Wolfblood

CHAPTER ONE

Page count: 12

"You want another?"

Hermione Granger lifted her eyes from the empty glass in her hand and up to the handsome bartender.

"Well, there's not two of you, so I'm nowhere near drunk enough to forget this rubbish week," she replied.

He chuckled as she pushed her glass over to him, and he caught it smoothly. He quickly filled it with her choice of poison, double vodka and coke, before pushing it back over to her until she caught it before it tipped over the edge of the bar counter.

He pulled the cloth hanging over his shoulder and picked up a glass, polishing it as he spoke his next words.

"So, what brings you here? You're a long way from home."

Yes, she supposed her accent was a dead giveaway as to where home was for her.

"I've been relocated in my job; I had a meeting with my new boss to iron out the final details before I make the move permanently."

He raised an eyebrow and selected another glass.

"Not going to tell me what it is you do?"

"No." She downed the last of her drink before pushing it back over to the blue-eyed brunette and he refilled her glass silently.

"Okay, I like a little mystery," he winked. "I'm betting I know all of your secrets by the end of the night; I can be very persuasive."

"There's a pretty blonde to the left of the bar that hasn't taken her eyes off of you for the last ten minutes," she informed him, gesturing with a subtle tip of her head and effectively turning his attention away from her and to someone that he actually had a chance of charming into his bed that night.

His mouth twitched into a smile, his gaze darting between her and the blonde.

"Off you go," she encouraged, "I'm sure she'll happily give you her full attention, I'm not in the right frame of mind to do so." He tilted his head questioningly and she sighed, lifting her hands and shooing him away. "Go on, she may have her eyes on you, but the redhead sat at the booth behind me has his eyes on her."

He gave a small smile in response, soon after striding off down to the other end of the bar and she sighed in relief, allowing her head to drop and her eyes to fall back down to her glass. She lifted her hand to push back the fallen curls from her face, rubbing at her tired eyes. When she lowered her hand, she caught sight of the small diamond glittering in the low lights of the hotel bar, sitting on her left ring finger.

The silver band was a little too big for her small, thin fingers, but it wasn't so big that it would easily fall off. The small round diamond sat in the centre of the band, looking innocent and simple. The ring was a reminder of the love she shared with another, a promise that they would spend the rest of their lives together and love no one but each other.

What a load of crap that was!

She ran her thumb over the ring, her eyes watching it distractedly as painful memories that were still fresh in her mind played on a loop. She shut her eyes tightly, fighting off the tears. She wasn't sad, or even hurt for that matter. She was angry, and her hand clenched around her glass tightly before she took a calming, deep breath, reminding herself to count to ten and allowing positive thoughts to fill her mind.

You're strong. You're powerful. You're Hermione Granger, don't let him win.

She breathed out slowly, her hand loosened its grip and her eyes fluttered open, the ring once more filling her vision.