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[bennet_beauty]

It was only fitting, Jane believed, that she would hold this party upon such an eventful day. Five years ago, she had arrived upon the island and her whole life had changed. She was no longer the young girl that she had once been and was no longer trapped in the confines of a time when her options were greatly limited. Though the date coincided,

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[honestlyrubbish]

After some months serving on the Island Council together, Hermione had finally come to think of Anne as a friend, rather than a fictional character. Having managed to work past the initial feeling of overwhelm whenever she came across the other woman, Hermione came to recognize all of the traits that she had first adored Anne for in the books. If there was one thing to be said above all else, it was that one could never dispute the fact that Anne cared, and a great deal.

Dressed in a white gown for the occasion, Hermione approached with a smile, still feeling a few lone butterflies in her stomach. "Anne, hi!" she greeted with a shy smile. "Oh, you look beautiful."

[island_anne]

"Oh, thank you," said Anne, twirling around for her delightedly. It was wonderful sometimes to feel girlish again, though she was not so far past her most girlish years yet. In fact, she was sure there were many who would say she was still in them. "And aren't you looking so incredibly lovely yourself. Have you dressed up for someone special tonight?"

[honestlyrubbish]

She was momentarily caught off-guard by the question, her cheeks tinged with a deep pink before the warmth became all too noticeable, causing Hermione's shoulders to pull up slightly, almost as though in an effort to wipe the color away. "Ah, I don't know that I would say I've dressed up... for him, exactly, because if we weren't� let's just say that I've dressed up for myself," Hermione stammered good-naturedly, biting down on her lower lip. "Not that I'd mind if he confessed to liking my choice." Her expression grew embarrassed as she peered around.

"But... far be it from me to discuss my date all night, how about you? I see you so often in the office, but it seems I never get the chance to ask after your friends, your hobbies."

[island_anne]

"Oh no," insisted Anne, twining her elbow with Hermione's so that they might walk together while they talk. "I've not got anything interesting to tell tonight, other than the fact that I've found someone to watch my son so that I might enjoy a late night without worrying. I'm far more interested in hearing about the man you've set out to impress. I do hope he's at least complimented you."

[honestlyrubbish]

Briefly biting her lower lip, Hermione debated over whether or not it was too self-indulgent to start speaking about Ron and his habits, but Anne had encouraged her, after all- and there was something too appealing about the idea of showing off her beau at a ball, the environment pulling Hermione back to an earlier age, one simpler, and more beautiful for that simplicity. "Well, he's- he's right over there, in fact," she said quietly, nodding in the direction of Ron, who'd taken to the table of refreshments, and was probably allowing Hermione the space he knew she'd need for socializing. "With the red hair, much like yours. And sometimes with him, I feel that it's the lack of compliments that ends up speaking the most. Times when he's rendered speechless, you know?"

Her smile widened. "It's hard to not feel at least a little flattered when that happens."

[island_anne]

"Oh, that's so terribly romantic," said Anne, and meant every word of it with all her heart. For all that she could float on air for ages with the right compliment, to render someone speechless was something else entirely. "You must tell me everything."

[honestlyrubbish]

"Well, it's a rather long tale... and I'm sure that some of it would prove dreadfully dull, if I went into full detail, which I have a tendency to do," Hermione laughed, feeling increasingly embarrassed for the way that her mind immediately longed for Ron's arms to wrap around her again, or for the sheer comfort that he afforded her by being around at all. "But the short of it is, we've been friends since our first year of school, and I, I'm not really sure when it started turning into more. But it makes things complicated, a childhood friendship like that. Sometimes you wonder if things might all go wrong, and then you'll have lost more than you began with."

[island_anne]

"Oh, I know exactly what you mean," said Anne, and felt, for the first time in a long time, a little pang for one Gilbert Blythe. Not that they'd ever been anything more than good friends. "I think it's best when you're friends first, don't you? The person you love should be your very best friend."

[honestlyrubbish]

"Yes, I... it's so rare, I think, knowing the friends that I have and having seen their own grasps at love and romance. Very few people seem to have the benefit of finding it with someone that they've known so many years that trust doesn't even come up at all," Hermione said quietly. The statement wasn't completely true, she knew. Ron had harbored plenty of worries about Hermione's affections for Harry, but even that was different. He never doubted her as a friend, as someone that he loved and was worth loving. "I think I'm really quite lucky. He's certainly one of my best friends in the world."