The air whipped Hermione's clothes against her body and blew her hair around her face. It was exhilarating! She now understood why Harry enjoyed Quidditch so much. The cool air kissed her skin as she flew over the open countryside below her.
She continued following the blue light that stretched out in front of her. She leaned further forward on the broomstick to gain more speed. Her heart started thumping against her chest in fear as everything turned into a blur as the broomstick sped up dramatically. Draco must've cast a spell on it to get there quicker. After all, it took about thirty hours to get there. Her heart rate started to slow down slightly as she got used to the speed after nearly an hour of pure fear of falling off the broomstick.
Hermione flew over a city. She could see cars below moving around and she could just make out the shapes of people down below on the streets. From this high up they were just small dots. The broomstick carried her over the rest of the city and out over a beach and then the zaffre coloured ocean. Sunlight rays rebounded off the ocean waves and shined brightly. It was beautiful.
She had already been travelling for two hours, following the blue light and gazing at the zaffre ocean. With the speed enhancement spell Draco cast over the broomstick, Hermione thought that she should have a couple more hours of flying before she arrived in Bulgaria.
Her mind drifted to a sudden thought. What was so special that Malfoy had to plan this surprise outside of the country? It had better be pretty damn special because Hermione hated the idea of falling off the broomstick at this height above the ground.
Another two hours of gazing down at blue ocean, lush, green countryside, and busy city streets, the ray of blue light started angling downwards. She tilted the broom handle down slightly to follow the blue light towards a beach. Golden Sands. Hermione stopped the broom when she was a few inches above the ground. She touched one foot onto the sand and swung the other leg over the broomstick's handle, now standing with two legs on the earth again, much to Hermione's relief.
Hermione couldn't do anything before the person behind grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. She struggled to reach her wand but the person's grip was too strong.
"Hey, it's only me," Draco whispered in her ear. "Don't panic."
Hermione's body relaxed a little. "What are doing, Draco?"
"I'm surprising you. But first I have to blindfold you."
"Are you sure that you're not kidnapping me?"
Malfoy chuckled. "Yes, I'm quite sure. If I let go of your arms you can't punch me, ok?"
Hermione smirked. "I can't make any promises."
Hermione felt Draco tense a little behind her before slowly letting go of her arms. Hermione turned around to face Malfoy. Draco couldn't react quick enough before Hermione balled her hand into a fist and punched his arm. Hard.
"Owww. I probably should've expected that."
"Probably."
"Now turn around. I need to blindfold you."
Hermione hesitated slightly before turning around again so that her back was to Malfoy. He covered her eyes with a piece of fabric, tying it in a knot at the back of her head. "Can you see my hand?" Malfoy asked. He must've been waving his hand in front of her face.
"No," Hermione answered.
Without her sight, Hermione's sense of hearing seemed to sharpen. She heard the rustle of the twigs on the end of the broomstick. Draco must've picked it up. Hermione flinched as he grabbed her hand. Hermione heard a crack, signalling that they had apparated somewhere. But where, that was unknown. She heard a rustle behind her, sounding like Draco had put the Firebolt on the ground of wherever they were, before Malfoy untied the knot and removed the blindfold. Hermione's eyes had to adjust after being covered with the blindfold before she could see where they were. Once her eyes had adjusted, she gasped at the sheer beauty of the whole place.
Draco had taken the pair of them to another beach. But this one was more secluded from humanity. There were no towering buildings surrounding the beach and there were no streets close by bustling with cars and people either. It was just quiet and peaceful. It was the perfect paradise.
To their right, close to where they were standing, was a wooden cabin. In front of them was a small structure that seemed to be a bar of some sort. A thatched roof held up by wooden posts covered a polished marble counter top with a group of wooden stools. And to the left was where the ocean waves met the sandy shore. Palm trees stood tall above everything, casting shadows around on the ground.
"So, what do you think?" asked Draco as he looked around with something glinting in his eyes. It was familiarity. He had been here before.
"It's amazing," gushed Hermione as she continued gazing around.
"Well don't just stand there. What do you want to do first?"
The two of them kicked their shoes off as Hermione tossed a few ideas around in her mind before deciding on one. "Let's go swimming," Hermione said as her eyes landed on the sparkling ocean.
"Ok," said Draco. Hermione couldn't react quick enough before her had hooked one arm under her legs and the other under her neck and started carrying her to the water. She had to put her arms around his neck to support herself.
"Draco! What are you doing?" And then Hermione realised exactly what he was doing. "Draco, don't do it."
But it was too late. Malfoy was now standing waist deep in the water. He removed his arms from underneath Hermione and let the cold, salty water engulf her. Bubbles floated towards the surface of the water as Hermione stood up and was greeted by the breeze of the fresh air. She spat out the salty water.
"You'll pay for that," Hermione said through gritted teeth.
Malfoy crossed his arms over his chest. "Will I just?" He asked, wearing that stupid smirk of his.
Hermione dipped her hand in the water and swung it forward so the water splashed Malfoy in the face. While he was spitting out the water, Hermione placed her hands on his chest and shoved him backwards. Arms and legs flailing, he fell back into the water. Once he came back up, he was spitting out water again.
"You happy now?" Draco said, glaring at Hermione.
A grin was glued to her lips. "Yeah," she said with a giggle.
Hermione shivered. It was getting colder. Draco noticed this.
"Come on, let's go get a drink."
The pair started walking back to shore. Draco led the way to the bar. Sitting on the counter top were two towels. Draco handed one to Hermione. She gladly wrapped it around her body. She was soaked. Water droplets were dripping from the ends of her hair and splashing onto the sand beneath their feet.
Draco walked behind the counter top and ducked down. When he stood back up, he was holding two glasses and a bottle of Firewhiskey. He filled the two glasses and slid on across the surface to Hermione. She picked it up and took a sip before placing it back down.
"Where exactly are we?" Hermione asked, once again looking around at the surroundings.
"This is a private island that my parents bought. When I grew older, they handed it over to me," he answered whilst staring down into his glass of Firewhiskey. He seemed a little nervous.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"I'll show you."
Draco walked back out from behind the bar and grabbed Hermione's hand. Warm tingles ran up her arm. He led her to a spot between two palm trees so that they were facing the ocean. He let go of her hand and turned her to a specific spot. And Hermione saw why.
In front of her, the sun was setting, turning the sky a variety of colours. Pinks, purples, yellows, oranges and reds. It was breathtaking. A paradise sunset.
Draco snaked his arms around Hermione's waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. It sent warm shivers through her body.
And just as the sun dipped below the horizon, Draco gently turned Hermione around and leaned in a little closer so that their foreheads were touching. She inhaled sharply. His smell was flooding Hermione's senses.
He brushed his lips against hers. He kissed her and she kissed him back. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His thumb caressed her cheek as their breaths mingled. Hermione's heart fluttered. She ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and she could feel the quick beating of his heart against her chest. They pulled away from each other for air and stared into each other's eyes as the sun disappeared below the horizon.
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Hey guys!
Sorry that this chapter took a long while. Writer's block can be a pain sometimes.
But anyways, how did you feel about the end of the chapter? I've been waiting to put that scene in for a while now and now I finally had the opportunity.
As usual, don't forget to vote and give me some feedback! 👍👋