Yes I'm back and Yes I'm a horrible person. But I'd just like to thank y'all who've still stuck with me. Life has been difficult. I lost someone important and as we can see, fanfiction is my escape as usual. Meanwhile, I know I haven't answered many reviews but I'd still like to mention that I'm in debt to you guys for my sanity. Some of my lowest points in the day end with me going through reviews and they help me get out of it. Anyway, hope this is satisfactory and I'v already written the next one, so I'll update it next Monday or Sunday for sure.
Without further ado - Enjoy!
Caroline was sure that something was very wrong. This whole situation was the definition of wrong. Hermione was her friend – she had talked to her and cheered her up when she was having a difficult time with her Mom, she had talked to Elena and took her mind off of Stefan, even though it was just for a while. So spying around inside her house was the last thing she should be doing.
She was a decent person, and whatever Damon thought she was, she was sure Hermione meant no harm to them. But Damon and Stefan couldn't enter because they hadn't been invited in, so they were counting on her to search through the house for anything suspicious. Her living room was clean – there were many pictures of her with two boys on the mantelpiece. Two faces were constant in every picture – a boy with messy hair and spectacles, and another tall lanky boy with freckles. She was running commentary on whatever she was seeing for Damon and Stefan's benefit, and Damon had smirked when she had reached the pictures.
"Bet you anything one of them is Ron." He had smirked, and Caroline had turned to him with a teasing smile, "Eavesdropping on her love life, Damon?"
His face had changed within a second and she laughed at his expression, and seen the pictures carefully once more, before announcing that the long and lanky one was Ron.
"How can you tell?" Stefan asked, looking confusedly between the two of them, probably wondering what they were talking about. "Hunch." Caroline had replied, and moved on from the living room.
She was in the kitchen, though most cabinets were locked. "The cupboards are locked. I can't break them – it's like they're made of steel. Or something worse." Both Stefan and Damon perked up at this, and she spent half an hour trying to open those cabinets, but to no use.
"Hey, there's a cat." She said, as she saw the large orange cat move towards her. It's face looked like it had hit the wall one too many times, and it was a bit bigger than the average cat, and Caroline was sure from his eyes that it was judging her heavily.
She moved back to the drawing room as the cat sniffed her for a while, before it kept moving around in circles around her legs. It was so cute! And soft…
"Caroline, will you stop petting the cat and get to work?" Damon said, irritation barely sustained in his voice as he watched her with a frown. The cat in her arms seemed to sense this, because it perked up towards the sound and watched Damon. Before she knew it, he had jumped down from her arms and was hissing at Damon, making high-pitched noises and spitting foully in his direction, hair on end.
Damon was staring at it with raised eyebrows, a Stefan was bent over laughing. Caroline giggled at him and slowly pet the cat and pulled it away. It trailed after her interestedly all the while, as she checked the bedroom – there were many personal touches to the room, more pictures, some of what looked like her parents, and more of the same people who were in the pictures downstairs. She had a feeling that many of them were related to Ron, but she couldn't be sure. The only unusual thing in the bedroom was that the mirror had a huge crack in it, which looked rather recent.
"Maybe she chucked something at it in anger? She isn't even strong enough to break a mirror – definitely human." Stefan suggested when she told it to them. The rest of the bedrooms looked uninhabited and were not even cleaned out, so she headed back downstairs.
"The only suspicious thing is the kitchen cabinets. She could be some kind of scientist or something?" she suggested, walking back at the door.
"That never bodes well. Trust me." Damon said, frowning at the cat as it followed her towards the door, "Did you check the bar?"
"Uh, no. I don't think there's anything – it's completely dusty and unused." She replied, but Damon shook his head – "No, check it out once. Check for a break in the dust line – I have a feeling that's the best place to hide something if it doesn't look like she uses it."
"Look like? You mean she does actually use it?" Stefan asked, as she turned back towards the bar and did what Damon had said – trying not to touch anything much otherwise it would be too obvious that someone had been disturbing things here.
"Of course she uses it. Whatever I drank from her glass, she'd added it for herself. And she had a small bottle full of it on her – whatever it was, was alcoholic. Of course she drinks. That doesn't add up to the fact that she doesn't use her bar. What kind of person likes drinking, carries the stuff on themselves, but doesn't use their bar?" She heard Damon reason in hindsight as she moved towards the back.
"Guys, there's nothing here – wait." She stopped, noticing a webbed piece of board. She pulled away the webs – they didn't look fake, but the board, it was less dusty than the others. She knocked twice on it – it was hollow.
"Looks like I found something." She said, removing the board, and sure enough, there was a small steel door behind the two boards – big enough for a short person to enter. The steel door wasn't even locked. She pushed it slightly, but it didn't budge. She pushed again, and again, and it opened on the third try. She almost rolled over forwards but managed to remain standing.
"Okay, I'm in. It looks like some sort of basement… Oh no."
Damon's mind was reeling with all the information they had discovered today. It was late in the evening, the Brit was probably back at her house, and so were they. Stefan had filled Rick and Bonnie in on the phone, and they had come over immediately, leaving Elena in charge of Jenna. His brother had tried hard to keep Elena out of the loop and both Rick and Bonnie had agreed, deciding to keep the stuff they had found out about from Elena.
"You're sure she's a vampire hunter?" Bonnie asked, for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Yes, I saw all the weapons myself and books – tons of books. Every surface was covered with books. I didn't have much time to read the titles, but they didn't look very promising – mostly folklore and legends and curses, etc. But there were guns and I could smell the vervain everywhere." Blondie explained, still looking somewhat shaken.
They were all felling thankful now, obviously, for his amazing instincts, because if they hadn't checked the bar, they would still be completely clueless about Miss Granger's little secret basement. Something still didn't add up, and he was trying to think over everything, wondering why it felt like he'd missed something.
"It doesn't make sense. She claims to be a researcher, knows about vampires, but doesn't know anything about Katherine." Rick said, thinking aloud, "Then she just happens to get Damon, a vampire, so drunk that he passes out, then sends him a cure for the hangover, along with something that looks suspiciously like candy made from blood?"
Rick was right – it made no sense but to him, it sounded like they were just running around in circles, repeating everything over and over without making sense of it.
"If we rule out the part with Damon and the hangover, we have a theory." Bonnie said carefully after a while, and he turned to her expectantly. "She comes into town researching vampires, wants to know about Katherine. Right?"
"Yep, that's what she said." He nodded, and Bonnie continued, "So Stefan, at the Lockwood's you said you mentioned Katherine, which could be the reason she's asking Damon about her, because she thinks you know a lot about her."
"Doesn't explain the candy." Rick remarked, and Bonnie quickly intervened, "No, it does actually. Damon said they were talking about trust when he didn't tell her about Katherine, and she seemed quite interested in getting us to trust her. So if you rule out the hangover and it's cure, because that was actually Damon's fault, the candy can be chalked up to a gift for all the people she knows are vampires."
Damon pursed his lips – her explanation fit somewhat. He didn't like that.
"What about the weapons?" He asked, but Caroline shook her head – "That's easily explained. Anyone who knows about the existence of vampires will take precautions. It's natural."
"What about her blood? And that house barrier? How do we explain that?" Stefan asked, and there was silence again as they considered it.
"I think she might be a witch." Bonnie said suddenly, and he wasn't the only one who shot the short the girl an incredulous look. She didn't miss a beat though, and went on, "Today in the hospital, she got these cookies for Jenna, and they tasted exactly like my Grams'. I thought it was weird at first because Grams used to put all these herbs and things in those, but then Elena thought they tasted same too. When she mentioned that, Hermione got all quiet and started asking these questions about Grams' like she thought something was wrong. I asked if she knew her, but she said no and then she left. We waited for her to get back for like an hour-?" She turned towards Rick to confirm and he added- "and a half."
"So an hour and a half. And then we got your call and had to come here. We thought she could have gone home, but since you had no problems – we figured she didn't."
That was… unsettling. Where had the Brit gone if not to her house? Because Damon was sure if she had come back, they would've ran into her for sure. And it probably wouldn't have been pretty.
"Well, that is a good theory. But are you sure witches can do all that barrier thing?" Stefan frowned at Bonnie, who shrugged in response – "As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm an amateur, Stefan. All I know is what Grams taught me. It could very well be something I could achieve with practice."
"Still doesn't explain the blood." Rick said, breaking the thoughtful silence after a while, pouring himself another drink, pacing behind the bar.
"Maybe it's the cat?" Caroline said uncertainly, looking at him, but he shook his head – the cat smelled nothing like her.
"Why are you so eager to trust her?" Damon asked her, frowning over his glass at Bonnie and Blondie.
"She seems like a nice person." Blondie said desolately, and he had the impression that she wanted to believe that very much, but still had doubts.
"Well, she makes excellent cookies, if that helps." Rick said, shrugging as everyone turned to him skeptically. What?
"Oh yeah…" Bonnie nodded considerately, "The best."
Damon wanted to ask what the hell they were talking about, but then thought better of it because the expression on Rick's face was rather alarming. Instead he thought about the fact that Caroline seemed rather assured that the Brit was worth trusting, even though she admitted she was dangerous. After seeing everything at her house, what made Blondie think she was a decent person? He was dangerous too, and she hated him; Katherine was dangerous, she hated her; then why not the Brit – because she was polite as hell? She hadn't ever mentioned what they had talked about that day…
"Okaaay…" Stefan said finally, "But that is all assuming she isn't lying about anything-"
"-which she is." A voice interrupted from the front door, and they all turned to see Elena, arms folded and looking cross.
"Elena… How did you know-" Bonnie started, but was cut off by the seething brunette.
"-I know where you were? Easy. When Rick got a call from the school, you disappeared from the hospital ten minutes later. I'm not that stupid." She said, walking towards them, and moving towards Rick and the bar, looking upset.
"Look, we didn't want you to panic – " Stefan started, but Damon had had enough. One British mystery was giving them enough problems right now, his brother and Elena could continue their drama later.
"What is she lying about then?" Damon said, interrupting his brother, and she turned to look at him, silent for a second before answering.
"If she's really a researcher, what is she doing talking to everyone about it? Research is done from books, not by getting to know everyone by volunteering in preparation for a ball. It looks like she's trying too hard to make friends, trying to dig some specific information about Katherine by getting involved with us." Elena said, and Damon blinked. That seemed to add up. There were too many things vague about the girl for her to just be a student.
Except the day she had talked to Stefan, she hadn't even been aware that his brother knew Katherine. So she wasn't digging with them deliberately. She was digging with them because they were in her way.
Elena was staring at Stefan, sipping her drink, looking at him mischievously – Oh Shit.
Within seconds, he had her pinned by the wall, hand on her throat and anger burning in his chest at the sight of her. There was a crash as the glass undoubtedly fell and broke and several surprised shouts as they watched him; Stefan by him in a second.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He snarled in her face, and the bitch smirked at him, completely relaxed under his choke hold.
"What gave it away – the necklace?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him and then smiling over his left shoulder at his brother, no doubt, who replied in an exasperated voice, "Katherine. What are you doing here?"
"She wouldn't leave Jenna alone just to come here and plot with us, even if she realized why Bonnie and Rick had left." Damon snarled at her in explanation, his heart pinching with a snip of hurt as she smiled. He tried to tighten his fingers around her throat and her expression finally changed to an irritated one, and she grabbed hold of his hand and pried it away.
"I was just here to make sure you didn't walk right into her trap and get yourself killed. Because where would be the fun in that?" She said slowly, seductively moving towards Stefan, and trailing a hand on his chest.
He slapped it away as Damon turned around, looking for a piece of wood to drive in her heart. He had grabbed a chair, and broken the leg in the next second, but she was behind him right then, his arm pinned by his back, and the wooden chair leg scraping his back.
"You can thank me later." She said softly in his ear, smirking like a cat no doubt, and promptly shoved the wood in his back, just so that it scraped his spine. There was a whoosh of air and she was gone.
Stefan was behind him in a second, and he groaned loudly as the wood was pulled out and thrown away, the skin hurting for a few seconds before it healed.
"Bitch." He commented in the shocked silence, moving to pour himself another drink.
It had been almost two days since she'd caught a wink of sleep. The last time she had slept was the day before yesterday, when she'd had the stupid flashbacks. The current day had been a drastically useless one – with the exception of Bonnie. She had the new information about a Bennet witch's presence in town to deal with, once the vampires searching her house were satisfied of course. She had decided to visit Matt at the Grill in the meantime, as it was almost evening and his shift was about to start.
The conversation with Matt flowed easily – he was the only person who she could talk to without the danger of him poking beneath the surface of the things she told him. He accepted everything in stride and she felt guilty thinking it, but he was thoroughly muggle. And she loved that because talking to the blond presented her a sense of calm that was rare to find ever since she'd stepped inside the supernaturally populated town.
Plus, she found he could easily talk about anything that bothered him too. It was nice to be trusted. The way back home, she planned what she would do with Bonnie. The mindless chatting with Matt helped her clear her head and hence she was able to think properly towards the witch issue.
The first course would be to talk to Bonnie. Alone. Convince her to trust that she was right and hopefully educate her about her own history in the meantime. As soon as possible, she had to start training Bonnie in defensive and honestly, all kinds of natural magic. Maybe get her a wand too, even though it wouldn't do much good since she was obviously a Wiccan witch.
Once Hermione was home, she checked the basement first – the webs were gone, which meant they had definitely checked this part, but the door was still sealed shut. She had to pry it open and checked for any papers or weapons being out of place, but they weren't. Nothing seemed out of place, and everything else in the house was normal too – but the misplaced feeling didn't leave her mind. Something was definitely wrong.
She pushed past it though, and decided to look for some books to help her with Bonnie's case. Anything she could find on American history would have to do, along with texts on Wiccan witches, which she really hadn't bothered to carry with her. As the evening drew to an end, her anxiety spiked. She was supposed to have received a call from Damon or Stefan or Caroline. It would've been obvious she had sent the blood pops, and they were supposed to react to that in some way or the other.
Barely two minutes had passed after she had the thought, and she felt the wards tingle. It was Stefan, Damon and Caroline. They weren't talking, as she tried to hear through the strings coming in through the windows, and the doorbell rang twice. She swallowed nervously and moved towards the door – there they were, all three smiling like nothing was wrong in the world.
"Hi Hermione. How are you?" Caroline said cheerily, stepping inside and smiling at her.
"Hi Caroline. I'm good. Hi Damon. Stefan." She nodded at them both, and they smiled politely at her. There were an excruciating few moments of awkward silence, where they all kept smiling at her, before she gave in and sighed, "Come on in then both of you."
Damon smirked immediately, and didn't waste a moment to step in and walk interestedly towards the mantelpiece, where she had some photographs of everyone. There was also one of her, Harry and Ron, from second year, black and white and enlarged, hanging over the fireplace. Stefan, on the other hand, stopped in front of her, "Thank you, Hermione."
She nodded and waved a hand, the damage was already done. Sugar-coating anything wouldn't help now. Damon was already sniffing through her kitchen rudely and Caroline was sitting on an armchair nervously.
This was so awkward. This was the exact type of thing she had been hoping to avoid.
"So, I'm assuming this is about the blood pops?" she said finally, when no one spoke for another minute. Damon, who had gone from his thorough examination of her kitchen to poking around her living room, turned with a very confused expression on his face – "The what?"
"The blood pops, that I sent in the mail? I thought you would enjoy them?" She said slowly, looking around questioningly at Stefan and Caroline, who looked back with blank expressions, like they had no idea what she was talking about.
"Did you even try them, at all?" She said desperately, folding her arms and staring at them crossly. And she had been so sure it wouldn't come to this.
"Try them? What were we supposed to do with them again? Stick them in our nostrils?" Damon said rudely, turning back to her with an irritated expression on his face.
She snorted before she could think twice, but continued, "Eat them. You were supposed to eat them." She said exasperatedly, like explaining something to a five-year old, shaking her head.
"Pfft." Damon scoffed, "Of course." He said sarcastically, turning to Stefan, who just closed his eyes and shook his head minimally.
"Yes, it's specially designed for vampires. You can suck on them for some time, it curbs your hunger." She said, sitting down opposite Caroline, who had yet to say a word. She pulled out a few from her jacket pocket and offered it to her. The blonde cast one questioning look at Stefan, who shrugged, and then picked one slowly, popping it into her mouth.
Hermione watched carefully as veins popped out in the skin right under her eyes, and when she opened them, her corneas were red. She offered the same to Stefan, who shook his head politely, and then to Damon, who just scoffed again.
"Okay, let me make something clear. The only reason I'm here, is because Katherine doesn't want us to be here." Damon said, sitting down opposite her, "Let's just skip the formalities and get down to business. Alright?"
"Sure." Hermione quipped, and leant back in thought, "One question though – why does Katherine not want you to be here?"
Damon blinked at her for a second, before letting out an incredulous laugh, "How does this keep happening? See, I was hoping you would answer that question for us."
"What?" She said confusedly, "Haven't I already told you that I don't know Katherine? I'm looking for information about her but I don't actually know her."
"And look, if you have something to tell me, just tell me. I don't have time for these stupid games, I have stuff to do." She continued irritated, not understanding why they kept addressing the topic if they were never going to tell her.
"That's the problem. How do we know we can trust you? How do we know you're not just working with her and won't rat us out the second we tell you something?" Stefan said, leaning forwards, a frown etched on his face.
"I don't know how to you make you trust me!" Hermione exclaimed, for what felt like the hundredth time, but then suddenly realized something, "Wait. Did you say she doesn't want you here?"
"Yes. Why?" Stefan said, exchanging a glance with Damon, who looked as confused as his brother.
"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed, slapping her forehead, shaking her head at her own naivety, "You know what happened in 1864. She doesn't want me to know, so she's sowing seeds of doubt in your head, so that you don't trust me. Don't you see?" She finished, standing up and pacing in front of the fire.
"Of course that's why. That clever thing. She feels threatened by me, because she knows that if you trust me, and tell me whatever it is that you're hiding, she's going to lose her leverage in whatever insane game she's playing." Hermione continued, mostly talking to Stefan.
"Well, she only interfered when we all agreed with Bonnie that you can be trusted. That put us in doubt again-" Caroline started, looking between her and Stefan, who was nodding.
"-which can also be argued to be the right move." Damon interrupted, looking at her carefully. "Here's the thing – Katherine likes to play games, mind games, so it's a fair possibility that she wanted us to do exactly what we're doing right now – trusting you."
"How do we know this isn't what she wanted all along?" He said, lips pursed and eyebrows raised at her.
"And we're back to square one. The question of trusting me. Could this be any more complicated?" Hermione said, shaking her head and sitting back down. They were only running in circles with this Katherine thing. If they continued like this, they would never come to a conclusion.
"Fine, don't trust me. Just let me know what have I done to make you distrust me at all?" she said desperately, looking at Stefan and Caroline, but it was Damon who answered.
"How about the weapons in your basement?" He said, narrowing his eyes at her, and she grimaced. So they had found the basement.
"They're a precaution. Just in case." She replied finally, dejectedly. There was no way this was going to work out in her favor right now. "I'm not in cahoots with Katherine in any way and it's the last thing I want. You're playing right into her hands with this, trust me. Oh wait, you don't." she said irritatedly, taunting.
"Yes, sure we don't. You know why? Because you also have an awfully large amount of vervain in your backyard for someone who doesn't mind vampires. It doesn't look like a precaution to me." Damon said, still glaring at her dangerously, "Answer this – how do you know about us?"
"And don't say the ring, we know you're lying about it." Caroline said hastily, and Hermione blinked twice, shutting her mouth; she had been about to say that.
"I can't say." She said stoically, and Damon smirked triumphantly, looking around at Stefan and Caroline, "There we are. How about this – why do you want to know so much about Katherine and 1864?"
"I can't tell you that." She said hollowly, and before she knew what was happening, Damon slammed her head back against the wall, and pinned here there, hand around her throat. Caroline blurred over towards him with a snarl, but he had pushed her away and his brother in the next second as well.
Hermione's head throbbed where it had banged against the wall, and she brought her left hand to his arm, trying to pry it away. But he had caught hold of it tightly, and moved it away. She let out a gasp of pain as her arm throbbed and felt bile rise in her throat as the pain seared through her. Damon was squeezing the scar itself. Her vision blurred dangerously as she tried to focus on his face, but couldn't. It took everything in her to not just scream.
"You need to start answering my questions, darling." He snarled in her face, but she couldn't focus. Her eyes were wet with tears, and her mind focused on getting out of his grip, she was going to pass out soon if he didn't let go of her arm. "Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies." She croaked out slowly, fingering a stake in her right hand, and faintly noticed his expression turn more murderous, but the next moment, she had staked him right in the throat.
Damon fell back, coughing violently, and her knees hit the floor with a thud. She clutched her arm to her chest, trying to numb her mind to the throbbing pain in her arm and head. The scar was searing hotly, and she was surprised to see that it wasn't bleeding yet.
She got up slowly, still coughing a bit, and looked at the three vampires staring at her. Damon was looking as murderous as ever, and lunged forward again, but she was ready this time. She didn't need to take out her wand, or say the spell. She could feel herself tap into the energy, and thought of the right spell, and Damon's arms and legs snapped together – he was petrified.
Straight as a board, he fell on the floor, and she smirked satisfactorily as his dark eyes glared at her from below. What a greatly satisfying sight.
"What did you do to him?" Stefan said, crouching beside his brother, but unable to move anything. Caroline was still standing by the far table, one she had crashed into and broken a lamp. She was staring at her and Damon with calculating eyes, ready to make a move if needed. It was that which calmed Hermione, if anything else – the fact that Caroline thought she would hurt her.
"I don't mean to hurt any of you. Yes, even you." She said to Damon, who was still managing to glare at her through his eyes, "If I wanted to kill you or hurt you, I would have done it a hundred times over by now."
She turned to Stefan and Caroline calmly, "I'm just going to say this once so listen carefully and believe whatever you want then."
Stefan looked unsurely at Damon but exchanged a glance with Caroline, who nodded and lost her defensive stance, coming to stand by Stefan. Hermione handed her a pack of Blood Pops to her for good measure and her lips twitched but she didn't smile.
"Here's the thing. When I say I can't answer some questions, doesn't mean I don't want to answer them. I'm just… bound by some, promises, let's say. Now I don't know how to make you guys trust me, but to be honest, I'm beyond caring." She looked briefly at Damon, still lying in front of the fireplace, but listening to her alertly; her voice had risen with every word she said. She had been trying too hard to get into their good books – it was enough.
"I will get the information I want in any way possible. I was happy to play along your methods until now. I let you search my house yesterday, I invited you three inside, I promised Bonnie to help with her magic. Hell, I even sacrificed my favorite batch of cookies for you people. But I'm done playing good."
Stefan and Caroline exchanged panicked glances and looked at her with a bit more apprehension. Hermione got up and quickly fished out two more packets of Blood Pops and threw both of them angrily at Stefan. "That's my last peace offering. The ball's in your court now. You have till tomorrow. You decide if you want to trust me, or if I should just get my information by some other methods."
"Now get out." She spat, crossing her arms and looking at the two of them.
"What about him?" Stefan said, looking uncertainly at Damon, and Hermione frowned a bit at the uncertainty on his face. Weren't those two brothers? He was supposed to be threatening her to release him or something, not having second thoughts about leaving his brother at her mercy.
"I need to talk to him about something alone. He'll be back in an hour or so." She said, making a split-second decision, looking at Damon and realizing she didn't really have an idea when spells from wandless magic faded.
"You won't hurt him, will you?" Caroline said, looking at her unsurely, and she tried to smile faintly at her. She glanced at Damon, and she could tell he would have rolled his eyes if he could.
"No Caroline. I don't know if you've noticed but I try to abstain from violence whenever possible. I'm not going to touch him, or any of you until you lot have decided what to do. But after that, depending on your decision, he's definitely going to be on top of hit list. Oh, yes." She replied, smirking threateningly at Damon's still form, who looked somewhat alarmed.
"Why can't you just talk to us?" Stefan said, not moving from his place, still looking between her and Damon uncertainly.
"Because it's not something I want to talk about to you? I said he'll be back so he'll be back. Stop worrying and leave." She snapped, and he walked towards Damon, eyeing his still form. Damon would have been mortified if he hadn't already been petrified, and Stefan seemed to sense that when he stood by his brother quietly for two seconds.
"I'll see you later then." Stefan said awkwardly, and finally, he and Caroline left. Hermione didn't move from her position until she had made sure the two had passed out of the gates, and then her shoulders sagged and she sighed deeply, "What a bust."
"Now, what to do with you." She said lightly, standing above Damon. He was still glaring at her, and she chuckled, finally finding it in herself to laugh at his position. "Yeah, not the most comfortable of places, is it?"
"Well then, let's get you sorted." She said, and moved from his line of sight so that he couldn't see her. Taking out her wand, she quickly levitated him onto the sofa, and stuck her wand back in the jacket.
She frowned at him for a while, deciding she needed to clean the blood from his neck, or it would get on the sofa. She went to the kitchen and sorted out her scar first – applied a generous amount of salve, and then wrapped it up. Then she got a cloth and some water, and settled beside the stiff vampire on her sofa.
"Yeah, this is awkward, isn't it." She remarked, feeling rather foolish, knowing he couldn't reply anyway. She looked at his face – he was staring at her unnervingly. There was still some hostility in his gaze, but at least he didn't look murderous.
"I'm sorry I had to do that." She said finally, grimacing at him. It changed nothing of his expression but his eyes might have softened a bit. She quickly looked down as she unbuttoned his shirt – just enough to move it away from the shoulder. The blood had seeped down to his back as well. Well, the shirt was ruined.
She dipped the cloth in water, and swallowed hard, determinedly not looking up at his face as she moved the cloth along his neck. His skin was hard and soft at the same time, but she didn't want to think about it because then she would blush and never be able to do the job – probably end up spilling the water all over his shirt just to see the effect.
NO No no don't go there, Hermione. She clenched her teeth in an attempt to calm her traitorous thoughts, and by the time she was done, her jaw was clenched, she was breathing heavily, and blood had risen to her cheeks to form a dark blush.
She finally looked up at him, and the bastard looked amused. That made her crack. "Yes. Very funny, isn't it? Hermione Granger can't look a man in the eyes while cleaning him up, let's all laugh at her till the end of time…" she muttered sullenly, packing up the bloody cloth and took it to the kitchen, still muttering darkly.
When she went back to him, he looked somewhat at ease, if a person who had been petrified and was stiff as a board, could look at ease. She leaned down next to him and pursed her lips, not sure how to break it to him.
That was when she felt a push against the wards, and her eyes narrowed. "What's Stefan doing here again?" She muttered, and Damon looked at her alertly. She waited in silence for a few seconds and a second push never came. "He's gone." She said, and looked at Damon again, who must have been confused.
"Yeah, that's one of my tricks. No one enters without me knowing, doesn't matter if I'm inside the house or out." She said, and nodded, "Yeah I can listen too. Do your hear anything outside?" she asked, and even though he wouldn't answer, she had an inkling he couldn't hear it.
"But that doesn't mean there's nothing to hear." She remarked with a smile, and moved to the window, pulling on a string and pushing it into her ear.
"-going to stay and wait for him. I can't get inside, and I can't hear a single sound." Stefan's voice said, as if right next to her, and she heard Caroline agreeing with him and leaving.
"You sure he's going to be okay? Elena asked if you need her to come and stay." Alaric's voice said, and Stefan probably shook his head, "It's alright. You can leave. I have a feeling she won't hurt him. We were being too paranoid. Bonnie was right all along."
There was silence for the next minute after Alaric left, and Stefan had probably left to roam the woods or something, or whatever the hell vampires did.
She pulled the string out and walked back to the sofa, sitting beside Damon again. "So I thought your brother probably hated you or something, because he shouldn't have left you here in the first place with me, but now he's outside, waiting for when you'll leave. Cute." She remarked, staring at him with a smirk.
"I gather you have a somewhat love-hate relationship with your brother then." She said, and Damon's eyes turned exasperated again, and she knew she was right.
"Hmm. So you might be wondering why I kept you back. Well, mostly it was just to see Stefan's reaction, you know. I've heard rumors about you being after his girlfriend, and Katherine being after him, etc. It's all very confusing. Anyway, it's mostly just so that I could figure you guys out more. I mean no harm or anything." She said, and watched as his huge blue eyes turned accusing again. Actually, she had wanted to punish him too, as she knew the counter curse, but very well wasn't going to cast it.
"Yeah okay, I'm sorry, but you brought this on yourself mate. I never intended to, you know, petrify you or harm you or anything. You were being a twit, I just taught you a lesson okay?" Hermione said, and Damon's expression didn't change, and neither did he lose the glare.
"What am I doing having a conversation with someone who can't reply to me?" she said to herself, not sure why she was still talking, "I'm just lonely. Yeah, that must be it…"
"Yeah well, whatever Salvatore. This should wear down in an hour or two, so you can leave then. Don't try to strangle me in my sleep or anything." She said finally, getting up, "And don't get any ideas." She warned, as she had noticed his eyes light up slightly.
"I'm serious, don't try anything in my sleep, I'm not responsible for what I might do. The consequences can be – dangerous." She said after a pause, frowning at the still vampire seriously.
"Well, good night then, I guess." She said finally, not really feeling like she should leave him alone in the living room, but then, she couldn't really stay either.
I know it feels like a bit of an abrupt end and I wanted to include the next part, but it would've been too long. And the part after this is kinda... lane-changing, let's say.
So lemme know if I've still got the game on with this story? Or is it becoming ridiculous or something?