Anmarie Island

"Have fun and be careful!" Mrs. Weasley called as the Muggle subway train bringing Hermione and Harry to Lussiex Bay departed. The pair grinned and waved back furiously. They had been told to choose their favorite mode of transportation, magical or non, to get to the ship. Being raised by Muggles, Hermione and Harry obviously knew the subways quite well, and considering Harry's strong dislike of Floo powder, it seemed a reasonable choice.

"Well, I'm going to get in a bit of light reading," Hermione said importantly, pulling an absolutely enormous book out of her trunk. Harry stifled a snicker at a glare from Hermione, and pulled out his list of their fellow Prefects.

Who could I be paired with? he thought. 'No Gryffindors, no girls, so that leaves Malcolm, Malfoy, Justin, Ernie, and Stewart. hmmm.....' Truthfully, Harry had absolutely no idea who Stewart was, as he had no classes with the Ravenclaws. Justin and Ernie were all right though, and Malcolm and Malfoy were... Slytherins.

Hermione looked up at Harry and saw he had fallen asleep while pondering the list. She personally didn't care who her roommate would be. She planned on staying on as friendly of terms as possible with all the other Prefects, with 'as possible' being the key words. Malfoy was pretty close to impossible.

An hour later, Hermione shook Harry awake. "Hey! We're getting off in five minutes. Grab you stuff!"

When they arrived at Lussiex Bay, they blinked at how the bright sunlight reflected off the water and gazed at what they instantly knew was their ship. For one, it was the exact same color of the Hogwarts Express. There also happened to be a man in long black robes checking off names on a list. As they got closer, the features of the man came into sharper focus...Tall, with longish black hair as greasy as his face, which had a scowl etched on it.

"Professor Snape?! What are you doing here?" Harry gasped.

"Ahh...Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger... I was thinking we'd be leaving without you... An idle hope I see," Snape said softly, gesturing towards a large clock that showed they had ten minutes before the ship departed. "As for what I'm doing here, didn't you realize a teacher would be accompanying you?" He paused, then added, "Well, carry on then! Potter, you're in room 12, Granger, room 8."

Reluctantly checking their names off of his list, he sent a sneer in their direction before turning on his heel and stalking off briskly. His students followed at a safe distance.

Peeking into Hermione's room, they gasped. It seemed that every student had as much space as there was on the entire second story of the Dursley home. There was a bathroom, large closet, queen sized bed, and a common room that had a door leading to a neighboring student's room. They dropped off their trunks and climbed the stairs to the top deck, where they joined Seamus.

"Isn't this amazing?" he asked with wide, excited eyes.

Hermione smiled pleasantly. "It sure is," she nodded.

"What do you suppose the island'll be like?" he asked.

Hermione's expression brightened. "Well, I've read up on it," she began. "You see, it's named after..."

Seamus paid close attention to her historical tale as Harry rolled his eyes and wandered off. He had no desire to hear the story again and instead wanted to explore the ship.

As Harry entered the boiler room, complete with a lush buffet table, he spotted Malfoy reading a thick book in the corner. Without Crabbe or Goyle he seemed different. He was more defenseless, quieter. Harry smiled gingerly to himself as he realized the prat had no friends on the ship. He probably won't be such an annoyance now, Harry thought, entering the buffet line to grab a sliver of moist carrot cake.

He no sooner bit into the triangular pastry than an announcement blared over the intercom. "All Hogwarts students please report to your main common room for a brief meeting."

Shoving the rest of the cake into his mouth, Harry headed toward the very center of the ship. He could feel someone watching him as we went. He knew someone was following him. Whipping his entire body around to face his stalker, Harry ran smack dab into Draco Malfoy, who wore an expression of absolute disgust.

"Don't touch me, Potter," he warned, "or you'll regret it."

Harry swallowed his cake dryly. "Maybe if you weren't following me so closely, Malfoy, I wouldn't have touched the precious robes that your daddy bought you."

Silence suffocated them after Harry's comment. No one was around. They were alone.

Taking advantage of this, Draco grabbed Harry's shoulders and shoved him against the deep blue wall. He easily overpowered the boy who lived. Draco was bigger than him and more willing to do harm. His grip tightened on Harry's shoulders.

"I suggest," he said in a threatening tone, "that you avoid me this summer unless you want to get injured, Potter. I am not in the mood for your childish games. So heed my warning: keep out of my way."

Harry never broke his eye contact. His green eyes burned fiercely at Malfoy's gray.

Draco loosened his grip, his white knuckles now flooding with color. He straightened up his robes, gave Harry one more menacing glance, and left swiftly for the common room.

Snape stood up in front of his students, and the room quickly fell silent. "Welcome aboard the Simolean. As you may have noticed, this ship hosts not only yourselves but other witches and wizards on holiday, and I expect you all to behave in a manner that is in no way degrading to Hogwarts," Snape paused and looked disdainfully around the room. "We will be on the ship for three days, arriving at Anmarie Island on Thursday. Until then, I suggest you," he paused to scowl, "enjoy yourselves. When we get to the island, you will meet your other two professors. We will give you extensive training in DADA, with it's many branches." Here he paused again, and continued in a disapproving voice, "Every Friday night there will be a social event, designed to promote friendliness among Prefects. There will also be a few contests, with rewards such as an evening out."

The girls looked around the room and giggled. By social event, surely Snape meant a dance of some kind.

"Further information will be given out on Thursday, including cabin assignments. I suggest you finish eating and then be careful to stay out of my face for the next few days, as I tend to become irritable when on the water for too long."

The students spent the rest of the day introducing themselves and getting to know each other. It turned out that Stewart shared Harry's fondness for Quidditch, and Hermione felt a bit lost without her best friend.

Unable to sleep that night, she decided to go for a midnight walk, and went to the top deck to watch the water. As she breathed in the fresh sea air and gazed out into the ocean, a boy in the shadows watched her. He noticed the way the moonlight glinted off her soft auburn curls and how when she tilted her head back the light on her throat made her look quite vulnerable.

She's not that ugly, he thought. A little work here or there would fix her right up.

Hermione leaned against the guardrails. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said to no one in particular. The boy with his face in the shadows about 4 feet away nodded, unable to think of a decent insult to throw at her.

Hermione glanced at him curiously, and when a moment later the moon came from behind a wisp of cloud, she could see the boy next to her.

It was Malfoy.

"Oh it's you," she said distastefully, stepping away from the blonde boy.

"Don't sound so pleased, Granger, someone might think you fancy me," he shot back with a sneer.

"Oh! You!" she walked quickly away, feeling the sudden urge to be as far away from him as possible.

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione found herself studying Malfoy. He had changed so much since there first year. Quidditch training combined with puberty had filed him out to be a little over 6'0 and nicely built. He still had the slate gray eyes that concealed any emotion he might have, and his usual sneer was ever present, but overall he was improved since his younger days.

He's gotten quite attractive too. When did that happen? she mused to herself, then stopped in shock. Malfoy? Attractive? Maybe she should visit the ship mediwizard; she obviously was having a temporary bout of insanity. But, in reality, she was right. He was no longer sickly pale but nicely tanned, and he had given up using gel in his hair. The way the wind tousled it made it look as though he hadn't touched it in days, but the look suited him. As she watched, his face suddenly lit up in the first true smile she had seen, and he was soon chortling heartily. The transformation was amazing. His eyes lit up delightedly, and he seemed to not have a care in the world.

She followed the direction of his gaze, and found herself clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle her own laughter.

Apparently Snape had discovered that his thick black robes and the hot sun didn't exactly go well together, and he had traded in his normal attire for muggle wear: a pair of ill-fitting jeans and a thin cotton shirt. That was the least of it, however. On every inch of exposed skin he had not quite rubbed in a thick layer of sunscreen, and as he now looked very much like a vampire in the daylight, it was too much for any student to repress.

At a scathing glare from Snape, the 12 students suddenly became very interested in the water, sky, food, anything but Snape.