Chapter 42

It was almost Christmas, and Ottilie was enjoying being back at school, managing well with being in the grade ahead in some of her subjects. She had been worried about seeing less of her friends, and more of Claire and the other bullies in the year ahead, but to her surprise, they hadn't bothered her at all. When she'd mentioned it to Damon, he'd smiled wryly and she'd wondered if he'd compelled them to leave her alone. Either way, she wasn't too bothered – they weren't bullying her or anyone else anymore, and that was good enough for her.

Arriving home after school one day, Damon met her at the front door. "Hey little lady," he said, taking her school bag from her, "good day?"

She nodded, smiling at him and hugged him.

"Klaus has invited us round of dinner tonight," he continued, returning the hug, "so go and get on with your homework so you can enjoy the rest of your dinner."

Ottilie was excited; she loved going round to the Mikaelson's house and messing around with Kol. Rebekkah was so beautiful and sophisticated and Ottilie looked up to her greatly. Elijah was like a kind, wise uncle, and Klaus was the most amazing artist she'd ever seen, not that she'd seen many…

She rushed through her homework, snacking on fruit that Damon had brought for her, and got ready to go out, asking Lexi to do her hair for her. "Are you coming, Lexi?" she asked, as the vampire braided her hair carefully.

"Yep, Damon asked me if I wanted to go with him," she replied, smiling to herself at the thought.

"Oooohhhh," teased Ottilie, "Lexi and Damon, sitting in a tree, N…" She broke off as Lexi stopped braiding to tickle her mercilessly. "Okay I'll stop, I'll stop! Sorrryyy!" she laughed.

Lexi continued braiding her hair, still smiling to herself. "Besides," continued Ottilie, "I think it'd be wonderful if you and Damon were in love…"

Lexi tied off the braid and kissed the little girl briefly on the head, "that's enough from you, Miss Otti!" she teased, getting up to leave her to get changed, needing to get ready herself.

30 minutes later and Damon, Stefan and Ottilie were waiting impatiently at the bottom of the stairs. "Lexi, come on!" shouted Stefan, whilst Damon huffed, looking at his watch. Ottilie was so excited for dinner that she was hopping from foot to foot, holding onto Damon's arm tightly.

Just then, Lexi hurried down the stairs, "sorry, sorry…" she muttered, pushing a loose strand of her golden hair from her face. Stefan took Ottilie's hand and lead her to the car, whilst Damon, momentarily awestruck, gazed up at Lexi descending the mahogany staircase.

"Wow," he breathed, and she looked at him suddenly, catching his stare. "You look incredible, Lexi," he said, taking her hands and smiling warmly at her.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied, taking in his smart suit and combed hair, rolling her eyes at his smirk. He thinks he's irresistible… she thought, before her thoughts were interrupted by Damon taking her hand and kissing it chivalrously, before he lead her to the car, opening the door for him.

Stefan and Ottilie, squeezed into the back of the camero, watched and exchanged knowing looks, and Stefan winked at Ottilie who grinned back, giggling.

"Come on in," said Kol, as he opened the door and gestured at the guests to enter the home. "We've got a full house tonight!" he commented, flicking his eyes towards some people that Ottilie had never seen before.

"Damon, Stefan, Lexi!" called a blonde woman, who walked over and embraced them all warmly.

"Cami, it's lovely to see you," said Lexi, returning the hug.

"And you must be Ottilie," said the lady, looking down at the little girl and shaking her hand, "I've heard all about you and how clever you are!" Ottilie smiled shyly, and looked over to Damon for help, not knowing what to say.

"Ah you've embarrassed her now, love," said Klaus, coming over to them, followed by two brunette women, and put his arm around Cami, kissing her adoringly on the cheek. "Let me introduce you to my daughter, Hope," he gestured at the younger girl, whose hair was more auburn than brown, and who was smiling at Ottilie, "and Hayley, Hope's mother and Elijah's girlfriend." He smiled, as if enjoying some private joke, and turned to grin at Hayley who just rolled her eyes and grinned back, obviously used to his joking.

"Hi," she said, her voice soft and gentle, but with an unmistakable firmness and power to it.

"Let's get you a drink, shall we?" said Klaus, gesturing at them to come with him to where the drinks were.

Ottilie went to sit with Kol, and he looked up as she approached him, grinning at her with his cheeky smile. "Well hello there, darling," he said, "how are you doing? Bored of them already and want to come and hang out with the fun brother?" he teased.

Ottilie grinned back at him and sat on the seat beside him. "Kol," she asked. "Are Cami, Hope and Hayley vampires too? Like you?"

Kol had never quite got over the hilarity of such a young person asking questions about vampires and hid his smile as he replied, "Cami is, yes. Hayley is a hybrid – both werewolf and vampire."

Ottilie's eyes opened wide. "Cool!" she breathed, in awe.

"And Hope is a tribrid – wolf, vampire and witch!" added Kol in amusement, watching the young girl's jaw drop.

"Wow, that's amazing! Do you think she could teach me some more spells?" asked Ottilie.

Kol clutched his hand to his heart. "You mean, I haven't taught you enough? How you wound me!" he joked, as he watched Ottilie's eyes flicker with alarm as she tried to work out if he was being serious or not. "I'm just kidding, darling," he said quickly, "yes, I'm sure she can teach you some new tricks. I think that's why Klaus invited you all round for food!"

Ottilie smiled and gave a sigh of relief that she hadn't upset him. Feeling a little more confident, she got up to find Hope.

"Hi, Hope," she said, shyly, approaching the bigger girl slowly.

Hope turned around and looked at Ottilie, staring up at her with her big green eyes. "Hi, sweetie!" she said, brightly, loving how cute she was.

"Kol said you're a tribrid – that's so cool!" said Ottilie, genuinely, "do you think… would you mind… please could you teach me some spells? Bonnie and Kol have been so amazing but I think I know all their spells now…" She bit her lip, hoping she hadn't betrayed Bonnie and Kol by looking for another teacher, but Hope smiled at her kindly.

"You know, it was Kol's idea to introduce us," she said, looking over to her uncle who was sat, laughing at something his sister was saying. "He doesn't like to admit it, but he knows you need to know more, and so he suggested all this to Klaus. I'd love to teach you some spells, and maybe you could show me the ones that Bonnie and Kol have taught you?"

Ottilie's face lit up, and she nodded gratefully, "ooh thank you, Hope! I'd love to learn more from you. Damon and Stefan said that I need to be really strong in case Marcel comes to try and get me, but I don't know any spells that could bring down an Upgraded Original Vampire."

Hope shook her head, "nor do I, yet, but we will sort something, don't you worry! I'm going to stick around Mystic Falls for a while so that we can practice at weekends. How does that sound?"

Ottilie grinned, "that sounds amazing, thank you so much, Hope!"

Suddenly, Klaus appeared and handed Ottilie a glass of juice. "How are my two best girls getting along?" he asked, looking at the pair.

"Ottilie and I were just talking about practicing some magic at the weekends" said Hope, smiling at the younger girl who looked back at her, still a little shy.

"Fantastic," replied Klaus. "What a force to be reckoned with you two girls will be!"