And, once again: a huge THANK YOU! to everyone who reads my story. I really appreciate it, especially as this is not a Delena fanfic, and I know that most of you (including me) are totally into those two. I just felt that at the moment, Stefan and Elena are so real, so good, that Damon and Elena would be a massive break in the story. But because he deserves someone too, I decided to create Claire. It really hurts seeing him suffer so much... Maybe in the future, when there's some 'trouble in paradise' with Elena and Stefan, I'll take the opportunity to write a Delena fanfic, 'cause these two should really end up together. But for now, Claire's gonna rock Damon's world ;)

Elena stared at Claire and disbelief "Seriously? You too? Oh my... Why? Since when?" she tried to process what she was just been told.

Stefan, who was in the background until then, stepped towards Elena and took her hand. He also shot Claire a confused look, but waited for Elena to calm down.

"I've known since I was an infant. I am so sorry, but I was not to tell you. For my family, it is very crucial not to be exposed, and I had to promise... But anyways, now I'm here, and I will help. I know what's going on, that's actually why I came", she explained and stroke Elena's upper arm.

Slowly, Elena managed to regain her continence. "Well.. okay. I guess that's good, then. The more, the merrier. How long will you be here? And where will you stay?" she asked Claire.

"For as long as it takes, maybe even longer. I'm a bit fed up with England at the moment. I thought about staying at a motel or somewhere... Is there anything like that in Mystic Falls?"

"That's ridiculous! You can stay at my house, of course. Like old times", Elena said, finally back to her old self. She was extremely happy that Claire was back. Not just because she meant more help, but because she really missed her during the last years. She could even somehow understand why Claire hadn't told her about her being a witch. She smiled at her and was happy to have her near her.

"How do you know about our situation?" Stefan suddenly asked. He was still a bit confused and didn't trust Claire yet.

"Well... My family's been in contact with the founders of Mystic Falls for a very long time. That's actually why our parents knew each other. Sheriff Forbes called immediately when the vampires returned, and from that moment on, we were monitoring the situation. We know of Klaus, because we have many, many sources and our powers, which help us to 'see' things as well. When we heard of the grave danger you're in, my dad wanted to come, but I convinced him that I can handle it at least as well as he can, so here I am" Claire explained.

"Wow..." was the only thing Elena was able to say. That sure was a lot. In that exact moment, her phone rang. It was Bonnie. "Oh, I have to take that, I haven't talked to Bonnie since we killed the Martins. I'll be real quick!" she promised and went towards the door to talk outside.

Stefan was still looking a bit warily at Claire while Damon came down the stairs again. "Well, I'm heading off to the grill. Brother. Hot witch chick" he greeted while grabbing his jacket from a chair.

He almost ran into the Elena, who returned from her call with Bonnie.

"Guys, Bonnie has some news. She's on her way now," Elena announced.

"Spectacular. First, I get interrupted while making out with a damn hot witch, and now my least favourite witch is coming over to talk sense into her. I'll probably never get laid while I'm still in this goddamn town," Damon sighed theatrically while throwing his jacket back on the chair and himself onto the couch.

"I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with you and Claire, Damon. What did she say, Elena?" Stefan interfered.

"Something about Dr. Martin telling her something important the moment he died... But it's weird, didn't you say that he tried to choke her?"

"Yeah... at least, that's what it looked like. Maybe he implemented some thoughts into her brain or something. Is that possible?" Stefan asked aloud.

"So Bonnie's out of the closet now. Finally, I was always wondering when she would discover her powers." Claire talked more to herself than to Stefan, but then she faced him and said "It is. When dying, we can sort of 'spread our power and knowledge'. The spot where a witch has violently died for instance always held a great power. We can as well pass our last thoughts on to the person nearest to us in that moment. That means, if that is a witch or warlock," Claire explained. She walked over to grab her previously filled glass of whisky and took a deep sip. Elena shot her an almost shocked look. "What?" Claire said "I grew up in England. I'm used to that stuff," she defended herself. Damon shot her a longing look while making a noise like he just smelled something tasty. Claire's stomach twisted when she looked at him. Really too bad that they had walked in on them...

They all heard a car pulling up in front of the house at that moment, and Stefan hurried to the door to let Bonnie and Jeremy, who was with her, in. Elena looked confused at the sight of Jeremy. Apparently, she didn't yet know that they were sort of dating.

Bonnie suddenly stopped dead as soon as she was through the door. There was a huge power field in this room. Confused, she looked around. She saw Claire standing next to Elena, a smile spreading across her face. It can't be... she never felt anything when they were children. Bonnie slowly walked towards Claire. All eyes were fixed on them, nobody dared to speak. Claire finally started to speak.

"Hey Bonnie, so good to see you! I'm really happy that you've finally discovered your powers," she said while taking Bonnie's hands. In that moment, everybody in the room could feel something happening. It was like the air was full of electricity. Bonnie's eyes widened in shock. But this feeling she had... the same like that one time, with Katherine's witch, who was actually a relative of hers. But now... it was so much stronger, so much more real... Tears started to build up in her eyes. It was just so beautiful... For the first time in a very long time, she felt like everything was going to be alright. She almost collapsed into Claire's arms, now sobbing with tears. Everybody but Claire looked extremely shocked.

"What the fuck's going on?" Jeremy bursted out. Of course he was confused, he had no idea of Claire's nature so far.

"She's a witch, too," Stefan quickly explained. A very surprised "Oh..." was everything Jeremy managed to say. They all watched the two witches still embracing, Claire now stroking softly over Bonnie's head.

"As much as I like seeing you suffer, you should get to the point, B-witch," Damon suddenly said, completely unaffected by what had just happened. With a loud bang, he was again tossed against the next wall. Elena let out a short scream, while Stefan and Jeremy both backed away from Damon. Bonnie looked like a deer in front of a car, and Claire loosened the embrace and stormed towards the vampire, looking extremely angry.

"That. Is. Not. How. You. Speak. To. A. Witch," she almost snarled. A few inches away from his face, she stopped. "Especially not in my presence. If you ever do that again, I'm gonna hurt you for real, understood?"

Damon was a bit afraid and slightly turned on at the same time. His little hot witch was one who stood up to him. He wasn't so sure if he was into that, but somehow she was now hotter than before. He managed to pull off a cocky smile while he said "Understood. Although I like it when you're angry. You're damn hot right now, you know that?" he teased her.

Claire let out an annoyed sigh and turned her back on him, causing the magic which held him against the wall to wear off, and he landed on the floor, this time prepared, so he landed on his feet. Claire was now looking into 4 extremely surprised and shocked faces. She apparently had some explaining to do, but Damon cut across her once again.

"Yeah, she did that to me before, some sort of anger-management issue, I guess. But it doesn't wanna make me want her less," he whispered into her ear while strolling over to the couch again.

"So sorry, guys. Sometimes, I cannot hold it back. Especially not with him," she explained while giving Damon a deadly look. He only shrugged his shoulders and reached for his glass of whisky.

"Wait... how did you do that?" Bonnie asked, still confused. She had never seen a witch doing magic without a spell.

"Feelings are very powerful, Bonnie. Learn to control them, and you can do magic without even moving," Claire said. "But we can talk about this another time. What's the big news?"

"Um... yeah, sorry. Well, before he died, Dr. Martin gave me back my powers, and he sort of told me how we can kill Klaus," Bonnie quickly said.

Everybody except Damon and Claire excitedly shot towards Bonnie and asked at the same time "How?", "What?", "He did what?"

"Easy, guys! He told me there are three families, and that they know how to destroy an original. But I didn't get their names," Bonnie said. More confusion on the look of their faces. "Claire? You know something about that?"

Claire let out a sigh and walked towards the table with the drinks. Everybody was watching her. They knew she had something to say at this matter. Silence while she poured herself some more brown liquid. She turned around, leaned against the table and started with the story she dreaded telling.

"There were three original families of witches and warlocks. Like the vampire originals, but of course, they were mortal. They were the first and the most powerful of all. Their founders died, but the blood line continued. For centuries, they have grown stronger and stronger. Eventually, other witches and warlocks surfaced. But their powers can not be measured with the Original ones. Already when born, they know what they are and are being trained since infantry. At the age of 9, they say that they are already as powerful as a normal witch at the height of her powers. And they know how to kill an Original vampire only by spell." She paused and took a sip of her drink.

"But who are they? And how can we find them?" Bonnie eagerly asked.

"They are all very aristocratic families. One lives in Italy, the famous family of the Medici. Another one has their roots in France, the Mortemarts," with that, she slightly hesitated. "And the last one is in England. The Duke and Duchess of Southwitherton, the Blackhearts," Claire quickly finished while taking another huge sip of her whisky. She would have to watch her drinking, or she would be wasted before noon. She looked into their faces. Stefan and Damon looked broody, while Elena, Jeremy and Bonnie looked at her in disbelief. Here it goes...

"But your last name is Blackheart, isn't it?" Bonnie finally asked. The vampire's heads now shot up, too.

"What? You're one of the original families?" Stefan questioned.

"Actually, my name is Blackheart-Mortemart. My mother was the daughter of the last Duc de Mortmart, and my father the son of the existing Duke of Southwitherton. I'm sort of a mash-up," she said and felt very uncomfortable. They would now look at her in a different way. It's now exactly as she feared it would be. But of course, at some point, she had to tell them. Claire had just hoped that it would not have been so soon.

"Oh, fuck me sideways..." Damon finally managed to break the silence. "You're a Lady. A freaking living, breathing, hot English Lady. And a very powerful witch, too. I think I need some more whisky," he said completely astonished. "Anyone fancy a glass?" he asked the others. All of them nodded.

Oh, and wanna hear something funny? I've concentrated so much on this story and VD the last few days, that I got two pimples on my neck that look exactly like vampire bites... Strange thing is, I never get pimples anymore, so this is clearly a very straightforward withdrawal symptom! can't wait until April.. damn you, CW!