Hi!!! Sorry that is took SOOOO long to get this out! I was having some serious issues with my computer a then got mobbed with school work! Not fun not fun! Oh well…I got it up now don't I. Plus I've had a serious boost of motivation so my next chapter should up soon too. R&R. enjoy.

Hermione's eyes popped open as she heard someone yell her name.

"HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY 'MIONE!"

Hermione sat up to see a short girl with very short dirty blonde hovering over her. She handed Hermione a glass and raised her own to the sky. "To all the bars we can now go to!" she proudly called.

Hermione laughed and raised her own glass up. "To all Akane thinks about, Drinking and nightclubs."

"Hey! That's not true, I think about hott guys too." Akane kept her face in a look of insult, tears beginning to form at her eyes.

"Again, I admire your ability to keep a straight face." Hermione laughed and swung her feet off the bed. She looked to the clock which glowed the time 2:15 am. " Akane! Look at the Time! When I gave you the key to my house I said use it wisely, and waking me up in the middle of the night is not using it wisely!"

A smile broke onto Akane's face "I know." She said laughing. "I'll pick you up at 8 o' clock sharp!" and with that she skipped from the room laughing. Hermione chuckled and waited for the click of the door signaling that her best American friend was out of the house. Sighing, Hermione snuggled back into her covers. She stared up into the darkness of her now empty room.

"Ron, I dreamt of you again. Are you keeping your promise? I can't wait to see you again." Hermione whispered into the empty room and with that, she fell back into a deep sleep.

Hermione's eyes blinked open once again, as she looked to the clock, which read 7:15. She knew that when Akane said 8:00 she meant 8:00, and would drag Hermione from the house without clothes if need be. Hermione sighed as she walked into her bathroom. Her brown hair had lost a lot of its frizz in the past 5 years, and now it fell in soft waves around her face and hung about half way down her back. She had grown to about 5'7" and her chocolate brown eyes shown brightly as ever, standing out over her slightly tanned face, which was nothing compared to the tan of most the girls in Virginia Beach, where she now lived. Steeping into the shower, Hermione remembered all the events of her life as a muggle in the past five years. They had been anything but boring and, though she missed her friends terribly, she loved every second of it.

::: Flashback:::

Hermione walked into the huge building near her new home in Virginia Beach. She had only been in America a few weeks and despite all her protesting, ("Who in their right minds names a school ocean lakes? It's either and ocean or a lake! It cannot be both!"), Hermione was entering this building scared out of her mind. 'At least in the department of ministries I had Ron and Harry with me.' She thought as entered. She had only gotten a few feet inside when she was cornered by a man towering her then 5'4" height.

"You new here?" he asked menacingly. Hermione gulped and nodded. "then you should be informed of the rules," he continued, "what I says goes, got it girl?" Before Hermione could even respond, a girl about an inch shorter then herself stormed up behind the boy.

"ANDREW! How dare you! You've just gotten off a suspension for harassment and here you are, not even in school for an hour and your already harassing girls! Do you doubt that I will follow through with my threats?! Leave everyone alone!" The boy Hermione assumed to be Andrew backed away, obviously somewhat scared by this girl. He glanced quickly at Hermione before backing away.

"Thanks," Hermione said softly to the girl.

"No Problem at all! Stick with me and I'll show you all the good people to hang out with. Sadly, though, a lot of people are still afraid of me since the whole teacher/screaming incident. But she deserved it and the new teacher is so much better. My name is Akane by the way."

"I'm Hermione, pleased to meet you"

"Oh! You're that new British girl aren't you? My friend Lizy went to England a couple of summers ago, but she said she liked Scotland better. However, she did talk a lot about liking London. Have you ever been to London?" Hermione nodded and smiled, she quickly knew Akane and her would be fast friends.

::End Flashback::

Hermione finished brushing out her hair as the modern-day Akane entered her town house. "Ready to roll birthday girl?" Akane's voice rang through out the building. Hermione looked down at the moving picture she had on the counter of her sink. Ron, waving at her was been forcefully held on the frame by Harry as The picture her kissed him several times on the cheek.

"Hold still now," she whispered softly to the picture. They all fake saluted her and posed smiling as if it were a regular photo. Akane entered the room to she Hermione focusing lovingly on the now still picture.

"Time to hit the shops girlfriend! Then off to the clubs" Akane sprang to her friend, "and this time I swear that you will dance."

"Puh-lease" Hermione laughed. "You've been trying that for five years, and I've yet to wiggle my hips in public."

"Yeah, but that's only because you won't dance with any guys! Honestly!"

"I know I've explained myself before, I'm not planning to again, Lets go."

:::Flashback:::

"Come on Hermione! Its called a school dance! So dance." Akane pulled desperately on Hermione's arm.

"No, I don't want to have anything to do with all of…them." Hermione beckoned with her arms to the crowd of High schoolers making fools of them selves on the dance floor.

"Oh gosh, mione, Look, that hott guy over there is checking you out! Come on, maybe you can date him if you dance with him."

"Most definitely not! I don't believe in dating or dancing, it's just a stupid tool used by high school kids to feel special. I feel special enough thank you." Hermione stubbornly refused to get out of her seat.

"Mione, you're lying to me."

"Okay, I had a rocky relationship with a guy back in London. I'm not really into the whole dating thing since then."

"Fine, fine, but I know that when the love of your life walks in you'll drop that notion in a heartbeat." Akane shrugged and walked back into the crowd.

"You hear that Ron, you've got to come back so my friends can see me dance."

::End Flashback:::

"I don't really feel comfortable here. Clubbing is definitely not my thing." Hermione looked up at the 3-story building next to the beach. Akane and Hermione had spent past eight hours shopping and finding perfect outfits for their first club at drinking age. Akane now wore a pair of black jeans with a dark red tank top. Hermione had a pair of dark blue jeans on that had light blue flowers stitched on to them, and a light blue shirt with darker blue roses on it.

"Oh come on Hermione. This is a masked club kind of thing. You can dance away and no one will know who you are. No commitment to dance with one person. It's heaven on earth for people like me." Akane laughed and handed Hermione a mask. Hermione looked down at the mask It was a solid blue, that perfectly matched the color of the roses on her shirt. Taking a deep breath, she slid the mask over the ponytail her hair was pulled into. When she looked up, Akane's mask was black with red glitter framing her eyes.

"Come on." Akane pulled Hermione into the building. No sooner then the found a table to sit at then a man approached Akane and asked her to dance. She smiled and asked the man to wait a second. "Loosen up, girl, no one knows who you are, and any of these guys could be anyone in the world. Just pretend they are whoever you want." Akane whispered to Hermione before turned and heading on to the dance floor with the guy who asked him to dance.

Hermione smiled as she watched her best friend and the mysterious blond boy dance. 'Anyone I want,' she thought, 'Now I just have to wait for a red-head.'

Okay, I guess I should stop here so that it can be posted. Don't worry it won't be as long between chapters from now on! Thanks for reading…

BEK!!!