Chapter 2

Hermione entered the Grill from the front door. Low profile be damned, back doors were too dangerous in this town. She had been in five minutes and she'd already witnessed one show.

It wasn't much crowded inside now, and she could see an empty table right in the back. She was about to head towards it, when she spotted the man called Damon, sitting at the bar, looking very still.

She could sit in the corner and have a quiet meal or she could be at the bar, with a chance to meet the Damon guy, the possible vampire, and find out something new. Plus, see if something stronger than water was available.

Sighing, she made her way towards the bar. As much as she wanted no more drama for the night, she really couldn't afford to lose the only opportunity for a major lead.

She sat carefully, as her knees were still sore and a blond boy bustled over. "What can I get you?" he said, his voice surprisingly heavy. He looked to be a teenager, with striking blue eyes. "Uh, what's best for dinner here?" she asked.

"You're new?" he said, eyeing her with interest. It was the accent, of course. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon look up, but didn't dare to look his way."I'm Matt. Matt Donovan. I work here. I've never seen you here before…?" the blond boy inquired again and she smiled tiredly. "Yes, I just got here in fact. I'm Hermione Granger."

They shook hands and Matt suggested sandwiches and fries and she ordered him to bring anything that was stronger than water. Matt had to be in high school, she decided, as she watched him work for a minute or two. He kept staring at a blonde girl sitting alone at a table, who seemed determined to avoid eye contact.

She thought for a while about Matt – if he was still in school but also waiting tables, it meant he either had many people to support back home or none at all. Meanwhile, she risked a glance towards Damon, and saw him sitting very rigidly, moving minimally. She watched him for another solid minute – it looked like he was concentrating very hard on something.

She made a mental note of it; feeling like there had to be an explanation there. She finally looked around some more and noticed a couple sitting together, a dark haired boy and a girl, talking slowly. Matt seemed to have his attention divided among the blonde and the couple, taking every small excuse to pass by their table, clearly trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.

As she watched, the couple seemed to have an argument – and the girl got up and left the place. Hermione turned back to her sandwich, sighing pathetically to herself. It was only finally dawning on her how utterly alone she was – in this new town, new country, new continent. She missed everyone back home.

She was slowly picking on her sandwich, thinking idly about who she would have brought with her if given the choice, when she felt someone move onto the seat beside her.

It was the Damon guy.

"Any specific reason you were staring?" he said, leaning in far too close for comfort, and pouring his drink in her glass, having noticed that she had just emptied it. She leaned back and raised an eyebrow at him; looking at him properly for the first time. He was very handsome, if she said so herself – all high cheekbones and light eyes. He was smirking broadly, perhaps happy that his lack of respect for personal space made her uncomfortable.

"Nope." she said, and sipped the liquid from her glass. Wow, Bourbon. Thanks to Theo and Harry's fondness for alcohol, she knew what was what when she tasted it.

Her surprise must have shown on her face, because Damon's smirk grew wider, "Too strong?"

"No. Exactly what I was craving actually." she said, and proceeded to drain her glass at once. This was nice.

She waved her empty glass in his face and he half-smiled, calling over the guy at the bar. "Another drink for the lady!"

"Hermione Granger, pleasure to meet you. I'm new to the town." she said, offering her hand. She wasn't really a fan of introductions, as the reaction to her name was rather extreme – not that it should be here. She noted his expression carefully but there was no recognition there. He accepted her hand, before bending slightly, kissing it. Every inch of expression flirted shamelessly. "Damon Salvatore."

She stared at him, unimpressed. His smirk fell slowly, and he released her hand. Her mouth involuntarily twitched upwards at his falling expression though, enjoying his discomfort.

"Damon." She finally said aloud, testing the name. It had a nice ring to it, rolled off the tongue nicely. So he was Italian – or at least, Italian origins. "Nice." She nodded, turning back to her sandwich.

His smirk was immediately back in place. "Hermione… Unique." He said, copying her. "So what brings you here, little Brit?"

"Don't call me that." She exclaimed, silently wondering what she could state as her reason for coming. "I'm here for research purposes." She said finally, "I'm a student. But I just stopped here because there's nothing to eat at the house. I have lots to do right now. Unpack everything, make the place livable, etc." she rambled a bit, stopping herself to take a drink.

"Oh right. Would you like any help with that?" Damon said, with utmost sincerity in his voice. She snapped her neck to look up at him, panicked. What could she say? She couldn't really tell her address to a complete stranger – a possible vampire at that. But he was just being nice, right? She only needed a viable excuse to put him down.

Before she could think anymore, the blonde girl – the one who Matt kept staring at - had just started walking towards Damon, when she stopped suddenly, noticing Hermione. She made a disgusting face and backed away, turning to leave.

"Who's that blonde girl? She seemed like she wanted to talk to you." she said instead, forgetting about his question. Damon shifted around to look at her retreating back, and turned back with a slight grimace.

"Ah, she's… an ex-girlfriend, you could say. She's not that important." he said, pulling a face, and she raised an eyebrow. "That's rude."

"It doesn't matter. She was only doing it to get back on her best friend for dating a guy she liked first, who happened to be my younger brother." he rolled his eyes as he said it, and emptied another glass.

She went back to her sandwich, noting from the corner of her eye that he was appraising her closely, shamelessly looking her up and down. It made her feel uncomfortable and… something else. It was a weird feeling – she wasn't sure she liked it.

"Any chance she's involved with Matt?" she asked, fishing for conversation topics, and coming up blank.

He looked surprised, and leaned in to whisper, "Yep. They were dating until yesterday."

She nodded, "Figures. He was staring at her."

Damon went back to his drink, and she couldn't place the expression on his face for a few seconds, before his usual smirk was back.

"So, you notice an awful lot for a newcomer in town."

"I notice an awful lot because I'm a newcomer in town, Damon."

"Hmm… That's another way to see it." He conceded, nodding.

"Well, you're an awfully untrusting fellow." She commented, taking another bite, trying to stare at him discretely. He was one of those kinds of people – those who were nice to look at, the kind that just happened to have struck on a nice DNA.

Eye candy, Ginny called them.

He scoffed lightly at her question, a bitter edge to his voice, "Distrust is the only weapon we have against betrayal."

"Behind every distrustful girl is a boy who made her that way." She said, quoting Luna a reminiscent smile on her face. Damon looked up at her, surprised; though his eyes were suddenly… they looked much less light.

Hermione had to admit it to herself in that moment – she was intrigued. Very much so. What had happened to him?

He looked away quickly – and she went back to her drink, realizing that she had probably stared too much.

"Wait, did you just refer to me as the girl?" He said suddenly, horrified, and just like that – it was over. Hermione burst out laughing, coughing a bit on her drink, but she couldn't stop.

"Sorry mate." She coughed, "You look like you would rather die than be called… that."

He smiled then, which was a huge contrast to his smirk, and Hermione shook her head at him, smiling back.

"Well, as much as I would like to continue this, I have a cat waiting to be fed back home." She said finally, dragging herself up. Damon stood up as well.

"Listen, would you like help with settling down? I'm free tomorrow evening – my brother's dragging me to this History Volunteer thing tomorrow. If I have plans, I'll be able to get out quick. Theoretically."

Hermione regarded him for a second–he actually seemed sincere–before nodding, "Okay sure." She tried to sound more excited, but she was actually hoping she didn't regret this. He was still a stranger, albeit a very interesting one at that.

What a completely weird gal. She was British – that lessened the stakes on her being a threat. The research thing could be a good cover story, except that she did look rather young to be meddling around in supernatural affairs. Not to mention, she was a midget – taking care of her would be too easy in case she got too involved.

"Bad day?"

Oh no. He had already been feeling less than happy with himself – what with the Mason business and the Brit getting his guard down with her stupid wise words, even though it was just for a second. And she was absolutely right, of course.

Anyway, facing the biggest mistake of his life wasn't really on his list today. But he knew Katherine, if she found out that she actually got to him in any way, she would be worse.

"Bad Century." Damon replied, stopping, "Heard you were on the loose."

"What's the matter? Jealous I spent the day with Stefan?"

Pff. If only. He wasn't making those mistakes again. "I don't do jealous. Not with you. Not anymore."

He started walking, hoping she would leave it at that. Maybe disappear. Fly away.

"Why so pouty?" No luck. Well, if this was what he had to endure, so be it. He wouldn't get into any stupid traps with her today.

"Tried to kill a werewolf. Failed. Now I feel like I'm not living up to my best self." That's it. Keep it to business.

"Well, werewolves aren't easy prey." She said, following him. He looked back, interested. Of course she knew about werewolves. She might have been a bitch, but she was old, in the supernatural sense.

"What do you know about werewolves?"

"Why don't you ask your brother?"

His brother? So that was what he had been up to all day… and the reason for his recent… fight, with Elena.

"Don't try to be the hero, Damon. You'll end up dead."

"Been there. Done that. At least this time, this will have been worth it." He didn't know why she always made the blow below the belt. He hoped that she cared though, because two could play that game. He started walking away again, and sighed when he heard no footsteps following.

Even the little conversations with Katherine were very… emotionally exhausting. He wished he could let go of all that excess frustration and anger and just be over this. But how to deal with 150 years of pent up emotions, he really didn't know.

"By the way, I heard you with Granger. Wise one, isn't she?" Katherine spoke from inside his car. Wait, what? She knew Hermione?

He furrowed his brow, titling his head, "How do you know her?"

She smirked pointedly at him, and he had a split second urge to strangle her. "Let's just say that you might want to stay away from that one."

And she was gone.

Hermione was not particularly happy with the state of the house. She had asked for a house in livable condition but this was very much not so. A thick layer of dust covered every damn surface, and she had to scourgify some things three times to even dare to touch them. By midnight, she had finished dusting the living room and kitchen and had enlarged all her luggage to its original size. When she could do no more, she had fell asleep on the sofa after casting some wards around the house.

The next day was similar, making the house livable. There were three bedrooms, all large enough to be masters, and one small one. She discovered a hidden door behind the bar in the afternoon, where she found a huge basement. She thankfully dumped all her books there and promptly owled Luna for more – to collect some specific titles from the Black Library and the Hogwarts Library, at least those that she could remember.

She had yet to set the furniture and clothes. She had actually wanted to get all the magic stuff done, in case Damon showed up in the evening. She finally decided to sit down and read up on all the information that the Ministry had already gathered, especially the story of The Hybrid. It was a fascinating read, so many emotions and impulsiveness was the main problem of the Mikealsons. And it looked like the guy Klaus, had inherited the worst of every situation.

It was a first hand account of the whole story – she assumed the officials had managed to get him under control, and administered the use of Veritaserum. It felt like she was reading a novel, with very intricate details of every emotion he had felt – especially during the main turning points of his life.

She scoured the complete archives for every inch of information that would help her currently, and was surprised to discover the time when she finally went upstairs for dinner. It was almost ten, and also nearing the closing time at the Grill. She had still not done any Grocery shopping.

She drove to the town, thinking of Damon again. He hadn't called or texted. She wasn't disappointed; she had not really expected him to actually come over. He had his own life to live after all, and she was also somewhat relieved. He was just being polite then.

She parked in the almost empty lot and rushed inside the Grill to see Matt getting ready to close up the place. "Hey, can I get a late meal?"

"Hi. Hermione. I don't think I can..." he said, looking towards the kitchen uncertainly.

"Please? I just finished unpacking and forgot to do the Grocery shopping in the day."

"Alright. But no drinks."

"Deal."

Matt sat and waited as she ate, and she hesitantly asked him about Caroline. He seemed hesitant to talk too, but when he finally did, she was glad she asked. Matt had apparently been attacked by an animal in the woods one day, and it had freaked Caroline out, though she had escaped. That was his theory, though he said that she made it like they broke up over a girl.

Caroline had gotten out of an animal attack? Sure, that would be a valid reason to put someone off, but when she remembered that she had dated Damon once, the bell went off. Could Caroline be one too…?

Nuh-uh. If she kept putting everyone associated with Damon in that category, she doubted she would have anyone left to trust. Matt was the only one who seemed normal enough.

She had asked him, discreetly of course, if he had seen Damon, but he hadn't. Not since the Historical Society thing. Matt had looked like he wanted to say something on the matter, but stopped himself.

Instead, they had then talked about family. She had simply replied that her parents were dead and she lived with her best friend. She talked shortly about Harry, and Ron, and all the rest, and it seemed like a weight off her chest. Sure, talking about them had made her sad, but it had felt nice to share. Matt apparently had a wayward mother, and his sister Vicki, had died a few months ago. Just the way he said it made it clear that he was very much not over it.

She felt herself pitying the boy, and tried to cheer him up a bit by recalling some of her adventures with Ron and Harry.

"And I ended punching him instead!" she giggled, and Matt laughed along with her.

"Well, at least now I know not to get on your bad side."

"Mind it." She said, punching his arm, as they walked towards her car, having finished up.

"So how're you getting home?" She asked, ready to give him a ride if he liked.

"My truck." He gestured to the other end of the lot, and she could make out a huge vehicle.

"Cool. It was really nice to see you Matt. Thanks for the meal. And everything." She said, and he smiled warmly, "Sure. Listen, you should take my number, in case you need any help."

"Oh yeah sure. I don't really know anyone here anyway." They exchanged numbers and she waved him goodbye and waited till he was in his truck to start driving.

Matt was a really nice person. He had given her no suspicious hints till now, though his sister's death seemed a mystery. She was glad that she made him a friend though.

Eventually, her thoughts strayed to Damon, and she decided that she would call him once, just to make sure he was fine. He had seemed keen on the idea, though she still wasn't really sure about him.

Caroline Forbes looked a lot better when she was sleeping and not talking. Damon was angry after today's events. He was sure as heck going to rip that idiot Mason into two the next time he came into his line of sight. It was late, and Elena had left after her very passionate speech to Stefan.

She was very different to Katherine, and Damon liked her. But it wasn't like he was trying to steal her away or anything. Their small spat had taught him that she really was related to Katherine. He didn't really want anything to do with that bitch in his life. So it was Elena's good luck that she was his brother's girl. He would have liked to kill her maybe, if he hadn't known her. But he wouldn't do that to his brother now. As much as he... disliked Stefan, he knew those two were better off with each other.

Just then, his phone vibrated and Hermione's name flashed on the screen. He didn't even know why he had given her his number. There was something about the girl, that was different. Maybe because she was British, or because her eyes screamed that she had numerous secrets, the natural way she noticed everything around her so alertly, as if she was learning everything for a lesson. And then he had leaned in to whisper something, and got a sniff of her blood.

She smelt like some sort of human-animal combination. There was human blood and there was a small hint of an animal's blood. He just couldn't place which one. So he had felt the need to stay in contact with the mystery. Not to mention that surprising moment of understanding they had shared.

As he was thinking, the call went to voicemail and Hermione's voice broke through the silence around him, nervous and uncertain. "Hey, Damon. You never got in contact after the Volunteer Party. Matt said you didn't even come back to the Grill. I have a bad kind of feeling here. I don't know why, you're probably at your house safe and all, but I just... Uh, call me whenever you're free. Just want to know if you're fine. Or ignore this. I know I shouldn't follow my guts like Harry..." the last part of the message was muttered to herself, but he heard anyway.

He wanted to call back, talk, and tell her he was fine, but he wasn't actually. He wasn't ever fine. He was dead, for God's sake. And he was confused. Why did the little Brit even want to know he was fine? He really shouldn't have given her the number. There was no use pretending he could actually be friends with her, because she would obviously get dragged into his messes. So it was better he didn't get involved.

As far the situation of her blood went, he had Mason Lockwood to deal with first. When he finished that bastard, he would track down Katherine and find out about Hermione himself. Plus, it was better if Stefan didn't know. He only hoped Katherine would keep her mouth shut for some time and let him deal with this one alone.

The morning found Hermione determined to finish the unpacking completely. She laboriously worked through the day to completely set her clothes and the furniture properly throughout the house. It was almost noon as she finished the whole thing and the place was spotless. She had yet to eat anything so after casting the proper wards around the house, and strengthening the old ones, she drove off once again, to the Grill. It was Matt, as usual, who received her and she was happy to see him. He sat for a while with her, listening to her woes of jet lag and unpacking, and sympathizing, like a good friend. He would help of course, if he could ever get leave from the Grill. But they were on a shortage of staff and… oh well, she was finished anyway.

She took her sweet time, eating slowly. It was two sandwiches later that she realized that she was still kind of hungry. She ordered a burger instead and Matt raised his eyebrows, but went away to get it. She watched the other people there out of boredom but the place was relatively less crowded. So she wasn't surprised when Matt sat opposite her again, having added fries to her order voluntarily.

"What's with the food? Didn't you have breakfast?" he said, folding his arms and sitting back comfortably. She shook her head in a negative and grimaced, "I came here as soon as I finished the work, to be honest."

"Oh. You'll be doing the grocery shopping today then, I suppose?"

"Yep. Any suggestions?"

Matt told her of two stores, one of which was not far from the Grill and the other was just on border of town. The second one would be more helpful to her, she decided.

"Thanks for that. So are you done with high school, Matt?"

"No. I will be in Senior year soon, though. What about you? You look too young to be in college…"

"Oh," she laughed rather embarrassedly; people thought this all the time because of her height.

"Well, how do I put this, I am starting college, you could say, and this is just for extra credit."

"Wait, you're here for studies? What's the topic for your… well, work?"

"It's basically just history mostly." She shrugged in a non committal way. "This town is apparently very rich."

Matt nodded, "Yeah, that's right. There are a few raw sights outside of town and very abstract history too. And we always have some event or the other to look forward to. There's the Masquerade Ball coming up at the Lockwood's this week. Speaking of which, I have to help out decorations there the day after tomorrow." He grimaced slightly at that Hermione grinned pityingly.

"How'd you get roped into that?"

"Oh, I'm friends with Tyler Lockwood. He made sure I was roped in when he was, It's kind of compulsory for him – Mrs. Lockwood's the mayor."

"Hmm… so any chance I can help you there?"

Matt looked surprised at that, but she was lucky she tripped on this piece of information. A party was all she needed to make some new acquaintances and if she could just volunteer for the preparations, and maybe squirm out of going to Ball thing itself, it could work.

"Well, I think Elena's Aunt Jenna was responsible for volunteers. I can recommend your name to her, if you want…?"

Elena… who was she? And she would have to talk to people herself, especially this Aunt Jenna. She asked Matt for directions to their house, confirming first that she would be home today. He assured that she would, and possibly Elena too. He also explained a bit about Elena, how she had lost her parents in a car accident last summer and had been his girlfriend before that. He sounded kind of over her, but she couldn't be sure.

Car accidents always sounded very cliché to her. It was probably just since she had heard that that was what Harry had been fed about his parents' death. Hence, they always kind of gave a sense of suspicion to her. Hopefully, it wasn't so with Elena.

She looked around at the slight, white building as she followed up the steps and rang the bell once. She wringed her hands nervously, hoping Aunt Jenna was home as Matt had claimed. There were very loud and heavy footsteps and the door was pulled wide open by a lanky, but broad shouldered teenager, who looked surprised at finding her at the door.

Well so was she. She smiled hesitantly at him and he sort of frown-smiled back at her. "How can I help you?"

"Oh, sorry. I was looking for Jenna Summers…?" she wondered if she had even found the right house.

"Aunt Jenna! There's a woman at the door for you!" he shouted, turning backwards to what looked like the kitchen. "Come on in." he said, and moved away from the door.

"Thanks." She said, and was led to the drawing room just off the hallway, as a woman shouted 'Coming' from the kitchen.

"I'm Jeremy Gilbert, by the way." He shook her hand, and she could see him appraising her curiously. She really didn't like introductions.

"Hermione Granger." She said, just as a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, entered the room. She looked too young and blonde to be called Aunt.

"Hi. Do I know you?" she said, rather puzzled, taking a seat, as Jeremy retreated to the kitchen.

"Uh, no. Sorry, I was referred to you by Matt. Matt Donovan."

"Oh right. What's this about? I don't think I've seen you around before." She said, looking carefully at her, seemingly deciding that she was young enough for school.

"I'm new to town, Ms Summers. I just moved here less than a week ago."

"Oh please, call me Jenna. And you look too young for college. How old are you?"

"I'm actually 19, but I don't look because of the height."

They both chuckled and Jenna asked her what she would like to drink, to which she hastily declined, wanting to get down to business.

"I'm sorry, I would have liked to stay longer, really, but I still have to do some grocery shopping before I head home."

"Oh, okay. Where are you staying?"

"My friend's parents have a house here, it was abandoned but we got it cleaned up. It's right outside town, though I don't know the names of the streets well enough to explain." Hermione shrugged apologetically.

Jenna smiled again and finally asked her how she could help her, and how she knew Matt. Hermione explained her situation, almost truthfully, that she would like to meet new people and what better than volunteering for a Ball preparation? Which was, of course, a lie. Everything was better than a Ball preparation.

She explained how she had met Matt, and what he had told her this morning, to which Jenna slightly blushed, confessing that she was sucker for Balls and she was happy to help the Lockwoods in her little way. She also assured that she would add her name to the list, and gave her the Lockwood's address, telling her that the prepping up would start the day after tomorrow and she should be there by 10.

Hermione thanked her and Jenna invited her for tea again, whenever she would like to come and was free, to which she replied with a gracious 'soon'.

Well, now that was something settled finally.

Evening found Hermione lying on her bed, eyes closed and thinking about what she would do for the rest of the night. The only thing she could think of was reading. She had to read up everything she could find on the topic of vampires. Then search up the town's history tomorrow, put the pieces together with the help of the archives and make sure she knew everything. Only then could she afford to jump into any mess.

Sometimes, she really wondered why they had stopped calling her a know-it-all.