Sirius let out a low whistle from behind. "That is a very interesting disguise Prongslet. Marauder Prank worthy enough. But I do have to ask, are you comfortable?"
The girl blushed, "I admit it was strange in the beginning. I've gotten used to it though, and I am grateful that I was born here now in the late 20th to early 21st century instead of back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Imagine have to wear a corset, ugh!"
The men laughed as Rebekah spoke up, "It wasn't that bad if you knew what you were doing. Making sure the laces weren't too tight so you could breathe. I always wore mine slightly loose"
"Slightly loose? That's the prefect way to describe you sister" remarked Kol, only to be rewarded with the taste of dirty leaves in his mouth from the branch she threw at him.
"How do you know what women wore in that time Harry?" asked his cousin.
"Astrid, Caroline. In this form I'm known as "Astrid"
"Nice Viking name" said Finn.
"Indeed brother," agreed Elijah, pleased to see the "boy" was acknowledging that part of his heritage.
"Astrid Potter?"
The young girl shook her head, "I'm not that thick. My entire look changed physically, so I had to change enough of my full name as well. Give them less to trace back to. "Harriet," is the middle name I chose and the last is "Thorin"
"After Thor, the God of Thunder and Lightning in Norse Mythology?" ask Caroline.
Astrid gave a shy smile, "I thought it would work as a bit of an inside joke"
Klaus lightly chuckled as Caroline's cell started blowing up with consistent beeps and text messages. "Ugh! Would you hold on a minute Elena?" Caroline sighed frustrated as she texted her back.
"Trouble Love?"
"Elena is just being of no help today. I messaged her an hour ago when Harry still was missing, no response. Then fifteen minutes later- no response. Finally, twenty minutes ago as I was heading over to your house. Nothing. Did she leave her phone on vibrate or something? And I couldn't get ahold of anyone else either. Thank God you were home and answered the door!"
"I will always answer the door for you Caroline" Klaus answered under his breath.
"What was that?" she asked putting her cell back in her pocket and facing him.
"Nothing…"
"To answer your earlier question Cousin," said Harry, his voice and appearance back to normal. "Aunt" Petunia used to watch a lot of "historical" dramas on the telly on the weekends when Vernon and Dudley weren't home. I could never watch as I still had "chores" to do but I did listen in and look at the images once in a while."
"How did you change back so quickly?" questioned "Grandpa" Kol with a curious glint "And can you teach me?"
Followed by a chorused "No!"
Sirius laughed, "Oh You would have been an honorary Marauder if James were still alive. You definitely have the spirit for it. I guess that's where he got it from. As for my Godson's transformation techniques, I'm afraid he's had some help from the genes Blacks' side of the family tree. My "side" has an inherited ability called "Metamorphmagus" easily allowing them to change appearance. And he's not the only one of this generation, "Tonks", the daughter of my favorite cousin "Andromeda" is another"
"Tonks? That's a weird name for a girl" remarked Caroline.
"It's actually her last name, her first is "Nymphadora" she hates it" he grinned.
"I can see why," said Rebekah.
"Ugh!" Caroline growled again, glaring at her phone. "I hate to ask this, but would you guys please mind watching Harry while I am "needed" over at the Salvatore house?"
"Oh, I am sure that they do need you Who else is going to distract my brother while they come up with another potential plan to stab us all in the back?" Rebekah scoffed.
"What?!" exclaimed Harry, obviously upset by this revelation.
"It will be alright, my handsome grandson. We Mikaelsons have been in situations similar to this before. One way or another, I assure you we always persevere. Though the body count does get a little high"
"Kol!" his siblings scolded.
"We will watch him Caroline," said Klaus, "Though I do have to ask, if the Petrova Doppelganger and the Slavatores are up to something? Please let us know Love, for Harry's sake…"
Excuse me?"
"Surely you don't want him to lose more of his family?"
The blond gave a low growl, "Very smooth, Fine. Will you be okay now Harry?" Upon receiving an answering nod, she whooshed at Vamp speed out of there.
...
"Alright, I'm here!" Caroline called out upon entering the mansion.
"Not even bothering to knock Blondie?" addressed the eldest brother vamping himself a seat on the couch with a scotch in his hand.
"Oh, shut up Damon! I'm here because Elena wanted me. I take no pleasure being inside your home if I can help it. Too many nightmares of the past" she hissed, obviously not in the mood for his games.
"Ooo scary! Our time together wasn't all that bad? I actually remember us having fun"
"Why you-?!"
"Enough Damon, stop teasing her," remarked Stefan from the top of the staircase. Followed by Elena and Bonnie, though her witch friend couldn't hardly look at her?
"Caroline? You texted saying that Harry was missing? And that you found him?"
"Yes, apparently he and his dog father got up early and ran away without telling anyone to the lake house to work on something for wizarding school that involved a large body of water"
"I thought you said he couldn't swim" said Stefan, confused.
"Good, maybe he'll get lucky and drown," Damon grumbled bitterly.
"Boys, it's far too freezing to go swimming in any outside water Brr! It's making me cold just thinking about it" commented Bonnie, her hands automatically rubbing up against the fabric of the sweater covering her arms.
"I don't think he's going to have a choice in the matter. We already know Albus Dumbledore is an idiot when it comes to my cousin and his safety"
"You mean there a chance he might not make it?" asked Damon, now with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Oh, he's coming out alright, though he might be different when he does. I'm giving him Vampire blood"
"WHAT?!" the eldest Salvatore shot instantly right up out of his seat! "There is no way I am going through eternity with that little-!"
"Why don't you sit down Damon?" Elena suggested, coming over, and putting a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her woundedly before shrugging it off and vamping out of the room and upstairs, slamming the door to a room shut and locking it.
"What's with him?" questioned Caroline, causing Bonnie to resume the guilty look.
"Caroline…Damon's castrated"
The younger Vampire's eyes widened in shock. "Excuse me?! No… I couldn't have heard you right. Because I thought you just told me that Damon: the biggest selfish arrogant asshole I've ever known got clipped?! Who in the world did that favor?"
"Caroline!" exclaimed Elena, stunned at the joyous tone her friend was using.
"I'm sorry Elena. But I'm more relieved than anything. I won't pretend otherwise. You know what he did to me and unless it happens to you, I won't expect you to understand" she said, being honest with her.
"Care…" said Bonnie,
"What?"
"There's more to it… Damon was castrated using a spell, a very ancient spell"
"You?" Her friend shook her head, "Magic leaves traces, the caster was Harry"
"What?"
"The night that Klaus' whole family returned Damon had a plan…"
"Go on" stated Caroline, already not liking where this was going.
"We were originally going to bargain for Elena's freedom using the last coffin containing Klaus' mother-"
"So that's what was in it" said Stefan.
"Yes, I could tell by the magic surrounding her, I was also the one to set her free but not before doing something I regret bitterly"
"You're not making any sense Bonnie,"
"After that night in the Gym, Damon realized that Harry was Klaus' weakness-"
"NO!"
"Yes, so as a last resort, I swear! He "asked" me to find Harry and summon him from school. Caroline, I didn't know what he was going to do"
"Just get on with it!"
"When the bargaining "dinner" indeed started going south. Damon texted me, and I cast the portal bring him back to Mystic Falls, dumping Harry right in the middle of their living room"
"My brother out right threatened to kill him in front of Elijah and Klaus"
"WHAT?!"
"He didn't mean it Caroline!" Elena tried to excuse,
"Elena… do you REALLY believe that? What if it had been Jeremy?"
"That's different,"
Caroline's eyes narrowed, "I see…Stefan you had better finish your story"
"No, Caroline I-!"
"Elena! Shut Up! You've made it very clear where your priorities lie. Now I need to find out what happened to my surrogate little brother, so I can better protect him. As you were Stefan" she said, glaring at the two of them.
The Doppelganger guiltily bit her lip and looked down at her shoes, knowing that this time she had gone too far. Her friend wouldn't listen to her apology now. The younger Salvatore, cleared his throat uncomfortably before continuing. By the end of it, Caroline was pacing silently.
"Caroline, please… say something"
"What do you want me to say that isn't the absolute truth? Damon is damn lucky he's still alive, never mind losing his so called "manhood" which he abused. Harry could have and should have killed him. But instead, he chose mercy with consequences but still. Stop pouting and learn to be grateful. I have to get out of here. Thank you, Stefan and Bonnie for finally telling me. It doesn't mean that I still trust you or that you're forgiven right away but it does help. I'll see you around Elena," she finished coolly before turning around and vamping out the door.
All three collapsed on the furniture. "Well that could have honestly gone worse," remarked Stefan, this time pouring and raising a glass to his lips as the grandfather clock next the mantle began to ding and echo throughout the silent room.
...
That night as Harry got ready for bed, Caroline knocked on the door.
"Come in,"
"Hey," she greeted softly, "Are you okay? Today was kind of trying"
Her cousin shrugged as he got in the covers and Sirius in his dog form climbing on top near the end. "Sirius, you're getting too big for this," he groaned trying to get comfortable, the dog just adjusted his position, making his own throaty sound.
"Seriously Harry,"
"Seriously, I'm still not a big fan of water. I scarcely know how to swim, let alone hold my breath. Let alone up to an hour"
"No human can do that; you must be getting help from some sort of magic means. I wonder if Freya has anything? But that's not what I wanted to talk about with you"
"What is it?" asked Harry curious."
"I learned at the Salvatore house what you did to Damon"
"Ugh!" the boy groaned, letting his head fall back onto his pillow. "Not one of my best moments, but something had to be done"
"Oh I agree, I'm just surprised about how calm and collected you are when it comes to Bonnie, Damon and Stefan. Because I know you have at least seen two out of the three of them in public since it happened."
Harry sat up and crossed his legs under the covers.
"First of all, I didn't know that Bonnie was involved, because she wasn't there physically. I had my cloak with me at Hogwarts. Though it does now make sense, where that portal came from. Secondly after all the troubling encounters with Voldemort reappearing, be it memory or ghost form, standing mostly outwardly calm in front of my enemies has become second nature to me. And thirdly, I haven't seen hide or hair from Damon since the encounter. It's over, unless he starts something up again. I cannot waste my time or my energy on any of them when I have bigger problems to face, going on with this bloody tournament and who's behind putting my name in. Does that answer your question?"
Caroline nodded, "Yes it does, but Harry I just want you to know you're not alone in this. I'm here, and so are many others. We have our differences but we love you."
A silent tear rolled down the boy's face, "I love you too"
"Good Night…"
Happy Early Valentines Day! Many thanks to all those who've followed, favorited and reviewed. And a special shout out to Chimera629 whose last questioning review inspired this chapter. If any of you have questions about something in previous chapters, please put them in your reviews and I'll see if I can work them in ahead going forward. They really help with the Writer's block... Hope you enjoyed!
