Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

It took a while before the American group realised what she just said. Hermione still had her hand stretched out, smiling. Then the guy that had laughed at her hair took out his and shook it.

'Hogwarts!' he exclaimed, beaming. Hermione sighed with relieved; so they were really wizards!

'Oh my gosh!' The girl that tied her shoelace said. 'What are you doing here?' She asked curiously.

They all looked at her as though she was one of the Disney Performers at the theme park; with immense excitement.

Hermione laughed and put her hand automatically back to her hair. 'I'm on holiday!' She explained.

'Oh!' The other girl grinned. 'So are we! We're on vacation – well, sort of!'

'We've just finished school and we're travelling round the country for a year!' The last guy said, folding his arms.

'Are you?' Hermione said, fascinated.

'Yeah, it's really fun! And we've only just started…'

'HERMIONE!'

Hermione groaned and turned round to see Cassie skipping towards her. 'Hi,' she said with the smallest hint of flirting at one of the guys. He grinned too.

'Hi! You go to Hogwarts too?' He asked her nicely.

Cassie stared at him as though she was asked a filthy question. 'Excuse me?'

'She's my cousin, she's a muggle.' Hermione explained.

The group 'oh'd' again and one of the girls giggled behind her hand.

Cassie flinched as though electrocuted. 'You told them about-?'

'Yeah, because they're wizards too!' Hermione said cheerfully.

The laughing guy pointed at himself and said, 'I'm Brian!'

The other guy said, 'Chad.'

'Louise,' said the girl with the shoelaces.

'Sara,' the last girl grinned.

'Do you want to hang out with us?' Brian winked at Hermione, who blushed.

'Yeah, it would be cool to know how things are going at Hogwarts!' Sara brightened. 'How's Old Dumbledore doing?'

'Yeah, good!' Hermione laughed. Cassie was looking very putout that she didn't understand any of this stuff. 'Why don't you go back with your parents, Cassie? They've saved seats for the parade haven't they?'

'Well…' Cassie said but Hermione talked her into going, though she didn't go quietly. She threw her drink on the ground and stomped off.

'Woah, she seems…unpleasant!' Louise raised her eyebrow after Cassie's heated temper.

'Tell me about it!' Hermione answered. 'OK, where shall we go?'

Hermione loved spending the day with these guys, they were so smart and probably the only people around who shared the same interests as her. They joked about wizard stories and everything they could put into one conversation about spells.

Brian and Chad were brothers who lived in Salem, funny enough, and came from an old American family of warlocks and witches. Louise and Sara were not related, but life long friends who both came from San Francisco – and they were muggle-borns just like Hermione. 'We obviously can't tell you the whereabouts of our old school,' Brian whispered to her as the girls were playing a game of water pistols at a stall.

'Oh, that's alright,' said Hermione breezily. 'I'll find out soon enough when I look it up in a book!'

Brian grinned at her and looked at the time. 'It's five o'clock. Didn't you say your aunt and uncle were meeting you outside the gates around now?'

'Oh yes,' Hermione mumbled, her stomach forming a tight knot. 'well it was good meeting you guys!'

'We'll see you again, Hermione!' Laura hugged her. 'We can apparate straight to your house! Do you wanna do that?'

'Sure, I see no reason why not!' Hermione laughed as she walked away.

'Bye guys!'

'Don't tell me you spent the entire day with those dorks?' Cassie fumed as they drove back to their villa in the Hummer.

'With who?' Aunt Jane turned round in her seat to look at them.

'Hermione was talking to some American freaks.'

'They're not freaks! They're witches and wizards!'

'Exactly,' Cassie mumbled.

Aunt Jane rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat.

'Don't tell me your jealous of Hermione now, Cassie!'

Cassie fumed and didn't talk to Hermione for the rest of the day.