Merry Christmas everyone! I know I'm late but I had a lot of rushing around to do because of exams, which is horrible because it's supposed to be holiday season. Ugh. Anyway, only reason you get an update is coz of the great person that is lavanyalabelle. This chapter is good only because of her awesome input and Beta skills! So tell me what ya think of the developments! Things are going to get intererestinnnggg...

Also, thank you so much for the reviews on the previous chapter. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. I'm personally liking this format too. So Read and review people! And also Happy New Year in advance! 3

Chapter 4

Damon was now about 200 percent sure that Stefan and Elena were fake fighting. His brother hadn't slept in the house yesterday, and he was pretty sure Elena hadn't been doing much sleeping either. He had just poured his first drink of the day when there was a knock at the door.

Smirking, he moved to the door, ready to tease the truth out of his brother, and frowned as he saw who it actually was.

"I need to talk to you." Gilbert Jr. said, sounding like he had another small maze his junior brain couldn't get through.

"And why do I need to talk to you?" he replied, moving to close the door, but Jeremy stopped him, pushing it back. "Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet." He said, trying to bribe him by spouting information. Well, it was… kinda useful.

"Wow. Fascinating. Not enough." This was baby Gilbert they were talking about – disaster magnet. He was so not doing this.

"But Mason Lockwood is, and he's looking for a moon stone – a special stone connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here." Jeremy said, sounding confident – his info must be correct.

" Moonstone?" That was weird. He hadn't heard of this till now. What could Mason Lockwood want with this? Whatever it was.

"And I know where it is." Jeremy said smugly, and Damon narrowed his eyes. Why was he involving himself, again? "And you're bringing me this why?"

"Do I need a reason? Look, I just want to help, ok?" How desperate could one get? The kid obviously just wanted to keep himself in the in of things.

"What did your sister say about this little discovery?" Damon asked; he was pretty sure Elena wouldn't be very happy with her brother getting involved in these things. Jeremy's face turned a bit rigid at his question. Ugh. "You haven't told her, have you?"

"Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all of this." Jeremy said, sounding like he didn't actually care what his sister thought. What the hell. He wasn't going to get in the middle of this sibling thing again – he was damn sure Elena wouldn't need another reason to blame him.

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow." He deadpanned, "This search for your life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic." He hoped his harsh words would do some good and get the kid off his back – he wasn't going take blame for this one's corruption.

He made to close the door again, but apparently Gilberts were inherently stubborn. "The British girl, Hermione's a believer. And she seemed very interested in your story, and she's definitely not here just for research."

He narrowed his eyes again at the kid desperately throwing about information, but stood aside to let him in. This little last tid-bit, he couldn't bring himself to ignore.

Caroline had left late in the evening, but the damage was already done. Hermione hadn't slept well – and was sure this was now going to be routine. At first she had been afraid to go to sleep, but when she had- it was plagued with vague images of the war and her friends' faces – both living and dead. She had been successful with curbing the unfortunate memories and thoughts for a few months, but they were going to come back with full force; she could feel it in her bones.

At home, they usually avoided talking about the War, especially the more… horrible parts, since the topic kept coming up anyway. (But then, which part of the war wasn't horrible?) The decision regarding her parents had not been very thought-out… or successful, since they had ended up dead anyway – house burnt down by death eaters. Burnt alive.

Hermione shivered violently – the tea in her hands spilling – as she recalled the house. She couldn't do this right now. She had already recalled enough unwanted memories last night – she couldn't afford to do so again. She had to keep her head in the game.

She gulped the tea quickly, and left the large house, checking her watch. Jenna had told her to be at the Lockwoods' by 11 and it was a quarter past. She double checked the wards once she had driven out of the gate, and cast one last look at the cheery exterior before driving away.

Time to officially get in the middle of things.

There were kids working and stowing stuff here and there within an hour of her arrival. Jenna had taken one look at her waifish apperance and simply told her to help her organize the volunteers for a while before she found a job for her. Hermione was very much thankful for that, liking this stupid idea of hers less and less by the second.

As soon as everyone was divided and working, she made her way back to Jenna, who was standing with another older woman, talking about something.

"So was Richard. This was always his favorite party of the year. And who is this young lady?" The blonde lady said looking her way interestedly, as Hermione joined them.

"Hermione Granger. I'm new to town." Hermione said, shaking her hand, and immediately turned to Jenna as well, "They're all set."

"Oh, pleased to meet you Hermione, I'm Carol Lockwood. Jenna's already told me about you. Thank you for helping. How are you liking our town?" Carol said, reminiscent of the condescending Wizengamot members back at the Ministry, as Hermione suddenly remembered that this was the Town's Mayor.

"It's very fascinating, Carol. I quite like it here." Hermione replied, putting on her best simpering expression. There was suddenly a thud from behind them and she turned to see Matt at the other end of the room, bringing in some antique table-thing.

"Wait, wait, wait, Tyler! Boys! Be careful with that, it's from the 1800s. I hope you enjoy here, Hermione. Excuse me." Carol said, heading off in the boy's direction, already reprimanding them from a distance.

Meanwhile, before Hermione had a chance to notice, Jenna entered forward into another room, and she was met with the sight of another teenager, picking up a chair. Before he could move along, Jenna was upon him, and Hermione followed her, maintaining quite a distance, trying to blend in with the walls.

"Stefan, hey." Jenna said, her tone a bit… off. Hermione scrutinized the guy carefully – this was Stefan Salvatore? Damn. These vampires seriously didn't age a day.

"Hey." Stefan said, and then turned to her expectantly; they hadn't met after all, "Hello?"

"Hello." Hermione smiled slightly, but made no move to introduce herself. She didn't need to though – Jenna was already talking.

"I'm cooking dinner tonight. Rick will be there. You should come." She said, innocently, but a playful tone to her voice. Stefan looked unsure for a moment, but he stammered, "Oh, um… you know, Elena and I, we're kind of taking a pause."

"Really?"Jenna said, sounding skeptical because Hermione couldn't see her face but she was sure the woman highly doubted him.

"Yeah." Stefan replied, looking a bit unsure than before, but Jenna was relentless. "'Cause that's not what it sounded like this morning." She continued, and Hermione watched as Stefan looked confused for a second. "Light sleeper." Jenna hinted, and Stefan looked surprised before grimacing, but didn't counter her, confirming that he was lying.

"You know what, I heard nothing." Jenna said finally, a placating smile on her face, and left the room, Hermione close at her heels.

Hermione was finally almost free, when Jenna told her that she needed to help sort some glasses in the lawn outside, and she had some other work to do. That was what she was doing when she felt someone join her.

"Hey there." Stefan said, as he brought over another crate, and settled it on the table before her.

"Hi." She replied shortly, not really sure if she wanted to talk to him or not. The guy was a vampire – how would she know if he was dangerous or not? He looked pretty normal though, and she mentally decided to go through with it. This was why she had put herself through all the Volunteer torture, right? Meet new people, and dig up some stuff personally. Field work.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Stefan. Stefan Salvatore." He said, moving behind the table, next to her, and shaking her hand. She smiled at him – wondering which topic to pursue next, Damon or the Elena fake fight? She hadn't seen Damon after that first night, but she was also curious about the whole Elena thing.

"Oh interesting. Damon's brother. I'm Hermione." She said, inserting a fake note of surprise into her voice, and watched as his eyebrows furrowed worriedly.

"How do you know Damon?" he said, looking at her suspiciously, a worried tone to his voice, just as she had expected. She couldn't exactly ask him outright about his brother, but maybe he had mentioned her, or something?

"We've met." She replied vaguely, eliciting another round of narrowed eyes, as he looked her over, considering.

"Okay…" he said finally, turning back to the glasses, probably deciding Damon's topic was not worth pursuing. "So what brings you to this town?"

And that was why she hated introductions. "The history. I'm not that big a fan but I've got a research project going on." She said, going with the lie, and it almost sounded true to her ears – it was so used.

"Oh? What's it about? I could help you there." He said, looking faintly interested, and Hermione scoffed internally, sure he could. He was a vampire – history was supposed to be his forte.

"What?" Stefan turned to her, eyes narrowed again. Had she accidently said that out loud? Damn it. She mentally fumbled for another question, irritated with herself as well as the dark-haired vampire with his stupid heightened hearing.

"Nothing. I was... actually... I wanted to ask you something." She stammered, deciding to turn around the situation – Elena's fight seemed like a good option right now. "If you wouldn't mind, that is. It's a bit personal." She added, taking in his surprised face.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead." He replied. Now he was definitely suspicious. She had his full attention, and he was looking her over like one would access a threat.

"Why are... why are you and Elena pretending to fight?" she said, a bit hesitantly, as his face hardened and he looked at her with barely concealed irritation. "I mean, if you both like each other enough – what's stopping you?" she clarified, and Stefan seemed to be stuck, probably deciding if he should tell her the truth or not.

"It's uh, because of my ex." He said finally, being as vague as she was.

"Your ex? Are you still in love with her?" What was this about another ex? As far as she remembered, it had been Damon creating problems for them.

"No! It's not that. It's kind of the other way around. Katherine's doesn't want us together, so she-"

"Katherine? Katherine Pierce?" Hermione exclaimed before she realized what she had just said. Now Stefan definitely looked surprised as well as suspicious.

"You know her?" he said, a threatening edge to his voice, but before she could reply, they were interrupted by another guy she had hoped to run into that day.

"Hey, Stefan." The werewolf said, his face showing his surprise and shock, as he set another crate down. He took no notice of her, and it suited her just perfect as she slipped sideways out of his sight.

"Hi, Mason." Stefan said, a mocking edge to his tone – he seemed uplifted by Mason's confusion.

"Wasn't expecting you here. Or anywhere." Mason replied, his tone still light, but betraying his surprise. What did he mean by that?

"Yeah, I had this little accident. But I'm fine now." Stefan replied, just as vaguely, probably conscious that she was standing nearby, hearing every word.

"And how is Sheriff Forbes?" Mason asked, and Hermione felt a piece click in her memory – the Sheriff was Caroline mother, wasn't she? And Caroline's predicament from yesterday meant that something had happened in the last three days.

"Oh, she's fine, too. But from now on, you'll have to do your own dirty work." Stefan said, the last part in a very low and threatening tone, but Hermione was easily able to hear it. So that incident involved The Sheriff, two vampires, and a werewolf? What exactly was going on in this damn town? And Katherine Pierce and Stefan Salvatore?

She vaguely registered Mason going away from them and collide with a girl, which took up Stefan's attention as he slipped away from the booth as well. She recognized her chance, and hurried to the nearest washroom – the only place she could be alone right now and think.

Katherine Pierce was Stefan Salvatore's ex? If those two had been involved – that just confirmed her theory that the Salvatores were vampires. Because the town was founded in 1864 – the same year Katherine was here and there were signatures of Damon and Stefan Salvatore in the original documents. Now, if she could get her hands on something one of them had written on currently- that would confirm it. Until then, she would have to assume that she was correct, and hence, they were both dangerous, and not to be trusted.

But if Katherine was having an effect on Stefan and Elena's relationship now, that meant that she was here – in town. If Katherine was here, that meant Klaus would be too.

Hermione finally let herself relax a little, at least this confirmed that she was at the right place – Klaus was bound to send someone here for Katherine and Hermione would wait here gladly till then. It wasn't like the place was boring.

There were still a lot of things to figure out though – like what was Katherine actually doing here in the first place. Now that was really bothersome because as far as she remembered, she wasn't a good influence on the death rates wherever she went. There was also the problem of the other two, possibly three, vampires, and the werewolf Mason. Something that concerned all of them and the Sheriff couldn't be good. And that much harder to find out about.

"Katherine's with Mason Lockwood?" Damon said skeptically, as he walked into a lone marquee farthest from the crowd, followed by his brother.

"We missed it. He got into town right after she did. It makes perfect sense." Stefan said, shaking his head, sounding as frustrated as he felt.

"I know, but Mason Lockwood?!" he repeated, trying to convey how… unconventional that seemed, for Katherine. "Werewolf thing aside, the guy's a surfer."

His dear brother only nodded, conceding his point. "She's gotta be using him. She has to be." He decided, but why?

"Using him for what?"

"Mason Lockwood's looking for a moon stone that can allegedly break the full moon werewolf curse. Maybe Katherine wants it as well." He said, relaying the information Gilbert Jr. had provided.

"Why?"

"Well..." he started, and blinked, realizing that lead to nothing. "No idea. It's the beauty of Katherine. She's always up to something." He continued, wondering just what she meant to do with it.

"So how are we going to find this moon stone?" Stefan said, bringing his mind back at the topic.

"Jeremy's getting it from Tyler." He said, and Stefan frowned at him, swatting his arm as he moved past him, "Why would you involve Jeremy?"

"He's playing Indiana Jones. He involved himself." Damon countered, defending himself from the jibe he had known would come. He had anticipated Elena, but Stefan was doing a good job blaming him for the kid's enthusiasm.

"Speaking of you manipulating people, how do you know that British girl?" Stefan said, turning around again and Damon found himself groaning in irritation.

"God, what has she been saying to everybody? I talked to her, like once." He said, frowning as Stefan shook his head. "It's not that. She knows Katherine."

"What?" The Brit knew Katherine? Well, that was news. But… how?

"Just now, before Mason turned up, I was talking to her. She didn't seem to know that Katherine was my ex-girlfriend." Stefan explained, frowning as he looked into the distance, thinking.

"And since that is public knowledge these days, that's a bit weird." Damon concluded, nodding slowly. "Well, I didn't mention Katherine. Wait..." He suddenly remembered the last time he had seen the bitch, in his car

"What?"

"The other night, Katherine warned me to stay away from her." He said, face screwed up in confusion. What the hell was going on with those two? Something was off about the girl, but this made one thing clear – she couldn't really be eliminated from the threat list.

"As if one problem wasn't enough." His brother sighed, pressing his hand to the bridge of his nose, apparently thinking along the same lines as he was.

"She won't be a problem." Damon said eventually, if only to get the frown off Stefan's face. He wasn't sure what he would do, but if they were lucky, she would just actually be a research student too keen on the supernatural. "We'll deal with her later; let's take care of this Mason business first."

She wasn't sure how long she had been in there but there were suddenly more people around the Lockwood place, helping. She headed towards the tables under the nearest tent – to inspect what was going on, when she saw Jeremy setting things there.

"Hey, Jer." She said, happy to see someone non-complicated and shifty. Okay, so Jeremy was probably not somebody innocent but it was better than the uncomfortable talk she'd just had with Stefan.

"Oh hey Hermione. What's up?" he said, smiling politely.

"Nothing. Just slaving away." She replied, getting hold of a few things and helping him with the setting.

"I feel sorry for you but you literally brought this on yourself." Jeremy said, laughing as she replied by sticking her tongue out at him.

They worked silently for some time, while she evaluated the number of people in this town who were too innocent for this vampire-Katherine-Klaus massacre when it would unfold, and Jeremy and Matt were the first ones who came to mind. Sure, the others weren't bad but at least Elena would be fully aware of what she was getting herself into. She couldn't really say the same for the others.

"I'll be right back." Jeremy said suddenly, and she looked up to see him turning away and going to talk to another guy. He was vaguely familiar, and she remembered him from the morning with Matt – Tyler Lockwood. The Mayor's son.

"Hey, man." Jeremy said, as Hermione moved over to his side, wanting to hear the conversion better. God, she hoped George sent her the supplies soon.

"Hey." Tyler said, and since Hermione could no longer see them, she could only guess at his expression.

"Hey, so I did a little research on that stone you showed me."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know – curiosity, boredom."

"What'd it say?"

"Well, it turns out that it's a part of this Aztec legend, but I want to make sure it's the same kind of stone. Do you think I could check it out again?"

The Aztec Curse? Jeremy knew about it? Could they be talking about the Moonstone?

"Nope. Gave it to my uncle."

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because I'm done with legends and curses. I don't want anything to do with it, ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. It's probably just stupid folklore anyways. Forget it."

Katherine. Moonstone. Aztec Curse. Werewolf. No. This could not be happening. The last time the moonstone was mentioned, Katherine had stolen it from Klaus, and fled. She had been in Mystic Falls once, and now a Lockwood had the stone. Who'd given to his Uncle. She could only guess, but if this Uncle was Mason, things were going to get screwed really soon.

It was best if she didn't think about this right now. She would go home, get a bottle of firewhiskey and then figure things out calmly. Right now, she could only sort stupid masks that Jenna wanted her to look over, and not worry about the possible doom of the whole damn town when Klaus found about this tempting combination. God, Katherine Pierce was really a nuisance of a bitch.

"Where's Caroline? This is like her thing. I can't believe she's not here." She heard Matt say as she entered the main building.

"She had something else to do." A dark-haired girl said tonelessly, clearly lying. She wasn't even trying, honestly.

"Is she seeing someone?" Matt said hesitantly, and she looked at him pityingly, "Matt, come on. No, she's not."

Well, that one clearly knew something that Matt didn't and she wasn't really doing a good job hiding it.

"Hi Matt." Hermione said, joining them at the table. She really just wanted to head home right now and brainstorm but she was stuck here for at least two hours more. It was really putting a damper on her mood.

"Hey. You made it." Matt said, smiling at her. She could only smile back because of his honest happiness at seeing her.

"I had to. Thanks to you." She said, a little bitter, now regretting having asked Matt about the whole thing in the first place. It wasn't his fault though, of course.

"You asked for it!" he said, putting his hands up and smirking, seemingly enjoying her annoyance.

"I know. It sounded like a great idea. Now, not so much." She replied, pulling a box towards her anyway, and finally looked at the brunette standing in front of them, who looked slightly lost for words.

"Hi... Matt, this is?" she said, vaguely pointing in Hermione's direction.

"Oh, sorry. Hermione, this is Elena. Elena, Hermione. She's here for a research paper of hers." Matt said, getting the introduction out of the way, as Hermione scrutinized the girl closely. So this was the famous Elena Gilbert. She was really pretty – dark hair, dark eyes, perfect pout – the kind of girl one normally saw on TV.

"Hi. Nice to finally meet you." Hermione said, smiling at her, and shaking her hand. Elena looked rather tense and withdrawn, and she wondered if it the stress of the Katherine situation was catching up to her.

"Thanks. I guess Matt's been talking." She said, looking at Matt pointedly, and he fumbled.

"Oh you bet. He went on and on and on about how you-" Hermione said, smirking, not giving Matt a chance to protest, and he promptly shoved her, smiling, "Hey. Careful, midget. I didn't talk that much."

"Sure, sure." She said airily, ignoring the jab on her height, and shoving him back.

Just then, Stefan entered, carrying another box, and nodded shortly at her, before his eyes strayed to Elena.

"Anyone seen Mason?" Tyler called from the other side, and they all turned to look at him, and then at each other with blank looks, except Stefan and Elena.

"He, uh, he took off. Said he wasn't sure when he'd be back." Stefan said, and Hermione watched as Elena's eyes remained fixed on him, as Tyler left, and Stefan's phone beeped. She moved towards him, but he turned around and left before she could take another step forward.

"I'm not even going to ask." Matt said, as Elena looked conflicted for a second, before deciding something.

"I'll be right back." She muttered, and walked outside, stubbornness in her stride as she left.

Matt just shrugged as Hermione turned to him with raised eyebrows.

What the hell had that been about? One thing was confirmed though – Mason was Tyler's Uncle. And a Lockwood. Which meant that Tyler was also a ticking bomb.

She had gone back to work – the masks were almost sorted – when Jeremy entered, and looked around for a second before spotting her and heading towards their table.

"Hermione, you enjoying yourself?" he said, raising an eyebrow as she glared at him.

"Get to the point." She muttered, rolling her eyes as Matt chuckled.

"I was wondering if you still want to get out. I need a ride to the Boarding House and I can't find Elena or Jenna." He said finally, and Hermione gave a sigh of relief.

"Of course! Wherever you want Jer. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking – this is a bloody nightmare." She sighed.

He shook her head at her, and they both apologized to Matt before heading out towards the parking lot.

"So, do you know where the boarding house is?" Jeremy said, as Hermione started the car, carefully backing out of the parkway. Driving was still a bit new to her – especially the parking part. She hadn't really got time to get used to it, what with… the things back home.

"Nope, I hope you do though." She said, as they finally got out the Lockwood estate, and on the highway.

"Yeah, yeah I do." Jeremy muttered, and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes – he seemed a little distracted.

"So whose house was this again? Are we going to meet your girlfriend?" she said, smirking as he blushed slightly and rolled his eyes. He was such a kid.

"It's Stefan and Damon's house. And I don't have a girlfriend." He replied, and her smile died down for a second.

"What are you gonna do there? I thought both of them were at the Lockwood's?" she said, frowning. Or at least, she assumed they were. She hadn't seen Damon at all.

"Um, yes. Damon and I... had some stuff to do." Jeremy replied shiftily, avoiding her gaze.

"Last time we talked, you didn't like him much." Hermione said, accusation evident in her tone, but Jeremy seemed even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it just something, we had to do." He said stiffly, not budging, eyes on the road, "Take left."

She looked at him again, and his expression betrayed his regret of asking her to drive him. She immediately felt a stab of pity for the poor guy – how did she know he was doing this willingly? Of what she had heard about Damon, it wouldn't be past him to force Jeremy into this. "It's okay. Calm down. Sometimes we have to bear people we don't like." She said finally, and Jeremy seemed to deflate a little.

"Yeah..." he replied, and they drove in silence for a minute, before he told her to take another right. "Say, Hermione, could you help me with something?" he said suddenly, eyeing her uncertainly, looking like he was having trouble figuring her out.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" she replied, and waited as he leaned towards the back seat, fumbling around for a minute, before he found what he was searching for. He held the packet gingerly in his hands, and she only had to take one look at it to recognize the plant inside.

"Where'd you find that?" she exclaimed, looking at him suspiciously. Jeremy Gilbert was more involved in things than she had suspected – how the hell did he get hold of wolfsbane?

"You know what it is?" he said, looking at her surprised, and she frowned at the road. So he didn't know what it was called? What was he doing with it then? And where did he find it? This made absolutely no sense except – he was going to Damon's house?

"That's from a plant called Aconitum vulparia. Grows only in the wild mountainous areas of Scotland. Commonly known as aconite, monkshood and wolfsbane, it's flowers are used in a potion which helps to keep a werewolf sane on a full moon. Individually, it's toxic to werewolves but it's roots can be used for medicinal purposes." She said finally, and was met with a surprisingly impressed look from Jeremy.

"Whoa. Swallowed a textbook, Hermione?" he said, still looking rather surprised with her knowledge, as he turned over the flower in his hands.

"So where'd you find it?" she said hoping her tone was light, and not as probing as it sounded to her ears.

"Just looking through a friend's old stuff." He said, and she tsked at him, before he hurriedly added, "He was with me at the time."

She nodded, and it was another five minutes before they reached the Boarding House. It looked quite dark and foreboding, and suddenly an image of the Malfoy Manor flashed through her eyes. She shivered and mentally reasoned with herself – this house was far more cheerful; there was a lawn and the house was made of wood, not stone.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione." Jeremy said, getting out and opened the back door to unload the box he had brought along.

"Thanks to you too, for helping me get out." She replied cheerily, but her smile faded as she looked at the small packet in his hand. "Listen- Jeremy." She started, not really knowing what to say to him, "I know that you know what you're doing, but-" She really didn't want him to get involved in all of this – because if she was right, he was taking the wolfsbane to Damon, who would undoubtedly use it on Mason.

"Just take care of yourself. And remember your own advice about Damon." She sighed, giving him a small smile, a meaningful look in her eyes, and promptly started the engine.

"Yeah, see you around." She heard him mumble softly, before she was driving away again.

"When did you two meet? Did she seduce you, tell you she loved you? You're supernatural so she can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms. Katherine's good that way."

Jeremy heard Damon firing questions at the tied-up Mason Lockwood, and almost wished that hadn't volunteered to do this. The scene wasn't pretty – Damon had been having a go at the werewolf for about half an hour and he apparently had no qualms with a little bloodshed. Or a lot of it.

"And here we are. What'd you find?" Damon said, leaving the poker in the fire and coming over towards him, rubbing his hands.

"I found this in Rick's box of stuff." Jeremy said, handing Damon the small packet of plant. "I looked it up but every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus."

Damon hummed as he carefully pulled out the plant and touched it hesitantly, testing it on his skin apparently.

"But... Hermione dropped me here, and she knew quite a lot about it." He continued, wondering just how much he should say about Hermione to Damon. He hadn't been very keen on her, but she had surprised him with her concern for him. He hadn't really thought that she considered him a friend.

"Is that so?" Damon looked up interestedly, before examining the plant again, "What does she think it is?"

"That's the thing. When I showed it to her, she repeated stuff like she'd learnt it from some text book." He said, thinking out loud, reasoning that the more Damon knew, it was probably better for their odds. They couldn't be sure of where the British girl's loyalties lay, so it was better he shared what he knew about her. "Nothing new, she wasn't even really surprised." He finished.

Damon had been listening to him and nodding occasionally while he talked and was now looking up with a thoughtful expression on his face. "The odds of her actually being a keen-on-the-supernatural researcher are looking good."

"What we need to know is that it's toxic to werewolves." Jeremy said quietly, and watched as Damon's face lit up with a nasty smirk. "Now we're talking."