After Hermione had apparated away to take care of her dinner and work preparations for the following day, Edward sank down on his sofa in silent contemplation as he realized just how much he had enjoyed his evening. How long had it been since he had experienced such an intellectually stimulating discussion with someone other than Carlisle? Even more importantly, why had he felt so comfortable with the woman? As if to answer that question, Dickens stalked over to make himself at home in the vampire's lap. As Edward stroked the kneazle, he thought about how Hermione had pointed out that those particular felines were good judges of character. Since the cat had attached himself to the witch all evening, Edward knew that it did not take a genius to figure out what that meant.

Such pleasant and surprising musings were interrupted, however, when his cell phone rang. Edward did not even need to have the gift of precognition himself to know that Alice would be on the other end. Of course, his sister would have known that he had just played host to an unusual visitor – even if she could not see who it was. Before he could even say anything, though, Alice's clearly exited tone asking, "Well? How did it go?" rang in his ear. Suddenly, he found himself smiling as he told her all about his magical new neighbor…and yes, he even admitted under Alice's smug questioning that he had found Hermione to be both extremely interesting and very attractive.

…

As Hermione sat down to her solitary dinner that evening, her mind inevitably turned towards her neighbor, as well. Because of her work, socializing with another type of magical being was not quite the novelty for her that it apparently was for Edward. However, enjoying a conversation with such an articulate, intelligent, and (she could not deny it) extremely handsome male to the point where she actually lost track of time was completely out of the norm for her. Nevertheless, she had to admit that she looked forward to repeating the experience…soon - even though she was not sure what she hoped would happen. She did not yet know if she was just looking for a good neighborly friend…or something more…but she did know that she would happily keep an open mind about both options – just in case. After all, the thought of romance with a vegetarian vampire did not frighten her in the least – not after some of the other dating disasters she had experienced in the past few years – and that definitely included her time with Ron!

…

For his part, as soon as the shops were open the next day, Edward made a point to go to the grocers. However, he would not quite admit to himself that he did it because he hoped that his neighbor would take him up on his offer and come back soon…or that a full pantry in his house might be a bit of insurance that she did not have to leave quite so early the next time around.

…

For both of them,however, soon turned out to be a couple of days later. Even though Hermione thought about her fascinating neighbor quite a bit the day right after her first visit, an interspecies conflict arose that kept her working at the office until late at night while she soothed both ruffled feathers and scaly hides. With her help as mediator, though, the territorial dispute was finally resolved. However, after all of that drama, she was much too exhausted to do more than floo to Grimmauld Place and spend the night in Harry and Ginny's guest room as she often did whenever she worked too late to apparate home safely.

The next day was a bust, as well - especially since she still had to complete the mountains of bureaucratic paperwork generated by the dispute…and then the agreements of the subsequent truce…before she could finally apparate back home. By that time, Hermione was too tired to do more than to slip on her pajamas and fall into bed. She did not even have dinner. Regardless of her fatigue, she did have just enough energy to spare a thought for Edward as she wondered what he usually did with his nights, since he obviously did not need them for something as mundane as sleeping. The vast array of possibilities made her smile as she drifted off into some much needed slumber herself. Little did she realize that she was in Edward's thoughts at that moment, as well.

…

Edward found himself more restless than usual those two nights. He had to admit that he was extremely disappointed that Hermione had not visited again and he wondered what he should do about it. He briefly considered the possibility of a quick run across the game lands to sneak a peek of her while she slept – just to make sure that she was alright. However, he immediately pushed that thought out of his mind. Hermione was not Bella, and he realized that such an independent woman probably would not appreciate that kind of action on his part at all.

In fact, he realized how inappropriate it would be to breach her privacy – even if it was done with the best of intentions. That did not even take into consideration the fact that she was a witch. Therefore, she had probably placed magical security defenses on her home to deal with uninvited and unwelcome visitors. Edward was well aware that most people would include vampires on that list, as well. Not much could hurt his kind, but they were not indestructible. Therefore, he decided that it was better to be safe than sorry and he resigned himself to wait until the following evening and try a more orthodox approach rather than run the risk of alienating the fascinating and attractive witch. If she did not show up then, however, he would definitely call her. After all, much to his surprise, she had given him her business card right before she left on the previous night. Edward took it out to look again at the words emblazoned across the front of it.

HERMIONE GRANGER

Head

Magical Beings Liaison Department

Ministry of Magic - London, England

"Fair Treatment for All"

The information on the front, as impressive as it was, did not really surprise him – especially since Hermione had already told him about her work when she explained how she had found out where he lived. On the other hand, however, the last minute inclusion of her personal number on the back before she handed it to him had floored him. It really seemed as if the friendly witch wanted to establish at least a neighborly relationship with him. Part of him could not help but to wonder if she could ever possibly want more than that, though. He immediately chided himself for that ridiculous notion, however. After all, they had just met…and she was human. Had he not given up his relationship with Bella for that very same reason…for her own protection? Why would he even consider such a preposterous idea again then?

It was all true. However, his heart…as non-beating as it was…already knew from their short acquaintance that he could not compare Hermione to Bella. After all, Hermione was an adult woman whose personality and intellect…instead of blood…appealed to him. Whereas Bella had been just a normal teenage girl whose blood had sang to him and had been the first aspect of her to attract him. Therefore, Edward could easily realize that even though he had truly cared for her, Bella would have always been in danger from him. Hermione, on the other hand, probably never would be…at least not in the same way…especially since she had the built in defense system of magic on her side.

Consequently, for the first time in a long time, Edward felt enthusiastic and optimistic about what the future might possibly have in store for him…and he knew that he would keep an open mind when it came to his pretty and magical neighbor. They would definitely be friends…and that would be great…because for obvious reasons, Edward had never had a lot of friends outside of his family unit. However, if Hermione eventually decided that she wanted to be more than that, as well, Edward already knew that he would not push her away as he did to Bella. He did not know what that would mean for them in the long term…if anything…but he knew that whatever they decided to have would be worth it.

…

The decision about how to contact her was taken out of his hands on the very next evening, however – apparently by his own cat. Hermione, who of course had already acquired Edward's information, called to inform him that Dickens the kneazle had been sitting on her stoop when she arrived home from work. He had apparently traveled across the game lands on purpose to see her and, after a bit of a cuddle, was happily engaged in devouring a can of tuna while she informed his housemate of his whereabouts. Far from being upset, though, Edward just laughed at the slyness of his feline while he also silently thanked him for being the perfect excuse to see the lovely witch again. In fact, he offered to come and collect Dickens himself. Then, in the perfect testimony to the speed of a vampire, he knocked on her door just a couple of moments after she ended their call.

They spent that evening much as they had during the previous encounter at his home. After she let him in through her wards (he had been right about her magical security system), Hermione gave him the tour of her small cottage and he realized that she had been correct about the matching layouts. Then it was his turn to become immersed in her library – especially when she introduced him to not only the muggle texts that covered every available space on the walls of her common rooms – such as her living room (or lounge as she called it) and kitchen, but also the magical ones that she kept secured in the back rooms - away from any wandering nonmagical eyes that might possibly see them otherwise.

As she gave him the literary tour and showed him the bookcases full of magical texts in her bedroom, where Dickens had made himself at home by curling up in the middle of her bed, Edward could not stop himself from wondering if the presence of the books there meant that only wizards (or other witches?) were invited into such a personal space. That question segued into other, more intimate, thoughts about visitors to her bedroom and Edward found that he had to fight down the absurd feelings of jealousy that had bloomed within him at the idea. After all, he did not even know the woman very well, yet. How could he be envious of any hypothetical lovers that she may or may not have? Therefore, Edward tried very hard to ban the thought from his mind, but it refused to leave completely.

At any rate, in order to keep their low profile, the Cullen family had always purposely stayed away from the magical communities as much as they could. Therefore, Edward was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to access the whole new world of magical knowledge available through Hermione's books – which of course she had offered to share with him whenever he liked. It was exciting because it had been so long since he had actually been able to add anything really new to the vast knowledge base that he had already accumulated and nurtured over most of the last century. Even though he could not use the new information, he would know it…and that was enough for him.

The surprises did not stop there, either. While she magically prepared and ate her own dinner, Hermione introduced Edward to a new culinary pleasure that he had never encountered before…Blood Pops! With her new friend in mind, Hermione had visited the sweet shop in Diagon Alley that afternoon right after she had left the Ministry, and picked up a pack of the only type of vampire treats that she knew about. She simply thought that Edward might like them and that it might make the situation less awkward for them both if he ever joined her for a meal. She did not know which flavor he would prefer the most, though, so she chose the large variety pack. That way he could sample them all at his leisure and choose his favorites. If his leisure just happened to coincide with her presence, though, then so much the better for them both!