"Draco. No."

He chuckled. "It'll be great, don't worry." She shook her head. "No way. I'm not getting on that thing."

"Hermione it's just a broom."

"Exactly, it just a broom."

"It'll be fine. I promise."

She shook her head fiercely. "Either way I'm not dressed for it."

"You're not…dressed for it."

"Can't we just go to dinner? I thought we were going to grab dinner or something."

"Well we can't get there unless you get on the broom." She looked at him dead in the face. "Can't we walk?" He laughed, dropping the broom and bringing her in for a hug.

She shouldn't have, she definitely shouldn't have, but she breathed him in. And for a solid moment or two, everything but him seemed to disappear. His scent made her mind fuzz in the best kind of way, and she took a few more breaths before trying to shake herself free from his trance.

"I'll make sure you don't fall."

"It's just we'll be so high up and my hand will start sweating and that's super gross and-"

He laughed. "Just don't look down."

"Well that's easy for you to say isn't it? You played quidditch for—no! DRACO!"

The piercing shriek Hermione let out could be heard all the way back to London.

"See Granger? You're flying." Hermione held on tightly, her arms wrapped around his torso and her head pressed up against his back. "I don't like this!" she yelled, her voice shaking slightly, trying to be heard over the flapping wind. "Relax," he said, "just hold on to me." With scattered breath Hermione closed her eyes, listening to Draco's steady, even breathing. She bit her lip, and was glad he couldn't see the blush on her cheeks. I'm on a date with Draco Malfoy, she thought. As her breathing relaxed she slowly began to enjoy the feel of the wind rushing through her hair. She had to admit, Draco was in her element up here. Even with her eyes shut tight she could tell he was an expert flyer from the way he kept the broom steady. "You alright?" She opened her eyes. "I'm fine now." She told him. He looked back at her and smiled. "Good," he said, "because I love flying."

Hermione gathered up the nerve to look up at the sky. With the sun setting she could see a few sprinkling of stars. "Where are we going?" "You'll see." He shouted back. Suddenly Draco swooped down, Hermione's screams quivering behind him. She grabbed on tightly once again but kept her eyes open, she felt that if she closed them they might crash. "Are your eyes open?" he shouted. She nodded, "Yeah!" "Good," he said, zooming off. Over the row of hills Hermione saw the ocean up ahead. The waves looked purple-grey in the fading light and she felt that if she reached out she could catch a few splashes in her hand. "It's beautiful." She breathed. Draco flew back up, landing softly on a patch of grass on one of the hills. Hermione quickly jumped off the broom. "Enjoy the ride?" he grinned widely. "As much as I could have, I suppose." She said, laughing. "The ocean looks amazing from here." Draco pointed out to the right. "My vacation house is a bit a ways that way. This is where we stay every summer." "It's lovely." She told him. "So," he cleared his throat, "I was thinking we could have a picnic and then go for our walk, as promised."

"A picnic? Did you cook Mr. Malfoy?" He laid out the blanket, laughing slightly. "No, um, I had some help from the house elves." "Oh thank goodness, it'll be edible."

He nudged her. "I can cook if I want."

"Draco. Stop. You tried making that cake-"

"Will you let that go? It was one time Hermione. One time."

She laughed even more. "I won't ever let it go. There is a difference between teaspoon and tablespoon."

"They both start with T! And there were so many different kinds of spoons…" now he was laughing too.

As the sun finished setting they finished their meal. "I can see why you enjoy your time here," Hermione told him, "It's so peaceful here." Draco leaned back, resting on his elbows, "It's a nice place to sort out thoughts and the like." Hermione nodded and took a deep breath. "The air is so clean," she laughed, "This is what I love best about summer though."

"What's that?"

"It's late, the stars are out, but you don't particularly need a sweater. It's nice." Draco smiled and nodded, looking up at the sky. "I'm glad we did this Mione." She could feel the color rushing to her cheeks. "I am too." He looked at her. "So how about that walk?" he asked. She nodded, getting up.

The wind ran along the edge of the grass, tickling Hermione's ankles. "Hermione?" Hermione's ears perked up. He had never quite said her name like that before. It was hesitant but almost…dare she say shy? She looked up at him, "Yes, Draco?"

"May I hold your hand?" She smiled at the ground. "You don't need to ask, Draco." He shrugged. "Well maybe you have some sort of issue with hand holding, I don't know." She laughed, "I'm not that weird." He took her hand in his and bumped her playfully. "You're pretty weird, Granger." She bumped him back, "You're weirder." "Am not." "Are too."

He swung their arms as they walked, and they laughed nearly the entire way. But as they continued on their walk, the more distant Hermione seemed to become.

"What's wrong?"

She stopped walking. "I don't…I don't know." She paused, "I just got so scared all of a sudden." He leaned in closer, face somewhat frowning. "How do you mean?" She looked up at him, the wind tugging at her hair. She tucked it behind her ear. "It's just," she tried finding the words, "What do you think will happen? When we go back to school I mean." Draco looked away, shrugging. "I would imagine that everything will carry on as normal." Hermione nodded. She didn't particularly agree, but tried to push the thought to the back of her mind.

The more they walked the closer they got to the cliffs that oversaw the ocean. Draco thought it would be the perfect place to take a short break. Hermione agreed, sitting, and pulling him down with her. "Jesus Granger, you're gonna make me fall over the edge." She giggled. "You take so long to sit down." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "So impatient." He told her, smiling. His hand was placed over hers and their eyes locked. Hermione's heart got pumping again, panic spreading with each beat.

Silence filled the empty space, and the sound of the grass moving in the wind seemed unusually loud.

"What are we doing." She said it softly but purposefully. Draco looked at her, his head turning sharply. She shook her head lightly. "What did we think was going to happen? This is insane." "Hermione," his voice was low and serious, "What are you talking about." She sighed as she looked at him, her eyes sad. "Draco we have to go back to school soon. What will we do then? What will we do after two weeks? Go back to what we were? Is that it? What was the point of all of this?" He scrunched up his features. "The point was we became friends Hermione. More than that. You know how I feel about you." He didn't stop looking at her. She scoffed, tears welling up in her eyes. "But how long, Draco? For just a summer?" Draco cleared his throat. "It was one hell of a start, wouldn't you say?" She turned away, staring out over the hill. "So this is it," she said, still not looking at him. "We'll never talk to each other again? Until next summer?" "Hermione." He placed his hand over hers. "Don't do that." She said harshly, pulling away.

She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. Again she sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just know Hogwarts is going to be awful. No one will understand. And I'll miss you." She said finally. "I guess we could let everyone at Hogwarts know. It wouldn't be that bad." He tried. She gave him a look he knew all too well.

"Ok," he said, "it'd probably be a big deal. For maybe a month or two. But then something else would happen and they'll forget all about it." She nodded, her head still on her knees. "I'm not sure I want them to know." She said quietly. Draco nodded, this time he was the one looking out into the distance. "It could just be our little secret," he looked at her, "if you want." He gave a wicked smirk. She smiled, lifting her head and nodding slightly.

"Stand up." He said. She scrunched up her features. "Why?" "Come on, just do it," he said, getting up himself. "Summer is almost over, and we'll be back at Hogwarts soon and it's like you said, we don't know what will happen. There's something I've been wanting to try." Hermione sighed but stood up. "Close your eyes." He told her. She pressed her lips together. "No funny business, Draco." "I'm not, just close them." She did as she was told. "Ok now outstretch your arms. Like a plane." Hermione smiled at his correct reference of the word 'plane' but suddenly got nervous.

"Draco, I swear to god if you're going to tickle me-"

"Shut up, I'm not."

She gave an annoyed sigh but outstretched them anyway. "Ok now tilt your head. To the left. A little more." She started laughing. "Draco what are you do-"

"Shh! It won't work if you keep moving." She bit her lip. "Ok now just carefully lift one leg."

"Which one?"

"Doesn't matter." He said, "Hold that pose."

"Draco…"

He cupped her face and put his lips to hers, more carefully than he had ever done anything in his life. Hermione let her foot drop slowly to the ground and her arms fell to rest on his chest. "Draco," she said on an inhale. "Shh…" He breathed. Hermione felt the rush of goosebumps go down her spine and spread all across her skin. She felt light enough to fly away. With the wind brushing her hair she was glad Draco was keeping her anchored to the ground. Finally, and reluctantly, she pulled away to catch her breath, trying to contain a smile. She looked up at him shyly. "I thought you'd never do that." she said. Draco let out a shaky laugh, "For a moment there I didn't think I'd ever get the courage to." She held both his hands in hers, marveling at how perfectly they fit together. "Do you think you have the courage to do it again?" He smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her up to him. "You tell me," he said, guiding her chin up with his knuckles, his lips finding hers once more. Hermione smiled into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"We really are screwed Mr. Malfoy." She said, once they had pulled away. "I'd have to agree, Ms. Granger."

"How are we going to get through Hogwarts?" she sighed. He shrugged. "The same way we've done everything else this summer," he said, "Together."