Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Harry Potter. All the copyrights associated with both fandoms belong to their rightful owner. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

AN: Wow, this chapter flowed like concrete and I'm unhappy with almost everything about it, but it's been too long so I'm posting now, goddammit! Ah, I guess I underestimated how hard crossovers were, but never fear! I will soldier on. Reviews which tell me how I can improve will earn a special place in my heart. This is a story I need feedback on, if there ever was one.

Hermione sighed to herself in relief. The rest of the week had passed quickly and unpacking and redecorating had taken up a lot more of her time than she had anticipated. She was to start work that night with the night shift and had only put the finishing touches on her house today, even with magic to hurry the process along. It had been an exhausting week, but at least she had an up-and-running house now. She was most pleased with her study, it was one of the biggest rooms in the house, only coming after her kitchen and bedroom. She had covered the walls in mahogany bookshelves, but the wide windows running along one wall prevented it from looking too dark. Her desk was massive, big enough to hold all the books she usually has around her while working. Hermione remembered doing her homework at Hogwarts clearly, especially in third year, where she would have to push a few tables in the common room together so that she could spread her homework out.

Looking out the window, Hermione realised it wasn't as late as she thought it was. Smiling to herself, she went upstairs to change into something more suitable for the bar. She had been wearing an old, knitted jumper and tatty jeans for the redecorating. They were barely suitable for inside the house let alone out in public.

Once she was ready she headed out into the last of the sunshine. The sky was already tinted red and a cool breeze stirred her hair. Hermione smiled and headed to the Grill, she was going to have to make friends in this town and she wasn't going to do that by staying at home all the time. Now that all her things were put away and her equipment safely stored she had no excuse for anti-social behaviour.

Upon entering, Hermione grinned as she recognised the leather-clad back of a man sitting at the bar.

"I was hoping I'd see you here again." She smiled as he looked up surprised. She took a seat next to him. "I wanted to thank you for last time."

He smirked at her. "A man doesn't need to be thanked for keeping a beautiful woman company."

"Perhaps not, but you made sure I wasn't alone my first night in a new town, not to mention a new country. You made me feel welcome. Anyway, it wasn't just that I wanted to thank you that I hoped you'd be here."

"Oh?"

"Yes, tonight's my turn to buy the drinks."

Damon laughed as she signaled the bartender. "So have you finished moving into your house yet? You were just about to start last week, weren't you?"

Hermione made a small noise of protest. "Let's not talk about my house, I've just moved in and already I'm beginning to hate it." At Damon's raised eyebrows she elaborated, "I've just spent so much time decorating and shoving furniture around over the past week that now I just want to burn it down and be done with it."

"I can sympathise, my brother and I have moved often enough over the years to become intimately familiar with the process."

"Oh yeah, you came here to talk to him. How did that go?"

"Actually, I haven't talked to him yet. He's not going to be pleased that I'm here, you see. But tonight's the night, I just have to get the initial, ugly confrontation over with."

Hermione smiled at him. "I know the feeling. I made a decision a year ago; one my parents disagreed with. I told them what I did and they haven't spoken to me since. Anyway, where were you before you came here?"

"Oh, around and about. I never really staying in on place long enough to make an impression. How about you?"

"Same as you I suppose." Realising her voice held more than a hint of bitterness, she straightened and smiled at him warmly. "So I don't suppose I could buy you another drink before I head off to work?"

Damon checked his watch. "Actually, I have somewhere to be very soon. Where do you work?"

"Oh, I have my first shift at the hospital in about an hour."

"You're only eighteen. That's a little young to be in the medical field, isn't it?"

"I'm taking over for their receptionist while she's on maternity leave. Anyway, I really have to go. It was lovely seeing you again, Damon."

"Likewise, Hermione" Her stomach clenched slightly at the sound of her name on his lips. Smiling, she left the bar.

Hermione seated herself behind the desk after saying goodbye to the last receptionist. The hospital is open all night so all the staff, including receptionists work in shifts.

"Hey, it's Hermione right?"

Hermione looked up in surprise at the voice. "Hello, you're Meredith, you showed me around a week ago, didn't you?"

"Yeah, this is your first shift, isn't it? I feel I should say good luck; in any other town you'd be lucky to get the late shift. There's usually fewer calls and accidents at night, but not in Mystic Falls."

"Yeah, I was quite surprised that such a small town had a hospital at all, there's a huge amount of injuries for the number of people here. I suppose the town's just unlucky." Hermione did her best to sound distantly curious, but really, she was probing. It would surprise her at all if there was a perfectly valid reason for the number of patients. A perfectly valid reason such as a thriving supernatural life.

"Yeah, Mystic Falls is just strange like that. I'll let you get on with your new job then," she said, smiling as the phone began to ring.

Hermione grinned at the pretty brunette and picked up the phone.

Hours later, Hermione had gotten into the rhythm of her new job and was perfectly comfortable answering phones, sending emails and making appointments. Her routine was broken when she got a 911 call from a student who was at a party in the woods. Heart beating faster than normal, Hermione sent an ambulance to the area and waited on tenterhooks for it to arrive back with the girl who had been bitten. She had seen far too much death in the past three years for people to start dying during her first shift at a new job in a new town.

The noise of the ambulance's siren alerted Hermione to the arrival of the injured teenager. She caught a good look at the teenager with light brown hair and a pretty face covered in blood before the doctor's rushed her into a room. Hermione had a quiet shift after that and had little else to do but keep a watchful gaze on the girl's room, waiting for Meredith to come out so that she could ask her if the girl was going to be okay.

Just after her shift ended and Hermione was about to go home, Meredith and the other doctor came out of the girl's room.

"Meredith, how is she? I was the one to take the call and send the ambulance. She looked terrible, is she going to be alright?"

Hermione's concern for the injured girl had rendered her babbling and almost incoherent.

"Hermione, Hermione, relax. She's going to be fine. She's lucky though, whatever animal bit her took a massive chuck out of her neck. But we've stitched her up and after a day or two she should be able to go home."

"Oh, thank God," Hermione said fervently.

Meredith gave her a strange look and asked her quietly, "Why are you so worried about her? Do you know her?"

"No, I don't know her. It's just ... I've been around so much death lately and she's still so young." Hermione trailed off helplessly. How could she explain to this complete stranger about the war, her parents, and the year she spent on the run terrified every moment would be her last?

Meredith looked torn, as though she wanted to tell Hermione something secret. "Hermione, working in a hospital, it's hard. Sometimes people don't make it and if you let them, each death will wear on you. It's very important to harden yourself to illness and accidents and death, or they'll take you over."

The witch nodded morosely, "It's not going to happen again, she just reminded me of someone I once knew." And the mysterious girl did. With her clouds of light brown hair, she reminded Hermione of herself. Just a little, but also not at all. The girl's face, softened in unconsciousness, looked younger than Hermione could ever remember being. "I'm just being silly, I suppose. I should probably go home and sleep. For a first day at a new job, it was far more exciting than it had any right to be."

Meredith nodded sympathetically, "Yes, you should sleep, you look exhausted. But before you go, I checked the shifts earlier and we're both free tomorrow night. There's going to be a huge gathering in the square to watch this comet pass overhead. How about we go for a drink in the Grill?"

Hermione smiled and nodded to her before exiting out the front door to the hospital.

It was only when Hermione unlocked her front door did the question occur to her. The question she should have asked back in the hospital.

What sort of animal attacks someone by biting their neck, but doesn't injure any other part of their body. What animal leaves their prey behind? The answer came to her immediately in the late night gloom of her new home.

Vampire.

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