Chapter – 5

"This box tracks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864," Vanessa dropped the box in front of Hermione and Elena. Hermione took the first chance to dig at the first book and Elena dragged the whole box towards her, and cast a glance at her companion.

Oh god, this girl was so damn fast!

She flipped pages and absorbed words with a speed of a manic. It was almost robotic. And as Elena stared at her, she was almost done with half of the book.

"You're reading all that?" Vanessa asked incredulously.

Hermione's response was vague, "Yeah." it also implied that it was most obvious.

She dropped the book in front of Elena, looking mildly exasperated.

"There's nothing of interest there. On 389, 394, 422, 463, 467, 531, 554 and 662 might be of interest – but I didn't find anything of your use." Hermione shrugged as Vanessa stared open mouthed.

"Oh you're talking about all the places…" Vanessa said, seeing Hermione in a whole new light, "you actually read that fast?"

"No. I don't." Hermione gave a one-armed shrug again, "It depends on importance – that's why I'm using all of my brain cells now. I will most probably forget that after two days if I didn't read that thrice. I just sifted through the pages – did a quick reading and moved on."

Elena and Vanessa continued staring. Hermione sighed.

"Don't stare, please." Hermione said quietly, "It makes me uncomfortable."

"How do you remember the pages?" Vanessa asked in that lost voice.

"Photographic memory." Hermione replied, picking out another book.

Vanessa looked a bit more, and then shook her head with a smile.

"Is this all there is about her?" Elena asked at that lone box that was in front of her as Hermione picked another book, this time slowing down as she read that book with more interest.

"All that I'm aware of." Vanessa replied.

Elena glanced at Damon in the next room. She still didn't trust him – not after what he did to her brother. Another human in danger – no she won't take that risk, thank you very much.

"Here. Take this." Elena pulled out a piece of the Vervain plant, handing it to Vanessa.

"Does Vervain really work?" Vanessa asked curiously.

"Nope, not at all." Damon replied from the room.

"No one asked you, cartoon." Hermione shot back. Damon pretended that he didn't hear that at all.

"Can he hear us?" Vanessa asked hesitantly.

Damon did a mock whisper, "No, that would be creepy."

Hermione scoffed.

"Can he read minds, too?" Vanessa whispered with a blush.

"He's not Edward Cullen!" Hermione snorted.

"You know, if you wanna see me naked, all you have to do is ask." Damon said cockily, his eyes still on Hermione. "And I'm not a sparkly Vampire." He added in her direction.

"Yeah, who wouldn't want you if you had that rock hard sparkly arse?" Hermione sighed, shaking her head.

Elena snorted.

Damon looked at her, blinking once, before he gained back his composure. "Oh naughty Hermione, you are free to explore this territory whenever you want. And you'll want it for sure." He smirked.

"Well, that proved he can't read minds." Hermione said to Vanessa, glaring at Damon, who continued smirking at her red face.

"He's very capable of being a first-rate jackass." Elena added.

And they continued searching.

Elena took in the far corner as Hermione sat down on the study table, flipping through the pages, eager to read what kind of woman she was. Living this long on earth – she must be dangerous if these people gave her this kind of importance.

"Any luck?" Alaric asked.

Hermione gazed up to meet the vampire hunter's eyes. Damn, if he was close to her age, she might have been interested in him. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Elena and Damon talking - probably he trying to make-up with Elena.

"No." Hermione sighed, rubbing her eyes as she snapped the book close – mentally noting to borrow this book from Vanessa, "Can I have some water, please?"

Alaric looked at her for a moment, lost.

"What?" Hermione asked softly. Alaric blinked, chuckled and shook his head.

"No… uh, for a moment – you reminded me of Isobel, asking me for water… and made me realize something." Alaric said with a boyish grin.

Hermione looked at him curiously, "What?"

"A person has to move on." Alaric said, a small smile at the corner of his lips still remained as his grin faded.

"That," Hermione stood up and nodded, "a person has to do. Past can't be changed, you can only dwell on memories, but in present, you can make them. I'm sorry, I sat here-"

"Nah, it's okay." Alaric waved his hand off, "what's your age?"

"What?" Hermione was clearly thrown off that question.

"Your age. You don't sound – or look – eighteen."

"Oh," Hermione smiled slightly, "I'm nineteen. Late admission."

"I can't imagine you failing a year, not with a speed like that!" Alaric chuckled. Hermione smirked.

"So you've heard of my abilities, eh?"

"Overheard, yeah. You know, you don't seem 19." Alaric said lightly. Hermione sighed.

Hermione wasn't sure how to respond to that, and just gave an unsure smile.

Alaric smiled, sifting through the pages as something caught his eyes – his expression changed.

"Hey Hermione," Alaric whispered, "Guys! Check this out." He caught Damon, Elena and Vanessa's attention; they shifted and walked to him. Vanessa grabbed the book Alaric was reading and examined it.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls. But here are some records of some lesser known legends." Vanessa said, showing the book to Damon. "Everything from, uh, Scandinavian skin Walkers to the Marechal de Retz."

She pointed at the picture in the book and spoke something in a foreign language, "Which roughly translates to the Sun and the Moon curse."

Of course, Hermione nodded, she had read about it all in the third year.

"It' Native American." Alaric commented.

"Aztec," Vanessa agreed, "It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia."

"Wait," Hermione read over the translation book she found and thought, "one origin, right?"

"Yes," Vanessa said with a frown.

"Then how does… never mind." Hermione shook her head, cursing herself for trying to ask the question.

Damon's eyes narrowed, "What?"

Hermione sighed, "There are other origins of Werewolves, servants of the Moon, so all I'm asking how this story affects all of them? There are more origins bound by that curse. It just doesn't make sense. Unless, that story isn't the reason – however this isn't what you want to know. That's why the 'never mind'. See, it states here Werewolves are the servants of the moon and Vampires are the slaves of the sun – indicating your conditions. The Vampires can only hunt in night and werewolves," Hermione's voice thickened at that, Remus's calm smile flashing in her mind, "are unlucky enough to turn during the full moon."

Vanessa agreed vehemently, reiterating the story of the 600 years ago shaman curse, roughly what Hermione spoke.

"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asked Vanessa.

"Of course not." Hermione snapped, looking at him like he was daft, "If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse."

Damon looked at her again, his piercing grey eyes trying to prod the answers. Hermione only stared back.

"How emotional about them…" Damon commented innocently.

"I sympathize, even Vampires."

Damon's eyes flashed with something Hermione couldn't interpret.

"Werewolves will attack humans, but instincts and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice-"

"Vampires." Hermione murmured. Oh how she wanted to show the Fantastic Beasts and how To Find Them: Advanced Edition.

Elena's eyes widened, meeting Vanessa's for confirmation, and then looked at Damon.

Damon leaned beside Hermione, his eyes blinking at her, then moving to Vanessa, "Well, if Werewolves are hunting Vampires, I would know about it."

"No you wouldn't, not if there aren't that many werewolves alive." Vanessa leaned, as she scrutinized the pages, looking deep in thought, "Hundreds of years ago, Vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why would they do that?" Elena asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "To protect themselves." That much was very obvious. Only that… she spoke out of line again. Her know-it-all nature didn't know its limits!

"Yes," Vanessa nodded.

Damon's head snapped at Hermione, she flinched and avoided his eyes, looking at Vanessa, who was looking at her expectantly. She looked at Alaric, then Elena – why was everyone looking at her?!

"Oh fine. Werewolf bite is fatal to Vampires." The know-it-all in Hermione was jumping in excitement, reciting her favourite tune 'I know I am right'. She was a limit, seriously. Hermione wondered how Harry and Ron kept with her through all these years.

Elena's eyes met Alaric's in alarm while Damon frowned at Hermione, but seemed deep in thought.

"And according to the Astronomy charts I did today, today is a full moon." Hermione straightened up, twirling her curl thoughtfully – atleast her past time had some sort of use.

"Astronomy charts?" Vanessa asked in interest.

"They taught that in my school." Hermione answered.

"Which school?"

"It was a boarding school," Hermione answered carefully, "for people with special talents – it was a school in Scotland."

Vanessa looked awed.

"How do you know so much about Werewolves?" Damon asked, suddenly appearing behind her, making Hermione jump in her chair as she read the book she had now borrowed from her new fast friend, Vanessa. Her finger left the curl she was twirling as she looked back at those curious and mildly suspicious eyes again.

"Look," Hermione sighed, "By now you know I'm not a Werewolf." She pointed at the window, at the dark night illuminated by the soft glow of the moon, "I read." She offered.

"That doesn't explain your emotions when you talk about them," Damon countered. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'm emotional about pretty much everything that interests me, Salvatore." Hermione dismissed, leaning forward to the book again. She twitched when Damon caressed her curl.

She had curls like Katherine. Only that she had golden highlights and they were little wilder. Damon's throat tightened at the thought. Katherine. Reviving all the memories was a little strange for him – not easy, either.

"Where's Elena?" Hermione asked Alaric.

"She's warning Stefan." Alaric replied, looking once again at the table she was sitting on.

Hermione frowned, "Do you reckon there are Werewolves in Mystic Falls?" No, not this supernatural again…

"The Lockwoods," Damon replied, letting go of her curl as he sauntered forward and occupied the seat beside Alaric.

"That bloke named Tyler Lockwood? Him?" Hermione bit her thumbnail. What sort of curse was there – was he a natural werewolf? What kind of curse revolves around a natural werewolf? Oh, she had to go to the Library…

"I don't know…" Alaric said uncertainly. Damon's lips twitched.

"I know." Damon said determinedly, "I'll prove it."

Hermione gazed at Elena shuffling through the notes, her hands stopping when she caught a picture.

"Holy cricket Elena you look exactly like her." Hermione whispered from beside her. Elena thought she would wince like always, but she actually sighed and looked at Hermione helplessly. It was strange, very strange that Elena already started trusting her – she had something strange in her…

"Yes, I do… and I want to know… why?" Elena whispered. She turned to Vanessa.

"Hey, um, have you gone through any research on doppelgangers?"

Alaric looked up.

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures. But typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself."

Didn't she know that. "Did Isobel have anything that'd explain the link between me and Katherine?"

"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately."

Hermione looked at Damon at the same time Elena did, who suddenly snapped the book shut and pretended to look at the shelf.

Oh, Hermione had a feeling he knew something…

"But," Vanessa paused and leaned against the table with her arms, "I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."

"Oh hell, it's totally depressing." Hermione responded, Vanessa shrugged helplessly and smiled at her new friend. Hermione liked her; she had tact – only when she wasn't hysterical, but then who does? Maybe Ronald should get a lesson or two from her.

"And more things we already know." Elena sighed. Hermione rubbed her hand comfortingly.

"I'll look through whatever I find, okay?" Hermione said to her other new friend. Elena looked at her, and nodded.

"I just wanna know why we look alike." Elena sighed again.

"Head-scratcher isn't it?" Damon said in a voice that Hermione particularly didn't like – it was mildly sardonic, wholly manipulative.

Elena took the words right out of Hermione's mouth, "Do you know something or are you just being… yourself?"

"Well, if I know anything, I'm not gonna tell you." Hermione almost imagined him to stick out his tongue like a bloody five year old, "Not with that attitude." Damon added as he walked over her. Alaric looked away, looking like he didn't want to exist.

"They fight like kids." Hermione whispered to him. Alaric nodded, looking like he finally found someone who thinks like him.

They continued bickering.

"Hey Vanessa, give me your number. I might use a talk or two with an intelligent person like you." Hermione offered with a smile. Vanessa nodded happily and they exchanged numbers.

"Hey, tell me about your school? Scotland have those beautiful castles… did you explore one?" Vanessa asked curiously, a little dreamily.

Hermione laughed, oh how she loved castles, "Our school was a castle."

"Didn't you get lost there?" Alaric asked amusedly. Hermione shrugged.

"I did sometimes in my first year. But then, you get used to it. It was amazing… almost magical." Hermione chuckled. Oh, if they knew…

"What kind of subjects did they have, you mentioned Astronomy before," Vanessa prodded.

Hermione answered carefully, "We had, Maths, then Astronomy, then Divination – total bullshit, uh… Chemistry, Animal Care, then History, Geography, Ancient Languages and Symbols, Alchemy, Botany, Defense too, and more…"

"Wow… it was a special school with these many subjects?" Vanessa asked, astonished. Alaric looked pretty impressed too.

"Well subjects were many, but you can choose according to your wish. I chose everything except Divination crap and three other subjects." Hermione scrunched up her nose.

"Maybe we could have some intelligent chat sometimes." Vanessa clapped her hands excitedly.

"Woah, you handled these many?" Alaric said with a smile. Hermione nodded solemnly.

"It must have been strict." Vanessa wondered out loud. Hermione laughed out loud this time. "Oh no… not at all. There was partiality and total arsekicking, mini-wars, insults, sports, kissing, punching, kicking and well, studying. I had a nice teenage life there." Hermione sighed.

"Then it must have been wonderful," Vanessa chuckled.

"It was my second home," Alaric's eyes widened at the painful look that suddenly crossed her features, but with a blink, it was gone.

She stood up and turned to Elena and Damon.

"… they help each other." Elena said, handing a book to Hermione and walked away.

"Can you be a bit mature about it Salvatore?" Hermione sighed, as if talking to a child, "act, no offense intended, your age?"

"You tell me," Damon said devilishly, "I'm not acting my age?"

Hermione stared unblinkingly. Then sighed, and walked where Elena went.

Damon followed after, Alaric and Vanessa following him.

Hermione clutched Elena's hand.

"Hey, he's a stuck-up prat. Don't be angry. So what he doesn't tell you, I told you I'll help you, with everything I can." Hermione said consolingly. Elena looked at her for a moment, and then to Hermione's surprise, hugged her.

"Thanks Hermione. You have helped with everything here, and it would have taken us more time – but you searched through everything… then thanks for protecting me back there. You're a very nice person, and it's very nice to have you as a friend." Elena said, letting her go and smiling. Hermione still looked a bit surprised, but then nodded and smiled back.

"Me too, Elena. I thought I wouldn't get along with anyone here…" Hermione trailed off. Elena shook her head.

"I think you're brilliant. Truly!" Elena nodded emphatically. Hermione giggled at the choice of words, they reminded her of Harry. She pulled out the chocolates from her pockets and tossed it to Elena. She caught it and looked at her thankfully.

"Funny, my friend said exactly the same words a year ago." Hermione chuckled. Both of them walked to the car, as Elena clutched the handle of the car, pulling it with all she had got. It didn't open.

"Here." Damon said, opening the door lock with the keys, "Allow me," he said in suspiciously gentlemanly fashion, opening the car door for them.

Elena tried to get inside, but Damon suddenly moved by the door, ending up taking Elena's personal space.

"Er…" Hermione mumbled uncomfortably, moving around and pulling the other door handle and sitting down. Her mobile beeped.

'Brought Teddy back. Waiting for your call.

Andromeda'

Hermione grinned.

"You didn't dig deep enough." Damon said, handing Elena the book.

"Petrova?" Elena read from the book spine.

Petrova… she had heard that name while reading about witches…

Nevermind. She had lot of things to do tomorrow.