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.