Authors Note: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. I simply use her characters to vent some of my ideas. Hope you enjoy!

Hermione grabbed her drink from the bartender and turned around to face the crowd. This was not her usual hangout. She would prefer to be home reading or relaxing. Ginny, however, had other ideas. The war had ended a few months before, and they were enjoying the summer at her parents beach house before heading back to Hogwarts for a final year. Even though her seventh year had been missed due to chasing Horcruxes, the students were returning for one final year to finish up schooling before entering "the real world"… whatever that meant.

"Hermione!" Ginny came bouncing over to her.

"Having fun?"

"I'd have more fun if you would come dance with me!"

"Ginny, this isn't really my thing."

"Hermione! Come on! Pleeeease!" she begged.

"Fine."

Hermione threw back her drink and slammed it back on the bar before being dragged out to the middle of the dance floor. A song that she was unfamiliar with was blasting through the speakers. She quickly felt herself relaxing and the effects of the drink taking it's toll. She never drank. She was a light weight. Prior to her quick drink just moment before, Hermione had already had four other drinks, one being a shot. She concentrated on moving her body with the music. Twenty minutes later she was finding it very difficult to stand up. Ginny wrapped her arm around her waist and they stumbled towards the door. The bar was going to be closing up soon anyway. They stumbled to the curb and looked down the road both ways. Not a cab in sight.

"We're only two blocks that way. Let's just walk," Ginny said motioning down the road.

Hermione nodded and stumbled along with Ginny towards their house. About a block up, Hermione tripped on a piece of cement that was sticking up and stumbled forward, catching herself against a tree. Instantly Ginny burst into laughter, quickly followed by Hermione.

"Don't laugh at me!" Hermione wheezed as another round of laughter had her bending over holding her stomach.

"Everything OK ladies?" an amused voice asked from the shadows of the porch on the house in front of them.

"Oh my God! Someone saw that?" Ginny practically screamed and burst into another fit of giggles.

Hermione was quick to follow. She heard a light chuckle and footsteps coming down the steps.

"What are you two lovely ladies doing out all alone this late at night?"

Hermione took a deep breath to calm her and straightened up. Her eyes scanned from the fancy black dress shoes, up the lean, muscular torso, and then came to a screeching halt at his face. Hermione Granger was staring into the eyes of Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy!"

"Granger…" Draco said taking a step back.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?" Ginny asked confused as she stood up and smoothed out her skirt.

"I live here. What are you doing here?" he asked in disgust.

"She lives here," Ginny sneered back and gestured to Hermione.

Draco raised an eyebrow before turning his attention back to Hermione.

"And how do your muggle parents afford a place such as this? Beachside is not cheap." His words practically oozed disdain.

"My parents are dentists. They make good money."

"What in bloody hell is a dentist?"

"Muggle teeth healers. You'd think with all that money you could afford a book," Hermione shot back.

"Listen here mudblood, I read quite well thank you. I am second in the class only to you. I simply choose not to waste my time learning the traits of muggles. It's quite useless to me."

"Draco…" Another form came down the steps towards them and Hermione quickly recognized him as Blaise Zabini, another Slytherin, and best friend of Malfoy.

"Granger," He nodded his head towards her, "Weasley. How are the two of you?"

Hermione's eyebrows came together in confusion.

"Since when do you care how we are?" Hermione snapped.

"Easy Granger. I come in peace. We're on the same side now."

"Ginny, can we go?" Hermione asked, turning towards her friend.

"Yeah. Uh, see you around I guess." Ginny waved quickly and her and Hermione made there way back to the house.

Draco stood on the sidewalk and watched the two walk away. His insides were flipping around, half in anger at Granger for getting lippy with him and half because he couldn't help but notice how good she looked. The months after the war ended had done her well. She had lost some weight, he assumed from being on the run for so long, and her dress had hugged her in all the right places.

"She looks good, yeah?" Zabini swatted his arm and walked back up towards the steps.

"She's a filthy mudblood."

"Draco, you're my best friend and all, but you gotta get over that whole blood issue. We all know it's a bunch of lies anyway. The Dark Lord beat it into our parents heads, and they proceeded to beat it into ours. Hermione is the best witch at our school. And we both know you think she's hot."

With that, Zabini left Draco to his thoughts.

The next morning, Hermione and Ginny dragged themselves out of bed, threw on bathing suits, and headed to the beach. It was fairly crowded and they set up their blanket between two other blankets. Ginny instantly stripped her cover up off and headed down the beach. Hermione laid back, pushed her sunglasses over her eyes, and closed them to rest.

It couldn't have been ten minutes later when a shadow fell over her.

"Look who I found…" Ginny trailed off.

Hermione opened her eyes to see Draco Malfoy gazing down at her.

"For the love of God, I can't catch a break!" She pushed herself up and straightened her bathing suit before turning to look at Malfoy and Zabini.

Zabini's shoulders were shaking slightly as he tried to contain a laugh.

"And what is it that you find so funny?" Hermioned asked him.

"You've got fire inside you, Granger. I like it!"

"If by fire, you mean hate to the core. Then yes, I'm filled with it."

"Hey now, hate is a strong word. We are on your side now, right Draco?" Zabini said nudging his friend who was still staring intently at Hermione.

"Yeah, same side."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "No quick remark or snide comment, Malfoy?"

"I…," Malfoy started and then glanced at Zabini who nodded lightly, "I'm sorry for my behavior yesterday. I will refrain from calling you names from now on."

"I must have heat stroke. Did the Draco Malfoy just apologize?" She asked incredulously.

"Don't get use to it Granger. It won't happen often."

"Wow. I'm speechless. And that is hard to do."

"Quick. Take a picture. Once in a lifetime chance!" Draco joked, smirking at the brunette.

"So is this some weird type of Gryffindor/Slytherin truce?"

Zabini and Malfoy looked at each other and then back at the girls. Hermione glanced over at Ginny, who shrugged at her.

"Whatever. It's too weird to even talk about. I'm going in the water," Hermione said as she peeled off her cover up to reveal her black bikini and headed towards the beach.

Draco's mouth went dry as Hermione peeled off her cover up. Where had she been hiding that body all this time? She was thin, but not overly so. Her skin was creamy and smooth. The black bikini offset to her skin perfectly. As she walked away, his eyes instantly went to her ass, which was swaying in a way that effected Draco in ways he never thought would be affected by her.

"Earth to Draco." A hand waved in front of his face.

He tore his gaze away and glanced at Ginny who had been waving her hand in his face.

"Like what you see?" She smirked at him.

"What? No." He shook his head harder than necessary.

"Well pick your jaw up and let's go swimming."

Ginny and Zabini headed into the water while Draco took a minute to gather his thoughts. What on earth was happening? Never in his wildest dreams would he think that he would ever have feelings for Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor princess. He was the Slytherin prince sex God. He could have any girl he wanted. He never imagined that would be Granger, but he couldn't deny it. She looked edible in her bikini. Now that the Dark Lord was gone and his father was locked in Azkaban for life, he really did have no reason not to go after her. It wasn't like he would fall in love with her. She could be a nice toy for the summer though. He finally agreed with himself to have a little fun with Granger, seems she was so nicely located nearby his house, and headed towards the water. Zabini had picked up Hermione and was holding her up, threatening to throw her in and submerge her in water. Draco waded into the water as Hermione squeeled loudly and frantically waved her arms in the air. Ginny was treading water a little ways out and laughing.

"Blaise Zabini, you put me down right now! I don't want to get my hair wet."

Zabini laughed and glanced over at Malfoy and winked.

Hermione screamed as loud as possible when she felt Zabini toss her through the air. She clenched her eyes shut and held her breath, waiting for the smack again the water that would ultimately submerge her completely. A second later she felt water hit her backside, but two strong arms catch her.

"I got you."

Hermione's eyes snapped open and she found herself staring into Draco's face. He had a light smile playing on his lips. Not his typical cocky smirk, but a genuine smile.

"Uh… thanks."

One of his arms slid out from behind her legs and he let her body fall gently into the water, while leaving his other arm to support her upper body. His typical gray eyes had a hint of blue in them as they reflected the water. She couldn't tear her eyes away.

"You good?" his voice was practically a whisper.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She took a step away from him and her eyes ran down his naked torso. He was gorgeous without his shirt on. She couldn't deny it. His body was toned, but not too muscular. There was a slight V leading into his swim trunks. Hermione swallowed hard to try and clear her mind.

"Feel free to keep staring, Granger. You don't look so bad yourself." Draco's grin grew wider and he pushed through the water past her.

Her gaze followed him and she saw a large tribal tattoo that went from one side of his shoulders to the other. It was intricate and very Malfoy. She balled her fists as she had the sudden urge to reach out and touch him. What on earth was going on with her!