they approached each menu item from the fruit salad to the pig at the front that made Hermione gag and bury her nose in Draco's shoulder until they passed it. She muttered a thank you but he was already stacking pieces of pineapple on his plate to start off what would turn out to be a vegan dinner for him. Hermione helped herself to the salad and exited the line before they could get to the carver at the end with a bloody knife in his hand. Even Draco had to duck out of line at that point because it brought back bad memories from the war.

The Floridians flaunted their carnivorousness with forks flashing and spoons scooping as they babbled about the amazing qualities of Hawaii even in comparison to their favorite Florida. The more meat they cut, the more sick Hermione felt, to the point where she had to excuse herself after one final bite of salad. Draco gave the tourists a death glare before following her. "Hermione!"

A hula dancer handed them a shell bracelet on their way out, but Draco ignored him to catch up to Hermione. "Hermione! Are you alright?"

It wasn't until he had chased her up the flight of stairs that he got his answer: "Yes."

She flung open the door and downed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Don't lie to me, Granger."

"Fine!" She flung up her arms like a tree in a hurricane. "You want the truth?"

"Yes! I told you most of what happened to me in Italy, but I still know next to nothing about you!"

"Oh, please! We can't all be perfectly open Draco Malfoy!"

Draco pulled his wand when Hermione pulled hers, but she glared at him when she just cast a simple Muffliato before putting it back in her pocket.

"I'm not perfectly open..." It was like the silencing spell had worked on Draco instead of just the room. "You still don't know why my parents disowned me."

Hermione too, lowered her voice. "Well, you were helping our side during the final battle..."

"Yeah, but there's something else... Never mind. I'm sorry for yelling, um, at you, er, Hermione. I'm going to bed." She nodded, respecting his end to the conversation and relishing the fact that he had not brought Ron into the discussion. Both of them climbed into their bed fully clothed. Hermione stayed awake longer than Draco, still feeling sick to her stomach, to breathe deeply and cleanse her system of the smell of meat. She should have never gone to that luau. She felt a rustling between them, and immediately thought of the gnomes walking around in the garden under the window when she would sleep over at the Weasley's, but reminded herself that she was in Hawaii, not England. It was Draco's hand, searching. When his fingertips hit her, she let their hands slide together and told herself that she was just acting as Draco's teddy bear, nothing more.