Ginny could hardly contain her excitement of the trip for the rest of the week, and that fed into Hermione's excitement as well. It wasn't until Thursday morning when the girls both received letters that their moods slipped.
Hermione glared down at Ron's handwriting, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she slowly opened the envelope. Ginny seemed to be in a much better mood than she was, which made her wonder who had written to Ginny. After letting out a deep breath through her nose, she unfolded the parchment and read the letter.
Hermione,
Please, I would like another chance at us. We can even talk about it over the holidays, sort everything out. Why are you even with him? Did you forget he nearly killed Dumbledore? He didn't slip you a love potion, did he? I wouldn't put it past him, the git.
Mum says she misses you dearly and can't wait to see you over the holidays. You are coming to visit, right? I really hope so, I can't wait for us to all hang out together again! And you know I really want to see you already, but Harry really misses you too. He wants a better chance to catch up than our meeting in Hogsmeade.
Hope to see you soon!
Love, Ron
She let out a frustrated sigh and looked up at Ginny, who was already writing out a response. "Did you tell your mum that we aren't visiting for the holidays?"
"I thought I did, but I'm writing her right now," Ginny answered without looking up. "She said it's perfectly fine if we don't want to visit considering the boys are there; I guess they told her what happened."
"Hopefully they were truthful about it," Hermione muttered as she folded up the letter and set it aside. "Your brother seems to be holding out hope that I will come back to him."
Rolling her eyes, Ginny looked up at her friend. "You had to have known he wasn't going to give up that easily."
"No, I know," Hermione sighed. "I don't know why I thought it would all just blow over."
"Everything alright?"
The girls looked up to see Blaise and Draco sitting down next to them while Pansy and Theo were still crossing the Hall. Hermione nodded and said, "Just got another letter from Ron."
Draco's brow furrowed as his mouth formed a thin line. "Do I need to take care of this?"
Hermione laughed slightly and shook her head. "No, he's just stubborn. He'll pout about it for a while and then get over it; that's just how he works."
"That's not healthy," Blaise said from across the table.
"What's not healthy?"
Pansy and Theo sat down on Blaise's other side with curious looks on their faces. Ginny leaned forward to look at the other two past Blaise and said, "My brother's not healthy."
"Oh, we already knew that," Pansy said, crinkling her nose slightly. "Did you see the way he would eat when he was here?"
The rest of the group laughed and Hermione's mood lifted then as she looked around at all of them. There were some moments where she still couldn't believe just how much things had changed and how she was now friends with people she used to hate, and she was having one of those moments right then.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Draco asked quietly, leaning closer to her so the others wouldn't hear. "You have that look on your face."
"What look?" She asked curiously.
"The one that says you've had a thought occur to you," He said with a slight smile.
She laughed. "I'm just still surprised sometimes by everything that's happened. The fact that we're all friends now, and you and I are together. Never would have imagined that would happen."
He grinned at that. "I know, I get that thought sometimes as well. I wouldn't change a thing, though."
He reached over to take her hand and she smiled widely. "I wouldn't either."
"Okay, that was too sweet, even for me." Theo stood up with a grin on his face while Pansy smacked his arm. "Come on, guys; it's Potions time!"
Hermione sent a response off to Ron later that day and then promptly forgot about it as Ginny began to pack excitedly for their trip. Hermione wasn't quite sure what to expect from this trip still, but as she continued to pack her things together her excitement grew again.
The next day dragged on in Ginny's opinion, but when classes were finally over she grabbed Hermione's hand and raced to their dorm to grab their bags.
"Come on!" Ginny exclaimed as she bounded up the stairs, taking two at a time. "Pansy said to be at the carriages right after class!"
"They have to grab their bags too, Gin!" Hermione laughed, trying to keep up with her friend. "And I seriously doubt they would leave without us!"
They quickly grabbed their things after changing out of their robes and raced back out of the common room. Hermione couldn't deny that she was definitely more excited for this holiday break than any of the previous ones, mostly because this was the first one in years that she was able to just relax.
She and Ginny were both out of breath when they found the other four, and Pansy laughed at them. "What, did you two think we were going to leave without you?"
Ginny sucked in a few breaths and said, "I just wanted to get going as soon as possible!"
Blaise took her bag from her while Draco took Hermione's and gave her a quick kiss, helping her up into the carriage after Theo and Pansy. Soon the carriage took off towards Hogsmeade and the six of them happily chatted about the break.
"Has anything changed since the last time we were there, Pans?" Blaise asked as he wrapped an arm around Ginny's shoulders and she leaned into him.
"Mother added a couple more cabins but other than that, everything is still the same," Pansy shrugged.
"If it's your own private island, why would you need multiple cabins?" Hermione asked curiously.
"My mother likes to rent them out for profit every now and then," Pansy explained. "It's a popular destination, especially for the American wizards."
"I can see that," Ginny said.
"But, I get the island whenever I like," Pansy said with a grin. "It's really nice actually; I spend a lot of summers there too."
"We spend a lot of summers there," Theo said pointedly, causing Pansy to roll her eyes in response.
"I think they would have known that," She said as she looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged and grinned at her before kissing her forehead. "I just like annoying you."
"You definitely are good at it!" Pansy laughed as she happily leaned against him.
The carriage came to a stop in Hogsmeade not too long after and Ginny was bouncing up and down with excitement as they grabbed their bags.
"Draco, I can carry mine," Hermione insisted, reaching out for her bag that he had slung over his shoulder.
"I know, but let me be a gentleman," He said simply as he smiled at her.
She sighed and couldn't help but smile back as she gave him a kiss. "Thank you."
"Alright, everyone grab hold!" Pansy announced as she pulled a large umbrella from her bag.
The six of them grabbed a different part of the umbrella and soon they all lurched away. Hermione shut her eyes and gritted her teeth; she always hated the feeling of travelling by portkey. But moments later the awful pulling sensation stopped and she could feel the warm sun on her skin.
"Welcome to our home for the next two weeks," Pansy announced with a grin.
Hermione stood in shock as she looked around. They had landed on the porch of a large house that over looked a pool, and beyond that was the bluest water she had ever seen. There were trees everywhere, and as she moved along the porch she saw that the trees continued back behind the house.
Ginny had already kicked her shoes off and was racing towards the beach in front of them while Blaise chuckled, watching her.
"Well, I guess I'll have to get us an island too," He announced, making the other three Slytherins laugh.
Hermione simply raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned. Draco then gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, "Go on; I'll take the bags to our cabin."
Without another word, Hermione pulled her shoes off and quickly rolled her jeans up before running down the walkway to the water where Ginny was. Ginny had rolled her pants up as well and was just standing in the water, staring down at it. She looked up when she heard Hermione behind her and gave her the largest grin.
"I don't think I can go back to Hogwarts after this," She said as she took a few steps in the water. "This is just absolutely beautiful!"
Hermione laughed. "Unfortunately we do need to go back. But at least we have two weeks to enjoy this place."
She stepped into the water with a sigh and stared out at the ocean, marveling at how blue it all was. She had to admit, she didn't really want to go back to Hogwarts after the holiday either.
"I may need to go change into shorts real quick," Ginny said then. "It's much warmer than I expected."
"I think that's a good idea," Hermione nodded. "I'm getting warm too."
They both reluctantly walked back out of the water and up the beach, grinning as they struggled to walk through the sand towards the cabins. Hermione saw Draco on the porch of one and made a beeline for that one while Ginny went towards Blaise, who was only one cabin over.
Draco smiled at her as she approached and asked, "So, what do you think?"
"It's beautiful!" She exclaimed, looking back out at the water. "I don't think I could ever get tired of this view!"
He grinned happily and led her inside. The inside of the cabin was just as beautiful, though a little more rustic than she preferred. The floors were a warm brown hardwood that spanned throughout the entire space, with ivory-colored furniture accenting everything.
"And Pansy's gotten some clothes for you and Ginny since she figured you wouldn't have anything very beachy," Draco said as he gestured towards a large armoire in the corner of the bedroom.
"That's so nice of her!" Hermione exclaimed as she went to go look through it.
A few moments later she pulled out a black bikini, a t-shirt, and a pair of shorts and went to change in the bathroom while Draco changed into a matching pair of swim trunks and grabbed a few towels for them. Hermione emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, pulling her hair up into a messy bun.
"Ready?" Draco asked with a smile.
Hermione nodded and returned the smile, reaching out to take his hand as he led her through the cabin again. She blinked a few times as they went back out into the sun, waiting for her eyes to adjust before spotting Pansy and Theo in the water.
Pansy waved at them and she waved back, unable to hold back a grin. "I'm not going to lie, this is probably going to be the best vacation I've ever had."
"Best vacation so far," He corrected, grinning at her.
She laughed and they posted up underneath one of the large umbrellas on the beach. Hermione sighed as she looked back out at the water again with a small smile on her face, and Draco watched her for a few moments.
"Everything alright?" He asked quietly.
"Hm?" She looked over and her smile widened. "Oh yes. It's just so nice here, I haven't gotten used to it yet."
He laughed. "You will, don't worry."
Ginny and Blaise appeared then next to them and Ginny still had a large smile on her face. "Hurry up, 'Mione! Let's get in the water!"
Hermione laughed and pulled off her shirt and shorts while Ginny did the same and both girls ran into the water excitedly. Draco and Blaise froze in their places, staring at the girls while they ran off.
"I think I died and went to heaven," Blaise whispered.
Draco could feel his face turn hot as he watched Hermione dive into the water and reemerge moments later.
"Hey!"
They both jumped and looked sheepishly over at Pansy, who was scowling at both of them. "I realize neither of you have seen them in bikinis before, but try not to be so creepy about it!"
Blaise then tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "What, have you seen them in that before?"
Pansy simply grinned and ran back out into the water as well, leaving both of them gaping in shock. "What? Pans, get back here!"
A/N: Thank you all for being so patient with me, I have no idea why this chapter took so long to write but here you go! The place I chose for inspiration is an actual island in the Bahamas, and after seeing the pictures I couldn't resist having it be included. Hope you all enjoy! <3