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: Here it is, chapter four. It's fairly longer than the others and is also here a lot sooner, so be extra grateful this time. As usual, if you find any spelling or grammar mistakes let me know and I'll fix them.

Huffing in frustration, Hermione slammed shut her copy of A Theory of Magic: The Mechanics behind the Mysterious, Fourth Edition. Her own books were proving to be exceptionally unhelpful when it came to her research. She thought longingly of the Hogwarts library. Closing her eyes she could see it, the dark bookshelves - tall enough that you would have to be Grawp's size to reach the highest shelves. The ancient, yellowing pages of the more precious tomes. Rows upon rows of stacks, enough to get lost in for hours. The rope barrier marking the entrance to the Restricted Section. And best of all, a small window seat right at the back where no one ever went. It was her place in Hogwarts. She went there a lot in the early years for peace and quiet, and later, when the war began and people started dying, she went there to fall apart, to cry alone when she could no longer fight the fear and horror. Tears pricked her eyes now as a wave of homesickness washed over her. The library was one of the few places in the castle that was completely untouched by the battle. Madam Pince had locked and warded it shut when Voldemort's voice had echoed through the halls, demanding the death of her best friend. The library would never be a sanctuary to her again. Not after Dumbledore's death and the nights of researching Horcruxes and magic so evil her stomach rolled.

Hermione pushed a stack of books away from her. Proven theory was going to be no help to her. She was dealing with something the Department of Mysteries would usually cover, the deeper aspects of magic that go far beyond just swish and flick. This was magic along the same lines as Lily Potter's sacrifice. Magic that defied all its own laws. Magic which ties in with things such as ley lines, the power of the solstices, souls, blood, emotions. In other words magic as murky, woolly and unpredictable as Divination.

Mouth pursed into a sour pout, Hermione pulled some parchment towards her and began to pen a letter. Dear Headmistress McGonagall …

After signing off her letter Hermione wandered up to her bedroom to see if Nyx had returned from her hunt. A fairly small owl with feathers as dark as a raven's wings, she was a gift from Harry as a way to keep in touch while she was in America but also in honour of both Hedwig and her beloved Crookshanks, who had died while they were hunting the Horcruxes. Glancing around the room and noting that Nyx was not there, Hermione left the letter on her bedside table and hoped that Nyx would be back in the morning.

Now that her research had temporally stalled to a halt Hermione's mind wandered back to the previous night. After she had gone to check on the girl from the hospital, only to find her vanished, she had not been able to find Damon either. The disappearances and the faint shriek she was sure she heard coming from the bathroom, had spooked Hermione greatly. The crush of the crowds in town suddenly became threatening, each shadow was hiding a serial killer. Hermione had gone home when she almost drew her wand on an innocent Muggle when she mistook his black hoodie for a Death Eater's hood. Convinced her paranoia and trauma from the war were causing her to hallucinate she had gone home and, after locking up the house, taken a Dreamless Sleep Potion. Hermione's paranoia had frightened her a little, she had thought that being in Mystic Falls, away from the war and it's effects, had eased her fear, numbed the horror a little. She thought her instincts had forgotten what it was like to fall asleep at night, terrified she'd never open her eyes again. Then, in the Grill that night, she'd realised she hadn't forgotten a thing. Wearily, Hermione passed a hand across her face, she had work that night and needed to get ready.

After re-sorting her papers for the third time Hermione looked at the clock and growled in frustration. It had only been ten minutes since she last looked at it. The bushy-haired witch thought she had never been so bored. Well, aside from Umbridge's lessons. Hermione had met Meredith just before her shift and she had told her that the town's High School had a football match on that night. Because of that hype around the match most employees had taken that night off work to watch the game and Hermione, devoid of any sort of conversation, was bored. She looked at the clock again – still an hour left. Merlin, she couldn't wait for her shift to finish.

Hermione looked up suddenly as the door to the hospital burst open. Peering out the doors she could just see what was going on. There was an ambulance outside and they were unloading a body. Hermione saw Meredith with the group of doctor's from the ambulance. Resolving to ask her what had happened when she had a free moment, Hermione picked up the phone as it started to ring.

The man had been called Mr. Tanner. According to Meredith he was the football coach and history teacher at the High School. He had been found in the car-park of the school by Matt Donovan, who incidentally, was the brother of the girl who was attacked by the vampire – Vicki, Meredith had called her.

"Do you know what killed him yet?" Hermione asked, wondering if this was the stray vampire.

"It was an animal attack again. Most likely the same one that attacked all the others."

Hermione paused as what Meredith said registered with her. All the others. As far as Hermione knew there had only been one other attack. Was there more that she didn't know about?

The morgue in the hospital was deserted. Between the gloom and the cold, the hair on Hermione's neck rose even higher. She was never the one for breaking and entering and smashing rules to pieces – that was always Harry's scene – but being his friend for seven years meant she was not a complete novice at it. A simple Disillusion Charm shielded her well enough from the sight of people who would question her presence there. She just wanted to check the bodies brought in recently. By the dates on the bodies and the number of them she should be able to determine the vampire's feeding habits and see if they differed much from the vampires she was familiar with. After placing an alarm on the door that would alert her if anyone came in, she scanned the room for where the bodies were kept.

A lump filled her throat and for a moment she fought to breathe – several of the tables were filled with sheets covering the bodies. As quietly as she could, Hermione walked over to the metal trolleys and lifted the sheet from the first body.

Hermione stared at the parchment in front of her. How could she document this? How could she clinically and coldly write about what she had found out? Hermione hadn't even needed to look at any of the frozen bodies. Everything she had wanted was laid out on those little metal tables. Five bodies. Five bodies all drained of blood, with a single bite to the neck. She didn't know how they were passing this off as an animal attack. Anyone who looked at more than one body would get suspicious. Chances are that was what someone was doing, examining all the bodies brought into the morgue in the past ten days. Six victims. There was no way the vampire needed to feed six times in ten days without being noticed by her kind before. But there was still six victims. So either there was more than one vampire. Or the one vampire in town was killing people, not just as a necessity for survival, but for the fun of it.

She didn't know which was worse.

Pushing the black piece of parchment away from her, she sighed. Mystic Falls was not supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be a peaceful escape from her war-torn home and life. It wasn't supposed to surround her in yet more death. For the first time, she wondering if coming here was a mistake. She could be back in England, helping in the rebuilding efforts, trying to heal both her best friends and herself at the same time or trying to fix her ruined relationship with her parents.

She looked up startled as flew in through the open window of her study. The beautiful black bird fluttered slightly to slow her progress and landed gently on her shoulder. Deciding to leave her findings for another time, she rose and headed towards her bedroom. She needed McGonagall to get her letter and send her the books she had asked for to help with her research.

She could do with a distraction.

No matter what she did the was no getting over the fact that she didn't feel safe in her house. She didn't know if these vampires were subject to the Rule of Invitation. She didn't know how strong they were – whether they would be deterred by a locked door. But what frightened her the most was that she didn't know if her magic would have any effect on them. She had never heard of such a thing before, but she still didn't know and these were vampires and not something that her kind had come across before. Vampires already defy magic and nature in a way her people don't understand, what if they could defy her magic? Hermione understood being helpless more than most people ever would. Hermione had felt helplessness under Bellatrix's knife and wand, felt it as she sat by the bodies of people she had cared for, Remus, Tonks and Fred. She had felt a complete and devastating powerlessness as she watched Hagrid carry her best friend's body out of the Forbidden Forest. In that moment, standing amongst her bleeding but not-quite-broken classmates, Hermione had sworn that she would never feel that way again. No-one would ever force her into a position of such vulnerability. Her life and the lives of her loved ones would be protected – no matter the cost.

The sense of empowerment that came whenever she thought of her vow filled her again, expanding inside her chest. If she needed to be protected against vampires she would be – some Hell of high water no-one would ever hurt her again.

A new sense of purpose took the place of the fear that had consumed her at the thought of the dangerous vampires in her new town and she went back down the stairs. What was her panic for? She had defended herself and her boys from Death Eaters and other monsters for months on end. The had never been a problem that she couldn't find an answer to. She was Hermione Granger, best friend to Harry Potter and without her they would have lost the war. She knew enough protective and offensive enchantments to keep herself safe.

Now standing just inside her front door, she raised her vine wand. "Protego Totalum … Repello Muggletum … Cave Inimicum … Protego Horribilis … Repello Inimicum … Fianti Duri …"

The rest of September passed without even a hint of death. It seemed as though the vampire had left town or had gone into hiding. It had clearly tried to cover its tracks. The day after the last death, Mr. Tanner, a mountain lion had been found and blamed for the deaths. Which was completely ridiculous. Anyone who had seen more than one body would be able to tell this was a lie. So if this was a cover-up by the vampire, why were the town's officials falling for it? Unless the officials knew about the existence of vampires.

Hermione sighed to herself in frustration, the same thoughts had been swirling around in her head for the past fortnight and she was getting nowhere new. She put the situation out of her mind. Today was the day of the Founder's Party and Heritage Display and with each passing moment she wished more and more she had refused when Meredith asked her to go.

She scowled at herself in the mirror, gatherings like this were not something she was fond of but she was trying. She was even wearing make-up, for Merlin's sake! She could count the amount of times she had worn make-up on one hand. Why did she even have to wear make-up anyway? Her dress was lovely, even if it was very simple; her hair was tamed and she had a matching pair of heels! Granted, the heels weren't very high, but still! The bushy-haired witch glowered at her meagre stash of cosmetics and wondered if it was enough to fully classify herself as female.

Checking herself in her full length mirror, Hermione decided she was presentable enough for the party. She slipped her wand into her bag and left the house. She was meeting Meredith in front of the Lockwood Mansion.

The Mansion was one of the biggest houses Hermione had seen. It was a little what she imagined the houses of the upper-class Purebloods to look like. Not The Malfoys, she had first hand experience with their Manor, after all. It was a beautiful house with white columns on the front and large windows. The line waiting at the front door was very long and Hermione could see who she supposed was Carol Lockwood greeting guests at the door. Hermione grinned as she spotted Meredith coming towards her. Meredith was looking particularly lovely in a forest green dress.

"Hi, have I said already how glad I am you're coming?"

"Yes, but you'll need to say it several more times to justify how many times I poked myself in the eye with my mascara brush." Perhaps Hermione was still a bit grumpy about that.

"My gratitude is even greater now that know the trouble you went to getting ready. You look fantastic, by the way."

"Thanks, it's the most formal dress I have with me, so I didn't have a lot of choice in terms of clothing. Who else do you think is going to be here?"

"Well, the Founding Families are definitely invited, whether or not they all show up is another matter. So that means the Lockwoods, Fells, Salvatores, Forbes, and the Gilberts of course. The Gilberts might not show up, all that's left of them are two teenagers, their parents drowned in a car accident five months ago. I was the one to receive the bodies at the hospital."

"That's awful." Hermione said, thinking of all the old family names back home that have been wiped out completely, the Blacks especially. Sirius was the last of his name; the Black blood was still around of course, but the name is gone forever. In an effort to distract herself she asked about the other families.

"Well, I thought there was only one Salvatore left and that was Zack, but after you told me of your friend I admit to snooping a little and he has two nephews – Damon and Stefan. So they might be here."

"Damon didn't say anything about it to me, but I haven't seen him in over a fortnight."

"Well, since the Mayor Lockwood and his wife are hosting this years party, their son should be here helping out. The mayor does have a younger brother – he's sort of like the families black sheep though and never really comes home much. I doubt he'll be here. Who else is there? Oh yeah, the Forbes. This was actually quite the scandal – Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes was married but divorced when her husband turned out to be gay. He's off in Georgia now with his boyfriend. They have a daughter Caroline, who might be here. Now I think that's them all."

Hermione just stared at her in complete and utter disbelief. "How on earth do you know all that? I mean I know you're on the Town Council and everything but you said you never paid much attention or effort into what they did."

"I'm a doctor, Hermione. It's amazing what everyone will talk about when the only company they have is the staff and they're confined to a bed for hours on end."

"I suppose that would explain it. You never seemed to me to be the gossiping type."

"Neither do you. How do you know what the gossiping type is like?"

"I lived in the same dorm as the two of them for six years. I learned quickly that I have nothing in common with them and how to spot them early."

Meredith laughed, "You make them sound like a disease."

"An irritation that shows up when you least want it? The analogy is perfect."

Meredith struggled to keep and straight face as they arrived at the top of the line and waited to be invited inside the house by the mayor.

"Meredith Fell, it's so good to see you. Honestly, my wife and I weren't sure you would come. Things have been busy at the hospital lately haven't they?" Hermione stilled as she thought over his words. As the mayor he might have been involved in the vampire cover-up, but if he was, why would he be talking about it to Meredith? Unless Meredith also knew about the vampires. The witch was torn on her feelings about this – if Meredith knew it meant that she could protect herself but it also meant that she had in no way indicated to Hermione that such a danger was running around the town after dark. Granted, there could be myriad of reasons why she was unable to tell her friend about the danger – such as the fact that she didn't know about Hermione's own involvement in the supernatural. Hermione shook herself slightly, she was getting ahead of herself here, Meredith probably didn't even know about the vampires. The witch paid attention to the other two people talking as she as introduced.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Mayor Lockwood. I have to say, you have a beautiful home. It looks as though it's from the Greek Revival era, back in the 19th Century. But that was long after the town was built, no?"

The mayor looked very surprised at her knowledge. "Yes, you are very knowledgeable about our town's history, especially for someone not native to the country. The house was built around 1870, because the Lockwoods came into a lot of land in around 1864 and could afford to expand. But you'll have to talk to my wife about this, she knows a lot more about it all than I do, I'm afraid."

"I'll do that I think. After being invited to a heritage party I felt as though I should know more about the town's history. Anyway, we really should let you get back to greeting your other guests."

Hermione hadn't really lied to the mayor, attending a heritage party would be an excellent reason to learn more about the town. But Hermione learned most about what she had talked about from her research into the town's supernatural history – most especially vampires.

"Well you impressed the mayor, which is a good thing, according to his wife that's something difficult to do."

"Meredith!" Hermione gasped, and swatted her on the arm, laughing.

"Do you mind if I abandon you for a few minutes? I've just seen my cousin Logan and I really should talk to him."

"I could just come with you," Hermione suggested.

"Oh, you don't want to do that; he's a slime ball. He can't have been here more than five minutes and he's already stalking his ex."

"Who's his ex?" Hermione asked, wondering if there was anything Meredith didn't know about the town's elite.

"Jenna Sommers, she's the Gilbert siblings sole guardian and their aunt on their mother's side. He dated her back in high school and after he dumped her she left town."

"Dear God, you know everything about everyone. I'm almost afraid to ask what you know about me."

Meredith smirked, "I'll tell you that later. Now I really need to go talk to my cousin."

Hermione paused, wondering what on earth Meredith could know about her that she hasn't told her. The witch had been very careful when telling the people of Mystic Falls her back story. She didn't want the hassle of dealing with people knowing her past.

"Well, you got abandoned very quickly. I have to say I didn't expect to find you here. Gatherings like this didn't seem like something you'd enjoy."

Hermione smiled as she recognised the voice. Smooth and confident – almost arrogant – and with a hint of flirtatiousness.

She turned to smile at the raven-haired man. "Well, you're right but I could say the same thing about you. What have you been up to? The last time I saw you was the night of the comet, I went to the bathroom and when I came back you were gone."

"Sorry, there was some family business that came up. I had no choice to take care of it, although, of course, I would have much preferred to spend the night with you."

Hermione just rolled her eyes at his flirting, "Are you here with anyone? As a Salvatore you would have been invited, wouldn't you?"

"Well, I wasn't invited by the Lockwoods, I was a little too new to town for that but my girlfriend, Caroline, invited me to be her date."

Hermione blinked and then blinked again. "You have a girlfriend?" She wasn't upset or disappointed. At least, she didn't think so. She hadn't come to Mystic Falls to date, and she certainly wasn't dating material, what with the trauma and the nightmares and her persistent paranoia. Not to mention to secrets. She was just … confused. With the flirting and drinking alone at the bar she had just assumed he was single. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, it's a fairly recent thing, happened since I last saw you."

Hermione, still feeling a little thrown by the fact he has a girlfriend, decided she needed a distraction, "Well anyway, since we seem to have both been abandoned by our dates temporarily, and you are from the town, how about you introduce me to everyone here."

Hermione may have imagined it but she swore she felt Damon stiffen a little, "When I told you that I was from here but moved, I meant I moved very long ago, these people are mostly strangers to me."

"So introduce me to the people you do know. I'm here with a friend from work who seems to think I'm anti-social and in desperate need of friends. I have to say though, after finding out how much she knows about the people in this town, I'm glad I agreed to come before she went looking for blackmail material."

"Ah! What sort of secrets would someone as proper and British as you have hidden in your closet?"

"Oh, you know, standard stuff, bank robbery, government infiltration, identity theft." Hermione said airily. Damon laughed and took her by the arm, not knowing or even guessing that all she said was true.

Damon led her over to the historical artefact section. She looked at it all in fascination, there were watches, rings, compasses. She paused to look at an old fashioned clock but looked up as Damon pulled her gently along the row. She saw that they were heading toward a little group of people standing in front of a old piece of parchment. A pretty blonde, a slender brunette and an athletic looking teenage boy.

"Damon! There you are; I was looking for you!"

"Caroline, I was being sociable and talking to the other guests." So the blonde one was Damon's girlfriend.

"Alright, you're back now. Who're you, anyway?" she asked looking at Hermione.

"Hermione Granger, I'm a friend of Damon's." Hermione said holding out her hand. She found herself reluctantly liking Caroline's bluntness – it bordered on rude and reminded her a little of Luna. Although the two girls could not be less alike. Caroline was very well turned out, in a pretty blue dress with a white lace cardigan. Her hair and make-up were pristine. At a party like this Luna would have been dressed in something completely ridiculous and may have even decided brushing her hair was bad luck and would attract Nargles, but both she and Caroline possessed a forthrightness that Hermione found refreshing and unexpected in a party which could have been hosted by the Malfoys, with all their Slytherin-like double meanings.

"Ah yes, Hermione this is my brother Stefan and his girlfriend, Elena."

Hermione held out her hand to the both of them as well. She raised her eyebrows at Stefan, he was looking at her oddly. "You don't really favour each other much, do you?"

Damon smirked, "It's our family curse. I got the looks and he got the … well, I got the looks."

"Looks like you got the arrogance and pig-headedness along with them." Elena shot back.

"Ouch, I'm hurt. Although, it's not arrogance if you have a reason for it."

The girl huffed and turned her back to look at the display again. "Look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood … is that Damon Salvatore? And Stefan Salvatore?" She looked around bewildered at her boyfriend but it was Damon who answered her.

"The original Salvatore brother; our ancestors. Tragic story that."

"A little cruel of your parents, don't you think? Naming you both after a tragedy." Hermione said, amused.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past, Damon." Stefan interjected, looking a little strained.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."

"Yes, and I know Hermione is very fond of history."

Hermione looked at Damon surprised, "I never told you that."

"No, but I heard you talking to the mayor."

Hermione snorted gently, "Why didn't I guess. Well, as much as I would love to listen to the story I probably should look for my friend. I'll talk to you later, Damon?"

"Count on it."

Hermione smiled at him and nodded to the others. Walking away she wondered where Meredith might be. It was a lovely night so she could have gone outside or she might still be dealing with her cousin which was back in the entrance hall of the house. Deciding to head in that direction, she turned and wandered through the door before something came over her. A shiver that ran up her spine and her scalp prickled. Something she hadn't felt since she left Britain.

Someone else was using magic.

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