Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Harry Potter.
Stefan wasn't one to mope about what could be or would have been, so he did not dwell on what might have happened if his mother had married a wizard instead of a muggle like her parents had wanted her to. But sometimes he wondered if a wizard father would have been kinder. He certainly would have accepted magic and probably wouldn't have been too weirded out when Damon started talking to snakes. (Or when Damon had started to teach him how to talk to snakes.)
Now that Damon had moved out of the house and into a London flat at least two miles away, Stefan was suffering the brunt of their father's criticism and scathing temper tantrums. His mother tried her best to help out, but aside from putting the Imperius Curse onto him, Giuseppe was set into his ways of perfection. Giuseppe was also unhappy that Victoire had gotten Stefan Loki – his kneazle. The critter avoided Giuseppe like the plague, preferring to stick to Stefan's side.
One evening of the summer between Stefan's Second and Third Years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Victoire sat on her son's expansive bed as he laid down to sleep.
"Mom, can I ask you something?" Stefan picked the thread of his bedspread, looking at the far wall behind his mother. Loki was snuggled into Stefan's side and the boy rubbed the kneazle's dark black, green tinged fur.
"Sure, baby," Victoire said, her green eyes concerned.
"Why do you stay with Dad?" Stefan held in a breath, his throat tightening as he awaited his mother's response. Victoire's hands stilled and froze in her lap. She pressed her lips together into a firm line.
"What do mean, Stefan? Why wouldn't I stay with your father? We've been married for twenty-two years." Victoire peered at the far wall, avoiding her son's gaze.
Stefan swallowed passed the lump that had lodged itself into his throat. He plucked up his Gryffindor courage.
"You know why, Mom."
The woman's eyes met her son's matching ones and her mouth turned down into a sad frown. Her wavy dark hair tumbled around her shoulders and she reached out a hand and placed it on Stefan's leg.
"Can't get anything passed you, can I?" Victoire tittered weakly.
"Mom."
"I love him, Stefan. I've always loved your father – from the day we met to the present. I can't bear to leave him, even now." Victoire wiped her eyes with deft fingers. "Oh, now my mascara's running – I really should use those make up charms the ladies in the office use."
Stefan sighed and snuggled deeper into his bed covers. "Was he always like this?" He asked in a small voice.
"Like what?" Victoire asked derisively, "So magic-hating or angry?"
"Either. Both."
"No – to answer both. Your father used to be fascinated by my magic," Victoire said, a wistful smile appearing on her once young features. "He loved it – was so impressed. And while your father's always been a little gruff and stiff, but was never truly angry until you boys were born."
Victoire saw the look in Stefan's eyes and quickly tried to rephrase herself, "Neither you or Damon caused your father to act the way he does, don't ever think that. Your grandfather was just like your dad is now – angry and spiteful. You dad was just do afraid of turning into his own father that he didn't notice he'd starting acting like him until he already had."
"Why does he hate magic now?"
Victoire straightened up a little, replacing her hands into her lap. "Something happened to him during the war with You-Know-Who. It was amazing that we escaped with our lives."
"What happened?" Stefan wondered aloud.
Victoire cleared her throat and her face seemed to close off. "The war isn't anything appropriate for a child to hear, and I'm sure your father wouldn't want you knowing something as delicate as that, Stefan. Maybe he'll tell you himself, when you're older."
Stefan sighed, but knew that once his mother closed herself off, just like Damon, you couldn't get anything out of her.
"Night, Mom."
"Good night, Stefan. Sleep well." Victoire walked out of his bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind her. Stefan heard the click and then the quiet noise of his mother's heels walking on the hardwood floor down the hall and descending the steps.
Stefan sighed and brought Loki closer to him. The kneazle let out a mournful mewl before snuggling into Stefan and promptly falling asleep with the boy.
Stefan woke up one morning in late August with Loki snuggled onto his chest, claws latched firmly in the fabric on Stefan's front. The boy blinked his eyes open and gently disentangled the kneazle's claws from his shirt. Loki glared through half lidded eyes, but hopped off of the twelve year old boy.
Stefan crept down the stairs and saw a note taped onto the refrigerator.
GONE TO WORK. LOVE MOM AND DAD.
Though Stefan knew that his father had not had a hand in writing the thing, Stefan felt oddly pleased. He ruffled around for some breakfast and was sitting at the kitchen island when a post owl flew through the open window over the sink. The barn owl landed on the counter and stuck its leg out and Stefan obligingly took the Daily Prophet and put the right amount of coins into the owl's money pouch.
Stefan opened the paper and took a sip of his orange juice which he nearly spat out in shock as he read the headline.
Sirius Black Escapes from Azkaban
He read through the article and immediately wrote three quick letters – one to Neville, Elena, and Lexi. Stefan attached them to his mother's owl, Orion, and sent the bird off with a piece of toast to eat for the journey.
Stefan had a feeling that his Third Year was going to be as exciting as the last two years' experience at school.
Damon was the one to take Stefan to Diagon Alley and then to Platform 9 ¾. His older brother was oddly tense about something, though he said nothing to Stefan about it.
"Don't worry your pretty little head," Damon mocked playfully when he asked.
"Is it Katherine? 'Cause Mom's expecting you to propose to her any day now," Stefan told his brother slyly.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Well, Mom's going to have to wait a little bit longer, in that case." He became serious quickly and Stefan felt himself straightening up in response. "How are things at home? Dad's not too bad?"
"He's fine," Stefan said quickly, because it was mostly true. He'd been at Elena and Neville's homes for most of the summer, only spending the first and last weeks at his house with his parents.
Damon frowned. "Alright. Owl me if there is any serious problems, alright? Promise."
"I promise," Stefan said and spotted Neville across the platform with his Gran. "Bye, Damon. I'll owl you all the time." He picked up his trunk, waved good-bye to Damon, and hurried off to meet his friends.
Damon stood on the platform for several more minutes, watching until the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station.
"Bye," Damon said quietly, turning on his heel and Apparating away. He arrived in his flat, which was moderately clean, but nothing near the spick and span fanatic way his parents' home was. Damon picked his way across the floor and to his kitchen and flipped through his paper, lingering on the article about Sirius Black.
He frowned.
Damon Salvatore was a problem solver – that is to say that he picked and prodded and annoyed until he got the truth out of people. He ripped open scabs until they bled sometimes – but he always got the knowledge he wanted.
There was something fishy about Sirius Black's incarceration, and Damon Salvatore was going to find out what.
Dear Damon,
The first day of classes was rough – I had Care of Magical Creatures first thing and the books nearly took all of our heads off! You should've seen Malfoy – I though he was going to blow a gasket when he found out you had to stroke the books' spine to open it. Trelawney is a joke – she's not a real Seer like my friend Bonnie Bennett, who Saw all kinds of trouble happening at Hogwarts last year before it happened. Transfiguration is a bit harder and McGonagall told us all about animagi today. Snape was as awful as usual – I don't know what you liked about him. However, our new DADA professor this year is actually competent. Who knew Dumbledore could pick a good one? Sorry, that was out of line, but the Professor really had chosen some crackpot teachers First and Second Year. Hope you write soon,
From, Stefan.
To my brother,
First, you weren't out of line – I questioned Dumbledore's sanity long before now. His position picking skills aren't the best concerning DADA, but everyone knows that that position is cursed. Look it up.
Snape's a good professor and he's got a dry sense of humor. He's not nice, but he's decent – if you're a Slytherin. I'm happy so say I was one of his favorites. Probably. Maybe. Anyway, moving on.
I can't talk long today, so just be careful in Care of Magical Creatures – if the books are that dangerous, I don't even want to know what kind of animals that Hagrid's got lined up for you all.
From, Damon S.
To Damon,
Don't worry about the books – everything's fine now, and guess what? Hagrid brought in a whole herd of hippogriffs! One of them scratched Malfoy, who's been juicing his injury for attention. He told his father and the hippogriff might even be put down! Do you know of anything that can be done?
From your concerned brother, Stefan
Dear my concerned brother,
How is school? You should try out for the Quidditch team, you know. I was the Seeker until I graduated and we won every match.
I looked up stuff about the hippogriff (we didn't do anything nearly that cool when I had Care of Magical Creatures) and I couldn't really find anything that applies. Ask your nerdy friend, what's her name? From one of Shakespeare's plays?
From, Damon
Dear Damon,
Her name's Hermione and she's already been looking up some stuff, but we're not having much luck. In other news, Sirius Black's been sighted in Hogsmeade and Bonnie's got some really bad feelings about the future. Caroline doesn't believe Bonnie's really psychic, but everyone else does. Well, not Hermione, but the only thing Hermione and Caroline can agree on besides that is that they hate agreeing on stuff together. Girls.
I'll try for Quidditch, I think. Could be fun.
From, Stefan
P.S. Elena's asked me to go with her to the next Hogsmeade trip. What should I say?
Dear my oblivious brother,
Elena totally has the hots for you – you need to say yes! I don't know a lot about psychics, by the way, but if Bonnie's had other true feelings, I'd go with it. Can't talk long today, have a good week.
From, Damon
P.S. Get used to girls. They're everywhere.
Damon looked through the files he'd 'liberated' from the Ministry of Magic and came to the conclusion that the government was crooked. Not that he'd thought much of the Ministry before, but well. Now he had proof that they were nasty people. Who threw men into prison with no trial?
Crooked people, that's who.
"This is bullshit," Damon muttered. He looked through some news clippings and came across the one about the Weasley family going to Egypt. Just as he was about to toss it, he saw a rat on one of the son's shoulders. A rat with a missing toe.
A missing toe.
Connection?
Damon peered closely at the picture, and searched through one of stacks of the older papers from twelve years ago.
"Nothing was found of Pettigrew except for a single finger," Damon muttered, licking his dry lips. His eyes widened. "Pettigrew, you sly bastard."
Dear Damon,
I said yes and went to Hogsmeade with Elena and it was nice. We had a great time and then she kissed me. On the cheek, but still. It was kiss.
Lexi teased me about it forever, afterwards, but I've seen the way she and Neville look at each other. Though Neville's so nervous, I expect that Lexi'll have to make the first move.
I tried out for a Chaser position because Harry Potter's got the Seeker one in the bag – there's no way I'd get it with him on the team. But I still didn't get on the team. Maybe next year, I guess. It's rather lucky that I didn't get it though, because Dementors came onto the pitch – Dumbledore was furious! Harry crashed to the ground and his broom was ripped to smithereens by the Whomping Willow tree. There's nothing to be done about it – it's irreparable.
From, Stefan
Dear Stefan,
Dementors? At the school? Does Mom know?
From, Damon
To my paranoid brother,
Yeah, she knows, I guess. You'll never guess what happened now, though! Sirius Black got into the castle and attacked the Fat Lady!
From, Stefan
Dear Stefan,
Don't worry about Sirius Black. I've been looking in stuff that I can't mention in a letter, but there's some evidence piling up. Don't say a word about this. To anyone.
From, Damon
To Damon,
Are you stealing stuff from the Ministry? Again! You can't do that! You'll go to Azkaban! Does Mom know that you're stealing stuff from the Ministry again?
From your VERY concerned brother, Stefan
Stefan,
Of course Mom doesn't know. I wasn't going to tell her that I'm compromising my position as an Auror in training on a suspicion about a crime committed twelve years ago. You didn't tell anyone what I said, right?
Damon
Dear Damon,
No, I didn't tell anyone. Except Neville. But he won't tell anyone! Promise. The Board of Directors are putting down Buckbeak – the hippogriff that attacked Malfoy. What suspicion?
From Stefan
Damon Salvatore walked up the porch and ran the bell on the door to the home he was visiting. A few moments later, an older woman opened the door. She had sharp eyes and an angular face with long dark hair that was streaked with grey and white that tumbled down her shoulders. She narrowed her eyes at Damon.
"Can I help you, young man?"
Damon could see her hand twitch towards her pocket. Most definitely towards her wand concealed there.
"Are you Andromeda Tonks?"
Andromeda's eyes narrowed further. "Yes. I am," She stuck out her chin. "What do you want?"
"To prove that your relative's innocent," Damon said, his icy eyes dancing.
"Which relative?" Andromeda drawled, but her eyes were hard, "The ones in Azkaban, the ones that claimed the Imperius Curse, or the one that escaped Azkaban? I've got a lot of trouble makers in my family, young man."
"Sirius Black," Damon said.
"Now, who are you to want to prove a mass murderer innocent?" Andromeda asked sharply.
"I'm Damon Salvatore, ma'am. And I like to solve problems," Damon answered truthfully, "And there is one serious problem with your cousin's sentence to Azkaban."
"What's that?"
"Peter Pettigrew is alive."
Dear Damon,
Buckbeak's scheduled to die in two weeks. Well, technically it's a trial, but my friends and I know that they'll just kill the poor beast. Harry Potter got a Firebolt which got confiscated at Christmas, did you know? I forgot to mention it, but he got it back. The thing's really fast. I wonder if Mom'll get one for me?
From, Stefan
P.S. How's your secret thing?
Dear Stefan,
Good luck trying to get Mom to buy you a brand new racing broom.
I've got a mission for you. You have to do this if you want to spare an innocent man's life. I need you to swear that you'll do this for me.
From, Damon
Damon,
I swear. What do you want me to do?
Stefan
P.S. Can any of my friends help?
Stefan,
Find Ron Weasley's rat and take it. Hide it in a reinforced magical cage and write me back ASAP
Damon
Dear Damon,
That's not possible. Loki and Hermione's cat Crookshanks have been after Scabbers forever, and I'm pretty sure that Crookshanks has eaten him.
From Stefan
Stefan,
He's not dead, okay? Just use Loki to find that rat and catch him.
Damon
Damon,
I found the rat.
Stefan
Damon and Andromeda made their way to Hogwarts with determination plastered onto their faces and Damon's satchel of evidence. Damon had forgone wizarding robes, as he'd always been more comfortable in jeans, tees, and leather jackets. Andromeda wore a pair of nice robes.
"I told Stefan to meet me with the rat in front of the school gates," Damon said swiftly, eyes roving over the grounds. Andromeda nodded and the two adults arrived at the gates and spied Stefan and Neville. Stefan held the cage with Pettigrew tightly. The rat was quivering nervously, its whiskers twitching. The adults passed the gates and followed the confused children to the castle and through the halls.
"Where are we headed?" Stefan asked.
"Dumbledore's office," Damon replied quickly.
"Um, what's going on?" Neville asked nervously.
"It'll be clear in a little while, kid," Damon said as they arrived at the gargoyle.
He listed off everyone known candy to wizard and muggle alike until the gargoyle hopped aside.
"This is your stop, kiddies," Damon said, plucking the rat out of Stefan's hands.
"Hey!" Stefan said, "I thought we were going in too."
"Nope. Go to your Common Room or the Great Hall or something. We'll be done shortly," Damon scooped up the cage from Stefan despite the rat's mad squeaking in protest. He shoved his brother lightly, urging him and Neville away. The two thirteen year old boys started away, but Stefan shot Damon a fowl look.
Damon rolled his eyes and walked up the spiral steps to Dumbledore's office and knocked. The elderly wizard called, "Come in, Mr. Salvatore. Ms. Tonks."
The witch and wizard hastily entered Dumbledore's office, where the man was sitting behind his desk. Fawkes made a disconcerted noise at their approach.
Eyes twinkling, Dumbledore asked, "What is it that I can do for you both this evening?"
"Help up clear my cousin's name," Andromeda said flatly and Damon smiled with glee to see Dumbledore gape with surprise, something the younger wizard doubted many people had witnessed.
"Pardon?" Dumbledore asked.
Damon gleefully told him all about his discoveries.
Stefan didn't speak with Damon until he got off the Hogwarts Express for the summer in June. Their parents weren't there yet, but Damon lounged casually on a brick pillar. His sunglasses had slipped down his nose, but the black haired wizard didn't bother to push them back up. Damon spied Stefan and waved lazily at him.
Stefan said good-bye to Neville and Elena, as Lexi had already left, and dragged his trunk over to Damon's spot, Loki following on the ground.
"Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" Stefan asked immediately when got to his older brother.
"It was a surprise," Damon drawled.
"You nearly single-handedly cleared Sirius Black's name!" Stefan exclaimed.
Damon frowned, and said in all seriousness, "I could have gone to Azkaban, and you would have been put in the cell next to mine as an accomplice, Stef. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to rot in that prison."
"But you thought it'd be okay if you did?" Stefan asked with eyebrows up to his hairline and the corners of his mouth turned down.
Damon quirked a smile, "But I knew I wouldn't get caught."
"But you just – you said – never mind," Stefan stuttered. "Are Mom and Dad coming to get me?"
"Yeah. Thought I'd stop by and say hello, first though," Damon said. He paused and out of the corner of his eye, watched as Sirius Black picked up his godson from the train. Stefan turned around and saw what Damon was staring at.
"I'm glad he doesn't have to live with his muggle relatives anymore," Stefan told his brother quietly. "Hermione's mentioned in passing that they're not the best people."
"Then it's good that I broke the law, isn't it?" Damon remarked with a wry twist of his mouth.
Stefan sighed. "I guess. Just don't do it again."
"Who is the older brother here?" Damon demanded playfully.
"Sometimes I swear it's me," Stefan said and had to duck and run as Damon started to chase him. Loki sat on Stefan's trunk, yowling and looking supremely annoyed at his master.