A/N: Well, its been three days since my last update. I hope you guys like it.

As always I don't own Harry Potter or Angel.

Chapter 3- Getting to Know Each Other

Angel couldn't believe what was happening. Sitting right next to him in his GTX car was the very woman who was not only from Cordelia's vision, but was also the one who had been an inch away from ending his vampire life. He never thought that she was going to say 'yes' to coming with him. But she did and he was more than thrilled.

He still couldn't believe that Mia could be the one to save his soul. When Cordelia had told him about the vision, he thought she had lost her mind.

"Come on, Angel. How hard is it to believe that there is somebody out there that can help you?" she argued, following him to his office.

"Because this was made to be a curse. There's no way to stop this from happening after making love with someone that I love. I'm not meant to be happy," he argued back, curious to as to why she kept pushing the subject.

"That's not true. Everyone deserves the right to be happy." Cordelia was not backing down.

"Then why can't you tell me how she helps me?" he demanded, looking her straight in the eye.

The way he raised his voice angered Cordelia.

"Look, I'm trying to help you here. Listen to me or don't listen to me. I don't care. But there are things that even I can't tell you if the vision is about you. If I thought this vision was bad, I would tell you everything that I saw. But it's not. So just trust me on this, Angel. I have a really good feeling about this," Cordelia replied in such a calm voice that it scared Angel.

Angel sighed as he said, "Okay, Cordy, you win. I'll look for this girl."

Cordelia nodded, happy with the outcome. As she walked away, Angel couldn't help but wonder what his best friend was hiding.

He had spent the last two days trying to find her. The only thing that Cordelia could give him was a name and that she worked in a bar. Since Los Angeles was known for its late night bar-hopping, he decided to narrow down his search by looking into ones that had at least one employee with the name 'Mia'.

He had looked through every bar, trying to find a woman with bushy honey brown hair. But every bar that he went to welcomed him with disappointment. His last stop was Wolf Creek, and he had already lost hope of finding her. He entered the bar and looked around until his eyes landed on the one that he had been looking for.

He was still unsure of what the woman could do to help him. But after following her and witnessing her magic, he began to feel that maybe she could help him after all. He still really couldn't believe that she was sitting right next to him. It had taken him a really long while just to get her to lower her wand and he wondered what she had gone through that caused her to be so guarded. When he looked into her eyes, he could see that they were tired and matured way beyond their years.

What has this woman seen that causes her to be so reluctant to trust?, thought Angel as he glanced over at her. She was a fairly good-looking woman. Her bushy honey brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, with a single strand that lay on her face. Her waitress uniform hugged her figure quite nicely. When he got her to giggle at his 'allergic to the sun' joke, her eyes had seemed to light up.

I wonder what else makes this girl smile, thought Angel, with wonder. All he saw on her face was anger. But he had to admit that she looked cute when she was angry.

He continued to drive, casting a few glances at Mia. He wanted to know what she was thinking as she looked at the passing buildings. She hadn't said another word to him after saying 'yes' to coming with him, although she would sometimes look at him with wonder in her eyes. She still held the wand close to her, not letting her guard down. Angel wondered what it would take for her to trust him.

This is going to be more difficult than I thought it would be, thought Angel, a little worried. If he wanted her help, he knew that the only way was to be honest with her. But he knew that his dark past might cause a problem. His only hope to gain her trust was to prove to her that he was changed man….well, vampire, anyway.

The rest of the drive to Angel's place was spent in silence. They continued to sneak glances at each other, wondering what the other was thinking.

Finally, after a few minutes, they arrived at Hyperion Hotel, Angel's home and Angel Investigations' headquarters. He parked his car in the hotel parking lot. He then got out and went to the passenger side to open Mia's door.

"Thank you," she quietly said as Angel helped her out the car.

As they walked to the main entrance, Mia placed her wand in her front pocket. Though she didn't fully trust Angel, she wanted to avoid questions from his friends about her magic. She knew that if they asked, the questions might lead to her past and she didn't want that. So to avoid another awkward silence, she decided to start the conversation.

"You live here?" she asked, looking around the front garden.

"Yep, this is also headquarters to Angel Investigations. I found it when I was running from a demon. I actually came to stay here when it was in business back in the 1950s. It was a beauty back then. There was a lost soul still living here and I helped them take care of unfinished business. Then I decided to make it home base. My friends, Gunn, Wesley, and Fred live here with me. We get the occasional visitor that needs protection, but other than that, this is home," Angel answered, looking at the building.

"I didn't think you lived in such a place. I thought you might want to live somewhere that doesn't have windows," Mia replied, walking up the main steps.

"Well, the center of the hotel doesn't have windows and neither does my office so I spend my day there with my friends," Angel explained, reaching to open the door for her.

When they entered the hotel, the first thing they heard was, "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?"

Standing before them was a slim brunette woman with her hands on her hips. She looked at Angel with fierceness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Cordelia. I got kind of held up," Angel replied, nodding his head in Mia's direction.

"I don't care. Next time you stay out with the sun a couple of hours away, call me. I'll go pick your ass up so that I don't have to worry where the hell you are. Hi, nice to meet you, name's Cordelia Chase," she gave Mia a friendly smile.

Mia was surprised by how quickly Cordelia went to being angry to having a big smile on her face. She remembered how she used to scare Harry and Ron when she would become angry one minute before becoming cheery in less than two seconds.

She smiled. She liked this girl.

"Hi, I'm Mia Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you," Hermione said, giving a smile back. She thought about Harry after she said it. She missed her best friend greatly. When she first got her job at Wolf Creek, the first last name that popped out of her head was his. She wondered how he was doing and if he missed her even though she knew that he probably did.

"I hope this one treated you nicely," Cordelia replied, glaring at Angel and interrupting Mia's thoughts.

"Well, he did, but I'm not that trusting of vampires especially ones that stare at you all night at work, then save you from a group of vampires and then reveal that they are a vampire as well," Mia replied, looking at Angel.

This isn't going to be good, thought Angel, watching Cordelia's face.

Surprisingly, she didn't show any anger on her face. But her next words still stung.

"He's never one to be discreet. I would think after being a vampire for over two centuries he would learn a better way to tell people what he is. But I guess it didn't cross his mind to learn," Cordelia said, leading her away from him.

Well, can't argue with that, thought Angel as he followed.

The three of them headed to what appeared to be the offices of the hotel. Standing near a counter were two men and a woman. They appeared to be deep in conversation, but quickly stopped talking when they saw them.

"Everyone this is Mia. Mia, this is Wesley, Gunn and Winifred. We call her Fred for short," Cordelia said as each of them waved.

"Nice to meet all of you," Mia replied with a smile.

"You come from England I assume," Wesley asked, taking note of her British accent.

"Yes, I grew up in London. I moved away a few months ago for personal reasons," Hermione replied, keeping her answers short.

"Oh, well, I hope that Angel here was kind to you," Wesley said, looking at the vampire.

Angel glared at him, annoyed. Why is that such a popular question today?, he thought, remembering Cordelia's reaction.

Mia looked at Angel, amused. I can see I'm not the only one who thinks his people skills can be lacking, she thought with a small smile. She decided to cut him slack by saying, "He was nice to me. He's worried that I might have a concussion since a vampire threw me against the wall."

She turned around to show them her cut.

"Wow, that's a nasty cut. Why don't you come to the back office with us? We'll check to see if you have any more wounds," Wesley said, as the three of them led her to his office.

"I know I should have gone with him," Gunn mumbled before entering the office.

They closed the door behind them, leaving Cordelia and Angel alone. They didn't say anything at first until Cordelia said, "You know she cut you some slack by not telling them how she found out that you're a vampire."

"I know. But then again you forgot to tell me that she was a witch. I almost thought I was a goner. She wouldn't let that wand go," he answered, looking at her.

"Can you blame her? She gets attacked by vampires and then the person that comes to save her is a vampire. I'm surprised that she didn't run when she saw your face," Cordelia walked to the center of the foyer to sit on the pouf.

"She didn't seem scared of me. She was just trying to protect herself. The look in her eyes told me that she's seen a lot in her life. I'm still surprised that she even came here," Angel explained, recalling the night's events.

"People have a way of surprising you," Cordelia said, giving him a smile.

"They sure do," Angel replied, looking at the closed office door. He hoped that Mia's injuries weren't bad. When he looked back at Cordelia, he saw her smiling.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Do you have a little crush on this woman?" she asked, with a sly smile.

"I…I don't know. I just met her."

"Uh-huh. Are you going to tell her about the curse?" Cordelia asked, with a serious look on her face.

"Yes, it's part of my story. I can't really leave it out because it's the reason why I have a soul. Why do you ask?" Angel asked, looking at Cordelia with curiosity.

"No reason. I just wanted to be sure that you're going to tell her. It's really important that you do. You need to be honest with her about everything."

"I don't know about that. Maybe there are things that I should leave out. I don't want to give her another reason why she needs to use that wand," Angel said, jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn't work.

"Angel, you need to be serious about this. If you want her to trust you, then you need to tell her everything."

Before Angel could argue, the others had joined them. Mia had a smile on her face as she talked to Wesley about something. Angel couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He had been trying for hours to get her to smile. But she wouldn't let down her guard around him.

Maybe Cordy is right. I think I'm going to have to tell her everything, thought Angel, letting out a sigh.

"Looks like they bandaged you up pretty good," Cordelia said, inspecting Mia's bandaged head.

"Yes, they said that I was lucky that I got away with only a few broken ribs and a bump on the head. They also told me stories about when they got injured and how Angel helped them. Wesley was telling me about the time that they went to save you and bumped into Fred along the way in another realm," Mia explained, smiling.

"I remember that. I was able to be the sun. That was great," Angel said with a smile as he thought about that particular adventure until Cordelia interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, Angel, maybe you would like to talk to Mia about your life story. Now that you're not out there waiting for the sun to come up, I think now would be the best time," Cordelia said, giving Angel a serious look.

"Uh, yeah, you're right," Angel said, nodding in agreement.

Angel looked at Mia, who had sat down next to Cordelia. The others joined them, all looking at him with encouragement.

Wow, I feel like I'm about to give out a speech or something, thought Angel, scratching his head.

He took a deep breath and started to tell his story.

He told Mia about everything from the time he was born to now. He told her about the havoc his sire and he caused in England. He explained to her about how he got the curse and how his sire left him. He also told her about Buffy and what happened when they made love. As he explained all this to her, he watched her face. Her face remained still as stone, not showing a trace of emotion. She sometimes would ask him a question or nodded when she agreed with something. It was driving Angel insane, not knowing what she was thinking. But he found some comfort in the fact that she didn't go for her wand.

After he was done telling his story, Mia kept looking at him, thinking. Everyone else was watching her, waiting for her to say something. They spent a few minutes in silence before she asked, "Is this curse what you need my help on?"

"Yes, I think you are the only one that can help me. You are the first good witch I've met in over a century. I would greatly appreciate it if you would help me." Angel answered, looking at her with pleadingly eyes.

"Why do you want your soul to be sealed permanently in you? Is it because of Buffy?" she asked, curious.

Angel looked down, with sad eyes. If this opportunity was given to him when they were still together, he would have said 'yes' in a heartbeat.

"No, she's moved on with her life and I with mine. I want this for me. If I didn't want your help, I wouldn't have risked my life to help you. There's no pressure, but can you please help me?" Angel looked at her, hoping she would say 'yes'.

Mia sighed as she looked around. She noticed that everyone's eyes were on her. She couldn't help but chuckle as she thought, Yeah, no pressure.

Hermione's POV

Hermione didn't know what to do. She knew that she needed to make a decision but she wished she had more time. After hearing Angel's story, she found herself in a silent debate. Her instincts were telling her to say 'no' because of the evil deeds he had done before the curse was placed on him, but her mind told her to go for it. As far as she was concerned, she didn't gain or lose anything by helping him. His friends seemed to trust him even though they knew about his past.

She looked at Angel who looked back at her. She searched for answers over his face, something to tell her that he couldn't be trusted. But all she saw was sorrow and hope.

After going over everything in her head, she made a decision.

"Okay, I will help you," she said as she heard sighs of relief around her.

"Really?" Angel asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I don't see the harm in it. You have appeared to change your ways. I know there was one mishap with your soul being taken because of your moment of pure happiness. But you were in love and you wanted to express that love. Just because you are a vampire doesn't mean you can't live," she explained, a little sad.

Though she hated to admit it, she envied Angel for being able to express his love for Buffy. She had wanted to be able to do that with Ron when the moment was right but she never got that chance. Harboring the guilt of his death took a toll on her love life. She tried dating when she thought she had moved on, but no one seemed to understand her. They were either too wrapped up at the fact that she was Hermione Granger, one third of the Golden Trio, or they just didn't click. She wanted to be able to give someone something that she cherished that she knew loved her unconditionally. So far she hadn't found that someone.

She shook her head, not wanting to dwell on her pain, and yawned.

"Looks like someone is sleepy," Gunn teased before he yawned himself.

"I can't sleep now. I have to get back home. There are some things that I need like my books and such," Hermione replied, starting to stand up.

"Why don't you stay here? I can go help you get your things tomorrow. You shouldn't be alone right now with your injury," Angel said, concerned.

"No, I don't want to impose. I think I'll be okay," Hermione replied. She didn't want to be a burden to him. She didn't feel as uneasy with him as before but she was uncertain on whether it was a good idea to stay.

"We live here too if that helps," Wesley said, interrupting her thoughts.

"You all live here?" Hermione asked, looking at them.

"They live here. I live in an apartment not far from here. Don't worry. They won't let anything bad happen to you if that's what you're worried about," Cordelia answered, with a smile.

"It would be nice to have company and you can use any of our offices or your room to do your research," Fred added, hoping that it would help her answer.

Hermione sighed as she felt the pressure to answer a difficult question again. She didn't take as long to answer this time.

"Okay, I'll stay here." Everyone smiled when they heard her answer.

As she wiped her eyes tiredly, she didn't seem to notice the smile on Angel's face.

After saying good night to the others, Angel led Mia upstairs to find her a room. Neither of them said a word as they walked down the hall. Angel decided to give her a room not far from his room. He opened the door for her, letting her walk inside.

"If you need anything, just holler. I won't be far." He said as she looked around.

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Good night." she said turning around to give him a small smile.

"Good night." He replied with a smile before closing the door.

Angel started to walk the direction to his room, but not before looking back at Mia's door, happy that she decided to stay

Late in the afternoon, Hermione got up after getting several hours of sleep. She got ready the best way she could considering she still had on her waitress uniform. After she finished, she headed out of her room and went downstairs.

When she entered the hotel lobby, Angel was leaning against the counter reading the newspaper. He looked up when he heard Hermione's footsteps heading towards him.

"Good morning, Mia. There's a pot of coffee if you want something to drink before we go," Angel greeted, gesturing to the coffee maker.

"No, I'll be alright. I think we should get this done with so I can get started on doing research. I'll get some coffee when we get back," she answered as she pulled out her wand.

"You use that for traveling?" he asked, curious.

"Yes, we can create port-keys that can get you from one place to another. Then you have Apparation which is what we will be using," Hermione answered, walking around the counter so that she was standing right next to him.

"Is this going to hurt?" he asked, a little uneasy.

"No, it'll probably feel a little weird but it'll be okay. Just grab my arm and we'll go," she answered, lifting her arm towards him.

He hesitantly held her arm as they quickly left with a POP!

When they arrived at her apartment, Angel felt a little weird after they landed in her living room. His head couldn't stop spinning and his insides felt like they were in knots. Hermione watched the discomfort in his face, but was surprised when he said, "That was awesome."

"You are swaying side to side and you think that was awesome. You are the first person I met that likes to travel that way," she replied.

"Is using the port-key better?" he asked, curious.

"No, it's actually a little worse. It takes some getting used to, but with you being a vampire, I think you might handle it a bit better," she answered, heading towards her book collection.

Angel looked around the room. It was filled with books about different things. He personally loved books; his office was filled with them, but nothing to the extent of hers.

"Wow, you have a lot of books," he finally managed to say after just looking around.

"I've collected them along the years. I spend some of my waitress tip money on books. Some of them focus on magic, magical creatures and such. The others are stories from both the Wizarding World and Muggle World," Hermione said, gathering a few books.

"Muggle?" Angel asked, looking at her.

"It means non-magic folk. Muggles are not supposed to know about us. But there are instances when a witch or wizard is born to two Muggles which we refer to as Muggle-Born. I fall into that category. Then we have Half-Bloods and Pure Bloods," she answered, still looking through books.

"Half-bloods, I'm guessing, is someone born to a witch/wizard married to a Muggle while a pure blood has two magical parents," Angel said.

"Wow, you got it right. I'm impressed."

Angel smiled proudly.

Hermione shook her head after noticing his smile.

"So do your neighbors ever wonder how you get to work?"

"No, not really. Since I work at the bar late at night, they aren't awake to notice. They only see me when I'm heading to work or if I'm going somewhere. I try my best not to use my magic for everything. By the way, I never asked you this but how did you like living in Ireland before you became a vampire?"

"It was interesting to say the least. I didn't really get along with my father, but I had my mother and sister to talk to. I was well-educated and loved the beauty Ireland held. I had dreams of traveling the world and meeting someone who had the same dreams and ambitions as I did. I never imagined that I would do that by becoming this," he said, sadly, grazing his fingers along a book.

"Do you regret the things that you did?"

"Everyday of my life. That's why I try my best to help people. I want to be forgiven of my sins one day."

"I think it's very noble of you to want to do that," Hermione turned to look at him. He really was a kind vampire. She wondered why some men couldn't be like him.

"Thank you. I appreciate it," he looked back at her. He couldn't help but hope that things were starting to change between them.

"You're welcome."

He loved the way she smiled. He smiled back.

I think she's starting to warm up to me, thought Angel.

After awhile, Hermione seemed to find the books that she needed; about 200 out of her entire thousand book collection. She was about to let Angel know she was ready to leave when she remembered something.

She was still wearing her waitress uniform.

"I'm going to get some clothes and other personal things. I don't think you would want to be around a smelly person for long periods of time," Hermione said, heading towards her bedroom.

"Do you want me to help you pack?" Angel asked, following behind her.

"No, I'm just going to get a few things," she answered, opening her bedroom door.

She headed to her closet and started to go through her clothes. She picked out a few shirts and then headed to her dresser to get the rest of them. In the midst of all this, she had forgotten about Angel. So when she heard a voice say "Whoa", she immediately turned around and found him looking at a picture. She couldn't help but watch him as he poked at it and looked around the frame. A few minutes later, he asked something that she wasn't ready to answer.

"Who's the red-headed guy next to you?" he asked, turning to look at her.

He must be looking at the picture of Ron and me, she thought sadly. She sighed as she said, "He was someone that was very important to me."

She placed the rest of her things in her purse and she noticed Angel, watching her. Before he could open his mouth to ask another question, she stopped him by saying, "I'm ready to go."

He just nodded and led the way back to the living room. Neither said a word as Hermione placed the books in her bag. After she was done, Angel grabbed her arm and they then Apparated.

As soon as they arrived back at the hotel, Hermione quickly left to her room. Angel remained where he stood and watched her leave. He wondered who the guy in the picture was that caused her attitude to change so quickly.

When Hermione got to her room, she started to set up a work table. She pulled out her books and organized them by subject. She didn't want to waste any time looking for something that could help Angel.

The sooner I help him, the sooner I can leave without telling him about who I am, she thought with a sigh.

After she finished organizing her desk, she decided to call into work for vacation time. She took out her cell phone and pulled out her planner to find her boss's number. Ever since she started her job at the Wolf Creek bar, Hermione never took a day off. She worked double shifts on occasion and would sometimes bartend if they had too many waitresses that night. When she finally found her boss's number, she dialed it. The moment her boss answered, she informed her boss that she wanted to take a really long vacation. She was surprised when her boss let her take the time off without giving it a second thought, but was happy nonetheless.

After getting off the phone, Hermione found herself thinking about Ron. She began to wonder how her life would be like if he was still here. Her thoughts slowly went back to Angel. What would have happened if she never left England? Would Cordelia have had the vision? Different questions ran through her head as her curiosity about it built with every thought. Her thoughts went back to the present and wondered about a different question. Should she be honest with Angel? She felt somewhat guiltily for not telling Angel about Ron when he asked.

What harm would it have caused?, she thought, as she got up from where she sat to lie down on her bed. She wanted to have someone to talk to about her pain that hadn't gone through what she did. She would be able to see a different perspective of things that happened from someone else. She also wondered if she was doing the right thing by not telling him the truth. He had been so willing to tell her everything about his past including the bad, so shouldn't she do the same?

She then decided to push away her thoughts and think about her afternoon. She soon found herself smiling as she remembered Angel's interest in her books.

Maybe he's not so bad, she thought before getting up from her bed and getting to work.